Photos from LIU’s 60-55 win over New Haven on February 5, 2026:
(All photos by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)
Friday, February 6, 2026
Inside the Numbers: Jacksonville at Queens
Queens guard Isaiah Henry (3) throws down a dunk in the Royals' win over Jacksonville Thursday night. (Photo: Queens Athletics)
CHARLOTTE – No ASUN game is ever easy. For Queens, trying to bounce back from a
three-game losing streak was daunting enough. Seeing Jordan Mincy’s physical
and talented Jacksonville Dolphins on the visiting bench didn’t make the
challenge any easier.
After a 40-minute battle that Queens led for the final 34
minutes or so, the Royals finally fended off the Dolphins, 93-84, at Curry Arena Thursday night. Queens led by
as many as 20 points in the game, only for Jacksonville to fight back late. Five
Royals finished in double figures, all notching between 13 and 17 points on the
night.
You know what happened – now, let’s go…Inside the Numbers!
- After Jacksonville took its final lead of the game at 13-12, Queens tore off an 18-7 burst to take a 30-20 lead. The Royals maintained a double-digit lead for much of the remainder of the game. Jacksonville coach Jordan Mincy spoke after the game about the early Royals charge.
“I thought in the first half – just
giving a lot of props to Queens – they came out and they punched us right in
the mouth,” Mincy said. “They showed a level of physicality on both ends. I was
highly impressed with how offensively they just took it to us. I thought our
guys really shied away from contact early.”
- Queens flirted with a record for the Division I era of its program, finishing with just five turnovers – one away from its record of four. Jacksonville converted those turnovers into just four points. At the 5:27 mark of the game, the Royals had committed just two miscues that resulted in zero Dolphin points.
“That’s a huge deal (against) them,” Queens coach Grant Leonard said. “Anytime you give them free baskets, it really hurts. I thought we did a good job of minimizing their easy ones. They hit a lot of tough twos, and that’s what we wanted them to do. Twos hurt, but threes kill. I thought we did a great job. They only got off 16 threes, and we really protected the paint.”
- Jacksonville got 28 points off its bench, including 18 from sophomore guard Chris Arias. Mincy cited the impact Arias made in keeping his team in the game.
“I was really happy with Chris,” Mincy said. “He’s a guy who’s been battling through some injuries. He started off league play really well. He loves shooting the ball. He was our leading scorer in (non-conference play). He’s the guy who came into league play with a lot of expectations.”
“At the same time, dealing with the injuries – just to see him get out there and kind of get back in a rhythm, I think that will bode well for us in the future.”
- Queens emphasized getting its identity back entering Thursday’s game. Leonard explained after the game what that meant and how the Royals did so.
“Taking care of the ball is a huge thing for us. Winning the offensive rebound battle, which we won. Winning the turnover battle, which we won,” Leonard said. “We got off more threes than they did, even though I thought they did a good job of limiting us. We almost won (at) the free throw line. Those are the four areas we’re trying to win every game.”
- Freshman guard Isaiah Henry played key minutes Thursday, throwing down a thunderous dunk and drawing praise from Leonard.
“I’d say (the dunk) was (a) top-five (play),” Henry said after the game. “Definitely in high school, I had a few better dunks. That’s definitely up there in the top five. I’d say (it was the best at Queens). That or the Arkansas one.”
“I’m proud of Zay,” Leonard added. “Think about this – he hadn’t played a lot lately, and I thought that was a misstep by me. We shortened the rotation to maybe get more efficient, but I thought it caused (guard) Chris (Ashby) and (guard) Carson (Schwieger) to be tired down the stretch in the last few games. I just thought (Henry) did an unbelievable job. We wouldn’t have won that game without Zay.”
- Schwieger and guard/forward Maban Jabriel shifted into the paint to help stem Jacksonville’s physical tide. Leonard was pleased with their play.
“Maban got a bunch of steals, and to force them into 12 turnovers, I thought Maban got his hands on a bunch of different balls today. Then, there’s the possibility that our baseline out of bounds defense caused more turnovers than it has all year. That was (forward) Avantae (Parker) and Maban’s activity on the ball. That’s a huge deal for us – the switchability.”
“(Forward Yoav) Berman’s done an unbelievable job. He guards point guards. He guards five men. He walls up. Sometimes he’s our most physical defender – even more than Tae. That flexibility and versatility is a huge deal for us.”
- Queens has a tough stretch of games ahead, despite their next three being at home. Leonard was in no mood to look ahead after this game, however.
“It was just today that mattered,” Leonard said. “For our guys to get their confidence back – they know they’re a good team. To get back in the win column was a big deal. We’ll move on to Saturday’s (Homecoming game against North Florida) after midnight. I don’t even want to talk about next week, because that doesn’t matter. What matters is North Florida now. What mattered today was JU, and JU is a formidable opponent. I’m just glad we handled it.”
- Mincy felt Jacksonville played better in the second half, even if the scoreboard did not always indicate that.
“I think our guys really focused in (during the second half),” Mincy said. “In the first half, we felt like we didn’t really stick to the scouting report. They have deadly shooters, and we allowed those guys to have six threes (in the first half). Anytime you let Queens get more than 10 threes (the Royals finished with eight), it’s going to be a hard night for you.”
- Mincy’s message for his team was one of perseverance.
“I told them to keep their heads up,” Mincy said. “We understand that it’s a long season. When you look at the box scores, man, everybody in the league is neck-and-neck. Historically, everybody knows this program. We’re really good when it comes to the conference tournament. For me, it’s just game-by-game. I told them the same thing – it’s game-by-game.”
“I understand we lost to Queens here. You might see them in the tournament. You’ve just got to be ready to go. We’re going to take this as a learning lesson and just keep moving forward.”
Queens shot 54.1 percent (33-for-61) on the night, adding 47.1 percent (8-for-17) of its tries from distance to the total. The Royals shot 19-for-26 (73.1 percent) from the stripe. Berman led Queens with 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting and 4-for-6 from the line. Nas Mann contributed 15 on 5-for-11 shooting and 4-for-4 on free throws. Jabriel tallied 14 in reserve duty, while Parker and freshman guard Jordan Watford added 13 apiece.
Jacksonville hit 51 percent (26-for-51) from the deck, with 43.8 percent (7-for-16) falling from beyond the arc. The Dolphins hit 25-of-29 (86.2 percent) from the line. Arias led all scorers with 18 on 7-of-10 shooting and 3-for-3 from the line. Power forward Donovan Rivers booked 17, bolstered by an 11-of-14 effort from the line. Guards Jaylen Jones and Hayden Wood each added 12 on 8-for-17 combined shooting, with Jason Thirdkill adding 10.
Next up: Queens remains at home for a Saturday tilt with North Florida. Tip time from Curry Arena is set for 4:00 (Eastern), with ESPN+ streaming the contest. Jacksonville travels to The Coliseum in Carrollton, Ga., for a Saturday outing against West Georgia. The 2:00 start will stream over ESPN+.
Hustle Stats:
Points off turnovers:
Queens 15, Jacksonville 4
Points in the paint:
Queens 46, Jacksonville 32
Second-chance points:
Jacksonville 9, Queens 8
Fast-break points:
Jacksonville 15, Queens 10
Bench points: Queens
32, Jacksonville 28
QUEENS 93, JACKSONVILLE 84
JACKSONVILLE (9-15, 4-7 ASUN)
Jones 5-8 1-2 12, Wood 3-9 4-4 12, Thirdkill 3-4 2-2 10,
Rivers 3-5 11-14 17, Sterck 2-4 0-0 5, Jordon 0-0 0-0 0, Arias 7-10 3-3 18,
Lockett 2-8 4-4 8, Udemadu 1-2 0-0 0, Caporaso 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-51 25-29 84.
QUEENS (13-11, 8-3)
Mann 5-11 4-4 15, Parker 6-10 1-4, Ashby 2-6 2-2 8,
Schwieger 3-6 0-0 8, Berman 6-8 4-6 17, Watford 4-6 5-6 13, Henry 2-5 0-0 4,
Larson 0-0 1-2 1, Jabriel 5-9 2-2 14. Totals 33-61 19-26.
Halftime: Queens 44-31. 3-Point
goals: Queens 8-17 (Mann 1-2, Ashby 2-5, Schwieger 2-5, Berman 1-2,
Jabriel 2-3), Jacksonville 7-16 (Jones 1-1, Wood 2-5, Thirdkill 2-3, Sterck
1-2, Arias 1-3, Lockett 0-2). Fouled out: NA. Rebounds: Jacksonville 30 (Arias
7), Queens 27 (Parker 6). Total fouls: Queens 24, Jacksonville 23.
Technicals: NA.
Thursday, February 5, 2026
Seawolves’ win streak snapped at home by Rivera-Torres and Monmouth
By Zachary Wilson (@zwilsonpxp)
STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Coming home with a five-game win streak has made Stony Brook feel confident as the race in the CAA has started to become critical with where the Seawolves stand.
Monmouth, however, would show them up as they had some surprises up their sleeve tonight, leaving Long Island with a hard-fought, 76-75 road win.
Before the first media timeout of the game, the Seawolves and Hawks had only one made shot apiece, starting with Dok Muordar’s turnaround jumper, followed by Erik Pratt’s layup minutes later.
Kavion McClain, who made his Monmouth debut after transferring from Texas Southern, put down his first points as a Hawk with a three. The Hawks would eventually go on a 7-0 run by making four shots in a row and forcing six turnovers on the Seawolves within the first eight minutes of the game, leading to a Stony Brook timeout with 12:27 to go in the first half.
Monmouth created another run out of the second media timeout, this time putting up 10 unanswered points with the last 4 by Cornelius Robinson. Following Pratt’s layup, Jack Collins’ triple would give Monmouth its largest lead of the game at 17 before the Seawolves would go on a 15-5 run to close the gap, led by Pratt’s seven points during that stretch.
Stony Brook cut the Hawk advantage to 34-27 deficit with 4:41 remaining in the half, but a foul by Richard Goods to send Jason Rivera-Torres to the free throw line would spark another Monmouth run with eight unanswered, with five from Rivera-Torres.
After the final media timeout of the half, both sides would once again get only one made field goal over the course of a few minutes that would send Stony Brook to the locker room trailing 46-31, featuring 12 points off of Stony Brook’s nine first-half turnovers.
To start the second half, Andrej Shoshkikj’s inbound immediately landed into Rivera-Torres’ hands, but his missed layup would lead to Shoshkikj getting the scoring started for the home team with a three, creating an 11-2 run over the first five minutes out of halftime and cutting the deficit to 48-42.
Rivera-Torres, however, would keep things in control for the Hawks by drawing a foul while driving into the paint for a layup, putting the Monmouth lead back in double digits.
Approaching the midway point of the second half, McClain would contend with the likes of Jonah Butler and Shoshkikj on hook shots and three-point jumpers to maintain Monmouth’s lead, until Stony Brook would find another 8-0 run, started by back-to-back treys from Butler and Rob Brown III, who would put up five points during that run.
Trailing 67-60, one of the most electric plays of the night for the Seawolves would occur, as Butler lobbed a pass to Goods for a dunk while drawing contact on Robinson to complete the three-point play and make it a four-point game with over five minutes to go.
However, Rivera-Torres would get a dunk of his own after an extended possession for Stony Brook would go empty on multiple missed three-point attempts.
Down the stretch, more shots would be traded between both teams until Shoshkikj would put up a three to pull the Seawolves within 71-68 with 2:07 to go, leading to Stony Brook calling a timeout to plan its next move. The lead for the Hawks would average around three until the most critical point of the game came with under 30 seconds to go.
After the Seawolves trailed 73-72 with 26 seconds to go, McClain split his trip at the free throw line, putting the ball in the hands of Pratt with the shot clock turned off and a chance to tie or win the game. However, Pratt’s pass to Goods along the baseline would go off Goods’ hands and out of bounds, leading to Rivera-Torres sinking two more free throws to seal the win, despite Shoshkikj beating the game clock to make it a one-point loss for Stony Brook.
Pratt finished the night with a team-high 22 points, but would eventually foul out following his fifth turnover of the game that ended the Seawolves’ comeback attempt, while Shoshkikj had 18 points, his sixth straight game in double figures.
On the Monmouth side, Rivera-Torres had a game-high 25 points and tied a career high with 12 rebounds. In his Hawks debut, McClain finished with 14 points and five assists.
Following the loss, Stony Brook (14-10, 6-5 CAA) stays at home to host Northeastern on Saturday afternoon, while Monmouth (12-12, 6-5 CAA) stays on the road next Thursday and heads to Philadelphia to play Drexel.
CCSU gets back on right time with NEC homestretch coming up, rights ship over Chicago State
By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — In most years, and in most mid-major leagues, dropping four out of five at the end of January usually means a significant upward battle for seeding in the conference tournament.
Not for Central Connecticut this year, though.
After starting 4-1 in NEC play, the Blue Devils followed that up with a 1-4 stretch that was capped off by a 21-point blowout loss at home last Saturday to LIU, putting the team at 5-5 with just eight games left in the regular season.
“I keep on saying that February is a new month with a new schedule and new attitude,” head coach Patrick Sellers said. “We have to take it one game at a time.”
Fortunately for CCSU, being 5-5 doesn’t crush its hopes of hosting a game in the NEC tournament in March, perhaps even hosting a couple. The Blue Devils entered Thursday sixth in the standings, but just one game behind a collection of teams all tied for second at 6-4.
To sweeten the pot, CCSU knocked off Chicago State in New Britain on Thursday, 78-67, to move to 6-5 in league play behind four double-figure scorers and a much-needed 24 points from Darin Smith, Jr.
“We’ve talked the last month or so about finishing the half the right way because we haven’t been,” Sellers said. “We made a conscious effort as a staff to manage minutes to have our guys fresher near the end of the game, and I think that worked for us tonight.”
The game was neck-and-neck for the first 14 minutes of the first half before the Blue Devils closed the period on a 12-2 run over the final six minutes to take a seven point lead, 35-28. Smith and Melo Sanchez combined for 24 at the break, getting open looks as a result of extra passes against the Cougars’ hybrid defense. Sanchez had 11 of his 14 points in the first 20 minutes.
“My teammates believe in me, and when I score the ball, it helps everybody else get involved,” Smith said. “Because I’m the main focus on the defensive end for other teams, it opens up more for my teammates.”
Smith had been in a bit of a rut scoring that coincided with CCSU’s skid. In the first five NEC games, he averaged 23.6 points per game and the Blue Devils went 4-1. The next five? Smith averaged 12.6 points per contest and the team went 1-4. Not once during that second stretch did he even reach the 20-point plateau, something he did Thursday.
In the second half, it was all about the bench production for the Blue Devils. Roddy Jones tied his Division I opponent career-high with 11 points, connecting on three triples without hesitation. Daniel James provided some nice size off the bench with some tough buckets inside as well.
“There’s so many eyes on Smitty, so it lets guys like Roddy get open looks,” Sellers said. “Roddy had a couple lift on the ball screen, we threw it back to him, and he’s wide open.”
After trading blows for most of the second half, Smith knocked down a side-step three right in front of his bench to push the lead to eight at 63-55 with seven minutes to play, but five straight Cougar points afterwards cut it back to three and forced a Sellers timeout.
Out of the timeout, Jay Rodgers found Max Frazier with one of the duo’s signature alley-oops, and Smith buried another trey to get things right back to eight at 68-60 and the lead never got to one possession again. Frazier used some late scoring to finish with 15 points, while Rodgers had 13 assists despite missing his lone field goal attempt.
The biggest difference that allowed CCSU to end up on top was rebounding, where the Blue Devils dominated the glass, 38-20. That was a point of emphasis for the scouting report to limit second-chance opportunities.
“Before the game, we always talk about rebounding, so we just came into the day today and had it,” Frazier said. “Our last couple of games, we haven’t rebounded well, but it's a new day, new month, new chapter.”
Looking ahead to the next three weeks of play, CCSU has four of its final seven games at home and the three road games are all against teams who are below them in the standings. There will be ample opportunities for the Blue Devils to turn things around and compete for a top four spot in the league, ideally with LIU all but certainly headed towards the No. 1 spot, either the two or three seed.
“I think every single game is big,” Smith said. “Just win one game at a time and try to get all the ones you can. And those three games in March are the most important.”
Central Connecticut is back in action on Saturday when it hosts Wagner in New Britain. Tip is set for 1 p.m. from Detrick Gymnasium.
UConn will need its two-headed monster to contend with St. John’s interior trio
Eric Reibe could be critical to UConn’s chances against St. John’s Friday, especially if Tarris Reed, Jr. is in foul trouble. Reed and Reibe combined for 28 points and 15 rebounds Tuesday in Huskies’ win over Xavier. (Photo by UConn Men’s Basketball)
Whether with Adama Sanogo and Donovan Clingan, Clingan and Samson Johnson, or Johnson and Tarris Reed, Jr., the Huskies have become easily identifiable by their two-man tandem at the center spot. It is a change of pace and a unique usage at that position that has enabled UConn to have a Batman and a Robin, a Johnny Carson and an Ed McMahon, a Pat Summerall and a John Madden, if you will.
Hurley’s latest big man pairing, featuring a senior in Reed and freshman Eric Reibe, has gained steam along with the rest of UConn’s roster entering February, and enters Friday’s matchup against St. John’s poised for an even greater breakout.
“Just a positive development is my confidence in Eric just to make sure that he’s getting an opportunity to make an impact, the way we allowed Donovan and Samson to do when they were coming off the bench at center,” Hurley said prior to UConn’s trip to Creighton last Saturday. “It’s tough to compare players, but with Donovan, he saw the big picture as a freshman. He knew he had a senior veteran center that he was splitting the position with, and there were going to be games where Adama played 30 minutes and he played 10.”
Reibe only scored four points in the Huskies’ 85-58 rout in Omaha, but rallied with 14 points and seven rebounds in Tuesday’s win over Xavier, one where he matched Reed’s point total and fell one rebound short of matching his de facto mentor.
“You want Eric to be able to just understand that he plays in a dominant tandem that should look like this a lot for us,” Hurley continued. “I just hope he has the perspective that Donovan had when he was in the same position, because it worked out pretty well for Donovan.”
“They’ve always had a good combo inside,” Creighton head coach Greg McDermott conceded after having to battle UConn’s front line. “The championship teams, obviously, they could run two bigs at you, and I think with Reed and Eric, they still have that. We got Reed in a little foul trouble, but Eric’s a heck of a player.”
Reibe has had an unusual learning curve to his rookie season, thrown into the fire and high-leverage situations quicker than most at his position due to Reed’s early-season injuries. The freshman started both of UConn’s non-conference games against Arizona and Kansas, holding his own against Motiejus Krivas and Flory Bidunga, respectively. That experience will serve him well on Friday against St. John’s and its troika of bigs in Zuby Ejiofor, Bryce Hopkins and Dillon Mitchell, as will another attribute of his game that has not gone unnoticed by his teammates.
“He has so much poise as a freshman,” Reed said of Reibe. “I feel like it’s so huge for us, especially for him. Looking back to my career, I did not have that type of poise my freshman year, so him just being a huge lift off the bench is giving the bench guys a huge boost, and even us a boost. So I feel like having him play like this the rest of the way is gonna be huge for us.”
While Reibe becomes a much more valuable piece for UConn regardless of whether or not Reed has to battle foul trouble on Friday, the third-ranked Huskies will need all hands on deck to overcome a St. John’s team that has won eight straight and is showing the makeup of a vintage Rick Pitino team. UConn has looked more formidable in its two recent efforts, winning by a combined 59 points, something that was in the works while using toughness and championship DNA to eke out close wins before the outbursts.
“You’re not thinking about who’s next a game out or two games out,” Hurley cautioned. “You’re really just locked in on who you’re playing. We obviously look like we’re doing a better job rebounding, a better job at the offensive end of the court, and the depth is showing up again for us. To have (Jayden) Ross, to have Eric as good as they are off the bench, Jaylin (Stewart), that’s what makes us tough to beat.”
Drexel’s trust in process, defense has breathed fire into Dragons heading into CAA stretch run
Shane Blakeney (4) has emerged as Drexel’s best defender as Dragons have won six of eight to offset 0-3 start in CAA play. (Photo by Drexel University Athletics)
By Jake Copestick (@JakeCopestick)
PHILADELPHIA — Nobody in the Drexel program panicked when they got off to an 0-3 start in Coastal Athletic Association play.
In the grind of a conference schedule, there’s no time for panic. For Zach Spiker’s crew, there was only time for their process.
Since the turn of the new year, Drexel is 6-2, with their two losses coming by a combined four points. The Dragons were picked 10th of 13 teams in the CAA preseason poll, and currently sit in a tie for third place. It’s not only their process that got them here, but their ability to defend at a level that very few, if any, teams are playing higher than.
According to Bart Torvik, Drexel owns the best effective field goal percentage defense in the country in 2026, allowing opponents to shoot just 40.5 percent in that regard. On KenPom, Drexel owns the best defense in the CAA through ten conference games. Opponents are shooting just 25.4 percent from three, and 44.6 inside the arc, not only both CAA bests, but far below what the nation’s average is in those respective categories.
The numbers are nice to have, but that’s not what motivates these Dragons. They’re keen on sticking with their day-to-day process. If they attack that the right way, then the results will follow. They’re much more worried about that than what the metrics say.
“We’re not so much worried about becoming the best defensive team in the nation, but we’re more focused on sticking to our process,” said junior guard Kevon Vanderhorst. “We’re not overly focused on the numbers, but if we stick to our process, we know that we’ll meet those numbers.”
Legendary Philadelphia 76ers play-by-play voice Marc Zumoff had a deep bag of phrases he would say on the game broadcast, where he spent four years next to Malik Rose, his color commentator, a recent Drexel Hall of Famer who was a 2,000-point scorer for the Dragons in the late 1990s. One of Zumoff’s most iconic lines was, “locking all windows and doors,” whenever the Sixers put together a nice defensive possession.
Even in the blistering cold of January, there are no drafts coming through this Drexel defense as it locks up whoever steps in front of them.
Since January 1, the Dragons have held three teams to a season-low in points, including giving up just 37 points at home to Stony Brook. It was the least amount of points that Drexel has given up in three years. In its last seven games, in which Drexel has won six, they’ve given up more than 60 points just once.
“It’s a testament to the guys in the locker room, for them to come together and accomplish a common goal,” said assistant coach Will Chavis. “When people come into the gym, we want to shut them down.”
It’s a group that’s still learning each other, but starting to figure things out defensively as it continues to get game reps under its belt. Experience has been the Dragons’ best teacher, and they’re making progress, but nowhere near a finished product.
“We’ve been getting used to playing with each other defensively,” said Vanderhorst, who had the game-winning layup as time expired in Saturday’s win over North Carolina A&T. “We’re developing that trust to know, this guy has my baseline, this guy has my gap. That’s definitely showing on the court. I’m proud of our guys for the growth that we’ve had, but there’s still a lot of things that we have to hone in on.”
Drexel is sub-300th in the country in Division I experience, according to KenPom. This is a team that had nine guys return from a year ago, some of whom did not play significant minutes. Add in a few transfers that didn’t come from the Division I level in center Martin de LaPorterie, who came to Drexel via the junior ccollege route, and one from a Division III school in Eli Beard, and by the numbers, the Dragons appear to be lacking in that department. However, don’t let those figures fool you. Spiker knows his team has more experience and seasoning than what the metrics say.
“We have more veteran voices than what may appear on paper,” he said. “Garfield Turner has seen a few things. Shane Blakeney has been around for a little bit. Victor Panov is a veteran player. The guys embrace the process. We had a hard start to conference play. Let’s stick with it, keep going and stay focused.”
Blakeney draws the opponent’s toughest assignment routinely. Spiker lauds his defensive prowess, and thinks he has all-CAA potential on that end. However, Blakeney will be the first to tell you that he can’t do it alone.
“It’s on our first five guys as much as it is with me,” he said. “If one of us falls short, the other team could get going. As far as defense in general, we’re taking more pride in guarding, knowing the scouting report, and focusing on that each and every possession, but we’re not finishing possessions the way we want to.”
Finishing possessions, and games for that matter, is a point of emphasis for this Drexel team. Drexel has three losses this year, and two in CAA play by three points or less. A possession here, a possession there, and this could be a team with a better record than it has right now.
“You take the American game, Hofstra game, and Towson game, we’re 15-8 right now,” Chavis said. “Three possessions, and we could be 15-8. That’s how fragile it is. But this group is still hungry to learn and get better. They haven’t packed it in and said we know everything, we’re the best that we can be. That’s where you want to be in February."
Drexel will get two more opportunities this week at Campbell and Elon to keep improving, keep finishing, and keep going by their process as the season’s most critical juncture approaches.
“The learning curve is still there, and we have a lot to improve on,” said Chavis. “But it’s a really rewarding thing when you have a group that cares more about the outcome of the game more than their individual accolades.”
Kevin Willard quote book: Seton Hall
On Malachi Palmer:
“Yeah, I mean, Malachi, he’s been…it’s the reason I wanted him to come here. We saw this a lot starting to develop last year, and he works hard and he’s been practicing great. Him and Matty have been working hard against each other, and I think that’s really helped both of them play at a high level. He’s come in, and I think defensively, he’s playing really well. I know offensively, everybody looks at him, but I think defensively, he gave us a huge lift.”
On Villanova’s run to end the first half:
“Anytime you can get on a run going into halftime against a really good defensive team, it’s important.”
On matching up against Seton Hall:
“I think the biggest thing for us, Jer, is the way we play pick-and-roll coverage. We’re okay with Budd (Clark) shooting jumpers. Our whole game plan was to pretty much take away A.J. (Staton-McCray) and (Tajuan) Simpkins. I thought Simpkins, I thought he’s been a difference maker for them over the last two games, so for us, it’s you have to take away something. You know it’s gonna be a struggle to score, but we’re okay with Budd shooting twos and those guys not going off, because I think A.J. coming off those downscreens is really tough, and I think when Simpkins gets going down to his left hand, he creates, he puts a lot more pressure, gets fouled, gets to the free throw line. So for us, it was like, it also helps us stay at home and rebound by (Clark) taking jump shots. That’s where we’ve struggled a little bit, and I thought I was really proud in the first half. We only gave up two offensive rebounds.”
On Villanova’s rebounding:
“I think that was really the game plan. We talked about transition defense, keeping Budd out of transition, and I think we gave up 16 offensive rebounds in the first game. I love what (Palmer) just said, but it also helps that he rebounds. Whenever he rebounds, he plays well, too. Let’s not forget about it, too. I love the fact you’re doing that, but you’re also rebounding the basketball, which is phenomenal.”
On a comfort level with his depth and rotation:
“The only person I’ve gotta get back into the rotation a little bit more is Chris Jeffrey, just because I think he’s been a difference maker in practice for us right now. He’s changed the level of how we’re practicing just because we have bodies. I’ve just gotta get him back out there and get him a little bit more comfortable because he just gives us a different dimension at the guard spot, just defensively. But yeah, I’m pretty comfortable. I’ve got confidence in all these guys. They all put the work in, so I have confidence in them. We don’t have one guy…(Tyler Perkins is) a little bit of a pain in the ass because he probably works too much. His processor gets burnt out a little bit at times, but I’ve got a lot of confidence in them.”
On his second unit playing together:
“I don’t look at it as reserves or starters. I think that the second unit has really practiced at a very high level. You’re starting to see Braden take a nice little jump, Malachi, all these guys. And I think Chris has really helped them because I’ve had to keep switching Dev and teams, and there was just no consistency. I think right now, we have a lot of consistency in practice, and that’s helping us on the offensive and defensive ends.”
On similarities between Tyler Perkins and Josh Hart:
“Oh, absolutely. I mean, that’s about as big a compliment as I could give, because Josh kicked my ass for four years. Three games a year, I got it from Josh, so absolutely. I think as (Perkins) evolves as a player and realizes…one of the things I loved about Josh is he affected the game at every level and never made a mistake. He was okay not touching the ball for eight, nine possessions. He knew, ‘alright, I’ve got Jalen (Brunson) out here, I’ve got Mikal (Bridges).’ No wonder why I lost so much! But once (Perkins) realizes it’s okay not to touch the ball a little bit, and he can still affect the game at an unbelievable level, that’s what made Josh a pro. Josh affected the game without having to score. But he found ways to score, he found ways to shut down the best defender, the best offensive guy. (Perkins is) starting to figure that out. So yes, that’s about as big a compliment as I can give to somebody, because Josh was not only a phenomenal person — which Tyler is — but just a winner. And Tyler’s a winner.”
On satisfaction with where his team is at:
“Nothing. We’ve got a lot of work to do. February’s not a time to be satisfied, February’s not a time to be…you should be looking at your team right now in February and saying, what do I need to improve? What do I need to fix, what do we have to do? Like, I have to fix our offense a little bit. I’m not satisfied with anything.”
On Seton Hall:
“I love this Seton Hall team. It’s Sha personified. They’re as tough as you can play against, they’re the toughest team we’ve played against all year. Michigan’s a little bit different just because Michigan’s length and athleticism was, I think, a little bit of a shocker to us when we first went against them, I don’t think we were quite ready for that. But this is Sha’s personality. I love it. They’re fun to watch. Sometimes they struggle to shoot, but they — just like Sha a little bit — they never give up. We were up 20, and we’re like, you know they’re gonna make a run. And that tells you how good of a coach he is, and how much they love playing for him.”
On coaching at Finneran Pavilion:
“Get back to me next year, Jer. I say this a lot: This is an unbelievable job. I’m blessed to be the Villanova head coach, I love it. I’m still drinking out of the fire hose, man. I love it, but I think I still have so many bad memories. Every time I walk on the court and I see that V, I get a little shiver just because I think I lost by 37 in here one year, I think it was 26 the year after that. Then, finally, Jay was nice enough to move me down to the Wells Fargo (Center). We beat him, I don’t know what he was thinking, but I’m glad he did. We finally got a W and we never came back here after that, and I kept texting him after every game, like, ‘I love you, you’re just such a nice guy to get me out of this building.’ So it’s great, man. I have a great job, so I’m blessed.”
On Jay Wright:
“I think he’s here just about…he goes right back to Naples (Florida) and plays golf. He’s got the job that we all want one day, eventually.”
“Does anybody have anymore questions? Thank you so much for all your questions!”
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Longwood pulls away down stretch to score win at Gardner-Webb
By Jacob Conley (@gwujake)
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — Gardner-Webb held its own against Longwood for long stretches Wednesday, but the visiting Lancers closed out each half well to pull away from the Runnin’ Bulldogs, 86-66.
“Gardner-Webb pushed us,” Longwood coach Ronnie Thomas said. “We knew they would. Our guys stayed focused, buckled down defensively and were able to push the lead back out.”
Longwood started the game on a 9-2 run capped on a three by Alphonzo Billups. Jacob Hogarth ended it with a drive to the basket. The Lancers then got hot from deep with three straight triples. When Billups hit another, the visitors led, 24-9.
Jamias Ferere garnered a rebound and putback and pressure led to a Colin Hawkins steal and layup for Gardner-Webb to cut the deficit to 24-16. Former Lancer DJ Jefferson followed with a three and Spence Sims hit a pair from deep. When the dust settled, GWU had erased the 15-point deficit and the game was tied at 31.
Elijah Tucker scored four in row for Longwood, and Jacoi Hutchinson converted a three-point play as the Lancers pushed their lead back to 44-35 at the half.
The Lancer run continued in the second half, as a hook shot by Tucker gave Longwood a 13-point lead. Jefferson sliced into it with a deep three and by the time he converted a three-point play, the deficit shrank to 52-48.
Elijah Kelly hit a big three for Longwood and Emanuel Richards garnered a midrange jumper. Hogarth converted a three-point play, but Tucker did the same and Hogarth picked up his fourth foul in the process.
With Hogarth out of the game, Longwood took advantage with a series of paint points that saw the lead grow to 72-58. Sims hit a three, but Johan Nziemi did the same for Longwood. The Runnin’ Bulldogs could not make a final push, falling 86-66.
OLD MAN TUCKER: Redshirt senior Elijah Tucker had a big game with 16 points and seven rebounds. The most important stat, however, may be the five fouls he drew against Jacob Hogarth.
“Elijah had a good game,” Thomas said. “But nobody really stood out above the rest. That’s what I want to see. We shared the basketball all game long.”
GWU head coach Jeremy Luther has a different opinion.
“Elijah Tucker was the difference in the game tonight,” he said. “He is probably the best big man in the Big South. Jacob Hogarth is the only guy on our team that could match him. When he got in foul trouble and had to come out, you saw what happened.”
SHOWING SOME FIGHT: Gardner-Webb lost to Longwood by 35 (91-56) in Farmville earlier this season, but this game was much more competitive.
“The final score was not indicative of how close the game really was,” Luther said. “It was four points with around eight minutes left. The difference was, tonight we competed and we played hard. That doesn’t mean everybody played well, but everybody played with effort. I am proud of that. Jamias Ferere really stood out (16 points). He got the start and had a tremendous game. The wins and losses almost don’t matter at this point. Would we like to get a few more wins to sneak up to sixth or seventh? Yes, of course. But just give me effort and compete and I can live with the results, win or lose.”
UP NEXT: Gardner-Webb (3-21) will travel to Clinton, South Carolina to face Presbyterian on Saturday, while Longwood (13-12) will take on a challenge on the road at Big South-leading Winthrop the same afternoon. Both tips are set for 2 p.m.
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