Hawaii demolishes Cal State Fullerton behind inspiration and complete team effort

By Mark Remsa (@RUHoopsHQ)

Special to Daly Dose Of Hoops

HONOLULU — After dropping its third game in a row this past Thursday to UC San Diego and falling to seventh place in the Big West Conference standings, Hawaii looked no further than Saturday’s home game against Cal State Fullerton to stop the bleeding and to get its season back on track.

With a one-day turnaround, Hawaii (13-9, 5-6 Big West) showed no signs of fatigue as the Rainbow Warriors dominated Cal State Fullerton (6-17, 1-10 Big West) in every facet of the game, cruising to an important 82-57 conference win. The 25-point victory is Hawaii’s second largest in the history of the series, eclipsing the Rainbow Warriors’ 23-point demolition of the Titans four years ago.

After a few stoppages and a delay that lasted nearly 15 minutes due to shot clock malfunction issues at the start of the game, the Rainbow Warriors came together collectively to put on a spectacle for its fans to enjoy. Cal State Fullerton scored the first bucket of the game, but it only took Hawaii 125 seconds to regain the lead and to set the tone of the game on its terms.

“Setting the tone is great,” head coach Eran Ganot said. “I think setting the tone was an incredible byproduct of effort and incredible team play.”

In response to Cal State Fullerton’s first and only lead of the game, Rainbow Warrior guard Tom Beattie took control and fired a pass across the floor to forward Akira Jacobs, who knocked down a corner three that sent a crowd of 5,518 at the Stan Sheriff Center into a frenzy and gave Hawaii a 3-2 lead. 

“We wanted to play with intensity and aggression at the start of the game,” Hawaii forward Harry Rouhliadeff said on the importance of starting strong. “We wanted to come out with a lot of fire and energy to get this place moving.”

Little did Jacobs know that his shot was the one to fuel an astounding 27-6 run over the course of nine minutes in the first half.

Hawaii fed off the crowd’s energy for much of the game as the Rainbow Warriors drained 10 three-pointers, registered 13 second chance points, and got an incredible 42 points of production from their bench.

“When you walk into the gym and see a group of kids that are ready to attack their crafts, and then you see a support system from the fan base showing love for guys that are going through a tough time, personally I can’t thank them enough,” Ganot said. “For the fans to come into the gym tonight through the struggles we’re going through, we fought through those struggles, and it meant a lot to them.”

Hawaii saw ten of its players register points in the game, including four scoring in double figures. Beattie, who had struggled scoring in his four previous games, gave the Rainbow Warriors a breakthrough performance, finishing with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting and a team-high five assists.

“Part of his leadership was setting the tone tonight,” Ganot said. “He was strong with the ball. He was strong at the rim. He was really good defensively as well and has been. Remember, he’s a sophomore captain, and he wants it so bad. I’m just so happy for him to have a breakthrough. You could feel his leadership on the bench. It’s not easy being a sophomore captain, but this performance will help him going forward. He’s such a great kid and a great young man.”

The Rainbow Warriors not only played well on the offensive end, but also played stout defense, forcing the Titans into making numerous mistakes and countless off-balance shots. Hawaii held Cal State Fullerton to 19-of-52 shooting from the field and 4-of-17 from three-point range. Unlike Thursday night when Hawaii lost the battle of the boards to UC San Diego, the Rainbow Warriors crashed the boards, controlled the glass, and won the rebounding battle decisively, 47-32. Rouhliadeff proved to be one of the key difference makers on the defensive end for Hawaii as the native Australian pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds, disrupted shots in the post and had a key block towards the end of the first half that led to transition points for the Rainbow Warriors to extend their lead.

“We don’t have any three-year guys, and (Rouhliadeff) is a leader in our program,” Ganot said. “He’s kind of gone from being the example of where you earn credibility to where your words mean more. You could hear him. You feel his presence. He’s really been coming on.”

Last night’s win was not just an important victory to help Hawaii potentially turn its season around, but it was an emotional game for veteran leader Marcus Greene and one that was inspirational to his teammates. In anticipation of Coaches vs. Cancer week, Hawaii shared a video on the large screen in the arena prior to the game of Greene’s personal account of his battle with cancer as a child and how he overcame it. Greene went on to have a spectacular game, as he scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and two steals.

“It’s very inspiring,” Ganot said. “Marcus is an inspiration to himself, to his teammates, to this staff, to everybody. When I went to see him for the first time on the road, we built a great relationship, and he briefly mentioned to me he overcame a struggle. I had to ask him, ‘Wait, what? Did you just tell me you overcame cancer?’ Just listening to his story and getting to know him, he’s an incredible inspiration.”

Beattie added, “The video Marcus did was special. When he told us in the locker room, it nearly brought him to tears and nearly brought us to tears. Hearing his story and the way he told it just makes us grateful to be here and to be able to play this sport. I love Marcus. He’s the guy in the locker room that lights up everyone whenever you see him.”

Hawaii will hit the road this week as the Rainbow Warriors will battle Cal Poly (8-15, 2-9 Big West) on Thursday (ESPN+, 10 PM ET), and then round out their road trip with a high-stakes game against UC Santa Barbara (14-8, 6-5 Big West) on Saturday (ESPN+, 10 PM ET). Cal State Fullerton returns to action on Thursday, as the Titans travel to face a surging Cal State Northridge (15-7, 7-4 Big West) program (ESPN+, 10 PM ET).

Sacred Heart wins third straight as Hill, Conner shine

By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — After falling to Quinnipiac in an early-season conference game in December, Amiri Stewart assured one thing to Sacred Heart and MAAC fans.

“I think we’re going to shock a lot of people,” he said after a weekend in which the Pioneers blew out Iona by 24 and played the league favorite Bobcats down to the wire in Hamden.

Optimism was certainly there for the team picked last in the preseason poll, but would that optimism turn into consistent success?

Well, fast forward nearly two months from then to today. Behind a late dagger from Mekhi Conner and a career-high 24 points from Anquan Hill, Sacred Heart defeated Manhattan, 74-72, scoring its third consecutive win and pushing its record in MAAC play to an even 5-5.

“I think we won that game defensively. I didn't know we had that in us,” head coach Anthony Latina said. “I thought we were going to have to score somewhere in the eighties to have any chance to win.”

After dropping four straight games in mid-January, it’s been full steam ahead for Latina and his team. They swept their first-ever Western New York trip last weekend with wins at Canisius and Niagara, and followed that up Sunday by beating a Jaspers squad that came into the day a half-game ahead of the Pioneers in the standings.

“They’re surging, they’re playing great, they’re explosive, they’re well coached,” Latina said, praising Manhattan. “Huge win for us, we’re thrilled.”

Usually when teams go on winning streaks or runs, the main point of emphasis is the man running the show. For Sacred Heart, that’s Conner. The freshman point guard, who Latina claimed “isn’t a freshman anymore,” has broken out over the past few weeks, coinciding with the Pioneers’ success.

“He’s playing with such poise and the game is really slowing down for him,” Latina added. “It’s making such a big difference.”

“They hold me accountable on every little thing, even one little turnover and he’s getting on me,” Conner said. “I take that seriously and appreciate that honor.”

On Sunday, Conner broke a tie, drilling a three-pointer with 18 seconds left to give the Pioneers the lead for good. He also registered 14 assists. For most freshmen, you’d imagine it’d be their career-high. Not Conner, who dished out 16 helpers in the win over Canisius last weekend. In fact, during Sacred Heart’s three-game win streak, he’s averaging 13 assists a night.

“That’s my favorite thing. It’s what I’m here to do,” Conner said. “Playmaking just makes everyone else better. It’s what I love to do and feel like I was born to do.”

One guy Conner found all night was Hill. The former FDU and St. Bonaventure forward has had an up-and-down start to his Sacred Heart career, but had by far his best game of the year Sunday, dropping 24 points to go along with 10 rebounds.

“Playing with Anquan is fun,” Conner said. “He can shoot it, he can post up, so playing with him is great. Him knocking down shots today helped us come down with the win.”

“I just got comfortable early and let the game come to me,” Hill said. “I got to make a couple shots, get into a little rhythm, and it felt great getting a career high.”

Hill knocked down four of the Pioneers’ 13 triples in the game and has now knocked down multiple threes in four straight. Freshman guard Nyle Ralph-Beyer also hit four and scored 16 big points off the bench. With some inconsistent shooting nights from Tanner Thomas (4-for-16 from the field, 1-of-9 from deep) and Griffin Barrouk (1-of-7 from the field, all threes), having a boost from the bench was pivotal for Latina and Sacred Heart.

“After Buffalo, he’s got his confidence back,” Latina said of Ralph-Beyer. “If Nyle can continue to do that, our rotation is really starting to come together.”

The Pioneers expanded their lead to as high as 13 early in the second half after coming out of the locker room with assertion. That lead slowly dwindled down to eventually tied after Manhattan point guard Jaden Winston buried a three to knot things at 69. From there, Barrouk and Devin Dinkins, who had a Jasper high 24 off the bench, traded free throws to make it 71-all. Then Conner buried the winning shot and, even with a couple of chances due to some missed Sacred Heart foul shots, Manhattan wasn’t able to complete its comeback.

The win was an important one for Sacred Heart, as all conference wins are, but it was especially a memorable one for Latina. The longtime head man at the Pitt Center picked up his 150th career victory Sunday, something that was extra special for his players.

“He sacrifices a lot for us, he thinks a lot about us as well,” Hill said. “I’m happy for him to get that 150, hopefully he can get to 200 soon as well.”

Sacred Heart will look to extend its winning streak to four on Thursday when the Pioneers play host to Rider before making one of the shortest road trips in the country to take on Fairfield Saturday.

What went wrong in Quinnipiac’s second-half implosion at Siena

Quinnipiac looks for a path to basket as Bobcats squandered first-half lead Sunday at Siena. (Photo by Quinnipiac Athletics)

By Ethan Hurwitz (@HurwitzSports)

ALBANY, N.Y. — Quinnipiac head coach Tom Pecora walked out of his locker room for his postgame media availability and was blunt about his team’s second half performance. 

“We just got outworked,” Pecora said following the Bobcats’ 84-75 loss to Siena Sunday afternoon. “I think we were in a comfort zone at half, we thought they were gonna lay down because we handled them so well, and we played like an immature team in the second half, which is hard to believe with the number of veterans we have on the floor.”

It was truly a game of two halves for the Bobcats. The first one had junior forward Amarri Monroe having his way with the Saints’ defense. He had 18 points through the first 20 minutes and was looking like he would surpass a career-high set just two days ago. Instead, the second half saw Gerry McNamara’s squad rattle off a 25-6 run to upset the MAAC co-leaderBobcats. The nine-point win snapped Quinnipiac’s six-game winning streak and helped Siena pull closer into the thick of the conference standings.

Monroe was held to just 10 points in the second half, to which Pecora cited Siena’s defense as the main cause of his late-game struggles. His 28 total points did, in fact, set a personal best, but 10 of those came from the free throw line.

The full-court press, which started to come once the Saints chopped into the lead, stuffed the Bobcats right from the get-go. The effort level needed to just cross midcourt had to be ramped up, and the only ramping up came from Siena’s freshman guard, Gavin Doty. 

After being a question mark coming into the game—he drew a charge and hit his head hard against Marist on Friday—Doty had 19 points and added a game-high four steals in the winning effort. 

“You always prepare if he’s going to play, and Doty’s a tough (kid), he just beats you on effort,” Pecora said. “He just played harder than anybody we had on the floor today. And I told them before the game, he's the kind of guy that will embarrass you. He was outstanding. And I was surprised, quite honestly, to see him out there after I saw the fall he took Friday, but God bless him, you know? He’s tough as nails.”

So what went wrong? For the Bobcats, the 19 turnovers—the most since they had 18 in their January 12 come-from-behind win at Iona—put the offense behind the 8-ball more possessions than not. Bad three-point shooting limited Quinnipiac to an interior game, and graduate guard Savion Lewis struggled to facilitate an offense that had been clicking the better part of two months. 

“Today was a down day (for Lewis),” Pecora said. “He turned the ball over. He made some bad decisions for a veteran, and that can’t be the case.” 

With under three minutes to play, Quinnipiac broke out a press defense. But it was too late at that point, as the MVP Arena crowd had taken control of the game and the Bobcats’ offense still struggled to muster up anything more than a free throw opportunity. 

“(They) took away a lot of primary stuff,” Pecora said. “We missed eight layups. We missed eight free throws, I think. And if you turn the ball over that much, you’re not beating anybody if you do that.”

The 55 second-half points that the Bobcats allowed was more than the Saints had scored in the teams’ first matchup, and the most allowed by Quinnipiac since St. John’s scored 61 points in the second half on November 9. Now the out-of-conference game against a Big East contender was expected, but against a scuffling Siena team, it was surprising to see the Bobcats lay down like that.

“If we learn from this, we’re going to become a much better team,” Pecora said. “But you gotta look in the mirror and you gotta say, “all right, what did we not do?’”

Pecora made note that a step in the wrong direction in February is better than in the conference tournament.

“The tournament is a whole separate piece,” he said. “Right now is just about us being mature enough to understand what we didn’t do well, and then how we’re going to fix it and how we’re going to move forward with it.”

Despite close loss to Vermont, Maine still trending positively under Markwood

By Ray Curren (@rjcurren.bsky.social)

BURLINGTON, Vt. — There was a time in the not-so-distant past of Maine basketball when a 55-49 loss at Patrick Gym would be cause for plenty of positivity, if not celebration.

Saturday’s heartbreaker that was tied in the final minute was the 28th straight loss for Maine to America East rival Vermont, dating back to 2013. Most have not been close. 

Vermont has won eight straight regular season conference titles (although a ninth seems unlikely). Maine has never won a regular season conference championship, not even in the old Yankee Conference in the 1960s. The Black Bears have played seven decades in Division I now and haven’t seen the NCAA Tournament.

It’s no wonder Maine ranks among the toughest Division I coaching positions. Orono, Maine is among the most remote schools in the land, and being in the northeast, there are dozens of other choices for potential recruits and most have won more games in the last two decades.

Third-year head coach Chris Markwood doesn’t want to hear any of that crap, of course, and with good reason. He’s from Maine, played at UMaine, was an assistant at UMaine. His wife is also a Mainer, played for UMaine, and was even Miss Maine (as well as a finalist in Survivor a few years back).

Markwood also knows, despite what its flagship university has accomplished, Maine is a basketball state with one of the most competitive and best supported high school championships in the country, which some kid who will likely be the top pick in the NBA Draft competed in before heading to prep school and now Duke.

Markwood was an assistant on the last Maine teams to have a legitimate shot at the NCAA Tournament in 2010 and 2011 under mentor Ted Woodward (who now works for UConn). Those were also the last Maine teams to have winning records in the America East, the nine seasons before Markwood arrived saw the Black Bears go 21-85 in conference, and let’s face it, the America East is not exactly the Big East.

In his first season, 2022-23, Markwood got two Canadian guards to come to Maine, Kellen Tynes (who had previously been at Montana State) and Jaden Clayton. The Black Bears finished 13-17, 7-9 in America East play. Not great, but certainly improved. Last season, Markwood added Quion Burns from LIU and A.J. Lopez from conference rival New Hampshire, and had a great non-conference (including a win at South Florida) before its offense stumbled in conference play. The Black Bears—who finished eighth of nine teams in offensive efficiency—still finished strong and ended 15-17, 7-9 in conference.

This season, Markwood added sharpshooter Christopher Mantis from Appalachian State and 6-foot-10 Killian Gribben from Siena (to go with much improved 6-foot-10 Keelan Steele, who has been in Orono since Markwood arrived). The result has been the best season Maine has seen in at least 15 years and a six-game conference win streak coming into Saturday afternoon. Even with the loss, Maine remains one game ahead of Vermont for second in the America East at 6-2 (Bryant, which destroyed Maine 81-55 in the conference opener last month, is 8-0).

“There’s still a lot of basketball to go in this season, but we’ve built around the people,” Markwood said. “I wanted to hire a really good staff that I trust. We’re going to embrace Maine. I know people look at it as one of the toughest jobs, but I think there’s great potential here. I know the national narrative, but I think it’s very similar to Vermont and look where they are. It takes the right group of guys to buy in and get the thing rolling a little. That’s what we’re trying to do. I love the guys in our locker room. They want to put Maine on the map.”

The Black Bears, whose last winning record overall was 2009-10, sit at 14-9 overall, and No. 196 in KenPom. The last Maine team to finish higher than 200 was 2002-03, in Dr. John Giannini’s last season in Orono before going to La Salle.

No one is happier for Markwood’s success than his old mentor, John Becker. After leaving Maine in 2011, Markwood spent a formative three years in Burlington with Vermont before going to Northeastern and finally Boston College. Becker is not surprised Maine is now successful, he just doesn’t want them too successful while playing Vermont.

“I hate this game sometimes,” Becker said. “Chris is a dear, dear friend. I saw his wife and kids in the crowd. We caught up last night. I’m so proud of him. He’s a better man than he is a coach. He’s done an incredible job with that group. When we worked for me, he recruited guys like (former Vermont point guard) Trae Bell-Haynes (currently playing in Spain). He has an unbelievable eye for talent. We talked a lot when we got the job at Maine and he’s building it the right way, taking his time, bringing in good kids.”

Saturday’s game did show what Maine will need to take the next step to finally break its NCAA Tournament drought. Vermont is wounded and has sometimes looked like a shell of its former self this season, but is proud and can still defend with anyone. The Black Bears found it hard to get good looks and finished at 0.83 points per possession, which would have been much lower if it weren’t for Mantis’ 4 three-pointers. They got to the free throw line just seven times (all by Burns) and managed just five offensive rebounds (three by the 6-foot-1 Burns).

For the season, Maine is 272nd offensively nationally (better than the 310th last season) and struggles mightily getting to the free throw line (327th) and offensive rebounding (353rd).

“We knew today was going to be a rockfight,” Markwood said. “This was a short prep game, we played Thursday. We played a lot more zone today than we traditionally play. Our offense has shown signs of being good, we’ve scored 80 in four of our first five in conference play. We faced a really good defensive team today.”

But the Black Bears can certainly turn defense into offense. They are currently the most efficient defense in the America East and do it with aggressiveness, 15th in forcing turnovers (22.2 percent) led by Tynes (whom Becker says, “seems to be everywhere”), who is sixth nationally in steals. Maine played mostly zone Saturday, but has mixed things up against better shooting teams.

They will be a longshot to knock off Bryant this season (and will likely have to do it in March on the road in the America East Tournament). But there doesn’t seem to be much doubt that Maine’s time may be coming. And the only problem at that point might be trying to keep Maine native Chris Markwood from following Cooper Flagg to the riches of BCS world.

“We’ve done some good things up to this point, but you have to keep going,” Markwood said.

UConn’s desperation sparks hot start, carries Huskies to finish line at Marquette

Solo Ball reacts after one of seven 3-pointers as UConn overcame 25 turnovers to defeat Marquette in first of three-game gauntlet to open February. (Photo by UConn Men’s Basketball)

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Just over three minutes into the second half of UConn’s Saturday night clash with Marquette, Dan Hurley had a defiant, yet passionate question to his team during a timeout.

“With everything we’ve been through this year, how are they more desperate than us?” Hurley demanded, his consternation picked up by the Fox television cameras.

Marquette had cut a deficit that once stood at 22 points before the intermission to nine at that juncture, and would respond with several more rallies even after the Huskies had stemmed the aforementioned tide. But it was UConn, still without Liam McNeeley and Ahmad Nowell—and with a limited Hassan Diarra—who matched its coach’s desire just long enough to emerge from Fiserv Forum with a 77-69 victory over the ninth-ranked Golden Eagles to put an inconsistent January to rest with arguably its biggest and most resonant result in Big East play.

“You’re not coming into this place, versus that coach and this program and you’re not getting out of here clean and easy,” Hurley shared as he recounted his message during the aforementioned timeout. “They were gonna make multiple runs that we would have to respond to, and we were gonna have to hold on and make enough plays at the end of the game, too. The message is these runs are gonna keep coming, and we gotta respond.”

And respond, UConn did. In more ways than one.

Three days removed from a slow start where they trailed DePaul by double digits in the first half Wednesday, the Huskies stormed out to a 14-4 lead in the opening minutes, with three 3-pointers from Jaylin Stewart inflicting enough damage to force Marquette head coach Shaka Smart into a timeout as UConn (16-6, 8-3 Big East) started the game making 14 of its first 20 shots and six of its first eight threes.

“Those points early in the game took the crowd out of it a little bit,” Hurley said of Stewart’s torrid beginning. “Without those points and without that start, we’re not in this position. His start is a big reason why we won.”

The other major contributor was Solo Ball. On a night where Marquette’s frenetic defensive pressure rendered UConn into 25 turnovers, the Huskies needed every bit of Ball’s 25 points and 11 rebounds, the former achieved on 7-of-11 shooting. Each of the sophomore’s made baskets came from beyond the 3-point arc, one backbreaker after another in the second half when it appeared the host Golden Eagles would complete the comeback.

“He hit a big shot every time that we were able to make a run and threaten to come back,” Smart conceded. “He was huge. There’s a lot of stuff underneath that, on both ends of the floor, where we need to be better. UConn deserves a ton of credit, but obviously, our focus is on ourselves and what we can improve. We have to make them miss. That’s our job.”

“We have to have an understanding that beating Marquette is a quality win, and there’s a level of desperation that the other team has when they play us. That’s whether it’s UConn, Butler, Villanova…it doesn’t matter who it is. We talk about that a lot, but acceptance only works 100 percent. If you 75 percent accept that, that ain’t gonna work.”

Circling back to the desperation Hurley cited in the huddle, the UConn coach again called out the lack of a killer instinct among his side Saturday, even after a hard-fought win.

“There was a stretch in the second half where it was like we weren’t desperate enough or urgent enough,” he lamented. “It’s been the story of our season. These are the things that we haven’t done this year that our past teams have done. They were just way hungrier to the ball, especially in the second half. These are things that are gonna happen to us during the course of the year. I’m proud of the win, but we don’t play with that tenacity that our past teams have played with. We got bailed out by Solo having a crazy shooting night.”

“To be able to hold on and win it with the 25 turnovers, it took 60 percent shooting from the field to overcome that, and some clutch shots by this guy.”

That next game comes against a St. John’s team that is now—after UConn’s win Saturday—in sole possession of the Big East lead, and owner of a Top 5 defense in the nation. McNeeley will most likely be good to go against the Red Storm, as will Ahmad Nowell and Hassan Diarra, the latter of whom has been limited in recent games from a mobility perspective. But more importantly, the Huskies get a well-deserved and much-needed break before the Johnnies come to Gampel Pavilion on Friday, a matchup that is sure to be every bit as physical as the gauntlet from which UConn just emerged.

“For us, we gotta get Hassan healthy, and Liam will be at full strength as long as there’s no setbacks,” Hurley said. “We’ll get Nowell back too, I think, and Hassan, they gotta figure that out. We can’t afford to have him hobbling around like that. Obviously, it was a huge win for us, and now we get a chance to get healthy going into the next game. We’re looking a lot healthier.”

Princeton flushes Yale loss with commanding win over Brown

By Andrew Hefner (@Ahef_NJ)

PRINCETON, N.J. — It was a huge night for the young core of the Princeton Tigers in a big win over their Ivy League foe Brown, 69-49 at home. 

As the starting lineups were announced in front of a packed Jadwin Gymnasium crowd, a murmur spread amongst the Princeton faithful when freshman CJ Happy was announced as the fourth starter for the Tigers. Happy, a 6-foot-9 forward, replaced the consistent Philip Byriel in the lineup, who shot 0-for-6 from beyond the arc in Friday’s loss against Yale. Byriel would only play one minute in the entire contest against Brown. 

Happy made an immediate impact, assisting on a big 3-pointer for senior Blake Peters for Princeton’s second bucket of the game. The Tigers and Bears would go on to trade blows for the first part of the half, with Aaron Cooley and Lyndel Erold dropping long threes before star guard Kino Lilly, Jr. would get a few points of his own for the Bears. 

NBA Draft prospects Xaivian Lee and Caden Pierce also entered the mix with important threes of their own before Happy joined the scoring party with the triple, which was expertly set up by Lee. 

Peters, started to turn on the jets midway through the first half, taking two more fadeaway threes to give the Tigers a 14-point lead with 5:11 remaining in the half. Peters ended the frame with 11 points, leading the team, and would go on to play a season-high 35 minutes in the win. 

“You find a senior, I mean, I just ask him, ‘how are you?’ And he kind of just stares at me and doesn't blink and he says, ‘I'm fine.’” said head coach Mitch Henderson when asked about Peters’ role on the team. “This is a junior, senior-driven league and it's not a unique thing. That's what really steers things, the maturity of those guys. And he’s just like 22 going on 40, just solid. Everything about him.”

Brown would go scoreless for four minutes until, with four minutes remaining in the first half, Lilly scored three points to cut the Bears’ deficit to 11. Princeton freshman Jack Stanton also played a pivotal role in the win. He finished the game with a plus-17, the highest of any player on either side, along with six points off of two big threes. 

“Huge. I mean, Jack Stanton specifically, I say he's the Energizer bunny,” Pierce said. “He came in tonight, he's flying around and that's just a carryover from last night. We saw what he did last night when the game wasn't going our way, but I mean, everybody who came in was ready to play today and it showed. We had huge contributions from the bench and we need to keep that going forward.” 

“He breathes fire, the kid,” Henderson added. “He's just got moxie, just like pouring out of him and he's gotta play and he's just absolutely fearless.”

At halftime, the Tigers had a substantial lead of 37-23, but had yet to see big contributions from their stars. Meanwhile, Brown was being bullied on offense, but Lilly got to work out of the locker room, making two straight three-pointers to cut the lead to eight. Aaron Cooley would further the damage with two more layups to bring Princeton’s lead down to four as the Bears opened the half with a 10-0 run. 

Jackson Hicke, a sophomore for Princeton, quickly came to the Tigers’ aid as he drove to the bucket for an important layup and earned a foul on the way down for a three-point play to start rebuilding the hosts’ lead. 

“It was a really important bucket,” Henderson recalled. “They were on a big run and those were the kind of plays that deflate other teams. We've been struggling to get easy twos. So we got to the foul line tonight.”

Princeton would continue to do a good job halting Brown’s scoring, eventually allowing Lee to get hot towards the end of the game. 

“It seemed like he thought it was his best defensive game of the season, which we really needed,” Henderson said of Lee. “And I told him this before, he hasn't had many on this season, so it's important for him to have a good game like that. He was active, which we needed.”

Princeton will continue Ivy League play on Friday at Penn, and will be looking to climb its way back up the rankings after their two losses to Cornell and Yale.

Inside the Numbers: High Point at Presbyterian

 

High Point's D'Maurian Williams paced the Panthers' winning effort with 20 points Saturday. (Photo:  High Point Athletics)

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CLINTON, S.C. – One week ago – and with several days to prepare – High Point coach Alan Huss referred to Presbyterian as “complex.” This may not seem to be much of a compliment, but when somebody like Huss who is so attentive to detail – and so much of a basketball “head” – says it, the intent is clear.

So, after Huss’ Panthers made the trip to Clinton and spent 40 minutes exchanging pleasantries in an 84-72 victory, what exactly did he mean by “complex”? Let’s ask, as we go…Inside the Numbers!

“Radford a year ago ran a lot of the same stuff (as Presbyterian) that a lot of people ran years ago. A lot of the stuff they run is stuff we ran when I was playing,” Huss said. “They have new, modern wrinkles on it is probably how I’d say it. They give you a look and they try to exploit it. They went with a big-big lineup tonight and they tried to exploit those 1-4 switches, off-ball, sealing at the rim, slip you a little bit.

“You have to deal with all that and then you have to deal with a dynamic player in Mincy in on-ball actions. They’re hard. They’re hard to deal with. You don’t ever really get comfortable, because a lot of what you guard is not what you guard the rest of the season. They’re pretty good at the stuff everybody else is doing, too. The slot-ball screen stuff with Mincy is really tough to deal with, too. (Presbyterian coach Quinton Ferrell) does a good job of just picking on whatever matchup they think they can exploit. Especially when (guard) Kezza (Giffa) got into a little bit of foul trouble, I think it took the teeth out of him a little bit. You can probably say that for (forward) Kimani (Hamilton), too. It took the teeth out of what we were doing a little bit in those switches. I don’t want to make excuses. It was effective – doing what they did was effective. It was hard to deal with.”

• High Point had two unsustainable numbers Saturday. One went in its favor and the other did not. The second number got a bit of a disappointed laugh and head shake from Huss. Let’s start with that one.

Presbyterian snared a somewhat unbelievable 17 offensive rebounds, leading to 16 second-chance points. Eight of those boards came from post players Kaleb Scott and Jaylen Peterson. Huss was – as one might imagine – not enamored of that number.

“We were good and we had one bad stretch at the end of the first half,” Huss said. “They got three in two possessions. We came back to start the second half, and – more than anything, I think we’ve got to toughen up. They went big-big. It’s a give-and-take deal. Their bigger guys had a hard time guarding our thin and elusive guys on the perimeter facing them in our space. Our guys had a hard time rebounding. It was a battle of those two styles of play.

“The ones that were disappointing were the ones where we just didn’t have our hands up or it was a straight 50-50 ball and they were the aggressor. I thought they outcompeted us for probably 26 of the 40 minutes today. That’s the disappointing piece.”

“We had to really jump our guys in the first half,” Ferrell said. “We were watching guys shoot the ball and I’ve got my three and my four not crashing the glass. Why does it take us to go crazy and lose our mind to get us to do that? Why don’t we show up from the opening tap? I think that’s been some of our issues. If we had the effort we had in the second half, it’s obviously a different game. We dug ourselves – they’re really good. They don’t need a 15-point lead at the half. They don’t need any help. For us to be down 15 and cut it to one in the second half, it shows the potential of my group, but obviously to get over the hump, you’ve got to be more consistent during the 40 minutes of the game.”

• The other unsustainable number came from High Point’s first-half offensive performance. The Panthers shot 71 percent in the opening 20, and though their final shooting percentage was 60.4, mentioning the hot shooting also drew a laugh from Huss before he reflected a bit.

“I was disappointed – obviously that’s not sustainable. We all knew that,” Huss said. “The piece that was a little bit disappointing was how they (got back into the game). That’s precisely what we talked about at halftime. They’re going to turn up the heat a little bit in the half court and the full court. They’re going to put their hands on us. They’re going to be a little bit more aggressive. I just thought we had some really soft turnovers to start the (second) half that really got them going offensively. Credit to them for doing it, but it was just a little disappointing because that was the entire halftime speech. Clearly, I’ve got to improve my delivery.”

“I thought in the first half the ball stuck too much,” Ferrell said. “That was something that I really got onto my guys about. We’ve got breakdown basketball where we’ve got different things that we do, and we weren’t doing it. Whoever had the ball just kept it. Everybody else was just standing. Switching defenses can do that to you if you’re not intentional about running your offense and doing different things to combat that and attack that. I thought in the second half we were much better. That’s why we scored 41 points and we won the second half. I just thought that in the first half, we gave away a few possessions just by our own doing of not moving the ball, cutting, setting ball screens, slipping out, and doing the different things we worked on.”

• Presbyterian – yet again – fought back from a deficit and was right in the game at the under-4 break before the opponent pulled away late. The Blue Hose trailed by 15 at the half and as many as 17 in the second before working back within a single point on a late Kory Mincy triple before High Point went on to score 14 of the final 17 points in the game.

“I just thought – obviously, they’re a very talented team and they’re explosive,” Ferrell said. “You’ve just got to be very sharp (against them). I thought down the stretch in a couple of those possessions we did stuff pretty well, but they jumped up and made some big shots. I think some of our issues – we got some good looks, and Mincy had a wide-open three that would have cut it back to one. We kind of missed our opportunities down the stretch and they made theirs.”

“All in all, I just thought their ability to make plays – D’Maurian Williams made a huge three off the dribble in isolation with a late clock. Bobby Pettiford gets downhill with his left hand and gets to the rim and gets an and-one. Those are more just one-on-one plays. They’ve got guys that can shoot the crap out of it. That makes it tricky.”

“I just thought we played more inspired in the second half. I thought we competed at a higher level in the second half than we did the first half. They had a ton of points in the paint in the first half. In the second half, I thought because we competed more, we cut that almost in half.”

• Speaking of Williams, the grad student drew praise from Huss for his performance. While Ferrell called out the three in front of the Blue Hose bench, Huss dished out additional superlatives past the 20-point, 7-for-10 shooting effort.

“His actions today – he made some really big offensive plays and some really big defensive plays,” Huss said. “When we were reeling, I thought Coach Ferrell ran a great after time out play, and they sealed our 1-4 switch on the back side and had a layup. He made a terrific defensive play to get that steal when we were having a really difficult time getting stops. I thought that really steadied us. I thought that was maybe the defensive play of the game. I’m probably more proud of him about that than anything else. He makes really steadying plays. He was very efficient tonight. He’s mature and he’s very coachable.”

• Mincy and forward Jaylen Peterson both had big days for Presbyterian. Mincy led all scorers with 24, drilling 5-of-10 from deep and 3-of-4 from the line. Peterson snared 12 caroms and added eight points. They — along with forward Kobe Stewart and guard Jamahri Harvey — turned in big days for the Blue Hose.

Ferrell on Peterson:  “He’s been a guy that I’ve been high on coming into the season. This is a huge year for him and his development. He started the year being our starting four-man. When (center) Jonah Pierce went down, I had to bring him off the bench, because he and Kaleb (Scott) were my only fives. He’s done a really good job. I challenge him a lot, because I think he’s got a chance to be a special player in the Big South. Seeing what he did the other night at Winthrop and for him to carry that forward tonight for the second game in a row, I just need him to keep building on that. I think he can be a difference-maker for our program. I think he could be a Defensive Player of the Year guy when it’s all said and done.”

Ferrell on Mincy:  “Kory’s my point guard, I probably spend more time with him and Quadir Pettaway one-on-one than any other guys on my team because they play point guard. I really wanted to get Kory back to the level that I know he can play at. He’s been fine, but I know he’s got another gear to get to. I think in his last two performances he’s starting to be the guy that I expect him to be day in and day out – on both sides. For me to give you the label of a great player, you’ve got to do it on both ends. I think he’s up there in terms of the best guards in the league. I don’t think anybody does what he does on the defensive end, takes the challenge, guards guys and gets after them. He’s then able to still go on the offensive end and score the ball and get assists. He’s a guy that I think is a special player, but I think in the last two games, he’s starting to get to where I want him to get to. He wants that. I coach him hard. He’s a guy I got onto pretty hard at the half trying to spark our team. He responded to me big-time in the second half. I’m super proud of him.”

• The final point comes on the Mincy three that cut the High Point lead to one late. The three would have given the Blue Hose the lead, but a play initially called goaltending was wiped out after a monitor review during the break. Ferrell commented on the possible momentum swing after the game.

“Those situations – momentum plays are obviously a big deal,” Ferrell said. “We’ve got to control what we can control. Those things happen in games. Hopefully, they start happening to the opponent more than they happen to us.”

Both sides return to league play Wednesday night. High Point travels to Radford, Va., to take on the Highlanders in the Dedmon Center. Presbyterian remains home and welcomes nearby rival USC Upstate to the Templeton Center. Both games are set for a 7:00 (Eastern) tip, with streaming coverage available via ESPN+.

HIGH POINT 84, PRESBYTERIAN 72

HIGH POINT (19-5, 7-2)

Hamilton 5-8 6-9 17, Bodo Bodo 4-7 1-2 9, Giffa 3-7 6-6 12, Johnston 2-2 0-0 5, Williams 7-10 4-5 20, Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Benham 3-3 0-0 9, Hildebrandt 1-2 0-0 2, Pettiford 4-6 2-3 10, Thiam 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-48 19-25 84.

PRESBYTERIAN (9-15, 2-7 BIG SOUTH)

Scott 2-4 0-1 4, King 2-5 0-0 0 4, Stewart 5-19 2-2 12, Mincy 8-17 3-4 24, Harvey 4-8 6-7 17, Peterson 2-7 4-4 8, Pettaway 1-2 0-0 3, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Parrish 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-62 15-18 72.

Halftime:  High Point 46-31. 3-Point goals:  Presbyterian 9-25 (King 0-1, Stewart 0-5, Mincy 5-10, Harvey 3-7, Pettaway 1-2), High Point 7-12 (Hamilton 1-1, Giffa 0-1, Johnston 1-1, Williams 2-4, Benham 3-3, Hildebrandt 0-1, Thiam 0-1). Fouled out:  NA.  Rebounds:  High Point 33 (Bodo 9), Presbyterian 32 (Peterson 12). Total fouls:  Presbyterian 21, High Point 16. Technicals:  NA.

Points off turnovers:  Presbyterian 17, High Point 13.  Points in the paint:  High Point 40, Presbyterian 24. Second-chance points:  Presbyterian 16, High Point 9.  Fast-break points:  Presbyterian 11, High Point 9.  Bench points:  High Point 21, Presbyterian 11.