1. Well, another game where we just couldn’t put away a pesky mid major team. Rutgers just had no offensive flow tonight, between the aggressive man defense and the occasional 3-2 zone that really made us tentative. We got the lead to 53-40 but then a few lazy passes led to TOs and the lead crumbled to 55-53. Credit to the team for battling back and then finally making plays to push the lead back up.
2. Big props to Dylan Grant for leading the way with 28 points, his career high. Grant looks way more athletic and explosive this year, and he’s getting his points mostly from getting down hill and on FTs. He shot 9-15 overall (1-1 from deep) and was 9-10 at the line.
3. Absolutely fabulous night from the center spot. Ogbole had a DOUBLE DOUBLE with 15 points (7-8) and 10 rebounds, plus 2 nice assists, while Dortch had 7 points (3-3) and 2 rebounds. I could argue that Ogbole was the MVP of the 2nd half because of his offensive rebounds and putbacks that helped us extend the lead despite an off shooting night from outside. There’s no need to question whether Manny’s improved play this year will translate to playing better competition — it’s clear that he has improved and can be relied on to be at least solid.
4. Mixed results from our starting backcourt. JMike was good with 14 points (4-7, 1-2, 5-6 FTs), 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, but although he plays good on-ball defense, he still got beat several times on dribble drives off of high picks. Francis had a bad night period, with just 4 points on 2-7 FG (0-2 threes, ending his streak of 47 straight games with a made three). He did have 6 rebounds and led the team with 4 assists.
5. Pike is much maligned for his rotations during games, but he pushed the right buttons tonight. For example, he sat Francis for a long stretch of the 2nd half, essentially playing Buchanan as the SG, as Francis was struggling. He played Nwuli for a long stretch in the 2nd half to guard that pesky guard Whitlock, who was consistently beating JMike. And he rode Ogbole longer than usual because Manny was crashing the boards and playing rock solid defense in the paint.
6. As a team, we shot better tonight overall at 31-61 (50.8%), but we struggled from deep at just 3-13 (21%). We were a bit better from the foul line at 19-27 (70.4%), with JMike (4-4) and Grant (2-3) combining to go 6-7 in crunch time to lock down the win.
7. We also dominated on the glass, outrebounding Lehigh 45-26, including 14-7 on the offensive glass. BIG shout out to Manny here with all 5 of his offensive rebounds in the 2nd half, when we needed them the most.
8. I didn’t love the defense tonight, giving up 72 points in a nail biter against the 294th KenPom team. Perimeter defense was a problem, as we allowed 9-25 (36%) on threes. And we also struggled with dribble drive off of the multiple high picks. Overall, Lehigh shot 26-61 (42.6%).
9. The freshmen had a spotty night to be kind. Badalau with just 5 points (but 3 assists), but Zrno (0-5, 0-4) and Mark (0-3, 0-1) combined to go 0-8 from the field, including 0-5 from deep. Nwuli did have 5 points in 12 minutes, including a 3-pointer.
2. Big props to Dylan Grant for leading the way with 28 points, his career high. Grant looks way more athletic and explosive this year, and he’s getting his points mostly from getting down hill and on FTs. He shot 9-15 overall (1-1 from deep) and was 9-10 at the line.
3. Absolutely fabulous night from the center spot. Ogbole had a DOUBLE DOUBLE with 15 points (7-8) and 10 rebounds, plus 2 nice assists, while Dortch had 7 points (3-3) and 2 rebounds. I could argue that Ogbole was the MVP of the 2nd half because of his offensive rebounds and putbacks that helped us extend the lead despite an off shooting night from outside. There’s no need to question whether Manny’s improved play this year will translate to playing better competition — it’s clear that he has improved and can be relied on to be at least solid.
4. Mixed results from our starting backcourt. JMike was good with 14 points (4-7, 1-2, 5-6 FTs), 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, but although he plays good on-ball defense, he still got beat several times on dribble drives off of high picks. Francis had a bad night period, with just 4 points on 2-7 FG (0-2 threes, ending his streak of 47 straight games with a made three). He did have 6 rebounds and led the team with 4 assists.
5. Pike is much maligned for his rotations during games, but he pushed the right buttons tonight. For example, he sat Francis for a long stretch of the 2nd half, essentially playing Buchanan as the SG, as Francis was struggling. He played Nwuli for a long stretch in the 2nd half to guard that pesky guard Whitlock, who was consistently beating JMike. And he rode Ogbole longer than usual because Manny was crashing the boards and playing rock solid defense in the paint.
6. As a team, we shot better tonight overall at 31-61 (50.8%), but we struggled from deep at just 3-13 (21%). We were a bit better from the foul line at 19-27 (70.4%), with JMike (4-4) and Grant (2-3) combining to go 6-7 in crunch time to lock down the win.
7. We also dominated on the glass, outrebounding Lehigh 45-26, including 14-7 on the offensive glass. BIG shout out to Manny here with all 5 of his offensive rebounds in the 2nd half, when we needed them the most.
8. I didn’t love the defense tonight, giving up 72 points in a nail biter against the 294th KenPom team. Perimeter defense was a problem, as we allowed 9-25 (36%) on threes. And we also struggled with dribble drive off of the multiple high picks. Overall, Lehigh shot 26-61 (42.6%).
9. The freshmen had a spotty night to be kind. Badalau with just 5 points (but 3 assists), but Zrno (0-5, 0-4) and Mark (0-3, 0-1) combined to go 0-8 from the field, including 0-5 from deep. Nwuli did have 5 points in 12 minutes, including a 3-pointer.
