MBB rolls over JMU 84-65

[mat1992 2,231]

https://towsontigers.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2021-22/james-madison/boxscore/23394

Charles Thompson scored 22 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, while Terry Nolan added 21 points and dished out four assists to lead Towson to an 85-64 win over JMU on Wednesday night in front of 3,000+ at SECU Arena.

Towson controlled the game throughout save for the mid-way part in the second half, when the Dukes cut the lead to three points with 7:48 left (62-59) and after a media timeout, the Tigers went on a 16-2 run to put the game way.

The Tigers shot 10-of-31 from three-point range (32.3%) and 47.7 from the field. JMU shot 43.3% from the field and 33.3% (7-21) from beyond the arc. Towson struggled at times against the Dukes' pressure, committing 15 turnovers. But they outrebounded the Dukes by 20 and forced 14 turnovers.

 

[TSU88 1,070]

Where to start? 1st, it was a late arriving crowd, but worth the wait. How awesome was it to have a raucous crowd. The atmosphere was really charged.

Terry Nolan was on fire 🔥 in the 1st half. When he had to sit down with his 3rd foul is when JMU started it’s run. We are palpably better with Nolan in the lineup.

I admit it’s been awhile since I saw Benimon play, but I’m not sure I’ve seen a more dominant performance on both ends of the court then Charles Thompson tonight.

Great to see Cam unmasked. Even when he struggles with his shot, he still makes major contributions. His feel for the game/basketball IQ is something to behold. Love his passing. When we move the ball crisply, we are so much more efficient.

Ok, so I think we’re officially in 1st place, at least until tomorrow night. C’mon Drexel. Let’s go Dragons 🐉!!!

 

 

[TuTigers2012 1,061]

4 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

Where to start? 1st, it was a late arriving crowd, but worth the wait. How awesome was it to have a raucous crowd. The atmosphere was really charged.

Terry Nolan was on fire 🔥 in the 1st half. When he had to sit down with his 3rd foul is when JMU started it’s run. We are palpably better with Nolan in the lineup.

I admit it’s been awhile since I saw Benimon play, but I’m not sure I’ve seen a more dominant performance on both ends of the court then Charles Thompson tonight.

Great to see Cam unmasked. Even when he struggles with his shot, he still makes major contributions. His feel for the game/basketball IQ is something to behold. Love his passing. When we move the ball crisply, we are so much more efficient.

Ok, so I think we’re officially in 1st place, at least until tomorrow night. C’mon Drexel. Let’s go Dragons 🐉!!!

 

 

Pretty solid game Minus the minute stretch in the second half. go dragons!!

[mat1992 2,231]

Comments from Terry Nolan

It was amazing to have a Senior Night back at home. Something you dream about. It showed out tonight. It was amazing."

On whether there will be another Senior Night

"This is my last Senior Night."

Mindset

It's about winning. Focus by every four minutes. Just win. We need to win out.

On passing

"It's always good to be positive. They played a 1-2-2. Defense helped our assist-to-turnover ratio.

On CT

It's been amazing. At the beginning of the year, he showed flashes of this. He's All-CAA in my opinion

On coming to Towson

"I don't know if you guys realize, but I was supposed to come here my freshman year. I denied Coach Skerry twice. To sum it up, I wish I would have came here for my freshman year and finished out all the way through."

Focus on one game at a time and every game is our Super Bowl. They are a good team and we have to be prepared for next Saturday. We need to communicate defend, rebound and have energy.

 

[Moleman1 43]

The Thompson & Nolan Show tonight!!!

Raucous crowd for 3,200+/-, they really got excited at times, especially with one particular slam dunk by Thompson. It was really good to watch a mask-less Holden for a change, and so glad he survived that lasso-like tackle but some Duke player; evidently an accident..

Defensively, I thought they really clamped down when needed, despite allowing a few wide open 3's. Gibby struggled some defensively. Gray didn't see much playing time, and had a quiet game. Excellent to get more PT for the Bench Bunch, and the crowd welcomed them onto the court w 45 seconds left! In some ways, we played like our mascot: we had the Dukes nailed down, but in a few instances let up off the gas. JMU would rally back but like a bored tiger who's chain gets rattled once too often, we'd wake up and go on a run. Some of the runs often included turning a defensive stop into an offensive success @ the other end..

At 22-7, this team is truly the best since the 1990 squad, even better I'd say; because MBb is at a higher level in general over the last 32 years, I'd say..

[Bay Area Tiger 347]

Followed via Live Stats.  Got worried when lead was cut to 3 of course.  

We were 12-14 from the line.  Huge component to our success in DC.. foul shots are key rest of the way. 

Charles with 22 and 17…. 12 shots tonight.   We shot from 3 awful in the second half where we were 2-12 at one point and CT only had 8 shot attempts.  Feed the big man. 
Nolan..  huge!

Cam adjusting and will be fine..  when he’s not making shots he does so much else for us.  Swiss Army Knife.  Tough to beat a team 3 times let alone twice.  Let this next game be our last with JMU please. 

Edited February 24, 2022 by Bay Area Tiger

[mat1992 2,231]

Charles Thompson

"We were up 15 in the second half, but we lost focus for a second. Once we snapped back into it, we took off."

On playing JMU for first time

"They were exactly what we expected. We knew what they were going to do. It is tricky playing undersized people, but I like it."

On his game and the evolution

"Everyone knows I'm capable of this. Probably mental. Once I got my first 18 or 20 points. I thought that I can replicate this. Keep it going."

On tonight's game and rebounding

"My best attributes are energy and hard play. I want to get rebounds and block shots. Not really worried about points."

On 20-20

"I was trying to get as many boards as I can. I didn't realize I had 17 boards."

We need to play the way we played all year. If we don't get into our own heads, we'll be fine.

I've always been confident. It's about the level of shots I've taken. Once I realized that I can get my going on offense, there's a certain rhythm to it. Everyone believes in me. It's a great confidence-boost.

 

[mat1992 2,231]

Pat Skerry

"Mark (Byington) is a terrific coach. We worked together at Charleston. I knew they would come back. We just did enough. Awesome environment. It was rocking in here. Terry played at a real high level. Charles. We did a good job on Morse. Just a good team win. Not easy team to play with the zone and they could beat you off the dribble. It's a hard team to prepare for."

On timeout after being up 3

"Execute. I didn't yell at any players tonight. I took it on my staff tonight and had to yell at somebody. You worry about the emotion, the crowd, the family. Playing the right away. It's hard. You're dealing with younger guys. Got down to 3, Couple of bad turnovers. Parfait suggested we run "special" and got two layups out of it. Good interior passing. Music starts going "Jump around" and they started to get going. Just need to find ways to win at this late in the season."

On losing focus and shooting too many 3s

"We took too many threes. Nine of our first 12 shots were threes. You have to take some because it's a zone and we're making them. I was imploring them not to settle. We were playing into JMU's hands. We don't give ourselves to rebound...they make you pay in the open court with their IQ. That's what they do to you."

On CT

"Every practice and workout. He just plays harder than everybody else. I have a couple of young guys I like. I ask them why does he play harder than you? He just plays harder. He's the best. It's every day with him."

"Me getting off his ass. Leaving him alone and just letting him play. He's a good leader. We should throw him the ball more. Holden is a terrific passer, as is Terry. He's playing at a real high level."

"It's big for us because it gives an inside-outside balance. He was outplaying this kid that was going to Wake Forest. He ran up the court holding his eye after he got an elbow (at the Eastern Invitational). Need him to be more vocal. He's a great example-setter."

On Cam Holden and mask

"He had a 7:45am appointment. I was like, we couldn't do that later? We have a game and we can't let the guy sleep? But they cleared him and I didn't think it would happen. He's relieved. We need him. He just plays so hard."

On season

"Ultimately you get judged on three games at this level. I think there are three or four teams that could win a game in the (NCAA) Tournament. These guys have persevered through some tough situations, whether it was a birth or death. Just sticking together. I appreciate it. We had an 18-win improvement. They are all D-1 games. We have 10 road wins. We don't buy games. I know how you judged. I would appreciate coaching these guys forever. They are the best guys to be around."

On need to improve

"We have to take care of the ball. Credit to Madison, we got inconsistent defensively. A little three-happy. It's not always the best team that wins; it's the best 40 minutes. Tough game on Saturday. We have to coach them a little bit better."

On CT again (a lot of questions about him) Played 36 minutes

"How does that guy play so many minutes? Because you have to hedge, rim run. Big men have to run more than guards. Guards have it easy. He just does it all the time."

On Seniors

"Great walk-ons. What we decided to do with Senior Night, other than Juwan (Gray), who has been here about as long as me. Everyone else can come back, but we decided that if a guy is going to graduate, we would recognize him academically. Nick also could have done it, but he didn't want to participate. Everything else, we'll deal with it after the season."

[mat1992 2,231]

https://towsontigers.com/news/2022/2/23/mens-basketball-towson-mens-basketball-wins-on-senior-day-now-tied-for-first-place-in-caa.aspx

Ok, finally after a long time transcribing a very long press conference, let me get to my thoughts. At the moment, we broke our own record for largest turnaround in Division I. From four wins last season to 22. Just have to keep winning, but that record only means so much until we get to the CAA's. 

I thought at times in the first half, we played very well. Then we relaxed and lost focus. I don't think I've seen a Towson point guard, trying to dribble against pressure, start joking with an official and then gets picked by a JMU defender. It was odd and PS did the right thing by taking Gibby out and then put him back in about a month ago. 

Offensively, we weren't that great from the perimeter. Rizzuto, Gibson, Timberlake and Holden combined for 4-for-22 from 3-point range. But Terry Nolan. This is the player we were hoping to see from the start of the season. That's why I said we missed him against Northeastern and in that first UNCW game, that wasn't him out there. He went 8-for-11 from the field, 5-for-7 from three-point range and had four dimes with just one turnover. He was a +31 for the game. 

What else can you say about CT? Just a dominant performance and we should have gone to him more. Rebounding. Defense. Scoring and finishing with both hands. He's doing it all.

Tough night for Cam shooting-wise. Pat mentioned in the press conference that he had to get tested at 7:45am, but he did pass. I think at this point, we have enough scorers, especially now that Terry is back to form and CT is playing at an all-conference level. Cam is the jack-of-all-trades guy. We don't need the non-conference Cam to win this thing. We just need a guy who can rebound, defend, pass and basically do everything needed to win. The points are fine, but we don't need 20. So maybe he should stick to half hooks, drives and mid-range shots. The three-point shot has been rough lately. Maybe it was the mask, but as I said, we don't need him to nail 3s left and right. We did earlier in the season with Nolan in and out of the lineup, Rizzuto playing hurt, Gibson missing time, Timberlake playing up-and-down. 

I really like this team. If there were any doubts early on, this is a damn good basketball team. When most players are on or everybody is on, we're not losing to anybody in this league. When shots are not falling, you have Charles to rely on. It's a nice fall back plan to have. Have to play 1.5 more games before D.C. and give it what we have.

[mat1992 2,231]