MBB overcomes slow start to upend LIU 74-64

[mat1992 2,256]

https://www.liuathletics.com/news/2022/12/2/mens-basketball-hangs-with-caa-favorite-towson-on-friday.aspx

Cam Holden scored 22 points, Nicolas Timberlake contributed 15 points and Charles Thompson added 13 points, three blocks, and 15 boards to lead Towson over LIU 74-64 on Friday night from Brooklyn. Towson (8-1) really struggled defensively in the first half against an LIU team, who was 1-5 under Rod Strickland. Their only win came against a non-Division I opponent and most of their losses were blowouts. 

Towson held LIU to 43.6% shooting, but in the first half, Towson allowed wing Marko Maletic to go off for four three-pointers and 18 points. However, Maletic was held scoreless in the second half. The Sharks also had guard Tre' Wood, a former Towson target at point guard, who went to UMass and had missed four of their five games due to injury. He struggled with his shot and was still not near 100%, but managed to get four assists and eight points as Towson struggled on the perimeter to contain him.

Ryan Conway got the start at point guard, but was replaced by sophomore Radhir Hicks, who missed the last two games with an ankle injury. Unfortunately for Hicks, he re-injured the ankle in the second half and Conway had to go most of the way. He finally got hot in the second half, nailing two treys. But Towson wound up with just seven points off the bench. Jason Gibson also missed his fifth straight game due to a back injury.

Here are some comments from Pat Skerry after the game on TSN

On Charles Thompson
"He was great. (CT). Really challenged our guys at the half. (Wanted to) Win by 10 on the glass and tried to hold them to under  40% FG and 30% 3pt. Have to get Jason (Gibson)( back. Hicks hurt again."

 
"Our performance team needs to pick up the pace on that (Gibson''s back). We have to get going on what we're supposed to do. Disappointed that we haven't."

"Our guys grinded it out in the second half. Had good looks, Just didn't go down. No easy road wins at this level. We respected Rod Strickland and his program. Late on closeouts early. DIdn't get rattled. Happy with May and Conway growing up a little bit."

 
"A couple of guys we might have to get going on the bench. Proud that we are 8-1. Our rebounding and defense in second half kind of carried us. Good shot in the second half making foul shots.

 
A good thing (to be 8-1). We're still trying to get better at things, but better to win than lose. Like the leadership of the older guys. Go as they go. Still trying to figure out other guys' places. Good job with Nygal (11pts). Still need to get other guys going. Have to play a role, but not a leading one. Excited to see Tyler Tejada, one of our recruits

Just choppy where we never got into a flow. Had decent shots. Nic changed up his pace and cuts. Sometimes the ball just doesn't go in. Challenged some shots. It's hard to win by 100. Hard to do on the road. We're not built like that.

On Clemson game
Will watch film put a game plan together. Need practice time but also need to get healthy. Have to be careful with some guys that play a lot of minutes.

 

[mat1992 2,256]

So honestly, was impressed that Tre' Wood, who we wanted out of HS, showed some heart when he was obviously hurting. Could have used him. At least a healthy Wood. Hicks probably wasn't right or was just bad offensively and couldn't keep up with Wood on D. Very disappointed but it's hard to hammer a kid who is hurt. It's even doubly worse when Gibson (back) is still out and PS kind of took the training staff/performance team to task for talking about not testing him enough or whatever. But damn do we miss him defensively. I think it's a matter of Nick and Cam trusting the others. I understand not trusting May yet (he struggled tonight) but Conway can shoot it when his feet are set and gets space. He took a really bad shot early on and was taken out. But if not for his two late 3s, we might be still playing.

I'd like to see this is who we are and maybe so, but offensively, we are riding three people and when Nic is cold, two. We are going to need May and Conway to give us at some points. RIght now, we're not getting much from the bench defensively. Sounded like Tyler Coleman or Chase Paar or both might get into the mix. Sekou Sylla did not play in the second half and had just two points. MIssed two FTs. He's having a rough time right now with turnovers and defenses are always going to force a lefty right.

Kudos to CT. Was fantastic tonight on the boards. Didn't get many back-to-the-basket looks. They did play a bunch of zone and Cam posted a ton, which is good at times but often, we get in that ISO groove and everyone else stands still.

Can't start like that against Clemson. If Gibson doesn't get back shortly and Hicks is probably out awhile, it's going to be Conway for at least 25mpg and I wonder if Dylan Williamson gets some time or we redshirt him. 

But we are 8-1. On to Clemson with a break this weekend.

[TuTigers2012 1,074]

Played awful against a bad 0-5 now 0-6 team. Thankfully the foreign kid didn’t play in the second half. He torched us all first half. Better effort in the second half.
 

No go to guy late.  thankfully Charles dominated on the boards. Conway did hit two clutch threes. A lot like younger Gibson he catches so far out. A step or two in at the line, much better. Cam doing a lot. May missed and turned down a lot of good looks. Hopefully those fall for him soon. 

8-1 lucky to be that. It could obviously be worse but this team is FAR from being good

[TuTigers2012 1,074]

7 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

So honestly, was impressed that Tre' Wood, who we wanted out of HS, showed some heart when he was obviously hurting. Could have used him. At least a healthy Wood. Hicks probably wasn't right or was just bad offensively and couldn't keep up with Wood on D. Very disappointed but it's hard to hammer a kid who is hurt. It's even doubly worse when Gibson (back) is still out and PS kind of took the training staff/performance team to task for talking about not testing him enough or whatever. But damn do we miss him defensively. I think it's a matter of Nick and Cam trusting the others. I understand not trusting May yet (he struggled tonight) but Conway can shoot it when his feet are set and gets space. He took a really bad shot early on and was taken out. But if not for his two late 3s, we might be still playing.

I'd like to see this is who we are and maybe so, but offensively, we are riding three people and when Nic is cold, two. We are going to need May and Conway to give us at some points. RIght now, we're not getting much from the bench defensively. Sounded like Tyler Coleman or Chase Paar or both might get into the mix. Sekou Sylla did not play in the second half and had just two points. MIssed two FTs. He's having a rough time right now with turnovers and defenses are always going to force a lefty right.

Kudos to CT. Was fantastic tonight on the boards. Didn't get many back-to-the-basket looks. They did play a bunch of zone and Cam posted a ton, which is good at times but often, we get in that ISO groove and everyone else stands still.

Can't start like that against Clemson. If Gibson doesn't get back shortly and Hicks is probably out awhile, it's going to be Conway for at least 25mpg and I wonder if Dylan Williamson gets some time or we redshirt him. 

But we are 8-1. On to Clemson with a break this weekend.

What’s the point of redshirting. With it being easy to transfer, he is either good enough in a few years to move on or bad and moves on.   

[mat1992 2,256]

We're 8-1 and that's good news because we haven't played well aside from a good part of the Penn game and most of the UMass game. Expectations should be lowered. We're not capable of blowing teams out and going on many runs as we did against Coppin in the first half (17-0 I think). Who knows when Gibson is coming back so we'll have to get more production from others aside from Cam.

[mat1992 2,256]

Just now, TuTigers2012 said:

What’s the point of redshirting. With it being easy to transfer, he is either good enough in a few years to move on or bad and moves on.   

Some guys are not physically ready to play when they are 18 but he can shoot. That was the expectation because we had Gibson, Conway and Hicks ahead of him. Honestly, I haven't seen enough of him to say whether he can help right now. He wasn't better than the guys ahead of him but there might not be another option if Hicks and Gibson are out for many weeks.

[TuTigers2012 1,074]

6 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

Some guys are not physically ready to play when they are 18 but he can shoot. That was the expectation because we had Gibson, Conway and Hicks ahead of him. Honestly, I haven't seen enough of him to say whether he can help right now. He wasn't better than the guys ahead of him but there might not be another option if Hicks and Gibson are out for many weeks.

Thats fine but he can play in 3-4 games this year it’s worth not redshirting. Players can transfer whenever so I don’t see the point 

9 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

We're 8-1 and that's good news because we haven't played well aside from a good part of the Penn game and most of the UMass game. Expectations should be lowered. We're not capable of blowing teams out and going on many runs as we did against Coppin in the first half (17-0 I think). Who knows when Gibson is coming back so we'll have to get more production from others aside from Cam.

I’ll believe a healthy Gibson/hicks when I see a Bigfoot. The Best ability is availability. Not sure with a healthy 10 that makes a difference  he is zero threat on offense. Playing 4-5 or 3-5 for 30+ minutes a game isn’t easy 

9 games in and this isn’t a top team. We can win games in league play  because well the caa is awful. Can we grind out 3 wins in a row late in the year? No. Not enough offense, depth or skill. 

[mat1992 2,256]

33 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Thats fine but he can play in 3-4 games this year it’s worth not redshirting. Players can transfer whenever so I don’t see the point 

I’ll believe a healthy Gibson/hicks when I see a Bigfoot. The Best ability is availability. Not sure with a healthy 10 that makes a difference  he is zero threat on offense. Playing 4-5 or 3-5 for 30+ minutes a game isn’t easy 

9 games in and this isn’t a top team. We can win games in league play  because well the caa is awful. Can we grind out 3 wins in a row late in the year? No. Not enough offense, depth or skill. 

I'll be the pollyanna because I love to have a sliver of optimism when there is the opposite. It's not looking great right now, but to think that Conway and May are finished products with about five games under their belts is I would say a bit premature. It might not be enough but I'll be with them every step of the way hoping that they can take it to another level in what is a crappy conference aside from a handful of teams. Hopefully, by March and we get CAA Charles, we will have a strong rotation and enough shooters to surround him and Cam to get 3 wins. However, if Gibby is not going to be healthy, even if Conway and May up their games 100%, I would say the chances are very slim. 

And being 8-1 despite not playing remotely close to your best basketball isn't the worst thing in the world. I'll take it though the injuries at the point do worry me. That's the biggest problem on this team right now that can't really be fixed. Other things can and should be fixed whether it more consistent contests on 3-pointers or better ball movement or improved and more consistent rotation. We can't clone No. 11 and bring out a 6-1 point guard with 24-foot range and a healthy back.

[mat1992 2,256]

https://towsontigers.com/news/2022/12/2/mens-basketball-four-tigers-hit-double-figures-in-74-64-win-at-liu.aspx

[TuTigers2012 1,074]

This just gives me 17-18 vibes we’re we started 8-1 against terrible teams and finished 8-13.