MBB comes back to beat W&M, 98-82 in OT

[mat1992 2,233]

http://towsontigers.com/news/2018/1/25/mens-basketball-mens-hoops-completes-the-comeback-and-knocks-down-top-tribe.aspx

[TuTigers2012 1,061]

Nice comeback.  Alex Thomas mvp (not named Zane) of the game Picked up 3 fouls alone on knight. and played some solid d against him 

[TSU88 1,070]

The roller coaster ride continues. I don’t even know where to start. The obvious-ZM was a man amongst boys in the 2nd half & OT. Huge kudos to Tunstall for the clean block that sent the game into OT. And how about Starr? 15 pts, 5 assists & 0 turnovers-wow!!  

Looked like W&M was going to run us out of the building in the 1st half. My hope was they couldn’t keep up their torrid shooting pace all night, & they didn’t, as we turned up the intensity on D in the 2nd half. Props to their #23, Pierce-he channeled his inner Jerry West tonight. 

We’ve got to capitalize on this momentum & beat Elon Saturday, no ifs ands or buts. After that, it’s a 3 game road trip vs Delaware, JMU & Drexel, & who knows what we’ll do on the road. I hope we’ll have a nice crowd Saturday-weather will be great, no football on tv & some students should be on campus, with semester starting Monday.

[mat1992 2,233]

Pat Skery Opening Statement
We needed it. We beat a really good team. Really proud of our seniors. Resolve, Grit. Number zero was a bad boy down
the stretch. Gets us back in the race. Love this group. I know we can get us there. It may not be pretty or easy.
Hopefully we get people out this Saturday, it's going to be a big game for us.

On W&M in first half
Both second halfs, we were able to guard them. We were in the first half in both games. They're potent on offense.
I thought we got a little frustrated when we messed up a couple of coverages. They make us pay. I thought our guys
did a good job of re-setting and re-grouping at the half. We just hung in there and found a way. We were Towson
tough tonight.

On Zane
He had it going. He didn't have it going early. He didn't let whay happened in the first 20 minutes impact his game.
Brian had five assists to no turmovers. Our guys found him because they knew he had the hot hand. I talk about leadership.
Unselfishness. He put the ball in the basket.

On three's
Do you know how hard it is to win a game when a team makes 16 three's? It's virtually impossible. I thought our guys
showed  tremendous intelligence. We talked about before the game that their two-point defense was in the bottom 10 of
the country. So our guys didn't settle. They made 11 3s at the half. I wish we did a better job of guarding threes.

On defense
I probably didn't go enough zone. We went switching everything because they took the big man out due to foul trouble.
They put guys on the floor that could shoot. You get worried about them stretching the floor with ball screens. We
went to Tunstall in the last play and we wanted Dennis to be on the ball screener so he could switch to the point guard.

Zane on Tunstall
He does it time and time again. Against Morgan State, he got a blocked shot. He always gets me in practice so I knew
it was coming.

Zane on turning point
When (Knight) fouled out, we picked it up even more. It made it easier to guard them. It gave them less options. We made
the most of our opportunities on the other end.

Skerry
Alex Thomas also did a very nice job on Knight.

Starr on UNCW game
It made us hungrier to play in the next game. That left a bad taste in our mouth.

Starr on Zane
Special. It looked like everything that came out of his hand was going in.

Skerry
The amount of ball screens and handoffs (Starr) he has to get over is tough. He really sacrificed for us. His reads
where very good. Look at the numbers. 15 points, 4 rebonds, 5 assist and 0 turnovers. That's big-time.

Zane on record 35 points at SECU
I'm just blessed to have the coaching staff I have and the teammates around me to get me the ball. Run plays for me.
I have a lot of unselfish guys around me that make me a better player overall.

High school I had one or two games but nothing like this.

On close losses
These guys know that when we execute, we make our own breaks. Can't do anything about those. Hope we learned from
them. Sets up a big game Saturday to a team that we lost to at the buzzer. We remember that. We have to be sharp to
come out with a win.

[mat1992 2,233]

Have to say we stole this one the way Hofstra stole it from us. W&M deserved the win for the most part, though you could say the same thing about us against Pitt, Elon, Hofstra and UNCW. But maybe this is the game that showed we can win these close ones at the end. Or it shows you we have a player that can get hot and carry us in the tournament. Zane was sensational tonight and he now has the confidence to take those shots. He also basically won the Morgan State game. You have to credit W&M. They lose Knight and they spread the floor with shooters. We match up better with Thomas off the floor and Tunstall on it. Thomas plays well against good bigs like Gustys, Knight, Brantley and Cacok. Was hoping that small ball center would be Gorham or even EK but tonight defensively it was Tunstall. That block at the end saved the game and then Zane was magnificent in OT. Morman also played well.

We did miss McNeill. Maybe not his point guard play but his 6-5 length to defend their wings on the perimeter. Starr played 40 minutes tonight. Hopefully Joran plays on Saturday. Has a minor knee issue.

Saturday is must-win to get top seed and NIT berth. This league is nuts right now. NE crushes Hofstra on the road. Elon loses lead at Drexel. Delaware plays Charleston tough but loses at home. This win was huge.

[TigersTigers 69]

It seems we’ve still got W&M’s number. Over the past three years we’re 5-1 against them.

We have to beat Elon.

[mat1992 2,233]

 

[TSU88 1,070]

Who? Seriously, he’s a non-person to me. Don’t wish him bad luck, just don’t care. I suspect he was too immature to grasp the concept that, as a freshman, he wasn’t going to get 30 minutes PT a night. Too bad, as he appeared to have talent. 

[TuTigers2012 1,061]

Dennis has been great at erasing mistakes late in games.  Last two years he’s saved 4 games or so with blocks in the final seconds. Not to jinx him but he hasnt missed a shot since Oakland.  I know he doesn’t take many but still. 

 

Also so for everyone who called me out posting about how I suggested  we foul gustys and win the Hofstra game...  we fouled their backup big intentional and players had orders to do it again.  And he missed front end of 1 and 1 under 4 which helped us steal a possession  

[mat1992 2,233]

Glad you are not our coach. How about the criticism came because it made no sense to do it in the first half as we took the lead late because we pressed or the second half with a lead? We hacked that kid Harrison because he was in the lane. It wasn't like he was 30 feet away from the basket. But the circumstances were totally different. We were down most of the game last night and if they hacked that big a few times to send him to the line AFTER they were in the bonus, I'd have no problem with it. I was against putting Hofstra in the double bonus because they had great FT shooters and we are foul-prone. Oh yeah, we also had a lead that we pissed away due to turnovers. The hack a kid is BS in college unless you feel desperate and you have no other way of coming back. BTW, Shaver isn't that dumb. He didn't have Harrison in that long.