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Couple of interesting stats thus far in the OOC.
– Lehigh is dead last in opponent FT% (351 out of 351). Teams are hitting over 80% and obviously there is no “defense” against free throws so this basically comes down to a combination of luck and opponent skill. May have played a factor in some of these close games however.
– Lehigh is also #316 at forcing opponents turnovers. Last year the team was #139, so that is a pretty steep drop off. Part of the issue against Stony Brook wasn’t just that Lehigh turned it over 19 times, but also that they only forced 8. That was a major contributor to the FGA difference that led to the loss.
– The above stat is also reflected in steal %. Last year Lehigh ranked #63 and this year they have dropped all the way to #222.
Obviously quality of competition plays into this, but it certainly looks like the defense is not being nearly as disruptive as a year ago. The free throws stat is random, but could have played a role in the Yale (14-17 FT) and Stony Brook (17-19) losses.
I said going into the season that I would consider 5 or more OOC wins a success, and that is still possible despite a few bad (read: incredibly frustrating) losses. Hoping that with some added focus and consistency they can string together some wins to close our the OOC.
