Forum › Forum › Lehigh Sports › Lehigh Men’s Basketball › American Game – Saturday, 2/6
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February 4, 2010 at 11:11 pm #1582
LU (14-8, 5-2) @ AU (7-15, 4-3)
Game Notes
http://www.lehighsports.com/assets/spor … 202610.pdfThe Numbers as seen by…….
Sagarin
National Rankings
LU #211
AU # 300Line
LU-2Pomeroy
National Rankings
LU # 206
AU # 279Odds of Winning
LU given a 60% chanceFebruary 5, 2010 at 3:12 am #1588American is a team that got off to a slow start as it replaced all five of its starters, but has come on like gangbusters lately having won its last three and four of its last five. It has also won all three of its PL home games so far this season. Not to mention, it has won the PL title and tournament the past two years. Not a team to be taken lightly, especially at their home.
6′ 9" 215 lb. Center Vlad Moldoveanu, averaging over 20 points per game, is the man to stop. The good news is that he is more of an outside shooter and Carrington is a great matchup on defense. Carrington can be spelled by Greiner.
Second leading scorer is 6′ 8" 225 lb. Steven Lumpkins, who is an effective low post player. Knutson will need to work hard to keep Lumpkins away from the basket. He should have capable help in stretches from Safstrom and, if he is healthy, Adams.
If we can handle these two big men, we should win the game. Go Lehigh.
February 5, 2010 at 6:38 am #1589This is a statement game. Lehigh needs to be on. Lumpkins can be tough under the basket and physical. Gabe will need to be on. Adams covered Lumpkins very well in high school, but Lumpkins has gained a little more weight than Adams. Safstrom is long and can match Lumpkins length wise, but strength may be an issue. If Lehigh gets out quickly, they can run AU.
February 5, 2010 at 3:37 pm #1590There’s no doubt that Vlad, Lumpkins, and Hendra will get their points (they hit for 51 on 19 for 43 shooting in our first meeting of the year). But in my opinion, so too will ZC, CJ, and GK. This one, therefore, could come down to the fringe scorers. Here I like Hall, Ojo, Buchberger, Greiner and Adams to out-dual their "next best" (McCormk, Munoz,and company). I never thought I’d be including Marquis (averaging > 10ppg) on that list, but his game has changed this year to reflect the composition of his team. But, it’s him and his ability to direct/ dictate the flow of the game – particularly the fast break – that will be important. If we can control the flow and tempo of this game, it should be ours. Some interesting stats from Pomeroy appear below.
Offensive Efficiency (pts. scored per 100 possessions)
LU 100.5 (169th ranked)
AU 92.4 (285th ranked)Tempo (Possessions/Minutes)
LU 71.3 (39th ranked)
AU 65.2 (275th ranked)Fast Break Points (taken from the PL Box Scores -first 7 games)
LU 44 to opponents’ 29
AU 16 to opponents’ 35
In our first meeting of the year, LU topped AU on the break outscoring the Eagles 12-2.All that said, AU is on a tear -winners of their last three – and are playing at home where they are aiming to make it 21 straight wins over PL competition. Toss in a long, snowy bus ride (any update on this?)for the guys in brown and you never know.
Go Bison and Go Crusaders! A win by each (BU over Navy and HC over LC) would give us (assuming a win) some breathing room in the standings and first place to ourselves. PL All-Access will get a workout beginning tonight at 7pm.
February 6, 2010 at 2:38 pm #1606Game On! It appears to be so, at least from a story on the AU website dated today, 2/6.
Another story that caught my eye was…………
"American has been on a roll recently, recording three straight wins over Holy Cross, Navy and Lafayette. During this stretch the Eagles have shot 51.0 percent from the floor while limiting their opponents to 40.4 percent shooting. American has also dished out an average of 21.3 apg during the winning streak and out-rebounded opponents by an average of 10.3 rpg."
I know that Coach Reed preaches the importance of finding the open man, well it looks like he’s not the only one. AU has become pass happy under Coach Jones of late and it’s beginning to pay off in terms of W’s. Check out their PL assist record to date:
Opponent / Assists / Made FGs / Result
LU / 16 / 25 / L
BU / 16 / 26 / L
CU / 16 / 23 / W
Army / 9 / 17 / L
HC / 21 / 23 / W
Navy / 21 / 24 / W
LC / 22 / 28 / WAssists were tallied on 85% of their made shots over the past three games! That’s insane! It’s also good teamwork and winning basketball.
Good luck Guys in closing off the passing lanes and watching for those backdoor cuts this afternoon.
February 6, 2010 at 8:52 pm #1608Nice win! Carrington’s double-double – and McCollums, in a bit of a surprise – shows exactly how good Lehigh *can* be.
February 6, 2010 at 9:17 pm #1609"LU65" wrote: Assists were tallied on 85% of their made shots over the past three games! That’s insane! It’s also good teamwork and winning basketball.
More likely the 85% figure is a complete fraud. The AU scorekeeper is giving them assists on 67.5% of their baskets for the season – which may well lead the nation. They give their opponents assists on only 53% of their baskets.
February 6, 2010 at 9:48 pm #1610Team arrived yesterday and went through an early practice. They then watched the snow fall and fall some more for the next 24 hours from their hotel room. Reed preached, "No excuses….no distractions." It seemed to work. LU 77 – AU 65.
Things are looking good…………
1st Place @ 6-2 record with 3 road wins
4 of our final 6 are at home with only 1 long road trip to Hamilton, NY
HC leads LC 53-37 with 11:37 to go. HC leading in rebounds 34 -13! A Leopard loss would give us sole possession of first.February 6, 2010 at 11:58 pm #1611Observations…………
Are we seeing yet another side of the leading candidate for PL Rookie of the Year, CJ McCollum?
CJ hit his first double-double of the year today scoring 19 and pulling down 13 rebounds! In the 8 PL games played to date, the 6’3" freshman 2Guard has pulled down 46 boards. That 5.75rpg average goes along nicely with his 20.3 ppg and 2.6 apg averages.Live and die with the three point shot.
AU threw up 34 from deep and hit only 9 – good for 26.5%. In fact, they attempted only 21 shots from in close. Seems like Lafayette had the same trouble today. In their Hart Center drubbing they launched 30 from beyond the arc and struck gold 6 times. Oh yeah, they also took fewer 2’s….only 27. LU, on the other hand, took only 12 from deep – hitting 6 – and attempted 44 from inside the arc. A blend that seems to be working well for them. Don’t want to hear AU complain about not getting to the line. That’s what happens when you throw up shots from 21+ feet. They were, however, a solid 6 for 7 from the 15 foot stripe.Protect the ball and good things will happen.
LU turned it over just 7 times today to 14 for AU. The Mountain Hawks converted those AU TO’s into 15 points to only 4 for AU on LU’s miscues. Ummm, an 11 point differential and LU won the game by 12. You do the math.Get to the line if you can shoot well.
LU can and LU got to the line for 26 attempts today hitting 21 which was good for 80.8%, a number just slightly ahead of their annual rate. In crunch time, when the opponent must foul, who do they go to? CJ @ .781, GK @ .773, DB @ .750 or MH @ .743? Nice, if you’re a Lehigh fan, I’d say.Marquis Hall decided his points were needed today, canning 6 of 12 attempts (3 from deep) and scoring 18 to go along with his usual 4 assists and 5 boards.
Zahir’s 20 points were good to see, but none better than the back-to-back slams early in the second half to quiet the crowd and steal momentum away from AU when it looked like they were ready to make a run for it.
GK was a point away from a double-double @ 9pt/10boards.
From the "good to see" list it was senior captain Matt Shamis subbing for Marquis Hall. A solid 6 minutes at the point with a trey and one assist.
Starting 5 does it again, scoring 70 of team’s 77. They had been averaging 66.9ppg in PL.
DB guarded Vlad in the second half giving up 4" to the big guy but holding him to 8 points. He had 16 in the opening half. We’ll give Dave a pass for only scoring 3 points today. He had his hands full on the other end of the court.
Are there troubles ahead besides, of course, Navy on Wednesday night?
What’s up with Rob Keefer? Except for 1 assist, the rest of the stat line today read "0" in 4 minutes of court time. And how about Ojo? Once again, it’s all or nothing from the flashy guard. Today, it was the latter as he went 0 for 3 but was lucky enough to get on the score sheet with 2 free throws in 12 minutes. And then there’s John Adams! Does anyone know the extent of his injury or illness? Got to believe we’ll need his bruising body under the boards soon.February 7, 2010 at 5:38 am #1612Great win by LU. What’s up with Keefer, Maneri, Hamilton to name a few. The rest of the team need to buy in if they are to go all the way. Adams is injured, but he usually fights his way back. WHile the Freshman are doing great, LU has a long way to go. It would be nice to see the seniors go out as winners since LU supposedly has the most talent. Again, there is a lot of basketball left in the season.
It was nice to read that the teams arrived home safely, with only a minor fender bender for BU.
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