CAA Hoops Weekend Wrap
College of Charleston may only be one game back of UNCW in the CAA standings, but it’s starting to look like it’s the Seahawks and then everyone else playing for second. UNCW won again over the weekend, pushing their record to a perfect 8-0 in league play. JMU lost to CofC for the second time this season and currently sits in a 3 team log jam at 4-4 in the middle of the pack. Here’s a quick rundown of the weekend’s action.
CofC 73 – JMU 60
No YoYo and missing 78% of their attempts from long range, all added up to a big L for the Dukes. Paulius Satkus lead the way for JMU with 20 points. He’s been brutally efficient this season, shooting an astound 64% from the field. Jackson Kent struggled to get into the flow, missing all of his three point attempts and hitting only 2 of 7 FGs. The Cougars shot 80% from the charity stripe and both Joe Chealey and Grant Riller scored 17 points. The loss dropped JMU to 6-15 (4-4). Things have been better in league play, but JMU still has moments where the entire team looks completely lost. At least their competing night in and night out though.
Towson 75 – Delaware 58
Towson is suddenly a hot team. After opening CAA play 0-4, the Tigers have won 4 straight. Sure, two of those four wins have been over the rebuilding Blue Hens, but they also defeated a solid Northeastern team. In Saturday’s win, Towson held Delaware to 33% shooting overall and held a 14 rebound advantage on the boards. Offensively, the Tigers had a balanced attack with 5 players reaching double figures.
Hofstra 78 – Northeastern 73
A few weeks ago, it looked like Northeastern might give UNCW a run for its money. The wheels have sort of come off in the last 3 games though. In the CAA’s #NorthernBias game of the week, Hofstra held serve at home and snapped a 6 game skid with a win over the Huskies. Justin Wright-Foreman dropped a career high 30 for the Pride. He went 4-7 from long range and 11 of 15 overall. TJ Williams lead 3 Huskies in double-figures with 25 points in the loss. After a perfect 5-0 start in the CAA, Northeastern is now 5-3. Hofstra’s win got the Pride to 11-15 (2-6).
Elon 71 – William & Mary 62
We still can’t believe Elon is in the CAA, but the Phoenix have proven to be a competitive team this year. They earned the win at home, thanks to be slightly less awful from the field than the Tribe. Elon made only 20 of 56 shots (35.7%) in the game. Amazingly, W&M was even worse, shooting 33% on 22 of 66. Good defense? Tough for players to adjust to shooting in the not quite cavernous Elon gym? Just an off night? You decide, but based on the box score, I’m quite pleased that I didn’t watch this brick-fest. A win is a win though, and Elon has won 4 of its last 5, to get to 4-4 in the CAA. W&M is a game back at 3-4.
It is going to be a long year and most likely a short post-season. However, I am not on the Louis Rowe was a mistake bandwagon. I have mostly watched online, but was able to make it to the William and Mary game on Thursday. He has those kids playing hard. There is not a huge amount of talent on this team or a single player that really brings it all together like we had last year. That is a piece we can’t overlook.
I will be interested to see what he can do with the players he brings in over the next couple of years. The football team will get me through these lean years of basketball until he can make his mark on this team. I know I am an optimist when it comes to the Dukes, but I think with the right players, and the defensive mentality he is trying to instill, we may be in for some good years ahead.
Go Dukes!
Yeah, I’m still not sure I get the logic in hiring an unproven coach to leverage what Brady had built, but I’m willing to give Rowe a chance. Former players and folks who were associated with the program when Rowe was a player, absolutely rave about the guy. He’s clearly got some room to develop, but he could eventually be a great coach for the Dukes. I had a good talk in Frisco with a close friend who was part of the program in the 90s. He was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement talking about Rowe.