HOLY CROSS (at Mohegan Sun Arena)
Record: 1-2 (0-0 Patriot)
Last Meeting: Stony Brook 54, Holy Cross 53 on 12/7/10; Dave Coley game-winning layup with 1.2 seconds left
Checkmate Unofficial Line: Stony Brook -3
KenPom RPI: Stony Brook 191, Holy Cross 198
KenPom Prediction: Stony Brook 69, Holy Cross 68
Listen/Watch:TV:
http://www.espn.com/watch/?_ga=2.250869830.1931592994.1542224019-1207769694.1540478906Stony Brook radio:
http://bit.ly/WUSBSportsHoly Cross radio:
http://player.radio.com/listen/station/weei-1044?_ga=2.259119050.1931592994.1542224019-1207769694.1540478906Notables (updated stats to come):6-5/210 so G Austin Butler: 11.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.7 spg, .444 3-pt FG%; Patriot League All-Rookie Team last year
6-6/195 so F Jacob Grandison: 11.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg last year
5-10/175 so G Caleb Green: 10.0 ppg, 3.3 apg, .429 3-pt FG%
5-11/175 sr G Patrick Benzan: 8.3 ppg, 4.3 apg
6-8/240 sr F Jehyve Floyd: 5.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 4.3 apg, Preseason All-Conference, defending Patriot League Defensive POY
We know we're good. Everybody else now knows we're good. So what's that mean for Friday's tilt at Mohegan Sun Arena?
You can even feel the excitement on this board. Two good road wins are good for anybody. But we can't anoint ourselves as this shoo-in for greatness, conference titles, tournament berths, etc. Holy Cross is certainly formidable enough to deflate our egos.
They entered the season picked to finish fifth in the Patriot League behind Lehigh, Bucknell, Colgate and BU. They started their year with a 93-81 win over Sacred Heart but have dropped their last two against Michigan and Providence. Two takeaways from the PC game for me was HC's ball movement and the variety of zone defenses that it threw at the more athletic Friars, who they held a halftime lead on before the wheels came off (with the help of PC's own zone D). Think
Hoosiers on offense – use the shot clock, moving it around the perimeter, backcuts, etc. When you've seen a ton of iso or bombardiering in the NBA or elite college hoops, truthfully it was quite refreshing. To me, there's nothing better than ball movement that springs someone for a layup, or moving it in and out to find a spot-up shooter wide open.
It's been good in spans for the Crusaders to this point, but in two contests with higher-echelon teams, it hasn't yielded any wins. HC led Michigan by six at the half before being outscored 38-13 in the second. Also down at the half, PC came roaring back with superior athleticism and size, forcing turnovers with their own 2-3, moving the HC zone and getting layups/dunks inside.
This one's a big one for the coaches. I expect buzzer to buzzer zone D from HC, which started with a matchup zone against PC before settling into an extended 1-3-1, with a guard meeting the PC point out near halfcourt. We have to move the ball and find the soft spots. I can't STAND it when a team knows what D is coming and looks dumbfounded, like it's never seen it, in the first half. We ought to have open looks in the corners, and I expect Olaniyi to utilize the baseline to create for himself or others. I think Otchere and Ochefu could be significant contributors offensively with ready hands underneath and also on the offensive glass. There's nothing to fear. Holy Cross has only two blocks on the year. That's twice as many blocks as Olaniyi has in the final seconds to preserve wins over SEC teams
.
Let's turn the zone against itself and get some second chance points. We have a few 2s and 3s who are tremendous complements to our bigs on the boards. I always point to rebounding (sorry) and it's been key for us in both of our victories. Last year Holy Cross ranked 339th out of 351 teams in rebounding margin at -6.4. Besides Floyd, who is prone to foul trouble, they're very thin inside – both in terms of depth and width. Also, without a lot of action inside, they ranked 339th in free throw attempts per game in '17-18. This year, they've shot just 31 free throws to their opponents' 57.