Cougs Shutout Citadel for 8:53, Nori Johnson Sparks 72-48 Win

Final Score: College of Charleston 72, The Citadel 48

Top Performers:

Willis Hall 18 pts, 13 rebs

Nori Johnson 12 pts (4-7 3pt), first points of the season

Anthony Stitt 15 pts, 5 assts, 7 rebs, 2 stls

In the final crosstown rivalry match of their careers, seniors Willis Hall and sparingly used Nori Johnson set the tone early in each half en route to a dominating 24-point victory over the Citadel. The Cougars held the Bulldogs scoreless for nearly 9 minutes to start the game behind another solid team defensive performance. Yet the Cougars again struggled to put together consistent offense with another re-tooled starting five that featured Canyon Barry and Anthony Thomas on the wings. The College scored just 11 points in the opening shutout at McAlister before a mini surge by the Bulldogs cut it to a two possession game a few times late in the first half. 

Continuing to leave a trail of destruction through the month of December, Willis Hall had yet another dominant game with grown man double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds. His work on the offensive glass as well as some timely 3-balls bailed the CofC offense out of some now sadly expected scoring droughts. He almost had a double-double going into halftime with I think a 9 and 8 stat line.

In the second half it was all about Nori Johnson. The senior sharp-shooter who has struggled to get consistent minutes behind a freshman-heavy backcourt got some extra burn with Chealey experiencing some discomfort in his knee and promptly reminded us of what he is capable of. The team is so desperate for a consistent three-point shooter and Nori proved that he can fill that role coming off the bench. He hit three straight from outside and one more for good measure to be the Cougars' third leading scorer this afternoon after being unable to find the bottom of the net all season. Nori spoke after the game about "hitting the reset button" after an academically challenging fall semester of his senior year (I do not remember that time fondly) and stressed the confidence and level-headedness he felt going into the final stretch of his college career. 

Once the outside shots start falling it really opens everything up for the Cougar offense. Things start clicking faster, Stitt and Thomas start getting to the rim and the team just kicks into a different gear. If Nori can fill the role of scorer off the bench not just as the freshmen continue to struggle, but as the season goes on we may view this game as an epiphany of sorts.

More notes from this afternoon's game:

• Anthony Stitt also deserves credit for a very solid floor game. He was driving to the basket more than I've seen him do all year and his stat line of 15, 7 and 5 might be the most well-rounded game of his career. His outside shooting is still hit or miss but if it's not falling I'd love to see him play more like he did today. You could argue that this was one of the first games of his career when he has been the sole point guard in the lineup - usually he would share the starting 5 with Andrew Lawrence or Joe Chealey. As always his defense was also of a lockdown variety.
• Speaking of defense, Matt Van Scyoc, Citadel's leading scorer and a thorn in the side of CofC last season was held to just 2 field goal attempts and four points in 33 minutes of action. Wojcik didn't hold back when those numbers were brought up postgame, saying that shutting down Van Scyoc was a major part of today's game plan and the focus of Anthony Thomas and Canyon Barry. Wojcik also said that Van Scyoc's comments in the P&C about wanting to give the Cougars "a little something" were pre-game bulletin board material. 
• Despite being hounded by Citadel's defense every time he received an entry pass, Adjehi had another solid game with 11 points and 8 boards. He would have had a very good game if he hadn't missed some easy shots right at the rim (he was 4 for 11 on the night) but he did give us the highlight of the night with a flush from an Anthony Stitt inbounds pass. 
• Another quiet game by the freshmen class in this one. Canyon Barry, back in the starting lineup, missed a number of open shots and looked as if he was forcing some takes inside. He did play solid defense and make 5-6 from the charity stripe. Joe Chealey was a non-factor. Coming off the bench he picked up two fouls in less than a minute of play and was held out the rest of the game to alleviate some stress on a sore knee. 
• The #FreeJBC movement got back on track as young Johnathan had the would-be highlight of the year when he took off Space Jam finale style from somewhere way outside the basket and attempted to crunch one on a Citadel guard. As has been the case most of the season, the rim was Cook's biggest enemy and we were all denied another JBC highlight. 
• We got our first look at Glenn Pierre this game. To the surprise of myself and many others who thought the freshman big man was redshirting this year, he came in midway through the 2nd half and quickly got a bucket by banking a hook shot off the glass. I still plan on getting to the bottom of this mystery (can you redshirt one semester?) but Pierre looked very tall (he's 6'11), skinny and a little more composed than I would have guessed in his 2 minutes of action.