Nori Drops 23 as Cougars Overcome Turnovers to Win

Final Score: College of Charleston 75, UNC Wilmington 70
Top Performers:
Nori Johnson 23 pts, 3 rebs, 2 stls, 2 blks
Chris Dixon 21 pts, 4 asts, 4 rebs, 1 stl

It's better to win ugly than to lose pretty. Against UNCW the Cougars needed another 20+ point outburst from Nori Johnson and some nearly flawless 2nd half shooting to secure a win against a scrappy Seahawk team. The Cougars had some defensive lapses, missed dunks and multiple turnovers but got enough offense in the final 20 minutes to prevent a loss to last place Wilmington. Buzz Peterson's team battled inside TD Arena all night trying to pick up their first conference win. They switched defenses, fought for loose balls, drained threes and got to the line in bunches over the final quarter of the game but the Cougars were ultimately successful after Joe Chealey came up with a big offensive rebound in the final seconds to kill the clock.

In the first half the Cougar offense was Nori Johnson. Everyone else for the home team struggled just to get an open shot but Nori drained five treys in the first 10 minutes to build an 11-point cushion for the Cougars. After a basket-less performance in his first start of the season against Towson, it was good to see Nori burn the Wilmington zone for points. The rest of the team again looked uncomfortable going against the defense without Nori or Willis in there to test the spacing. Baru had his issues with fouling and Stitt and Chealey had five turnovers between them for the game trying to find their teammates.

Picking up the slack offensively was the slashing combo of Anthony Thomas (11 pts, 4 stls, 4 assts, 2 blks) and Theo Johnson. Even though they play the same role on the team, the way they get to the rim is different. Theo was the most aggressive I've seen him in a while, gliding to the hoop and going up for a dunk on the baseline. AT was more utilitarian - driving, stopping and pump faking his way to points around the basket.

The microcosm for this game could be summed up by the lumbering battle between opposing 7-footers on the court: David Wishon vs CJ Gettys. While each had their moments (Wishon hit a jumper! Gettys drove to the hoop!), both players and teams had you thinking they were capable of more in this one. Both teams turned possession over like ball handling was going out of style. Both teams hit shots they had no business making and missed those they should make with ease.

The second half was when both squads seemed to wake up and The Dub and The College started scorching the nets. Right on cue, as has been the case all year, UNCW (lowest 3PFG% in the country) drained treys at a 50% clip to tie the game up at 52. Then Stitt would hit a three, Nori would get a steal, Hall would hit a reverse or Baru would get fouled and the Cougars would pull away. Then Dixon would drive to the hoop or the Seahawks would hit a three and make it a one-basket affair.

After the Seahawks were able to manufacture some offense by trapping Chealey and Stitt with double teams in the full court, the Cougars had the ball up just three with 52 seconds to go. Wilmington elected to play D and was able to force Stitt into a contested three as the shot clock expired. Luckily Joe Chealey was able to track the offensive rebound and the Cougars walked away with a victory.

The road has been pretty good to the Cougars this year so maybe we can breathe a sigh of relief and expect the team to get back to the way they played in their first 3 conference games when they head up to Virginia later this week for JMU and William & Mary. The Cougars shouldn't need a jaw-dropping performance from one guy to scrape away with a win. They need to tighten the screws and get back to their game (rebounding, defense, inside-out balance) after celebrating this victory.