Final Score: Northeastern 60, College of Charleston 44
Top Performers:
Scott Eatherton 22 pts (3-3 3pt), 10 rebounds
Joe Chealey 11 pts (4-5 FT), 2 blks, 18 mins
Just when it seemed safe to say the Cougars were turning a corner, they go and do something like this. I guess we should have seen it coming. After all, they did only put up 47 points in a win over Drexel on Thursday. If you thought that offensive display was troubling, don't bother looking at the box score from yesterday; which somehow makes the Cougars' shooting woes throughout this game look better than they actually were.
Right out of the gates Northeastern jumped on Charleston inside TD Arena. The Huskies opened the game on a 13-2 run as their bench hooted and hollered every time Eatherton swished an unguarded three pointer. Conversely, the Cougars missed a number of open looks within 4 feet of the basket. Offensive putbacks, Adjehi Baru (who missed his first 7 shots) and Willis Hall jumpers all clanged off the iron or never touched anything.
And to be honest the Cougars never really got back on track after that rough start. The defense and rebounding are never the problem - it's the reason the Cougars were able to trim the lead to two possessions on separate occasions and it's the team's only option for winning with how unproductive they can be offensively. But Wojcik highlighted an alarming and depressing issue in the postgame conference. He said that the missed shots early on led to a deflated attitude the rest of the game. It's one thing to miss shots, it happens to everyone, but most of the Cougars looked lethargic on the court.
Despite falling behind by double digits multiple times, CofC only attempted 10 free throws. That shows a lack of aggression on the part of the Cougs and offers a hint as to why they could only muster 44 points. The looks CofC normally gets in games were there last night - Baru facing one-on-one defense, Stitt in the corner for a three etc but the shots were not falling. Once that became evident there was no way to produce easy baskets. No one rolling to the rim or driving the lane and the bigs weren't hitting shots from point blank range.
Wojcik experimented with a myriad of different lineups but the lack of scorers on this team outweighs any defensive depth the team might have. Install a three guard lineup and you lose your offensive rebounding opportunities - just fewer possessions to put the ball in the basket. You can try switching out Baru and Hall but Wishon is not going to put up points; in 4 minutes of play he had his shot blocked and turned the ball over. The guards are all streaky shooters.
When these teams played in January, Anthony Thomas was the star. Last night he posted a big fat goose egg in points (he took one attempt from the field) and had a single rebound. Adjehi was 3 of 10 from the floor. Willis was short on almost everything, chucking up two air balls and going 4-12 from the field (0-4 from three).
If you're looking for a positive - Joe Chealey and Canyon Barry, two freshmen coming off the bench, were responsible for 8 of the 10 free throw attempts, CofC's only double digit scoring totals and 21 of the team's 44 points. Aside from Willis, who always plays his ass off every night, the freshmen (who were joined by their classmates to close out the game) were the only ones who didn't seem to hang their heads.
It was that disheartened mentality that allowed the Huskies to beat the Cougars so decisively in the second half. Eatherton got uncontested looks outside the paint and Reggie Spencer completed a series of three-point plays as the Cougars just hacked at him as he went to the basket. A brief late game run by the home team was both a welcome sight and an insulting development. For a few short minutes the guys actually looked desperate and competitive - how they should have been playing from the opening minutes - but it was too little too late. Aside from being a bad loss in itself, this game just reinforces our biggest fears about this year's team.
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