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Welcome back to the Trentonian's Full-Court Press blog. Yes, we're still alive, and with the 2015-16 season rapidly approaching, it's time to fire up the old blog for another season. Check back here throughout the year for updates on all things Rider and Princeton, including coverage of both the MAAC and Ivy League. Feel free to drop me a line on twitter @kj_franko (https://twitter.com/kj_franko) or email kfranko@trentonian.com.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Run it back: Drexel 64, Princeton 57

Deja Vu (all over again):

Even though before the game Mitch Henderson said Drexel could be the best 2-6 team in the country (after the game, he didn’t bring up whether or not he thought they were the best 3-6 team in the country), Saturday’s loss was any extremely tough one for a team that looked as if it had gotten it’s second half woes taken care of last Saturday against Kent State. For now the third time in five losses, the Tigers have gotten out to a sizeable first-half lead before letting the game get away in the second half.
The Good:
Ian Hummer’s efficiency: Even though Hummer’s first half (14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists) was better than his second (5 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists), his night on the whole was extremely efficient. He was 9-13 from the floor, and only had one turnover, which has been his Achilles Heel all season (he still leads the Ivy League with 29(!) giveaways in eight games).
Clay Wilson off the bench: For a team that doesn’t have a lot of pure scorers other than Hummer, Wilson’s shooting off the bench has been huge. Though he missed a few big shots at the end of the game, he wound up as the Tigers second-leading scorer with 12 points, and also got involved on the defensive end with two steals.
Quick start: In the first half, the Tigers outrebounded the Dragons 16-13 and shot nearly 60 percent from the field, leading by as many as 13 points.
The bad:
The two-headed monster: Coach Henderson affectionately refers to his center duo of Brendan Connolly and Mack Darrow as his “two-headed monster”, but the pair was far from monstrous where they were needed most: the boards. In 40 combined minutes, Connolly and Darrow only accounted for two total rebounds. To put that in perspective, freshman forward Hans Brase averages nearly eight rebounds per 40 minutes.
Handling pressure: Princeton didn’t have a ton of turnovers (10), but when Drexel started to apply full-court pressure, it disrupted the Tigers getting into their half-court offense. This is more troubling considering Drexel very rarely presses teams and doesn’t consider it a strength, so it isn’t as if the Tigers ran into a defensive buzzsaw. Princeton also had trouble against the Wagner press, so it looks as if the word is starting to spread.

Denton Koon: After a nice game against Kent State (10 points) Koon was a nonfactor against Drexel, missing his only shot in 18 minutes of floor time, committing two turnovers. T.J. Bray is going to play a bulk of the minutes in both games, so despite being vastly different players, Koon and Wilson are in a bit of a battle for backcourt minutes—a battle Wilson won Saturday.

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