The Friars figured to be a hungry team that would get after it from the jump as they hosted the University of New Hampshire on Tuesday night at the AMP. One would think that would be the case after a disheartening road loss to Colorado where they gave up 97 points to a young Buffaloes team. Yet it didn’t always look to be the case early as UNH, who had been beaten rather decisively in all of their games against D1 opponents, only trailed the Friars 32-31 with 1:20 left in the first half. The Friars would close the half on a 6-0 run and never looked back en route to a 98-66 rout of the Wildcats.
PC now finds themselves at 3-2 on the year with what oddly feels like a season defining game against Penn State on Saturday at Mohegan Sun.
First Half Woes– The Friars didn’t come out as bad as it seemed considering they did race out to a 21-11 lead; however, a 20-11 stretch by the Wildcats, where the Friars had defensive lapses and were careless with the basketball, certainly concerned Friar fans. Their on-ball defense wasn’t actually that bad, but they inexplicably allowed UNH to get 10 offensive rebounds which led to 15 second chance points. The performance wasn’t lost on the fans who at one point let out some boos as a timeout was called, which is a rare sight at the AMP. Even though they closed to halftime on a 6-0 run something needed to be said at the break for what transpired the first 18 minutes and change.
The Captain Speaks– And something was said! In the postgame press conference Jason Edwards shared what Corey Floyd Jr, who was sidelined with an ankle injury (more on that later), told his teammates during the halftime break:
Corey is right. As a pseudo manager when the Crier was a student, I can tell you firsthand these players do put a ton into it. Whether a good team or bad student athletes do put in a lot of time and work. When you watch the Friars so far this year it is very clear that they have talent. So, it was great to see them get this message and act upon it because the script totally flipped in the second half.
Friars Dominate Second Stanza 60-35: The Friars came out in the second half and jumped all over the Wildcats extending a 37-13 run from towards the end of the first half. In the second half they only turned the ball over two times, only allowed 3 offensive rebounds and 2 second chance points. Towards the end of the game Jamier Jones decided to host his own dunk contest. It was pure domination and showed why a 100-50 prediction for the game wasn’t that farfetched. As they say it’s not about how you start but how you finish and the Friars probably put together their best 21:40 brand of basketball on the young season. to finish this game.
Four Friars Were Out in This One– As mentioned Corey Floyd Jr made his impact from the sideline in this one, as he was out with a sore ankle, but he wasn’t the only Friar missing in action. Sophomore Daquan Davis was held out with a knee issue he delt with last season at FSU flared up and so was Duncan Powell, who was hit in the mouth at practice earlier in the week. The Friars have also been missing sophomore shooter Richard Barron with a concussion all season. Injuries certainly concern especially considering how last season went but they have plenty of depth this season.
We Like to Have Fun Here– BOC can vouch for me the Crier wasn’t that worried as UNH only trailed the Friars by 1-point late in the first half. However, that didn’t mean fans weren’t nervous, as I had a few suggest that I coach the team.
This was all in jest of course as the Crier has been quick to not judge the Friars on their early struggles this season. We can save this one for the movies. And besides you wouldn’t want me as the head coach anyways. I’d get way too many technical fouls.
For the Friars now it’s all about carrying this effort over. After a highly competitive loss to Virginia Tech the Friars bounced back with a convincing win to Penn. Only to allow 97 points in a loss in their next game at Colorado. The Friars must build upon their second half surge vs UNH. The Friars need to lock in ahead of their matchup Saturday with Penn State at Mohegan Sun. They have lost in their first two games against a high major opponent this season and going back to last season they have lost eight straight against high majors. The program will have a lot to prove late Saturday afternoon.