The Friars wrapped up their preseason in style on Saturday at the AMP with a 101-73 rout over Georgia Tech. PC had five players in double-figures scoring with Miles Byrd leading the way with 19 points. While these games don’t count it is certainly fair for Friartown to be very excited to embark on their 100th season of basketball. In two exhibitions against ACC opponents the Friars outscored the opposition 188 to 137 and didn’t trail for a single second. Here our reactions from the performance on Saturday.
Byrd Continues Strong Play
As we suspected when the Friars landed Miles Byrd out of San Diego State his offense is blossoming under Bryan Hodgson’s system. The defense we knew coming in was going to be good and it showed today with six rebounds, three steals, and two blocks. However, he is taking his offensive game to another level. He finished with a team high 19 points and seems to be fully buying into the playing style coach Hodgson wants. He seems primed to have a first-team All- Big East caliver season ahead.
Backcourt is in Good Hands
Gavin Hightower shined in this one with a 16 point and five assist performance. Some may be ready to appoint him the starting point guard and while he is certainly playing like a PG1 his experience in Coach Hodgson’s system at USF has really shown and appears to have given him a head start. He knows what the coaches expect and he seems very comfortable in running the show.
Malik Mack didn’t have that luxury and that also shows but it wasn’t like he was a slouch in this one either. Mack added nine points, five assists and only committed one turnover. The two guards combined for 24 points and a 10/3 turnover ratio. It also should be noted that PC was still without Ryan Sabol and Devin Vanterpool. The Friars backcourt will certainly be a strength this year.
Second Half Adjustments
In the first half of the game the Friars were a little sloppy with the basketball and didn’t exhbit the advantage in rebounding, especially the offensive glass, that they showed against Pittsburgh. They had 10 turnovers and were only even on the offensive glass. It must’ve been mentioned during halftime because the Friars would finish with only 13 giveaways and hold a +6 advantage on the offensive glass (+15 overall). Defensively it did seem like they let go of the rope a little bit allowing the Yellow Jackets to score 45 points in the second half and didn’t quite have the perimeter defense we have seen in the prior 60 minutes of basketball. It makes sense though when the Friars were holding a big lead throughout the second half.
Leave a Reply