Winning is Everything

[JMD]

Merry Christmas!

[randy]

Feb 4, 2002: James Madison (13-7, 9-2) @ #24 Towson (18-3, 10-1)

PG Anthony Martin got injured early. C Alex DeMond and SG Haven Wilkerson jas scored all our pts so far. Up 13-8, 11:59. JMU had a long stretch where there were not able to score, while our offense was on full gear the entire 1st half. Halftime, Up 44-25.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• FG shooting: JMU 36%, TOW 63%
• Pts in paint: JMU 2, TOW 20

Start of 2nd half

JMU had a decent start offensively in the 2nd half, but their over reliance on outside shooting meant they are susceptible to long stretches of scoring drought, similar to what they have in the last 5 mins. Up 66-36, 8:44. We didn't slow down even for a small bit, as we showed killer instinct and blow out the team with the 2nd best records in the conference.


Final Score: James Madison - 46, Towson - 93


Box Scores
[INDENT]Ward 18, 7, 2, 2 blks (*)
DeMond 18, 4, 0
Wilkerson 16, 3, 6
Morton 12, 6, 0
Hale 10, 6, 4
Desmond 10, 3, 0
Green 6, 4, 0
Granger 3, 5, 8, 4 tos
Roberson 0, 1, 2
Martin 0, 0, 2
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 62-32%
REB: +24
TO: -1
Pts in paint: +50
2nd chance: +8
Fast break: +4
[/INDENT]
Notes

• JMU can't find ways to score other than shoot from the outside; they only had 6 pts in the paint today
• We don't take a lot of 3pt shots, but we're hitting them consistently recently; 7-11 3PT today. We're #8 in the country, with a 41.4% clip from 3PT

CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 11-1 (W7)
2. Hofstra, 9-3 (W3)
3. James Madison, 9-3 (L1)
4. NC Wilmington, 7-5 (W2)
5. Delaware, 7-5 (L3)
6. Drexel, 7-5 (W1)
7. George Mason, 5-7 (W4)
8. VCU, 5-7 (L2)
9. Georgia St, 4-8 (W1)
10. Northeastern, 3-9 (L1)
11. Old Dominion, 3-9 (L6)
12. William & Mary, 2-10 (L5)

[randy]

Feb 8, 2002: Delaware (12-9, 7-5) @ #18 Towson (19-3, 11-1)

We always struggle against DEL's 3-2 zone, and today was no different as we were shooting less than 20% FG earlier in the game. We settled down a bit, scoring on 2nd chance and fast break pts. DEL is 4-6 3PT. Up 15-14, 10:48. Both teams are ice cold today. We scored the last 5 pts of the 1st half, and that where our lead stands right now. Halftime, Up 27-22.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• FG shooting: DEL 23%, TOW 32%
• 3pt shooting: DEL 6-18, TOW 1-6

Start of 2nd half

Our offense in the 2nd half has been decent at best, but that was enough to give us a comfortable lead, as DEL continues to freeze on their shooting; DEL has made only 1 FG in almost 9 mins of play. Up 43-25, 11:38. No chance for DEL today


Final Score: Delaware - 43, Towson - 70


Box Scores
[INDENT]Ward 20, 12, 6, 3 stls (*)
DeMond 14, 9, 0
Wilkerson 13, 6, 4, 5 tos
Morton 10, 5, 0
Desmond 9, 5, 0
Hale 4, 3, 0
Green 0, 3, 0
Martin 0, 2, 5
Granger 0, 2, 2
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 45-26%
REB: +23
TO: -4
Pts in paint: +34
2nd chance: +12
Fast break: +9
[/INDENT]
Notes

• Similar to our last game against JMU, we reduced our opponent to a one-dimensional 3pt shooting team (31 of DEL's 57 FGAs were from 3). More importantly, we dominated the rebounding battle, and forced a lot of turn overs
• Slowly but surely, PF Dan Morton has been gaining confidence esp on offense. I think his performance later in the season is going to be an x-factor on how far we can go when tournament games begin

CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 12-1 (W8)
2. Hofstra, 10-3 (W4)
3. James Madison, 9-4 (L2)
4. NC Wilmington, 8-5 (W3)
5. Delaware, 7-6 (L4)
6. Drexel, 7-6 (L1)
7. VCU, 6-7 (W1)
8. George Mason, 5-8 (L1)
9. Georgia St, 4-9 (L1)
10. Northeastern, 4-9 (W1)
11. Old Dominion, 3-10 (L7)
12. William & Mary, 3-10 (W1)

[randy]

Feb 11, 2002: #18 Towson (20-3, 12-1) @ Drexel (10-12, 7-6)

SG Haven Wilkerson slightly injured, but he'll start and play limited minutes. DREX is shooting just 1-13 FG. SG Cain Ward good start with 10 pts. Up 14-4, 11:34. Continuous turn overs and poor def rebounding on our part allowed DREX to pull even with a 10-0 run. After a timeout, the team buckled down on defense, and finished the rest of the 1st half on 15-3 run. Halftime, Up 29-17.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• Pts in paint: TOW 18, DREX 4
• Off rebounding: TOW 3, DREX 10

Start of 2nd half

We went to the line more often, as 9 of our 1st 15 pts in the 2nd half from the charity stripe. Up 44-29, 11:47. Up comfortably by 17, and then we committed a series of turn overs. Up 53-44, 4:17. We brought the lead back to 13, and was able to score more FTs to ensure this win


Final Score: Towson - 59, Drexel - 49


Box Scores
[INDENT]Ward 15, 3, 3, 3 stls, 4 tos (*)
DeMond 10, 9, 1, 4 tos
Desmond 6, 5, 0
Wilkerson 6, 4, 0
Hale 6, 3, 0
Morton 5, 5, 0
Green 5, 2, 1
Martin 4, 4, 3
Granger 2, 2, 2, 8 tos
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 40-30%
REB: +6
TO: +7
Pts in paint: +20
2nd chance: +4
Fast break: -1
[/INDENT]
Notes

• Our defense, and FT shooting (22-24 FT), saved our day and we were able to get another road win despite a horrible offense. Not only we shot bad, but we committed 23 turn overs

CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 13-1 (W9)
2. Hofstra, 10-4 (L1)
3. James Madison, 10-4 (W1)
4. NC Wilmington, 9-5 (W4)
5. Delaware, 8-6 (W1)
6. Drexel, 7-7 (L2)
7. VCU, 7-7 (W2)
8. George Mason, 5-9 (L2)
9. Northeastern, 5-9 (W2)
10. Georgia St, 4-10 (L2)
11. Old Dominion, 3-11 (L8)
12. William & Mary, 3-11 (L1)

[randy]

Feb 15, 2002: #14 Towson (21-3, 13-1) @ George Mason (9-14, 5-9)

Established a big lead early, as we're shooting 73% FG, and +12 rebounds. Up 26-10, 11:05. SG Cain Ward (15 pts) on fire with 4-5 3PT. Up 38-17, 6:50. Ward sank his 5th triple at the buzzer. Halftime, Up 51-24.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• 3pt shooting: TOW 6-8, DREX 4-17
• Rebounds: TOW 24, DREX 8
• Considering that we have a 27 pts lead with one of our top players (C Alex DeMond) scoring only 1 FG, it's safe to say that this game is over except for the final score

Start of 2nd half

Can we reach 100? Our FG% has dipped a little bit. Up 71-41, 10:31. Experimented a bit on a high-pace offense, but clearly our 9-man rotation not suited for that type of pace.


Final Score: Towson - 86, George Mason - 63


Box Scores
[INDENT]Ward 29, 4, 2, 8-11 3PT (*)
Wilkerson 22, 11, 3
DeMond 11, 6, 1
Morton 8, 5, 1
Green 6, 5, 1
Desmond 4, 6, 0
Hale 4, 4, 1
Martin 2, 2, 9
Granger 0, 2, 6
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 53-38%
REB: +24
TO: +3
Pts in paint: +28
2nd chance: +9
Fast break: +2
[/INDENT]
Notes

• Excellent markmanship displayed by SG Cain Ward today, and it complemented very well with SG Haven Wilkerson's numerous drive plays. GM just had a difficult time adjusting its defense as we had multiple weapons that we displayed today

CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 14-1 (W10)
2. Hofstra, 11-4 (W1)
3. James Madison, 11-4 (W2)
4. NC Wilmington, 9-6 (L1)
5. Delaware, 8-7 (L1)
6. Drexel, 7-8 (L3)
7. VCU, 7-8 (L1)
8. Northeastern, 6-9 (W3)
9. Georgia St, 5-10 (W1)
10. George Mason, 5-10 (L3)
11. William & Mary, 4-11 (W1)
12. Old Dominion, 3-12 (L9)

[randy]

A win today will secure our 2nd consecutive CAA regular season title. Hofstra is the only team that has beaten us in conference play so far thi season

Feb 18, 2002: Hofstra (17-7, 11-4) @ #14 Towson (22-3, 14-1)

We are clearly the more aggressive and energetic team at the start of the game, running the break and attacking the rim at every opportunity. Up 17-4, 12:29. HOF clearly rattled on both ends of the floor, as they were forced to burn 2 timeouts in the 1st half. Halftime, Up 39-11.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• FG shooting: HOF 22%, TOW 54%
• Turnovers: HOF 12, TOW 5

Start of 2nd half

We opened up the half with even more urgency, on a 7-0 run. Our offense was afr from efficient the rest of the 2nd half, but this game was about imposing our defensive will against HOF, whom we might be meeting again during the conference tournament finals.


Final Score: Hofstra - 37, Towson - 70


Box Scores
[INDENT]Ward 28, 4, 1, 2 blks (*)
Wilkerson 13, 8, 6, 2 stls
DeMond 8, 7, 3
Green 8, 3, 1, 2 stls
Desmond 6, 4, 0
Morton 3, 5, 2
Hale 2, 4, 1
Granger 2, 2, 4
Martin 0, 1, 1
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 49-28%
REB: +20
TO: -8
Pts in paint: +32
2nd chance: +3
Fast break: +4
[/INDENT]
Notes

• Perhaps the best defensive effort we have shown the past 2 seasons since I became HC of this program. Today, we certainly showed the ingredients that we need to have in order to make a deep tournament run - defense, rebounding, and taking care of ball

CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 15-1 (W11)
2. James Madison, 12-4 (W3)
3. Hofstra, 11-5 (L1)
4. NC Wilmington, 9-7 (L2)
5. Delaware, 9-7 (W1)
6. VCU, 8-8 (W1)
7. Drexel, 7-9 (L4)
8. George Mason, 6-10 (W1)
9. Northeastern, 6-10 (L1)
10. Georgia St, 5-11 (L1)
11. William & Mary, 5-11 (W2)
12. Old Dominion, 3-13 (L10)

[randy]

Feb 19, 2002: #13 Towson (23-3, 15-1) vs #16 Arkansas-Little Rock (23-5, 13-2)

Good matchup between 2 small programs who are currently dominating their respective conferences. We have challenged UALR to shoot from the outside, and so far they have not done well, 22% FG. PF Dan Morton playing well with 8 pts off the bench. Up 22-11, 9:06. C Alex DeMond (10 pts) starting to dominate, as we protected our lead. Halftime, Up 35-22.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• FG shooting: TOW 47%, UALR 29% (2-14 3PT)
• Turnovers: TOW 6, UALR 3

Start of 2nd half

UALR made a rally to cut down our lead to 3. Late in thh 1st half earlier, UALR was 1-13 3PT; they have made 5 of their last 7 attempts since then. Up 45-42, 8:40. SG Cain Ward hits a 3. A long dry spell on offense for both teams, until UALR scores 5 unanswered. Up 48-47, 4:40. We miss again. UALR converts another shot, and they have taken the lead! On our next play, we turned the ball over. Last media timeout. Down 48-49, 3:58.

We clearly need to regroup. UALR turn over. We also turned the ball over. UALR gets a basket. Down 3. We turn it over again. Timeout. Down 48-51, 3:03.

UALR missed their shot. We also failed to score on our end. UALR with a 3pt shot; their 8th of the game. Unbelievable turn of events. Down 48-54, 1:56.

C Alex DeMond gets his shot to fall. Down 4. Another 3 by UALR! Timeout. Down 50-57, 1:22. We'll go m2m defense later. We need to start thinking 3 as well on offense. We missed 2 consecutive attempts from 3. Game over


Final Score: Towson - 50, Arkansas-Little Rock - 58


Box Scores
[INDENT]Ward 16, 6, 1, 4 tos
DeMond 14, 6, 1
Morton 8, 5, 1
Wilkerson 5, 4, 3
Green 4, 7, 3
Hale 3, 3, 1
Martin 0, 3, 3
Desmond 0, 2, 0
Granger 0, 0, 2
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 37-38%
REB: +5
TO: +3
Pts in paint: +16
2nd chance: +4
Fast break: -1
[/INDENT]
Notes

• A head-scratching loss. We were up by 16 sometime in the 1st half; a 24-pt turn around by UALR. How it affects the seeding later during the NCAA remains to be seen, but this was a big opportunity we let slip away

CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 15-1 (W11)
2. James Madison, 12-4 (W3)
3. Hofstra, 11-5 (L1)
4. NC Wilmington, 9-7 (L2)
5. Delaware, 9-7 (W1)
6. VCU, 8-8 (W1)
7. Drexel, 7-9 (L4)
8. George Mason, 6-10 (W1)
9. Northeastern, 6-10 (L1)
10. Georgia St, 5-11 (L1)
11. William & Mary, 5-11 (W2)
12. Old Dominion, 3-13 (L10)

[randy]

Feb 22, 2002: #13 Towson (23-4, 15-1) @ Northeastern (9-16, 6-10)

Aaron Hale is injured for this game. NORTH good shooting start, 4-6 3PT. SG Haven Wilkerson caught fire with 12 pts, 4-4 FG. Up 19-14, 11:28. We continued our hot shooting streak. NORTH kept their deficit reasonable at 12, but we ended the 1st half on a 9-0 spurt. Our top 3 players are all in double figure scoring. Halftime, Up 47-26.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• FG shooting: TOW 65%, NORTH 36%
• Turnovers: TOW 3, NORTH 9

Start of 2nd half

NORTH continues to shoot well from beyond the arc, 9-18 3PT, but that's almost the entirety of their offense so far. Up 56-38, 11:31. NORTH got to within 14, but too late with less than 2 mins remaining.


Final Score: Towson - 73, Northeastern - 56


Box Scores
[INDENT]Ward 24, 4, 0 (*)
Wilkerson 19, 5, 0
DeMond 16, 5, 0
Green 4, 4, 0
Desmond 4, 2, 0
Morton 2, 5, 1, 2 stls
Martin 2, 4, 4
Granger 2, 0, 5
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 50-42%
REB: +6
TO: -10
Pts in paint: +28
2nd chance: +4
Fast break: +7
[/INDENT]
Notes

• With a shortened rotation, we played big most of the time, with 3 PF/C on the floor. Spacing was not good on offense in the 2nd half, but fortunately we already built a big lead back in the 1st

CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 16-1 (W12)
2. James Madison, 13-4 (W4)
3. Hofstra, 12-5 (W1)
4. VCU, 9-8 (W2)
5. NC Wilmington, 9-8 (L3)
6. Delaware, 9-8 (L1)
7. Drexel, 8-9 (W1)
8. Georgia St, 6-11 (W1)
9. George Mason, 6-11 (L1)
10. Northeastern, 6-11 (L2)
11. William & Mary, 5-12 (L1)
12. Old Dominion, 3-14 (L11)

[randy]

SF Aaron Hale still injured - sprained wrist (75%, 6 days)

Feb 25, 2002: #13 Towson (24-4, 16-1) @ NC Wilmington (16-11, 9-8)

Good sew-saw battle at the beginning, until UNCWI got into a FG frought the past 3 mins. Up 19-16, 11:23. Our rotation was further shortened with Cain Ward picking up his 3rd foul. Our FT shooting (12-16 Ft) kept us afloat in the remainder of the 1st half, as UNCWI began to shoot well from the outside. Halftime, Up 44-36.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• Pts in paint: TOW 22, UNCWI 4

Start of 2nd half

We turned the ball over on our 1st play, and UNCWI scored on the fast break to pull to within 6. And then we went on a scoring barrage with a 16-4 run. PF Bevon Green in one of his better games this season, 13 pts, 5-6 FG. Up 68-49, 11:16. UNCWI shot their way back into the game, reducing the deficit to 7 with about 2 mins left. But we converted some FTs to keep them at bay, and was able to hold on with the win.


Final Score: Towson - 76, NC Wilmington - 71


Box Scores
[INDENT]Ward 17, 4, 2 (*)
Wilkerson 14, 5, 4
Green 13, 8, 0
Morton 12, 7, 0, 4 tos
DeMond 8, 5, 0
Granger 6, 4, 4
Desmond 6, 1, 1
Martin 0, 2, 3
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 52-42%
REB: +11
TO: +6
Pts in paint: +18
2nd chance: +6
Fast break: -6
[/INDENT]
Notes

• Our shorter bench (due to SF Aaron Hale's injury) have clearly manifested itself with our poor performances in the 2nd half, on two consecutive games. Again, we were saved by the big lead we have established early in the game
  

CAA Final Conference Standings

1. Towson, 17-1 (W13)
2. James Madison, 14-4 (W5)
3. Hofstra, 13-5 (W2)
4. VCU, 10-8 (W3)
5. Delaware, 10-8 (W1)
6. NC Wilmington, 9-9 (L4)
7. Drexel, 8-10 (L1)
8. George Mason, 7-11 (W1)
9. Georgia St, 6-12 (L1)
10. Northeastern, 6-12 (L3)
11. William & Mary, 5-13 (L2)
12. Old Dominion, 3-15 (L12)

[randy]

SF Aaron Hale still slightly injured - sprained wrist (95%, 1 day); he may have to play limited minutes

Mar 2, 2002: (9) Georgia St (11-17, 6-12) vs (1) #12 Towson (25-4, 17-1)

Both teams had a slow start. We were leading only by 1, and shooting below 40% FG, when we started a 11-2 run. Up 20-10, 10:37. Our big men have dominated this game, and GAST simply had no answer. Our rotation upfront combined for 25 pts. Halftime, Up 40-23.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• Pts in paint: GAST 8, TOW 22

Start of 2nd half

GAST never threatened in the 2nd half, even as I emptied the bench with 5 mins remaining, and even played the walk ons for the 1st time this season


Final Score: Georgia St- 43, Towson - 66


Box Scores
[INDENT]DeMond 19, 6, 1 (*)
Desmond 19, 4, 0, 9-12 FG
Morton 9, 7, 0
Wilkerson 9, 2, 4
Ward 6, 2, 1
Green 2, 5, 0
Martin 2, 2, 2
Roberson 0, 2, 2
Granger 0, 2, 1
Hale 0, 1, 3
Barber 0, 0, 1
Toxey 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 48-36%
REB: +10
TO: -6
Pts in paint: +34
2nd chance: +4
Fast break: +3
[/INDENT]
Notes

• Quality minutes for C Herbert Desmond, 19 pts in 19 mins