Scouting Report
- Primary defense: ?
- Offense focus: ?
- Key players:
- Fr C Kevin Hackworth (11.4 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 2.1 spg, 3.2 bpg, #16 class rank)
- So SG Damon Crowell (10.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg)
- Sr PG Charlie Walton (10.5 ppg, 3.5 apg)
- Strengths:
- Defense: 57.7 opp ppg (#4), 37.8% opp FG (#2), 8.2 bpg (#1)
- Rebounding: 36.4 rpg (#6)
- Weaknesses:
- Offense: 65.9 ppg (#210), 43.7% FG (#199), 33.8% 3PT (#224), 69.7% FT (#265)
- Ball handling: 14.9 topg (#241)
- How they got here:
- Finished 2nd Big East; Won Conference Tournament
- (Round 64) Def UC Irvine, 76-47 (Hackworth 13 pts, 12 rebs, 6 blks; UCIRV: 36% FG)
- (Round 32) Def Cincinnati, 83-54 (Walton 33 pts; CINCY: 36% FG)
- (Sweet 16) Def #11 Bradley, 56-50 (Walton 17 pts; BRAD: 34% FG)
- (Elite 8) Def #5 Iowa, 63-51 (Hackworth 10 rebs, 4 blks; IOWA: 33% FG)
- A very difficult team to score against. We just hope to be able to match up their defense, and keep the game close. We'll employ a combination of m2m and zone defenses, as Pittsburgh have scorers both inside and outside
Start of 1st half
It is PITT's offense making the difference, 6-8 FG. Down 7-13, 15:11. This has turned out to be an up-tempo game, partly because of the 13 combined turn overs by both teams. Down 16-18, 11:02. Those 10 turn overs really hurt us. PITT playing good interior defense (4 blks), and we haven't shot well from the outside also (1-5 3PT). Down 16-24, 6:44. We're still having difficulty scoring on our half-court offense; our 16 fast break pts constituted more than half of our production. Halftime, Down 30-38.
Key stats / Notes (Halftime)
- Turn overs: DELST 16, PITT 12
- Fast break pts: DELST 16, PITT 12
- FG shooting: DELST 45%, PITT 57%; our % was padded by our fast break pts, as our half court offense probably produced only 20+% FG
- A lot of things we need to improve on the 2nd half; cut turn overs, play better half court defense
Start of 2nd half
PITT's offense continue to sizzle, and we committed 3 more turn overs. Down 36-51, 15:29. We will ramp up our def intensity a notch higher, and go m2m. C Brandon Braun (19 pts) doing his best to keep us within a fighting distance. We still have time to turn things around, but we need to make stops on defense. Down 47-55, 11:39.
We go down by 10 again. A small 5-0 run, and we're down by just 5. But PITT still showing consistency, and scoring 4 straight. Down 9. And then it's our turn by converting consecutive FGs. Down 5. After a miss by PITT, SG Cain Ward (18 pts) connects on only his 2nd 3pt shot of the game. We're down by just 1 FG! Down 59-61, 7:48.
Teams exchanged split FTs. PITT scored 2 more FTs. Down 4. C Brandon Braun scores inside. Down 2. We get a steal. Chance to tie. We go back to C Brandon Braun who makes his power move inside, and scores again. Braun with 24 huge pts. We have leveled the score. Tied at 64, 5:25. A miss by PITT Our 1st opportunity to take the lead, but we turned the ball over for the 23rd time, and PITT able to score on the break. Ouch! But we have to continue playing hard and forget about that last sequence. Down 64-66, 4:45.
We go back to C Brandon Braun on the low post, and Braun (26 pts) delivers once again. Tied at 66, 4:30. PITT gets a jumper to go, plus a foul. They miss the FT. Down 66-68, 4:12. PITT gets the off rebound though, but we get the ball back with a steal. Fans are treated to an exciting game here. We go back to Braun. PITT's C Kevin Hackworth blocks Braun's shot. Braun gets the ball back and shoots again. Another block by Hackworth. PITT gets the ball. They go to Hackworth. C Terrell Collins returns the favor by blocking Hackworth's shot. We recover the ball. SG Cain Ward shoots. Missed. Off rebound by Braun. He puts up a shot over Hackworth, missed, but got the 4th foul of Hackworth. 2 FTs. Braun missed the 1st ... and also the 2nd FT. Oh no. Down 66-68, 3:02.
C Brandon Braun makes it up by coming up with another steal, his 7th of the game. PITT also with a steal to get the ball back. And PITT puniched us with a FG. I call a timeout. Down 66-70, 2:29.
Still plenty of time left. I told C Brandon Braun to forget about those missed FTs. C Brandon Braun gets the ball down low. His shot was blocked again by PITT's C Kevin Hackworth. PITT with the ball. A big 3pt basket by PITT! Timeout. Down 66-73, 1:28.
I put in a small lineup, with 4 potential 3pt shooters. We will start looking for more 3 pts shots. A bad pass, resulting to another PITT fast break. Down 9. Too hard now, but we'll continue playing.
Not this time. We fought hard, and I told the players not to feel bad about this loss. Fans in the arena gave us standing ovation when the entire team went to center court to wave goodbye
Final Score: Delaware St - 72, Pittsburgh - 79
Box Scores
[INDENT]Braun 26, 8, 1, 7 stls
Ward 21, 8, 3, 8 tos
Lepore 11, 1, 5
B Collins 4, 1, 4, 2 stls, 4 tos
T Collins 4, 7, 2, 2 stls
Andrews 4, 2, 1, 2 stls
Price 2, 1, 4, 4 tos
Costa 0, 1, 1
Murphy 0, 1, 0
Jefferson 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 51-58%
REB: +8 (+7 off)
TO: +4 (25-21)
Pts in paint: +14
2nd chance: Even
Fast break: +4 (22-18)
[/INDENT]
Notes
- Despite the 25 turn overs, we gave ourselves a chance to win. It was almost yet another great comeback, but give credit to PITT for playing staying composed.
- PITT played great half-court defense the entire game. PITT's C Kevin Hackworth scored only 3 pts, but he was selected POG by contributing 6 rebs, 6 asts, 7 stls, and 7 blks. What a game by Hackworth.