MBB Game 28 Drexel, 2/13/23 (Mon), 7 PM

[Jojogunne]

Will the Pride be able to slay the Dragons Monday night?

Drexel (17-9, 9-5 CAA) upset Towson today in OT to keep its home conference record perfect (7-0). But the Dragons have had trouble winning on the road, where they are just 2-5 in CAA play.

Hofstra and Drexel are the only CAA teams to beat Charleston this season.

The game will be shown on FloHoops.

[stuball888]

Or you can go to the Mack and see this team in person

[triplec2195]

On the face of it this has the makings of a good B-Ball game and we're playing very well right now.

[Wags]

This is the one regular season game left where HU needs to be especially careful. If they approach it like they've been approaching almost all of their CAA games this year, they should get yet another double-digit win. I expect them to do that because they seem extremely focused. But Drexel is the type of team that can be dangerous if HU has a letdown of any kind. So, as always, respect the game, respect the opponent, and keep the winning streak going. As Jojo noted, it helps that this one is at home since Drexel is a lot tougher in Philly.

[EvanJ]

Today Drexel did not have Coletrane Washington (9.8 points), Justin Moore (9.4 points, and leads the team with 2.8 assists), and Jamie Bergens (6.0 points). They combined for 37 percent of Drexel's points before today. https://drexeldragons.com/sports/mens-b ... individual has Drexel's statistics. They do not shoot well. They shoot a lot of threes. Amari Williams leads the CAA with 2.32 blocks.

[triplec2195]

A bit surprised that ESPN gives us an 85% chance of winning this game. Drexel has been playing well but us in our own house and the way we're playing is more the point and of course what's at stake here.

[HUSID80]

This will not be a runaway...Drexel is tough and they will challenge us but I expect us to prevail...wish I could be there for this one but Florida calls!

[triplec2195]

We're 10 point favorites in this game and hopefully there will be no letdowns.

[HU87]

10 points seems like a lot... they could be a tough matchup for us.

I hope Speedy is prepping these guys to come in on high alert and come out with intensity... Philly and Towson both play with a physicality that seems to rattle us.

[dan10]

I think you may be under-estimating how bad we have been on the road. We have looked completely lost with no plan when we are on the road. If we still have no point guard this game, I can't see how we manage anything on offense beyond passing the ball around the arc without anyone moving and run the shot clock down and heave a bad shot. I also dont think we have anyone with anywhere near enough foot speed to defend Estrada or your other guards. Id take the 10 and some. As you all said, if this was in Philly we would be having a different conversation. But road Drexel is one of the worst teams in the NCAA (and only gets worse if we are down all of our PG's)

[Jojogunne]

This game scares me. Drexel has defeated both Charleston and Towson, both close games. I watched highlights of the Towson game and the Dragons are a force on defense. We have to approach this game like a playoff match.

[HUSID80]

This game scares me. Drexel has defeated both Charleston and Towson, both close games. I watched highlights of the Towson game and the Dragons are a force on defense. We have to approach this game like a playoff match.

I'm a bit worried about this one as well but Drexel has been terrible on the road...even on their boards they are say they'll be lucky to keep this one respectable.
We need to come out strong and show them we are not going to slack off on our home court...then we should be ok.

[dan10]

This game scares me. Drexel has defeated both Charleston and Towson, both close games. I watched highlights of the Towson game and the Dragons are a force on defense. We have to approach this game like a playoff match.

Amari Williams is a force on defense. Thats it. We are not good elsewhere. But yes, if you expect a lot of lay ups at the rim, you will be sorely disappoint when Amari is camped out there ready to alter or block every shot. Challenging his ability to alter shots down low is not a smart approach. Regardless, we dont have the offensive output to keep up. Again, this is in Hempstead, not Philly.

[EvanJ]

https://gohofstra.com/news/2023/2/12/me ... rexel.aspx is titled "Monday Night Basketball; Hofstra Hosts Drexel." We are 49-47 against Drexel, so we are trying for our 50th win.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/side ... game28.pdf is our Game Notes.

https://drexeldragons.com/news/2023/2/1 ... fstra.aspx is titled "Dragons Look for Third Straight Win on Monday at Hofstra."

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/side ... _notes.pdf is Drexel's Game Notes.

Here is today's CAA schedule with CAA records, statistics links, and KenPom expectations:

Northeastern (4-9) at Charleston (12-2) at 7:00 P.M.: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=424662
KenPom expects Charleston to win 82-64 with a 95 percent chance of winning.

Towson (9-4) at William & Mary (4-9) at 7:00 P.M. on Cox (Virginia): http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=429465
KenPom expects Towson to win 72-65 with a 72 percent chance of winning.

Drexel (9-5) at Us (12-2) at 7:00 P.M.: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=425823
KenPom expects us to win 72-63 with an 80 percent chance of winning.

Stony Brook (5-8) at Delaware (4-9) at 7:00 P.M.: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=425091
KenPom expects Delaware to win 71-62 with an 81 percent chance of winning.

North Carolina A&T (7-7) at Monmouth (4-9) at 7:00 P.M. on SNY and NBC Sports Philadelphia: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=426653
KenPom expects North Carolina A&T to win 71-69 with a 59 percent chance of winning.

Hampton (3-10) at Elon (4-9) at 9:00 P.M. because it is on CBS Sports Network: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=425242
KenPom expects Elon to win 75-69 with a 71 percent chance of winning.

UNCW (10-4) has off.

[triplec2195]

This game scares me. Drexel has defeated both Charleston and Towson, both close games. I watched highlights of the Towson game and the Dragons are a force on defense. We have to approach this game like a playoff match.

Amari Williams is a force on defense. Thats it. We are not good elsewhere. But yes, if you expect a lot of lay ups at the rim, you will be sorely disappoint when Amari is camped out there ready to alter or block every shot. Challenging his ability to alter shots down low is not a smart approach. Regardless, we dont have the offensive output to keep up. Again, this is in Hempstead, not Philly.

We're approaching all games in playoff fashion note what we did to Monmouth on their home court who according to a lot of people were on a roll. We're an outside 3 point shooting team especially Thomas but can live in the mid range if that's what works for us. Drexel offensively is ranked 9th in the conference getting 66.7 a game while we're second at 74.4. Defensively they r ranked #1 giving up 62.2 while we're ranked 4th allowing 67.5. We excel at both ends of the court while Drexel is known for their D not much of an offensive team. Something is going to give here and more then likely that is Drexel giving up more points then normal in a losing effort.

[dan10]

This game scares me. Drexel has defeated both Charleston and Towson, both close games. I watched highlights of the Towson game and the Dragons are a force on defense. We have to approach this game like a playoff match.

Amari Williams is a force on defense. Thats it. We are not good elsewhere. But yes, if you expect a lot of lay ups at the rim, you will be sorely disappoint when Amari is camped out there ready to alter or block every shot. Challenging his ability to alter shots down low is not a smart approach. Regardless, we dont have the offensive output to keep up. Again, this is in Hempstead, not Philly.

We're approaching all games in playoff fashion note what we did to Monmouth on their home court who according to a lot of people were on a roll. We're an outside 3 point shooting team especially Thomas but can live in the mid range if that's what works for us. Drexel offensively is ranked 9th in the conference getting 66.7 a game while we're second at 74.4. Defensively they r ranked #1 giving up 62.2 while we're ranked 4th allowing 67.5. We excel at both ends of the court while Drexel is known for their D not much of an offensive team. Something is going to give here and more then likely that is Drexel giving up more points then normal in a losing effort.

What I am saying is Drexel isnt good defensively. We just play at a super slow pace, so points against isnt really a good stat on how good or bad we play defense. We are helped though with rim protection for after we blow coverage at the arc. Challenging Amari is not a wise move. But mid range jumpers will be there all game long

[EvanJ]

http://defiantlydutch.blogspot.com/2023 ... fstra.html is Jerry Beach's "I'll Be Quirky: Drexel at Hofstra." The 86-57 win at Monmouth was our tenth unicorn score of the season, meaning the first time we won by that score, and our fifth unicorn score in six games. We went up 26-6 with 8:05 left in the first half, which was our earliest 20 point lead against a Division I team since we went up 20 with 13:35 left in the first half of a 102-61 win hosting Elon on February 7, 2019. 13:35 left in the first half means the game was less than one-sixth done. The 16 points allowed in the first half were our fewest since we allowed 16 in the first half of a 70-46 win hosting UNCW on January 19, and tied for our fewest allowed in the first half since 2005-2006. Our 24 assists were our most against a Division I team since we blew Justin Wright-Foreman's Senior Day and lost to James Madison 104-99 in overtime on February 23, 2019. It was our most assists against a Division I team in regulation since the aforemention 102-61 win. Estrada is 35th in career points with 18 fewer than Ameen Tanksley. Tonight will determine which of the four CAA teams from the East Coast Conference has the best record against the other three. Drexel and us are 3-1. We won 16 of our last 18 against Drexel.

Edit: Jerry pointed out that Philadelphia lost the most recent finals in NFL, MLB, and MLS. On the same day in 2022, the Phillies lost the World Series, and the Philadelphia Union lost MLS Cup.

We are starting our usual starters. Drexel is starting Lamar Oden Jr. (guard, 8.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg), Luke House (guard, 8.5 ppg), Mate Okros (forward, 4.8 ppg), Amari Williams (forward, 13.8 ppg, 8.8 rpg), and Yame Butler (guard, 5.5 ppg). Justin Moore and Jamie Bergens are out.

[HUSID80]

FLO strikes again...pathetic feed pauses every 30 seconds or so...this has been for the last several games...anyone else having the same issue????
Back to the game we lead 10-3 at the first timeout.

[EvanJ]

Flo is fine for me.

After 4:18, Dubar dunked to go up 10-3 and make Drexel call timeout. Dubar has 6 points, and Thomas has 4 points and 1 steal. Estrada has 1 missed three, 1 assist, and 1 foul.

Edit: We lead 16-7 with 11:50 left in the half. In 9 fewer seconds, Charleston has 24, which is more than Drexel and us combined.

Edit: We made our first 11 twos. Our first missed 2 was by Thomas with 8:01 left in the half. Dubar has the only three for either team out of a combined 12 attempts, and he got to 11 points while Drexel had 9 points. Williams has 2 fouls, and Boachie-Yiadom has 1.

Edit: We led 25-9, but Drexel is on a 9-0 run. Williams, Boachie-Yiadom, and Tomasco have 2 fouls. Amari Williams shot 2-7 and free throws 2-4, but that does not show the value of how many fouls he drew. Charleston did a similar thing to us. They led 43-18, but Northeastern is on a 12-0 run.

Edit: We lead 30-22 at halftime. After Thomas scored with 8:37 left, we scored 5 points. Williams, Washington, and Tomasco combined for 2 points, 2 rebounds, and 6 fouls in 9 minutes. Dubar and Estrada are tied for the most points with 11. Dubar did not miss, but he had only 1 rebounds. Estrada had 2 rebounds and 3 assists. Thomas scored 6, Williams scored 2, and five players including Carlos did not score. Considering how little we use the bench, I wonder when the last time we had at least five scoreless players at halftime was. Sub forward Garfield Turner leads Drexel with 7 points. Amari Williams has 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 5 turnovers. Drexel has 10 turnovers to our 4. We have 9 points off turnovers, and Drexel has 1. Drexel had 4 more rebounds. Drexel had 6 offensive rebounds, and I am surprised it was not more. Amari Williams has the only block on either team. We attempted almost 50 percent more field goals, 31 to 21. Drexel shot free throws 7-11, and we did not attempt any. We shot threes 2-12 (.167), and Drexel shot them 1-7 (.143).

Charleston leads Northeastern 49-32. Charleston's Ante Brzovic scored 17. Towson came back from down 12 to lead William & Mary 37-30. Delaware is trying to end their slump as they lead Stony Brook 37-23. Jameer Nelson Jr. scored 14 and made 4 of Delaware's 8 threes. Tanahj Pettway, who averages 6.5 points, leads Stony Brook with 14. Monmouth leads North Carolina A&T 40-20.

[stuball888]

I don’t like the way the game is going we are playing at Drexel’s pace it looks like first one to 60 wins