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A Tale of Two Halves
By
Ryan Skeldon,
1/23/2010
 | Jordan Crawford looks for a basket as he leads the Musketeers in scoring with 21 points.
[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | Jamel McLean battles for one of his five offensive rebounds on the night.
[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | Andrew Taylor uses his left hand to avoid a block, and gets the basket and a foul.
[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | Coach Chris Mack expresses frustration after Jason Love is called for a charging foul in the second half.
[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | Point guard Terrell Holloway splits the defense and drives to the basket for two of his 12 points.
[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | Mark Lyons goes nose-to-nose as he plays tight defense.
[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |
Coach Mack may want to remember what he told his team in the locker room at halftime because it worked.
In a game that displayed two drastically different halves of basketball, the Musketeers (13-6, 5-1) outlasted the Rhode Island Rams, 72-61, in a pivotal Atlantic 10 matchup Saturday night at the Cintas Center.
The 61 points scored by Rhode Island (15-3, 3-2) represents a season-low for the Rams. Their previous season-low was 62, which was a win against Oklahoma State.
The win was important on several fronts. First off, Rhode Island is thought to be a serious contender for the A-10 crown. Secondly, a win would help the Muskies RPI significantly. Both URI and XU entered the game with an RPI in the top 20. According to collegerpi.com, URI began the day ranked 16th and XU stood at 18th.
Rhode Island and Xavier are two teams that average nearly 80 points per game. After the first half was over, it did not look like they were going to make it to 80 points—combined. URI jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, and they did not relinquish that lead for the entire first half of play. The Rams headed into the locker room with a 29-26 advantage.
The Muskies, who entered the game shooting free throws at a 72% clip, shot an uncharacteristic 8-16 from the charity stripe in the first session. Further, the pressure defense Rhode Island employed seemed to rattle the Muskie guards. In the first half, they turned the ball over 12 times—10 of which came from the backcourt. It was the consistent team defense, however, that kept them in the game as the first half came to a close.
Head coach, Chris Mack, summarized the first half succinctly. “Offensively, we really struggled. They turned us over too many times. [But] they only scored 29 points in the first half. Defensively, we were really good; I thought we really built walls and kept guys in front of us and obviously, rebounded against a really good offensive rebounding team.”
Sophomore Jordan Crawford, recently spotlighted in the latest ESPN The Magazine, led the Muskies in the first half with 10 points and 7 rebounds. With Kenny Frease saddled with foul trouble much of the first period, Jamel McLean came on strong off the bench with eight points and five rebounds.
The second half started much like the first as Rhody jumped out to their largest lead of the game, 35-28, when Marquis Jones nailed two free throws with 17:57 to go.
Over the next 1:35, however, Crawford took over and began to demonstrate a complete game on both ends of the floor. He scored on a fastbreak layup, snagged a defensive rebound, found Jason Love for any easy bucket, pulled down a couple more defensive rebounds, and then nailed three-pointers on consecutive trips down court. Crawford directed the Muskies on a 10-0 run and to their first lead of the game, 38-35, with 16:23 remaining.
Mack commented on the complete performance turned in by Crawford, “One of the reasons he really was as good as he was is because he let things come to him.” Mack continued, “What Jordan did as the game progressed, was he got so much better at making the extra pass, finding guys. He is so much more than the scoring and when he is, he is dangerous, and so is our team.”
Crawford finished the game with his first career double-double, tallying 21 points and 12 rebounds. The 12 rebounds mark a career-high for the Detroit native.
Keys to the second half surge were: 1) the Muskies began to attack the Rhode Island pressure, and 2) strong frontcourt play.
In regards to the attacking mentality, Mack noted, “We were able to attack Rhode Island’s pressure, rather than letting it attack us.”
Rhode Island did not have an answer for the Muskies’ frontcourt—Jason Love, McLean, and Andrew Taylor. Frease picked up his fifth foul after unsuccessfully hedging a high-ball screen with 11:04 remaining in the second half.
After the game, Mack commented on the strategy of attacking the URI frontcourt. “We are bigger and stronger than Rhode Island in the frontcourt, and I feel that those guys [McLean and Love] really asserted themselves.”
McLean chipped in 16 points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes of action. Love finished with a steady, 10 points and six boards.
Terrell Holloway also scored in double figures for the Muskies with 12 points on 3-7 shooting.
Rhode Island’s balanced attack was led by senior, Lamonte Ulmer, and junior, Keith Cothran, both of which scored 12 points apiece.
The Muskies are back in action on Thursday evening as they host the Duquesne Dukes at the Cintas Center at 7:00 pm.
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