BOSTON – When you’re 0-15 on the season, you probably don’t have a lot of positives to draw upon in the name of keeping morale up. Binghamton head coach Mark Macon is trying to find them to keep his team going during what hasn’t been a memorable season that most recently saw his team drop a 68-49 decision at Boston University.
Macon found one positive to take from Sunday’s loss: his team had ten assists and just eight turnovers. It’s a small start, but the Bearcats have a long way to go from that.
“I just know we’re getting better because we’re not turning the ball over,” said Macon.
While Macon said there are things the Bearcats do well, it looks as though one has to search hard to find them. Taking care of the ball is just one issue this team has, as they entered Sunday’s game giving the ball away 15.6 times per game on average. They shoot below 37 percent from the field and allow opponents to shoot nearly 50 percent. They came in getting out-rebounded by 3.5 per game, a trend which continued on Sunday as Boston University out-rebounded the Bearcats 36-28. And in light of these numbers, it’s probably not shocking to know that Binghamton hasn’t been on the verge of victory often: they have lost just three games by single digits.
So it’s fair to say that this young team has a lot of areas where they need to improve. Not getting wins to show for their efforts doesn’t help since it can mean a hit to the confidence.
“When you go through a spell like this, you kind of feel down,” said Macon. “You might be broken, but I’m not going to let that happen.”
The Bearcats aren’t lacking talent, with the backcourt looking like it has some promise. The frontcourt is okay as far as size goes, but could benefit from some depth developing. Freshman Ben Dickinson looks promising and has put up nice numbers, but also looked gassed on Sunday from the minutes he’s played. Players like Omar Richards, Alex Ogundadegebe, Taylor Johnston and Javon Ralling could stand to give this team more, as could a couple of the reserves. All four were non-factors on Sunday.
In the backcourt, the Bearcats appear to have found their point guard in junior Jimmy Gray, one of the most experienced players on the team. Gray is the only regular with more assists than turnovers and has done a decent job of running the team. Robert Mansell, who had 21 points on 7-11 shooting in the loss at Boston University, is a good shooter, which is not surprising considering his brother Harris was known for his shooting at Rider recently. Chris Longoria has settled into a starting role and shown promise through ups and downs.
It’s not a bad group, but it could get better, and that’s what Macon is stressing. He also wants to see some depth emerge there so he doesn’t have to burn those three out in order to compete in games.
“I think the other guys around them have to develop as well – not the guys that are on the floor, the guys that are on the bench, so when I have to bring these guys out, they can come in and keep the ship afloat,” said Macon.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Binghamton, as Sunday’s game was the beginning of a stretch where they play six of eight on the road. They next go to Vermont, then end the stretch playing at Albany, Maine and Stony Brook, all of whom entered Sunday at 2-0 in conference play and should have a shot to contend for the title.
The Bearcats now are a far cry from the team that was on the rise and went to the NCAA Tournament several years ago. The fallout from the end of the Kevin Broadus era has come and gone, although the Bearcats are in another cycle of youth at the moment. Macon is hopeful that his current group will continue to improve and start turning the effort into wins. One of the first steps is gaining experience.
“The inexperience shows at times, and that’s what we’re working on,” said Macon.
