SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Quinnipiac can now head home with the hope that their last game in the current road stretch does more for them than add one into the left-hand column. The Bobcats had a few tough games recently, and had another one in which they managed to pull out a 78-71 win in overtime at Bryant on Saturday.
“I can’t stress enough how much we needed it, because this team is young,” head coach Tom Moore said.
Both teams needed this game, albeit for different reasons. While wins have been hard to come by for Bryant this season, including at home, they needed it to gain some confidence in what has been a difficult season. Quinnipiac entered the game having lost four of five since the calendar turned over to 2012, with several games being tough losses. The four losses came by one, four, three and three points.
The Bobcats look like a team that’s a year away from being a contender. They’re a young team in a Northeast Conference that looks to be up from last year, especially with the contending teams as LIU, Wagner, Central Connecticut and Robert Morris all look quite strong, and Sacred Heart just beat Central Connecticut on Saturday. St. Francis (NY) is also in the mix at 6-2, which not many expected.
Moore noted that this year’s team doesn’t score as easily as the last couple of teams he’s had there, both of which were veteran teams. While they still score almost 72 points per game, they aren’t shooting as well as those two teams and are turning the ball over more than they did last year. In particular, they aren’t good from long range as they make less than 32 percent of their shots from behind the arc. Only senior James Johnson, their leading scorer, is a threat from long range that opposing defenses really have to respect.
“This team has to understand that we have to be almost maniacal defensively to carry us through parts of the game where we don’t score,” said Moore.
In particular, Moore noted that the Bobcats had not played well defensively in the second half of recent games. The statistic he was happiest about on Saturday was what they held Bryant to in the second half and overtime – just over 35 percent from the field and 22 percent from long range. While Bryant’s offensive numbers this season are not good, Moore knows the Bulldogs are capable of being much better than the numbers suggest on any given day.
For all the defensive issues, the Bobcats have been adept at finishing defensive possessions with rebounds. Quinnipiac is out-rebounding teams by more than ten per game and averages about 15 second-chance points per outing. On Saturday, they continued that, out-rebounding Bryant 51-34 with 18 offensive rebounds that turned into 21 second-chance points. (Bryant had just five second-chance points on the afternoon.)
“That’s one thing we’ve done at a high level all year,” said Moore. “I’m disappointed that our offense and defense has ebbed and flowed throughout the year, but our defensive rebounding, our box-outs and ability to swarm the offensive glass consistently has been amazing.”
Leading the way in that category is much-improved sophomore Ike Azotam, who is averaging close to a double-double on the season after averaging 5.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game last season. Azotam was at times the best player on the floor in the first half of Saturday’s game, but wasn’t much of a factor in the second half and overtime. He’s had good help from freshman Ousmane Drame, who moved into the starting lineup after final exams last month and had 13 rebounds on Saturday.
Quinnipiac starts three guards that can all handle the ball some and give them a few options offensively. Sophomore Dave Johnson has been the primary point guard, although he’s been quite the scorer of late. Complementing James Johnson (no relation), who led the Bobcats with 23 points on Saturday, Dave Johnson had his fourth straight game with at least 15 points on Saturday as he scored 12 of his 18 points after halftime.
“Dave’s been terrific,” said Moore. “He’s got four straight games where he’s played at a really high level both offensively and defensively. He’s been flying around and not getting tired.”
Quinnipiac is now home for the next two games, before heading out on the road to begin February. They then play four of six at home to close the regular season, and there are still land mines left on the road as they still have to go to Central Connecticut and LIU. Moore said he didn’t sense the team’s confidence was flagging during the tough stretch, noting that even recently they bounced back from the losses and responded to the coaching staff really getting after them in recent practices.
The Bobcats finished a tough road swing with a much-needed win. Their hope now is that it can spur them on to more wins later after finally getting something to show for their effort on the bottom line.
