WORCESTER, Mass. – New Hampshire is almost done with a five-game road stretch, and it won’t come a moment too soon. Saturday’s 60-50 loss at Holy Cross was in part a repeat of earlier games in terms of where they played well and where the problems were. It also might mean some lineup changes could be in store if current trends persist.
New Hampshire had to play from behind basically the entire afternoon, as they trailed 7-2 before the first media timeout and by as many as 11 in the first half. They were down by 10 at intermission largely because Holy Cross had a big possession advantage due to 10 offensive rebounds. Although they would rally in the second half and eventually take the lead, it was short-lived and they never got it again, especially once Holy Cross went to a zone defense.
“The zone hurt us, we really did not play well offensively against the zone,” said head coach Bill Herrion. “I thought we had some good looks. (Patrick) Konan just couldn’t buy a three, he’s been shooting the ball well for us. I just don’t think we did a good enough job of getting the ball into the middle of the zone and into the post area.”
Defense hasn’t been the problem for the Wildcats, and generally hasn’t been during Herrion’s tenure in Durham. It wasn’t the biggest problem on Saturday, as they held Holy Cross below 33 percent from the field. The one bad statistic on the defensive end is that they were out-rebounded 43-32, and despite the good percentage they didn’t get stops at times they could have used them.
Offensively, the numbers don’t look too bad at first glance. New Hampshire came into Saturday’s game shooting a little under 44 percent from the field, although just over 14 turnovers a game is concerning. But take away the season opener against Division III Suffolk – the Wildcats shot over 55 percent in that game, the only time they have eclipsed 50 percent on the season – and they came in shooting just over 39 percent. Against Holy Cross, they shot 38 percent from the field, including 2-17 from long range.
As if that’s not bad enough, the Wildcats were just 9-15 from the free throw line in the second half, with several misses coming at times that basically thwarted any rally attempts. All of the misses came in the final 6:22, beginning with the Wildcats down by six. Ferg Myrick missed four in a row, which is alarming for a player who is more of a scorer than a shooter since he should get to the line often from driving. Meanwhile, Holy Cross sealed the game at the line, going 14-15 at the charity stripe in the second half.
There have been bright spots at the offensive end, to be sure. Jordon Bronner is off to a great start taking care of the ball, although he had a turnover with no assists in limited minutes on Saturday as freshman Chris Orozco played well. Bronner has three turnovers in 126 minutes thus far this season. They have balance in scoring with three players averaging between 13 and 13.5 points per game, and Myrick gives them almost 12 points per game off the bench. But the whole hasn’t been greater than the sum of its parts, and this is not a deep team.
It won’t get easier in the immediate for New Hampshire, as they travel to play Connecticut on Thursday. After that, they get three straight winnable games at home before they are off for final exams and then go on the road to complete non-conference play. Herrion admitted that he’s concerned about the team’s psyche given the tough stretch they have had and hopes they come home with it intact.
“We’ve been in a grind here, and we’ve got to figure some things out,” Herrion said.
That, along with the offensive struggles, may be why Herrion may be considering lineup changes. The consistency hasn’t been there, even among the starters, and after they started slowly on Saturday it may have reinforced the need for a change. Orozco could get more minutes, although Bronner has shown plenty of value thus far by taking better care of the ball to go with his defense. They could also move Myrick into the starting lineup and go smaller, which was their first move on Saturday. There are a few things Herrion can do.
One can be pretty sure he will do something, however. The Wildcats will surely want to win the home games they have coming up, especially with a couple of tough road games following them. America East play will come right after those games, so both upcoming stretches figure to be crucial in their own way. Their defense has been fine if they want to win in America East play, but they need to score to win as well.
