NEW YORK – It was a doubleheader with a little of both. The Jimmy V Classic featured one lopsided game followed by a close, down to the wire affair.
Scores:
Georgetown 64, Texas 41
NC State 69, UCONN 65
In the first contest, the most glaring statistic is turnovers. Texas was guilty of 22. The tempo-free analysis, though, illustrates the magnitude of these errors. TO rate is the percentage of possessions resulting in a turnover. As we have noted in the past, a twenty percent cutoff is the goal. Under 20, your offense is in better position to be effective. At twenty or over you need improvement. Texas was a disastrous 32% – nearly one third of their possessions coming up empty minus an attempt. Both teams had 69 possessions.
Offensive efficiency:
Georgetown 93
Texas 59
Texas did get to the line with a 44-26% edge in free throw production (free throw attempts divided by field goal attempts). Rick Barnes’ group, now 5-3, shot a poor 26% eFG percentage. Poor shooting plus turnovers equals the awful offensive efficiency the Longhorns posted. Sheldon McClellan paced Texas with 12 points.
Georgetown, at 6-1 with the lone loss to top-ranked Indiana in overtime, continues to get better and impress. Otto Porter led the way with a very efficient 14-point, eight-rebound night. Porter also added three steals and three blocked shots. In 27 minutes Nate Lubick put together a solid 13-point, four-rebound effort. Lubick also had three steals and three assists as his play was impressive on both ends of the floor. The Hoyas also held a 37-29% edge in offensive rebounding percentage. Porter again, had his presence known with four off the offensive glass.
NC State came back from an early deficit to edge UCONN in the nightcap. The Wolfpack stand at 5-2 while UCONN dropped to 6-2.
Possessions:
UCONN 64
NC State 62
Offensive efficiency:
NC State 111
UCONN 101
The difference. The Wolfpack shot a 50.9% eFG percentage. They also enjoyed a free throw rate edge of 39-18%. Chalk up the good shooting and a 51-38% margin in offensive rebounding percentage as key factors in getting to the line as frequently as they did.
NC State had four double figure scorers, led by C.J. Leslie and Lorenzo Brown with 16 points each. Leslie, a 6-9 forward, was extremely efficient using 19% of his team’s possessions and adding 13 rebounds and four assists.
Shabazz Napier of UCONN paced all scorers with 19 points. The Huskies shot only 44% from two point range (a 46.8% eFG mark overall) but received a notable outing from Enosch Wolf. He entered the game averaging 3.1 points per outing, but on the Garden stage the 7-1 junior scored scored a dozen points, shooting 6 of 8 (all inside the arc) from the field. Wolf also added a team-high nine rebounds, four of them on the offensive end.
NC State’s Scott Wood, a 6-6 forward, showed his affinity for the perimeter game, scoring 13 points on 3 of 6 shooting from the floor. All of those shots were from beyond the arc. Wood was also a perfect 4 of 4 from the line.
Final note: With three sophomores in the starting lineup and no seniors on the roster, John Thompson III has a young team. He concedes there is the day-to-day learning process. The Georgetown mentor is pleased with the progress and confidence growing on a daily basis within his young group. Winning in the process is nice as well.
Rick Barnes’ Texas team is young as well, as three freshmen and two sophomores start. The leading scorer, Sheldon McClellan (17 PPG), is actually the sixth man and another sophomore. Barnes is without sophomore guard Myck Kabongo (awaiting NCAA clearance), who could aid the effort. Still, Barnes concedes that his presence, while it would help, would not be a cure-all for the Longhorns, who dropped two in Maui before being dominated by the Hoyas at the Garden.
The turnover problem needs addressing. Barnes also feels the problem is day-to-day understanding. “We preach cutting down on turnovers and getting inside,” he said. “Our practices emphasize these but our team does not carry out what we teach to the games.”
A bright note was the play of Cameron Ridley. The 6-9 freshman center scored 11 points, pulled down 5 rebounds and provided some needed inside play for Texas. “He (Ridley) is battling with keeping his weight (270-pounds) down.” Barnes noted. ‘He is making progress, working and will be more effective as the conditioning improves.”
The last time the two teams met was January of 1972. Texas won 78-70 and the Hoya head coach was Jack Magee. John Thompsn began his career on the Goeorgetown sidelines during the 1972-73 season. Amazing given the high profiles of both programs, they did not even meet in an early season or post season tournament during these past four decades.
