If you’re a consistent reader of this columnist, I apologize for the absence over the past few weeks. I was in Italy watching my cousin compete in the Winter Olympics — Atle Lie McGrath finished fifth in the giant slalom, and after winning the first run of the slalom, he straddled in the second run, which you may have seen clips of on social media.
Let’s break down Saturday’s AmEast action.
Vermont 70, NJIT 64
-I thought this game was going to come down to Vermont’s shot-making over the top of NJIT’s typically compact
defense. It ended up being the opposite. Grant Billmeier extended his defense a bit, trying to disrupt the Catamounts’ perimeter actions. At the same time, he decided to leave Melvyn Ebonkoli on an island to defend Gus Yalden. I actually thought it was a decent game plan, until the Cats made the Highlanders pay, shooting 23 for 32 (72%) from inside the arc en route to a season-high 44 paint points. Sean Blake really bit into the teeth of NJIT’s exposed defense with his dribble creation, which doesn’t happen often.
-Yalden is such a ridiculously talented offensive player. He was unstoppable, ripping through opponents in the post (nine points on six sets) while creating a few buckets off the bounce. He finished 10 for 13 from 2-point range. He also did a decent job stopping Ebonkoli on the other end, who was held to just eight points on 10 post-up sets — that was a big one-on-one battle, and Yalden won this round.
-That said, Yalden wasn’t the only one tasked with attempting to slow down NJIT’s Frenchman. Noah Barnett scored just two points, but he was on the court for 29 minutes, racking up two steals and a block while consistently making plays like this one:
-The Catamounts are a totally different team with a healthy and physical Barnett. The Catamounts packed it in around their defensive anchor, holding NJIT to just 26 paint points (on 15-for-37 2-point shooting, or 40%) and two second-chance points.
-Aside from Barnett’s return, Vermont’s defense has trended up in direct correlation with its dribble defense. TJ Hurley has always been good, but Sean Blake’s perimeter defense has been better lately, and the Catamounts are lengthier on the perimeter with TJ Long and Lucas Mari firmly in the rotation. NJIT couldn’t create off the bounce, with SebRob and David Bolden combining to shoot 6-for-20 from 2-point range.
-I also want to shout out Momo Nkugwa, who provided a very impactful 16 minutes. I believe the Cats closed out this monster win with him on the court.
UMBC 66, Albany 62
-JRT looked like a CPOY candidate on Saturday. After grabbing 13 boards in Thursday’s win over Vermont, the Spainard was everywhere in UMBC’s sixth-straight win, with 10 points, two triples, five boards, two assists, and three stocks. He made some obscenely impactful late-game plays to close this game out, and his high-low actions with Josh Odunowo were really fun to watch.
-But this game really came down to UMBC hitting its 3s. After shooting just 2 for 11 from deep in the first half, the Retreivers shot 6 for 9 in the second, turning a six-point deficit into a 12-point lead.
-Ace Valentine was the star. A huge part of this game was UMBC’s ability to get its hands in the passing lanes and turn defense into points, ultimately scoring 20 points off turnovers — the Retrievers’ dribble defense and explosive guard play is an electric combination when the other team coughs the ball up. Valentine recorded three steals and helped power the Retreivers’ ever-deadly transition attack. He dropped 14 points and five assists across 35 minutes.
-This game solidified Caden Diggs’ case for Sixth Man of the Year. He dropped 10 points and grabbed seven boards across 22 minutes off the bench. He was excellent in the middle of the floor.
-Albany is getting healthier, which is a good thing, but the Danes could really use Zach Matulu and Abdoulaye Fall back. Jaden Kempson has been hot-and-cold since his return, and he took an ice bath on Saturday (five points on 2-for-10 shooting with four turnovers). Aside from Amir Lindsey’s typically great performance, Albany’s only consistent offense came from Tarique Foster’s stupid-hot shooting in the first half (he finished 5-for-6 from deep). That said, Ma’Kye Taylor has been alright in his bench minutes lately, and I still think Miles Rose deserves a few more minutes.
-Okechukwu Okeke threw in 14 points on 7 for 9 shooting while adding four stocks on the other end. He was very good in both games against UMBC’s smaller interior, but he did cough the ball up five times in this loss.
UMass Lowell 92, Binghamton 79
-Lowell moved the ball so well in this game, especially when Levell Sanders threw out the zone (eight possessions, which Lowell dominated for 14 points). The Hawks finished with a whopping 22 assists, including 14 from their backcourt duo. They’re at their most dangerous on plays like this:
-Don’t look now, but the River Hawks have won four straight. After a red-hot start that dipped into a mid-conference season slump, Lowell’s offense has wreaked havoc during February.
-A simple PNR between Darrel Yepdo and Shawn Simmons that leads to a decisive roll and an explosive rim-running cut. Simmons was great at the rim in this game, which is what you want to see in this offense.
-Speaking of Yepdo, he has looked like a totally different player over the past month. The ball-screen creation, passing vision, on-ball shooting, off-ball shooting, and dribble defense have all come together. I always knew he had it in him.
-Angel Montas is unbelievable. If you want to put his name down for CPOY after this performance (30 points on 12-for-15 shooting), I wouldn’t blame you.
-Austin Green’s fro makes me think he is Max Brooks. He looked like Brooks in this game, dropping 20/13/3 with eight made free throws.
-The River Hawks have no shortage of talented offensive threats, but the defense is still a mess. The Hawks were getting cut on all over. Nobody could stay in front of the dribble. The post-defense was mediocre at best. As a result, Wes Peterson, Jeremiah Quigley, and Zyier Beverly had big-time games, powering Binghamton’s obscene 52 paint points.
-But the Hawks also forced 10 turnovers, scored efficiently in transition, and got to the line 30 times against Binghamton’s foul-prone defense. All in all, a pretty classic Lowell performance.
Maine 61, New Hampshire 58
-I don’t have much to say about the (formerly) Buffalo Wild Wings Border War. It was a gross game between two gross teams.
-I actually thought both offenses functioned well. Both moved well off the ball and created decent chances. Chris Markwood’s ball-screen motion offense scored over 1.2 PPP off the pick-and-roll. Belal El Shakery banged in 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting from inside the arc.
-But, ultimately, nobody made a shot, and it was a pretty slow-paced game. These two combined to shoot 13-for-51 (25%) from deep while missing a combined 14 free throws.
-Markwood won this game with his patented 2-3 zone. In 23 zone possessions, New Hampshire was held scoreless in 20. Those 20 possessions included six turnovers and seven guarded 3-point attempts. The Wildcats generated 32 catch-and-shoot jumpers, and the Black Bears closed out effectively on 25 of them. Maine forced nine live-ball steals.
-Mekhi Gray is the perfect Markwood guard. He’s a hard-nosed two-way inside-the-arc player. He dropped 16 points and grabbed seven boards. This was his best play of the game:
-I thought New Hampshire was frisky. Nathan Davis has now dropped six straight games after starting conference play 4-3. The Wildcats have been a little unlucky, shooting 27% from 3 this month on a whopping 48% 3-point attempt rate. They’ve also lost Comeh Emuobor to injury, though I don’t know the extent of the injury.
