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December 5, 2007

Game advance: Brown vs. UNH

BY MIKE SZOSTAK
Journal Sports Writer

PROVIDENCE -- The game plan is simple. Get the ball inside to Mark MacDonald or Matt Mullery for layups, make enough outside shots to keep the defense from collapsing and harass New Hampshire's guards, who like to shoot from way outside.

If Brown can do all that tonight at the Pizzitola Center (7 o’clock), it will give itself a pretty good chance to beat New Hampshire and improve to 5-3.

''Ideally, we'd like to get easy baskets from those two guys,'' coach Craig Robinson said of his post players. ''Unfortunately, we play a tough schedule against teams with big guys, and we’ve had to rely on our perimeter game.''

MacDonald, 6-9 senior, is averaging 8.6 points per game. Mullery, a 6-8 sophomore, is averaging 2.6. If they can’t get going inside, then Brown will have to revert to the outside shooting of Mark McAndrew, the leading scorer (17.0), and Damon Huffman, the second-leading scorer (14.7) and third all-time three-point shooter (168).

New Hampshire (3-4) will be visiting the Ocean State for the second time in six days. The Wildcats spent last Saturday afternoon touring the Ryan Center in Kingston and losing to the University of Rhode Island, 87-76. They did lead, 18-7, in the early going and outscored the Rams by 10 points in the second half, but a 15-0 URI burst in the first half followed by a 17-0 run before the break dropped them in a 21-point halftime deficit they could not make up.

After the game coach Bill Herrion underscored his team’s youth and lack of an inside presence, especially with 6-5 freshman Radar Onguetou sidelined with a knee injury. As a result, the Wildcats spread the floor on offense and tend to gang rebound on defense. When they’re shots are falling, as they did early against URI, they are tough. If they attack the glass, they can minimize the impact of not having a dominant big man. For example, they got 12 offense rebounds to URI's 11, although URI shot 54.5 percent.

Robinson respects UNH's athleticism and outside shooting.

''That’s a lethal combination. Those two things together are hard to stomach,'' he said.

He cited Mike Christensen and Tyrece Gibbs as the chief threats. Christensen is the leading scorer (15.3), and Gibbs is second (13.3). Gibbs launched 23 shots at URI -- he made only 7 -- and scored 17 points.

Robinson is also wary of Alvin Abreu off the bench. He has played every game but not started and is third in scoring average (10.9).

Brown plays a 2-3 zone defense, and the guards will have to extend beyond the three-point arc to pester New Hampshire’s shooters.

''If we can limit their wide open looks, then we have a chance to win this game,'' the Brown coach said.

The Bears have won their last two games, against Cal-Davis and Quinnipiac, in overtime.

''This team is more athletic than Quinnipiac. I don’t think they’re athletic as URI, but they’re closer to URI than us,'' Robinson said.

Brown has focused on rebounding and turnovers this season. That’s additional rebounds, fewer turnovers.

''Last year we were near the bottom in rebounds, and that cost us a few games. We have to cut down on the extra shots we give from rebounds and turnovers,'' he said.

The focus is working in one area. Brown is holding its own on the boards this season (227-224) and leads the league in defensive rebounding but is still turning the ball over more frequently (15.1) than taking it away (12.9) and is last in turnover margin.

''If we can get the turnovers to 10 or under per game, that would be good for us. Rebounding we’re still working on. We got outrebounded by nine at Quinnipiac, but a lot of those were late in the game.''

This will be Brown’s fourth game in eight days. The Bears will play Providence Sunday night and then break for exams.

Posted by Art Martone  at 5:29 PM | Permalink