MBB Game 18 @Towson Jan 16 (Thu) 7 PM

[Jojogunne]

The Tigers (8-9, 3-1) lost to Charleston, but defeated UNCW (on the road), Northeastern and Drexel (also on the road).

The CBS Sports Network and FloCollege will show the game.

[EvanJ]

FloCollege cannot show the games on CBS Sports Network.

[Wags]

It won't be easy, but a good goal for the next two weekends would be to somehow get a split on this next trip (at Towson, at Drexel) and then come home and get a sweep against Delaware and Campbell, to get to 5-3 in the CAA. That would put them in pretty good position after a 1-2 start before they reach the midpoint of CAA play at Elon. Winning at Drexel would be the more likely one on this next trip but one at a time. ESPN currently gives Towson a 66.3% chance to win. The Tigers have three different guards (Tejada, Williamson, and Tarke) who are all capable of scoring 25+. Tejada was good as a freshman last year and he's better this year as Towson's leading scorer. Williamson had 26 and Tarke 27 on very efficient 19/29 combined shooting in Towson's OT win at Drexel on Saturday. With the way those three can score and the way Hofstra defends, it'll be an interesting matchup.

[EvanJ]

According to https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-baske ... -point-pct we are the only Division I team holding opponents to shooting twos under .400 in away games.

[Wags]

According to https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-baske ... -point-pct we are the only Division I team holding opponents to shooting twos under .400 in away games.

Good stat, Evan. Last year, Hofstra allowed 48.4% on 2s, on the road. So, an 8.5% improvement so far.

[EvanJ]

https://gohofstra.com/news/2025/1/13/me ... unter.aspx is our preview titled "Hofstra Heads To Towson For Nationally-Televised Encounter." We are 48-30 (.615) against Towson.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/side ... game18.pdf is our Game Notes. The tentative starters are the same as last time, but hopefully that is just what we list by default and not an indication that Plotnikov is out.

Towson has not written a preview yet. Their schedule says they are selling dollar beers, so hopefully fans behave.

https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=550198 will have statistics.

Towson's minutes continuity from last season is 71.2 percent, which is fourth of 364 teams. We are 264th with 22.2 percent. The mean is 34.1 percent, so about two-thirds of minutes are played by guys who were on a different team or not in college the previous season.

[Wags]

Towson's minutes continuity from last season is 71.2 percent, which is fourth of 364 teams.

I think that's why they were picked 1st in the league. Obviously, talent (not just bad or mediocre players) had to be returning, but I think this number and that continuity made them 1 instead simply Top 4. Of course, picked 1st doesn't always mean cut the nets in this league. But basketball's a game of chemistry so It definitely helps, especially in this new NIL era. From that standpoint, it gives them a huge head start on a team like Hofstra that has to throw together a mostly new team and develop that chemistry almost from scratch.

[The Shadow]

ESPN lists a 33.5% for HU and 66.5% for TU as the match win projector for Thursday night. On KenPom, HU is #180 and TU is #188.

[triplec2195]

We're 3.5 point dogs in this game which basically covers home court advantage. I wonder if there will be any Sanders sightings?

[triplec2195]

I see that Towson's roster shows a Ryan Skerry who has been in 2 games and hasn't scored. Could this be Pat's son?? Just thought I would bring this up.

[HUSID74]

How about Speedy? Anyone know his status? German?
This is a winnable game if we can bring the defensive intensity we brought against UNCW and we can hit some threes.

[Jojogunne]

I see that Towson's roster shows a Ryan Skerry who has been in 2 games and hasn't scored. Could this be Pat's son?? Just thought I would bring this up.

Yes. See:

https://towsontigers.com/sports/mens-ba ... kerry/8446

[dutchPride86]

This should be another difficult test tonight, Towson is a much better team than where the likes of kenpom and the NET have them ranked. With Tyler Tejada healthy, Towson has rounded into form and is starting to show why they were the preseason #1. They've also been crushing teams on the boards lately, which obviously can be a huge issue for us. So slowing down Tejada and limiting the rebounding margin are two musts to have a chance tonight.

But the biggest x-factor for me tonight is Cruz. Will he ever round back into form from his bout with the flu? Williamson and Tarke give Towson one of the better backcourts in the league, if Cruz isn't up to matching their level fear it could be a long night.

[EvanJ]

https://defiantlydutch.blogspot.com/202 ... owson.html is Jerry Beach's "I'll Be Quirky: Hofstra at Towson." Against UNCW, Graham became our first player to have a double-double from the bench against a Division I team since Kvonn Cramer had 12 points and 10 rebounds in a 73-58 win hosting Fairleigh Dickinson on November 30, 2020. We are 7-2 when he plays at least 20 minutes.

The combination of line and over/under expects us to lose 65-60.5.

Edit: https://towsontigers.com/news/2025/1/15 ... night.aspx is Towson's preview titled "Towson Men’s Basketball Hosts Hofstra on CBS Sports Network on Thursday Night." In the last three complete seasons, Towson won at least 20 games in three consecutive seasons for the first time in team history. Their paragraph about us only mentions Aranguren. Instead of focusing on players, it names all of our opponents, and I do not remember reading a preview that did that.

https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=550198 will have statistics. It has not started yet, so it does not have the statistical comparison that I often type here before games.

Tonight's other CAA games are:

Stony Brook at Delaware at 6:30 P.M.
The combination of line and over/under expects Delaware to win 80.5-70.
KenPom expects Delaware to win 83-72 with an 83 percent chance of winning.

Monmouth at North Carolina A&T at 7:00 P.M.
The combination of line and over/under expects Monmouth to win 78-75.5.
KenPom expects NC A&T to win 77-75 with a 54 percent chance of winning. KenPom is 4.5 away from the line.

William & Mary at Hampton at 7:00 P.M.
The combination of line and over/under expects W&M to win 77.5-74.
KenPom expects W&M to win 77-76 with a 52 percent chance of winning. That means the only undefeated team is barely favored against the twelfth place team.

Elon at Drexel at 7:00 P.M.
The combination of line and over/under expects Drexel to win 67.5-66.
KenPom expects Drexel to win 66-64 with a 55 percent chance of winning.

Northeastern at UNCW at 7:00 P.M. on Wilmington's Fox affiliate
The combination of line and over/under expects UNCW to win 74-67.5.
KenPom expects UNCW to win 74-67 with a 71 percent chance of winning.

Charleston at Campbell at 7:00 P.M.
The combination of line and over/under expects Charleston to win 77.5-74. The line and over/under are the same as for W&M at Hampton.
KenPom expects Charleston to win 76-71 with a 68 percent chance of winning.

[RainDelay]

Another huge test early on in CAA play. Can we build on a good win vs UNCW and make a statement? Let’s hope so!

[RainDelay]

Side note re: one of our former opponents:

Anyone see the UMass-Fordham 3OT game yesterday??

[EvanJ]

Fordham broke their team record for points in a 120-118 win when they celebrated the 100th anniversary of their gym. I wonder if any other teams lost the game in which they scored the most points. UMass's Rahsool Diggins scored 46. Fordham had only nine scholarship players available, and they had to use a walk-on because they had five players foul out. Combined with UMass having four players foul out, it broke the NCAA record for foul outs. There were 79 fouls. Fordham's Jackie Johnson attempted a whopping 33 field goals, and only made 12. UMass had a chance to win in one overtime, as they led by three with 1.1 seconds left. Fordham had to inbound the ball and make a three, except they didn't. UMass committed a shooting foul on a shot beyond halfcourt, and Fordham made all three free throws to tie it. Four NCAA Men's Basketball games went to at least two overtimes yesterday.

The statistics started. They only list twelve players for Towson. Here is a comparison with us first:

Points: 67.4, 67.8
Field goal percentage: .422, .406
Three-point field goal percentage: .339, .315
Free throw percentage: .734, .661
Rebounds: 35.9, 37.5
Offensive rebounds: 7.8, 13.2
Blocks: 4.6, 3.2
Steals: 6.1, 6.4
Assists: 13.2, 10.4
Turnovers: 12.2, 9.8
Assists/turnovers: 1.082, 1.084

Towson is in the CAA's bottom three in points, all three shooting percentages, and assists.

[dutchPride86]

Becoming more glaring by the second how badly Robinson grinds this offense to a screeching halt when he's in at the PG. And yes he just made that 30 footer as I type this. Stop dribbling in a circle!

Offense looks great early otherwise!

[RainDelay]

We definitely lead the league in finding unique ways to give opponents momentum immediately before halftime

[dutchPride86]

We definitely lead the league in finding unique ways to give opponents momentum immediately before halftime

Just like Charleston. Hofstra ruining a great first half in the closing seconds there. Game far from over now

But on the whole, passing and cutting as good as it's been all year. First 4 min of 2nd half will be critical don't let Towson get any closer