Seton Hall 63, Mercer 47
NEWARK, N.J. – Mercer junior Ike Nwamu tallied a game-high 20 points, but uncharacteristic poor 3-point shooting and turnovers plagued the men’s basketball team in a 63-47 loss to Seton Hall at the Prudential Center Sunday.
Mercer slipped to 1-1 on the season while Seton Hall won its opener for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons.
With 6:04 to play in the first half, Mercer led 22-19 when the Pirates began a 16-2 charge to close the period and take a 35-24 lead into halftime. The Bears spent the second half attempting to close the margin, ultimately getting within five (47-42) with less than nine minutes to play.
The hosts finished strong again, however, outscoring the Bears 16-5 down the stretch to secure the win. Mercer finished with a 42-35 rebounding advantage, but shot just 3-of-15 from beyond the arc and surrendered 18 turnovers on the afternoon.
Nwamu tallied his 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor while also adding four rebounds and a block in 35 minutes. Senior T.J. Hallice scored seven points and led the way on the glass with eight boards.
Part of Mercer’s struggle with turnovers was caused by foul trouble for starting point guard Phillip Leonard, who fouled out after playing only six minutes of the second half.
Midway through the first half, Mercer trailed 17-10 when a put-back fast-break dunk by Nwamu ignited a 12-2 surge to put the Bears ahead 22-19. A four-plus minute scoreless streak followed for Mercer, allowing Seton Hall to take the 11-point lead into halftime.
With 9:23 to play, Nwamu scored five points in 24 seconds to cut the deficit to 47-42. From that point on, Seton Hall locked down on defense and only allowed one more field goal before game’s conclusion.
Wisconsin 89, Chattanooga 45
MADISON, Wisc.---They’re the third-ranked team in the country for a reason. No. 3 Wisconsin beat the Chattanooga Mocs 89-45 today in the Kohl Center. The Badgers improve to 2-0, while the Mocs drop to 1-1.
“They are one of the two or three best teams in the country – if not the best,” coach Will Wade said. “I have a ton of respect for them and their program, but I thought our guys played hard. I thought some individual players had some really nice performances. Ronrico White played well, Casey Jones did some nice things and Tuoyo was a problem down there in the paint for Wisconsin.
“I told the team in the locker room that I feel better about us after this one than I do after Hiwassee,” Wade added. “We played a high-level team and did some good things.”
White came off the bench to lead the Mocs with 15 points. Jones (12) and Tuoyo (11) combined with the senior combo guard to score 38 of the squad’s 45 total. Sam Dekker led the Badgers with a game-high 18 points. Nigel Hayes (15 points/13 rebounds) and Frank Kaminsky (15 points/10 boards) added double-doubles.
Wisconsin scored the game’s first eight points before Jones reached the free throw line to put the Mocs’ first points on the board at 17:19. Jones basket at 16:46 made it 10-4 when Hayes took over. He scored 10 unanswered points to stake the Badgers to a 20-4 margin.
The Badgers kept the pressure on shooting the basketball. They built a 52-21 halftime lead shooting 58.1 percent from the field including 54.5 percent (6-11) from 3pt range. Even though the game got out of reach, Wade saw more than enough positives to take into the next contest.
“I thought our guys were doing the small stuff that’s needed to win,” Wade noted. “Even today we were scrapping for loose balls, fighting, our bench was good and we were talking on defense. That stuff wins. That’s part of our culture. I was proud of our guys for sticking with our plan and formula.
“Our guys played hard and never gave up taking charges there at the end and diving on the floor.”
The Mocs struggled on the boards. Wisconsin held a 49-21 advantage allowing just three offensive rebounds to the visitors. Chattanooga shot just 32.1 percent for the game, 27.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Pittsburgh 63, Samford 56
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Behind a total team effort and a valiant performance from the Samford basketball team, the Bulldogs nearly knocked off the Pittsburgh Panthers on Sunday in an early-season showdown held at the Petersen Events Center (12,508). Samford battled to within three points, 59-56, with under a minute to play, but Pitt was able to hold on late for a hard-fought 63-56 win.
“We knew that if we were going to have a chance to win this game that we were going to need a phenomenal effort,” said Samford head coach Scott Padgett. “It couldn’t just be good, it couldn’t be great, it had to be phenomenal. That’s the hardest that I think I’ve ever seen our guys play and we need that.”
With 28 seconds left to play, Samford (0-2) trimmed the Pittsburgh (2-0) lead to 59-56 with a key 3-point basket from senior Tyler Hood. The 3-point basket from the right corner proved to be Hood’s sixth deep shot of the game as he finished 7-of-13 from the floor and 6-of-10 from beyond the arc.
After the Bulldogs cut Pitt’s lead to three points, 59-56, Samford fouled the Panthers’ Artis Jamel and sent him to the line for a pair of free throws.
Jamel knocked down both shots and the Bulldogs took possession at the 14-second mark. Down the stretch, Samford’s Christen Cunningham missed a late 3-pointer, while Pitt’s James Robinson added a pair of free throws.
“In the last couple of possessions, we had to foul and Pitt did what they were supposed to do, and they made their free throws,” said Padgett. “I’m very happy with our effort and now we just need to take this effort and use it towards everybody that we face and not just teams like Pitt.”
Hood led all scorers Sunday with 21 points. The Bulldogs’ 6-foot-6 native of Lenoir City, Tennessee, also added a pair of rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot.
Samford’s Michael Bradley turned in is best performance of the young 2014-15 season with 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Cunningham, the Bulldogs’ true freshman floor general, registered an outstanding all-around game Sunday with eight points, seven rebounds and six assists. He also added two steals and a blocked shot, while going 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
Rounding out Samford’s scoring were Jamal Shabazz (7), Darius Jones-Gibson (5) and Nnamdi Enechionyia (5).
The Bulldogs outrebounded Pitt on Sunday, 33-31, including a decisive 13-7 margin on the offensive end of the court. Six of Samford’s 11 players pulled down at least two rebounds against the Panthers.
“If you would have told me beforehand that we were going to outrebound Pitt today, I would have never believed you,” Padgett said. “Our guys did a great job of all five players crashing the boards and getting involved for the rebounds.”
Despite only shooting 22.6 percent in the first half, Samford held a five-point advantage over Pitt, 18-13, with 7:17 remaining in the period. During the Bulldogs’ early run, Hood drained a 3-pointer and added a back-door layup, while Jones-Gibson connected on a pair of free throws.
The Panthers bounced back late in the opening stanza and closed out the period with an 18-5 run.
Samford opened the second half with a quick 5-0 run and eventually trimmed Pitt’s advantage to five, 53-48, with just over five minutes remaining to play.
“I couldn’t be happier with the guys’ effort,” said Padgett. “Hardly any of our guys have ever played significant minutes in a meaningful game until today, but down the stretch I thought our guys executed to stay in the game and then with 28 seconds or so, we had a chance only down by three points.”
Just minutes later, the Bulldogs’ Hood cut the lead to three with his sixth 3-point basket of the game.
After shooting 1-for-10 from long range in the first half, Samford knocked down 7-of-13 down the stretch to cut into the Panthers’ second-period lead.
“I still feel that we didn’t shoot the ball anywhere near to how we’re capable,” said Padgett. “We shot terribly in the first half, and the only reason that we were in the game in the second half is that we finally shot the ball the way that we’re capable of. If we could have shot that way for the entire game, then who knows how it might have ended up.”
Pitt was led in scoring by Michael Young’s 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field. A majority of Young’s points were tallied on fast-break layups once the Panthers finally broke through the Bulldogs’ press.
In fast-break points, Pitt outscored Samford, 24-0.