Well, first let me tell you that my Verizon went out and I missed the first 10 minutes of the game. This recap will start from the 9 minute mark of the 1st half.

When I turned the TV on, the score was 15-15 and I expected a tight game. Boy was I wrong. SHU played consistent in the 1st half, with great defense and timely offense from Herb Pope and Patrik Auda. However, they were up by I think 6 with about 5 minutes left in the 1st half when Patrik Auda caught a pass about 30 feet away and made a rip threw move, while hitting a VCU defender in the face with his elbow. He was called for a Flagrant 2 and was ejected. Under Bobby Gonzalez, SHU would have unraveled. However, they just kept sticking with the strategy, which was feed Pope, defend, and try and get transition points. They built a lead of 29 to 22 at half time. VCU came out guns blazing in the 2nd half but SHU answered every time VCU tried to make a run. They held a double digit lead almost the entire 2nd half and cruised there way to a 69 to 54 victory. After the jump, see some thoughts on the game and some final stats.

Thoughts:

• Herb Pope is a beast. He grabbed 11 Rebounds in the first 13 minutes of the game and just dominated the VCU big men in the paint. However, he MUST stop shooting 3′s. They are just a waste of a possession. He was 0-4 on the night from distance.
• Jordan Theodore is a beast. He had a quiet start to the game but routinely drew fouls far from the basket and finished the night 12-12 from the FT line.
• The teams performance from the FT line was light years better than on opening night. The team finished 21-25 from the stripe and I don’t think they missed one in the 2nd half.
• Fuquan Edwin looks much more confident on his jumper this year. He knocked down 4 open threes and stepped into them with rhythm  He was the only player on the team to hit a 3 and we are going to need that from him until Auda, JT, Cosby, and Karlis start making their 3′s.
• One thing we have struggled on this year has been defending inbounds plays from under the basket. VCU scored on those plays at least twice. Kevin Willard should work on that in practice next week.
• This team can’t afford a big man to foul out (or get ejected). They only have 3 men capable of playing the 4/5 (Pope, Geramipoor, Auda). Hopefully they get freshman Brandon Mobley back before Big East play because they will need him.

Stats:

• Herb Pope: 20 Pts, 13 REB (6 OFF), 1AST
• Jordan Theodore: 20 Pts, 2REB, 4AST, 5TO
• Fuquan Edwin: 18Pts, 9REB, 3STL, 3TO
• Patrik Auda: 7Pts, 1REB, 1AST, 2TO
• Aaron Cosby: 4Pts, 3REB, 1AST, 1STL, 2TO

• Bradford Burgess: 11Pts, 3REB
• Briante Webber: 9Pts, 2REB, 1AST, 2STL, 1TO
• Troy Daniels: 8Pts, 5REB, 1TO
• Rob Brandenberg: 8Pts, 3REB, 1TO
• Darius Theus: 7Pts, 2REB, 5AST, 1STL, 2BLK, 2TO
• D.J. Haley: 6Pts, 4REB, 2AST, 1BLK, 4TO
• Juvonte Reddic: 3Pts, 4REB, 3TO
• Heath Houston: 2Pts, 3REB, 1BLK

As originally posted on piratebasketball.wordpress.com