5 takeaways from Christian Brothers’ road win at Houston
In just the second game of the season, Christian Brothers faced adversity, down 28-18 in front of a raucous Houston crowd for the Mustangs’ season opener.
But the Purple Wave never rattled.
Sophomore shooting guard Reese McMullen led Christian Brothers (2-0) with 14 points as the Purple Wave defeated Houston (0-1) 44-38 Saturday night.
McMullen started the comeback with a pair of foul shots in the early minutes of the third quarter after junior guard Joe Bubnick knocked down a trey to give the Mustangs their biggest lead of the night. Junior guard Sam Spence converted on a 3-point play to cut his team’s deficit to five (31-26).
Junior combo guard Alex Marsh and McMullen traded 3s before Harrison Kelly scored Christian Brothers’ final five points of the third quarter to pull within 33-32.
McMullen scored the Purple Wave’s first five points of the fourth quarter to give the Purple Wave their first lead since Clint Channell’s layup in the first quarter. Christian Brothers would hold onto the lead the rest of the way and put the game away from the free throw line.
Chandler Jackson and Spence made the necessary shots from the charity stripe to give the Purple Wave the breathing room they needed.
“I don’t think any of our guys really played great, but as a group, we did a great job of not getting down on ourselves and coming back,” Christian Brothers head coach Bubba Luckett said.
Spence and Kelly both finished with 11 points. Jackson and Eli Federman each added six points apiece. As a team, Christian Brothers made 12 of 15 shots from the free throw line, two nights after going a perfect 7 for 7 in a 64-43 win at Arlington.
Sophomore forward Zander Yates was a problem for the Purple Wave in the post. He scored nine of his team-high 12 points in the first half. Marsh and T.J. Madlock, the son of Memphis assistant coach Tony Madlock, each finished with eight points.
Christian Brothers’ 2-3 zone
The Purple Wave weren’t as big as their opponent, so head coach Bubba Luckett decided to go with a 2-3 zone. Houston didn’t respond well to it, taking bad shots after another. The Mustangs couldn’t find any offensive balance in the second half, which was part of the reason Christian Brothers was able to rally from 10 points down.
Youth stepping up
Jackson and McMullen played big roles in their team’s comeback. Jackson is only a freshman, and McMullen is just a sophomore, which are good signs to the type of players they could become in the near future. Jackson sealed the win with two free throws with 11.4 seconds left.
“I was very happy to see that, especially with a young team early in the season,” Luckett said. “It’s great to have a game like that. It felt almost like a league game in January, because every possession in the second half, either you had to get a stop or get a high percentage shot.”
Federman can shoot
The sophomore guard nailed a 3 to start the game, then made another one to start the second quarter. Federman can shoot the long ball and has the confidence to keep shooting when he’s open.
Miscues
Houston should have stuck to what was working for them by giving Yates the basketball in the post. He was manhandling Channell and Georgia Football commit Bill Norton when he positioned himself well. The Mustangs were trying to shoot a lot of jumpers, and that came back to bite the team in the end.