3 observations from the MUS Owls’ win over ECS
For a Monday night game, MUS and ECS put on a show. Both teams traded leads in the first three quarters. The Eagles had a nine-point lead in the first quarter, then an eight-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.…
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Continue ReadingFor a Monday night game, MUS and ECS put on a show.
Both teams traded leads in the first three quarters. The Eagles had a nine-point lead in the first quarter, then an eight-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
But, the Owls rallied and went on to defeat ECS, 63-59.
This was a fun game to watch from start to finish and the fans of both schools were into it for the full 32 minutes.
Let’s take a dive into my three observations from MUS’s win:
The Owls contained Kameron Jones in the final 16
The junior point guard had 11 points at halftime on 5 of 7 shooting. But, in the second half, MUS did a better job of limiting Jones’ attack to the rim, holding him to just seven points. Jones’ teammate, Hadden Burgess, scored 11 points of his game-high 24 points in the second half, but ECS didn’t have a solid third scoring option on the floor.
As a result, the Owls’ balanced offensive attack was more-than-enough to get the road win.
“He’s really good. I was really impressed with him on film and out here today,” MUS head coach David Wilson said about Jones. “He’s what I call a ‘dual-threat guard.’ He can put it on the floor and get to the basket really well. He can knock down jumpers. Those guys are hard to guard. He can drive with either hand.
“He definitely likes his left hand, but he goes either way well. So, he doesn’t have a lot of offensive weaknesses. We just tried to get after him a little bit on those ball screens, so it wasn’t really comfortable coming off of them. I thought in the second half the guys adjusted well and made it tougher on him.”
MUS has shooters
I remember talking to coach Wilson about junior guard Jack Jabbour in the offseason, and I remember Wilson saying that Jabbour can really shoot it. Well, on Monday night against the Eagles, Jabbour was feeling it.
He made 6 of 9 shots from the field and finished with a team-high 17 points. Jabbour converted on 5 of 8 shots from 3-point range. His first three came when the Owls were trailing 18-12 in the first quarter. Jabbour’s second made 3 came near the end of the second quarter, which cut MUS’s deficit to 35-33.
His 3 to start the third quarter put the Owls up 36-35. Jabbour’s fourth 3 tied the game at 41-all, then his fifth trey cut his team’s deficit to 56-51. ECS used a 7-0 run late in the third quarter to build an eight-point lead heading into the final eight minutes.
Jabbour wasn’t the only one making shots. Junior guard Henry Nickey and guard James Barton combined to go 6 of 12 from deep. Nickey finished with 12, while Barton added 11.
MUS was without sophomore guard Coy Stiles, who suffered a cut under his chin during the game, and senior wing Ayman McGowan, so this was an impressive win for the Owls.
Inside presence was huge for the Owls
While Jabbour, Nickey and Barton were making shots from beyond the arc, sophomore forward Kyler Herring was contributing in the frontcourt. He finished with nine points, five rebounds and two assists on 4 of 7 shooting.
“When you don’t have consistent ways to get 2s, it puts so much more pressure on guys that are trying to get 3s,” Wilson said. “So, Kyler’s emergence for our team is giving us more ways to score 2s. I think our guards are getting to the basket a little bit better. That helps, Kyler scoring around the basket helps.
“We are trying to find ways to score inside, so we can have a little more balance.”