After losing three straight games, the American University men’s basketball team are starting to play like the team that was projected to win the Patriot League. On Monday night, they used a big second half to take down Holy Cross. Wednesday night, the Eagles soared past Loyola for their most assertive win in conference play, 64-59. The Eagles dominated on both sides of the ball and featured a balanced scoring effort led by Jesse Reed’s 17 points. Here are some observations from the win.
1. A Tense Blowout
Aside from a bad loss at Navy, every single one of AU’s conference games has been tightly contested and gone down to the wire. Wednesday night was the first time this season where it looked like AU would have a relaxing win and the team would be able to rest its starters at the end of the game. AU racked up a 17 point lead at halftime and showed no signs of slowing down. However, the Eagles came out slow in the second half. Loyola came out of the intermission with all the momentum, started the half on a 6-0 run and cut the lead to single digits with 14:33 left. The Eagles didn’t score for nearly the first six minutes of the second half until sophomore forward Charlie Jones hit a layup that put them up by 11 again.
The Greyhounds would not get any closer than 11 points, but AU, and especially head coach Mike Brennan, remained tense the entire game. At one moment early in the second half, Brennan slammed both hands on the scorers table in sign of frustration. During timeouts, he was incredibly animated often yelling at individual players. In what should have been a relaxing win for the Eagles, AU remained very tense throughout. Brennan did not empty his bench until senior guard Darius “Pee Wee Gardner” committed an intentional foul with 25 seconds left to give the reserves some rare playing time. But despite looking like AU may squander a 15 point halftime lead, the Eagles remained intact and played strong for their biggest margin of victory since winning at Brown on December 3.
2. Limited trips downtown
The Eagles are known as a three-point shooting team that averages nearly 17 attempts a game. Tonight, this was not the case, as AU only attempted nine shots from beyond the arc and connected on just three. The Eagles effectively used their Princeton offense to find open layups and jumpers; their success is reflected by their 18 of 26 shooting from two-point range. AU is a much better team when it’s getting layups and close-range jumpers, as opposed to settling for three-point attempts.
3. A Nice Showing from Panzer
While Kevin Panzer had a season-high of 18 points against Navy on Jan. 28, Wednesday was his best and most complete game as an Eagle. While only scoring eight points, he posted season-highs in two statistical categories with nine rebounds and six assists, including a nice behind the back pass to Charlie Jones that opened up the scoring run in the second half. He also recorded two blocked shots. Panzer managed to stay out of foul trouble, which allowed him to play 38 minutes.
Panzer is AU’s biggest X-Factor going forward. With Zach Elcano now nursing a foot injury, Panzer is AU’s only healthy big man in the rotation. If Panzer can be effective, it allows the Eagles to play with a natural big man who can help with the rebounding issues this team has had all season. If Panzer isn’t effective, it forces Brennan to go to a lineup with only guards. While the small lineup has been effective at spacing the floor and scoring, it has experienced trouble defending and boxing out bigger teams.
Panzer briefly aggravated a foot injury from earlier this season after coming down awkwardly in the second half. He took a few minutes out and was able to get back on the court and finish the game.
4. Slow starts to both halves again
While there was plenty to be happy about Wednesday night, AU’s slow starts out of the gate remain a cause for concern. The Eagles first three possessions of the game were a turnover, a missed layup, and another turnover. AU scored just one point in the first three minutes.
The Eagles got off to a terrible start in the second half which caused Brennan to go irate on the sideline. While AU was able to overcome the sluggish starts to both halves against Loyola, slow starts have been the principal cause of some of AU’s losses, most notably at Boston University on Jan. 21 and at Loyola on Jan. 7. In an incredibly tight Patriot League, the Eagles cannot afford to lose closely contested games.
5. John Schoof 1K
After hitting a pair of free throws in the first half, senior guard John Schoof surmounted 1000 points in an Eagle uniform. Schoof finished with 15 points in the game and had an efficient night from the field. He went 4 of 5 from the field and hit seven of his eight foul shots. Schoof will have at least eight more games to move up the record books and see how far he can climb.
sports@theeagleonline.com
