Elon University entered the 2013-2014 basketball season surrounded by expectations that were higher than the sky.
Picked to finish first in the Southern Conference, the Phoenix dazzled a sold-out Alumni Gym by passing the century mark with a 114-64 trouncing of Div. III Washington & Lee University on Nov. 8 to open the year. That was followed up by a 75-48 beat-down of Marist College on Nov. 10 as Elon began the year 2-0.
Since then, the Phoenix has struggled on its way to a 5-4 record as of its Dec. 3 win over the Virginia Military Institute. A four-game losing skid that included a loss to Div. II Metro State University helped exploit some of Elon’s key flaws, including rebounding and defense.
“We have not defended consistently very well,” said head coach Matt Matheny after the win against VMI. “We’ve had good stretches of defense, but we haven’t put together a 40-minute defensive game. We just have to be more consistent. We have to rebound with five guys.”
These will be two of the things Matheny emphasizes most as Elon prepares for games against the University of Colorado (Dec. 13), Georgetown University (Dec. 17), and Duke University (Dec. 31). The Phoenix will travel to Colorado and Georgetown, but will host the nationally ranked Blue Devils at the Greensboro Coliseum. In the middle of that stretch, Elon hosts Central Pennsylvania College (Dec. 19) and is on the road at Florida Atlantic University (Dec. 22).
Through nine games, Elon is averaging just 31.1 rebounds per game — good for a national ranking of 333 out of 351 teams. While neither Duke nor Georgetown is exceptionally stellar underneath, Colorado is one of the best. The Buffaloes rank No. 48 in the nation with an average 40.0 rebounds per game.
“It’s not just underneath — it’s everywhere, and that’s something we’ve been stressing in practice,” said senior forward Lucas Troutman. “Getting guys to the elbow, getting us to the block, and boxing people out. Us bigs haven’t been consistent going to the rebounding glass every time. The key for us is to just crash the glass every time.”
Going out west is tough enough, and the inside presence of Colorado makes it tougher. The Buffaloes will be coming off a game against freshman phenom Andrew Wiggins and the No.6 Kansas University Jayhawks, so Elon will need to be playing its best basketball.
“As the season has gone on, I think our guys have been more poised,” said senior guard Jack Isenbarger. “When we get the lead, we’re able to maintain it now. We kept playing patient, stayed poised, and trusted our system. From here on out, we just have to keep looking to do that.”
While the Phoenix is holding opponents to 72.1 points per game, it could use some more disruption in the passing lanes. Elon is averaging just 5.3 steals per game. Against VMI, the Phoenix showed its strong ability to break the press and score in transition, and picking off more passes can help Elon score easy points.
Containing a Duke team that shoots 52 percent from the field may be one of the toughest challenges the Phoenix has this regular season. Something that surely helps is how well Elon shoots the ball, especially from three-point land. In fact, the Phoenix averages more points and shoots the ball better than both Georgetown and Colorado, but one bad shooting night could doom Elon at any given time.
After close calls to both Georgia State University and Columbia University, Elon blew out VMI and showed some bright spots. But, struggles at the free throw line inhibited the lead from growing even more.
Matheny and Elon have 10 days to prepare for the trip to Boulder. That’s a long time, and every bit of it will be needed for the Phoenix to earn a victory in against any of these big-time schools.
“Hosting the NIT preseason regional games was pretty special,” Matheny said. “Playing Colorado, Georgetown, and hosting Duke at the Greensboro Coliseum is a sign of where we’ve come. We want more. We don’t want to just play these teams, we want to be successful against them.”
More Elon Men’s Basketball
—Samson's career-high pushes Elon past VMI—Troutman, Phoenix survive dagger three from Columbia in OT
—Phoenix snap losing skid against Georgia State
—Elon falls to Metro State, the No. 1 team in Div. II basketball, by 1