After losing four consecutive games during one early stretch of this season, the Elon University men’s basketball team has now won three straight games inside the friendly confines of Alumni Gym.
While the Phoenix struggled in areas such as defense and rebounding, three-point shooting and spreading the ball around seemed to be areas of strength for coach Matt Matheny and company.
Elon will put all it has learned to the test this Friday, Dec. 13, against No. 21 Uni
versity of Colorado. The Phoenix will travel out to Boulder for an 8:30 p.m. EST tilt with the nationally-ranked Buffaloes in what is a ‘homecoming’ game for sophomore guard Tanner Samson and junior forward Ryan Winters, both of whom hail from the Denver area.
“We want to play in regions where our players are from,” Matheny said. “We want to play teams that are in areas where we like to recruit in.”
This is the first contest for the Phoenix since its rout of Virginia Military Institute on Dec. 3. Following the VMI game, Matheny seemed optimistic that the increased time off would benefit the team.
“As a coach, you like a lot of space in between games so you can work on things in practice,” Matheny said. “We have not been blessed with that as the way the schedule has fallen, but I think we’re getting better.”
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Colorado is 9-1 on the season and just broke into the Associated Press Top 25 this past week. The biggest difference between the Buffaloes and Elon is how well Colorado rebounds the ball. The Buffaloes rank 60th overall with 39.0 rebounds per game, while Elon is 329th in the nation with 31.1 rebounds per game.
Spencer Dinwiddie carries Colorado, averaging 15.3 points per game and 3.7 assists per game. Let’s take a look at the keys to the game.
Keys for Elon:
1. Stop Spencer DinwiddieDinwiddie is the most efficient offensive player on the Buffalo roster. He shoots 45 percent from the field and 38 percent from three-point range while choosing his shots very wisely. He leads the team in points and assists and has an uncanny ability to get to the free throw line. Dinwiddie has attempted 80 free throws so far this season and is shooting 86 percent from the stripe. By comparison, the most total free throws an Elon player has attempted this season is 47 by Lucas Troutman, 33 shy of Dinwiddie’s mark. Stopping Dinwiddie is easier said than done and will have to be done by all of Elon’s guards collectively.
2. Force Askia Booker into tough shots
Junior Askia Booker is another Buffalo guard that will have the ball in his hands a lot throughout the game. Booker loves to shoot and has attempted 113 shots so far this year, 35 more than any other player on the team. They key here is to force Booker into bad shots on the perimeter. Booker shoots just 27 percent from three-point land, yet will continue to shoot the ball when given the chance. If the Phoenix guards force Booker to the perimeter and into bad shots, they should be able to create some turnovers as a result, as Booker leads the team in turnovers with 20.
3. Rebound, Rebound, Rebound
The Phoenix has struggled in this department all season long. They are 329th in the nation in rebounding, while Colorado sits considerably better at 60th in the nation. The Buffaloes are led by Josh Scott, a 6-10 sophomore who pulls down 8.2 rebounds per game. In contrast, Elon’s top rebounder is power forward Ryley Beaumont, who averages just 5.0 rebounds per game. Colorado has three players averaging five or more rebounds per game, so the Phoenix will have to improve in this area if they want to have a chance. Overall, the Buffaloes rebound much better as a team than do the Phoenix and have a rebound margin of plus 8.6. Elon’s rebound margin sits at minus 1.7 and the Buffaloes have faced much stiffer competition at this point in the season, so the current trend does not bode well for the Phoenix.
Keys for Colorado:
1. Contain the Elon sharpshootersThe Phoenix’s main advantage is its ability to shoot the basketball, and shoot it well. Elon ranks 14th in the nation with a 50.6 field goal percentage through its first nine games. From three-point range, the Phoenix is just as stellar, making 44 percent of its shots. Samson leads the way in that category, averaging 12.8 points per game and making more than half his shots from beyond the arc. Samson has shown an ability to get hot right out of the gate, sparking big runs that put the opponent in a hole early. He posted a career high 23 points in the team’s last time out against VMI. If Samson can catch fire right away, it could provide some much-needed momentum for Elon to hang with Colorado.
2. Go inside
As stated before, the Buffaloes hold a massive advantage underneath the basket. Elon has not faced a single team this year that comes close to the strength and size that Colorado has. Scott, who has played with Samson in the past, will be vital for the Buffaloes. If he stays out of foul trouble, Colorado will continually be able to feed him in the post for easy buckets and most likely trips to the free throw line. Beaumont may lead Elon in rebounds per game, but he has fouled out of four games this year and posted three or four fouls three other times. Getting Scott touches underneath should get Beaumont into foul trouble early, which puts the entire load on senior forward Lucas Troutman.
3. Avoid dumb fouls
Up until the VMI game, Elon had been ranked third in the nation in free throw percentage. Despite a poor night at the charity stripe against VMI, the Phoenix is still shooting 75 percent from the line. However, getting to the free throw line has been a struggle for Elon. The team is only getting 22 free throw opportunities per game. Against Marist College, Elon had just nine free throw attempts and against University of North Carolina-Charlotte, the Phoenix had just six. But, when Elon has gotten to the line, it has proven that it can make those shots. If Colorado can avoid sending the Phoenix to the line as much as possible, it will force Elon to rely on its outside shooting game.