By Paul Gotham
BUFFALO, NY – When your dad is a hall-of-famer, and you played for a coach who has won more games than anyone else in history, your standards tend to be higher.
Or is it just that others have lower standards?
Whatever the case, Bobby Hurley wants to use the word great rather than good to assess his UB Bulls, and he made his point after Saturday’s 65-55 win over Delaware State.
The victory was the third in as many games for UB, but Hurley focused more upon the means than the end result. The first-year coach could have pointed out that his Bulls held Delaware State under their season average for offensive production (62.8 ppg).
That would have been a lie.
The Hornets numbers are misleading having loaded up with 107 points in their only win of the season over Division II Cairn and 70 against intra-state rival Delaware. Other than that Delaware State hasn’t scored more than 50 in losses to Clemson (37), Georgia Tech (50) and George Washington (50).
“I’m just disappointed with the effort,” Hurley said. “It’s the type of performance that a good team would have. It’s not a great night, but it is a win.”
Rather than take advantage of the opportunity to put a reeling team on its heels, the Bulls allowed the Hornets to stay in the game as the visitors pulled within six midway through the second half.
Of particular concern for Hurley were the turnovers committed by UB. The Hornets forced 11.8 turnovers per game in their first five contests. The Bulls turned it over on 16 occasions, a season high for the Hornets.
“It wasn’t what we were looking for,” Hurley added. “They’re a struggling team right now. We have to be more efficient on offense. We had way too many turnovers. They’re not a team that forces turnovers. We were our own worst enemy.”
Other than an 11-0 run over a five and a half minute span late in the first half, Delaware State outscored the Bulls. UB started the game hitting just five of their first 15 shots from the floor and 1-of-6 behind the arc. During that same span, UB committed five turnovers, and the Hornets held an 11-9 rebounding edge and hit seven of their first fifteen from the field.
“We didn’t shoot well in the first half,” Hurley reflected. “We never really did anything to separate ourselves from our opponent tonight. We allowed them to play at the pace of the game they wanted to have it. We didn’t do anything to change it throughout the course of the game.”
As a direct result of UB’s poor-shooting performance, the Hornets were able to sink into a tight zone defense and focus upon the Bulls leading scorer, Javon McCrea. The senior forward came in averaging more than 20 points per night. Against Delaware State, McCrea managed just six shot attempts finishing with nine points.
“Playing against a zone defense they kind of take away your interior play to a degree,” Hurley explained. “Until we consistently make perimeter shots early in the game to spread the court out, it’s hard to get Javon the touches we would like.”
Shannon Evans proved to be the bright spot of the day. The freshman guard scored a career-high 13 while handing out two assists and making four steals.
But like his coach, Evans looked on the performance more as his responsibility than a personal accomplishment.
“Our job is to create pressure on the ball and to get out and run,” Evans said. “We knew that they wanted to play 2-3 and slow the game down. That’s really not our style of play, so we were trying to get easy buckets in transition. We try to run.”
Hurley’s father, Bob Sr., was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. He has won more than 1,000 games during his 42 years as head coach of St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, New Jersey. Under the elder Hurley’s guidance, St. Anthony has claimed 25 state titles and four national titles.
Bobby Hurley played point guard for four years at Duke University under Mike Krzyzewski. Hurley was part of two national champions (1991 and 1992). Krzyzewski, also enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, has 963 wins over a 39-year career.
The Bulls get a week to make changes before Big 4 rival St. Bonaventure pays a visit next Saturday. A 2 p.m. tip is slated at Alumni Arena. St. Bonaventure has won the last three meetings between the two schools.
Hurley’s approach going forth?
“If guys aren’t ready to play, then it’s next man up. We need to start faster. It’s been a bit of pattern lately. Our guys know that when you have your chances to make plays, you got to make them. If someone gets you an open shot, you got to make the shot. It becomes really simple at times.”
Paul Gotham is the founder, owner, editor and lead writer at Pickin’ Splinters. Paul is the Communications and Media Director of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. He is a USA Today Contributor and member of the USBWA. You can follow Paul on Twitter @PickinSplinters.
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