If you thought the fact that HPU’s preseason matchup with East Tennessee State in Johnson City, TN was labeled a “charity exhibition” meant that the two sides would stand in the jump circle, hold hands and sing songs…well you would have been sorely mistaken.
While fans packed the stands on Sunday to support their teams and two very honorable charities, The Uncommon Grit Foundation and Finnegan's Challenge, the squads on the court took place in a fast and physical battle that felt more like a mid-February conference clash than an exhibition.
Spoiler alert: High Point was the eventual victor; winning 71-56. Kezza Giffa scored 23 points in 29 minutes, including 10-10 from the charity stripe. Kimani Hamilton dropped 11 pts, Chase Johnston hit a trifecta of triples and Abdoulaye Thiam scored 9 in just 16 minutes of work.
But there was so much more than just scoring in a game that, at times, wasn’t all that pretty. Juslin Bodo Bodo grabbed 10 boards. D’Maurian Williams played great on the defensive end before fouling out. Trae Benham was diving all over the court for loose balls. And on a night when the Panthers were outrebounded 39 to 37, Bobby Pettiford Jr., all 183 cm/6'0 of him, nabbed 5 defensive boards from the point guard position.
The Panthers played 10 guys; not the least consequential of which was Braden Hausen. The freshman from Amarillo, TX splashed in two three-pointers and was fouled on another leading to 10 points in 15 minutes of action. Not only did he score, but he looked comfortable on both ends of the floor playing in just about any spot of the front court rotation.
East Tennessee State is a team that clearly prides itself on playing a physical brand of defensive basketball. They also vary in their styles of pressure throughout the game; switching from full court zone press to ¾ court trap to a tight half court man-to-man resembling something of a pack-line defense.
In the early part of the first half that physicality was on display and created some issues for the Panthers who struggled to get into an offensive rhythm. The Panthers flipped a switch and managed the pressure well in the middle 20 minutes, building up a 54-31 lead, but once again struggled a bit over the last 11 minutes of the game.
In fact, if you take the first 11 minutes and last 11 minutes of the game together, the Bucs outscored High Point 42-29. Quite a wild realization considering they still lost the game by 16.
But overall, it was a pretty darn good night for the Panthers. Better yet there is plenty on film and paper for these guys to work on. The program will get more from this game than simply playing a warmup against a D3 team.
ETSU is no slouch of a basketball team. KenPom would have had this game as a toss-up. Bart Torvik thinks ETSU is a legit contender for the SOCON. So to go on the road and win by 16, regardless of how it went down, is a good sign. A great day for a Panther W.
Quick Hits
The Good
Kezza being Kezza – six assists, just two turnovers, 23 points. It felt like a quiet night for the preseason Big South POY but maybe that was for all the right reasons?
Shooting/Ball Movement – There are different ways to go 10-24, 41.7%, from three and it felt like the Panthers did it the right way. Five guys contributed and the majority of shots were good looks based on the “one more” pass. HPU was also 21-23 from the free throw line.
Defense? – Yea the Panthers are playing some defense this year. There was an awesome moment 5 minutes into the second half when Abdoulaye Thiam, in full defensive stance, bodied up an ETSU guard on the wing as the shot clock expired leading to a steal and fast break layup for Hamilton. Love to see it.
Maturity – ETSU tried to get under the Panthers skin with their style of play, and for the most part the Panthers kept their composure. There was a moment about 9 minutes into the second half where Bodo caught a stray elbow to the noggin on the defensive end. It should have been called, but Bodo played on and got the defensive rebound. On the next offensive position he grabbed two offensive rebounds and drew a foul on the guy that elbowed him the play prior. Then he drained both free throws. A fine demonstration of the “next play” mindset.
The Not-So-Good
Live Ball Turnovers – The Panthers had 12 turnovers on the night, which doesn’t seem THAT bad but a good number of them were of the live ball variety that led to run outs and easy baskets. High Point also struggled for most of the game against the full court press. Turnovers are to be expected early on and it’s hard to simulate that ETSU kind of pressure for a first game, but it’s still something the Panthers should continue to work on.
Rebounding – ETSU is a quality rebounding team but the Panthers were outrebounded in a game for just the 6th time since Huss took the helm. The Panthers were 2-3 last year when they were outrebounded.
Sights and Sounds
Bench Issue – Somewhat funny moment in the pregame when Freedom Hall staff had to bring out extra chairs to accommodate the 20 player, 6 coaches roster that HPU has this season. Wonder if some of our smaller arena in-conference opponents will be as accommodating?
Freedom Hall Crowd – Shoutout to ETSU fans for coming out in strong support for an exhibition matchup. I plan on doing a full post about Freedom Hall but its obvious East Tennessee loves college hoops and maybe the Big South made a good choice on the conference tournament location?
Calm, Cool and Collected – Another funny moment near the end of the game when Alan Huss was letting a referee hear it over some inconsistencies in officiating. An ETSU fan blurted out something like “you can’t get a technical when it’s for charity.” Huss laughed if off and did, in fact, avoid the technical foul for this one.
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