We were never threatened last night. London notched his second career double double (16 points and 11 assists) and Malcolm led four ‘Hoos in double figures with 21 to lead a hot shooting group to an easy win. The offense clicked (57% shooting, 17 assists on 32 baskets, 6-9 on threes) all game, and Mason either scoring (39 points via an offensive efficiency mark of 132, or 1.32 points per possession) or grabbing their own rebound (six offensive boards) on what felt like every possession in the first half didn’t even bother me much since the defense was generally doing what I’d want them to do, our fouls were down, and our own numbers (169/1.69, and 47 points) looked like someone had switched NCAA 2016 from simulation to arcade.
Mason didn’t shoot as well and stopped grabbing offensive boards in the second half, and while we stepped down a notch too, we were still at a higher level than the Colonials.
Two days after Jack Salt started the second half against Long Beach State to send a message to Mike Tobey, Salt got the start from the jump against Mason. If the goal was to inspire Tobey, it worked: the big fella came off the bench to hammer down two dunks en route to 14 points and gathered eight rebounds. He was feisty.
Compared to previous CTB teams, watching this group feels like we’re watching Loyola Marymount, or at least a Pete Gillen squad — maybe not so much in speed, but in points and efficiency — and while all the points have been great, the defense (particularly in how it’s adjusted to the new “freedom of motion” rules, as our opponents thus far are attempting 14 more free throws per 100 possessions) needs some work.
It’ll be interesting to see how the rotation shapes up once we move past Lehigh and into a stretch that includes Ohio State, West Virginia, Villanova and Cal before the end of the month. It’s pretty easy to guess that Evan Nolte and Jarred Reuter will be the odd men out from the 11 scholarship players, but how we deploy the other nine is still to be determined.
Lehigh is up next on Wednesday night.
