The UTD Men's Basketball team opened up their season last night with a 98-84 home win over rival Austin College. The Comets overcame a sloppy first half filled with defensive lapses and offensive miscues to kick the season off on a winning note. The 2nd half was a completely different story and hopefully reflects what we will see for the rest of the year.
This team, much like the two before it, is a veteran squad. Four current starters have started games in the past. The only player making his first start, Greg Chiasson, is a Junior College transfer and by no means inexperienced. The Comets start Seniors Brandon Greene (5th year) and Curtis Davis at the wings, Junior Chris Barnes at the 4, and Senior Jimmy Witten moves over to the Center position after being a 3-year starter at the 4. There is experience behind these guys as well with Seniors Wells Adams and Sean Poe, Junior Milo Tarighi (currently out with a broken nose), and Sophomores Mike Timmins and Reese Dahse. All have some playing experience and should be able give production off the bench.
The one place the Comets are not very experienced is inside. There is not a lack of talent behind Barnes and Witten, simply a total lack of experience. Freshmen Kyle Schleigh, Carter Nash, Ben Byron, and Dmitriy Chernikov will compete all year for playing time at these 2 positions. Schleigh had an excellent first game logging 15 points in just 17 minutes. The Comets will need production out of these guys all year in a very physical league to keep Witten and Barnes healthy and productive.
Game 1
The Austin College game is a tale of 2 halves. The first half was tough to watch. UTD was plagued by poor man-to-man defense allowing too many drivers which led to easy baskets. Austin shot the ball extremely well and made the Comet defense pay for every mistake. The Roos were 6-14 from 3, and 54.5% overall in the first half with only 4 turnovers. The Comets struggled with Austin's full court 2-2-1 pressure amassing 11 1st-half turnovers while only shooting 35% from the field. The Comets did manage to nearly double the Roos in rebounding but simply weren't able to overcome the turnovers. The lack of ball control led to a 10-point halftime deficit.
In the 2nd-half the Comets did a complete 180. The Comets went into there 1-3-1 defense for the majority of the 2nd half and it worked wonders. UTD forced Austin into 19 2nd-half turnovers resulting in an incredible 61 points in the 2nd half. Chris Barnes (18 points) and Jimmy Witten (14 points) had huge 2nd halves. The 1-3-1 defense though, was the key to the turnaround. The constant harassment by the top half of the zone had the Roos very flustered. Greene (5 steals), Davis (3 steals), Barnes, Schleigh, and Dahse were the main contributors to causing the problems which led to multiple run out baskets. The Comets totaled 13 steals in the 2nd half compared to 0 in the first half. The constant fast breaks led to a tremendous 60% shooting for the half. The Comets were also able to get to the free throw line an astounding 34 times in the 2nd half thanks to constant pressure being applied to the Austin College defense.
The Comets used a balanced scoring attack to defeat the Roos. The Comets had 5 players in double figures: Barnes 26, Witten 22, Schleigh 15, Davis 13, and Chiasson 13. Chris Barnes combined his scoring with 12 rebounds to give him his first career double-double with 7 offensive rebounds! The Comets registered 19 total offensive boards which will be a point of emphasis all season with the length and athleticism this team has.
All-in-all it was a good first outing for the Comets. The turnovers will need to come down and the man defense needs to improve quickly, but the team showed good poise and the ability to score in bunches. The 13 defense looks like it will be a staple to what they do this year as they have more athleticism and length than the previous years team. UTD opens conference play on Saturday with an improved Schreiner team coming to Dallas. It will be important to get off to a good start in conference play with a tough schedule coming in January with 7 consecutive conference road games. It should be another exciting year for UTD Basketball.
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