MBB: NESCAC

[jumbomumbo]

Can't make it tonight, but hoping the Jumbos can pull out a W against a talented Keene State team. This has been a new non-conference rival for the Jumbos, as the Owls kicked Tufts out of the tournament in the round of 32 in 2023, and last season the Jumbos won off a Bernstein buzzer beater (a beautifully drawn play from the coaching staff). This will be the first time Keene comes to Tufts as part of this modern-day rivalry. Would be a big win!

[nescac1]

A few thoughts on NESCAC action this week:

1. Keene-Tufts should be a really fun game, a true contrast of styles.  Tufts is far bigger, far stronger, and far better on the interior, and Keene, while VERY small, is much faster, deeper and a much better outside shooting team.  Tufts will want this played at a deliberate pace and to avoid turnovers and an up-and-down game.  They should be able to own the glass and get a lot of second chance points, and Bernstein and Gyimisi have a big advantage inside.  I also think Medley, a very tough wing defender, is a good matchup for Brito, assuming he gets the assignment, though you can only hope to make him work for his points.  Tufts has to watch Aronson too, he killed Williams with three quick triples in that game, and I'm sure as a program are very familiar with what he can do . 

2. Nice win for Williams last night on the road against a decent New Palz team.  As jumpshot noted, Williams had issues with turnovers, 20 in total, a good number of them avoidable, but when they DIDN'T turn it over virtually every shot in the last 30 minutes of the game was a clean look, including many barely-contested layups off beautiful feeds to cutters.  Williams doesn't have one guy who is able to take a game over on offense but just about every guy on the roster seems to be adept at timing off-ball cuts to maximum effect, and they can really punish a very aggressive defense like New Palz.  The Eph defense did a great job holding New Palz's star to 1-11 from the field.

FY Jackson Rein continues to play his role really well, boarding, getting points off cuts, playing tough physical defense, and hitting open 3's.  The same with Sammy Cooley, who had a really efficient two-way game and is very good at using his strength to finish plays through contact.  He has earned a permanent starting role in my view.  Even on an off shooting night for Hudson Hansen, he made an impact with passing and defense, and Brandon Roughley had a very efficient game in the paint despite being limited by foul trouble.   That group plus Alex Lee have been very steady for the Ephs, and plenty of other guys have shown flashes, especially Belcher.  Glatzer is still clearly working his way back into form but should help as he gets closer to 100 percent. 

3. Pretty big shocker for Bowdoin at Bates last night.  I know the early schedule was weak, but surprised to see them go to Bates and not just lose, but lose badly, even though Bates was missing Begin, Nadeau, and Cravitz.  There does seem to be a bit of Ewing theory going on, as since those guys went out, Bates has won three in a row.  Bates is getting lights-out shooting from Coyne and tremendous all-around play from soph Babacar Pouye, who showed as a FY that he is a very talented all-around player.  So far this year, 16-7-1 plus 1 spg and 2 bpg on 56/33/81 splits.  If Begin can return 100 percent and fit into what Bates is doing right now, they could be more interesting than expected.  Bates' upcoming non-league schedule is, however, quite tough: Brandeis, Rochester, St. Joe's, Colby. 

As for Bowdoin, what a brutal shooting night, especially at the line - 3-17 from deep and a crazy 6-19 from the line.  That bandbox Bates gym is not a fun place to play, and I imagine it's especially difficult in a rivalry game. But man, that's rough. 

4. Saturday features a number of huge games.  Williams-Wesleyan is usually a war, and Wesleyan has been killing everyone, but playing a weak schedule, so that will be their first real test.  I expect that to be a very competitive game, as usual, between two teams who know exactly what the other wants to do.  Middlebury-Emory is a huge game and will show just how for-real Middlebury is this year.  Hopefully Midd has Joseph back for that one because they will need all the firepower they can get against an Emory team with one of the best backcourts (if not the best) in the country. 

5. There are a bunch of other fun NESCAC-UAA challenge matchups this week, but Midd-Emory is the biggest one on paper. There is a bit of an advantage for the UAA given that the weaker NESCAC teams are all participating but Trinity, Williams, and Wesleyan are not, but hopefully some of the lower tier NESCAC squads can pull off some upsets.     

[jumbomumbo]

A few thoughts on NESCAC action this week:

1. Keene-Tufts should be a really fun game, a true contrast of styles.  Tufts is far bigger, far stronger, and far better on the interior, and Keene, while VERY small, is much faster, deeper and a much better outside shooting team.  Tufts will want this played at a deliberate pace and to avoid turnovers and an up-and-down game.  They should be able to own the glass and get a lot of second chance points, and Bernstein and Gyimisi have a big advantage inside.  I also think Medley, a very tough wing defender, is a good matchup for Brito, assuming he gets the assignment, though you can only hope to make him work for his points.  Tufts has to watch Aronson too, he killed Williams with three quick triples in that game, and I'm sure as a program are very familiar with what he can do . 

2. Nice win for Williams last night on the road against a decent New Palz team.  As jumpshot noted, Williams had issues with turnovers, 20 in total, a good number of them avoidable, but when they DIDN'T turn it over virtually every shot in the last 30 minutes of the game was a clean look, including many barely-contested layups off beautiful feeds to cutters.  Williams doesn't have one guy who is able to take a game over on offense but just about every guy on the roster seems to be adept at timing off-ball cuts to maximum effect, and they can really punish a very aggressive defense like New Palz.  The Eph defense did a great job holding New Palz's star to 1-11 from the field.

FY Jackson Rein continues to play his role really well, boarding, getting points off cuts, playing tough physical defense, and hitting open 3's.  The same with Sammy Cooley, who had a really efficient two-way game and is very good at using his strength to finish plays through contact.  He has earned a permanent starting role in my view.  Even on an off shooting night for Hudson Hansen, he made an impact with passing and defense, and Brandon Roughley had a very efficient game in the paint despite being limited by foul trouble.   That group plus Alex Lee have been very steady for the Ephs, and plenty of other guys have shown flashes, especially Belcher.  Glatzer is still clearly working his way back into form but should help as he gets closer to 100 percent. 

3. Pretty big shocker for Bowdoin at Bates last night.  I know the early schedule was weak, but surprised to see them go to Bates and not just lose, but lose badly, even though Bates was missing Begin, Nadeau, and Cravitz.  There does seem to be a bit of Ewing theory going on, as since those guys went out, Bates has won three in a row.  Bates is getting lights-out shooting from Coyne and tremendous all-around play from soph Babacar Pouye, who showed as a FY that he is a very talented all-around player.  So far this year, 16-7-1 plus 1 spg and 2 bpg on 56/33/81 splits.  If Begin can return 100 percent and fit into what Bates is doing right now, they could be more interesting than expected.  Bates' upcoming non-league schedule is, however, quite tough: Brandeis, Rochester, St. Joe's, Colby. 

As for Bowdoin, what a brutal shooting night, especially at the line - 3-17 from deep and a crazy 6-19 from the line.  That bandbox Bates gym is not a fun place to play, and I imagine it's especially difficult in a rivalry game. But man, that's rough. 

4. Saturday features a number of huge games.  Williams-Wesleyan is usually a war, and Wesleyan has been killing everyone, but playing a weak schedule, so that will be their first real test.  I expect that to be a very competitive game, as usual, between two teams who know exactly what the other wants to do.  Middlebury-Emory is a huge game and will show just how for-real Middlebury is this year.  Hopefully Midd has Joseph back for that one because they will need all the firepower they can get against an Emory team with one of the best backcourts (if not the best) in the country. 

5. There are a bunch of other fun NESCAC-UAA challenge matchups this week, but Midd-Emory is the biggest one on paper. There is a bit of an advantage for the UAA given that the weaker NESCAC teams are all participating but Trinity, Williams, and Wesleyan are not, but hopefully some of the lower tier NESCAC squads can pull off some upsets.     

Very good analysis on the upcoming Tufts game. If Bernstein can handle the double in the post and find open kicks, they will be in a good position to win the game. Likewise, if the guards can avoid getting tied up in the paint for turnovers and prioritize running clock until a good shot is found, Tufts will win the basketball game.

[D3BBALL]

Did anyone watch the Tufts WPI game? Like a number here was surprised that WPI won. Would have thought that Tufts size would have controlled the game on both ends. Did Tufts just not use its advantage?

I watch the Bates/Bowdoin game, Bowdoin did not look good and Bates made shots and seemed the tougher team.

Disappointed that in the UAA/NESCAC matchups that some of the top teams are not playing. Seems that NESCAC should have done a better job sending some of the elite teams. Anyone know how the teams get chosen?

I still like Williams, Tufts & Trinity, with Wesleyan and Middlebury right behind. Middlebury was my sleeper and liking that pick. They play a tough out of conference schedule, and will be a tough out in conference play. Love the way Brennan plays.

Have watch some of Trinity's games, they don't have the same 10 man depth that they had last year, but their starting 5 is still really good. They held Yeshiva to 3 points in like 9 minutes to start the second half. I can see them not going as deep bench wise in conference play. Wish they played a tougher non-conference schedule.

Tufts/Keene should be fund to watch, would like Tufts to win, will help NESCAC. As NESCAC1 said, a lot of good games to watch in the next few days.

Still over a month away from conference play, can't wait.

[D3Reporter]

Tufts takes it over Keene State 88-84. The depth that has been questioned from Tufts side really showed out tonight...was very impressed with Gettings, Kennelly, and Wooten. Definitely a nice back for them after WPI.

[Greek Tragedy]

Dang, out-rebounded Keene St by 21 (42-21) but only won by 4??? I suppose those 17 TOs compared to Keene St's 4 didn't help.

[D3BBALL]

Yes, turnovers hurt Tufts but they dominated in the rebounding and at the free throw line. Keene had 18 more shots in the game so that helped get it close as well. Tufts bench as stated above played well.

[SpringSt7]

Weird stat/fact that I discovered and had no other place to share - Colby is in the midst of a stretch in which they play 12 out of 13 games on the road or neutral site.

From November 20th to January 24th they play 1 home game in 67 days.

Edit: I err'd! It's actually 13 out of 14!

[Greek Tragedy]

I remember looking at schedules before the season started and there was another team that had a real odd schedule like that. I don't think it was "as bad," but it was definitely unusual.

[el_jefe_90]

Possibly Amherst you're thinking of? Colby at least has 9 home games. The Mammoths have a total of 7 home games this year. After this Saturday, no more non-conference home games and only 4 home conference games left. After 1/18/25 game against Wesleyan, they aren't home again until 2/14/25 against Middlebury. Very odd

[ItsATuftSituation]

Just had a chance to rewatch the Tufts-Keene State game...

Couple of things stuck out to me. The coaching staff at Tufts is really good at seeing what is working in that particular game and then adjusting gameplan based on that. Linton and his coaching staff saw that the Kennelly, Gettings duo was working with Medley, Gyimesi and Reilly. Wooten, Morakis and Bernstein still had a big impact, but the game flow dictated a different lineup. And the coaching staff at Tufts saw that and managed it well.

Brito picked up his fourth foul with 14 minutes to go, and I'm kind of surprised they waited so long to bring him back. It was around the 4 minute mark. I feel like I would have liked to see him around the 7 minute mark, and if he fouls out he fouls out. But that's game time you can't get back when he's sitting on the bench. Full credit to KSC though, as the team still managed to keep it close when he was out.

The compete level on both sides was unreal. People diving on the floor every other possession, lots of fouls and contact, it was a very exciting and enjoyable game to watch on the stream.

I feel like both of these teams are Sweet 16 caliber right now. Good test this weekend to finish the semester for Tufts against Rochester and Brandeis.

[SpringSt7]

Really good chance to learn a lot more about where the league stands nationally and between each other this weekend:

Colby @ Wash U (ironically not part of the UAA challenge)
Middlebury vs. Emory
Conn College/NYU
Rochester/Tufts
Bowdoin/Emory

And for good measure, Williams and Wesleyan on Saturday night.

[jumbomumbo]

Just had a chance to rewatch the Tufts-Keene State game...

Couple of things stuck out to me. The coaching staff at Tufts is really good at seeing what is working in that particular game and then adjusting gameplan based on that. Linton and his coaching staff saw that the Kennelly, Gettings duo was working with Medley, Gyimesi and Reilly. Wooten, Morakis and Bernstein still had a big impact, but the game flow dictated a different lineup. And the coaching staff at Tufts saw that and managed it well.

Brito picked up his fourth foul with 14 minutes to go, and I'm kind of surprised they waited so long to bring him back. It was around the 4 minute mark. I feel like I would have liked to see him around the 7 minute mark, and if he fouls out he fouls out. But that's game time you can't get back when he's sitting on the bench. Full credit to KSC though, as the team still managed to keep it close when he was out.

The compete level on both sides was unreal. People diving on the floor every other possession, lots of fouls and contact, it was a very exciting and enjoyable game to watch on the stream.

I feel like both of these teams are Sweet 16 caliber right now. Good test this weekend to finish the semester for Tufts against Rochester and Brandeis.

Agree with lots of what is said above. Especially in big games, Tufts has the depth to adjust and have a best 5 out there at any given moment. I didn't have time to catch the whole game on YouTube, but I did watch the start of the 2nd half. Gyimesi was instrumental in it of course, drilling a wide open 3 (when will they all start guarding him out there?), a few hook shots, big rebounds. Kennelly showed last year in some big games that he can step up in contribute. Love his defensive energy, and when he's hitting shots offensively and running offense it is tough to not keep him out there. I see him (and all guys off bench) growing into bigger roles with this program over time. Would love to see more rebounds from 6'11 Bernstein, however, I absolutely loved his catch and rip dribble drive from the right wing. Hadn't seen much of this from him in game, makes him much tougher to guard in a lot of the offensive sets they run with him at the high post and or top of the key. Gettings 6-8 from the stripe in his first free throws of the season coming off of the football season, for sure a bonus for the Jumbos bringing his skill and experience off of the bench.

[SpringSt7]

Monster 20-14-6 showing for Scott Gyemesi today in a 77-57 win against Rochester for Tufts. NESCAC just 1-4 against UAA competition this weekend although they were underdogs in probably all 4 of those. Disappointing showing for Middlebury against an admittedly very good Emory team, but one that would have been a really nice win for a team that will most liking be around the Pool C bubble come March.

[Greek Tragedy]

Emory is a nation championship caliber team with a national player of the year candidate in Jair Knight.