The Cancun Challenge continues today with a game actually taking place in Cancun. SIUE takes on Lipscomb at 11:30 a.m. from the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun, which seems just a little bit silly since Lipscomb is just five hours away in NashVegas.
SIUE is 0-2, and shot less than 30 percent in each of their first two games at Illinois and at Illinois State. Both of those teams are also in Cancun. They compete in the cool kids division. SIUE is in the Mayan Division with Lipscomb, Sacred Heart and Hampton.
Lipscomb is a solid team this year. Their record doesn’t really show it yet, but they will make a case for themselves in the Atlantic Sun. They are probably one of the better teams in that league, aside from Belmont who is joining the Ohio Valley next year. The Bisons (with an s) are 1-3 on the year. They also lost to Illinois and Illinois State in this tournament. From what it sounded like on the ride back from Normal, Lipscomb hung with the Illini for a little bit, but then DJ Richardson and company took over. Lipscomb made it respectable late, losing by 13. They fell to Illinois State by 8, which is obviously much better than the Cougars did.
They blew out non-Division I Fort Valley State 96-53 in their home opener and also lost at home to Gardner-Webb.
Historically, SIUE has had their problems with Lipscomb. The Cougars are 0-3 against the Bisons since joining Division I.
In case you were curious, Lipscomb beat SIUE by 23 in 2008, 70-47 and swept a home-and-home in 2009. The game at the Vadalabene Center was a 67-64 loss and a memorable one if I recall correctly while Lipscomb won handily at home 94-74.
We can hope for a different outcome this time, but I think Lipscomb is just too strong this year. (I don’t normally make predictions, and when I do they are usually wrong so here is to an SIUE win!)
Four players are averaging in double-figures for Lipscomb early in the season.
Zavion Williams (15.5 ppg) Robert Boyd (12.8 ppg) Jacob Arnett (12 ppg) and Malcolm Smith (10 ppg.) The coaches’ son, Carter Sanderson is a freshman and averages six points per game. Justin Glenn averages eight. There is really not one guy on this team you can single out, stop and win the game because of it. That scares me a little bit.
Lipscomb is averaging 15 assists per game as a team, and that is why they are getting scoring from so many different sources. They are unselfish with the basketball, and if the SIUE defense is not patient, it could get ugly. They are mediocre on the glass, averaging 35 rebounds.
This leads us to our keys to the game.
1) Win the battle of the boards. The flow of the offense starts on the other end of the floor. When they miss, pick up the basketball and move it forward in transition. Score points off of rebounds, in transition and in the paint. Get second chance points. Not enough in Normal with way too many opportunities to do so.
2) Let Jerome Jones be Jerome Jones. He is not a 3-point shooter. He is a bruiser. That is why he was such a threat in the exhibition games. We don’t need him shooting threes because he isn’t built to put them up. Bang bodies and let the guards do the honors from distance.
3) DEFENSE. You can’t single out anyone on this team. Play tough and stay out of foul trouble.
Interesting to note, despite SIUE’s struggles the past few years they do show up for neutral court tournament shindigs like this. The Cougars won in Vegas last year, albeit against the Citadel and Longwood and put together a pair of impressive wins at the Drake Hy-Vee Classic in 2009. The Cougars earned their first win as a Division I team in the inaugural 2008 Charleston Classic.
If anyone finds a live stream, please leave it below in the comments section. If not, Joe Pott will be on the air.
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