Cougars Limit Tacko, Lose Game
Final Score: UCF 60, College of Charleston 40
Top Performers:
BJ Taylor- 21 pts (8–13 FG, 2–3 3pt), 3 rebs, 1 ast
Jarrell Brantley- 11 pts (3–12 FG, 0–2 3pt), 8 rebs, 1 ast
After 7'6 sophomore Tacko Fall had 26 pts and 12 rebounds in the opening round of the Charleston Classic, all eyes were on the big man coming into the semifinals. Coach Earl Grant developed a gameplan that contained the massive center to minimal paint touches and got him into earl foul trouble. Unfortunately for Charleston, they maybe should have spent more time practicing their offensive strategy.
In one of the most anemic scoring performances of the past few years, the Cougars were blown out by 20 despite their best defensive efforts. Central Florida’s defense on the Cougars was simple, but magnified the flaws of Charleston’s roster. With the eight foot wingspan of Fall stopping every shot in the paint, the Knights dared Charleston to shoot from three or in the soft spots of their zone defense. After seeing a number of attempts go way off the mark, the Cougars started to unravel.
After the game, Coach Grant said that Fall alone probably stole “14–16 points at the basket” that his team can normally generate. Combine that with an ugly 3–19 mark from behind the arc (15.8%) and you have the makings of a one-sided game.
Defense will always be the calling card of this team, and Charleston did their part on that side of the ball. They forced 17 UCF turnovers and held them to a season-low in points. But seeing their first couple shots of the game get turned away seemed to get into the heads of CofC players. They were never in sync after that.
It’s a wake up call for a Charleston team that had won three games in a row to start the season. The next two games on the schedule are Wake Forest in the 3rd place game, and at Villanova on Wednesday. If the Cougars want to avoid a three game skid, they’ll need to turn things around quickly.
The Demon Deacons put up 100 points against UTEP in the opening round of the Classic, and held their own against Villanova in the semis. There aren’t many opportunities to host an ACC school at home, so the Cougars have to try to make an impression.
What worries me is, say the Cougars give another outstanding performance on defense and hold Wake Forest 20 points below their average. That would work out to be 68 points. Can the Cougars put up 70 against a rising Power 6 conference team? We’ll have to wait until Sunday to find out.
