Men’s basketball struggles continue over the weekend
Photos by Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan
The Varsity Reds are having a little trouble getting their footing on the court with both Dan Quirion and Will McFee out with injuries.
January 25, 2012 6:00 AM ADT
In the book Scorecasting, Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim and economist Tobias Moskowitz debunk many myths in sports including the favoured broadcasting cliché of home-field advantage.
According to their math, combining results from the NCAA, NBA and WNBA over the past 10 years, the home team in basketball has won 63.6 per cent of games. This is a much lower ratio then one would expect.
But if the authors wanted the ratio to go higher, then it would have added the UNB Varsity Reds men’s hoops team to the equation.
In its first four league games outside of the province, the Reds have gone 0-4, giving up an average of 90 points while scoring only 64. This is compared to the Reds’ 3-3 home record, where they score 77 a game and give up 83.
How does head coach Brent Baker explain the discrepancy?
“When you have Dan Quirion not playing,” Baker said, “it’s a pretty big void in your defence.”
“We’re horrible at the defensive end and we need to fix that up.”
After splitting last weekend’s set at the Currie Center, including taking a massive four-point game against surprise outfit UPEI, UNB went on the dreaded road again to take on the Panthers in Charlottetown.
PEI has shocked most observers this season going from a non-playoff team last year to 8-3 heading into the Reds game under first-year head coach Tim Kendrick.
Kendrick – who had no previous coaching experience above high school – and a number of fourth- and fifth-year players are scoring 14 more points per game compared to last year. They have essentially locked-in a postseason berth and Kendrick is the odds-on-favourite for Coach of the Year.
In the previous game, UNB sank a number of clutch free throws down the stretch to hang on for an 80-77 victory.
It was a different story entirely in the land of the red sand. Playing without starting two-guard Dan Quirion – who missed his fourth straight game with a bone bruise in the ankle – and guard Will McFee – who hurt his ankle last week in practice – the Reds were shot off the court by the Panthers as they won 99-76.
UPEI shot 50 per cent for the game, compared to UNB’s 37. Manock Lual led the Panthers with 27 points and 11 rebounds, six of which were offensive; Jon Cooper scored 16 with seven boards; and Terrance Brown, Geoff Doane and Jermaine Duke had 15, 14 and 11, respectively.
Alex DesRoches led UNB with 25 points, but shot eight of 22, and eight rebounds.
“They had a packed-house and our younger guys got caught up in the noise and didn’t handle the adversity well and that’s all she wrote,” Baker said comparing the performance of the home win to the road loss to the same team.
With nine games left in its schedule, the Reds are lucky that five are at home with 12 points on offer.
But before StFX comes to Fredericton, UNB is off to Cape Breton for two more road games against the Capers.
CBU star guard Jimmy Dorsey missed last week’s games. His status for this weekend is unknown.
The Varsity Reds abysmal road record has left the team outside of the six AUS playoff spots heading into this weekend’s games.
UNB is behind Dalhousie by two points and still have all four games against the Tigers in February, which will essentially make or break its playoff hopes. Baker hopes that both Quirion and McFee will be ready to play next week. The first game against CBU is Jan. 27 at 8 p.m., and the following day at 3 p.m.
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