HAMDEN — As head coach Tom Pecora entered his postgame media availability following Quinnipiac’s 76-75 loss to Niagara Saturday, there was one common theme to his message.
“We’re struggling to put people away.”
The Bobcats aren’t learning from their previous mistakes, and this time it cost them as their double digit lead evaporated in the second half to the 9-14 Purple Eagles.
“When you don’t execute the game plan, it’s really hard to win on this level, especially in this conference,” Pecora said. “They were a better team than their record shows.”
Let’s empty out the notebook following the Bobcats’ second home loss of the year:
Off and running
The Bobcats carried over their dominant second half performance against Canisus on Thursday to the opening minutes of Saturday’s game. Quinnipiac took advantage of what appeared to be some sleepy Purple Eagles to run out to a 7-0 lead.
Niagara head coach Greg Paulus was clearly frustrated with his starters as he opted to empty his bench just two minutes into the game. While they definitely seemed to get the message to ramp up the intensity, it didn’t matter much due to junior forward Amarri Monroe’s scorching hot start.
Monroe started the game 5-5 from the field including three triples to rack up 14 points in the first eight minutes. The Newburgh, New York native couldn’t capitalize on his fast start as Niagara held Monroe scoreless for the rest of the half.
While graduate student guard Savion Lewis didn’t stuff the basket, he was dishing them out, tallying up five assists in the first eight minutes. Lewis would finish the game with a season-high 11 assists to go along with six rebounds.
Through the first 10 minutes Quinnipiac’s lead ballooned to 12, which would be its largest of the game.
Slumping
Whatever was working for the Bobcats in the first portion of the opening frame wasn’t working anymore, as they scored just 12 points in the final 12 minutes of the first half. Virtually all their starters were held scoreless after the hot start.
To make matters worse the Purple Eagles were playing hyper aggressive on defense — and it worked. Quinnipiac turned the ball over nine times in the first 20 minutes as Niagara went on a 16-6 run to close out the half and go into halftime tied at 37.
Sophomore guard Jahari Williamson played a big factor in the comeback, knocking down two threes in less than 60 seconds to cut down the lead.
Otieno’s career day
Not to be lost in the result is graduate student forward Paul Otieno’s career day. The big man was dominant, putting up a career high 28 points on 10-13 shooting in the loss. Two early fouls kept Otieno off the floor for a portion of the first half, limiting what could’ve been an even higher point total.
“My mindset is you want to have him the entire second half,” Pecora said. “If it becomes a game where all of a sudden you’re down multiple possessions, I’d bring him back in. That’s just the way I handle it.”
The Nairobi, Kenya native also had a career day from beyond the arc, which is unusual for the traditional center. Heading into Saturday he had made just seven all season, but Otieno was a perfect 3-3 from deep and a key reason the Bobcats once again were able to build a double digit lead in the second half.
Otieno was also perfect from the charity stripe, converting five times in the second half. His final free throw put the Bobcats up 11 with less than seven minutes to play.
Playing with an edge
The difference in Saturday’s game came down to who wanted it more, and with the game hanging in the balance — Niagara took it.
“We’re struggling to be able to put people away,” Pecora said. “You know, we get up 11, 12, 13 points, and then teams fight their way back in way too often, because we get lackadaisical or something.”
The Purple Eagles played with a tenacity that the Bobcats couldn’t replicate, or didn’t want to. Up big with minutes to play, Quinnipiac let go of the rope offensively, hitting just four shots in the final seven minutes.
“Once again, we’re not learning from our mistakes,” Pecora said. “We’ve been in this situation before, where we get up double digits and then we let people back in.”
Niagara got back into Saturday’s game with its shooting, going 8-12 from deep in the second half, five of those coming in the final five minutes.
Senior wing Olumide Adelodun was lethal, connecting on four threes, two of those on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead to five. Graduate student wing Justice Smith knocked down another pair of back-to-back triples, this time giving Niagara the lead with just over 40 seconds remaining.
“We talked about defending the stripe, not letting them get good looks from three and that’s what let them back in the game,” Pecora said. “They made a couple huge ones.
“I think some of our switches in the end were poor. We got into a lazy switch situation, and then they made shots and they got hot at the end.”
Down three with less than 30 seconds, Pecora kept his last timeout in his pocket, opting to let his starters play it out. Monroe got to the bucket, looking to hit a layup and get to the foul line, but came up short.
“I think he just got caught up,” Pecora said. “He shouldn’t have given up his dribble, but that happened. Then he tried to step through and put something up. We should have people all over the rim, but the guys were just watching. And that was kind of the thing from the whole day.”
The Purple Eagles came down with the rebound, essentially ending the game. The Bobcats ended the game with just three offensive rebounds, well below their average of 12.
“We only had three offensive rebounds,” Pecora said. “They did a great job of checking us out and making sure we couldn’t get to the offensive glass. And that’s obviously been a strong suit for us.”
Shaking things up
As the road to Atlantic City gets a lot shorter in the coming weeks it’ll be critical that Quinnipiac figures out its issues closing opponents out.
“When you get on the floor … you can’t be a wonderful young man if you want to win big,” Pecora said. “You can win, but you can’t win big unless you have an edge to you.”
It’s an issue Pecora is going to start working through Monday.
“Maybe you gotta shake things up a little bit, but we’ll see how this week goes in practice and I’ll shake up the starting lineup, maybe that’ll get some guys attention,” Pecora said.
Quinnipiac will be back in action Feb. 14 when it travels to Sacred Heart for a nationally televised game on ESPNU. Tipoff set for 7 p.m.
