Mocs 98, Spalding 48

FOUR FACTORS (plus two)

eFG%
Mocs- 70.4%
Spalding- 40.2%
Advantage- Mocs

TO%
Mocs- 20.8%
Spalding- 33.2%
Advantage- Mocs

OR%
Mocs- 37.0%
Spalding- 19.4%
Advantage- Mocs

FTRate
Mocs- 57.4%
Spalding- 25.5%
Advantage- Mocs

FT%
Mocs- 71.0%
Spalding- 53.9%
Advantage- Mocs

3PtRate
Mocs- 51.9%
Spalding- 41.2%

PLAYER RATER

Overall
1) Keegan Bell 29.5
2) Dontay Hampton 25.4
3) Ricky Taylor 24.2
4) Omar Wattad 23.2
5) Drazen Zlovaric 21.5
6) Chris Early 17.6
7) Rico White 16.1
8) Z Mason 13.3
9) Jahmal Burroughs 4.9
10) Lance Stokes 4.6
11) Jared Bryant 4.0
12) Martynas Bareika 2.8
13) Drew Baker 1.0
14) Trey Brown 0.0

Per 40
1) Dontay Hampton 59.8
2) Z Mason 58.9
3) Omar Wattad 46.4
4) Ricky Taylor 46.1
5) Lance Stokes 46.0
6) Keegan Bell 42.1
7) Rico White 40.3
8) Drazen Zlovaric 39.1
9) Jahmal Burroughs 27.7
10) Chris Early 26.1
11t) Jared Bryant 16.0
11t) Marytnas Bareika 16.0
13) Drew Baker 8.0
14) Trey Brown 0.0

ANALYSIS

What do we take from a blowout over a D-III team? It's hard to take much. But let's get one thing straight right off the bat.

The Mocs shot the ball well.

In a shocking twist to this season full of awful shooting, the Mocs shot over 50% from the floor and exactly 50% from the field, which means that they came out to over 70% on effective field goal percentage. That is a darn good night for the Mocs shooting the ball.

For a team that has been struggling to shoot, could this be the night that they needed to get going? Could this be the night that the Mocs suddenly turn into the decent shooting team that we all expected them to be in the preseason?

It's easy to ignore the turnovers (there were too many, but they did force a bunch), the free throws, the rebounding (which was not good in the first half but really picked up in the second half), or any other positive to take from the game. But the fact is that the Mocs needed to start shooting the ball well and see the ball go through the basket. They shot just 48.5% against Warren Wilson and made only 30.8% from three point range in that game. This was different. This was shooting the ball well all the way around.

Also, the Mocs scored 88 against Warren Wilson and 82 against Tennessee Wesleyan, while tonight they put home 98.

This was their best offensive night of the year. We all get it. The Mocs were playing Spalding. This is not exactly taking on Kentucky on Saturday night (like they will have to do this weekend). But to watch the ball go through the hoop may give the Mocs the confidence they need to at least shoot the ball reasonably well from outside against the Wildcats, which is the only way this game can be kept respectable.

Dontay Hampton and Rico White continue to impress me a great deal. Keegan Bell had a good game. People say that Bell does not need to be scoring so much. I maintain that the Mocs look the best when he is scoring. They play good basketball when he is a scorer as well as a passer.

Bryant and Stokes still look good to me as well, for future players. 

The Mocs need to continue improving and it is tough to take anything from this game. Regardless, the Mocs played well against Spalding tonight. Doesn't mean a whole lot in the long run, but the Mocs can build on this performance, I think.

GO MOCS!