Elon 88, Mocs 87

FOUR FACTORS (plus two)

eFG%
Mocs- 52.3%
Elon- 56.3%
Advantage- Elon

TO%
Mocs- 19.3%
Elon- 18.0%
Advantage- Elon

OR%
Mocs- 32.5%
Elon- 23.7%
Advantage- Mocs

FTRate
Mocs- 34.9%
Elon- 37.5%
Advantage- Elon

FT%
Mocs- 78.3%
Elon- 66.7%
Advantage- Mocs

3PtRate
Mocs- 28.8%
Elon- 43.8%

PLAYER RATER

Overall
1) Z Mason 30.9
2) Ricky Taylor 29.3
3) Omar Wattad 29.0
4) Keegan Bell 22.5
5) Rico White 15.5
6) Jared Bryant 10.1
7) Dontay Hampton 8.3
8) Jahmal Burroughs 4.5
9) Drazen Zlovaric 1.0
10t) Drew Baker 0.0
10t) Lance Stokes 0.0

Per 40
1) Rico White 56.4
2) Z Mason 49.4
3) Ricky Taylor 40.3
4) Omar Wattad 36.3
5) Jared Bryant 26.8
6) Dontay Hampton 25.5
7) Keegan Bell 24.3
8) Jahmal Burroughs 14.8
9) Drazen Zlovaric 1.5
10t) Drew Baker 0.0
10t) Lance Stokes 0.0

ANALYSIS

Quick question- where has the defense gone? In the last three games they have allowed an average of  83.3 points per game. That is totally unacceptable for a team that prides itself on their defense.

Beyond the defensive question marks, the Mocs did so many things right in this game. They shot free throws much better than they have in recent weeks, while still getting to the free throw line on a fairly frequent basis. They rebounded the ball reasonably well. Omar Wattad had a great game shooting the ball- the sort of game people have been waiting for from Wattad for a while. Keegan Bell had eight assists and just two turnovers. Z Mason had a double-double, and showed that he truly is developing into one of the top big men in the SoCon.

But a handful of other things were terribly, terribly wrong. Keegan Bell, while having a tremendous game throwing the ball, has developed a fear of shooting. Against UNCG, he didn't shoot much, and against Elon, he shot just twice. Two times. He looks tentative to shoot at this point. Ever since his shooting struggles started, the team has started struggling in other aspects. I could point out a relationship between these two things clearly in the previous three games, but it's harder in this one where the offense performed well and he actually had a decent game in other aspects. The Mocs need Keegan's offensive production.

The second really off thing was Drazen Zlovaric. He was not right on the defensive end, and he was not right on the offensive end either. He just looked totally out of sorts in this one.

The other thing is the defense, that had been playing so well this year just a couple of weeks ago. They allowed Elon to shoot over 48% from the floor. Really, four guys beat them, scoring between 15 and 21 points. The rest of the team other than those four shot 4 of 16 from the floor. Those four made 27 of 48 shots, or 56.3%. That tells you that there was bad team defense all the way around. If four different players are playing at that level, the defense was just not good- from everyone.

The Mocs should have gone 2-1 on this road trip, most people felt. They went 0-3. Ouch. The good news is that the Mocs are not out of the North division race. The bad news is that they are not exactly inspiring confidence in them with their performance on the road so far this year. The good news is the Mocs are coming home for a home stand.

The bad news? They are coming home to take on the unbeaten in SoCon play Davidson Wildcats. Can they possibly come up with a huge home win over Davidson? It sure does not seem likely from where we sit right now. It's time to see what the Mocs are made of.

GO MOCS!