Photos: Max Blodgett

The Hoyas defeated the IUPUI Jaguars 81-58 tonight in the Verizon Center, despite having trailed for most of the first half. Up just one at halftime, the Hoyas relied on a 21 point performance from Hollis Thompson, as well as strong supporting efforts from Markel Starks and Henry Sims to avoid the upset. Alex Young led the way for the Jaguars with 16 points, all coming in the first half. Yet, the Hoyas ultimately proved their quality, outscoring IUPUI 49-27 in the second half to give them their third straight win since the tough loss to Kansas in Maui.

Slow start

The Hoyas looked sluggish in the early going, falling behind to some sweet shooting from the Jaguars. Swingman Alex Young, the Summit League Preseason Player of the Year, made his first three shots and had the Hoyas back peddling with his versatile offensive game. Nate Lubick and Henry Sims struggled to control the glass, as the Hoyas outrebounded the Jaguars by just 20 to 16, despite IUPUI not starting a player over 6’7”. The offense was also out of sync, as the Hoyas shot just 22.2% from three and 66.7% from the foul line, demonstrating their early struggles.

Caging the Jaguar

Despite his scintillating first half, Alex Young was held scoreless after the break, finishing a dismal 1 of 12 from the field after his perfect start. Though John Thompson III didn’t make any formal changes to his defense during halftime, there was clearly an emphasis from the players to take away IUPUI’s top scoring threat. Coming into the game as the top career scorer in the nation, Young was blanketed by the outstanding second half effort from the Hoyas defense, baiting him into bad shots, if he ever got the ball. The Jaguars second leading scorer, point guard Stephen Thomas, also came apart in the second half. Though he seemed to enter the lane at will against a haphazard Hoya defense, he was just 2 of 10 from the field and cost the Jaguars valuable points in the paint with his poor finishing.

Read the rest of this entry »