The bad news is that the Patriots have two consecutive road losses, following Tuesday’s 71-66 defeat to Princeton that was preceded by an 89-73 loss to Iona. The good news is that the team may have generated a turnaround in its road play in the second half against Princeton.
Down 40-23 at halftime, the Patriots rallied to tie the score at 66 on two Johnny Williams foul shots with 1:21 left. Princeton answered with layups on consecutive possessions; the Patriots had a missed jumper and a turnover.
Until the second half against Princeton, the Patriots (4-2) struggled to get anything going on the road. At Iona they fell behind 14-0. Against Princeton it was 11-4 early before Princeton went on an 18-6 run to end the half with a 17-point lead.
Hewitt charted nine missed open layups against Iona. The Patriots got to the rim early against Princeton but couldn’t convert often, either missing layups, making turnovers or failing to make free throws.
Good shots have been created, just not made often enough. “We’re trying to get the ball inside, trying to get the ball in the paint and play inside to out,” Hewitt said. “The kids are doing what we’re asking them. I’ve got no complaints.
“We just have to take better care of the basketball. The thing about it is it’s killing our defense. I think we’re a pretty good defensive team, but when you have those live ball turnovers in the middle of the court, it’s hard to defend.”
In the first half, the Patriots committed 10 turnovers that led to 13 Princeton points. Those numbers were cut to four and three in the second half.
The difference? “Effort,” said Wright, who shot 10-for-16 and got scoring help from Bryon Allen’s 11 points. “We came out with effort in the second half. The first half we didn’t come out with effort. There’s nothing else to it. We got shots. We got what we wanted. Got a couple bad calls. But the effort wasn’t there. It’s that simple.”
The Patriots return home for a Saturday game against Rhode Island, an Atlantic-10 opponent, though the game was scheduled prior to Mason leaving the CAA and will not count in the conference standings.
“It’s very important,” Wright said. “We’ve got a two game losing streak on the road. We’ve got to come out with the effort we had in the second half in the first half.”
The Patriots, who were missing freshman Marquise Moore (sprained ankle) and had just nine available players against Princeton, should get a boost from the return of center Erik Copes, whose six-game suspension is over.
“With the way he’s been practicing, he should give us a lift,” Hewitt said. “One of the things we’ve been getting hurt on is some of those drives on layups. I think he’s a better shot blocker than we have on the floor right now. I think he’ll give us some more rebounding.”
Neither the players nor coaches go into Thanksgiving in a great mood.“
“These two (road) games I thought we more than capable of winning,” Hewitt said. “You’ve got to give credit to those two teams. I’m just disappointed we weren’t able to play better, play winning basketball.”
