University of Delaware Athletics
Column: Plenty To Get Excited About With Delaware's Hot Start
11/14/2019 3:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Early in the second half against Oakland last Friday, Delaware men's basketball faced a 12-point deficit in the first of their three games in three days at the Sunshine Slam. That was when the Blue Hens offense kicked into gear, fueled by stops on the defensive end, to score 16 straight points as a part of a 25-2 run that secured a 56-53 win.
Redshirt sophomore forward Justyn Mutts had driven past a defender on the baseline for a reverse lay-up to bring Delaware within one point before redshirt junior guard Nate Darling drained a long-range three-pointer that gave the Blue Hens the lead for good and caused the bench to erupt.
"It was huge, and we did it with our defense," head coach Martin Ingelsby said of the run. "We did some really tough stuff on the defensive end against a front line that is big and is physical. We never let them get comfortable and really made them work for everything on the offensive end. And then it was only a matter of time before we saw one go in, two go in, you can see the momentum in the game changing and that really played into our hands."
The win over Oakland was one of three victories against solid mid-major programs for the Blue Hens this weekend, including a 56-54 triumph over Southern Illinois and a 91-79 result against UTSA. Paired with a season-opening win over Bridgewater, Delaware is 4-0 for the first time since the 1999-2000 season, and was the first team in Division I to reach four wins.
Each of the wins at the Sunshine Slam in Kissimmee, Fla., came in a different fashion, showcasing the versatility of this Delaware team.
Junior guard Kevin Anderson had missed his first 14 field goal attempts in Florida as time wound down against SIU on Saturday afternoon with the Blue Hens trailing the Salukis 53-50. But two driving lay-ups from the point guard quickly swung the game in Delaware's favor as two Ryan Allen free throws sealed the win. After finishing Saturday's win with four points (albeit the biggest four points of the game), Anderson exploded for a career-high 32 against the Roadrunners the next day.
"At the start of the trip, I had a talk with Coach Corey [McCrae] and he was telling me just stay aggressive," Anderson said. "That's what mindset I had."
Ingelsby said he's talked to Anderson about focusing on being a playmaker for his teammates this season, and his overall game has benefited as a result.
"When he's making those decisions, getting his teammates involved, not worrying as much about his offense, it's amazing what happens to his stat sheet and his game," Ingelsby said. "He's got his points, he's got his rebounds, his assists, his turnovers are low, and just really thinking the game as a point guard and a quarterback out there."
Anderson's 32 points against the Roadrunners was impressive, but it wasn't even the highest point total of the day by a Blue Hen. Darling, the dynamic Canadian shooting guard in his first season playing for the Blue Hens after transferring from UAB, dropped 37 in the win. He made 12 of 19 field goals, including a blistering 8-for-10 from three-point range.
Darling currently leads the NCAA with 17 total made threes this season, while the Blue Hens' total 42 made threes as a team this year also lead the NCAA.
"I think you saw a little bit of a coming out party for Nate Darling in our program," Ingelsby said. "There's an edge about him, and you feel confident when he's out there on the offensive end because he makes his teammates better, he can make tough shots."
"I thought our guys did a great job getting him the basketball," Ingelsby continued. "It's one of those days where he had a hot hand and let's just try to get him the basketball."
The Blue Hens hope Sunday was just a taste of what their offense can become when everybody is firing on all cylinders. Allen missed over half of Sunday's game with an injury, and the all-conference guard is yet another scoring weapon for Delaware when healthy. Mutts, starting big man Collin Goss, and a number of bench guys including Aleks Novakovich, Johnny McCoy, Jacob Cushing and Ebby Asamoah, all have the potential to be significant scoring contributors as well.
"I think the point distribution will be a little more even and different guys can step up on different nights," Ingelsby said. "That's the fun thing trying to mix and match and put these pieces together."
Even with several offensive weapons at their disposal, the Blue Hens will look to hang their hat on defense. On Friday, the Blue Hens' defense was the difference, holding the Golden Grizzlies without a point for almost nine straight minutes during their game-changing 16-0 run.
"Going down and holding two good mid-major teams to 50 points is a really good accomplishment for us," Darling said. "I was really impressed by how our bigs were bumping with the bigs on Oakland, even SIU…We're mostly known for our offensive power but, basically, we won those two games strictly off how good we were on defense."
Between excellence on the offensive and defensive end, the 4-0 start should give Delaware fans plenty of reasons to get excited about the Hens this season. Delaware looks to keep the hot streak going with a 5 p.m. game at Lafayette this Saturday, Nov. 16.
Redshirt sophomore forward Justyn Mutts had driven past a defender on the baseline for a reverse lay-up to bring Delaware within one point before redshirt junior guard Nate Darling drained a long-range three-pointer that gave the Blue Hens the lead for good and caused the bench to erupt.
"It was huge, and we did it with our defense," head coach Martin Ingelsby said of the run. "We did some really tough stuff on the defensive end against a front line that is big and is physical. We never let them get comfortable and really made them work for everything on the offensive end. And then it was only a matter of time before we saw one go in, two go in, you can see the momentum in the game changing and that really played into our hands."
The win over Oakland was one of three victories against solid mid-major programs for the Blue Hens this weekend, including a 56-54 triumph over Southern Illinois and a 91-79 result against UTSA. Paired with a season-opening win over Bridgewater, Delaware is 4-0 for the first time since the 1999-2000 season, and was the first team in Division I to reach four wins.
Each of the wins at the Sunshine Slam in Kissimmee, Fla., came in a different fashion, showcasing the versatility of this Delaware team.
Junior guard Kevin Anderson had missed his first 14 field goal attempts in Florida as time wound down against SIU on Saturday afternoon with the Blue Hens trailing the Salukis 53-50. But two driving lay-ups from the point guard quickly swung the game in Delaware's favor as two Ryan Allen free throws sealed the win. After finishing Saturday's win with four points (albeit the biggest four points of the game), Anderson exploded for a career-high 32 against the Roadrunners the next day.
"At the start of the trip, I had a talk with Coach Corey [McCrae] and he was telling me just stay aggressive," Anderson said. "That's what mindset I had."
Ingelsby said he's talked to Anderson about focusing on being a playmaker for his teammates this season, and his overall game has benefited as a result.
"When he's making those decisions, getting his teammates involved, not worrying as much about his offense, it's amazing what happens to his stat sheet and his game," Ingelsby said. "He's got his points, he's got his rebounds, his assists, his turnovers are low, and just really thinking the game as a point guard and a quarterback out there."
Anderson's 32 points against the Roadrunners was impressive, but it wasn't even the highest point total of the day by a Blue Hen. Darling, the dynamic Canadian shooting guard in his first season playing for the Blue Hens after transferring from UAB, dropped 37 in the win. He made 12 of 19 field goals, including a blistering 8-for-10 from three-point range.
Darling currently leads the NCAA with 17 total made threes this season, while the Blue Hens' total 42 made threes as a team this year also lead the NCAA.
Through the first week of the season #BlueHens guard @natedarling14 leads Division I with 17 three-pointers, four more than any other player in the country ☝️ pic.twitter.com/n0uRuvrNBa
— Delaware Men's Basketball (@DelawareMBB) November 11, 2019
"I think you saw a little bit of a coming out party for Nate Darling in our program," Ingelsby said. "There's an edge about him, and you feel confident when he's out there on the offensive end because he makes his teammates better, he can make tough shots."
"I thought our guys did a great job getting him the basketball," Ingelsby continued. "It's one of those days where he had a hot hand and let's just try to get him the basketball."
The Blue Hens hope Sunday was just a taste of what their offense can become when everybody is firing on all cylinders. Allen missed over half of Sunday's game with an injury, and the all-conference guard is yet another scoring weapon for Delaware when healthy. Mutts, starting big man Collin Goss, and a number of bench guys including Aleks Novakovich, Johnny McCoy, Jacob Cushing and Ebby Asamoah, all have the potential to be significant scoring contributors as well.
"I think the point distribution will be a little more even and different guys can step up on different nights," Ingelsby said. "That's the fun thing trying to mix and match and put these pieces together."
Even with several offensive weapons at their disposal, the Blue Hens will look to hang their hat on defense. On Friday, the Blue Hens' defense was the difference, holding the Golden Grizzlies without a point for almost nine straight minutes during their game-changing 16-0 run.
"Going down and holding two good mid-major teams to 50 points is a really good accomplishment for us," Darling said. "I was really impressed by how our bigs were bumping with the bigs on Oakland, even SIU…We're mostly known for our offensive power but, basically, we won those two games strictly off how good we were on defense."
Between excellence on the offensive and defensive end, the 4-0 start should give Delaware fans plenty of reasons to get excited about the Hens this season. Delaware looks to keep the hot streak going with a 5 p.m. game at Lafayette this Saturday, Nov. 16.
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