640 SPORTS | LIVE STATS
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (8-4, 1-2 SSC) will continue its run through the Sunshine State Conference’s top teams Wednesday, as the Sharks face the No. 24 Rollins Tars (10-2, 3-0 SSC) in Winter Park, Fla. at 7:30 p.m. The game will broadcast live on 640 Sports.
The game is the fourth SSC contest of the season for NSU, all of which have come against the top four teams in the preseason poll. Three out of those four games are away from the NSU Arena. NSU was ranked fifth in the SSC prior to the season and will play the bottom four teams in the preseason poll after the contest against Rollins. The Tars enter Wednesday with a national ranking, an undefeated conference record and much of the momentum in the race for the SSC title.
“I always enjoy seeing (Rollins coach) Tom Klusman and his staff, but I wish I could do it without playing his Rollins teams,” said head coach
Gary Tuell. “Year in and year out, Tom’s teams are among the best not only in our conference, but in all of Division II basketball. And this year’s Rollins team is certainly as good as any we’ve played against during my nine seasons at NSU. They have five or six NCAA D-I transfers, they have great size and outstanding shooters.
“When you play Rollins you have to pick your poison. Are you going to pack it inside to try to take away their low post game and take your chances on the perimeter? Or do you pressure the shooters on the perimeter and leave yourself vulnerable in the low post? Overall, this might be the best Rollins team I’ve seen because they’ve got great balance between inside and outside scoring. They have four or five guys making over 40 percent of their 3-point shots and they have a half dozen or more guys who shop for clothes at the big and tall stores. It’s a tough matchup for us and everyone else who plays them.”
The Sharks will attempt to win in an arena they have not won in since Feb. 14, 2009. The Tars are a traditional SSC powerhouse and their home court is one of the toughest to play at in this league.
“I’m not sure there’s a good way for us to defend them, but we’ll draw some things up and see if any of it works,” said Tuell. “Our defense has been pretty good since coming back from the holiday break. In four games, we’re giving up 42.6 percent shooting and 22.9 shooting on threes. I think we’ve been more lucky than good, but I’ll take lucky. My biggest concern right now is our offense. We’re struggling to get things done. I thought we were making progress until last week. We were emotionally flat in practice and in both games last week. Our execution of the offense has been disappointing and our shooting has been abysmal. And that’s not who we’ve been. In fact, that’s the complete opposite of who we have been this year. We need to figure some things out on the offensive end because we can’t keep pulling rabbits out of hats on defense. Maybe we can find some answers at Rollins, although typically that’s not a good place to go if you’re looking to get well. But we have a lot of good shooters on this team and if our guys will just relax, move the ball and trust each other we’ll be fine.”
When the Sharks have above average shooting nights and get to the foul line at a high rate, the game typically goes their way. The Sharks are 5-0 when shooting above average in field goal percentage and 7-0 when they shoot an above average amount of free throws per game. In addition, the Sharks are undefeated when they keep their turnovers below their season average.
When the Sharks perform well in all three categories, they have the look of a team that can beat anyone in the nation. This was evident in the Sharks’ win at Eckerd, a victory that was much more impressive than the score indicated. If the Sharks can replicate that performance, another marquee road win could be in the cards for NSU.
Fans can listen to the game live on 640 Sports. The game will also be available via live stats
HERE. Follow the Sharks on Twitter at
www.Twitter.com/NSUSharks.
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