Seton Corridor and Southern California picked up important outcomes to start the Maui Invitational.
Constructing on these successes can be paramount when the Pirates and Trojans meet in Tuesday’s semifinals of the event at Lahaina, Hawaii.
Seton Corridor (6-0) recorded an 85-74 victory over No. 23 North Carolina State on Monday, handing the Wolfpack their first loss.
” win for us, an excellent win for our progress,” Pirates coach Shaheen Holloway mentioned. “However you’ll be able to’t get completely happy.”
Southern California (5-0) gained its second shut recreation in a row, edging Boise State 70-67 within the first spherical behind Rodney Rice’s 27 factors. The Trojans loved a 33-15 edge in 3-point scoring, with Rice connecting 4 instances from past the arc.
Coach Eric Musselman mentioned the Trojans count on a bodily grueling matchup with Seton Corridor.
“We have got to defensive rebound, for certain,” Musselman mentioned, “particularly with Seton Corridor. They tackle the character of the top coach. They’re tough-minded.”
The Pirates can hit the boards. They’ve had 4 totally different gamers as their high rebounder to this point. Najai Hines, who’s Seton Corridor’s seventh-leading scorer, leads the workforce in rebounds at a mean of 6.3 per recreation.
Holloway mentioned there have been many good indicators for the Pirates to embrace from their first-round victory, significantly how they started the second half.
“We simply acquired to play our basketball,” he mentioned. “We begin enjoying the way in which I feel we will play, I feel we acquired an opportunity.”
It wasn’t simply the offense, however what Seton Corridor’s protection did to North Carolina State to assist ignite the offense.
“We acquired some stops,” Holloway mentioned. “We acquired some run-outs.”
Holloway mentioned he is aware of that success could be fleeting, however defeating the Wolfpack ought to assist the Pirates imagine in themselves.
“I name this the marathon,” Holloway mentioned. “That is a part of the marathon for us.”
By defeating Boise State, Southern California improved to 3-4 all-time in video games within the Maui Invitational. The Trojans have by no means gained the event.
Southern Cal survived a three-overtime recreation towards Troy earlier than heading to Hawaii. Regardless of the nip-and-tuck nature of November video games, there’s heaps for Musselman to study his workforce.
“I am nonetheless unsure what our go-to performs are,” he mentioned.
–Discipline Stage Media
