Metro State preview
The Mustangs wrap up this roadtrip with an afternoon tilt at Metro State College. The Stangs will tip off at 3:00 (we’ll be on the air at 2:40) against one of the perennial powerhouses in the RMAC. Metro is 8-3 overall and 3-1 in the conference. This will be Metro’s only game this week so they are rested but could they also be rusty? They last played January 2 against Northwest Nazarene. I wouldn’t count on it; this is a top notch program.
One thing we can count on; if the Mustangs don’t rebound well and give up 25 offensive rebounds to Metro, it will be a long trip home and the momentum from Thursday night’s win will be lost. WNMU actually averages more points per game than Metro 78/75 but gives up 18 more per game. If the Stangs want to win their defense will have to be as good as it was Thursday. The Stangs will have Chuck and Chad back after their absence or relative absence on Thursday so some of the rebounding concerns should be allayed a bit.
Looking at it statistically (I know we don’t play it on paper) Metro shoots the ball well, 49%, but they don’t have a lot of assists so it looks like they create shots on their own. Help defense will be big and Jarron will have to come up big like he did Thursday. Guarding against any overconfidence will part of Coach’s pre-game message I’m sure.
Metro will have their hands full defensively. WNMU has 4 guys averaging well into the double figures with Stefan, JW, TJ & Eli. And consider Stefan and Eli were pretty quiet on Thursday. I would imagine that Metro is better defensively than any RMAC team we’ve seen yet but I still think we may have the quickness advantage off the dribble. The penetration and finish or penetration and kick out for a solid outside shot will have to be working for the Mustangs to have a chance; that means Stefan, Eli & TJ will have to be knocking down their shots.
This will be a tough game and the Stangs would have taken a 1-1 split on this trip but now with some confidence they want to go home 2-0 and 4-1 in the conference. They won’t be satisfied with a split and you know what? That’s the attitude you want to see from a team; hate losing, expect to win and work hard to win.
