College basketball: Three takeaways from Iona's 81-51 win over Mount St. Mary's
NEW ROCHELLE - In the first meeting between Iona and Mount St. Mary's in 73 seasons, the Gaels gave the Mountaineers quite the welcome reception at the Hynes Center on Friday night.
Mount St. Mary's hit the opening shot of the game and that would be its first and last lead, as the Gaels were relentless on both ends of the court. They were disruptive, generating plenty of turnovers and capitalizing on the other end en route to a lopsided 81-51 win.
"We played a great first half, then I told the guys it's very difficult to win the second half with this type of lead," Pitino said. "You've got to focus on executing. The last five minutes of the second half were good, the first 15 were not, but it's tough to play with that type of lead. We've never had that, but overall, it was a good performance."
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A 15-2 run in the opening minutes game put the Gaels right in front. They didn't let up from there, eventually taking a dominant 48-18 halftime lead.
The Mountaineers played a better second half and tied the Gaels in second-half scoring, 33-33, but the deficit was too great to overcome.
Walter Clayton Jr. led the Gaels with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including a 4-of-5 clip from long range. Nelly Junior Joseph had a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double, with two blocks and two steals. Daniss Jenkins chipped in 13 points, three rebounds and six assists. Berrick JeanLouis had 12 points, four boards and two steals. Cruz Davis added 12 points off the bench.
For Mount St. Mary's, Dola Adebayo had 13 points and six boards. Jalen Benjamin, George Tinsley and Jaylin Gibson each had eight points.
Here are three takeaways from the victory:
Freshman Cruz Davis is a bright spot on a bench that's a work in progress
It's no secret that the ailing Gaels have missed some of their key injured players, but especially the effect that certain absences have had on overall team depth.
With a short bench and plenty of raw young talent, Friday night gave Pitino and his staff an opportunity to develop some of those players with in-game minutes.
Freshman Cruz Davis was a bright spot, providing 12 of 14 Iona bench points.
"When you're a freshman, you have no expectations, it's like you're a wildcard," Jenkins said. "Just be a spark, whatever that may be, whether that's rebounding, steals, and just take your open shot, that's the biggest thing we tell Cruz. He's a great player, so we need his shots. It was great to see him come out and play like that."
Outside of Davis, there's still plenty of room for growth.
"I don't think they played well at all to be perfectly honest," Pitino said, alluding to the rest of his reserves. "We only have nine players, a couple of COVID cases. Anton (Brookshire) was playing well, really good practice and a good game, then came down with COVID.
"We just gotta get Sadiku (Ibine Ayo) playing better, and Silas (Sunday) is going to take time. He's got to get much tougher. They play like freshmen. They just don't know the game real well, they're great guys, they want to play hard."
There's a chance that Sunday's game against Fairfield, who's also had its ups and downs, gives the Gaels another opportunity to get their younger players some needed game experience.
The usual suspects shine for Iona
Jenkins, Clayton and Junior Joseph, all top 10 scorers in the MAAC, led the way and helped set the tone early, especially Clayton, who was on pace for a season-high performance after scoring 17 of his 20 points in the first half.
Junior Joseph anchored the paint with another double-double, while JeanLouis and Jenkins were vital in applying pressure on both ends of the court.
Iona has had at least three players score in double figures in every game since Dec. 22, and the streak continued. Not only that, it was a real balanced effort, with five different players eclipsing the double-digit mark.
Defense set the tone
When utilized, Pitino's patented press could be an issue for opposing teams. Unfortunately for the Gaels, due to injuries and setbacks, they don't quite have the depth to be able to run it to their fullest potential, but the first half showed how lethal it could be and possibly an element that could turn the tide when used sporadically or situationally.
"That's big for us, Coach wants us to get like 35 deflections every game," Junior Joseph said. "We have to try to do that every game. That was really big for us, being up that amount in the first half."
The Mountaineers had a season-high 20 turnovers, and 15 of those came in the first half alone. Overall, Iona converted 20 of those takeaways into 26 points off turnovers to help fuel its lead.
The Gaels eventually called off the press. Mount St. Mary's had a better second half, but Iona's massive 30-point lead was nearly impossible to topple.
"We pressed, wore 'em down, got them in foul trouble," Pitino said. "Then, we're up 30, you have to take the press off. You lose your intensity, the eye of the tiger. If we can press, we can be terrific. Without the press, we're an average defensive team. Somebody might ask, 'why didn't you press right away?' We have nine bodies, sometimes you can end that game with the wrong players on the court if it's a close game."
Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5 and on Instagram at @byeugenerapay.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: College basketball: 3 takeaways from Iona's win over Mount St. Mary's
