Cox Communications Classic – Day One
NORFOLK, Va. – The Cox Communications Classic at Old Dominion got started on Friday night. Each team plays each other once for three games in three days. That would test a team even in the middle of the season, but it is a major test for a team to start the season with that kind of slate.
Old Dominion (1-0) 54, Monmouth (0-1) 40
Drew Williamson scored a career-high 19 points, and Old Dominion shut down Monmouth for most of the first half and held off the Hawks in the second half for a 54-40 win.
Early on, both teams looked a little lackluster at the offensive end. The Monarchs got going a little sooner and then turned up the defense, as they went on a 15-0 run while Hawks went over 15 minutes without a field goal, going up 27-7. The Hawks responded with seven straight during the final minute to make it respectable at the half.
To their credit, the Hawks made a game of it in the second half and played much better. They would get within six on two occasions, but no closer, as they still struggled at the offensive end and shot just over 31 percent for the game. No Hawk reached double digits in points.
Williamson added six boards and four steals for the Monarchs.
Clemson (1-0) 83, Arkansas State (0-1) 44
Clemson scored 13 straight points to turn a 16-13 lead into a 16-point edge and led by at least 17 for the entire second half in an 83-44 blowout of Arkansas State.
The Tigers shot 51.5 percent from the field and held the Indians below 31 percent. The Indians didn’t help themselves with 24 turnovers.
K.C. Rivers led three Tigers in double figures with 15 points.
Notes
- Old Dominion head coach Blaine Taylor noted what can be a benefit, but also a hindrance, in a tournament like this that starts the season. He saw it with his own team, as reserves like Brandon Johnson and 7’3″ center Sam Harris played key roles off the bench in their victory.
“These early tournaments lend themselves to developing teams and players,” said Taylor, who noted that his team’s depth will be a key now and later on. “Our bench is going to have to develop in the course of this tournament, because if we’re going to make a run at this, we’re going to have to get some more contributions from other guys.” - A bright spot for Monmouth was the play off the bench of freshman Jhamar Youngblood, a graduate of national power St. Patrick’s High School in New Jersey. He had eight points on 3-5 shooting, and despite committing five turnovers, he tried to make some things happen and showed some good quickness.
- The Old Dominion-Monmouth game wouldn’t have worked well for anyone who wanted to see a shooting exhibition: the teams combined to shoot 3-32 from long range.
- Clemson got a good outing from a couple of freshmen who played important minutes. Forward Trevor Booker started and led the team with seven rebounds in 19 minutes, adding six points on 3-4 shooting. Wing David Potter had 12 points in 17 minutes, knocking down a few jumpers along the way.
- One problem for Clemson last season was the poor shooting of their guards. Starting guards Vernon Hamilton (3-6) and Cliff Hammonds (2-7) were a little streaky, while K.C. Rivers (6-9) got going in the second half.
- One bright spot in the blowout loss for Arkansas State was the play of Abayomi Ajasin. In 13 minutes, he had a game-high nine rebounds.
