Heath Hutcheson, Campus Carrier sports editor
The men’s basketball team has seen a lot of success over their past few games, with their win streak now reaching 14. On Feb. 11, the team beat Sewanee 93-86 at home, and on Feb. 14, they beat Oglethorpe University 89-63, also at home. Senior Bryce Clark commented on how the team has been feeling about these results.
“I think these last few wins have been really good team wins,” Clark said. “We just have really great guys who really care about winning. I think our preparation has been really good too and the coach has put us in a great spot to win.”
This past Sunday, on Feb. 18, the team beat Hendrix College 96-46 in the Conference Tournament Quarter Finals. For Head Coach Michael Hedgepeth, this recent string of success can be partially attributed to a rocky, but ultimately beneficial, first leg of the season.
“Early in the season, we had a really challenging schedule in the non-conference,” Hedgepeth said. “We played 6 pre-season top 30 teams in the country and our record might not be as good as it has in the past few years from a non-conference standpoint, but I think it really helped to prepare us for conference play and was part of the reason that we’ve been able to perform well recently.”
Challenging opponents were not the only hurdle the team had to face. As is the case with a physical sport such as basketball, everybody battles a little bump and bruise. However, more serious injuries have occurred this season.
“I think we’re playing better and finally healthy after a long stretch of the season where we battled illness, injury and other challenges,” Hedgepeth said. “We had a guy break his wrist the first game of the year and we’ve had a key player out the entire season who is still out and will be for the remainder of the season. We’ve rarely had our complete roster together this year, and we have all but one key player now which has been the case for the last four or five games, which hopefully will allow us to be in good form as we enter postseason play.”
In recent practices, the team has been focusing on trying to improve particularly in the transition defense (or the process of changing from defense to offense) and working on their ability to stop the ball high with multiple people, forcing teams to play in the half court more. As for half court defense, the coaches have been focusing on communicating ball screens as well, creating space for teammates to catch or distribute passes.
“Your offense will come and go,” Hedgepeth said. “Some nights you make more shots than others, but we’ve really been trying to become a better defensive team and I think that has shown in some of our defensive numbers.”
Along with improving on a physical level, the team has also made an effort to focus on each others’ mental health, which has contributed to the team’s success.
“Coach always tells us ‘Don’t get too high, don’t get too low, it’s a long season’ and we always treat every game like a conference championship,” Clark said. “Keeping that mentality keeps you very mellow and level-headed.”
The Southern Athletic Association Conference Semifinals will be on Saturday in the Cage Center with the Championship Final occuring on Sunday. As for Hedgepeth’s own hopes for the games, what matters most for him is that the team plays well and has fun doing so.
“I try not to be too results focused,” Hedgepeth said. “I think the best way to yield the best result is to totally focus on the process. I’ve told the team that if we’re as prepared as possible, we can play loose and play with joy. As long as we can do those things, I think we’ll live with any result.”