![[Image: Towson.gif]](http://warrennolan.com/images/team/80x80/Towson.gif)
(8-5, # 106 RPI)
From one road battle with the Tigers (Clemson) to another (Towson), Saturday's game has dogfight written all over it. And if Towson has any similarity to Clemson it can be found in their outstanding frontcourt play. While most teams across the D-I landscape seem to be trotting out smaller lineups, Pat Skerry's Tigers go against the grain, with four starters and a 6th man who are all 6-5 or taller. And not only are the Tigers big, they're experienced, led by seniors
William Adala Moto and
John Davis as well as juniors
Eddie Keith II and
Mike Morsell.
Towson also has sneakily developed a battle-tested team heading into CAA play. The Tigers have played the 87th-toughest schedule in the country, and in so doing, scored a nice road win against George Mason, a solid home win against Loyola-Maryland, and perhaps their biggest triumph thus far, a recent neutral court victory over Iona. Now they will be coming off a 9-day break before opening CAA play this Saturday.
In the preseason, everyone would have likely guessed that Adala Moto (12.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.1 spg) would be Towson's top player. And while that still might be true, he's actually taken a back seat statistically to Morsell. Morsell is averaging 17.4 points, many of which have come from his team-leading 21 made three-pointers, shooting 46.7 % from the field and also taking on a gaudy 29.3 minutes per contest. the Fort Washington, Maryland product has become the central figure to the team's offense.
As a team, it's no surprise to see that the Tigers outrebound their opponents, grabbing an average of 39.7 rebounds per game (35 % of those have come on offense) to 31.9 for opponents. Their rebounding margin places them 23rd in the nation. They're also dominating teams in field goal percentage, to the tune of 44.9 % compared to 39.7 % for opponents (55th in the nation). Towson has rim protectors and glass cleaners for days, forcing teams to make tough decisions with their lineups and recognize that a missed shot on the offensive end will likely be a "one-and-done" possession nearly every time. This will impact us in a big way, given our lack of depth in the post and the rarity of us using Bryan and Cacok on the floor at the same time.
Where Towson appears to be weak is in the category of ball movement. At times this season their offense has looked stagnant, with a bit too much dribbing and isolation/one-on-one situations. The statistics bear that out as well, as their assist/TO ratio is a paltry 0.88. The reason for this partly falls on the fact that the Tigers don't have a true point guard. 5 different players have 20+ assists on the season, but no one has more than 30.
DeShaun Morman, a transfer from Cincinnati who sat out last season, may be the closest thing to a point guard the team has, but it is of course difficult to become the immediate floor general for a veteran team. We'll see if roles become more defined for Towson, but until then, this may prove to be their biggest and most exploitable weakness on offense.
Overall, Towson is a team, much like Clemson, with an identity and a skillset they can "hang their hats on". Having a veteran, capable frontcourt and big, scoring guards are quality assets to have. And they're led by a coach whose team has seen tangible improvements every year since he arrived. Remember, it was just three seasons ago that his team won 25 games, and 3 years prior to that, Towson had endured a 15-year stretch without a winning season.
They'll be a tough out on Saturday, for sure, especially on the road.
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Game 12 - @Towson 12 PM Saturday 12/31
