One Day Later: ADU vs UE, NU vs DLSU

Send in the the reserves - Adamson's starters got a nice rest after blowing out UE early (pic source)

ADU 85 - UE 54
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Player of the Game : Lester Alvarez finally broke out of a mini-slump in which he averaged just 7 points and a trey per game on 21.21% field goal shooting, 20% from downtown. With the mediocre UE perimeter defense basically begging him to shoot, Alvarez bombed away to the tune of 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting, 4 of 6 from downtown. He also added 3 assists and 2 steals, while playing just 19 minutes.

ADU Stat to Watch : In the battle between Adamson, a team that prevents opponents from rebounding at a high rate, and UE, a team that gobbles up rebounds, Adamson won out, holding UE to fewer than 40 rebounds for the first time all season, with just 37, while picking up 45 boards of their own. Adamson also won the offensive rebound battle as well, picking up 22 to UE's 17.
ADU Player to Watch : Eric Camson had 9 points and 4 rebounds in a quiet night, though he obviously didn't need to put up huge numbers, given the blowout nature of the game.

UE Stat to Watch : The Falcons blew out the Red Warriors quite comprehensively. Not only did the Falcons score 15 points more than their average going in, they held UE  to four less points than their average. Anchored by 10 steals, the Falcons were able to get their transition attack going, putting points on their board, while denying the Red Warriors opportunities to score.
UE Player to Watch : RR De Leon played just 13 minutes, scoring 4 points and pulling down 3 rebounds in a blah performance, but both baskets were off mid-range jumpers, which could help UE space the floor in the future.

Other Stats:

• As mentioned, Adamson got 10 steals, which led to 20 turnovers for UE and 26 turnover points for the Falcons.
• The Soaring Falcons have held opponents to an average of just 10 points in the first quarter, over their last three games, while scoring 20 themselves. Talk about your quick-strike offense!

One-man wrecking machine - Glenn Khobuntin scored all the points but it wasn't enough for NU (photo source)

DLSU 74 - NU 63
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Player of the Game : Though he did arguably a poor job distributing the ball today, finishing with just 1 assist, LA Revilla was once again the man, top-scoring for the Archers with 19 points, plus adding 5 rebounds and 6 big steals.

NU Stat to Watch : NU managed not to get blown out on the boards today, losing that category by just two rebounds, 37-11. Similarly, the offensive rebound battle was close, and the Bulldogs lost that by just three, 11 to 8. NU also managed to double DLSU's second chance points, 6 to 3.
NU Player to Watch : One year after posting huge, almost MVP-worthy numbers, Emmanuel Mbe is a forgotten man on this NU squad. With Parks riding the bench, NU chose not to go to the big man down low and hope his experience and brute strength could help him score over Arnold Van Opstal. Instead, Bulldogs went with several one on one plays, hoping to out-athlete the DLSU defenders, which didn't work out so well down the stretch. All in all, Mbe had just 6 points and 5 boards in 31 minutes. It's safe to say he probably wasn't very happy after the game.

DLSU Stat to Watch : In spite of a 0/10 third quarter that may go down in infamy over at Taft, La Salle still managed to finish the game shooting 44.3% from the field, a high for this season, owing perhaps to the hot start and multiple scoring runs they were able to string together. Their strength on the offensive glass was negated though, as mentioned above.
DLSU Player to Watch : Yutien Andrada had a poor outing, surprisingly unable to contain the mobile bigs of NU like Glenn Khobuntin. In 17 minutes, he finished with just a point, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Part of the problem was that coach Pumaren continues to experiment with Andrada at the small forward spot, not exactly a good move against NU.

Other Stats

• DLSU entered halftime shooting 65.71% from the field, an insanely high number. A 4/26 performance, 15.38%, in the second half dropped that to the 44.3% they finished with.
• The quality of Bobby Ray Parks' performances continues to slip. He finished today with 13 points, on 3 of 9 shooting, 7 of 14 from the line, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls. Entering this game, Parks was hitting 78.57% of his free throws and had just 9 turnovers in four games. Clearly he was taken out of his element by the DLSU defense.

UAAP Picking Record: 12-4