Men’s basketball improves its defense in rematch

The Midwestern State basketball team was upset by Cameron University at the Aggies gym Jan. 23 before the Mustangs recuperated Jan. 26 with a vengeful home victory in the replay of the match.

As MSU had won its last five out of six away games before travelling to Lawton to face Cameron, Head Basketball Coach Nelson Haggerty claims playing away from home was not a determining factor behind the Mustangs’ performance.

“We’re used to playing on the road so I don’t see the fact that it was an away game a factor behind our loss,” he said.

Haggerty said playing on the road, however, is not any easier, especially when the opposition is as good as Cameron.

“Now of course it doesn’t make it any easier playing on the road,” he said. “They’re a good basketball team and anytime you play on the road in our league, it’s going to be tough to come away with a victory.”

“I think we’re confident being on the road, but this last game came down to the last few minutes of the game,” he said. “We didn’t get stops and we didn’t get rebounds.”

Some players had to adjust to role changes in the lineup as well as play more minutes than habitual, Haggerty did not see it as a reason behind MSU’s fall. He noted that the Mustangs’ poor rebounding was liable.

“I thought we were a little out of sync offensively in the first half of the game. It could be because of the role changes that we made. The guys were playing more minutes and that might have been a problem,” he said. “That’s an adjustment but I don’t think that was a determining factor. We gave up a couple offensive rebounds that they scored on. That was the big key to the game.”

According to Haggerty, the Mustangs did not rebound the ball well and this was a prime factor behind the midweek loss. The Aggies dominated the later part of the second half offensively and were rewarded with a slight victory.

“They made more plays than our guys did. On the last eight or nine possessions of the game, they got four or five offensive rebounds that resulted into points for them,” Haggerty said. “It’s really uncharacteristic of our basketball team and we have got to do a better job in the future.”

And indeed the Mustangs did a better job when they met Cameron University at the D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Midwestern State made an improvement from a 64-63 defeat to an 86-72 victory.

“The energy was great,” Haggerty said. “It’s great to come home and play in front of our fans.”

Haggerty believes that the Mustangs had an improved defensive lineup in the rematch.

“We set the tone defensively, we guarded the ball well and our rotation was great,” he said. “Defensively, we were very aggressive.”

Midwestern State will host Incarnate Word Jan. 31 at the D.L Ligon coliseum. Tipoff is scheduled at 7:30 p.m.

“We expect to win,” said Haggerty. “It will be a fast game because they do a great job of creating turnovers.”