You’ve read the recap. Let’s take a deeper dive into the numbers from today’s UT Arlington/Elon tilt.

  • The first thing that really jumps out when looking at the numbers — and not to spoil the hustle stats — is the bench scoring. UT Arlington scored 46 of its 77 points courtesy of its reserves, and 31 of those came from two players. True freshman Sam Griffin poured in 20, missing just one shot on the afternoon. Sophomore (and Arkansas transfer) Jordan Phillips totaled 11, hitting 3-of-5 tries. Elon had absolutely no answer for Griffin (“(Griffin) hit some tough ones,” said Elon forward Simon Wright).
  • Elon has a really young team — coach Mike Schrage emphasized this numerous times when talking to us after the game — and it showed some of the signs of that lack of experience. There was one segment where the Phoenix committed turnovers on three consecutive possessions. This stretch only led to five Maverick points, but it proved a harbinger of what was to come for the Phoenix. Dry stretches, stagnant offense, and defensive lapses accompanied the turnovers in leading to struggles. Elon averaged .957 points per possession, but only scored on 28 of 70 possessions.
  • Speaking of the youth of Elon’s club, it was interesting to hear Schrage talk about trying to balance how much leeway to give his guys as they develop. “I keep weighing how much structure I wanna really give these guys when we have a young group,” said Schrage. “It’s something we’ve gotta keep debating as a staff, like how much do we call something every single time (to) slow it down, versus kind of letting these guys play? We’ve coached them how to play, and how to work in and get a good shot.” It was interesting insight into the delicate balance required of a leader of (relatively) inexperienced charges.
  • Phoenix guard Hunter McIntosh got into foul trouble early, and it severely hampered the club. “He’s our primary ball handler,” said Wright. “He’s also probably our best on-ball defender.” Schrage added, “There’s no doubt about it (that the game changed). We don’t have a ton of handling on our team … We lean on him in a big way, as a freshman. He’s stabilized us. He’s growing.” McIntosh scored nine points, tallied four helpers, and snatched three boards, despite being limited to 22 minutes of game action.
  • Schrage also added that he wanted to utilize McIntosh to “free up Sheff to be Sheff, to be honest.” The Sheff to whom he refers is graduate transfer Jordan Sheffield, who led Elon with 25 points, but was forced to take 22 shots to accumulate that total. Schrage mentioned wanting to have Sheffield come off ball screens more and be better utilized in space.
  • Perhaps most importantly, the Phoenix did not have plans for a Thanksgiving meal, but did dine as a team last night. “We had a nice dinner. I didn’t cook — thank goodness for them,” joked Schrage. “I kidded with (radio play-by-play announcer) Taylor Durham before the game. Some coaches after Tuesday (a 97-61 home loss against Furman) probably would have canceled or moved that dinner. That’s not who I am. I’m never conditional. We enjoyed each other’s company last night.”
  • Hustle stats:
    • Points in the paint:  UT Arlington 28, Elon 18
    • Points off turnovers:  UT Arlington 16, Elon 5
    • Second-chance points:  UT Arlington 15, Elon 8
    • Fast-break points:  UT Arlington 6, Elon 3
    • Bench points:  UT Arlangton 16, Elon 14

UT ARLINGTON 77, ELON 67

UT ARLINGTON (4-4): Narcis 2-3 0-0 5, Jackson-Young 3-5 0-1 7, Sparling 1-2 0-0 2, Warren 1-4 4-5 6, Azore 4-12 2-2 11, Griffin 8-9 1-2 20, Phillips 3-5 4-4 11, Nouhi 0-2 1-2 1, Davis 4-8 1-3 9, Elame 2-4 0-0 5. Totals 28-54 13-19 77.

ELON (2-6): Hannah 1-1 0-0 2, Wright 3-7 3-4 10, McIntosh 3-5 1-2 9, Sheffield 8-22 7-7 25, Ervin 3-10 0-0 7, Poser 0-0 0-0 0, Wooten 3-6 0-0 9, Pack 0-2 0-0 0, Woods 2-4 0-1 5. Totals 23-57 11-14 67.

Halftime — UT Arlington 32-30. 3-Point Goals—Elon 10-27 (Wright 1-2, McIntosh 2-4, Sheffield 2-6, Ervin 1-4, Wooten 3-6, Pack 0-2, Woods 1-3), UT Arlington 8-20 (Narcis 1-2, Jackson-Young 1-2, Warren 0-3, Azore 1-3, Griffin 3-4, Phillips 1-2, Nouhi 0-1, Davis 0-2, Elame 1-1). Fouled Out — NA. Rebounds — UT Arlington 38 (Team 5; Narcis/Jackson-Young/Azore/Davis/Elame 4), Elon 27 (Sheffield 6). Assists —Elon 11 (Sheffield 4), UT Arlington 10 (Warren 4). Total Fouls — Elon 19, UT Arlington 14. Technical — NA. A —875.