Towson men’s basketball entered the 2023-24 season coming off a 21-12 campaign but lost two major contributors, leaving head coach Pat Skerry to find new ways to win.
One way? Defend like crazy.
Towson’s 67-56 win at Delaware on Jan. 27, which lifted it to 13-8 overall and 6-2 in the CAA, marked the third time the Tigers have held a CAA opponent to fewer than 60 points. Towson is second in the league in scoring defense (63.9 points per game), third in opponents’ field-goal percentage (.426) and first in opponents’ 3-point percentage (.304).
The Tigers are No. 110 in the country in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric, second in the CAA behind Drexel.
“We thought coming in this had a chance to be as good a defensive team as we’ve ever had,” Skerry said following the Towson’s 70-67 win against Drexel on Jan. 25. “We were a little choppy in the nonconference. Some of that had to do with the level of opponent, but that needs to carry us. It’s been really good the last few weeks, especially guarding the 3-point shot.”
Honing in on the defensive end has proven to be a productive way to transition to a new era of Tigers basketball. Cam Holden and Nicolas Timberlake, former first-team All-CAA stars who combined to average 32.2 points per game a year ago, moved on following the 2022-23 season. That left room for returners and newcomers alike to take on big roles this year.
Former Coppin State standout guard Nendah Tarke, who spent the first chunk of the season waiting to be cleared by the NCAA, already has 19 steals in 11 games at Towson. Center Charles Thompson, who opted to return to the Tigers for a fifth season, has 30 blocks in 21 games.
Tarke earned MEAC All-Defensive Team honors twice at Coppin, while Thompson has earned CAA All-Defensive Team honors three times. No wonder the Tigers were bullish about their potential on the defensive end.
“We started out 0-1 in the league, and we knew that this team could hang our hat on the defensive end,” Tarke said. “We scout a lot. We do a lot of film. We’re in here a lot preparing for these games. This is our standard. This is our expectation. Playing hard and defense is the price of admission, so we’re going to keep playing defense and keep playing hard on that end. Sometimes the ball’s going to fall, sometimes it’s not.”
Lately, it’s been falling for sophomore wing Christian May in particular. May is averaging 12.5 points per contest and has scored double-digit points in 11 of Towson’s past 13 games. Most recently, he scored 23 points at Delaware to help the Tigers win their sixth game in seven tries.
One hiccup for May — and the entire team — comes at the charity stripe. May is hitting just 60.3 percent of his free throws. Towson is last in the 14-team league in that department at 63.1 percent.
“I think we’ve been over-practicing free throws,” May said. “We’ve been shooting them — like a hundred a day, if not more. I think it’ll come, though. I think we’re just thinking about it too much.”
BEARS FINDING THEIR WAY: Morgan State lost six consecutive games from Dec. 18 to Jan. 8, but the Bears rebounded with an 89-86 overtime win at Coppin State on Jan. 20 and an 85-79 win against Howard on Jan. 27 prior to an 83-73 loss at Norfolk State on Jan. 29.
In each win, the play of redshirt senior Wynston Tabbs and redshirt junior Will Thomas proved crucial. Tabbs combined for 45 points on 11 of 22 shooting in the two wins, while Thomas combined for 41 points on 18 of 31 shooting.
Against Howard, Thomas made a bevy of difficult shots and Tabbs made two massive 3-pointers late to help the Bears get to the finish line. Morgan head coach Kevin Broadus called them “exceptional offensive players,” and whenever the Bears needed a bucket, they delivered.
“I don’t mind them taking the shots, truthfully, especially when they go in, but when they don’t, as long as it’s in the process of our offense — so guys on our team [aren’t] just standing around looking,” Broadus said. “Give them a chance to go rebound. That’s a big thing for us. We’ve got to rebound better. I keep telling our guys, ‘We can’t stand and watch.’ I’ve got to challenge them every day in rebounding. But taking shots? Somebody’s got to take them, why not these two? They’re making them.”
Tabbs is at his third school in six years, with two lost years mixed in due to injury. After stops at Boston College and East Carolina, he is now playing close to his hometown of Suitland, Md. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound guard is leading Morgan in scoring (16.5 points per game) and hopes to keep the Bears (6-15 overall, 2-3 MEAC) on an upward trajectory.
“It’s a new team, only had like three or four returners. I think with time we’ll build more chemistry and get used to each other,” Tabbs said. “After these two last big wins, I think we can keep it going, keep it on a roll.”
Thomas, meantime, is a Baltimore native and Mervo graduate whose production has been trending up since he got to Morgan. He is averaging a career-high 11.7 points this year.
“I just keep trusting in [Broadus], trusting in my teammates and the assistant coaches,” Thomas said. “I think it’s going to come out well.”
OTHER NOTES: Loyola posted its second win of Patriot League play on Jan. 27, a 74-70 decision at Navy that featured 30 points from star guard Deon Perry. … UMBC let a 22-point second-half lead against NJIT slip away on Jan. 27 and fell to 1-5 in the America East with the 75-74 loss. … Division III Johns Hopkins is 15-4 overall and 11-1 in the Centennial Conference under first-year head coach Ryan Cain.
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