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Delaware making strides in two key areas

12/03/2016, 12:15am EST
By Mike Zingrone

Delaware coach Martin Ingelsby (above) is pleased with the progress his teammate is making defensively. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Mike Zingrone (@mjzingrone)
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Delaware head coach Martin Ingelsby knows that with his team’s offense still very much in development, he’s going to have to get his players to focus extra-hard on the other half of the court.

So far, he’s pleased with the progress they’re making.

In a 64-49 win over Delaware State on Friday night, the Blue Hens suffocated the Hornets from beyond the arc and on the glass, two crucial markers for a successful defensive night.

Delaware (5-3) held its in-state rival to 1-for-15 on 3-point shooting and a collective .382 from the floor, a performance indicative of a much-improved unit from a year ago. The Blue Hens have held their opponents to a .387 field-goal percentage through eight games, compared to a .435 percentage in the entire 2015-2016 season. Opponents are only shooting .253 from 3-point range against Delaware, which was gave up a much-higher 34.8 percent last season.

According to KenPom.com, Delaware is 7th in the nation against D-I opponents at limiting their effectiveness from beyond the arc.

“Really, really proud of our guys,” Ingelsby said. “It’s something that we’ve talked about over the last couple of days, our defensive presence and who we’ve been on the defensive end is something we have to continue to hang our hat on.”

In the first half the Hornets stayed close by hitting 13 of their 30 shots as Delaware only took a three points lead into the half. Then, in the last 14 minutes, UDel held Delaware St. to 10 points. Up only three points at halftime, Delaware shut down the Hornets the second half holding them to 32 percent (8-for-25) from the floor.

“(We) didn’t get off to a good start in the second half but kept hanging our hat on who we are on the defensive end, and I think that’s something that we’ll probably going to have to continue to do through the rest of the year," Ingelsby said. "And then we were able to massage it and milk it a little bit at the end of the second half to get the victory."

The Blue Hens are also stepping up their game when it comes to defensive rebounding.

Last year, Delaware weren’t nearly as dominant on the boards as it is this year, out-rebounding opponents by 11 per game compared to only one rebound the previous year. The Blue Hens are also sixth in the country in defensive rebounding rate, allowing their D-I opponents to only grab 20.6 percent of available rebounds, according to KenPom.com

Friday night, Delaware out-rebounded Delaware State 46-26. Delaware held the Hornets to four offensive rebounds, limiting their second-chance points. Delaware’s Eric Carter was the only player with a double digit rebounding total with 10. Freshman Philly native Ryan Daly is second on the team in rebounding, averaging 5.4 per game.

“We can go and rebound. I think we are top 15 team in the country in defensive rebounding,” Ingelsby said. “We work on block out and guys using their body, and if we can build that wall and make guys settle for long jump shots then grab the rebounds we can do some good things on offense.”

At 5-3, Delaware is already two wins away from matching its entire win total from a year ago, and it’s clear that the improvements in those two areas are both big reasons why.

As long as Ingelsby’s players are providing that spark the Blue Hens want on the defensive end, they’re confident they’ll continue to exceed expectations.

“I think we really buckled down defensively, everybody as a team bought in the last 10 minutes, really the last half, held the team to 21 points and that’s pretty good for us,” junior guard Anthony Mosley said. “I really like the chemistry and I really like the resilience of our group, we have a group that no matter what we’re going to fight and we’re not going to let the other team play harder than us, and that’s going to take us a long way, I think.”


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