Men’s basketball freshmen shows progress
Freshman Mike Davis dribbles the ball in the game against Central Michigan University on Saturday.
March 4, 2013
Men’s basketball’s freshmen have shown great signs of improvement as the season has gone on.
The Huskies’ six freshmen have played big minutes this season and have begun to find their roles.
In the middle of the season, forward Darrell Bowie was inserted into the starting lineup and became a reliable scoring option inside the paint.
Bowie leads all freshmen in scoring, averaging 5.9 points per game. He has also grabbed 100 rebounds on the season.
All season long there has been the ongoing battle for the point guard position between Travon Baker and Daveon Balls.
Coach Mark Montgomery has gone back and forth on who the front-runner for the starting spot is. At the beginning of the season, Baker was getting the starts, but that changed in the middle of the season and Balls took over.
Baker once more assumed the starting role after recently recording a career-high six assists against Central Michigan.
Baker averages four points per game to go along with his 54 assists on the season. Balls scores 3.3 points per game and has recorded 52 assists on the season.
In the last couple of games, guard Mike Davis has come out of nowhere. On the season, Davis averages 3.6 points per game, but over the course of the last three games, he has scored 8.6 points per game.
Due to his strong play of late, Davis got the opportunity to start against Central Michigan and he took advantage of his chance, scoring a career-high 12 points.
Forward Sam Mader has shown he can score inside the paint, averaging 3.7 points per game. Mader missed a number of games this season due to injuries.
Guard J.J. Cravatta has become a spot-up 3-point shooting option for the Huskies this season. Of the 17 shots he has hit this season, 14 of them have come from behind the 3-point line.
By looking at the Huskies’ win column, you would not think they have improved this season. But the Huskies have a lot of young talent that will only continue to get better.
They have learned their roles this season and gained valuable experience that can only help them in the future.
