TOWSON, Md. - After another difficult loss to a pretty good UMass team on the
road, 86-56, on Wednesday night, I was wondering if there had ever been a
stretch this difficult for a Towson basketball team.
With just one returning letter winner and no returning starters, the most inexperienced team in the country had to begin their season with
Kansas (#13), Michigan (#37), Belmont (#16), UNC Greensboro (#295),
Oregon State (#86) and UMass (#129). According
to the Pomeroy Ratings (Kenpom.com) before Wednesday night's game, the
Tigers had the ninth-toughest schedule in the country.
And just when you
thought it was getting easier, the Tigers face George Mason (#61) on
Saturday night at 7:30pm in their first CAA game
of the season, played at the Towson Center.
In the 1991-92 season, Towson had one one of their most talented
rosters ever. The Tigers were coming off to back-to-back NCAA
Tournaments but there was one problem. The East Coast Conference was
disintegrating and the league had lost its automatic bid because too many teams were leaving to the Patriot League (Lehigh,
Lafayette, Bucknell) and the North Atlantic Conference (Delaware,
Drexel).
So, Coach Terry Truax needed to toughen the schedule to
give the Tigers a chance to make the NCAA Tournament or
at least the NIT if they had a strong enough record.
Unfortunately, star guard Devin Boyd injured his arm against
Colorado in the first half of the opening game and was out for the
season. That was after scoring 20 points in the first half. Personally, after watching
him in preseason, I thought he was destined for one of the great individual
seasons in program history.
With Boyd gone, the Tigers had to start very talented freshman
Terrance "Scooter" Alexander at the point alongside rugged senior guard
Terrence Jacobs. Both players resembled shooting guards more than
natural point guards, so they both had to share ballhandling
duties.
After a 10-point road loss to Colorado, the Tigers traveled to
Chapel Hill to face North Carolina. They lost by just 10 points to the
Tar Heels, 98-88, who were playing without star center Eric Montross
(sick).
During that season, Towson also had to play 10 straight games on
the road, starting from Dec. 21, 1991 when they faced Maryland (a seven-point
loss), SMU, Howard, Youngstown State, Tennessee, George Mason,
Delaware, Buffalo, Bucknell and Central Connecticut State
(Jan. 25, 1992). They ended up gong 3-7 on that road trip and despite
finishing 17-13 and winning the ECC Championship Tournament at UMBC, the
Tigers weren't able to get a bid to a postseason tournament.
There weren't a lot of similarities from that team to the 2011-12
version. This year's team is struggling with youth and chemistry issues. The Tigers
have three freshmen guards (Kris Walden, Deon Jones, Will Adams) that
they have to rely on because of transfers and
suspensions. At least the 1991-92 team had Jacobs and a steady junior
guard in Craig Valentine, who could play some point guard.
The 1991-92 team would have been a lot more prepared for 10
straight road games and playing the likes of Colorado, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Maryland and SMU had Boyd been healthy. Yet, in the end, the Tigers
still managed to win a championship. This current
Tiger team has had to face one of the toughest schedules (if not the
toughest) in school history with a squad that barely knows each other.
Hopefully, the schedule will toughen them up for conference play, which
starts this Saturday.
