Second Half Stars

By Ritchie

In the 2nd half of the last 5 games we've played, we might have a team worthy of a top 10 ranking.

Look at these stats for Niner scoring by half over our last 5 games:

v Fordham 2nd half - 53 1st half - 28
v Richmond 2nd half - 37 1st half - 27
v Wake 2nd half - 38 1st half - 18
v Temple 2nd half - 39 1st half - 27
v Dayton 2nd half - 41 1st half - 21

The only game we've lost of that stretch is Wake, and that is only because we were exceptionally bad in the 1st half. 18 points in one half will not get the job done.

Averages: 2nd half - 41.6 points 1st half - 24.2

That results in a 17.4 point disparity between halves!

We've always knocked Coach Lutz for being a bad in-game adjustment coach. After two particularly bad blown leads last year, vs Alabama and vs NC State, we thought Lutz was the worst halftime coach ever, but we might need to think differently now.

Here are numbers for the FG% by half for our last 5 games for the Niners' opponents,

First the 2pt shooting percentage:

v Fordham

1st - 47.6
2nd - 45.2

v Richmond

1st - 38.9
2nd - 47.6

v Wake

1st - 41.7
2nd - 36.0

v Temple

1st - 54.2
2nd - 28.6

v Dayton

1st - 37.9
2nd - 23.3

Not too much of a difference there,

Avg 1st half - 44.06
Avg 2nd half - 36.14

an average 7.92% improvement in defense for the Niners in the 2nd half

But here is the shocker, 3pt percentage:

v Fordham

1st - 54.5
2nd - 33.3

v Richmond

1st - 36.4
2nd - 11.1

v Wake

1st - 14.3
2nd - 50.0

v Temple

1st - 71.4
2nd - 7.1

v Dayton

1st - 31.3
2nd - 12.5

Average 1st - 41.58
Average 2nd - 22.8

That's an 18.78% difference, and that is including a 1 of 2 performance from Wake in the 2nd half, removing that statistic,

Niner opponents have shot an average 16% from 3pt range in the 2nd half!! That is unbelievable. Once again removing Wakes 14.3 percent 1st half shooting, the average 1st half shooting for Niner opponents is 48.4%.

That is a difference between halves of 32.4% in the last four A10 conference matchups! Wow!

Not only is the 2nd half offense better, but the 2nd half 3-pt defense is stifling. If the Niners can keep this up during conference play, look for strong finish and maybe even a tourney championship for Bobby Lutz's squad.