By Ryan Honey
NEWARK — The CAA Conference Tournament represents a new season for every team participating.
And after losing the final four games of the regular season, the University of Delaware Men’s Basketball program will be looking to redeem themselves in a big way Sunday, March 10, in their opening game against the William & Mary Tribe in Charleston, SC.
“It’s a new season,” coach Martin Inglsby said as the team prepared to travel to Charleston, SC. “We’ve gotten back to work this week. we did get some rest which is really important for us too. … We’re excited to see how we can play.”
The Blue Hens are coming into the conference tournament as the five-seed with a season record of 16-15. The Tribe comes in as the fourth seed, with a record of 14-16, making this one of the more evenly-matched games in the first round of this tournament.
It’s the first of three games Delaware must win to keep the season going. A march through the tournament will give the Blue Hens a chance to make a name for themselves with hopes of potentially taking down the No. 1 seed Hofstra Pride and ultimately clinching a berth to the NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Hens are 1-1 against the Tribe this season. They initially beat W&M 58-56 on January 3rd at the Bob Carpenter Center, however lost the second match up 84-63 when they traveled to W&M.
Aside from the fact that it’s the conference tournament, Blue Hens coach Martin Ingelsby stressed how important it is to go out and win the so-called “rubber match” against the Tribe on Sunday.
The Blue Hens won the first game, at home, with Senior Eric Carter on the floor. On the road, without Carter in the line-up because of a lower back injury, they struggled and lost.
“We spent a lot of time the last couple days talking about what we need to do to perform on Sunday,” Ingelsby said. “You know, being in a 4-5 match up, it’s two really good teams going at it. We’re trying to focus on things we can change to help us improve and it’s amazing what one win could do for the confidence of a group. We’re on a tough little stretch here but I think our guys are excited.
Ingelsby is right about the tough stretch that the Blue Hens have had. They lost their final four games, all to CAA opponents and all to lower seeded tournament teams.
In the January victory against W&M this season, the key reasons the Blue Hens pulled away with the win was due to the defensive stops they had late in the game along with the seven-point run they had in the second half to take the lead.
Coach Ingelsby touched upon how to motivate his players to come out on Sunday with the same intensity that they had in the second half of that game.
“They’re a really talented offensive team,” Ingelsby stated. “They spread you out, they got multiple threats, they can shoot the ball from the three point line, they also have the big kid [Nathan] Knight inside, so we’re gonna have to stay true to our defensive principles. I think we’re gonna look at a couple things that we can change and tweak to help us on the defensive end, and gotta be able to mix it up between man and zone to keep them on their heels.”
Being that it’s also very late in the season, Ingelsby wanted to note just how much some of the older guys on the team have meant to their program.
“I can’t say enough about what [Redshirt Senior Guard] Darian Bryant and Eric Carter have meant to our program, and especially since I’ve been here,” Ingelsby said. “This is the third year they’ve been with us. They’ve been great leaders, they’ve really bought into our system and our program, they’ve led by example, they’ve been great ambassadors for the University of
Advancing in the CAA Conference Tournament is also big for Inglesby and his staff. With 13, 14 and now 16 wins respectively in his first three years as the coach, advancing in the tournament would be a step in the right direction for the program and confidence in Ingelsby’s vision.
Delaware tips off against William & Mary this Sunday, March 10th at 2:30 p.m. EST.