Three days after its most embarrassing loss of the season, the men's basketball team rebounded in style.
After falling on the road Saturday to the Bates Bobcats, 72-44, the Jumbos surged back into winning form Tuesday night, jumping to an early lead over the Wheaton Lyons and never looking back. The Jumbos built a 27-point lead before emptying their bench onto the floor and holding on to win by a final score of 89-74.
"They were embarrassed," coach Bob Sheldon said of his team's loss to Bates. "They were embarrassed as a team, and I was embarrassed as a coach. I don't know what it was - I don't know if it was lack of effort, or what, but we were embarrassed, and we came back tonight to prove that that wasn't us."
The squad Tufts put on the floor on Tuesday was a polar opposite of the one that showed up in Lewiston, Maine. After scoring a season-low 12 points in the first half of the Bates loss, the Jumbos responded by scoring a season-high 52 in the first half against Wheaton. Junior forward Jake Weitzen led the way with 17 first-half points, draining all three of his attempts from behind the arc.
"We were moving the ball around, making four or five passes," Sheldon said. "I felt tonight like we were making that extra pass - that was opening guys up. And we shot well on our threes."
Eleven different Jumbos fired at least once from three-point land. Senior tri-captain Dave Shepherd was three for three, while junior guard Jeremy Black made two of his three attempts.
"Our style of play was different tonight," Weitzen said. "We pressed more than we have, we tried to push the pace, and it just let guys get open shots."
While Shepherd and junior guard Ryan O'Keefe both finished with 13 points in the game, the night belonged to Weitzen. The junior shot 90 percent from the floor for a total of 21 points - a total that moved him into the team lead with 244 points on the season, and brought him to 982 for his career. Weitzen is now within striking distance of becoming the 25th player in school history to score 1,000 points.
"The energy was just night and day," Weitzen said. "Little things are what set the mood. A dive on the floor, stopping a pass from getting through, denying a wing; these things set the mood and create more energy. We were doing that today, and not on Saturday, and Bates is going to kill you if you don't come out and play hard."
The Lyons, however, were far from dominating on the offensive end. Wheaton is one of the smaller opponents the Jumbos have faced this year, with the tallest man on its roster coming in at 6'5". The Tufts big men took advantage, out-rebounding the Lyons 44-39. Junior center Pat Sullivan led the way, with eight boards, and senior tri-captain Brian Kumf chipped in seven.
With their post presence established, the Jumbos forced the Lyons to generate offense from the outside, something it struggled with throughout the contest. The Lyons were just 2-of-14 from three-point land, including an 0-for-5 performance from freshman guard Jaxon Leo, while Wheaton's leading scorer, senior captain Brian Zukowski, was 1-for-4. Defensively, the Jumbos maintained the upper hand.
"We were a little more aggressive," Sheldon said. "We pressed more, and we switched up our half-court press and our full-court press. We thought we had a bit more talent, so we tried to up the tempo."
With this non-conference win under their belts, the Jumbos can now turn their attention back to the NESCAC, which makes up six of their last eight opponents. The Bates loss leaves the Jumbos at 1-2 in the league, but the Bobcats have two losses of their own, so the Jumbos need not fret about one loss.
"It's a speed bump," Sheldon said. "But it's a long season. We play 24 games, and that one was not us. We've got to get back, because every game counts. We've got six more league games, and we've got to come in here and be ready to go again."
The NESCAC schedule resumes tonight, as the Jumbos travel to Connecticut for a pair of away games this weekend. The Jumbos' quest for a second win - and Weitzen's quest for 1,000 career points - begins in New London, where Tufts will take on Conn. College tonight, followed by a game at Wesleyan tomorrow afternoon.
Both teams have had surprising starts to their conference schedules. The Cardinals, generally viewed as the league doormat in men's basketball, are 2-1 thanks to early wins over Bowdoin on Jan. 20 and Conn. College on Jan. 13. Despite the dominant play of junior center Charles Stone, who ranks in the league's top five in scoring and rebounding, the Camels are 0-3.
"Both teams are kind of scary," Weitzen said. "You don't really know what you're going to get from them. Conn. College has a bunch of athletic guys, and Charles Stone is one of the best post guys in the league - he might cause some problems for us. But we really want to go out and get two road games. That's the goal."
That has never been easy for this team, which has had trouble in the past playing tough in-conference games on the road. But this time around, the Jumbos are determined to push their record over .500 in the league.
"The seniors have only had one weekend where they've won both away games in the NESCAC in four years," Sheldon said. "So let's go down and get two games. We want to sweep the weekend."
