Rogers commits to Nicholls
January 24, 2018
Former Colonel smiling at team’s success, while he chases his own path
January 24, 2018
Take a sip of the ice-cold, sweet red Nicholls Kool-Aid while it’s still fresh.
Hop on the bandwagon while there’s still plenty room.
The Nicholls State University men’s basketball team is really, really good and has a very real chance to win the Southland Conference and push to the NCAA Tournament.
At press-time on Monday afternoon, Nicholls was atop the Southland Conference standings with a 6-1 record, including a blowout win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi last week in Stopher Gymnasium.
The Colonels have two huge games this week, starting tonight at 7 p.m. at Lamar and then again on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. against Southeastern Louisiana in Stopher Gym.
Both of those teams are contenders in the league. Playing both should provide us a clearer picture as to exactly how good the Colonels are as we push ahead toward March Madness.
“We have to do a good job of using every, single day that we have to get better,” Colonels second-year coach Richie Riley said this past week. “I keep telling our guys, ‘The reason we are playing well right now is because of how we practice.’ Young kids think you come in and it’s about these 40 minutes – and that’s where a winner or loser is decied. But the real winner or loser is decided in those days of practice leading up.”
The Colonels must be practicing awfully well right now, because they’ve been beating the brakes out of people on the hardwood.
The Colonels have won three of their six Southland victories via blowout, including their most recent triumph against Corpus Christi.
In that game, Nicholls dominated on both ends of the floor from start-to-finish, crusiing to a comfortable 91-61 victory.
Offensively, Nicholls was balanced in the victory, shooting 54.7 percent from the field and 43.5 percent from behind the 3-point line.
Nine Nicholls players scored in the win and five players scored double figures, led by 23 points from senior guard Tevon Saddler.
Also scoring in double figures was freshman guard Kevin Johnson (14) and seniors Jahvaughn Powell (14), Lafayette Rutledge (14) and Roddy Peters (11).
Perhaps the stat which will please Riley the most was that the Colonels had 20 assists on 29 made field goals, which further illustrates the selfless mentality that Nicholls has enjoyed from the day they started practices.
“We have guys from all over the country here and a lot of new faces, but chemistry has never been an issue,” Riley said in preseason. “Our guys get along. Our guys enjoy playing together. That was a little bit of a concern of ours before the season because there was just so much turnover, but the guys really have been great. That brotherhood developed very quickly.”
Nicholls is becoming increasingly efficient on defense, too.
In non-conference play, the Colonels were a bit of a mess defensively, allowing more than 100 points in four games, while letting opponents shoot the ball at a high-percentage clip.
But since Southland play has started, that’s changed and Nicholls is allowing just 68 points per game in conference games, while limiting teams to 40 percent shooting.
So after beating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the Colonels had the weekend off, which will allow for extra preparation before taking on Lamar and Southeastern.
The Cardinals are in the middle of the pack in the Southland, but the Lions are on a short list of teams considered to be championship favorites.
But for Nicholls, the preparation is part of the process – a process that’s allowed the team to get off to the hot start they currently enjoy.
“Our guys have bought into the idea of preparing and that’s really changed within our team, especially once conference play started,” Riley said.
NICHOLLS WOMEN LOOKING TO REGROUP
The Nicholls State University women’s basketball team didn’t have as good of a time against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as the men.
The Colonels traveled and took on the Islanders and the result wasn’t pleasant.
Corpus Christi led from start-to-finish, opening up a 10-point halftime lead and never looking back, cruising to a 76-55 victory.
With the defeat, the Colonels dropped to 8-10 on the season and 3-4 on the season.
The Nicholls women will also take on Lamar and Southeastern this week – both games in Thibodaux.
The Lamar game will be tonight at 6 p.m. in Stopher Gym.
The battle against the Lady Lions will be the first-half of a men’s/women’s double header and it will begin at 4 p.m.
The Colonels are about to embark on a lengthy period without any prolonged bus trips.
After the home games this week, the Colonels will play a road game at UNO on Feb. 3, then two more home games on Feb. 7 and Feb. 10 against Abilene Christian and Houston Baptist.
Nicholls’ next significant bus trip will be on Feb. 14 against Sam Houston State.
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