This past weekend the Varsity Blues men’s basketball team brought their 3-1 record home this weekend in an attempt to defend their tenth-place ranking in the CIS.
On Friday night, the Blues, who were 2-0, hosted the Brock Badgers at the Athletic Centre.
The Blues got out to a hot start, shooting a sizzling 55 per cent from the field in the first half and held a 50-39 lead at the break. Toronto was effective getting Brock into foul trouble, getting to the free throw line 16 times in the first half, converting 14, while Brock only managed to get to the line once. Centre Andrew Wasik led all scorers with 13 points at halftime, and the packed house at the AC wanted more.
In the second half Brock attempted to pressure Toronto’s ball handlers, but Blues guard Anthony DeGiorgio kept his cool and was very efficient with the basketball, posting an
impressive seven assists while only committing one turnover to go along with his 13 points for the game.
“I’m really happy with the way A.D. (DeGiorgio) played,” said Coach Katz after the game. “When he plays well at the point we’re in good shape.”
Wasik continued his dominance over Brock’s forwards and finished the game with a career-high 25 points, to go along with eight rebounds on his way to his first player of the game honour this season.
Brock wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, as they tried to mount a comeback from behind the arc, and knocked down a whopping 18 three-pointers in the game.
Fortunately U of T was never fazed by the Badgers defense and finished the game shooting 51 per cent from the field, much to the delight of the crowd, who filled the gym with electricity every time the Blues scored.
Forwards Drazen Glisic and Alex Hill both finished the game with double-doubles, helping the Blues improve their record to 3-0 with the 96-86 win. Glisic’s line was 22 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, while Hill had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
“We’re like a blue collar team, we win by committee,” said Hill after the game. “There is no one [player] that other teams can key in on.”
“I felt that we had the advantage inside the whole game,” added Wasik. “I told A.D. to keep coming inside because Dre (Glisic) and I knew we could score on them.”
On Saturday night U of T took on the Guelph Gryphons, and were looking to continue their play from the night before. Toronto did just that, opening an 11 point lead after this first quarter, and never looked back en route to an 86-70 victory.
For the third consecutive game, four Blues players reached double-digits in scoring. Hill led the way this time with 27 points, one of them a spectacular two-hand dunk on a fast break in the first half. Wasik posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 boards, while Glisic was once again all over the stat sheet with 15 points, five rebounds and six assists.
Guard Arun Kumar was a huge spark off the bench and knocked down three three-pointers, finishing with 11 points and six assists.
The Blues were extremely disciplined on both ends of the floor, committing only five turnovers for the game and not allowing any of their players to get into foul trouble. For the third game in a row, the Blues shot over 50% from the field.
“When they were guarding me I just caught the ball on the wing and the defender had their hands down,” said Hill. “[Commentator Mark Jackson] says ‘hands down, man’s down’, and I’ve been known as a shooter my whole life and if you keep your hands down I’m going to shoot it.”
U of T’s efforts likely aren’t going unnoticed. They have three players in the top eight in field goal percentage, three in the top 16 in assists, and two players in the top 11 in rebounding, and the Blues are off to 5-1 start.
“We’re off to a nice start but it’s a tough league and every game is tough. I’m very pleased with the way these guys have played and responded,” said Katz. “Our coaching staff is doing a terrific job.”
“[Other teams] look at our roster and see that we lost four starting players, and Dre is the only starter back,” added Hill. The team seems to have embraced their ‘win by committee’ mentality, as in all four home wins, four different players have won a player of the game award.
The Blues are back on the road again this weekend, playing Waterloo on Friday night and then taking on Laurier on Saturday afternoon before the midterm break.
“We just want to go in and play hard,” said Hill. “We have to have a good hard week of practice, get these last two OUA West games and come back with a 7-1 record.”
