by Dax Larson
December 02, 2005
Three bench players got a chance to shine Wednesday as they were put into a staring role for the first time in their careers. Head men’s basketball coach Matt Margenthaler shook up the starting five by putting senior Rueben Trotter, sophomore Eric Van Cleave and freshman Jake Morrow into the starting lineup. The trio combined for 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Oddly enough, the starters who were on the bench had their best performances of the season. Junior Tony Thomason came off the bench for the first time this season and put up a career-best 17 points. Senior Corey Easley had his first double-double in a Maverick uniform with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He scored 10 points and had eight rebounds in the second half. The outcome of the shake up was what Margenthaler was looking for, but Thomason and Easley’s play doesn’t mean they will be put back into the starting role for Saturday’s game.
“We need a consistent effort,” Margenthaler said. “(The shake up) sent a message to play hard all the time.”
The other two starters were senior Chris Whitfield and junior Luke Anderson. Anderson continued his strong play in the 86-71 win against Upper Iowa University . Anderson posted 27 points, seven rebounds and a season-high five assists. Anderson has yet to score less than 20 points in a game this season.
“It feels good to go on the road and get a win,” Anderson said. “We really should have won by 30.”
MSU won by 15 and not 30 because of a late-game breakdown. In the last 10 minutes of the game, MSU was outscored 16-30. The lead the Mavericks were able to gain early helped them to not worry about losing the game, but there has been a trend this season of not playing a hard 40 minutes.
“We needed to finish out the game better,” Anderson said. “We were playing lackadaisical.”
Margenthaler knows he has depth on his roster, so he wants to work on fundamentals like rebounding. MSU out-boarded the Peacocks by 15, but Margenthaler said they should have out-rebounded them by 30. The Mavs are also playing aggressive with their hands on defense, giving up more fouls than their opponents. MSU has committed 21 more fouls than their opponents in the six games they have played this season. Twenty-one more fouls gives their opponents 42 more foul shots and that can make the difference in a close game. The Mavericks will have to rotate on the defensive end to decrease the amount of fouls they are committing.
“We got to move,” Margenthaler said. “We are starting to do the things we practice. They are starting to listen.”
MSU will take its 4-2 record and the momentum of its first road win to the Taylor Center Saturday for a rematch with Winona State. The Warriors are ranked No. 21 and defeated the Mavericks in the season opener 81-72.
Dax Larson is a Reporter staff writer
