Pacific Game Recap: Tigers Beat Leathernecks Handily
By Josh Horton
November 22, 2012; Anaheim, CA, USA; Xavier Musketeers forward Jeff Robinson (21) goes down as Pacific Tigers forward Khalil Kelley (13) reaches for a loose ball in game one of the DirecTV Classic at the Anaheim Convention Center. Pacific won 70-67. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
The score indicates a 14 point victory, but this game was not even that close.
The Pacific Tigers handled the Western Illinois Leathernecks with relative ease yesterday, taking down this Midwest foe by a score of 66 to 52.
The Tigers started off the game on a 25-6 run, where Sama Taku had 9 points and Tony Gill and Andrew Bock had 6 points apiece. By halftime, the Tigers held a 44-23 lead, and had the Leathernecks grasping for air.
Senior forward Gill was the leading scorer for the Tigers in this game, putting up 19 points on 7 of 12 shooting. Taku and Bock followed with 16 and 13 respectively.
Despite being a guard, Taku hit the glass tonight and was the Tigers leading rebounder with 6.
On top of being Pacific’s top rebounder against Western Illinois, Taku joined Trevin Harris as the Tigers leading distributor with 4 assists apiece.
As predicted, Western Illinois relied on Adam Link and Garret Covington. The senior forward and freshman guard had 15 and 16 points respectively in this contest.
Stat of the Night
Pacific has been negatively affected by the new rules in college basketball this season. After only averaging just over 17 fouls per game last season, the Tigers are averaging 23.3 fouls per game this season, which is second in the WCC.
Keys to the Game Checklist
Control the Boards – X
The Tigers weren’t dominant in the rebounding category today. The Tigers only outrebounded Western Illinois by 1 (30-29) and allowed 8 offensive boards.
Defend the Three – Check
The Leathernecks only shot 25 percent (4 from 16) from behind the arc.
The Bottom Line
This was a game that the Tigers were predicted to win, and they took care of business.
There were stretches in this game where the Tigers looked straight up dominant, such as their 11-0 run to start the game, and their 15-5 run that followed that.
Sama Taku and Andrew Bock have been better than expected this year. Taku has emerged as this teams go-to-scorer, and Bock has shown an innate ability to shoot it from deep (50 percent for the season).