When the press asked coach Murry Bartow and his ETSU Buccaneers about their offseason adjustments last Thursday, they all gave the same answer:
Defense.
Last season, ETSU thrived off a high-powered offense, but their defense didn’t quite meet Bartow’s expectations.
“We want to continue to play fast, score a lot of points,” Bartow said, “and then at the end we’ve got to defend better than we did a year ago.”
The Bucs averaged 78.6 points per game last year, and while only giving up 77.2 points per game, they finished with a regular season record of 19-13.
Their bid for a spot in the NCAA Tournament was quickly dashed in the Atlantic Sun Tournament after a loss to Belmont in the semifinals. In the final 20 seconds of that game, with ETSU up by one point, the Bucs were called for a questionable technical foul that led to two Belmont free throws and the loss of the lead.
The Bucs were unable to re-take the lead as Belmont went on to win 69-65.
“You don’t want to let a game go like that when you’re up at the end of the game,” said senior guard Courtney Pigram. “Every game we play, it’ll be in my head. I’m going to get it in the newcomers’ heads.”
“It was a tough way to end last year,” Bartow added, “but obviously this is a whole new year and you just move on.”
The Bucs moved on by focusing their efforts primarily on improving their defense.
Bartow explained that their defensive efforts have been so strong that their defense might, as of now, be ahead of the offense.
So how did all those defensive adjustments carry over into Saturday’s exhibition game against Milligan College in Memorial Center?
The Bucs won the exhibition thoroughly by a final score of 84-61, a 23-point margin-of-victory. But it was something of a let down for the Bucs defensively.
“The defense’s goal was to keep the team at 60,” Pigram said. “They got 61. It’s disappointing, but satisfying.”
Despite falling one point shy of their goal, ETSU led the game in every category of defense.
They had more rebounds (40-23), steals (15-8) and blocks (5-1), and held the Buffalos to just 43.8 percent from the field. When several key players return from injury, the defense stands to improve, according to Bartow.
“Tommy Hubbard, who’s our best defender, was out. He’ll be at practice on Monday. Seth McCoy will be at practice on Monday,” Bartow said. “We’re eager to get both those guys back.”
So the defense stands to improve, but how did the offense do?
Last season, Pigram and fellow senior Kevin Tiggs led the Bucs in points per game, with 15.8 and 14.6 respectively. On Saturday, Pigram scored 14 and Tiggs added 12, but the game’s leading scorer was sophomore Micah Williams with 19. Williams, who averaged 3.6 points a game last season, shot 6-9 from the field and 4-6 from 3-point range.
“I’ve been shooting it pretty well in practice,” Williams said. “(Bartow) has been wanting me to be more aggressive, and attacking more. I think I did pretty well.”
The Bucs were also able to get a boost from some of their new recruits.
Guard Jarvis Jones added 13 points and was the only player to sink all of his free throws, and guard Adam Sollazzo led the game with seven assists.
“I love Jarvis Jones,” Bartow said. “He’s going to make a lot of shots in his career.”
“(Sollazzo) looks over the defense, so you can get easy buckets,” Pigram added.
Currently, Belmont stands out as the favorite to win the Atlantic Sun, with ETSU placed at No. 2 in the coaches’ poll and No. 3 in the media poll.
Though indifferent to these standings, Tiggs expressed his enthusiasm to prove them wrong.
“I don’t care about that stuff,” Tiggs said, “but I can’t wait to get started. I can’t wait for Belmont. I can’t wait to get ’em.”
Tiggs and Buccaneer faithful alike will have to wait until Jan. 19 for the first game against Belmont. The season will open on Nov. 14 as the Bucs play Temple University in the Charleston Classic at Charleston, S.C.
Their next exhibition game will be Saturday at 4 p.m. at Memorial Center as they host Mars Hill.

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