Team #82 - Eastern Kentucky

On Saturday November 13, 2021 I was able to see my 82nd Division I team. This time I saw the Eastern Kentucky Colonels take on the Milwaukee Panthers. This was one of the most intriguing matchups of the young college basketball season. Eastern Kentucky was lead by NC State transfer Braxton Beverly. Beverly ranks 4th all time in 3 pointers made all time at NC State and decided to transfer back home for his extra year of eligibility. It also helps that Eastern Kentucky is coached by former NC State assistant, A.W. Hamilton. Milwaukee will also be a very interesting mid major this year. They are lead by Top 10 recruit Patrick Baldwin Jr, son of their coach Patrick Baldwin. Milwaukee has had a lot of roster turnover in the last year and much like Marquette they really haven't played together until the first game of the season. 

This was Eastern Kentucky's third game of the season. The previous two games being against non-Division I opponent, I really did not know what to expect. Boy did I come away impressed with Eastern Kentucky. I am hoping this is not an overreaction here but Eastern Kentucky has all the pieces to pull an upset in March. They shoot a ton of threes. first two games they shot 33 and 40 threes. This game they shot 33 and made 13 of them. They are making roughly 40% of there threes. Maybe, that isn't sustainable against better competition but they run a very crafty offense. Really, remind of John Beilein's early years at Michigan. It is a basic motion offense with some screens thrown in, all five players can handle the ball and shoot from the outside. Having a player like Braxton Beverly as your point guard certainly helps the situation. He might not of had a flashy stat line but he kept them under control and rolling for a majority of the game. Eastern Kentucky also ran a diamond press, which Milwaukee struggled with. I am not a huge fan of Milwaukee's guard play but I will get into that later. 

Due to hot shooting, at one point in this contest Eastern Kentucky led by as much as 25. Late in the game, Milwaukee made a run and had the Eastern Kentucky lead down to 10 points with 4 minutes. The majority of this Milwaukee run was fueled by PBJ. You always wonder what the results of a player will be when they go to a mid major. PBJ will likely win Horizon League player of the year. On a good night, he will average 20 points and 10 boards. On a bad night he will have 10 and 5. The biggest problem Baldwin Jr will deal with this year is his supporting case is not great. This was a major reason why they found themselves down 25 in the game. Baldwin Jr struggled early in this game after a quick five points. Many shots were contested and fading away from the basket. He had a couple of air balls on deep threes and at times the game looked too big for him. Once the game got going, Baldwin got his rhythm going offensively. Josh Thomas comes off the bench for Milwaukee and did provide a spark from time to time. He finished with 23 points on 10 of 12 shooting. In the end, the hot shooting of Eastern Kentucky was too much for Milwaukee as they dropped the contest 77-71. 

For my next game I will be heading to Chicago to see DePaul take on Western Illinois. Knocking two more teams off the list.