After struggling in losing efforts over the past three games, Columbia's offense came out of its shell against Wagner (4-2) Wednesday night en route to a season-high 84 points, eclipsing the previous high of 70 with five minutes remaining.
In the Lions' struggles during the first three games of a four-game home stand, Columbia (3-4) remained stagnant offensively and consistently missed uncontested jump shots and easy putbacks.
During the three games, Columbia shot a miserable 32.4 percent from the field and 26.6 percent from three-point range to average just 54 points per contest—nearly 10 points lower than last season's average. The lack of movement on the offense and one-on-one play remained a fixture in those three losses.
While most would think the play of individuals and their statistics would rise during this period, nobody picked up the slack consistently. One game, Joe Bova would step up (scoring 11 against Bryant) but remain quiet during the next two games. This plagued the team's offense as coach Joe Jones attempts to create a consistent rotation come Ivy season.
Further, the lack of balanced scoring severely crippled the squad. There were few games in which the Lions received solid contributions from multiple players. While players may have worried about giving the ball to someone who was struggling, the passing and screening vanished during the three-game losing skid.
All of these negative trends changed against Wagner on Wednesday evening. Columbia was able to create a fluid offense based on setting ball screens for hot shooters, leading them to shoot 40 percent from behind the three-point line and a torrid 53.2 percent overall.
"Coming into practice the day after [the loss against Stony Brook], we just worked on executing our sets," Patrick Foley said. "Tonight, anytime we executed something all the way through, we ended up getting it in or spacing out the floor well to drive."
Further, on a number of plays, Columbia ran smooth pick-and-rolls with Foley—finding numerous open players near the basket—en route to a season-high six assists. Foley's rapport with his teammates, knowing where they'll be on a given play, allowed him to have another solid game offensively.
"He's going to score in transition and do some things that one cannot necessarily coach," Jones said. "And then in our sets, he's really good at setting up the other guys really well."
With the offense as a whole clicking, five Lions scored in double-figures—the most since five reached the plateau in a 109-63 rout of Polytechnic last December. But on Wednesday, it was the play of both the post and perimeter—not just one—that paved the way for victory. On the interior, Jason Miller (11 points, 11 rebounds), and Asenso Ampim (11 points, 11 rebounds) both had double-doubles, marking the second time this season the duo has done so. On the perimeter, Columbia was paced by Foley's 18 points, Bova's 16 points, and K.J. Matsui's 11 points. This combination provided a new depth on the offensive front yet to be seen this season.
"I thought we executed better," Jones said. "We definitely executed what we're trying to run at a high level. I think that they have a better understanding of how they should score out of the things we are running."
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