Colonels set to face big challenge

Sports

November 19, 2009

Wendy Haun The Richmond Register Thu Nov 19, 2009, 02:43 AM EST

In just their second game of the season, the Colonels will face one of the toughest opponents they will face this year.

Eastern Kentucky University faces a formidable foe in Big East power Pittsburgh (7 p.m. tonight), a task made even more daunting by the fact that their first outing, a 102-71 win over Division II West Virginia Wesleyan, was not all that impressive defensively.

“We did a poor job against Wesleyan at our one-on-one defense,” EKU coach Jeff Neubauer said. “A lot of our concepts are in a good place, as far as help defense and how to defend certain screens but it all begins with defending the basketball.”

As with most teams from a major conference, the Panthers (2-0) will have a significant height advantage over the Colonels. With five players on the roster taller than EKU’s tallest player (6-foot-7 Justin Stommes), the height and physicality of such a large team will be a severe disadvantage to the Colonels.

“They’re a very tall, very strong team,” Neubauer said. “They’ll have three guys on their bench who might not play who would be the biggest, strongest guys on our team. When you play a Big East team, you don’t look at having advantages. They’ve got good basketball players, good shooters, good post players. Our hope is that at this time of the season the sum of our parts puts us in a position to win the game.”

The Panthers are currently receiving votes in the weekly Associated Press poll and were picked to finish ninth in the conference. While they are coming off a outstanding season, which included a top national ranking and a trip to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, they lost premier players DeJuan Blair and Sam Young.

The Panthers are coached by Jamie Dixon, who has a 163-45 record in 11 seasons.

The game will be especially poignant for EKU senior Josh Taylor, who will be playing in his hometown for the first time in a Colonel jersey. The game will be at the John and Gertrude Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh.

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