After opening its NESCAC schedule with an intense 111-104 victory over Bates on Saturday, the men's basketball team will continue conference play this weekend. The Jumbos (10-5, 1-0) face stiff opposition in the forms of Trinity and Amherst on Friday and Saturday.
"This is going to be a huge weekend for us," freshman center Craig Coupe said. "Every game counts now that we're playing NESCAC teams."
With the lone conference win, the Jumbos remain tied atop the NESCAC - but the weekend promises a challenge to that position. On Friday, the squad will travel to Connecticut, where it squares off against 10-3 Trinity. The Bantams are tied for fourth place in the NESCAC with a conference mark of 1-1.
Trinity defeated Middlebury by a score of 79-65, but dropped its second conference matchup to first place Williams, 85-76. Senior forward Colin Tabb, who averages 24.8 points per game so far this season, leads the Bantams.
Tabb is this week's NESCAC player of the week, after averaging 27.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in three games for Trinity. During that stretch, Tabb shot 50 percent from the field, 53 percent from three-point range, as well as 90 percent from the line. The Jumbos will have to contain Tabb if they hope to come away with a win.
"We've been going over scouting reports this week," Coupe said. "Tabb looks like a man amongst boys out there. He's just been overpowering guys, so we're obviously going to have to focus on keeping him contained."
Tufts and Trinity enter the contest averaging nearly the same offensive output. The Jumbos are averaging 73.6 points per game through 15 games, while the Bantams have produced 75 points per game through 13 contests.
Following the Trinity game, Tufts will head back to Massachusetts on Saturday, for a match with the Amherst Lord Jeffs. The Jeffs, while 11-4 overall, are tied for last place in the NESCAC with an 0-2 mark. Still, the losses came at the hands of Middlebury and Williams, two highly talented teams.
"Amherst has two losses," Coupe said. "But their still one of the top NESCAC teams."
The Jeff's two losses both came to teams with something to prove. The loss to Williams, a 74-45 drubbing, came less than a week after the they had defeated the Purple Cows in a non-conference mathchup. Amherst's other loss, to Middlebury, took place the day after the Panthers fell at the hands of Trinity.
Against Amherst, the Jumbos will need to concentrate on junior Steve Zieja, who leads the team in points and rebounds, averaging 16.8 points per game to go along with eight rebounds. That's not the only Amherst threat, as the Jeffs feature three players averaging in double figures.
In both contests, Tufts will once again look to its sharp shooters, juniors Mike McGlynn and Brian Shapiro, who average 16 and 15.3 points respectively, as well as Coupe and his 12.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. The team will also need to more production from its bench, which combined for 43 points in a loss to UMass-Dartmouth on Jan. 17.
"We're going to have to get a lot of production from everyone," Coupe said. "A lot of people could be tired, playing two games in two days."
The matchup between centers will be interesting in each contest. Against Trinity, Coupe will be up against 6'6", 220 pound senior Bryan Dion, who enters the game averaging 17 points per game, as well as 9.8 rebounds. Coupe, at 6'7" and 225 pounds, will have the slight size advantage.
Against Amherst, however, Coupe will face a bigger opponent - 6'8" junior Pat Fitzsimons. The center boasts nearly identical numbers to Coupe, averaging 12.5 points per game to go along with 7.9 rebounds.
Coupe said he's confident for the weekend. "I'm going to go in to it like I go into every other game," he said. "Maybe I'll be a little more pumped up, but that's always how you feel going into big games. I'm not gonna get wrapped up in the matchup, I'll just do whatever the team needs me to do."
The team will certainly need the freshman's contributions, as it heads into the most important part of its schedule without sophomore point guard Phil Barlow, who is out for the season with a broken foot. The bulk of the ball handling duties have fallen upon junior Lee Neugebauer.
The Jumbos tip off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Trinity and 3 p.m. on Saturday against Amherst.
@s:Matchup between centers will be important
