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NCAA Basketball Stats: Mule Women First, Hargrove Second

Wednesday, January 9, 2013
 

Hannah Rush It’s been a good start to the Muhlenberg basketball seasons. About a third of the way through the Centennial Conference schedule, the women are tied for first and the men are tied for second.

Not surprisingly, stingy defense is a common thread for the two teams.

Through Sunday’s games, the Mule women led Division III with a defensive field-goal percentage of .279 and ranked in the top 35 in two other defensive categories. That percentage went even lower (to .278) after yesterday’s 53-43 win against Franklin & Marshall – the ninth time in 12 games that Muhlenberg held its opponent under 30-percent shooting.

Among teams that had played at least five games, Gettysburg – the next opponent for Muhlenberg – was second in defensive field-goal percentage. Made shots will be at a premium in Saturday’s game.

Matt O'Hara Here are the 10 categories in which the Mule women ranked in the top 50 in Division III as of Monday:
• first in field-goal percentage defense (.279)
• 20th in scoring margin (+18.5)
• 35th in scoring defense (50.1)
• 29th in free-throw percentage (.740)
• 17th in rebound margin (+10.4)
• 33rd in assists per game 16.0
• 25th in blocked shots per game (5.2)
• 40th in turnovers per game (15.6)
• 16th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.02)
• Hannah Rush (right) 15th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.11)

Although their numbers took a hit in last night’s loss to Division I Lehigh, the men also ranked in the top 35 in the country in field-goal percentage defense. And a big reason why (literally) is junior center Kevin Hargrove, who was second in Division III in blocked shots per game. Hargrove blocked nine shots against Moravian and tied a school record with 10 against McDaniel; only one other player in Division III had recorded at least nine blocks in a game as of Monday. Before Hargrove’s triple-double in the Moravian game, only two other Division III players had accomplished the feat this year.

Here are the four categories in which the Mule men ranked in the top 50 in Division III as of Monday:
• 34th in field-goal percentage defense (.386)
• Malique Killing 42nd in scoring average (20.2)
• Matt O’Hara (left) 42nd in assists per game (5.1)
• Kevin Hargrove second in blocked shots per game (3.58)