TAMPA, Fla. – Ben McCollum used to be the guy who crammed all his studying the night before a test in college. His preparation has come a long way throughout the years.
He prepped his squad for the NCAA Tournament all year. Not because he knew they’d make it, but because he knows the preparation has to be greater than the output. The practices have to be harder than the game. And a regular season game has to be treated like the championship.
“If you create that habit of being ready, then you don’t always have to motivate yourself to get ready for that game,” he said. “It takes so much time to develop those habits, and then it takes an internal leadership to be able to do that… If I don’t mirror that with the ability to be ready everyday, then they don’t create those habits.”
Preparing for a NCAA Tournament game is vastly different than a regular season game for the simple fact that teams find out just days prior, sometimes hours, who their opponent is. McCollum can’t begin scouting his postseason opponent two weeks in advance like he said he does during the regular season. That’s where the prior experience comes in.
Guys like Bennett Stirtz, Cam Manyawu, Isaia Howard, Tavion Banks, and Kael Combs along with McCollum were a part of Drake’s upset win over Missouri in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Heading back for another March Madness appearance in their second-straight year, this time with Iowa, they have the obligation of being leaders as the 9-seeded Hawkeyes gear up for its round of 64 matchup with 8-seeded Clemson on Friday.
“There’s probably half of our guys who’ve been to the [NCAA] Tournament, the other half probably haven’t, so just telling those guys what it’s all about” Bennett Stirtz said. “I was pretty nervous the first half of the Missouri game last year, so just taking it in one step at a time and living in the moment will help a lot.”
From the hours of prep that McCollum and Co. have done on the Tigers in the short timeframe, a few things stuck out. First is the variety in which its offense comes from – eight guys averaging at least six points per game but nobody averaging no more than 12. Two of those guys, Zac Foster and Carter Welling, are out due to torn ACLs – Welling’s injury happened just days ago on March 11.
So for that, most of what the film showed will likely be different from what they’ll experience due to Welling’s absence. The 6-foot-10 forward leads the team in rebounding with 5.4 boards a game along with being the second-highest scorer with 10.2 points per game. For a Hawkeye squad that lacks height, it’s one less problem it has to worry about.
Defense is where Clemson has thrived all year. It sits among the top 30 in the country with 12.6 assists allowed per game, 22.8 opponent field goals made per game, and 66.7 opponent points per game. How much that’ll change without Welling will be a question answered on Friday, but a team that efficient defensively doesn’t go away easy.
“Defensively, they do a really good job,” McCollum said. “They do a really good job at guarding the basketball, do a good job with their hands… They got good plans defensively, good scouting. Just everything that a good basketball team has, they have. We’ll have our hands full in regards of being able to score.”
The Hawkeyes will have to play a well-rounded game to come out on top. It’s the hustle plays and details within the game that make the biggest difference in March, and that’s something the Bulldogs-turned-Hawkeyes are emphasizing in their second go-around.
“Just understanding what it takes to win a game in March Madness, and also what it takes to lose a game,” forward Cam Manyawu said. “So just taking those lessons that we learned last year and applying them this year, and trying to make a successful run.”
Tipoff is set for 5:50 p.m. CT Friday at Tampa’s Benchmark International Arena and can be streamed on TNT.
