Observations from BA’s loss to We Are D3: 4th quarter chaos, Nichols dominates
In the second round of TBT, Boeheim's Army let We Are D3 climb back at the end of the second quarter, leading to an improbable late win. Courtesy of The Basketball Tournament
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If one were to peruse through the box score of Boeheim Army’s 97-71 pummeling of Herkimer Originals Saturday, they’d struggle to find low points.
Sixty-two percent from downtown and inside the arc. Extensive rebound and assist differentials. Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim in orange and white together for the first time since 2022. It was the perfect reintroduction for the 2021 TBT Champions, which had not competed in the 2024 edition.
However, like any tournament-style competition, the attention must swiftly turn toward the next matchup, or you could be at risk of going home early. Boeheim’s Army found that reality to be undoubtedly true on Monday night. Boeheim’s Army struggled from 3 and Ty Nichols led We Are D3 with 36 points, helping it to a three-point win over BA and a berth to the third round of TBT.
Here are some observations from Boeheim’s Army’s 81-78 loss against We Are D3:
Fourth quarter mayhem
Within the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, We Are D3 held its largest lead of the game at seven.
As BA poked and poked, We Are D3 held and held. Nichols hit a deep three and gave We Are D3 a four-point lead. An and-one from Jacob Gilyard cut the lead back to one as the game approached the Elam Ending. Nichols repeated the trick, nailing a deep 3 for another four-point lead. The bucket moved We Are D3 within eight points of the target score — 80.
A massive block by Elijah Hughes gave Boeheim’s Army a possession, but his missed shot returned the ball to We Are D3. Four straight points by Dimitrius Underwood moved We Are D3 within four of eliminating the top regional seed.
Buddy’s corner three put a stop to We Are D3’s momentum for a moment. From the charity stripe, Nichols put it within two points. Another three from Buddy tied it at 78 and seemed to offer a lifeline for Boeheim’s Army. But a Davis Dakquan free throw put them within one. From there, it was Nichols again to seal the win for We Are D3.
Ty Nichols dominates
Tough shot after tough shot. That’s what Ty Nichols does. Every team needs a player who relishes the moment to put his team on his back. In We Are D3’s first round matchup, Nichols was that guy.
His two free throws against Layne’s Hope in the first round sealed the deal in an Elam Ending. The Keene State College alum ended the game with 20 points. Versus top seed Boeheim’s Army, his dominance continued.
At the start of the third quarter, Nichols recorded just under half of We Are D3’s points, prompting Griffin to tell Fox Sports 1 that he wanted to see his team force Nichols inside. Griffin said Boeheim’s Army could live with allowing contested shots.
Boeheim’s Army did just that. Did it stop him? No.
A layup tied the game at 45. A floater tied it again at 51 before Christian Parker gave We Are D3 its first lead. Another floater made it 55 each. Two free throws with 5.3 seconds left in the third quarter tied it at 57.
In the fourth quarter, Nichols nailed a tough 3 on back-to-back possessions. Nichols threw up a 3-pointer and was fouled by McCullough late in the Elam Ending. He got two of the three to go, putting We Are D3 within two of the target score.
At 79-78, the ball was only going to one man. He drove with his left and kissed it off the glass with his right hand for his 36th point. Game over.
Fast first quarter start, slow second quarter end
Boeheim’s Army was primarily guided by an early advantage in its first-round win over Herkimer Originals. BA was hot right out of the gate and scored its first points with a 3 from Hughes inside the first minute.
Two days later, Boeheim’s Army had to wait a minute longer to go in front. But once Chris McCullough knocked down a turnaround jumper inside the paint, it resumed business as usual.
Back-to-back threes from Buddy and Hughes made it 8-0. Fresh off the bench, Jimmy Boeheim scored six quick points and Gilyard extended the lead to 10 with a 3.
Four consecutive points from We Are D3 – including a last-second jumper from Ty Nichols – cut the lead down to six. After the halftime break, We Are D3 continued to hang around.
A 12-point lead with 1:55 became nine after Nichols knocked down a 3. Then it became seven after Samuel Peek hit a layup, and five after Parker scored a bucket of his own. Suddenly, Boeheim’s Army was in trouble.
Trouble from 3
Boeheim’s Army was clinical from 3 against Herkimer Originals in the first round. It hit 18 3s at 62.1% from distance. It was a difficult result to replicate, and Boeheim’s Army couldn’t on Monday.
Buddy, McCullough and Gilyard all threw up 3s early in the first quarter, but missed each try. Buddy hit Boeheim’s Army’s first triple of the day with 6:15 left in the first. Then Hughes knocked one down. Gilyard followed with three straight makes from distance. But Boeheim’s Army’s five first quarter 3s didn’t carry over into the next three frames.
Boeheim’s Army went zero-for-two from beyond the arc in the second quarter, then just two-of-seven in the third. Buddy hit three 3-pointers throughout the fourth quarter and Elam Ending, but it was to no avail.
Boeheim’s Army went 10-31 from downtown, a key reason why it fell short in the second round.
