UAAP: UST vs FEU round two preview and live-scoring

Published September 1, 2013 12:00pm

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Two squads struggling in the second round will go head-to-head when the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers (1-2, 5-5 overall) and the Far Eastern University Tamaraws (1-3, 8-3 overall) clash on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Round one encounter

The Tigers gave a good account of themselves in their attempt to inflict the first loss on the then-undefeated Tamaraws. They were down by just three, 59-56, late in the third, but a Roger Pogoy triple doubled FEU's advantage, entering the final period.

However, in the fourth, UST's offense fell apart, with the FEU defense doing its job, holding their foes to just two made field goals for a 13.3 percent clip, and also forcing six turnovers. UST got out-scored 12-5 in the first five minutes, to make the score 74-61 with 4:33 left, and it was enough for the Tams to carry the win home, 77-67.

UST outlook

Karim Abdul had an up-and-down first round, with three games where he was held to a paltry six points. That however hasn't been the case in round two, as the veteran center has put the team on his shoulders in an attempt to snap their losing streak.

Over the past three games, Abdul has normed 20 points and 14.7 rebounds, plus two blocks in 34 minutes. He's taking and making more attempts (7.7/18.0 versus 4.9/11.3) while also improving on the defensive end. One small complaint - he's still only getting to the line six times a game. Versus the weak FEU front court, he needs to force the issue down low more often, to make his opponents go small and punish them further.

FEU outlook

A lackluster effort on both ends of the court resulted in a 92-73 loss to Ateneo, as the Tamaraws were coming off an inspiring double-overtime triumph versus the UE Red Warriors.

The truth is though, after hitting 34.41 percent on all perimeter attempts for 39.3 points in the first round, FEU's range has been off. They're norming the same amount of attempts, but their number of hits has dropped from 15.3 to 12.9, resulting in their percentage diving to 29.27 in round two. Shooters will keep shooting, but head coach Nash Racela will need to work to get his guys more open shots, or start upping their attempts within the paint.

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