You can excuse Towson University coach Pat Kennedy if his short-range plans didn't focus on the long-range shooting of the College of Charleston.
Facing a team that had begun its season shooting dismally from the perimeter, the Tigers quickly learned that first impressions can be deceiving.
The Cougars connected on their first five three-point attempts, building a 25-point lead by halftime and cruising to a 78-58 win over the host Tigers.
"They were shooting 19 percent from the three coming into the game, so obviously one of the things we wanted to do was protect their dribble drive," said Kennedy. "When you've coached in close to 800 games, you stand there and you try to think, `When was the last time I saw a team shoot like that at the beginning of a game?' The word that comes to mind is shell-shocked."
Charleston, a 20-game winner each of the past 11 seasons, looked every bit the part from the opening tip.
Paced by the torrid shooting of guard Robert Swain, who scored a game-high 19 points and hit five of five three-pointers, Charleston quickly broke on top with flawless shooting from the perimeter. Facing a packed-in zone, the Cougars (2-1) nailed all six of their shots over the first 3:34, including four straight three-pointers, to build a 16-7 lead.
Things only got worse for the Tigers.
"There's an old saying - don't believe everything you read," said Charleston coach Tom Herrion. "If you picked up a stat sheet and looked at our percentages, you were probably fooled. The last two years, we've been one of the best shooting teams in the country. Tonight, the same shots we've been missing we made."
After making eight of their first 41 three-pointers this season, the Cougars matched that total in the first 12:32.
Towson (2-3) made its best run of the game early in the second half, when guard Mike Green (14 points) scored nine straight points, including back-to-back three-pointers, as part of a 12-0 run to cut the lead to 14.
After a timeout, Charleston scored 16 straight, punctuated by Swain's fifth straight three-pointer, to put the game out of reach.
Kennedy said that the performance will serve as a hard-learned lesson for his defense.
"We're not the quickest team in the world getting to shots, and we've got to continue to work on that," he said. "We've got to get quicker to shots and quicker to people as they're going to be taking shots."
CHARLESTON-B. Jackson 5-11 1-2 12, Horowitz 2-4 0-0 4, Hall 1-2 0-1 2, Mitchell 4-12 44 14, S. Jackson 5-7 2-2 15, J. Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Draper 2-7 5-6 10, Swain 7-9 0-0 19, Nelson 0-3 0-0 0, Hairston 1-5 0-0 2, Hastings 0-0 0-0 0, Pharr 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-61 12-15 78. TOWSON-Hamm 3-10 0-0 7, Tubbs 2-10 0-0 4, Plack 2-5 0-0 4, Fletcher 2-11, 3-4 9, Green 5-6 2-4 14, T. Jackson 2-7 2-2 8, Dixon 0-0 0-0 0, Goode 0-2 0-0 0, Pease 1-2 0-0 3, Raboin 2-2 1-2 6, McCartney 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 20-56 8-12 58. Halftime-Charleston, 46-21. 3-point goals-Charleston 12-24 (B. Jackson 1-1, Hall 0-1, Mitchell 2-8, S. Jackson 3-4, Draper 1-4, Swain 5-5), Towson 10-23 (Hamm 1-4, Tubbs 0-4, Fletcher 2-4, Green 2-3, T. Jackson 2-4, Pease 1-2, Raboin 1-1, McCartney 1-1). Rebounds-Charleston 39 (Hairston 9), Towson 34 (Hamm 6, Plack 6). Assists-Charleston 19 (Mitchell 5), Towson 15 (Fletcher 8). Total fouls-Charleston 13, Towson 16. A-1,010.
