By the Numbers: July 23-27

By Paolo Mariano Posted Jul 28th 2014

Except for Far Eastern University’s (FEU) masterful rout of University of the Philippines (UP), last week’s schedule was exhilarating up to the last second. Some teams needed breaks of the game, while some leaned on heroic individual efforts. It looks like De La Salle University is slowly regaining its championship form after surviving back-to-back cardiac outings. Ateneo de Manila University, meanwhile, suffered its first setback of the season, bowing to a well-coached National University (NU) quintet. Hopefully, the down-the-wire finishes continue in the coming weeks.

36

The number of turnovers committed by La Salle against University of the East (UE)—the most by any team in the last five seasons. The Green Archers were rattled by the incessant press of the Red Warriors, resulting mostly to terrible passes. Their 36 TOs are the third most by any squad since the UAAP employed computer-based statistics in 2003. FEU holds the unpleasant record with 44 in August 2003.   

35.3

The combined scoring average of FEU’s Mike Tolomia and Mac Belo. The worries about finding consistent offense with the exit of Terrence Romeo and RR Garcia are now gone with the way Tolomia and Belo have answered the call. They’re the highest scoring duo in the UAAP with the former tallying 18.3 PPG and the latter, 17.0—second and third in the league. They’ve really been a joy to watch.

25

The number of straight games lost by UP. The Fighting Maroons continue to become synonymous with basketball mediocrity. While most schools have achieved relative success in recent years, State U has remained languishing at the bottom of the standings, winning only six games in the last five seasons (.085). The last time UP won a game was in August 2012 when it convincingly defeated University of the East (UE), 63-48.  

17.6%

The three-point field goal percentage of the University of Santo Tomas (UST). The Growling Tigers have shot a ghastly 9-of-51 from long range, clearly missing the outside marksmanship of Jeric Teng and Clark Bautista. Their supposed shooters Kevin Ferrer, Ed Daquioag, and Louie Vigil have struggled mightily, combining for only 4-of-29, with Ferrer going 3-of-17. They need to address this quick if they want to find their old, gritty groove.

3-of-20

The field goal shooting (15.0%) of Ateneo’s Kiefer Ravena against NU. After averaging 23.3 PPG in their first three games, the electrifying guard was limited by the Bulldogs to a season low 13 points, a primary factor for their huge win. Paolo Javelona and Rev Diputado held their own defensively versus the multi-faceted Ravena, who struggled to penetrate in the lane and misfired all his seven shots from long range.