The Blue Hens stepped onto the floor for their season-opening basketball game Monday night and curiosity was quickly piqued.
Delaware’s lineup wasn’t particularly tall. In fact, visiting Wilmington University, a Division II school, is likely to encounter bigger teams during its 2022-23 season.
So who, inquisitive Carpenter Center observers may have wondered, is going to get the rebounds for Delaware?
Everybody as it turns out, but primarily guard Christian Ray, as Delaware whipped the overmatched Wildcats 78-54.
Much more difficult games loom for the Blue Hens, who aren’t going to get any bigger except when a pair of injured 6-9 players — Aleks Novakavich and freshman Houston Emory — get on the floor. So they have decided, if fans and foes are going to view them as a small team, they’ll have to bring a bigger fight to the floor, suggested 6-7 Jyare Davis.
“That’s something we started to take a little personal,” Davis said. “In our scrimmages teams tried to exploit us being a little smaller and we all are pretty tough kids and we all try to play a little bit chippier, a little harder, just because we know we’re smaller, people try to take advantage of that.”
GAME STATS: Delaware 78, Wilmington 54
Delaware’s starting five consisted of four guards plus Davis, the 6-foot-7 Sanford School grad who was Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year and MVP of the CAA Tournament, which the Hens won, last year.
Davis began the game by acting like a guard, draining a 3-pointer, something he did just once in 10 attempts last year.
And one of those four starting guards was 6-6 Christian Ray, who was the leading rebounder last season at La Salle with 6.9 per game. Getting rebounds in rugged Atlantic 10 games can be a daunting experience, but Ray persevered. He even had 16 in La Salle’s overtime loss to Delaware at the Carpenter Center last year.
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“I always joke around and tell him ‘You’re my favorite player on the team,’ ” Davis said of Ray. “He just plays hard every day at practice, every game he competes.”
The halftime stat sheet Monday night was clear indication of how Delaware will have to succeed this season.
Ray had four rebounds in the first 20 minutes. Six of his teammates had three apiece. Delaware even had three team rebounds, which are given in situations such as a missed shot bouncing off an opposing player and out of bounds.
But Ray finished the game with a team-high 14 rebounds, nine more than anyone else.
“I love doing it,” Ray said of being a rebounding guard. “Where I grew up [in Gap, Pennsylvania], I was the tallest kid so even though I was on the wing I had to rebound. So I think I just carried that since I was young and everywhere I’ve been it’s kinda what I do.”
He’ll have to keep doing it for Delaware.
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“We’re starting small, obviously,” Delaware coach Martin Ingelsby said. “It’s gotta be by committee. But he’s a guy that’s just always around the basketball. He’s guarding the biggest guy. And he’s got a knack for finding the basketball. He’s got long arms, good length.”
Ray actually reminds Ingelsby of Pat Connaughton, the 6-5 guard he coached at Notre Dame who is now with the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, as player who can get rebounds and lead the fast break.
The Blue Hens also blocked 12 shots, equaling the school record last tied in a 2010 game against Howard, which was a positive sign. Davis and 6-9 Nigel Shadd, a transfer who has played at Kansas State and Pacific, each had three.
Delaware graduated former first-team All-CAA center Dylan Painter and his post cohort Andrew Carr transferred to Wake Forest. Without those guys, the Blue Hens will have to work much harder for their rebounds against UNC-Wilmington than they did against Wilmington University.
“That’s who we are right now,” Ingelsby said of being smaller. “We gotta try to figure it out. I think we can be more efficient offensively and maybe weather a little bit inside, a little stuff on the backboard, but we’ll see.”
Have an idea for a compelling local sports story or is there an issue that needs public scrutiny? Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com.
