Tasmania JackJumpers 78 (Jack McVeigh 16 points 5 rebounds, MiKyle McIntosh 15 points, Josh Adams 15 points)
defeated by
Perth Wildcats 89 (Bryce Cotton 20 points 5 assists, Vic Law 19 points 13 rebounds, Travers 16 points 5 rebounds)
Boxscore
Match Summary
The Perth Wildcats ended a three-game losing streak in spectacular fashion, by defeating the Tasmania JackJumpers 79-89 in front of a sell out Hobart crowd.
Despite being down at quarter time, it was the Wildcats defense across the second and third quarters that set up the win.
Tasmania started off the contest well, opening the match on a 10-1 including threes from Josh Magette and Fabian Krislovic. The Wildcats first field goal was by Vic Law, who was coming off the bench for the first time, after undergoing a last minute fitness test to be cleared to play the game. Tasmania led 22-16 at the first break, with the Wildcats yet to register a field goal outside the key.
Magette from downtown in the first!
— Tasmania JackJumpers 🐜 (@JackJumpers) February 28, 2022
Tune in now on @espnausnz / @kayosports / @foxtel pic.twitter.com/RpxLGe4SiN
Perth turned up the defensive intensity in the second quarter and third quarters, and made Tasmania really work to get points on the board. They were keeping the ball out on the 3 point line and making passing inside or penetration nearly impossible.
The JackJumpers were forced into taking a number of contested 3’s late in the offence as little else could be created. At the other end, Cotton and Law showed why they are the best import duo in the NBL, as they were able to get to the hoop or pass out to shooters. With the defensive focus on Law and Cotton, this allowed Luke Travers and Matt Hodgson to find space around the hoop for easy baskets.
Perth had outscored Tasmania 48-29 over the second and third periods, they held a comfortable thirteen point lead going into the final quarter.
The Wildcats stretched the lead to 18 and threatened to blow Tasmania off the court. However, as we have seen all season long, the game is never over for the JackJumpers. With a full house behind them, the JackJumpers charged home with back to back threes by Jack McVeigh, and then Josh Adams to bring the lead back to six with three minutes remaining.
Adams keeping it clean in the 4th
— Tasmania JackJumpers 🐜 (@JackJumpers) February 28, 2022
Live now on @espnausnz / @kayosports / @foxtel pic.twitter.com/7e87xNrwwt
But a dagger three by Cotton and a follow up two points by Kevin white put the comeback beyond the reach of Tasmania. The Wildcats running out winners by 11 points.
Embed from Getty ImagesQuotes
After the game, Scott Roth spoke about the difference between the two teams.
“Its class really at the end of the day. Perth’s class, and [Melbourne] United these teams in these trenches for years and years.”
“Thats where we want to go, that”s where we want to be, and where we want this franchise to go.
“It’s a good learning lesson for us, unfortunately its a loss. But I say it over and over again, the game could have been a 25 point game very quickly and at one point it was getting ugly and our guys just showed an amazing amount of grit and passion to keep fighting and whoever’s in is just trying to do the best possible thing they can and I was proud of that.
“We have a lot of work to do, our defense has been very poor the last three of four games, we need to get some of that straightened out,” Scott Roth said
Key Takeaways from the game
Rebounding
The JackJumpers have been a great rebounding team in recent weeks but outrebounded 48-30 by Perth. They also gave up 15 offensive rebounds, including 5 to Vic Law
Containing Matt Hodgson
Without Will Magnay on the floor, the Wildcats made no secret of getting the ball down to big man Matt Hodgson at every chance. Tasmania threw multiple opponent on the 6’11” Hodgson with mixed success. He finished with his best game of the season with 18 points and 6 rebounds, prior to the game he avereaged 4.1 points and 3.1 rebounds.
Perry gets first points
Although he battled hard to stop Hodgeson, Jock Perry showed his offesnive skills with 7 points. These were his first NBL points, and was equal top scorer for the JackJumpers going into the half.
Perth heading home
The win capped off a difficult two months on the road for the Wildcats, who finally head back to WA on Tuesday ahead of the state lifting its interstate COVID restrictions on Thursday.
