McQuarter looking to give Rider points in the paint
LAWRENCEVILLE » Dontrell McQuarter is learning quickly about the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
One of 12 newcomers to the Rider basketball team’s roster, McQuarter has established himself as a starter for coach Kevin Baggett, and is coming off his best performance of to date when he scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds in last Saturday’s loss to Iona.
“What I learned about this league is everyone plays hard,” McQuarter said. “There are good guards in this league, but it’s a league that we can win when we bring it every night. If the whole team buys in and brings it every night, we can win, we can compete with anybody.”
That has been a work in progress thus far for the Broncs (1-5), who have dropped three straight ahead of a non-conference matchup against NJIT (0-1) on Wednesday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium (2 p.m., ESPN+).
McQuarter, a native of Baton Rouge, La., transferred in from Hinds Community College in Mississippi where he was a two-time NJCAA All-State and All-Conference selection. His coach at Hinds, Yusef Fitzgerald, previously spent one season as the director of basketball operations at Iona, so McQuarter had a little bit of intel of what to expect from the MAAC.
“It’s just a faster pace,” McQuarter said. “I always play hard because (there) are no plays off. When you think you’re up and a team is about to lay down, they’re not. There could be 40 seconds left on the clock, but that team is still going to fight and you got to play hard. From the tip off to the end, it’s different playing here.”
McQuarter, who missed the season
opener with a knee injury, had his best game to date last time out, scoring 20 points on 7-for-13 from the floor and connecting on 6-for-7 from the free throw line. He did most of his damage around the rim, converting from post ups or on short mid-range jumpers.
At 6-foot-7, 180-pounds, McQuarter’s not the typical post-up player Rider has been accustomed to. The Broncs have battered opponents with points in the paint in past seasons, but this year’s team needs to rely on guards driving to the basket.
McQuarter, however, can provide post-up opportunities against the right matchups.
“That was something I always did in my game, scoring (in the) low post and around the mid-range area,” he said. “That has always been my game.”
Now it’s about doing it consistently.
“He can give it to us every night if he brings it, but he’s got to practice like that,” Baggett said. “You got to get used to brining that every day in practice, and not only him, I’m asking everybody to take their practice level to another level to where we get in these games and we’re a little more comfortable.”
McQuarter understands what the coach is asking of him.
“I just had to find my rhythm and get a fee for the offense,” he said. “Going forward I know what coach
expects out of me and what I have to do on the offensive end. I just have to bring it every night.”
How about this for a stat: Rider leads the nation in the percentage of defensive rebounds grabbed the point guard (29%), according to KenPom.
That, of course, is thanks to 6-foot point guard Dwight Murray Jr. leading the team with 7.2 rebounds per game. Murray is pacing the Broncs in scoring (15.2), rebounds (7.2) and assists (5.0) through the first six games.
NJIT opened its season this past weekend with a 72-60 loss at Temple. Senior guard Zach Cooks scored 18 points, and is coming off a junior season in which he led the Atlantic Sun in scoring at 19.7 points per game.
The Highlanders are also in new territory, having left the aforementioned ASUN for the more geographically-appropriate America East. The Newark-based school spent five seasons as a member of the ASUN after moving up to Division I for the 2006-07 season and spending years without a conference affiliation.