Excuses not in Cards
Tenacious players not letting injuries, lack of depth stop them
When sophomore Christian Peevy fell on his left hand during the first half of UIW’s game against LSU on Dec. 9, he had no idea it had been broken. He wasn’t put in a cast until after he played 30 painful minutes in a 9150 loss.
He sat out the Cardinals next two games, but with UIW nursing injuries throughout the roster, he pushed to play in the team’s Southland Conference opener Jan. 2 against McNeese. Peevy wrapped the cast in protective padding and logged 14 minutes in an 88-77 loss.
He said the cast hindered his ability to catch passes, and sometimes he lost control when he tried to dribble. Unable to grip the ball with his guide hand, he had to adjust his shot.
“I’m not going to make excuses,” Peevy said. “I have to go out there and do the best I can to help my team get a win. Broken hand or not.”
Peevy, UIW’s leading scorer this season, was limited to three minutes Jan. 5 against Nicholls. Cardinals coach Carson Cunningham had just seven other players available, but UIW managed a 6558 victory against the Southland’s defending regular season champions.
The win moved the Cardinals to 6-9 and 1-1 in the Southland, with four wins against non-Division I opponents. Inexperienced and injury-riddled UIW next faces Sam Houston State at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Huntsville.
“The fellas have responded with just trying to be tenacious and trying to grapple,” Cunningham said. “I've never quite seen anything like it, where basically you’re down to seven guys and a guy with a broken hand. But our guys are pulling together, and we’re just going to keep scrapping.”
Junior guard Des Balentine hasn’t played this year because of a back injury. Freshman guard Romello Wilbert has been out since Nov. 12 because of a strained ligament in his knee. Freshman forward Bryce Davis has missed the past two games with a sprained ankle, and junior guard Jorden Kite sat out UIW’s most recent game after tweaking his knee.
Sophomore wing Keaton Hervey is redshirting this year because of a knee injury. Freshman forward Corey Sato is headed for a redshirt and has been out of recent practices because of a sprained ankle, and freshman guard Brandon Swaby will also be redshirted because of a stress fracture in his shin.
“It’s definitely been tough,” Peevy said. “Pretty much the whole year, we’ve been suffering injuries throughout. We’ve just been trying to push through it and work with what we’ve got.”
Though UIW is short-handed, Cunningham challenged his team before the matchup against Nicholls. He told the Cardinals they were the worst defensive team in the nation, and they responded by holding the Colonels to 38.1 percent shooting — UIW’s best defensive mark against a Division I opponent.
Even after their strongest defensive performance of the year, the Cardinals still rank 352nd out of 353 Division I teams with an adjusted defensive efficiency of 115.6, per KenPom.com. UIW has allowed its Division I opponents to hit 64.1 percent of their shots, ranking last in the nation.
Cunningham attributed UIW’s defensive struggles to youth and size. Six freshmen and three sophomores have been part of UIW’s 11-player rotation this season, and the team’s tallest player is 6-foot-7.
“What was missing was our help defense,” freshman guard D.J. Murray said. “We needed to talk more. That's why I think we came prepared.”
Peevy, a forward, paces the Cardinals with 12.2 points per game, while freshman guard Morgan Taylor averages 11.5. Charles Brown, the team’s lone senior, is averaging 18 points per game during his past four games to boost his season average to 10.2. Murray, too, has stepped forward in recent weeks, scoring 26 points with 10 assists and one turnover between UIW’s two conference games.
Peevy’s cast was removed Wednesday, a positive sign as the Cardinals chase their goal of a topeight finish and a tournament berth in the 13-team Southland Conference.
“He showed that whatever happens doesn’t mean to just quit,” Murray said. “He didn’t give up on us and kept playing.”