One difference over the month of December for the Marist Red Foxes has been the presence junior T.J. Curry has played in the team’s three-game win streak.
Curry put together back to back double-digit scoring games this season in Marist’s first two wins. He followed that up with a season-high seven assists in the Red Foxes 76-62 win over Penn. Add him to redshirt freshman Khallid Hart, who tied his career-high with 21 points on Sunday, and Marist has an effective back court.
“I think their skill sets somewhat complement each other,” head coach Jeff Bower said. “Khallid’s ability to get into the paint and penetrate is helpful for T.J. to be able to be more of a spot up shooter a floor spacer. I think they blend pretty well.”
Bower said he would like to see them get more comfortable with each other as they continue to play together, but the ball movement has been better for a team that has seen its offense convert on better than a point per possession in four of their last five games.
Both Curry and Hart handle the ball up the court for the Red Foxes. Hart makes up for his inexperience to the college game with the ability to drive and score in the paint off the dribble. Curry’s assist tally Sunday was one off his career-high, set in last season’s opening game. The then-sophomore started the first four games of the season before losing the starting point guard spot to Isaiah Morton for the majority of the year. Later in the year Curry claimed a starting spot in place of injured senior Devin Price and was known for making the energy plays for Marist, a trait that has continued this season.
“You talk about the type of player that, you want someone who will run through a wall for you, and T.J. literally will probably run through a wall for you,” senior Adam Kemp said. “It’s great to play with someone that type of energy, that type of reckless abandon that you can’t help but play harder because of what you see him doing.”
“We’ll make fun of him practice sometimes because it feels like every other game he ends up on the ground because he gets hit in the head or something. That brings something to us when you have someone like that running around like that and when he sees the ball, that’s the only thing he sees; he’s going to go get it and that carries through that.”
After coming off the bench to start this season, Curry has been a mainstay in the lineup in the month of December. The junior tied his career-high with 16 points against Iona in his first start this season and has not looked back since. His classmate Chavaughn Lewis said he always thought Curry had the potential to step up the way he has this season.
“I think, personally, he was always capable of it, I just didn’t think he had the opportunity that he’s getting now,” Lewis said. “Especially the fact that Isaiah [Morton] is no longer with us, he’s stepped up and he’s more comfortable.”
“He can play more free understanding that he can make a mistake and move on, so he’s been a big spark for us in practice. He’s been the energy guy and you know what you’ll get out of T.J. every single night. It’s fun playing with him.”
One of the beneficiaries on Sunday from Curry was his fellow classmate Manny Thomas, who drained four first half three-pointers thanks to Curry assists.
“He just said, ‘If you keep making shots, I’m going to get you the ball,’ so I was just feeding off his energy,” Thomas said of Curry.
On two possessions Curry showed his impact, tossing a pass to Kemp who threw down a dunk. On the next possession the junior drained a three-pointer at the top of the key to cap a 21-2 run from the Red Foxes to take a 34-17 lead on Penn.
When the Red Foxes return to play on January 2 they will have a chance to do something they have not collectively done in their careers: string together a four-game win streak.
Ryan Restivo covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and America East conference for Big Apple Buckets. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ryanarestivo or contact Ryan at rrestivo[at]nycbuckets.com.
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