IN NUMBERS: FEU vs UE – UAAP Season 81

MANILA, Philippines – Safe to say, the FEU Tamaraws have fallen hard.

Once at the top of the UAAP Season 81 standings, the Morayta-based squad now finds themselves reeling with 5 straight losses at a 5-6 win-loss slate due to untimely suspensions and injuries to key players.

With their Final Four hopes suddenly hanging in the balance, FEU badly needs their long-overdue first win in the second round. But now, they face an all too familiar foe.

The UE Red Warriors have long since been eliminated in Season 81, having only notched one win in 12 games. However, that win just happened to be a shocking 90-65 rout against the unlucky Tamaraws. With nothing else to gain, UE will look to squeeze out a miraculous season sweep on a team with everything to lose.

SEASON AVERAGES 

With hulking big man Prince Orizu still questionable to play after suffering a shin injury, the Tams will look once more to the streaky Arvin Tolentino to fill the gaping hole in scoring and rebounding. Besides, Tolentino has lot to make up for, seeing how he sat out 3 games so far due to suspensions.

To be fair, he did make up for lost time in his return, immediately dropping a season-high 20 points as the only scorer in double digits in their crucial loss to La Salle. His 12.1 points per game average still leads the team and his 5.1 boards are their third-best mark.

Despite all its setbacks, however, FEU can still boast of its balanced attack on offense, something Alvin Pasaol has not experienced for the vast majority of the season. But in the face of adversity, the league witnessed exactly why the burly forward is the second-running MVP candidate behind UP’s Bright Akhuetie.

Pasaol’s 24.8 points per game leads the league by a wide margin, with Adamson’s Jerrick Ahanmisi’s 18.8 a far second. He got there by making 105 shots in 242 attempts – both league-highs as well – to the tune of a respectable 43.4% clip. While none of his teammates have regularly stepped up, Pasaol has proven to be a legitimate scoring machine.

Just ask FEU what happens if Pasaol actually finds help.

Regardless, the Tamaraws should have no trouble blasting through UE’s battered defenses, as the Red Warriors currently give up on average a staggering league-worst 83.9 points a game. Seventh-place UP gives up a whole 6 points less at 78.5.

FEU can try to pierce through with its perimeter offense centered on Tolentino and its assembly line of guards. At 29.2%, the Tamaraws are the second-most accurate team from deep, just slightly behind Adamson’s 30%.

However, they should be wary to patch up pretty much everything else outside of scoring, given that they are the league’s second-worst in rebounding (42.7), assists (13.6) and steals (3.6) averages. They are also averaging the fewest blocks at just 1.9 a game.

But then UE is also terrible across the board, scoring a league-worst 87.1 points per 100 possessions despite being the league’s fastest team at a 79.65 pace. That translates to a second-worst 69.4 points per game average. It is also the worst rebounding team at 38.4 boards a night while committing the third-most turnovers (15.6) and most fouls (20.9).

With the numbers pretty much against both squads, it now all comes down to who has the most of an immeasurable stat: heart. – Rappler.com