The numbers: 5-8, 246th RPI, 228th Sagarin, 196th Pomeroy
The recent results: lost 79-58 at Miami (12/09), won 83-39 vs. Haverford (12/11)
The upcoming schedule: at Rutgers (12/22)

Jose, Jose Jose Jose
To the surprise of no one, Jose Olivero is taking a ton of Lehigh’s shots (31.8 percent of them, 66th highest number in all of Division 1). He is shooting roughly as well as last year (44.0 percent from the floor this year, 43.4 percent last year). However, Olivero’s three-point accuracy is way down to 33.8 percent, from 40.8 percent last year. With the departure of Joe Knight, a tough outside shooter, teams are finding it possible to play Olivero tight on the perimeter without getting burned outside by someone else. Knight’s replacement Marquis Hall is shooting 27.9 percent from the arc.

Back with a vengeance
After a dissappointing junior year, senior center Jason Mgebroff has had a strong start to the season. He’s third on the team in scoring with 10.8 points per game, shooting 67.9 percent from the field and an impressive 81.3 percent from the charity stripe, and grabbing 5.8 rebounds per game. His ability to compete with Chris McNaughton and Tim Clifford will be crucial to Lehigh’s chances this year?

Stats don’t tell the story
Lehigh is three games under .500. However, they’ve outscored opponents by 4.9 points per game, they’re shooting better than opponents from the field (48.1 percent to 42.5 percent) and free throw line (70.6 percent to 67.9 percent), and they’re outrebounding opponents by 5.8 boards per game. Why? They beat Swarthmore and Haverford by a combined 179-82. Meanwhile, they’ve lost games by 1 (at Princeton), 4 (Portland State), and 6 (Cal State-Northridge and at Notre Dame).

Won’t be held responsible; we were only freshmen
Marquis Hall was thrown into the lion’s den, starting at point guard from the first game of the year. While he’s been able to execute as a point guard well (4.8 assists per game, 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio), his shooting has been below what was expected. Hall is shooting 37.6 percent from the floor; when you give added weight to his 27.9 percent three-point shooting, he’s been the worst shooter on the Mountain Hawks.

White out
While Bryan White has played poorly enough to lose his starting job, underclassmen Zahir Carrington and Phil Anderson have stepped up. The two of them are averaging a combined 10.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in a combined 30.4 minutes. Carrington is banging down low to a 57.9 percent field goal percentage, while Anderson is playing like a versatile scorer (63.3 percent on two-pointers, 46.7 percent on threes).

Statistical odds and ends
– The Mountain Hawks are averaging just 665 fans per game at the five home games they’ve played so far.

– Despite the poor attendance, Lehigh is 5-0 at home games and 0-8 away from Stabler Arena.

– Even though Olivero is by far the biggest scorer on the Mountain Hawks, he did not have the team-high in points in the last three games. Kyle Neptune did it twice, against Haverford and Princeton, and Mgebroff did it against Miami.

– Only seven Mountain Hawks have recorded a block this year.

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