Sungkyunkwan University advances to the quarterfinals of the University League Playoffs.
Sungkyunkwan University 스포츠토토 won the quarterfinals of the 2023 KUSF University Basketball U-League Playoffs against Chung-Ang University 73-61 at Chung-Ang University Cheongnyong Hall on Sunday.
With the win, Sungkyunkwan advanced to the quarterfinals. Their quarterfinal opponent is Yonsei University.
The victory came after a fierce battle for the lead with Chung-Ang University. The team harvested a meaningful playoff victory without big man Kim Yoon-sung due to injury.
Coach Kim Sang-jun said, “We have a lot of injuries. I was worried about that, but our graduating players and first-year player Koo In-gyo did a good job. In a one-game match, you need a surprise star to come out. I think (Koo) In-gyo became a star today, and the fourth-year players did a good job of adjusting the team to the juniors. It was a key point that the players did a good job of defending Lee Ju-young, the other team’s leading scorer.”
“After the first half, I told the players that the team will be stronger if we can continue the good flow. The flow can come and go, but we didn’t do a good job of managing ourselves, so there were parts of the game where that happened. I said at halftime that if we can get that right in the second half, we can win the game, and fortunately, I think in the second half, when they came on, they definitely came on.”
One thing that worked particularly well in the second half was the transition offense.
“The transition from defense to offense was pretty quick,” Kim said. We had practiced switching the offense quickly during practice games with professional teams, but I think it’s different in practice. However, in the second half, (Gu) In-gyo and (No) Wan-ju did a good job of grabbing defensive rebounds, which gave us a chance to make quick progress in transition.”
Sungkyunkwan’s next opponent is Yonsei.
“We’ve already shown what we have,” Kim said. There are only a few players who can play now. We will try our best,” he said.