Got defense? Junior guard/forward Maurice Jeffers does. Come to think of it, he’s got a lot. Jeffers, a transfer student from Westark Community College, was named the Billiken defensive player of the year at the end of the regular season. Jeffers, or Mo, as he’s called, can play defense.
Jeffers assignment has been the same, simple job: stop the opposing team’s best player. It’s not a complicated job, very straightforward, but very hard to accomplish.
“I feel like I did a decent job guarding the other teams best players,” Jeffers said. Jeffers defensive assignments is a list of who’s who in college basketball. DePaul super sophomore Quentin Richardson averaged 17.4 ppg for the regular season, but had only six as Jeffers locked him down during the final game of the Conference USA basketball tournament.
“Q [Richardson] is a good player, and I held him down and we got a win,” Jeffers said.
Against Cincinnati, Jeffers rotated between C-USA Freshman of the Year DerMarr Johnson and the Bearcats’ leading scorer last year, Pete Mickeal. Expending most of his energy on Mickeal, Jeffers held the potent low-post presence below his season average.
“I take it as a challenge to guard the other teams best players,” Jeffers said.
In most cases, those players are bigger than Jeffers, but he still finds ways to keep the pressure on without taking a beating.
“Defense is a game of moving your feet. I’m quicker than most other players,” Jeffers said. “You have to try and avoid a lot of body contact. There’s going to be some, but you have to avoid most of it.”
While Jeffers has been busy this season concentrating on his defense, he has shown flashes of offensive output. At any moment, at any time, Jeffers could make a quick spin move and dash towards the rack for either a dunk or a foul.
“I take opportunities. I don’t try to force anything,” Jeffers said. “I don’t feel I really have to score.
“I don’t score that much, but I can score. On this team I don’t need to score,” Jeffers said. “My role isn’t to score, we have Justin [Love] for that.”
With Love graduating, Jeffers will be looked to score more on offense. “I’ll be stepping up my game next year. I’ll spend the summer working on my offense,” Jeffers said.
The Billikens have at least one game to play. Utah is waiting in Cleveland for a 9 p.m. tip-off tonight.
“I’ll probably be matched up on either [Alex] Jensen or [Hanno] Mottola. They’re both big and Jensen can shoot from outside,” Jeffers said.
Jensen is averaging 13.8 points and Mottola has put up a little over 17 points a game. Chances are Jeffers will end up putting his energy into denying Mottola the ball to limiting his offensive chances.
Jeffers is confident the Bills will play, but is hesitant to guarantee a win. “We’re going to go out and try to get a win.”
