Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The UST Growling Tigers rolled on to a scintillating 3-0 start in the 78th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), a winning stretch that saw them maul the resurgent UP Fighting Maroons.
Former league MVP Don Allado said UST’s stingy defense keyed the 67-59 win over the Maroons in the battle of the hitherto undefeated teams last September 13.
Read: Daquioag’s 27 points lift UST past UP for 3-0 start
“UST played really well on defense, right from the start all the way to the end,” Allado said in an interview with CNN Philippines’ Sports Desk on Monday (September 14).
“Everybody was always collapsing. UP wanted to start early and get their game going on the inside but they couldn’t because the collapse of the UST defense was always there and they really focused on their individual defense.”
So tight was UST’s defense that it forced UP to commit 19 turnovers.
Apart from that, UST, whose core includes veterans Ed Daquioag, Kevin Ferrer, Karim Abdul, and Louie Vigil, has maturity as its edge.
But Allado singled out point guard Jan Sheriff as the X factor for UST, providing the intangibles on both ends of the floor. The Star Hotshots big man lauded0 the heady playmaker, whose pesky defense has done wonders for the España-based squad.
Given all these, Allado believes the Tigers can make it to the final four.
“With the way they are playing now, I can definitely say that they (UST) will be in the final four”, Allado said.
UST will try to preserve its perfect record against the National University Bulldogs on Saturday (September 19) at the Mall of Asia Arena, while UP will try to bounce back with a win facing FEU Tamaraws on September 20, at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
