After running a poor offensive performance last weekend against Cornell, Columbia’s offense re-emerged during this weekend’s split at Yale and Brown. It was not just the scoring but the ball movement and off-ball screens that allowed the Lions to beat a quality Yale squad and contend with Brown despite Brett Loscalzo’s absence.

Against Yale, Loscalzo played one of his best games at Columbia. While he did not fill up the stat sheet, it was his leadership and coordination of the offense that allowed the Lions to click. He also did not commit a turnover against the Bulldogs.

“He was unbelievable tonight,” head coach Joe Jones said of Loscalzo’s involvement in Columbia’s 71-58 win over Yale. “It was one of his best games that he’s had since he’s been with us. He was just outstanding.”

Against Yale, the strategy that the Lions brought into the game—not just Loscalzo’s running the offense to perfection—gave Columbia the ability to extend the lead to double-figures. In the opening minutes of the game, the Lions moved to assert Ben Nwachukwu. During the first six minutes, Nwachukwu scored nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. Establishing Nwachukwu allowed the Lions to go to John Baumann later on, while forcing the Elis not to double down on him.

The plays designed for perimeter shooters like K.J Matsui and Niko Scott let the Lions push the lead. Columbia appeared to have begun running a flex-style offense in which Loscalzo would go down and set a double-screen for either Matsui or Scott.

“We just ran it better tonight,” Coach Jones said of the offense. “We just got to play consistently.”

This same trend continued into the first half of the Brown game. The Light Blue was able to give Baumann the ball early and often, as he scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds in the first half. The way in which the Lions were able to get Baumann the ball proved to be as significant as his performance. The penetration by Kevin Bulger (career-high five assists) and Mack Montgomery allowed Baumann to receive the ball close to the basket. However, in the second half, Brown’s defense shifted to doubling and even triple-teaming Baumann, and the offense seemed to collapse down the stretch.

“It really didn’t have anything to do with the post defense,” Mack Montgomery said after Columbia’s loss to Brown. “We just didn’t execute offensively.”

While the Lions were able to give Baumann the ball on a consistent basis, the fact that Loscalzo was unable to play significantly affected the team. Kashif Sweet made his first career start and performed valiantly, finishing with four points on 2-of-5 shooting and two assists. But what Columbia missed the most from Loscalzo was his ability to set up the offense. They were also hurt by their lack of a back-up point guard. Bulger and Scott ran the point, a new role that neither had filled before in their one-plus seasons at Columbia.

The statistical difference between the two games is rather small. Against Yale, Columbia scored 71 points, while shooting 51.2 percent from the field, compared to 63 points, while shooting 46.3 percent against Brown. However, the difference between a 13-point win, and a six-point loss may be as simple running the offense effectively for 40 minutes, rather than 30.