The Justice

Media Credit: David Sheppard-Brick

Guard Kevin Olson's '09 performances in his last two games -- Jan. 11 against Carnegie Mellon University and last Saturday against New York University -- appear to be statistically similar. Olson scored 12 points and hit all three of his three-point attempts in a 69-57 win over Carnegie Mellon, and against NYU, he scored 15 points while hitting all five of his three-point attempts in a 65-35 blowout win.

But the similarities end there. While Olson did not attempt his first shot until 28 minutes into the game against Carnegie Mellon, he hit four three-pointers in the first eight minutes of play against NYU, enabling the Judges to surge ahead in an eventual blowout victory.

"[I'm] just trying to take it when it comes; I'm not going to force it," Olson said of his shot selection.

Olson said he scored earlier against NYU because the Violets placed extra emphasis on limiting Brandeis' low-post offense.

"They were really worried about our inside game and they just packed it in and I got a lot of open looks," Olson said.

Against NYU, Olson hit three-point shots from both corners and both wings. Olson and forward Steve DeLuca (GRAD) traded three-pointers early on as Brandeis built a 20-8 edge.

"If he's open, he's going to hit [the three-point] shot nine times out of 10," DeLuca said. "I just crashed the glass, and I see that shot go up, and I just know that it's going in."

On the season, Olson has a team-leading 34 three-pointers, converting 54.8 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.

Ironically, while Olson hit all his three-pointers against NYU, he missed both of his two-point field goal attempts.

"I thought those were good looks," Olson joked. "They couldn't go down for me; I'll survive."

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