TOWSON, Md. — The Towson University men’s basketball team has historically played pretty well inside T-U Arena since it opened in 2013.
But this season they are unbeatable on their home floor... literally.
"I don’t know what it is," said forward Charles Thompson. "I guess the energy around Baltimore and the energy around Towson and the fans."
The Tigers are 10-0 at home. Thompson, the program’s all-time leader in games played, has his theory as to why.
"I feel like we are one of the most annoying teams to play against because of hedging and all of that and just how physical we are on defense, that’s already one part of it. But, you have to come into our home and beat us on our home turf while we are doing all that, it’s almost impossible."
Towson is riding an 18-game home winning streak. That’s good for the second longest such streak in the nation behind Virginia’s 23 straight. They haven’t lost inside T-U Arena in over a full calendar year. Their last ‘L’ was an overtime defeat to Charleston on December 31, 2022.
"It’s been a while," said guard Christian May. "We are all just super comfortable on this court. When we play here I feel like everybody just plays their best. They bring out their best. We’re hitting shots, celebrating, all that stuff, getting the crowd involved."
The home cooking has the Tigers (14-9, 7-3) again battling for Coastal Athletic Association supremacy. Their 7-3 CAA record is tied with two other teams for second place, a game behind Drexel. They have won five of their last six games and seven of their last nine.
"Everybody is taking their focus and their energy level to a whole other level and the intensity is rising and it’s the perfect time to do it. March is right around the corner," said Thompson.
"To win a league you’ve got to go slightly above .500 on the road and you've got to win your home games," said head coach Pat Skerry. "We have been able to win some home games and if we want to stay in the race we are going to have to keep doing that."
Now they try to keep this streak alive against rival Delaware. The Blue Hens (14-9, 6-4) come to town on Thursday night. It’s a Delaware team Towson just beat 67-56 in Newark on Jan. 27.
May scored a game-high 23 points in that contest.
"They are going to be a little more pumped up than usual considering we just walked in there and got a big ‘W’ on them," he said. "So, I’m expecting them to come out strong and come out with some passion."
Tip time Thursday is set for 7:00 p.m.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
