February 5, 2010 –
by Ray Floriani
TEANECK, N.J. — The way of life in the lower-tier conferences means all of a league’s teams are playing for one bid. The 12-member Northeast Conference is one of those leagues. The players and coaches understand it and don’t complain. They know the deal. In fact, only the top eight make the NEC Tournament, whose games are contested on the home floor of the higher seed.
As a conference member, you are either playing for homecourt, or, if you are mathematically eliminated from the chance to play in the conference tournament, you play the role of spoiler. This makes for some entertaining games, such as the one on Thursday in which Fairleigh Dickinson defeated Monmouth, 75-69. Here’s a look at the advanced box:
| Team |
Poss |
PPP |
eFG |
Turn |
Reb |
FTR |
| Monmouth |
71 |
0.98 |
0.398 |
0.127 |
0.319 |
0.281 |
| Fairleigh Dickinson |
71 |
1.06 |
0.564 |
0.170 |
0.200 |
0.236 |
These two teams entered the game in the NEC’s very large middle tier, which includes eight teams with 4-6, 5-5 or 6-4 conference records. Two of those teams will be among the squads that does not advance to the conference tournament, and Fairleigh Dickson and Monmouth — both now 6-5 — knew a win would bring each a game further from the cut line. Read More »
November 25, 2009 –
by Brendon
For the fourth time in five years, a Big East team will play in the final of one of the best early-season tournaments, the Maui Invitational. While the tournament isn’t officially seeded, the Cincinnati came in as the presumptive No. 5 seed and has since defeated nationally-ranked Vanderbilt and Maryland in impressive fashion.
In the final for the Maui Invitational, the Bearcats will take on Gonzaga, who squeaked by Colorado and then took down Wisconsin in the semis. Disparities in free-throw shooting and rebounding could determine the outcome. Here’s a preview of what could be the Big East’s third major tournament victory of the young season.
Cincinnati is off to a 4-0 start because of its interior. The Bearcats have dominated both glasses, especially the offensive one, in the early going. Yancy Gates (15.2 percent offensive-rebounding rate), Steve Toyloy (12.9) and, surprisingly, 6-foot-3 Dion Dixon (10.1) have been terrific in getting the Bearcats second chances, and it’s a good thing, because UC is shooting at just a 48.7 percent eFG. They’ve needed the extra possessions that offensive rebounding brings. Read More »
Posted in Big East, Mid-Majors, Reviews/Previews
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Tagged A.J. Ogilvy, Adam Morrison, Big East, Cashmere Wright, Cincinnati, Colorado, Demetri Goodson, Deonta Vaughn, Dion Dixon, Elias Harris, G.J. Vilarino, Gonzaga, Jeffrey Taylor, Lance Stephenson, Larry Davis, Mark Few, Maryland, Matt Bouldin, Maui Invitational, Mick Cronin, Rashad Bishop, Robert Sacre, Steve Gray, Steve Toyloy, Vanderbilt, West Coast Conference, Wisconsin, Yancy Gates
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November 19, 2009 –
by Brendon
The Big East is still undefeated — now 35-0 — but the team picked to win the league nearly became the first to lose on Thursday afternoon. Nearly everything went wrong in the first 38 minutes for Villanova, but the final two were all right in the Wildcats’ 69-68 victory over George Mason in the Puerto Rico Tip-off.
Two freshmen, Maalik Wayns and Isaiah Armwood, hit 3-pointers in the last two possessions to bring Villanova back from a late five-point deficit with 1:42 to play. The basket was Armwood’s first of his career, and it came after he was forced into action thanks to severe foul trouble for Villanova’s frontcourt.
The fouls were the main thing that made this game a strange one.
|
Poss |
PPP |
eFG |
Turn |
Reb |
FTR |
| George Mason |
70 |
0.97 |
0.436 |
0.200 |
0.242 |
0.574 |
| Villanova |
70 |
0.99 |
0.434 |
0.243 |
0.452 |
0.434 |
Those free-throw rates are borderline absurd. The two teams combined for 54 fouls committed. Nine players accumulated at least four fouls, including the four Villanova Wildcats who fouled out. Among those four were Antonio Pena, Taylor King and Maurice Sutton or, in other words, all the height in Villanova’s rotation since freshman Mouphtaou Yarou was sent back to Philly with a viral infection. Read More »
Posted in Big East, Game of the Night, Mid-Majors
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Tagged Antonio Pena, Big East, Chris Wright, Colonial, Corey Fisher, Dante Cunningham, Dayton, Duke, Dwayne Anderson, George Mason, Isaiah Armwood, Jay Wright, Maalik Wayns, Maurice Sutton, Mid-Majors, Mike Morrison, Mouphtaou Yarou, Reggie Redding, Ryan Pearson, Shane Clark, Taylor King, Villanova
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November 16, 2009 –
by Brendon
In sum: Conference favorite Brigham Young led the way this weekend with a victory over Bradley out of the Missouri Valley. Colorado State showed well in Oregon despite running out of gas on Sunday, but Utah and Wyoming had rough losses.
Team of the week: Colorado State. When four of nine members begin play with non-Division I opponents, there aren’t many teams of the week from which to choose. So, the Rams get the nod for a pair of blowout wins followed by a respectable loss at Oregon. Picked eighth in the league, CSU took it to UC-Riverside and Winston Salem State with 28- and 17-point victories respectively. After Oregon dismantled those two opponents, the Rams’ 68-55 loss to the Ducks was a decent result.
|
Poss |
PPP |
eFG |
Turn |
Reb |
FTR |
| Colorado State |
68 |
0.80 |
0.405 |
0.278 |
0.333 |
0.138 |
| Oregon |
68 |
1.00 |
0.500 |
0.219 |
0.379 |
0.283 |
With a third game in three days, Colorado State showed signs of fatigue in Eugene. Tim Miles basically has a seven-man rotation, and the lack of depth on the bench showed — Ernie Kent got 30 more minutes out of his bench than Miles did. CSU’s starting backcourt Adam Nigon and Dorian Green combined for 12 turnovers in a game where their team committed turnovers on 28 percent of possessions. The poor shooting, 16-for-41 (39.0 percent) on 2-pointers didn’t help either. Despite all of the poor offense on Sunday, Colorado State hung around against a Pac-10 team after two comfortable wins. Good start. Read More »
Posted in Mid-Majors, Reviews/Previews
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Tagged Adam Nigon, Brigham Young, Cal State-Northridge, Colorado State, Dorian Green, Idaho, Memphis, Mid-Majors, Missouri Valley, Mountain West, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Patty Mills, San Diego State, Southern Illinois, St. Mary's, TCU, Tim Miles, UC-Riverside, UNLV, Utah, Winston Salem State, Wyoming
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November 16, 2009 –
by Brendon
In sum: The Missouri Valley didn’t get the results it wanted on the first weekend of play, but this was more of an incomplete than a failure. Creighton was short-handed in its bid at a road win against a top Atlantic 10 team. Bradley shouldn’t have been expected to win on the road at a very good BYU team. The Braves didn’t, but they weren’t embarrassed either. Drake’s home loss to IUPUI was a disappointment but not really an upset. The Valley will have many more chances at scalps this season, including in the coming week.
Team of the week: Southern Illinois. There’s not much to choose from for this honor, but I’ll give the nod to the Salukis for a dominant win against Tennessee-Martin. UT-Martin is not a good team, but SIU’s offense was encouraging. After sporting the ninth-best offense (according to adjusted efficiency) in the Valley last season, the Salukis scored 91 points in a 91-63 win. That’s more points than they scored in any single game last season. Read More »
Posted in Mid-Majors, Reviews/Previews
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Tagged Adam Emmenecker, Akron, Atlantic-10, Auburn, Big East, Brigham Young, Butler, Central Florida, Colonial, Colorado State, Creighton, DePaul, Drake, Georgia State, Indiana State, IUPUI, Keno Davis, Leonard Houston, LSU, Mid-Majors, Missouri State, Missouri Valley, Northern Iowa, SEC, Southern Illinois, Summit, Tennessee, Tennessee-Martin, UNLV
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November 16, 2009 –
by Brendon
In sum: Dayton did what it needed to do on Saturday. After falling behind early, Chris Wright led the Flyers to victory over Creighton in a crucial early-season matchup for the Flyers and their conference. Phil Martelli got his St. Joseph’s Hawks off on a positive start with an overtime victory over Philly foe Drexel. UMass had an ugly showing in Orlando, losing to UCF by 17. Meanwhile, Fordham is stretching the definition of mid-major after a pair of opening-weekend losses.
Team of the week: Dayton. On Friday, I openly wondered if Dayton’s offense would be good enough for the Flyers to become an elite team, rather than just a very solid top-40 team. Early returns are propitious. Last season, only two NCAA Tournament teams — Cleveland State and Morgan State — had worse team eFGs than Brian Gregory’s club, and Dayton was also poor at taking care of the ball, but both of those numbers turned around on Saturday.
|
Poss |
PPP |
eFG |
Turn |
Reb |
FTR |
| Creighton |
73 |
1.10 |
0.552 |
0.178 |
0.254 |
0.276 |
| Dayton |
73 |
1.23 |
0.558 |
0.123 |
0.364 |
0.188 |
There’s a caveat. Creighton is not a very good defensive team, ranking 113th in the nation in defensive efficiency last season. It is strange, though, that the two defensive areas where Creighton is most proficient — forcing turnovers and holding opposing shooters to low percentages — were where Dayton flourished. The Bluejays were primarily a good 3-point defense team last year, and they did hold Dayton to just 33.3 percent. On the other hand, the Flyers still made nine 3-pointers and 59.5 percent of 2-pointers. Chris Wright shined with 26 points on 83.3 percent eFG. Read More »
Posted in Mid-Majors, Reviews/Previews
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Tagged Alabama, Atlantic-10, Boston College, Brian Gregory, Central Florida, Chris Wright, Cleveland State, Cornell, Creighton, Dayton, Dereck Whittenburg, Derrick Favors, Devin Downey, Drexel, Duquesne, Fairfield, Fordham, Gani Lawal, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Holy Cross, Iowa, La Salle, Maine, Massachusetts, Mid-Majors, Morgan State, Nebraska, Phil Martelli, Rhode Island, Siena, South Carolina, St. Bonaventure, St. John's, St. Joseph's, St. Louis, Temple, Villanova
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November 15, 2009 –
by Brendon
In sum: Central Florida got the Conference USA’s season started off right with an impressive victory over UMass, but SMU missed a chance to knock off a Big East team later on Friday night. Memphis had no problems with Jackson State in the debuts of Josh Pastner and Elliott Williams. Also notable is Ben Braun and Rice going 3-0 on the weekend to match its entire win total from just two seasona ago. As a whole, the league went 13-4 across the opening weekend.
Team of the week: Central Florida. In the first game since Jermaine Taylor’s graduation, the Knights got to the line a ton and made a much higher percentage of shots than the Minutemen. That’s often a good recipe for success, and it was in the 17-point win.
|
Poss |
PPP |
eFG |
Turn |
Reb |
FTR |
| UMass |
73 |
0.92 |
0.420 |
0.164 |
0.330 |
0.130 |
| UCF |
73 |
1.15 |
0.609 |
0.219 |
0.328 |
0.309 |
Individually, Isaac Sosa was the story. He shot 45 percent on 126 3-point attempts last season, and he hit 6-of-7 on Friday night. If we were wondering who would soak up some of the possessions that Taylor left behind, we’ve surely found part of our answer. Read More »
Posted in Mid-Majors, Reviews/Previews
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Tagged Arizona, Auburn, Ben Braun, Central Florida, Conference USA, Elliott Williams, Georgia, Houston, Isaac Sosa, Jackson State, Jermaine Taylor, Josh Pastner, Kansas, Massachusetts, Matt Doherty, Memphis, Miami (Fla.), Mid-Majors, Nevada, Rice, SMU, Texas A&M, Tulane
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November 13, 2009 –
by Brendon
Let’s face it — Sunday’s slate isn’t very interesting, but there is an upset watch in Providence as well as an intriguing scheduling trend for teams looking for an RPI boost.
Mercer at Providence (2:30 p.m. ET): The World Vision Invitational may not compete with the Maui Invitational or the NIT Season Tip-Off in terms of attracting marquee programs, but it does offer us one of Sunday’s intriguing matchups. This three-day “tournament,” which has four teams play a round-robin format, features Providence as the host. Mercer, Bryant and Bucknell fill out the field.
(Brief digression: World Vision is a terrific Christian charity that is often among the first responders with support after a natural disaster — like the recent floods in the Philippines. World Vision is also on the vanguard of preventing cases of malaria in the third world. I encourage you to check it out.)
Bryant has just recently become a Division I team, and, while Bucknell is a solid opponent capable of pulling off the upset, Mercer’s reputation as a giant-killer continues to grow. The Bears famously knocked off O.J. Mayo and Southern Cal in the teams’ opener two seasons ago. Last year, the Atlantic Sun program defeated Alabama and Auburn in a four-day span. With six of his top eight players back, head coach Bob Hoffman will hope to add a Big East scalp to his collection. Read More »
Posted in ACC, Big East, Mid-Majors, Reviews/Previews
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Tagged ACC, Alabama, Atlantic Sun, Auburn, Big East, Bilal Dixon, Bob Hoffman, Brian McKenzie, Bryant, Bucknell, Delaware, Duke Mondy, E.J. Kusnyer, East Carolina, Georgetown, James Florence, James Still, Jamine Peterson, Johnnie Lacy, Kadeem Batts, Keno Davis, Kyle Wright, Marshon Brooks, Mercer, Mid-Majors, Monmouth, O.J. Mayo, Providence, RPI, Russ Permenter, San Diego, Seton Hall, Sharaud Curry, Southern Cal, Stanford, Temple, Tulane, Vincent Council, Wake Forest, World Vision
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