February 25, 2010 –
by Brendon
I happened to catch about 10 seconds too much of some ESPN show this morning and saw that Mississippi State was Joe Lunardi’s last team in the NCAA Tournament field as of today. I try to avoid Lunardi’s thoughts on brackets, because it can be disinformation. Among experienced bracket projectors he is sub-mediocre. But on this I feel the need to comment.
Mississippi State, huh? I know the record is pretty — 20-8 overall and 8-5 in conference — but has anyone bothered to check who Mississippi State has beaten? The Bulldogs’ only win over a top-50 RPI or Pomeroy team this season was a 69-55 victory over Old Dominion in South Padre Island, Texas, on Nov. 28. Their next best wins are two against rival Mississippi. In its three games against top-25 teams, Rick Stansbury’s squad has lost to Richmond on a neutral court, Kentucky at home and Vanderbilt in Nashville. All three games have been close, but all three were losses. Oh, and MSU has also lost four times to teams outside the RPI top 100: Rider, Western Kentucky, Arkansas, Alabama. Read More »
Posted in SEC
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Tagged Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Joe Lunardi, Kentucky, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Old Dominion, Richmond, Rider, SEC, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Western Kentucky
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November 15, 2009 –
by Brendon
In sum: It wasn’t a pretty weekend for the SEC West against small Northeast programs. After Auburn nearly fell to Niagara on Friday night, Mississippi State did lose to Rider. A day later, Cornell knocked off Alabama in Anthony Grant’s debut. As a whole, the league went 8-2, and, in the most highly anticipated game, Kentucky defeated Morehead State behind terrific play from freshman Eric Bledsoe and junior Patrick Patterson.
Team of the week: Mississippi. There is great popular support behind Andy Kennedy getting the Rebels to break through and make the NCAAs in this his fourth season, and their opening performance won’t weaken that support. Chris Warren was back and healthy. He didn’t shoot well (1-for-7 from deep), but he did have seven steals in a 92-64 win over a decent Arkansas-Little Rock team. Mississippi forced 22 turnovers and, as a result, attempted 22 more field goals than the Trojans. Senior DeAundre Cranston scored 21 points in just 21 minutes. Read More »
Posted in Reviews/Previews, SEC
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Tagged Alabama, Alcorn State, Andy Kennedy, Anthony Grant, Arkansas, Arkansas-Little Rock, Auburn, Chris Warren, Cornell, DeAundre Cranston, Eric Bledsoe, Georgia, Indiana, Jarvis Varnado, Kentucky, LaSalle, Louisville, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri State, Morehead State, Niagara, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Patrick Patterson, Providence, Rick Stansbury, Rider, Rotnei Clarke, Ryan Thompson, SEC, South Carolina, St. Mary's, Tennessee, UAB, UCF, Vanderbilt
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November 15, 2009 –
by Brendon
In sum: There wasn’t much in the way of drama in the first week of play for ACC teams. The league, as a whole, went 14-0, and only four of those victories were by a margin of fewer than 20 points. Perhaps it’s a surprise that two of those four such wins were by North Carolina. On Sunday, 12 3-pointers helped keep Valparaiso close against the Tar Heels, but UNC’s 62 percent shooting from inside was too much for the Crusaders to overcome.
Team of the week: Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons had a pair of impressive wins this weekend, starting Friday night with a 76-56 victory over Oral Roberts, a traditional power in the Summit League, and the coaches’ pick to finish second this year. On Sunday, Wake throttled East Carolina on the road, 89-58. Al-Farouq Aminu has emerged with the departures of James Johnson and Jeff Teague. After scoring 25 points and grabbing 13 boards against ORU, he had 23 points and nine boards against ECU. Read More »
Posted in ACC, Reviews/Previews
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Tagged ACC, Al-Farouq Aminu, Auburn, Boston College, Corey Raji, Courtney Dunn, Dartmouth, Dayton, East Carolina, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Jacksonville, James Johnson, Jeff Teague, Kansas State, Mercer, Mississippi, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Oral Roberts, Purdue, Rakim Sanders, Rider, St. Joseph's, Tennessee, Tony Bennett, Tyler Roche, USF, Valparaiso, Villanova, Virginia, Wake Forest
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