Quick Hitters – January 27, 2012

Quick hitters as we get ready for the weekend:

• Boston University was not rebounding well in the early portion of their seven-game winning streak. But in the last two games, the Terriers have dominated the glass, and keeping that up will only help. Granted, it came against two of the worst teams in the conference, but one of them (UMBC) is normally a decent team on the glass. Part of that has come from an emphasis on rebounding of late, but not just at the defensive end. … Continue Reading

After tough loss at Northeastern, Delaware has to bounce back again

BOSTON – When Delaware has been on the wrong end of a final score this season, most of the time it has been a game like Wednesday night’s 62-61 loss at Northeastern. It’s tough because they’ve been so close, but the good thing is that they have bounced back. This time around, bouncing back won’t be easy, although there’s reason to believe they’ll do it.

In the final minutes of Wednesday night’s loss, the Blue Hens looked like they would be able to get a big win. While Northeastern isn’t a conference leader, this game was on the road and the Blue Hens came in looking for their first three-game winning streak of the season. They have won two straight on three occasions, but you get the sense that this team could really get a burst of confidence if they put together a three-game winning streak that could turn into more.

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UMBC is simply not in a good place right now

BOSTON – Just after the calendar turned over to 2012, UMBC seemed to have a new beginning of sorts. Their non-conference struggles meant nothing after a trip to New Hampshire led to a conference-opening win and an early lead in America East. It didn’t matter that they weren’t close in many games; for the moment, they were tied atop their conference and that was all that mattered. It was only one game, but perhaps that would help their confidence and ultimately their fortunes.

Three weeks later, the Retrievers are nowhere near the top of the conference, and look like a team that is going nowhere fast. Tuesday night’s 83-48 thrashing at Boston University might be as illustrative as anything of where this team is and how far they have fallen from their conference championship days of a few years earlier.

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Quinnipiac finally pulls one out to close road swing

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Quinnipiac can now head home with the hope that their last game in the current road stretch does more for them than add one into the left-hand column. The Bobcats had a few tough games recently, and had another one in which they managed to pull out a 78-71 win in overtime at Bryant on Saturday.

“I can’t stress enough how much we needed it, because this team is young,” head coach Tom Moore said.

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Wake Forest gets a much-needed road win at Boston College

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Wake Forest’s 71-56 win at Boston College on Saturday won’t make national headlines at all. It was a win over a team that most figure will battle to stay out of the ACC cellar. But the Demon Deacons are fresh off a bad year and in the midst of one with a lot of ups and downs, so they’re not about to downplay what this win means for them.

“This is another big step for us in our journey to be the type of team we all want to be,” said head coach Jeff Bzdelik.

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Quick Hitters – January 21, 2012

Quick hitters as we head into a busy Saturday:

• If there was any doubt as to the value of a point guard, look no further than Boston University and floor leader D.J. Irving. There are a few reasons the Terriers have now won five games in a row and is tied with Stony Brook (who they beat last Saturday) atop the America East Conference, but Irving’s return to health following a concussion last month is chief among them. That was readily apparent to one opposing coach, who thinks he’s the Terriers’ best player.

  “I think they’re at their best when the ball is in his hands and getting guys shots,” said Albany head coach Will Brown.

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Ron Hunter is already changing the culture at Georgia State

BOSTON – Ron Hunter knew what he inherited when he took the head coaching job at Georgia State. He knew he had a culture to change, and he knew he was in a different place. But thus far, he’s loving every minute of it, and the early results don’t hurt. Now he has a different issue on his hands with his team, which stands 5-2 in CAA play after a 60-57 loss at Northeastern on Wednesday night.

Hunter, who loved that he was able to walk to Fenway Park during the team’s trip to Boston, is full of energy and positive vibes. He’s pleasant to talk to and all along has felt good about this team, as well as the job itself. It would be easy to dismiss it as coach-speak, but he felt like a few players were ready to be better and liked the experience on the team, although it wasn’t winning experience. You can tell his confidence in the team is not misplaced by a long shot.

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An emerging freshman helps Northeastern play well at a good time

BOSTON – Northeastern is playing well and at a good time. The non-conference slate saw a lot of ups and downs, as well as question marks, so the Huskies were something of an unknown heading into CAA play. But after Wednesday night’s 60-57 win over Georgia State, the Huskies are right in the mix with a tough stretch ahead.

Northeastern started the non-conference slate with some promising results, winning at arch-rival Boston University in overtime in the season opener and picking up a win at St. John’s before November was out. The Huskies didn’t seem primed to be as good as they were a couple of years ago, but it was a good start as they were 3-1 after winning in Queens.

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Prep matchup headlines Sunday’s games at Spalding Hoophall Classic

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Sunday saw a number of prep schools take the court in five games at the Spalding Hoophall Classic. The day started with a blowout and then had two that were somewhat convincing wins for the victors, then came the game everyone was waiting for. The last game was well-contested, but wasn’t as good as its predecessor.

With that, we take a look back at the scores and some notes from Sunday’s games at Blake Arena.

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Boston College off to a surprising start in ACC play

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Don’t look now, but there’s a big surprise near the top of the ACC standings. With only Duke sporting an undefeated record, one team in the logjam at 2-1 is the very young Boston College Eagles, who beat Virginia Tech 61-59 on Saturday to claim both home games that had a quick turnaround.

Before the season, and even recently before conference play started, the question was being asked: will BC win an ACC game this year? The easy answer was “yes”, especially since the ACC is not a great conference this year. After Duke, North Carolina and Virginia, there’s a noticeable drop-off. And as the Eagles progress over the course of the season, chances are they might knock someone off at home. It’s already happened, and with two straight wins they have likely surprised just about everyone except for the people in their locker room.

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Virginia Tech needs to improve offensively with a key stretch ahead

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Over a week earlier, Seth Greenberg felt great about his team. Virginia Tech’s 0-3 start in the ACC hasn’t changed that, but it certainly hasn’t put the Hokies in a good position as they head into a stretch where the schedule doesn’t get any easier. That’s where the Hokies stand after a 61-59 loss at Boston College on Saturday, and it leaves them needing to do some things better surrounding their offense.

It didn’t help that the Hokies were without their top player, point guard Erick Green, who missed the game with a sprained LCL in his left knee. The Hokies had a pretty good idea that he might not be able to go, although he wound up being a game-time decision. That left them with Marquis Rankin as the only point guard and left players like Dorenzo Hudson and Robert Brown to have to handle the ball more than they are accustomed to. It showed, as Virginia Tech struggled mightily to score in the halfcourt offense with 17 turnovers and poor shooting for much of the second half.

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Clemson may already be at a key point early in the season

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – It’s only two games into ACC play, but already Clemson may be nearing a key point in their season. A 59-57 loss at young Boston College on Thursday night makes the questions with this team a little more urgent.

Clemson hasn’t been able to put together a three-game winning streak all season thus far. They came into Chestnut Hill hoping to do that for the first time all season, and had their chances to do it. But in dropping this one, they lost a chance to have some real momentum in the midst of a home-heavy stretch. Three of the next four are at home as part of a stretch where they play five of seven in Littlejohn Coliseum, including the next game against Duke.

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Young Navy team is still trying to break through

WORCESTER, Mass. – Wednesday night’s game at Holy Cross looked all too familiar for Navy. A team that has not fared well in close games and came in with eight straight losses had another close call, but another one in the right-hand column as Holy Cross won 73-69.

“That’s the way it’s been. That’s the way all our games have been,” said head coach Ed DeChellis. “We have a chance to win with three or four minutes to go in the game and we just haven’t been able to do it.”

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Seton Hall defeats DePaul in convincing fashion

NEWARK, N.J. – Seton Hall moved to 4-1 in Big East play with a 94-73 decision over DePaul at the Prudential Center on Tuesday. The 24th ranked Pirates improved to 15-2 overall, while DePaul is now 10-6 (1-3). In a quick-paced 78 possession contest, Seton Hall enjoyed a decisive 121-94 advantage in offensive efficiency. Our points of emphasis from this Big East meeting:

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Championship-caliber D leads Tar Heels past Miami

If North Carolina can play with the same defensive energy, efficiency and effectiveness that the Tar Heels did in shutting down Miami, there’s little doubt this team will be in New Orleans in April competing for the national championship.

Entering Tuesday night’s game, Miami figured to pose some problems for a North Carolina team that occasionally forgets to play fundamentally sound perimeter defense. With talented shooters like Malcolm Grant, Durand Scott, Shane Larkin, Rion Brown and Trey McKinney Jones, the Hurricanes had plenty of options to use. But North Carolina shut them all down. … Continue Reading

Louisville’s struggles show they are a good, not great, team

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – When Louisville recently ascended all the way to number 4 in the polls, there was a general feeling that the Cardinals weren’t quite that good. The feeling was that they got there by default, as they kept winning while other teams that had been ahead of them lost, and not enough teams played well enough for voters to leapfrog them over the Cardinals. If it had not already become apparent that the feeling about this team was correct, Tuesday night’s 90-59 thumping at Providence surely drove that home.

The game wasn’t an absolute indicator of how good the team is, but the Cardinals’ fourth loss in five games – granted, not exactly coming against Division III teams – is concerning, although head coach Rick Pitino summed the game itself up quite succinctly: “We had one of those nights.”

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Boston University hopes to regain confidence with losing streak over

BOSTON – It was just a little over a month ago that Boston University looked like they were about to get untracked. The Terriers started the season with four straight losses, including a couple that were tough to take, but then won two of three in Rhode Island and knocked off local rival Boston College less than a week after that. Then they hit a wall in the form of a six-game losing streak that they snapped on Sunday, and now they are hopeful they can get back to where they were after the Boston College victory.

Not only did the Terriers start winning games over a month ago, but they looked ready to win more. They seemed to have adjusted to new head coach Joe Jones more by that time, for starters. It also looked like they had found a post scorer to complement the perimeter duo of D.J. Irving and Darryl Partin, something they desperately needed.

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Binghamton tries to stay positive amidst struggles

BOSTON – When you’re 0-15 on the season, you probably don’t have a lot of positives to draw upon in the name of keeping morale up. Binghamton head coach Mark Macon is trying to find them to keep his team going during what hasn’t been a memorable season that most recently saw his team drop a 68-49 decision at Boston University.

Macon found one positive to take from Sunday’s loss: his team had ten assists and just eight turnovers. It’s a small start, but the Bearcats have a long way to go from that.

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Theodore helps Seton Hall continue to top last season

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – It’s early January, but Seton Hall has already topped its win total from last season. With their 66-57 win at Providence on Saturday night, Seton Hall is now 14-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big East, and they have quickly improved to where they are en route to being an NCAA Tournament team in Kevin Willard’s second season at the helm.

The Pirates are not going to win a contest for the most experienced team in college basketball. They have just two seniors who play and no juniors on a roster that features seven freshmen. That means five of the seven regulars are underclassmen, and that means the seniors need to be leaders more than with many teams. They have been just that, but the Pirates had to go without one of them for a lot of the first half.

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Harvard continues to live dangerously in Ivy League opener

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard improved to 13-2 on Saturday by winning the first Ivy League game of the season. While the bottom line is all positive, the Crimson also lived dangerously for a while, more so than the 16-point final margin of victory might lead one to believe. Saturday’s game is not an isolated event, and with the full remaining slate of Ivy League games not far away, that is a concern for this team.

The Crimson didn’t start slowly, but Dartmouth was able to hang around and then took a seven-point lead early in the second half as they won the first four minutes coming out of the locker room. With the Big Green still up by six, Harvard went on a 16-2 run to take over the game, and offensively-challenged Dartmouth never seriously challenged them the rest of the game.

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