Morning Dish

The Morning Dish – Saturday, January 31st

Stephen F. Austin Player Dies: Stephen F. Austin junior transfer Greg Wallace died Friday after collapsing while shooting baskets at SFA’s home court. Wallace was sitting out this season after transferring from Army and was practicing while the active players and coaches were traveling to Hammond, La. to play a game against Southeastern Louisiana that was scheduled for today. The game has been postponed indefinitely as the team returned home to Nacogdoches, Texas after finding out about Wallace’s death. The cause of death is unknown at this time. Wallace was 22-years-old.

More Conference Shuffling: The long discussed move from Conference USA to the Mountain West Conference by TCU finally is official as they accepted an invitation by the MWC on Friday. The move will be effective for the 2005-2006 season and will come at an exit price of at least $400,000 for the Horned Frogs. If you are keeping score at home, you know that Conference USA will be losing TCU, Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, South Florida, St. Louis, and Charlotte in the next two years. Central Florida, Marshall, Rice, SMU, and Tulsa will move in to take their places. Barring any other conference moves (and based on the last several months, it would not surprise anyone if other moves did happen), the Mountain West will have nine teams after this move is completed.

Suspended: The Southeastern Conference suspended Vanderbilt guard Corey Smith and South Carolina forward Renaldo Balkman for the fight that occurred in the game between their two teams on Wednesday night. Smith’s suspension was automatic because he was ejected from the game for fighting. Balkman was also ejected from the game, but for a flagrant foul, not for fighting. However, the SEC has the right to suspend players for flagrant, unsportsmanlike acts that occur during games. Due to the suspensions, Vanderbilt will be without Smith for their game against Kentucky today and South Carolina will not have Balkman for today’s match-up with Mississippi.

Pitino Stays Quiet: Louisville head coach Rick Pitino has returned to work and will be on the bench for the Cardinals’ game against Marquette today, but he continues to decline to give specifics about the medical condition that forced him to take leave of the team for two days this week. Stating that, “I don’t want to get too overly personal,” Pitino did say that his ailment was nothing serious.

Light Action: Only twelve games were played last night, none involving ranked teams. Princeton played their first conference game of the season, defeating Brown 64-49. In other Ivy League action, Yale defeated Penn 54-52, Columbia destroyed Dartmouth 78-42, and Cornell moved to 3-0 in Ivy League games, beating Harvard 91-79. In the Patriot League, Army got revenge for their football team’s loss by beating Navy, 52-50.

Tonight’s Menu:

• Twenty-one of the teams in the Hoopville Top 25 are in action today on a typical busy Saturday schedule. There are two games matching up two ranked teams, with No. 2 Duke traveling to Atlanta to battle No. 13 Georgia Tech and No. 21 Oklahoma State hosting No. 13 Texas Tech.

• The only two unbeaten teams remaining, No. 1 Stanford and No. 3 St. Joseph’s, both have tough road tests today. Stanford will have to win at Oregon’s McArthur Court in order to keep their perfect season alive. Oregon is 36-2 at home over the last three seasons, so a Cardinal win is far from a sure thing. St. Joseph’s has to tangle with fellow Philly foe Temple. The Owls are a little down this season, but John Chaney is not a coach that you like to see on the opposite bench when you are trying to stay undefeated.

• After snapping their 31-game losing streak, Loyola (MD) will hit the road in an attempt to move their winning streak to two games. The Greyhounds face St. Peter’s, the MAAC’s second place team, so the task does not appear to be easy.

• Other intriguing match-ups include Troy State at UCF in a battle between the top two teams in the Atlantic Sun, along with Xavier at Dayton, Marquette at No. 4 Louisville, and BYU at Utah. Utah will be led by assistant coach Kerry Rupp, who will be the interim coach for the Utes due to the medical problems of Rick Majerus.

Morning Dish

The Morning Dish – Friday, January 30th

Pitino is back: Louisville head coach Rick Pitino returned to the team on Thursday and resumed his coaching duties after taking a two-day medical leave. The 51-year-old Pitino underwent tests at the Cleveland Clinic on Tuesday and Wednesday to determine the cause of a “urological pain” that has ailed his left side for months. Assistant coach Kevin Willard stepped in for Pitino and led the fourth-ranked Cardinals to a 64-48 win over Houston on Wednesday night. They will play Marquette at Freedom Hall tomorrow.

Vandy coach is sorry: Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings apologized Thursday for comments he made about a fight that resulted in two players being ejected in a loss to South Carolina. “While at no time will we accept cheap shots from the opponent, it was unsportsmanlike and unprofessional of me to condone or promote such tactics by our players,” Stallings said in a statement. Stallings had to pull guard Corey Smith off Renaldo Balkman after the Gamecocks’ forward hit Smith in the first half of South Carolina’s 57-55 win on Wednesday. Balkman was ejected for a flagrant foul, while Smith was ejected because he threw Balkman to the ground and started hitting him.

Top-ranked Stanford still unbeaten: Stanford’s Josh Childress had 17 points as second-ranked Stanford stayed unbeaten with a 62-48 victory over Oregon State on Thursday night. Stanford (17-0, 8-0 Pacific-10) and third-ranked St. Joseph’s are the only undefeated teams left in Division I. Both are 17-0. It was Stanford’s ninth straight victory overall against the Beavers and fifth in a row at Gill Coliseum. The Beavers (8-10, 2-6) have lost four straight. They were led by Chris Stephens with 24 points, including five 3-pointers. David Lucas added 15 points and eight rebounds as well for Oregon State. The Cardinals have never won five straight in the 54-year history of Gill Coliseum.

Washington upsets Arizona: Washington’s Nate Robinson scored a career-high 31 points on an 11-of-15 shooting effort and directed a thrilling second-half rally as the Huskies stunned ninth-ranked Arizona 96-83 last night. The Wildcats (13-4, 5-3) could not run from the smaller Huskies, not with Robinson scoring 20 points in the second half. It was Washington’s first win over a ranked opponent since beating No. 19 Oregon 94-92 on Jan. 24, 2002. When the final horn sounded, students flooded from the stands to join the Huskies in a mid-court celebration. The Wildcats had to step around the frenzy on their way to the locker room, heading off the floor with heads down. Arizona had won eight straight over Washington before last night.

Duke wins defensive battle: Florida State trailed by two in the final minute, but Chris Duhon drained a 3-pointer with 36.4 seconds to play, helping second-ranked Duke hold off the Seminoles 56-49. J.J. Redick scored 24 points to lead the Blue Devils (17-1, 6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who have won 14 straight overall and an impressive 37 in a row at home. Sean Dockery went scoreless but had two big steals late, as Duke remained the only unbeaten team in the ACC conference season. Tim Pickett had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Seminoles (14-6, 3-4), who were trying to beat a top-10 team in three straight games for the first time in school history. Florida State, which had beaten North Carolina and Wake Forest in the last week, fell to 0-14 all-time at Cameron Indoor Stadium. But the Seminoles have won the last two meetings in Tallahassee.

Deacons halt slide: The Wake Forest Demon Deacons ended a four-game losing streak after starting 12-0 with a 93-85 win over Maryland. Freshman Chris Paul scored 25 points, including a pivotal three-pointer with 2:23 to play. The Demon Deacons (12-4, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) struggled with their scoring during their losing streak as Paul and fellow guard Justin Gray had not been able to find an offensive rhythm. Gray scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half, and Paul picked up the slack in the second half.

Loyola ends near-record streak: With their first victory in more than a year. Loyola College defeated 63-57 over Marist to end a 31-game losing streak. As the game ended, the crowd began chanting as one. And like in Washington, when the final buzzer sounded, the students eagerly rushed the court and mobbed the players. It has been more than a year since Loyola won a basketball game. The 31-game slide feel two-short of the NCAA record for consecutive losses at 33 held by Grambling from Dec. 6, 1999 to Dec. 16, 200. Charlie Bell scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half for the Greyhounds (1-18, 1-9 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), who handed Marist (5-13, 3-6) its fourth straight defeat. Will McClurkin scored 15 points for the Red Foxes, but he missed nine shots. Guard Brandon Ellerbee went 0-for-10 from the field and 0-for-2 at the foul line.

Tonight’s menu

• It is another smart kid’s Friday in the nation and college basketball. Princeton will be at Brown and Lafayette at American. All in all, 12 games on the schedule. A low-fat dessert tonight.

Splitting Adams

Splitting Adams

by Adam Shandler

Random, rambling commentary on basketball and beyond

Love Means Never Having To Say ‘You Nitwit’: UConn coach Jim Calhoun and Phil Martelli had to serve up mea culpas for making what was deemed “insensitive remarks”. Martelli’s peccadillo occurred when his St. Joe’s Hawks were blowing out St. Bonaventure and a fan questioned the coach on his pressing tactics even though his team was up by 25 points. Martelli’s response to this Bonniephile?

“Shut up, you nitwit!” And topped it all off with “You should be embarrassed by your own team, you moron.”

While it was a fan that set off Martelli, It was a reporter that got Calhoun all hot under the collar. When New Haven Register scribe David Solomon asked the coach why he didn’t land Providence star and Connecticut native Ryan Gomes as a UConn recruit – just minutes after the junior forward lit up the Huskies for 26 points, 12 boards – coach Calhoun lay into the writer with a right-left combination of adjectives not meant for this website.

In the best public relations interests for their schools, both Martelli and Calhoun apologized to their “opponents” the following Monday. But why should these gents have to apologize?

The college hoops coach as a species is constantly under a lot of pressure, and often they respond to criticism in the classiest way possible even though their casting daggers under their breath. But every once in a while, especially during the heat of the moment, they burst and say something they regret later on. However, the onus is on the potential instigator to back off. That fan that irked Martelli should know that you just don’t bark at a coach while he’s trying to move his way up the Top 25 ladder. Just sit down and take your 25-point loss like an adult.

As for our reporter friend in Connecticut – heck, I’ve been at a few press conferences, and believe me, some of us reporters can ask the most asinine questions, knowing full well we’re going to get a piping hot plate of Go To Hell in return.

Coaches are what they are and temper is sometimes part of the character. They’re entitled to a little eruption every now and again and we as fans should welcome. So let’s all stop expecting apologies when our favorite basketball coach shows his humanness.

Scandal-less: I remember the Hoopville season last year. Our reporters were tapping away frantically at their computers, blistered fingertips and all, to get their commentaries about the latest scandal posted before the next one broke. Our Morning Dishes were sour, rancid meals about academic impropriety, cash, cars, drugs, guns and other tales of men behaving badly. Made The Sopranos look like an episode of Full House. (Whatever happened to Dave Coulier, by the way?)

This season, the scandals have been at a minimum, and we at Hoopville have been recording the events of games. Yes, games. The whole reason why we’re here.

They must’ve done something right at that NABC summit.

“Urological Related”: Which is how I describe most of my relations with family members. Louisville coach Rick Pitino’s man-pains have him missing some games, even though he says he wants to be back on the sidelines by the weekend of January 31st. Seriously, Rick, give this one some time. You don’t want to mess around with any kind of pinch below the equator. I’m surprised it took him this long to speak up. While prostate cancer has been ruled out for Pitino, this burning sensation he is feeling could lead to other issues which I don’t have the heart to get into.

I guess what I’m getting at is, put it in perspective. What’s the greater issue here? Half-court trapping Southern Miss, or being able to pee without thinking of a happy place?

Snowstorm! Rated R: What’s with the weathermen and their The-End-Is-Near Forecasts these days. Okay, we’re getting snow, and yes, it can be deadly. But we’ve seen snow before. Had snowstorms before. We’ve driven in it, shoveled it and even played in it. (Some have even eaten it, though please, stay away from the yellow kind.)

We’re not being attacked by giant alien carpenter ants who shoot acid at humans. So let’s can the talk with words like “vicious” and “brutal” and save ‘em for the WWE. Not every snowstorm needs to be presented like War of the Worlds.

Guarden State: It’s nice to see New Jersey getting some attention for something other diners, tolls, toxic waste and the aforementioned HBO program about “The Family.” (Although I am all a-titter for Season 5.) Seton Hall’s Andre Barrett and Keydren “KiKi” Clark of St. Peter’s have given Jersey hoops fans something to cheer about while the Nets slosh through their inconsistency and fire their coach.

Barrett has led Seton Hall to a 13-4 record at this writing and has helped transform the Pirates from a bubble team a year ago to one that can startle foes in the tourney. He’s averaging 18.4 ppg and 6.6 assists and was one of four players in double figures in The Hall’s recent upset of Syracuse. Barrett is currently sixth in the Big East in scoring but leads the league in dishes. It’ll be interesting to see how Barrett fares against Providence on Sunday, February 1, when the Pirates meet up again with red-hot Providence at the Donut. The Friars edged The Hall 63-60 on January 12 in East Rutherford.

KiKi Clark is the kind of guy who can score in his sleep. At 27.1 ppg, he is the second leading scorer in the country, just .4 below Western Carolina’s Kevin Martin. And it’s not that Clark can just put the ball in the basket, it’s the versatility of his scoring that’s so impressive. He hits over 38% of his shots from long range but has no problem sinking one inside the arc or off the dribble drive. He’s also efficient from the free throw line at 82% and hands the ball out 4.5 times a game.

The Peacocks are on a three-game win streak and have won six out of the last 7. KiKi has averaged 30.3 ppg in the last three games and in a recent 92-76 win against Iona, he poured in 38.

Fiber Optic: It’s flu season, and I can’t say this enough. I believe there’s one remedy more medicinal than any flu shot or bowl of chicken soup. It’s fiber. Why do I own such a radical viewpoint? Because germs like to live and breath in the digestive system before they scatter to other regions of your body. The reason why some colds and flus last so long is because the inflicted aren’t, uh, “disposing” of the bacteria. So tell your loved ones to leave the house for a while and grab some beans or high-fiber cereal.

Just don’t eat too much of it, or you’ll be recovering from a whole new set of problems.

SEC Notebook

SEC Notebook

by Matt Jones

It is coming to the point that I am beginning to hear the shrieking sounds of Chris Matthews and Simon Cowell in my sleep. It has now become common for me to pick out one night out of a week to watch Democratic primary returns and another to watch the American Idol auditions. Last week both of these programs brought me examples of human meltdown, with the infamous Howard Dean speech on Monday and the rather odd stylings of Huang and his Ricky Martin impersonation on Tuesday. We have now reached the points in both shows (and I realize that the Democratic Primary does not really qualify as a “show” but you folks have to work with me here) where we have begun to ignore the no-talents (adios Dennis Kucinich!) and are now moving on to the frontrunners. In some sense that is exactly what is also happening in the SEC as well.

This conference has rightly been criticized by many (including yours truly) for its woeful non-conference scheduling that produces teams that are not sufficiently battle-tested to do well in the NCAA tournament. However an often forgotten side effect of this scheduling trend is that it makes it virtually impossible to tell during the non-conference season, what teams are truly talented. But separation is slowly beginning to occur. The proverbial cream is rising to the top and the conference hierarchy is starting to take shape. With that, I will make my mid-season predictions. Look for John Kerry, Ryan and Kentucky to win the big contests, but watch out for John Edwards, Sarah and Mississippi State to keep things interesting. Now on to the news……

South Carolina on My Mind

There is no state currently hotter in the country than South Carolina. All of the Presidential candidates and the media that wants to overexpose them are about to engulf the state in a week-long orgy of democratic politics that could leave even the most heartened American cynical. But while there, you can bet that the national media might take notice of an even bigger story than the unexplained phenomenon of Al Sharpton’s hair. Yes the South Carolina Gamecocks are currently in first place in the SEC East! With wins this week over Tennessee and LSU, the Gamecocks moved to 4-1 in conference play, their second best start in school history. Carlos Powell has emerged as the dominant star that many in South Carolina have believed he could be, and found himself hitting the team’s only three point shot of the game against LSU, a jumper with 1:38 left that placed the Gamecocks on top. This game marked an important moment for this program as it was seen by the first ever sell out in the new Colonial Center and the 17,927 fans who attended represented the largest crowd to ever see a basketball game in the state of South Carolina.

The Gamecocks hope to build in the weeks ahead on these successes, but it is important to take a moment to realize what this team has accomplished. The SEC East is possibly the best sub-division in basketball with two of the top 10 programs in America (Kentucky and Florida), two teams who have been ranked in the top 10 within the last three years (Tennessee and Georgia) and the resident national media darling of surprise teams (Vanderbilt). South Carolina has often been the forgotten red-headed stepchild of the division (the Brian Dunkleman of the SEC East) and has now finally emerged as a legitimate conference title contender. South Carolina still must play Kentucky twice and Florida and Mississippi State once. However if they continue at the level of this past week, Dave Odom may join Lou Holtz and Hootie and the Blowfish as the toast of Columbia.

With only one true story this week, we will move on to the team notebooks quickly. However before we do that, one comment. Digger Phelps and Dick Vitale’s recent comment that JJ Redick may be the best shooter in NCAA history might go down as the most ridiculous statement in the history of mankind. I will remind folks that JJ is 23rd in the country in 3 point field goal percentage. That begs the question, if he is the best shooter in NCAA history, what are the 22 guys ahead of him? Now to the news…..

No. 5 Kentucky (13-2)(3-1)

One could have been forgiven for wondering after Kentucky’s 65-57 loss to Georgia at home on January 17th, if the wheels were about to fall off Tubby Smith’s caravan. For two seasons, Smith’s Wildcats have defied all of the experts by winning with a level of talent that many considered suspect. However the Cats loss to the Bulldogs was unlike any game during that stretch. The team looked sloppy, unmotivated and inexperienced, qualities that are inexplicable on such a Senior-laden team. However as usual, just when the pundits were ready to count out Tubby’s Troopers, the Cats scored a pair of impressive road wins against Tennessee and Notre Dame. Both games followed a familiar script for Kentucky as they raced out to large early leads, only to lose them and be involved in a tight battle at the end. Because of the relative normalcy of the games themselves, the most interesting moment of the week involved the Howard Dean-esque rant by former Notre Dame Coach Digger Phelps. After accepting an award commemorating his 1974 victory that ended UCLA’s 88 game winning streak, Phelps showcased his objectivity by encouraging the Notre Dame faithful to “kick Kentucky’s a**”. While so such kicking was forthcoming, Kentucky’s Chuck Hayes did produce a clinic on hustle basketball with 19 points and 6 rebounds. The Cats play at home this week against Ole Miss and on the road at Vanderbilt, where Barry Goheen is sure to implore the crowd to “Drop Your Chemistry Sets and Wish a Negative Result on Kentucky!”

No. 24 South Carolina (17-2)(4-1)

After the great week produced by the Gamecocks, it is imperative that Dave Odom focus his team and prepare them for the tough week ahead. They must go on the road and face Vanderbilt, followed by another test at ever-improving Ole Miss. These games are of great importance to the future of the team this season and the program in general. With their recent entry into the Top 25, the program faces its greatest success of the Dave Odom era and has proven that it was able to succeed even without 23-year starter Chuck Edison. The Gamecocks are now tied for first in the SEC East, but must win games such as those forthcoming this week in order to stake claim as a legitimate title contender. While much has gone right recently for Odom’s team, its 0-22 (yes you read that correctly) three point performance against LSU was its worst in school, conference, country, world and galaxy history. Nevertheless, the Gamecocks are beginning to get the national attention that represents the fruits of Dave Odom’s labor. This week will be key in continuing that success. As Reba McEntire would say, “Here is your one chance Fancy (aka South Carolina), Don’t let me down.”

No. 20 Florida (12-4) (9-2)

If you had given up the Florida Gators for dead last Wednesday night, you would have been more than justified. They had just come off an embarrassing 79-68 loss at home to Mississippi State, which followed a complete manhandling by Vanderbilt 86-72. Rumors of team turmoil were circulating throughout Gainesville and many believed that the team was extremely close to completely unraveling. A national television game with Auburn was on the horizon and there were many within the Gator faithful simply hoping that they would not be embarrassed during that game. But like Nick Lachey’s career, they made an impressive comeback and produced a solid 68-52 win. Anthony Roberson’s up and down season moved towards a positive note as he had 21 points, hitting three pointers from all over the court, even while being guarded well by the Tigers. At this point there is very little that Billy Donovan can say to explain this team’s performance. An important week is upcoming with road games against Alabama and Tennessee. Two victories here would do a lot to set the team back on track and look for increased production from Adrian Moss who Donovan seems more comfortable with, starting him last week for only the second time this season.

Georgia (9-7)(1-4)

There are certain events that occur in our world that are beyond rational explanation. The Julia Roberts/Lyle Lovett marriage, the popularity of Clay Aiken and the entire Jackson family are all examples of situations that are so beyond the comprehension of mere mortals that we are often left explaining their occurrence with something akin to the chaos theory. At first glance, Georgia’s 1-4 start in SEC play would not seem to qualify. The Bulldogs are a young team, graduated their best player and NBA lottery pick Jarvis Hayes, and have a new coach in Dennis Felton. However what if I told you that their only conference victory was on the road….against No. 5 Kentucky. Such is the case for this bizarre Georgia conference season. After such a win, Georgia has nothing to be ashamed about in their 71-58 loss at No. 12 Mississippi State, but their abysmal performance in a 45-52 loss at home against Alabama is troubling. It is hard to understand where this team is or where it is going. Their inconsistency makes any prognostication about future games as silly as if it were made by Digger Phelps. This week they play on the road at LSU and then at home against Arkansas, which is close to a must-win. While no one is sure what performance Georgia will give, Coach Dennis Felton can take some solace in the fact that he received commitments this week from two of the nation’s most highly-touted recruits in next year’s class. He now hopes some of that good luck rubs off on the court.

Tennessee (10-5)(2-3)

In Ancient Rome, a politician named Cato gained great fame and popularity by declaring that the neighboring state of Carthage was Rome’s permanent enemy. Cato used to end all of his public speeches with the line, “Carthage must be destroyed!” After the week that he just went through, one could forgive Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson if he found himself ending every press conference with the line, “Kentucky should be destroyed!” Last week the Vols lost two heartbreakers to schools from the Bluegrass state, falling at the end of the game to both the Wildcats and Louisville. The lesson from these games for the Vols is that they can compete favorably against two of the best teams in the nation, but also that they must learn how to finish games with authority if they want to compete on the national stage. Kentucky guard Cliff Hawkins drained a three pointer to send the game into overtime, even as Tennessee was attempting to foul and place him on the line. Similarly the Vols seemed to forget about Louisville players Taquan Dean and Otis George at the end of the game, giving them easy baskets in crunch time. There is so much to be positive about in Knoxville concerning the men’s team (it is always great in Lady Vol land), as Major Wingate, CJ Watson and most impressively Scooter McFadgon have shown themselves to be top-notch competitors. This week finds them at Mississippi State and at home against Florida, finishing up a brutal stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents. Expect to see them pull out a surprise in one of these.

Vanderbilt (13-3)(2-3)

There are those that questioned this Vanderbilt team throughout the non-conference season, saying that they had not proven that they could win outside the confines of Memorial Gymnasium and that their strength, or lack thereof would be exposed come conference play. Vanderbilt may have given some ammunition to these critics this week, as they had an embarrassing 70-62 loss at Arkansas. The Razorbacks are one of the worst teams in the conference and represent the type of program that the Commodores must defeat if they are to reach their lofty goals. Matt Frieje continues to provide large amounts of points and leads the team in all forms of hustle plays, but no one else in the lineup is stepping up and hitting the big shots for the Commodores on the road. Kevin Stallings must be frustrated, as their 13-3 record is still impressive, but they do not have that one win away from home to impress the NCAA selection committee. This week sees them with an important home contest against fellow SEC East contender South Carolina and then a huge game with Kentucky on Saturday. They must win one of these to stay without shouting distance of the conference title.

No. 12 Mississippi State (16-1)(5-1)

The statement win of the SEC season occurred Wednesday night in Gainesville when Mississippi State dismantled the Florida Gators 78-67. Lawrence Roberts continued his dominating season and his quest to become an unexpected All-American candidate with 21 points. Roberts is now one of only two players in the conference to average a double-double and stands as the leader of this rising program. Like R.Kelly’s career, Mississippi State had dropped off of the national radar after their loss three weeks ago to Kentucky on a fluke buzzer beating layup by Eric Daniels. Pundits predicted that the Bulldogs were headed to mediocrity and deserved little to no attention. At least that was the thought process until the win last Wednesday. What Rick Stansbury has done with this team is truly unbelievable. Reeling from the early loss of Mario Austin and recruit Travis Outlaw’s decision to go from high school to the NBA, few thought this team would even win the SEC West. Now they are just one shot away from being 17-0 and the toast of the SEC. This week they play Tennessee and have an important test with Western Division rival Auburn.

LSU (12-4)(2-3)

After getting many commentators excited (including this one) with their early conference play, LSU has come back to earth with three consecutive losses, including two on the road this week to Ole Miss and South Carolina. Both of these games were well played by the Tigers and can be chalked up to the usual difficulty that occurs when one travels on the road in the SEC. One thing that these games have shown however is that LSU must play a faster paced game if they are to have a shot at pulling out a victory. The Tigers have been held under 60 points only four times this season, and have left each of these contests with a loss. Coach John Brady likely has the best collection of athletes in the conference, yet he seems to be pulling back in every contest and preferring a slower-paced game. Important games await this week against Georgia and Alabama, two teams who seem to prefer to run up and down the court. It will be interesting to see if John Brady encourages his team to participate in a track meet, or if he still holds true to the slower-paced style seen in recent games. One bright spot of the last couple of games is still Jamie Lloreda. He remains the best player in the country that no one knows.

Auburn (11-6)(2-4)

It was a mixed bag for Auburn this week as they won an important home game against Arkansas to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive and then followed that up with a decent performance at Florida before falling 68-52 after a late Gators run. Cliff Ellis has changed up the lineup in recent weeks to various results, but seems to have found a keeper in Lewis Monroe. The Tigers seem to just play better when he is on the floor and it is likely that he has found a permanent place in the Auburn starting lineup. Like LSU, Cliff Ellis’s team needs to force the action much more than they have recently in order to be successful. They are 9-1 when scoring over 70 points, yet at some points in the Florida game they looked tentative and more like a Wisconsin-style slowdown team than is necessary. Many in Auburn are still reeling from being called a campus full of “farm people” by football recruit in his running journal on the recruiting process that is currently being posted on the Miami Herald website (an absolute must-read if you are a fan of high-comedy). On the basketball front, Auburn has an important home game this week against Mississippi State, a game in which this columnist sees a possible upset.

Ole Miss (10-6)(2-3)

The Ole Miss Rebels quietly had a strong week with victories at home against LSU and Alabama. Justin Reed tied his career high with 28 points in the 71-60 win over Alabama and was named the SEC Player of the Week for his efforts. We have talked a great deal in this column about SEC stars who do not get enough national attention such as Matt Freije and Jamie Lloreda, but Reed is a player that gets very little publicity even in the SEC. He has the opportunity to be elected to the All-Conference team each of his four years and will finish his career at Ole Miss as one of the top players in school history. Rod Barnes also has to be pleased with the recent emergence of Aaron Harper, who had 22 big points in the game against LSU. Ole Miss still has a great deal to improve upon, such as their top 10 national ranking in turnovers, but the wins of this past week stand as proof that this team has the ability to hold its ground in the conference. This week they go on the road to Kentucky and have South Carolina in Oxford.

Arkansas (10-7)(2-4)

While Arkansas lost early in the week to Auburn, it was sweet redemption on Saturday when the Razorbacks pulled off an important upset of Vanderbilt 70-62. The Jones Brothers, Michael and Matt (not the handsome version that writes this column) both played huge roles, with Michael getting a career high 18 points and Matt pulling down a career high 8 rebounds. This team reminds one of a quote from the great Shakespeare play “Antony and Cleopatra.” In that play, one of Antony’s friends insinuates that real cause of Cleopatra’s appeal is not her beauty but her unpredictability. He states, “Age cannot wither her, not custom stale / her infinite variety.” In many ways therein lies the appeal of this Arkansas team. Every week you are not sure what team will show up, or who will provide the leadership and scoring. Yet they do manage to entertain nevertheless. This week sees them on the road against Georgia.

Alabama (11-5)(3-2)

Two road games this week by the Crimson Tide produced one victory and one defeat, but two miserable performances as they defeated Georgia and lost to Ole Miss. The Georgia win was a particularly horrific game to watch and in some ways is the more disappointing of the two performances. In the shot clock era that we now are a part of, there is absolutely no excuse for a college basketball game between two major college teams to end in a 45-42 score. I considered boycotting writing columns about these two teams as a protest, but I felt I owed it to you, the readers. Mark Gottfried’s team has been inconsistent all year, but he must find a way to get this team on one page in the next few games or the season has the potential to slip away. The schedule gets much tougher now beginning with home games this week against Florida and LSU.

Game of the Week

Watch for this weekend’s contest between Kentucky and Vanderbilt. It is close to a must-win game for the Commodores and the Vandy faithful will be motivated to extract revenge on the early loss. One has to think that Kentucky’s habit of playing continued close games will catch up on them, and this may be the week.

Until we meet again……

Big Ten Notebook

Big Ten Conference Notebook

by Alan Rubenstein

Turning Back the Clock

Indiana and Michigan State will go retro when the Hoosiers travel to East Lansing on Saturday. Both teams will be fitted in 1980 era jerseys. The announcers for the game will also be fitted in disco era threads. Graphics from the period will also be used. The Turn back the Clock night is in deference to ESPN’s 25th season of broadcasting college basketball.

The Ghost of Christmas Past

Bob Knight continues to haunt Indiana. Knight is appealing an Indiana judge’s decision to dismiss his lawsuit against IU for his firing. The appeal challenges Monroe County Circuit Judge Kenneth Todd’s ruling that the Hoosiers didn’t violate Knight’s contract when former President Myles Brand discharged the General in September of 2000.

Playing the Nation’s best

Iowa’s 84-76 loss at Iowa State concluded the Non-Conference schedule for the Big Ten until the postseason. The Big Ten has struggled this season against the other elite conferences. Against BCS conferences the Big Ten has posted a 13-31 record. Against the SEC and Big XXII combined, the Big Ten has only been able to win three out of 19 games. Last season they were 10-19 against the nation’s two most powerful football conferences. Overall the Big Ten has an 82-44 non-conference record. That is its second lowest winning percentage in the past four years. Wisconsin at number 11 has the highest RPI in the Big Ten.

The results against the power conferences are surprising given that the Big Ten is more mature than a year ago. In 2003, the Big Ten had 448 games started by freshman while this season has seen only 96 games started by first year players. Minnesota freshman Kris Humphries continues to put up monster numbers for the Gophers. He remains the Big Ten leader in points, rebounds and double-doubles and has started all 17 games.

Players of the Week

Bracey Wright and Mike Wilkinson helped lead Indiana and Wisconsin to a share of the lead in the Big Ten by contributing mightily as the Badgers and Hoosiers each finished the week 2-0.

Wilkinson averaged 21 points, 9.5 rebounds and shot 67 percent from the floor as Wisconsin rolled to wins over Michigan and Illinois. Wright put up 25 points per game, played all 85 minutes, shot 57 percent from three point range and 92 percent from the free throw line in road wins at Minnesota and Ohio State.

Spotlight game of the Week

When the college basketball season commenced in November, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan State were the prohibitive favorites to pace the Big Ten. Wisconsin and Illinois both had long home winning streaks entering the season and high expectations. The Badgers had trumped through the first half of their season 12-3 while Illinois has had more than a few bumps in the road. Purdue ended the Illini’s 23-game home court winning streak earlier in the season as the Illini strode into Madison 12-4.

The Badgers only Big Ten blemish entering the Illinois game was a two-point loss at Purdue. They buzz sawed through Michigan State and Michigan at home and were in a four-way tie with Indiana, Purdue and Michigan State before they took on the Illini. Badger mentor Bo Ryan has done a commendable job to keep his young team together. Alando Tucker has participated in only four games this season because of a stress fracture in his foot. Senior guard Freddie Owens is also out indefinitely with the same injury.

Devin Harris and Wilkinson took over the game nearly outscoring the Illini by themselves. Harris finished with a career high 30 points and Wilkinson established his career watermark with 24 in the Badgers 76-56 victory. The win was Wisconsin’s 24th consecutive at home and 20th straight Big Ten win at the Kohl.

Wisconsin’s defense continued to handcuff its opponents. The Illini shot only 36 percent from the floor, including only 2-15 from three-point country. Illinois has lived and died by its backcourt all season. Dee Brown didn’t hit the scorebook until 8:25 remained and finished with only four points. Deron Williams scored eight on 3-13 from the floor. Roger Powell kept Illinois from total destruction by totaling his own career high with 26.

The Badgers spurtability played an important role in the outcome of the game. After Illinois cut the Wisconsin’s lead to four with an 8-0 run, the Badgers answered with their own 15-2 outburst to extend their lead to 17. Wisconsin also began the game with a 17-6 advantage.

Surprise of the Week

Penn State looked impressive in home victories over Minnesota and Ohio State to begin the Big Ten part of the schedule. The wins gave the Nittany Lions an early season share of the Big Ten lead and had the Bryce rocking. After being completely taken apart by Illinois earlier in the week, the Nittany Lions figured to bounce back when they returned home to host Michigan on Saturday. After lackluster losses at Michigan State and Wisconsin, the Wolverines road prowess was far from intimidating.

After Penn State scored the game’s first four points, Michigan went on a 21-4 run to seize control of the game on their way to a 69-59 victory. The key to the first half surge was the Wolverine defense. Penn State connected on just 36 percent of their field goals and missed all seven three point attempts in the first half as the Wolverines established a ten-point lead at the break. Penn State leading scorer Jan Jagla mirrored his teammates’ first half performance by scoring only two of his 13 in the opening stanza. The win extended Michigan’s dominance over the Nittany Lions to 15-8 all time.

Lester Abram paced Michigan with 19 points on 6-8 from the floor and 5-5 from the line. Dion Harris had 15 and Daniel Horton finished with 13 points, five assists and five rebounds.

Penn State placed four players in double figures for the first time in five games.

Michigan (11-5, 2-3)

The Wolverines began the week with game two of a three game road trip at Wisconsin. Michigan became the latest Wisconsin victim at the Kohl Center. The Badgers began the second half with a 20-5 run and maintained control the entire second half. If not for Bernard Robinson, Jr. the Wolverines might have left Madison with an even bigger loss. The senior forward finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Tommy Amaker’s trio of talented guards, freshman Dion Harris and sophomores Lester Abram and Daniel Horton struggled to the tune of 8-26 from the floor and only 19 total points. The Wolverines bounced back nicely with the win at Penn State.

Penn State (8-8, 2-3)

If losing a game at home wasn’t bad enough, the Nittany Lions were completed embarrassed in an 80-37 loss at Illinois. Penn State’s offense was the pure definition of anemic in Champaign. They shot 21 percent from the floor, made only one of 13 from three-point range and the Illini held a 39-29 rebounding edge. The Lions were only able to hit five of 37 shots in the second half. Aaron Johnson’s 15 points kept the Illini from naming the final score.

Jan Jagla continued to struggle. The 7’0 junior from Germany sat during most of the second half in foul trouble and his five points were his second lowest output of the season. Jagla, who had been averaging 17.4 points per game through the season’s first 13 games, has scored only 18 in the last three games. Against Michigan State, Illinois and Michigan, Jagla has shot only 24 percent and had ten turnovers.

Penn State passed out bobble head dolls of head coach Ed DeChellis to attendees of the Michigan game.

Illinois (12-5, 3-3)

The Illini have been a tough team to figure out all season. The 63-point swing in their two games last week will attest to that. The ambush of Penn State brought a few standards that haven’t been seen in Champaign in a long time. It was the Illini’s largest margin of victory in a Big Ten game since 1956, the fewest points they have allowed in a Big Ten game since 1948 and Penn State’s 21 percent shooting set an Assembly Hall record for futility. The Illini have called the Assembly Hall home since 1963.

Illinois’ top players against Penn State were Powell with 16, Williams with 12 points and eight assists and James Augustine with nine points and 12 rebounds.

Wisconsin (13-3, 4-1)

The Badgers continue to roll at the Kohl Center. Wins over Illinois and Michigan allowed the Badgers to extend their home court winning streak and keep pace with Indiana and Purdue in the race for the conference title. The win over Michigan was classic Bo Ryan basketball. The Badgers used a 20-5 run in the second half to take control of the game. Wisconsin was able to overcome a season low five points from Devin Harris. Wilkinson finished with 18 points and ten rebounds and former walk-on Clayton Hanson scored a career high 17 points to fuel the Badger offense. Hanson was a blistering 5-6 from three-point range.

Purdue (14-4, 4-1)

The Boilermakers earned a pair of victories to maintain a share of first place in the Big Ten. After sprinting to a 15-point lead at the intermission, Purdue had to hold on to capture a 72-65 victory over Minnesota. An 11-0 run by the Golden Gophers brought them even at 58. Purdue slowed down Minnesota’s high-octane offense and turned the game into a half court, physical contest. Kris Humphries left the game in the second half after being hit by an errant Brett Buscher elbow. Humphries was made to work for every point he earned finishing with 19 points and 14 rebounds on just 5-15 shooting. He also made all eight of his free throws.

The Boilermakers exploited Minnesota’s poor defense. Purdue entered the game with a 33.7 three-point percentage, but hit 7-11 against the Golden Gophers. They also shot a season high 53.5 percent from the field.

Purdue got a key win with a 76-70 overtime win over Michigan State on national television on Sunday. Kenneth Lowe led four Boilermakers in double figures as Purdue rallied late to force the overtime. Michigan State seemed to be in good shape when Alan Anderson stepped to the free throw line with eight seconds remaining. Anderson, an 84 percent free throw shooter, missed the front end of a one and one giving Purdue one last chance. Brandon McKnight drove the length of the floor to tie it at 62. Mc Knight finished with ten points, seven assists and three steals. Buscher continues to provide valuable minutes in Chris Booker’s absence with 17 points and eight rebounds.

After taking a two-point lead in the extra session, the Spartans missed their next eight shots and Purdue went on a 7-0 run to seal the game’s outcome. The Boilermakers survived a nine-minute stretch of the second half without a field goal.

Melvin Buckley missed his fourth consecutive game with a sprained ankle and Booker sat for the eighth straight contest for unspecified academic issues.

Michigan State (8-8, 3-2)

If Michigan State could shoot the ball every game the way they did at Northwestern the Spartans would be hard to stop. Maurice Ager scored a career high 24 points, 22 before the break as MSU prevailed 73-61 in Evanston. Ager connected on six three pointers in the opening stanza and Michigan State hit nine of 13 from long distance in the first 20 minutes. Only a late 15-3 run by Northwestern made the game respectable. Chris Hill finished with 17 and helped the bombardment by connecting on 3-5 from three-point land.

Against the Boilermakers, the Spartans scoring droughts cost them a chance to earn an important road victory. A 6:39 drought in the first half allowed Purdue to obtain an 11 point cushion and their 3:21 drought in the overtime essentially gave Purdue the victory. Hill turned in another solid performance with 18 points, four rebounds and six assists.

Northwestern (7-8, 2-3)

The dream of sharing the Big Ten lead came crashing back to a hard cold reality for Northwestern. They must have thought they were witnessing a laser light show the way Michigan State shot the ball in the first half against them. Michigan State hit two-thirds of its shots in the first half and finished at 61.4 percent for the night. Northwestern dug themselves an insurmountable 17 point hole by only making nine of 24 shots in the first half. Jitim Young led NU with 16 as five Wildcats finished in double figures for only the second time in the Carmody era. Vedran Vukusic returned to the lineup after sitting out the previous game against Indiana with a knee injury. Vukusic played 38 minutes, scored 13 points and hauled in four rebounds.

Minnesota (8-9, 0-5)

The Gophers continue as the Big Ten’s only winless team after three weeks of conference action. It appeared that they might steal one on the road with an impressive second half comeback at Purdue. The Gophers rallied after trailing by 15 at the half. Humphries injury seemed to effect his concentration in the second half. The freshman noted after the game he was having difficulty focusing on the rim after the elbow by Buscher.

The Gophers fell short after rallying from a big deficit for the second game in a row. An eighteen-point deficit in the first half didn’t phase the Gophers. Playing without third leading scorer Maurice Hargrow, the Gophers valiant comeback fell short in an 86-81 overtime loss to Indiana. Humphries used the free throw line to overcome another poor shooting night. He finished 7-26 from the floor, but hit 10-12 from the line, scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

Before the game, Hargrow announced his intentions to seek a release and transfer to another school. Hargrow had been averaging 11.4 PPG, in 31 minutes. He said his decision to leave the land of 10,000 Lakes was nothing against the coaching staff, but was something he felt he needed to do for his best interests. His minutes and production had dipped recently. In his final four games as a Gopher, Hargrow was only putting up 5.5 PPG and shooting only 29 percent. Hargrow was taken out of the starting lineup in his final appearance and did not play the last 15 minutes in the game before that at Ohio State. Hargrow had apparently grown tired of the Golden Gophers losing ways. Arkansas appears to be the front-runner for his services. Current Razorback assistant Ronnie Thompson recruited Hargrow and Arkansas has a scholarship available.

Stan Gaines stepped in admirably and played his best game of the season. Gaines set season highs with 16 points, eight rebounds and 37 minutes played. Gaines will give the Gophers more size than Hargrow provided.

Kris Humphries was one of only two freshmen to be named to the Wooden Watch list. Chris Paul of Wake Forest was the other. The Watch list is a preliminary list used to help determine the Wooden All-America team announced at the end of March and then the Wooden Award in April. Humphries leads the Big Ten in scoring, rebounding and double-doubles.

Indiana (10-6, 4-1)

The Hoosiers won their third straight Big Ten road game, breaking a five year losing streak in Minneapolis in the process and kept pace with Purdue and Wisconsin for the conference lead. The Hoosiers once again rode the shoulders of Bracey Wright who finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists. IU’s balance is ultimately what won the game for them. George Leach seems to be recovered from his knee injury, scoring all 12 of his points in the first half along with seven rebounds. Sean Kline provided inside scoring in the second half with 13. A.J. Moye had a season high 20.

Bracey Wright put on another show with 20 of his 28 points in the second half as Indiana picked up a key road victory at Ohio State. Indiana’s speed overcame the Buckeyes size in a sloppy game. Marshall Strickland pitched in with 19 as IU’s perimeter game proved to be the difference. The Hoosiers made seven of 14 three-point shots and converted 22 of 25 from the line to earn the victory. Indiana’s lack of size continued to plague them. Terrance Dials’ 19 and Velimir Radnovic’s 16 gave the Hoosiers trouble all game. Ohio State had a 33-27 edge off the glass and a 37-18 advantage in frontcourt scoring.

Ohio State (9-9, 1-4)

Ohio State is known as a football school and the basketball team seems to be trying to emulate their gridiron brethren. After a sloppy home loss to Indiana the Buckeyes traveled to Iowa City. Fifty-Seven fouls, 74 free throws and 24 turnovers later and Ohio State took home its fourth loss in five conference games. The second half was a parade to the free throw line after the whistle was heard frequently. Ohio State was in the bonus with 15:19 left and the double bonus at the 13-minute mark. Iowa hit the double bonus with 9:51 remaining.

The biggest story entering the Iowa game was Jim O’Brien decision to leave leading scorer Tony Stockman in Columbus. O’Brien was upset with Stockman’s practice habits and said the junior could rejoin his teammates when he makes a greater commitment to them and shows he wants to be a part of the team.

Brandon Fuss-Cheatham started at the point in Stockman’s place and scored a misleading 17 points. Ten of Fuss-Cheatham’s points came in the last 2:53. J.J. Sullinger finished with 15 in the perimeter oriented game.

After dominating Indiana on the Interior, Radinovic and Terrance Dials failed to establish a rhythm against Iowa. Radinovic finished with five points and seven rebounds and Dials didn’t do much better with seven and eight.

As it has all season, three point shooting had a big role in a Ohio State game. Ohio State’s inability to shoot and defend from long distance had been a problem since they were scorched by San Diego State in Maui. Iowa shot 8-16 from beyond the arc, while the Buckeyes managed only 3-15.

Iowa pulled away after holding Ohio State without a field goal during a seven and half minute stretch of the second half. Indicative of the game, Ohio State went 9-15 from the line during the interval. The Hawkeyes were still able to extend their lead from nine to 17. The Buckeyes finished the game at 36 percent from the floor.

Iowa (10-6, 3-2)

Iowa’s defeat of the Buckeyes broke a four game home losing streak to Ohio State. The Hawkeyes used their advantage on the perimeter to earn the victory. Jeff Horner finished with 20, Pierre Pierce finished with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists and Brody Boyd had 19 points and four steals.

Earlier in the week, Iowa concluded the Non-Conference season for the Big Ten with a loss at in-state rival Iowa State. Too much Jackson Vroman and Jake Sullivan for the Hawkeyes to handle. Vroman’s line was 18 points, 16 rebounds and five assists and Sullivan had 23 points and five three pointers.

Iowa shot 55 percent in the second half, but was unable to overcome 23 turnovers. The Cyclones took much better care of the ball with only nine turnovers. Iowa State shot only 41 percent.

Jeff Horner had a career high 26 points with six threes. With Jared Reiner sidelined, Glenn Worley stepped up his game and finished with 13 points and nine boards.

Iowa and Iowa State are working on moving the game to early December for the next four seasons. They are likely to play the game on a Friday night. The scheduling for the game has been tricky because of an Iowa school policy that prohibits games the weekend before and after finals.

Northeast Notebook

Northeast Conference Notebook

by Keith Burdette

Rewind back two months to the supposed big match-up of the early NEC conference season, Quinnipiac at Central Connecticut State. Recall the big snowstorm that postponed the game which was then rescheduled for this Wednesday. Well, what has changed since then? Just about everything. The weather has eschewed snow for extreme cold. According to scientists, we are currently in the coldest two week stretch in the past twenty-five years. A climatologist at Cornell discovered it was warmer on Mars than it was in many Northeast cities a couple weeks back.

In the NEC, these two preseason favorites are mired in struggles. CCSU started off all right at 2-1 but then lost three straight, including a setback to Sacred Heart on Monday. Quinnipiac dropped their first three conference games but picked up a couple victories over Sacred Heart and Monmouth before a loss on Monday to Fairleigh Dickinson. So now these two teams were 2-4 and the rematch was a struggle to stay in the hunt for a trip to the NEC tournament as opposed to a match-up of conference powers. The game played a match-up of powers with both teams battling back and forth, the lead changed hands twelve times and the Bobcats led by two at the break. But the Blue Devils fought back to take the lead early in the second half and pretty much controlled the rest of the game, building the lead to as much as ten. The Bobcats cut it to within three a couple times, but CCSU always answered. In the final minute, CCSU led by seven when Quinnipiac pulled off a miracle run. The Bobcats scored eleven points in the final 51 seconds, capped off by a Rob Monroe three at the buzzer to get the win 88-87. The comeback win catapults the Bobcats into the thick of the race and makes them a team to be reckoned with the rest of the season. The loss was the fourth straight for the Blue Devils and puts them into a last place tie with Mount Saint Mary’s and Long Island. It’s a long ways back to the top of the conference where I predicted them to finish.

With a high RPI and five straight wins to open conference play, Monmouth looked like they were cruising towards the number one seed in the tournament. However, a weekend sweep at the hands of Long Island and Quinnipiac set them back. These two teams had exactly one conference win between them before the start of last week. They are a half-game behind first place St. Francis NY, tied with Robert Morris. Monmouth still holds the advantage over these squads having already beaten them once but that will all change if they don’t end this slide soon.

Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (5-9, 2-5 NEC)

The Blue Devils have dropped five of their last six and strangely the only win came without senior captain Ron Robinson in a 79-60 win over Long Island. With the exception of the game against Quinnipiac, CCSU trailed the majority of the second half in each of their losses. Against St. Francis NY, Sacred Heart and Wagner they were able to tie the score but never get over the hump to take the lead. Against Quinnipiac, they led by seven in the last minute and actually hit seven of eight free throws but committed two huge turnovers including one with five seconds to go which gave the Bobcats the chance to set up the game-winning three. Ron Robinson has been performing to his usual high level, averaging 17.4 points and 9.6 boards per game in this last stretch. He scored his 1000th career point in the loss to Quinnipiac. Before this week, Obie Nwadike was asserting himself as an impact player by leading all NEC freshmen in rebounding and field goal percentage. He was named NEC rookie of the week for averaging 9.3 points and 9.3 rebounds against Wagner, Long Island and Fairleigh Dickinson. But this week he scored five points in the loss to Sacred Heart and was held scoreless without attempting a field goal against Quinnipiac. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where the troubles lie. In each of the past six games they’ve out-rebounded their opponent. They won the game where they turned the ball over 25 times. They shot nearly sixty percent in the loss to Quinnipiac. Free throws were a problem against Wagner and Sacred Heart and they are shooting only 57.5 percent on the season, but they’ve had a couple games with stellar free throwing shooting including a 15-20 outing against FDU. It seems like they are just struggling to put a full game together. This weekend they have a trip to Monmouth and Mount Saint Mary’s to try and get things straight.

Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (10-7, 5-3 NEC)

Last weekend, the Knights picked up a huge road sweep at CCSU and Quinnipiac to bring their record back over .500. Before that they dropped two games at home to conference front runners St. Francis NY and Robert Morris but defeated St. Francis PA between those outings. Chad Timberlake was named NEC player of the week for a career-high 22 points in the win over St. Francis PA on January 19th which he then topped by going for 25 in the win over Central Connecticut State on Saturday. Last Monday against the Bobcats he nearly had a double-double with thirteen points and nine rebounds but it was Gordon Klaiber who stole the show by scoring 31 points and 11 rebounds in the 84-81 overtime win. The Knights have been taking care of the basketball this year and lead the NEC with the fewest turnovers per game and the best turnover margin. This week’s only game is a trip to Maryland to face Mount Saint Mary’s.

Long Island Blackbirds (6-10, 2-5 NEC)

The Blackbirds had a light schedule the past couple weeks, only playing Central Connecticut State on the 19th and Monmouth on the 22nd. Against the Blue Devils, they got victimized by 64.6 percent shooting and lost 79-60. James Williams, who had been named NEC rookie of the week for his efforts against St. Francis PA and Quinnipiac the week prior, continued to play well by leading the team with 17 points. Against Monmouth, it was another freshman, Evan Meekins who led the charge. He scored 18 of his 23 points in a 35-14 run in the second half that put LIU in control. Monmouth came back to tie the score but the Blackbirds shut down the Hawk offense and used free throws to put the game away. In the 85-79 win, LIU shot a season-high 51.8 percent and had all five starters score in double figures. This weekend, they finish a six game home-stand with Wagner on Thursday, St. Francis on Saturday and Robert Morris on Monday.

Monmouth Hawks (11-7, 5-2 NEC)

We left the Hawks undefeated in the league at 3-0 coming off a big win at St. Francis NY. Blake Hamilton led them to 4-0 by scoring 26 points in a 74-64 win over St. Francis PA. Coupled with the 29 points against the Terriers, Hamilton earned NEC player of the week honors. Monmouth then made it 5-0 with a 75-67 over Robert Morris. But then Long Island beat them 85-79 on the road in a game where they failed to take advantage of a 17-9 turnover margin and 16 more shots. They followed that with 20 turnovers and 30 percent shooting in a 75-63 loss to Quinnipiac. Next they face perhaps the only team in the league struggling more than they are, Central Connecticut State. The game is on Saturday and is their only game of the week.

Mount Saint Mary’s Mountaineers (4-13, 2-5 NEC)

The Mount evened their conference record at 2-2 with an 85-76 win over Sacred Heart on the 17th behind 26 points from Charles Cook. It appeared as if they would move over .500 in their next game against Wagner after fighting back from a ten point deficit to take a one point lead in the last minute. But Courtney Pritchard hit a bucket with 2.2 seconds to go for the win. The Mount then lost consecutive games to St. Francis PA and Robert Morris last weekend to drop them into the cellar of the NEC. In both games, the Mount closed the lead to within three in second half but could get no closer. Landy Thompson led the way with seventeen points against SFPA and fourteen points against RMU. On the year he’s averaging 18.6 points per game which is good enough for second in the league. The Mount will try and end their three game slide this weekend with games at home against Fairleigh Dickinson and Central Connecticut State.

Quinnipiac Bobcats (7-11, 3-4 NEC)

Since opening NEC play with three straight losses, the Bobcats have win three out of four. They started the stretch with a huge 90-62 win over Sacred Heart. Van Crafton hit eight three pointers to set the Bobcat Division I record for most threes in a game. Rashaun Banjo and Kason Mims each had double-doubles and all five starters scored in double figures. Next they handled Monmouth 75-63 where five players scored in double figures, led by nineteen points from Rob Monroe. Last Monday, the Bobcats rallied from fifteen down in the second half and Rob Monroe scored his 1000th career point, but the Bobcats lost in overtime 84-81 to FDU. Monroe reached the milestone in 71 games which was faster than any previous Bobcat. Quinnipiac responded with the big win over CCSU that almost didn’t have the chance to materialize. Trailing by two with four seconds to go, Adam Tancredi intercepted a Blue Devil pass and moved the ball up court. His outlet pass was deflected out of bounds as time expired. But the game was televised which allowed the officials to review the play and determine that the CCSU player who deflected the pass was out of bounds as he touched the ball. Eight-tenths of a second were put back on the clock which was enough time for Rob Monroe to take a deflected pass in the corner and hit the game winning three. The three capped an 11-3 run in the last 51 seconds to get the win. Again, Kason Mims and Rashaun Banjo had double-doubles. Banjo scored 30 points and grabbed twelve rebounds while Mims scored 25 points and dished out ten assists. This weekend it’s off to Sacred Heart and Wagner in hopes to continue the hot streak.

Robert Morris Colonials (8-8, 5-2 NEC)

The Colonials have won three out of their last four games. They picked up their first road win of the year by defeating Fairleigh Dickinson 62-58 to start the stretch. Chaz McCrommon scored 20 points including four big free throws in the last minute and a half to seal the win. Maurice Carter and Aaron Thomas each scored 21 points in the next game out at Monmouth but it wasn’t enough to erase a seven point Hawk halftime lead as Monmouth won 75-67. RMU bounced back against Sacred Heart behind 25 points from Chaz McCrommon in a 69-66 win. The Colonials then made it two straight with a 77-65 win over Mount Saint Mary’s. Aaron Thomas led the way with 22 points and McCrommon had 20 as RMU used a late 10-0 run to put the Mountaineers away. The Colonials moved their overall record up to .500 for the first time this year and currently sit in a tie with Monmouth for second place in the NEC. This weekend will witness a battle for first place when the Colonials travel to St. Francis NY on Saturday; the Terriers currently hold a half-game lead. RMU will finish the road trip with a game at Long Island on Monday.

Sacred Heart Pioneers (8-9, 4-4 NEC)

The Pioneers ended a three game losing streak Monday by beat Central Connecticut State 72-69. SHU led for much the second half, but CCSU tied the score at 65 with just under four minutes to play. Omar Wellington hit a three on the next possession to get the lead back and the Pioneers would never relinquish it. The game marked the first win over the Blue Devils since the move to Division I and it couldn’t have come at a more critical time. In the previous three games, the Pioneers had some tough games. They started the streak with a 85-76 loss to Mount Saint Mary’s, a game which they led by as many as eleven in the second half. Then they lost to Quinnipiac 90-62 and had a comeback fall short in a 69-66 loss to Robert Morris. Maurice Bailey averaged over 21 points a game in that stretch but couldn’t lead his team to victory. Against CCSU he scored 22 points and now leads the NEC in scoring at 19.4 points a game. The Pioneers will take on conference leader St. Francis on Thursday and then hope to avenge the blowout to Quinnipiac on Saturday.

St. Francis (NY) Terriers (9-8, 6-2 NEC)

The Terriers have used a three game win streak to surge into first place in the NEC. Mike Wilson started the charge by scoring 21 points in a 69-57 win over Central Connecticut State. The Blue Devils came back from a ten point deficit at the break to take the lead eight minutes into the second half but SFNY answered with an 11-1 run to take control. Mike Wilson again led the charge with seventeen points the next time out when SFNY beat Fairleigh Dickinson 81-72. Tied at 62 with seven and a half minutes to go, the Terriers used a 9-2 to get the lead and made 11 of 12 free throws in the last two minutes to ice the game. John Quintana led five Terriers in double figures with fifteen points to beat Wagner last Saturday 82-70. Tied with three minutes to go, SFNY used a 14-2 run to end the game, including six straight free throws in the final minute. The most impressive part of the win streak is that all three games came on the road. The Terriers have a chance to increase their half-game lead in the NEC with three games at home this weekend as Sacred Heart, Robert Morris and St. Francis PA all come to town.

St. Francis (PA) Red Flash (6-9. 3-3 NEC)

The Red Flash came off a tough trip to Jersey and got a key win over Mount Saint Mary’s last Saturday 71-58. Darshan Luckey scored 21 points in the win which moved SFPA back to .500 in NEC. Before that, the Red Flash had lost two straight. In the first game against Monmouth, they fell behind early only to pull within one late in the first half. But the Hawks opened the second half with a run and SFPA couldn’t recover. Rashaan Benton led the team with fifteen points off the bench. SFPA came back two nights later and lost to Fairleigh Dickinson in a heartbreaker. In the final minute, the score was tied at 74 when Jason Osborne missed a jumper and FDU got the rebound and a chance to wait for the final shot. Chad Timberlake drove the lane and kicked out to Tamien Trent for the game-winning three with seven-tenths of a second remaining. This weekend, the Red Flash head back to the road to face Long Island and St. Francis NY.

Wagner Seahawks (5-11, 2-4 NEC)

The 19th saw the Seahawks finally pick up their first conference win. They led by as many as ten in the second half only to watch Mount Saint Mary’s take the lead in the final minute. But Courtney Pritchard answered with a two in the lane to get the lead back with 2.2 seconds to go and ultimately the 74-73 win. They game marked the return of Nigel Wyatte who had missed the previous game against Fairleigh Dickinson with a sprained ankle and led the team with fifteen points off the bench. The next game marked the return of Doug Viegas who was supposed to miss the rest of the season with a lacerated kidney. He only hit six threes on his way to 20 points, leading the team to a 73-67 win over Central Connecticut State. Unfortunately the magic couldn’t last and the Seahawks dropped their last game 82-70 to St. Francis NY. Teoine Carroll hit a three to tie the score at 68 with three minutes to play but couldn’t find the bucket in the last minutes and SFNY pulled away. Wyatte led the team with 14 points and Sean Munson had a double-double with thirteen points and sixteen rebounds. Wagner hopes to get back on track with games at Long Island and at home against Quinnipiac this weekend.

Steve Alford Killing the Game

Alford is Killing the Spirit of College Hoops

by Michael Ermitage

It has been two weeks since I have written a column. A shame, I know. I’m sure I’ve been missed about as much as Saddam in Iraq. Like everyone else north of the Mason-Dixon line, I’ve been spending the majority of the past two weeks enveloped in snow. And cold. Bitter, bitter cold. But hey, Chicago is a great place; we have some sweet museums. As for college basketball, there has been just too much going on to fully digest. In order to catch myself back up, I’ve arranged my thoughts in a neat list. Some old-fashioned types call these sorts of “bits” columns as amateur. Luckily, I’ve never pretended to be anything other than amateur.

Shut Up Steve Alford: For those of you unaware, Steve Alford is attempting to murder the very spirit of college basketball – clever student fan sections. Like a scorned lover, Alford is attempting to exact revenge on the student sections across the Midwest that have been verbally taunting Iowa guard Pierre Pierce. Pierce, of course, is the player that sat out last season as punishment for pleading guilty to a reduced sexual assault charge. Naturally, opposing student sections are targeting Pierce for abuse, the most clever of which was Iowa State’s “No means No” chant. You might as well bathe Pierce in blood and toss him in a shark pit rather than take him to Ames to play a game. Alford saw this coming and suggested a rule to the Big Ten office last spring that was accepted. The rule states that a student section cannot single out an individual player for verbal harassment. I’m not sure exactly how this is rule is supposed to be interpreted – is the popular chant “Airball” covered in this broad rule?

The penalty for the malicious and disdainful act of taunting during a Big Ten basketball game is dispersion of the student section upon three guilty charges. That’s right – Alford is willing to put an end to the Izzone if they verbally attack his player (who pleaded guilty to sexual assault by the way) three times. Perhaps Alford should realize that college is a place where children turn into adults. And perhaps Alford should realize that part of becoming an adult is learning the consequences of your actions – something Pierce is learning all too quickly this season.

Three-pointers too easy: Is it me, or should Illinois’ 7-foot-2 center Nick Smith not be shooting (and making) three pointers with regularity? I think that the current group of college basketball players have more than proven they’ve mastered the three-point shot. Its time to move it back to the international length, which was suggested by the rules committee but NOT approved by the NCAA’s board of directors. The proposed rule change was put on indefinite hold, citing that there is not complete consent from all the men’s and women’s teams of the NCAA’s three divisions. For the smaller schools, the financial cost of putting the extra lines on the court has been a major obstacle. The NCAA should cover the cost of moving the line out at all divisions. The game has become too dependant on the shot, with some teams planning their entire offense around shooting three-pointers. I believe it was said best by a fresh-faced 1980 Bobby Cremins, who was coaching Appalachian State at the time. “The first time out, I took a shot and made it. It must be too close,” said Cremins during a season in which the entire Southern conference tested the shot.

Undefeated season?: It was 1991, and I weighed about a hundred pounds. My hair was a bit long, flirting with “mullet” status. And I had discovered college basketball. My older sisters had attended Northwestern University, and college sports were never even a thought. Although, in all honesty, they could have attended UCLA during the Wooden years and they’d still be oblivious. But during my freshman year in high school, I had caught the fever, and was participating in my first ever “March Madness” pool. I entered one at school and as an extra entry through my dad’s work. Needless to say, like the first time Lance Armstrong was placed on his Huffy tricycle seat, I was where I was supposed to be. My first two rounds were fantastic. And I entered the final weekend with my entire Final Four intact. All that I needed to win both pools was for UNLV to win the tournament. That’s right – undefeated, unbeatable, defending-champion UNLV. UNLV lost, ending its bid to complete the first undefeated season since Bob Knight’s 1976 champion squad. And that’s the day I learned that it will never happen again. Sorry St. Joe’s and Stanford – you are both going to lose.

Pac-10 Notebook

Pac-10 Conference Notebook

by Scott Allen

Stanford got a scare, but the Cardinal remained perfect. Arizona appears to be back on track after a midseason hiccup and Cal did something it hasn’t done all season. Both SoCal schools ride losing streaks into tonight’s L.A. showdown at Pauley Pavilion, while Oregon, coming off a split against the Arizona schools, readies for Stanford. Meanwhile, Arizona State, Oregon State and the Washington schools continue to toil in mediocrity. All that and more is in this, the final January installment of the Pac-10 Notebook.

In Memory of Alisa Lewis

The Cal men’s basketball team wore small black patches on the front of their uniforms with “AL 31″ in memory of Cal women’s basketball player Alisa Lewis, who died last Monday from bacterial meningitis. Lewis was honored last Thursday in a memorial service at Haas Pavilion. “Alisa’s mother told me that there’s a basketball court in heaven and Alisa is on it,” said Cal women’s basketball head coach Caren Horstmeyer. “This is where Alisa lived and where she wanted to be.” Lewis, remembered for her great smile and work ethic, was 20.

Wooden Watch

Four Pac-10 players are on the Wooden Award Midseason Top-30 list. Arizona State’s Ike Diogu, Arizona’s Andre Iguodala, Oregon’s Luke Jackson and Stanford’s Matt Lottich.

Player of the Week

Leon Powe, F, California

The freshman helped the Bears to back-to-back wins for the first time this season, averaging 16.5 points and 11 rebounds in wins over USC and UCLA. The Oakland native tallied his league-leading eighth double-double of the season with 19 points and 14 rebounds against UCLA.

Inside the Pac-10

No. 9 Arizona Wildcats (13-3, 5-2)

The Wildcats extended their home dominance over Oregon State to 21 years and the Wildcat offense exhibited what it’s capable of on a good night in a 109-75 victory. Salim Stoudamire and Hassan Adams scored 20 points apiece and Andre Iguodala scored 19 points. Adams and Iguodala were both 9-for-12 from the field and Stoudamire 7-for-9, as Arizona shot a season-high 63 percent from the field. It was their largest point output since Feb. 5, 1998. Adams pulled down 10 rebounds for the double-double and Chris Rodgers added 12 points off the bench. Arizona led 48-34 at the half thanks to a 20-4 spurt late in the first half and hit six of its first seven shots after the break. From there, the rout was on.

Arizona offensive outburst Thursday carried over into Saturday’s match-up with Oregon. The ‘Cats jumped out to a 52-27 halftime lead behind 15 first-half points from Ivan Radenovic. Oregon made things more interesting with a 13-4 run midway through the second half, but Arizona’s shooters more than kept pace, shooting 50 percent after the break. Adams had another 20-point game and Channing Frye tallied a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Arizona’s defense forced 19 turnovers and held the Ducks’ Pac-10 leading three-point attack to 5-for-19 shooting from beyond the arc.

Up Next: Thursday at Washington, Saturday at Washington State

Arizona State Sun Devils (8-8, 2-5)

An inspired comeback fell short against Oregon but Arizona State rebounded to post its second conference win with a hard-fought victory over Oregon State. The Sun Devils fell behind early against the Ducks, as Ike Diogu was held scoreless for the game’s first 13 minutes. Arizona State completely erased a 13-point first half deficit to take a 60-56 lead midway through the second half following Stevie Moore’s four-point play. The Ducks responded with clutch three-point shooting and sank their free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Diogu finished with 24 points and nine rebounds while Moore finished with 17 points. Jason Braxton had one of his best all-around games of the season, adding 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

For a brief stage of the second half, it appeared the Sun Devils were on their way to their first ever six-game home losing streak at Wells Fargo Arena. Enter Ike Diogu, who scored 10 of the team’s final 16 points in an 83-79 win against the Beavers. Diogu finished the game with 24 points and 15 rebounds, shooting 16-for-22 from the free throw line. Braxton had yet another strong game, finishing with 12 points and six assists and Jamal Hill poured in 17 points off the bench.

Up Next: Thursday at Washington State, Saturday at Washington

California Bears (8-8, 4-3)

The Bears rode the hot shooting – and temper – of guard Richard Midgley to a 63-62 home win against Southern Cal last Thursday. Midgley scored a season-high 22 points, added five assists and tussled with USC’s Errick Craven late in the second half at Haas Pavilion after Craven kicked him while fighting for a loose ball. Cal led 55-52 at the time but would relinquish that lead for the first time in the second half with 36 seconds to play, as Derrick Craven scored off an inbounds pass. Interestingly, the difference in the game came at the free throw line, where the Bears shot just 8-for-14 on the night. Freshman Ayinde Ubaka sank a pair in the closing seconds, however, to give Cal the win. Leon Powe’s 14 points and nine boards complemented Midgley’s career-night.

When the final second ticked off the scoreboard in Cal’s 76-62 victory on Saturday, the Bears had accomplished something they hadn’t done all season: win two consecutive games. A perfect blend of experience (Amit Tamir’s 19 points) and youth (Leon Powe’s 19 points and 14 rebounds) paved the way for the win in front of the first sellout crowd at Haas Pavilion this season. The double-double was Powe’s eighth of the season. Four of his rebounds were offensive, including a couple down the stretch where he flew into the lane for second chance opportunities when the Bruins most needed a defensive stop. UCLA led 31-30 at the half.

Up Next: Thursday at Oregon, Saturday at Oregon State

Oregon Ducks (9-5, 4-3)

Luke Jackson helped build the lead and Ian Crosswhite helped seal the win, as Oregon downed Arizona State 83-76 in Tempe last Thursday. Jacksons scored 21 points, pulled down seven boards and dished out a career-high 12 assists as the Ducks opened a 13-point first half lead. With Arizona State rallying, Crosswhite scored nine of his 15 points in the last five minutes. Oregon’s long-range bombers caught fire in the second half, shooting 5-for-8 from beyond the arc after shooting just 2-for-12 from three-point land in the first half.

Poor three-point shooting and weak defense doomed the Ducks two days later against Arizona. Oregon trailed 52-27 at the half and finished just 5-for-19 from long range. Jackson had yet another strong all-around game, finishing with 20 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Crosswhite scored 11 and Mitch Platt added 10. Nineteen Oregon turnovers turned into easy transition buckets for Arizona in a game that was essentially over at the half. Jackson recently became the fourth player in Pac-10 history with 1,500 points, 600 rebounds and 300 assists. The others: Sean Elliot, Todd Lichti and Toby Bailey.

Up Next: Thursday vs. Cal, Saturday vs. Stanford

Oregon State Beavers (8-9, 2-5)

It doesn’t take a zoologist to tell you that beavers won’t last long in a desert. The basketball Beavers don’t either. For the 21st consecutive season, Oregon State lost at the McKale Center, 109-75. Arizona did just about whatever it wanted against the Beavers defense but Chris Stephens scored 16 points and J.S. Nash added 15 points and seven assists in defeat. Jim Hanchett recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Oregon State kept things close in the first half and led 27-26 with 6:37 to go, but the Wildcats broke things open with a 20-4 run and the halftime break did little to break Arizona’s offensive rhythm.

David Lucas scored a career-high 27 points, but it was all for naught in Oregon State’s 83-79 loss at Arizona State on Saturday. The Beavers rallied from a nine-point deficit to take a four-point lead with under five minutes to play, but Oregon State’s big men had no answer for Ike Diogu down the stretch. Diogu finished with 24 points after being held scoreless for the first 13 minutes of the game. Stephens and Nash combined for 21 points in defeat.

Up Next: Thursday vs. Stanford, Saturday vs. Cal

No. 1 Stanford Cardinal (16-0, 7-0)

The Cardinal hosted the SoCal schools last weekend, dispatching of UCLA rather easily before prevailing in one of their tougher tests of the season against USC. In Friday’s 67-52 victory over the Bruins, the Cardinal raced out to a 42-21 halftime lead, limiting Ben Howland’s squad to 36 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes. Junior All-American Josh Childress was in the starting lineup for the first time this season, but it was senior Justin Davis who made the most offensive impact. Davis went 10-for-11 from the field, finishing with a game-high 21 points and five rebounds. Childress was solid as well, contributing 14 points, six rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes. Stanford’s leading scorer Matt Lottich struggled to find his touch but managed 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting.

In a physical match-up two nights later, Stanford found itself in the rare position of coming from behind, erasing a six-point USC halftime lead to win 77-67. One of the unsung heroes for Stanford was senior Nick Robinson, who scored all of his career-high-tying 13 points in the second half. Robinson was one of four Cardinal players in double figures, led by Chris Hernandez’s 18, including a bank three-pointer with the shot clock expiring that shifted the momentum of the game in the second half. Hernandez also had seven assists and five rebounds. Childress had 11 points and seven boards.

Up Next: Thursday at Oregon State, Saturday at Oregon

UCLA Bruins (9-6, 5-3)

Coming off their first Pac-10 loss of the season against Arizona, the Bruins failed to get back into the win column last weekend, dropping a pair at No. 1 Stanford and California. UCLA hung with the Cardinal for the first seven minutes of Friday’s game before going into a scoring drought as Stanford took control. Trailing by 21 at the break, the Bruins went on an 8-0 run early in the second half to cut the Cardinal lead to 48-35, but would get no closer until it was 62-50 with 3:39 left. Dijon Thompson had 15 points on 6-for-14 shooting in defeat but no other player finished in double figures. Freshman Trevor Ariza had the most disappointing performance of all, scoring just two points on 1-for-7 shooting.

UCLA’s struggles continued Saturday at Cal, where they found themselves playing from behind in the first half again. While the Bruins took a 31-30 lead into the break, Cal freshman Leon Powe got hot in the second half, scoring 12 of his 19 points, and UCLA could not hit shots or make defensive stops down the stretch. Thompson led all Bruins scorers with 17 points while T.J. Cummings added 12 and Ariza 11.

Up Next: Wednesday vs. USC

USC Trojans (8-9, 3-5)

USC put up a valiant effort in both of its Bay Area battles last weekend, but headed home with a pair of losses to No. 1 Stanford and Cal. The Trojans fell to the Bears on the road for the 11th time in 12 games, losing a late lead in a 63-62 loss at Haas Pavilion. Desmon Farmer scored a team-high 17 points and Jeff McMillan added 11, but USC had no answer for an old foe, Richard Midgley. Midgley had a career-high 23 points last season against the Trojans and scored a season-high 22 points in Thursday’s win. USC shot an atrocious 7-for-18 from the free throw line, arguably the difference in the game.

USC hung tough with No. 1 Stanford on Saturday before succumbing in the second half, 67-57. Farmer, seemingly unfazed by Stanford’s Sixth Man Club, which began hounding the eccentric scorer more than an hour before tip-off and throughout the game, scored 13 first half points in guiding the Trojans to the lead. The lead was six at the half and marked just the second time this season a Stanford opponent was ahead going into the break. USC led 47-46 with 10:51 to play before Chris Hernandez drained a three-pointer for the Cardinal to start a 10-1 run. The Trojans have not won at Maples Pavilion since 1992.

Up Next: Wednesday at UCLA

Washington Huskies (7-8, 2-5)

Nate Robinson was feeling it from long range and the Huskies were feeling their second straight conference win, 75-62 over rival Washington State. Robinson led all scorers with 17 points on the road and Will Conroy (14 points) and Tre Simmons (10 points) also finished in double figures. The Huskies, who led throughout after breaking a 2-2 tie, shot 63 percent as a team in the first 20 minutes and led 37-23 at the half. Washington out-rebounded the Cougars 32-24 and shot 9-for-17 from long range.

Up Next: Thursday vs. Arizona, Saturday vs. Arizona State

Washington State Cougars (8-9, 2-5)

Dick Bennett’s squad sank below .500 for the first time this season following a 75-62 loss to Washington last week. The Cougars’ normally stifling defense allowed the Huskies to shoot 53 percent from the field in Washington State’s third consecutive loss. Jeff Varem had 14 points in defeat and Marcus Moore poured in 11. Thomas Kelati shot 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and finished with 13 points for the Cougars.

Up Next: Thursday vs. Arizona State, Saturday vs. Arizona

Horizon League Notebook

Horizon League Notebook

by Nick Dettmann

Alright, how much more can Cleveland State take?

Everything but good has happened to the Vikings so far this season under first-year head coach Mike Garland. Losing two players due to academic ineligibility to injuries, the Vikings have seen it all. And it got worse.

The Vikings already down from the services of Modibo Niakate (disciplinary reasons), Walt Waters (academics), Pete Ritzema (academics) and Pape Badiane (injury), the Vikings could only wonder what else could happen to them.

In the Vikings home game against UW-Milwaukee on Thursday night, the Vikings suffered another blow. This time it was on the injury front.

Junior guard Walt Chavis was lost for possibly the rest of the season after suffering a broken right hand. Chavis was a prime contender for this year’s All-Defensive Team in the Horizon League. His length of absence will be determined following his surgery, which he had on Tuesday.

“The loss of Walt Chavis is the latest in a series of blows to this team,” Mike Garland said in a statement. “He is our best on-the-ball defender and keys the tempo of our offense with his ability to get the ball up the court. He will be extremely hard to replace.”

Chavis, a junior from Steelton, Pa., is one of three CSU players to have started every game this year. He is averaging 5.7 points per game and ranks fourth in the Horizon League in steals (30), seventh in assists (66) and ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.22). He also ranks 10th on the all-time list with 263 career assists at CSU.

The loss of Chavis leaves Garland with seven eligible players and relatively healthy scholarship players. Three of those seven are fighting through injuries themselves and have limited their contributions.

By the way, this is all on top of a 13-game losing streak.

Freshman Luke Murphy will move into the starting line-up at the small forward position and Jermaine Robinson will scoot over to the point-guard spot.

“I am proud of the way our team has handled all of the adversity that has come this year,” Garland said. “Most teams would have given up by now but the players we have left have stepped up and worked even harder to overcome the losses. It is a great example of the character of this team and its desire to win.”

Butler lands Clemson transfer

Julian Betko, a native of Ruzomberok, Slovakia, has left Clemson University and has enrolled at Butler University. He has immediately joined the team and will be eligible in the spring of the 2004-’05 school year.

The 6-foot-5 sophomore played in all 28 games for the Tigers last season. He averaged 1.9 points a game in 9.9 minutes of action. He had a career-high eight points against Wake Forest and Winthrop. Betko is a first-team Academic All-ACC and was picked to both the ACC and Clemson academic honor rolls.

Betko saw action in just one game this season. He formally announced his decision that he was going to leave Clemson back on Jan. 6.

As a senior at Sharon High School in Pennsylvania, Betko averaged 22.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, while shooting 58 percent from beyond the three-point arc. He was also money from the free throw line, as he hit 91% of his charity tosses during his career.

ESPN field announcement changed

Due to the Super Bowl, the announcement of the field for the second annual ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday has been moved from Sunday, Feb. 1 to Monday, Feb. 2. 46 teams in 23 games will take part in this event that gives mid-major a ‘last shot’ to impress the NCAA Selection Committee.

The Horizon League has eight teams in the field. Wright State, due to previous schedule commitments, is the only league team not participating. Butler, Cleveland State, Illinois-Chicago, UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee will have home games for the event. Detroit, Loyola-Chicago and Youngstown will head out onto the road.

Last season, the league went 2-1 in the event.

Player of the Week

Cedrick Banks, Illinois-Chicago.

Banks averaged 26 points in two games, including a career-high 36 in a win over UW-Green Bay. He scored 24 points in the first half of that game. He also had 16 points in a one-point loss to Wright State.

Newcomer of the Week

Blake Schilb, Loyola-Chicago.

Schilb averaged 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in two last week. He had 17 points and had seven rebounds in a loss to Green Bay.

Games of the Week

Detroit at UW-Green Bay, Jan. 29 and UW-Green Bay at UW-Milwaukee, Jan. 31.

What a weekend it is going to be for UW-Green Bay head coach Tod Kowalczyk and his Phoenix. Two HUGE league games coming up. The first is at home against Detroit. Detroit is sour after a 17-point beating at home at the hands of the Panthers. They will be looking to rebound and what a way to do it than get a huge road win.

Detroit and Green Bay will meet for the first time this year. The Titans sit right in the middle of the pack of the league standings (9-8 overall, 3-4 Horizon League). The Phoenix (12-6, 6-2), after two losses in a one-week span, they are going to need the win. If Detroit can pull of the win, they will even out to 4-4 and move to within two and a half games of Green Bay for third place and keep pace with fourth place UIC. Green Bay needs the win, as they will play Milwaukee on Saturday. If they lost to Detroit and Milwaukee, the Phoenix will be four games out of first with nine games left on their schedule. They can ill-afford to fall that far behind. If Detroit can pull out the win, the re-match of the two on February 26 in Detroit will be a huge game, as tournament seeds could very well be on the line.

But a win on Thursday for Green Bay will leave them in good shape for their re-match against Milwaukee at the U.S. Cellular Arena. UWM pounded Green Bay in the first meeting at the Resch Center, 82-70, just 10 days ago. UWM is red-hot going into February. UWM has won eight straight games, are 9-0 in the conference and hold a two-game lead in the standing after beating Wright State last night.

In the last meeting, Milwaukee got off to a fast start, forcing Green Bay to play from behind the entire game. Green Bay MUST not let that happen again. A near-capacity crowd is anticipated for the match-up on Saturday and if the Panthers get the home-crowd behind them early. They will be tough to beat. Green Bay needs to get Brandon Morris going early, as he was near non-existent in the first meeting. If he gets hot early and if Green Bay can break UWM’s press, they will have a very good chance of pulling the big road win.

UW-Milwaukee (14-5 overall, 9-0 Horizon League):

It was a busy week for the defending league tournament champions. And, they came out 3-0 to extend the best league start in school history and give them eight straight wins. The first game of the week was their annual swing at Cleveland State and Detroit. Last season, the Panthers won both games in the two cities. They replicated it again this year after a 78-64 win over CSU and 85-68 over Detroit. Dylan Page had 20 points and Ed McCants to lead UWM over the Vikings. The Panthers/Vikings contest featured the top three scorers in the league (Page, CSU’s Jermaine Robinson and McCants). Robinson had 21 points for the Vikings.

The third member of UWM’s three-headed monster, Joah Tucker, had a season-high 26 points to help the Panthers give Detroit their worst home loss since 1994. Page had 21 and McCants had 19 points. Willie Wallace had 23 for the Titans. UWM shot 59 percent from the field on 29-of-49 shooting.

UWM finished off the week with their second first place showdown in 10 days with a visit to Wright State. The Panthers broke Wright State’s Seth Doliboa’s streak of 16 straight double-digit scoring games by limiting him to seven points on 2-of-11 shooting en route to 68-53 win. “Our defense in the conference has been really strong and improving,” UWM head coach Bruce Pearl said. “It’s an area we’ve been focusing on. We weren’t a very good defensive team early in the year but we’re starting to play good team defense.” Page had yet another 20-point game, his 13th of the season, with 23 points, while McCants had 16 and Tucker had 15. All 15 of Tucker’s points came in the second half.

The Panthers get four days to prep for the big showdown with Green Bay. If Green Bay wins, they stay a game off the Panthers for first. But if Milwaukee wins, Green Bay falls three games behind and is succumbed to the season sweep for the Panthers. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. EDT.

Injury report – Ricardo Freeman, G (personal) has left team.

Wright State (10-9, 7-2):

Paul Biancardi’s crew liked close games this week. Last Wednesday against UIC at the Ervin J. Nutter Center, Wright State’s Alex Kock hit a shot with four seconds left to propel the Raiders to a 61-60 win. Seth Doliboa led four Raiders in double figures with 17 points. Drew Burleson had 14 points and eight rebounds as well for the Raiders.

The second nail-biter came in Indianapolis against Butler. This time, it was Butler who had the chance to win it, but missed as the buzzer sounded. Read more on this game by clicking here: http://www.hoopville.com/authors/14?EntryID=6710.

Their third tough game of the week was most certainly a tough one, as the UWM Panthers came to town. With Doliboa failing to reach double figures for just the second time in the last 72 games, the Raiders fell behind early in the second half en route to a 68-55 loss to UWM on Tuesday. The Panthers used a 20-7 run to start the second half to break open the game. Vernard Hollins had 13 points, while Kock had 11 for Wright State.

Wright State will continue their three-game home stand with visits from Cleveland State on Saturday and Loyola next Wednesday. The Raiders will be re-united with UWM in Milwaukee on Saturday, Feb. 7.

UW-Green Bay (12-6, 6-2):

The Phoenix, who struggled on the road last season, made it four road wins in a row with a 60-55 win at Loyola on Thursday night. The Phoenix had foul trouble with five players with two or more fouls. Despite the hacking, Green Bay still had a 29-18 lead at the half. Loyola shot a season-low 19 percent from the field in the first half. But, the second half was a different story as the Ramblers jumped on the Phoenix 17-3 in the first five minutes. But Green Bay would respond with a 7-0 run to re-take the lead at 39-35. Loyola tied the game at 45 with 8:10 to go, but could not re-take the lead. Loyola would make it close late, but Green Bay had 5-of-6 free throws in the final 29 seconds. Matt Rhode led Green Bay with 13 points and Brandon Morris had 12, including 3-of-3 from out deep.

Just off of their big road win at Loyola, the Phoenix continued their Chicago trip as they made the 30-minute commute to UIC in downtown Chicago. The Phoenix held off a late charge from Loyola, but could not hold off the hot-shooting Cedrick Banks, as he scored a career-high 36 points to give Green Bay a 74-57 loss on Saturday night. Despite Banks’ big night, the Phoenix were able to keep it close as they trailed 47-41 early in the second half. But Banks would nail consecutive three’s to extend the lead to 53-41 and the lead would not fall below 10 the rest of the game. Terry Parker was the only Phoenix player in double figures, as he had 16 points and a career-high six assists without a turnover.

UW-Green Bay has their toughest two-game stretch of the season this week. They will have Perry Watson’s Detroit Titans in town on Thursday. Then, they will re-unite with UW-Milwaukee on Saturday. This rivalry is starting to heat up as after the meeting in Green Bay on the 17th, the assistant coaches from each school got into a verbal confrontation and had to be separated.

Illinois-Chicago (14-7, 5-4):

It was a busy week for the Flames, the busiest since their season-opening tournament in Cincinnati. The Flames had three games in five days. The first one was a heart-breaking loss to Wright State, 61-60, in Dayton. Wright State’s Alex Kock scored on a put-back with four seconds left to propel the Raiders over UIC. The Flames trailed 34-25 at the break and trailed by nine, 53-44, with 11:04 to go in the second half. But, the Flames, being the league favorites proved why, as they went on a 12-2 run to take a 56-55 lead with 5:10 to go. The two teams would trade baskets for the next three-plus minutes, as UIC’s Cedrick Banks, who had 16 points, hit a jumper and had a lay-up to give UIC a 60-59 lead with 1:08 to go. Still leading by one with 16 seconds left, senior Martell Bailey had a 1-and-1 free throw situation but missed, setting up WSU’s final possession and Kock’s game-winning bucket. Aaron Carr tried a buzzer-beating three at the end, but rimmed out.

Banks broke out for the best game of his collegiate career, as he registered 36 points, 24 in the first half, in UIC’s 74-57 win over Green Bay at the UIC Pavilion. Banks scored 63 percent of the Flames first half points (38) en route to a 13-point halftime lead in front of 5,012 in Chicago. Banks was 13-of-21 from the field and knocked down a career-high six three’s as well on the night. The 36 points are the fourth most in a game in UIC history. Bailey was not too shabby himself as he got his team-leading fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 assists. Bailey leads the nation in total assists and sits second in the country with 8.5 per game. Only Troy State’s Greg Davis has more, 9.1.

To round out the week, Banks, who scored 24 points in the first half against Green Bay, had zero in the first stanza against Loyola. But, he would rebound to score 22 in the second en route to a 64-57 win over the Ramblers and completing the season sweep. Senior Armond Williams had 10 points while Bailey was up to usual sharing self with 10 assists, giving him 179 for the season. “This is the way that I expect a UIC-Loyola game to be played,” UIC head coach Jimmy Collins said. “We needed to win this game and it was a hard fought game. I am definitely please to come out of here with a victory.” After the scoreless first half and the 28-23 deficit at the break, Banks help spearhead an 11-0 rally out of the break, giving UIC a 34-28 lead with 17:30 to go. The Ramblers would take a 51-48 lead with 6:38 left, but would be succumbed to a 10-3 run by UIC, with six points from Banks, as the Flames put the nail in the coffin.

The Flames only have one game this week and it is a biggie. They will head to Indianapolis to take on Butler. The Bulldogs have had UIC’s number lately as they have won 10 in a row against Collins’ crew. But after their return to Chicago, the Flames will be welcoming hated UW-Milwaukee on Feb. 5 at the UIC Pavilion.

Injury report – Josh Williams, F (academics), indefinitely.

Detroit (9-8, 3-4):

Willie Wallace scored a career-high 23 points, but that was not enough as the Titans suffered their third loss at home and second in double-digits in their 85-68 loss to UWM on Thursday. Milwaukee took early control, as they would go into the half with a 39-32 lead. But, Detroit came out antsy in the second half, as they closed the gap to 41-38 with 18:31 remaining. UWM would open up the lead right back, as they scored the next seven points to get the lead to 10. And, shortly after Detroit go it under 10 at 48-40, UWM went on a 12-0 run and that would be all she wrote. “The threesome of (Dylan) Page, (Ed) McCants and (Joah) Tucker was not only too good, but it was too much for us,” Detroit head coach Perry Watson said. “When we’d get close, one of those three would make a play. They’d make a steal, they’d get a rebound, something. It’s discouraging that they could come into Calihan and be tougher than us.”

The Titans will head out onto the road for one of the games of the week against UW-Green Bay. It is the first meeting of the season and it is one that could very well have a lot of implications on tournament seeds later in the season. Then, Detroit will head south to Chicago to take on the struggling Ramblers in a Saturday matinee at the Joseph J. Gentile Center.

Butler (7-10, 3-5):

Riding on their first win streak since the beginning of the season, the Bulldogs pulled out a tough win on the road against Youngstown State last Wednesday. Butler’s Bruce Horan drilled home a three at the end of regulation to force an overtime and another to win the game, 67-66 in overtime in Youngstown, Ohio. Horan hit a three to tie the game at 56 at the end of 40 minutes with four second left. Then, he hit the second dramatic shot with 11 seconds remaining in overtime to get the win. Horan was a blistering 3-of-5 shooting from out deep. Duane Lightfoot led Butler with a game-high 25 points and sophomore Avery Sheets had 17.

In their second tight affair in three days, the Bulldogs did not come out so lucky. Despite Wright State not scoring the last five minutes of the game, the Bulldogs could not get past the Raiders in a 54-53 set back at the legendary Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs had a chance to win the game at regulation as they were down 54-53. Off a missed free throw shot, Mike Monserez dribbled the length of the floor pulled up a jumper that hit all iron. (Read more about this game: http://www.hoopville.com/authors/14?EntryID=6710)

You cannot help to wonder when Butler is going to find their game. They will get a struggling and very-thin Cleveland State team on Thursday night. Then, they will hope to extend a 10-game winning streak against UIC, as the Flames come to town on Saturday to help wrap-up a three-game home stand.

Injury report – Brandon Crone, F (knee), indefinitely.

Loyola-Chicago (6-12, 2-6):

With second-place Green Bay in town, the Ramblers struggled in the first half, as they fell behind 18-5 early and then 29-18 at the break. But the Ramblers exploded in the second half with a 17-3 run, aided by Blake Schilb’s 11 points off the bench to help put Loyola up 35-32. But Green Bay came back with two quick scores that put them ahead for good. Demetrius Williams had 20 points off the bench and seven rebounds to lead the Ramblers. Schilb, who had scored just 18 points in his last four outings, finished the night with 17.

In their city re-match, the Ramblers hosted UIC at the Gentile Center on Monday night. Unfortunately, the struggles continued as the Ramblers fell 64-57 to the Flames. It is Loyola’s seventh loss in a row, their longest since losing eight in a row spanning the 2000-’01 and 2001-’02 seasons. Loyola shot a blazing 59 percent from the field, giving them a 28-23 edge at the intermission. However, in the second stanza, it was UIC’s turn. UIC scored the first 11 points of the half to give themselves a 34-28 lead. Loyola re-took the lead with 5:21 to go 53-50. UIC would open up one last run to shut the door. Williams registered his fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds. But what killed Loyola were 23 turnovers and UIC’s Cedrick Banks’ 22 points in the second half.

Loyola last got into the win column way back on Jan. 5 at Cleveland State. Unfortunately, CSU is not coming up anytime soon (Feb. 26). But, they do get the second to last place team, Youngstown State in Youngstown, Ohio on Thursday. Then, they will return home for a matinee affair with the Detroit Titans.

Injury report – Terrance Whiters, G (back), day-to-day.

Youngstown State (5-12, 2-6):

In what they thought was a victory, turned out to be a heart-breaking loss against Butler last Wednesday night. Leading by three with seconds to go, Butler’s Bruce Horan drilled a three at the buzzer to send the game to overtime. Horan then struck again in the overtime with a three with 10 seconds left, to pace Butler to a 67-66 win in overtime. The Bulldogs and the Penguins tied the game 16 times and the lead changed hands 16 times, as neither team could open up a big lead. Adam Baumann scored a team-high 18 points and 11 rebounds, for his eighth career double-double, in the loss.

To finish off the week, the Penguins probably wish they could schedule the rest of their league games against Cleveland State. The Penguins are 2-0 against the Vikings, 0-6 against the rest of the league, after a 61-59 win by YSU in Cleveland on Saturday. The Penguins fell behind early, 32-26 in the second half, but scored 12 unanswered points to take the lead they would never give up. Baumann led YSU with 17 points and seven rebounds and Doug Underwood had 16. The win gave the Penguins their first season sweep of a league opponent since joining the conference two seasons ago.

Youngstown State will finish off January with two home games. First up will be Loyola on Thursday night and will finish off with a non-league game against IP-Fort Wayne on Saturday.

Cleveland State (4-15, 0-8):

Well…what can be said about the season for the Vikings so far? They have had just about anything you can think of go wrong with them. But that does not mean that they are rolling over and playing dead…they are trying to get better from what they have, which is not a lot. It would not get better, as UWM came to town on Thursday. After an early lead for CSU, the Panthers took over en route to a 78-64 win in Cleveland. Jermaine Robinson had 21 points for the Vikings, who lost Walt Chavis to injury during the game. Victor Morris had 15 points and Omari Westley had 11 and a game-high nine rebounds. CSU fell behind by as many as 25 points in the second. But they came back to close it within six, 47-41 with 14:37 left. The Panthers would respond right back with a 17-2 run to take a 64-43 lead with 8:39 to go.

In their final game of the week, the Vikings trailed Youngstown State 59-51 with three minutes to go in the game. But, YSU would go into a scoring funk and allowed CSU to get back into the game at 61-59 with 43 seconds left. CSU had the chance to win it, as YSU missed two shots in the final seven seconds of the game, but grabbed their own rebounds en route to a 61-59 loss for the Vikings. It is the 13th straight loss for CSU. Robinson had 23 points in the loss to lead the Vikings.

Something good is bound to happen soon or later, but it is not going to come this week. On Thursday, the Vikings start a two-game road swing with the first stop in Indianapolis against Butler. The Vikings will then head closer to home on Saturday to play Wright State.

Injury report – Walt Chavis, G (broken hand), Walt Waters, C (academics), Percell Coles, G (academics), Pape Badiane, C (broken hand), out indefinitely.

Patriot League Notebook

Patriot League Notebook

by Steve Sheridan

This past weekend was a very entertaining weekend of basketball in the Patriot League, with a large share of very good basketball games. Conversely, there were also a few games that were decided before the first 20 minutes had concluded. But most importantly, the eight games played this weekend went a long way in determining who are the haves and the have-nots in the league this season.

At this point in the league season, nobody has yet to stop the Lafayette Leopards, who continue to stay atop the Patriot League as the lone undefeated squad. Also, it looks like Navy is keeping a firm grasp on the cellar keys to the Patriot League, having yet to win a league game this season, although Army might wrestle those keys away if they continue their terrible play (see below).

And in the middle of the pack, there is a trio of two-win teams that find themselves looking up in the standings, wrestling each other for the all-important statistical advantage for when tournament time comes.

Just as this weekend was a litmus test for many teams to see where they stand in the Patriot League, another important league weekend looms in the near future, as teams strive to prove they belong near the top of the standings.

Patriot League Player of the Week

Austen Rowland, Lehigh; The senior guard single-handedly took the Lehigh team under his wing this weekend, averaging 29 points in two games against Lafayette and Army. His best game of his short Patriot League career took place in the team’s OT loss to Lafayette, in which he dropped 35 points on the Leopards. The Hyattsville, MD native also averaged five assists, four rebounds and three steals this weekend.

Patriot League Rookies of the Week

The League’s Pick: Marcus Harley, Lafayette; The first-year guard averaged 15.5 points per game in the Leopards’ two wins this weekend, including 17 points in the win versus Lehigh.

My Pick: Kendall Chones, Colgate; The forward stepped up his play in the absence of leading scorer Howard Blue, scoring 16 points and grabbing five rebounds in both the team’s loss to American and its victory over Navy. His emergence was a pleasant surprise in a weekend of uncertainty for the Raiders.

Lafayette Works Overtime to Keep Unbeaten Record Intact

The Leopards (14-4 overall, 5-0 PL) must really like the game of basketball, because 80 minutes just wasn’t enough for Lafayette this weekend. In one of the best basketball games of the season, the Leopards outlasted Lehigh in a first place showdown on Friday night, 111-104, to take sole possession of the top spot. Justin DeBerry carried the Leopards past the archrival Mountain Hawks, scoring 26 points and dishing out seven assists to lead five Leopards in double figures. Lafayette excelled from the free-throw line on the evening, hitting 35-of-43 free-throw attempts, including 14 alone from the charity stripe in the extra session. Lafayette’s sizzling offense managed to carry them through this one, at the team shot 56 percent from the field and nearly matched that with a 53 percent outing from three-point range. Along with shooting at an 82 percent clip from the free-throw line, the Leopards managed to put together a very impressive offensive night at the right time. And let it be noted that Lafayette scored 21 points in the five-minute overtime alone; that stat will come in handy during another team’s review.

Not content to sit on their laurels, the Lafayette team came back on Sunday and put away a pesky Bucknell team, 81-72. Freshman Marcus Harley stepped up for coach Fran O’Hanlon, scoring a team-high 14 points in 25 minutes off the bench for the Leopards. Rob Dill added 13 points and 4 blocks, while Mike Farrell became the 20th Leopard to snatch up 500 rebounds for his career. Lafayette never trailed in the second half, utilizing just enough defensive pressure to repel a couple of Bison late-game charges. As in the Lehigh game, Lafayette was able to out-score its opponents’ reserves, as the Leopard subs registered 17 more points than their Bucknell counterparts.

Now with a big bull’s eye squarely on their backs, the Lafayette men face an upcoming four-game road trip, leaving the Kirby Sports Center where the squad has won its last 11 games and 15 of 16 contests. The team will face off with a surging American team on Friday night and a sinking Navy team Sunday afternoon.

A Pair of Battling Birds Perched Near Standings Summit

Lehigh and American sit tied for second place in the Patriot League this weekend, after the Mountain Hawks’ weekend split and the Eagles’ two-game sweep.

The Mountain Hawks (11-7 overall, 4-1 PL) fell out of first place with Friday’s tough loss to Lafayette, despite the efforts of Austen Rowland. The senior guard dropped 35 points on the Leopards in a long 42 minutes of action, vaulting over the 1,000-point plateau for his collegiate career. Another bright spot for Lehigh was the play of its freshmen, who each recorded double-digits in scoring. Jose Olivero continued his stellar rookie campaign with 17 points, while Jason Mgebroff and Kyle Neptune both recorded career-highs with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Lehigh led for most of the first three quarters, but a Lafayette rally faced the Mountain Hawks with a 1-point deficit with 3 minutes remaining. Lehigh wouldn’t quit, however, with Olivero tying the game with 11 seconds left with a pair of free-throws to send it to overtime.

The team bounced back on Sunday afternoon, when the team was fortunate enough to play Army. In the team’s 60-45 victory, Austen Rowland once against led the team with a game-high 23 points as the team led throughout the entire contest. The Mountain Hawks held the Black Knights to just 10 points on 12 percent shooting in the first half, before the Army team boosted its percentage up into the thirties by the end of the evening. Junior Nick Monserez was the only other Mountain Hawk in double digits for the Bethlehem ballers, who made sure no Army comeback would occur by shooting an excellent 57 percent from the floor in the second half and an even 50 percent for the game. Freshman Jason Mgebroff had another encouraging outing for Coach Billy Taylor, as he contributed seven points and eight rebounds off the bench.

The American Eagles (10-9 overall, 4-1 PL) swept through this past weekend to grab hold of second place, beginning Friday night with a hard-fought 74-71 road win against Colgate. This game matched up two teams in gear offensively, as both teams ended up with identical 53 percent shooting percentages from the field. Matej Cresnik and Linas Lekavicius were the only two Eagles to score more than ten points, but the duo was helped greatly by five other players scoring at least seven points. Lekavicius, along with Jamaal Caterina (7 points) provided a spark for American off the bench, helping the team overcome 44 percent shooting from the free throw line. Andres Rodriguez had a particularly tough time from the charity stripe, going 1-for-7 and keeping Colgate in the game as the team continued to foul the Patriot League assist leader. While missing 10 free throws may not have hurt them against Colgate, you can be sure that type of shooting performance would not stand up against Lehigh or Lafayette.

The Eagles continued playing well and left Worcester on Sunday with the team’s first ever road victory against the Crusaders, leaving the Hart Center with a 62-59 decision. This time, Andres Rodriguez clinched the game for the Eagles with his free-throw shooting, as he scored the team’s last six points and 10 of his 14 on the afternoon from the free-throw line. Once again, Matej Cresnik led the team with 15 points, followed by Rodriguez’ 14 tallies, while seven other Eagles got their names on the score sheet as well. American dominated the Crusaders in the paint, scoring 28 points to the Cross’ 12, in storming back from a six-point halftime deficit. Freshman Andre Ingram was held to only five points on 2-of-10 shooting for the Eagles, being held under double digits in consecutive games for the first time since the second and third games of the year.

Lehigh will attempt to replicate the success of American this weekend when it faces off with both Colgate and Holy Cross, with both games being played at Stabler Arena. American, meanwhile, gets the daunting task of attempting to knock off unbeaten Lafayette in front of the Eagles’ home crowd, but for their efforts they also get to play Army on Sunday. It will be an interesting weekend for these two teams, as Lehigh will be going up against two very tough teams hungry to get back into the thick of things in the Patriot League, while American has the toughest test of them all in Lafayette.

Colgate Singing the “Blue”s

The Raiders (10-8 overall, 2-3 PL) split their two games this past weekend against American and Navy, which was a respectable result considering the team was without the services of senior Howard Blue, who leads the team in scoring and ranks third in the league in both scoring and rebounding. Mark Linebaugh scored 21 points to lead Colgate, but it was freshman Kendall Chones who picked up the slack for Blue in his absence. The forward scored 16 points and grabbed five boards in his first collegiate start, including hitting all seven of his shots from the field. The team shot 53 percent on the evening, but as mentioned above the Raiders also allowed American to shoot at the same clip. The Raider bench contributed very little to the loss, as they were outscored by their American counterparts by a score of 31-10. Jon Simon led the Colgate reserves with six points.

Against the Naval Academy, a pair of freshman stepped up for Colgate and rallied the team to victory. Kendall Chones had his second straight impressive outing, again collecting 16 points and five rebounds, while Jon Simon scored 11 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to keep the Raiders ahead of the Midshipmen. Simon’s 21 points, a career high, was aided by 9-of-9 shooting from the charity stripe. Besides Chones and Simon, three other Raiders reached double figures, while the team’s bench produced 36 points – thanks in large part to Simon – but nevertheless a huge improvement from two nights before. Colgate once again shot over 50 percent for the game (55 percent), but this time was able to keep Navy under 50 percent (49 percent). The Middies shot the ball well in the first half, opening up a six-point lead at one point, before Colgate went on a 15-4 run to close out the first-half and regain a lead they would now relinquish.

Colgate has a difficult weekend ahead of them, at the Raiders travel to Lewisburg to take on Bucknell before trekking to Bethlehem to take on the Mountain Hawks of Lehigh. And, while the team managed to pull off a split last weekend, if the team remains without the services of Howard Blue, Colgate will have to pull off a couple miracles in order to defeat these two strong teams.

Holy Cross and Bucknell Each Win One, Lose One

Holy Cross and Bucknell both kept pace with Colgate last weekend, as both teams were victorious on Friday before falling on Sunday.

The Crusaders (8-10 overall, 2-3 PL) got back on the winning track on Friday by cruising to an 88-54 win over the winless Midshipmen of Navy. Senior guard Jave Meade was all over the floor for Holy Cross, scoring a game-high 15 points, dishing out seven assists and adding six steals. A couple of big runs in the first half helped Holy Cross pull away from Navy, as an 11-0 run closed out by eight straight points by Keith Simmons pulled the Crusaders ahead, while a 20-5 run last in the first half helped put the Middies away for good. Holy Cross held a 23-point advantage at the half, as the team shot the lights out in the first half, connecting on two-thirds of their shots. Ralph Willard’s club was able to coast through the second half, as no starter played more than 27 minutes for Holy Cross on the evening.

Holy Cross against jumped out to an early lead against American on Sunday, but the team’s shooting failed them in the second half, allowing the Eagles to erase a ten-point deficit to win for the first time at the Hart Center. Once again, Jave Meade did all he could for his team, as he poured in 14 points while adding seven assists. His first assist of the evening was number 532 on his career, breaking the old Patriot League record set in 1997 by Navy’s Brian Walker. Greg Kinsey also added 14 points for the Crusaders, who shot just 28 percent from the field in the second half. Holy Cross was held to just one field goal in over 11 minutes during a 19-3 American run late in the second half, and a late Crusader surge was not enough to overcome the team’s dismal shooting stretch.

Speaking of dismal shooting performances, the Bucknell Bison (6-12 overall, 2-3 PL) might have been able to use some local high school players and still beat Army on Friday, as the team barely broke a sweat in a 56-23 embarrassment of the Black Knights. Abe Badmus and Charles Lee both scored 13 points to lead the Bison offense, but most of the attention was on the lowest-scoring performance against a Bucknell team since the pre-shot clock era of 1941, when the Bison defeated Susquehanna, 22-18. The Bison dominated on the glass against the overmatched Black Knights, rebounding all those Army misses to the tune of a 43-17 rebounding advantage. In a surprising statistic, Bucknell didn’t make a field goal in the final 10 minutes of the game, but by that point the game was so out of hand that it didn’t matter. Bucknell could have played with four, maybe even three players and still won.

Things got a little bit tougher for the Bison on Sunday, when they were beaten by the still-undefeated Lafayette Leopards, 81-72. Bucknell actually came out of the game with a higher shooting percentage than the Leopards, but the team’s three-point shooting and free-throw shooting let the team down. Bucknell shot only 29 percent from beyond the arc, while hitting only 17 percent of its free throws, compared to 45 percent and 82 percent, respectively, for Lafayette. Chris McNaughton and Kevin Bettencourt both had 16 points to pace to Bison attack, however McNaughton fouled out late in the second half. After giving up the fewest points in League history, the 81 points scored by Lafayette were the most Bucknell has given up in a Patriot League contest since the 2001 season.

The Crusaders take to the road this weekend, in two crucial games against Lehigh and Bucknell. Bucknell stays home this weekend to take on the Crusaders while also welcoming Colgate to Sojka Pavilion, looking to defeat the two teams currently tied with them in the league.

Down Times For the Service Academies

It’s kind of getting repetitive, but it just has to be said once again. Army and Navy do not have very good basketball teams this season, and it is becoming readily apparent that these two squads will certainly be battling each other to stay out of the league basement for the remainder of the year.

The Black Knights (4-13 overall, 1-4 PL) put together one of the worst shooting weekends in the history of the Patriot League in falling to Bucknell and Lehigh. Against the Bison, Army was held to just 23 points, the lowest school total since 1941 and the second-lowest total for any school since the inception of the shot clock in 1986. Army hit as many free throws as field goals on the night, seven, in shooting under 20 percent for the game, including a ridiculous NINE percent in the second half. That’s 2-of 21 shooting in the game’s final 20 minutes. As noted above, Lafayette scored 21 points in five minutes of overtime against Lehigh, which really puts into perspective the offensive ineptitude put forth by Army against Bucknell. Josh Wilson, as the only Army player over three points, led the Black Knights with six.

The team didn’t do much better on Sunday afternoon against Lehigh, as a 10-point first half led to thoughts of a repeat performance but only ended up leading to another loss. The team shot 12 percent in the first half, hitting only three first-half shots, before getting its act together and shooting at a 50 percent clip in the game’s second stanza. Matt Bell managed to reach double figures for Army, scoring 11 points, while three other Black Knights actually scored over eight points. The team did hang with Lehigh in the second half, being outscored only 36-35, which does show that the team has the ability to put the ball in the basket, but that the team is just going through a very, very tough stretch at this point.

The Midshipmen (3-15 overall, 0-5 PL) continued their losing ways in the Patriot League as well, first losing by 34 points to Holy Cross on Friday night. Jeff Charles was the only Middie in double figures against The Cross, scoring 12 points, but the team was doomed by yet another slow start. Navy couldn’t get within 29 points for the final 16 minutes of the half, with Holy Cross’ largest lead being 38 points for the game. Yes, this recap is short, basically because there wasn’t too much to say about Navy on this day.

The team did come out on Sunday and play a much better game, but the result was the same as the team lost, 91-84 to Colgate. The team entered the contest having lost all eight road games of the season by an average of 28.8 points, but in this one the Midshipmen actually held a lead for the first 10 minutes of the game. Navy was down by as much as 14 in the second half, but the team clawed back to get within three, thanks to the efforts of Carlton Baldwin, who scored a team-high 19 points in just 19 minutes. Kwame Ofori and David Hooper scored 15 and 12, respectively, while Leonard Green had his best game of the year with 14 points and four boards. Another good sign of the Midshipmen is that, despite the loss, the team shot better than 50 percent from the three-point line, hitting 10-of-14.

One good thing about this weekend’s games is that, when Army faces off against Navy, one of the two teams has to win the game. Of course, when these two teams go at it, it might not be the prettiest of games. Army also has to play once-beaten American, while Navy will attempt to pull of a huge upset against Lafayette.

WAC Notebook

WAC Notebook

by Phil Dailey

The Western Athletic Conference race is starting to heat up as it approaches the halfway point of the conference season. Leading the way for the WAC crown may be a bit of a surprise to some, but remind many of previous years.

After losing its top players from a year ago, Hawaii has made believers out of many doubters, including myself. Known as a poor shooting team away from Honolulu, the Warriors seem to have found their balance and just might be the team to beat come WAC tourney time. However, with the Warriors’ loss Wednesday night against Rice, the WAC now sports a tie for first place. Close behind is Fresno State, preseason favorite Nevada, UTEP and Boise State – all in the mist of tight battle for the regular season title.

Bulldogs find offense

Not much has been said about Louisiana Tech this season – largely because it has been unable to score enough points to surpass its opponents. Last week, LA Tech decided to change it up a bit by beating Southern Methodist, 75-61, in Dallas. Freshman forward Paul Millsap deserves some credit for his efforts all season long averaging 14.8 points per game as well as leading the nation in rebounds with 12.5 a contest. The Bulldogs improved their woeful road record to 3-6 on the year.

“It was a good win because it was our first road win in league play this year,” head coach Keith Richard said. “It was probably our best offensive performance of the year.”

La Tech went on a 9-0 run late in the game to seal the deal, giving Richard his 100th win of his career.

Richard believes a new found team balance allowed the Bulldogs to pull through with the win.

“This happened to be a game where, in particular, Corey (Dean) and Donell (Allick) made some shots, hopefully this will carry on for the next game,” Richard said.

LA Tech has yet another tough road trip again this week as it travels to Idaho to take on Boise State and then to Texas to battle UTEP.

Battle in Reno set for Saturday

This weekend, two of the top teams in the conference square off in Northern Nevada. Fresno State might want to take notice before they arrive on campus that this year’s Wolf Pack squad has been unstoppable at the Lawler Events Center. That is of course if you forget about that preseason loss in Reno, Nev., to Humboldt State back on Nov. 11. Well, that game didn’t count of course, and Nevada sure has redeemed itself as it has gone 9-0 with wins against Kansas, Tulsa and against Rice, 101-76, last Saturday night.

Despite its six losses on the year, Nevada is playing like a tournament team at home and Rice head coach Willis Wilson has one big reason why.

“We didn’t have an answer for Kirk Snyder; He looked like a man amongst boys,” Wilson said about the 25-point defeat to Nevada last week.

Snyder is averaging 17.9 ppg and nearly six boards per game.

Of course everyone is well aware of Snyder at this point, but people around the WAC are now learning of another stand-out player for the Wolf Pack. 6-foot-11 freshman forward/center Nick Fazekas is starting to play a much bigger role for Nevada. The Arvada, Colo., product is scoring 11.7 ppg along with his 7.1 boards a game.

“He’s in his comfort zone. He’s doing a good job on the offensive side of the floor,” Wolf Pack head coach Trent Johnson said.

Nevada is going to need all it can get this weekend from its two top players. The last time Fresno State and Nevada went at it on the hard-court, the Bulldogs squeaked out a 107-99 double overtime win in Fresno, Calif.

You can count on the Bulldogs to be prepared once more for a shootout.

“It’s going to be a very tough game,” Fresno State head coach Ray Lopes said. “If your not prepared for a fight…you’re just going to get beat down.”

Rice is all fired up

The Owls continue to impress as they took down one of the league’s best Wednesday night in Houston. Rice squeaked out a 76-73 home win against Hawaii to move into a tie for first place in WAC. Jason McKrieth led the way for Rice with 19 points while Michael Harris added another 18.

“He’s really starting to come into a zone; he’s become a very, very complete player,” said Rice head coach Willis Wilson earlier in the week about McKrieth.

“We certainly would not have the success without Jason.”

McKrieth averages nearly 15 points and 5 boards per game for the Owls.

Many folks may be surprised at the success of Rice this year, but for the most part they return a squad that won 19 games a year ago.

This weekend the Owls should have a cake-walk at friendly Autry Court against the WACs only winless team, San Jose State.

Quick hits around the WAC (listed in conference standing)

Rice (14-5, 6-2) – Win against Fresno State last week was the first win ever in Fresno for the Owls. Only team the last two years to not lose back-to-back games.

Hawaii (14-5, 6-2) – The Warriors had their six-game winning streak snapped Wednesday against Rice. It was the 15th longest in the nation. Center Haim Shimonovich is the WAC’s career leader in block shots with 132.

Fresno State (10-7, 6-2) – Shantay Legans, Senior transfer from California, continues to lead the WAC in assist with 5.4 per game. He is the first person ever in the WAC to do so on the lowest scoring team in the conference.

Nevada (11-6, 5-3) – 101 points scored last week against Rice was the first time the Wolf Pack has gone over the century mark in Trent Johnson’s four years as head coach. Senior Garry Hill-Thomas lays claim to the most career active free-throw attempts in the WAC with 549.

UTEP (13-4, 4-3) – The Miners are currently 10-1 at home. 71 teams won less than ten games last year including UTEP. Of them, the Miners have the best winning percentage (.765) this season.

Boise State (11-6, 3-4) – Bryan Defares, Booker Nabors and Eric Lane all sat out last week’s 64-58 loss in Hawaii due to unspecified rule violations. Defares (918) and Nabors (914) are projected to be the next two players in the WAC to score 1,000 or more points. Two more wins for the Broncos ties last years total at 13.

Louisiana Tech (9-8, 3-4) – No WAC player has ever led the nation in rebounds, and only one freshman ever has accomplished that feat. Paul Millsap averages slightly less than one board a game than Louisiana State’s Jaime Lloreda.

Southern Methodist (8-9, 2-5) – The Mustangs have lost five of their last six games. SMU is 3-4 in games decided by 5 points or less.

Tulsa (6-10, 2-5) – Its ten losses this year match last seasons total. Only six wins this year, but the Golden Hurricane have won 20 or more games each of the past five seasons.

San Jose State (5-12, 0-7) – The Spartans have lost 9 games in a row. Demetrius Brown leads the WAC in steals with 2.3 per game.

Morning Dish

The Morning Dish – Thursday, January 29th

Utah coach Rick Majerus enters hospital: Two days after Rick Pitino took an indefinite leave of absence due to a urological related pain, Rick Majerus, head coach of the University of Utah’s basketball team for fifteen years, was in the hospital complaining of chest pains. Thankfully, he was released from a Santa Barbara hospital on Wednesday night (don’t worry, the police did not rough him up) and Spokeswoman Janet O’Neill would not release any further information on his condition. Majerus has taken the Utes to 10 tournament appearances and to the title game in 1998 played against eventual national champion Kentucky. It was announced that Majerus would resign at the end of the season, leaving Utah players and coaches stunned. Majerus has coached numerous NBA players, including Keith Van Horn, Andre Miller and Michael Doleac. Meanwhile, Rick Pitino will return to Thursday’s practice after receiving treatment for his undisclosed urological ailment.

North Carolina v North Carolina State: With North Carolina’s recent tumultuous seasons, North Carolina basketball fans have looked to the State schools for relief. It has been almost three years since the Tar Heels beat the Wolfpack, and North Carolina was in the midst of a 2-3 conference start. Add this to the 4-1 record of the Wolfpack in conference play, with big wins over giant killers Florida State and Georgia Tech, and things were not looking good for the Tar Heels. Add in the first half play of the team and a North Carolina fan might rather not like to be recognized as that. However, the Tar Heels, behind the strong effort of Raymond Felton and the scrambling ability of Rashad McCants, held off a late run by the Wolfpack for a 68-66 victory to snap back to five hundred in conference play at 3-3. The loss tied the Wolfpack with Georgia Tech for second in the ACC, a conference with only one team with more then five losses.

UConn back on track: After losing two of its last three, UConn let off a little steam, thanks mostly to Rashad Anderson and Ben Gordon, or should I say the phantom of UConn. A touted sophomore who has had a tough shooting year, Anderson unloaded with 9-12 shooting from the field, including 6-9 from behind the arc, to lead the Huskies to a 96-60 rout of the Virginia Tech Hokies. Emeka Okafor had his usual double-double, and freshman Charlie Villanueva chipped in 12 in his usual 20 minutes of play. Ben Gordon, playing with a protective mask after breaking his nose earlier in January, dropped 22 to play second fiddle to Anderson’s coming out party. It was a new career high for Anderson, and it came just in time for the Huskies.

Vanderbilt’s gone fishing: When Vanderbilt entered conference play against Auburn, they had such high hopes. They were undefeated and had strong victories over such perennial powerhouses as Michigan and Indiana. However, USC’s football team would be quick to point out that the Commodores be thankful that they are not playing under the devilish hand of the BCS, because their strength of schedule would be hurting. Their inadequacies due to lack of competition in non-conference play, despite the presence of perennial powerhouses, was unveiled after consecutive losses to Kentucky and Tennessee. A win over Florida brought the Commodores back into many top 25 polls, but a loss to a struggling Arkansas team forced Vanderbilt to reassess their priorities. Number one priority: learn to win on the road. It was their 12th road SEC loss in a row, a streak that dates to February 23, 2002. They did no better yesterday at home, where they lost to the South Carolina Gamecocks on a last minute tip in by Kerbrell Brown off of a Josh Gonner miss. When things are down, they are really down. Vanderbilt was led by Matt Freije, their senior leader, who had a game high 26 points, but the Commodores were one box-out short against the Gamecocks. They will have no time to rest as they play Kentucky and Florida on consecutive Saturdays. Good luck.

Pittsburgh’s a streaking: Pittsburgh held off upstart Boston College 68-58 with the help of foul ridden guard Carl Krauser. Krauser had five key points down the stretch to help the Panthers extend their 38 game home winning streak, which happens to be tops in the nation. Jaron Brown had 18 points to lead the Panthers, and Chris Taft added 14.

A temple to Cheney: Temple finally got John Chaney’s 700th win for him, something that has been a game in the making. Temple held off St. Bonaventure (not the high school) 76-57 to improve to 7-9 overall, and 2-4 in conference play. Cheney has 475 of the 700 wins at Temple, where he has coached such talented players as Eddie Jones, Marc Macon and Aaron McKie. Though he has never gotten to the final four, he is one of five active coaches with 700 victories, a group that includes Bob Knight, Lou Henson, Eddie Sutton and Lute Olson.

No upsets here: Hoopville Top 25 teams had a good run yesterday with every single ranked team winning. True, there were no elite match-ups outside of North Carolina versus North Carolina State, but none-the-less, with all the recent upsets, ranked teams should feel so lucky to get away with one good day.

#4 Louisville 64, Houston 48: Louisville held down the fort while Rick Pitino recovered with a victory over Houston. Larry O’Bannon led Louisville with 17.

#5 Kentucky 71, Mississippi 61: Erik Daniels scored 24 points on the inside, and was balanced out by senior back-up Antwain Barbour’s four three pointers to help lead Kentucky over Mississippi. Kentucky improves to 4-1 in conference play.

#8 Cincinnati 80, East Carolina 57: James White and Jason Maxiell led Cincinnati to a 23 point victory, something that is direly needed after a 27 point loss to Louisville a week ago.

#12 Mississippi State 82 Tennessee 60: A smaller lineup has helped the Bulldogs rout four straight teams after their last second loss to Kentucky. Lawrence Roberts again led the team with 20 points.

#15 Kansas 78, Kansas State 70: Perhaps I should have put this amongst the day’s news because of the intrastate rivalry, but Kansas State just doesn’t deserve it (I’m just bitter because they beat USC two years in a row ending the year before last, darn that Roberson). Aaron Miles dished out 12 assists and added 13 points to help Kansas improve to 5-0 in conference play.

#17 Wisconsin 69, Ohio State 57: Though not as good as a football game between the two schools, Wisconsin won to stay atop the Big Ten conference with Indiana. Ohio State must learn to put some of that bowl money in other sports; they are 1-5 in conference play and fell to below five hundred on the season. Delvin Harris led the Badgers with 29 points on 5 of 7 from behind the arc.

#25 Oklahoma 78, Baylor 67: Kevin Bookout had decided on season ending shoulder surgery, but losing their fourth leading scorer and top rebounder didn’t detour the Sooners from winning their second conference game. Jason Detrick scored 15 on 9 of 10 from the line, and eight players had at least 8 points. Share the love in Sooner nation.

Tonight’s Menu:

• ACC battles Wake Forrest (11-4) at Maryland (11-5) and Duke (16-1) at Florida State (14-5) are the two most exciting games of the night. The two most excruciating games are Marist (5-12) at Loyola MA (0-18) and MD Eastern Shore (2-13) at Savannah State (1-20). With a combined eight wins between the four teams, it is bound to be a slugfest.

• In other games, Utah State is at UC Irvine, Arizona visits Washington, Stanford goes to Oregon State, and Gonzaga will lay waste to San Diego. Can anyone say ‘ain’t no party like a West Coast party’?

Touring the Northeast

Touring Around the Northeast

by Phil Kasiecki

Eagles Get Big Win, Then Bad Loss

Boston College started the week with a big 66-65 overtime win over North Carolina State at home, then dropped a 65-62 decision at West Virginia on Saturday.

With the win over North Carolina State, the Eagles moved to 3-0 in overtime games, and after this week’s games the young Eagles are 5-2 in games decided by less than five points. Asked about the surprising start, head coach Al Skinner said he’s not surprised, but also realizes that they don’t have much room for error.

“The record is what it is, and obviously we did enough good things to be here, but we got to get better,” Skinner said after the win over the Wolfpack, which moved the Eagles to 13-4. “As you well know, this is the quality of opponent we’re going to be seeing for the rest of the year, and we got to be prepared to play against this if we’re going to be successful in our league.”

Freshman Sean Marshall, who struggled shooting the ball last week (6-27 from the field in the two games), knows the Eagles can’t stop working with their start.

“We got to keep it going,” Marshall said. “We’re feeling pretty good about ourselves, but we can’t let that get to us. We got to come out and practice and work hard to get ready for our next opponent. It’s going to get tougher for us in the Big East Conference.”

The Eagles almost gave the game away on several occasions, first with a 9-19 showing at the foul line, then with missed shots in overtime that could have put the game away before Marshall hit a late free throw to make it a two-possession game. Marshall and Craig Smith (20 points, 10 rebounds) each missed layups in the final minutes, and a costly turnover gave the Wolfpack another chance.

Against West Virginia, the Eagles had a big 41-28 edge on the glass, but 17 turnovers and shooting below 41% from the field hurt their cause, as well as missed opportunities. The loss was a tough one in what could be their last game played in Morgantown. Two bright spots were another double-double by Smith (15 points, 11 rebounds) and the return of point guard Louis Hinnant, who scored 8 points on 3-4 shooting and had 3 assists.

The Eagles enter this week with 21st in the RPI, putting them in a good spot thus far as they are focused on making the NCAA Tournament. This week will test their ranking, as they play at Pittsburgh on Wednesday and return home to face the loaded Connecticut Huskies on Saturday. Those games, just like the West Virginia game, are games where missed opportunities like layups and free throws could come back to haunt them.

Friars Get Hot During Busy Stretch

Providence just finished an incredible stretch, playing five games in ten days. They didn’t looked fazed by it at all, as Saturday’s big win at Connecticut and Monday’s over Georgetown extended their winning streak to six games. The win at Connecticut was their third straight win over the Huskies and a big upset win over one of the nation’s top teams.

Making it through this stretch puts the Friars in great shape. They won every game and are now tied with Pittsburgh atop the Big East, and they won without second-leading scorer Rob Sanders, who may return Sunday against Seton Hall.

“We’re starting to feel very confident about ourselves,” said head coach Tim Welsh after Monday’s 65-50 win over Georgetown. “The zone is really starting to be more active and more together.”

Ryan Gomes certainly earned his Big East Player of the Week honors, as there may not be a player in college basketball who has played as well as he has in the last two weeks. Gomes had just 6 points and 12 rebounds to start the week against Loyola-Chicago, but turned it up against Villanova (27 points on 10-14 shooting, including 5-6 on three-pointers, and 8 rebounds) and Connecticut (26 points, 12 rebounds). Although he only scored 8 against Georgetown on Monday night, he did it on 4-5 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Villanova game was unexpected in that both teams came into the game shooting the ball well, but instead was a grind-it-out affair that the Friars won, 62-56. After shooting the lights out the previous two games, the Friars shot just 39% from the field and were 7-28 from behind the arc. Aside from Gomes, they made just 2 of 22 three-pointers in the game. The Friars won the game with defense, holding the Wildcats to 33% shooting with their zone, and shutting down hot freshman Mike Nardi. The Big East Freshman of the Week the previous week, with 47 points in two games, Nardi didn’t have a field goal and had just six points.

“To our kids’ credit, we gritted it out, and we kept hanging in there with our defense,” said head coach Tim Welsh after the game. “I told them our defense has got to win the game for us because our shots aren’t falling tonight.”

Against Connecticut, the Friars’ defense came through again, holding the Huskies below 41% from the field and limiting Ben Gordon to just nine points, though he was hampered by a broken nose suffered earlier in the week.

The Friars finished their busy stretch with the win over Georgetown on Monday night, again shooting the ball well and playing solid defense against a Georgetown team that continues to be exposed in Big East play. They limited the Hoyas to 34% shooting to win despite committing 21 turnovers, and Donnie McGrath continued his stellar play of late with a team-high 18 points and 5 assists.

Also picking up his play of late is freshman Dwight Brewington, who started every game during the big stretch. He scored 12 points in Monday’s win to cap off the stretch, and his play will help the Friars when Rob Sanders comes back.

Huskies, Terriers Renew Rivalry And Keep Directions

Northeastern and Boston University met at Matthews Arena on Saturday in a game that was like the good old days of the rivalry. The setting, the large crowd, and the atmosphere was like many great games between the two teams in the past. In keeping with the present, both teams did what they had done in their previous game, with the Terriers pulling out a big 76-74 victory to keep pace with Vermont atop America East.

The game was close throughout, with the largest lead being 8 points by the Terriers, but they had the edge for most of the game. The Terriers had answers for just about every charge Northeastern had in the first half, and for most of the game the Huskies could never get the big defensive stops they needed, as the Terriers shot over 47% from the field.

Each team had a player with a big game, as Jose Juan Barea led Northeastern with a game-high 29 points and consistently scored on drives, and Jason Grochowalski led Boston University with 20 points and 11 rebounds, both season highs. But Grocowalski had three more players in double figures, led by Chaz Carr’s 16 points and 5 assists before fouling out. Grochowalski made a lot of big shots and continued to play well against Northeastern.

“He was a guy that we knew could hurt us, he’s hurt us every time we’ve played them,” said Northeastern head coach Ron Everhart. “We affectionately call him the ‘Husky Killer’ around here – every time we play them, it seems like he has big games.”

The game finished a bad week for Northeastern, which lost 80-62 at home on Wednesday night against Binghamton. The Huskies allowed the Bearcats to shoot 60% in a game that was never in doubt, and Nick Billings dominated with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 7 blocks. The Huskies had a bad week defensively, and need to change that soon with a trip to Maine looming on Wednesday.

One bright spot for the Huskies has been the continuing development of their freshmen, notably Bennet Davis and Bobby Kelly, each of whom has started recently. Davis continues to show great potential, though he was quiet in the second half against BU after a good first half.

Boston University, meanwhile, beat Maine on Wednesday thanks to a good defensive effort and the continuing development of their depth. The Terrier bench outscored Maine by 26 points in a 71-65 win, and with Saturday’s win, the Terriers are 7-1 in America East play and just a half game behind undefeated Vermont.

Holy Cross Comes So Close

The young Holy Cross Crusaders have had some close calls early in Patriot League play, and a couple have been a little too close. Missed free throws hurt them in two losses, and after making all eight free throws in the first half on Sunday against American, free throws came back to haunt them again in a tough 62-59 home loss to the Eagles.

The Crusaders, who came into the game shooting just under 62% from the foul line, made just 6 of 13 free throws in the second half, including missing three front ends of a 1-and-1 and then missing two straight free throws later. Adding that to their struggles against American’s zone defense in the second half spelled trouble, as the Crusaders blew a 10-point lead.

“Free throws, obviously, are an important part of the game,” said Holy Cross head coach Ralph Willard. “You have a lead, and instead of keeping it there or extending it, you go to the free throw line, miss free throws, and the lead starts to evaporate. There’s no question that free throws have been one of the main things that have really stopped us from being a good basketball team.”

Jave Meade played well in the defeat, scoring 14 points and handing out 7 assists, breaking the Patriot League’s all-time assist record with his first of the day, while Greg Kinsey also had 14 points. Kinsey, shooting just over 20% on three-pointers entering the game, went 4-9 from behind the arc and took a late three-pointer that could have sent the game to overtime.

The Crusaders did very well at the defensive end against American freshman Andre Ingram, holding the league’s fifth-leading scorer to just 5 points on 2-10 shooting. It was inside where the Eagles did a lot of damage with 28 points in the paint to just 12 for the Crusaders, and Nate Lufkin (4 points, 0-3 from the field) and John Hurley (2 points) weren’t able to get anything going inside, the latter in part due to foul trouble.

The game demonstrated why the Crusaders need to get going on offense. With the loss, they are now 1-5 in games decided by five points or less, and are now 1-7 in games where they score less than 60 points. The Crusaders are sixth in the Patriot League in scoring, ahead of only Navy and Army. Willard already knows how important defense is, but he knows that it’s not the big concern with this team, which leads the league in scoring defense and is second in field goal percentage defense.

“No matter how hard you work on the defensive end, you have to work just as hard on the offensive end,” Willard said.

While the game was another tough loss for the Crusaders, it was a big win for the Eagles. They keep pace with league-leading Lafayette and Lehigh, and beat a team that has won the last two Patriot League championship games against them.

“I just told the guys that we haven’t had at American many wins like this in our two-plus years in the Patriot League, where we weren’t playing particularly well but had to gut it out on an opponent’s home court,” said American head coach Jeff Jones. “This is the kind of win that Holy Cross has gotten so often because they’re tough. Even if they aren’t shooting that well, Holy Cross has been a great champion because their player play so hard and they find a way to win. In that regard, it was a particularly good win for us.”

Holy Cross now hits the road next weekend, heading to Lehigh and Bucknell.

Brown And Yale Continue In Opposite Directions

For the second Friday in a row, Brown and Yale met up, this time at the Pizzitola Center in Providence. The venue may have changed, but the result and direction of the two teams didn’t, as the Bears were the clearly better team in a 77-65 win. Both teams welcome Ivy League powers Pennsylvania and Princeton next weekend.

Brown has now won three straight games and stands atop the Ivy League with a 2-0 early mark. The Bears are clicking at just the right time, with Jason Forte (22 points, 8 assists Friday) and Mike Martin (19 points, 5-8 on three-pointers) providing the spark on the perimeter and Jamie Kilburn (14 points on 7-8 shooting) playing well inside. They shot 54.2% from the field, and head coach Glen Miller sees the increased confidence the team has that started with their big win over Central Connecticut State in their last non-conference game.

“Guys are confident that we can will ballgames in conference,” Miller said after the game.

A layup by Forte with just under seven minutes to go in the first half gave the Bears the lead for good, as they would lead by 21 at one point in the second half. But the final minute of the game was very sloppy, and Miller wasn’t a happy camper on the bench.

“I was very disappointed with the way we finished the game, with careless turnovers,” Miller said. “23 turnovers is way too many for us.”

On the other side, Yale head coach James Jones didn’t mince about his team’s play after the game.

“We played awful,” said Jones. “I don’t think we came out ready to play today. We turned the ball over 14 times in the first half – that, to me, is not being ready to play. It’s heart-breaking to watch, knowing that we’re better than what we look like on the court right now.”

The Bulldogs couldn’t get much going inside, as Dominick Martin had just two field goal attempts amidst the Bear defense, and the perimeter players aside from Edwin Draughan (17 points on 6-13 shooting) were not very productive. Draughan, who has averaged over 34 minutes the last five games, looked spent during the second half of this game and came up short on several jumpers. Freshman Casey Hughes continued to show signs that he will one day be a very good player as well, but the time is now for this team with nine juniors and seniors.

The Bulldogs’ problems seem to stem from two sources: the lack of a true point guard, which contributes to them having the worst turnover margin in the Ivy League (and only Harvard and Columbia turn it over more), and practices reportedly have not been very good by and large. The Bulldogs have to come alive quickly with the strong teams coming to town this weekend.

Other Notes From Around the Nation

• Looking for a study in great execution? Air Force just picked up its most notable win on Saturday in beating Brigham Young, but the young Falcons have been shutting down teams all season, not just during their 11-game winning streak, a school record. The Falcons lead the nation in scoring defense, allowing 46.6 points per game – more than seven points less than Utah, which is second. They’re also tops in the nation in field goal percentage, shooting an amazing 61.8% from the field on the season.

• There has been plenty of talk about the Big Ten being down this year, but how about the Pac Ten? Entering this week, the Pac Ten is eighth in the conference RPI ratings, below the Mountain West. After Arizona and Stanford, the conference is in trouble. UCLA is winning on the strength of Ben Howland’s coaching, Oregon is rebuilding, California is at least a year away with its good young talent, and the others range from disappointing (Arizona State) to slowly rising from being at the bottom (Washington State).

• Birmingham Southern is wasting no time in the Big South. In their first season eligible for the conference tournament and the automatic NCAA Tournament bid, the Panthers are right in the thick of things at the top. With Saturday’s win over Winthrop, which gave them a sweep of the season series, they are now 12-5 overall to go with their 6-2 conference showing. They’re also 6-4 on the road overall, including 3-1 in Big South games.

• On a final note, best wishes for a full recovery go to Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, who is taking an indefinite medical leave of absence. He reported Monday that he has been in intense pain the last few days, and fortunately, doctors have been able to rule out prostate cancer. Get well soon, Rick.

Big South Notebook

Big South Conference Notebook

by Jeremy Dunlap

Made For TV

Big South teams do not get a whole lot of TV time during the year, but if they consistently performed as they did this weekend on the tube, the networks may want to think about picking up a few more games in the future. On the afternoon of Sat., Jan. 24, both the Coastal Carolina/Radford and Winthrop/Birmingham-Southern games were regionally televised and turned out to be back-and-forth, down-to-the wire affairs.

At Birmingham-Southern’s Bill Battle Coliseum, the Panthers hosted Winthrop in a game that saw Winthrop take an early 12-point lead and a 38-28 halftime lead. BSC came right back in the second half, going on a 15-2 run to take the lead early in the half and extending to nine points with only a few minutes left. Winthrop battled back using a full-court press and took the lead on a Torrell Martin lay-up with 40 seconds remaining. However, James Collins calmly hit two free throws with 3.2 seconds left in the game to give Birmingham-Southern the 70-69 win.

At the same time at Radford’s Dedmon Center, the Highlanders took on Coastal Carolina and pulled off an amazing second half comeback to force overtime and win 77-76 in the extra frame. Coastal Carolina held a fourteen-point lead with less than 10 minutes remaining, and a seven-point lead with only 40 seconds remaining. However, a free throw by RU followed by two three-pointers by Chris Goodin (the last one with 24 seconds left) sent the game to overtime. In the extra period, the teams traded baskets most of the way, setting up the game winning leaner by Olumuyiwa Popoola with two seconds left in the game when the Highlanders were down 76-75.

Player of the Week

Radford junior guard Olumuyiwa Popoola not only had the game-winning shot against Coastal Carolina but had also had a strong week behind the three-point arc, making 8-of-12 three-pointers in Radford’s two victories. Popoola also turned the ball over only one time while averaging 17.5 points per game for the week.

Team Reports – (Note: Teams are now listed in the order that they appear in the conference standings)

High Point Panthers (13-5, 6-1) Last Week: 1-0

The Panthers remained in first place and earned their first-ever victory at UNC-A’s Justice Center with an 83-70 win over the Bulldogs Jan. 24. Junior forward Danny Gathings got his ninth double-double of the year, leading the Panthers with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Junior center Jerry Echenique also had 20 points and chipped in with nine rebounds.

High Point will travel to Birmingham Jan. 28 in a battle for first-place with Birmingham-Southern. The Panthers will then return home to try and get revenge from the only conference team that beat them as they play Liberty Jan. 31.

Birmingham-Southern Panthers (13-5, 6-2) Last Week: 2-1

Birmingham-Southern had a relatively good week, moving into sole possession of second place and getting a win in their first-ever regionally telecast Big South game.

The Panthers opened their week with their first conference road loss, as they had trouble finding the basket in a 57-53 loss at Radford. However, home was much kinder to BSC as they defeated Liberty 67-63 in a game in which they never trailed and then beat Winthrop in a thrilling, televised game, 70-69. Strong guard play led to both of Birmingham-Southern’s wins as guards Jakob Sigurdarson, Derrick Williams and James Collins all contributed with double-digit scoring games, led by Sigurdarson’s 18 points in the win over Liberty.

Birmingham-Southern has a chance to catch first-place High Point as they battle the other Panthers at home Jan. 28. After that, they will hit the road for the South Carolina coast to face Coastal Carolina Jan. 31.

Winthrop Eagles (11-8, 5-3) Last Week: 1-1

Winthrop started the week with a rather easy 68-50 win over Charleston Southern, but then had to settle for a heart-breaking loss, and a season sweep, at the hands of Birmingham-Southern, 70-69. Senior forward Tyrone Walker led the way in the win over the Bucs with 14 points. Senior forward Marcus Cooke chipped in 12 in the victory. Cooke was also strong in the loss to Birmingham-Southern, scoring from both inside and out with 20 points.

The Eagles finish off a stretch of five-out-of-six road games by traveling to Liberty Jan. 29 to face the Flames then heading to VMI to play the Keydets Jan. 31. Following this week’s games, Winthrop will have four of its last six games at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Radford Highlanders (8-9, 4-3) Last Week: 2-0

Home continues to be a friendly place for the Highlanders as they beat Birmingham-Southern 57-53 and Coastal Carolina 77-76 in overtime this week at the Dedmon Center to improve their home conference record to 4-0 this season. Junior guard Olumuyiwa Popoola earned Hoopville Big South Player of the Week honors with his 17.5 points per game over the week. Sophomore forward Chris Goodin also played well, averaging 14.5 points over the week and hitting a three-pointer to put the Coastal Carolina game into overtime.

Radford will look to build on their home success as they host Charleston Southern Jan. 26. The Highlanders will then try to earn their first conference road win as they head to UNC Asheville Jan. 31.

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (9-9, 4-3) Last Week: 1-1

The Chanticleers started the week on a high note, beating UNC Asheville at home 73-65 before ending it on a downer, dropping their third one-point game of the season, this time at Radford in overtime, 77-76. Senior guard Brandon Newby had a strong week, scoring 13 points in the win over UNC-A and 24 points in the loss to Radford. Newby also averaged six rebounds over the two games. Junior guard Alvin Green had 10 assists in the UNC-A game, showing no effects of the ankle injury that sidelined him earlier in the month.

Coastal Carolina finishes off their trip to Virginia with a game at VMI Jan. 26. The Chants will then head back to the cozy confines of Kimble Arena to take on Birmingham-Southern Jan. 31.

Liberty Flames (7-12, 4-3) Last Week: 1-1

Liberty has learned that its strengths lie in three players, freshman guards David Dees and Larry Blair and senior forward Gabe Martin. In a 66-46 win to open the week at home against VMI, Dees led the team with 22 points, while Blair added 10 points and Martin chipped in eight points and six boards. Two days later in a 67-63 loss at Birmingham-Southern, Martin was the scoring machine, draining three-pointers on his way to a 23-point effort in the loss. Dees (13 points) and Blair (12 points) were the only other Flames in double-figures.

The Flames will host Winthrop Jan. 29 before heading to the Millis Center to face first-place High Point Jan. 31. Liberty has been the only Big South team to beat High Point this season, as they won a 79-66 decision in early January.

UNC Asheville Bulldogs (4-15, 2-6) Last Week: 0-2

Consistency remains elusive for the young Bulldogs, as they followed up a solid win over Charleston Southern coming into this week with two losses. UNC-A lost at Coastal Carolina, 73-65, Jan. 19 despite a career-high 20 points from sophomore guard Oliver Holmes. The result was pretty much the same Jan. 24, as the Bulldogs fell at home to High Point, 83-70. Freshman guard K.J. Garland was the star of the show for UNCA, scoring 18 points and dishing out four assists.

UNC-A has most of the week off, before hosting Radford Jan. 31. In the last meeting between the two teams, the Bulldogs were on the wrong end of a 73-58 score at Radford.

VMI Keydets (3-13, 1-5) Last Week: 0-1

VMI has had a hard time winning games recently, and their woes continued this week with a 66-46 loss at Liberty Jan. 20. The Keydets only shot 34 percent from the field and 40 percent from the free-throw line in the loss to the Flames, which was VMI’s third straight loss by at least 20 points. Freshman forward Matt Murrer was the only Keydet in double-figures, scoring 10 points in the loss.

VMI has a busy week, but luckily for them, it will all be at home. The Keydets will host Coastal Carolina Jan. 26, Charleston Southern two days later before wrapping up this home stand with a game against Winthrop Jan. 31.

Charleston Southern Buccaneers (3-14, 0-6) Last Week: 0-1

Charleston Southern remains winless in the conference and had its losing streak increase to six games this week with a 68-50 loss at Winthrop. The Buccaneers continue to struggle offensively, only averaging 57 points in Big South contests this year. Junior forward Kurtis Rice (11 points) and freshman guard Donnell Covington (10 points) were the only Bucs in double-figures against Winthrop. Senior guard Ed O’Neil did chip in nine points along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

If the Bucs want to snap their losing streak, they will have to do it on the road this week. CSU will take on Radford Jan. 26 before heading up I-81 to battle VMI Jan. 28.

Missouri Valley Notebook

Missouri Valley Conference Notebook

by Neal Heston

Tourney Watch

With Creighton, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois receiving votes in the latest Associated Press Poll, the MVC is on pace to finish its best season since sending three teams to the NCAA Tournament in 1999.

Creighton (14-2, 6-2) fell behind Southern Illinois after its second road loss in a week at Wichita State. After winning 13 to begin the season, the Bluejays have now lost two of four. Northern Iowa (11-5, 6-2) and Southern Illinois (14-2, 8-0) both debuted last week, receiving consideration on the ballot. Throw in Wichita State (12-6, 5-3) and Southwest Missouri State (13-6, 5-3), and five MVC teams could make a strong case to dance in mid-March.

Looking at each team

A slow start to conference play had many leaving the Shockers out of the loop, but there is a reason why WSU was tabbed to win the conference in the preseason. The Shockers have easily disposed of Northern Iowa and Creighton during the last two weeks, defeating the Panthers by 17 and the Bluejays by 15; three players are averaging in double figures for scoring, led by Jamar Howard; and besides, only two of their six losses have been by more than four points. At 4-3 in league play, the Shockers are still poised to make a run for the regular season title – with a little help from Southern Illinois.

If the season ended today: Not in. The Shockers need to get back on track.

Speaking of Southern Illinois, is there any team out there who is getting more disrespect than the Salukis? SIU loses its head coach and the team’s top two leading scorers from last season and still begin league play this year at a school-record 8-0? It seems unfair that the Salukis are just now receiving votes for the top 25. They played a strong non-conference schedule, with a lot of the games on the road, and still sit a 14-2 on the year. Junior guard Darren Brooks, who leads the MVC in scoring and steals, has the Salukis in great position for another league title and a third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tourney.

If the season ended today: They’re in.

Another team surprising the rest of the league is Northern Iowa. In his third year as coach of the Panthers, Greg McDermott has UNI in territory that hasn’t been reached for nearly 15 years. With six players capable of scoring 10 or more points per game, the Panthers are in good position to make a run at their first NCAA appearance since 1990. To keep themselves in the running, UNI must end the struggles on the road and will have to learn how to hold large leads in the second half. If the Panthers were to make the big dance though, one thing is for sure: They would be involved in one of those memorable last possession games. Five contests this season have already gone down to the wire for them.

If the season ended today: Not in. Beating Southern Illinois on Saturday would change this.

Potential tournament teams can’t be looked at if Southwest Missouri State isn’t included too. But the Bears are confusing. SMS is winning games, but it hasn’t been pretty. Sunday’s last-second win over Drake is a perfect example. But hey, the Carolina Panthers have been winning ugly games, and now look at them. If there is one thing the Bears have going for them, it’s depth. Eight players are averaging at least 15 minutes a game. If the season ended today: Not in. The defense has been excellent, but the Bears need some convincing wins.

Last but not least is Creighton. The Bluejays stormed out of the gate with a 13-0 record, but they have shown vulnerability on the road lately. Nevertheless, CU still sits in second place and is very much alive for the title. A weaker non-conference schedule compared with the other top MVC teams could cost the Bluejays though unless they post a few strong road wins in the next month.

If the season ended today: They’re in.

Records all over the place

With 14 points in a victory over Indiana State, Darren Brooks surpassed the 1000-point mark in his career with Southern Illinois. The junior guard currently leads the conference in scoring with 16.4 points per game.

Brooks and Southern Illinois are still coasting through the first half of league play. The 8-0 start is continuing the school’s best MVC start ever.

Player of the Week

Jamar Howard, Wichita State

For his strong effort in Wichita State’s big win over Creighton, Jamar Howard has been named the Missouri Valley’s Player of the Week. The junior forward put up a 21-point effort to go along with two blocks and three steals against the Bluejays. He had 10 points against Evansville on Saturday.

Newcomer of the Week

Amani Daanish, Indiana State

Amani Daanish had two very strong performances for the Sycamores last week. The junior transfer’s double-double (16 points, 12 boards) aided Indiana State to a 10-point win over Drake last Thursday. Daanish grabbed another nine rebounds against Southern Illinois on Sunday.

Games to watch this week

Wednesday, 7:05 p.m.: Southern Illinois at Wichita State

The Salukis will look to keep their conference record perfect while defeating Wichita State for a second time this season. If the Shockers fail to get revenge in this one, they can more than likely kiss any chance of an MVC title good bye.

Saturday, 7:05 p.m. (on Fox Sports Net): Northern Iowa at Southern Illinois

Depending on what happens during mid-week, Northern Iowa could have a chance to move into a first-place tie in the league. UNI is 2-3 on the road, but only one of the losses has been by more than three points. SIU is 7-1 on its home floor this season.

Saturday, 7:05 p.m.: Wichita State at Drake

If Wichita State can pull off a victory over Southern Illinois on Wednesday, then a win in Des Moines would make revenge over the Bulldogs even more enjoyable. Drake upset the Shockers in Kansas earlier this season, 71-60.

Touring the Valley

Bradley (8-11 / 1-7)

Last week: lost to Southwest Missouri State 52-45, lost to Northern Iowa 78-71

Two tough road tests equaled two tough losses for the Braves this week, which fell to a dismal 1-7 in league play. Once picked to finish third in the conference, injuries and what head coach Jim Les calls lack of attention to detail has Bradley in a last-place tie with Illinois State and Evansville. Despite the poor record, the Braves are not far from turning their fortunes around. Large deficits at both SMS and UNI were cut to three and four point deficits, but BU just couldn’t keep the rallies going. Cellus Sommerville recorded a double-double with 18 points and 14 boards in the loss at SMS.

Bradley has winnable games on its schedule this week as the Braves host Drake on Wednesday and head to Illinois State on Saturday.

Creighton (14-2 / 6-2)

Last week: lost to Wichita State 77-62, defeated Illinois State 72-63

If not for extremely hot shooting in the second half against Illinois State, the Bluejays would be looking at a third loss in four games. The largest crowd to ever watch a regular season MVC game almost witnessed Creighton’s 26-game home winning streak come to an end. ISU held a 30-27 halftime advantage, but CU came out red hot in the second half to shoot 80 percent from the field. Nate Funk and Kellen Miliner each scored 15 points for the Bluejays.

Saturday’s win was needed after the beating Wichita State gave Creighton on Wednesday. The Bluejays fell behind early and couldn’t catch up to the Shockers, losing their second consecutive contest on the road.

The Bluejays have a favorable schedule this week while the other teams at the top of the standings are beating up on each other. Two road dates are on the slate: a trip to Indiana State on Wednesday and Evansville on Sunday.

Drake (7-9 / 3-5)

Last week: lost to Indiana State 80-70, lost to Southwest Missouri State 51-50

Dr. Tom Davis and the Bulldogs were one possession away from pulling another upset, but Southwest Missouri State’s Merril Andrews sunk a jumper as time expired to send Drake to a third consecutive loss. Chaun Brooks was good for 13 points in the loss.

Two days earlier, the Bulldogs couldn’t overcome strong shooting from Indiana State. The Sycamores sunk 60 percent of their shots en route to an 80-70 victory over Drake. Lonnie Randolph led the ‘Dogs with 18 points, and Klayton Korver added another 15.

This week’s slate won’t be easy for Drake. The Bulldogs will head to Peoria to take on Bradley on Wednesday. The Braves are just aching for a victory. After the road trip, Wichita State will head to Des Moines on Saturday and shoot for revenge. Drake went to Kansas earlier in the season and upset WSU.

Evansville (2-14 / 1-7)

Last week: lost to Northern Iowa 67-53, lost to Wichita State 86-66

The Purple Aces faced a tough schedule in two losses last week, and this week won’t be any easier. Evansville will have to head to Southwest Missouri State on Wednesday and then will host Creighton on Sunday. Clint Cuffle was sensational in Saturday’s loss to SMS. He tallied 26 points for UE. Evansville has now dropped four consecutive games and 10 of its last 11.

Illinois State (5-11 / 1-7)

Last week: lost to Southern Illinois 71-58, lost to Creighton 72-63

If not for the second half, the Redbirds would have recorded the two largest upsets in the league last week. Against Southern Illinois, ISU trailed by just one at the break, but the Salukis pulled away in the second frame for the 13-point win. On Saturday it was Creighton pulling away in the second half after nailing 16 of 20 shots from the field. The Redbirds held a three-point advantage at the half before the Bluejays suddenly caught fire. Good performances were put on in the two defeats. Trey Guidry averaged 14 points during the week, and Neil Plank grabbed 11 rebounds against Southern Illinois.

The slate for this week isn’t going to be easy for ISU. The Redbirds will head to Northern Iowa on Wednesday, where the Panthers have won seven in a row. From there ISU will host Bradley on Saturday.

Indiana State (8-8 / 4-4)

Last week: defeated Drake 80-70, lost to Southern Illinois 53-44

Going even last week leaves the Sycamores right where they began the week – in the middle of the pack. At 4-4 in league play, ISU sits in sixth place with two very tough games this week against Southwest Missouri State and Creighton.

The Sycamores seemed to use all of their energy while defeating Drake last Thursday. David Moss tallied 21 points while grabbing eight rebounds, Amani Daanish recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards, and Tyson Schnitker scored a career-high 14 points to go along with three assists and four steals. Three days later, the point total was nearly cut in half in a struggling loss to Southern Illinois. Moss managed to score 12 points, and Daanish grabbed nine rebounds.

Tough tests will be on the slate this week, but at least they will be at home. Creighton will come to town on Wednesday, followed by Southwest Missouri State on Saturday.

Northern Iowa (11-5 / 6-2)

Last week: defeated Evansville 67-53, defeated Bradley 78-71

The Panthers keep on rolling after winning their fourth consecutive game on Saturday. Earlier in the week, Ben Jacobson led the way as UNI captured its first-ever win in Evansville. Chris Foster also came off the bench to score 12. Senior Matt Schneiderman grabbed 10 rebounds while fellow senior teammate David Gruber worked for another 11 boards.

Bradley nearly erased a 15-point UNI lead on Saturday, but the Panthers were nearly perfect from the line in the second half to seal the win. Five UNI players reached double figures, led by a season-high 21 points from Gruber.

UNI will host Illinois State on Wednesday and then will head to conference front-runner Southern Illinois on Saturday. The Panthers will have to fix their road struggles if they are to upset the Salukis. They haven’t shot any better than 40 percent in the last three road contests, going 1-2 during the stretch.

In off-court news, head coach Greg McDermott signed a contract extension that will run through 2008. By recruiting strong players from Iowa, McDermott has revitalized a struggling program in just his third season. He is 36-37 at UNI to date.

Southern Illinois (14-2 / 8-0)

Last week: defeated Illinois State 71-58, defeated Indiana State 53-44

The Salukis dodged two bullets last week but will face two larger challenges this week against Wichita State and Northern Iowa. Darren Brooks scored 20 points and Stetson Hairston put up a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards in the victory over Illinois State last Wednesday. SIU converted 16 Illinois State turnovers into 18 points. Brooks tacked on another 14 points in the defensive struggle against Indiana State Saturday.

With 10 games remaining in league play, Southern Illinois is still perfect, but they will travel to Wichita State on Wednesday and host Northern Iowa on Saturday. The Salukis have taken the last three games against Wichita State and haven’t lost to Northern Iowa in Carbondale since 1997.

Southwest Missouri State (13-6 / 5-3)

Last week: defeated Bradley 52-45, defeated Drake 51-50

Points are not coming easily for SMS, but the Bears still clawed their way to two victories. Merril Andrews saved the Bears against Drake on Sunday with his jumper as time expired. The win keeps SMS in a third-place tie with Wichita State, and a favorable schedule this week could help the Bears rise even further in the standings. Evansville will head into Springfield on Wednesday followed by a Saturday road trip to Indiana State. The Bears haven’t reached 70 points since beating Evansville in double overtime on Jan. 7. Yet, SMS is 4-1 during that span.

Wichita State (12-6 / 5-3)

Last week: defeated Creighton 77-62, defeated Evansville 86-66

Two convincing victories have Wichita State back in the middle of the MVC race. The Shockers have now won back-to-back games with a home contest against conference leader Southern Illinois on the horizon. WSU will try to stop a three-game skid to the Salukis while gaining ground in the league race. A loss would put the Shockers four games out of first and make any run at the regular season title all the more difficult. A trip to Des Moines is in store on Saturday as the Shockers try for revenge against Drake.

Ivy League Notebook

Ivy League Notebook

by Owen Bochner

Going into this season, no one expected that Yale would struggle like it did last season. With a mature, healthy roster and the collective memory of both winning the league and falling back to mediocrity, the Elis, it seemed, were primed for a repeat of 2001-02, not last season. The team’s preseason NIT showing against Connecticut only helped confirm that expectation. Then the calendar turned to December and things have not been nearly the same. It began with an embarrassing 71-57 home loss to Fairfield on Dec. 7 and has not ended since. Yale has now lost eight consecutive games to Division I opponents, including its last two to travel partner Brown. With Penn and Princeton upcoming, the road gets even more daunting. And title contention now seems out of the question.

Meanwhile, with Harvard and Princeton returning from exams, this weekend marks the beginning of the league’s annual six-week run of “Ivy Weekends.” As the only conference to use the travel partner Friday/Saturday scheduling format, all eight teams will be in action every Friday night and every Saturday night until the end of the season on March 6. On tap this weekend: Columbia and Cornell visit Dartmouth and Harvard; while Penn and Princeton play Brown and Yale.

How They Stand

Brown and Cornell sit tied atop the league standings, having swept travel partners Yale and Columbia, respectively. Penn and Princeton have yet to begin conference play, while Dartmouth and Harvard split their series earlier this month. While still early, this weekend could be critical in figuring the final results of the season. As the Ivy League does not have a conference tournament, Columbia and Yale are likely out of contention at 0-2 thus far.

Game of the week:

Brown vs. Penn; Sat., Jan. 31, 7:00 p.m. EST.

First meeting of the season between last year’s top two teams. The ex factor will be Brown junior guard Jason Forte, who is playing like a man with something to prove this season, arguing a very effective case as the league’s top point guard.

Player of the Week

Mike Martin, Brown

Martin scored a season-high 19 points – including 13 in the second half – to help Brown to its second win of the season against Yale. He had five 3-pointers on the game, including going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc in his explosive second half. His efforts capped an impressive home performance by Brown, which swept Yale for the second straight year.

Rookie of the Week

Leon Pattman, Dartmouth

The freshman guard had yet another huge week, scoring back-to-back 29-point games last week in losses to Vermont and Hartford. Pattman scored the most combined points in consecutive game of any Dartmouth freshman ever in winning his second consecutive Rookie of the Week nod. It is the fourth time this season he has been so honored.

Brown Bears (6-9, 2-0 Ivy)

Unlike the game in New Haven a week earlier, there was little doubt that Brown would roll past Yale on Jan. 23. The Bears completed the season series sweep, 77-65, to move to a perfect 2-0 in league play. Jason Forte scored a game high 22 points with eight assists. Senior guard Mike Martin, senior forwards Pat Powers and Jaime Kilburn have all substantially improved their shooting since earlier this season, as the Bears have now won three straight heading into a home weekend against league favorites Penn and Princeton.

Columbia Lions (4-11, 0-2)

After leading Cornell by thirteen points at halftime in their own gym on Jan. 24, the Lions completely collapsed in the second half, allowing Cornell to cruise to a 66-53 win to sweep the season series between the New York State rivals. Sophomore forward Dragutin Kravic scored 10 points and added four rebounds in only 22 minutes while junior forward Matt Preston led the team with 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Columbia out-rebounded Cornell, 42-29, but also committed eighteen turnovers in the loss. The Lions will attempt to end their conference losing streak at nineteen when they visit cellar dwelling Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend.

Cornell Big Red (7-8, 2-0)

For the second consecutive season, Cornell opened the season with consecutive victories over travel partner Columbia. And like last season, the Red had to contend with a huge challenge at Levien Gymnasium. Last year, the Red blew a large halftime lead to barely pull away with a victory. This time, it was the Lions who held a lead at the half, but Columbia was unable to hold on, as the Red outscored Columbia, 44-18, in the second half to secure the 66-53 victory. Senior guard Ka’Ron Barnes had a game-high 18 points, and continues to lead the league in scoring with 20.4 ppg. The game came as a relief for Cornell, which had lost its five previous road games, including one on Jan. 20 at Bucknell which saw the Red shoot a dismal 29 percent on the game. More road tests await Cornell, which travels to Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend.

Dartmouth Big Green (3-13, 1-1)

Leon Pattman has been named Rookie of the Week four times this season. Unfortunately for the Green, he is the team’s lone bright spot in a season characterized by continued struggles. After beating Harvard on Jan. 3, Dartmouth has lost its last six consecutive games, including a set of ten-point losses last week. The Green fell at Colgate (70-60), and in Hanover to Vermont (76-66) and Hartford (78-68). Pattman scored 29 in the latter two games to raise his season average to a team-leading 13.4 points per, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the lack of production around him. In each of these losses, Dartmouth has been within reach throughout before allowing the opponent to go on a late run, making the losses even more painful. The good news for the Green though, is the return of sophomore guard Mike Lang, who returned against Vermont after missing five games due to a stress fracture. The Green plays host to Columbia and Cornell this weekend.

Harvard Crimson (2-13, 1-1)

The Crimson’s sixteen-day exam layoff will end on Jan. 30 when Cornell comes to town. This game will be an important one for Harvard on many levels, due in part to the status of injured center Brian Cusworth. The 7-0 sophomore has yet to play this season due to a stress fracture in his left foot, and having already missed over half the season, there is a possibility that he will now take the remainder of the year off and apply for a fifth year of eligibility. Though it is struggling, Harvard has won at least one game of every home Cornell-Columbia series since the 1992-93 season, a trend it will hope to continue.

Pennsylvania Quakers (7-6, 0-0)

Before Penn can get into its Ivy League season, it must complete its Philadelphia Big 5 season, which ended last week in disappointment. The Quakers fell to Temple on Jan. 21, 73-69, at home to finish 1-3 in Big 5 play. The team shot only 39 percent from the floor in the loss, despite four players scoring in double figures. Junior guard Tim Begley scored 22 points, while senior guard Jeff Schiffner returned to the radar screen with fourteen points and a career-high eight assists. Penn opens its Ivy season this weekend when it visits Yale and Brown. The Quakers will be putting their 23-game conference winning streak on the line.

Princeton Tigers (6-6, 0-0)

Princeton’s final warm-up before the start of conference play was an 86-48 romp over Division III Southern Connecticut Monday at Jadwin Gym. Sophomore center Mike Stephens scored a game-high 16 points starting in place of Judson Wallace, while junior guard Will Venable added thirteen. The game was never in doubt after the Tigers raced out to a 48-18 halftime lead. Princeton will open its conference season with visits to Brown and Yale this weekend, before returning home for seven of its next nine games.

Yale Bulldogs (5-10, 0-2)

Since Yale’s strong showing against Connecticut and in the Marist Classic early in the season, things have just not been the same. Eight consecutive losses later, the Bulldogs find themselves teetering on the brink of another lost season with Penn and Princeton coming to Lee Amphitheater this coming weekend. The problem for Yale has simply been turnovers – the Elis have committed nearly 50 more than their opponents, a statistic that was most glaring in the two losses to Brown.

Interview with Brian Donoher

An Interview with Wright State Assistant Brian Donoher

by Bill Kintner

They talk about Brian’s playing days, his legendary father, the Wright State Raiders and his new life in Dayton.

It all started with a voicemail I left for Coach Donoher. A few days latter he called back and we set up a time for the interview. I arrived a few minutes early, and waited in his office for him to arrive. I saw photos of his family and his playing days at University of Dayton. There was a big stack of VCR tapes in the corner, some books on a shelf and a calendar on the wall with a bunch of notes on it. It pretty much looked like the office of a busy guy. A guy involved in recruiting a top 40 recruiting class.

He arrived and apologized for being a few minutes late. After we talked a little bit about the program we jumped into the interview. He was very easygoing, open and even appreciative in answering the questions I tossed his way. In this interview you will find a well-grounded man who is now getting an opportunity to practice his trade in his hometown.

Brian Donoher is the son of the legendary University of Dayton Coach Don Donoher. He had a front row seat and later an active roll as a player in one of the storied programs of the Mid-west.

Bill Kintner: How did you become a coach at Wright State? Did you seek out the job or did it find you?

Brian Donoher: I sought it out. A friend of mine, Monte Mathis who worked with Paul at Ohio State and I were talking. He helped me get the ball rolling with Paul. This is my hometown and my wife is from here. Our parents are getting a little older. We thought the Wright State job would be a good opportunity. You don’t get the opportunity very often to coach in your hometown. We felt this was a good situation for me professionally. Paul and I hooked up and I am very grateful that he hired me.

Kintner: Did you know him before you were interested in this position?

Donoher: I knew him a little from recruiting where you see a lot of coaches out on the recruiting trail. So I knew what a great guy he was and what a great job he did. I was out of coaching for two years and living in Columbus. It was during those two years that Ohio State made their Final Four run and I was able to watch them play a lot. I really respected how they ran their program.

Kintner: Was it hard being out of coaching?

Donoher: Yeah, but I chose to do it. But it was exciting to do something different. I got married during that time. It did give me the feeling that I could get a job outside of basketball doing anything. Hopefully next time someone will have to tell me to leave before I tell myself to leave.

Kintner: Was that part of the agreement with your wife that you would get back into coaching?

Donoher: We talked about during our engagement period. At that time she lived in Columbus and had a great job. Financially it was a great move. She didn’t care either way what I did. So it has been good for us.

Kintner: What coaching duties are you responsible for?

Donoher: Coach Biancardi has the duties broken up with Coach Greer handling a lot of the scouting. Coach Huckleby and myself do some scouting. But our primary responsibility is the recruiting. You kind of do it all. We are all involved in all coaching areas. We meet a lot to discuss what we are going to do. We all give our input but ultimately Coach Biancardi has to make the call.

Kintner: When you are recruiting what are you looking for?

Donoher: Sometimes you just see a kid once, so you can’t get caught up in how many points he scores. He might have just had a bad night shooting, which all players do from time to time. You can’t just come back and say “he is a bad shooter because he was 5 for 15 that night.” You have to watch and see the whole thing. I like to get there during warm ups to see him shoot. You try to watch the little things like passing. You watch his attitude; you want to see if he is sulking. Sometimes you do take a chance with a kid who has an attitude and you hope you can change that. You want to see if he is a kid who shoots a lot. You can always pull the reins of a kid who shoots too much. But you can’t help a kid who doesn’t shoot a lot. You’ve got to watch and see their personality. You want to see if they talk, if he is a leader and if he does the little things. That is what is going to take him over the edge from being an average player to being a good player?

Kintner: How does the recruiting process start? Does it start with recruiting services, calls from high school coaches or camps?

Donoher: Everything, all the above! Sometimes you are at a camp and you just see a kid. The kid just intrigues you so you start making calls and doing the ground work on him. I am on the Internet every day. That is something I learned from Coach Biancardi. Before I check my e-mail I am checking the web to see what’s going on in recruiting. You can get a lot of information but following up is the key.

Kintner: What web sites do you keep an eye on?

Donoher: The web sites are the ones that we subscribe to with the scouting services, you know, I am responsible for Ohio and Indiana and Coach Huckaby for Ohio and Michigan. You know that is our base of where we are trying to look. Obviously Prepspotlight, Indiana Basketball News, and then there’s links off of HoopScoop, JucoJunction — just keeping abreast of knowledge.

Kintner: How good are they? Are some more accurate than others or do you find them all about the same?

Donoher: You can trust those people and a guy like John Stovall does a great job. He’s at a million games. Sometimes John might see a player differently than we might see a player. Everybody’s got their different evaluations, you know, if it was the same then everyone would have the same type of teams. You respect, you follow, and you look at John – you still got the names and everything – he might just have a kid higher rated than you might have them or lower rated or sometimes you guys might feel the same way.

Kintner: Do you look for trends, like if everyone’s saying the same things about a guy it is probably right?

Donoher: Most certainly, because you still have to do the background stuff. Because sometimes you are watching a kid play and you aren’t getting the off the court stuff and everything, which parlays into a lot of factors in how a kid might develop.

Kintner: Go back to your start as a player. Was there any doubt, with your dad as the famous University of Dayton coach that you were not going to play at Dayton?

Donoher: Yeah, he had asked me when I was a sophomore in high school where I wanted to go to school. I liked Miami; I thought that league would maybe fit me more and it would give me more of an opportunity to play, and I explored those options. Miami ended up taking another kid instead of me so I didn’t have as many options. You know that was where I wanted to go and my dad really wanted me to go to Dayton for reasons for him and a special situation. And I made that decision. I was very fortunate that I got to do that for a couple of years because just being around him each and every day was big.

Kintner: Tell me what it was like growing up in a Donoher household with basketball, basketball, basketball, and Dayton, Dayton, Dayton.

Donoher: It was a great experience. You know when you are younger you just take it for granted. But Dayton went to the final eight and then next year lost to Villanova. So I was around two really good teams. Then throwing the Olympics into that whole thing and it was special. I was a very fortunate kid to be around so many great people at such a young age.

Kintner: What was your household like?

Donoher: My mom she was a typical mom. She carted me around wherever I had to go. My dad was around but he would get home later. There weren’t a lot of dinners around the table. My bother and sister were 10 and 4 years older than me. So I was around alone a lot in high school. There was definitely a lot of pressure on my dad. He put a lot of pressure on himself. Just like almost every coach. As you know there is a lot of pressure over there at Dayton. You are under the microscope a lot. The expectations were a little unrealistic. But we were able to get through it and I had a great childhood.

Kintner: What did you learn from your father in terms of basketball or about life?

Donoher: He was very fundamental and I think just being around him, that rubbed off on me. His philosophies were very fundamental. Things like footwork, the preparation for the shot and the small things that can make an offense work. He was of very high moral character, He tried to do things the right way…….all the time. It is a great way to look at things. In this business there are so many rules and you can tweak things here and there, but you have to try to stay in line because it is not worth it to kids to step over the line and break a rule.

Kintner: Describe what happened when you father left the University of Dayton?

Donoher: It affected me quite a bit because I was still at UD as a player and it was after my sophomore season. I was probably looking at getting 15 or 20 minutes of playing time a game during my senior year. That was above any expectations I had going into it. That was just from knowing the system and knowing what his expectations were. It blew up in my face, but it made me a better person now. I just had to change. To that point everything in life had gone how I wanted it. And at that point I had to make some decisions. You know, nobody wants to get fired and my dad has to live with that each and every day. He’s a coach and he wants to coach. So anytime someone takes that away from you, you just have to adapt. As for me, I tried to stay at UD. Coach O’Brien was very good to me. I stayed with the team, but after a couple weeks of practice it just wasn’t in my best interest or the program’s best interest for me to stay. So I made the decision to leave the team and I had to live with that. UD ended up having a great year that year, going to the NCAA Tournament. It was hard to watch but I was happy for those guys because I knew all the hard work and everything that they put into it. I ended up going to Wittenburg and I had a great experience. I got to play that year with a great group of guys, teammates that I really enjoyed being around. I got a lot of experience that helped me get into coaching.

Kintner: As you watch University of Dayton’s program how do you think it is doing?

Donoher: They are unbelievable. I think Coach Purnell did a great job. I think it is all about having some players. I think they have done a good job. They have left quite a few good players there for Coach Gregory. I think they are in a good position to compete. But I think at a school like Dayton they won’t be great every year. I think next year they will have to scale back just a little bit because they graduate 4 kids. They have a great recruiting class coming in but they have to give that time. They should be competitive. But they shouldn’t expect to be World-beaters each and every year.

Kintner: What were your impressions of Wright State before you became a coach:

Donoher: I used to play in a summer league and Wright State guys always played. There were UD guys, high school players and Wright State guys. Every night you could count on former Wright State coach Jim Brown there watching the games. I knew some of the older guys who played at Wright State like Mike Zimmerman and Bob Schaefer. So I certainly knew of Wright State. . I really never came out here too much.. It was a really, really good Division II program. Then they went Division I and Dayton played them. We all knew each other. We all respected each other. I don’t think there was any animosity. It was a great thing. I even spent some time with the WBL pro-team that played here at the Nutter Center. I’ve known the people out here, I had been around the area and to see it just take off was great. It is just a great place and it will only get bigger and better.

Kintner: What is the difference between a Wright State and an Akron?

Donoher: Here the thing I liked about Wright State is the non-football aspect. I love college football, it is the best thing going on Saturday. But at the mid-level, it really drains the budget. At a MAC school it really limits what you can do. That is what I like about Wright State, here you are the top dog. There are some extra things budget-wise you can do here that you can’t do at a MAC school. Like the training facility they are going to build us. That is going to be unbelievable. That would never happen at a MAC school because economically it would not be feasible. I do think you are recruiting the same kids. Wright State is growing to more of a school that houses a lot of the kids, from a commuter school, whereas Akron is more a commuter school.

Kintner: Will your father come out to some games this year?

Donoher: He is a scout for the NBA Cavaliers so he goes to a lot of college games. He gas been out to a practice. When he is in town I am sure he will try to make a game. He travels 4 days a week so I don’t know how a Wright State will work for him. I am sure he will be out if for no other reason that we have a couple of guys he has to watch. I mean Seth Doliboa is definitely on the radar screen for the NBA.

Kintner: Is there anything about Wright State that surprised you after you got here?

Donoher: I think the campus is unbelievable, it shocked me how nice it was. If we can get a kid on campus we can impress him with our facilities and our campus.

Kintner: What are you selling to recruits when you are recruiting?

Donoher: We are selling the staff and the kids we have in the program. That is our biggest selling point. The facility is unbelievable. To walk a kid into the Nutter Center is very impressive. Then it would be what they are looking for academically and socially. You have to tie it all in. How Coach Biancardi does things and how he relates to kids is also a big selling point. He does a great job with that when we get kids in here.

Kintner: Thank you for your time!

Donoher: All right I’ll see you around.

ACC Notebook

Atlantic Coast Conference Notebook

by Michael Protos

Preparing for the Final Stretch

As the calendar flips from January to February, the ACC teams prepare for the final run at an NCAA Tournament berth. The primary setting will be conference games, meaning that for every winner, there also is a loser. Here is how the conference would break down if the season ended today:

No. 2 Duke would have the best chance at a number one seed in the tournament. The Blue Devils sit at or near the top of the polls and have won 13 straight games since losing to Purdue in Alaska. The Blue Devils have earned the claim to a top seed by beating teams like Michigan State and Texas in non-conference play and Wake Forest in conference play.

After Duke, there are no solid candidates for a top seed, and likely not a No. 2 seed, either. No. 13 Georgia Tech, No. 8 Wake Forest and No. 9 North Carolina all have the potential to finish strong and grab either a two-seed or perhaps even a top-seed, but they must streak through several games, probably even a win against Duke. To be the best, you have to beat the best. And this year, as many years recently, the ACC’s best lives in Durham, N.C.

These four teams are the ACC’s strongest NCAA Tournament candidates. But there are three other strong candidates in NC State, Florida State and Maryland. These schools have their weaknesses, however, and must win several more key games, especially on the road.

The Seminoles are a perfect example of the dilemma that the selection committee will face. Should the Seminoles claim a spot from another conference, especially a strong mind-major program? Florida State’s best non-conference victory is probably in-state rival Miami in the Hurricanes’ house. But that is a rather weak quality win. The Seminoles have struggled away from Tallahassee, Fla., with a 2-4 record. But within the last week Florida State has wins over North Carolina and Wake Forest. The Seminoles have a 3-3 conference record. To make the NCAA Tournament, they probably need to win at least 10 in the conference or nine conference wins and at least one ACC tournament game.

NC State is in the same boat as Florida State, with a serious need for a quality win on the road. In non-conference play, the Wolfpack could have made a statement at Michigan, South Carolina or Boston College, but NC State lost all three road games. The best non-conference win is against BYU, which is a fantastic win, especially considering the Wolfpack annihilated the Cougars. But NC State is 1-4 away from home and need to beat a couple of the ACC’s elite on the road to have a stronger case for a tournament bid. NC State has four conference victories right now but might need to get to 11 conference wins to have a comfortable shot at the NCAA Tournament.

Of these three bubble teams, Maryland may have the strongest bubble. Despite being a young team prone to bad losses, the Terrapins have claimed some fantastic quality wins against the likes of Wisconsin, Florida and North Carolina. The Florida victory is especially good because it was at Gainesville, Fla. The committee will note that Maryland has played inconsistently, but if the Terps finish strong, winning seven or eight of their last 10 games, it’d be hard to leave Maryland out of the tournament. Maryland’s weakest mark is its conference record, which is only 2-3. The Terrapins must get to at least eight wins and probably nine to feel more confident about that bid.

Virginia and Clemson are on the outside looking at the moment. Neither team has a great non-conference win to brag about, although Virginia has good wins over Minnesota and Iowa State. The Cavaliers are in a position to make a run for the tournament, but they must win nearly every remaining game and probably one or two ACC tournament games. Not likely, but stranger things have happened.

So keep that in mind when watching the games this week. No team is guaranteed a spot, but the best way to earn it is to simply win.

Player of the Week:

Tim Pickett, Florida State

Senior guard Tim Pickett had a great week when Florida State really needed him to step forward as the team leader. Florida State was in the midst of a four-game losing streak before the Seminoles beat North Carolina and Wake Forest in Tallahassee, Fla., as Pickett averaged 24 points and six rebounds.

Rookie of the Week:

Luol Deng, Duke

Forward Luol Deng had a solid week for the Blue Devils, averaging 10.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in two wins against Maryland and Georgetown.

ACC Coach Watch:

Herb Sendek, NC State

The Wolfpack need to build some momentum after beating Georgia Tech at home. NC State could use a pair of road victories at North Carolina and Maryland to strengthen its case for NCAA Tournament consideration.

Clemson Tigers (8-8, 1-4) Last week: 0-1

Clemson had a rough week, starting with a 61-50 loss at Virginia. The Tigers are struggling to find any offensive rhythm, which clearly remained MIA in Charlottesville, Va. Clemson shot under 32 percent from the field. Senior forward Chris Hobbs led all scores with 13 points, but no other Tiger reached double-figures. Clemson claimed 10 more rebounds than Virginia but also committed four more turnovers.

Against Maryland at home, Clemson continued to struggle offensively, especially in the second half. The Tigers lost 65-52 as they shot under 40 percent from the field in the game. Sophomore guard Shawan Robinson was the lone Tiger to reach double-figures, scoring 15 points. Clemson struggled from three-point range to make any shots in an attempt to come back late in the game. The Tigers made only 3-of-18 attempts from beyond the arc.

Clemson travels to Georgia Tech Jan. 27 and hosts North Carolina Jan. 31.

No. 2 Duke Blue Devils (16-1, 5-0) Last week: 2-0

The Blue Devils avoided falling victim to the Maryland Terrapins in College Park, Md., for a third straight year. Duke won 68-60 behind sophomore guard J.J. Redick’s 26 points. Redick drained all nine free-throw attempts. But as if Redick’s free throws were not potent enough, Redick shot 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Duke dominated the boards against Maryland, winning the rebound war 44-30. Duke protected the ball well, committing only 10 turnovers. It helps to have a capable floor general in senior guard Chris Duhon, who finished with eight points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

Duke jumped out to a huge 48-24 point lead against Georgetown and never looked back in the second half, winning 85-66. Sophomore forward Shelden Williams continued to dominate opponents, scoring 26 points and blocking five shots. Duhon added 17 points, and Redick scored 15 points, but he missed a free throw to end his latest streak. Time to start anew, again. Defensively, Duke forced 19 turnovers and held the Hoyas to 43 percent.

Duke looks for consecutive wins number 14 and 15 against Florida State Jan. 29 and at Georgia Tech Jan. 31.

Florida State Seminoles (14-5, 3-3) Last week: 2-0

Despite falling behind by 24 points to North Carolina, the Seminoles never gave up against the Seminoles, relying on their defense to slow down the hot-shooting Tar Heels. Once the Tar Heels started missing, the Seminoles started heating up, and the Tallahassee, Fla., crowd started going nuts. Senior guard Tim Pickett led the furious second-half rally, scoring 30 points in the game. Trailing for nearly the entire game, Florida State found itself down by three points with under 10 seconds remaining in the game. Sophomore guard Todd Galloway ran the court and retreated to the three-point line when his defender fell down. Galloway drained the shot, forcing overtime with the Seminoles having all the momentum in the world on their side. And that momentum carried Florida State to a 90-81 thrilling overtime victory.

Florida State continued to beat up the big boys in a home game against Wake Forest, winning 75-70. Despite trailing during most of the second half, the Seminoles hit the free throws down the stretch to capture the lead, then the game. Sophomore guard Todd Galloway scored his only points on two free throws that gave the Seminoles a 71-70 lead. Senior guard Nate Johnson led the way with 19 points and seven assists. Johnson could be a critical element to this team’s success in the final month of regular-season play as Florida State continues to look for a reliable compliment to Pickett.

The Seminoles visit Duke Jan. 29 then hosts creampuff Savannah State Feb. 1.

No. 13 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (15-3, 3-2) Last week: 1-1

The Yellow Jackets started last week by travelling to Winston-Salem, N.C., to play a tough road game at Wake Forest. Georgia Tech won a tight contest, 73-66, with the difference being junior guard Will Bynum’s 20 points. Bynum continues to play excellent basketball and appears to have fully adjusted to coach Paul Hewitt’s system. In addition to Bynum, senior guard Marvin Lewis and junior guard Isma’il Muhammad each scored 14 points. Lewis was perfect from beyond the arc, where the Yellow Jackets shot better than 50 percent for the game.

Georgia Tech could not finish the sweep of its two road games in North Carolina last week, as the NC State Wolfpack beat the Yellow Jackets 76-72. Despite falling behind by 10 at halftime, Georgia Tech rallied to make the close at the finish. Bynum again led the Yellow Jackets, scoring 17 points and quickly becoming one of the most dangerous players on the court for Georgia Tech. Sophomore guard Jarrett Jack scored 15 points, and junior guard B.J. Elder scored 14 points.

Georgia Tech looks to warm up at home against Clemson Jan. 27 before a battle in Atlanta against Duke Jan. 31.

Maryland Terrapins (10-5, 1-3) Last week: 0-1

The Terrapins entered the home game against Duke looking to knock off another one of the ACC’s frontrunners in College Park, Md. The previous week, the Terps brought North Carolina off the pedestal. The Terps could not repeat the magic last week, however, losing to Duke 68-60. Maryland played a great defensive game, holding Duke under 34 percent shooting. Sophomore forward Nik Caner-Medley led the offensive attack with 21 points and added eight rebounds. But his effort could not lift Maryland to victory. Maryland lost the battle of the boards 44-30 and allowed 21 second chances for Duke. With that many opportunities, it’s hard to stop a team from scoring, even if they’re only hitting 33 percent of their shots.

Maryland improved its rebounding prowess against Clemson, winning the battle of the boards 34-27 and then winning the game 65-52. Sophomore guard John Gilchrist had a solid game with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists. Senior forward Jamar Smith led the rebounding war by grabbing 10 rebounds. He averages 10.4 rebounds per game and is a force for any team to reckon with in the paint.

Maryland plays at Wake Forest Jan. 29 before hosting NC State Feb. 1 as a better pregame show than anything CBS can offer before the Super Bowl.

NC State Wolfpack (11-4, 4-1) Last week: 2-0

The Wolfpack visited soon-to-be conference foe Boston College for a critical non-conference game. With few quality wins in non-conference play, NC State could use a few more marquis victories to build a stronger case for making the NCAA Tournament. But the Wolfpack lost a tough game on the road in overtime, 66-65. Junior guard Julius Hodge did all he could to lift the Wolfpack, playing 40 minutes and leading the team with 25 points and 11 rebounds. The Wolfpack did not get much support from other members, as only one other NC State player reached double-figures.

The Wolfpack bounced back at home against Georgia Tech to pick up their fourth ACC victory, which places them just behind Duke at the top of the conference standings. And the Wolfpack probably need to remain there to have a shot at the NCAA Tournament after losing to Boston College. NC State overcame a terrible afternoon from Hodge, who managed only two points on free throws as he went 0-of-6 from the field. The Wolfpack made 12 three pointers but needed to jack up 41 to get there. Senior forward Marcus Melvin and senior guard Scooter Sherrill each made three three pointers, en route to 18 points apiece to lead the Wolfpack.

The Wolfpack visit Chapel Hill, N.C., to play North Carolina Jan. 28. NC State visits Maryland on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 1.

No. 9 North Carolina Tar Heels (12-4, 2-3) Last week: 1-1

North Carolina started the first half of the Tar Heels’ first game this week at Florida State by making nearly every shot against a good defense. The Tar Heels built a 24-point lead and appeared poised to cruise to victory. But that was the end of Carolina’s comfort as Florida State whittled the lead away, forced overtime and shocked the Tar Heels. The loss spoiled another great performance by sophomore guard Rashad McCants, who scored 26 points. North Carolina’s depth hurt the Heels, as junior guard Jackie Manuel was the only bench player to score any points, and he only scored two points.

The Tar Heels continued to struggle early against Virginia. North Carolina squandered another double-digit lead, allowing the Cavaliers to slip ahead by a point early in the second half. But North Carolina refused to drop another ACC game, especially not in Chapel Hill, N.C. Another loss would all but doom the Tar Heels’ hopes of winning the ACC. So they responded behind sophomore guard Raymond Felton’s crisp passes and another fantastic performance by McCants. McCants finished with 26 points, again, and Felton finished with 11 points and eight assists. The Tar Heels shot better than 50 percent for the game and forced eight more turnovers to feed their fast break.

The Tar Heels host rival NC State Jan. 28 before travelling to Clemson Jan. 31.

Virginia Cavaliers (12-5, 2-4) Last week: 1-1

Virginia opened the week with an ugly win over Clemson, 61-50. The Tigers outrebounded Virginia by eight, but the Cavaliers held Clemson under 32 percent shooting. Freshman guard J.R. Reynolds led the team with 11 points, and the Cavaliers allowed only one Clemson player to reach double-figures. The two teams combined for 42 turnovers and 43 fouls while making only 39 field goals.

The Cavaliers could not continue its momentum at North Carolina. Virginia committed 19 turnovers, emphasizing the need for experience and/or talent at the point guard position. Senior guard Todd Billet struggled as the Cavaliers’ point guard and best sharp-shooter. Billet committed three turnovers and made only two of six shots. North Carolina outrebounded Virginia 36-26, which hints that the Cavaliers could not match the Tar Heels’ intensity. The Cavaliers appeared to be in a position to beat the Tar Heels after taking a one-point lead in the second half. The Tar Heels bounced back, though, and won 96-77.

Virginia plays just one game this week at Wake Forest Jan. 31.

No. 8 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (11-4, 2-3) Last week: 0-2

Home-court advantage was not enough for Wake Forest against Georgia Tech, as the Demon Deacons lost 73-66. Wake Forest’s playmakers struggled against the Yellow Jackets’ defense, as sophomore center Eric Williams was held to nine points and freshman guard Chris Paul scored only six points, four of which were from the line. Junior guard Vytas Danelius was Wake Forest’s most reliable weapon, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Danelius must be the team leader to help Wake Forest fight through this four-game losing streak.

And the fourth game of that losing streak came at Florida State. Danelius all but disappeared in the game, finishing with five points and two rebounds as the Seminoles beat the Demon Deacons 75-70. Wake Forest let the lead slip away in the final minutes as Florida State hit clutch free throws to steal the victory. Paul and Williams played well in the losing effort; Paul scored 17 points and had four assists while Williams scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Wake Forest returns home with a couple of must-win games to end the Demon Deacons’ four-game skid. The Demon Deacons play Maryland Jan. 29 and Virginia Jan. 31.

West Coast Notebook

West Coast Conference Notebook

by Mitch Schneider

With a third of the West Coast Conference season already in the books, we can deduce the following: Gonzaga is good; San Diego is bad; and the rest of the league is playing for second-to-seventh place.

Okay, I may be generalizing a bit. After all, we haven’t even hit February yet.

But if the first few weeks of WCC ball have taught us anything, it’s that the ‘Zags are as good as advertised, and we might as well reserve them a spot in the conference title game.

With Gonzaga handing St. Mary’s, the only other undefeated team in West Coast Conference play, their first defeat the weekend before last, the Bulldogs have taken the reigns of the conference and won’t be looking back.

With a 15-2 overall record and 5-0 WCC mark, the Bulldogs have jumped out the gate faster than Democratic candidate John Kerry (and Gonzaga has already staked wins in Idaho, Georgia and Maryland… take that Howard Dean!). The ‘Zags are clearly the cream of the West Coast crop, and teams like St. Mary’s, Santa Clara and Pepperdine will be hard-pressed to overcome these spooks from Spokane.

In fact, the chances of any other team making the tournament are pretty slim, and even if they were capable of beating the Bulldogs, they might have to play in the “play-in” game. At the moment, St. Mary’s is trying to keep their head above water. True, they did beat the mighty Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz, and handily I might add, but they are far from being anything more then a 16th seeded squad. They have played a handful of non-division one games, and have not had an ounce of consistency throughout the entire season. Their longest winning streak is two games, but to their credit, this is also the length of their longest losing streak. Last year, the San Diego team surprised the league with a strong conference showing as well as long winning streaks later in the year. This year, a team has yet to step forward, and time is running out. The goal now for all the teams outside of Gonzaga has to be to get a rhythm in their game, a rhythm that can be translated into a strong conference tournament finish.

The Difference Makers

By now, everyone knows Ronny Turiaf, Cory Violette and Blake Stepp, but what about Yakhouba Diawara, Terrance Johnson, Alex Acker and Glen McGowan? The Pepperdine quartet are all averaging better then 13 points a game. For most of the season, it has been Acker, Johnson and McGowan. Recently, Diawara’s eligibility was reinstated by the NCAA, and he has taken over the team, scoring 16 in his debut against Santa Clara and 24 more recently against Loyola Marymount. Sherman Gay at Loyola Marymount and Eugene Jeter at Portland are having quality seasons as well, but their teams are suffering, especially Loyola Marymount, which entered conference play with a strong record, and is so far 1-4 against conference foes. Brandon Gay at San Diego is also having a strong season, but couldn’t outperform Sherman Gay in the battle of the Gays’. The next rematch will be on Saturday February 14th. Mark the date on your calendar.

WCC Player of the Week

Daniel Kickert, St. Mary’s

Kickert averaged 21.0 points per game in leading the Gaels to wins over Santa Clara and USD last week. The 6-10 forward nailed 17 of 28 shots (61%) in the victories, and was 6-9 behind the arc. Through 19 games, Kickert is netting over 15 points and almost six boards a game for a Gaels’ team that has played extremely well in the early going of the WCC season.

Inside the WCC

Gonzaga (15-2, 5-0)

In its only game of the week, Gonzaga notched its eighth straight victory with an 80-65 win at Portland last Friday. Junior forward Ronny Turiaf had a huge night with 21 points and 14 boards against the Pilots, while teammates Blake Stepp and Cory Violette chipped in 19 and 17 points, respectively, in the win.

Gonzaga connected on 51% of its shots, holding Portland to just 36% shooting for the night.

Leading by just a point at the break, the ‘Zags outscored the Pilots 41-27 in the second half, closing the game on a 19-6 run. The win avenged Gonzaga’s stunning 72-68 loss to Portland last year, and pushed the Bulldogs’ conference record to a gleaming 5-0.

Next up: 1/29 at San Diego; 1/31 at Santa Clara

Loyola Marymount (10-8, 1-4)

After dropping three of its first four games to open the WCC season, LMU took its frustrations out on non-conference opponent, Northern Colorado, winning 74-56 last Tuesday.

Senior forward Sherman Gay made nine of 11 shots en route to a game-high 20 points in leading LMU to the victory. Gay, who also pulled down six rebounds, was one of four Lions to score in double-figures.

LMU netted 23 assists on 30 made field goals, and forced 23 turnovers in just its second home win since Dec. 3 (68-67 vs. Cal-Poly).

Loyola’s victory celebration was short-lived, however, as LMU fell on Saturday 82-67 at Pepperdine. The Lions hung with the Waves most of the game, but poor shooting from three-point range (2-15), along with 18 turnovers ultimately cost the Lions any chance at a second straight win.

Next up: 1/29 vs. San Francisco; 1/31 vs. St. Mary’s

Pepperdine (8-11, 3-2)

The Waves’ 82-67 victory over LMU gave Pepperdine its third WCC win in four games, keeping them in the top half of the conference standings.

Juniors Yakhouba Diawara and Terrance Johnson combined for 47 points in the victory, converting 18 of 30 shots from the floor. Sophomore Alex Acker contributed a dozen points and eight boards for the Waves, as well.

Diawara’s 24-point effort against the Lions was even more remarkable considering that game was just his third this season. The 6-7 JuCo transfer previously scored 18 and 16 points against San Diego (a win) and Santa Clara (a loss), respectively, and is leading the Waves with a 19.3 points per game average.

Next up: 1/29 vs. St. Mary’s; 1/31 vs. San Francisco

Portland (8-10, 2-3)

The Pilots have alternated wins and losses their last five games, and following a Jan. 17 win over USF, Portland promptly dropped one to Gonzaga, 80-65 on Saturday.

Despite the double-digit defeat, Portland hung tight with the ‘Zags all game long. The Pilots actually held the lead twice in the second half, but seemingly ran out of gas down the stretch.

Portland’s Eugene Jeter (18 points) and Donald Wilson (15 points) played inspired ball against Mark Few’s bunch, but no other Pilot topped double-figures in the loss. Surprisingly, the Pilots took 17 more shots than Gonzaga, but made one less field goal for the game.

Portland was within four of the lead with four minutes to go in the second frame, but the ‘Zags used a 19-6 run to clips the Pilots’ wings.

Next up: 1/29 at Santa Clara; 1/31 at San Diego

San Diego (3-16, 0-4)

The Toreros’ trip up north last week solidified one stone-cold fact for San Diego: there’s no way USD will be making a return trip to this year’s NCAA Tournament.

On Thursday, San Diego gave San Francisco its first WCC win, losing 78-68. On Saturday, USD barely showed up in an 86-67 defeat to St. Mary’s. After their Bay Area bomb, the Torero’s are in the throes of an eight-game skid and are the only team in the WCC without a conference win.

It’s not hard to see what ails USD. In its last two losses, San Diego committed 44 turnovers. Junior point guard Michael McGrain accounted for 13 of those miscues, and that’s not the type of production coach Brad Holland would like out of his floor general.

Unfortunately for Holland and company, this week may be even tougher than the last with the ‘Zags and Pilots next up on the slate. On the bright side, the Toreros will be playing those games at home, and all three of USD’s wins this year have come at the Jenny Craig Pavillion.

Next up: 1/29 vs. Gonzaga; 1/31 vs. Portland

San Francisco (12-9, 2-3)

The Dons are the opposite of the Santa Clara Broncos, having won their last two games after starting conference play with three straight losses. Their biggest win to date was against the Big Ten’s Ohio State. They too have the opportunity to make a run in conference, and have shown a resiliency that not too many expected after senior John Cox went down with an injury. They, like many of the West Coast Conference schools, either lose big or win big, and there is no middle ground.

The key to the Dons’ run will be if anyone can step into the shoes of John Cox. The senior guard/forward was injured in the very first game, and has been declared out for the entire season. The left knee injury he suffered forced Cox to seek a second medical redshirt season. The blow left the Dons seeking a new scoring option, and it has boiled down to two forwards, James Bayless and Tyrone Riley.

After the Dons’ three-game losing streak to open conference play, USF collected double-digit wins over San Diego (78-68) and Santa Clara (64-48) to keep itself in the hunt for the WCC crown.

On Thursday, six Dons collected eight or more points and the whole team forced 24 turnovers as San Francisco got by USD at home. Juniors Jovan Harris and Tyrone Riley combined for 33 points in the win, while Andre Hazel dished out a season-high 11 assists for the Dons.

Two days later, San Francisco played lights out defensively against Santa Clara, holding the Broncos to just 37% shooting while forcing 20 turnovers. Oddly, USF won the game despite going just 1-7 from the foul line. Harris led all scorers with a dozen for the Dons.
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With those two victories, USF ran its home record to 8-0. Unfortunately the Dons won’t return to the friendly confines of War Memorial Gym until Feb. 7 when they’ll play St. Mary’s.

Next up: 1/29 at LMU; 1/31 at Pepperdine

Santa Clara (11-9, 3-2)

After starting out the WCC season 3-0, Santa Clara got blasted by the Gaels on Thursday, 84-52. The Broncos made only 19 of 57 shots (33%), setting a season-low in points. Santa Clara trailed by 20 at the midway point, and barely showed up to finish the game. Junior guard Kyle Bailey (12 points) was the only horse in double-figures.

Two days later, the Broncos set another season-low for points, falling to USF 64-48. Santa Clara had five more turnovers than made shots (20-15), and connected on just 37% from the field.

Despite its poor play, the Broncos trailed by just one point with 14:45 to play in the second half. However, the Dons exploded on a 15-0 run, shutting the door on Santa Clara and sending them to their second straight conference loss.

Guard play is important on this team, and the two guards, Doron Perkins and Kyle Bailey, need to share the ball better, which in turn will raise their shooting percentage which has suffered in recent games.

Next up: 1/29 vs. Portland; 1/31 vs. Gonzaga

St. Mary’s (12-7, 3-1)

The Gaels haven’t won a big game yet, unless you want to call the Banana Slug bashing a real game (the slugs probably got higher from the weed they were smoking then the jumping that they were attempting). However, they have put together a strong conference showing outside of their loss to Gonzaga. They have beaten their conference opponents by an average of 23 points. This might be surprising had not they been winning games outside of conference by around the same margin (24 points non-conference average of victory).

St. Mary’s has played tough teams close. The usual gauge for West Coast Conference teams is how they perform against the Pac-10, and St. Mary’s took UCS to the final shot, losing on a missed three pointer. They also played Arizona close to the very end, losing their lead for the first time with only 55 seconds to play. Predicting that this team would do well in conference play might have been a no brainer had it not been for their loses to other unimpressive teams in non-conference play, such as Montana and UC Riverside, and USC is only 8-9 after all is said and done. All in all, St. Mary’s has only played three games that were decided by less then ten points, against USC, Arizona and Montana. This could be a sign of greatness, or a sign of futility and inconsistency. Either way, they could prove one way or another with big wins during a stretch of four games coming up, three on the road. Couple that with a big win at home over Gonzaga, and maybe this team deserves a little more attention from the bubble.

The Gaels continued putting together their solid season with a pair of wins last week over Santa Clara and San Diego.

In Thursday’s victory over the Broncos, sophomore forward Daniel Kickert led four Gaels in double-figures with 19 points. St. Mary’s shot a healthy 53% from the floor (29-55), which included a masterful performance from behind the arc. The Gaels hit 14-22 from three-point range, with Kickert nailing five of six.

On Saturday, St. Mary’s continued to find the hot hand in its 86-67 win over the Toreros. The Gaels made 30 of 58 shots (52%), and hit nine three’s in the win. Junior guard Paul Marigney produced a game-high 25 points for St. Mary’s, while teammate Kickert had another solid outing with 23 points on 11-16 shooting.

The weekend win was the Gaels fourth triumph in five attempts, and six of eight overall. St. Mary’s remains just a game-and-a-half behind Gonzaga for first place in the WCC.

Next up: 1/29 at Pepperdine; 1/31 at Loyola Marymount

Hoopville Staff Writer Joaquin Mesa contributed to this report.

Mid-American Notebook

Mid-American Conference Notebook

by Jeremy Speer

Kent State has no player who even bears the resemblance of a star. With no players among the MAC’s Top 15 scorers, the Golden Flashes are a team characterized by unimpressive statistics.

Except for one: First place.

With convincing victories against the MAC’s top two teams, Western Michigan and Toledo, Kent State has gained a one game advantage over Miami in the MAC East. With a 12-3 overall and 6-1 conference record, the team is proving you don’t need a superstar to be successful. The team is so anonymous that its leading scorer, senior guard Eric Haut (12.7 ppg) did not even play high school basketball his final two seasons of high school. And second leading scorer, senior center John Edward (12.5 ppg) was at one time considered a project that could not match up physically with stronger players.

Coach Jim Christian has crafted a team that relies on a different player to step up each game. During KSU’s 84-71 victory against the Western Michigan Broncos, sophomore point guard DeAndre Haynes played a near-flawless game, capped by his 16 points. Haynes, the team’s most talented player, leads the conference with 5.3 assists.

In the Flashes 92-56 blowout of the Rockets Sunday, junior forward Jason Edwin stepped into the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 14. Edwin did not disappoint, leading the team with 20 points. What was even more impressive, however, was his defense of Toledo guard Keith Triplett. Triplett, the conference’s second-leading scorer was held to five points, 15 under his average. Haut did his part with 20 points, hitting three of KSU’s 12 three-point baskets.

The Golden Flashes look to keep this rolling this week with games against Bowling Green and Akron.

Western bounces back

After suffering its first conference loss of the MAC season, Western Michigan fended off Ball State to regain its lead atop the MAC West. With a victory, the Cardinals would have put themselves into the driver’s seat, but a late Western run helped extend the Broncos’ home win streak to 12 games.

Junior college transfer Levi Rost, whose sister Casey is the MAC’s leading women’s basketball scorer for Western, came up clutch in the game’s final minutes, hitting three free-throws and grabbing two rebounds.

Senior center Anthony Kann led Western (13-2, 6-1) with 17 points and 10 rebounds while senior forward Mike Williams added 14 points and three blocks.

Sharpshooters Ben Reed and Reggie Berry combined for 25 points and seven three-pointers.

Ball State (8-7, 5-2) had erased a 13-point lead with 3:00 left, but could not steal the win in Kalamazoo. Dennis Trammell led the way with 20 points.

RedHawks red hot

Miami (9-6, 5-2) continues to heat up with a pair of victories against Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan. Against CMU Wednesday, little-used center Monty St. Clair, who had not hit a three-point shot all season, stepped into the starting lineup. As the Chippewas double-teamed the RedHawks wing players on drives into the lane, St. Clair found himself open from behind the arc. He drilled 4-of-5 triples and scored 14 points to help break CMU’s back.

Saturday, Miami blitzed past Eastern 74-46. Despite standing only 6-foot-3, junior Chet Mason continued to be the RedHawks’ toughest player. Mason, the MAC’s No. 4 rebounder, scored 11 points and snagged 11 rebounds in the victory. Gene Seals had 13 points, while Juby Johnson and St. Clair each added 11 points.

Tarver: The scoring machine

He is the MAC’s leading scorer and now he is leading his team to victories. Akron’s Derrick Tarver helped the Zips to two consecutive victories this week, scoring 27 points against Ohio and 33 points against Central Michigan. Akron (9-6) improved to 3-4 in conference play after starting the MAC season 1-4.

The freshman forward duo of Romeo Travis and Jeremiah Wood have given Akron fans further reason for excitement. Wood had 11 points against the Chippewas while Travis netted nine points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Bulls prolong NIU woes

Buffalo defeated Northern Illinois 85-73 in a battle of struggling teams. Turner Battle helped erase a 10-point deficit with a 17-point performance. Yassin Idhibi had 16 points as every Buffalo (6-9, 2-5) starter hit double digits. NIU fell to 7-11 overall and 2-6 in the MAC.

Herd come up with rare rivalry win

Marshall defeated Ohio 74-60 in a battle of rival schools. Ohio had won the previous four meetings between the schools and had never lost to the Herd during Tim O’Shea’s tenure in Athens. Enoch Bunch came up with 15 points off the bench for Marshall (7-8, 4-3) and helped spark a 29-7 second half run. Sonny Troutman led Ohio (5-12, 2-5) with 13 points.