It’s All Different for George Washington, Including the Results

WORCESTER, Mass. – The past two seasons weren’t very memorable for George Washington.  The Colonials won a combined 19 games, a total the program was used to having in one season, not two.  If the first month and a half of this season is any indication, they aren’t headed for another such season.

Last season was especially indicative of how far the Colonials had fallen.  Sure, they were a younger group, but even some younger Colonial teams didn’t go to Hawaii for the Rainbow Classic and lose three straight.  They didn’t lose three straight to just anyone: they lost to Vermont by double digits, were crushed by host Hawaii and lost to Coppin State.  It started an 11-game losing streak that saw them also lose at Longwood.

A year later, it’s all different.  They haven’t had head-scratching losses and have won on the road.

“There’s a lot of things different,” said head coach Karl Hobbs.  “Probably the number one thing is the attitude.  Obviously, we have a great deal of depth.  We’re back to playing the GW style of basketball.  We’ve got the athletes and we’ve got the players that are committed to playing that way.”

The Colonials could leave Massachusetts with the same number of wins they had all last season.  They will enter Wednesday night’s contest at Harvard with a 9-2 mark, the latest win a 70-68 decision at Holy Cross that showed some of how this team is growing up.  The win also improves them to 5-0 on the road after winning just three games away from the Smith Center last season.

Although the last two years were thought of as rebuilding years, this season’s team isn’t exactly chock full of seasoned veterans.  The Colonials have just two seniors and two juniors who play significant minutes, while five of their six freshmen have all played (Daymon Warren has been sidelined with an injury).

The final score of the win over Holy Cross might not impress, but the important thing is what this team did to win.  The Colonials jumped out to a 22-6 lead early and later led by as many as 18 in a dominating first half, then had to hold off the Crusaders.  Devin Brown got hot from long range for Holy Cross, scoring 17 of his 20 points in the second half, and Adam May followed suit with a couple of deep shots and some Colonial turnovers turned into layups for Holy Cross.  Before you knew it, a 14-point halftime lead was down to just three with 7:26 left.

The Colonials responded well, getting the lead back to 11 by scoring the next eight points.  The Crusaders came back again and were relentless, pushing them right to the limit.  Not only did the Colonials never relinquish the lead, but the Crusaders never had a possession with a chance to tie or take the lead until the final seconds.

That leads to another noteworthy stat from this: the Colonials are now 4-0 in games decided by five points or less.

“I think it helps us mature, these close games,” said senior forward Damian Hollis, who led the Colonials with 19 points.  “We learn how to close out games.”

While Hollis has been the steady senior leader, sophomore Tony Taylor has been the steady hand running the offense.  Although they try to play fast, Taylor doesn’t force things that aren’t there and it shows, as he has a 2.4 assist/turnover ratio on the season.  He puts up these numbers on a team that has more turnovers than assists.  Taylor has plenty of good options for passing the ball, as 11 players average double-digit minutes and no player averages over 30 per game.  Eight different players have scored in double figures in at least one game thus far, which speaks to the depth Hobbs spoke of.

Helping in a big way are the freshmen.  All five who have played have produced, and each, as Hobbs noted, has scored in double figures at least once.  Lasan Kromah starts and is second on the team in scoring, while several others play key minutes.  Dwayne Smith had played limited minutes until the last two games, both of which have been double figure scoring games.

“The good part is that (Smith) works hard every day, and all of these guys are getting an opportunity to play and every game they’re getting better,” Hobbs said.

Hollis, Hermann Opoku and redshirt junior Travis King are the only players in the program who were around the last time George Washington was in the NCAA Tournament.  They were there when the Colonials made a big run in the Atlantic 10 Tournament in 2007, and have since been around for two seasons of struggle.  It looks like it won’t be a third if the early going is any indication.

“The energy is always there, the attitude is good,” said Hollis.  “It feels like the team my freshman year.”

Texas A&M: Roland Has Successful Surgery After Horrific Injury

Texas A&M senior guard Derrick Roland arrived home on Christmas Day after having surgery to insert a rod and three screws in his leg, which he broke while jumping under the basket against Washington Dec. 22, according to a university press release.

Roland crumpled to the floor with his right tibia and fibula snapped. The force of the fall pushed a bone through the skin and left his leg at nearly a 90-degree angle. Fans recoiled in empathetic anguish, and coach Mark Turgeon and Washington doctors rushed to Roland’s aid, according to an ESPN.com report. After a 10-minute delay, Roland was stabilized, loaded into an ambulance and taken to Harborview Medical Center for emergency care.

A Washington spokesman said the only similar injury he remembers is Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann suffering a broken leg that was graphically visible on national TV in 1985.

Roland was posting career-best averages of 10.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game for the Aggies. Like Theismann’s injury did to the Redskins quarterback, many speculate that this injury will end Roland’s playing career.

Metro Atlantic: Conference Tournament to Taste Basketball History in 2012

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference will hold its conference tournament in Springfield, Mass., the birthplace of the sport, in 2012-14, according to a conference press release.

The conference will play all tournament games at the MassMutual Center, which is a neutral site. Several teams wanted the tournament to move to a neutral site instead of playing at opponents’ courts.

“The coaches and administrators had expressed to the Council and league office during the selection process that home sites have become too big of a playing and recruiting advantage for the host school.  This is understandable, and speaks to the increased competitiveness of the MAAC.  It seems appropriate and financially sustainable to move beyond the comfortable confines of an arena with a home school fan base. I would note that the MassMutual Center and the Local Organizing Committee have guaranteed the league its best ever financial result,” said conference commissioner Rich Ensor.

Springfield is home to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, named for James Naismith, the inventor of the game of the basketball. He devised the game while working at the Spingfield YMCA in the late 1800s.  He later founded Kansas’ storied basketball program and witnessed basketball become an Olympic sport.

Inexperienced UMass Grows, Needs One Position Settled

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Derek Kellogg was guarded about whether or not UMass’ win over Memphis on Saturday night would be a springboard to lift the team going forward.  Not surprisingly, the UMass mentor was far from down after the Minutemen lost 79-67 at Boston College on Wednesday night.  Instead, he sees clearly where the team has come along and where they can go.

The Minutemen have become a rebounding machine of late, as Wednesday’s game marked their third straight out-rebounding the opponent by at least 15 boards.  It wasn’t a big surprise that they out-rebounded Grambling State by 25, but out-rebounding Memphis by 20 (even though Memphis doesn’t have great size) and the Eagles by a 50-33 margin – the same Boston College team that a couple of weeks earlier out-rebounded Miami 46-21 – was a little more impressive.  That’s a trend that could continue if the players who have led the charge there continue what they have done lately.

It wasn’t long ago that Oregon State transfer Sean Carter was struggling.  Although he had a 10-rebound outing against Rutgers and eight more against Michigan State in Atlantic City, he had just five against Quinnipiac and three against Holy Cross.  The team’s leading rebounder had nine more at Boston College, seven on the offensive glass, and scored 16 points.

Another transfer, Hashim Bailey, had 10 rebounds in just 11 foul-plagued minutes against the Eagles.  He’s had at least five boards in each of the last five games and is now second on the team in rebounding despite averaging just 14 minutes per game.  Kellogg is mindful that Bailey didn’t play much at Memphis and then sat out last year, so he’s not the most experienced player in terms of game play, and feels like he has a good deal of upside just like Carter.

“Tthese guys are really just starting to get in game shape,” said the second-year head coach.  “There’s nothing that can substitute playing time in a real game.”

Kellogg spent some time in the gym with Carter when he wasn’t playing well.  He spent the time working on post moves and letting him know that while he wasn’t playing well, he had confidence in Carter.  The struggles of another key player are likely to lead him in a similar direction soon.

Senior Ricky Harris hasn’t been the same since spraining his ankle earlier in the month.  He admitted he doesn’t have the same lift on his jumper, which Kellogg also noticed.  He was 2-11 from the field against Memphis on Saturday, then 5-16 against Boston College.  Add in that he’s also playing the point guard position for the first time, and there’s probably a little stress building on the young man.  Still, the competitor in him isn’t backing down.

“I don’t have the same lift on my jump shot I normally do, but that’s no excuse,” said Harris.  “I’ve got to get in the gym and get better and play the way I’m capable of playing.”

Kellogg is hoping he gets more of a feel for the position, and that’s going to be a necessity for this team.  The point guard spot was the big question mark entering the season, as there isn’t a true point guard on the roster but there’s plenty of talent at the other positions.  They have combo guards in David Gibbs and Gary Correia, but Gibbs is better off the ball and Correia has always been able to shoot from long range.  Correia has been more than serviceable off the bench, as his five assists with no turnovers on Wednesday give him 34 and 10 on the season, so more minutes at that spot could be in store for him.

But more than that, Kellogg hinted that he might do with Harris what he did with Sean Carter, especially since it appears to have made a difference with the way Carter has responded.  He said Harris hasn’t shot the ball well in practice, either.

“I think I need to spend some time with him in the gym and just get his confidence back a little bit,” said Kellogg.

The point guard position is the one spot that can trouble this team going forward.  The Minutemen have become a good rebounding team and have been playing better at every other position.  Although he struggled in the second half, Anthony Gurley had 23 points and 10 rebounds and is having the kind of season he is capable of having.  Terrell Vinson struggled against Boston College but has shown signs of coming alive.  Sean Carter and Bailey have played better, while freshman Sampson Carter has shown promise thus far.  After he rode Sean Carter and Bailey, their improvement has Kellogg thinking he needs to ride a few other players in much the same way.

Kellogg is quick to point out that this is still an inexperienced team, especially if you look past Harris and Gurley.  Add in the point guard questions, and it’s not all that surprising that the Minutemen are 6-6 thus far.

“I would say we’re still inexperienced, only 12 games in, with how many college games our team has played,” Kellogg said.

Improvement at the point could mean better things are ahead as this team gains more experience.  The support is already there from the frontcourt and some of the other perimeter players, and Kellogg seems ready to work with Harris to get him back to the level he’s been at for much of his career in Amherst.  With that, they may start moving in the direction Kellogg can see them going.

Louisville: Jennings Suspended for Cards’ Win Against Ragin’ Cajuns

Louisville coach Rick Pitino suspended sophomore Terrence Jennings for violating team rules for the team’s game against Louisiana-Lafayette Wednesday, according to a Sporting News report.

The Cardinals beat the Ragin’ Cajuns 84-69 without their starting forward who averages 5.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Fellow sophomore Samardo Samuels picked up the slack with career highs of 29 points and 15 rebounds. Pitino wanted to start Jennings and Samuels side by side before he decided to suspend Jennings, who should be available when Louisville faces Radford Dec. 27.

Virginia: Bennett Dismisses Jamil Tucker

Virginia coach Tony Bennett has booted senior forward Jamil Tucker from the team because Tucker has not met academic standards, according to a university press release.

Tucker was suspended to start the season and rejoined the team in practice Nov. 27, but he didn’t play any games this season. He averaged 7.4 points and 3.8 rebounds in 18.5 minutes per game last season, and Tucker figured to play a bigger role this season.

However, Bennett said Tucker failed to meet the academic standards of the Cavalier program, despite receiving extra time off during his suspension in November to improve his grades.

Mount St. Mary’s Glad to Get Home

BOSTON – Six straight losses can certainly have an effect on a team and its coach, especially in a program where there’s been a good deal of winning recently.  That might explain why Milan Brown spent over 45 minutes in the locker room with his team after Mount St. Mary’s dropped an 86-77 decision at Boston University on Tuesday night.

The loss was the sixth straight for the Mountaineers and ended a seven-game road swing.  They haven’t played a home game in over a month, and after their next game against Vermont, they go back on the road for three more before they can finally play a few more home games.

“We’ve been on the road for about 35 days now,” said head coach Milan Brown.  “It’s hard to get better when you’re on the road.  It’s hard to work on things when you get on the road.”

The Mountaineers won 19 games each of the past two seasons, so this isn’t something they are used to.  But they have experienced something like the current stretch, as Brown pointed out that they got off to a rough start last year before eventually reaching the NIT.  In the month of December, they lost six straight games, although one was a home game (Navy), and went into Christmas with the same record (3-8) they currently have.

With much of that team back, there is reason for optimism going forward.  But it won’t come automatically.

“We’re going to need some veteran leadership, a little bit of that has been lacking,” said Brown, who alluded to the loss of two key leaders from last season’s team in forwards Sam Atupem and Markus Mitchell.  “We’re young in the post a little bit, and the perimeter guys are struggling.  We’re going to need some of those veteran guys that have been in championship situations to step up.  There’s no progress without struggle, and we’re definitely struggling, so hopefully some progress will come quickly.”

The Mountaineers have their perimeter unit back, but the offense hasn’t been there.  They are shooting below 38 percent from the field, including less than 29 percent from behind the three-point line, and they have 58 more turnovers than assists.  Defense is where this team wins, and thus far that hasn’t been a major concern, although they allowed Boston University to shoot 56 percent from the field.  That game marked just the third time they have scored 70 or more points, a stat that was, interestingly, the same at this time last year.  In their loss at Old Dominion earlier this month, they scored just 38 points, the lowest single-game total by a Mountaineer team in almost 60 years.

Brown knows their schedule has not been easy.  Not only have they played all but two games away from home, but they have come against the likes of Oklahoma, Niagara, Georgetown, Robert Morris, Old Dominion, Pittsburgh and Boston University, several of whom are favorites in their respective conferences.  But he isn’t about to use that to explain how they have played.

“We’re struggling shooting the basketball this year.  That’s been an ongoing event for us,” Brown added.  “It’s hard to win basketball games when you can’t score with consistency.  We’ve had some long stretches, where we go 4-6 minutes without a basket.”

One thing that hasn’t helped is that the Mountaineers haven’t had their entire team together for much of the season.  Tuesday’s loss at Boston University was just their second game with the entire team together, as academics kept two players out for about the first month of the season, an injury sidelined senior shooter Will Holland for seven games and senior walk-on Kevin Jones wasn’t immune as an illness kept him out of action for a while.

Getting everyone back and finally getting a home game, along with a brief holiday break (the players all go home until returning for practice on the 27^th), may have come at a good time.  When they come back, they can regroup for the rest of the season with the full roster intact.

Brown is also a realist and knows that their path to postseason play is through the Northeast Conference.  Their first two games there in January are on the road, which means they will start with four straight road games in NEC play as they played two on the road earlier this month.  But after that, they play five of seven at home and finish with four straight at Knotts Arena.  If they can manage through this tough start, the home games could help make for a good finish leading into the conference tournament.  It all starts with the two remaining non-conference games, at home against Vermont and at Siena.

“We know that the Northeast Conference is what we’re supporting and where we have to start playing our best basketball, but we need to get ready for that starting now,” Brown said.

Yale Starts Road Stretch With Good Signs

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Yale has hand an up-and-down non-league run thus far.  As the Bulldogs start a five-game road swing that will take them into 2010, there are some positives for this team, some of which were evident when they started off that stretch by giving Providence all they could handle.

The Bulldogs have yet to win consecutive games this season.  That’s not a big surprise considering three starters had been reserves prior to this season and are all playing more minutes.  The three starters they lost from last season represented their top three rebounders and three of their top four scorers, so they already needed the holdovers to make a sizeable improvement.  Add in a series of injuries, and the growth of the team has taken some hits along the way.

While the win-loss record isn’t pleasant at 4-7, players like Michael Sands, Jordan Gibson and Paul Nelson are generally functioning well as new starters.  Reggie Willhite and Greg Mangano have become nice contributors as sophomores, though the latter missed the first six games of the season due to an off-season foot injury.  Sands and Gibson have led the team in scoring at least once this season.  Mangano had 14 points off the bench against Providence and was one of the Bulldogs who basically had their way inside with the Friars.

“They’re coming along as best as possible,” head coach James Jones said of the new regulars.  “We’ve been hurt, so we haven’t had everybody in the lineup.  Now we’re starting to get to where we have a bunch of guys in the lineup at the same time.”

With four more games on the road in this stretch, it’s a good time to have a healthier team.  Although the Bulldogs were without backup point guard Mike Grace, who Jones said might have helped since the game was played at a fast pace, they largely had their whole team for that game.  For much of the game, they took good care of the ball, a positive sign because some recent Yale teams have been dogged by turnovers, and they exposed some weaknesses in the Friars’ defense, especially inside.

Yale led for a good deal of the game, and in the first half they scored almost easily at times when they got the ball inside.  It didn’t matter if it was a drive by the likes of Porter Braswell or Gibson, or an entry pass into someone like Nelson or Mangano – if the ball got in or near the paint, it was going in the basket.  The Bulldogs controlled the pace, breaking the Friars’ press when Providence was able to press off a made basket, and made it their game.

The Bulldogs naturally lean on senior Alex Zampier at the offensive end.  While his shooting numbers could be better, they’re not much different from last season.  He took advantage of the inside play, as he scored 25 points on 10-19 shooting on Monday night.  He doesn’t just give them scoring, as he’s averaging well over two steals per game as well.

Gibson appears to have made the biggest jump of all the new starters.  Playing just under twice as many minutes per game as last season, he’s more than doubled his scoring and rebounding numbers and already has more assists than he had all of last season.  If there’s an X-factor on this team, it’s probably the senior forward, who didn’t have his best numbers game on Monday but was very active and had a nose for the ball.

“If you were to put his minutes out from last year, he’s doing what he does,” Jones said of Gibson.

Jones was satisfied with 14 turnovers in the game, especially since the Friars press often.  He was also satisfied that they didn’t lose the game, as the Friars had 19 points off the turnovers but didn’t win the game on that.  The biggest thing the press ultimately did was keep the Bulldogs from getting into the halfcourt set they had in the first half, which allowed them to get the inside baskets.  Several Bulldogs had good first half numbers but did little for most of the second half, mainly due to a lack of touches.

Once the Bulldogs come back from Christmas, they head to Colorado for games against Colorado and Colorado State.  After this five-game stretch, they get two home games before the Ivy League begins.  Three of the first four Ivy games are home and the only road game is at rebuilding Brown, so they could get off to a good start before the difficult Cornell-Columbia road weekend.

“It’s going to be a tough stretch for us,” Jones said of the road stretch.  “Five games on the road is never easy.  We’ve got these five games, and we’ve got to try to make some noise.”

Friars Enter Big East Play About as Expected

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Ready or not, Big East play beckons for the young Providence Friars.  If what they showed in the last non-conference game is any indication, not much has changed from the beginning of the season.  The reality is that this is still a team that will have great moments and has the potential to over-achieve, but also a glaring weakness and is still a young team.

The Friars knocked off Yale by a score of 87-78, but it didn’t come easy.  The plus side is that they won, and did so with some persistence.  For much of the game, they didn’t get great results from their press, as Yale took good care of the ball.  Finally, in the latter part of the second half, they began to get results, getting some turnovers and disrupting Yale’s offense enough to get stops when they didn’t force a turnover.  The offense followed, as the Friars shot 54.3 percent from the field in the second half.

“Once we get stops, we can run,” said Marshon Brooks, who had 11 of his 13 points in the second half.  “We can’t run if we’re not getting stops.  That kind of kept us at their pace of the game, so they stuck around.”

Brooks is very much a key to this team as one of its veterans and its most talented player.  Early on, it looked like he could be poised for a breakout season, but that was the case last year and he instead had the kind of season a young player can have.  For a while this season, it has looked like it could be the same kind of year: big games early, but then he struggles to get back to that level.

Brooks led the Friars to the World Vision Invitational to open the season, earning the tournament MVP after averaging 17 points per game in the three games.  The last game was the first of three straight outings of 20 or more points.  The next two games weren’t bad, scoring 16 and 10 against Boston College and Northeastern, respectively, but then things seemed to take a bad turn.  Early foul trouble hurt him in the loss at Rhode Island as he scored four points in just 20 minutes, and he had just eight points against Brown a couple of nights later.  While he hasn’t played poorly since then, he’s clearly not been at the level of the early games, and his defense has played a role in that.

“Defensively, I’ve got to do a better job of keeping my man in front of me,” Brooks said.

In his defense, Brooks has, along with several others, battled the flu bug in the last week and a half starting a couple of days before the loss to Iona and running through final exam week.  Still, this is a player the young Friars need to be consistent.

“Everybody knows, Marshon knows that he’s just scratching the surface of how good a player he can become,” said head coach Keno Davis.  “He’s got to be able to add the different areas of his game to become a lock-down defender, to become a good rebounder from a guard position, and obviously to take the ball to the basket and not rely on the pull-back jump shot.  He’s trying, and I think with his work ethic and his attitude, I’ve got a good feeling that he’s going to improve as a basketball player.”

The Friars have been very reliant on the three-point shot all season long, which is a big reason they look the part of a feast-or-famine team.  They have averaged over 25 attempts per game from long range and are shooting just over 33 percent from deep.  In each of their first three games, they took 32 shots from behind the arc and made no more than 10.  In Monday’s win over Yale, they were 4-19.  Conversely, they went 15-27 against Vermont and 16-29 at George Washington, so they can get hot from long range.  There have been times where they move the ball well to get those shots and times where, like last season’s team, they simply settle, and when it’s more like the latter the shots haven’t been falling.

That means the Friars have to find other ways to score.  Brooks is capable of it, as are other key veterans like Sharaud Curry and Brian McKenzie.  McKenzie has taken 77 shots on the season, 47 from behind the arc.  Of the 41 shots Kyle Wright has hoisted up this season, 30 have come from behind the arc.  All are capable of scoring off the bounce.

Yale led for most of the first half on Monday night, at one point by 11, and for most of the first 11 minutes of the second half.  To boot, the Bulldogs basically had their way with the Providence defense, especially inside, as they at times scored with ease when they got the ball inside either on drives or an entry pass into a post player.

The need to score aside from three-point shots and the interior defense both point to what will be another key: the Friars’ press.  When the press works, the Friars dictate the tempo and can disguise their weakness inside.  They also don’t need to score in other ways because they can get easy baskets off turnovers.  When that doesn’t happen, it will be tough for them to win against teams in the Big East that have bigger, stronger frontcourts.  By not controlling the tempo, they’ve basically lost half the battle already.

“We’re not going to be the biggest, strongest team in the Big East, and probably never will be,” Davis said, noting that Yale provided a textbook example of how to attack them inside.  “So in a halfcourt game, if it gets down to a 50-point game as some teams like to play, and the walk the ball up and we walk it up and they dump it into their post players and we dump it into our post players, we’re not going to win that game anyway.”

The Friars are inexperienced inside as well, and it has shown.  Bilal Dixon has been in foul trouble often, and Monday night was no exception.  Jamine Peterson will get plenty of rebounds, but he is all of about 6’6″ and fresh off a redshirt season, and James Still is probably not physically ready for the Big East but will have to play.  Russ Permenter will throw his weight around, and there’s a chance that Ray Hall could play as he’s now practicing and suiting up, but neither is a panacea.  Simply put, the Friars have some room for improvement up front.

That means the guards have to do a little more when they get into a halfcourt set defensively.  If the big men alone can’t shut down the post players, the best thing anyone can do is not let the ball get inside.

“We’ve just got to do a better job of walling up, trying not to foul and keeping our bigs out of foul trouble,” said Brooks.

When the Friars are able to turn it into an up-and-down game and force turnovers, they’ll have a chance to win.  They might pull off an upset or two along the way as a result.  But when that doesn’t happen, it could be a long night.  That’s pretty much what was projected for this team before the season, which means the first month and a half has gone about as expected.

Kentucky: Wildcats Notch Win No. 2,000

Kentucky slapped around overmatched Drexel en route to an 88-44 win, the 2,000th in the storied program’s history, according to the Associated Press.

The Wildcats doubled up the Dragons with freshman DeMarcus Cousins and senior Patrick Patterson putting up 18 points apiece. They each scored more than the entire Kentucky team did in its first win as a program: an 11-10 game against Lexington YMCA Feb. 18, 1903.

The program has had numerous legendary coaches, with Adolph Rupp, Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith patrolling the sidelines and racking up the wins for the Wildcats. Rupp led Kentucky to its 1,000th win in 1969, and 40 years later, the Wildcats doubled that number.

North Carolina State: Smith Sounds Off, Earns Suspension

North Carolina State junior forward Tracy Smith will miss the Wolfpack’s game against Arizona Dec. 23 after earning a suspension for criticizing officials, according to an Associated Press report.

Smith criticized the referees in the Wolfpack’s 67-59 loss to Wake Forest, saying that they called too many “touch fouls” and “favored Wake Forest all the way.” He later apologized for mouthing off after a tough loss.

Smith fouled out with more than five minutes remaining, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

For the game, North Carolina State had 25 fouls to Wake Forest’s 19. The Demon Deacons had a slight advantage in free throw attempts: 23 to 19.

Duke: Reserve Forward Leaves Team

Duke sophomore forward Olek Czyz will leave the team and transfer to another school, according to a Duke press release.

In 10.2 minutes per game, Czyz averages 2.5 points and 2.0 rebounds. He has six big men ahead of him in coach Mike Krzyzewski’s frontcourt rotation.

Czyz is originally from Poland. He played in 19 games in about a season and a half with the Blue Devils.

Indiana State: Marshall Returns to Team

After missing one game because of suspension, senior guard Harry Marshall returns to Indiana State’s lineup against IUPUI Dec. 23, according to a university press release.

Marshall averages 11.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game for the Sycamores. He’s the team’s second-leading scorer. He was suspended one game for violating team rules.

During Long Finals Break, Skinner Goes Back to the Drawing Board

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Sometimes a long break for final exams allows a team to go back to the drawing board and regroup.  In the case of Boston College, the coach did that.

In the Eagles’ 72-46 win over Bryant, the starting lineup had a little different look.  Josh Southern, who had started 44 consecutive games going back to the start of last season, was moved to the bench.  But it wasn’t for another frontcourt player, as the Eagles went smaller by replacing him with Reggie Jackson and moving around other players to go smaller.  The two frontcourt starters were Corey Raji, who played a lot of power forward in high school, and Joe Trapani.

Head coach Al Skinner said the move had nothing to do with the play of Southern, although he hasn’t been himself in December.  Rather, a look back at the last two games, both losses, and at the upcoming schedule gave him the idea that a change might be in order.

“The teams that we’re going to be playing are smaller teams, and it was clear that we’ve struggled a little bit in some games against smaller lineups,” said Skinner.  “We just thought this was something that, at least from a defensive standpoint, was going to be effective for us.”

It’s something not lost on the players, who understood that a coach might feel like a change is needed.

“I think all great coaches know that they’re not perfect, and they step back and try to adjust as things are not working,” said Trapani, who had a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds.  “The past two games, it was clear that we were not prepared for the game.  This game was different.”

Harvard and Rhode Island each shot 50 percent from the field against the Eagles, something only Northern Iowa had done on the season (the Panthers shot 64.8 percent against the Eagles in the U.S. Virgin Islands).  The rebounding numbers attested to it as well in a different sense, with Harvard being the only team to out-rebound the Eagles this season and their +7 advantage against Rhode Island being their smallest margin of the season.

Skinner said this lineup could stay intact even into ACC play.  Even if he keeps the starting lineup this way, there will be times he goes back to a lineup that’s bigger and has a center like Southern, Cortney Dunn or Evan Ravenel.  The bench was clearly energized on Sunday, as Dallas Elmore gave them 17 good minutes, Southern was a factor on the interior with six rebounds and three blocked shots in 14 minutes and Ravenel gave them 10 good minutes that seemed like more.

Each of the past two seasons, Skinner has spoken of the flexibility the roster has as an advantage for his team.  Certainly, this team has some inter-changeable parts, although the idea of Reggie Jackson as a second point guard has looked a little questionable as the offense has been very different when he has run the show instead of Biko Paris.  But at the shooting guard, small forward and power forward positions, a number of players can be moved around on this team.  Skinner felt like he wasn’t using that flexibility to its full advantage before, but appears ready to now.

“I was probably getting a little rigid as far as what we were trying to do,” Skinner admitted.  “There was no flexibility – we couldn’t do anything because I was staying pretty rigid.”

The players had no problem being asked to do something different.  Raji not only played a lot of power forward in high school, but has basically been a combo forward since arriving in Chestnut Hill.  Rakim Sanders, looking more and more like himself in his second game back, has often swung between the two wing positions, and Jackson is better off the ball than on it.

The players also understand the emphasis on defense of late.  Skinner pointed out that the Eagles haven’t won by out-scoring teams, and a look at the numbers back him up.  The Eagles’ four losses came in the games with the four highest opponent field goal percentages.  While they didn’t shoot well against Saint Joseph’s or Harvard, they didn’t kill themselves with turnovers, either – in fact, they turned it over just five times in the loss to the Hawks.

“We really made an effort to concentrate on the defensive end,” said Skinner.  “I said this before, when we’ve held teams to less than 40 percent shooting, we’ve won regardless of what we’ve done on the offensive end.  It’s not what’s occurring on the offensive end that has determined whether we’re successful or not.”

Skinner added that the emphasis has not been on an opponent, but on the Eagles.  He said he’s not comfortable with his team’s play, and until he gets past that, the worry isn’t about the opponent, the next of which is UMass on Wednesday night.  That fits with his lineup change, and of note is that the Eagles have still not had their whole team together for a full game this season as Tyler Roche’s back is still bothering him and he did not play on Sunday.

The coach went back to the drawing board, and the Eagles were successful on defense on Sunday.  For now, the change appears to be working, with the real tests for it coming up as they not only have UMass coming up, but a visit from South Carolina comes a week after Wednesday night’s game.

A Big Win For UMass

BOSTON – From every standpoint, UMass’ win over Memphis on Saturday is a big one for the team and the program.

The starting point is that it’s a “name” win.  Yes, this isn’t the Memphis team of the past couple of years, or what could have been this year as several talented newcomers followed departed coach John Calipari to Kentucky.  But Memphis is still a big name and if the Tigers slip, it won’t be too far.  Memphis has played a relatively light schedule thus far, but the Tigers have acquitted themselves well in their toughest tests to this point and have a 7-2 record.  Besides that, the many connections between the programs don’t add to it for one person.

“The win is great, I love the win.  To beat them really doesn’t have that much special meaning,” said UMass head coach Derek Kellogg, who had 87 text messages after the game, according to UMass Sports Information Director Jason Yellin.  “I would probably have preferred that both of us could have come away with the win, because I do want to see that team and those kids do well.”

Let’s not forget that Kellogg not only enjoyed his time in Memphis, but he had a hand in recruiting a number of the current Tigers.

For the Minutemen, it’s also a game they won with an intangible Kellogg has wanted from his team.  He admitted that he was worried about the Tigers’ press and their athleticism, especially since the Minutemen don’t have a true point guard on the roster.  The Tigers have forced nearly 20 turnovers per game, and the Minutemen played right up to that with 20 turnovers on the evening, tying their season high (they had 20 against Cornell).  The Minutemen also nearly gave the game away on the foul line, going 20-32 from the charity stripe while Memphis had a free throw line past teams would have envied, as they made 22 of 25.

But the Minutemen were able to overcome all of that, largely by having a 44-24 rebounding advantage.  They had a 21-4 edge in second-chance points and a 40-16 edge in points in the paint against a Tiger team thin on low-post players.

“I thought our guys responded and play tough, tough and then they played tough, because that’s what we’re working on every day in practice,” said Kellogg.  “The one thing that’s holding us back a little is that we don’t always play as tough as I want to, even in practice.  We really worked on that, and I think it paid dividends in the rebound totals tonight.”

One of the winning guards noticed the rebounding edge right away when he saw the stat sheet.

“Coming into this game, Coach told us if we attack the glass, play hard and play aggressively, we can come out with the win,” said senior guard Ricky Harris, who had 13 points but wasn’t a big factor as he went 2-11 from the field.

Indeed, the Minutemen were a tougher team, especially in the frontcourt.  Terrell Vinson, who will best be remembered for the game-winning basket with 0.7 seconds left after the ball was knocked around like a pinball and found its way into his hands, had 21 points and nine rebounds, while Sean Carter battled foul trouble to grab eight boards.

In light of that, however, one can’t lose sight of the backcourt in this.  One person who didn’t was Memphis head coach Josh Pastner, whose team basically plays four guards most of the time.  One of the Tigers’ taller players, talented sophomore Wesley Witherspoon, is a wing, so despite his size he’s not someone who’s counted on to be a big low-post factor.

“The big thing is we need Elliot (Williams) and Willie (Kemp),” said the first-year head coach.  “They played, I think, 67 minutes combined but didn’t get any rebounds between the two.  It’s not just the big guys, we’ve got to have guard rebounding, it’s just as important as the bigs.”

To his point, hometown kid Anthony Gurley had six rebounds to go with 14 points, and Harris added three rebounds.  Gary Correia added five boards off the bench as well, so the Minutemen’s guards did their work on the glass.

Another reason this is a big win is that it came in Boston.  Ever since Travis Ford took over, the program has tried to play a game in Boston every year.  In years where the Commonwealth Classic against Boston College has been in Amherst, they have scheduled a game in Boston.  They played at Boston University in 2006-07 and had a contract with Kentucky to play at the Boston Garden last year, but the Wildcats opted out of it and that left them without a game in Boston.  The Minutemen are now 4-0 all-time in the Garden, and the school has a good alumni base in the Boston area, so there are certainly incentives to play a game in the area every year.

One other reason this is a big win is that it can give a sense of how good this team might be.  There’s been a feeling that this team is an unknown, given that they’ve played teams clearly better, like Michigan State, and that they are clearly better than, like Grambling State, St. Francis (NY) and Arkansas-Fort Smith.  They entered Saturday’s game with a 5-5 record and had not been above .500 all season.  There’s certainly some optimism after a win like this.

“Beating a good team like Memphis gives us a lot of confidence, and it tells us what we can play with any team in the country,” said Gurley.

Even so, Kellogg is hopeful but guarded about that.  Part of that is because he’s seen the Atlantic 10 have a good non-conference run, ranking fifth in conference RPI thus far.  After Saturday’s games, only two teams aren’t above .500 in the conference.

“The only thing I can do is try to get us better every day in practice,” said the second-year head coach.  “Hopefully they take that and respond in the games the way they did today.  It would be great if it’s a springboard, that would be fantastic.”

Indeed, it is a big win, but the lasting value it has will depend on what the Minutemen do after this.  Their next chance is once again in the Boston area when they take on Boston College Wednesday night.

Butler Knocks Off Xavier in Dramatic Fashion

INDIANAPOLIS – The key numbers for Saturday’s game between Xavier and Butler are 1.2, 1.3 and 1.8.

With 1.8 seconds left in the game, Butler’s Gordon Hayward grabbed a loose ball and shot a layup.  The ball went through the net with 1.2 seconds to go to put Butler up 69-68.  The officials stopped play to check the instant replay to figure what most people in attendance thought they would: how much time there should be on the clock for Xavier to make one last desperation play to go for the win.

After about five minutes it became evident they were looking at a possible clock malfunction that caused the clock to not tick off enough time prior to Haywood’s layup.  After 11 minutes the officials declared the game over with Butler winning 69-68.

Apparently the clock erroneously stopped at the 14.7 mark.  The officials put a stopwatch to it and determined that 1.3 seconds had elapsed.   That was deducted from the 1.2 seconds left, so the game was over.

The last procession of the game, which lasted 36 seconds, started when Xavier’s Mark Lyons got tied up for a held ball.  Then the possession took what seemed like an eternity to complete, as it included two missed 3-pointers by Butler, two offensive rebounds, a mad scramble for the ball and finally Hayward’s layup.

Xavier’s coach Chris Mack, when informed the game was over, raced over to the officials to plead his case, then threw his hands up in disgust as the officials hustled off the court.

After the game Mack was still skeptical of the call, but didn’t say they blew it.

“I know when I go back and I have a chance to watch it on film, I really hope for everybody’s sake they got it right,” said Mack.

But it was Saturday afternoon and there was no better place to be than at Butler’s historic Hinkle Fieldhouse to watch college basketball.

This game matched two teams that share a history together, both as former members of the Midwest Collegiate Conference (which later became the Horizon League) and two private non-top six conference basketball schools that have been constantly ranked in the Top 25.  They are two of the best non-BCS schools in the country.

Until last year, when Butler beat No. 14 Xavier in Cincinnati 74-65, the two schools had not played since 1998 when Xavier won 73-66.  Xavier leads the all-time series 28-15, including seven straight at Hinkle Fieldhouse coming in.

But that is before Butler started its run of ranked teams.  This year Butler is ranked at number 17 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll and 21 in the AP Poll.

It is amazing that these two small private schools have become basketball powers on the national scene.

Xavier has become a basketball factory producing good players, great teams and lot of recognition for the school, without sacrificing their academic integrity.  The Musketeers play in the beautiful 10,250-seat Cintas Center, where they average close to 10,000 fans a game.  At the same time Xavier has figured a way to maximize their basketball revenue stream so much that Forbes magazine named them one of the 20 most valuable college basketball programs in the country for the second year in a row, generating $7.9 million in operating income last year.  That put them 17^th out of over 300 Division I basketball programs.   They fly to their away game in a chartered jet, just like the big boys do.

As for Butler, they have turned their success into invitations to play in some of the top preseason tournaments and regular appearances on national TV.  Their success has allowed them to play home games against not only Xavier, but teams like Northwestern and Ohio State.  Unlike Xavier, the usually fly commercial and they average around 6,000 fans per game, although this year they are averaging close to 7,500 fans per game.  It appears they are growing and creating new fans in Central Indiana.  It wasn’t much more than 15 years ago that Xavier was averaging 7,500 fans per game.

The game started out with a three-pointer by Hayward and Butler led the entire first half, pushing the lead up as high as 15 points before Xavier whittled it down to 39-32 at the half.

In the second half the Musketeers scored the first 11 points and went ahead for the first time when Jordon Crawford made a three-pointer to make it 41-39 with 17:39 to go.

Xavier held their lead in the second half until Lyons fouled Ronald Norad, who promptly made both free throws to tie the score at 60 with 4:07 left.

The Musketeers got the lead back when Jason Love hit a baseline jumper to make it 66-65 with just 1:32 left.  Crawford then hit a jump shot with 46.7 seconds left to push the lead to three points.   Butler’s Shelvin Mack got fouled by Terrell Holloway with 39 seconds left, making both foul shots to get Butler within 68-67.  The only thing that remained at this point was the one last sequence that ended with Haywood’s game-winning layup.

Butler’s Brad Stevens, always the even-keeled coach, said that during the time it took to sort out the ending for the game he told his players, “If the call doesn’t go our way or we a worse team?  If it goes our way are we a better team?”

It was a shame that such a great basketball game by these two good teams on a glorious winter day in America’s basketball state had to end by a decision by the officials rather than a great shot or great block.

The Bobby Knight watch: He was sitting courtside doing the game for ESPN2.  There were two uniformed policemen and two Hinkle security guys standing near or seated by the famous coach.  At one point near the end of the first half a group of students started chanting his name, eventually joined by some other fans and he waved to them, which got an even louder cheer by the fans.  After the game he signed autographs for fans.

Notes From the St. Andrew’s Holiday Classic

BARRINGTON, R.I. – A trip to St. Andrew’s was in store on Friday for the first day of the St. Andrew’s Holiday Classic.  From there, we have the scores, then a few quick hitters from the day’s action.

Scoreboard

Barrington (RI) St. Andrew’s 70, Avon (CT) Old Farms 59

Winchendon (MA) School 76, Chestnut Hill (MA) Brimmer & May 64

Thompson (CT) Marianapolis Prep 72, Marion (MA) Tabor Academy 48

Boston (MA) Trinity Academy 72, Trumbull (CT) Heritage Christian School 67

• A key in St. Andrew’s win to start the day was Michael Laplante (6’5″ Jr. SF, Woonsocket (RI)). Last year, Laplante looked nothing like the player who opened a lot of eyes in the spring and summer, but he’s starting to look like the Michael Laplante of old. When the Saints took over the game in the second half, Laplante was there on many plays, from rebounds to mid-range shots and transition plays.

• Laplante’s teammate, Ricardo Ledo (6’5″ So. SG-SF, Providence (RI)) was a little up and down but knocked down four three-pointers en route to 18 points.

• Avon Old Farms didn’t get a great effort from a younger player who is perhaps their best prospect, Tafari Whittingham (6’7″ So. SF-PF, Stratford (CT)), as he battled foul trouble and wasn’t very effective. Latif Rivers (6’1″ Sr. PG-SG, Elizabeth (NJ)) had the big day, scoring 28 points with six three-pointers. He’s capable of putting up big numbers when he gets going, and he did just that in this game.

• Brimmer & May was able to stay with Winchendon for a large portion of the game, but eventually were worn down by their deeper opponent. Derek Retos (5’9″ Sr. PG-SG, Attleboro (MA)) had a large hand in keeping them in it with 21 points, all on three-pointers and a couple of which had college coaches who had not seen him before taking notice. Chris Sherwood (6’4 Jr. SF, Sharon (MA)) had 17 points and showed an improved mid-range touch to go with his already solid in-between game. Bryant signee Troy Robinson (6’6″ Sr. SF-PF, Boston (MA)) had 13 points and had moments where he looked very good, but also traveled several times as he tried to do a little too much.

• Winchendon got a solid effort from Akeem Williams (5’10″ Sr. PG, Brockton (MA)), who had 15 points and at times a one-on-one duel with travel teammate Retos. The best thing about this game for Williams is that he showed his improving in-between game, scoring off the dribble and going by defenders while also knocking down three from long range, which he’s long established a reputation for.

• Quinnipiac signee Ike Azotam (6’8″ Sr. SF-PF, Roxbury (MA)) led Marianapolis with 18 points. A couple of plays in the game made it clear that he’s still very right-handed and could stand to be more fluid with the ball when he’s driving.

• Boston Trinity struggled in the first half after scoring the first seven points of the game. They never really got going until well into the second half, when they took over the game. Rodell Wigginton (6’3″ So. SF, Nova Scotia) led the way with 22 points but has played better than he did Friday. Kayon Mayers (6’1″ Jr. SG, Mississauga (Ont.)) hobbled off the court at one point in the second half, but came back later and had a couple of crucial baskets down the stretch to finish with 15 points.

Minnesota: White Quits Team Via YouTube

Minnesota freshman forward Royce White announced via YouTube that he will quit Minnesota, according to an Associated Press report.

White has been suspended all season while police investigate whether he was involved in the theft of a laptop from a dorm room. White said the investigation has been stressful to him and his family, and the legal troubles are the catalyst for his decision to leave the team.

White is Minnesota’s top recruit entering this season, but he has not played a minute for the Golden Gophers. Minnesota officials said White has not told anyone who works in the athletic department about his decision to leave the team.

St. John’s: Red Storm Must Wait Three More Weeks for Mason

St. John’s senior forward Anthony Mason Jr. will miss three more weeks while recovering from a hamstring injury, according to CBSSports.com.

Mason first injured his hamstring in September, then aggravated it in October. Doctors recommended that he sit for four to six weeks and undergo rehab to strengthen the muscle.

However, Mason is not ready to play yet. He missed most of last season with a foot injury after posting strong statistics as a junior, averaging 14.0 points per game.

Lawrence Academy Wins Highly-Anticipated Game

GROTON, Mass. – It was mid-December, but it had the feeling of March.  The gym was packed, not only with students from the schools (especially the home team) but also a few college coaches and players’ parents.  The anticipation was there as well, and it was a large presence.

St. Mark’s and Lawrence Academy have ruled NEPSAC Class C of late.  Last year, it was thought that for the third straight year it would come down to those two schools, but Holderness pulled off a stunning upset in Lawrence’s gym in the quarterfinals and won another game before bowing out to St. Mark’s in the final.  This year, those two schools figure to be the top contenders again, so it was easy to understand why there was a big crowd on hand.

The game didn’t disappoint, although there were points where each team looked like it could run away with from the other.  Lawrence jumped on St. Mark’s early, but never built up a lead well into the teens before taking a 37-30 halftime lead.  St. Mark’s blitzed them to start the second half with a 16-2 run, but never truly had control of it.

And while Shabazz Napier will make headlines from scoring a game-high 34 points in a well-played game the home team won by a 76-72 margin, the junior point guard wasn’t just trying to pass the look test of a good teammate when he said the entire team needed to be mentioned in this one.  Napier may have hit clutch shots and turned the game around in the second half with a number of steals that turned into layups and fouls, but he had plenty of good help and is making players better.

Take Marcus Grant.  The junior is a football star and getting ACC interest on the gridiron, but he’s also been a fine player on the hardwood as a great teammate.  He always wants to guard the opponent’s best player, and for a lot of the game he did just that with super sophomore Alex Murphy of St. Mark’s.  Murphy scored just eight points and never really got untracked, as Grant denied him the ball often in the early going and otherwise bothered him.  Later, when he picked up other players, Grant made life difficult for them.  He scored nine points and was a little out of character on some of the shots he took on offense, but there was no question of his value in the win.

Denzel Brito wasn’t the happiest with his play, but the senior guard had 16 points and had a big hand in their early lead.  He also made a few good passes and continued to show improvement with his non-scoring skills, as his ability to put the ball in the hole has long been established.

Perhaps no player other than Grant epitomized how Lawrence won this game more than Dan Giovanchini.  He stands just 6’3″ and was up against a number of taller players, but it seemed like every time you looked, he was right there in the middle of the play.  He rebounded, he defender, he played physical ball, and late in the game when there were scrambles for loose balls, who was right in the middle of it?  Giovanchini, of course.  Napier, Brito, Grant and even senior post player Sarkie Ampim get most of the pub, but they don’t win this game without Giovanchini’s play.

The big reason St. Mark’s made a run in the second half was an ability to finally use their size advantage.  For much of the first half, they struggled to get the ball inside for scoring chances, but in the second half, they lived by getting it into Melsahn Basabe.  The Siena-bound forward had 29 points, getting a number of post baskets and a few fouls along the way, as he was unstoppable for a lot of the second half.  Nate Lubick, who handled the ball a fair amount, got his share of inside baskets en route to 21 points.

The fact that Lubick handled the ball as often as he did was in part because it was a tough outing for starting point guard Jaymie Spears.  It’s fair to say that Spears has been tested since arriving at the school, as before this a bad ankle slowed him at their open gyms in September and the football team went 3-5.  In this game, the sophomore struggled with turnovers, although he seemed to get better early in the second half.  All told, this wasn’t his best game, but he’ll bounce back as he’s shown himself to be a tough player before.

Lawrence Academy won’t make a return trip to Southborough during the regular season.  That means if these two schools are to meet again this year, it will be in March, the time everyone expects them to meet when the stakes are higher.  By then, they will have already played a game that had the feeling of March.