Northeastern is not yet a contender in the CAA

BOSTON – Wednesday night was an opportunity for Northeastern to show something. One way or another, we would find out if this Husky team is a contender or pretender at the moment, as they hosted Drexel. And after a 61-53 loss, one thing is clear: this team is not a contender right now in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Northeastern is now 7-5 in CAA play, which is a respectable mark. But take a closer look, and one notices problems. One is that they are now three games out of fourth place, which means they need some help if they are to ultimately get a bye in the conference tournament next month. That has meant everything over the years, and it’s very difficult to win four games in four days. Perhaps more importantly, the Huskies have put that record together only against the teams they “should” beat. The Huskies are 0-4 against the teams that are ahead of them in the standings.

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Drexel rounds into form among the CAA’s best teams

BOSTON – Once Drexel regained the lead in the second half of Wednesday night’s game at Northeastern, the Dragons were well on their way to another win. They closed out the Huskies in a fashion that one would expect of a conference contender, and it’s the latest example of the Dragons looking like the team they were predicted to be in the preseason.

Northeastern took an early 29-27 lead in the second half, which was their first lead since the first minute of the game. But that lead was short-lived, and once Drexel went up 36-31 on a layup by Frantz Massenat, the Huskies were never within one possession the rest of the way.

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Hofstra just can’t break through in close CAA games

BOSTON – What more was there for Mo Cassara to say? Saturday’s 58-51 loss at Northeastern was a case of déjà vu for Hofstra, as they’ve seen this one before.

“We continue to hang around and be in games and have opportunities,” said the Hofstra mentor.

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

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

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

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Ron Hunter is already changing the culture at Georgia State

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

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

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An emerging freshman helps Northeastern play well at a good time

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

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

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Northeastern needs answers in the backcourt, and fast

BOSTON – Heading into the home stretch of non-conference play, Northeastern’s 71-62 loss to Princeton doesn’t portend good things. It’s not so much the loss as much as some of what could be seen in it, and given that this is college basketball, the backcourt questions that are raised are troublesome.

The Huskies only played two true guards on Sunday, and spent some time with just one on the floor. At times, the shooting guard spot was occupied by sophomore Alwayne Bigby or senior Kashief Edwards, neither of whom is a guard. While freshman Quincy Ford has some guard skills, he’s more like a big wing, with better ball skills than Kauri Black, who handled the ball a little too much on Sunday as he led the Huskies with five turnovers.

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New-look Old Dominion keeps winning and getting better

BOSTON – Prior to the season, the Colonial Athletic Association was a hotbed of questions for those who like to predict how a conference will go. Right in the middle of that was the two-time defending champions, as Old Dominion had been picked to win the conference two years in a row and did just that but was picked fifth this time around due to heavy personnel losses. The Monarchs are doing what they have done for a while now: win games. The latest example was Saturday’s 69-59 win at Northeastern that had a lot of positives for this team.

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North Carolina-Kentucky lives up to the hype

The matchup between North Carolina and Kentucky lived up to its billing. It was a well-played game that came right down to the wire, and was close throughout. The eighth-largest crowd in Rupp Arena history saw it, and even more watched on television. And it’s possible that the game will mirror the teams’ seasons.

Kentucky probably has the most talent of any team in the country, but the Wildcats’ youth hasn’t been hard to see. Their freshmen have had their share of growing pains, from Marquis Teague’s early struggles taking care of the ball to Anthony Davis learning how physical the college game can be. It’s for exactly that reason that senior Darius Miller has never been more valuable than much of the early going this time around.

North Carolina is right up there with the Wildcats, but this is an older and more mature team. Whereas the Wildcats start three freshmen, the Tar Heels only played two freshmen yesterday and both came off the bench. But they start a senior, two juniors and two sophomores, and on the whole this is a team quite a ways from its ceiling just like Kentucky.

In the first half, North Carolina led by as many as nine and was the better team. They were hot from long range, going 6-9 from behind the arc in the opening frame. But Kentucky scored seven in a row at the end of the first and start of the second half, momentarily grabbing the lead and then staying right with the Tar Heels until they took the lead for good on a Davis jumper with less than eight minutes to play.

The Tar Heels had one more chance after Teague missed the front end of a one-and-one with 21 seconds left. They got the ball to John Henson, known more for his shot-blocking than scoring, and in a length-versus-length matchup, Davis got a hand on his short jumper and the Wildcats were able to run out the final seconds for a 73-72 victory.

It’s a game that many would love to see a rematch of, and considering that both teams are a ways from their respective ceilings, no one would be surprised if it materialized in the month of March.

While that was the best matchup of the day, there were a few other teams, conferences and player of note.

Marquette

Winning at the Kohl Center is hard for visiting teams to do, but Marquette pulled it off on Saturday and did so without their starting point guard. Before the game, the Golden Eagles announced that Junior Cadougan was suspended for the game due to a violation of team rules. Wisconsin has lost two straight, but neither is a bad loss as they lost to North Carolina earlier in the week. The Golden Eagles, meanwhile, are 7-0 with a blowout win over Ole Miss and Saturday’s win at Wisconsin.

Xavier

Xavier is becoming quite the second-half team. On Monday, they trailed by ten in the second half before rallying to beat Vanderbilt in overtime in Nashville. But yesterday they did themselves one better, as they trailed Purdue by 11 at the half and 19 in the second half before coming back to edge the Boilermakers 66-63. In the last 10:44, Xavier outscored Purdue 30-8.

Illinois

It seems like Bruce Weber has been on the hot seat forever in Champaign, but let’s acknowledge not only the job he has done thus far but especially what he is doing this season. After an 82-75 win over Gonzaga on Saturday, the Illini are 8-0 with wins over Richmond and at Maryland as well. Neither of those two is a big NCAA Tournament resume win, but they are worth noting because the Illini haven’t beaten up on a slew of terrible teams and could be 12-0 when they take on Missouri on Dec. 22, though they will have to get by UNLV at home before then. Saturday was the first time all season Gonzaga did not have at least four players score in double figures.

Brigham Young

No Jimmer, no problem for Brigham Young. After Saturday’s 79-65 win over Oregon in Salt Lake City, BYU is 6-2 with a win over Nevada included and the only losses being at Utah State and against Wisconsin. Granted, this isn’t the Oregon team we all thought we would see before the season with the departures of Jabari Brown and Bruce Barron, but the Ducks aren’t pushovers.

Head-scratching in the CAA

A number of conferences have their opening games this weekend before teams resume non-conference play for a little while longer. Perhaps none has had results that might leave one scratching their head as much as the Colonial Athletic Association, where three teams won on the road and preseason favorite Drexel lost to Delaware by 11 (albeit on the road). The Dragons have had a rough go of it thus far, but Chris Fouch is back so they’re closer to having their full team together. Still, Fouch was 0-9 yesterday and the Blue Hens won the battle on the glass by a 40-32 margin over a Drexel team that routinely beats up opponents on the boards.

The one other score that jumps out is Georgia State thumping William & Mary 66-34 in Atlanta. The Tribe didn’t look to be far from being a good team last season, but they’re struggling mightily out of the gates and Saturday may be the low point thus far.

We go coast to coast with other news from the college basketball nation

• Ohio State didn’t miss a beat despite Jared Sullinger being out with back spasms.
• College of Charleston lost a wealth of talent and experience from last season’s team, but the Cougars are 7-1 overall and are one of four teams that went 2-0 in early Southern Conference games this weekend. Chattanooga, who the Cougars beat last night and was picked to win the North Division, is 0-2.
• Connecticut got a big lift from Ryan Boatright with 23 points and six assists in his home debut.
• UCLA is now 2-5 after a home loss to Texas that saw them blow an 11-point lead.

Some of Sunday’s Key Matchups

Sunday is a day full of interesting matchups of teams that we’re trying to find out something about. None of these are like North Carolina-Kentucky, but they will be worth keeping an eye on.

• Baylor at Northwestern
• UNLV at Wichita State
• California at San Diego State
• Dayton at Murray State
• North Carolina State at Stanford
• Notre Dame at Maryland
• VCU vs. George Washington (BB&T Classic at the Verizon Center)
• Kansas State at Virginia Tech

Northeastern’s frontcourt looks much better already

BOSTON – One reason Northeastern is a hard team to project this season is the frontcourt. The Huskies were beaten badly on the backboards last season, and the group got something of an overhaul with the freshmen they have. The backcourt was fine, but the frontcourt was sure to have a different look and, since it’s a young group, some growing pains. If first impressions are worth anything, though, the Huskies may be a team we can project more favorably, because they more than held their own in Northeastern’s 82-74 win at Boston University on Friday.

The one statistic that will leap out at you is rebounding. Northeastern out-rebounded Boston University 52-32, and it wasn’t just the raw numbers that tell the story. The Huskies rebounded 19 of 39 available misses of their shots, and 33 of 45 available Terrier misses. They had a 22-11 edge in second-chance points. Two players, include one of the freshmen, had double-doubles with points and rebounds.

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Lots of Learning Ahead in the CAA

We’re going to learn a lot about the Colonial Athletic Association this season. That might seem obvious considering many will be interested to see how the teams in the conference respond after the great success of last season, but there’s a different angle in mind with that: it’s a conference in some transition from a personnel standpoint. It’s not exactly the “get a program” type of transition, but suffice it to say that as we enter the season, a lot of teams have more questions than answers in that area.

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CAA Hopes Postseason Success Helps Continue Its Rise

The postseason success of last season for Colonial Athletic Association schools is both fresh in our minds and a distant memory at the same time. George Mason won a game in the NCAA Tournament, Old Dominion nearly knocked off national runner-up Butler in the first round, and no one will forget VCU’s magical run to the Final Four. Getting three teams in the NCAA Tournament made it a historical year for the conference; having the added postseason success, especially with a second team making it to the Final Four in six years, was more than just the icing on the proverbial cake.

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VCU in the Final Four is a Big Deal

How big a deal is VCU reaching the Final Four? It varies, but in each case, it’s very big.

The obvious is that it’s the first time it’s happened in school history. In fact, the Rams had never even been to the Sweet 16 prior to this season. And for fans, well, all you need to know is that not long after the game was over, there was basically nowhere to walk on Broad Street in downtown Richmond. Joey Rodriguez said that by the time the press conference began after Sunday’s game, he already saw a picture illustrating this.

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George Mason and VCU: Now What?

We know Old Dominion will be in the NCAA Tournament. The Monarchs claimed their second straight conference title on Monday night with a win over arch-rival VCU. With that out of the way, what happens for some of the other top teams in the conference? Specifically, will George Mason and VCU make the NCAA Tournament as well?

That question can’t be answered here, but examining both teams’ case is a worthwhile exercise.

Most pundits figure George Mason is in. The Patriots won the regular season in what may be the best year ever for the CAA. They entered Championship Week as the hottest team in the country with 15 straight wins before the CAA Tournament. Their RPI is 27, which historically bodes well, although Missouri State can attest to that not being a sure thing. And the Patriots’ case is perhaps a little more interesting than one might think. … Continue Reading

Old Dominion Simply Knows How to Win

RICHMOND, Va. – Being picked to win a conference and then actually doing it is tougher than people think. Repeating as champions in any context is exceedingly difficult as well. As such, one can imagine how tough it is to be picked to win, then win, two years in a row. On Monday night, that scenario was fulfilled as Old Dominion won the Colonial Athletic Association for the second year in a row with 70-65 win over arch-rival VCU. And there are a lot of things that led up to this result, a lot of things that led to this team being one that knows how to win.

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Talented James Madison Hopes For Postseason Play

RICHMOND, Va. – James Madison wasn’t likely to surprise too many people at the CAA Tournament. Talented though they are, the feeling among many was that the Dukes could just as easily win the tournament as they could lose on Friday night. Sure enough, one of those results came as they were eliminated on Friday night by William & Mary.

There were some high expectations for this team, and to a degree they were understandable. The Dukes brought back the conference’s best post player in Denzel Bowles and also got Devon Moore and Andrey Semenov back after they had to redshirt last season. Add in a few others who were young last year, as well as newcomers that would raise the talent level like Akron transfer Humpty Hitchens and Cincinnati State transfer Rayshawn Goins, and you can see why some thought this team could contend if it all came together. But head coach Matt Brady knows one reason why it was hardly a given that this team would be that good. … Continue Reading

Rod Barnes Never Had a Chance at Georgia State

When you hear the term “Southern gentleman,” Rod Barnes should come to mind right away. He’s warm, engaging, easy to get along with and easy to like. That’s just one reason it’s unfortunate that he never really got a chance at Georgia State.

Barnes was let go as the team’s head coach less than a week before the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament. There are plenty of reasons why this was bad news. There’s the practical side, for one. There’s the part of you that remembers his character, which is relatively immaterial since the first things he is supposed to do are win games and graduate players, but still weighs on anyone evaluating the situation. And there’s the part where the facts of the situation come into play as well. … Continue Reading

VCU Doesn’t Allow a Comeback En Route to the Championship Game

RICHMOND, Va. – Although they led by 14 at halftime, anyone who has followed VCU this season knows that no lead has necessarily been safe. Too often, even in games where they hang on to win and at times by comfortable margins, the Rams have allowed teams to cut significantly into the deficit or come all the way back. With the season on the line against the hottest team in the country on Sunday, the Rams didn’t let it happen.

“A team like George Mason, I think they’ve won 16 games in a row, they’re not going to just roll over,” head coach Shaka Smart said. “They’re going to come back and attack, and they cut it to seven early in the second half.” … Continue Reading

CAA Tournament Quick Hitters – Quarterfinals

RICHMOND, Va. – Some quick hitters from Saturday’s quarterfinal games at the CAA Tournament:

• A common theme thus far has revolved around the teams with byes into the quarterfinals starting slowly because they aren’t in the same rhythm as the teams who had to win on Friday to get to this point. It happened in every game on Saturday, and even the coaches felt it made a difference at first. Clearly, though, each team found their footing after a while as all four top seeds advanced to the semifinals.
• A little related to that, all eight games thus far have either been tied or had a two-point margin at halftime. … Continue Reading

Jamie Skeen Hopes to Continue His Redemption

RICHMOND, Va. – VCU was blown out by George Mason less than three weeks ago in the second game of a stretch of four losses in five games to end the regular season. With a semifinal game against the Patriots beckoning, Jamie Skeen was asked about playing them again and described it as “our chance to redeem ourselves.” Redemption is a subject he knows something he knows a little about, because Jamie Skeen’s time at VCU is a story of just that.

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