“I thought that was one of our better defensive efforts,” Waters said. “We really focused in and defended. I’m still a little perplexed about the rebounding, and I think we can do a much better job there, but I thought our guys did a good job of doing what we do: turning people over and finishing at the other end.”

Waters’ mention of the rebounding referred to Rhode Island out-rebounding the Vikings 39-28 on the strength of 20 offensive rebounds. But the Rams never made that a factor as they turned them into just 16 second-chance points. The Vikings, on the other hand, turned 21 Rhode Island turnovers into 26 points and had a 22-4 edge in fast break points.

Even with the rebounding advantage Rhode Island had, this was a game dominated by Cleveland State. In humbling the young Rams, the Vikings were more physical, more athletic, and simply put, the type of team Rhode Island hopes to eventually become since they try to speed teams up as well.

“That’s what we want to get to, what Cleveland State is all about,” said Rhode Island head coach Jim Baron.

The season opener for the Vikings got a lot of national attention as they went to Nashville and took down a Vanderbilt team that some feel is a sleeper Final Four contender. They have also knocked off improved St. Bonaventure and Kent State (the latter on the road). Their non-conference schedule isn’t loaded with quality win opportunities the rest of the way, but they won’t have easy ones as Robert Morris (road), Akron (home) and a Bracketbusters game (home) are among those still ahead. The win over Vanderbilt will surely have shelf life later on if the Vikings stay relevant.

While Cleveland State likes to play fast and ride the play of their athletes, Sunday’s game showed another dimension that they have. Rhode Island had no one to guard senior Aaron Pogue, a 6’9″, 265-pound post player who dominated in the early minutes when the Vikings got him the ball. He had 20 points on 8-10 shooting, with 13 of those points (6-8 shooting) coming in the first half. The beefy post player came into the game not exactly sporting gaudy numbers on the season – he leads the team in rebounding but scores less than one of their reserves – but was a big factor on Sunday and can be the X-factor for this team.

“When we have him, we’re a totally different team,” said Waters. “We’re a guard-oriented team, but when we have Aaron doing what he’s doing we become even stronger.”

The other important aspect to Sunday’s game was that the Vikings bounced back from their first loss of the season a day earlier. It was the first serious adversity for this team, as they had yet to lose, and Hofstra beat them convincingly 65-53. They forced 17 Hofstra turnovers, but otherwise were not good at the defensive end as they allowed the Pride to shoot 51 percent and were pounded on the glass by a 38-19 margin.

“I think our guys got a little distraught by what happened yesterday,” Waters said.

The Vikings start four seniors and a junior, but the picture is quite different with the bench as there are two sophomores and six freshmen on the bench. The number of freshmen may be more like five, as Marlin Mason has yet to appear in a game and thus would seem to be a redshirt candidate. Waters normally does wholesale substitutions, but didn’t on Sunday in part because of how the game went. He is getting more comfortable with them as the season goes along, and his plan is to play them for good minutes so that they will be able to contribute more later in the season and in the future, knowing that four of the five starters will be gone next season.

Cleveland State is athletic, physical and seems to fit Waters’ preferred style of play. They’re also a veteran team in the starting lineup, and thus far they have been able to implement the game plan as teams are turning the ball over more than 21 times a game against them. Now they have shown that they can overcome adversity, which is critical for any team that will go far. That’s one more positive in what was a very good month of November for the Vikings, one that ended with a game they played exactly the way Waters wants them to.

The Terriers didn’t exactly start out the weekend on a good note. They lost a heart-breaker to Cleveland State on Friday afternoon, a game that was more than just there for the taking. But they bounced back to take out the host team on Saturday and then pull out a 68-61 decision over Hofstra, and that’s the biggest thing they will take out of this weekend.

“We knew it was a heart-breaker,” said senior forward Patrick Hazel. “We didn’t want to turn one heart-breaker into more.”

The Terriers have had to battle back seemingly all season long. In the season opener against arch-rival Northeastern, they rallied from an 11-point deficit to force overtime before falling to the Huskies. They had to battle back in the next game at Cornell to make it a ballgame before losing. And they entered this weekend winless on the season, which was tough enough, but they opened with Friday’s loss that could have devastated them. Not only would that have been their first win, but it would have come against a Cleveland State team that could be in the discussion for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid down the road given their good start.

Jones knew the Terriers would get going once the team and coaching staff had established more familiarity with each other. One thing he saw from his team was that Hazel could be an inside threat offensively, something this team could use since perimeter scoring isn’t a concern thanks to Darryl Partin and D.J. Irving. Since then, there has been a real effort to establish him as an inside threat, and it’s starting to pay some dividends.

Hazel has always been a defensive specialist. He began his career at Marquette, where he was surrounded by Dominic James, Wesley Matthews and Jerel McNeal, so there wasn’t a big need for him or any other frontcourt player to be a big scorer. Last year, his first at BU after transferring, he was decidedly not much of an offensive option with players like John Holland, Jake O’Brien (until late December) and Darryl Partin among his teammates.

This season, though, the Terriers need an inside scorer to complement Partin and D.J. Irving on the perimeter. While sophomore Dom Morris has plenty of talent, he’s not a true post player. Hazel fits the bill, however, and he had a big weekend as he got the ball often. He scored a career-high 15 points on Friday, added 14 points and eight rebounds in Saturday’s win over Rhode Island, then posted his first career double-double on Sunday with 11 points and 10 rebounds. That went with his usual work defensively as he blocked 10 shots in the three games.

“We’re trying to get (Pat) and Dom going,” Jones said. “Those are two guys we’ve got to get going inside. We’d really like to have four guys in double figures.”

“His confidence is high right now, so we’ve got to keep feeding him so we can get baskets,” Irving said of Hazel.

Morris has the tools to score inside and out, in addition to being more athletic than he looks with his big body. Last year, he was often deferential to the veterans, but now he’s one of the veterans on a younger team, especially with O’Brien redshirting this season. With the scoring prowess of their perimeter players, one gets the idea that if Morris ever got the confidence to be the player he can be, they might be unstoppable.

“He establishes his presence in practice,” Hazel said of Morris. “We’re just waiting for that one big game from him, and once he gets it, he’s going to hit the ground running.”

The Terriers have started the season coming from behind, and they’re getting better at it as they have now broken through to win games. No team wants to come from behind all the time, but that’s been the fate of this team thus far. If the Terriers keep this up and then start better, the first few weeks may turn out to be a microcosm of the season.

Results:

• Consolation: NC State 77, Texas 74
• Championship: Vanderbilt 64, Oregon State 62

 1. Resiliency

This word has been used frequently as a number of teams have shown the admirable trait of coming from behind, especially in the face of second-half deficits. In the consolation game, NC State battled back from an 18-point deficit to defeat Texas 77-74. As several Wolfpack players noted, coming off Saturday’s loss to Vanderbilt, it would have been easy to pack it in faced with a long road back in the consolation.

In the final, Oregon State fell behind by nine early in the second half. Vanderbilt seemed to be in control with momentum. Regardless, the Pac-12′s representative never quit and remained in the game down to the final possession.

It is early, so you could say teams are in a better mindset and more willing to battle back. That is part of the story, and there’s also a rationale for crediting comebacks to coaches who are working to establish a good attitude. By instilling that concept, teams will know it’s not time to hit the panic button when staring at a double-digit deficit.

2. Players should not use profanity, especially when you can be heard.

With just more than eight minutes to play in the consolation game, Texas’ J’Covan Brown was whistled for his fourth foul. As coach Rick Barnes was substituting, Brown walked to the bench, remarking that the call was BS. Brown did not use those initials. He was hit with a technical, which spelled a fifth foul and disqualification. Minus their main offensive threat, Texas eventually gave up a 12-point lead and lost to NC State.

Officials are instructed to use game management techniques. For instance, if Brown made that remark so that only he and the official heard it, the official might have just warned Brown to watch his language and that another outburst could hurt his team. Brown made the remark so that it was audible on press row and probably by a few front row patrons. The official, Earl Walton, had no choice but to call a T. Even coach Rick Barnes said it was the right call, adding that Brown “is a veteran and should be more aware that something like that hurts your team.”

3. Tempo free.

Texas posted a 117 offensive efficiency against Oregon State in the semifinals and 111 in the consolation game against NC State. Those figures should get you two wins, but not when you allow a 127 and 113 against your respective opposition. Clearly, there is some defensive work needed for these young Longhorns.

Vanderbilt survived a 32 percent turnover rate in the final against Oregon State. Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings was quick to credit Oregon State’s tough defense but did note his club needed to care for the ball a lot better. Although Vanderbilt committed 22 turnovers, Oregon State had 17 of their own for another high 24 percent turnover rate.

Vanderbilt — and specifically Jeff  Taylor — did a nice job holding Oregon State’s Jared Cunningham, a 26 ppg scorer, to nine points. OSU coach Craig Robinson said Cunningham will see a lot of defensive pressure but can impact the game in other ways. The senior guard did just that with seven steals in the championship.

The Manley efficiency formula shows MVP John Jenkins had only a 6 for the championship game against Oregon State. That was not a problem for the Commodores as he scored 14 points and hit a big 3-pointer late in the game.

Former St. Anthony’s High School product Devon Collier led all scorers with 19 in the final. The Oregon State sophomore forward had an outstanding Manley efficiency of 25.

Honors:

MVP: John Jenkins, Vanderbilt

All-Tournament:

• C.J. Leslie, NC State
• Sheldon McClellan, Texas
• Jared Cunningham, Oregon State
• Jeff Taylor, Vanderbilt

The Wolfpack lost to Vanderbilt 86-79 in the semifinals of the Legends Classic before coming back to knock off Texas in the consolation game two nights later. There is a good deal to like about this team from what they did here, especially since Saturday night is far from a bad loss for them. It’s not just the usual “good effort”, either, although that was one thing head coach Mark Gottfried liked from his team in the game.

C.J. Leslie, their most talented player, was suspended for the first three games by the NCAA and made his debut on Saturday. Now that they have him back, the Wolfpack should be better, and that was evident as he scored 20 points to lead them and was their best player on the evening.

Once Leslie came in the game on Saturday, he made his presence felt as he completed a conventional three-point play. He would later score 10 straight Wolfpack points, including two more conventional three-point plays, and scored 18 points in the half to keep them in the game while Vanderbilt’s John Jenkins was putting on a clinic shooting the ball from long range at the other end.

After lifting them in the first half, Leslie wasn’t a big factor in the second half. Gottfried thinks fatigue set in, and later he started to cramp up at a key time. When Leslie was helped off the court in the second half and the Wolfpack down 70-68, things could have taken a big turn for the worse. Although they didn’t pull it out, they didn’t go away and they had already stayed in the game with him not being the factor he was in the first half.

Richard Howell, who averaged a double-double in the first three games of the season, was a non-factor until several minutes into the second half. The junior came up big as the Wolfpack grabbed the lead a couple of times, and finished just shy of a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. With Leslie back, Howell figures to have an easier go of it as teams likely focus more defensive attention on Leslie.

NC State doesn’t have their whole team at the moment. Starting shooting guard Scott Wood is out with a sprained ankle suffered early in the win over Princeton, and likely will be out about another week. They are also awaiting a decision from the NCAA on the eligibility of freshman Thomas de Thaey, a 6’8″ forward from Belgium. They feel he can further bolster what is already a potentially strong frontcourt that also has freshman Tyler Harris starting along with junior DeShawn Painter, who needs to do better than the one rebound he had Saturday night.

The backcourt is where the Wolfpack will need some development to continue, although depth could be a concern regardless of what happens. C.J. Williams is serviceable on the wing, while Alex Johnson is off to a slow start. Lorenzo Brown is off to a nice start at the point, and at 6’5″ he can be a matchup problem there. Brown has 33 assists with just 15 turnovers in the first five games, evidence that he’s growing up at that spot.

“He’s learning how to run a team,” Gottfried said of Brown, who has as high a ceiling as just about anyone on the team. “It’s not an easy thing to learn, but I think he’s doing very well.”

The Wolfpack will have more chances to prove themselves in non-conference play, starting with Indiana at home in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge next week. A few days later is a trip to Stanford, and less than two weeks later, they host Syracuse. The first two are not likely to be signature wins if they should come out on top, but they won’t hurt. The Syracuse game is the big one before ACC play from an NCAA Tournament standpoint. As potential opportunities in ACC play go, they get North Carolina twice but play Duke and Florida State just once each.

All told, the Wolfpack look to be in a better place than they were first projected. It helps that the ACC doesn’t look to be very strong all the way through, which might leave a door open for some perceived overachieving. The backcourt depth is a concern, but if Brown keeps growing, Wood comes back fine and they stay healthy, it wouldn’t be a surprise if this team was in the mix for a spot in the top half of the ACC based on what they have shown thus far.

Talent is one thing. The team on the opposite bench certainly has it, and not unlike the Beavers the Longhorns have a lot of young talent due to early NBA Draft defections. While the Beavers were lacking in that area before Robinson took over, intangibles helped make up for it, but it didn’t lead to the NCAA Tournament.

After Robinson’s first season ended with a championship in the College Basketball Invitational, hopes were high. Some thought that in a down Pac-10 (now Pac-12), the Beavers were as good a pick as any to finish in the top half in his second season. But that never came close to materializing in a season that hit a major low when Seattle annihilated the Beavers 99-48 in Corvallis. The Beavers finished 14-18, although they did get in the CBI once again despite a losing record.

Now the Beavers have good talent and aren’t entirely lacking in experience. They start sophomores and juniors and have just one senior on the roster. The core of the team is in the sophomore and junior classes, from star Jared Cunningham right on down the roster. Cunningham could lead the Pac-12 in scoring from the looks of his early performances, but he may not have to with three others averaging in double figures and the one other starter averaging a little under that range.

So the prerequisites of talent and experience there. On Saturday night, the other reasons to think this team may be ready to turn a corner showed up. Chief among them was this team’s fight, as Texas had the lead often in the second half and appeared at times ready to pull away before overtime came.

“When I started the season this year, I said I like this team, and you can see why,” Robinson said. “It’s a tough group of kids that kept fighting, didn’t give up, was in foul trouble and couldn’t make foul shots in the first half. They do that day in and day out. What you saw is the result of what these guys do every day in practice.”

Symbolic of that was point guard Ahmad Starks. He struggled all night long and had not scored when the final minutes came around, but he hit a big three-pointer with 2:03 left that brought the Beavers within 78-76, then hit a clutch three-pointer in overtime that gave them the lead for good.

It’s instructive to remember where this program was when Robinson took over. A year prior to it, the Beavers were 0-18 in conference play, and while that was a great year for the conference, they were not part of it at all. It was so bad that Jay John was let go during the season.

As was the case in his first head coaching job at Brown, Robinson had to change a culture. It hasn’t happened overnight by a long shot, even though there was quick success with the CBI title his first year, but it appears to be there. Robinson said he feels the team is buying in to what he and the coaching staff are trying to do, which he often cited as the primary reason he had the success he did at Brown. And if his star player is any indication, the players realize what it will take to win.

“We all believe in each other,” said Cunningham, who had 37 points on Saturday night. “We have confidence in each other and want each other to do well.”

Oregon State’s win over Texas will help make them relevant later on. The rest of the non-conference slate is lacking opportunities for signature wins, so coming out of New Jersey with at least one win is what they need. They will have chances in the Pac-12, but the jury is out on just how many they will have, and the non-conference results matter even for a team that will have chances for signature wins in conference play like the Beavers.

It took a few years, but Oregon State looks ready to turn the corner into a contender. The early signs are there now that the talent is in place, and they have a good win to build on as well.

After a bumpy start to the season, conference teams enter the holiday tournament season needing to win some statement games. And the outlook isn’t great.

In the first week and a half, Wake Forest has dropped two home games, and Georgia Tech got obliterated by Kennesaw State. The Yellow Jackets gave up 80 points to the Owls, who mostly played only five guys. Georgia Tech’s eight-man rotation floundered, shooting only 35 percent while committing 19 turnovers.

In Winston-Salem, the Demon Deacons figure to have a long season ahead in coach Jeff Bzdelik’s first year at the helm. Stetson shot 46.4 percent against Wake Forest and, more revealing, out-rebounded Wake Forest 42-31. ACC teams shouldn’t get outworked in their own building to open the season, unless they’re facing a top 10 opponent. That’s just embarrassing.

But there’s plenty of time to change course. Although the conference ranks fifth in winning percentage of the six power conferences, there’s no shame in Virginia Tech losing at Kansas State or Miami losing at Memphis. Road victories for either team would have been a major upset for the conference.

The early season emergence of the ACC must start tonight, when Maryland plays Pittsburgh in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. The Terrapins are one of seven ACC teams playing in tournaments during the next 10 days. However, Maryland is one of the few teams with an opportunity to pick up crucial statement victories.

Against Pittsburgh, Maryland will be decided underdogs, and a strong showing, even in a loss, would give the Terrapins plenty to crow about. If the team can beat Pitt or their next opponent — either Illinois or Texas in the championship or consolation game — the trip to Madison Square Garden would be a success. The worst-case scenario for the ACC and Maryland is a two-game sweep in which the Terrapins don’t look competitive against some of the strongest teams from the Big East, Big Ten and Big 12.

In San Juan, North Carolina is the highest rank team in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. That means the young, unproven Tar Heels are supposed to win the tournament, and anything short of a three-game sweep against a field that includes West Virginia and Minnesota would be a disappointment. We’ll quickly find out how this year’s Tar Heels handle the pressure of lofty expectations after last season’s squad fell apart.

Back on the shores of South Carolina, North Carolina State is one of the favorites in the Charleston Classic. The only way for the Wolfpack to pick up a quality win is to reach the championship game and beat Georgetown. A loss to anyone besides the Hoyas would be detrimental to North Carolina State’s résumé and the ACC’s credibility.

Georgia Tech and Boston College have the best opportunity to grab unexpected quality wins in the Legends Classic in Atlantic City and the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, respectively. Georgia Tech will face either Syracuse or Michigan in the championship or consolation game of the Legends Classic. However, the Yellow Jackets must first get past a tough UTEP team, which is perfectly capable of knocking off a shaky ACC team. The Eagles face a bunch of tough, unranked teams, with the exception of a possible match up with Temple. Boston College needs to represent the ACC well in potential games against Cal, Georgia, Texas A&M, Notre Dame and Wisconsin.

On the West Coast, Virginia Tech finds itself in the same situation that North Carolina does in Puerto Rico: tournament favorite. The Hokies’ toughest opponents in the 76 Classic are Oklahoma State, UNLV, Stanford and Murray State. Unfortunately for Virginia Tech’s résumé, the Hokies won’t garner much more clout by doing anything less than stomping those teams, which won’t be easy, especially 3,000-plus miles away from Blacksburg, Va.

And then there’s Duke. The reigning national champs are No. 1, so they’re supposed to beat anyone, anytime. Despite those ridiculous expectations, the Blue Devils would have a great opportunity to assert themselves as the unquestioned favorites to win this season’s national title if they draw Kansas State and beat the Wildcats in the CBE Classic in Kansas City, Mo. It’s practically a home game for the Wildcats, so a Duke victory would be huge for the ACC’s elite.

Points per possession – simply, points divided by possessions – gives us a good read on a team. For instance, a team giving up 60 points per game may or may not be a great defensive team, but one playing a “shorter” game with fewer possessions so the point totals will be lower.

Today we multiply the points per possession by 100 to give us a workable number called efficiency. Outside of efficiency, possessions or their number tell us something about a team. And a possession is defined as what you do until you lose the ball. Shoot, miss and get your rebound and you are on the same possession.

All of this brings us to the Legends Classic and its champion, Pittsburgh. Their performance over the two-day event at the Prudential Center is a perfect background in discussing tempo-free statistics.

Pitt captured the Legends Classic by defeating Texas Tech in the semifinal and Washington State in the championship. The tournament, played at the Prudential Center, not only gave the Panthers another trophy and legitimized their ranking, but drove home a crucial point: they can beat you at your pace or theirs.

Before moving on let’s look at the basic formula:

Possessions = Field Goals Attempted + (Free Throws Attempted * .475) – Offensive rebounds + Turnovers

(The .475 multiplier was derived through research by Ken Pomeroy. This allows for possessions that end with one free throw taken on a one and one and is well over 90% accurate.)

Points/Possession = PPP. Multiply this figure by 100 to arrive at efficiency.

Facing Texas Tech, Jamie Dixon’s club went up against a team that pushed the ball and had the green light on three-point attempts. Washington State, on the other hand, favors a slower half-court pace and is much more methodical. Pitt handled both challenges in impressive fashion. A tempo-free look at both contests:

Semifinal     Score     Efficiency
Pitt     80     105
Texas Tech     67     88

(76 possessions)

Final     Score     Efficiency
Pitt     57     97
Washington State     43     73

(59 possessions)

The tempo free breakdown gives a graphic illustration of the difference of Pitt’s opposition game plans in the two games. A 76-possession game is quite fast. On the other hand the 59 possession contest is more on the pedestrian side. One thing that was consistent was the Panther defense. Holding an opponent under 100 is good, under 90 is outstanding.

Another point to consider is Pitt faced quality teams on both nights. As Jamie Dixon said after the final, “I would be really surprised if any of these teams were not playing in the NCAA tournament in March.”

Semifinals
Washington State 63, Mississippi State 52
Pitt 80, Texas Tech 67

Consolation
TexasTech 77, Mississippi State 73

Final:
Pitt 57, Washington State 43

Mississippi State finished 0-2 dropping decisions to Washington State in the semis and Texas Tech in the consolation. The trip, though, was not without reward. “We played two very good teams these two days,” said Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury. “We grew up a bit in a lot of areas. With time and experience we will get better but we definitely took a lot of positives from this tournament.”

One area where Stansbury wants improvement is on the free throw line. “We shot 17 of 31 in the Texas Tech game,” he said. “You just cannot shoot like that and hope to beat a good team.” Another area was the broken plays. “We just had too many possessions on defense where they (Texas Tech) used up a lot of the shot clock,” he said, “and right at the end we fouled and bailed them out.”

Texas Tech coach Pat Knight was pleased after the consolation. Not just in getting the W, but in his team’s confidence. “I was worried coming into the tournament,” he said. “Last year we got down at Texas A&M and Kansas and our pride was challenged we gave up. We got absolutely drilled. This time if we got down we responded. We proved over these two days that we can compete with anybody.”

Knight noted that the morning after the Pitt game the Tech trainer was busy tending to bruises and minor injuries. “That’s good, I told my kids,” Knight said. “Pitt is tough and coming out a little banged up shows we competed.”

Pitt mentor Jamie Dixon took time to comment on MVP Sam Young following the championship. The versatile Pitt senior was lethal from the perimeter or going to the basket. “He was a late bloomer in basketball,” Dixon said of Young. “He looked at the NBA draft last spring and decided to stay. He’s even a better player than last year. He came to us at Pitt as a five (center) and just worked on his game. He literally sleeps in the gym.”

Washington State coach Tony Bennett said Pitt reminds him of a team he sees at least twice a year, the UCLA Bruins. Shouldn’t be a surprise as Ben Howland put his mark on the Panther program before doing the same in Westwood. “Pitt , like UCLA , has size is very physical and protects the paint.” In fact Bennett sees a shift taking place in the Pac 10. “You have guys like (Ben) Howland, Tim Floyd at USC, now Mike Montgomery in at Cal, Herb Sendek at Arizona State all come in and start to turn this into more of a half court league. There’s talent but the league is more suited to tournament basketball. If you can execute half court you have a better chance of succeeding in (post season) tournament play.”

Final quote: “Pitt does not give up easy stuff. I say our kids reached a new level of fatigue tonight.” – WSU coach Tony Bennett

Tournament MVP: Sam Young, Pitt – 24 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists in championship.

All-Tournament:
Trevor Cook, Texas Tech – 24 in semifinal vs. Pitt
Kodi Augustus, Mississippi State – Double-digit scoring both nights.
Klay Thompson, Washington State – 19 pts in semifinal win.
DeJuan Blair, Pitt – 15 points, 11 boards in semis