Pre-Season NIT: A Final Analysis

NEW YORK – Syracuse captured the Pre-Season NIT title with a thrilling 69-63 victory over Stanford. A few notes on the consolation/championship doubleheader…

1. Tempo Free gives us a better look. Following the victory over Stanford, Jim Boeheim said his Syracuse team played 35 minutes of “horrendous offense” and five (in the stretch) of good. A tempo free look shows the Orange had 72 possessions and a 96 offensive efficiency (points per possession times 100). The 96 is a bit below average. Boeheim lamented that his offense needed work and thankfully the defense was good both days.

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NIT Semifinal Games Are Another Study in Contrasts

NEW YORK – “Déjà vu all over again,” to quote a wise sage. The NIT semifinal doubleheader was similar to the semis of the recently completed Newark Regional in the NCAA. Washington State versus Wichita state was a one-sided rout devoid of ties or lead changes. Following that, Alabama and Colorado saw five ties, nine lead changes and an SEC team emerge victorious in a game not settled until the final shot.

A tempo-free look follows.

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Northwestern Makes History in the NIT

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Everyone wants to be in the NCAA Tournament, and understandably so. You want to compete for a national championship, and with the nation watching closely as they always do in March. But when your program has a chance to make history and it comes in the NIT, that’s not a bad thing, and Northwestern is doing just that right now. They continued to do that with Saturday’s 85-67 win at Boston College.

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NIT Thoughts and Reflections

NEW YORK – The 73rd National Invitation Tournament is in the books. The thought was on everyone’s mind during the days in New York; the hope is it doesn’t come to pass. With expansion of the NCAA tournament to 96 teams seemingly inevitable, the general feeling around Madison Square Garden was the NIT would be in the history books. And it was not a sentiment that observers expressed with positive feelings.

“Ending the NIT would be a tough decision,” Dayton coach Brian Gregory said following the championship game. “Dayton built its brand name here (winning in 1962 and 1968) at Madison Square Garden with coaches like (Tom) Blackburn and (Don) Donaher. It’s important to play here at Madison Square Garden.”

Roy Williams admitted an NIT Final Four was not an objective as practice started in October. Williams would rather play the first Monday, not Thursday, in April. Still, he was pleased to be playing in a tournament with established prestige. “I have always had a great appreciation of the history and tradition of the NIT,” Williams said after the semifinal win over Rhode Island.

History and tradition were common words used by coaches, players and observers regarding the NIT, the nation’s oldest post-season tournament. The end of that tradition and history would make college basketball a little bit poorer if the greed behind 96 teams allows the NIT to end.

Semifinals

Dayton 68, Mississippi 63
North Carolina 68, Rhode Island 67 (OT)

Championship

Dayton 79, North Carolina 68

• Jim Baron took the high road. With just under ten seconds left in overtime and North Carolina clinging to a one-point lead Larry Drew II took a jumper with the shot clock almost at expiration. The shot missed. Rhode Island grabbed the long rebound and appeared headed in transition. The URI player fell, no call, and seconds later the buzzer sounded.
  “We got the rebound it looked like there was contact and (the URI player) tripped,” Baron said regarding those final seconds. The Rhode Island mentor was quick to add that the final play did not decide the outcome. “We have been good all year from the line,” Baron said. “Tonight we missed the free throws down the stretch. North Carolina made their free throws near the end of regulation and in overtime. They made the plays needed to win, we did not.”
• Dayton relied on solid defense to get to New York. The Flyers continued that trend en route to their third NIT championship. In the semifinal win over Mississippi, the Flyers limited Ole Miss to 34 percent shooting from the floor. The SEC representatives struggled from three-point range, shooting only 6 of 23 (26 percent). The two main threats, Terrico White and Chris Warren, were a combined 4 of 17 against the Dayton defense.
• Offensive rebounding was a Dayton concern in the final against North Carolina. Against URI, the Tar Heels enjoyed a 27-15 edge on the offensive boards, which translated into 15 more field goal attempts than the Rams. In the final Dayton battled UNC even 11-11 on the offensive glass.
• North Carolina did come out in the final with a more effective perimeter game. Through the first four NIT games the Tar Heels shot 26 percent from beyond the arc. Against URI in the semis they were 2 of 17, a haggard 12 percent. Against the Flyers the Tar Heels shot 8 of 15 (53 percent) for the game. They trailed by 13 at the half and used their three-point shooting, notable by junior swingman Will Graves ( a game-high 25 points on 7 of 13 from three) to get right back into things after intermission.
• Dayton saw their lead cut to one during the first four minutes of the second half in the championship. The Flyers’ Marcus Johnson then hit a three-pointer to get the lead back to four. For most of the second half it was a two-possession game, but the significant thing for Dayton was not losing the lead in that final half.

All Tournament Honors

Most Outstanding Player – Chris Johnson, Dayton – 14 points vs. Ole Miss, team high 22 points 9 rebounds in the final.

All Tournament:
Delroy James (URI) – 13 points 8 boards vs. UNC
Will Graves (UNC) – 14 points vs. URI, 25 in the championship game.
Deon Thompson (UNC)- Double figures in scoring and rebounding both nights. He broke an NCAA record in the championship by appearing in the 152nd game of his collegiate career.
Marcus Johnson (Dayton) – Team-high 20 points in final, scored 12 in semis.

Tempo Free, Other Numbers

• No surprise. To get this far you need defense. Dayton got both opponents under 1.00 points per possession in New York. In fact, Dayton had the only offensive performance over 1.00 PPP with a stellar 1.16 against North Carolina.

• The semifinals, thanks to a healthy turnout of URI devotees, drew 11,689, while the final attendance was 9,827 and a good percentage were backing Dayton.

From the NIT Final Four press conference. Each of the four head coaches was asked what the NIT means, in general, to them.

Jim Baron, URI: “It’s tradition and history when you think of the teams and players that played here. Walt Frazier was an unknown before playing in the NIT (with Southern Illinois in 1967). He got drafted and led the Knicks to two NBA titles. The Garden is special. I used to sneak into it when I was young to watch Red Holzman’s Knicks.  The NIT also gives you the memories of great people in New York basketball like Frank and Al McGuire.”

Brian Gregory, Dayton: “For me as a coach at Dayton it means trying to continue a great tradition established by coaches (Tom) Blackburn and (Don) Donoher. Back then Dayton built its national recognition largely on what they did in the NIT.  This tournament has always meant a great deal to our fan base.”

Andy Kennedy, Mississippi: “The NIT makes me think of the heritage and lineage of a great tournament. There are no excuses for playing in the NIT. It gives teams an opportunity to win a championship and playing in the Garden is always a big deal.”

Roy Williams, UNC: “The NIT means tradition. It is a tournament that has meant so much to college basketball. The players today may not realize the tradition, but it is always special to get to play in New York. My junior year at North Carolina (70-71) we lost by one in the ACC final to South Carolina. We got the chance to play in the NIT and won it. Back then the NCAA had 24 teams and the NIT 16, so getting in post-season was difficult.”

In the NIT, Different Feelings Can Lead to Surprises

Being in the NIT means different things for different programs.  Everyone wants to be in the NCAA Tournament, but some have that as an expectation.  In light of that, every year there’s an NIT surprise or two, often one that involves a team that almost made the NCAA Tournament putting up a clunker when they bow out.

On the first night, we probably saw that with Seton Hall being handled easily by Texas Tech.  Another case of this nearly happened in a battle of Huskies that Connecticut barely won over Northeastern thanks to a 9-2 run in the final minutes.

Seton Hall went 9-9 in the Big East but did not make the NCAA Tournament, a result of not getting enough quality wins along the way.  Connecticut had a disappointing regular season, going 7-11 in the Big East and then getting blown out by St. John’s in the Big East Tournament.  It would be easy for either team to play with some disappointment from not being in the NCAA Tournament and then losing a game they shouldn’t, especially a team like Connecticut where the bar has been raised to set expectations of not only reaching the tournament, but making a deep run.

“You’ll see the Northeastern Universities of the world – and I’ve been there, for 14 years – and understand what these games mean to you and the opportunity,” said Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun.

On the other hand, you have a program like Northeastern, which was making just its second NIT appearance in program history and hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1991.  For a program like this, in a conference that is typically a one or two-bid conference, NCAA Tournament opportunities aren’t exactly plentiful.  Since their last trip to the NCAA Tournament, Northeastern has twice played in the NIT and played in the CBI last year.  For them, being in the NIT is a big deal.

“I thought it was an honor for our program to be playing at this time of the year,” said Northeastern head coach Bill Coen.  “I know our kids were excited about it, our fans were excited about it, our student body was excited about it, and I know I was excited about.”

Further demonstrating this is that Northeastern and Connecticut played in front of a crowd of 5,571 (Gampel Pavilion’s capacity is twice that), with a good number of fans for the school two hours away from the campus.  This is Northeastern – a school that has had a hard time drawing even 1,000 fans over the years to its home games in pro-dominated Boston.  Now they had a significant cheering section in an arena that normally is dominated by home fans

Northeastern played like it, too, playing with confidence and a sense of urgency all game long.  Even when Connecticut got going and seemed like they could be a play or two away from breaking the game open, Northeastern kept running their offense solidly and had just six turnovers all game.  They didn’t look like a team reeling from a heart-breaking loss to William & Mary in the semifinals of the CAA Tournament a week earlier; rather, they looked like a team with new life.

Connecticut started the game and the second half very sluggishly, so it’s easy to think they might have been playing with some disappointment.  They insist otherwise, and it’s not impossible to believe considering they weren’t really on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, not after being blown out by St. John’s when they really needed to make a run in the Big East Tournament.

“It’s our fault we’re in the NIT,” sophomore guard Kemba Walker said.  “At this point, we’re only thinking about winning the NIT.  This is where we’re at, and we can’t change it.”

The general thinking seemed to be similar: they would rather be in the NCAA Tournament, but they know this is what they have in front of them.

“Don’t get me wrong, we’d definitely like to be in the NCAA Tournament, but this is the hand of cards we’re dealt and we’re just going to make the best of it,” said senior forward Gavin Edwards.

A night later, it was clear that if Rhode Island had any disappointment about being in the NIT for the third straight season, they got over it pretty quickly.  The Rams played terrific defense all night long against Northwestern en route to a 76-64 win over the Wildcats.  They were aggressive all night long and very loose in the post-game interviews.  Will Martell, who started off strong, was engaging in some self-deprecating humor and happy to be in the tournament.

“Of course we’re disappointed that we didn’t make the NCAA (Tournament),” said the junior big man.  “I think we had an argument.  I think as a team, as a program, we moved on and we realized, hey let’s get to (Madison Square) Garden, that’s the new goal.”

At this point, the Rams have set the goal of getting to Madison Square Garden for the NIT Final Four.  They understand where they’re at, even while some in the fan base aren’t very happy about being in the NIT again.  They want the NCAA Tournament, and some think the coach needs to change because of that.  But the players take a different view, as does the coach, who’s continued to do a solid job of running the program.

“You could put your head down, and I was real concerned when we didn’t get the invite (to the NCAA Tournament),” head coach Jim Baron said.  “To come back and play against a very good Northwestern team that has 20 wins, that beat Notre Dame, beat Iowa State, beat Purdue, beat Minnesota, it’s a heck of a team and it’s a heck of a win for us.”

With the CBI and CollegeInsider Tournament (CIT), the postseason tournaments aside from the NCAA might seem like little more than alphabet soup to the casual fan.  But for a number of teams, it’s an opportunity in a couple of ways.  It’s a chance to play in a tournament recognizing the season they had.  It’s a chance to play for a championship.  And for teams with underclassmen, it’s a chance for more practice days and more games, which can only help.

This year’s CAA champions, Old Dominion, played in the CBI two seasons ago and won the CIT last season.  The Monarchs thus entered this season with a lot of players who gained extra experience from those tournaments, and that had to have helped in their development.  Though they had just two seniors and two redshirt juniors on the roster, this team came in more experienced than that might indicate.

But besides all of that, sometimes there’s a simple benefit to playing in a tournament like the NIT.

“The NIT isn’t the NCAA, but it’s better than sitting at home not playing,” said Rhode Island freshman Akeem Richmond.

Since players play the game, that right there is reason enough to keep competing.

Weekend Tournament Quick Hitters

We have some quick hitters from Friday and Saturday at the NIT Season Tip-Off and Philly Hoop Group Classic, respectively.

NIT Season Tip-Off

• Tyrese Rice didn’t score in the first half of Friday’s win over UAB for Boston College. But he came alive after intermission, scoring all of his 24 points after intermission. While being on the floor was the first part of that, he also got help from his teammates, and not the kind that shows up in the stat sheet. Simply put, the Eagles moved the ball better in the second frame, and that changed everything at the offensive end. “It really started on the defensive end because of the stops, and then the others because our wings consistently ran hard and got up the floor,” said head coach Al Skinner. “And then created some openings, some opportunities for him, and of course, you know, he made some shots.”
• The Eagles also got a nice effort from improving freshman Reggie Jackson. An exceptional athlete, Jackson looks like the classic athlete who doesn’t know the game yet, but his improvement is noticeable. At times in the first half, he kept the Eagles in the game, setting up their second half run.
• A questionable call late in the championship game didn’t end with the call itself. Oklahoma was given a timeout after a 50-50 ball was up in the air, at a point where it seemed no one had possession as it came down. From what Purdue head coach Matt Painter shared after the game, the explanation he heard from the official was even more questionable. “You know,” Painter began, “to me sometimes things don’t go your way, but the explanation to me is still baffling. He said to me it was an inadvertent whistle, and so the ball now went to the possession arrow, and then Oklahoma had the possession arrow, so that’s why they had it.”
• While an obvious bright spot for Purdue was the play of Nemanja Calason off the bench, a more noteworthy one was that of freshman point guard Lewis Jackson, who scored 10 points and handed out four assists in 22 minutes. He showed that he’s capable of really making this team go, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he starts before the season is over.

Philly Hoop Group Classic

• While NJIT’s losing streak gets plenty of attention, Monmouth also entered Saturday’s game without a win. They were 0-6, albeit against a very difficult schedule, so they were happy to get a win. The least difficult opponent they had played before Saturday is probably FIU, and that was a road game against a team not lacking in talent that has been hit by injuries.
• The biggest message Hartford head coach Dan Leibovitz gave his players after being thoroughly blown out by Niagara on Saturday is simple.   “They just took our aggressiveness completely away,” Leibovitz remarked after the game.   Not helping was the foul trouble of Michael Turner, their best defender and a real competitor. Turner fouled out early, then picked up a technical foul right after his fifth foul. While his presence alone wasn’t going to reverse a 40-point defeat, Leibovitz summed up his importance very succinctly: “Without Mike, our defense is out the window, plain and simple.”
• A couple of notes are in order about Niagara’s 103-63 win over Hartford. It is the largest margin of victory in the young Philly Hoop Group Classic’s history, and it also marked the first time they reached 100 points in a game in three years. The night before, they held a team below 50 points for the first time since 2002.
• While a lack of energy didn’t help, Towson clearly looked like a team trying to integrate four new starters into the lineup on offense on Saturday. The offense seemed to lack direction and the team as a whole looked lost on the court. Symbolic of the game was a play where Tony Durant moved after setting a pick, but didn’t look for a pass as the ball hit him in the back and led to an easy Penn State transition layup.  “With six new guys in the top seven or eight, at times our offense looks like it’s just chugging along, and we are,” head coach Pat Kennedy said. “It’s more of what we’ve got to correct offensively, and keep our defensive intensity up. Once we do, we’ll be in great shape.”
• Penn State’s backcourt of Talor Battle and Stanley Pringle is better than advertised. But the real key is going to be the play up front, and on Saturday the Nittany Lions got a nice effort from Andrew Jones and Jeff Brooks. Jones had eight points and 13 rebounds, while Brooks had six and five in 15 minutes off the bench.
• While it wasn’t quite the display he put on at Duke, Rhode Island guard Jimmy Baron certainly had fans buzzing with some of the shots he hit in the loss to Villanova. Whether it was a couple of deep threes, or off-balance mid-range shots as the shot clock ran down, fans who had heard about but never saw him were impressed by his 23-point effort on 8-15 shooting.
• Teams already committed for next year’s event include Delaware, St. John’s, Temple and Virginia Tech.

NIT Season Tip-Off Notes

NEW YORK – The pre-Season NIT gave us four solid teams for the Thanksgiving week event at Madison Square Garden. Oklahoma captured the championship over Purdue in an overtime contest that had March-like intensity. Taking a look back, each team did several things well yet needs other areas to be addressed.

Semifinals
Purdue 71, Boston College 64
Oklahoma 77, UAB 67

Consolation
Boston College 83, UAB 77

Final
Oklahoma 87, Purdue 82 (OT)

Boston College

What they did well: Bounce back from a tough semifinal loss. They competed well in the semifinal loss to Purdue, but with a relatively young team the disappointment of losing and getting back on track is a challenge. And they responded with a nice win over UAB in the consolation. They rebound and hit the glass hard, something that had Purdue coach Matt Painter concerned. And in Tyrese Rice they have an outstanding player who can literally change the course of a game, as he did in the consolation against UAB.

What they need: Something they showed in that consolation win over UAB. Simply. patience. Especially in running their sets. They were guilty in the second half of the Purdue game of what did what coach Al Skinner calls “over-aggressiveness on offense.” Basically, Skinner was saying the Eagles didn’t run their offense through and went one on one too early in the set. They got the message and it showed against UAB. “We talked about calming ourselves and not being in a hurry,” Skinner said. “We slowed down, saw the floor better and cut down on turnovers.”

UAB

What they did well: Use athleticism to their advantage. UAB is a not a half court, grind-it-out team with a number of wide bodies. They thrive in transition. Good ball movement and penetration are their strengths and they showed both, especially in the first half of the semifinal matchup with Oklahoma. Lawrence Kinnard, a 6-8 forward, can play inside or out. Robert Vaden is a talented swingman and Paul Delaney III can score, run the team and defend. This is a group, big men included, which can all get out and run the floor.

What they need: Toughness. Even coach Mike Davis stressed this following the consolation loss to Boston College. Against Oklahoma it was a case of being worn down by the Sooner size and too much Blake Griffin. The Eagles of BC brought another challenge in the form of Tyrese Rice. “We knew (Rice) could go off,” Davis said, “and he did.” Scoreless in seven first half minutes and with two fouls, Rice exploded the second half with 24 points to lead the Eagles. Paul Delaney III, UAB’s best backcourt defender, missed the BC game with an injury. Regardless, Davis wouldn’t use or accept this as an excuse. Part of that toughness Davis alluded to is the ability to rise and respond to the challenge of a great player like Rice. “We’ll just go back and watch film,” Davis said, “and try to get better from all this.”

Purdue

What they did well: Defend and take care of the ball. Well, for the most part. The Boilermakers play a tough man-to-man defense with sound principles and good communication. In the latter part of the Oklahoma game there were breakdowns. The Boilermakers are not susceptible to the ill-fated turnovers. They have a versatile big man in Robbie Hummel who can play on the perimeter or inside. E’twaun Moore is a good perimeter shooter who can go on a game-changing streak. They looked very sound in their win over Boston College. In the final they were doing a lot of the same until the last eight minutes and overtime.

What they need: Consistent help from another big man. Robbie Hummel is a good player but the 6-8 forward could use a hand, especially in the paint. In the semifinal JaJuan Johnson did a nice job posting up inside and working near the basket, but in the final he was a virtual non-factor. On the other hand Nemanja Calasan had a big game for the Boilers in the final. Calasan, a senior forward, had 20 points and 8 rebounds to go along with the unenviable job of defending Blake Griffin down on the blocks. Purdue needs either Johnson or Carolan, preferably both, to step up on a consistent basis.

Oklahoma

What they did well: Maintain poise. In the first half against UAB, the Sooners trailed. They regrouped in the second half and gradually wore the Blazers down in the semifinal meeting. Purdue offered a more rigorous test. Oklahoma was down nine with less than eight minutes to go. Again, they didn’t panic, and possession by possession trimmed the lead to force overtime. In the extra session they sealed the verdict to earn the championship. “They were in a rhythm,” Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said, referring to Purdue, “and our guys just kept responding and found a way to get going.” A big part of that poise factor was Blake Griffin. The outstanding Sooner sophomore had better games per Capel but did not force anything all afternoon.

What they need: Something they received the latter stages of the Purdue contest. Balance. With marquee player and inside threat extraordinaire Blake Griffin (18 points, 21 boards) doubled down on the blocks, the Sooners didn’t force the issue. Rather they utilized the guards, notably Willie Warren (22 points), to penetrate and take advantage of the extra attention afforded Blake Griffin. In addition, Blake’s older brother Taylor, “played like a senior,” in the words of Capel. The elder Griffin’s contributions as well as good guard play is something Capel’s team will require on a regular basis.

Tournament MVP: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

All-Tournament:
Taylor Griffin,Oklahoma
Tyrese Rice, Boston College
Lawrence Kinnard, UAB
E’Twaun Moore, Purdue

NIT Season Tip-Off Notes From Boston College

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – We’ll have more a little later on Boston College, who advanced to New York with an 82-70 win over St. John’s in the nightcap on Tuesday in the NIT Season Tip-Off. They will take on Purdue in one semifinal, while UAB and Oklahoma won later in the evening and will meet in the other. But first, some notes on the other three teams that played at The Heights the past couple of nights.

Head Coach, or Head Manager?

With both his athletic director and MAAC commissioner Richard Ensor looking on, it seemed like Loyola (Md.) head coach Jimmy Patsos basically took himself out of the game against Cornell after he got hit with a technical foul near the halfway point of the first half. At halftime, he was never in his team’s huddle before they headed to the court, and he sat next at the end of the bench for most of the second half, rarely getting into the huddle in the timeouts. He sat closer to the managers than to his staff, and at one point he went into the stands during the game to talk to his athletic director.

After the game, Patsos, who has built the program from being a 1-27 laughingstock into a winner in the MAAC, said it wasn’t quite what it appeared.

“I was told that if I said one more word, that I was going to get thrown out of the arena,” said the fifth-year head coach, who added that he was not given a warning before the technical foul. “I do what I’m told. I said, okay, I won’t say one more word. I can’t afford to be thrown out and embarrass the school.

“I just thought, maybe I deserved a warning.”

The trip was a homecoming for Patsos, who grew up south of Boston in Scituate. He took his team to see Newbury Street, the Boston Public Library and the first subway system while they were in the area, which considering the crammed game schedule they have had to face is an accomplishment. The Greyhounds played two games in three days before this trip, which means by Tuesday they had played three games in as many days and four in five days due to circumstances that weren’t entirely in their control.

After winning 19 games last season, a school record in Division I, the Greyhounds have a tall task ahead in trying for a fourth consecutive winning season. They have three seniors but play a lot of freshmen and sophomores, and they looked the part of a young team in their two games at Conte Forum. They’re not lacking athleticism, but it’s clear their identity is far from being determined right now.

“We’re 1-3, but we’re young, we’re playing hard,” said Patsos. “I don’t have a go-to guy. It’s okay, I knew we were going to be young. We have some players coming in, we’re going to get older.”

The Geryhounds will travel to Charlotte next week for two more consolation games against James Madison and Davidson (which hosts).

It’s Not About Winning Now

Cornell has to go without two of their perimeter starters due to injury, so they certainly take a hit from a talent and experience standpoint. Reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Louis Dale is currently out with a mild hamstring injury, while senior Adam Gore is out at least for the non-conference schedule after tearing his ACL late in the summer.

Head coach Steve Donohue said Dale could have played, but they’re holding him out so he can get fully healthy. While they would like to win some games in non-league play, that isn’t what matters to the defending Ivy League champs. Donohue thinks Dale may be two weeks away from being in a place where it would be optimal to play.

“I think if this was an Ivy League weekend, he would have never sat out,” said Donohue. “With that being said, he may be two weeks away from risking it. There’s no reason to risk it right now, and we have so many games right now, we need 3-4 straight days in practice where he can go 20 minutes, the next day 30 minutes, the next day 40 minutes, and so on.”

The injuries leave junior sharpshooter Ryan Wittman as the only starter on the perimeter currently playing, and he almost carried the Big Red on Monday night before quietly leading them to their 82-72 win over Loyola (Md.) on Tuesday. Wittman scored 25 points, including 16 in the first half as he kept the Big Red in the game and got them the lead at times. He wasn’t quite as sharp in Tuesday, but still had 24 points.

“He does have to do a little more, and he’s taken harder shots this year,” Donohue said of Wittman. “He’s such a high percentage shooter, it’s almost to the point where I want him to take harder shots. He has to for us to be really good. He needs 15-20 looks a game, he needs to get to the foul line.”

The injuries give players like Jason Battle, Geoff Reeves and freshman Chris Wroblewski a chance to play more and have a bigger role right now, and there were some bright spots among them. Reeves has started all three games thus far and is averaging 35 minutes per game, and while he had six turnovers in the two games, he scored 20 points and looks to be developing into a better player. Wroblewski played well in the two games, handing out 10 assists with just four turnovers in 53 minutes.

That will help since the Big Red has a brutal stretch coming up. After next week’s two consolation games, they have road games at Indiana, Syracuse and Minnesota, a home date with Atlantic 10 contender La Salle, then head to Saint Joseph’s.

Big man Jeff Foote has put on some good weight since last season and had two night games in the stat sheet. He went for a combined 39 points and 15 rebounds, and he could have had more points if not for a few times he didn’t finish strong and missed shots he probably could have made. While the Big Red appear to have some good depth on the perimeter, that may not be the case up front as Brian Kreefer was the only reserve post player to see any action.

Cornell will play two more consolation games at St. John’s next week against Loyola (Ill.) and Eastern Michigan.

St. John’s Has Some Positives

As young as Loyola (Md.) is, St. John’s isn’t exactly a team full of seniors, either. The Red Storm start four sophomores alongside senior Anthony Mason, Jr., and eight sophomores and two freshmen are among the players who play appreciable or significant minutes.

Mason had a big game (24 points) in Monday’s win, especially in the early going, but other than a few plays on Tuesday night he was relatively ineffective with 12 points on 3-13 shooting (he did have six assists). Head coach Norm Roberts said he missed about a week of practice leading up to their season opener with a problem in his foot, and thought it might have bothered him Tuesday night with the team’s second game in less than 24 hours.

“I think his foot is bothering him, and I thought you could tell that by the way he was running, but he wanted to stay out there and tough it out,” said Roberts. “He’s going to be fine, but I think that limited him a little bit.”

The transition game led the Red Storm to Monday’s win, and they got it going for a time against Boston College on Tuesday night. With the athletes they have, it looks like that will be a real key for them this season, but another factor leading to it will also be one: rebounding. The Red Storm got a solid double-double from Justin Burrell (11 points, 11 rebounds) in Monday’s win, but he had just two boards in Tuesday’s loss and the frontcourt starters had just 12 total as the Eagles had a 42-28 edge on the glass.

“When you rebound it, you can get out and you can go, and we didn’t rebound it very well,” said Roberts. “And not only our big guys, our guards didn’t rebound it.”

Two more sophomores, D.J. Kennedy and Malik Boothe, were barometers of the team’s success. Both had an excellent game on Monday but struggled on Tuesday, with Boothe saddled with foul trouble that hurt him defending Tyrese Rice later in the game.

Overall, Roberts likes what he sees from his young guys. There’s clearly some potential in this group, with the toughness of Boothe and Burrell, the versatility of Kennedy and inside bodies like Sean Evans and Dele Coker.

“I think they’re progressing well. I think they’re all getting better,” said Roberts. “They’re really, really good kids and they want to do everything we ask them to do, and they want to get better. That’s a big, big key. As long as we keep doing this and gaining some confidence, we can get better and better as a team.”

St. John’s will host one of the consolation round pods next week and will take on Eastern Michigan and Loyola (Ill.).

Eagles Will Ride Improvement to New York

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The improvement is coming along for Boston College. There are still plenty more to come if they want to take steps forward in the ACC standings at the end of the season, but the first three games show some progress. And while head coach Al Skinner says it’s “clearly about the process” right now, the results that are coming in have to be satisfying as well.

With Tuesday’s 82-70 win over St. John’s, the Eagles advanced to the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off and will play two games at Madison Square Garden next week. They are 3-0, and although all three wins have come at home, a win is a win and they got the first one without star guard Tyrese Rice.

Rice is perhaps the brightest spot, not surprisingly, but it hasn’t been because he’s put up big numbers to carry the team. Although there is often talk about star players sacrificing their game for the benefit of the team, that often looks at just numbers, and scoring in particular. Sure, Rice put up 44 points in the two games, but he also had 15 assists with four turnovers.

It goes beyond that, though. He doesn’t appear to be trying to score quite like he has in the past, and also looks to be playing at a different pace. As the only senior and one of just two upperclassmen on a young team, he’s the unquestioned leader and looks to be trying to get everyone else settled and helping to get them to understand what’s going on – trying to be a true coach on the floor. And at times, that’s certainly been needed as some teammates have looked lost or unsure at times. He’s tried to give them direction, even at the cost of slowing the game down – including his game.

This was clearly visible in their exhibition game, in which Rice didn’t look like himself, but it’s also been visible during the two games he’s played in.

“He’s definitely the leader of the team,” said forward Joe Trapani. “He definitely knows the ins and outs of the offense and defense. He’s the most vocal on the team.”

For his part, Trapani clearly seems to have found a good niche as an aggressive forward often facing the basket in this offense. The Vermont transfer had 39 points in the two games and grabbed four rebounds in each, and added five blocked shots as well. Against St. John’s, he had 19 on 7-10 shooting. All the while, he has blended in, and though he’s made plays that can make one take notice, he hasn’t necessarily stood out unless you look at the box score and see that he filled a stat sheet.

Perhaps the most important development for the Eagles is the production inside, primarily on the glass. The Eagles had a 42-28 edge on the glass against St. John’s after being even at halftime, and they had a 21-8 edge in second-chance points. A lot of that came from simply wanting the ball more; rebounding is an effort stat, but on Tuesday the Eagles took that idea to heart, especially sophomores Rakim Sanders (10 rebounds) and Corey Raji (7). With Raji, it wasn’t so much the number of rebounds as it was the way he got them.

Although he’s versatile and has several ways he can score, Raji is emerging as a garbage man inside. He has nine offensive rebounds in the three games, tying him with Sanders for tops on the team, and he often gets them by finding the ball. The Eagles had 17 offensive rebounds against St. John’s, and it kept the Red Storm from running and gave them chances for stickbacks, which they certainly got a few of.

“Those are the things that you need if you’re going to have a chance to be a good ballclub,” said head coach Al Skinner. “Guys on the bench were pumped up about it. Corey does it on a regular basis; that’s who he is. But when you start getting other guys to do it, then that becomes contagious and that makes you a better club.”

How this will ultimately translate in the ACC isn’t known, and won’t be for a while. The front line is still a question and won’t bowl anyone over with size, and this is still a young team. But the improvement the Eagles have shown from the first to the third game is a good sign for them, and the results have to be encouraging as well. A win in New York will only help the confidence, but the two tests they will get are what they need. The games will give them a chance to find out more about themselves, and it will give their leader a chance at redemption.

“I’ve only played there once,” said Rice, recalling the Eagles’ loss to Michigan State in the Jimmy V Classic in 2005. “That was my freshman year, and I had a bad experience there, so I want to definitely get back there and take care of some business.”