Will Syracuse’s hot start cool off this winter?

Syracuse is officially on the clock.

As of Jan. 9, the Orange look an awful lot like the best team in the country. But considering that it’s still early January, that’s not terribly surprising. The question is whether Syracuse will still look like the best team in college hoops in another two months as the NCAA Tournament approaches.

Since the Orange won the championship in 2003, Syracuse has made a habit of starting hot, building a record at least nine games better than .500 each season. In half of those seasons, the Orange have had a record as gaudy as at least 15 games better than .500.

But each season, the team has fallen apart for one reason or another. In some cases, it’s a lack of leadership to handle adversity when the team inevitably drops a tough Big East game or two. In other cases, the downfall has been rifts in team chemistry, sometimes leading to suspensions or poor play. And injuries have factored into a few of the collapses.

In sum, Syracuse has not finished a season better than three games above .500 after the Orange’s struggles creep into the picture. Why would this team be any different?

To start, this team has fantastic depth. Ten players average at least 12 minutes per game. Seven players contribute at least seven ppg, but no one scores more than 14.1 ppg, and that’s senior swingman Kris Joseph. In addition, the Orange have superior height than nearly any other team in Division I, with nine players who stand 6’4” or taller.

Coach Jim Boeheim has helped this team navigate through the tumultuous Bernie Fine affair without any semblance of a disturbance on the court. Compared to the off court drama, Boeheim must be happy dealing with any complaints about playing time that come from his talented players — if there have been any at all. Only two players are averaging more than 25 minutes per game, but as far as we can tell, everyone has embraced his role on the team. And that is leading to win after win.

At some point, the Orange will likely drop a game or two in Big East play. Road games against Cincinnati, St. John’s, Louisville, Rutgers and Connecticut are potential land mines. But unlike in recent years, this team seems built to overcome the struggles of one night. Boeheim has the Orange playing their best basketball in eight years, according to Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency stats. If Syracuse can maintain its 1.202 points per possession on offense and 0.883 points per possession on defense, both those numbers will be the best marks for offensive and defensive efficiency for the years that Pomeroy has data available (since 2003).

In a season filled with talented teams, Syracuse has earned its No. 1 ranking, and the Orange should remain near the top from wire to wire. And for Syracuse fans, a strong finish to bookend a strong start would be a refreshing change of pace.

We go coast to coast with news from around the college basketball nation.

Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman is in the thick of serious allegations after several people at the Bears’ game at South Carolina State said the coach punched Morgan State senior Larry Bastfield during the game, according to ESPN.com news services. The school has indefinitely suspended Bozeman while looking into the accusations. Bozeman and Bastfield say the news is much ado about nothing — with that nothing being an accidental bump during the game, as Bastfield described it.

Xavier coach Chris Mack made his point, then paid the price. Mack missed the past couple of days after tearing a tendon in his left knee while dunking to re-energize the struggling Musketeers, who are 2-5 in the past few weeks, writes USA Today’s Marlen Garcia.

Arizona State coach Herb Sendek has accepted the departure of leading scorer Keala King, who left a few days after Sendek suspended him for unacceptable conduct, according to a CBS Sports.com wire report. King’s departure is a massive loss for a pretty bad Sun Devils team. King averaged 13.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg and 3.3 apg.

St. John’s scored a talented point guard when former Texas A&M sophomore Jamal Branch decided to transfer to the Red Storm, writes the New York Daily News’ Roger Rubin. Branch averaged 4.2 ppg and 2.5 apg for the Aggies, and he chose St. John’s over several other suitors.

Michael Jordan’s son Jeff has decided to leave Central Florida, according to an Associated Press report. His brother, Marcus, remains with the Golden Knights, as Jeff cited personal reasons for his decision.

The NCAA’s $2,000 hot mess

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

The NCAA is entering new levels of ridiculous mismanagement. The Associated Press reports that the NCAA might reconsider giving new scholarship student-athletes a $2,000 stipend, though it would have to allow players who have already signed letters of intent to receive the extra cash while banning those who sign later.

Ohio State superstar Jared Sullinger is still hurting from recurring back spasms, and coach Thad Matta didn’t want to say when Sullinger will be back in the lineup for the Buckeyes, according to a CBS Sports.com wire report. But Sullinger answered that question Wednesday night when the Buckeyes beat down USC Upstate 82-58 and Sullinger played 24 minutes and got 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Nobody will face criminal charges in the Xavier/Cincinnati brawl, the Associated Press reports. Joe Deters, a Hamilton County, Ohio, prosecutor, looked into the matter, deciding not to pursue charges against anyone. One of the factors was Xavier center Kenny Frease’s satisfaction with an apology from Cincinnati’s Yancy Gates, who decked Frease in the head during the debacle.

Seton Hall will gain some more depth this weekend with the return of freshman Brandon Mobley, who had been out with a dislocated shoulder and torn labrum since the summer, according to the Associated Press.

Don’t skip your court appearances. Nothing good can happen. Just ask Kansas’ Ben McLemore. The freshman is under arrest after skipping a Dec. 6 court appearance for a citation related to underage alcohol possession, according to a CBS Sports.com wire report.

Also on the list of bad behavior is taunting fans by grabbing your crotch. New Mexico State sophomore Christian Kabongo did that, and now he’s suspended, writes Diamond Leung for ESPN.com’s “College Basketball Nation” blog.

Syracuse still has Melo — Fab Melo that is. If you thought I was talking about Carmelo Anthony, well, I kinda was. The NBA star who led the Cuse to a championship is convinced that Melo 2.0 and the rest of the crew have the talent to win another championship for the first time since 2003.

I’m not gonna lie — I love the fan experience. And if you tell me that a team in California’s tradition is to throw tortillas when a victory is in hand, I find it amusing. I mean, a flying tortilla — presumably uncooked soft tortilla — won’t hurt anyone. Except when your team is only up two and the officials consider giving the home crowd a technical. Yep, that’s how UC-Santa Barbara’s 65-61 win against San Diego went down, writes Diamond Leung for ESPN.com. When the fans started tossing tortillas, the officials considered tossing out a T. They opted to go with a public announcement that any more thrown items would produce two free throws for the Toreros. The fans settled down, and the Gauchos won.

Crosstown Shootout hurts city of Cincinnati most

There is no doubt that you know what happened in my home city of Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon.

One of the best rivalries in all of sports — not just college basketball — was taking place just a couple of minutes from where I sit writing this. The Crosstown Shootout is something that not many people outside of Cincinnati fully understand.

The best way I can describe it is to make a small correlation to the Civil War. We’ve all heard stories about brothers fighting brothers over their differing beliefs.

That is the case in Cincinnati. I can think of more than a few examples of families that have both die-hard University of Cincinnati supporters and die-hard Xavier University supporters. … Continue Reading

Stepping back to look beyond basketball

This past weekend has reminded us that there are bigger things than basketball. Most teams are off for final exams for some/all of this week, and a major brawl on Saturday also brought out that sentiment. While we’ll have more on the brawl later, right now there’s something else to think about in keeping with the theme.

I’m sure others have said it, but I remember ESPN’s Buster Olney once remarking that when you’re in the media, you become a fan of the game instead of a particular team. It’s very true, and part of that is being a fan of the people involved in the game. This is a people business in every respect, and those who succeed the most in this industry, no matter what capacity they are in, know how to deal with people.

To that end, I give you Ken Dempsey, the associate head coach at New Hampshire. Tuesday is an important day for him.

Dempsey recently shared on the National Coaches’ Diary Series on College Chalktalk that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. On Tuesday, he goes for surgery to address it, and will take an undetermined leave of absence from the basketball team. He is not the first and won’t be the last college coach to have to deal with this dreaded disease, but fortunately the outlook is good and there’s some personal significance.

We all have people who have helped us get where we are. Dempsey has helped many people in that respect in 25 years of coaching at several Division I schools, but it isn’t just players who have benefited from knowing him. I have no better friend in basketball than Ken Dempsey.

When I was an undergraduate at Northeastern, Dempsey joined the basketball staff when Dave Leitao took over as the head coach my freshman year. Dempsey was the first coach I met, and after a badly failed attempt to walk on to the team, he didn’t forget me. I would see him around the gym (back then, Cabot Gym was not only where the team practiced, but also the student recreational facility), especially if I was playing basketball before the team came to practice. He sensed that I liked the game, and encouraged me to join them as a manager. I would stop by the office and have conversations with him and Darryl Hilliard, also an assistant there at the time, and the relationship grew from there.

The next year, I became a manager. My experience in doing that was tremendous for a lot of reasons, from being so close to the game that I love to traveling to places I had never been to understanding what goes into a team’s season. There is not enough space to share how much that helped me to get where I am today, and that’s before I mention some of the things external to my role as a manager. Dempsey gave me access to recruiting reports so I could see what they looked like and start having a feel for the next college stars, and introduced me to Bob Gibbons when he visited Northeastern one time. This was back when there weren’t nearly as many people covering recruiting as there are now, as the Internet was still in its infancy in terms of its effects on athletic media.

That was only the beginning. When Dempsey left Northeastern just before I graduated, we made sure to stay in touch, and have done that. After some time away from the northeast, he’s been back for several years now. Interestingly, I covered what proved to be his last game as an assistant coach at UMKC before coming to New Hampshire – a tough loss in the then-Mid-Continent Conference (now the Summit League) Tournament in Tulsa.

Dempsey is optimistic that his leave from the team will be on the order of weeks. He is well-connected and has been in contact with some people who have dealt with this to learn from their experiences, and has had great support from everyone in Durham. And as he goes in for surgery on Tuesday to start the battle against prostate cancer, I know I am one of many people who is praying for a positive result at the end of all of this.

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

• About that brawl: Cincinnati and Xavier each suspended four players for their roles in the well-chronicled brawl at the end of Saturday’s meeting between the two teams. Cincinnati suspended Yancy Gates, Cheikh Mbodj and Octavius Ellis for six games each and Ge’Lawn Guyn for one game, while Xavier suspended Dez Wells and Landen Amos for four games each, Mark Lyons for two and Tu Holloway for one.
• Indiana scored a dramatic win over Kentucky with a buzzer-beater on Saturday. It’s the biggest win for the Hoosiers under Tom Crean.
• Murray State knocked off Memphis on Sunday night, which improves the Racers to 10-0. But what has unfortunately received a little more buzz from that game than how good the Racers look is Memphis’ public address announcer announcing John Calipari as the Tigers’ head coach, which was greeted with a round of boos.
• It’s a light week of game action, and Monday night was no exception as the most notable game was probably Oregon’s 79-70 win over Portland State.

Games to watch on Tuesday

• Wisconsin at Milwaukee, 8 pm EST
• Belmont at Middle Tennessee, 8 pm EST

Plenty of great action on the menu this weekend

We’ve got plenty of great games on tap this weekend. Here’s what you can look forward to watching in between shopping online for holiday gifts.

Saturday:

• Kentucky at Indiana
• Ohio State at Kansas
• Long Beach State at North Carolina
• Washington vs. Duke at Madison Square Garden
• Cincinnati at Xavier
• Oklahoma State vs. Pittsburgh at Madison Square Garden
• UNLV at Wisconsin
• Creighton at Saint Joseph’s
• Michigan State at Gonzaga
• Akron at Cleveland State
• Milwaukee at Northern Iowa
• Clemson at Arizona
• Villanova at Temple
• Miami at West Virginia

Sunday:

• Murray State at Memphis
• Iona at Marshall
• Norfolk State at Virginia Tech

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

• Before we even get to the games today, there’s intrigue building in Cincinnati with the Bearcats’ Sean Kilpatrick calling out Xavier’s Tu Holloway, writes Myron Medcalf for ESPN’s “College Basketball Nation” blog. Kipatrck told a radio host that Holloway isn’t good enough to start for the Bearcats, which seems laughable considering Holloway is averaging 17.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg and 4.7 apg for one of the top teams in the country. But there you have it. That should make the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout extra spicy today.
• Northern Arizona is in the market for a new coach already after Mike Adras resigned unexpectedly Dec. 9, according to the Associated Press. The Lumberjacks are off to a rough start at 2-7, with no Division I wins yet. However, in his previous nine seasons as Northern Arizona’s coach, Adras had only two losing seasons for a 133-131 record at the school.
• Marquette will play without one of its biggest defensive presences after center Chris Otule injured his left ACL in the Golden Eagles’ win against Washington Dec. 8, according to Fox Sports’ Andrew Wagner. Otule has been averaging 5.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg and 1.6 blocks in just less than 18 minutes per game.
• Arizona State won’t get its top recruit this season after the NCAA Eligibility Center ruled Jahii Carson academically ineligible for 2011-12, according to an Associated Press report.
• You also won’t see Washington’s Scott Suggs this season. The senior guard broke his foot in October and had hoped to be ready to go by late December, but coach Lorenzo Romar announced that Suggs will redshirt this season, according to the Associated Press.
• Staying in the Pac-12, UCLA has dismissed embattled junior forward Reeves Nelson, according to the Associated Press. Coach Ben Howland had already suspended Nelson twice this season for conduct detrimental to the team before making the decisions to kick him off the team.
• The last thing we want to report is more molestation charges, but here we go again. ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” reported that two former basketball players are accusing Amateur Athletic Union president Robert “Bobby” Dodd of molesting them more than 20 years ago. The AAU gets plenty of criticism already, but nothing of this caliber. The AAU said that Dodd has colon cancer and will not be returning to his post, according to a CBS Sports report.

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

Xavier Turns the Page, Starts Atlantic 10 Play Strong

SOUTH KINGSTON, R.I. – This year’s Xavier team isn’t quite like the ones of recent years. The depth isn’t the same, in part due to injuries, and they entered Atlantic 10 play with two straight losses that challenged them to to move on. They did exactly that, and showed that they still have plenty with which to win in the Atlantic 10, evidenced by their 72-45 thrashing of Rhode Island to open up conference play on Sunday.

As they always do, Xavier played a demanding non-conference schedule. They put forth a good record, and they didn’t just beat up on bad teams, but there isn’t an NCAA Tournament resume win in the mix. They had their chances, losing to Old Dominion in the final of the Paradise Jam, losing by 10 at Gonzaga and by just four against Florida on New Year’s Eve. But they didn’t break through, and while wins against the likes of Seton Hall and Butler aren’t bad, much like Iowa and Wofford (in triple overtime), none of them are sure bets to make the NCAA Tournament right now as Butler might need to win the Horizon League to get there. … Continue Reading

2010 Atlantic 10 Post-Mortem

The 2009-10 season came after an off-season of transition for the Atlantic 10, as the conference moved its offices from the long-time home of Philadelphia to Newport News, Virginia. That was forgotten once the action got going on the hardwood, and not just because that’s what fans cared about. It was a big year for the conference, as it topped the previous record for non-conference wins with 135 and placed three teams in the NCAA Tournament. For good measure, two teams made a run to the NIT Final Four, with Dayton taking home the title, and three teams made the CBI, with Saint Louis making it to the final before losing to VCU (which also took out George Washington in the opening round).

For a lot of conference play, there was much buzz about how many teams might make the NCAA Tournament. At one point, many felt the conference could get as many as six teams, especially with the weak Pac-10, disappointing Big Ten and down years in conferences like the ACC and Conference USA. Six teams were certainly in play for a while, but much like two years ago, some of the teams in the bottom half of the conference started playing spoiler late in the season.

The post-season has been a good one thus far for the conference in the coaching ranks. Chris Mooney and Brian Gregory passed on overtures from other schools who had head coaching vacancies to stay with Richmond and Dayton, respectively. Fordham hired Tom Pecora to take over its program, while Charlotte hired Alan Major, regarded by many as an under-the-radar assistant, to take over for Bobby Lutz. Overall, there is some stability, which bodes well for the future.

Final Standings

Conference Tournament

The first round took place at campus sites, with the home team winning three of the four games by double digits. The only game that did not fit that description was UMass’ 59-56 win at Charlotte in a defensive struggle. The seeds held in the quarterfinals save for Rhode Island’s 63-47 win over Saint Louis, although Xavier had to hold off Dayton and Richmond had to do the same with UMass to move on. Temple shut down Rhode Island for a 57-44 win in one semifinal, while Richmond needed overtime to knock off Xavier in a great game in the other semifinal. The Spiders got a game-tying layup from Kevin Anderson (27 points) to send it to overtime, where David Gonzalvez (26 points) hit a three-pointer to start them on the road to victory in the extra session.

In the championship game, Temple appeared to pull away early in the second half as they were up four at the half and led by 12 with just over 12 minutes left. But Richmond rallied, holding the Owls to just 33 percent from the field in the second half, and made it a ballgame late, where the Owls had to make free throws to seal the 56-52 win.

Postseason Awards

Player of the Year: Kevin Anderson, Richmond

Rookie of the Year: Chris Gaston, Fordham

Most Improved Player: Chris Johnson, Dayton

Defensive Player of the Year: Damian Saunders, Duquesne

Coach of the Year: Fran Dunphy, Temple

All-Conference Team

Kevin Anderson, Jr. G, Richmond

Lavoy Allen, Jr. F, Temple

Jordan Crawford, So. G, Xavier

Damian Saunders, Jr. F, Duquesne

Chris Wright, Jr. F, Dayton

Season Highlights

• Of the 135 non-conference wins, 19 came against BCS conferences. That ranked fourth this season behind the Big 12 (28 wins), SEC (25) and ACC (25).

• Fran Dunphy continues to be a master on the bench. Temple lost a lot from last season’s team, including Dionte Christmas, but all the Owls did was win 29 games and their third straight conference title.

• The All-Atlantic 10 first team didn’t have a single senior, although one member of it (Jordan Crawford) will not be back next season.

• Rhode Island didn’t finish the regular season well after winning a lot of close games early, but Jim Baron became the first Ram coach to lead the team to three straight 20-win seasons.

• Although they faded in conference play, George Washington had a nice non-conference run that included five road wins. Only two teams in the conference won more road games than the seven the Colonials posted in total on the season.

What we expected, and it happened: Xavier had a new coach and no clear go-to guy, but the Musketeers continued to win. They didn’t miss a beat with Chris Mack taking over for the departed Sean Miller, and Jordan Crawford became the star of the team. Mack posted the most wins of any first-year coach in Division I, and the Musketeers reached the Sweet 16 for the third straight season.

What we expected, and it didn’t happen: La Salle was far from the contender many expected them to be, finishing 4-12 in the conference and not making the conference tournament. The Explorers were a senior-laden team, but an early injury to Ruben Guillandeaux set them back and a foot injury to Kimmani Barrett around the start of conference play was a back-breaker. The Explorers didn’t win a game in the month of February after they looked like they might come to life early in Atlantic 10 play. They weren’t deep in the backcourt before the injury to Guillandeaux, who started the season strong, and it showed as no team turned the ball over more than the Explorers did. They didn’t make up for it at the other end as only one team forced fewer turnovers.

What we didn’t expect, and it happened: Saint Louis finished in fourth place and made a deep postseason run, reaching the championship of the CBI. The Billikens looked to be at least a year away with a roster that featured 11 freshmen and sophomores and no seniors. But they racked up a good record in a manageable non-conference slate, then started February with six straight wins.

Team(s) on the rise: Saint Louis. The Billikens had no seniors on the roster, and after getting to the final of the CBI expectations will certainly be higher next season.

Team(s) on the decline: Saint Joseph’s. The Hawks were expected to be in rebuilding mode this year, but they looked worse than a rebuilding team. The upshot is that they finished with a winning record at home in their first year in the new arena, but there wasn’t much else to write home about this year and next year isn’t certain to be much, if any, better. Three players have transferred, Darren Govens and Garrett Williamson graduate and only two seniors will be on next year’s roster.

2010-11 Atlantic 10 Outlook

As good as this year was, next year could be even better for the conference. Ten all-conference players return next year, including four of five from the first team, as well as a strong crop of players that comprised the All-Rookie team. Stability is ever-present with many teams, especially from a coaching standpoint. Teams that lose key players won’t drop all the way back; Xavier and Temple will be fine, as will Dayton despite graduating several starters. Richmond shouldn’t be a one-year wonder, and Jim Baron appears to have Rhode Island in a good place although they’ve fallen agonizingly short of the NCAA Tournament a couple of times recently. Saint Louis, St. Bonaventure and George Washington appear to be on the way up, although a few teams don’t look to be on the rise right now. The immediate future for some middling programs like Charlotte, Duquesne and UMass is a little tough to figure right now.

A year ago, the conference’s move to Newport News, Virginia seemed like an odd destination given the conference’s geographic footprint. It had to make one wonder what the future of the conference would look like. Right now, the future looks quite positive based on the season just completed and what the season ahead could look like.

Bracket Breakdown: How the Atlantic 10 Will Fare

The Atlantic 10 Conference didn’t receive a lot of respect from the selection committee after a fantastic season. Temple, Xavier and Richmond will look to prove that they are better teams than their seeds would indicate. But a couple of them have tough match ups. Here is a preview of the Atlantic 10 teams in the Big Dance.

Temple Owls (Overall: 29-5, A-10: 14-2)

No. 5 seed, East Region

The Owls have to be wondering what more they need to do to earn a top four seed. The selection committee gave Temple a No. 5 seed in the East Region after the Owls finished 29-5, won both the regular-season and tournament titles, and knocked off Villanova in non-conferece action. But Temple won’t whine about positioning — this team is too mentally tough for that. And that toughness has the Owls poised for a potentially shocking tournament run — if they can past pesky No. 12-seed Cornell first.

Temple is heavily imbalanced toward defense. But that defense is impeccable. The Owls are No. 1 in the country in effective field goal percentage, according to Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency statistics. Temple shuts down opposing team’s perimeter players, allowing them to shoot only 28.1 percent from three-point range. But it’s not any easier to score inside the arc against Temple. The Owls’ opponents shoot only 42.5 percent from there.

On offense, Temple is not exactly a juggernaut. The Owls don’t shoot particularly well from anywhere. But they don’t commit many turnovers or beat themselves. Guards Ryan Brooks and Juan Fernandez lead the offense with 14.3 points per game and 12.6 points per game, respectively. Fernandez is the perfect foil for opponents’ three-point shooters because he makes 46.1 percent of this long-range shots. It won’t be easy for opponents to make deep shots, but when they do, Fernandez will be ready to answer.

And he might need to do so often in the first round if Temple’s vaunted defense falters against Cornell, the best three-point shooting team in the nation. The Big Red hit 43.8 percent of their shots from the perimeter. But Cornell doesn’t play great defense, which should aid Temple’s plodding offense. The Owls should get past Cornell in a low-scoring, ugly match up. No. 4-seed Wisconsin will likely await. Like Cornell, the Badgers rely heavily on three-pointers. Temple and Wisconsin are nearly mirror images of each other, except Wisconsin’s offense is far more efficient while Temple’s defense is tougher.

In the end, Wisconsin’s better balance will deliver the win, but either team figures to match up well against No. 1-seed Kentucky in the Sweet 16. If Temple can find a way out of Jacksonville, Fla., with two wins, the Owls could easily be playing for a Final Four berth in Syracuse March 27.

Xavier Musketeers (Overall: 24-8, A-10: 14-2)

No. 6 seed, West Region

Unlike Richmond and Temple, Xavier can’t complain much about its seeding. The Musketeers might be worthy of a No. 5 seed, but there’s nothing wrong with No. 6 in the West, especially with Minnesota on the slate in the first round. Minnesota played four games in four days during the Big Ten tournament and a total of five games in eight days.

Xavier relies on a balanced offense led by sophomore Jordan Crawford, famous for dunking on LeBron James last summer. The Musketeers will need Crawford to become famous for big-time performances in the tournament if Xavier plans to advance past one round. Crawford averages 19.7 points per game and shoots 39 percent from three-point range. Minnesota is vulnerable to teams that shoot well from long range, allowing opponents to shoot 34.0 percent from behind the arc. That might make Dante Jackson and Brad Redford, both of whom shoot about 40 percent from three-point land, more critical in the first round than Xavier fans might expect.

In a tight one, the Musketeers will advance to face No. 3-seed Pittsburgh, which eliminated the Musketeers in the Sweet 16 last season. But Xavier will once again fall short against the Panthers in another tight game. Pitt’s slow pace, orchestrated by junior Brad Wanamaker and senior Jermaine Dixon, will frustrate the up-tempo Musketeers. With only one senior starter, Xavier figures to be back next season when the Musketeers will be better equipped to make another deep run in the turnament.

Richmond Spiders (Overall: 26-8, A-10: 13-3)

No. 7 seed, South Region

The Spiders entered Selection Sunday figuring that five wins against the RPI top 50, including wins against conference heavyweights Temple and Xavier, would deliver a No. 5 or 6 seed. But Richmond slipped to No. 7 in the South Region and gets a tough first-round game against No. 10-seed Saint Mary’s.

Richmond is a defensive-minded team that runs coach Chris Mooey’s version of the Princeton offense. The result is a slow-paced, perimeter-oriented attack. The backcourt duo of Kevin Anderson and David Gonzalvez pace Richmond’s offense by probing the opponents’ defense for easy layups. If the close-in shot isn’t available, they look outside, where Justin Harper and Ryan Butler are also legitimate long-range threats. Each of the Spiders’ top four scorers has made at least 37 three-pointers this season and attempted more than 100.

Although Richmond is great at avoiding turnovers and plays stifling defense, the Spiders might just be facing their worst possible first-round match up. Saint Mary’s has plenty of long players who can bother the Spiders’ three-point threats. And senior Omar Samhan is a game-changing defensive stalwart who hoovers up all rebounds. The Gaels have the fourth-best three-point defense in the country. Saint Mary’s will likely shut down the perimeter game, and Samhan can single-handedly erase the Spiders’ cuts to the basket.

A one-and-done performance will overshadow a fantastic season for the Spiders, who fortunately will return all but two of their major contributors next season.

Bracket Breakdown: Atlantic 10 and Mountain West Get Little Respect

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11:15 a.m., March 16, 2010, to indicate that UNLV beat New Mexico once during the regular season.

In the final Mock Tournament this afternoon, four teams from the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West conferences received a No. 5 seed or better: New Mexico, Temple, Richmond and Xavier.

The selection committee only agreed with New Mexico’s position. Even though the Mountain West and Atlantic 10 conferences ranked No. 6 and 7, respectively, in the RPI, they failed to receive much respect in seeding from the committee. Projected to be a No. 5 seed, Richmond fell to No. 7. UNLV also slipped two lines, from No. 6 to No. 8.

Although BYU was only seeded No. 7 by the selection committee, the Cougars might have received the biggest break of any team from the Mountain West or Atlantic 10. They would get to play Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in Salt Lake City if they can find a way past No. 10 Florida and probably No. 2 Kansas State. Of course, BYU would have its hands full against the Wildcats in Oklahoma City.

No. 5-seed Temple might feel slighted that power conference teams like Vanderbilt and Maryland received No. 4 seeds even though the Owls have more wins against the RPI top 50 than those teams do. The Owls also won their conference championship, but Vanderbilt and Maryland didn’t make it to their conference championship games.

UNLV’s reward for winning four games against the RPI top 25, including games against No. 3-seed New Mexico and BYU, is a No. 8 seed and has a potential second-round match up against top-seeded Kansas in Oklahoma City. The Mock Tournament projected UNLV to be a No. 6 seed because the Rebels have several quality wins.

Although the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West teams received more difficult draws than the Mock Tournament projected, they can prove their value by knocking off some higher-seeded opponents. Temple matches up well with Wisconsin, and BYU has a real chance to make a deep run in the West region. If the Cougars find a way past Kansas State, they will feed off the home crowd in Salt Lake City against No. 1 Syracuse, No. 3 Pittsburgh or any other highly seeded team that they crosses paths with.

Surging Xavier Hits Bump in the Road at UMass

AMHERST, Mass. – In a just-completed three-game homestand, Xavier re-asserted themselves as the team to beat in the Atlantic 10.  You never quite know how a coaching change, even with a new coach who has been on the staff, will go, but it appears to be seamless thus far as the Musketeers entered with a 7-1 Atlantic 10 mark after another good non-conference run.  But going back on the road, things were a little different despite getting another win.

The Musketeers rolled in their three home games in increasingly convincing fashion.  It started with a 72-61 win over Rhode Island, another team with a good shot at making the NCAA Tournament.  An 86-50 romp over Duquesne was next, followed by a 108-60 trouncing of Fordham.

For a while, it looked like Wednesday’s game would be more of the same, except the margin of victory might not be as high.  In the first half, Xavier shot 64.5 percent from the field, going 5-9 from long range, and led 50-33 at the break.  They took the lead for good in the half with an 18-0 run as they got one run-out after another, often following UMass settling for a three-pointer.

“I thought we were playing exceptionally well in the first half,” head coach Chris Mack.

Then the second half came.

The Minutemen came alive defensively, and suddenly an 11-2 run made it interesting.  With 10:46 left, they were within one possession, and a little over three minutes later they took the lead.  Then it was back and forth until Jordan Crawford started to play like the best player on the team and hit two three-pointers to lead a decisive run of nine unanswered points to turn a 69-68 deficit into a 77-69 lead.  The Atlantic 10′s leading scorer had a game-high 25 points, 14 in the second half.

“He’s a guy that can take over the game,” Mack said of Crawford.  “I thought, as an offense we just were out of sync, and I give UMass a lot of credit.  They pressured our big guys way out on the floor, we stood still too much early in the second half.”

Mack remembered the Musketeers’ first Atlantic 10 game, a 68-62 win at La Salle.  In that game, the Musketeers shut down La Salle in the first half en route to a 41-26 halftime lead, and they built the lead to 20 in the second half before the Explorers tied the game by scoring 16 unanswered points over a stretch of more than seven minutes.

“We were up big at halftime at La Salle, and we told them the first four minutes was going to set the tone for the rest of the game, and it did,” Mack said.  “Unfortunately, it set the tone for UMass being energized, it got them back in the game, and I thought their defensive energy and aggressiveness took us out, and it became a ballgame.  I’m happy that we won, but I’m disappointed with the way we played in the second half.”

This could easily be a case of going on the road being more difficult, and perhaps they caught UMass on a good night for the Minutemen.  They still got the win, which is most important.  But as this wasn’t the first time Xavier squandered a big lead in the second half in Atlantic 10 play is certainly concerning for the coaching staff.  They came into the game on a roll, and that may have stopped for now save for the reality of getting the win.  It may also just be a small and inevitable bump in the road.  With trips to Dayton and Florida up next, that’s probably not how they want to play.

With an 8-1 mark in the Atlantic 10, Xavier is once again the team to beat.  But if the UMass game is any indication, they are far from invincible, especially when they have to go on the road.  When they play well, they play very well, but they can also squander leads and put themselves in a position to lose games.  That’s not a position they were in the prior three games.

Xavier: Freshman Guard to Miss A-10 Opener

Xavier freshman guard Mark Lyons will miss at least tonight’s game against La Salle after injuring his left knee in the team’s double overtime loss to Wake Forest Jan. 3, according to a SportingNews.com report.
Lyons averages 9.4 points and 2.1 assists per game as a freshman starter for the Musketeers, who open conference play tonight against La Salle. In his place, Xavier likely will turn to senior Dante Jackson or Brad Redford.

New Group, Same Results: Xavier Just Wins

SOUTH KINGSTON, R.I. – Sometimes a team wins because it knows how to do it. Not from defense, not from offense, not from a physical advantage, but from knowing how to win. That’s how Xavier pulled out Thursday’s 67-65 win at Rhode Island, and it underlies the early success this team has had.

Those intangibles might not seem likely at first glance, especially considering what the Musketeers did last season. They went 30-7, setting a school record for wins in a season, and their seniors did a lot of winning in their careers. Head coach Sean Miller never wasted a chance to praise that group of players, and one had to think they might take a small step back this season without them, even though they returned a solid core of players.

Instead, the Musketeers are 14-2 overall and 3-0 in Atlantic 10 play, and right now look like clear favorites in the conference. And while the Musketeers have largely won with defense this season – opponents shoot just 36.7 percent from the field against them – there’s more to it than that. It’s not as simple as the defense and a rebounding edge of over eight per game overcoming their 15.4 turnovers per game.

“We have a lot of different players in our program that have won championships, that have won on the road, and you can kind of feel that under the four-minute TV timeout,” said Miller. “You just sense in our huddle that a lot of the players that are playing for us have been in that situation before, and we really fall back on that.”

As Miller went on to note, Xavier trailed at the last media timeout, with Rhode Island grabbing a 61-59 lead on a long two-point shot by Jimmy Baron off a turnover. About a minute and a half after the last media timeout, Dante Jackson hit a three-pointer – his only field goal of the game as he was 1-6 from the field – to put the Musketeers up for good.

“He’s done this numerous times, where the only shot he makes is the big one,” Miller said of Jackson.

Jackson, whose ball-handling responsibilities have increased this season, also had four turnovers, so making the big shot was an example of perseverance.

The Musketeers have four upperclassmen on the roster, and all four play critical roles. Seniors B.J. Raymond and C.J. Anderson, along with junior Derrick Brown, are the top three scorers, while junior Jason Love leads in rebounding. They are also four of the team’s top rebounders, and Raymond, Anderson and Brown are also capable of helping with ball-handling duties on a team whose primary point guard is freshman Terrell Holloway.

That last point can’t be underestimated. The one gaping hole personnel-wise with this team is at the point, where Holloway is backed up by Jackson. That position was one of strength last season with Drew Lavender running the show and Stanley Burrell helping him out. Against Rhode Island and their press, which led to 22 turnovers, that was even more pronounced.

“That’s a big test for a freshman point guard,” said Miller. “I love Terrell, he’s getting better and he’s a terrific player for our team, but he’s not where he’s going to be a year or two from now.”

Holloway is making strides, as Thursday night was his fifth straight start. He has 17 assists and 11 turnovers in those four starts, an improvement on his numbers prior to moving into the starting lineup.

Although the kind of balance the Musketeers had last season isn’t present this time around, that’s not a knock on this team and they’re far from a one- or two-man show. Last season was an exception – you simply don’t see cases often where the top six scorers on a team average between 9.7 and 12.4 points per game, as was the case with that team. For good measure, those top six players attempted between 243 and 295 field goals on the season, with the top five being between 274 and 295.

This season’s team doesn’t have that same balance, but it’s not lacking for capable players. Nine players average at least 10.8 minutes per game, and only Raymond averages at least 30. They count on their upperclassmen for a lot, but their underclassmen who play are all capable in the roles they are in, whether it’s freshman Kenny Frease doing work inside or gunner Brad Redford knocking down three-point shots at a nearly 49 percent clip.

Most of all, the upperclassmen help lead this team by knowing how to win. They learned from some good players in last year’s senior class, and now they’re carrying on those lessons.

Blue Devils Blow Out Xavier in Return to New Jersey

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The last college basketball game in this building was played March of 2007. Even the name was different then; at the time it was Continental Airlines Arena. Currently, the arena goes by the name of Izod Center.

College ball returned on Saturday as Duke faced Xavier. Back on that March Sunday almost two years ago, we were treated to a game for the ages. Georgetown defeated North Carolina in overtime in the East Rutherford Regional championship. Leading up to Saturday’s clash, everyone expected a game of similar magnitude. It didn’t happen, as Duke triumphed 82-64 in convincing fashion.

Roughly two and a half minutes into the game, Duke had an 8-1 lead and Xavier coach Sean Miller called a time out to stop the bleeding and refocus his group. At the first media time outthe lead had expanded to 18-1.

“I told the team,” Miller said,” at this rate they’ll score 190.”

The Blue Devils didn’t continue scoring at that astronomical rate but it wasn’t far off. At the half Duke led 55-24. The ACC representatives thoroughly dominated, as in the first twenty minutes:

• Xavier had more turnovers (10) than field goals.
• Xavier’s top three scorers Derrick Brown, C.J. Anderson and B.J. Raymond, combined for 14 points. Jon Scheyer of Duke had 16 alone.
• Xavier shot 33 percent from the floor while the Blue Devils scorched the nets at 62 percent.
• Xavier even shot a worse free throw percentage( 6 of 12 for 50%) than Duke’s field goal percentage.
• Duke also led under the boards with a 20-15 rebounding edge.

Xavier came out and scored the first seven points of the second half. Duke quickly answered and the final twenty minutes played out at a slower pace with the Blue Devils maintaining complete control.

If there was a silver lining for Miller and company it was their offensive execution the second half. The Musketeers shot 62 percent the final twenty minutes and committed only six turnovers. Offensively they ran their offense with better cohesion, a sense of purpose and results. Brown finished as Xavier’s high scorer with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor. Scheyer led Duke with 23 points while Gerald Henderson added 19.

“I’m really happy it was a heck of a game,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. “Our defense was outstanding, we talked and on offense we got a lot of production on the wings and Brian Zoubek gave us another good game.” Zoubek, the seven-foot Blue Devil center, has improved and been a factor inside during the pe-conference portion of the season. Zoubek finished with nine points and added four blocks.

Krzyzewski noted that it was one of those games where his club played extremely well and Xavier had an extremely poor performance. “If we could bottle that first half we would be pretty darn good,” the Duke coach said partially in humor.

On a serious note, breakdowns of Xavier tapes revealed that the Musketeers like to trap hard on screens. Duke simply spread the offense out, relied on wider spacing and good ball movement. The passing was crisp and accurate as Duke committed only 11 turnovers. And the looks were there as evidenced by Scheyer’s 9-of-11 shooting which included 5-of-7 from three-point range.

“They put so much pressure on your defense,” Miller said of Duke. “They have four players out there that can put the ball on the floor and beat you off the dribble.” Miller also said Duke had Xavier on its heels, which contributed to the poor start.

Also, for some reason the Musketeers did not come out strong and struggled from the first possession, which ended in a turnover. “We came out with little confidence,” Miller said, adding, “we need at come out confidently and have our core players show the way.”

Notes

• The game attracted over 14,000 in attendance. Duke had a strong contingent on hand while Xavier matched with a good following as well.
• Miller was disappointed in Xavier’s performance but said, “If you told me back in August, win or lose this game , we would be 9-1, given our schedule, I would take it.”
• Krzyzewski noted the arena “has been a magical place for us.” The Duke mentor noted, “We tried to schedule a national game. Last year we played Pitt at the Garden. These games are beneficial because they seem like the NCAA. With the opposition and venue it just has that feel.”
• Duke improved to 10-1 with the lone loss at Michigan.

On The Baseline

Both schools brought bands and cheerleaders. My favorite shirt was from the Musketeer faithful which read, “Nothing can Xavier asses now”. Special mention goes to the Duke band, which played 80′s classic Rock Lobster.