Thanksgiving week is long over and so are most of the early season exempt tournaments. These events are often resume builders for March (see Butler in the 2006 NIT Season Tipoff) so let's look at the winners of each event a little bit more.
NIT Season Tipoff - Texas A&M. I expected the Aggies to take a bit of a step back after losing star Acie Law, but they impressed with big wins in New York over Washington and Ohio State. While super freshman DeAndre Jordan has been super on the boards (14.4 per 40 mins) and from the field (83.3 FG%) upperclassmen Josh Carter, Joseph Jones and Dominique Kirk are the leading scorers. This team is still playing stifling defense so expect to see them in March.
Maui Invitational - Duke. I was one who thought that the Blue Devils might have been a bit overrated with people putting them in their preseason top 10. It's still early, but any top 10 wouldn't be credible without having Duke present at this point. Coach K has his team running more than it did last year, back to Duke basketball. Kyle Singler lived up to his hype in winning the tournament MVP, and if Coach K finally decides to take advantage of his depth this team will be dangerous.
College Basketball Experience Classic - UCLA. When you're a preseason #2, you're expected to win big games early in the season. When you're without two of your top guards, that will hardly be taken into consideration by media and fans. Darren Collison and Michael Roll were missed, but the Bruins still handled Maryland and beat a good Michigan State team in the finals. Another star freshman - this time Kevin Love - has paced the team by averaging a double-double through 7 games. By the way, this team still plays some great defense. Imagine that coming from a Ben Howland coached team.
Great Alaska Shootout - Butler. I don't have to like Butler. And after beating Maryland last March, I'm not going to do it. What you must do, however, is give them their due as a legitimate top 25 team. The Bulldogs win games with a simple formula - slow the tempo, protect the rock like the Hope Diamond, and take lots of threes. Butler doesn't have much size which shows up in their defense and rebounding, but that deadly efficient offense is enough to beat a team when it's running smoothly. Wins over Virginia Tech and Texas Tech in the final two rounds aren't landmark wins, especially compared to what the team did last season, but they are strong wins for Butler early in the year.
Old Spice Classic - North Carolina State. The Pack didn't make it easy with late wins over South Carolina and Villanova in their last two games, but freshman JJ Hickson led them to victory in the second edition of the Orlando based event. NC State has no experience at point guard so expect some growing pains - turnovers have been a problem so far. The talent is there to finish high in the ACC.
US Virgin Islands Paradise Jam - Baylor. The Bears have not been good in a long time. The program is coming off of one of the worst scandals of all-time and has won as many as 6 Big XII games just once this decade. Scott Drew is seeking to change that, and he has laid the groundwork with solid recruiting classes including freshman Lacedarius Dunn and sophomore Demond Carter, both out of Louisiana. Wins over Wichita State, Notre Dame and Winthrop, all recent NCAA Tournament teams is cause for celebration for a team that has beat just one tournament team in the last four seasons. In all liklihood Baylor is still a season or two away from truly competing in the Big XII, but an NIT berth may be in the cards.
Anaheim Classic - USC. Lose to Mercer by double digits on your home court to open the season and you have to prove you deserved that top 25 preseason ranking. The Trojans didn't quite do that in Anaheim, but their championship game thrashing of Southern Illinois showed their potential. The top seven in minutes for USC are all either freshman or sophomore. Star freshman OJ Mayo (59.2 eFG%, 21.8 ppg) has been an offensive force early on despite taking terrible care of the ball, turning it over 4.7 times per game.
South Padre Island Invitational - Vanderbilt. Andrew Ogilvy is the best freshman that no one is hyping. He's an international player that hails from Australia so right now Fran Fraschilla might be the only analyst at the Worldwide Leader that knows who he is, but if he continues to make two-thirds of his shots that will change quickly. Losing Derrick Byars hurts this team, but they can still get back to level they were at last season with Shan Foster and Ogilvy leading the charge.
Puerto Rico Tipoff Classic - Miami. The Hurricanes are still number one in Ken Pomeroy's version of the RPI. Early wins over Marist, VCU and Providence are all solid for this team though they did struggle with Morgan State and Alabama State after returning from the island (albeit without Jack McClinton). McClinton is the star and a returning All-ACC player, but he will need to be even better this season for Miami to contend in the ACC.
Chicago Invitational Challenge - Xavier. This one was most notable for the Musketeers' rout of then-top 10 Indiana. Xavier went to the tournament last season and came excruciatingly close to upending Ohio State. Now with four seniors in their top six, Xavier is the clear favorite in the Atlantic Ten and should make a return trip to the Big Dance.
Las Vegas Invitational - North Carolina. Louisville losing in the semifinals of the championship round took away the made-for-TV top 10 matchup with North Carolina. The Tar Heels didn't roll in the finals, though, fighting off a feisty BYU team deep into the second half. The story early for the Heels is that they look like a top 5 team. No surprise there. UNC has played well offensively and defensively and shows little weakness in its component numbers with only their opponents eFG% (107th) ranking outside the nation's top 100. Watch out for their game against Kentucky at Rupp Arena where they will likely be without Tywon Lawson.
Legends Classic - Texas. In yet another new event, the Longhorns ran Tennessee out of the building in the finals. They're still an offensive force, even without Kevin Durant, but the defense would still seem to need some tweaks, at least in the early going.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Terps win, ACC rolls
The Terps put together their best game of the season on Wednesday night to beat Illinois, 69-61, at the Comcast Center. Maryland put together a 40 minute game on their way to the team's first big win of the young season.
The defense was again stifling, limiting Illinois to just 24 of 72 shooting from the field while keeping them off the free throw line in a game that saw a very low number of fouls called. On offense the team played well enough, scoring just under a point per possession against what should be a very strong defensive team. Maryland limited turnovers for the second straight game, giving up the ball just 12 times in an estimated 70 possessions.
Individually, Eric Hayes may have been the player of the game, scoring 16 points and hitting 4 three point shots, displaying a renewed shooting touch that carried over from the Lehigh game. Freshman center Braxton Dupree got his second consecutive start and made the most of it once again, scoring 10 points and grabbing 5 rebounds in just 18 minutes of action.
Cliff Tucker was the other freshman to have a breakout game, scoring 9 points and snaring 5 rebounds in just 12 minutes in relief of Landon Milbourne. Tucker showed more assertiveness in the offense and also displayed previously unseen shooting skill on a few occasions. Milbourne again failed to get comfortable and make an impact on the game in his time, and it would seem that Tucker should soon push for more time.
Greivis Vasquez had another mixed bag of a game. The good was dishing 10 assists against just 2 turnovers, running the offense smoothly, and having 7 rebounds. The bad was an atrocious 2 for 14 shooting night that included another o-fer on seven shots from behind the arc. That puts him at an obscene 7-39 from deep through 7 games.
On the defensive end the Terps gave up a few open shots from the perimeter while letting Illinois get very little in the way of good looks close to the basket. No doubt the Illini are not the best of offensive teams, to put it kindly, but another stifling defensive effort (with a nice performance from an emerging Jerome Burney) leads one to believe that the defense may once again be very good.
In the shocker of the day, the ACC once again won the "challenge" with the Big Televen winning 8 of the 11 games over the past three days. At this point shouldn't the ACC be looking to more competitive series against the SEC or the Pac-Ten?
The defense was again stifling, limiting Illinois to just 24 of 72 shooting from the field while keeping them off the free throw line in a game that saw a very low number of fouls called. On offense the team played well enough, scoring just under a point per possession against what should be a very strong defensive team. Maryland limited turnovers for the second straight game, giving up the ball just 12 times in an estimated 70 possessions.
Individually, Eric Hayes may have been the player of the game, scoring 16 points and hitting 4 three point shots, displaying a renewed shooting touch that carried over from the Lehigh game. Freshman center Braxton Dupree got his second consecutive start and made the most of it once again, scoring 10 points and grabbing 5 rebounds in just 18 minutes of action.
Cliff Tucker was the other freshman to have a breakout game, scoring 9 points and snaring 5 rebounds in just 12 minutes in relief of Landon Milbourne. Tucker showed more assertiveness in the offense and also displayed previously unseen shooting skill on a few occasions. Milbourne again failed to get comfortable and make an impact on the game in his time, and it would seem that Tucker should soon push for more time.
Greivis Vasquez had another mixed bag of a game. The good was dishing 10 assists against just 2 turnovers, running the offense smoothly, and having 7 rebounds. The bad was an atrocious 2 for 14 shooting night that included another o-fer on seven shots from behind the arc. That puts him at an obscene 7-39 from deep through 7 games.
On the defensive end the Terps gave up a few open shots from the perimeter while letting Illinois get very little in the way of good looks close to the basket. No doubt the Illini are not the best of offensive teams, to put it kindly, but another stifling defensive effort (with a nice performance from an emerging Jerome Burney) leads one to believe that the defense may once again be very good.
In the shocker of the day, the ACC once again won the "challenge" with the Big Televen winning 8 of the 11 games over the past three days. At this point shouldn't the ACC be looking to more competitive series against the SEC or the Pac-Ten?
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Terps to take on Illini
For the second straight season Maryland will face Illinois in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, this time at Comcast Center. The Illini are currently 4-1, opening the season with consecutive close wins over Northeastern and Hawaii before taking third place in the Maui Invitational with wins over Arizona State and Oklahoma State. Their only loss so far was in the semifinals out in Maui to Duke.
So far Illinois has relied on a balanced scoring attack with Brian Randle, Shaun Pruitt, Chester Frazier, Trent Meachem, Calvin Brock and Rodney Alexander all averaging at least 8 ppg. It's not much of a secret that Illinois likes to play a slow, grind it out game typical of the Big Ten. They rank outside the top 250 in the nation in raw possessions per game for the fifth straight season.
In 2007 the Illini were a terrific defensive team, ranking in the top 5 in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency. They were undone by an offense that ranked ninth in the Big Ten, outside the top 100 in the country. The team has undergone some personnel changes, losing Jamar Smith, Warren Carter and Rich McBride from last season's team. Yet there is no one area where the offensive improvement has taken place. Illinois has improved slightly across the board, improving in all four major categories while posting an excellent OR% and respectable numbers elsewhere. Some of this might be genuine improvement, but at this stage it is too early to tell.
Another subplot to watch, albeit a minor one as it relates to the outcome, is the presence of Jeffrey Jordan on the Illinois bench. The son of the best player of all-time can't do better than walk on at Illinois? Genes aren't everything in this case. Jordan has played sparingly in four games so far, scoring one point and failing to hit a shot from the field. Illinois didn't get Eric Gordon but they did snag Jordan. Fair trade?
So far Illinois has relied on a balanced scoring attack with Brian Randle, Shaun Pruitt, Chester Frazier, Trent Meachem, Calvin Brock and Rodney Alexander all averaging at least 8 ppg. It's not much of a secret that Illinois likes to play a slow, grind it out game typical of the Big Ten. They rank outside the top 250 in the nation in raw possessions per game for the fifth straight season.
In 2007 the Illini were a terrific defensive team, ranking in the top 5 in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency. They were undone by an offense that ranked ninth in the Big Ten, outside the top 100 in the country. The team has undergone some personnel changes, losing Jamar Smith, Warren Carter and Rich McBride from last season's team. Yet there is no one area where the offensive improvement has taken place. Illinois has improved slightly across the board, improving in all four major categories while posting an excellent OR% and respectable numbers elsewhere. Some of this might be genuine improvement, but at this stage it is too early to tell.
Another subplot to watch, albeit a minor one as it relates to the outcome, is the presence of Jeffrey Jordan on the Illinois bench. The son of the best player of all-time can't do better than walk on at Illinois? Genes aren't everything in this case. Jordan has played sparingly in four games so far, scoring one point and failing to hit a shot from the field. Illinois didn't get Eric Gordon but they did snag Jordan. Fair trade?
Monday, November 26, 2007
Top 25 #2
- UCLA
- North Carolina
- Memphis
- Kansas
- Georgetown
- Duke
- Washington State
- Texas A&M
- Texas
- Butler
- Marquette
- Clemson
- Xavier
- Michigan State
- Brigham Young
- North Carolina State
- George Mason
- Louisville
- Indiana
- Tennessee
- Southern California
- Vanderbilt
- Ohio State
- Creighton
- Baylor
Sunday, November 25, 2007
ACC Week 2
Duke (6-0): beat Princeton, Illinois, Marquette, Eastern Kentucky. Duke rolled into Maui and won their fourth Maui Invitational title. In a season loaded with elite freshman, Kyle Singler continued to do his part, scoring 18 points per game in Hawaii to win the tournament's MVP award. Worth noting: Duke is back to its running ways after a year away from that formula, running to the tune of greater than 73 possessions per game. That's the most for the Blue Devils since at least 2003.
Clemson (5-0): beat Old Dominion, Presbyterian, Gardner Webb. The Tigers got another possible NCAA Tournament resume-builder with the win over Old Dominion. Clemson faces very few elite teams, but the rest of the nonconference schedule has plenty of tests with Purdue, South Carolina and Charlotte coming to Littlejohn, a road date with Alabama, and three games in the San Juan Shootout in late Decemeber.
Miami (5-0): beat Providence, Morgan State. Miami nipped Providence to take the inaugural Puerto Rico TipOff Classic before beating a poor Morgan State team by 4 without the services of Jack McClinton. The 'Canes temporarily find themselves atop the RPI standings. We know that one won't last.
North Carolina (5-0): beat Iona, South Carolina State, Old Dominion, Brigham Young. The Heels also won a tournament title, beating a feisty BYU squad to take the Las Vegas Invitational without a showdown with fellow top 10 Louisville. UNC, like Maryland recently, struggled with the deep shot against BYU, hitting just two, although they are averaging over six threes per game in their first five.
Boston College (4-0): beat Mercer, Rhode Island. BC has escaped the big upset so far, but with so many freshman in the rotation playing key roles that might not last. Freshman shooting guard Rakim Sanders, considered just a good recruit, has averaged 16.3 ppg on good shooting numbers (58.6 eFG%) giving the Eagles a potent backcourt with Sanders and star Tyrese Rice.
Wake Forest (3-0): beat North Carolina Central, Winston-Salem State. Wake is another young team with eight of their top nine scorers so far being freshman or sophomores. WF beat two of the newest members of Division I, but not by all that many, winning the two games by 17 and 20 respectively. It will be a growing process for a team that will go on the road for four of its next five games.
Virginia (5-1): beat Drexel, Penn, lost to Seton Hall. The Cavs were upset in the finals of the Philly Hoop Group Classic in a convincing loss to Seton Hall. Virginia has a plethora of backcourt scoring options that should help create a dynamic offense, but the defense will likely be a big question mark. After giving up more than a point per possession (108.9 eff) in a win at Arizona, the Cavs did the same against Seton Hall (eff = 110.5) and lowly 2-4 Penn (eff = 102).
North Carolina State (4-1): beat Rider, South Carolina, Villanova, lost to New Orleans. The Wolfpack dropped out of the rankings with a disastrous loss to New Orleans before bouncing back nicely by taking the Old Spice Classic title including a win over a ranked Villanova team. Freshman sensation JJ Hickson leads the team in scoring at 18.0 ppg through his first five games. But Hickson comes off of the bench and ranks just fourth on the team in minutes which could lead to some tough decisions later in the season.
Florida State (5-2): beat Georgia State, Florida, lost to South Florida. After wrapping up the Glenn Wilkes Classic with a terrible loss to Big East bottom feeder South Florida, FSU came back and took out the defending national champs for the second straight season. It was a good win to be sure, especially in Gainesville, but the early season losses suggest that Florida State could be headed back to the ACC cellar.
Georgia Tech (3-2): beat Notre Dame, lost to Winthrop. The Yellow Jackets took two of three in the Virgin Islands before taking a week off. GT will go on the road for their next three, starting with an ACC-Big Ten Challenge match at highly ranked Indiana. After seeing his scoring drop by over six points per game last season, Anthony Morrow is putting up big numbers, averaging 19.0 ppg while hitting three three-pointers per contest.
Virginia Tech (2-2): beat Eastern Washington, lost to Butler, Gonzaga. Alaska was not kind to the Hokies as they lost to two mid-majors in Butler and Gonzaga. There are lots of young players in the mix, but those young guys will need to learn to play defense in a hurry. Both Gonzaga and Butler averaged about 1.25 points per possession against Virginia Tech. Butler put up 84 points in an overtime game that went just 59 possessions. After ranking in the top 25 in steal percentage each of the past four seasons due to their backcourt of Jamon Gordon and Zabian Dowdell, the Hokies check in at a gruesome 280th in the nation.
Clemson (5-0): beat Old Dominion, Presbyterian, Gardner Webb. The Tigers got another possible NCAA Tournament resume-builder with the win over Old Dominion. Clemson faces very few elite teams, but the rest of the nonconference schedule has plenty of tests with Purdue, South Carolina and Charlotte coming to Littlejohn, a road date with Alabama, and three games in the San Juan Shootout in late Decemeber.
Miami (5-0): beat Providence, Morgan State. Miami nipped Providence to take the inaugural Puerto Rico TipOff Classic before beating a poor Morgan State team by 4 without the services of Jack McClinton. The 'Canes temporarily find themselves atop the RPI standings. We know that one won't last.
North Carolina (5-0): beat Iona, South Carolina State, Old Dominion, Brigham Young. The Heels also won a tournament title, beating a feisty BYU squad to take the Las Vegas Invitational without a showdown with fellow top 10 Louisville. UNC, like Maryland recently, struggled with the deep shot against BYU, hitting just two, although they are averaging over six threes per game in their first five.
Boston College (4-0): beat Mercer, Rhode Island. BC has escaped the big upset so far, but with so many freshman in the rotation playing key roles that might not last. Freshman shooting guard Rakim Sanders, considered just a good recruit, has averaged 16.3 ppg on good shooting numbers (58.6 eFG%) giving the Eagles a potent backcourt with Sanders and star Tyrese Rice.
Wake Forest (3-0): beat North Carolina Central, Winston-Salem State. Wake is another young team with eight of their top nine scorers so far being freshman or sophomores. WF beat two of the newest members of Division I, but not by all that many, winning the two games by 17 and 20 respectively. It will be a growing process for a team that will go on the road for four of its next five games.
Virginia (5-1): beat Drexel, Penn, lost to Seton Hall. The Cavs were upset in the finals of the Philly Hoop Group Classic in a convincing loss to Seton Hall. Virginia has a plethora of backcourt scoring options that should help create a dynamic offense, but the defense will likely be a big question mark. After giving up more than a point per possession (108.9 eff) in a win at Arizona, the Cavs did the same against Seton Hall (eff = 110.5) and lowly 2-4 Penn (eff = 102).
North Carolina State (4-1): beat Rider, South Carolina, Villanova, lost to New Orleans. The Wolfpack dropped out of the rankings with a disastrous loss to New Orleans before bouncing back nicely by taking the Old Spice Classic title including a win over a ranked Villanova team. Freshman sensation JJ Hickson leads the team in scoring at 18.0 ppg through his first five games. But Hickson comes off of the bench and ranks just fourth on the team in minutes which could lead to some tough decisions later in the season.
Florida State (5-2): beat Georgia State, Florida, lost to South Florida. After wrapping up the Glenn Wilkes Classic with a terrible loss to Big East bottom feeder South Florida, FSU came back and took out the defending national champs for the second straight season. It was a good win to be sure, especially in Gainesville, but the early season losses suggest that Florida State could be headed back to the ACC cellar.
Georgia Tech (3-2): beat Notre Dame, lost to Winthrop. The Yellow Jackets took two of three in the Virgin Islands before taking a week off. GT will go on the road for their next three, starting with an ACC-Big Ten Challenge match at highly ranked Indiana. After seeing his scoring drop by over six points per game last season, Anthony Morrow is putting up big numbers, averaging 19.0 ppg while hitting three three-pointers per contest.
Virginia Tech (2-2): beat Eastern Washington, lost to Butler, Gonzaga. Alaska was not kind to the Hokies as they lost to two mid-majors in Butler and Gonzaga. There are lots of young players in the mix, but those young guys will need to learn to play defense in a hurry. Both Gonzaga and Butler averaged about 1.25 points per possession against Virginia Tech. Butler put up 84 points in an overtime game that went just 59 possessions. After ranking in the top 25 in steal percentage each of the past four seasons due to their backcourt of Jamon Gordon and Zabian Dowdell, the Hokies check in at a gruesome 280th in the nation.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Kansas State vs George Mason
There might not be anything in sports better than Feast Week on ESPN.
That might be an exaggeration, but the annual plethora of college games on the ESPN family of networks during Thanksgiving week has only gotten better with the NCAA loosening restrictions on exempt tournaments which had added new tournaments to the old staples.
One of the more interesting games of the week so far was the showdown between nationally ranked Kansas State and upstart mid-major George Mason in the quarterfinal round of the Old Spice Classic in Orlando.
Kansas State, a once dead program, has been resuscitated with the addition of perhaps the top freshman in the country, Michael Beasley, as well as one of the top recruits of 2006, Bill Walker. The rebuilding job was jumpstarted by since departed Bob Huggins during his only season in Manhattan. Now Frank Martin takes over the job (aided by ace recruiter Dalonte Hill, the man who delivered Beasley to the Wildcats).
George Mason, on the other hand, doesn't have that kind of star power. But what they do have is a deep, well-rounded, veteran team. Senior guard Folarin Campbell and star senior big man Will Thomas (my favorite non-Terp in the country) are the two remaining starters from the Patriots' improbable run to the 2006 Final Four. Campbell is joined in the backcourt by John Vaughn and Jordan Carter among others, giving the Patriots the talent and experience to compete with most teams in the country.
In the end George Mason came out with a convincing win, building a comfortable working margin over the last eight minutes of the first half with Michael Beasley out of the game due to foul trouble, before keeping the Wildcats at bay in the second half for the double digit victory.
Beasley was everything that had been promised, scoring 30 points despite playing limited minutes due to foul trouble. And although he didn't get his third 20 rebound game in four games, he still showed a knack for position and the raw strength that makes him a tremendous rebounder. But even with a dominating performance from Beasley, Kansas State still couldn't even make the game interesting in the final minutes. The Wildcats will contend for at least a tournament berth just because of Beasley, but at this point the Wildcats did not look to be a top 25 squad.
George Mason, on the other hand, might be a top 25 caliber team. Announcer Fran Fraschilla couldn't say enough good things about Will Thomas' skill and basketball IQ. Thomas displayed a knack for getting himself into position to get the ball, scoring in a variety of ways in the post while also getting to the line. He went right at Beasley to draw Beasley's 4th foul and also showed a great ability to pass out of the double team and find the open man. Meanwhile the Patriot's backcourt had a number of scorers who were willing to drive and able to hit the open three.
GMU lost a competitive game to a quality Villanova team in the semifinals tonight and will face South Carolina in the third place game of the tournament this weekend, but this is still a team that will play in March, perhaps even if they don't win the CAA.
That might be an exaggeration, but the annual plethora of college games on the ESPN family of networks during Thanksgiving week has only gotten better with the NCAA loosening restrictions on exempt tournaments which had added new tournaments to the old staples.
One of the more interesting games of the week so far was the showdown between nationally ranked Kansas State and upstart mid-major George Mason in the quarterfinal round of the Old Spice Classic in Orlando.
Kansas State, a once dead program, has been resuscitated with the addition of perhaps the top freshman in the country, Michael Beasley, as well as one of the top recruits of 2006, Bill Walker. The rebuilding job was jumpstarted by since departed Bob Huggins during his only season in Manhattan. Now Frank Martin takes over the job (aided by ace recruiter Dalonte Hill, the man who delivered Beasley to the Wildcats).
George Mason, on the other hand, doesn't have that kind of star power. But what they do have is a deep, well-rounded, veteran team. Senior guard Folarin Campbell and star senior big man Will Thomas (my favorite non-Terp in the country) are the two remaining starters from the Patriots' improbable run to the 2006 Final Four. Campbell is joined in the backcourt by John Vaughn and Jordan Carter among others, giving the Patriots the talent and experience to compete with most teams in the country.
In the end George Mason came out with a convincing win, building a comfortable working margin over the last eight minutes of the first half with Michael Beasley out of the game due to foul trouble, before keeping the Wildcats at bay in the second half for the double digit victory.
Beasley was everything that had been promised, scoring 30 points despite playing limited minutes due to foul trouble. And although he didn't get his third 20 rebound game in four games, he still showed a knack for position and the raw strength that makes him a tremendous rebounder. But even with a dominating performance from Beasley, Kansas State still couldn't even make the game interesting in the final minutes. The Wildcats will contend for at least a tournament berth just because of Beasley, but at this point the Wildcats did not look to be a top 25 squad.
George Mason, on the other hand, might be a top 25 caliber team. Announcer Fran Fraschilla couldn't say enough good things about Will Thomas' skill and basketball IQ. Thomas displayed a knack for getting himself into position to get the ball, scoring in a variety of ways in the post while also getting to the line. He went right at Beasley to draw Beasley's 4th foul and also showed a great ability to pass out of the double team and find the open man. Meanwhile the Patriot's backcourt had a number of scorers who were willing to drive and able to hit the open three.
GMU lost a competitive game to a quality Villanova team in the semifinals tonight and will face South Carolina in the third place game of the tournament this weekend, but this is still a team that will play in March, perhaps even if they don't win the CAA.
Terps 72, Lehigh 51
Coming off of a terrible stretch of two games in Kansas City to start the week, the Terps returned home to the Comcast Center to play a game the day after Thanksgiving as has become something of a tradition for the team. The opponent was Lehigh, a team that was neither big name power conference team like UCLA or a feisty mid-major like Northeastern.
The game had an odd feel to it thanks in no small part to the sparse holiday crowd. Absent from the lineup was Boom Osby who sat out with an illness. In his place, freshman center Braxton Dupree got his first collegiate start. Dupree responded with a breakout performance, scoring 14 points (including a team high 10 in the first half) to go with 5 boards. Dupree established position on the inside and looked much more comfortable with the ball in his hands, following up missed shots and going strong to the goal in order to draw fouls. The young center made a strong case for increased minutes in the future. In the upcoming nonconference games against the likes of Morgan State, Savannah State and Delaware, among others, Dupree should be receiving extensive minutes to gain experience that will benefit him in ACC play.
Maryland was up by only seven at halftime against the Mountain Hawks due largely to poor perimeter defense, but in the second half the Terps put the game away with stifling defense. Greivis Vasquez poured in 17 of his team-high 22 in the second half, the fifth time in six games he has led the Terps in scoring. Vasquez also showed improved decision making in turning the ball over just two times while passing up poor shots. In fact the entire team showed a committment to avoiding turnovers with just 12 in the entire game, a marked departure from the first five games of the season.
Jerome Burney was the first big man off the bench in his return from an eye injury that cost him the previous two games this week. Burney played his most extensive minutes of the season alongside fellow freshman Dino Gregory in what was a thin frontcourt without Osby and the still-injured Dave Neal and Shane Walker not seeing action until garbage time.
Cliff Tucker and Adrian Bowie also played extensive minutes in leiu of Landon Milbourne, combining for 8 points. Bowie in particular played a large role in shutting down Lehigh on defense in the opening portion of the second half that proved to be the difference in the game.
The team's next game will be at the Comcast Center this Wednesday against Illinois in the ACC-Big Ten challenge. That game, along with next Sunday's game against Virginia Commonwealth in the BB&T classic, may represent the Terps' last chance for a marquee out of conference win . For that reason the contest will take on added importance. Expect a breakdown of that game in the coming days. The team played perhaps their best overall game of the season, even allowing for the weaker competition, and showed some signs of busting out of the malaise of the past two weeks.
The game had an odd feel to it thanks in no small part to the sparse holiday crowd. Absent from the lineup was Boom Osby who sat out with an illness. In his place, freshman center Braxton Dupree got his first collegiate start. Dupree responded with a breakout performance, scoring 14 points (including a team high 10 in the first half) to go with 5 boards. Dupree established position on the inside and looked much more comfortable with the ball in his hands, following up missed shots and going strong to the goal in order to draw fouls. The young center made a strong case for increased minutes in the future. In the upcoming nonconference games against the likes of Morgan State, Savannah State and Delaware, among others, Dupree should be receiving extensive minutes to gain experience that will benefit him in ACC play.
Maryland was up by only seven at halftime against the Mountain Hawks due largely to poor perimeter defense, but in the second half the Terps put the game away with stifling defense. Greivis Vasquez poured in 17 of his team-high 22 in the second half, the fifth time in six games he has led the Terps in scoring. Vasquez also showed improved decision making in turning the ball over just two times while passing up poor shots. In fact the entire team showed a committment to avoiding turnovers with just 12 in the entire game, a marked departure from the first five games of the season.
Jerome Burney was the first big man off the bench in his return from an eye injury that cost him the previous two games this week. Burney played his most extensive minutes of the season alongside fellow freshman Dino Gregory in what was a thin frontcourt without Osby and the still-injured Dave Neal and Shane Walker not seeing action until garbage time.
Cliff Tucker and Adrian Bowie also played extensive minutes in leiu of Landon Milbourne, combining for 8 points. Bowie in particular played a large role in shutting down Lehigh on defense in the opening portion of the second half that proved to be the difference in the game.
The team's next game will be at the Comcast Center this Wednesday against Illinois in the ACC-Big Ten challenge. That game, along with next Sunday's game against Virginia Commonwealth in the BB&T classic, may represent the Terps' last chance for a marquee out of conference win . For that reason the contest will take on added importance. Expect a breakdown of that game in the coming days. The team played perhaps their best overall game of the season, even allowing for the weaker competition, and showed some signs of busting out of the malaise of the past two weeks.
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