Eight Point Halftime Leads Are Never Safe on CAAHoops Pillow Fight Friday (Recap of CAA Tournament Friday Games).

Friday night was my first time at North Charleston Coliseum.   Despite having lived in Columbia, South Carolina for four and half years, I never had an opportunity to see an event at that venue until the chance came to see my tenth CAA Tournament, which was being hosted at the North Charleston Coliseum this weekend.

I can tell you that parking was a breeze, perhaps partly due to three northern CAA teams playing in Charleston on a Friday night.   But I can also tell you, the North Charleston Coliseum is a much better venue than the Richmond Coliseum, home to the CAA Tournament for years.  It was nice not to have to wear two sweatshirts at my seat for a CAA Tournament game.

Going into last night's two CAA Tournament Play In Games, you had two teams, Hofstra and James Madison, who had swept their respective opponents, Delaware and Drexel.  Even though the seeds were relatively close, it stood to reason that the tournament games would play to regular season form.

But that's what makes college basketball conference tournament play so special; the unexpected.   There's a reason why it's called "March Madness".  And we got that last night in front of what was a sparse crowd of 1889 on what's known to CAAHoops fans as "Pillow Fight Friday".

In the first game, #8 Hofstra took on #9 Delaware.  The Pride had won both games against the Blue Hens, but both were close games; two points at the BOB (the Bob Carpenter Center) and eight points at David Mack Arena.  Neither game was particularly high scoring.  Hofstra won the first game 58-56 and won the second game 73-65.  We should have known we were in for a different style game.

The Pride wasted no time taking an early 6-0 lead thanks to good ball movement, a couple of nice outlet passes by Rokas Gustys and two drained threes by Deron Powers and Eli Pemberton.  The Blue Hens would answer with eight straight points, a three pointer by Ryan Daly, an old fashioned three point play by Darian Bryant off an assist from Daly and a layup by Daly.    Daly shredded Hofstra with seventeen first half points.

Both teams would have no problem scoring as Hofstra took a 26-25 lead at the under eight media timeout,   The kicker was Hofstra's leading scorer, Justin Wright-Foreman had been held scoreless for the first thirteen and half minutes of the game.  After the Blue Hens took a 27-26 lead, Wright-Foreman would awaken with a vengeance, as two of his threes started a 12-2 run and the Pride would take a 39-29 lead.    The score would eventually be 47-39 Hofstra at the half.

But in the second half, Delaware's offense turned it up a notch, or perhaps several.  They would shoot SIXTY FIVE percent in the second half, mostly due to working the ball inside the paint (the Blue Hens only attempted two three pointers in the second half, hitting both).  The Blue Hens quickly pecked away at the lead, tying the game at fifty four on a Daly three pointer.  Delaware would finally take the lead, 65-62 on a three point play by Eric Carter with eight and a half minutes left.

Hofstra would answer regain the lead twice, the latest on a Deron Powers jumper that put the Pride up 72-71 with 4:24 left.  But that man Daly, who had twenty seven points and eleven rebounds on the night, would give the Blue Hens back the lead on a jumper.  A Daly free throw on a later possession would give Delaware a 74-72 lead.   Gustys would be fouled while hitting a layup to tie the game at 74 with 2:38 left.  But Gustys would miss the potential go ahead foul shot and the game would remained tied.  From there, Delaware outscored Hofstra 7-2 the rest of the way.  Hofstra had a chance to tie on a three point attempt by Powers with nine seconds left, but it was short.  Delaware had pulled off the comeback, winning 81-76.  Delaware now plays #1 seed UNCW at noon today.

For Hofstra, it was a fitting end to a very disappointing season.  For the twentieth time this season, Hofstra gave up more than seventy five points.  Their record in those games - 5-15.   When they give up less than seventy five points, 10-2.  Simply put, you cannot win if you cannot play defense.

In the second game,  #7 James Madison took on #10 Drexel.  It was as if both teams decided that they had seen enough offense in the first game and they wanted to kick it #CAAHoops old school, with the Dragons playing Bruiser Flint Drexel and James Madison playing a Ron Hunter led Georgia State squad in a seemingly low scoring affair.

To say the first half was a grind it out, CAAHoops rock fight was an understatement.   Each team's first possession resulted in an offensive foul.   Then both teams couldn't complete a pass, let alone take a shot that couldn't hit the side of a barn.    At the under 16 media, it was 4-2 Drexel.  At the under 12 media, it was 9-2 Drexel.

James Madison finally scored some points and at the under eight media, it was 19-10 Drexel.   The Dukes made a run and cut the deficit to two points, 25-23 on a jumper by Joey McLean.  Then after an offensive foul on Ramone Snowden, JMU coach Louis Rowe lost it and received a double technical foul.  Rowe was ejected from the game and suspended for the team's next game (which, spoiler alert, will be later today).   Drexel's Kari Jonsson would hit all four technical free throws to give Drexel a 29-23 lead.  Eventually, the Dragons would go up eight, 33-25 at the half.

So here we had our second eight point halftime lead of the night.   And just like the first game, the lead would disappear quickly.   Perhaps Coach Rowe should get ejected more often, because JMU came out like a house on fire after halftime.   The Dukes would go on an incredible 32-7 run over the first nine minutes of the second half, moving the ball around quickly and burying shot after shot, as the Dukes got balanced scoring.   James Madison nearly shot as well as Delaware did over the last twenty minutes of their game, shooting sixty two percent from the field.

After scoring only two points in the first eight and half minutes of the game, the Dukes scored SEVENTY EIGHT points over the final thirty one and a half minutes to win the game 80-70.  Five JMU players scored in double figures, led by Jackson Kent's twenty points. With the win, JMU plays College of Charleston at 6;00 PM today.

Two eight point halftime leads went up in smoke thanks to strong second half shooting.   Proof that once again, no lead is safe in March.

Certainly not in the CAA.

CAA Tournament - Lovely To See You Again My Friend

When Hofstra moved to the Colonial Athletic Association starting in the 2001-02 season, the first CAAHoops tournament the Pride was in down in Richmond, I was sitting at home in Seaford, NY, listening to the games on WRHU radio.  Chelle and I were renting an apartment on the side of a house from my brother's long time friend Tom Graziose.

The 2001-02 Hofstra season was somewhat similar to the 2016-17 Hofstra season.  The Pride started out the season 4-2, including a win over an eventual Elite Eight team in Kent State.  Then the wheels came off the car, as Hofstra would lose sixteen of their next twenty one games, including their last seven regular season games in conference (Hofstra would start 9-5 this season before a rough stretch in CAA conference play).

Yet in the 2002 CAA Tournament, the #10 seed Hofstra remembered that it had some talent with Rick Apodaca, Danny Walker and others.   They pummeled the #7 seed Towson 72-52 in the first round play in game.  Then in a quarterfinal against Jerry Beach's all time favorite coach, Jim Larranaga, and #2 seed George Mason, the Pride pulled off a huge upset and knocked out a Patriots team that had won thirteen conference games, defeating them 82-76.  Hofstra would lose their semifinal game to VCU 70-54.

It would turn out to be only one of two times from 2002 to 2012 that I didn't attend the CAA Tournament in Richmond.  Starting in 2003, I would attend nine of the next ten CAA Tournaments. There are so many memories, including spending my last CAA Tournament on press row.  From the first tournament in 2003, seeing Woody Souffrant play the game of his life for Hofstra in a quarterfinal loss to eventual CAA champion UNCW, to the 2006 tournament where Hofstra proved it was the better team than George Mason in the CAA Semifinals, despite an underhanded punch to the groin by Tony Skinn, to the 2012 tournament and seeing George Mason nearly coming back from an early 32-4 deficit vs. VCU, the CAA Tournament always provided a signature moment with this college basketball fan.  You'll see pictures from several CAA Tournaments I have attended sprinkled throughout this blog post.

Then in the beginning of August 2012, I accepted a position with the University of South Carolina School of Law.  I would move down to Columbia, South Carolina in the middle of August and the rest of my family would join me six months later after we sold our house in North Bellmore, New York.    In February 2013, I would get involved in Little League down here, head coaching one team and assistant coaching another team, before eventually joining the Trenholm Little League Board.   As a result, I would not attend the last four CAA tournaments in Richmond and Baltimore respectively.

Then a funny thing happened.   Realizing that Baltimore was not drawing respectable size crowds (the 2016 championship game drew only 3000 fans), despite being a midway point between the farthest northern point in the conference - Boston - Northeastern, and the farthest southern point in the conference - Charleston - College of Charleston, CAA officials decided to go to where the crowds in #CAAHoops are (UNCW and CofC are the #1 and #2 teams in home attendance) and agreed to play in North Charleston Coliseum for the next few seasons.

So yes, despite North Charleston Coliseum being a "neutral site", College of Charleston will have a hometown advantage.  But at least it's a fifteen minute drive or bus ride from George Street to the North Charleston Coliseum, unlike the seven minute walk from VCU to the Richmond Coliseum, another #CAAHoops "neutral site".

So what will the CAA Tournament be like this year.  UNCW is the favorite, having finished first in the regular season with a 15-3 record, just like they did in the 2002-03 season.  College of Charleston is the #2 seed, having finished with a 14-4 record.   Both teams should bring a good number of fans and you figure the North Charleston Coliseum, which seats a little over 13,000, should be at least half full, which is a lot better than the 3000 attendance figure for the 2016 CAA Championship game between UNCW and Hofstra in Baltimore.

As I look at the matchups, the play in games favor the higher seeds.  #7 James Madison swept #10 Drexel during the regular season, as did #8 Hofstra against #9 Delaware.    If both of those games go to form, which they should, JMU will play #2 CofC and Hofstra will play UNCW in the second round.  CofC swept JMU, though the game at Harrisonburg was decided by only two points.  Meanwhile, the Seahawks swept the Pride, but both were close games throughout, with UNCW winning both by single digits.

I think the best chance for an upset is in the quarterfinals where #3 Towson split the regular season series with #6 Northeastern and John Davis, who will be missing the CAA tournament due to a truly sad incident while visiting his family in Philadelphia, played in both those games.   The most entertaining matchup will be #5 Elon vs. #4 William and Mary, as both teams can put up points (William and Mary is second in CAA in scoring offense at 81.7 points per game, while Elon is fourth at 75.4 points per game).

Honestly, I think UNCW has a very hard road to repeating as champion.   They will likely get Hofstra in the quarterfinal round, which is a rematch of the 2016 CAA Tournament Championship, won by UNCW in overtime.  UNCW won both games this season, but both were close games as UNCW won each game by single digits,  In their 84-76 home win, UNCW was only up by three, 75-72 with less than a minute left before C.J. Bryce hit a three pointer to put the game away.   In UNCW's road win over Hofstra, the Seahawks were only up one point, 77-76 with forty two seconds left before scoring the final six points in an 83-76 win.

Hofstra matches up very well for one main reason.  The Pride are third in the CAA in turnovers per game, only behind UNCW and Charleston, only averaging 10.8 turnovers per game.   Given Hofstra is second in the CAA in scoring, scoring 77.3 points per game, again only behind UNCW, the two games with UNCW have been predictably high scoring.

So here are my predictions.  In the Pillow Fight play in games on Friday, JMU takes down Drexel, Hofstra defeats Delaware.   In the Quarterfinals on Saturday, the afternoon session will see two exciting high scoring games.  UNCW barely holds off Hofstra, though I would not be surprised if Hofstra won that game.  In the other afternoon session quarterfinal, Elon squeaks by William and Mary.   In the evening session quarterfinals, College of Charleston handles James Madison, while Northeastern pulls off the upset against Towson.

In the semifinals, UNCW downs Elon in another high scoring game while College of Charleston ends Northeastern's run in the other semifinal.  In the final, I like College of Charleston, because a) they play excellent defense and b) the Cougars do not turn the ball over, which is what UNCW predicates their play on to win games, which they have done so well this season.  But the Cougars keep the mistakes at a minimum and CofC wins in a relatively low scoring affair in the high sixties, low seventies.

No matter what happens, it should be a lot of fun. It will be my tenth CAA Tournament.  My color analyst, aka my older son Matthew, my good friend Tieff and I will be in Section 113, Row A, seats 1-3.  Come visit us starting tomorrow night at 6:00 PM as Hofstra takes on Delaware.

March Madness.  Nothing like it and nothing like being back at the CAA Tournament.

CAAHoops - Lovely to see you again, my friend.

The CAA - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The events of yesterday beckoned the title of my article.  And I needed to add the above clip to feel better. You had good news for the CAA, bad news (the recent play of CAA teams in general) and you all by now know what The Ugly is as far as the CAA.

The Good

The College of Charleston Board of Trustees vote unanimously yesterday to join the CAA.  The Cougars are a nice get for the Colonial, having had a solid basketball program for years under John Kresse and Bobby Cremins.  Doug Wojcik, a proven winner at Tulsa, is a very solid addition to a good group of CAA coaches   His team is fresh off a big upset win at Baylor and looks to contend with Davidson for a NCAA berth in their last year in the Southern Conference.

Not only that, but already Charleston will be hosting the CAA baseball championships in 2015 and 2016.  It's also a wonderful city having been there just recently for CofC's win over Towson.  Schools will enjoy visiting Charleston and there is even talk of having the CAA Men's Basketball Tournament in the the TD Arena in the near future.

The Bad

With a fifth of the season gone by, CAA men's basketball could be described as best as mediocre, somewhat chaotic and a little disappointing (which might be kind).  The supposed top two teams in the Colonial coming into the season, Drexel and Delaware,  are a combined 4-9.  Only two of the eleven teams in the conference are currently above .500.  Four teams are at .500 and the rest of the conference is below .500.

Let's look at a few teams that are struggling.  I have already briefly talked about Drexel in my new weekly "Four on the Floor" segment on Thursday.

In their last season in the conference, Old Dominion is 1-5.  ODU hasn't had a losing record since the 2002-03 season.  They are still a great rebounding team as they are 33rd in the country averaging
41.3 rebounds per game and 11th in the country in offensive rebound percentage at 42.8 percent.

The Monarchs problem is they can't shoot.  They are 328th in the country in three point field goal percentage at 24.5 percent and 280th in the country in effective field goal percentage at 44 percent.  ODU is also struggling with turnovers, as they are 250th in the country in turnover percentage at 22.8 percent.

Delaware looked to be on the cusp of being a very good team entering the season.  They enhanced their stature by making into the Preseason NIT Tipoff semifinals after upsetting Virginia on their home court.  Then they gave Kansas State all they could handle in the Tipoff semis before losing 66-63.  But they have unraveled since then losing to Pitt by twenty six points, then losing a close game at Temple.  Finally, the Blue Hens lost at Lafayette, a team that had lost five straight and just had won one game on the season entering the contest.

For the Blue Hens, it comes down to a lack of defense.  Delaware's opponents outshoot them from the field 48.4% to 47.9%.  Also, the Blue Hens have a problem forcing teams to turn the ball over.  Delaware is ranked #300 in defensive turnover percentage at 17.4 percent.  And unfortunately for the Blue Hens, they turn the ball over too much, 295th in the country in offensive steal percentage at 12.7 percent.   Devon Saddler is averaging more turnovers per game, 3.7, than assists, 3.0

Finally there is James Madison, the perennial CAA Enigma.  They are 1-5 on the season, with that one win being a one point win over Youngstown State.  This team has a lot of talent, but never seems to put it together.

This season, the Dukes are struggling on the defensive end.  They are 320th in the country in rebounding average.  But that's not even their worst defensive statistic.  They are 339th in effective field goal percentage, at 57.1 percent.  They are 335th in three point field goal percentage defense at 41.7 percent and 310th in two point field goal percentage defense at 54.1 percent.  They give up nearly seventy six points per game.

The Ugly

Unless you have been under a rock or you're not a die hard college basketball nut, you should know by now of what happened at Hofstra yesterday.  Four members of the men's basketball team; Jimmy Hall, Shaquille Stokes, Dallas Anglin and Kentrell Washington were arrested on multiple counts of burglary.  Newsday reports that court papers show that they admitted stealing over $10,000 in laptop computers. The four players have been immediately suspended from the team, classes, residence halls and facilities.  All four players have also been removed from the team roster.   Three of the four are still in jail as of last night.  Anglin was released on $2,000 bail.

Hall said in a court paper "I did something real stupid".

You think?

Simply put, these students not only robbed students of their possessions, they robbed those students of their trust,  robbed the trust of their teammates, robbed their teammates of an improving season, robbed their coaches of their trust in giving scholarships to and robbed their fans of chance to see a young and upcoming team. They put a major black eye on a program that only two years ago was improving thanks in large part to Charles Jenkins, a man of utmost character, who I am sure is quite saddened about all of this.

But most importantly, they robbed themselves.  They robbed themselves of an athletic scholarship, robbed of a chance to better themselves, robbed themselves a chance of getting a degree for basically free and perhaps playing professional basketball overseas.  All that for several laptops.

Instead, three of the four sit in a Nassau County jail in East Meadow wondering what is in store next.  It's certainly not coming back to Hofstra. They are done there.   They may not get a second chance anywhere.

Ultimately, they robbed themselves of a future. They only have themselves to blame. That is truly ugly.

Giant Bazemore (Recap of Delaware - ODU CAA Quarterfinal)

In November 2010, I wrote an article for my web site on Old Dominion called "The Ground and Pound of College Basketball".  In that article, I talked about how Coach Blaine Taylor has a "philosophy of inside play, suffocating defense and depth that grinds opponents down".  The Monarchs are a team that usually has a nine-ten man rotation that wears opponents down over the span of forty minutes.  The games are generally low scoring, as Old Dominion has been one of the better scoring defensive teams in the CAA the past several seasons.

So when fourth seeded ODU took on fifth seeded Delaware in the second game of the afternoon quarterfinal session, most people expected a repeat of the first quarterfinal game between UNCW and Drexel, won by the Dragons 59-47.  Everyone that covers CAA basketball (otherwise known as #CAAHoops on Twitter) figured on a low scoring, physical affair.  What we all got was completely different.

In one of the funnier moments of the tournament, the Delaware pep band was playing Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" when the Blue Hens came out onto the court.  After a few seconds, the band changed to the Delaware fight song.  But the Immigrant Song sounded more ominous, so they should have stuck with it.

Unfortunately, there was no one in the Delaware student section to see it, outside of the Delaware cheerleaders, dance team and mascot.  It was incredibly disappointing to see, considering the Blue Hens had went 12-6 in conference during the season.  Since the entire starting five is back next season and as Defiantly Dutch notes "the band does killer versions of Foo Fighters' songs", one can hope that there will be a lot better student section attendance at next year's CAA Tournament.

The Old Dominion student section fans made up for the Delaware Student section fans.  First, they started a huge ODU chant three minutes before tip off.  But the creme de la creme was a giant Kent Bazemore cardboard cutout that spanned half the student section.  "Giant Bazemore" feature Kent with his two long arms and in each hand, he was palming a basketball.  It was really cool to see in person.

The first twelve minutes would be very entertaining. The Monarchs quickly went out to a 5-0 lead. But just as quickly, their starting forward Chris Cooper picked up two fouls as well. The Blue Hens responded with an 8-2 spurt to take an 8-7 lead.  Nick Wright hit a three point play to put the Monarchs back up 10-8.  Delaware's  Jamelle Hagins tied the score at ten. But ODU regained the lead 12-10 on a Donte Hill layup. The Monarchs would hold the lead, up 29-24 with just eight minutes left in the half.

Amazingly, the last eight minutes of the half would be even more exciting than the first twelve minutes.  The Blue Hens scored the next six points, including a three by Kyle Anderson, to take a 30-29 lead.  But after Chris Cooper hit one of two free throws, "Regular Size Bazemore" nailed a three pointer to put the Monarchs back up 33-30.

This would become a common theme as Delaware would tie, take the lead, only to see ODU tie and take the lead.  There were seven ties and ten lead changes in the first half.  The Monarchs would finally score eight of the last ten poinfs of the half as "Regular Size Bazemore" buried a three pointer from long beyond NBA range, then hit an old fashioned three pointer to put ODU up 47-42 at the half.

It was the most exciting first half of the tournament.  Three Monarchs were already in double figures in scoring at the half. Bazemore scored fifteen first half points.  Devon Saddler led Delaware with eleven points.  ODU was six of ten from beyond the arc while Delaware was four of eleven.  The other stats were pretty similar.   The question was, could both teams keep up this frenetic pace for another twenty minutes.

It turned out one of the two teams could.  The Monarchs picked up right where they left off as they hit five of their first six shots. Bazemore buried another three pointer in the 13-4 run that put ODU up 60-46 with fourteen minutes left in the game. All that Delaware could do during that time was for the Blue Hen mascot to put a box on his head.  They didn't have anything to compare with "Giant Bazemore" or "Regular Size Bazemore" for that matter.  The best they could do was the pep band playing the "Sanford and Son" theme song, which was quite good.

Much to their credit, the Blue Hens didn't give up.  They shot forty seven percent from the field in the second half.  Saddler scored another twelve points on five of seven shooting.  But he also committed five second half turnovers.  That helped to lead to ten points off turnovers for the Monarchs.

Despite their pep band trying to rally the team to the theme song of the "Underdog" TV show, the problem for Delaware was that as well as they shot the ball, ODU was even shooting the ball better in the second half. The Monarchs shot forty eight percent in the second half.  Cooper had twelve second half points while "Regular Size Bazemore" had nine points.   Old Dominion would go onto win the game 88-74.

The eighty eight points was their highest output since they scored nine eight points vs. Longwood in November of 2009. "Regular Size Bazemore" nearly had a double double with twenty four points and nine rebounds.  He also added four assists.  Bazemore was one of five Monarchs in double figures in scoring.

After the game, ODU coach Blaine Taylor was asked if he was concerned that his team could play at that pace.  He responded that he "actually wanted to play faster", which stunned the media in the conference room.  Most of us were used to seeing the "Ground and Pound" Monarchs.

Perhaps it was "Giant Bazemore" that inspired Taylor to have his team play that way.  It certainly worked for "Regular Size Bazemore".  He certainly played like a giant in this game.

Effort and Heart Are Not Enough for Towson (Recap of Towson vs. Delaware CAA First Round Game)

In the second game of the afternoon session of the CAA Tournament,  Delaware took on Towson.  The game seemed like a foregone conclusion as the Tigers had one win all season.  But they had played the Blue Hens close in both of their games.

When Defiantly Dutch and I came back from the UNCW - James Madison post game conference, Delaware was only up 7-5.  Six minutes later it was 18-9.  Four minutes later it was 30-13. As expected, the Blue Hens were pulling away from the Tigers.

In the scariest moment of the day, during the first half, there was a battle for a rebound and a Towson player fell with all his weight on Delaware's Hakim McCullar, who was slammed to the floor with a loud sickening noise.  The Richmond Coliseum crowd went completely silent for several minutes as McCullar lied motionless for a few minutes. Then he sat up for a few minutes, then the Delaware staff helped him walk off the court.  He ended up having concussion like symptoms, but thankfully was okay otherwise.

Towson was able to cut the deficit to eleven at the half.  That's because they played with a lot of effort.  They just couldnt put the ball in the basket in the first half as they shot seven of thirty three from the field.

No one exemplified the above statement than Tigers senior forward Robert Nwankwo.  For forty minutes, he got offensive rebound after offensive rebound.  But either he missed the followup shot or he was fouled. Nwankwo was eight of twenty two from the field on the day. However, he was eleven of fifteen from the line.

Towson continued to chip away in the second half as they started finally hitting their shots.  With about seven and a half minutes remaining, the unthinkable occurred.  The Tigers' Deon Jones hit a jumper and Towson had come all the way back to tie the score at fifty three.  Delaware's Devon Saddler responded by burying a three pointer.  The Tigers had a chance to tie a few minutes later. But Nwanko missed a jumper and that was their last opportunity to tie the game.

Delaware was too strong from the foul line as they hit twenty seven of thirty eight free throw attempts.  In the end, Delaware had a 72-65 win.  Saddler led all scorers with 28 points and was four of nine from beyond the arc.  Jarvis Threatt, who reminds me so much of Loren Stokes, who used to play for Hofstra, added fifteen points, nine of which came from the line.  Josh Brinkley added fourteen points.

The Tigers dominated the glass, outrebounding the Blue Hens 51-33.  Towson had twenty four offensive rebounds, twelve came from Nwankwo.   Nwankwo's final stat line was twenty seven points and twenty rebounds.   It was the first twenty twenty stat line in the history of the CAA Tournament and the twenty rebounds tied the CAA Tournament record which is also held by Larry Sanders in the 2009 CAA Championship game.

For the second year in a row, the Tigers played a very close #5-#12 game, but again came up short.  But as Coach Monte Ross said about Towson, "You wouldn't know their record by the way they play."  Nwanko, a senior, talked about how the young players needed to have listened to Coach Ross sooner in the season about the effort necessary to win.  If you were at the press conference, one could see that he really cared about his team's play and the development of the younger players.
 
You wished Nwankwo could play another season so that he could be a part of the development of Towson. However, he will have to watch them from afar next season, even if it seems like his heart will always be with them.

Love and Basketball (Recap of Delaware vs. Hofstra)

When you think of Valentine's Day, you don't think about spending it at a basketball game.  But when your six year old son would be despondent if he couldn't go to a Hofstra game, you adjust your plans accordingly.  Thus for the first time since the 2001-02 season, my wife, Michelle went to a Hofstra game along with my younger son, Jonathan, my older son, Matthew and me.  To mark the occasion, my wife got me a box of candy shaped in a basketball heart.

Unfortunately for Hofstra, not too many other couples and their families attended last night's game.  When we got there a few minutes before game time, the Lions' Den student section was empty.  Heck, most of the Mack Center was empty.  The announced attendance was 1,785.  Perhaps that included paid season ticket holders who had made other Valentine's Day dinner plans, but I would subtract anywhere from 785 to 1,000 from that number.  The crowd was so small you could hear Hofstra Coach Mo Cassara clear as day.

The lack of energy in the Mack Center appeared to affect the home team.  The Pride struggled to score from the onset while Delaware was scoring easy baskets on the inside.  The Blue Hens raced out to a 17-4 lead in the first seven minutes of the game and it looked like they would finally break their ten game losing streak at the Mack Center.

Delaware last won a game vs. Hofstra in the Mack Center during conference play in the 2000-01 season, the final season for both teams in the America East.  The then Flying Dutchmen would later defeat the Blue Hens in the America East championship at the Mack to start the ten game home winning streak.  It was also the last time Hofstra made the NCAA Tournament.

The Pride responded by outscoring the Blue Hens 24-11 over the next nearly eight minutes on a layup by Mike Moore.  Hofstra had a chance to take the lead, but Nathaniel Lester missed an open jumper. Delaware would then score the next seven points to go up 35-28.  It seemed like Hofstra' season in a nutshell, rally, tie, but they just couldn't get over the hump. The Pride did close the gap to four, 36-32 at the half.

There were so few people in attendance that the Hofstra mascots, Kate and Willy were going into the crowd and saying hi to whatever kids were there.  In fact, Kate had come by before the game and made friends with Jonathan, who found the female lion mascot quite amusing.  Kate came right back to see Jonathan before the second half and played peek a boo with him.  In return, Jonathan showed Kate his monster trucks.

The second half started just like the first half did as Delaware extended their lead to nine, 43-34.  The Blue Hens maintained their lead 49-40 with eleven minutes left.  As has been the case, the Pride was struggling to score.  Hofstra hit on only three of their first thirteen shots in the second half..

But Matt Grogan, a walk on who is starting to see more time because he can hit an open three pointer, buried a three to start a Pride 10-0 run over the next three minutes.  Mike Moore's rainbow three pointer gave Hofstra their first lead of the game 50-49 with eight minutes left.  The fans that were there stood and applauded as the Blue Hens called timeout.  As DefiantlyDutch noted on a tweet, it was the Pride's first lead in a game since six minutes left in the George Mason game last Wednesday.  Last Saturday, Drexel led from start to finish in their win over Hofstra.

However, the lead was short lived.  Jamelle Hagins grabbed one his eighteen rebounds off a Khalid Lewis miss and dunked it home.  It would be the beginning of a stunning 22-4 Delaware run over the next seven minutes of the game.  During that time, Hofstra would miss ten straight shots from the field and the fifth leading free throw shooter in the CAA, Moore, would miss three free throws during that span.

Lester hit an anti-climatic three point play to score the final points of the game, but most of the fans had picked up and left earlier, perhaps for late dinner plans. The Blue Hens had a convincing 71-57 win to end the ten game losing streak at the Mack Center.

Delaware's Jarvis Threatt led all scorers with twenty points, thirteen of which came from the free throw line.  Hagins had a double double with fourteen points, eighteen rebounds and added four blocks. Lewis and Kyle Anderson each added twelve points.  For Hofstra,  Moore had sixteen points and Lester added eleven.  The problem was the two combined to shoot an ugly seven of twenty nine from the field.  Steve Mejia added ten points for the Pride.

As Chelle and I said our goodbyes to Defiantlydutch and his much better half Michelle, both of whom sat with us in the second half, we made our way out of the Mack Center  A year ago, I was hanging out by the court celebrating Charles Jenkins' two buzzer beaters on my birthday in a win over William and Mary.  Now I was standing in a empty lot saying goodbye to my friend Tieff after Hofstra's fourteenth loss of the season.  They now have as many losses in conference this season as they had wins in conference last season.

Still, it was good to have the ones I loved with me for the game.  It's not how you spend your Valentine's Day that matters.  It's who you spend it with that matters.

The Colossal Colonial Ratings (CCR) for the Week of February 6th

With three weeks and five games left in the CAA regular season, there is now a clear line of delineation between the top four teams in the Colonial and the rest of the teams that will likely be battling out on Pillow Fight Friday, as @VCUPav puts it.  Two games separate fourth place Old Dominion from fifth place Georgia State.  So with that in mind, lets go "Down on the Corner" to get this CCR started.

1. Drexel (19-5, 11-2 CAA) - There is a three way tie in the CAA standings but the Dragons have the tiebreaker having beat VCU and George Mason (they also don't play either team again this season).  Drexel's also seems to have the easiest remaining schedule; at James Madison, home to Hofstra and William and Mary, BracketBuster game at Cleveland State, home to James Madison and at ODU.
   
   The Dragons, the hottest team in the CAA with eleven straight wins, are there usual defensive selves; first in scoring defense, third in field goal percentage defense, first in three point field goal percentage defense with a scary 25.9% three pointers allowed and of course, first in rebounding margin.  But what has made Drexel so effective this season is their offense is so much better than last season.  They are second in field goal percentage, first in three point field goal  percentage, third in assist to turnover ratio and still first in free throw percentage at 73.7 percent.  
2. VCU (20-5, 11-2 CAA) - The Rams are the second hottest team in the CAA, winners of nine straight and are tied with the Dragons and the Patriots for first place.  However, their remaining schedule is the toughest of the three teams; home to Towson, then at ODU and George Mason, home BracketBuster game vs. Northern Iowa, at UNCW, then home to George Mason to finish the season.
   
   The Rams commitment to forcing teams to turn the ball over has been what's most impressive to me.  In the two games I saw them play vs. Hofstra and Delaware they won the turnover battle in both games by a combined +12 margin (31-19).  Not surprisingly, the Rams are first in the CAA in turnover margin at +5.44 per game.  They are also first in assist to turnover ratio.
3. George Mason (19-6, 11-2 CAA) - The Patriots fell into a tie for first place after losing at Delaware, but they bounced back at home to knock ODU out of a four way tie for first.  Their schedule is not the easiest as well; home to Hofstra, at UNCW, home to VCU, home BracketBuster game vs. Lamar, then at Northeastern and at VCU to finish the regular season.
   
   George Mason has been equally as balanced as Drexel.  They are first in field goal percentage at 45.4% per game while second in field goal percentage defense at 38.6 percent.   But to me, here is the most impressive stat.  They lead the CAA in scoring at 70.7 points per game despite being tenth in three point field goals made per game with 4.6 per game. The Patriots are averaging over fifty percent on their two point field goals.
4. Old Dominion (15-10, 10-3 CAA) -  Despite the road loss to the Patriots, the Monarchs have won eight of their last ten games.  The rest of their schedule is not exactly easy; away at William and Mary, home vs. VCU, home to UNCW, road BracketBuster game vs. Missouri State, road game at Georgia State, home to Drexel.  The game against the Panthers  may very well have a #4 seed on the line.
   
   The Monarchs are second in the CAA assists and third in steals. So it's not surprising they they are third in turnover margin in the Colonial.  Those categories make up for the fact they are tenth in field goal percentage and allow them to be fifth in scoring margin in the CAA.
5. Georgia State (16-8, 8-5 CAA) - If there is any team that has a shot of breaking into the top four of the CAA, it would be the Panthers. Their remaining schedule favors them; home to Northeastern and Delaware; away at James Madison, home BracketBuster game vs Texas San Antonio, home vs. ODU and away at William and Mary.  As previously noted, that home game against the Monarchs may be huge.
   
   The Panthers were impressive in their win this past Saturday vs. Hofstra.  Georgia State, behind Eric Buckner's league leading 3.3 blocks per game, leads the CAA in blocks per game.  The Panthers also lead the CAA in field goal percentage defense, second in steals, second in turnover margin and assist to turnover ratio.  
6. Northeastern (11-12, 7-6 CAA) -  The Huskies were right in the thick of things until losing their last two games against two of the top tier teams, Drexel and VCU.  Their schedule makes it unlikely for them to finish any better than fifth; road games at Georgia State and William and Mary, home to Towson, then BracketBuster home game vs. Stony Brook, home to George Mason, then at Delaware.
   
   What also doesn't bode well for the Huskies is that statistically they are in the lower half of the CAA in most categories.  They are fifth in the CAA in field goal percentage, third in three point field goal percentage, yet the Huskies are tenth in scoring offense at 61.3 points per game.  Perhaps it's because Northeastern averages the second most turnovers in the CAA next to Towson (15.5 per game). 
7. Delaware (11-12, 7-6 CAA) - The Blue Hens have righted themselves, winning their last two games including a home win over then first place George Mason.  Delaware's schedule also favors them for a late season run; home to UNCW, then road games at George Mason and Hofstra; BracketBuster home game vs. Hampton, then a road game at Towson and home game vs. Northeastern.
   
   The Blue Hens are statistically strong in several CAA categories; third in scoring offense, fourth in free throw percentage, fourth in field goal percentage defense, third in blocked shots.  Unfortunately, they struggle in assists and creating turnovers.  They are dead last in assists and steals, tenth in turnover margin and eleventh in assist to turnover ratio. 
8. UNCW (9-14, 5-8 CAA) - The Seahawks ended a four game losing streak by defeating William and Mary at home.  Hopefully the win will give them confidence with a tough remaining schedule; road game at Delaware, home game vs. George Mason, road game at Old Dominion, then BracketBuster road game at Manhattan, home game vs. VCU and road game at Hofstra.
   
   UNCW is fourth in the CAA in field goal percentage at 42.5%, fifth in three point field goal percentage at 33.3% and third in three point field goal percentage defense. The problem is they are only eighth in field goal percentage defense as they allow teams to score fifty percent of their two point field goal attempts.  
9. James Madison (10-15, 3-10 CAA) - The Dukes have lost six of their last seven games. However, there may be two wins on the horizon since they play the Tigers twice. Their remaining schedule is home to Drexel, at Towson, home to Georgia State, BracketBuster road game at Detroit, road game at Drexel, then home to Towson.
   
   It's the same old problem for James Madison; lack of defense. The Dukes are fourth in the CAA in scoring offense, first in assists and fourth in assists to turnover ratio and turnover margin.  Yet JMU is  eleventh in scoring defense, tenth in field goal percentage defense, eleventh in three point field goal percentage defense, eleventh in rebounding margin and eleventh in block shots.
10. Hofstra (8-17, 2-11 CAA) - The Pride couldn't keep the momentum after defeating Towson as they lost at home to Georgia State.  The first two games on their remaining schedule are the hardest; road games at George Mason and Drexel, home to Delaware, home BracketBuster game vs. Siena, at William and Mary, home to UNCW.
    
    The best indicator of how many close games Hofstra has lost is scoring margin, as the Pride are -1.1.  Hofstra is third in free throw percentage, fourth in steals, fifth in turnover margin and fifth in offensive rebounds.  Where they are struggling is next to last in three point field goals made at 4.3 per game, field goal percentage, ninth at 40.9 percent and ninth in field goal percentage defense at 43.9 percent.
11. William and Mary (4-21, 2-11 CAA) - The Tribe have lost eight games in a row.  However, they have a chance to improve their record as they have four of their five remaining conference games at home; home games vs. ODU and Northeastern, road game vs. Drexel, road BracketBuster game vs. VMI, home games vs. Hofstra and Georgia State.
    
    Statistically, it's been a very bad year for the Tribe.  They are ranked in the 300's in the nation in several categories, 321st in points per game - 59.6, 322nd in rebounds per game 30.4, 329th in assists per game - 10.0 and 312th in field goal percentage at 40 percent.  However, they can shoot their free throws as they are 2nd in the CAA at 72 percent and they are third in the CAA in three pointers per game at 6.7.
12. Towson (1-24, 1-12 CAA) - The Tigers ended their NCAA record winless streak when they defeated UNCW at home.   It will be tough for them to get another win since four of their remaining six games are on the road; at VCU, home to James Madison, at Northeastern, at New Hampshire, home to Delaware and at James Madison.
    
    As bad as it has been statistically for William and Mary, it's been worse for Towson; dead last in the NCAA in points per game, 49.8, next to last in assists per game at 8.0, second to last in field goal percentage at 36.8 percent.  They also average about 19 turnovers per game.  The bright side is they can rebound their misses.  They are second in the CAA in offensive rebound percentage and 28th in the country in that category.

The Colossal Colonial Ratings (CCR) for the Week of January 16

Another week has gone by in the CAA and the standings are getting a little clearer.  There are now three teams with a 5-1 record; Georgia State, George Mason and Old Dominion.  Another three teams have a 4-2 record; VCU, Drexel and Northeastern.  There is the middle of the road; UNCW and Delaware both 3-3.  Finally, the bottom tier is becoming pretty apparent; William and Mary is 2-4, James Madison is 1-5, Hofstra and Towson are both 0-6.

The next eleven days are critical as Dave Fairbank points out in which CAA teams are about "to dive into the competitive equivalent of running around to multiple holiday meals at various in-laws, step-families and blood relatives who may or may not be playing with a full deck."  Most Coloinal teams will play five games in eleven days.  The only exceptions are William and Mary and VCU who will play five games in ten days, which includes their game on ESPNU Thursday night at the Siegel Center (Tribe=Sacrificial Lambs).

With all this in mind, "I'm Lookin Out My Backdoor" at the latest Colossal Colonial Ratings, aka the CCR.

1. Georgia State (13-4. 5-1 CAA) - Yes, we perfectly know that if the season ended today,  George Mason would finish first since they have beaten both Georgia State and Old Dominion.  However, the season doesn't end today, so we give the number one ranking to the Panthers.  They are the team that's first in the CAA in both field goal percentage defense and assists to turnover ratio, two categories statistically proven to be the mark of championship teams in the CAA.
   
   Plus, we have to give props to a coach, Ron Hunter, who, despite having his team hold the opposition (Towson) to forty two points, was so unhappy with his team's effort he tweeted "I love my basketball team, but tomorrow, practice will be epic. Bring your lunch pail."  I can't wait to see Georgia State in person when they play Hofstra on February 4th at the Mack Center.
2. George Mason (13-4, 5-1 CAA) - The Patriots finally suffered their first loss in conference at Drexel last week.  Based on their schedule, they may not lose another game until their last two games of the regular season; road games at Northeastern and VCU and they don't play Georgia State again.  The Patriots are first in the CAA in field goal percentage offense and second in field goal percentage defense.  They also lead the CAA in blocks per game (having Erik Copes and Mike Morrison helps) and assists per game.
   
   Interesting statistic;  George Mason is only one of four teams in the CAA with not a single player in the top ten in minutes played (the others are Old Dominion, UNCW and William and Mary).  Yet while averaging only 30.6 minutes per game, Ryan Pearson is third in the CAA in scoring at 17.4 points per game.  Both Mike Moore, 20.4 points per game and Devon Saddler, 18.6 points per game average 35.5 minutes per game, basically five minutes more per game than Pearson.
3. VCU (13-5, 4-2 CAA) -  I got to see the Rams live again at Newark this past Saturday and once again, I left very impressed.   The Rams are third in the CAA in scoring defense, allowing only 59.7 points per game.  Of course, "Havoc" plays a large part in their play, as they are first in steals in 9.6 per game.  Finally, in Shaka Smart's favorite category, turnover margin, VCU is again first in the CAA with + 5.67.
   
   Briante Weber makes the most of his minutes played.  Weber averages twenty minutes per game, yet leads the CAA in steals at 2.5 steals per game.  The other top fourteen players in the steals category rounded off average thirty or minutes with the exceptions of Quincy Ford (twenty six minutes) and Josh Micheaux (nearly twenty nine minutes).
4. Drexel (12-5, 4-2 CAA) -  The Dragons have rebounded nicely winning three games in a row against good competition; VCU, George Mason and UNCW.   Damion Lee, Frantz Massenat, Chris Fouch and Samme Givens usually get the most attention, but Derrick Thomas has played well of late.  In his last three games, Thomas has averaged twelve points a game and has shot thirteen of twenty five from the field and seven of nine from the free throw line.
   
   Perhaps this is "The Year of the Dragon" because Drexel is first in the CAA in free throw shooting percentage at 73.1 percent.  Yes, the team that's since it has been in the CAA has never finished shooting from the line higher than 68.3 percent (2006-07 season) is shooting 73.1 percent on the season.
5. Old Dominion (10-8, 5-1 CAA) - The Monarchs have played only two teams above .500 in conference so far and they have split those games; won at Northeastern and lost at George Mason.  Still ODU is winning with its trademark defense as the Monarchs are fourth in the CAA in scoring defense at 62.9 points per game, third in steals at nine per game and second in rebounding margin.
   
   Trian Iliadis has stepped up his game for the Monarchs.  Once considered mainly a three point shooter, Iliadis has added to his game. He averages 3.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and is one of the leaders in the CAA in steals at 1.7 steals per game. Strangely, he is only shooting twenty five percent from beyond the arc this season.
6. Northeastern (8-8, 4-2 CAA) - The Huskies had a nice week, winning both their games over Hofstra and William and Mary.   The most impressive stat is the team averaging the second most turnovers in the CAA at nearly sixteen per game had only one turnover in the last fifteen minutes versus the Pride.   They also create turnovers as they are fourth in the CAA in steals, averaging eight per game.
   
   Jonathan Lee has been huge the past four games for the Huskies.  Lee is averaging nearly eighteen points per game and has shot twenty five for forty three from the field (fifty eight percent).  Lee is also averaging nearly five rebounds per game.  Lee is only six foot two inches tall.
7. UNCW ( 7-9, 3-3 CAA) - The Seahawks faced stiff competition the past week which saw both opponents score in the mid to high seventies and the Seahawks lost both games handily.  UNC Wilimington defends the three pointer well as the Seahawks are second in the CAA in three point field goal percentage defense.  It's been their two point field goal percentage defense that has been a problem.  Opponents are shooting two point field goals at a fifty two percent clip.
   
   Adam Smith gets most of the press of the UNCW freshman class, but K.K. Simmons is having an impressive rookie season as well.  Simmons has averaged thirteen points per game over his last four games.  Simmons also shoots eighty two percent from the line and has hit eighteen of his last twenty one free throws.
8. Delaware (7-9,3-3 CAA) - The Blue Hens were another team that went 0-2 for the week. Delaware lost two games at home; in overtime to Old Dominion and by thirteen to VCU.  The Blue Hens have been successful largely due to their field goal percentage defense, third in the CAA at 38.4 percent.  The Blue Hens' problem has been turnovers as they are tenth in the CAA in turnover margin at -3.5.
   
   Jamelle Hagins and Devon Saddler are the two main reasons why Delaware has been competitive in the CAA this season. But Josh Brinkley has been a force lately. Over his last three games, Brinkley has averaged fourteen points and ten rebounds per game.  He is shooting fifty five percent from the field on the season.
9. William and Mary (4-14, 2-4 CAA) - The Tribe went 1-1 last week as part of their three game road trip that concludes at VCU tomorrow night.  Yes, their win was over Towson, but they were ahead early against Northeastern before the Huskies rallied.   W&M is at the bottom of most CAA categories sans free throw shooting.  The Tribe are fourth in the CAA at 71.9 percent.
   
   I am starting to really wonder if Quinn McDowell is playing hurt.  After his record setting performance in the first round of the CAA Tournament last season, McDowell has struggled since.   His average points per game is down three points from last season. McDowell's field goal percentage is way down ; it was 47.5 percent last season, this season it's 39.4 percent.  His shooting from three point range is also significantly down; 45.5 percent last season, this season 37.2 percent.  The Tribe need the re-emergence of the Mighty Quinn.
10. James Madison (8-9,1-5 CAA) - The Dukes went 0-2 last week. They were drubbed at VCU and outscored at home by George Mason.   They dug themselves holes in both games.  The Dukes were down nine at the half to the Rams and down by fifteen at the half at home to the Patriots.  Part of that has to do with rebounding. They were outrebounded 42-26 to VCU as the Rams had fourteen offensive rebounds.  JMU is tenth in the CAA in rebounding margin.
    
    A.J. Davis is doing his best to help out the Dukes.  Davis has averaged seventeen points and three steals in his last three games.  He is also sixteen of twenty one from the free throw line in his last three games.
11. Hofstra (6-11, 0-6 CAA) - The Pride had leads in the second half of both of their games against Northeastern and Old Dominion last week, only to lose both games.  Offensively, the two halves were completely dissimilar.  Hofstra shot sixty percent against Northeastern in the second half, but only shot twenty seven percent vs. ODU in the second half.  What was consistent was their lack of defense in the second half.  The Huskies shot fifty eight percent in the second half while the Monarchs shot fifty percent in the second half.
    
    Nathaniel Lester has played much more consistently lately.  In his last three games, Lester has averaged nineteen points per game and has shot twenty of twenty four from the line.  Lester has scored in double figures in ten straight games and has three double doubles in those ten games.
12. Towson (0-18, 0-6 CAA) - The Tigers played quite respectably in both their losses last week. Towson actually had leads against both William and Mary and Georgia State before losing.  Ron Hunter commended the Tigers on their play saying that Towson came out with more effort than his own team.
    
    Robert Nwankwo continues to play hard for Towson.  Against the big front line of Georgia State, Nwakwo had seventeen points, thirteen rebounds, six blocks and four steals. He also had eleven points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals against William and Mary.   Nwankwo is doing everything he can to help Towson find that elusive first win.

Barbecue and VCU in Newark (Recap of VCU vs. Delaware)

Over the years, I have been fortunate to go to many college basketball venues.  Some, like the Webster Arena in Bridgeport, aren't conducive to college basketball games, especially when there are only two thousand people in the stands.  Others, like the Acierno Arena at the Bob Carpenter Center on the campus of the University of Delaware truly stand out.  And it's not just for the basketball experience that makes the Bob so enjoyable, it's also the culinary experience that makes me come back there year after year.

Yesterday, I picked up my partner in crime Tieff and made the all too familiar drive down the New Jersey Turnpike/I-95 to Newark, Delaware.  When we got to the Bob Carpenter Center at 2:00 P.M.,  I noticed that there were very few cars in the parking lot.  Turns out what I thought was a 2:00 P.M. game was a 4:00 PM game being televised on the CAA Network.  So we headed to a nearby McDonald's and then came back to the Bob at 3:00 PM.

A few years ago, when I went to my first Hofstra-Delaware game at the Bob, I learned the ways of the barbecue station.  When you walk into the Bob and head up the main set of stairs to the Acierno Arena, to your right is the Man vs. Food experience of CAA basketball.  Here lies a concessions area with a barbecue carving station.  For a reasonable price, you can have your choice of one large sandwich roll or two smaller sandwich rolls filled with either barbecue pork, roast turkey or roast beef, along with two delicious sides.

Normally, I have the barbecue pork on the large sandwich roll.   But my server convinced me to do the two smaller sandwich rolls, so this way I can have two different tasty choices.  I chose the barbecue pork with the additional sweet sauce and the barbecue beef, with the gravy.  They cut the beef and the turkey right there for you.  Then comes the two sides.  Nothing better than baked macaroni and cheese and german potato salad.  Ah, heaven.

Another nice thing about this concessions area is that there are large roundtables for you to sit and eat your barbecue cuisine.  Often you are sitting with other fans at the same table.  I remember a couple of years ago, Tieff and I sat with a family.  Their daughter was driving on I-95 to meet them there.  We had noticed a lot of highway patrols that day and told the mother about that.  She gave her daughter a call and advised her not to speed.  Hey, anything we can do for fellow basketball fans.

I never refer to the place the Fighting Blue Hens call as home the Acierno Arena.  It's always been the Bob to me and to many others.  It was the home of many America East Tournaments when Delaware was part of that conference.  Now it's just another one of the twelve regular season venues in the CAA.  The Fighting Blue Hens were home to the Rams of VCU in yesterday's contest.  Many VCU fans made the trip up from Richmond.  In fact in my row, it was mostly made up of  Rams' fans.  Have Final Four Appearance, will travel.

The Blue Hens and the Rams have both got out to 3-2 records in the CAA.  So the game was for a share of fourth place in the Colonial, which is important.  The top four teams in the conference get first round byes in the CAA Tournament.  And since the tournament has expanded to twelve teams in the 2005-06 season, no team that has not had a first round bye has won the CAA Tournament.

The game started out with VCU showing terrific ball movement on offense, but they didn't have much to show for it as they struggled for the field.  In the first half, VCU shot an abysmal one of nine from beyond the arc and shot twenty eight percent from the field.  Big Time Bradford Burgess was having a rough first half shooting one of seven from the field.  But he hit seven of eight free throws and still had ten points in the first twenty minutes.

But Delaware struggled even worse.  First, their offense doesn't seem to have many set plays. It really is based on Devon Saddler, the combo guard for the Blue Hens, creating plays off the dribble, whether it's a pass to Kyle Anderson, the Blue Hens long distance shooting guard or inside to Jamelle Hagins, or Saddler taking a shot himself.  They didn't know how to attack VCU's zone defense and not once did a Blue Hen big man go into the middle of the zone and try to hit a jumper.  Saddler had a run first half, shooting one of nine from the field.

The Blue Hens didn't score a point for nearly the first nine minutes.  But thanks to the Rams' shooting woes, they were only down 8-0.  Then just like that Saddler and Anderson hit three pointers and it was a game at 8-6 with ten and a half minutes left.

Then came the play of the game.  VCU's Juvante Reddic, a six foot nine sophomore forward, got the ball at the top of the key.  Reddic then in a blur, flew by his man and hit a layup and was fouled.  Our whole row was stunned in amazement.  Tieff and I had never seen someone that size drive the lane so fast.  It was incredible. Reddic hit the free throw to put VCU up 14-10.

The game was relatively close for the next several minutes.   Then around four and half minutes left in the half, VCU went on a 9-2 spurt led by Burgess, Reddic and a technical foul called on Delaware Head Coach Monte Ross.  The Rams were up 30-19.   Delaware scored four straight points to cut the deficit to 30-23 at the half.

At halftime, we made our way to the ice cream stand located behind our section.  It was hard ice cream and they had some terrific choices. I decided to have the "Twist and Scotch"; butterscotch ice cream with chocolate covered pretzels.  You could actually smell the ice cream and it was absolutely delicious.

The start of the second half saw Josh Brinkley go to work for the Blue Hens.  Twice Brinkley scored baskets on offensive rebounds and both times he was fouled.  He made both free throws and hit one of two free throws on an earler foul as he scored Delaware's first seven points.  Saddler followed with a layup and Delaware had cut VCU's lead to four, 36-32 with 15:50 left in the game.

The media timeout came at the perfect time for the Rams, as it allowed them to regroup. VCU then went on a 12-2 spurt over the next four minutes.  Treveon Graham and Briante Weber, two of the Rams' freshmen buried three pointers to give VCU a 48-34 lead.  

Saddler scored four of Delaware's next six points and cut the lead to eight, 48-40 with a little less than ten minutes left.  But it was as close as the Blue Hens would get the rest of the way.  Saddler's shooting woes continued as he was two of ten from the field in the second half and only scored ten points on the day.

Meanwhile, Burgess came alive late in the second half with two three pointers for the Rams.  When Reddic hit an emphatic dunk with two minutes left to put VCU up 65-50, all that was left was for Shaka Smart was to clear his bench. Late in the game, seldom used but highly recruited Rico McCarter tried to go for a slam with his team up twelve with twelve seconds left.  Hagins let it be known that was against basketball code by trying to block the shot but making sure he fouled McCarter hard.  McCarter got a statistic in the game, making one of two free throws to make the final score VCU 68 Delaware 55.

Despite being four of fourteen from the field, Burgess had eighteen points to lead VCU.  Reddic added eleven points, nine rebounds and one everlasting memory for me.  Four other Rams' players scored eight or nine points in the game.  For Delaware, Brinkley (thirteen points, 11 rebounds) nd Hagins (ten points and fourteen rebounds) each had double doubles and Saddler had his aforementioned ten points.

As Tieff and I made our way back to New York, it was another successful road trip.  Terrific barbecue, delicious ice cream and good college basketball.   Hoops and food.   You can't beat it.

The Colossal Colonial Ratings (CCR) for Week of January 9 - Post Gauntlet

So,  CAA gauntlet week ended with Drexel's come from behind win at home over VCU on Sunday night.   There's only one undefeated team left in CAA conference play, George Mason.  Then there's a whole bunch of surprises at 3-1 and also surprises at 2-2.  Finally there is the back of the pack and one of those teams has as many losses in conference as they did all of last season.

So with the all the voodoo going on in the Colonial, it's only fitting that our Colossal Colonial Ratings, aka CCR, this week should be accompanied by the CCR song "I Put A Spell on You".  Remember the ratings are based on my rankings of how good the teams are, not necessarily their current standings in the league.  Over time though, the CCR will generally reflect their standings in the league.

1. George Mason (12-4, 4-0 CAA) - The Patriots pulled off one of the two sweeps by a team during a gauntlet week. First, they struggled with but eventually overwhelmed William and Mary.  Then the Patriots won impressively at Old Dominion.  Finally, in a dogfight in Fairfax, Mason held onto beat Georgia State.
   
   Mike Morrison was huge for Mason during gauntlet week.  In the three games, he averaged nearly thirteen points and ten rebounds per game.  He had a double double, fourteen points and fifteen rebounds vs. the Panthers stout front line.  Impressive.
2. Georgia State (11-4, 3-1 CAA) - The Panthers were only a few seconds away from pulling off an almost impossible task of sweeping Drexel, VCU and George Mason, the last two games on the road.  Still, a 2-1 showing was quite impressive for Georgia State.
   
   Jihad Ali was an important factor in the Panthers' success.  In the last three games, Ali has averaged fifteen points per game and was a perfect twelve for twelve from the line.  Ali has increased his free throw percentage from forty six percent last season to seventy three percent this season, which is an amazing improvement. 
3. Old Dominion (8-8, 3-1 CAA) - Rumors of the Monarchs demise have been greatly exaggerated.  The Monarchs had a solid 2-1 week   It wasn't pretty, but it was effective. They rallied to force overtime at James Madison, then beat the Dukes in overtime.  After struggling at home in a loss to Mason, the Monarchs completely crushed Towson, winning by thirty seven points.
   
   Chris Cooper has become the latest member in a long line of solid ODU forwards. Cooper is averaging a double double this season with 10.4 points and 10.3 rebounds.  Last season, Cooper only had 154 field goal attempts on the season.  This season, he already has 148 field goal attempts.
4. Drexel (10-5, 2-2 CAA) -  Things looked a little bleak at the start of the week for the Dragons.  They lost convincingly at Georgia State.   But then came the lock down of Towson at home,.60-27.   Then in a typical classic VCU-Drexel rockfight, the Dragons rallied to beat the Rams in what was a must win for Drexel.
   
   Frantz Massenat.has improved his games by leaps and bounds.  The sophomore has more than doubled his scoring from last season to 12.7 points per game. His three point field goal percentage is a very impressive 47 percent and he has increased his free throw shooting percentage from 61 percent last season to 73.5 percent this season.
5. VCU (11-5,.2-2 CAA) - The week started off promising for the Rams. They soundly defeated Hofstra.  But they ran into two defensive struggles and came out on the losing end both times; at home to Georgia State and at Drexel.  The second best free throw shooting team in the CAA shot an uncharacteristic 9 of 20 from the free throw line against the Dragons.
   
   Troy Daniels has become a major weapon off the bench for VCU.  In his last three games, Daniels has hit twelve three pointers while averaging thirteen points per game.  After only averaging four plus minutes per game last season, Daniels is averaging twenty one minutes per game this season, while shooting forty percent from three.
6. UNCW (7-7, 3-1 CAA) -  The Seahawks were the only other team besides the Patriots to successfully run the gauntlet last week.  They won at home over Delaware, then traveled to Boston and beat Northeastern.  Finally they held on at Trask to defeat Hofstra. And they did it with offense, averaging seventy nine points per game.
   
   Freshman Adam Smith has created a lot of buzz with his outstanding play so far this season.  But my favorite Seahawk has been for a while Keith Rendleman.  Rendleman was a horse last week for UNCW.  He averaged twenty points and twelve rebounds in those three wins while shooting 19 of 31 from the field and 22 of 26 from the line. Definitely all first team CAA material.
7. Delaware (7-7, 3-1 CAA) - Imagine you're 3-1 in conference and that only gets you seventh place in these ratings.  That's not a knock on the Blue Hens, just speaks of the depth of this conference.  They got off to a bad start losing a tough game at UNCW. Then they barely just held on beating Hofstra at home 67-66.  Delaware then toughed one out beating William and Mary on the road.  All in all a good week for the Blue Hens.
   
   We love double double machines here at the College Hardwood.  Thus we have to give a lot of love to Jamelle Hagins.  Hagins averaged eighteen points and twelve rebounds in the three games last week.  He also shot an impressive 21 of 35 and is shooting 56.6 percent from the field this season.  And oh yeah, he averaged three blocks per game last week.
8. Northeastern (6-8, 2-2 CAA) - The Huskies had a good week overall, going 2-1.  They won at Towson, then lost a close game at home to UNCW, then had another road win at James Madison.  The Huskies seem to like the road, as five of their six wins have come away from home. Perhaps they should check into a hotel when playing in Boston.
   
   Mike Litos loves Quincy Ford, another talented freshman in the CAA this season.  And why not, because Ford stepped up his game during gauntlet week. He averaged nearly fourteen points per game while shooting 16 of 31 from the field.  Ford also had ten steals in those three games.
9. James Madison (8-7, 1-3 CAA) - The Dukes were one of three teams that got swept last week. It was how they got swept that was so agonizing.  JMU had ODU beaten but missed several key free throws down the stretch.  The Monarchs forced overtime and eventually won.  Then they rallied in the second half vs. William and Mary, only to fade down the stretch and lose to the Tribe.  Finally, a depleted Dukes roster lost at home to Northeastern.
   
   A.J. Davis has been a solid addition to JMU.  In his last three games, including a win over Hampton last night, Davis has averaged eighteen points, six rebounds and four steals.  Davis though might want to work on his three point shooting.  In his last five games, he is 1 of 19 from beyond the arc.  No, that's not a misprint.
10. Hofstra (6-10, 0-4 CAA) - Talk about a complete reversal from a season ago.  Last season, Hofstra swept through gauntlet week, which helped catapult them to a third place finish in the CAA.   Last week, Hofstra got swept.  First, VCU outclassed them at the Mack Center.  Then the Pride lost a heartbreaker at Delaware by a point, when they missed three free throws in the last twenty two seconds in the game.  Then Hofstra lost at UNCW by six. The Pride have now lost as many games in conference this season, four, as they had all last season.
    
    If there is any silver lining to an 0-3 week, it has been the play of Stephen Nwaukoni.  Nwaukoni has earned a starting role due to his tireless work on the boards. He averaged nearly ten rebounds per game during gauntlet week. 
11. William and Mary (3-13, 1-3 CAA) - The Tribe did their best this past week.  They gave Mason fits at the Patriot Center, leading for most of the first half before losing.  Then they knocked off JMU at home.  Finally, they held their own for most of the game at Delaware before losing to the Blue Hens.
    
    W&M has their own talented freshman in Marcus Thornton.  In the three games last week, Thornton averaged nineteen points and shot 16 of 20 from the free throw line.  Over his last four games, he is eight of seventeen from beyond the arc.
12. Towson (0-16, 0-3 CAA) - The Tigers gauntlet week received a lot of negative publicity due to their record tying and record breaking losses.  First, Towson played respectably at home, losing to Northeastern by nine points.  Then it got ugly.  First was the 70-27 loss at Drexel, where only one Tiger had more than one field goal in the game and had eight baskets for the entire game.  Then Towson set the NCAA Division I mark for most consecutive losses with thirty five in a row as they got pummeled at ODU 75-38.
    
    It's hard to find a bright spot on a winless team that has scored sixty or more points only twice this season.  But Robert Nwankwo was a stat sheet stuffer against Old Dominion.  Nwankwo had eleven points, seven rebounds, five blocks and two steals vs. the Monarchs. Nwankwo on the season averages eleven points and eight rebounds per game.