Iona is Missing Its Pep

If you are one of my marines, aka, the few, the proud, the readers of my site, you know of my love of college pep bands.  There is nothing better than a good college pep band at a basketball game.  It sure beats canned music.  I remember going to LaSalle to see Hofstra face the Explorers in the 2005-06 season.   The LaSalle Pep Band played the entire night.  There was no canned music played over the PA system, just the pep band.  It was awesome.

Over the years, I have talked about my fondness for the VCU Peppas and the George Mason Pep Band, two of the best college bands there are in college basketball.  But one of my favorite bands in particular is the Iona Pep Band, which were a staple at Iona men's home games for years.

In many of my College Hardwood recaps of Iona games over the years, I have devoted many a paragraph to the Iona Pep Band (just do a search of "Iona Pep Band" on my site).  My favorite recap that involved the Iona Pep Band was the game from 2012 where Iona used a 31-0 run to defeat St Peter's 98-61.  The pep band was so killing it that day, I stated the following;

As Matthew and I made our way out of the Hynes Center for perhaps the last time this season, I wondered two things.  One, I thought about whether Iona could not only win the MAAC Championship but also make a run to the Sweet Sixteen this season.  Second, I wondered if the Iona Pep Band hires themselves out to play at parties.

That's how good the Iona Pep Band is (the picture is from that St Peter's game).  I would hire them to play at a party (alas they have to travel to Columbia, South Carolina now for the party).  I even recorded my own video of them above playing "Immigrant Song".   I just wish I had better audio on my iPhone.

What I love about the Iona Pep Band is that for such a small ten piece band, they have a rich sound.  The Iona Pep Band also has an old school, eclectic catalog.  They play anywhere from Led Zeppelin's  "Immigrant Song", to Earth Wind and Fire's "September" to Rick James' "Brickhouse" to the Black Eyed Peas "I Got a Feeling".

They are also fond of playing TV show  and movie themes, including "The Wild Wild West", "Peter Gunn", the James Bond theme song and my personal favorite, a very bouncy version of "I Dream of Jeannie".   Finally, they play the BEST DAMN VERSION of STEELY DAN'S PEG!  Period.




Often I lamented the fact on Twitter that there was no Iona Pep Band at Iona Women's Basketball games.  And for those loyal readers who know, I covered A LOT of Iona Women's Basketball games over the years, so I did a lot of lamenting.

I even got to be Twitter friends with Walter Barrett, the trombone playing leader of the Iona Pep band,   From my friendship with him, I learned the band was hired by Iona, funded by alumni, since the school didn't have a pep band.  Walter had been part of the band for fifteen years.   The band was put together by the previous band leader of people he knew.  They offered students to help out, but over time it just became the regulars.  They are quite likely the oldest college pep band around, but they are also one of the best.

And it was not just me who is a big fan of the Iona Pep Band.   Jaden Daly, Mr. Daly Dose of Hoops himself is a huge fan of the Iona Pep Band.   When I left New York and moved down to South Carolina, Jaden would text me the song selections of the band when he was at Iona home games.   God I missed "Peg"  Thankfully, I've  heard the Iona Pep Band's version so many times, it is permanently, fondly etched in my head.



But something is missing this season for Iona.  The Pep Band.   I found out that the pep band was told that they were being replaced by a student band.   Now I can understand that, except for one thing.

Four games,  No student band.   Just canned music.

Huh?



It's one thing to tell the pep band to be replaced by a student band.   It's another thing not to have that student band ready.    So the Iona home crowd fans have to listen to canned music.  Canned music can be OK, depending on the person picking the songs. Often the canned music though is made up of  only the current popular hits on the radio and in some cases, like Wagner, the PA system is too loud.  To me, nothing beats a live band playing a unique, fun set, especially with a great brass section, like the Iona Pep Band.




So I have a request to the Iona administration, from a long time friend of the Iona women's and men's basketball programs.  Until your student band is ready to go, please, please, PLEASE bring back the Iona Pep Band.

Living 750 miles away now, I won't be able to hear them play live, but I would love for Jaden Daly to let me know via Twitter that Walt and the gang are playing my favorite songs.

So again, Iona Administration, bring back the Pep Band.  Do it for the Iona fans. Let them hear "Peg" again!

"I know they're gonna love it."

Miscellaneous Thoughts on Iona/Manhattan, Siena, Wichita State, Duquesne and Fordham

If you're a college basketball fan and you didn't watch Iona/Manhattan on ESPN2 last night, you missed an absolutely terrific game between two long time MAAC rivals.  The Jaspers won in overtime 80-77.  It was exciting, action packed, end to end, three point drilling (on Iona's side), small gym, capacity, loud crowd fun.  You could hear the crowd loud and clear on your TV.

Having been at Draddy for Iona vs. Manhattan previously for a SRO crowd between these two rivals, I can tell you how intense the Gaels-Jaspers rivalry is from a spectator's standpoint. And if you don't think this is a hot ticket, two years ago, tickets for the Iona- Manhattan game were going for $100, which is usually unheard of in NYC mid major basketball.  Jaden Daly of Daly Dose of Hoops was there last night and here's his writeup.

It's quite possible that Iona and Manhattan will face each other again in the MAAC Tournament.  Despite the loss, Iona has clinched the MAAC regular season championship and the #1 seed for the MAAC Tournament.   Manhattan is tied for second with both Quinnipiac and Canisius.  The Jaspers host the Golden Griffiths on Sunday for at least third place. 

Oh, one last thing.  If Iona wins at home over Rider on Sunday, it will be the fourth time in the four seasons Tim Cluess has coached in New Rochelle that the Gaels have won twenty games.  Four years ago, I gave a New York metro college advice on who to take as their head coach.  Iona took the advice instead and two NCAA Tournament later, with a possible third on the horizon, the Gaels must be quite happy with the decision.

Speaking of MAAC coaches, how about the job Jimmy Patsos is doing with Siena.  The Saints are now over .500 in the MAAC at 10-9 and with a win over Monmouth, will be the fifth seed in the MAAC Tournament.   Siena has already won six more games than all of last season and six more games in conference from last season as well.  Not surprising, given Patsos' history of success with Loyola Maryland.

One last MAAC note.  With Cluess, Steve Masiello, Patsos and Jimmy Baron, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference has become a premier coaching conference.  MAACTION!

Wichita State has been getting a lot of flack lately on whether they are a #1 seed for the NCAA Tournament .  Several basketball "pundits" have questioned their non conference schedule (Yes, Jeff Goodman of ESPN, I am talking about you in particular).   Mark Adams, ESPN analyst, put this into excellent perspective on Twitter by stating that the eight power conference teams ranked in the top ten played eighty six percent of their non-conference games at either neutral site or home.   As I pointed out to Mark in a reply, I noted Wichita State only played seven of its twelve non-conference games at home (two were neutral site).  Saint Louis, the other non power conference team in the top ten played only six of its eleven games at home (two were also neutral site).

Furthermore, compare Wichita State's team to the last Missouri Valley team that went so far into the season undefeated, the 1978-79 Indiana State team.  That team of course was led by Larry Bird and went to the NCAA Championship game undefeated vs. Michigan State before losing to Magic Johnson and the Spartans.  

That 78-79 Sycamores team only played one NCAA Tournament team during the regular season, New Mexico State, which Indiana State beat twice in that season in conference.  In fact, the Sycamores had to have a 50 foot shot by Bob Heaton to force overtime on the road vs. the Aggies.  New Mexico State ended up getting an at large bid, losing to Weber State in a first round game.  At that time, only forty teams made the NCAA Tournament.  

Despite their lack of a signature non-conference win, Indiana State received a #1 seed.   Perhaps having Bird helped their chances of getting a #1 seed.  Still, Indiana State justified their seeding by making the NCAA Championship game.

This season, Wichita State has played two definite NCAA Tournament teams in their non conference; BYU and currently #10 Saint Louis.  The neutral site win over the Cougars was the championship game of the CBE classic and the win over SLU came on the Billikens home court.  Until their loss at home to Duquesne this week, Saint Louis had been undefeated in Atlantic-10 play, which is quite impressive considering there is a very good chance that there will be five A-10 teams in the NCAA Tournament (SLU, VCU, UMass, George Washington and St Joseph's).

Wichita State has also won over bubble team Tennessee, along with wins over Davidson, the Southern Conference regular season champion, who knocked off the current #2 team in the SEC, Georgia and NC Central, who won at North Carolina State and who at 22-5 and 13-1 in the MEAC, is the likely MEAC regular season champion (the Eagles have a two game lead over Hampton).  Throw in the fact that with basically the same team from last year's Final Four team, if the Shockers can make it through the rest of the Valley regular season and the MVC Tournament undefeated, they should definitely be a #1 seed and have serious consideration as the #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Gregg Marshall is my coach of the year (and Jaden Daly, I knew about Marshall for years even before his Winthrop team knocked off Notre Dame).

On Thursday night, I watched on TV two bottom A-10 teams play, Fordham and Duquesne.  Both teams played good first halves against their respective opponents, VCU and St Louis, as I noted, two definite NCAA Tournament teams.    In their respective second halves, only one team maintained their composure and heart.  The road team Dukes withstood the Billikens and gave St Louis their first loss in A-10 play.

Duquesne at one time was tied with Fordham in the A-10 standings.  Yet, Jim Ferry's 12-15 team has not given up and won two of its last four games.   Of their four conference wins, three of those are on the road, including a win over the Rams.  The Dukes have lost fifteen games on the season, nine of those fifteen losses have been by nine points or less, including six A-10 conference games.  Duquesne's scoring margin on the season is - 0.3.  You can certainly say the Dukes have been competitive for the most part this season.

I'm not surprised by Ferry's Dukes playing so hard.  His successful LIU teams were high scoring, yet very gutty.  I was there when the Blackbirds won over Wagner at a hostile, sold out Spiro Center two years ago in what was quite possibly, given the game was on ESPNU on a Saturday night, the biggest regular season game in the history of the NEC (see picture of the game on the left).

Ferry's LIU teams made the NCAA Tournament two years in a row before he took the Duquesne job. Already the Dukes have a four win improvement from last season.   Given his ability to recruit nationally (several of his LIU players came from Texas), Duquesne is in good hands.

Meanwhile, VCU went on an early second half run and Fordham looked like they got run over by a truck.  They looked clueless on defense, showed no fundamentals on boxing out as VCU got offensive rebound after offensive rebound (in fact VCU had twenty four offensive rebounds) and basically showed no heart the last twenty minutes of the game.  VCU scored FIFTY ONE second half points beating Fordham 85-66.   One team looked Ram Tough and another looked Rammed.

Then to top it, Fordham Coach Tom Pecora just torched his team's effort after the loss, as per another great Jaden Daly writeup.   Yet not anywhere in the post game press conference notes does Pecora accept any blame for his team's failures that night.  He even notes that "Teams that win find ways to win, teams that lose, they know how to lose".

Well who's responsibility is for that demeanor and play?  It's the coach. 

I have already written about Fordham's struggles this season, in fact, it's been my most read article of the season, and taken Pecora to task.  So yes, it's like beating a dead horse.  But after his VCU post game press conference comments, the dead horse needs to beaten some more.

Fordham has lost five straight games, all by double digit margins.  In their last nine A-10 conference losses on the season , the Rams have lost each game by double digits and by an average margin of NINETEEN POINTS.  In fact, in Fordham's seventeen losses on the season, thirteen have now come by double digit margins.    

Think about that.  In only four of their seventeen losses was Fordham even close to winning.  

And even the defensive intensity that Pecora's Hofstra teams used to have is now gone.  He now goes with a four guard lineup, yet laments that "You can't let them beat you up on the offensive glass".  The Rams are DEAD LAST in the A-10 in scoring defense, allowing seventy nine points per game.  They are also dead last in field goal percentage defense, allowing teams to shoot forty six percent from the field.  The Rams also allow teams to score fifty two percent of their two point field goal attempts.

I think this last quote about Pecora when there is a question about his team's effort sums it up best  

"Oh, without a doubt, and I think that's been an issue for us throughout the season. There's been two major issues in my mind: One is getting that kind of team effort for 40 minutes consistently..." 

That comes down to one person and one person only.  The coach.

The Things I Miss This Time of Season

"Halleujah. Noel.  Be it Heaven or Hell.
The Christmas we get, we deserve." 

"I Believe in Father Christmas" By Greg Lake

For the longest time, I truly believed in those words in "I Believe in Father Christmas" (kind of also helped that I am a huge ELP fan).   There were a couple of years in the early Nineties where I spent Christmas alone, due to what I now wrongly believed was what I deserved for mistakes of the heart.

Now married for seventeen wonderful years with two adorable boys, this time of season is special in many ways for me, from a family standpoint as well as a college basketball standpoint. For forty five years, I spent Christmas as a New York resident.  For as long as I can remember, I had the time between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day off from work, when I worked for Hofstra.  I still do, now working for the University of South Carolina.   It's one of the perks working for an academic institution.

And around the holiday season is a great time to see college basketball games in New York.  There's the annual Holiday Festival at MSG, the new tradition, the Barclays Center Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival and a good number of local New York teams that are home during the holiday season break.

But this time of year also reminds me of what I miss about the rest of the college basketball season now that I am a resident of Columbia, South Carolina.

First, I miss the close proximity of local New York Division I colleges.  Stony Brook, St John's, Fordham, Iona, Wagner, Manhattan, LIU and of course Hofstra were schools whose games I went to with quite regularity.  They were all within an hour's drive.  Then you had Madison Square Garden, which was an hour train ride into the city. Writing for Mid Majority in 2011-12 as part of the 800 Games Project, from a commuting standpoint, it was relatively easy and quick to get to a college basketball game (well except parking at Manhattan College).  It helped greatly in my coverage of fifty nine Division I men's basketball games that season.

Now, outside of the University South of Carolina, which is the same distance and time for me as it was traveling to Hofstra games, there are only two other schools that are an hour away; Winthrop and Presbyterian and due to scheduling, I haven't seen a game yet at either school.   The other schools I have been to locally; Wofford, Coastal Carolina, Davidson, Charlotte and College of Charleston are at least ninety minutes away from me.  So, unlike a quick evening jaunt to Iona or Stony Brook, those schools I have to catch on a weekend.

But it's more than just the proximity of local teams I miss.  It's the camaraderie that is lacking.  Thankfully, I have my color analyst, aka my older son Matthew to now go to games with here in South Carolina.  That helps a good deal.  But it doesn't make up for not seeing my friends on a regular basis.

First, Hofstra home games were something out of "Cheers".  After twenty four years of being an administrator on campus, I knew a good number of people at Hofstra who I would see on a regular basis there; my former boss and longtime friend Howard Graves, my good friend at the University Computer Center, Marty Gross, my colleagues and friends from the Plant department, Paul Romano and Kenny Tyler, and many others.  I even got to know former Hofstra coach Mo Cassara, one of the true good guys in the coaching profession, who was always kind enough to see if I needed a ticket for a road game.  Glad he is doing well as analyst for ESPN.

University of Delaware Concessions Barbeque. YUM!

Then there was my good friend Defiantly Dutch, Jerry Beach, who I got to know from Hofstra basketball.  I make fun of his age on Twitter and Facebook.  But truth be told, I am older than him by a long shot and this will be the last time I make fun of his age, though I still think I am younger than him mentally.  Beach is also a terrific writer, far better than me.  He has a wonderful wife, Michelle, who I have become friends with (all great women are named "Michelle", ask my wife) and they have the cutest daughter on the planet, Molly.  Finally, he is also a hilarious travel companion, the John Candy to my Steve Martin.

Through Beach, I have got to know several other Hofstra folks like Lee Warner and the lovely Missy Van Brocklin, who I hope will make baked goods again for us when I am there on December 30.  There's Bob, a season ticket holder who I used to sit across from (and my friends still do, since I still have Hofstra season tickets) and we would trade travel stories and betting lines for other games during the Hofstra game.  And of course, there is nothing like rival blogger trash talk with Beach during a Hofstra game.

Also, due to my friendship with Jerry and my coverage for the Mid Majority and local NY hoops, I have become friends with many NYC college basketball beat writers like the omnipresent Jaden Daly of Daly Dose of Hoops, Ray Curren, the one man force that is the Mid Majority this season,  the stat machine Jon Templon, founder of Big Apple Buckets and the dynamic Iona Women's basketball broadcast duo of Nick Guerriero and John Stanko (Nick is now at Dartmouth).

But what I miss most about not being at the Hofstra games is not seeing my dear friends Tony Terentieff and Mal Galletta.  We sat together for years in Section 111, Row D and before that in Section 102.  The banter between the three of us was often truly hysterical.    And from our vantage point in Section 111, we could pick things up being across from the player benches.  You knew when Tom Pecora, former Hofstra Head Coach, was going to put someone in his doghouse or when Bruiser Flint would go off on his players or referees when Drexel visited Hempstead.

One of my all time favorite Hofstra memories is from the 2004-05 season, when I was still sitting in Section 102 ( We moved to Section 111 after the 2005-06 season).   There was an older gentleman who sat by us who use to occasionally fly off the handle, often at the expense of Pecora.  Adrian Uter was in his first season with Hofstra, after two years of JUCO and came off the bench for the Pride, er Flying Dutchmen (sorry, Jer).   In one game, during one particular stretch, Uter was blocking every shot in sight and tearing down rebounds with authority.  Inexplicably, Pecora took him out of the game.   This older gentleman blurts out  loud "PECORA, WHY ARE YOU TAKING UTER OUT?  HE'S AN ANIMAL!"  Our whole section burst out laughing to the point of tears.

Eight years later, it still sticks out in my mind.  That's what you get in a mid major game, fans making comments like that you will always remember.  Mind you, Frank Martin makes up for some of that in Gamecocks' games, because you can often hear him as clear as a bell.  But it's still not the same.

Then there is my good friend Tony Bozzella.  Over the years, Tieff, Mal and I have gone to so many Iona Women's home games sitting with Tony's wife Maria, his very funny daughter Samantha, and the brains behind Bo's fantasy baseball team, his son Joseph.  So many times, we sat in Bo's office after the game talking with Bo and the awesome Lauren DeFalco, going over the game highlights.  We even traveled to Marist to see them play in a gym right out of Hoosiers.  So many memories.

But it's not just the Hofstra or Iona home games I miss with Tieff and Mal.  It's the countless road trips to Delaware (complete with Delaware Concessions Barbeque!), Towson, Drexel, Iona, the train rides into MSG, the long annual trips down to Richmond to the CAA Tournament, including one year going to Atlantic City before the CAA Tournament ("DO YOU THINK I PLAY CRAP HANDS!" - only Mal and Tieff will understand that one) and heck even our trip to Raleigh to see the now famous Stephen Curry Show at the NCAA Regional in 2008.

When Mal and Tieff came down for a sports weekend this November to see our good friend Bo's Seton Hall Women's team play South Carolina, as well as take in a College of Charleston game and the Florida-USC football game, it was like the three amigos were back in business, albeit for one weekend.  Those are things that I miss most about being down here in South Carolina.

Perhaps someday, I will have that camaraderie here at South Carolina.  The road trips to Davidson, Wofford and Charleston are fun, but it's not the same. Plus now that I am a Little League Baseball coach, so the college basketball season seems shorter to me now.

The good thing is that I will be back in New York for the Holiday season and some college basketball.  I hope to be at Stony Brook on December 22.  On December 28, I will be at the Seton Hall- St John's women's basketball game, then at the Barclays Center for the nightcap of the tripleheader as Boston  College takes on VCU.   Then December 30 it's back to Hofstra for a Pride home game.

But this holiday season though has some sadness.  My sister in law's husband, a great guy, lost his mom last week due to cancer.  Only a few months prior, he lost his dad to cancer as well.   It will be good to see my sister in law and him and hopefully my family will bring them some much needed cheer to their Christmas.

Also on Tuesday night around midnight, I woke up to the sound of fire trucks.  My neighbor's house across the street was on fire.  My neighbor, Richard, an older gentleman who's on disability, happened to be in the hospital for heart surgery, for a stroke he suffered only a few weeks back.  His daughter thankfully was not hurt.   But their house seems to be either a total loss or at least needs major work.  They won't be able to spend Christmas at home this year.

Over the past several years, the above "I Believe in Father Christmas" lyrics have not rung as true for me.  I have learned that people often do not get the Christmas they deserve. These two above examples remind me of that.

In my case, I am just happy that I will be back in New York for the holidays with my family, to bring warmth and consolation to loved ones, to spend time with friends I haven't seen in a while and see some college basketball with good friends that I miss.  It will be good to be back in a "New York State of Mind", albeit for a brief time.

To everyone, as Greg Lake was so correct in singing - "I wish you a joyful Christmas.  I wish you a brave New Year.  All anguish, pain and sadness leave your heart and let your road be clear".

And if you can, catch a live college basketball game.  No better sport to watch live.

Happy Holidays from The College Hardwood!

Iona Rebounds With Dominating Win Over St Peter's in MAAC Women's Basketball

Tony Bozzella's Gaels started the MAAC women's basketball season with a 3-0 start. All three wins were by double digits, including two wins on their Buffalo road trip over Canisius and Niagara, two teams picked in the top four in the preseason MAAC poll. The Gaels then dominated Manhattan at home, winning by thirty, 76-46.

But within the span of five days, the Gaels lost two in a row. First, Iona lost to Marist for the twenty seventh time in a row, a fourteen point defeat at the McCann Center. Then at home last Friday, the Gaels battled the Stags of Fairfield. Iona got within one point with four minutes left in the game, but couldn't get any closer as Fairfield won 60-54.

This is typical of a young team that has only one senior now that Haley D'Angelo has been granted another year of eligibility. Young teams are streaky, especially ones that start two juniors, one sophomore and two freshman with their sixth man being another sophomore. They look terrific for one stretch of time, then struggle for another stretch.

Their opponent last Sunday at the Hynes Center, St Peter's, had lost their first fifteen games, including five in conference. But three of their five MAAC losses were by single digits. Iona may have been expected to win. But having lost two in a row, the question was how would the Gaels respond in a game that some team might take lightly.


For the first two minutes of the game, Iona seemed in a fog. St Peter's was the more aggressive team and jumped out to an early 7-5 lead on a jumper by Jesika Holmes.

But the light switch turned on for the Gaels. They went on a 14-0 run which featured five straight points by an aggressive Sabrina Jeridore. Iona was up 19-7 after a Jiya Dorces-Eya layup.

The Peacocks were able to cut the deficit to ten, 22-12 with eleven minutes left in the half. But again the Gaels responded with another huge run. Iona outscored St Peter's 17-2 over the next four and a half minutes. Aleesha Powell, playing with confidence and in control, scored five straight points during that spurt. D'Angelo's layup capped the run and the Gaels were up 39-14 with six and half minutes remaining in the first half.

Iona entered the locker room up 48-25 at halftime. They had forced twelve St Peter's turnovers while only committing five themselves. The Gaels showed really good ball movement and were aggressive on the offensive glass. They had as many assists, eleven as they had offensive rebounds.

Powell and Damika Martinez already were in double figures scoring, each with eleven points. My color analyst, aka my son Matthew, who has attended many Iona women's games over the past three seasons noted "That's the most points I ever saw Iona (the women's team) score in a half." I had to concur.

Now with the game seemingly in hand, there's a tendency for teams to back off in the second half and not be as focused. Sure enough, St Peter's came out as the aggressor in the start of the second half. The Peacocks cut the lead to under twenty for the first time since eight minutes left in the first half. An Aziza May three pointer made the score 50-31.

Coach Bozzella could have called timeout here to get his team re-focused. Instead, he let his team refocus on their own. The Gaels responded with a 9-2 spurt as Joy Adams hit a three point play and then Martinez scored four straight points. Iona was up 59-33 with sixteen and a half minutes left in the game.

St Peter's though had one last run in them. The Peacocks outscored the Gaels 12-4. Kristal Edwards' jumper made the score 63-45.

But Iona also had one more run in them. Once again, the Gaels outscored the Peacocks 17-2, this time over an eight minute span. Adams and Powell combined for twelve of those points. Diana Hubbard capped the run with a three pointer, one of three on the day for her, to put Iona up 80-47 with less than five minutes remaining in the game.

Iona had as large as a thirty four point lead before winning by thirty two, 93-61. Bozzella extensively used his bench the entire game, with twelve players getting eleven or more minutes. The Gaels shot nearly fifty five percent in the second half and forty nine percent for the game. They had twice as many assists, twenty, as turnovers, ten.

Martinez led all scorers with nineteen points. Powell had a very strong game with fifteen points and five assists. Adams added fourteen points and nine rebounds. Jeridore had seven points, seven rebounds and four blocks. All eleven Iona players scored at least two points on the game. The Iona bench outscored the Iona starters 47-46.

Edwards led St Peter's with fifteen points. May added fourteen and Holmes chipped in with twelve points. The Peacocks were held to 37.5 percent from the field.

The Gaels have a very important battle for third place at home coming up against Niagara this evening, with a chance to sweep the season series from the Purple Eagles. They needed momentum going into the game and they got it on Sunday.

Perhaps it's the start of another successful stretch for this young team.

My Top Ten College Basketball Games of 2012 As Seen In Person

Sometimes, you need to get out of the house and just take a drive.  Such was the case Saturday night.  After staying indoors much of the day, I got stir crazy and went out for a bit.  I was supposed to have plans with a friend as well, but they fell through.  The bright side was that it forced me out of the house for a little while.  I got coffee to keep me going so I could write most of this article, money for Sunday's activities and gas for the car.  There's a bright side to everything, even failed plans.

What transpired Saturday night was that it also got me thinking on my year in review.  I had seen about sixty Division I and Division III men's and women's games in the calendar year of 2012.   I got to see several good NCAA Tournament men's teams in VCU, Iona and LIU.  I got to see the #1 women's team in the country, Stanford, play recently against a very gutty #19 South Carolina.  I saw many talented players, two of which ended up in the NBA; Kent Bazemore and Scott Machado.  Finally, I saw many exciting games and ten of them have made my Top Ten Games of 2012, one of which was a late year addition.  I also note some unique things I remember about each game.

Number 10 - St. Peter's vs. Iona -  The Gaels' Leave an Indelible Mark - I know what you're saying, what is a thirty seven point win doing in my Top Ten? Well, it's for the very simple fact that Iona went on a 31-0 run in the second half to turn a close seven point game into a blowout.  It was one of the most awesome displays by one team I had ever seen in a game.  Perhaps the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee was impressed too, as the Gaels eventually got an at large bid to the Big Dance.

What I always will love and now will miss about Iona games since I am now in South Carolina for the most part, is the Iona pep band.  They are an old school band.  They are the only pep band I know that plays Steely Dan's "Peg", a bouncy version of the theme song from "I Dream of Jeannie" and several Earth Wind and Fire songs, which are excellent songs for pep bands.

Number  9 - Iona vs. Manhattan - The Gaels Gain Revenge on the Jaspers - It was the final game of a Hofstra themed tripleheader, culminating at a raucous Draddy Gymnasium.  The Gaels were trying to extract revenge for the Jaspers' amazing come from behind rally at the Hynes Center earlier in the season. Iona would pull away for a convincing 81-71 win that wasn't even that close as the final score indicated.  But the atmosphere and a close first twenty minutes made the evening fun.

That night leaves several indelible memories.  First, you always have to be at Draddy early for a game, otherwise you will end parking in another state.  Thus was the case that night.  Second, the truly bizarre configuration of Draddy resulted in the only game I had ever had a partial, obstructed view of a basketball game.  Third, my little trouper of a color analyst, my now seven year old son Matthew making it through three games on the day.  He was still very much into watching basketball at Draddy that night and was bothered that he didn't have a full view of the game.  That folks is a basketball fan.

Number 8 - Stanford vs. South Carolina Women's Basketball Game - The Cardinal Withstand the Gamecocks in a NCAA Women's Tournament Quality Game - This is the only game from the 2012-13 season that has made my 2012 Top Ten and it was a dandy.  Imagine the 2010 Butler vs. Duke national championship men's game played as a women's game. It was a physical defensive struggle and the South Carolina fans made it a great atmosphere.

Here's the kicker.  It was the second game of a twin bill with the men's game vs. Appalachian State as the first game.  There was a late arriving crowd for the women's game.  How cool is that?  Dawn Staley has slowly but surely built a strong program in Columbia.  And once Frank Martin builds his program at South Carolina, the fans will be there for the men's game too.

Number 7 - Maine vs. Stony Brook - Seawolves win the Regular Season America East Championship - Perhaps the Black Bears-Seawolves game didn't have as large of a crowd of either number 9 or number 8 on my list, but it was still a sold out Pritchard Gym on Senior Day and the game had more meaning than those two games because a conference championship was on the line.  Plus it had a national TV audience thanks to CBS Sports Network.  Seeing the Seawolves win in front of their home crowd and hoist the regular season championship trophy in front of their fans made it extra special.

One of the things I most remember about this game is that legendary broadcaster Don Criqui broadcasted this game.  If you know your basketball from the seventies and eighties, Criqui broadcasted many college basketball games for NBC on Saturdays.  Heck, I remember fondly Syracuse's Roosevelt Bowie, Louis Orr and Don Criqui.  CBS gave the Stony Brook game a very cool retro feel with Criqui there.

Number 6 - Loyola Md vs. Fairfield - In the MAAC, It's Never Over Til It's Over Part Deux -  This game is memorable for me for several reasons- One, I got to go to Frank Pepe's before the game. Two, you had the Evil Black Curtain.  Three, you had a great rally by the Greyhounds late to knock off the Stags on their home court twenty four hours after Manhattan rallied to take down Iona in New Rochelle.  And finally,you had one Jimmy Patsos, quite possibly the craziest cat to coach Division I men's college basketball.  It made for a truly entertaining night in a contest that was televised to a national audience, even if only 2,000 people showed up for the game live.

I will always remember the end of the game.  After Loyola wins, Patsos is so fired up, he's yelling at the Loyola fans. He yanks his tie off and tries to throw into the Greyhounds fan section behind the Loyola bench.  The problem is the tie doesn't go very far.  Doesn't stop Patsos.  He goes behind the bench, picks up the tie, puts it around a Loyola fan and then gives him a hug.  It was a huge win for Loyola, which eventually made the NCAA Tournament by winning the MAAC Tournament.

Number 5 - LIU Brooklyn vs. Wagner - This Isn't Your Father's NEC -  A nationally televised NEC game.  First place in the Northeast Conference on the line.  The defending NEC champs, LIU vs. Team Hurley.  A sold out Spiro Center. Yes, sign me up for that please.  Dandy of a game too as the Blackbirds held off the Seahawks to win.  I truly believe it was the springboard for the eventual second straight NCAA Tournament appearance for LIU Brookyn.

There were several things that stood out at Spiro. First they have a basketball club called the College Hardwood.  How awesome is that!  Second, the Wagner student section did a terrific job that night.  Third, the PA system didn't do such a good job.  It was waaaaaay too loud and the game so needed a pep band there.  Pep band music > Canned music every time.  More schools should take after LaSalle.  The pep band plays the entire night.  No canned music (at least that's what it was at Gola Arena back in December 2005 when I was there for a Hofstra-LaSalle game).

Number 4 - UMass vs. Drexel NIT Quarterfinals - Minutemen Rally to Take Down the Dragons at the DAC - There is nothing like a sold out DAC for a basketball game.  Drexel looked like they were going to again show the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee that they truly messed up by not taking the Dragons, as they went out to a seventeen point second half lead.  But the Minutemen rallied to give the Dragons their first home loss of the season.  It was one hell of a game.

It was memorable for several reasons.  First, obviously a huge UMass comeback down seventeen in the second half that stunned the home Drexel crowd.  Second, it was the night I found out that I didn't get a job in Colorado, which actually worked out better for me.  Third, how often do you get a parking spot literally right in front of the arena?  Yup that was the night.

Number 3 - Manhattan vs. Iona - It's Never Over Till It's Over in the MAAC -  One of the wildest games of the regular season.  The Gaels leading at home in the Hynes Center by seventeen points with seven minutes left.  Manhattan rallies late and hits a three pointer at the buzzer to win.  It was surreal.

This Jaspers-Gaels classic was unfortunately a foreshadow of a problem that Iona would have throughout the season, blowing huge leads.  The Gaels would do this again at Siena later in the regular season.  Finally, Iona blew a huge lead in their first round play in game against BYU.   The sense of "I have seen this before" dread watching the Cougars rally in the second half against the Gaels started from this game against the Jaspers.

Number 2 -  Georgia State vs. George Mason - Byron Allen's Game Winning Shot in CAA Quarterfinals -  You had your classic CAA knockdown rockfight with the Panthers and the Patriots. Georgia State rallies late to tie the game, only to lose in heartbreak fashion with Allen's basket with 3.4 seconds left, which I captured on video from my seat on press row.

What I will always, always remember is Panthers' Head Coach Ron Hunter's emotional post game press conference.  It was truly honest, raw and heartbreaking.  It's a shame that Ron Hunter was only in the CAA a couple of years (Georgia State leaves for the Sun Belt after this season).  I got to meet with him after the press conference and he is genuine, funny and was really kind to Jerry Beach and me. He even joked with us about the IUPUI - Hofstra CBI game seen by only 952 people.  Class act.

Number 1 -  George Mason vs. VCU - The Patriots Stage a Near Impossible Comeback But Fall Short  -  In the second game of the CAA Semifinals, VCU rolls out to a 22-0 lead, then actually extends it to 32-4.  The sold out "neutral" Richmond Coliseum crowd was DEAFENING.  It looks like George Mason is going to be blown out of the building.

But the Patriots didn't fold up their tent.  They actually whittle that twenty eight point lead down to six with three minutes left before eventually losing by ten 74-64.  Yes, there were closer games than this in the countdown.  But considering the raucous "neutral" crowd (yes there were a good number of Mason fans, but it was mostly a pro VCU crowd) and the huge deficit, what George Mason did was nothing less than heroic

What I will always remember is the perspective you get sitting on the court.  I had been going to the CAA Tournament for years starting in the 2002-03 season.  Until this past March, I always sat in the stands.  This time, I was on press row.  You truly don't have an appreciation of how loud a sold out crowd in Richmond Coliseum is until you are on the court.  It was truly an incredible atmosphere.  It was also the last time I would see in person VCU in the CAA.

2012 was a great season college hoops wise.  May 2013 be just as good for all college hoops fans everywhere.  Happy New Year!

One Hundred Reasons to Watch Iona (Recap of Norfolk State vs. Iona)

Last season, I had the pleasure of covering live twelve Iona men's basketball games.  There is no more fun team to watch live in Division I College Basketball than the Iona Gaels.  Yes, I said that and mean that.

What makes Iona fun is their type of play.  Under Head Coach Tim Cluess, they are disciples of Paul Westhead, the "Guru of Go" and his type of play known as "The System".  It's based on simple math - More Possessions + More Shot Attempts = More Points.

The Gaels' last season went 25-8 and made the NCAA Tournament as an at large.  They held a twenty five points lead vs. BYU before the Cougars rallied to defeat the Gaels 78-72. It was the first time Iona had made the NCAA Tournament since 2006. Going into yesterday's game, Cluess' record at Iona is 55-25 through two and a third seasons and has won twenty five games in each of his first two seasons.

Last season's team was an offensive juggernaut.  The Gaels scored 82.9 points per game and shot fifty percent from the field on the season. Yes, that's not a typo. Fifty percent. Iona also averaged 19.3 assists per game.  The man responsible for most of those assists at 9.9 assists per game, Scott Machado, now plays for the NBA's Houston Rockets.

This season, the Gaels are eleventh in the country this season in scoring points at eighty one points per game and are in the top one hundred in most offensive categories, including third in the country in free throw percentage at 79.3 percent.  They are first in the MAAC in field goal percentage at 45.3 percent and first in the MAAC in assists per game at 15.6 assists.  Momo Jones and Sean Armand, key members of last season's NCAA Tournament team, are first and third in the MAAC in scoring - Jones averaging 22.2 points per game and Armand 18.8 points per game.

Yesterday, I took my two sons, Matthew and Jonathan, appropriately dressed in Iona gear and made the drive up to New Rochelle. Surprisingly, despite several crazy shopper drivers on the road, there was only the usual Sunday afternoon traffic. We made good time until the usual backlog starting at Exit Nine on the Hutchinson River Parkway.  Yes, the traffic was for Exit Thirteen, the Cross County/Saw Mill River Parkway exit, which has been that way since the dawn of the highway.  One thing I don't miss living about in South Carolina is New York traffic and I laugh when people in the Palmetto State complain about traffic, which seriously pales in comparison to the Big Apple.

At the Hynes Center, the Gaels were hosting another NCAA Tournament team from a season ago, Norfolk State.  The Spartans knocked off #2 seed Missouri in the second round of the tournament in March and won twenty six games last season.  Norfolk State also has their own NBA player in Kyle O' Quinn.  Quinn, who was the Spartans' leading scorer last season and had twenty six points and fourteen rebounds  in the win over Missouri, plays for the Orlando Magic.  The Spartans third leading scorer from last season, Pendarvis Williams, leads Norfolk State with 15.3 points per game.

So on Festivus, you had two NCAA Tournament teams playing each other.  And the 1,855 in attendance that nicely packed the Hynes Center in New Rochelle were in for a treat.  A treat that Iona gave its fans four times last season (and I saw two of those games).

One of the reasons I believe Iona entered the season at 5-5 is that despite the scoring of Jones and Armand, they lacked the inside scoring presence they had last season with Michael Glover. Glover was their leading scorer in the 2011-12 season averaging 18.3 points per game. Glover required a double team and that opened up passing lanes and other Gaels for open threes or the drive to the basket.

Enter one David Laury.   The highly regarded Laury is a sophomore who just became eligible one game prior to yesterday.  The highly talented six foot eight forward scored twenty one points and had fourteen rebounds in a loss to LaSalle and was making his Iona home game debut.

After Norfolk State jumped out to 4-0 lead, Laury wasted no time making an impact. He scored five of the first twelve Iona points off assists from Da'Shawn Gomez.  His three point play gave the Gaels a 12-6 lead with fourteen and half minutes left in the half.  Laury then extended the lead to ten points, 23-13 on another layup with ten a half minutes.

Williams responded for Norfolk State with two three pointers to cut the lead to six, 25-19.  But again Laury proved to be unstoppable as he scored on his second three point play of the day and the lead was back to nine 28-19.  It would be part of a 10-0 Iona run capped by an A.J. English three pointer and the Gaels were up 35-19 with five and a half minutes left in the half.  The lead would be extended even further to 41-24 with a little over two minutes left in the half.

The other main reason Iona has been a .500 team this season is their defense, or lack thereof.  Entering yesterday's game, Iona was next to last in the MAAC in scoring defense, giving up 75.8 points per game.  The Gaels are 251st in the country in effective field goal percentage defense at 51.1 percent.

So it stood to reason that Norfolk State would get back in the game with an 7-2 spurt in less than a minute to cut the lead to twelve, 43-31.  But there was that man Laury, who again hit another layup to put Iona up fourteen, 45-31 to end the half.  Laury already had twelve first half points.

One of the great things about going to Iona men's home games is the wonderful Iona Pep Band.  The pep band started the day with a jazzy version of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Then later, they played some Stevie Wonder and Walk this Way by Aerosmith.  But it would be the Pep Band if they didn't play "Peg" by Steely Dan.  After an emphatic block by Laury led to an under twelve media timeout in the first half, the band fired up a version that Donald Fagin would be proud of and which I tweeted to Jaden Daly who was out covering the Fordham game.

During halftime, there was a girls' basketball game being played.  After one of the girls airballed a wide open jumper, my color analyst, aka my older son Matthew commented "I would have hit that".  Shortly thereafter, Guy Falotico, an Iona alum known as @IonaGuyF on Twitter, joined us and we talked during the first half. Guy knows my love of the Pep Band and when Walt and the boys started up "I Dream of Jeannie", I had to stop and tweet the news, which gave Guy a good laugh.  Later on the great Nick Guerriero, assistant SID for Iona and play by play voice for the women's basketball team stopped by to say hi. It's always good to see the folks at Iona.

The start of the second half saw Iona extend their lead to nineteen, 56-37.  Laury had five points during this time, including his third three point play of the day.  But Jones was the second half scoring force for the Gaels. He would score sixteen second half points.

Norfolk State had slowly whittled the Iona lead back to fourteen, 67-53 with ten minutes left.  But the Gaels would outscore the Spartans 24-8 over the next five minutes.  This is when Armand starting find his rhythm from beyond the arc, nailing three three pointers.  Tre Bowman capped the run with a three pointer of his own and Iona was up 91-61 with five minutes left.

This is when Matthew turned to me and said he wanted to see Iona score one hundred points.  And sure enough, Nyandigisi Moikobu nailed a three pointer with thirty eight seconds left.  There were no coupons for free tacos but the Gaels sent their fans home happy with a 100-72 win.

Jones led all scorers with twenty four points, five assists and was a perfect twelve for twelve from the foul line.  Laury had twenty points and seven rebounds.  Armand had twelve points as he shot four of eight from beyond the arc. He also added seven points, three assists and two steals.  Sledge had twelve points and eight rebounds and Taaj Ridley had ten points and nine rebounds.

Williams, Rashid Gaston and Zieyik Estime all scored in double figures and combined for forty of Norfolk State's seventy two points.   The Spartans were twelve of twenty nine from beyond the arc.Williams and Estime each had four three pointers.

With the win Iona moved to 6-5 on the year.  Matthew had his one hundred points. Jonathan had a good time watching the game and I had another fond memory of the Hynes Center.

Special Thanks to Jamie Fogarty, Senior Associate AD at Iona, for her help on Sunday. Very much appreciated.

Back in the New York Groove (Recap of Colgate vs. Iona Women's Basketball Game)

For the sixth time in four months, I flew from Charlotte International airport back to New York and the fifth time from Gate D4, the "official" gate of Jet Blue to JFK.  As has been the case, the five previous times I came in from Charlotte, my wife was there to greet me at the baggage claim.   It was the first time she was there without the kids since she had a Christmas party she had to attend at her job.  Her parents were watching our two sons at our house.

When we got home, my older son, aka my color analyst Matthew, was wide awake, but my younger son, Jonathan, was fast asleep.  Matthew was happy to see me, but he seemed more interested in his macaroni and cheese and one of the Ice Age movies as I had to practically beg for a hug.  Ah seven year olds.

Yesterday morning, I was the first one up.  As with this article, I was in the entertainment room reviewing what trains I had to take for my trip into the city yesterday.  Jonathan, who would make an excellent spy, was in usual stealth mode and snuck up and said "DADDY!"  I got the biggest hug and he sat with me on the chair as I finished reviewing the subway map of New York City.

Jonathan and I each had a bowl of cereal and watched "Tom and Jerry" together on Boomerang.  Boomerang put us in the Christmas spirit by playing the classic "The Night Before Christmas" episode.   Shortly thereafter, Matthew came down, came up to me and said "I want to spend a lot of time with you today" and curled up into me.  I was so choked up, I couldn't reply immediately.  I just hugged him for a minute and finally said "I will".  Matthew is used to me only being home a few days and didn't realize that I would be in New York for eleven days due to my holiday break at South Carolina.

After both kids went to school, my wife dropped me off at the Bellmore Train Station to take a train into the city.   I was heading to New York Law School for a work related matter and to visit two old friends there I used to work with at Hofstra, Oral Hope and Pete Trimarchi.  I was there for ninety minutes looking over a very impressive building with great views of Tribeca and the city.  Finally I had to say my goodbyes to Oral and Pete and head towards Canal street for the second part of my day.

I took the number six train from Canal street north to Grand Central Station.   I was meeting my friend Tieff at the famous Grand Central clock above the Metro North Information Booth to take a train up to New Rochelle.   If that sounds familiar to my marines, aka the few, the proud, the readers of my site, that's where Iona College is located.  Yes, I was heading there to see Coach Tony Bozzella's Gaels take on Colgate.

I have been to Grand Central before, most recently last year to hang out with a good friend, the beautiful Cecilia Guerra, for drinks at one of the great bars located in the lower concourse and then we met up with another good friend, Andrew Wilson for a dinner at a Mexican restaurant nearby Grand Central.  This time, I was standing in the middle of the station, trying to avoid passersby and tourists taking pictures of their loved ones in front of the famous clock.  As it always is with Tieff, he was running late and got there a few minutes before the 1:10 New Haven train was leaving.  But, I came prepared having already bought two one way tickets for New Rochelle.

We made our train to New Rochelle.  Our friend Mal was picking us up at the Chase Manhattan building right near the New Rochelle terminal.  But as we got off the train, we had a surprise.  The great Jaden Daly, author of the Daly Dose of Hoops site, where I have been a contributor a couple of times this season, had been on the previous train to New Rochelle.  We had been in touch via Twitter and Jaden decided to wait for us at the station.  We talked hoops as we normally do as we walked to meet Mal, who drove us to Iona College.

We got to the Hynes Center just in time for the national anthem and walked into the gym during introductions.  Coach Bozzella smiled as we said hi and made our way up to seats behind the Iona bench.  The Gaels hadn't played in two weeks due to finals but they had a nice crowd, larger than anticipated, there to greet them back to the land of non conference Division I conference basketball.

Last season, Iona played at Colgate.  The Raiders ran out to a 46-18 halftime lead.  The Gaels could never recover and lost 75-50.  Several of the players from that Colgate team returned for yesterday's game, including sophomore Mariah Jones, who scored fifteen points in the win over Iona.

In the first ten minutes, you could tell Iona hadn't played in two weeks.  They struggled holding onto the ball, committing ten turnovers.  Fortunately, the Gaels were playing good defense and the Gaels led 8-7 nearly halfway through the first half.

Bozzella went to a smaller lineup and something clicked with this young Iona team (only one senior on the team, starting guard Haley D'Angelo).  The Gaels rolled off a 20-3 run over the next seven minutes.  Freshman forward Joy Adams scored eight of those twenty points and Iona had a 28-10 lead.

During this run, Adams drove for an impressive layup. It was right after this that Jaden and I noticed Coach Bozzella actually smile during a game for one of the rare times we could remember.  Freshman Aaliyah Robinson finished the first half by burying a three pointer and the Gaels went into the locker room up 36-17 at the half. Iona shot exactly fifty percent from the field in the first half.

After being a guest of the always terrific radio play by play man of the Iona Gaels, Nick Guerriero, on the halftime show, I was looking forward to see how this Gaels team would play in the second half.  Young teams often find it difficult to play consistently over forty minutes.    The Gaels wouldn't disappoint me in the second half.

Iona went out on a 15-6 spurt over the next six minutes to go up 51-23 with fourteen minutes left in the game. Freshman point guard Aleesha Powell scored seven of those points whole Damika Martinez added six points during that spurt.  Powell was particularly impressive in the second half, scoring ten points in the final twenty minutes of the game.  She was also very much under control and shot three of five from beyond the arc and six of ten from the field for the game.

Bozzella rested his starters for much of the second half.  Eleven players played seven or minutes on the day.  But the reserves didn't let up on the Raiders as the Gaels lead never dipped below twenty three points the rest of the way.  After losing to the Raiders by twenty five points a year ago, the Gaels returned the favor, leading from start to finish as they won by twenty six points, 73-47.

Martinez led all scorers with seventeen points, while Powell added fifteen points and Adams added another double double with ten points and twelve rebounds.  D'Angelo had a strong game at point guard with six assists and only one turnover.   In the final thirty minutes of the game, Iona had twenty assists and only seven turnovers.

The Gaels also did a terrific job on defense. They held the Raiders to twenty seven percent shooting from the field and had fifteen steals, scoring sixteen points off turnovers.  Finally, Colgate's Jones, who had scored fifteen points vs. Iona in the Raiders' win last season, was held scoreless on the day, with only five shot attempts for the game.

Afterwards, Mal, Tieff and I went up to see Coach Bozzella (Jaden left to cover the St John's game last night), Associate Head Coach Christi Abbate and Assistant Coach Lauren DeFalco.  It was good to be around so many old friends again.  We talked about our families, our Christmas plans, college basketball of course, golf and the next women's game against Stony Brook on December 30.

This was the first of many New York college basketball games that I will be attending over the next several days while I am back up here.  After every Iona women's game, the PA system plays "Back in the New York Groove" .

While it lasts, it truly is good to be back in a New York college basketball groove.

Old Friends and Blue Devils (Recap of Iona vs. Duke Women's Game)

My time in New York last weekend was short. My flight from Charlotte got in to Kennedy Airport in NY at 9:00 PM Friday night. I spent most of Saturday celebrating my younger son’s birthday, sans the time I was at Hofstra for the 2K Classic games.

I flew back to Charlotte Sunday morning. But I wasn’t alone. My friend Tieff came with me for another basketball road trip. This time it was a drive up to Durham to see our good friend, Anthony Bozzella coach his Iona Women’s Basketball Team against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

I have known Coach Bozzella for as long as I have known Tieff.   They went to Glen Cove High School together and we have become very good friends over the years since we met in college. When Coach Bozzella told me weeks ago that he was playing Duke at Cameron, I immediately had November 18 circled on the calendar. I was not passing up the chance to see a longtime friend.

Also I couldn’t pass up a chance to see one of the most famous college basketball arenas in the country.  I have tried my best over the years to see some of the best college basketball venues in the country.  Three years ago, I was fortunate to go to Allen Field House to see Kansas host Hofstra.

The drive from Charlotte International Airport to Durham, where Duke is located, is a little more than two and a half hours. We stopped for breakfast in High Point, at where else, Waffle House.  As we went back to my car, we noticed a dog in the driver's seat in the van.  I had to take this picture because he really looked like he had wanted to drive.

This was not my first trip to Duke.  I had been to Duke a couple of times a few years ago, once on vacation with my family and once as a finalist for a job interview at the Duke Engineering School. When I was with my family, we went to the Duke Memorial Gardens, which is one of the nicest gardens on the East Coast.

But I can't remember driving through the Duke Forest, let alone knowing that there was a Duke Forest. Turns out, as their web site notes, the Duke Forest is over 7,000 acres and has been used for research and teaching purposes since 1931.  It made for a scenic drive to the Duke campus.

When I was here last for that finalist interview in October 2008, I was quite enamored with the campus.  Having worked in academia for twenty eight years, I have seen many college campuses.  Based on the building architecture, the memorial gardens and the forest, I'd have to say Duke so far is probably my favorite campus that I have seen in all my years.   But until last Sunday, I had not seen, let alone been in, Cameron Indoor Stadium.

When we got the to stadium, we got our tickets at will call and then had to wait a couple of minutes for the media passes.  The folks at Duke couldn't have been nicer and the wait was short.  As we entered the arena,  you are struck by a few things.  One, it's incredibly well designed for a seventy two year old arena.  I could see why it's so loud on TV.  It's perfectly enclosed and all the wood from the renovations in the late 80's makes it very picturesque.  If you didn't know what state you were in, you would swear it's where they play state championships in Indiana (yup, the movie "Hoosiers" is always foremost on my brain).

The second immediate thing you notice when you take your seats, especially behind the visitor's bench is all the banners.  Yes, Duke has won a few NCAA Tournaments, a few ACC championships and had a couple of very good players.  Yes, I am being sarcastic.  Try a lot of NCAA Tournaments, a lot of ACC Championships and a lot of really good players.  So there is a lot of history that goes with Cameron.

The announced attendance was a little over 4,000 for this 9,300 seat arena.  It seemed like there were less people in the seats than that.  But let me tell you something, whatever the crowd size was, it was still loud in Cameron at game time.  I could just imagine how loud it is when the men play in front of an always sold out Carmeon Crazies crowd (we could have actually stayed for the men's game being played later that night, but we had to get back to Columbia).  Cameron holds sound really well.

Iona came out unfazed at the start of the game.  The Gaels were able to run their offense for a good part of the half, especially at the beginning.  Aleesha Powell buried a three and Sabrina Jeridore later followed with a jumper.  Three minutes into the game, Iona led 5-4 over the number three ranked team in the country.

But Duke is ranked third in the country for a reason.  They have size, strength, depth and pass the ball exceptionally well.  And the Blue Devils quickly ended the brief Gaels' lead with a 14-0 run over the next three minutes.  Chelsea Gray, Duke's strong point guard started it with a three point play. Then Blue Devils' six foot five center Allison Vernerey scored the next six points.  Duke went up 18-5.

Haley D'Angelo briefly ended the Duke run with a three pointer to put Iona down ten points.  But again, the Blue Devils would respond with another run, this time outscoring the Gaels 12-1 over the next six minutes. Again it was mostly Vernerey doing the damage.  Joy Adams jumper temporarily stopped the bleeding for Iona, but they were now down 30-11.

What struck me was that Iona was able to run their offense.  They actually got a good number of looks in the first half.  But Duke's height and more importantly their strength affected Iona.  The Blue Devils athleticism sped up the game that it through Iona off.   Shots the Gaels would make against lesser opponents, like in their wins over Navy and Long Beach State, were rushed or altered due to Duke's size and speed.

And what made Duke really scary was that perhaps their most athletic player, forward Elizabeth Williams, was coming off the bench.  However, the player on Duke I was most impressed with was point guard Chelsea Gray.  In a game, as Coach Bozzella noted later in his press conference, where Duke could have become easily undisciplined considering the score, Gray kept her composure the entire game.  She had eight assists with zero turnovers.  And Gray is so big and strong. She doesn't look like your prototypical point guard.  But she was incredibly effective and has great court awareness.

Duke continued to extend the lead and would enter the half up 57-18.  A few minutes before halftime, I ventured upstairs because I was the halftime guest on the Iona Women's radio show with the great Nick Guerriero, who does play by play for the women's game and is the Assistant Sports information Director for Iona.

The radio booth is above section seven in the arena.  To get up there, you have to inform the staff member that you have to get into the booth.  Then they pull the ladder down onto the stairwell and you climb up.  It's as old school as you can get and it's kind of neat.  Plus you have a great view of the arena from the booth.

After talking on the halftime show with Nick, who always asks good questions, I went back down to my seat behind the Iona bench.  The second half was similar to the first.  The Blue Devils' size, strength and athleticism were too much for the Gaels.

One play in particular in the second half stood out at me.  Iona's Cassidee Ranger had buried a three pointer earlier in the second half from the corner, in front of the Iona bench.  She again appeared to have an open look this time.  But Williams flew over and swatted the ball over the Iona bench, into the second row, right in front of us.  I nearly had a basketball in my lap.  It was an impressive feat.

Duke would go onto a 100-31 win over Iona.  Vernerey led five Duke players in double figures scoring with twenty two points. The Blue Devils out rebounded the Gaels 56-37 and had twenty six assists to only eight turnovers. They also

Despite the score, there were several bright spots for the Gaels.  As I noted and as the score didn't show, Iona was able to get a lot of open looks and ran their offense surprisingly well.   The shots just didn't fall.  Against a much taller, stronger front line, Iona's Adams had ten rebounds, including six on the offensive end.  Adams is only a freshman and a real find for the Gaels.  Powell, despite six turnovers, ran the offense quite well and will cause grief once she gets into MAAC conference play.  And Damika Martinez, who came into the game averaging 24 points per game, will not have many games where she is held to three points, like she was against Duke.

At the post game news conference, Coach Bozzella stated that a lot of  credit should go to the Duke conditioning coach.  He was real impressed with their strength.  Coach Bozzella was also pleased with his team's play.  He stated that when the Gaels get into conference play, those shots will fall and he won't face teams anywhere as strong as Duke (they actually played #18 St John's a lot closer a few days later, only losing by sixteen 71-55 after only being down seven midway in the second half).

After the press conference, we waited around a few minutes before visiting the coach in the locker room. He was very happy to see us and very upbeat about his team's play. Coach Bozzella knows that he only has one senior starter, who was a reserve last season.  It's a young team and he knows they will only get better.

After he got dressed, we said our goodbyes. They had to get on the bus to get back to Raleigh airport to fly home.  We had to get back to South Carolina.   We wished each other well and a safe trip back.  Tieff and I headed back to my house in Columbia, but not before we hit a Golden Corral.  We both always wanted to see what the fuss was about.  And actually, the food was pretty good.  And yes, I did dip a marshmallow in "The Chocolate Wonderfall".   Not bad.

It was great to see a dear friend as well as a great college basketball venue.  One more item off the college basketball bucket list.