A Night of Havoc in Brooklyn (Recap of Boston College vs. VCU)

After having watched St John's defeat Seton Hall at Carnesecca Arena in the first Big East Women's Basketball Conference game for both teams,  my friend Tony Terentieff (aka Tieff), my color analyst, aka my older son Matthew and I headed off to Mineola train station to take a train ride to Atlantic Terminal to see the Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival Tripleheader at the Barclays Center.

We got there at halftime of the Tulane-Kansas State game, the second game of the holiday hoops trifecta.  After grabbing dinner at the Brooklyn Burger concessions stand, we headed to our seats in Section 20, Row 17.   Shortly after we got there, once again we ran into my good friend, Jaden Daly, who just got there himself after covering the St John's-Seton Hall game as well.  Jaden was kind enough to let me charge my iPhone after I stupidly left my car charger in my car back in Levittown at my in-laws' house. 

Not too long after, John Templon of Big Apple Buckets joined us and we had a reunion of local New York basketball bloggers.  It was a good talk about local metro NYC area basketball, specifically NEC, MAAC and Ivy League basketball as John and Jaden traded their scheduled game coverage for the next few weeks.  I just sat and admired as they talked about the games they were planning to cover, as I miss being able to cover several New York games in a week.  We also talked about how ridiculously good Stony Brook's Jameel Warney is and whether the Ivy can be a two bid conference this season (Harvard and Princeton).  

After Jaden and John said their goodbyes to go cover the remaining twenty minutes of the Tulane game as well as the BC-VCU game,  Matthew, Tieff and I watched the second half of the Green Wave-Wildcats game.  Tulane was playing in its second Winter Hoops Festival in a row, having routed Hofstra last year.  This year, the Green Wave had scored a whopping ten points in the first half.    Tulane scored the first five points of the second half to cut the lead to thirteen, 28-15, as they finally figured out that they should drive the lane against the Wildcats.   

Alas, Kansas State was toying with Tulane, as the Wildcats outscored the Green Wave 44-26 the rest of the second half to win convincingly 72-41.   Shane Southwell, a local kid from Harlem that former K-State coach Frank Martin recruited to Manhattan, Kansas, returned to Brooklyn to lead the Wildcats with 19 points.  Southwell hit five of nine shots from beyond the arc as Kansas State shot twelve of twenty seven from three point land.  The Wildcats also had nineteen assists and thirteen steals.

The lone hightlight for the Green Wave fans in our section was that after much chanting, seldom used, senior guard Max Keenan entered the game late for Tulane.   Most likely, his fans were family and they were excited after Keenan fired an open look three in the last minute of the game.   Much to his fans' dismay, Keenan's shot was slightly off the mark.   Kansas State junior guard Shane Meyer, also seldom used, hit a pretty up and under layup and one, much to the delight of the Wildcats' bench.  Meyer hit the free throw to make the final score margin thirty one points.   It was the most points Meyer had scored in a game in his three year career at Kansas State.

During the break between games,  Tieff, Matthew and I went to get dessert.  There is a Junior's Cheesecake/Blue Marble Custard concession stand at Barclay's.  Tieff wanted the custard, but not having Junior's cheesecake in ages,  I had the Devil's Food Cheesecake.  I think I won out on the dessert match-up.

I didn't see the St John's- Columbia game, but having seen Tulane-Kansas State, it looked like VCU brought the only pep band.  But if you're going to have only one pep band play at the Winter Hoops Festival, you might as well have THE PEP BAND to play at the tripleheader.  Known as "The Peppas", the VCU pep band is simply the best college basketball pep band in the country (with George Mason's pep band a close second).   On the evening, the Peppas started with Toto's "Africa", did an amazing version of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" and of course, "You Don't Want to Go To War", along with a lot of other great versions of songs.

The Rams entered the game 10-3 on the season, which certainly is a solid record.  But VCU had entered the season nationally ranked and a lot is expected of the Rams this season.   Much of it is due to their talent and experience, as well as the fact that the Rams have been very successful the past three NCAA Tournaments under Shaka Smart.   Also, the expectations are based on their unique, aggressive press defense, known as "Havoc".  Entering the game, VCU was first in the country in steals, averaging over twelve steals per game.  The Rams also entered the game averaging +7.8 in turnover margin.  The problem for VCU has been taking advantage of that turnover margins, as they are eleventh in the A-10 in shooting percentage at 42.4 percent.

On the other hand, Boston College had entered the game struggling at 4-8.   Steve Donahue, who led Cornell to three straight Ivy League Championships and a Sweet 16 in 2010, is in his fourth season as head coach of the Eagles.  In his first season, Donahue led BC to a second round NIT appearance, but it has been downhill since with a 9-22 record in 2011-12 and 16-17 last season. 

Early on in the game, both teams struggled to score points.  Due to "Havoc", Boston College kept turning the ball over.  However, VCU could not take advantage due to poor shooting and poor shot selection.  At one point, Mike Litos noted that the Rams has forced ten turnovers but only scored five points on those turnovers.  This was due to VCU taking too many three pointers.  The Rams were three of fifteen in the first half from beyond the arc.

The Eagles jumped out to an 8-3 lead early.  After a quick VCU timeout, the Rams responded with a 7-0 spurt to take a 10-8 lead.  BC tied it up at ten on another Ryan Anderson dunk, his third of the game, all of those came about when the Eagles were able to break the press.  After eight and a half minutes, the game was tied at ten.  The bright side was that both teams had already matched Tulane's output for the entire first half of their game.

The rest of the first half would be mini spurts.  VCU would go on a 6-0 mini spurt to take a 16-10 lead. BC responded with a 7-0 run to take a 17-16 advantage.  But the Rams would score the last six points to enter the half up 22-17.

At halftime, I met up with my friend and VCU's most famous fan, Chris "Pav" Crowley.   As I noted to DefiantlyDutch in a tweet, Pav can be seen everywhere with his Ram horns.   Pav got his nickname due to his terrific opera voice and his Pavarotti looks.   It was good catching up with him and we got this picture together.  Pav hilariously noted later in a tweet that the backdrop of our picture was the best photobomb ever.  

Coach Smart must have said something to his team at halftime, because the Rams went inside in the second half.  In the first half, Rams forwards Treveon Graham and Juvante Reddic, the two leading scorers for VCU, combined for only four points.  In the first few minutes of the second half, Graham had two layups and Reddic added another during a 11-4 spurt to put the Rams up 33-21.  

After the BC got within nine points, 35-26,  VCU went on a 14-1 run over the span of three minutes.  Reddic's layup and put the Rams up twenty points.  Then Melvin Johnson forced the Eagles's sixth turnover of the second half and his layup capped the run to put VCU up 49-27 with 10:45 left in the game.  

It was clear before the start of the game that the majority of fans that were left in the building were wearing the gold and black of VCU.   And with the huge run by the Rams, their fans turned the Barclays Center into the Richmond Coliseum during VCU's days in the CAA Tournament.  And things got worse for the few BC fans left in attendance when Graham buried a three pointer to put the Rams up twenty six, 65-39 with four and a half minutes left in the game.  It was clearly evident to me that VCU had the superior talent, athleticism and aggressiveness over an ACC team.  It was only two seasons ago that the Rams were still in the CAA.

All that was left was both teams clearing their benches and an 11-4 Eagles' game ending spurt to make the game ending margin closer than it was for a good part of the second half.   The Peppas played a set to close out the festivities and a VCU 69-50 win.  

Reddic (14 points) and Graham (13 points) combined for 23 second half points.  Rob Brandenburg added 13 points and Melvin Johnson had 12 points for the Rams.  VCU had 11 steals, forced 23 BC turnovers, and held the Eagles to 38 percent shooting, including 3 of 18 from beyond the arc.

Oliver Hanlan led BC and all scorers with 17 points.  Anderson added 13 points for the Eagles.  BC is now headed into ACC play with a 4-9 record.   VCU starts their A-10 season with an 11-3 record.

As Matthew, Tieff and I headed out of the Barclays Center, we were glad in the fact that for the second year in a row, we got to see multiple college basketball games on a cold late December day.  Nothing warms you up during the holiday season like seeing college basketball and reuniting with good friends. 

And considering we saw VCU, there's also nothing like a little Havoc during the holiday season.  

A Night of Havoc (Recap of VCU v. Charlotte)

Some days don't go as you plan. I had made plans for quite some time for yesterday. Hofstra was playing at UNC Wilmington. I had media credentials waiting for me, plus I was going to see my friend Brian Mull, the terrific beat writer for the Wilmington Star as well as my friend Hofstra Head Coach Mo Cassara, who I haven't seen in a long time since I moved down to Columbia, South Carolina.

Wilmington, North Carolina is a three hour and fifteen minutes drive from Columbia, South Carolina. As I started driving on I-20 at 7:30 AM, my "Check Engine" light came on. Never a good thing. But perhaps it was something minor, perhaps a sign that it was time for an oil change (which I was due for). So I found the closest Jiffy Lube, which wasn't that close to the interstate.

The service manager at Jiffy Lube told me that the light indicated a temperature sensor issue, either a coolant issue or perhaps the water pump and that the light would stay on until I took it to a repair shop to have an engine diagnostic done. Turns out also my transmission fluid was badly needed to flushed out on my 126,000 mile 2001 Honda Accord. So I agreed to a quick oil change and the transmission fluid flush.

So I got back on the road around 8:45 AM. I still could make it to Wilmington on time. But it was still about three hours away. With my family still in New York until the house closes (which is soon), I couldn't risk having my car breakdown on the highway. Thus, I sadly turned back and drove to Midlands, Honda in Columbia. I got in touch with Brian and Coach Cassara to let them know I couldn't make it.

The Honda service manager quickly took the notes on the car and noted that there was also a recent recall for the passenger airbag. I had got that recall letter and knew it had to be fixed too. As I sat in the amazing waiting room with the HD 3D TV showing "The Dark Knight" while drinking hot chocolate, I briefly lamented the fact that I would not see Brian, Coach Cassara and what turned out to be Hofstra's first road win of the season, which was a terrific effort by the Pride.

However, I had known in the back of my head that Charlotte was hosting VCU at Halton Arena last night. I had brought my IPad to write my story for the Hofstra-UNC Wilmington game and Midlands Honda had free WiFI. Were tickets still available? As I went on the Charlotte 49ers ticket site, the answer was YES! Thus I got one ticket.

It turns out it was just a sensor issue. I got my car back shortly before noon and I drove home. There I watched the Hofstra-UNC Wilmington game online, where the Pride rallied from a ten point first half deficit to defeat the Seahawks 65-56. Then after quickly sweeping up the house floors and taking a nap, I made the now familiar drive up to the campus of Charlotte.

I got my ticket from will call and entered the Student Center, where Halton Arena is located. After my ticket was scanned in, an usher asked if I wanted a program. I said "Yes, thank you." In return, I got this gorgeous program. It looked like a yearbook/media guide to me. It's the nicest free program I have ever received at a college basketball game. Nice work Charlotte Athletic Department.

As I made my way to my seats, it was pretty evident that Ram Nation had made the trip in full force. There was a good number of fans in the gold and black colors of VCU. But they were minus Chris "Pav" Crowley, the ultimate VCU fan who I have become friends with over the past couple of years thanks to Twitter and the CAA community that the Rams were once part of until joining the A-10 this season. I have maintained ties to those knowledgable, fun VCU folks on Twitter. Pav couldn't make it last night. It was also Chris' birthday this week, so Happy Birthday Pav!

Entering the game, Charlotte had defended it's home court perfectly on the season, eleven straight wins. That included wins over good conference teams such as LaSalle,  a game that I saw in person, Xavier and U-Mass. Still one female fan sitting next to me asked her boyfriend "Is this the largest crowd of the season. Seems like it". Turns out it was the second largest crowd of the season, 8,794 in attendance. The previous home game vs. UMass had 9,100 in attendance.

This was going to be a battle between one of the top fifty teams in the country in effective field goal percentage defense, Charlotte, and the number one team in the country in defensive turnover percentage and steal percentage, VCU. I had seen Charlotte's guard length give LaSalle fits. But the 49ers were now without two of their best players. DeMario Mayfield, their best three point shooter, has been suspended from the team and J.T. Thompson is out for the season with a torn ACL.

The Charlotte pep band and student section were ready for Ram Nation. The band started with a very good version of Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" and were solid all night. The student section did their part during the VCU team introduction by drowning out Ram nation with a loud chant of "FORTY - NINERS".

Charlotte scored the first basket on a Willie Clayton offensive rebound and putback. But VCU responded with an 8-0 spurt, which included forcing two 49er turnovers. Rob Brandenburg's jumper put the Rams up 8-2 barely with 16:55 left in the first half.

Barely three minutes into the game, Charlotte senior forward Chris Braswell was already incurring the wrath of the fans in my section, 217 Row K. Braswell had missed three jumpers and committed a turnover. When they saw Braswell camped out by the three point line, which he is warranted to do sometimes, one fan yelled "Braswell, don't shoot a three pointer, because you always miss them!" The fan knew what he was talking about as Braswell attempts nearly two three point attempts per game and is shooting 22.5 percent from beyond the arc on the season.

VCU extended their lead to ten, 18-8 on a Treveon Graham three pointer. Nine minutes into the game, the Rams had forced five turnovers and hit on more than half their shots. A Juvonte Reddic jumper with about eight and a half minutes left in the half kept VCU's lead at ten, 22-12.

But Charlotte ramped up their intensity on both sides of the ball and went on a 10-0 run over the next four plus minutes. The 49ers gave the Rams a little bit of their own medicine, forcing two turnovers in the span, which led to four Charlotte points. Terrance Williams' jumper tied the game at 22 with a little more than four minutes left in the half. The 49ers' fans were the loudest I had heard them in the three Charlotte games I had attended on the season. Shaka Smart was forced to call timeout as Halton Arena was rocking.

But off the timeout, Smart got the ball in the hands of Brandenburg who calmly buried a three pointer to put VCU up three, 25-22. The next play that ensued was the craziest play on the night. Chris Braswell had an open two on one break for an easy layup. But as he awkwardly dribbled toward the basket, he fumbled the ball, much to the displeasure of the fans by me. But fortunately for Braswell, Clayton was there and put in the layup to cut the Rams lead to one, 25-24.

VCU though would end the half outscoring Charlotte 9-4. With 00.1 seconds left in the half, Theus leaned into Charlotte's Pierria Henry on a jumper. The jumper was good and the foul was called on Henry. Theus would make the free throw and the Rams would go into halftime up 34-28.

After an entertaining halftime show by a local acrobatic fitness group (Astro Fitness I believe), the 49ers had an inauspicious start to the second half. They committed turnovers on each of their first two possessions. However Charlotte maintained their striking distance to VCU, still only down six, 41-35 with fifteen and a half minutes in the game.

But the turnovers kept coming for the 49ers. Their fourth and fifth turnovers on consecutive possessions led to Rams' baskets. After Henry committed a turnover, Reddic's layup put VCU up ten, 45-35 with fourteen minutes left in the game. A Brandenburg layup and two Reddic free throws extended the Rams lead to twelve, 49-37.

The 49ers chipped away at the lead with a 5-0 mini spurt over two plus minutes. A layup by Hentry made it 49-42 with 8:54 left. But Charlotte could have made the score much closer in that time frame had they not missed four free throws; two by Clayton, one by Darion Clark and one by Braswell, who was ingratiating himself with the fans more and more as the game progressed.

After Henry's layup cut the lead to seven, sensing a momentum shift, Smart again called timeout. And again off the timeout, it was Brandenburg who made the 49ers pay for their missed chances. He buried a three pointer and followed with a layup to extend the Rams lead back to twelve, 54-42 with seven a half minutes left.

Charlotte again responded with four straight points to cut the lead to eight again, 54-46. But for the third time in the game, Smart called timeout. And for the third time again, Brandenburg responded burying a three to put the Rams up eleven, 57-46 with six minutes left. A little bit later, Troy Daniels finally got into the act, hitting his first three pointer on the night to put the Rams up twelve, 62-48 with four and a half minutes left in the game.

It was at this time that the 49ers' fans had seen enough. They started leaving in droves. And even when Terrance Williams' ridiculously banked in a three pointer to make the score 66-57 with one minute left, the mass exodus from Halton Arena was well under way. The 49ers put in a meaningless last second basket to make the final VCU 68 Charlotte 61. Thus ended the 49ers undefeated streak at Halton this season.

With Graham in foul trouble for most of the game, Brandenburg and Reddic stepped up for the Rams. Brandenberg had twenty one points on seven of twelve shooting including three 3-pointers. Reddic added fourteen points on six of nine shooting and added three blocks and two steals. Graham still had twelve points for the Rams who shot nearly fifty two percent from the field against one of the better field goal defensive teams in the nation. VCU also scored twenty three points off seventeen Charlotte turnovers.

Charlotte had a good shooting night against VCU, shooting over fifty one percent themselves. But what killed the 49ers was a) The turnovers, b) Shooting one of seven from beyond the arc (Williams' lucky three was the only three pointer for Charlotte on the night), while VCU shot seven of eighteen from beyond the arc and c) an abysmal twelve of twenty two from the line. Willliams had thirteen points and Clayton added twelve. With Mayfield now gone for the rest of the season, Charlotte's other two leading scorers on the season, Braswell and Henry, combined for only sixteen points on five of nineteen shooting (the rest of Charlotte shot nineteen of twenty eight from the field.

With the win, VCU remains tied for first in the tight Atlantic-10 with Butler and Saint Louis at 7-2. With the loss, Charlotte dropped all the way to a seventh place with Temple and George Washington , two teams that have beaten them, at 5-4. The bright side for the 49ers is that UMass, LaSalle and Xavier are all tied for fourth at 6-3. Charlotte has already beaten all three of those teams.

Only two games separate the first place team from the ninth place team in the Atlantic-10. The Atlantic-10 is the perfect microcosm to the wild 2012-13 college basketball season. Perhaps it's not just a night of havoc, but a season of havoc.

That's VCU's type of season.

Four on the Floor for the Week of December 10

It’s time for our weekly segment – Four on the Floor. This is where we look at four teams and in the case of this week, why they are all successful.  One team, VCU, is now well known to most college basketball fans. The other three teams aren't so well known.

VCU

Shaka Smart’s Rams are in the thick of things again in college basketball this season.  Despite being only 6-3, the Rams have looked particularly impressive in wins over Memphis and Belmont and close losses to Duke, Missouri and Wichita State (those three teams are a combined 26-1).  Their average margin of victory in their six wins is an astounding twenty two points per game.

Last season’s success was based mostly on their ability to turn over the ball on their opponents as VCU was first in turnover percentage defense and steal percentage.  They were also twenty seventh in the country in turnover percentage offense, so when they stole the ball, they held onto it well.  This season the Rams are tenth in turnover percentage defense and fourth in the country in steal percentage defense.  Briante Weber averages over three steals per game for VCU.

This season, the Rams are statistically much better overall than the 2011-12 team that made the third round of the NCAA Tournament and nearly made the Sweet Sixteen. Last season the team was statistically in the lower third in three point percentage offense, two point percentage offense and free throw percentage.  This season, VCU is in the top one hundred in three point percentage offense and two point percentage offense, as well as thirty sixth in offensive rebound percentage.

The concern going into this season was who was going to fill Bradford Burgess’ scoring shoes.  Well, three players in particular, Treveon Graham, Juvonte Reddic and Rob Brandenberg have stepped up and increased their scoring averages from last season.   Graham averages fifteen points and five rebounds per game while shooting fifty percent from the field.  Reddic averages over fourteen points per game, eight rebounds, nearly two steals and shoots fifty nine percent from the field.

The Rams are averaging seven more points per game this season compared to last season.   VCU has five straight non conference home games before A-10 play.  Three games won’t be easy as Alabama, Western Kentucky and Lehigh combined are 22-6.  But considering they have played the Shockers, Blue Devils and two sets of Tigers (Missouri and Memphis), they should be prepared.

Canisius

The Golden Griffins won all of five games in the 2011-12 season.  It was the last season for former coach Tom Parrotta, who was fired in March.   Former Rhode Island coach Jimmy Baron was hired.   He brought his son Billy with him and instant success as well.  Already the Griffs are “bowl eligible”, having won more games than last season.   Their only loss came at 7-2 Stony Brook.  The Griffs already are 2-0 in the MAAC, which is more conference wins than they had all of last season.  Both of those conference games also came on the road.

Simply put, Canisius’ success lies in their offense.  They are thirty sixth in the country in scoring, averaging just under seventy eight points per game.  The Griffs are in the top one hundred in just about every offensive category. They stand out in particular in effective field goal percentage, fifty fourth at 52.2 percent.

Canisius is led by their two guards Harold Washington and Baron, who combine for twenty six points, eight rebounds and eight assists per game.  Washington is shooting a scorching fifty six percent from beyond the arc.   And the Griffs are a deep team, as nine players average fifteen minutes or more per game.

Three of the Griffs’ next four non conference games are all tough ones on the road – at #4 Syracuse, at Temple and at #20 UNLV (they also play at Detroit late this month).    However the Griffs should win their home games vs. Longwood and Alcorn State.   With a seemingly down year for the MAAC, it’s quite possible that Canisius will finish with a winning record.  Considering the Griffs haven’t had a winning record this decade that would be an amazing feat.

Middle Tennessee

Name the Sun Belt team with the most wins last season?  Yes, it was the Blue Raiders with twenty seven wins.   But they got upset in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament and ended up in the NIT where they made the quarterfinals before losing to Minnesota.  MT has picked up where they left off with a 7-2 record, which includes a home win over Mississippi.

The Blue Raiders win by making their opponents cough up the ball, cleaning up the offensive glass and hitting three pointers.  Middle Tennessee is thirty eighth in turnover percentage defense, forty seventh in steal percentage, forty sixth in offensive rebound percentage and fifty fifth in three point field goal percentage offense.

The Blue Raiders only have two players who average double digits in scoring.  Marcos Knight and Shawn Jones combine for twenty three points and twelve rebounds per game.  What helps Middle Tennessee is that they have ten players who average thirteen minutes or more per game.  Including Marcos Knight and Jones, they have eight players who average five or more points per game.

Middle Tennessee has some in state rivalry games before they continue conference play on December 29.  They are at Belmont tonight and have a neutral site game vs. Vanderbilt on December 21.  Pomeroy has the Blue Raiders winning twenty six games and going 18-2 in conference, similar to last season.  Hopefully this time it leads to a NCAA berth for the Blue Raiders.

Eastern Kentucky

OK, name the only team in the state of Kentucky undefeated?  Kentucky?  Of course not.  Murray State?  Nope, lost to Colorado in the Charleston Classic.   And it’s not Western Kentucky.  It’s the Colonels of Eastern Kentucky.

So how have the Colonels won nine straight games?  It’s because they force teams to turn the ball over and they score in the paint.  The Colonels are second in the country in turnover percentage defense at 29.3 percent and nineteenth in the country in steal percentage defense at 14.1 percent.  Eastern Kentucky is FIRST in the country in two point field goal percentage offense at 59.5 percent, eleventh in the country in effective field goal percentage at 56.4 percent and thirteenth in the country in field goal percentage at 49.5 percent.  Simply put, they make you cough up the ball and then make you pay for it.

Three players on Eastern Kentucky shoot over sixty percent from the field.  Glenn Cosey averages nearly eighteen points per game while shooting fifty one percent from the field, including 46.6 percent from beyond the arc.  His teammate, Mike DiNunno averages fourteen points, forty eight percent from the field and shoots forty five percent from beyond the arc.

Belmont and Murray State get all the notoriety in the Ohio Valley, but Eastern Kentucky’s stats show that they are the third team to reckon with in the conference.   They have an incredibly tough test at undefeated and tenth ranked Illinois on Sunday as well as a tough game at West Virginia at the end of the month.   But you have to root for a team with an ABA team name (Colonels).

As Usual, Havoc Prevails (Recap of Northeastern vs. VCU CAA Quarterfinal)

Coach Bill Coen had a huge task before him on Saturday evening.  His Northeastern team was playing VCU in the Richmond Coliseum in a "neutral" site game.  But as most people who follow the CAA know, that's about as neutral as Rush Limbaugh being a moderator in a Planned Parenthood debate. Still, the man who's suit jacket started a Twitter account would have his team ready, especially after a tough first round win over William and Mary.

The Richmond Coliseum was a sea of yellow as the Evening Session was sold out.  An announced crowd of 11,200 roared as Shaka Smart walked on the court.  The inventor of "Havoc" has a rock star following with Rams' fans, not unlike Anthony Grant did when he was the previous coach.  The difference is the VCU administration made a huge investment after last season's Final Four run to keep Smart here hopefully for the forseeable future.

The Rams started out strong, quickly jumping out to an 11-3 lead as they forced three quick turnovers on the Huskies.  Coen called timeout as he needed to find some way to calm his team down and quiet the raucous, but "neutral" Coliseum crowd.

Much to their credit, Northeastern hung around, due in their large part to their defense.  VCU continued to force a lot of turnovers on the Huskies, but couldn't  cash in.  Over the last seven minutes and forty two seconds of the first half, the Rams scored a total of three points.   As a result, what was a nine point lead slowly whittled away.   Jonathan Lee buried a three pointer to tie the game at twenty six at the half.

The great thing about the CAA Tournament is all the wonderful bands.   ODU, Drexel, JMU and Towson all have good bands.  George Mason is probably a step above them and VCU is right there with Doc Nix and the boys.

At the start of the second, VCU went out to a lead but Northeastern kept within striking distance.  When the Huskies weren't turning the ball over, they had success scoring against the Rams.  Northeastern shot nearly fifty four percent in the second half and fifty one percent for the game. The score was only 40-34 with fourteen and a half minutes remaining.

But then the walls came crashing down as VCU turned up "Havoc".  The Rams forced five Huskies' turnovers in the span of eight minutes.  This time, the Rams cashed in on those opportunities as their bench spurred them on.  Rob Brandenberg and Treveon Graham combined for twenty two points in a 24-9 run, which included five three pointers.   Brandenberg nailed three shots from beyond the arc and the score was 64-43 with about seven and a half minutes left.

Northeastern did not quit and actually cut the lead to eight, 71-63 with a little over a minute left.  But the hole was too big for the Huskies to climb out from and the Rams went onto win 75-65.   Brandenberg had nineteen points and Graham added eighteen to lead the way for VCU.  The Rams forced twenty five turnovers and their bench outscored the Huskies Bench 46-4 on the night.

Northeastern gave a spirited effort.  Lee, Joel Smith and Quincy Ford, all who are coming back next season, combined for fifty points on 17 of 35 shooting.  Coen has a terrific nucleus to work from next season.

But in this game, that nucleus just wasn't enough in the end.  Havoc and a three point shooting frenzy was just too much for the Huskies.

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.