BBQ and BBall in Newark, as Hofstra Defeats Delaware

My son Jonathan has been getting up early all week.  As in between 4:30 - 5:30A.M. early.   Now for the first five days of the week, I was not too thrilled.  But yesterday, when Jonathan woke up at 5:30 AM, I didn't mind.   The first reason was that I needed to put the finishing touches on my "Iona Squared at the U" article.  The second reason, I was eager to get on the road to head to Delaware for some barbecue and basketball as Hofstra took on the University of Delaware Saturday afternoon.

I had all the giddiness of a school boy about to go on a date with his grade school crush.  That's because I have always loved the road trip to Delaware.  First, road trips with my dear friend and partner in road trip crime Tony Terentieff  (otherwise known on this blog as Tieff) are always fun.  Second, the Bob Carpenter Center, aka The BOB, is a great place to see a basketball game.   Finally, the BOB has the best concessions area in the CAA, a barbecue stand with side dishes!

Over the years, we have made many road trips to CAA games, including Drexel, Delaware, Towson and of course Richmond for the CAA Tournament.  All those trips have in common the drive from the Southern State to the Belt Parkway to the NJ Turnpike to I-95.  The key is getting onto the Verrazano.   Once on there, we rarely have encountered a delay.  The problem is usually the Belt Parkway.

Yesterday was no exception.  As we approached Exit 13 on the Belt, we ran into a huge traffic jam.  We wondered at first if it was an accident.   I had the radio on WCBS 880 AM and WINS 1010 AM all throughout the drive.  There was no mention of delays on the Belt Parkway.  Yet here we were in bumper to bumper crawl behind a large Ford Econoline that had on the back "CHURCH VAN".  So we couldn't see really ahead of us.  My patience was wearing thin as I had nowhere to go while my stomach grumbled for the barbecue it craved.

I had my navigation system with me and our ETA that was originally 12:50 starting climbing.  12:55. 1:00. 1:10.   Finally Tieff wondered if it was a moving pothole repair crew.   As Tieff looked down at the road, he saw a freshly tar covered spot and showed me the evidence.   A short time later we finally made our way up to the pothole repair crew.  They blocked TWO lanes of the Belt and all the traffic was merging to one lane.  Unbelievable.   It ended up delaying us over THIRTY minutes.  

Needless to say I was fuming.  How dare the New York CITY DOT delay me from my barbecue roast beef sandwich!  I decided to channel my inner Tony Stewart.  I made up about ten minutes of time as we flew down the New Jersey Turnpike to I-95 and then to the University of Delaware exit.   We got to the Bob Carpenter Center around 1:20 PM.   After waiting in line, we parked behind the football stadium and walked to Will Call, where we had to pickup our online purchased tickets.

As we waited on line at Will Call, I ran into my friend, Mr. Defiantly Dutch, Jerry Beach.  Jerry immediately showed me his ticket for the game.  Hofstra was spelled "Hostra".   That should have warned me for what was about to happen next.

When I got to the ticket window, I gave the woman my ID and said "Tickets for Gary Moore".   She said is it under my name, I said "Yes."  She looked and then replied "Is it under any other name."  I replied "No, it's under my name."  Again she looked and she then asked  "Are you sure its not under another name or under Gary?"  Again I stated "It's under my name."  She then said "I don't have any tickets under your name."

Before I left the house, I wisely forwarded my Ticketmaster ticket receipt email message to my gmail account, so I would have that as my proof that I had purchased tickets.   So after her last pronouncement, I pulled out my IPod and showed her that I have this receipt email from Ticketmaster that I had purchased the tickets.   Immediately she said "Oh, that's the Ticketmaster Will Call. "  She quickly looked, found the tickets, gave them to me and said "Here are your tickets."

It was the most completely dumbfounding experience I had at a ticket window.  I showed the woman my ID.  All she had to do was look to see if I was in either the regular will call tickets or the Ticketmaster Will Call.  The sign above the outside ticket booth says "Will Call".  It doesn't differentiate between Ticketmaster and whatever other team or player Will Call tickets.   First, the NYC DOT, now a completely moronic experience at the Will Call window.   I needed barbecue stat.

We made our way into the BOB, going up the stairs to the main entry way for the Acierno Arena. And as we walked in, there was salvation.  The Barbecue Concession Stand.   Delicious roast pork, roast turkey and roast beef.   And there was no line.  Hallelujah!   Tieff and I quickly made our orders.  Roast Turkey sandwich platter for Tieff.  Roast  Beef sandwich platter for me.  And it was "Buy One Platter, Get the Second for Half Price".  How the hell can you beat that!    

Tieff bought lunch since I drove my car to the game and we sat down at the large roundtables next to the stand.  As  you can see from the picture next to the third paragraph, there was the roast beef sandwich with barbecue sauce, a generous helping of potato salad (the old fashioned German kind) and a generous helping of yummy mac and cheese.  All I can say was that as usual, it was truly delicious.  If you have never had the barbecue at a Delaware basketball game, well you are really missing out.

We got to our seats in Section 18, Row L a couple of minutes after tipoff.   It was a decent size crowd (listed attendance was 3,503),  and a couple of Pride fans I know made the trip out (probably for the BBQ too).  Hofstra was already ahead 2-0 and they were about to extend the lead to 7-0.  

The lead was extended to 22-10 on a Jenkins layup with about eight and a half minutes left in the first half.  Jenkins had seven points but it was Greg Washington who was the most impressive.  He hit a couple of his usual jumpers but on one play he took the ball at the top of the key, drove the lane and hit a layup.  Tieff and I were stunned.  Just stunned.  In four years we had never seen Washington do that.  And when you have your 6 foot 10 center making plays like that, it only helps expand the offense.

Another interesting development was that in the first half, Hofstra was getting rebounds, especially one David Imes.   Imes had nine rebounds, eight on the defensive end in the first half as Hofstra outrebounded Delaware 21-17.  When the Pride is limiting teams to one and done possessions, it becomes even more difficult to beat the team with best player in the CAA.

Hofstra only shot 40 percent in the first half but did an excellent job on Delaware holding the Blue Hens to 5 of 26 shooting from the field in the first half.  The Pride went into the half up 31-20 with Devon Saddler scoring 11 of the Blue Hens 20 first half points.

With the Blue Hen trying to rally the fans in the stands, the start of the second half saw Delaware starting to hit their shots while Hofstra looked stagnant on offense.  The Blue Hens outscored the Pride 8-2 to cut the lead to 33-28 with 16:25 left.   But Hofstra would respond with a 12-2 run as Mike Moore scored seven of those points.

The score was 43-30 with 13:44 left.  But Delaware has played tough at home, defeating ODU and taking VCU to overtime.  So it was not surprising that the Blue Hens made another run, outscoring the Pride 12-4 over the next six minutes.  Delaware was back within five, 47-42 with seven and half minutes left.

But as with the start of the second half, once Delaware got close, Hofstra would have a response.  The Pride would score the next six points.  Four free throws by Washington and Jenkins and a jumper by Moore put Hofstra up 53-42 with 5:42 left.  It looked as if the Pride had perhaps finally put out the fight in the Fightin Blue Hens.

But there's was still a few punches left in Delaware.  The Blue Hens would outscore the Pride 11-2 over the next three minutes.  A couple of three point bombs by Devon Saddler and Jawan Carter made the score 55-53.  The home fans at Acierno Arena were finally into the game cheering their team on.  Hofstra called timeout with 2:45 left to setup their offense.

With the home crowd loudly chanting defense,  Hofstra got the ball into Jenkins' hands, but he missed a three pointer.  However, Mike Moore got a huge offensive rebound and again Coach Mo Cassara called timeout with about two minutes left.  Once again, Jenkins got the ball and this time he hit the short jumper to put Hofstra up 57-53 with a little more than a minute and a half left.

But Delaware responded again, as Saddler, who had 25 points on the day, hit a short jumper with 47 seconds left to again cut the lead to two, 57-55 with 48 seconds left.   Coach Monte Ross called timeout to setup the Blue Hens defense.  They knew who would get the ball for Hofstra.

The Pride got the ball in the hands of their man Jenkins.  He wound the shot clock down and went on his patented drive to the basket.  As he put up his shot, he was fouled by Jamelle Hagins.  With a raucous crowd screaming for him to miss, Jenkins calmly hit two free throws to put the Pride up 59-55 with 16 seconds left.  

Delaware went back to their man Saddler.  But as Saddler went to put up a shot, Jenkins came over to help and blocked the shot.  Jenkins picked up the loose ball and immediately was fouled.  Two more free throws and the Pride went up 61-55 with nine seconds left.   Yves Jules forced Saddler to dribble up the court to take time off the clock.  Jules backed off Saddler, who sank another three pointer right at the buzzer.  The last three points didn't matter and only made the final score 61-58.  Another Hofstra road win.

The Pride were lead by of course Jenkins who had 23 points, 3 assists and that all important one block.  Moore had 17 points and Washington added 11 points.  Hofstra is now 15-1 when they have three or more players score in double digits.  Imes added three rebounds to his first half total for 12 rebounds in total.  Saddler was the only Blue Hen in double figures with his 25 points.  Jawan Carter, who came into the game averaging 15 points, only scored 9 points.

With the win, Hofstra is now 11-4 in the CAA, still tied with ODU for third place after the Monarchs trounced VCU at the Siegel Center on ESPN2.  The Pride are still up two games on Drexel, who barely squeaked by William and Mary at home 54-52, with three games left to play in conference.  Drexel is the only team that can deny Hofstra one of the four bye spots for the CAA Tournament after James Madison lost at George Mason.   Delaware is now 6-9 in conference in a three way tie for seventh in the CAA with UNC-Wilmington and Georgia State.

Despite the wonderful New York City Department of Transportation (dripping sarcasm) and a moronic Will Call system, it was still a great road trip.   And there was only way to celebrate Hofstra's sixth road win in the CAA this season.  A large Chocolate Truffle Blizzard at a Dairy Queen a mile away from the arena.  Blizzards always taste great.  But they taste even better after your team wins a big road game.

There are still at least two road trips left for me.  One is the road trip this coming Friday to Dayton for the Hofstra vs. Wright State BracketBuster.  Then in less than three weeks, it's the annual trek to Richmond for the CAA Tournament.    Two more times to have fun watching basketball.   And definitely two more times to have Dairy Queen Blizzards.

Iona Squared on the U

After finishing work yesterday, I got in the car and called my better half to check in.   Chelle knew I was heading out to an all familiar destination, traveling from Long Island up to the Whitestone Bridge to the Hutchinson River Parkway.  It's otherwise known as the trip to New Rochele, home of Iona College.   This time it was for a MAAC doubleheader that was broadcasted nationally on ESPNU.  First it was my friend Tony Bozzella's Iona Lady Gaels vs the #24 ranked team in the nation, the Marist Red Foxes.  Then the nightcap was men's basketball action as the Siena Saints took on the Iona Gaels.

For the Lady Gaels it's been a tough season. A team that had made the WNIT three of the past four seasons struggled out of the gate this season.   At one point, Iona was 5-13.  Then the Lady Gaels won their next four games in conference to even their MAAC record at 5-5 and were 9-13 overall.  Things were looking up for a team that was used to success under Coach Bozzella.  Then in the past week, Iona suffered two heartbreaking losses in a row.  The first was in overtime at home to second place Fairfield.  Then in their next game, Iona lost in double overtime at Rider.  Now the Lady Gaels were trying to regain their footing with the very difficult task of facing the nationally ranked Red Foxes who were 12-0 in conference.

After having to deal with traffic on the Cross Island Expressway, thanks to two minor accidents, I got to the game at halftime.  First it was Breast Cancer Awareness Week.  I made my contribution by purchasing a pink kids' basketball for $5.00.    Then I made my way into the gym.  The Lady Gaels were down 33-24 at halftime.  All things considered to be down only nine to a nationally ranked team at the half is pretty good.   Now the question was, could the Gaels come back in the second half.

Iona did their best on the defensive end to keep themselves in the game.  In the first thirteen minutes of the second half, Marist shot only 4 of 15 from the field.   The problem was the Red Foxes' stifling half court defense was equally effective in keeping the Lady Gaels from getting any closer than eight points.  And when Iona had open looks, they couldn't hit their shots.  During that same thirteen minute span, the Lady Gaels shot 4 of 19 from the field.  But An Anda Ivkovic free throw cut the Marist lead to eight, 43-35 with 8:33 left in the game.

There was a decent sized crowd for the women's game, many of whom had come for the second game.  But even with the deficit at only eight points, the crowd was very dead in the second half.  There was the rare and not very loud "Let's go Marist!" chant by the fans that traveled down from Poughkeepsie to see their #24 ranked Red Foxes.   Part of the problem was that the game was such a low scoring defensive affair that at times was tough to watch.  Still, you expected the home crowd to rally behind their Lady Gaels, but it never really did.

Still for me, it was a fun atmosphere.   Both teams were playing hard, especially Iona's Kristina Ford who had a double double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.  You also had the Iona Pep Band playing as well.  The always solid group was playing it's usual repetoire of Stevie Wonder, Led Zeppelin, Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein", the James Bond theme, and my personal favorite of theirs, Steely Dan's "Peg".

Down eight, Iona had several chances to cut the lead to at least six, including one possession where they had two offensive rebounds.  But they just couldn't put the ball in the basket.  The Red Foxes eventually would win 56-45.  The stats showed that it was a low scoring affair as Iona shot 24 percent from the field while Marist only shot 39 percent.  The Lady Gaels outrebounded the Red Foxes 46-32 including 20-7 on the offensive end.  But Iona basically couldn't capitalize on the second chance opportunities they had.  Marist is now 13-0 in the MAAC while Iona is 5-8.

Now it was onto the men's game.   This featured the three time defending MAAC champion Siena Saints vs. an Iona Gaels team in their first season under coach Tim Cluess.   It has been a struggle for the Saints this season.  A team that had a record of 77-26 in its previous three seasons was 10-13 on the season, 7-6 in conference.  Meanwhile, entering this season the Gaels were considered a team on the rise in the MAAC.  And they started out like it with a 13-6 record including 7-1 in the MAAC.  But Iona then lost four straight in conference before beating Manhattan earlier in the week.  Both teams needed a win badly.

It was WhiteOut Night at Iona as fans were encouraged to wear white for the nationally televised games, and a local Honda dealer gave out white T-shirts for the first 1000 in attendance.  Thus the crowd filled in during the break between the games. By the start of the game, there was a capacity crowd in the gym.

As I sat with Coach Bozzella and his family in the upper rows of the gym, Iona came out strong from the start.  The Gaels' best player is forward Michael Glover.  And now whenever Glover scores at home, they play over the PA System "I AM OPTIMUS PRIME!" And Optimus Prime Glover dunked to give Iona a 19-12 lead.  A Kyle Smyth three extended the lead to 24-14 with 7:25 left.  

But the Saints still have two players left from those Saints teams that made three straight NCAA Tournaments, seniors Clarence Jackson and Ryan Rossiter.  And two players with championship hearts led Siena back into the game.  During an 18-8 run over a six minute span, Jackson would hit two threes and a layup, while Rossiter chipped in with six points of his own to tie the game at 32 with 1:29 left in the half.  But Jermel Jenkins fed Alejo Rodriguez for a layup.  It was already the 13th assist for Iona who went into halftime up  34-32.

The second half saw Siena come out and take the lead for the first time in the game on another Jackson three pointer.   Iona would briefly take the lead, but again Jackson would hit another three pointer to tie the game at 40 all with 15:24 left in the game.  The fans were now squarely into the action as the students started a loud "I - O - N - A, IONA GAELS!" chant.

I had wondered why a Siena team that was coming off three straight NCAA Tournaments and that still had Rossiter and Jackson was struggling at 10-12 overall.  Then I found why out over the next ten minutes of the game.  Over that span, Siena committed six turnovers, a lot of them on simply careless passes.   During that time, the Gaels outscored the saints 18-5.  What had been a tie game was now a thirteen point Iona lead, 58-45.   You simply can't win when giving the leading scoring offense in the MAAC additional offensive opportunities.  And the Gaels, who average 78.6 points per game made the Saints pay.

The Hynes Center was now rocking after the Gaels run which included three Jermel Jenkins three pointers.  And of course there was the aforementioned 'I AM OPTIMUS PRIME" after another Glover basket.    We stayed until the three minute TV timeout.  By that time, Iona was up 60-50 with three minutes left and Glover was fouled before the timeout.  He would hit the two free throws and though Siena made a late spurt, the Gaels held off the Saints for a 69-65 win.

Though Jackson had 14 points and Rossiter added 13, it was sophomore Jonathan Breeden who let Siena in scoring with 24 points on 10 of 14 shooting.  Glover would lead the Gaels with 22 points while Jenkins added 19.  The Gaels had 18 assists on the night, which was above their average of 17.2 which is 11th in the country.  It's really impressive how Tim Cluess' team passes the ball around.

I said goodbye to my friend Coach Bozzella, his lovely wife Maria and his great kids Samantha and Joey and headed back to my car for the trip back home to Long Island.  Another fun Friday night in New Rochelle.  But it was time to get home for the next day was my annual road trip to Delaware to see Hofstra take on the Fightin Blue Hens.  

Another day, another live basketball game.  Nothing wrong with that.

Jenkins' 28 Points for 27 NBA Scouts Leads Hofstra to Win Over Georgia State

Many times this season, I have watched college games on streaming video. The quality of them vary  Obviously you have ESPN3 which is national TV production quality video.  You also have the Horizon League feeds, which are free and are generally local TV feeds that are also obviously production quality (by the way, if you don't watch Horizon games online, you don't know what you're missing).

Then there are the feeds that are the team's own video feed piped in with their radio station's audio feed.   Old Dominion does a very good job with their streaming video.  Many of the sites are pay sites, but you can find a lot of streamed games on Pixelvision.

However, sometimes the feeds are not very good.  Rhode Island's streaming video feed pipes in the audio from the PA system.  Silence then public announcer overspeak.  Quite annoying.  Then when Hofstra was at William and Mary, there was the Tribe feed which had very low audio, so you strained to hear the PA announcer. And the only way you know the score is when there is a timeout and the video briefly pans up to show the scoreboard.  Until last night, it was the worst video feed I had experienced this season.

Then last night I was subjected to the Georgia State video feed.  Again low audio.  The only saving grace was that it had a giant 70's graphic scoreboard on the bottom that it would show every so often. Not wanting to have another William and Mary video feed issue, I played the Hofstra audio feed as well.  The first problem was that the Hofstra audio feed was slightly behind the Georgia State feed.   But I was glad I had the Hofstra audio feed, because the second problem was the Georgia State feed kept cutting out every so often.  It was as if the camcorder had an automatic timer and kept powering off.

As for the game, it was another important game for Hofstra.  They entered the game 9-4 in the CAA tied for third with Old Dominion.   They faced a Georgia State team that had defeated James Madison and VCU on their home court and nearly knocked off ODU there as well.   And early on in the contest, the Hofstra radio announcers pointed out that there were twenty seven NBA scouts in attendance.  And they were there to see one man, Charles Jenkins.  And Jenkins didn't disappoint.

The Pride quickly came out using good ball movement and accurate three point shooting to jump on the host Panthers.  Before you had time to settle into your chair, the score was 19-6 Hofstra with barely seven and a half minutes into the game.  During that span, Hofstra hit five threes, including two by Jenkins.

The rest of the half saw Hofstra continue to have torrid shooting from beyond the arc, as the Pride hit another three three pointers. But Georgia State made the obligatory run and cut the Hofstra deficit to six, 30-24.  The Panthers accomplished a lot of that by taking advantage of the Pride's weakness, rebounding. Georgia State had eight offensive rebounds in the first half alone, eighteen on the game, as they outrebounded Hofstra 39-28 for the game.

But Hofstra extended the lead back to twelve by halftime, 38-26.  Despite being outrebounded, the Pride only had two less FG attempts in the first half than the Panthers.  That was due to Hofstra only having four turnovers while Georgia State had nine.  The Pride also had twelve assists in the first half.  For the first time in a while, Hofstra had a lead.  The question was, could they hold it?

The Pride seemingly answered the question by saying "Hold the lead?  Hell, we're going to extend it!"  Hofstra outscored Georgia State 18-12 in the first six minutes of the second half to go up by eighteen, 56-38 with 14:04 left in the game.  Jenkins had 10 of those 18 points and hit on his first six shots of the second half.

The game looked pretty much over with Hofstra up fifteen, 64-49 with less than nine minutes left in the game. But Georgia State had one last push in them.  The Panthers outscored the Pride 14-5 over the next nearly five minutes.  An Eric Buckner layup made the score 69-63 with 4:03 left.  But during the next crucial possession, Hofstra grabbed two offensive rebounds and then David Imes was fouled.  He hit both free throws to put Hofstra up 71-63 and Georgia State could never get back within six points the rest of the way as Hofstra won 79-68.

Jenkins put on a show for the NBA scouts with 28 points on 10 of 15 shooting, 3 of 4 from beyond the arc, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists.  But "The Flyer" had help as three other Hofstra players scored in double figures.  Greg Washington had 13 points and 5 blocks while Mike Moore had 12 points.  Brad Kelleher had another great game for Hofstra with 10 points, 8 assists and only 1 turnover.  Hofstra is now 14-1 when they have three or more players score in double figures.  The Pride shot 51 percent from the field including 9 of 18 from beyond the arc.

For Georgia State, Jihad Ali led four scorers in double figures with 19 points.  Javonte Maynor had 12 points on 4 of 8 shooting from beyond the arc.  Josh Micheaux had 10 points and 9 rebounds while Eric Buckner had 11 points and 8 rebounds.   Washington did a good job to holding Buckner, a 54 percent shooter to 3 of 11 shooting.

It turned out to be a very good night overall for Hofstra, which is still tied for third with Old Dominion (who won easily at William and Mary).  Thanks to James Madison coming back from a sixteen point first half deficit and winning at Drexel 68-54, the Pride have a two game lead over the Dukes and the Dragons for fourth place.   With four conference games left to play, there is now clear separation between the top four teams in the CAA and the rest of the CAA.  VCU and George Mason are tied for first at 12-2.  Then Hofstra and ODU are tied for third at 10-4.  The top four teams in the CAA get first round byes in the tournament.

Jenkins, "The Flyer", was dominant in front of the scouts, that based on the video feed, made up most of the attendance at last night's game.   As I stated on a post on the Charles Jenkins Facts Facebook group, "Jenkins had one point for every NBA scout that showed up for last night's win over Georgia St with one left over... for David Stern."   No doubt the scouts were impressed.

A Tale of Two Teams at Rose Hill

It's been a rough winter in New York.  We have been bombarded by snow storm after snow storm.  I have had two days off from work due to snow closings and it's not even mid-February yet.   And when it doesn't snow, we get other forms of precipitation.   Last Wednesday, we had freezing rain which caused a two hour delay at my son's school.  Then last Saturday, since the thermostat was slightly above freezing, it rained.  Great for snow melt, but there is nothing worse than walking around outside on a very cold rainy day.  Such has been the last few months of life in a northern town.

For the second week in a row, I was on Fordham's campus to go to another Rams game at Rose Hill Gym.  This time as I had my umbrella up protecting me from the frigid rain, I was going to see the Rams face the Spiders of Richmond, one of the A-10's elite teams the past couple of seasons.  It was the battle of one team trying to find it's first win in conference in more than two years vs. one team many have squarely on the bubble for an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

For the at large hopeful Spiders, this is when they need to avoid bad conference losses.   Depending on the site, the Spiders are either barely in, or barely out.  Joe Lunardi's Bracketology has them in, but playing one of the "First Four" games vs. Baylor.  Bracketography has them in as well, but not in the "First Four" game, as does Jerry Palm's tournament predictions.  Bleacher Report has them as one of the first four teams not in the tournament.

The good on their resume - a neutral site win over Purdue, a team that should be a lock to make the NCAA Tournament and a home win over VCU, another bubble team.   The bad, well, losing at Iona really isn't that bad.  Remember the Gaels barely lost at Syracuse and waxed a top team in the CAA in Hofstra.  Bucknell is not a bad loss, considering the Bison's RPI is 97.  The worst loss is a neutral site loss to Georgia Tech (RPI 164).  But a 7-2 road record is nothing to sneeze at, nor their current third place standing in the A-10 (tied with Temple).

Meanwhile the Rams were 0-8 in the A-10 going into their game vs. the Spiders.  Fordham had just been trounced on the road by the Rams of Rhode Island.  It was their eleventh loss in a row after starting out 6-4.  There is very little hope of any kind of postseason for Fordham since the bottom two teams in the Atlantic 10 miss out on the postseason tournament and Fordham is two games behind Charlotte for the 12th and final spot in the A10 Tourney.

The only bright spot has been the play of Chris Gaston, Fordham's double double machine.  After the game against Richmond on Saturday, Gaston now has thirteen double-doubles on the season. He averages 15 points and 11 rebounds per game.   Gaston's lone weakness is free throw shooting as he is only shooting 52 percent from the line on the season.

So you have two teams on the opposite end of the A10 spectrum.  The only thing in common they have is they both lost the prior Saturday at home.  Fordham lost at Rose Hill to St. Bonaventure while Richmond was crushed on their home court by Xavier.  Both were looking for a much needed win.

As I finally exited the cold and walked into the entrance to Rose Hill gym, unlike a week ago for the game against the Bonnies, there was no wait at the Fordham Will Call.   I showed my ID at the counter and she asked if I needed three tickets.  Both Mal and Tieff were unable to make the game, so being polite, I said "My friends couldn't make it.  So I'll just take one and you can give the other two to someone else."   They were good seats, courtside, Section 113 A, seats 13-15, right behind the Fordham bench.  But after getting sardined by the people who took my two other seats and the people to my right, I should have just kept the other two (since I paid for them) and had some space.

Despite being shoe-horned into my seat, I still had a great view of the game.  I knew I was only going to be there for the first half again like the week before, since I had another Hofstra game to attend.  But it turns out I just needed to see the first twenty minutes.   The player I came to see, Kevin Anderson put on a show in the first half.

Anderson is the star senior guard for the Spiders.  His points per game this season are down slightly as opposed to last season (16.4 to 17.6) but his three point shooting percentage is way (44.9 this season as opposed to 33.9 last season).  Anderson has also taken as many three point shots as he did for all of last season (107 currently to 112 last season).

The game started out with Richmond spotting Fordham a 3-0 lead on a Brenton Butler three.  Then the Spiders scored the next nine points, led by their 6 foot 10 senior forward Justin Harper, who scored five of those points.  The 6-10 Harper is a scout's dream.  He is athletic, shoots 48 percent from three and can score in the post.  He is 42nd on Chad Ford's Top 100 NBA Prospects and I can see why.

Meanwhile Anderson wasn't getting any love.   One of the fans to my right kept yelling "Anderson, you are too slow for the NBA".   Anderson certainly didn't care.  When the Rams cut the deficit to four, 11-7 with 14:24 left in the half, Anderson went to work.  Over the next six minutes, he would drill four 3 pointers and assist on two other baskets.    With eight minutes and fifteen seconds left in the first half, the score was 31-11 Richmond.

Now Anderson was responsible directly or indirectly for 16 of those 20 points.  But a lot of credit also has to go to Richmond's offense.  To watch them move the ball around for the open shot was a simply a thing of beauty.   The fan who kept yelling Anderson was too slow had a friend that was begging Pecora to double team Anderson.  It wouldn't have mattered because Anderson would have found the open man and Richmond has balance.

Besides Anderson and Harper, the Spiders have another scoring option in center Dan Geriot.  Geriot is another three point threat who shoots 46 percent from three and scores about ten points per game.  He buried a couple of long jumpers in the first half.

It was all too much for a Fordham team that just struggles to score at times.   While the Spiders double teamed Gaston, the Rams just couldn't hit a shot.   At one point, Fordham was 4 of 16 from the field in the first half.  And when they weren't hitting shots, they were turning the ball over.  The Rams had ten turnovers in the first half.  Gaston was held without a point until 2:52 left in the first half.  By that time the score had been 38-16 Richmond.  Gaston would score the last nine points for Fordham in the half but the Rams were still down 41-25.

As I noted previously, I was sitting behind the Fordham bench.  Like last week, again I heard fans saying "C'mon Pecora, show some emotion!"   It certainly wasn't the demonstrative Pecora that I had grown accustomed to all those years at Hofstra.   But you could tell that Pecora knew his team was overmatched.  His normal seven man rotation was down two players as freshmen Marvin Dominque and Lamount Samuell were both out with injuries.  Thus he dug deeper into his bench and played two players, Jacob Green and Raynor Moquete, both who barely play, for ten plus minutes each.

This team reminds me of his first season at Hofstra in 2001-02 where he took over a team that had graduated four of its five starters.  In that season, Hofstra started out 4-2 before losing 17 of their last 24 games.  Their signature win that season was an early season win over Kent State, a team with Antonio Gates that would make the Elite Eight that season.  Fordham's signature win this season was the stirring comeback over St John's.

There is hope for Fordham though.  For the second Saturday in a row, there was a good crowd at Rose Hill Gym.  And outside of Butler, Pecora's top six other players return for next season with at least three more talented recruits coming in.  If the fans are patient, they will see a better team, as did the Hofstra fans a few seasons after that 2001-02 season.

However, I had seen enough and had another game to go to in Hempstead.  As I made my drive from the Hutch to the Cross Island to the Grand Central etc, I did keep track of the second half on WFUV.  Richmond would eventually win 77-60, but the game was decided in those first twelve minutes of the game.  There would be no stumble for the Spiders last Saturday as there was also no first conference win for Fordham.   There was one thing though last Saturday.

There was the cold rain outside.  Such is this winter in this northern town.

Two Late Runs Propel Hofstra by Northeastern

After spending the early part of Saturday afternoon at Rose Hill Gym watching Richmond dominate the first half against Fordham, I took the drive from Fordham to Hofstra for the second week in a row.  I was there about twenty minutes to three and sat in the parking lot listening to the end of the Rams-Spiders game on WFUV.   Having been up since 4:00 am thanks to my younger son, I closed my eyes and rested for a short while before heading into the Mack Center,  It was a good thing I did that, for there was about to be an exciting, high scoring and mentally exhausting game about to take place.

Coach Mo Cassara must have known his team was going to be in for a battle when he saw that Northeastern had defeated VCU 91-80 on Wednesday.  That was only the second loss in conference for VCU, a team that had defeated Hofstra 82-67 six days before.  The Huskies had now won four in a row in conference after an 0-8 start.  This was not the same team Hofstra had beat up in Matthews Arena 76-67 earlier in the season.

Another good crowd came out to the Mack Center, though it was not a capacity crowd like the Saturday prior against Drexel.  The Hofstra students did their part as the Lions Den section was again full to capacity, armed with free Hofstra T shirts from State Farm (who sponsored the game yesterday).   And they were about to be rewarded for their loyalty to their team.

From the start, both teams gave notice to the 3,786 in attendance that this was going to be a high scoring affair.  Chaisson Allen was trying to take on the whole Hofstra team in the first quarter of the half.  Allen buried two threes and hit a layup in the first five and a half minutes.  Meanwhile, Charles Jenkins, Brad Kelleher and Mike Moore returned fire, all burying threes.  A little more than six minutes in and Hofstra was up 13-12.

But there was something unusual happening.  Jenkins seemed to be not to be the usual Charles in Charge on Saturday.  He missed a layup he would usually make and then he got fouled during a three point attempt with Hofstra up 18-17.  Up to the foul line went the fourth leading free throw shooter in the CAA.  And to the crowd's disbelief, Jenkins missed every free throw.   Northeastern's Jonathan Lee hit a jumper and instead of Hofstra being up by four, they were down by one, 19-18.  

The first half continued to be a back and forth affair.  Northeastern would grab the lead, then Hofstra would take it back.  By my count, there were eight lead changes in the first half.   The Huskies would have the final say in the first half as Kauri Black hit a dunk to put Northeastern up 37-36.   Both teams shot extremely well from the floor in the first half.  Northeastern shot 52 percent, while Hofstra shot 50 percent.  Allen had 15 points at the half on 6 of 9 shooting.  The Pride countered shooting 7 of 12 from beyond the arc.

The second half saw Northeastern come out and dominate the better part of the second half.  Joel Smith and Kauri Black lead the Huskies on a 13-2 run over barely a four minute period.  A Smith three capped the run and put Noreaster up 57-44 with 13:09 left.   After Hofstra cut the deficit down to nine, Northeastern extended the lead to fourteen 66-52 with 9:26 left on another three by Jonathan Lee.  The Pride looked to be in serious trouble of losing their second home game in a row.

Then matters got worse.  After Moore cut the deficit to 66-54, Allen, who should be voted "Best Actor in the CAA", barely bumped into Jenkins and threw his head back as if he was shot.  The referee called Jenkins for his fourth foul.  Jenkins went to the bench and with 8:52 left,  Hofstra was staring at its fourth loss in a row.

Then with an assist from an extremely loud Lions Den section, Allen was very off with his free throw on a one and one attempt and Hofstra grabbed the rebound.  Then with their leader sitting on the bench, the Pride dug deep and responded with nine additional points in not even two minutes.  Two Moore free throws made the score 66-63 Northeastern with seven minutes left.  But the Huskies responded to the Pride run by extending the lead to 75-68 with 3:52 left, the last two points courtesy of two Allen free throws, his last points of the game.   Little did anyone know at the moment, that these two free throws also turned out to be Northeastern's last points of the game as well.  

Hofstra would respond with a game ending run.  Moore started it with a layup, then two layups by Jenkins, the second of which he was fouled by Allen on.   With a chance to tie the game at 75, Jenkins then stunned the crowd again by missing his fifth free throw on the day.  But Shemiye McLendon stole a pass and was fouled on a layup attempt.  McLendon, described by a fan behind me as "a kid with ice water in his veins" calmly sank both free throws to put Hofstra up 76-75 with 1:31 left.  

Then came the exciting finish.  Hofstra forced Smith to shoot an off balance three point attempt which missed.  However, the Pride couldn't gather the rebound as their season long problem, lack of good board work bit them again.  But Hofstra's strong defense forced another off balance three point attempt, this time by Allen as the shot clock expired and the Pride this time gathered the rebound with 57 seconds left.  

The Pride worked the clock down and got the ball in the hands of Jenkins, who forced a layup attempt.  The Huskies grabbed the rebound and had an attempt to take the lead again with 21 seconds left.   But Greg Washington blocked Smith's layup attempt with seven seconds left.  Hofstra grabbed the ball and Moore hit McLendon with a long pass.  Allen was forced to foul McLendon with  six seconds left.   Not only did McLendon sink two more free throws but the foul was Allen's fifth.  The game ended with Allen sitting on the bench while Hofstra snuffed Northeastern's attempt to shoot a three.  The buzzer sounded with a ball scramble at the top of the key.  Using a 10-0 game ending run, Hofstra survived with a 78-75 win that gave them a tie of third place with ODU, who got pounded by George Mason earlier in the day.

Despite what seemed to be a really off day, especially at the line, where he was 2 of 7, Jenkins still had 21 points on 8 of 16 shooting.  He did only have 3 assists and had 3 turnovers.  Moore had a double double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Kelleher had his best game for Hofstra with twelve points on 5 of 6 shooting, six assists and only one turnover.  

Northeastern sure doesn't look like a now 4-9 team in conference and certainly didn't play that way.  Allen had 21 points to lead five Northeastern scorers in double figures, but only had 6 points in the second half.  Joel Smith had 14 points, Kauri Black added 13, Ryan Pierson 12  and Jonathan Lee added 10 for the Huskies who shot 47 percent from the field for the game.

Yesterday morning, I wrote an article about the five things Hofstra must to do to get rolling again.  Let's see if they accomplished any of those things.

1) Rebounding - Though Hofstra did not win the rebounding battle with Northeastern, the Pride were a lot more competitive on the boards than their last three game as the Huskies only outrebounded them 30-28.  Northeastern did have twelve offensive rebounds (Kauri Black had six of them) but that beats the twenty Drexel had vs. Hofstra.  Definitely an improvement, but still needs work.

2) Balance and Ball Movement - Good balance and ball movement.  The Pride had three scorers in double figures - Jenkins, Moore and Kelleher.  The Pride are now 13-1 when three or more players score in double figures.  But others added points too. McLendon had nine points and Greg Washington ended his scoreless streak with eight points.  The ball movement was so much better than the last three games.  It resulted in a lot of open three point looks and the Pride were 9 of 18 from beyond the arc, and shot 50 percent overall.   As stated, Kelleher had six assists and Washington had four as well.  Much better.

3) Get to the Line -  Hofstra did a much better job of getting to the line with 24 free throw attempts.  Hofstra hit only 17 but that was due in most part to Jenkins off day of 2 for 7 from the line.  McLendon was a perfect 6 for 6, Moore 5 for 6 and Washington a perfect 4 for 4.   The Pride must continue to get to the line.

4) Guard the Three - Northeastern was 4 of 9 in the first half, but only 2 of 9 in the second half as the Pride did a much better job guarding the three.  Holding the Huskies, who had been shooting 52 percent from three in their three previous games,  to 6 of 18 overall from beyond the arc was a good accomplishment.    Keep up the good work.

5) Dig Deep - Though Coach Cassara only used eight players and the eighth man in the row Stephen Nwaukoni only played four minutes, the team dug deep for two big runs in the second half.  Most impressive was the 11-0 run that the Pride had while Jenkins for the most part was on the bench.  That showed a lot of heart.

It was an exciting game to be at and should have given the Pride a shot of needed confidence for their next game at Georgia State.   As previously noted, Hofstra is tied with ODU for third place, one game ahead of Drexel in the standings.  As for Northeastern, I wouldn't want to be Pat Kennedy when Towson faces them at Matthews Arena on Wednesday.   As VCU and Hofstra have found out, the Huskies are one team that no one in the CAA wants to play right now. 

Five Things Hofstra Must Do To Get Rolling Again

On January 27, Hofstra was 8-1, 14-6 overall and tied for first in the CAA.  They had just won their third straight conference game, an exciting 92-90 overtime win over James Madison at the Mack Center.  They were playing VCU at Siegel Center for first place in the Colonial.   The Pride were on a roll.

Just one week later, the Pride are reeling, losers of three straight.  Hofstra now is in fourth place in the CAA, one game in front of James Madison and Drexel for the last first round bye spot in the CAA Tournament.   Hofstra has the tiebreaker on JMU and has split with Drexel.  But depending on the tiebreaker scenarios, they could lose out to Drexel if the teams are tied for fourth.

Hofstra has a relatively easy schedule remaining as none of their conference opponents are above .500 in the CAA.   But they need to play better to avoid a stumble.   So what can the Pride do to get back on track?  Here's five things they must to do finish in the top four in the CAA.

1) Rebound -  The Pride have really struggled on the boards recently.  In their last three games, Hofstra has been outrebounded on average 44-28.  In the game against Drexel, the Pride were outrebounded 20-5 on the offensive glass.   Since Hofstra really only uses three legitimate forwards in their regular rotation, they must have everyone crash the boards.

For a while, they were doing exactly that.  Prior to the three game losing streak, Mike Moore had averaged seven rebounds per game over his last five games, four of which were wins.  During the three game losing streak, Moore has not even averaged three rebounds per game.  And it's not just Moore.  The only statistic that Charles Jenkins has dropped in from a season ago is rebounds (4.5 last season, 3.7 this season).  And David Imes has not even averaged four rebounds per game over his last four games despite averaging 26 minutes in those games.  

The team as a whole must crash the boards, especially on the defensive end, where opponent's offensive rebounds are killing the Pride.  In the loss vs. Drexel. the Dragons 20-5 margin on the offensive glass led to Drexel getting twenty second chance points to Hofstra's seven.  Drexel only won by five points.   Fix the rebounding problem and that's half the battle right there.

2) The Two B's, Balance and Ball Movement -   When Hofstra went out to their 8-1 conference start, in their eight conference wins the Pride had at least three players scoring in double figures.  In their three straight conference losses, only two players scored in double figures (that was the case for the other conference loss to ODU as well).  In two games, Drexel and George Mason, it was Jenkins and Moore.  In the loss to VCU, it was Jenkins and Greg Washington.

Hofstra must have balance to be successful.  When the Pride have three or more players score in double figures, their record is 12-1 overall and 8-0 in the CAA.  When two or less score in double figures, Hofstra is 2-8 overall and 0-4 in the CAA.

And the Pride must look inside and have the frontcourt do their part.  First, Greg Washington must get out of his funk.  He has been scoreless the last two games.  In his three previous games, Washington was averaging 13 points.  David Imes is shooting 50 percent from the field on the season.  But Imes has scored a combined total of 23 points in his last four games.

When Hofstra was successful during their 8-1 start, it was due to often impressive ball movement.  Especially in the games at Drexel and at home vs. George Mason.  It looked as if neither team could stop Hofstra on the offensive end.  I remember watching the Towson feed and how the Tiger announcers were so impressed at how the Pride moved the ball around against the Tigers zone defense.   Lately though it looks like they are letting the offense running through Jenkins and standing around too much.  The ball movement needs to return.

3) Get To the Line - Hofstra leads the CAA in Free Throw Shooting Percentage at 77.2 percent, which is very impressive.  The problem is that the Pride in 23 games only have 435 free throw attempts, which is eighth in the CAA.  And Charles Jenkins accounts for 161 of those attempts.   Compare that with James Madison who leads the CAA with 542 attempts in 24 games.  Hofstra averages about 19 FT attempts per game compared to JMU's nearly 23 FT attempts per game.

The problem is Hofstra shoots too many jumpers and three pointers.  The best example is Mike Moore who has 124 three point attempts but only 83 free throw attempts.  Moore is a decent three point shooter at 37 percent (14 in the CAA), but he is first in the CAA in Free throw percentage at 89 percent.   And having seen enough of his games, I know Moore is very capable of driving to the basket.   So if you combine more drives by Moore with more emphasis on frontcourt scoring, the Pride should get to the basket more, which should only benefit the best FT shooting team in the CAA.

4) Guard the Three Better - Hofstra is tenth in the CAA in three point FG percentage defense at 37.6 percent of threes allowed.  In their last four games, Hofstra has allowed opponents to shoot 28 of 66 from beyond the arc, which is a 42.4 percent clip.   That's not going to fly with Northeastern coming to town today.  During the Huskies four game winning streak, they have shot 24 of 46 from three point range (52 percent).  The Pride need to start guarding the three better, especially today.

5) Dig Deep -  And I mean "dig deep" in two ways.  First, they need to step up their intensity now over the last six games.  A first round bye spot is in their own hands if they win their last six games.  It's a goal they need to focus on each game.

Second, when I say dig deep, I am saying that Coach Mo Cassara should not be afraid to go to every player on his bench.  If he is not getting good rebounding, bring in the seldom used Paul Bilbo and Roland Brown to give them a few minutes.  Bilbo was especially huge late in the first half of their win at Drexel providing good defense and a sweet little hook.    Plus with the long CAA season, working more players into the rotation will help keep Washington, Imes and Stephen Nwaukoni fresh.

If Hofstra can work on these five things, then over the next seven games (six in conference and BracketBuster vs. Wright State), then they will successfully return to the slogan that Hofstra has been using lately on Facebook, which is a play off a certain SEC team's slogan.  

Roll Pride.

Down the Stretch They Come in the CAA

Before I start my CAA article, last night was National #Pixelvision night at MidMajority.Com.  I volunteered to tweet updates during the live video feed for a game, and I got to cover the Butler - Youngstown State game.   The national runnerup was facing the last place team in the Horizon, who had one win all season in conference.  I figured I was going to cover a blowout.  But Youngstown State led most of the game.  But it looked like the clock had struck midnight for the home team Penguins, when it was 57-47 Bulldogs with about six minutes left in the game.  But then Youngstown State outscored Butler 15-3 the rest of the way for the stunning 62-60 win that left the Bulldogs out in the cold.  Amazing.

So we are two thirds of the way through the CAA season. Twelve games down, six games to play.  There seems to be one bye spot in play by three teams for fourth place.   But the next few days may provide significant upheaval in who is in the top three of the standings. Let's look at the teams in standings order (their conference record is listed in parentheses).

VCU (10-2) - The Rams had won nine straight in conference till they got woofed by the Huskies at Matthews Arena Wednesday night.  Northeastern has now won three out of their last four meetings with VCU.  Still, the Rams are playing awfully well.   Second in scoring offense, fifth in both FG and Three Point FG percentage, first in assists and turnover margin and second in assists.  In his last three games, Bradford Burgess is averaging 15 points, 9 rebounds and is 15 of 16 from the free throw line.

VCU does not have an easy schedule the rest of the way - at JMU, at Delaware, home to ODU.  Then they are at home to George Mason, then at Wichita State, then at Drexel, then home to JMU.   If they finish first in the CAA after that schedule, they will be hard to beat come CAA Tournament time.

George Mason (10-2) - After getting pummeled at Hofstra, then losing a tough game at Old Dominion, the Patriots have been scorching hot.  Mason is 17th in the country and first in the CAA in FG percentage at 48.3 percent, first in the CAA in scoring at 74.5 points per game.  GMU is also first in the CAA in three point FG percentage, first in assists to turnover ratio, second in assists and second in turnover margin.   Andre Cornelius has stepped up his offensive game.  In his last three games, Cornelius has averaged 17 points per game while shooting 11 of 22 from beyond the arc.

The Patriots next five games will be a difficult stretch.  Home to ODU, then at UNCW, home to JMU, at VCU and at Northern Iowa.  Then they finish at home with Northeastern and Georgia State.  They could finish very well in first but if not careful, could finish in fourth.

ODU (9-3) - Not too long ago, the Monarchs were 5-3 and in fifth place in the CAA.  Now they have won four straight and sit in third place.  Not that some of the games have been easy.  They had to rally late to win at Georgia State and rally at home to defeat Delaware.   Still, a win is a win for the number one scoring defense in the CAA and the number 14th ranked rebounding team in the country.  ODU is 8-0 when Frank Hassell has a double double.

Like VCU and George Mason, Old Dominion does not have an easy schedule remaining.  Three road games in a row - at Mason, at William and Mary and at VCU.  Then comes home tilts with Georgia State and Cleveland State.  The Monarchs end their regular season at JMU and then home to William and Mary.

Hofstra (8-4) - After nine games, Hofstra was 8-1 in conference after a thrilling two point overtime win vs. James Madison.  Then they were thoroughly beaten in road games vs. VCU and George Mason and were humbled at home in a close loss to Drexel.   Suddenly the Pride are 8-4 and only have a one game lead on JMU and Drexel for fourth.  It's all about defense and rebounding, or the lack of both.  In their last three games, Hofstra has given up an average of 78 points per game and been outrebounded on average 44-28.  But Charles Jenkins is still Charles Jenkins as he is averaging 23.3 points (1st in CAA, 6th in country), 5.2 assists (1st in CAA), 54% FG (4th in CAA) and 85.7% FT (4th in CAA).

What the Pride has left is a favorable schedule.  None of the remaining teams Hofstra plays in conference is above .500 - home to Northeastern, at Georgia State, at Delaware, home to William and Mary on my birthday (Feb 15),  Then at Wright State (road trip for my birthday), then at UNCW, then home to Delaware.   If the Pride win out in conference, fourth place is theirs.  If not...

Drexel (7-5) - The Dragons were at one point 3-4.  But Drexel has recovered to win four of their last five.  The win at Hofstra put them back in the hunt for fourth place and the last bye spot for the first round of the CAA Tournament.   It's defense and rebounding for the Dragons.  Drexel is 8th in the country in rebounding and 2nd in the CAA in scoring defense.   They also have got good play out of freshman Dartaye Ruffin, who off the benchhas averaged nearly 11 points and 9 rebounds in his last three games.

The Dragons have a relatively favorable schedule remaining.  Drexel is at Delaware, then home to James Madison and William and Mary.  Then at UNCW, home to Kent State, followed by a big home game vs. VCU, then a road game at Towson.   It's conceivable that Drexel could run the table.

Delaware (6-6) - The Blue Hens were this close to sweeping ODU this season, but the Monarchs rallied late to defeat UD.   It was the second tough loss in a row as the Blue Hens were up 19 on JMU before the Dukes rallied to win.  Delaware is at the bottom of most offensive categories in the CAA - last in scoring offense, last in FG percentage and assists as well.  However, the Blue Hens are 2nd in three point FG percentage defense and 5th overall in FG percentage defense.   In his last three games, Devon Saddler has averaged 16 points and 5 rebounds per game and shooting 20 of 39 from the field.

The Blue Hens have a very difficult remaining schedule.  Though they have three straight home games, they are against Drexel, VCU and Hofstra.   Then road games at Northeastern and Rider.  Then home to Towson before ending their regular season at Hofstra.

Northeastern (4-8)  - The Huskies started out 0-8 in conference, but have rallied to win four games in a row, including the impressive home win over first place VCU.  Three of the four wins though were at home (the only road win was at UNCW).  The Huskies are fourth in the CAA in FG percentage, second in three point FG percentage, and second in the CAA in FT percentage.  Chaisson Allen has been on fire for Northeastern.  In his last three games, Allen is averaging nearly 23 points, 5 assists while shooting 9 of 18 from beyond the arc.

The Huskies have a reasonable schedule the rest of the way.  They start at Hofstra, then home to Towson.  Then it's a road game vs. Georgia State, home to Delaware, then road games at UNC Asheville and at George Mason.  Noreaster finishes home to UNCW.

UNCW (4-8) - The Seahawks were at one time 4-4 in the CAA.  But after four straight losses, the Seahawks stand tied for eighth with Northeastern and Georgia State.   UNCW has struggled on offense as they are last in the CAA in scoring offense, last in assists to turnover ratio, and next to last in assists.  However UNCW has improved greatly on defense from a season ago - 5th in three point FG percentage defense, sixth in scoring defense.  Trevor Deloach has stepped it up in his last two games, averaging 22 points, 7 rebounds and shooting 15 of 27 from the field.

UNCW has a favorable schedule, with five of their seven remaining games at home.  It starts with two straight home games vs William and Mary and George Mason.  Then a road game vs. Towson, followed by three straight home games vs. Drexel, Charleston Southern, then Hofstra.  The Seahawks finish their regular season at Hofstra.

Georgia State (4-8) - The Panthers stopped a seven game slide defeating UNCW in overtime at home.  GSU has struggled on offense - next to last in FG percentage and FT percentage, next to last in assist to turnover ratio.  They are playing well on defense however - second in FG percentage defense, fourth in scoring defense and third in blocked shots.   Eric Buckner has got back on track.  In his last two games, he is averaging 15 points and 7 rebounds.

The Panthers start their final stretch with a road game at Towson.  Then they play Hofstra and Northeastern at home, followed by three road games with ODU, Louisiana Tech and William and Mary.  They end their regular season at home vs. George Mason.

William and Mary (3-9) - The Tribe scored a huge road upset over James Madison on Wednesday which ended a four game slide.  W&M is third in the CAA in FG percentage at 44.5%.   However they are dead last in the CAA in turnover margin.  Quinn McDowell had been the one constant for the Tribe.  McDowell averages 15 points, shoots 47 percent from the field and 86 percent from the line.  He has had six games where he has scored 22 or more points.

The Tribe start the final part of their schedule with a road game at UNCW.  Then it's home to ODU, followed by two road games with Drexel and Hofstra.  Then its home games with Radford and Georgia State and they end their regular season schedule at ODU.

Towson (0-11) - Not much more to say than if they are going to win a game in conference, the rest of their schedule gives them opportunities to do it.  Home to Georgia State, then at Northeastern.  Three straight home games follow with UNCW, James Madison and Loyola.  Then at Delaware, then home to Drexel.

The next three weeks will be very interesting.

BracketBuster Announcement Review

So Monday night at 6:30 PM, ESPNU had their BracketBuster televised game announcement show.  And as they were starting the announcements, someone at the WWL decided to put the televised game pairings online BEFORE the show was even half way done.  So much for suspense.  The eleven televised games are below.

Friday, Feb. 18 (all times ET)
7 p.m. - VCU at Wichita State (ESPN2/ESPN3.com)
9 p.m. - Kent State at Drexel (ESPNU)

Saturday, Feb. 19
11 a.m. - Hofstra at Wright State (ESPNU)
1 p.m. - Austin Peay at Fairfield (ESPNU)
3 p.m. – Iona at Liberty (ESPNU)
5 p.m. – Missouri State at Valparaiso (ESPN2/ESPN3.com)
5 p.m. – Vermont at Charleston (ESPNU)
7 p.m. – George Mason at Northern Iowa (ESPN2/ESPN3.com)
9 p.m. – Utah State at Saint Mary’s (ESPN2/ESPN3.com)
11 p.m. – Montana at Long Beach State (ESPN2/ESPN3.com)

Sunday, Feb. 20
1 p.m. - Cleveland State at Old Dominion (ESPN or ESPN2)

So compare this with my predictions here.   I got four of the games right.  However, I got my two Colonial teams, VCU and George Mason mixed up with two Valley teams, Wichita State and UNI.  I also had Hofstra and Vermont mixed up with Charleston and Wright State.   I  don't know how I missed Montana vs. Long Beach State.  That was a no brainer.   I also missed the boat on Austin Peay.  I also missed the boat on Liberty, but that's a boat that ESPN should have missed too.   And I completely whiffed on Ball state vs Indiana State.  Neither team made it (as did Maine).

So, let's give some BracketBuster announcement awards.

Biggest Snubs - Maine and JMU.  Though Maine has a much lower RPI than Vermont, the Black Bears are in first place in the America East.  And they also beat Vermont in BURLINGTON and had road wins at UMass and at Penn State.  I watched that game vs. Vermont and Maine was impressive.  They deserved to play in a televised game before Vermont did (I had both teams playing televised games in my predictions)

JMU, a team that had a home BracketBuster game, had a 63 RPI rating, which is 73 places higher than Liberty.  Yes, there are five Colonial teams in the televised games.  But there are six Colonial teams in the top 100 in RPI and Madison was easily in that top 100.   Madison has also won at Kent State (RPI 79), who has a BracketBuster game, along with Marshall (RPI 60) and Princeton (RPI 65)

Team That Doesn't Belong -  Liberty.  Though the Flames are in second place in the Big South, they are the lowest rated RPI team in the televised games at 140.  The only other team in the televised games that has a RPI currently over 100 and is not in first place in their conference is Iona at 109.   Yes, the Flames are 10-1 in the Big South.  But there best win is over, um, uh, NC Asheville (169 RPI).   At least Iona can say they defeated Richmond

Best Game - St Mary's vs Utah State - No brainer here.  The Gaels are fourth in the country in FG percentage, fourth in assists per game, and twelfth in points per game.   They take on the Aggies, who are no slouch on offense, forty sixth in the country in FG percentage.  But Utah State is known for their defense, first in the WAC in scoring defense at 59 points per game and second in FG percentage defense at 39 percent.   Tai Wesley vs. Mickey McConnell.   The irresistable force vs. the immovable object.

Game with Most Importance - VCU vs Wichita State -  Both of these teams are a part of bubble talk.  VCU (RPI 53) has a neutral site win over UCLA (RPI 47) and a road win over ODU (RPI 31).  Meanwhile Wichita State (RPI 48) really hasn't had a big non conference win, though they should have beaten UConn in the Maui Invitational.  Both teams are good on offense.  The Shockers are 23rd in the country in FG percentage, 30th in assists and average 74 points per game.  The Rams are 57th in the country in assists and average 73 points per game.

Team with Most to Gain - Cleveland State - The Vikings have a RPI of 30.  However, their best wins are over Kent State and Iona.  And to make things worse you had Andy Katz badgering Joe Lunardi "Who'd they beat?! Who'd they beat?!" about the Vikings during the nationally televised BracketBuster announcement show on the U.   So Norris Cole and the rest of his Cleveland State teammates can shut Katz up with a road win over an ODU team that has neutral site wins over Xavier, Clemson and a home win over Richmond.  Winning at the Ted Constant Center, Aka the Ted, will be very difficult.

Team with Most to Lose - Wichita State -  Even though Missouri State is in a similar situation to Wichita State, the Bears are playing at Valpo, and a loss to the first place Horizon team on their court wouldn't be that bad.   However, the Shockers are playing at home.  This is a must win game if they have any hopes of possibly getting an at large.   Lose here and that bubble bursts.

Missed Opportunity Game - No offense to Wright State, but Hofstra vs. Charleston would have pitted two of the top scorers in the country, Charles Jenkins vs. Andrew Goudelock.   Having seen Goudelock, the fifth leading scorer in the country, play live when he was a sophomore during the first Charleston Classic, I know how good he is.  And of course, being a Hofstra season ticket holder, I have watched Jenkins become one of the best players in the country.  And that is not a bold statement, it's fact.  Sixth in the country in points per game, 35th in FG percentage and 43rd in assists.   Pretty damn good.  Plus I think you would have seen end to end action with Charleston and Hofstra (you still will with Vermont vs. Charleston).

Runnerup for Missed Opportunity Game - Iona vs. James Madison - The chance to see Michael Glover vs. Denzel Bowles?   Cmon ESPN, get your head in the game.

Game That Decided Which Team Got a Televised Bracketbuster Game -JMU vs. Hofstra.   The overtime classic televised on ESPN regional gave the Hofstra the boost they needed to get the televised game.  Had James Madison won, then the Dukes would be ahead of the Pride in the standings and I think that would have clinched it for Madison and Hofstra would have been on the fence.  Also helped that Jenkins had 35 in that game.

All I can tell you is that after the announcements, I went online and got two tickets for the BracketBuster game at Wright State.   Always wanted to see the Nutter Center, or as I call it the Nutter Butter center.  Should be fun.