Stop me if you've heard this before.
Campbell's Jonathan Rodriguez posted the individual performance of the season so far in a 97-92 loss to VMI last night. Rodriguez posted 23 points and 14 rebounds en route to the A-Sun's first PEG score of 30 so far this year. VMI, as they did against Kentucky last week, raced out to a big first-half lead, then ran out of gas as Campbell crept closer. The lead was down to one with under a minute left, but the Keydets hit their free throws late to put the game away. Credit the Camels for playing a disciplined game, launching only 11 3-point attempts in an 82-possession game. Of course, 23 turnovers are more than you would want to see, even in a game as frenetic as this one was.
Tonight, Belmont visits Pittsburgh.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Two Near-Misses
I guess three in a row is too much to ask.
Stetson had a look at its first major upset this weekend, while Mercer had #3 in its sights. Both teams had a shot at the buzzer, but both came up empty.
Apparently, somebody at Stetson is none to happy about the officiating of their game with Florida State. I'm not going to criticize a crew unless I watch the game (and even then, probably not), but the numbers are what they are. Stetson had 13 free throw attempts in the game. Florida State had 13 in the second half, after 21 in the first.
That said, the Hatters came from 16 down at halftime, making 61% of their 2's and 53% of their 3's in the second half, outscoring FSU by 20 over an 8-minute stretch. Stetson led by 7 with less than 9 minutes left, but then hit a dry spell, going 1 of 8 from the floor during a 6-minute, 16-3 Seminole run.
Stetson had a shot to tie late, pulling down a rebound with 9 seconds left down 2. But A.J. Smith's drive drew contact but no whistle and the clock ran out. Garfield Blair was the player of the night for Stetson, putting up 19 points and 7 boards.
Mercer also had a good look at an ACC upset this weekend, but fell to Georgia Tech in overtime. The current leaders of the RPI had a shot at the buzzer to win in regulation, but James Florence's jumper was tipped. Tech then jumped out to a quick 6-point lead in overtime and never looked back. E. J. Kuysner had a big night, burying 6 3-pointers on his way to 22 points and a PEG score of 18. Calvin Henry and James Florence each posted a PEG of 17, albeit in drastically different ways. Florence was his usual self, scoring 26 points on 24 shots and handing out 6 assists while committing 7 turnovers. Henry was quieter, but no less effective, posting 8 points and 8 boards on 3-3 shooting.
Stetson had a look at its first major upset this weekend, while Mercer had #3 in its sights. Both teams had a shot at the buzzer, but both came up empty.
Apparently, somebody at Stetson is none to happy about the officiating of their game with Florida State. I'm not going to criticize a crew unless I watch the game (and even then, probably not), but the numbers are what they are. Stetson had 13 free throw attempts in the game. Florida State had 13 in the second half, after 21 in the first.
That said, the Hatters came from 16 down at halftime, making 61% of their 2's and 53% of their 3's in the second half, outscoring FSU by 20 over an 8-minute stretch. Stetson led by 7 with less than 9 minutes left, but then hit a dry spell, going 1 of 8 from the floor during a 6-minute, 16-3 Seminole run.
Stetson had a shot to tie late, pulling down a rebound with 9 seconds left down 2. But A.J. Smith's drive drew contact but no whistle and the clock ran out. Garfield Blair was the player of the night for Stetson, putting up 19 points and 7 boards.
Mercer also had a good look at an ACC upset this weekend, but fell to Georgia Tech in overtime. The current leaders of the RPI had a shot at the buzzer to win in regulation, but James Florence's jumper was tipped. Tech then jumped out to a quick 6-point lead in overtime and never looked back. E. J. Kuysner had a big night, burying 6 3-pointers on his way to 22 points and a PEG score of 18. Calvin Henry and James Florence each posted a PEG of 17, albeit in drastically different ways. Florence was his usual self, scoring 26 points on 24 shots and handing out 6 assists while committing 7 turnovers. Henry was quieter, but no less effective, posting 8 points and 8 boards on 3-3 shooting.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Two! Two Transylvania! Ah, Ah, Ah . . .
Mercer just might win the SEC West this year.
Dominating Auburn on the offensive glass, the Mercer Bears pulled off their second straight road win against an SEC opponent, topping the Tigers 78-74. I've often said that in a guard-oriented conference, the team that controls the backboards controls the game. Stat of the night: Mercer missed 29 shots, but pulled down 14 (!!!) offensive rebounds. On Auburn misses, Mercer controlled the boards by a 32-6 margin.
Daniel Emerson was huge once again, adding 12 rebounds and 4 assists to his 12 points, for a PEG of 18 in 40 minutes of action. James Florence scored 25 points on 7-19 shooting and 7-10 free throws. As a team, Mercer shot 76% from the FT line for the night, compared to Auburn's 57%.
If Coach Bob Hoffman wants something to yell at his guys about, though, it's probably turnovers. Florence coughed the ball up 8 times, Emerson 4 more. 19 turnovers won't win you a lot of 70-possession games, even in the A-Sun.
Next up for Mercer: Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Dominating Auburn on the offensive glass, the Mercer Bears pulled off their second straight road win against an SEC opponent, topping the Tigers 78-74. I've often said that in a guard-oriented conference, the team that controls the backboards controls the game. Stat of the night: Mercer missed 29 shots, but pulled down 14 (!!!) offensive rebounds. On Auburn misses, Mercer controlled the boards by a 32-6 margin.
Daniel Emerson was huge once again, adding 12 rebounds and 4 assists to his 12 points, for a PEG of 18 in 40 minutes of action. James Florence scored 25 points on 7-19 shooting and 7-10 free throws. As a team, Mercer shot 76% from the FT line for the night, compared to Auburn's 57%.
If Coach Bob Hoffman wants something to yell at his guys about, though, it's probably turnovers. Florence coughed the ball up 8 times, Emerson 4 more. 19 turnovers won't win you a lot of 70-possession games, even in the A-Sun.
Next up for Mercer: Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Jeopardy Update
It's Kentucky week on Jeopardy!
Last night, Shelby Malone of Grayson and Jay Schraeder of Lexington played in the Teen Tournament semis. And Friday, a preacher from Todd County will be in the GSN re-run at 11 a.m. Will he have any better luck this time? Will he get that elusive Daily Double in Classical Music and parlay that into a stunning upset? Will he at least make his arrow point the right way in Final Jeopardy?
Find out Friday morning.
Last night, Shelby Malone of Grayson and Jay Schraeder of Lexington played in the Teen Tournament semis. And Friday, a preacher from Todd County will be in the GSN re-run at 11 a.m. Will he have any better luck this time? Will he get that elusive Daily Double in Classical Music and parlay that into a stunning upset? Will he at least make his arrow point the right way in Final Jeopardy?
Find out Friday morning.
Thumbnail Preview -- Stetson
Last Year: 16-16 overall, 11-5 in conference, good for third place. Lost to Gardner-Webb in the tournament quarterfinals.
Losses: Just one -- role player J. J. Hirst. Last year, Hirst was one of nine Hatters to average more than 12 minutes per game.
Key Returners: Everybody else. And I do mean everybody. Stetson will start two seniors (Garfield Blair and Tim Lang) and three juniors (A. J. Smith, Sheldon Oliver, and Mark Louhuis). They also have two seniors (Eric Diaz and Kris Thomas) and a junior (Brandon Williams) who saw significant minutes last year.
Show Me Numbers: If any team in the A-Sun wins with defense, it's Stetson. Last year they held conference opponents under 28% from 3-point range, led the league in field goal defense, and were second in scoring defense. That said, what Stetson does well on defense will have to make up for some significant weaknesses on the offensive end. Stetson was at the bottom of the tournament-eligible teams last year in Points per possession, PEP, and PEG. Yet despite a relatively poor showing on the offensive end, they still went 11-5 in conference.
Quick Analysis: The big question for Stetson is whether their offense or defense will be closer to "average" this year. Typically, having experienced players means two things. 1) You do better in close games. 2) You play better defense, and for longer stretches. If Stetson comes into this year in good physical condition and puts the same level of effort into defending the basketball as they did last year, I suspect the offense will come around somewhat.
Stat Projection: Offensively, Stetson projects to have a 0.89 PEP and 60.18 PEG, both near the bottom of the conference. But Stetson is all about defense, so we'll see.
Losses: Just one -- role player J. J. Hirst. Last year, Hirst was one of nine Hatters to average more than 12 minutes per game.
Key Returners: Everybody else. And I do mean everybody. Stetson will start two seniors (Garfield Blair and Tim Lang) and three juniors (A. J. Smith, Sheldon Oliver, and Mark Louhuis). They also have two seniors (Eric Diaz and Kris Thomas) and a junior (Brandon Williams) who saw significant minutes last year.
Show Me Numbers: If any team in the A-Sun wins with defense, it's Stetson. Last year they held conference opponents under 28% from 3-point range, led the league in field goal defense, and were second in scoring defense. That said, what Stetson does well on defense will have to make up for some significant weaknesses on the offensive end. Stetson was at the bottom of the tournament-eligible teams last year in Points per possession, PEP, and PEG. Yet despite a relatively poor showing on the offensive end, they still went 11-5 in conference.
Quick Analysis: The big question for Stetson is whether their offense or defense will be closer to "average" this year. Typically, having experienced players means two things. 1) You do better in close games. 2) You play better defense, and for longer stretches. If Stetson comes into this year in good physical condition and puts the same level of effort into defending the basketball as they did last year, I suspect the offense will come around somewhat.
Stat Projection: Offensively, Stetson projects to have a 0.89 PEP and 60.18 PEG, both near the bottom of the conference. But Stetson is all about defense, so we'll see.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
One! One Transylvania! Ah Ah Ah . . .
Welcome to the A-Sun, Daniel Emerson.
In the first big-time upset of the A-Sun season so far, Mercer went into Tuscaloosa and shocked SEC stalwart Alabama, 72-69. Emerson backed up his 16 point, 19 rebound (!!) performance against Piedmont with 18 points and 6 boards on 7 of 10 shooting to lead the Bears against the Crimson Tide. Emerson's PEG scores of 24 and 20 were tops in the conference for the weekend.
James Florence also came up big at the end, finding Calvin Henry underneath the basket for the go-ahead lay-up, then stealing the in-bounds pass and hitting 2 free throws to put Mercer up 3 with under 10 seconds to go. Henry posted a team-high PEG score of 23 against Alabama, pulling down 13 rebounds and blocking 5 shots to go with 9 points.
In other news, kudos to Jacksonville for taking on a couple of big dogs (Georgetown and Florida State) and giving them all they wanted. The Dolphins came from 17 down at the last media timeout against the Seminoles to get within two, but ran out of time before they could get the last shot off. Against the Hoyas, Jacksonville came from 12 down at halftime to get within four in the last 5 minutes before Georgetown pulled away late to win by 9.
Belmont fell to Austin Peay 86-84 last night. After rallying from 9 down at the 5-minute mark to tie, Belmont forward Henry Harris was whistled for a foul with 0.2 seconds left. APSU hit the free throws and that was that. ETSU also lost on a last-second foul,squandering a four-point lead in the final minutes to lose to Hofstra, 76-75. Hofstra hit two free throws with 1.1 seconds left to win.
In the first big-time upset of the A-Sun season so far, Mercer went into Tuscaloosa and shocked SEC stalwart Alabama, 72-69. Emerson backed up his 16 point, 19 rebound (!!) performance against Piedmont with 18 points and 6 boards on 7 of 10 shooting to lead the Bears against the Crimson Tide. Emerson's PEG scores of 24 and 20 were tops in the conference for the weekend.
James Florence also came up big at the end, finding Calvin Henry underneath the basket for the go-ahead lay-up, then stealing the in-bounds pass and hitting 2 free throws to put Mercer up 3 with under 10 seconds to go. Henry posted a team-high PEG score of 23 against Alabama, pulling down 13 rebounds and blocking 5 shots to go with 9 points.
In other news, kudos to Jacksonville for taking on a couple of big dogs (Georgetown and Florida State) and giving them all they wanted. The Dolphins came from 17 down at the last media timeout against the Seminoles to get within two, but ran out of time before they could get the last shot off. Against the Hoyas, Jacksonville came from 12 down at halftime to get within four in the last 5 minutes before Georgetown pulled away late to win by 9.
Belmont fell to Austin Peay 86-84 last night. After rallying from 9 down at the 5-minute mark to tie, Belmont forward Henry Harris was whistled for a foul with 0.2 seconds left. APSU hit the free throws and that was that. ETSU also lost on a last-second foul,squandering a four-point lead in the final minutes to lose to Hofstra, 76-75. Hofstra hit two free throws with 1.1 seconds left to win.
Friday, November 14, 2008
And Away They Go
The regular season gets underway this afternoon and tonight, with five games Friday plus a handful over the weekend. Big-name match-ups: ETSU vs. Temple, Upstate @ Georgia, Stetson @ Texas. Florida State goes to Jacksonville Saturday. Upstate is at Notre Dame Sunday, while Mercer goes to Alabama. Jacksonville gets another bite at the apple Monday night when they go to Georgetown.
On the women's side, Mercer travels to Texas A&M tonight, and FGCU is at Florida State Sunday. The big night is Monday, with Jacksonville visiting Florida and Kennesaw State going to North Carolina.
Later: Previews of Stetson and Upstate. After that, I hope: Women's previews.
On the women's side, Mercer travels to Texas A&M tonight, and FGCU is at Florida State Sunday. The big night is Monday, with Jacksonville visiting Florida and Kennesaw State going to North Carolina.
Later: Previews of Stetson and Upstate. After that, I hope: Women's previews.
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