College Basketball Knowledge
This is the unofficial "Opening Night" for college basketball; not lot of information to go on, but we'll give you what we can as we buckle in for lot of research and hopefully a great college hoop season..........
-- Georgetown/OldDominion both have four starters back from last year; Monarchs were 27-9/15-3, and upset the Hoyas 61-57. This is a bigger game for them. Hoyas are less talented but tougher without Monroe.
-- Northern Iowa had magical 30-5 season LY, upsetting Kansas in first round of NCAAs, but they've lost three starters, just like Syracuse did. UNI's problem is that Syracuse reloads with better players.
-- Seton Hall has four starters back from LY but new coach. Temple was 29-6 LY, winning 71-65 at Seton Hall; Owls have three starters back, are picked to win A-14. Seton Hall is picked 10th in 16-team Big East.
-- Rutgers won last five games vs Princeton, holding Tigers to 45.8 ppg; Scarlet Knights won last two games here, 49-44/53-47. Rutgers has new coach, thin roster; Princeton is expected to win first Ivy title in six years.
-- Northwestern beat Northern Illinois 77-55 at home LY; Wildcats have never made NCAAs, but are expected to this year. Huskies lost three of their five returning starters since last season ended, bad news for coach Patton, who is 26-61 in his first three years in DeKalb.
-- Fordham brought in new coach after 2-26 season; he brought in pair of freshman PGs from NYC area. Brown has four starters back from 11-20 team that went 5-9 in Ivy LY but is picked to finish 4th in Ivy this year.
-- Pacific has three starters back from 23-14 team that won three games on road in CIT last March. UTEP was 26-7 LY, but lost its coach and two starters; new coach Floyd has seven seniors to work with.
-- Denver has four starters back from LY's 19-13 team; they took trip in offseason, usually a good sign. UCSB has four starters back from LY's 20-10 team and is picked to win Big West. Was announced this week that Denver will be leaving Sun Belt, joining WAC next year.
-- Tennessee had terrible offseason, is headed to probation, then lost to D-II Indianapolis by 14 during week. Chattanooga has four starters back from LY and also welcomes three transfers into the lineup.
-- Wofford has four starters back from 26-9 team that lost to Wisconsin by 4 in NCAAs LY (was tied in last 1:20). Minnesota has four starters back from LY's 21-14 team that broke even (9-9) in Big 11.
-- Iona has all five starters back from LY but has new coach who had a 93-28 record in D-II. Kent State has eight new players after losing first round game in MAC tourney as top seed. Game is in Cleveland, which helps Kent State.
-- Home side won last six St Bonaventure-Canisius games; Bonnies lost last three visits here, by 2-9-6 points. Canisius has four senior starters but a new PG. Bonnies had rough offseason, losing number of transfers.
Georgetown faces tough test at Old Dominion
By: Tim Harmon
GEORGETOWN HOYAS (0-0) at OLD DOMINION MONARCHS (0-0)
Tip-off: Friday, 7:00 p.m. EDT
Line: Georgetown -2
Allow me to go a little Andy Rooney old school . . .
Do you ever wonder why it seems like high seeds from day one of the NCAA Tournament tend to struggle more than on day two?
In many ways the first week of the regular season for the nation’s top teams is a lot like the opening round of the NCAA Tournament -- you wonder if the teams that come out and play with less than their “A” game can send a wake-up call to the rest of the favorites. For example, will every team in the Top 25 this week learn a lesson from Tennessee losing to a Division II team in an exhibition? Did Pittsburgh’s eight-point victory over Rhode Island remind other powerhouses how dangerous a season-opening game can be when you let your guard down, while letting your opponent bury 14 three-pointers?
Which brings us to Georgetown versus Old Dominion. If any team in the country outside of the Big East is not allowed to “sneak up” on this Hoya squad, it is the defending champs from the Colonial Athletic Association. ODU has defeated Georgetown twice in the last three years. More amazing, those victories came in McDonough Gymnasium, the on-campus facility that Georgetown uses for home games about once a year. This meeting will be at the Constant Convocation Center, where the Monarchs posted a perfect 13-0 record last year.
Georgetown’s attack will be keyed around guards Austin Freeman, Chris Wright and Jason Clark. The trio combined to average over 42 PPG last season with Freeman leading the triumvirate, scoring at a 16.5 PPG clip. The Hoyas will have to deal with an Old Dominion squad that returns four starters from a team that went 27-9 and made the second round of the NCAA Tournament before reluctantly bowing out to eventual Elite Eight participant Baylor. Frank Hassell (9.2 PPG, 6.7 RPG) averaged 15 PPG and 8.5 RPG in the tournament, and the backcourt of Kent Bazemore (8.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 3.4 APG) and senior Darius James (7.0 PPG, 3.3 APG) bring size and big-game experience to the table.
If the Monarchs can make it three out of four over Hoya Nation, the likelihood of the word “upset” being used to describe the outcome will be unlikely.
The FoxSheets give two reasons why Georgetown will avoid the “upset.”
GEORGETOWN is 64-39 ATS (62.1%, +21.1 Units) in non-conference games since 1997.The average score was GEORGETOWN 75.3, OPPONENT 61.1 - (Rating = 1*).
Blaine Taylor is 23-37 ATS (38.3%, -17.7 Units) when the line is +3 to -3 as the coach of OLD DOMINION. The average score was OLD DOMINION 64.3, OPPONENT 67.0 - (Rating = 1*).
Temple hosts Seton Hall in season opener
By: Tim Harmon
SETON HALL PIRATES (0-0) at TEMPLE OWLS (0-0)
Tip-off: Friday, 7:30 p.m. EDT
Line: Temple -5
For a large portion of the Temple University fan base, the start of a new season brings optimism that Fran Dunphy’s squad, led by All-Atlantic-10 forward Lavoy Allen is poised for a four-peat as A-10 champions, another 20-win season, and a spot in the Top 25 from start to finish. For the rest of the faithful though, they prefer not to be woken up until the second week in March, specifically when the NCAA Tournament kicks off. They’ve seen enough A-10 Tournament success, and now they want to see an NCAA Tournament victory, something that has eluded the Owls since reaching the Elite Eight in 2001 under then head coach John Chaney.
As for the Seton Hall Pirates, they are trying to bounce back after a 19-13 season that ended with a turbulent ouster from the NIT in the first round, followed soon thereafter by the ouster of head coach Bobby Gonzalez. Former Louisville assistant Kevin Willard takes over after a three-year stint at Iona. The cupboard is not exactly bare for Willard. Senior guard Jeremy Hazell is the top returning scorer in the Big East conference (20.4 PPG). Herb Pope, cleared to play after an April health scare, averaged a double-double (11.5 PPG, 10.7 RPG), but will need to control his emotions following a punching incident that earned him an ejection in the season-ending NIT loss to Texas Tech. Pope became the first player in Pirates history to lead the Big East in rebounding. Hazell, Pope and senior forward Jeff Robinson (12.2 PPG) all returned to Seton Hall after initially declaring for the NBA Draft. The Pirates talent level is not what has been at issue in South Orange, but rather its maturity level. If Willard can straighten out this team with a check-up from the neck up, Seton Hall could be a sleeper in the Big East.
Last season Temple nipped Seton Hall 71-65 as the Owls held Hazell to 4-of-17 shooting. If Hazell can avoid another nightmarish shooting night like that one, these Pirates have a chance to swashbuckle their way out of North Philly with a win. Temple was 13-1 SU on its home floor last season, and 10-4 ATS.
The FoxSheets give two more reasons to pick Temple to win and cover:
TEMPLE is 42-25 ATS (62.7%, +14.5 Units) in all games over the last 3 seasons. The average score was TEMPLE 66.8, OPPONENT 60.1 - (Rating = 1*).
SETON HALL is 8-18 ATS (30.8%, -11.8 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons. The average score was SETON HALL 80.1, OPPONENT 75.4 - (Rating = 1*).
Friday College Basketball Handicapping Report
By Jeff Mattingly
Wisconsin Milwaukee at Portland
-Portland Pilots matched a school Division I record with 21 wins last season, following a 19-win 2008-09 campaign
-Milwaukee returns four starters and eight lettermen from last year’s 20-win team. The team will also welcome back all-league guard Tone Boyle, who missed this past season because of a back injury.
-UWM is 9-3 in its last 12 season openers, with the three losses coming to Iowa, Wisconsin and Memphis
Iona vs Kent State
-The Golden Flashes’ 13-man roster has only 8.5 years of experience at the Division I level. The last time KSU returned less than 38 percent of the team’s statistical production was 1996-97.
-Kent State has posted a 281-114 overall record since the start of the 1998-99 season, ranking 16th in the nation for most wins during that span.
-Kent State is 2-0 all-time versus Iona having last met at Syracuse in 1994. The Golden Flashes have not faced a team from the MAC since 1998.
-Iona head coach Tim Cluess will look to implement a more up and down offensive style than years past.
-The Gaels feature one of the deeper backcourts in the MAAC with two All-Conference honorees and its top four performers in terms of minutes returning.
Towson at Miami OH
-The RedHawks host a program record 16 games this season and boast a 53-12 mark when opening the season at home
-If Quinten Rollins cracks the starting lineup today, it will be the first time since 2003-04 Miami will have a true freshman in the starting lineup for its season opener.
-Towson returns nine players from a season ago. Of those nine returning players, seven cracked the starting lineup in 2009-10.
-The Tigers are 14-17 in season openers at the Division I level.
-Three of Towson’s five CAA victories last year came on the road
Southern Miss at South Florida
-Southern Miss returns seven of its top eight scorers, including all five starters. All-Conference forward Gary Flowers led the team with 15.0 points and 8.3 rebounds last year.
-This will be the 28th meeting between the two schools, with Southern Miss holding a 15-12 advantage. In games played in Tampa, USF holds a 10-3 edge.
-Under head coach Larry Eustachy, the Golden Eagles are 5-1 in season-opening games.
-South Florida is 30-9 in season openers and 31-8 in home openers. During the Stan Heath era, the team is 2-1 in its first game.
-USF has the fourth-least career minutes played out of Big East Conference schools entering the season.
Columbia at LaSalle
-Columbia enters Friday’s game with a record of 74-35 all-time in season openers. Last season, the Lions began the season on the road at DePaul, losing 59-53.
-13 letterwinners return from last year’s squad that finished 11-17 and 5-9 in the Ivy league.
-Columbia was one of four Ivy League teams to record fewer turnovers than their opponents (+0.2).
-The Lions have won their last two games in Philadelphia, defeating Penn in each of the last two years.
-Columbia is led by first-year head coach Kyle Smith, who spent nine seasons at St. Mary’s.
-LaSalle will play 19 home games this season, tied with Dayton for the most home games in the Atlantic 10.
-The Explorers will travel to Baylor next Tuesday for a nationally-televised contest.
Georgetown at Old Dominion
-Georgetown was the only school in the country to post wins over the teams that played in the national championship game last year.
-The Hoyas return four starters to their team this season, led by senior guard Austin Freeman.
-Finished last season ranked fourth in the country in field goal percentage.
-Georgetown has an all-time record of 23-9 against teams from the CAA.
-Since 2004-05, the Hoyas are 76-23 in non-conference games
-Old Dominion has won 23-straight home games - the fourth longest streak in the country.
-The Monarchs ranked third nationally in scoring margin last year at +9.6 per game