College Basketball Knowledge
Home team won last four Wm Mary-Richmond games, with all four of them decided by 8 or less points; Tribe lost last two games here, 58-55/ 52-50. W&M lost three starters from 22-11/12-6 team- they lost by 24 at Virginia on their opener Friday, but trailed by only a point at the half. Spiders beat The Citadel by 42 in their opener.
Yale lost to Quinnipiac of NEC 84-75 in its opener; Bulldogs lost 87-78 to Providence in LY's meeting. Both teams lost three starters from LY's losing seasons. Yale was 12-19/6-8; Friars were 12-19/4-14, one of worst defensive teams I've seen. Providence crushed Dartmouth of Ivy 87-52 in its opener; they were up 25 at the half.
Georgetown survived tough 62-59 win at Old Dominion Friday, after it trailed by 6 at half; Hoyas have four starters back from 23-11/10-8 club that got upset by Ohio U in first round of NCAAs. Tulane lost couple of starters from LY's 8-22/3-13 team, which is why they've got a new coach. Tulane lost 74-58 in LY's game against the Hoyas.
Valparaiso has four starters back 15-17/10-6 club, is expected to contend for 2nd place behind Butler in Horizon; Coach Drew took his team all over LY, losing at Michigan State by 30, Purdue by 24, North Carolina by 11. Kansas still doesn't know status of freshman PG Selby, but they also are loaded with talent all over roster.
Troy State lost by 12 to Alabama in last meeting (three years ago); they graduated all five starters from LY. Trojans played two SEC teams LY, losing at Florida by 22, beating Auburn by 4. Alabama has three starters back from 17-15/6-10 team that was Anthony Grant's first in Alabama. Kids have better idea of how he wants defense played in Year 2.
San Diego needs JC point guard to blend with three freshman if Toreros of San Diego are going to be any good; losing four starters off 11-21 club isn't big deal. USD upset Stanford 77-64 in season opener LY. Cardinal has four starters back from 14-18/7011 team, but losing Fields to NBA is big blow. Stanford has seven freshmen, no seniors.
USC (-13.5) beat Cal-Irvine by 13 Saturday, after leading by six at half; Trojans lost three starters from 16-14/8-10 team, and don't get new PG until Dec 15. Santa Clara has all five starters back from 11-21/3-11 club that was last in WCC in turnovers and shot less than 30% from the arc. Broncos beat Bakersfield by 5 points in their opener Friday.
Pacific rallied from down 11 at half to beat UTEP 66-61 Friday; Tigers made 11-26 from arc, only 3-10 from foul line. Pacific has three starters back from 23-12/12-4 team- they beat Nevada last three years by 3-8-4 points. Wolf Pack beat Montana 81-66 in its opener- they lost four of starters from 21-13/11-5 team, but do have a strong recruiting class.
Pepperdine has all five starters back from 7-24/3-11 team- they lost at Portland State 83-81 Friday, going 11-24 from foul line, 8-14 from arc (PSU was 31-38 from line). UCLA had so many injuries LY (14-18), its coach even tore his Achilles; they've got four starters back from team that went 8-10 in Pac-10. Bruins beat Pepperdine 71-52 LY.
Cal State-Fullerton lost its first two games in Hawai'i, 70-67 to Central Michigan, 84-70 to Hawai'i, as two opponents shot 46% from arc in two games. Titans were -8/-7 in second half of those games. Montana State (+5) upset Chippewas 65-58 Saturday, after losing 77-59 in its opener at Hawai'i, a game they made 12-28 from arc, and still lost by 18.
Wofford shot just 37% from floor, 3-16 from arc in 14-point loss Friday at Minnesota; Terriers have four starters back from 26-9/15-3 team that scared Wisconsin witless in NCAAs LY, losing tight game. Clemson got 87-64 win over Western Carolina in its debut for new coach Brownell; Tigers have three starters back from 21-11 team that went 9-7 in ACC.
Rutgers lost to Princeton in OT Friday, in Rice's debut as coach of the Scarlet Knights; they beat Rider by 10, St Peter's by 24 LY in games vs MAAC competition. Fairfield has four starters back from 23-11/13-5 team that lost MAAC final- they also have Needham, best player in the MAAC (5-11 PG). Stags beat Sacred Heart by 17 in their opener.
Siena's starting guards shot 5-21, its bench 5-19 in 80-76 home opening loss to Vermont Saturday; Saints lost three starters from 27-7/17-1 team that lost to Purdue of Big 11 in first round of NCAAs LY- they have aq quick turnaround here, vs Minnesota team that held Wofford to 37% from floor, 3-16 from arc in 69-55 win Friday.
Tip-Off Marathon
By Brian Edwards
For the third straight season, ESPN will do the 24-hour thing again Tuesday in what the network is billing as the College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon. The event will include 20 men’s basketball games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com, starting at midnight Eastern on Tuesday morning.
The action starts with Miami playing at Memphis. Josh Pastner’s team opened the season with a 104-40 win over Centenary as a 33 ½-point home favorite. Antonio Barton enjoyed a brilliant debut, scoring a team-high 17 points in just 23 minutes of action. Barton, a true freshman point guard, also had five steals, four assists and two blocked shots. He made 5-of-6 from the field, draining all three of his attempts from 3-point range.
Chris Crawford, another freshman from out of Pastner’s outstanding 2010 recruiting class, had 16 points in only 13 minutes of playing time. Crawford buried all six of his shots from the floor, including four 3-pointers.
Miami (1-0 straight up, 0-0 against the spread) won its opener over Jacksonville by an 89-77 count in a non-lined affair. The Hurricanes trailed the Dolphins 48-42 at intermission, but they outscored JU 47-29 in the second half.
Junior guard Malcolm Grant paced UM with a game-high 23 points, while sophomore guard Durand Scott added 20 points and six assists compared to just one turnover.
Frank Haith, who is in the sixth season of his tenure at Miami, lost three starters from last season’s team. The ‘Canes finished strong last year, covering the spread in each of their last four games while making a surprising run to the ACC Tournament semifinals before losing to eventual national-champ Duke by a 77-74 score.
As of early Monday morning, most betting shops had the Tigers installed as 5 ½-point home favorites. ESPN will have the telecast of UM at Memphis.
The 2:00 a.m. Eastern game on Tuesday morning will feature St. John’s at Saint Mary’s. Most books, as of early Monday morning, had the Gaels favored by 4 ½.
Randy Bennett’s team opened its season by beating up on Albertson College 86-42 in a non-lined game. Clint Steindl knocked down six 3’s and scored a game-high 20 points, while Kenton Walker chipped in with 14 points.
Steve Lavin is making his debut as head coach of St. John’s, taking over for Norm Roberts after working at ESPN since as an analyst since getting fired at UCLA in 2003. Lavin, who took the Bruins to five Sweet 16 appearances in seven seasons, inherits plenty of talent including four returning starters.
On ESPN Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, Virginia Tech (1-0 SU, 0-0 ATS) will play at Kansas St. The Hokies, who return their entire nucleus, beat Campbell 70-60 in their opener.
Malcolm Delaney, one of the ACC’s premier players, scored a game-high 20 points. Senior big man Jeff Allen added 11 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, four blocked shots and a pair of steals.
Frank Martin’s squad won its opener Friday over James Madison 75-61 as a 19-point home favorite. The 136 combined points stayed ‘under’ the 150-point total.
K-St.’s Jacob Pullen scored a game-high 20 points and dished out five assists. Nick Russell added 19 points for the Wildcats, who have two starters back from last year’s team that went to the Elite Eight before losing to eventual runner-up Butler.
Curtis Kelly, a senior center who averaged 11.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in 2009-2010, is the other returning starter in addition to Pullen. However, the UConn transfer was benched by Martin for the opener and wasn’t even in uniform.
His status against the Hokies was unknown as of Monday morning. After the win over James Madison, Martin told the Topeka Capital-Journal, "He just has to figure out if he wants to be a good teammate and be here. When he does that for a consistent period of time, then I will consider putting him out there again."
ESPN will head to Gainesville at 6:00 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, as Florida (1-0 SU, 0-1 ATS) will play host to Ohio State. The Gators opened their season Friday night by capturing a 77-60 win over UNC-Wilmington as 25-point home favorites.
Senior forward Chandler Parson’s led four UF scorers in double figures with 16 points. Alex Tyus added 13 points and seven rebounds.
Ohio St. (1-0 SU, 0-0 ATS) opened its campaign with a 102-61 triumph over North Carolina A&T in a game that was off the board. The Buckeyes bring back their entire team with the exception of Evan Turner, who was the No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft. They also add one of the nation’s top freshmen in center Jared Sullinger, who had 19 points and 14 rebounds in his debut.
The 8:00 p.m. Eastern game on ESPN will pit Butler at Louisville. The Bulldogs beat up on Marian College 83-54 in their non-lined opener. Shelvin Mack scored a game-high 20 points.
Rick Pitino’s team will be playing its season opener and will probably have to do without its only returning starter. Junior forward Jared Swopshire, who averaged 7.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game last year, is ‘doubtful’ with a sports hernia. Freshman guard Russell Smith is ‘out’ indefinitely with a broken foot that he suffered two weeks ago.
The 10:00 p.m. Eastern game on Tuesday night will be played at Breslin Center in East Lansing. That’s where Michigan St. will play host to South Carolina from out of the SEC.
Tom Izzo returns for his 16th year with the Spartans after nearly taking the Cleveland job in the NBA over the offseason. He’s back, though, and so is everyone else except for Raymar Morgan (11.3 PPG) and Chris Allen (8.2 PPG).
MSU cashed tickets in its opener Friday, destroying Eastern Michigan 96-66 as a 20 ½-point home favorite. Kalin Lucas was the catalyst for the Spartans, scoring a team-high 18 points and dishing out six assists. Durrell Summers added 17 points.
South Carolina failed to cover the number in its 94-79 win over Elon University as a 16-point home favorite Friday night. Sam Muldrow, the only returning starter for Darrin Horn’s third team in Columbia, led six double-figure scorers with 20 points.
**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**
Morgan St. is expected to go to the NCAA Tournament for a third straight year, as Todd Bozeman’s team looks like the class of the MEAC again. The Bears won their opener 81-79 at Loyola-Marymount. Bozeman has beefed up the schedule this year with road games looming at Providence (Nov. 18), at Syracuse (Dec. 20), at Louisville (Dec. 27) and at Baylor (Jan. 4).
Memphis second-year head coach Josh Pastner has dismissed Jelan Kendrick from the program. The true freshman was a McDonald’s All-American from out of Atlanta.
With star forward Trey Thompkins on the sidelines with an ankle sprain, Georgia nearly fell victim to an upset in its season opener Friday night at Stegeman Coliseum. The Dawgs overcame a one-point deficit at halftime to beat Mississippi Valley St., 72-70. Senior center Jeremy Price scored a game-high 20 points, while high-flying Travis Leslie finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Tennessee St. transfer Gerald Robinson added 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field.
On the eve of the football team’s home game vs. Georgia, Auburn opened its new basketball arena at long last. It wasn’t a good start for the Tony Barbee Era at Auburn Arena. The Tigers blew a nice lead at halftime and lost 70-69 to UNC-Asheville in overtime.
Tim Floyd’s debut at UTEP didn’t go well, as the Miners lost to Pacific 66-61 as eight-point home favorites. Good, I’m glad.
vegasinsider.com