Weekend Rewind
The Gold Sheet
BRACKET BUSTER REVIEW
Last weekend’s college hoop action featured some interesting developments, including a few significant upsets (North Carolina losing at Maryland, perhaps saving Gary Williams’ job, and Oklahoma missing a golden chance to move tot he top of the polls when Blake Griffin was knocked out of the game with a concussion in an eventual 73-68 loss at Texas), but the focus of the weekend was on Bracket Busters, the annual mid-major sock hop created by the good folks at ESPN to give the teams in the Missouri Valley, WAC, Colonial, Horizon, Big West, MAC, Metro-Atlantic and a few other loops some extra exposure (although there are so many of the “Buster” games these days that many of them don’t get televised by the ESPN family of networks).
Some Bracket Buster observations from last weekend...
1) The top of the Metro-Atlantic is better than the top of the Missouri Valley. It’s hard to arrive at any other conclusion after the top two MAAC teams, Siena & Niagara, dispatched of two of the top three Missouri Valley teams, Northern Iowa & Illinois State, last weekend. Indeed, both the Saints and Purple Eagles look to be squads that could cause some trouble as a lower-numbered seed in the Big Dance, which is what Siena did last year as a 13 seed in the first round, throttling Vanderbilt. With all five starters back from that team (including Gs Kenny Hasbrouck & the slithery Edwin Ubiles), the Saints (leading the MAAC with a 15-1 league mark) have a pretty good NCAA at-large case after downing Valley co-leader UNI, 81-75. Tennessee, Pitt, and Kansas inflicted three of the Saints’ non-league losses, and easy wins over Boise State & Buffalo, and a triumph at St. Joe’s, along with the win over the Panthers, gives the Siena at-large argument a bit more bite. Of course, we’re sure that HC Fran McCaffery won’t want to take any chances in the upcoming conference tourney in Albany.
(To be fair to the Valley, Creighton is apparently emerging as the team to beat in the loop, and did dispatch of George Mason rather handily in its own Bracket Buster Saturday night. The Bluejays, however, could be the only Valley team headed to the Dance if they win “Arch Madness” in St. Louis.)
2) Davidson had better win the SoCon Tourney if it wants to return to the Dance. We know that Stephen Curry wasn’t 100% last Saturday vs. Butler, as Steph was still suffering from an ankle injury. But regional sources have told us that this year’s Davidson team isn’t quite as good as last year’s, mainly because the Wildcats miss their graduated PG, Jason Richards, and haven’t been getting as much inside production as a year ago. Curry has made the switch to PG, and though he has posted fantastic numbers this season, HC Bob McKillop has had to rely on his star more than he would like. And we’ve seen how poorly Davidson has fared minus Curry (losing 64-46 to The Citadel earlier last week) and then being outclassed by the Bulldogs early Saturday afternoon. With Curry likely to be dealing with his sore ankle for a while, we suspect the Cats are going to have to win the SoCon Tourney to get back to the Dance. But, as is usually the case whenever Davidson gets on TV these days, we get plenty of crowd shots of Steph’s Paula Abdul-lookalike mom, Sonya, who rates as our favorite hoop mom along with Joakim Noah’s mama Cecilia Rhode (Miss Sweden 1978).
3) Sack the MAC...Watching a couple of the supposed best MAC teams, Buffalo and Miami-Ohio, in Buster action makes us wonder just how far the league has dropped. The Bulls looked helpless on the defensive end at America East leader Vermont, losing to the Catamounts 78-70, while the RedHawks had their hats handed to them by middle-rung Missouri Valley rep Evansville, 75-61. Granted, both of these games were on the road for the MAC reps, but if the two best teams in the loop are getting outclassed by the likes of Vermont and Evansville, what does that say about the quality of play in the league?
4) Saint Mary’s is back...No Buster team might have benefited as much as Saint Mary’s, still minus star Aussie PG Patrick Mills and in desperate need of a win against WAC leader Utah State to get back on the Selection Committee’s radar screen. Consider that done after an impressive 75-64 win at Moraga that has rekindled the Gaels’ Big Dance hopes. Soph G Mickey McConnell is finally getting the hang of replacing Mills, scoring 22 against the Utags while nailing all 6 of his field goal tries. McConnell (who’s also been to the free throw line 21 times in the last three games) has now scored 20 or more in two of SMC’s last three games (all wins for the Gaels) and has hit 13 of 17 shots from the floor over that span. With Mills expected back for the WCC Tourney two weeks hence in Las Vegas, the Gaels (who almost beat Gonzaga without Mills Feb. 12 and were leading Gonzaga when Mills went out with that wrist injury Jan. 29) might be able to earn their Big Dance ticket the traditional way by simply winning the WCC Tourney.
Watch these teams...North Dakota State & Portland State...We’re not sure who was paying attention to NDSU’s 77-69 win at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, but the Bison look like the sort of team that can cause problems as a lower-numbered seed in the Dance. Loaded with 5th-year seniors(four of whom start), NDSU currently sits atop the Summit (nee Mid-Continent Conference) and has a dynamite senior backcourt led by 5-11 Ben Woodside (22.5 ppg & 6.4 apg) & 6-4 Mike Nelson (12.3 ppg & 51% from the floor, impressive stuff for a guard). Meanwhile, Portland State threw some early haymakers at Boise State, and before the Broncos knew what hit them they were down 58-35 at the half en route to losing by a 93-81 count. The Vikings, who won at Gonzaga in December, are currently chasing Weber State and Montana in the Big Sky Conference and might land in one of the other postseason tourneys (CBI or CollegeInsider.com). Like NDSU, PSU has a veteran backcourt, too, although in the Vikings’ case it’s two transfers (5-6 mighty-mite Jeremiah Dominguez, who transferred from crosstown U of Portland, and Hawaii transfer Dominic Waters) who pace a bombs-away attack. Portland State HC Ken Bone is another one to watch, as the former Washington Huskies assistant under Lorenzo Romar is well respected in the region and could emerge as a candidate for the Oregon job if the Ducks hit the eject button on Ernie Kent.
Player of the Weekend: Gerald Henderson, Duke...After losing four of their previous seven, the Blue Devils were in desperate need of a win vs. visiting Wake Forest Sunday evening in Durham, if for nothing else to soothe their bruised egos (and, perhaps more importantly, get the tyrannical Coach K to calm down a bit). Avenging an earlier two-point loss to Wake could also help Duke solidify its claim to a protected Big Dance seed and a likely preferred sub-regional assignment in nearby Greensboro. Up steps 6-4 jr. swingman Henderson, who has bailed out the Devils before this season and did so again Sunday vs. the Deacs, to score a career-high 35 points, including most of the damage in a late 16-6 run to propel Duke to a much-needed 101-91 win. Henderson was helped by Jon Scheyer (who scored 30), although Coach K will certainly be letting them know that despite their heroics, the Blue Devils still allowed Wake to hit 61% from the floor. Maybe practice won’t be any easier after the win!