MBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[pbrooks3]

Good post; I hope to count on determination and effort to outweigh athleticism tonight on the Colonel front to get to the victory line.

[DPU3619]

Getting ready to hit the road, but I thought I'd drop by and make a pick. 

I like Centre.  When it comes to two teams who are in the same neighborhood on talent like Centre and Millsaps are, that building plays a part.  It's loud.  Something weird is almost assuredly going to happen.  It's definitely a factor.  It makes Centre a much better basketball team.   

Crossing my fingers for a good one this evening either way.

[pbrooks3]

Hey Wes, really glad you're doing this. If you get a breath between calls tonight, tell your listening audience the score of the preceding game between the womens' teams. Thanks.

[frank_ezelle]

Maybe the X-factor in this game is that John Patterson is no longer clogging up the middle for Centre.  That's not to take anything away from the current Centre big men, but at the SCAC Tournament it was Patterson in the middle that proved the most difficult match up since he and Montgomery are totally different players.

I looked at the stats from last year.  When Millsaps won at home over Centre 79-67, Patterson was 4-4 from the field and had 5 rebounds, but he fouled out in 18 minutes of play and he had no blocks.  When Centre beat Millsaps 75-59 at the SCAC Tournament, Patterson had 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks in 24 minutes of play.  There's no question that he was a difference maker in that game with his size.

Last year Montgomery and Rogan were usually good for 30-40 points a game, usually in a fairly balanced output.  While the Millsaps outside shooting has been a big part of their offense this season, I think Millsaps needs about 30 points total from Montgomery and Rogan in order to win the game (unless they want to have one of those 16 of 26 3-point shooting nights).

[frank_ezelle]

Jan. 25 
   8:00 PM  Millsaps   Centre     
   8:00 PM  Hendrix   DePauw     
   8:00 PM  Austin   Rhodes     
   8:00 PM  Colorado Col.   Birmingham Southern     
   8:00 PM  Trinity (Tex.)   Oglethorpe     
   9:00 PM  Southwestern (Tex.)   Sewanee     
Jan. 26 
   6:00 PM  Austin   Birmingham Southern     
   8:00 PM  Southwestern (Tex.)   Oglethorpe     
   8:00 PM  Trinity (Tex.)   Sewanee     
Jan. 27 
   2:00 PM  Colorado Col.   Rhodes     
   3:00 PM  Hendrix   Centre     
   3:00 PM  Millsaps   DePauw 

I went to the SCAC website and was shocked to see that there are some other games this weekend besides Millsaps-Centre.  Who knew?

The other game that jumps out at me tonight is Trinity at Oglethorpe.  Don't be fooled by the difference in the point spreads between the Millsaps wins over Trinity and OU, using that to think that Trinity is the favorite in this game.  Millsaps matched up much better against OU's press than they did against Trinity's size.  I would list OU as the favorite in this game, thinking that the score may be a little higher scoring that a typical Trinity game.  I'll go with OU 74, Trinty 68.

In my other picks:
--I think DePauw will get a double-digit win over Hendrix.
--I'll pick Rhodes over Austin in a close game that goes to the home team.
--Colorado has played some good games lately but I don't think they get their first win of the season at BSC--I think this will be a double-digit win for BSC. 
--And while Sewanee gave an excellent effort Sunday, I doubt that Pursell will be 100% so I'll go with Southwestern, also by double-digits.

[pbrooks3]

Those other games and your favorites look about right to me. I'm not anxious for the Centre re-match with OU at their place. Oglethorpe could be a very interesting bunch by tournament time.

You're right about Patterson. He was just coming into his own as a basketball player when he graduated last year. The Colonels have no presence in the post quite like John. That being said; Ross Herman is improving game by game, and he can play physical. It's too bad Centre lost Ross' backup (Alex Lloyd) for the season several weeks ago to a shoulder injury. Alex is 6'7" or so and a promising freshman athlete. He'd would have matched up decently with Edrick Montgomery. Another frosh, Chris Gowers (6'4") has been doing a nice job filling in at several positions including the'5'.

Tune-in time is about 150 minutes away.

[Pat Coleman]

Y'all probably know, but the game is on the air, and tipoff is now.
http://www.d3hoops.com/audio/

[pbrooks3]

Heard one score on the game, but haven't been able to pick up game at Rhodes in their gym - Millsaps leading 31-17 in the first half.

[Pat Coleman]

Centre scored 15 of 17 to end the half down 33-32.

[pbrooks3]

Thank you Pat. Sounds like an epic game maybe shaping into form.

[frank_ezelle]

Having trouble hearing the interview at halftime but the game came in okay.  Montgomery and Rogan have about 20 combined at the half.  Doesn't sound like Millsaps is taking many 3 pointers, at least not like the number they have taken in many of the earlier games this season. 

Also doesn't sound like anyone is in foul trouble either way.  I think Varnado has two for Millsaps--I didn't hear of any starters for Millsaps with two but I had to reconnect several times so I missed some of the game (that's probably my DSL Lite connection). 

Interesting that Millsaps started out in a 2-3 zone and it sounds like they played it quite a bit.  I haven't seen many zones in the home games and I wonder if Coach Wise is saving the man-to-man for a halftime adjustment. 

I hate to say again that Millsaps has a habit of giving away big leads--it sure would have been nice to start the second half with a double-digit cushion.  By the way, the Millsaps ladies won the opener 61-56.  I haven't seen a box score.

[pbrooks3]

Since I am at Rhodes and couldn't pick up the game in their gym on my laptop, I've resorted to texting my daughter for updates and occasional phonings to her to hold the cell to the audio over the internet. Didn't know I could be this crazy! Nonetheless I did hear some of the halftime chatter. Keep up the good work guys.

[Pat Coleman]

Yep, we worked on it in the pregame and it didn't get any better but we didn't have any backup for it so we're going to live with it. 

[Ralph Turner]

I am getting a good signal.

Does anyone want me to post frequent updates?

Centre 39-37, 16:30 left.

Centre 41-37; 16:00

[Ralph Turner]

Millsaps has a 10-0 run to go ahead, 50-46.  Montgomery 19, Rogan 12 points for Millsaps.

11:45 left.