MBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[pbrooks3]

DPULefty22, what makes Birmingham Southern a hard match-up for DePauw?  Just curious because it seems Centre matches up well against this team.

[DPULefty22]

DPULefty22, what makes Birmingham Southern a hard match-up for DePauw?  Just curious because it seems Centre matches up well against this team.

Hell, I wish I knew. It could be that I've just seen two of BSC's best efforts this season and they both happened to be against the Tigers. The Panthers were 9-for-16 from behind the arc in this game. That isn't particularly normal and certainly contributed to keeping the game close.

There wasn't any secret as to why BSC beat DPU the first time out - they out-hustled and out-worked the Tigers. That wasn't the case this afternoon - DPU won the battle of the boards and generally took good care of the ball. Maybe I'm reading too much into it and it's just a matter of a good shooting game by BSC and a bad shooting game by DPU conspiring to keep the game tight.

But I will say this - BSC was able to run give-and-go along the baseline with just about any player on their roster. They don't really have any true bigs, but everybody they have has a pretty good first step and they got some layups.

Again, though, I'm just speculating. There were times in the second half it looked like DePauw would run away, and then they'd go cold and BSC would go on a little run. Maybe I'm looking for something deeper than "BSC played fairly well, DPU didn't" when there isn't anything there. But either way, I've been impressed with the Panthers on the two occasions I've seen them, and they've played DPU as tough as anyone has all year. Twice.

[Major_Fan]

Final Score from Jackson, Miss... Millsaps 103, Austin 67.  Montgomery finished 10-of-10 from the floor for 21 points and 12 rebounds in 25 minutes, while Rogan (15), Bailey (14) and Songy (10) each netted double figures.  Millsaps hit 14 3s and shot just under 60 percent for the game.  The 'Roos shot just 39 percent in the second half and were outscored 57-31.  Complete Box Score below. 

http://www.millsaps.edu/athletic/basketball-m/mcm-021008.htm

FYI, Centre beat Rhodes 85-63.

[pbrooks3]

Centre notches it 20th straight win against Rhodes 85-63 today.  Balanced attack with Danny Noll leading the way with 23 points and 10 rebounds.  Matt Nestheide had a nice game with 15 pts on 5 of 7 3-point shooting.  Thomas Britt scored 12 with Ross Herman chipping in 11.  Cory Smith led Rhodes with 13.

Now the big match up Friday night with DePauw.  Should be a lot exciting comments on the board leading up to this game.

[frank_ezelle]

At 10 for 10, Montgomery tied the 2nd best field goal shooting game in SCAC history.  Andrew Tulowitsky went 11 for 11 in '07 and Jonathan Jarrett of Sewanee went 10 for 10 in 2000.  From how it looked this afternoon, Edrick was going to shoot 100% regardless of how many shots he took.  I know that Edrick won't make the D3hoops team of the week again, but he played far better this weekend than last.  I truthfully can't think of a better weekend that I've seen him play, not so much because of the stats, but because of the total focus and team play.  I think he went 16 of 18 from the field for the weekend, not too shabby in any league.

The good news for Millsaps is that so many other players are also playing well.  Rodney Rogan looked 100% on the offensive end with 7 of 12 shooting and 15 points in 20 minutes.  Chad Songy had 10 points, 5 assists and 0 turnovers.  Lorenzo Bailey was 4 of 6 on his 3's on his way to 14 points, and Chris Sanders had his typical game where he contributes in so many ways that don't really show in the box score.  It was a relief to see the team play so well on a Sunday and it was good to see all 15 Millsaps players get into the scoring column.

[tarheelfan]

Hendrix takes care of Colorado 78-56

[pbrooks3]

In the POTY running, here's how things looked today:

Edrick Montgomery 10-10 FG, 1-2 FT for 21 points; 12 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal and 1 assist.  Great weekend performance.

Mike Moore 3-14 FG, 0-6 on 3's for 6 points; 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 turnover.   He obviously didn't have a good shooting game, but his other stats are good.

Thomas Britt 15 points on 4-11 FG (2-6 on 3's) and 2-3 on the line; 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 turnovers.  Average game for Britt.

Andrew King 7-12 FG, 3-4 FT (17 points) and 10 rebounds; 1 assist and 1 block.  Consistent play from a consistent player.

[frank_ezelle]

It had somehow escaped me that Centre was ranked #5 in the country last week and this week they may go higher since the #2 and #3 lost last week.  It's great for the SCAC to have a team ranked so high and I hope they truly are the 5th best team in the country.  As for Millsaps and the rankings, I fully understand why they aren't ranked.  They were 18th in the country and they lost 2 straight games, a scenario that almost guarantees a drop out of the polls.

But it brings up an interesting question.  How would you rate Centre and Millsaps compared to each other or how would you rate the top 5 teams in the SCAC?  Is there much difference between (in alphabetical order) Centre, DePauw, Millsaps, Oglethorpe and Trinity?  Look at the recent games between Trinity-DePauw and Trinity-Centre.  Based on those, wouldn't you say that the 3 teams are basically equal.  And if you discount Trinity because they had home court advantage, then do you factor in that same advantage that Centre had over Millsaps?

I'm still thinking about what point spread I would give between these teams if they played on a neutral court like they will be playing on at the end of the month.  If I could rank the teams between 1 and 5, I'm not sure that I would consider #1 any more than a 6-7 point favorite over #5.  Anyone want to take a stab at playing bookie and give us their point spread between these teams?

[spfan22]

Frank:  I think alot of these teams matchup much differently than they do with other teams.. for example.. my alma mater OU does not matchup well against Centre or Millsaps.. however I think they matchup great with Trinity and Depauw.. whereas Centre might matcup well against OU.. but not so well against Trinity.. I think matchups and style of play is a large determining factor in considering point spreads..

I think OU is better than Trinity.. not by much (maybe I'm biased and I apologize for that).. but I would expect Trinity to play Centre to a closer game than what OU would.. Trinity plays at a slower pace.. therefore the game has less possessions which would result in a lower scoring close game.. Trinity could shoot bad but stay in the game with defense.. OU plays a more up-tempo style in which turnovers and other factors can take control of the game.. if OU didnt shoot well and being that they are not known for their great defense (although they are much improved) this could result in a possible blow-out or large point spread against a great team like Centre. 

I would also like to add that I think any of those 5 teams could win the conference tourney.. and maybe BSU in a  very long shot..  I'll put my money on the better and more experienced teams such as Centre, Depauw, and Millsaps.. maybe a freshman oriented team at OU can pull off that Freshman magic and make it to the conference champ game like we did in my Freshman year in 03-04.. 

[DPU3619]

I suppose this is relative to Frank's question about where the teams stand in relation to each other.  Somebody a lot smarter than me posted some OWP #'s and projections over on the Pool C board.  Here's what he/she came up with for the South region:



Reg  Conf Rank Prior        RPI    OWP    OOWP   School                             Natl Status             Reg   Overall
SO   54     01   01   0.5945 0.4709 0.4988 Centre                    015  A w C       15-1 20-1
SO   51     02   02   0.5937 0.4872 0.5117 Mary Hardin-Baylor    019  A w C       16-2 18-3
SO   52     03   03   0.5883 0.4862 0.5059 Maryville (Tenn.)      022  B 1            14-2 20-2
SO   53     04   06   0.6103 0.5607 0.5302 Guilford                  027  A w C        15-4 16-4
SO   53     05   04   0.5995 0.5328 0.5324 Virginia Wesleyan     028  C 9            16-4 17-5
SO   54     06   07   0.5684 0.4536 0.4913 Millsaps                  037  C 14          14-2 19-3
SO   54     07   08   0.5751 0.4779 0.5113 DePauw                  038  C 15          15-3 18-4
SO   53     08   10   0.5901 0.5344 0.5417 Randolph-Macon      050  C second    12-4 17-4
SO   53     09   05   0.6074 0.6158 0.5140 Roanoke                 054  C second    13-6 15-6
SO   51     10   13   0.5513 0.4952 0.5091 Mississippi College    081                   12-5 15-5
SO   51     11   11   0.5472 0.4755 0.5156 Texas-Dallas           083                   13-5 14-6

I wasn't sure the SCAC could get 3 in, but by this measure, it seems likely they would.  There are only 17 Pool C's available, and he's projecting DePauw as the 15th.

[FlightofthePetrel]

I meant to post this at the beginning of the year as it happened right before the season started but this could be the explanation of why OU is playing better this year.  It seems like everyone is having fun (including the coaches) and have bought into the team idea.  No worries about individual statistics etc. it's all about getting the W.

These videos were taken from an annual OSA event at the beginning of the year... the bigger guy in black is the Dean of students and the high fligher is none other than Phillip Ponder... can you ask for anything better?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECwis-MdEcc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEkPABW-x5s

[pbrooks3]

Guys, I do agree the SCAC has some decent balance among its top 5 or 6 teams this season. It is good to see what Wes pointed out from the Regional Rankings that are truly coming out later this week that three teams are highly regarded, and it would appear that the SCAC could possibly get 3 teams in the big dance if the season ended today. Frank, you're correct that there isn't much difference from 1 to 5 in this league. The challenge is to continue to make the other regions of the country better aware of our conference. If one or more of our squads can make a decent run this year in the D3 dance, then we'll be well on our way towards generating greater respect for the SCAC. Centre has had a great run up the poll so far this season, but there's still time for DePauw, Millsaps, Oglethorpe or others to shine. Following the Multi-Regional and the other region boards helps inform on what others think of the South and the SCAC.  You might consider dropping in a top 25 poll weekly on the Posters Poll; this sort of forces me to keep up with what others are saying on the various boards. 

[pbrooks3]

Well Frank, Centre is now ranked #3 behind #1 Amherst and #2 Wisconsin-Whitewater. DePauw will be gunning to drop the Colonels several notches on Saturday.

[frank_ezelle]

Centre at 3, DePauw at 26, and Millsaps at 28, not a bad showing by the SCAC.  I contend that if we had last year's schedule with Centre and DePauw playing at Millsaps, it might very well be Millsaps at #3.  Of course, "if frogs had wings...".

[pbrooks3]

I'd be lying if I said I was pulling against Centre this Saturday. However, this weekend's SCAC games, depending on outcomes, could catapult all 3 teams into the Top 25 for next week. There's a very fine line here and this is the time of the year where a lot of ranked teams in the bottom portion of the 25 could taste defeat this week. Regardless, it's fun to speculate.