MBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[frank_ezelle]

One last Millsaps-OU post:

I know the Millsaps coaches were expecting a very tough game tonight and I understand why after seeing the OU team.  They are a big and athletic team and we all know that OU will always have a few guys who can shoot the 3. I do think OU is a better team than what they showed tonight and I won't be surprised if they pull off several more "upset" wins this season like the win at DePauw.

As for Millsaps this evening, they did a good job of playing up to their full potential.  They took care of the ball (only 16 TO's and 28 assists), they created good shots and made the majority of those shots, they played good team defense, and they showed a lot of depth.  It was the best I've seen a Millsaps team play and yet there is room for improvement as Montgomery and Rogan only hit 8 of 24 shots combined.  Also keep in mind that Rogan didn't play the last 18 minutes against Trinity, another indication of the depth of the Millsaps team and the potential for them to play just a little better when Rodney is back at 100%.

It will be interesting to see if Millsaps plays this hard and this well against Sewanee or will they have a let down in the last game before the big road trip to Centre and DePauw?

[frank_ezelle]

A cut and paste from another thread that is keeping up with the undefeated and the winless in D3 basketball--this was prior to the Friday night games:

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"Undefeated  (2)  Rochester, UMass Dartmouth

Undefeated vs D3  (3)  Widener, Puget Sound, Millsaps

Winless  (6)  Alma, Denison, Colorado College, Rockford, Lancaster Bible, Mitchell

Winless vs D3  (7)  Blackburn, Delaware Valley, Franciscan, MacMurray, Northland, Presentation, UMPI"
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I found it surprising that only 5 D3 teams are undefeated or undefeated against D3 opponents--the Millsaps loss was to D1 Southeastern Louisiana.  Centre isn't on the list because of their opening loss to Rust.

Being on this list is a combination of talent, good luck and scheduling.  Coming into this season it was known that Millsaps had talent in the starters with all of them returning.  The unknown was the bench strength and that has been a pleasant surprise.  As for luck, it was bad luck to lose starter Deone Oscar but good luck that he was a starter at a position where Millsaps had three potential starters, and Rodney Rogan was out during a 3 game stretch that wasn't the toughest stretch on the schedule.

Regarding the schedule, the tougher away games are yet to come with Centre, DePauw, Trinity and Southwestern.  If Millsaps plays on the road like they did at home against Belhaven, Loyola, Trinity and Oglethorpe, then they can win anywhere, but that's a big if.  For now, the big challenge is to play against Sewanee with the same energy that they showed last night.

[Ralph Turner]

I can only find 10 games of SCAC teams versus the ASC this year.

Trinity has home wins over TLU (1-12*) by 67-65 and HSU (6-7**) by 66-64.

Southwestern has a road loss to HSU (6-7**) 59-85.

Austin College has a road loss to UT-Dallas (10-4) by 55-71 and home loss 72-82 and home loss to LeTourneau (8-7) 55-57 and road loss to LeTourneau by 53-58.

Hendrix lost at home to Ozarks (6-8*) , 82-93.

Millsaps has one home win over LaCollege (5-9***) 63-61.

Sewanee has a home win over UT-Tyler (6-8** ) 75-70.

(The asterisks designate losses to D-1 schools.)  The ASC leads ths series 6-4.  I look forward to seeing how the ASC and the SCAC do in the post-season.

[Dave84]

great observation frank.  millsaps has always found a way to be good at home.  The real key that will define this team is how they play on the road.  I'm pretty confident that they are capable of beating any team in this conference, anywhere, but it's a matter of whether or not they can bring their "A" game to oppenent's floors.  I'm looking forward to Millsaps making a good run (except I do expect Trinity to put up a great fight in the mix). 

on that note, i'm pleased with the victories Trinity has been able to put up in the SCAC (5-1 record with 5 wins averaging +20, and the one loss coming AT Millsaps by 6).  This junior class is something special and Patrick Robinson had a tremendous shooting night again!!! 8-11 with 6-7 from 3's!!!  These big wins are giving coach Cunningham a chance to play a lot of guys (15 guys played last night, with 11 playing at least 10 minutes).    This year's SCAC tourney could turn out to be the most competitive yet! 

[Major_Fan]

Millsaps/OU Game Recap:
http://www.d3hoops.com/releases.php?release=8lof0nknm108ha3t

The Majors scored 32 points in transition because of the Oglethorpe press.  Sophomore Blake Martinez went nuts from 3-point range to score a career-high 18 points.  Ahmad Kareem Shaheed was frustrated in the paint, but Craig Jackson made up for that with outstanding shooting from the perimeter.  He led the Petrels with 22.  The game with Sewanee on Sunday shouldn't even be close, but that's why they play the games.  Millsaps 83, Sewanee 63.

[pbrooks3]

Frank, you may be looking at a Sunday letdown against Sewanee with the road games to follow at Centre and DePauw.  However, I still think the Majors will prevail with relative ease.  UOS has a solid performer in the post with Pursell, but not much of a supporting cast on the perimeter.  I discovered through viewing the game last night at Hendrix and prior conversations with several coaches that had played them that they lack skilled shooting. Pursell got into foul trouble last night and his teammates couldn't bail him out when he had to go to the bench. Defense and intensity of play for the Tigers is only so-so at best. Pursell is backed up by a freshman 6'9" who is probably a year away from being a consistent performer. An average performance by the Majors tomorrow afternoon will still probably generate a win by a 15-20 pt. margin.

I am happy the Colonels were able to escape Sherman with a victory last night. Centre actually shot a fairly high percentage but struggled to put the game away in the late stages. They've had 2 consecutive wayward sort of road wins. They are going to have to get rested and ready to play at CC for Sunday. I think Colorado College will be primed for this match-up and the Colonels must not look ahead or the upset bug could bite.

[hendrixfan]

While Pursell was on the bench with foul troubles much of the night, he was also being seen by the trainer at times during the game last night.  He was on the floor trying to stretch and back in the tunnel behind the bench at several times during the game.  It appeared to be maybe a stiff back, but that's just speculation.

The Warriors had 30 points off the bench last night to help King & Rose.  When the Tigers tried to really stop Rose late in the first half, Bertrand hit a couple of big shots.

Should be an exciting game in Conway on Sunday.

[pbrooks3]

Fans can follow the action on the Rhodes-Southwestern game tonight on CSTV's Gametracker via the Pirates' website beginning at 8 pm CT.

[pbrooks3]

I guess I should weigh in on Andrew King after watching him last night. He had a nice game - 19 points and 11 or 12 rebounds. What struck me about his play Friday from last year was his unselfishness and his improved court awareness. He didn't turn the ball over frequently and he made several good passes to teammates for clutch baskets. Maturity is definitely showing. He also shot better than I expected, or perhaps I should say he took good shots, not forcing lots of bad ones. Once he even stepped to 15 ft from the basket and swished the jumper. Average defender at best. Still not ready to put him down as the POTY, but he looks to be improved from the 2006-2007 campaign.

[brave heart]

 Where is the pflight of the petril's prediction post of Colorado College over Depauw by I believe 2 pts?

[pbrooks3]

Southwestern beats Rhodes.  My upset prediction was only good for the 1st 20 minutes as the Pirates prevail 80-71. 

[FlightofthePetrel]

HAHAH    that prediction looked pretty good huh?    I just figured with Millsaps recent struggle with the Colorado Tigers and Depauws struggles as of late it was a decent upset prediction.  After the 34 point BEATDOWN! the DPU Tigers threw down they have officially made me look like an idiot.   3-4 so far in my predictions... I think this will be my first and last week of making any projections as I have not done very well

[frank_ezelle]

Where is the pflight of the petril's prediction post of Colorado College over Depauw by I believe 2 pts?

And you might add that I also said that the more likely upset was Colorado over DePauw rather than OU over Millsaps.  As it turned out, both games followed form except the margin of victory in both cases was probably larger than what most would have expected.  Just going by the scores, DePauw seems to be a team with a split personality.  I expect them to win at Austin on Sunday, but I also expected them to win at BSC last Sunday.  They are just a hard team to figure at this time.

[pbrooks3]

Despite DePauw's split personality and their struggles so far, they might be this year's sleeper come tournament time.

[DPULefty22]

Where is the pflight of the petril's prediction post of Colorado College over Depauw by I believe 2 pts?

And you might add that I also said that the more likely upset was Colorado over DePauw rather than OU over Millsaps.  As it turned out, both games followed form except the margin of victory in both cases was probably larger than what most would have expected.  Just going by the scores, DePauw seems to be a team with a split personality.  I expect them to win at Austin on Sunday, but I also expected them to win at BSC last Sunday.  They are just a hard team to figure at this time.

Let me go ahead and introduce you to DPU's split personalities. They're really quite alike, except for one fundamental difference: one can shoot the three, and one can not.

It really does seem to be that simple. When the Tigers are hitting from the land of plenty, they're awfully tough to beat. When they're not... well, just see results from games against Wabash (7-for-27), Oglethorpe (9-for-31), and Birmingham Southern (7-for-20).

Also, in those three games - in my mind, three games in which DPU was the more talented squad - the Tigers got out-rebounded and out-hustled. Looked in those games like all the missed threes created a lot of frustration, which the Tigers sometimes let affect their effort and concentration levels.

I think their 3-2 SCAC record is awfully deceiving. These guys are all good shooters, but if they get into a funk it seems to be contagious. It can be dangerous to live by the three and die by the three like DPU has thus far, but if the triples are falling... I wouldn't want to face them with any team in this conference.

Gotta figure out how to win on Sunday in the SCAC though. Let's see if they can clear that hurdle against Austin today.