MBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Ralph Turner]

UMHB is a good blend of athleticism and size, probably more balanced than Millsaps or Maryville. They have a very tough team this year, certainly better than the team Maryville beat last year. They added a 6'6"-6'7" wing player in Tillman Gaddy who was "Newcomer of the Year" in the ASC and is a matchup problem. They also added guard Jason Wagner who was a first team All-ASC selection in the West Division. I think they win easily in the first round and will have an edge in the second because I expect Millsaps-Maryville to be a great game.

Chris, Jason Wagner was injured in the Schreiner game on Feb 7th, and may not be back at full speed.  He played only 5 minutes vs. Concordia on Sunday. Matt Dickey only played 12 minutes in his first game back.  He broke his hand in the Concordia game on Feb 5th.

[pbrooks3]

Now that Chris and Ralph have provided Millsaps a nice scouting report on Maryville and Mary Hardin-Baylor, perhaps Centre can be so lucky to find someone to do the same for Franklin and their potential 2nd round opponents?

[Ralph Turner]

Now that Chris and Ralph have provided Millsaps a nice scouting report on Maryville and Mary Hardin-Baylor, perhaps Centre can be so lucky to find someone to do the same for Franklin and their potential 2nd round opponents?

If Jason Wagner and Matt Dickey are back to 90%, then UMHB will be up to speed for this round.

I will then hope that they will be 100% if UMHB goes on the Sectional.

I know that I have made a big deal about the Millsaps-LaCollege game (a 63-61 win in Jackson), and the other ASC-SCAC games. 

Ozarks (8-18/5-15) beat Hendrix (14-12/6-9) in Conway, 93-82.

Trinity only beat TLU (3-22/3-18) by a 67-65 score at home after coming home from Chicago.  Trinity (18-9/9-6) beat HSU (15-12/13-8)in San Antonio the next weekend, 66-64.

HSU beat Southwestern (11-14/6-9) by 85-59.

Texas Tyler lost at Sewanee 75-70.

LeTourneau beat Colorado College in the Springs 90-67, and Austin College 57-55 and 58-53..

Texas-Dallas beat Austin College 71-55 and 82-72.

That makes the ASC 7-4 over the SCAC.

This should be a good barometer of the two schools at the top.

[lammersk]

I know this is kind of asking if there's any water in the middle of the Sahara, but is there any indication that the games at Centre might be webcast?   

I plan to be there, but they're calling for a chance of snow here in the mountains and sometimes that translates into 10" and drifts too big to even get out of the house, much less drive 3 hours northwest to Danville.   

[frank_ezelle]

I don't see anything about webcasts on the Centre Tournament page:

http://www.centre.edu/web/athletics/basketball_m/news/0708/mbb_ncaa_host_0708.htm

All of the games at Millsaps will be covered as Millsaps, Maryville and UMHB will all be doing broadcasts.  Here's the link to the Millsaps Tournament page:

http://www.millsaps.edu/athletic/basketball-m/2008Championship_Schedule.shtml

[Pat Coleman]

D3hoops.com will have audio broadcasts of the Centre regional (95% sure at this point). We'll have links on the scoreboard and our audio page.

[batteredbard]

It's not certain Maryville game will be webcast.
One host can't get there till Saturday and the other is suppossed to have surgery this week.

MHO is that Maryville has dealt well defending athleticism this season. Rust, Greensboro, and methodist were all much more athletic teams than MC. Its hard to tell but with an MC team count on very solid man-to-man defense and an ability to exploit any press used on them with smart decision making. That's what I've seen from them again this season.

Bowers has played well since coming back from a bad flu bug over holidays, but there is no real star. Its a 10-deep rotation that against a few of the more athletic squads went to the 11 deep with senior Jeremy Holliday coming off the bench as well. He was a starter as a defensive stopper for two years but went to the bench this year for offense from Orr and Hernandez. Nobody averaged over 27 minutes this year because the rotation was so deep.

Maybe a Millsaps fan could come give a rundown on the GSAC board?

[frank_ezelle]

Having seen Rust play, I'm not sure if I would say they are much more athletic than Millsaps.  On the other hand, it has gotten tiring to keep hearing that Millsaps in the most athletic team in the SCAC.  While that is a nice compliment, it has gotten tiring because there is never the followup that in addition to the athletic skills, they play some very good fundamental basketball. 

As mentioned before, they take care of the ball and they share the ball well.  They run when the opportunity exists, they do shoot their fair share of 3-pointers and just about everyone except Edrick Montgomery will launch a 3.  Edrick probably would as well if Coach Wise would let him drift out that far.  All in all, Millsaps is a well coached team and a very sound team on both ends of the court.  Their weakness might be lack of depth when it comes to the big men, and to be honest, the big men aren't that big.  They have some guards who rebound the ball well to help make up for the lack of size. 

One big key to the game will be the score after 25 total points are scored.  If Millsaps doesn't have NCAA jitters and the score is in the 15-10 range or closer, either way, then I think they'll do okay.  What they can't afford is to let nerves get to them early and have Maryville get off to a 18-7 lead or something like that.  Considering that Millsaps just played 3 games where 2 of them and maybe all 3 of them were in essences qualifying games for the NCAA Tournament, it would seem like they should be acclimated to playing in a pressure situation.

[pbrooks3]

Even though I plan to make the 400 mile drive to Danville for the games on Friday, it's great to hear from Pat Coleman that the games will be webcast. If severe weather should set in, I'll resort to following the games on the internet.

Haven't spent much time checking the NCAC and OAC boards this week but it would seem the opener in Danville Friday night between the Battling Bishops and the Student Princes (did I get that right?) should be a dandy. These two conferences have historically had some great games among their members. I'd love to hear more about each of these teams from some of the posters that follow each program or conference.

[pbrooks3]

For those interested, there's a good story today on the ncaa.com website about Centre College's basketball team and their fabulous season.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Just to confirm Pat's earlier post... I will be headed to Centre for this weekend's games!

I am really looking forward to see these teams play.

Don't be a stranger, say hello if you see me (and I don't look too busy).

Weather looks dicey. Anyone want to give me an idea what I should expect. Coming from Baltimore, though I am a New England driver!

[Ralph Turner]

Just to confirm Pat's earlier post... I will be headed to Centre for this weekend's games!

I am really looking forward to see these teams play.

Don't be a stranger, say hello if you see me (and I don't look too busy).

Weather looks dicey. Anyone want to give me an idea what I should expect. Coming from Baltimore, though I am a New England driver!

But the drivers around you will be Kentuckians!      

[pbrooks3]

Dave, glad to hear you're coming to KY for the games this weekend. Centre and the lovely community of Danville will give you a warm welcome. Maybe you can get Wes Anderson to come down from Indy again to help with audio!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I have been told Wes is unavailable, I am sorry to say. I think that might be the reason I am making the trip - other than the fact I was looking at this pod from the start! I have seen plenty of Guilford basketball, didn't need to make that trip!

As for driving around Kentuckians... you have NEVER seen Baltimore drivers, then!

[kiltedbryan]

Now that Chris and Ralph have provided Millsaps a nice scouting report on Maryville and Mary Hardin-Baylor, perhaps Centre can be so lucky to find someone to do the same for Franklin and their potential 2nd round opponents?

I'm both an NCAC and OAC regular (if there is such a thing- the OAC board is unfortunately kinda desolate).  I'd love to be in Danville this weekend to take the games in.

Here's my thoughts on 'Berg vs. OWU:

I've seen Heidelberg twice, and OWU at least five times this season.

My general impression is that these are two teams similar in style and ability: they both like to play a moderately up-tempo game (~80pts. per team) and both focus on the fundamentals, winning through strong overall play from a set of good players.  I would expect a tight, tense, well-played game, though both teams may be feeling the pressure early, as neither has been in the tournament in years. If you get a sloppy first half, expect a better second.

Both teams rely on a lot of production in the paint: It's NCAC first-team selections Jesse Jean and Dustin Rudegair for OWU paired against OAC honorable mention Brian Schmidt and first-team Andrew Lemmon for 'Berg.  Both Lemmon and Jean nearly average double-doubles in points and rebounds.  These are four capable inside players, and the pair that can be more productive against the other will likely tilt the game in their favor.

PGs Josh Calver (Berg) and Casey Teeters (OWU) both play a relatively traditional PG role- distributing more than shooting, though Teeters contributes more offense (7.6 ppg vs. 4.6) while Calver dishes out more assists (94 vs. 73).

Neither team has a lights-out shooter, though more often than not it's OAC second-teamer Chad Szalay (14 ppg, 62 made 3 pointers) for Heidelberg and Brian Cafarella (9 ppg, 66 made 3 pointers) for OWU.  The Bishops' other starting wing, Kyle Holliday (11ppg), was a second-team NCAC selection, and lit up Allegheny for 23 points in the NCAC semifinals last week.

Joining Calver and Szalay for 'Berg is Shawn Striver, who averages 11 ppg- but in both games I saw them play he seemed like a quiet contributor.  'Berg gets stronger support from sixth man Greg Tyson Jr. (10 ppg), who is one of their more athletic and quick players and provides a good spark off the bench.

Enjoy the game- I expect it will be a well-contested one.