MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[fcnews]

If you missed the interview with Coach McKinney on Channel 5 evening news, you can view it at www.ksdk.com/sports

Wheaton just had to much size for Webster tonite.

[hopefan]

So what does Font have to do to win.....

1)  Come out smart - the Griffs can't come out over pumped and turn the ball over, throw up bad shots, give up layups to Wash U's offense - they need to slow it down that first 5 to 10 minutes to keep it close and establish a flow  -   we don't want a 25-10 score at 10 minutes, we want 15-15

2)  McCoy and Branch have to think of the 3 point shooting they had vs Rust as an anomoly - I don't feel comfortable that 3 point shooting is going to win this game.   If they come out shooting from everywhere and not hitting, Font falls behind.

3)  Wash U's guards are as slow as they get - McCoy could have a field day penetrating and scoring or dishing to the wings - just as Hamilton's and Ill Wez's guards did

4)  Fontbonne has got to step up their defense - whether it's individual or help - Best defender vs Aaron Thompson, who basicly only scores off the offense, coming off picks - can't allow lots of layups as in the past off WashU's offense.

5)  Storandt is a big plus over kelley - can that be exploited - Wash u's two frosh off the bench are outstanding however, as are the other Kelly, wolfe, and Knepper - Fontbonne starters can't get into foul trouble, and will have to go alot of minutes

6)  Limit turnovers - the more shots Fontbonne gets, the better the chance for victory

7)  Fogarty has to have a big night against Wash U - play like a senior

8)  No let down when the bench comes in

9)  Coach McKinney has to outcoach Coach Edwards - know how to stop Wash U's offense, know how to win down the stretch

10)   The Fontbonne players have to believe they can win

11)   It would help if the Fontbonne student body showed up in Force to counter the Wash U boys in fatigues.

[fcnews]

12.) Stop three probable or possible All Americans (Thompson, Nading and Wallis) on their own floor where they play very well.

Fontbonne guards will need to shoot well from the perimeter well and early. Fontbonne does not want a half court game. And, Chris Forrest is an unknown commodity.

Fontbonne will need to control the boards and hold the Bears 3pt shooters to 35-40%. Both very tough to do.

Griffin's should be loose. Nothing to lose. Good game at right time. Find out where they need to improve or change.

[pantherpride06]

Coach McKinney did a hell of a job.  Good job coach and KSDK for giving the true STL teams some coverage!

[fcnews]

For those of you who weren't at the Wash U fieldhouse, you missed a war. FU came up a little short. Couple of late turnovers and a couple of charges that could of went either way. I beleive it was a 4 pt game with 32 seconds to go. Then FU had to put Wash U to the line.

Final 89-78.

Nice to finally meet Titan Q.

Some very nice and respectful comments made to the FU coaching staff after the game by Wash U coaches, players and fans.

SLIAC fans the Griffin's gave it their best shot.
FU won the battle of the boards 36-29 and had 17 offensive

Wash U is #1 for a reason.

[y_jack_lok]

Sounds like so close yet so far for FU. Looks to me like the stat of the game has to be 15 assists for Sean Wallis. Fogerty had a heck of a game for FU -- 40 min, 20 pts, 9 rebs.

[Titan Q]

Glad I made it to the Wash U/Fontbonne game today.  I wanted to do my due dilligence as a D3hoops.com Top 25 voter in evaluating the Griffins as a potential Top 25 team.  I ended up seeing a great game.  Here is the boxscore:

http://bearsports.wustl.edu/mensbball/GAME8.HTM

Fontbonne is a good team and I'm confident they belong in the poll, somewhere in the 22-25 range.  The Griffins perimeter players really impressed me today - they're quick, can shoot, and are hard-nosed competitors.  I can tell the frontcourt players are very tough on SLIAC competition, but it seemed today they were a little undersized vs the likes of 6-7 Tyler Nading, 6-5 Cameron Smith, 6-7 Zack Kelly, and 6-6 Alex Toth.

At 77-76 Wash U with 3:50 to go, this was anyone's game, but Fontbonne committed 3 costly mistakes on ensuing possessions.  At 3:10 Brian Fogerty made a nice move to the rim and missed a point-blank layup once he got there.  At 2:50 Patrick McCoy turned the ball over and at 2:16 Josh Branch did the same (both were "unforced errors").  At 1:21 Fontbonne (down 5 now) caught a terrible break when Fogerty was whistled for a charge inside the FT line on a fastbreak.  It was one of the worst block/charge calls you'll ever see.  That said, the damage was done on those previous 3 possessions.

This game was a lot like the IWU/Wash U game I watched one week ago in St. Louis.  It was very close throughout, yet I never really felt like the visitors were going to win the game.  I always felt like Wash U would make the necessary plays down the stretch to win, and that the upset-minded team would not...and that is how it turned out.  Wash U is certainly living on the edge this season, but they keep putting W's on the board.

I'm very interested to see how Fontbonne does vs Elmhurst - I think the Griffins might match up much better with Wash U (which does not have much of a low post game) than they do with Elmhurst.  The Bluejays have a big-time center in 6-9/260 senior Brent Ruch (17.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 56% FG) and a second All-American candidate in 6-4 senior wing Ryan Burks (19.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 44% 3-pt).  Where Fontbonne will probably have the advantage is in the backcourt matchup - the Griffins have very good guards and Elmhurst plays two freshmen a lot of minutes - PG Mike McCurdy (22 min/game), SG Zack Boyd (20 min/game).

#7 Elmhurst hosts #6 UW-Stevens Point tonight:

http://elmhurst.edu/~athletic/Home/M-Basket/stats/live/xlive.htm

Might be worth keeping an eye on that one and how EC's guards do vs the Pointers, a team with terrific perimeter players.  If Fontbonne wants to avoid the usual SLIAC road trip in Round 1 of the NCAA tournament, it needs to win a game like the one vs Elmhurst Tuesday.  0-2 vs Wash U and Elmhurst would probably mean more of the same road unfortunately.  At home, Fontbonne cannot assume the "we're the underdog and hope to shock the nation" mentality.

An impressive showing today by the Griffins.  FCnews, great to meet you.

[fcnews]

Titan Q - As a D3Hoops.com regular, it meant alot that you came down for the game. The effort adds that much more cred' to the polls. A big Salute right back at ya.

And thanks for the recap. The bad thing about the Fogerty play was the shot went in. Lose a possible 3 pt. play and they score on the next possession. But, there were a couple more unforced errors to make that much out of it.

Fontbonne needs to Hold homecourt on tuesday against Elmhurst ( not an easy one ). Beat RHIT on the road on Thursday.  And head for Hawaii. Right back to SLIAC play.

FU does have an in-region match up in Jan. against Grinnell @ Home

[fcnews]

Tonite Rust beat Maryville (Tenn.) by 18. That has to make WU and FU's wins a slight better.

Maryville(Mo.)  gets road win at Coe (2-5).
Webster will face Coe tomorrow night.

[fcnews]

The "Morning After and Almost" are sometimes the worst Hangovers.

Positives:
Team Rebounding - The 17 off. resulted in 18 second chance points.
3pt. Shooting-11-26 good numbers against a good defensive team like Wash U
Five Players in double figures scoring - Big effort by Scheetz 10pts 4-6 (2-3) 4 rebs.
Wash U. was forced to play Wallis and Thompson 34 and 38 mins.
Wash U's largest lead was the final.

Negatives:
Turnovers - FU will always have more with their style. But not 25 pts of turnovers.
Free Throws - Your not going to get many, so you need to make all 7-13
Defense on Thompson - Two yrs. in a row this guy has killed us.

This game was alot like last years UMH-B game, It was there to win.

It will only make the Griffin's better. Now forget it and get ready for Elmhurst.

Good to see Hopefan's back in action.

[fcnews]

FREE Live Video of Webster game @ Coe website

[BunchTime]

Thanks, fc, for letting us know about the live feed of the Webster game.  Too bad I thought the game was at 3pm and didn't tune in until a little after 3.  Oh well.  Look to be a great finish.

[y_jack_lok]

Watching Coe v Webster while listening to Randolph-Macon v Piedmont. Who says old people can't multi-task!!

[fcnews]

Tough loss for WU. Got the lead late. Coe 74-69

[hopefan]

Fontbonne goes into their 2nd biggest game of the year Tuesday - their biggest game was the Wash U game   -  lose the Elmhurst game, and no matter what happens the rest of the season, Fontbonne accomplishes NOTHING worthwhile in the eyes of the voters and in the eyes of the seeding committee - they will end up playing away, either at Wash U, or at some far away venue in Mississippi or Texas, against a team that will be rated far ahead of them, even at 24-2 or 23-3.

The Griffs played great on Saturday, 37 great minutes, 3 not so great - but it cost them.
Titan Q feels Elmhurst's big man will be a major difference maker - I feel that Justin Storandt can play tough with any D3 big man in the country - Hopefully a bounce back performance from Saturday.

I thought Branch, Fogerty, Forest, McCoy all played super against no 1 - Sheehy a great job off the bench  -  Wash U's depth, and Aaron Thompson getting away, were the difference