MBB: Landmark Conference

[cuabigdog]

Three players scored in double figures as CUA men's basketball (10-4) dropped Carnegie Mellon on Tuesday evening, 73-68.

R.J. Dixon and Jason Banzhaf shared the team lead in points with 16, but a double double for Chris Kearney, 15 points and 12 rebounds, led the CUA attack in the win.

Jack Anderson led the way for the Tartans with 18 points, as he hit his 1000th career point tonight at the DuFour Center. John Duhring led on the boards for the visitors with 9 caroms.

CUA opened the game with a Kearney layup only 11 seconds into the contest and extended its lead to five with 12:18 remaining in the first half. 

Anderson cut the Cardinal lead to one, before Andre Moore hit a layup with 10:18 on the board and gave the Tartans their first lead of the contest. The visitors then extended that lead to as many as six with 2:51 left.

In the final two minutes of the stanza, the visitors fell silent and CUA went on a 8-0 run to end the half with a two-point, 32-30 lead.

In the first half, CUA shot 52.0% from the field, converting 13-of-25 shots and adding five from the charity stripe.

After the break the teams exchanged baskets over the first four minutes before Banzhaf hit a layup with 16:22 remaining and sparked another 8-0 that put the Cardinals up seven, 45-38 with 15:05 left in the game.

CUA extended its lead to as many as 12, but saw that lead dwindle over the final few minutes, until John Duhring cut the lead to three with 4.7 seconds remaining. Duhring fouled Matt Fazzini immediately after the inbound and with 4.1 seconds on the clock, Fazzini went to the line. He missed both shots and with a defensive rebound Anderson had a chance to tie. With no timeouts the Tartans needed to get up court quickly, but a timely steal and layup by Cody Otto sealed the game for CUA.

The Cardinals dominated the inside game, scoring 44 points in the paint grabbing 10 offensive rebounds. The Cardinals also won the turnover battle, handing the ball over only 10 times while forcing seven steals and 17 overall turnovers.

CUA will return to action on Saturday evening at the DuFour Center as The United States Merchant Marine Academy will travel to Washington, D.C., for Landmark Conference action. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

[Matt Letourneau]

When CUA gets that third scoring option in a game, they're really good.  Nice to see the freshman Kearney get it going with the double-double.  He's had some games like that.

I know CMU doesn't have a great record, but they play a brutal schedule in a tough league so I think its still a good win.

[NEPAFAN]

When CUA gets that third scoring option in a game, they're really good.  Nice to see the freshman Kearney get it going with the double-double.  He's had some games like that.

I know CMU doesn't have a great record, but they play a brutal schedule in a tough league so I think its still a good win.

They are in last place in the UAA....but if a 5 point win over a last place team qualifies as a good win...I'll let you run with it.

[cold_case]

When CUA gets that third scoring option in a game, they're really good.  Nice to see the freshman Kearney get it going with the double-double.  He's had some games like that.

I know CMU doesn't have a great record, but they play a brutal schedule in a tough league so I think its still a good win.

Hey Matt, the story could have been far more enterprising and thorough, if the following were added:
It was the fifth straight road loss for C-M since the new year and it was also the closest C-M has come to victory in that time. They entered the Catholic game losing by an average of 12.2 during that stretch but managed to outrebound the Cardinals by one.
However, it wasn't enough as C-M fell to 4-8.
So, what's changed with you?

[NEPAFAN]

I don't mean to pick fights here, but come on. That is like saying the Scranton victories over Kean were good wins.

[Matt Letourneau]

I'll amend to say its a good win for a Landmark team at this time.

CMU's current strength of schedule is #51, their power ranking (wins factoring in strength of schedule) is higher than Scranton's, Moravian's, Goucher's, Juniata's and Drew's and just about in the top 40% of all teams nationally.  The combined record of the opponents they've lost to is 72-29 (.718).

That's my defense.

[hoopit123]

now, if we can put our personal quarrels aside, lets discuss landmark matchups this weekend.


there are a number of big matchups, including both games for SU, since they cant seem to win the ones they should but win the ones that are more questionable (last weekend).  they need to win both.  they are at home, they SHOULD beat moravian, and scranton game should be a good battle in which i would expect them to win at home (thus far undefeated at home this season).

big matchup down in DC again with cua and usmma

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

They are in last place in the UAA....but if a 5 point win over a last place team qualifies as a good win...I'll let you run with it.

0 - 2 early in UAA conference action... I wouldn't put too much into "last place" either. And I wouldn't say being last in the UAA is a bad thing. That is one of the top three or four conferences in the country with a difficult travel schedule... so the fact CMU is "last" just two games in isn't much to say. Plus the fact, they lost to Emory in Atlanta on a Friday and Rochester (in Rochester) on a Sunday... that isn't an easy traveling weekend - but at least it is out of the way. Remember... CMU was a pretty good squad last year in the UAA... and while they lost a bunch, they aren't that bad now (they beat Hood by 10 earlier this season).

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I don't mean to pick fights here, but come on. That is like saying the Scranton victories over Kean were good wins.

And comparing a Scranton win over Kean to a Catholic win over CMU is apples and oranges. If we were comparing them as equal... that means Juniata's win over Dickinson is as impressive... it isn't.

CUA's win over CMU is far more "impressive", as it where, then your comparison. Just because a team is last in one stronger conference doesn't relate to a team that is last in another, weaker, conference.

[Hugenerd]

CMU may have a lot of talent, but they are far from the team they have been the last 4-5 years.  They really are missing some upper-classman leadership and it is leading to a lot of inconsistency.  The group of seniors last year really held that team together.  As for this year, they did have a couple decent showings early in the season, but it seems as though as other teams are starting to mesh and getting better, the opposite is happening at CMU.  I would not be surprised if CMU finishes last in the UAA this year.  CWRU and Emory have both outplayed them in their out-of-conference schedule, and those two are their main competition for the bottom of the league.  They may get a couple of league wins throughout the season, especially if they get hot (they do have talent), but this team looks like they will be inconsistent all year and, at this point, they would be fortunate to get into double-digit wins (they still play WashU, Chicago, Brandeis, and NYU twice and Rochester once).  I am not trying to be hard on them (I am a former CMU player), but this is just my opinion from observing the team so far this year.

[susiddad]

Nice to see on my hiatus that everyone has started whining and crying about how bad their teams are.  Couple of harsh truths.  No one in the Landmark is a threat to anything that special. The CMU win is somewhat impressive.  Goucher, despite the win is still somewhat fraudulent.  I wouldn't be surprised if my posts were the reason they won.  I think CUA is ready to take off personally and will beat usmma.  The SU talent IMO has been superior since I can remember.  The results unfotunately have not. I'd love to see the talent match the results

As for all the whining and the chirping, is the women's landmark board?

[cold_case]

They are in last place in the UAA....but if a 5 point win over a last place team qualifies as a good win...I'll let you run with it.

0 - 2 early in UAA conference action... I wouldn't put too much into "last place" either. And I wouldn't say being last in the UAA is a bad thing. That is one of the top three or four conferences in the country with a difficult travel schedule... so the fact CMU is "last" just two games in isn't much to say. Plus the fact, they lost to Emory in Atlanta on a Friday and Rochester (in Rochester) on a Sunday... that isn't an easy traveling weekend - but at least it is out of the way. Remember... CMU was a pretty good squad last year in the UAA... and while they lost a bunch, they aren't that bad now (they beat Hood by 10 earlier this season).

I don't mean to pick fights here, but come on. That is like saying the Scranton victories over Kean were good wins.

And comparing a Scranton win over Kean to a Catholic win over CMU is apples and oranges. If we were comparing them as equal... that means Juniata's win over Dickinson is as impressive... it isn't.

CUA's win over CMU is far more "impressive", as it where, then your comparison. Just because a team is last in one stronger conference doesn't relate to a team that is last in another, weaker, conference.

And this comes from a guy who two years ago said Goucher was the future of the Landmark!
That's two posters we can't take at face value.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

susiddad - for starters... I wouldn't call Goucher "fraudulent." Are they playing above themselves? Maybe. But the difference in the style of basketball and team play they are showing now from when I saw them in the middle of December is tremendously different. Can they win the conference? Probably not. But they beat both Juniata and Susquehanna this past weekend and while they showed some inexperience at times, it was clear to me they have figured out something. But... calling them fraudulent (considering I know you have not seen them - or you won't admit to it) is going just a bit beyond your knowledge level.

As for your team, SU... they may have superior talent... but they aren't showing they can play either together or a team or put all the pieces together. Personally, I was disappointed in their effort on Friday night - especially Spenser Spencer (find it interesting you didn't chime in about his benching in the CUA game). He has shown signs of being a good player, but what I saw on the court Friday was anything but... especially mentally. And I don't think I would have played him for a minute against CUA after the eye roll I saw him give his coach after a technical foul was called on him. Again, talent is one thing... playing together is completely different and I don't think SU is playing consistently good basketball as a team.

As for CUA... the battle for home-court may be decided this weekend. CUA vs. MMA will be a good indication where the Landmark playoffs will be at the end of February. I know CUA is a game back, but if MMA loses this weekend... it forces them to win out (basically) and make sure they beat CUA at home to get the advantage. Whereas... CUA ties MMA with a win and will probably not trip up much in the next six weeks of action. I will go out on a limb and say whoever wins this weekend... is going to be hosting the Landmark Conference tournament. (Watch, Scranton, Goucher, or even SU will shock everyone and be hosting!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

And this comes from a guy who two years ago said Goucher was the future of the Landmark!
That's two posters we can't take at face value.

Future of the conference? WHAT?! I am willing to bet I didn't say that! Two years ago Goucher was in the middle of another losing season (since they haven't had one since '04-'05). I am quite sure I didn't say they were the future of the conference.

[NEPAFAN]

I don't mean to pick fights here, but come on. That is like saying the Scranton victories over Kean were good wins.

And comparing a Scranton win over Kean to a Catholic win over CMU is apples and oranges. If we were comparing them as equal... that means Juniata's win over Dickinson is as impressive... it isn't.

CUA's win over CMU is far more "impressive", as it where, then your comparison. Just because a team is last in one stronger conference doesn't relate to a team that is last in another, weaker, conference.

I wasn't comparing Kean vs. CMU, in my opinion they are both wins. Not good wins or wins to hang your hat on. I guarantee CMU finishes last in that conference.


Can anyone confirm Luke Hawk is playing again?