University Athletic Association

[jagluski]

UAA Games Today

2PM EST: Brandeis at NYU
(Available at http://www.wbrs.org/)

5:30PM EST: Rochester v. St John Fisher (JP Morgan Scholarship Tournament Title Game)

[jagluski]

NYU leads Brandeis at the half 32-31

[jagluski]

Final score from NYU:

NYU 70, Brandeis 68.  A new winning streak at Coles has started.

NYU led most of the second half, but seemed to fall apart as the half went on.  With about 2 minutes left to go, they were able to pick up their play again. 

Down 1, with 8.6 seconds left, Caitlin Malcolm went 1-2 from the line to tie the game.  Rochetti of NYU drove all the way down the court and made a lay-up.

Brandeis committed more than 25 turnovers(this was the number with about 6 minutes left).  With this number, it's impressive that the game was this close.

And as a nod to the toughness/parity of the UAA, Wash U at 2-0 is now the only undefeated team in the UAA.

[jagluski]

Wash U shoots 67% in the first half to lead Case 45-18 at the break.

[jagluski]

Wash U wins 77-47.  They lead by over 40 for part of the second half.

The Bears return to action next Friday against NYU and then host Brandeis on Sunday.

[deiscanton]

Jag--

Outside of steals, the turnover battle between Brandeis and NYU was close.  Brandeis lost the turnover battle becasue NYU stole the ball 14 times in the game, compared to Brandeis's 5 steals.

Despite all of the adversity, Brandeis was in position to win the game in the final minutes, and that is about all I realistically can expect for a game at the Coles Center.  If Brandeis had won, it would have been especially sweet.

Brandeis needed to shoot 80% from the free throw line for the entire game to win this, not just 80% from the FT line for the second half.

[martin]

Chicago beats Emory 72-62 - setting up the big weekend.  Brandeis and NYU visit Chicago and Wash U.

Wash is 3-0 in the UAA, the other three are 2-1.  Friday, Brandeis at Chicago and NYU at Wash.  Sunday, NYU at Chicago and Brandeis at Wash.  Any predictions where things will stand at this time next week? 

Where does Rochester fit in the equation?  2-1 in the UAA and 11-3 overall.  A win at NYU and a close loss at Brandeis.  Their loss to Baldwin Wallace (13-2) is not a bad one although the other non-conference loss to Union (8-5) does not look that good.  Rochester is at Wash & Chicago on Jan 27 and 29 and then hosts them the following weekend.

[jagluski]

Jag--

Outside of steals, the turnover battle between Brandeis and NYU was close.  Brandeis lost the turnover battle becasue NYU stole the ball 14 times in the game, compared to Brandeis's 5 steals.

Despite all of the adversity, Brandeis was in position to win the game in the final minutes, and that is about all I realistically can expect for a game at the Coles Center.  If Brandeis had won, it would have been especially sweet.

Brandeis needed to shoot 80% from the free throw line for the entire game to win this, not just 80% from the FT line for the second half.

While this is true(the turnovers), you can't expect to turn the ball over 27 times and win.  The fact that Brandeis was this close is a testament to how good they really are.

[deiscanton]

A visiting team also cannot let NYU score 70 pts at Coles Center and expect to win.

However, this first major road test was a good experience, and hopefully this will make Brandeis better as the season goes along.

Brandeis will look to bounce back when the Judges host Tufts University tomorrow night.  Brandeis will look to get an undefeated non-conference season for the second year in a row, while Tufts will be hoping to cash in on an opportunity.   There are no automatic wins against Tufts University-- one has to work hard to get this victory.

[sandman]

Some comments on this weekend's games in Cleveland:

If I voted in the poll, Wash U would be #1.  There's no doubt about that one after they had a match-up advantage at every position and capitalized on every opportunity they had (they even made 2/3 of their shots in the first half).  This was the worst home loss that the Lady Spartans have had since I started following the team in 2000.  Wash U controlled the tempo the entire game, except for the end when Case's starters wore out the Bears' third string to cut a 44-point lead down to 28.

Danielle Beehler (even with the mask) kept getting open looks in the paint all afternoon to the tune of 20 points in as many minutes, and Kelly Manning added 16-- didn't she graduate yet?  Nobody for Case reached double figures in any statistical category-- except minutes.

Some time, in the distant future, Case will beat Wash U; I just hope I'm there to see it.

And about Friday-- Case was on fire (8/16) from downtown in the first half but looked scared for almost all of the second half, and Chicago ended the game on an 18-0 run.  There's not much else to say about that one.

The Lady Spartans now stand at 8-6, 1-2 in the league.  They start a four-game road trip at Carnegie Mellon on Friday; if they can end up 6-8 in the conference yet again, they'll finish the season with a winning record.

[jagluski]

New Poll

#2 Wash U
#7 Brandeis(1pt behind 6th, 3 behind 5th, 10 behind 4th)
#18 NYU
#20 Chicago

[deiscanton]

Halftime from Auerbach Arena--

Brandeis 35, Tufts 28

Unfortunately, WBRS is not webcasting this one.

Final score will be posted here when game is over.

[deiscanton]

Final score from Auerbach Arena

Brandeis 68, Tufts 57

Brandeis goes undefeated in non-conference play for the second year in a row.

[martin]

A quick recap of the non-conference records of the top UAA teams (and the in region nonconference W-L):

Brandeis 9-0 (9-0)
Chicago 11-0 (8-0)
NYU 11-0 (11-0)
Rochester 9-2 (9-1)
Washington 10-1 (4-1)

I don't know if the fact that Bradeis has only nine non-conference games will affect them on selection day.  The primary criteria is regional record (all conference games are in region) followed by the Quality of Wins Index (in regional games).  According to Pat Coleman, at large playoff teams usually have a QoW greater than 10.

They are a pain to calculate - and change as your opponents records change.  Brandeis has a QoW of 12.3.  Chicago is 10.8.  I think those are accurate - but I did not feel like calculating any more.

It is realistic that the UAA can get 4 teams into the tournament.  If they just keep beating each other, the UAA can have four teams with 20 wins and QoW greater than 10.  The teams will be competing against teams in different regions - Chicago and Wash in the Central, Brandeis in the NE and NYU and Rochester in the East.

There are 63 slots in the tournament this year - 38 Pool A (automatic qualifiers), 4 pool C and 21 pool C.  In 1995 (in a 64 team field), the UAA sent four teams to the tournament (Chicago, Wash, Emory, NYU).  Five if you include Johns Hopkins which also went that year.

[jagluski]

A quick recap of the non-conference records of the top UAA teams (and the in region nonconference W-L):

Brandeis 9-0 (9-0)
Chicago 11-0 (8-0)
NYU 11-0 (11-0)
Rochester 9-2 (9-1)
Washington 10-1 (4-1)

I don't know if the fact that Bradeis has only nine non-conference games will affect them on selection day. 

The bigger issue for Chicago is their opponents.  Chicago is 0-1 against opponents that will be regionally ranked and had not played a team with a record over .500 until the conference games. 


Also, I would check your math.  I don't think you're right on Brandeis' QoWI, but I could be mistaken.  Don't forget that the loss still counts in that number.  I got a total of either 137 or 144 quality win points(I forgot if I included the loss to NYU, so I added it on the 137).

Regardless, Brandeis is a tournament team, assuming they don't fall apart down the stretch.