MBB: University Athletic Association

[deiscanton]

State of the UAA teams going in to tonight:

Wash U locks up the automatic bid from the UAA with a win tonight over Case.  Wash U can clinch their automatic bid even sooner if Rochester defeats Brandeis tonight at the Palestra-- the Rochester v Brandeis game tips off an hour before Wash U starts their game, and I expect Wash U will be celebrating their NCAA bid at the end of the night tonight.  I will be going through the videocasts on a "whip-around" basis-- focusing on the Brandeis at Rochester game, but also catching action from the NYU at Emory game and the Case at Wash U match.

Pool C candidates as of this moment:

Brandeis-- ranked #4 in the Northeast

Regional record 17-5 (.773 in-region percentage)  Strength of schedule: .553

1-2 in-region vs regionally ranked opponents  (Win at Wash U, loss vs Wash U, win at NYU.)

No non-conference teams on Brandeis's schedule are currently regionally ranked-- Brandeis went 10-1 in the non-conference schedule with their only non-conference loss at UMass-Dartmouth (tied for 2nd in the Little East 3 games back of RI College in the standings.)

Brandeis needs a win in the next 3 games to secure themselves a final regional percentage over .700-- winning 2 of the next 3 games will secure Brandeis a regional percentage of at least .750.

Brandeis has decided not to participate in the ECAC New England Championship-- barring a last-minute change. The deadline for declaration for ECAC is today.

NYU-- #5 in East

Regional record 14-7 (.667 in-region winning percentage)   Strength of schedule is .552

2-2 in region vs regionally ranked opponents  (Win over Stevens, win over Brandeis, 0-2 vs Wash U.)

2 losses in non-conference to teams not regionally ranked--- loss to Skidmore (15-8 overall), loss to Mt St Vincent  (10-13 overall)

NYU needs to win out to stay in Pool C consideration-- NYU would secure a regional winning percentage over .700 if they win out.

NYU has declared for the ECAC Metro Championship.

PS-- Unlike on the women's side, there is only 1 team on the men's side with a strength of schedule over .600 as of last Sunday-- that team is Chicago.

Wash U has a strength of schedule of .595 as of last Sunday.

[Hugenerd]

KARMA POLICE

This is only incidental to the previous conversations, but I recently earned the ability (or is it a responsibility?) to award and take away karma.  And, now that I understand how it works, it seems to me that karma is actually, more of a popularity index and has less to do with positive and negative contributions to the board.

Yep, you just got this when you hit 200 posts.

[WUPHF]

Unlike on the women's side, there is only 1 team on the men's side with a strength of schedule over .600 as of last Sunday-- that team is Chicago.

Wash U has a strength of schedule of .595 as of last Sunday.

The strength of schedule only includes teams played, right?  Not that it matters much, given who is on the schedule for both Washington University and Chicago.  It is interesting, thinking about how the WUSTL schedule was played out.  I think everyone expected a match-up with Whitworth and Wooster.

Thanks for another great, well thought out post.

[Pat Coleman]

Wooster wouldn't have affected the SOS, since it would have been a non-region game.

[gordonmann]

WUH:

Nice.  A post with musical references to Miley Cyrus and Radiohead.

[WUPHF]

A post with musical references to Miley Cyrus and Radiohead.

I had planned to work in a Lady Gaga reference, as she is a New York University alum, but I decided to spare the D3 Hoops world from my bad sense of humor and possibly risk insulting a NYU fan or two.

[deiscanton]

Brandeis men defeated Rochester tonight, 87-70.

On to watch the Wash U v. Case match.

[Gregory Sager]

Wash U didn't look at all impressive tonight, but the Bears did manage to eke out the three-point win over Case and garner the UAA title and Pool A bid.

[deiscanton]

Congrats to the Wash U Bears on winning the UAA Championship and the automatic bid.  

Bid clinched at 9:47 PM Central/10:47 PM Eastern.

Case tried their hardest to pull off the upset, and the game went to the final seconds before Wash U prevailed, 65-62,

Wash U was down 4 at the half.

An exciting ball game tonight.

[BUBeaverFan]

65-62 Wash U over Case.  Case has their four game UAA win streak snapped. AT with 15 but overall another tough night shooting.  Hopefully Wash U can finish strong and maybe host when the tourney starts.

[WUPHF]

I could not have been more wrong on my prediction of how the Washington University-Case Western game would go tonight, but you have to credit the Spartans for bringing it to the Field House tonight.  They shot well including a few from way outside.

The Bears actually played good basketball.  They moved the ball well and battled through what I will simply call officiating adversity.  Only seven turnovers.  And, defended well.  The Bears held the Spartans to nine points below their season average.

Spencer Gay had another career night going 8-12 and pulling down six rebounds.  Dylan Richter contributed a very strong 15 minutes off the bench, going 3-5 with one block, in what may have been his best game of the season defensively speaking.  Aaron Thompson had a decent night, going 3-6 from three point range, scoring 15 points overall, with a few clutch free throws.

Next up: Carnegie Mellon in what will be the last free home game of the season.

[WUPHF]

One important thing I forgot to mention from the game last night: the Field House was headband city with no less than five Spartans and two Bears sporting headbands, including Dylan Richter who was wearing it Chism-style.

Much better than the half-beards.

Also, congratulations to Cameron Smith and Ross Kelly for (co)winning the Pierce award, an alumni sponsored award that is essentially recognition for the great under the radar careers.

[Marty Peretz]

While I don't think the UAA is a top-heavy conference this year, I think it's worth noting how many good teams there are in the league. Not necessarily NCAA-tourney good, but quality D3 teams that will help WashU. (and probably Deis) come tournament time. Between Case, NYU, a very talented but young Rochester team, and an Emory squad which showed flashes at points this year, the UAA is better overall than it was last year. A few years back, when you had Rochester, Wash.U. and seemingly one other team each year from the conference that were consistently in the top 20 or 25, the UAA was seen as being a top league in the country. At the same time, though, Emory, Case, and usually one other team could effectively be counted as automatic wins. That is no longer the case. The league is not as top-heavy and understandably doesn't have the same respect nationally, but there is greater parity across the board and, with Wash.U. graduating so much and a few good young teams out there, we're likely to see more of the same in years to come.

[deiscanton]

Score update-- halftime in Atlanta, GA

Emory 29, Brandeis 29

Brandeis playing today without the services of Richard Magee, who was injured in Friday night's win at Rochester.    It is unknown at this time how long Magee will be out, but he was sent to the U of R Medical Center on Friday due to his injury.  

Update today on the injury-- according to the Emory videocast of the Emory vs Brandeis game, Rich Magee was reported to have suffered an ankle sprain in Friday's game.   He may be available next week vs NYU.

In his place,  Brandeis #2 Wouter van der Eng is getting some minutes off the bench.

[Marty Peretz]

Wash.U up 40 with 6:30 to play. All starters have now been pulled. Good way to end the regular season Always nice to blow out CMU after that smackdown they put on the Bears in 2008.