MBB: University Athletic Association

[Hugenerd]

CMU picks up a win over Juniata.

Case playing Baldwin Wallace in the second half, up 10.  Nice live feed:

http://tv.case.edu/athletics/

[ADL70]

Spartans open with an 85-64 win over Baldwin-Wallace (picked 4th in OAC).
Starters were vets Duerr, Summers, and Anderson and newcomers Fowler and Byrne.  Byrne got into early foul trouble and was replaced at PG by Scott.  At that point the line-up was 6-8, 6-6, 6-6, 6-6, 6-4.

Fowler lead with 21, followed by freshman Tim Chung (13), Evan Tsudis (12), and Anderson (10).  Nine different players saw action in the first half and the bench contributed 37 points.  Chung wears #3 and he made 3 3s.

I believe Thompson sat out with what appeared to be a cast on his left lower arm.

[Wydown Blvd.]

WashU 79 MacMurray 57

Spencer Gay led the Bears with a double-double, picking up 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting with 13 rebounds

Starting guards were Needle, Hoener, and Seymour with Knepper coming of the bench (probably bc of the injury).

Game Summary

[hopefan]

Wash U wins at Macmurray, 79-57...  Starters were Toth and Gay, and 3 guards, Seymour, Hoener at point and Needle.  Caleb Knepper did play, looked fine.... Richter and Frosh Klimek did not dress... Burnette spelled Toth, Aboona played point when Hoerner came out, Tim Cooney came in at off guard....   not much size or rebounding off the bench, lots of depth lost with Klimek and Richter out....

First 10 minutes Wash U shot lights out.. a barrage of 3's from Needle, Seymour, Cooney and Knepper... but the hot shooting ended and Mac, behind tough nosed play of Jerel Robertson and Dylan Burton, came back to down 3 at 26-23... half ended reasonably close at 35-27.  
It was obvious that Coach
Ewards demanded the ball go inside in the 2nd half... Gay and Toth dominated the first 10 minutes and Wash U pulled away..  various mix of players in last 10 minutes....

Toth and Gay looked good, but against weak competition....  Hoerner played well at point.. can score, but primary concentration on distributing the ball.....  Seymour, Needle, Cooney, Aboona all young and inexperienced... they'll take their lumps while learning this year...   and nothing much on boards behind Toth and Gay, but Klimek and Richter will help...

[WUPHF]

Wash U wins at Macmurray, 79-57...  Starters were Toth and Gay, and 3 guards, Seymour, Hoener at point and Needle.  Caleb Knepper did play, looked fine.... Richter and Frosh Klimek did not dress... Burnette spelled Toth, Aboona played point when Hoerner came out, Tim Cooney came in at off guard....   not much size or rebounding off the bench, lots of depth lost with Klimek and Richter out....

Thanks for the summary.  I wish I could have been there.  I am not at all surprised to see Hoener start as point and expect a lot more of him at that position.  I think he will be a very good Ross Kelly quality point guard at the very least.

[hopefan]

Besides the knowledge of the offense and the intangibles that Ross offered, I think Hoener is already ahead... to me, a far better offensive player....  But Hoener will never be surrounded with the talent Kelly was... he'll be expected to contribute more than Kelly was....

[Titan Q]

Besides the knowledge of the offense and the intangibles that Ross offered, I think Hoener is already ahead... to me, a far better offensive player....  But Hoener will never be surrounded with the talent Kelly was... he'll be expected to contribute more than Kelly was....

I agree.  I saw Hoener play a few games in H.S. and he was a tremendous offensive player.  (Had a D2 scholarship offer I think - maybe Truman State?)  I think his ceiling is well above Ross Kelly's.  He reminds me a lot of IWU PG Travis Rosenkranz...little quick PG who can score.

[Titan Q]

Dylan Richter's injury is a broken hand.

Correction - broken bone in upper arm.  Expected back about Dec. 10 (in time for Wheaton and IWU games).

[Wydown Blvd.]

I agree with the previous comments. Hoener is better than Ross offensively, but Ross Kelley joined Cam Smith and Tyler Nading as the best defenders on the team. And Ross was the best on-ball defender by far... Let's not forgot R. Kelley's job on Andrew Olsen (sp.?) in that first National Championship... Hoener will have plenty of opportunities to prove himself defensively and tons of leeway to think score first with not as much offensive talent on the floor this year.

[Gregory Sager]

Chicago opened up its season with a 74-73 loss on the road at Dominican. The Stars made a free throw with :07 left and missed the second, but after a timeout Chicago threw away the inbounds pass. Tom Williams paced the Maroons with 22 points, while Steve Stefanou had 13 and Chase Davis added 10.

[y_jack_lok]

I agree with the previous comments. Hoener is better than Ross offensively, but Ross Kelley joined Cam Smith and Tyler Nading as the best defenders on the team. And Ross was the best on-ball defender by far... Let's not forgot R. Kelley's job on Andrew Olsen (sp.?) in that first National Championship... Hoener will have plenty of opportunities to prove himself defensively and tons of leeway to think score first with not as much offensive talent on the floor this year.

I totally agree with the comments about Ross Kelley. To me he is the unsung hero of that 2008 Natiional Champion team -- and not just in the torurnament.

[DagarmanSpartan]

Do the Spartans have any chance of being competitive in the UAA this season?

For many years, they've been a perennial doormat.

[BUBeaverFan]

Do the Spartans have any chance of being competitive in the UAA this season?

For many years, they've been a perennial doormat.

I think Case is poised to have a good year both in and out of conference.  If they can stay healthy improving on their 6-8 UAA and 14-11 overall records from last year seems likely.  I keep trying to get my son and his friends more excited about the Spartans.  At least he went to the Wash U games the last two years to watch his cousin.

[David Collinge]

Question:

Do the Spartans have any chance of being competitive in the UAA this season?

Answer by UAA coaches:

Pre-Season Poll.  

1. Washington (4) 45 24-3, 13-1 UAA
2. Case Western Reserve (3) 44 14-11, 6-8 UAA
3. NYU (1) 36 17-10, 7-7 UAA
4. Brandeis 27 22-7, 9-5 UAA
5. Emory 25 15-10, 7-7 UAA
6. Chicago 24 13-12, 7-7 UAA
7. Rochester 16 15-10, 6-8 UAA
8. Carnegie Mellon 7 5-20, 1-13 UAA

[wooscotsfan]

I think Case is poised to have a good year both in and out of conference.  If they can stay healthy improving on their 6-8 UAA and 14-11 overall records from last year seems likely.  I keep trying to get my son and his friends more excited about the Spartans.  At least he went to the Wash U games the last two years to watch his cousin.

So, let him know that Case is worth watching this year even if Aaron Thompson won't visit Cleveland after finishing a terrific basketball career!