MBB: University Athletic Association

[WUPHF]

Nothing going right for the Bears including a blown call on a Brandeis turnover that was called out of bounds off Andrew Sanders. Damn that was obvious.

[WUPHF]

Brandeis defeats Washington University 69-66

Nothing went well for the Bears tonight as they battled one of the better defenses to come to the Field House this season.  For example, the Judges had the perimeter locked down as the Bears went 4-18 from three point range (0-6 in the first half). 

Luke Silverman-Lloyd launched a few three point attempts late in the game that could have made the difference, including what would have been the game tying three, but to no avail.

It looked at times as though Clinton Hooks may have a big game, but he was relegated to the bench with foul trouble for all but 14 minutes before eventually fouling out. 

Andrew Sanders had a good game, but the Judges managed to keep him away from the basket for stretches.  It was one of his better games defensively though.

Jordan Cooper led the way for the Judges with 23, doing a little of everything offensively, but it was the second half performance by Robinson Vilmont that turned this game in my opinion.

[y_jack_lok]

^^ I watched some of the game online. Brandeis appeared to have a couple of very quick guards the Bears couldn't defend.

[WUPHF]

^^ I watched some of the game online. Brandeis appeared to have a couple of very quick guards the Bears couldn't defend.

Robinson Vilmont. 

Jake Knupp finally started to slow him down (he began shooting from the perimeter) but it was too little too late.

[Gregory Sager]

Chicago 69
New York 58

I'll say this for NYU: the Violets look pretty darned impressive in the layup line. There are more than a few D1 teams who would love to have NYU's size. Problem is, the Violets are not particularly quick, and the U of C took advantage of that by repeatedly burning the visitors via dribble penetration and in the transition game. What's worse, for a big team NYU doesn't finish well at the rim, either -- or at least the Violets didn't last night -- which tilted the contest even further in Chicago's favor. Lastly, Nate Brooks put on a clinic in how to outplay bigger defenders in the low post, as his quick feet and good instincts were simply too much for his 6'9 opponent, Costis Gontikas (and Gontikas' 6'10 backup, Brad Lahens) to handle.

The Maroons jumped out to a quick 21-6 lead on the strength of Jordan Smith's penetration, and the Maroons were off to the races, finishing the half with a ten-point lead. The game got much more static in the second half, working to NYU's favor, but the Maroons never let the lead drop below four, and a quick 10-3 run from 8:45 to 6:26 bolstered that narrow four-point gap and gave the Maroons all the breathing room they'd need.

It was the best game I've ever seen Chicago junior PG Tyler Howard play, as he's showing great confidence on both ends of the floor. Conversely, NYU star Evan Kupferberg was hampered by foul trouble throughout the game and finished ten points and seven rebounds below his season averages.

Smith finished with 15 points to lead the Maroons. Waller Perez, whom the Violets could not solve at all, finished with 14, while Howard contributed 11. Brooks led all players in rebounds with 10. Gontikas had 19 and Kupferberg had 10 for the Violets, who were led in rebounding by the comparatively diminutive 6'3 Max Ralby with eight.

Chicago is now 4-0 in UAA play, with only Emory remaining a game back at 3-1.

[jaybird44]

The poor 3-point shooting at home was a puzzle, especially after the Bears shot the 3 so well on the road last weekend.  Give Brandeis a lot of credit...the aforementioned quickness by Robinson Vilmont, Tim Reale, and Colby Smith was a problem for Wash-U's 3-point shooters.  They couldn't get many good looks from beyond the arc.

The Wash-U / Brandeis game hinged on a couple of offensive rebounds gathered by the 6' tall Smith in the last 3 minutes of the game.  The first one with 2:58 left came on a bounce off a missed 3, that caught Wash-U flat-footed for some reason.  That allowed Brandeis to burn 25 more seconds with the extended possession, and Jordan Cooper made a basket that pushed the Judges' lead to 7 with 2:33 left.  The second Smith offensive board came off a missed front end of a one-and-one FT by Reale with 1:33 left, that led to a Wash-U foul and a Vilmont FT in 2 attempts.  Those 3 points and 31 seconds of extra Brandeis possession time were significant in determining the outcome of the game.

Regarding Chicago's Waller Perez...he is indeed a tough customer to handle. Good inside and can make 3s.  The Maroons are in a nice situation, but there is still room on the road to the UAA championship where potholes could develop to jar a team out of a lead.

[WUPHF]

Washington University is going to struggle from the perimeter when our second best three point threat is on the bench for most of the game.  Silverman-Lloyd was tentative early on and Knupp may have been more interested in distributing to the post than shooting.

The Brandeis guards are average UAA quality guards with the exception of Vilmont.  Unfortunately, he was able to run past his man and find lanes with ease.  They could not find a way to contain him or help without giving Cooper and Powell easy opportunities.

[Gregory Sager]

Chicago cruised to an easy 65-50 win over 'deis in Ratner.

[Gregory Sager]

Boy, it seems like every time that I watch a Wash U game there's serious endgame drama.

[WUPHF]

NYU hands Washington University their third conference loss at home, 75-72.

The Bears led by as many as 12 and had a double digit lead for stretches in the second half before giving up the lead with just over a minute left.

The Bears played a good game but they cannot seem to finish close games.  Their offense becomes one-dimensional.  Andrew Sanders decides that weak passes to the post is a good idea for example.  Down by three with 20 seconds left.  The only option must be a Silverman-Lloyd three pointer, right?

The stats lines were very close, but NYU was +3 on rebounding and had four more steals.

Evan Kupferberg was a beast or got the call far more than he should have, depending on your point of view.  He would have fouled out (or played a much different game) with the officials from Friday.

Three losses at home as of week three!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Despite technical problems over the last few weeks, Sunday's edition of Hoopsville has not been derailed by Mother Nature's rath! Three-feet of snow and still we will get two-hours of the show all thanks to that wonderful home studio.

Tonight, Dave McHugh talks to programs who are storming the competition right now. Whether in the midst of long winning streaks or dominating their conference, these programs are making the turn at five weeks to go in pretty good shape.

You can tune into Hoopsville tonight starting at 7:00 PM ET right here: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2015-16/jan24

Guest include (in order):
- Cherise Galasso, WPI women's coach
- Gabby Lisella, No. 22 Rowan women's coach
- Kris Huffman, DePauw women's coach (WBCA Center Court)
- Mike McGrath, No. 12 Chicago men's coach
- Bert West, East Texas Baptist men's coast It isn't easy to coach at any level. It is a joy to coach Division III says many a coach. Some enjoy it on their way up the ladder, others on their way closer to retirement, and others as their passion.

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

And don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/d3hoopsville

[Gregory Sager]

Evan Kupferberg was a beast or got the call far more than he should have, depending on your point of view.  He would have fouled out (or played a much different game) with the officials from Friday.

One of the reasons why Kupferberg had such a substandard game on Friday at Ratner was because he was in foul trouble for most of the contest.

He's got a definite bull-in-the-china-shop vibe about him. His NYU running mate Patrick Burns has the same syndrome, only even more so.

[WUPHF]

A bull in a China shop!

He was the bull in a China shop on Sunday and that was my problem.  He was able to force fouls on our bags and he did it early and often.  He is a beast and he has the skills and strength to draw fouls, but on several possessions, he turned his shoulder and pounded into guys maintaining a legal guarding position and got the call everytime.  Even Coach Fahey had words for the officials.

Kupferberg was the man though and that was especially true down the stretch with the steals and the go-ahead bucket.

[WUPHF]

The Washington University student newspaper wrote a feature story on the emergence of sophomore Andrew Sanders: http://www.studlife.com/sports/athlete-profile/2016/01/27/for-sanders-size-doesnt-matter/

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ Excellent article, informative and well written.