MBB: University Athletic Association

[deiscanton]

Basketball season starts today with Carnegie Mellon opening up at 5 PM Eastern in the first round of Hood College's tip-off tournament in Frederick, MD, when the Tartans take on preseason #1 Randolph-Macon.

Also on the docket, the NYU men open up on their non-conference home court in Brooklyn (capacity 100 spectators-- access severely restricted due to COVID-19 to fully vaccinated members of the NYU community (NYU alumni cannot attend in-person; it is just fully vaccinated students, faculty, staff, and administrators) and 2 fully vaccinated family members of each NYU basketball player (NYU must be given at least 5 days notice if family members of NYU players are intending to attend the games in person).  All permitted spectators must be fully vaccinated and wear masks at all times. 

NYU will be playing Mount St. Vincent in NYU's Brooklyn Athletic Facility at 7 PM. 

Carnegie Mellon has also announced the home court for all of their basketball games this season (conference and non-conference).  Due to Skibo Gym being renovated this season, and also because of COVID-19 restrictions on who can attend indoor events at Carnegie Mellon, all Tartan home basketball games will be played on campus at Wiegand Gymnasium in the Cohon University Center.

Wiegand Gymnasium has a capacity of 50 spectators, and access will also be severely restricted due to COVID-19 with the same-type policy that NYU is using.

(1)  Only fully vaccinated Carnegie Mellon students, faculty, administrators, and staff-- as well as 2 fully vaccinated family members of Carnegie Mellon student athletes will be permitted to attend Carnegie Mellon home basketball games in-person.  No one on the visiting team outside of the official travel party will be permitted inside Wiegand Gym.

Carnegie Mellon alumni are not permitted to attend the home basketball games in-person unless otherwise notified-- they must watch the home games on streaming video and live stats.

So, most of us will be watching Carnegie Mellon and NYU home basketball games on live stats and streaming video this season.

NYU will be playing the UAA home games at the Sportsplex at Hunter College starting in January.

[deiscanton]

I have to tell you, there is nothing more frustrating to watch than to have a Hood College SID not care about their live stats not working for the first game of their own tip-off tournament between a preseason #1 and a team from the UAA that one would think that at least some neutral fans in DIII would be watching.

Then, to top it off, the live video automatically signs off with 2 minutes left to go in regulation and Randolph Macon leading over Carnegie Mellon 65-53, because Hood deliberately preset the live Boxcast stream of the first game to automatically cut out at 6:30 PM Eastern so to switch over to their live stream of Wilson vs Hood, the second game, which they preset their live stream to start at 6:30 PM Eastern as well.  The second stream doesn't sign on when the first cut out.

Hood College really screwed up big time royally on this one.....

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ I wondered what had happened there at the end of the game. But I kept hoping they would get it fixed and they did, so I was able to watch the final minute. I didn't know about the problem with the live stats. The screen graphic showing the score, time left in the game and on the shot clock was pretty iffy and intermittent. but the announcers were pretty good about mentioning the score.

Gotta say that I expected a bit more from national pre-season #1 R-MC given that CMU is picked 7th in the UAA. R-MC got off to a slow start both offensively and defensively, falling behind 10-0, but settled in, took a 25-23 halftime lead and started the second half on a 13-0 run. CMU played well the rest of the half and cut the lead to 6 with 47 seconds left before the game ended at 70-61 R-MC. Could be that the Tartans will be a surprise in the UAA.

[WUPHF]

Not that it matters, but I had Carnegie Mellon as a preseason No. 6, having watched most of their abbreviated Spring 2022 season.  I expect them to finish no higher than 6th, but I do think they could improve upon their 4-10 record from two seasons ago.

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ I value your perspective on UAA teams. Did you happen to catch any of the game and if so what were your observations?

[deiscanton]

I got to finally watch the final 90 seconds of the Carnegie Mellon vs Randolph-Macon game last night.  Those 90 seconds were at the beginning of the live stream of the Wilson vs Hood game.

I also checked the box score.  Carnegie Mellon shot 18 of 19 from the charity stripe last night for a 94% FT shooting percentage. and outscored Randolph-Macon, 18-6, from the foul line.  If the Tartans can consistently shoot 80 percent or better from the foul line each game, then Carnegie Mellon can definitely exceed expectations in the UAA.  As WUPHF noted, the UAA preseason poll picked Carnegie Mellon to finish in 6th 7th place in the UAA at the end of the season.  However, Carnegie Mellon cannot be expected to shoot 90 percent or better from the charity stripe every game.

Of note-- In the second half, while Randolph-Macon shot 62% from the field to take a big lead, Carnegie Mellon was able to chip away at that lead with a perfect 13 of 13 shooting performance from the charity stripe.  In the second half, the Tartans outscored Randolph-Macon, 13-3, at the foul line.

Coach Wingen did have the Tartans ready for the first game test, and the UAA will be a battle every night come January.

I look forward to see how Emory does vs Randolph-Macon in a few weeks.

[y_jack_lok]

Not that it matters, but someone posted the results of the UAA preseason coaches poll on the previous page and it shows Carnegie Mellon as #7 with 11 points, behind #6 Chicago (22 points) and ahead of #8 NYU (9 points).

[deiscanton]

Not that it matters, but someone posted the results of the UAA preseason coaches poll on the previous page and it shows Carnegie Mellon as #7 with 11 points, behind #6 Chicago (22 points) and ahead of #8 NYU (9 points).

Corrected my previous post.  Thanks.

[WUPHF]

^^^ I value your perspective on UAA teams. Did you happen to catch any of the game and if so what were your observations?

Thanks! Unfortunately, I had to work so I missed the game.

I did go to the Chicago roster to ponder the question of why the coaches had the Maroons at No. 6 and I did notice that they added former Case Western Reserve guard Ignas Masiulionis to the roster. 

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ I always hated it when work interfered with basketball.

[WUPHF]

I was able to watch the exhibition between Emory and Division II Georgia Southwestern.

Emory led 20-6 in the first half, but Georgia reeled them in pulled out the 101-99 win.  Emory missed on a free-throw which would have tied the game with 0:05 left.

Matthew Schner finished with 31 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists.

Greg Lawrence and Mason Johnson did start as expected with support from freshmen Cale Martens and Logan Shanahan who looked very good in limited play.

[deiscanton]

Here are some updates about Rochester broadcasts:

(1)  JC DeLass no longer works for WYSL NewsTalk 1040 AM in Rochester, and WYSL does not have a contract to cover Rochester games.

Therefore, JC DeLass will not be travellng with the Rochester basketball teams for away UAA games this season.

(2)  However, JC DeLass is doing PBP and commentary for all Rochester men's and women's basketball home games on Rochester's All-Access streaming service.  Rochester has reinstituted their pay per view access for all Rochester home games-- the monthly fee is $10.95 per month, or you can buy a 1 day pass for $7.95.  If you suscribe to the monthly access, you can cancel the subscription at any time.

J.C. DeLass's new plan to call action for Rochester home basketball games

[Gregory Sager]

I have friends who are U of R alumni. Nevertheless, my opinion of the school is strongly negative, and it's all because of that stupid paywall. There's absolutely no excuse for it.

Nickel-and-diming people who want to watch your games when your school is richer than Croesus is not a good look.

[deiscanton]

I have friends who are U of R alumni. Nevertheless, my opinion of the school is strongly negative, and it's all because of that stupid paywall. There's absolutely no excuse for it.

Nickel-and-diming people who want to watch your games when your school is richer than Croesus is not a good look.

I do agree, however, other than the price, the streaming service has improved over the past 2 years.  Now, you can at least rewind back on the stream now to a place in the game that you missed.

A lot of DIII colleges and universities, including NYU, use this same service, but do not charge for it.

[deiscanton]

Rochester's #45, preseason AA Ryan Algier, is expected to miss most of the non-conference slate due to an off-season knee injury.  He is still out of action for at least all of November, and maybe most of December, but should be ready for the UAA conference season in January.

This information courtesy of JC DeLass, which he delivered in his "10 Minutes to tipoff" segment last night prior to Rochester's opener vs Geneseo State.