MBB: University Athletic Association

[Hoop Dreams]

Hope leads Chicago 42-29 at half

[howardjp]

Brandeis 77, Trinity 70 in OT, DeLuca two big 3's in OT, Coppens, Roberson hit key free throws.  Trinity went down fighting, but Judges move on.

[Ole Ollie]

Ole Ollie has seen a lot of Brandeis basketball games, but yesterday has to be at or near the top.  I thought both teams played very well (I was very impressed with the Trinity guards Martin and Clarke) and neither team really deserved to go home.  I think that the players of the game for Brandeis had to be Deluca, Roberson and Coppens.  Coppens hit a money three from the top of the key to send the game into overtime and otherwise played well. Roberson was very steady, hit a bunch of pressure free throws late in the game and made a huge steal at the beginning of overtime after which he dove for the ball and managed to call timeout without traveling.  Deluca was a little quiet for him in regulation, but went crazy in OT, including a long fade away three with the shot clock expiring to ice the game with a minute left.  One difference between this team and the last couple of years is they don't wilt under pressure.  You could tell that they shifted into higher gear late in the game and said, there is no way we are losing.  I can't say I have ever seen any team as excited on the floor and the bench as the players and coaches were in overtime; gesturing to the Brandeis supporters to cheer and jumping up and down.  It was nice to see that much enthusiasm

[TheKatzInTheHat]

Just to remind everyone, WBRS is playing the taped version of yesterdays men's game today at 4 PM and then the live version of the men's game vs. Rhode Island College at 7 PM. Tune in to www.wbrs.org for all the action. And if you want to hear more Brandeis basketball talk, tune in now to hear a little pregame show with some of the announcers.

[Gregory Sager]

Color me surprised that Chicago didn't get knocked out by a team with a strong inside presence, as that was the Achilles heel that I thought would prove the Maroons' undoing. Instead, they were beaten pretty soundly by another smallish team that had superior athleticism that took the Maroons completely out of their game on the offensive end, and which got them myriad great looks at the basket at the offensive end.

Still, congrats to the Maroons upon a great season.

[howardjp]

Judges lose, 70-67. Congrats to RIC.

Judges were down 18 with 10 to go, got back to 3, had Joe Coppens miss a 3 at the end (hit a clutch one last night), capped off a tough shooting night.

Rexhepi, 16 the first half, non-factor the second.

Mael probably the best of the big men tonight.

Team looked tired but summoned enough for a rally that just fell short.  RIC scored either 3 or 4 points the last ten minutes.

Nice season guys, everyone back next year.

[John Gleich]

For Wash U fans wondering about UWSP... Rather than tell you about everything Stevens Point does and is good at, here's a reposting of something I typed up a little differently for the MIAC page earlier this week when asked:

How did Stevens Point lose to Oshkosh in their first meeting?

...Point scored fewer points...

But seriously, Oshkosh found a way to slow Point down.  Point scored just 55 points in this game (12 and 13 points less than their next-lowest outputs against La Crosse and 27 less than the season average).

The WAY they slowed Point down was by controlling the tempo, playing BIG defense (I'll qualify this in a bit), keeping Point to their lowest shooting percentages of the season, and by shooting extremely well.

Controlling the tempo: Oshkosh would pound the air out of the ball for 25 seconds on the shot clock, then dump the ball into Gibson.  If Point doubled, that left someone open.  If they didn't, then Gibson usually made the shot (9/13).  When he missed, the slashing guards Johnson and Marsh collectively got 7 offensive rebounds.

Playing BIG defense:  With 7'1" Gibson on the inside (5 blocks), it really kept Point's guards from driving and cutting, which forced Point to take more three's out of rather stagnant offense.  For the season, Point is 4th in the country at 3 point percentage at 42.3%, and 42.5% of their shots are from deep.  They make 10.7 3's per game (8th in the country).  In this game, Point shot 31 3's, only making 12, and their 31 3's were 58.5% of their total shots.  Also, even in a slowed down game, Oshkosh forced more turnovers (11) than Point averages (leading all of college basketball at 8.4... this is better than 1 TO fewer than the next-closest team in D3).

Keeping Point to their lowest shooting percentages of the season- Pretty self explanitory, but again, largely due to the fact that easier baskets were very hard to come by due to Oshkosh's size and defense... Point had just 14 points in the paint, and while they don't have a dominating big man, cutters routinely get open off of back cuts, curls, drives, and dishes.  Point leads all of college basketball in assist to turnover ratio at 2.04:1 assists:TO's.  This is because Point's players can all take the ball off the dribble and they are a very good passing team, but they are also very unselfish.  All 5 starters can hit the 3, and each have hit at least 19.  Point guard El-Amin has been hitting his three's of late, he's 10/19 in the last 6 games, and in his last 5 games he's got 27 assists to 3 TO's.  He's leading the WIAC at 3.13 A:TO ratio... but he's not alone.  Starters Brian Beamish and Steve Hicklin are 2 and 3 in the league, and Krull is 5th.  Even Pete Rortvedt, Point's leading scorer, who takes the plurality of Point's shots has a 1.45 A:TO ratio.

But Rortvedt is a much bigger shooting threat.  He's averaging 3.37 3's per game (his 91 for the season has already broken Nick Bennett's single season record, and he's on pace to shatter Bennett's school record and the conference record as well), which is 19th in the country, and he shoots them at a 42.5% clip.  But Steve Hicklin, who plays opposite P.R. on the other wing is shooting 50%, which is good for a tie for second in the land.  Jon Krull will bang inside and at 6'4" is a bit undersized at the post... but he typically posts up in the short corner and uses his quickness to get around bigger defenders and his toughness to muscle the shot up.  But he also can step out and hit the long ball... he's hit 46 on the year and is shooting 44.2%.

Finally, when the game is winding down, in close games, Point seals games by shooting 81.8% from the free throw line.  This actually is down from 84% during the year, but if you're forced to try and foul and play the 3 for 2 against Point, it isn't going to work too well...

Well, here's a tidbit about Point... there's lots more that I could say, but this just a taste.  The only losses Point has had, they were beaten as I stated above, and they were simply outscored by D-2 Northern Michigan.  Any insights on Wash U?

[y_jack_lok]

I can't possibly give that kind of detail on Wash U, but I've seen them play a number of times this year. They play great defense and hustle, hustle, hustle. Sounds like they will need to do both on Friday.

[Ole Ollie]

Brandeis had nothing to be ashamed of, losing a close game last night to a very good team on their home court.  RIC played far better last night than they did against Coast Guard -- they are a very quick, athletic team and hit some long threes to pull away. I was very impressed by Bailey in particular; a D-I quality slasher.  Brandeis didn't have its best shooting night and got a little sloppy with the ball at times to fall behind; but they almost pulled off a miracle comeback when they could have just thrown in the towel and they had three opportunities in the last minute to tie the game, but just couldn't quite seal the deal.  I would have loved to have seen that matchup with Amherst in the Elite Eight, but that will have to wait for next year.  With everyone coming back, Brandeis should be a strong contender next year in the UAA and New England if not nationally and if they can add some more depth, especially up front, they should be even better.  Good luck to WashU and RIC the rest of the way.

[diehardfan]

I can't possibly give that kind of detail on Wash U

Point Special is basically a protege of Gregory Sager.

[Greek Tragedy]

At least when it comes to Stevens Point.  If he can do that for every team, or at least the tourney teams, then I'll agree! lol. 

[diehardfan]

At least when it comes to Stevens Point.  If he can do that for every team, or at least the tourney teams, then I'll agree! lol. 

I only meant that in terms of length of post and attention to detail.

[Greek Tragedy]

So, do Washington U. fans travel well.  I know St. Louis is a good 8 hours from Point.  I talked to my dad and he remembers that Quandt was full when the Pointer women hosted a sectional, which I believed included Washington U.

[Titan Q]

So, do Washington U. fans travel well.  I know St. Louis is a good 8 hours from Point.  I talked to my dad and he remembers that Quandt was full when the Pointer women hosted a sectional, which I believed included Washington U.

The Wash U men do not draw particularly well at home (745 avg attendance this year) and in all the years the Bears have played @ IWU, I can't remember more than just 20-30 fans making the trip.  Obviously a tournament game is different than a non-conference game, but my guess is that Wash U will have 100 or less fans at UW-SP.

[fcnews]

Speaking with first hand knowlege only. We were at the Women's sweet sixteen at St. Thomas in 2001 and Wash U. was also their. They probably had 250 with them. That was the year they won the National Tournament