MBB: University Athletic Association

[WUPHF]

Three UAA games were decided today by just one point including the 77-76 Rochester overtime win over the University of Chicago.  I did not get to watch the game, but it sounds like it may have been worth $6.95.  From the press release:

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Mack Montague sank a three-pointer at the overtime buzzer after an intentionally-missed free throw to give Rochester a 77-76 victory over the University of Chicago at the Louis Alexander Palestra.

Chicago held a 76-73 lead with six seconds left. The Maroons fouled Rochester's Sam Borst-Smith with 2.7 seconds left to prevent a three-pointer. Borst-Smith made the first shot, pulling Rochester within 76-74. He threw the second one off the front of the rim. It came right back to him and he passed it to Montague in the left corner. Montague's jumper was in the air as the buzzer sounded.

Emory edged Washington University 74-73 in a game in which the Bears had two shots at the line to get the tie and potentially the win with 8 seconds left, but missed on both.  NYU edged Case Western Reserve 80-79.

Chicago is more or less out of contention for the championship while Rochester and NYU remain one and two games behind Emory with five games left on the season.  NYU will travel to Emory and Rochester next weekend.

[y_jack_lok]

Thanks to everyone for their input on video streaming.

[Gregory Sager]

Wow, four losses in a row now for a U of C team that was once 14-2, 5-0 and seemingly on cruise control to the UAA title. The Maroons have folded like an origami phoenix, and I'm stumped for an explanation as to why.

[WUPHF]

Massey still has Chicago ranked in the Top 25, but the Maroons played well in the non-conference season and obviously, Massey does not discriminate between non-conference and conference.  They certainly do not look like a Top 25 team, but Emory and Rochester both look a lot better than their non-conference records.  Emory is ranked No. 17 in Massey while Rochester has moved up to No. 33. 

I had started writing about Washington University and the 10-10 record in historical context, but the campus newspaper did a great job covering this:

With the pair of losses, the Bear now extend their losing streak to six games, their longest skid since the 1982-83 season when they lost 10 straight and finished 6-20. That was Edwards' second season at the helm.

There is one spot in the record book 2015-16 Bears may not be able to escape from. With five UAA games left in the schedule, the Red and Green currently sit with a 2-7 conference record, tied with Carnegie for seventh in the standings. In the 29-year history of the UAA, Wash. U. has never finished below fourth. If the Bears want to catch the University of Chicago and their 5-4 record, they will likely need to win out against a slate of UAA teams they went 2-3 against on their first trip around the conference.

It is interesting looking back at those 10 losses for Washington University.

The Bears were out of the three road games against Illinois Wesleyan, Wittenberg, and Rochester and the home game against Emory, but they were potentially a made basket, free throw, or a defensive turnover in the last 10-60 seconds away from wins over Augustana, Chicago, Brandeis, New York, Rochester and Emory.

[WUPHF]

That Rochester buzzer beater is definitely worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL2O_uY7lJEsLY5qDKalGhqhFXO7wYcu0q&v=7H3hh2yqdak

Absolutely perfect in its execution, this would have my vote for buzzer beater of the year.

[Gregory Sager]

Just getting the ball to come back to you on the fly at the free-throw line is incredibly difficult in and of itself, because it takes a combination of pinpoint precision and high velocity. Toss in the split-second pass to the corner, and the sprint-catch-and-shoot of the receiver, and you've got a really exceptional buzzer-beater in terms of its execution. The standard long-heave buzzer-beaters are fun to watch, but they often appear as though there's more of an element of random luck involved than was true of this play.

[Ethelred the Unready]

Just getting the ball to come back to you on the fly at the free-throw line is incredibly difficult in and of itself, because it takes a combination of pinpoint precision and high velocity. Toss in the split-second pass to the corner, and the sprint-catch-and-shoot of the receiver, and you've got a really exceptional buzzer-beater in terms of its execution. The standard long-heave buzzer-beaters are fun to watch, but they often appear as though there's more of an element of random luck involved than was true of this play.

Precision you'd expect from a UAA team.....

Gosh, it feels good to post about UofR again...

[WUPHF]

I am glad to see you back.  And, I am glad to see Rochester get a little recognition from the pollsters who awarded the Yellow Jackets two votes this week.  It is a start.

At this point, the best UAA fans can hope for is that Emory and Rochester win out over the next two weekends and play for co-champions in the last game of the season.

Emory entered the D3Hoops.com rankings for the first time in a few weeks coming in at No. 24 while Chicago officially dropped out.

[WUPHF]

Last post on the buzzer beater: ESPN featured the Rochester buzzer beater in their Sports Center Top 10 and ranked it No. 2.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Regional Rankings: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2016/02/10/first-2016-regional-rankings-released-today/

[WUPHF]

NYU defeats Emory on the road 73-56 to pull within one game of Emory while Rochester pulls even with Emory after the win over Brandeis.

[WUPHF]

Case Western Reserve leads Washington University at the half, 47-45.  The Bears have not won in the Field House since mid December.

[WUPHF]

Emory had the lead early in the second and trailed by one point with 10 minutes left before going stone cold and scoring just 6 in the final 10 minutes.

[WUPHF]

Finally!  Washington University gets a home win over Case Western Reserve, 107-98 in regulation.

Both teams were over 50% from the field and 50% from three point range for much of the game and the Tartans led by as many as 10 in the second half and held the lead until the 4:51 mark.  The Bears had struggled against the Tartan press in the first half, but the Bears found their way in the second and finally closed out a close game. 

Kevin Kucera and David Schmelter scored 23 and 24 including 18 and 20 points in the second half.  Andrew Sanders finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds.

The Washington University Athletics department hosted a ceremony between games for the dedication of the Field House court as the Edwards-Fahey Court.  Thankfully, the ceremony was bookended by two wins.

[jaybird44]

Yes indeed...great effort by the WashU men to snap the 6-game losing streak.  Bears had the lead for almost all of the first half, but Case's full court press was cumulatively effective and allowed the Spartans to take a 47-45 halftime lead.

A big moment in the 2nd half came when WashU pulled within 81-80, only to have Spencer Boyd answer quickly with a 3 to push the lead to 84-80 with 6 minutes left.  During the losing streak, that would lead to an opponent run to push the lead to a dangerous distance, and dampen chances for a late rally.  But, Luke Silverman-Lloyd sank a 3 and Kucera did likewise while falling on his backside to give the Bears their first lead of the 2nd half. Jimmy Holman made a trey to put Case back on top by a point.  Undeterred, Jake Knupp popped in a 3 to give WashU a lead that it held onto for the final 4 minutes.

Schmelter had a thunderous slam with 1:58 that pushed the lead to 6, and Kucera was 6-6 from the free throw line to make sure the game didn't get away in the final 24 seconds.  Big sigh and applause from the nearly 2,000 fans in attendance.