MBB: University Athletic Association

[FishStix111]

Long time reader of these boards and first time poster...

But what the heck is happening at NYU? I had a good friend play for the Violets in the mid-2000's and they were a pretty good squad. Moved to NYC after college and I continued to follow them and we went to a bunch of games at Coles.

They were never a perennial power, but were always good enough to beat any UAA team on any given Friday or Sunday. I thought their team just three years ago was good enough to play deep into March.

Doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

I get they just hired a new coach...but he didn't coach for the better part of the last decade. Whats the deal with that? You'd have to think they received some pretty solid applications as it has to be one of, if not THE, highest paying job in Division III. You look at some of the other recent UAA hires and it just doesn't make any sense.

I realize that Coles no longer exists and they are playing at Hunter...could that be part of the issue? I was actually on the Upper East Side last weekend and went to the game against Rochester. They have some athletes, but couldn't put it together for 40 minutes. I thought the crowd and atmosphere were actually fantastic, maybe the smaller facility with one side of bleachers open helped that?

Would love to hear any takes from those who frequent this board! Hopefully the Violets turn things around...

[Pat Coleman]

I'm sure not having Coles and all the advantages that awesome home court afforded them doesn't help. But aside from a handful of years, NYU has struggled in UAA play. Obviously, winless is a different kind of struggle, for sure, but we should have seen it would be bad when they failed to dominate their traditionally soft non-con slate.

I always thought Nelson's coaching resume made him an interesting choice at this level. He had been out of college coaching for a while. But this is also Nesci's roster, so ...

[WUPHF]

Long time reader of these boards and first time poster...

Thanks for reading and posting.

I am not an expert on NYU basketball or anything else related to the sport, I just play one on the D3boards.com.

NYU definitely made an interesting hire.  They must have received a lot of interest.  They must pay very well.

I do like this roster, but I feel like the are underperforming.  They are, as you say, having trouble putting it together.  That was the case last year as well.

They had Ethan Feldman back for one game and had Albertus Magnus on the ropes before dropping that contest.  Injuries have been a problem. 

Let's see what others have to say...

[WUPHF]

Fridays in the UAA.

Chicago vs. Rochester
Washington University vs. Emory

Four other teams playing somewhere.

Last season, the Washington University-Emory match-up had so many sub-plots to discuss, including the various position by position battles including:

Senior point guards with career assist Top 10 credentials...
Senior centers with double-double potential...
Freshman of the year candidates...
Senior player of the year candidates...

Yet, this is still the UAA game of the year with many all-Association-level players between the two teams.

The stakes are just as high in Rochester tonight with the losing team likely out of the race.

[WUPHF]

Fridays in the UAA [insert crying emoji here]

Emory defeats Washington University behind a monster first half and a monster second half.

Rochester defeats Chicago to remain in the hunt.

NYU finally gets a win over Case Western Reserve. 

Brandeis over Carnegie Mellon.

[WUPHF]

Unfortunately, I was unable to watch any game tonight, so I'll just move on to the rankings.

Emory 8-2
Washington University 7-3
Rochester 7-3
Chicago 6-4
Brandeis 5-5
Carnegie Mellon 4-6
Case Western Reserve 2-8
New York 1-7

Here are a few sample scenarios that help illustrate the road to the UAA championship...

If Emory defeats Chicago, Case Western Reserve, Carnegie Mellon and Rochester, they win it all.

If Rochester defeats Washington University, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve, and Emory they become co-champions with Emory and get the AQ thanks to the 2-0 head to head.

If Washington University defeats Rochester, NYU, Brandeis and Chicago, they would still need Emory and Rochester to lose one game to become co-champions, but they need Emory to lose two games to get the AQ thanks to the 0-2 head to head.

If Chicago defeats Emory, Brandeis, NYU and Washington University, then everything is contingent on Rochester who must defeat Emory but must drop one of the other three games left on the schedule.  If that were to happen, Chicago would become co-champions and would get the AQ.

[Gregory Sager]

I watched the Wash U @ Emory game tonight. Man, the Eagles looked good ... Top Ten good. They could've hung with anybody in the country tonight ... NebWes, Whitman, Augustana, UWO, St. Thomas, you name it.

[WUPHF]

Sundays in the UAA.

Two big games today at Noon.

Trying to decide if I want to give $10 to the Rochester athletics department again.

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ Rochester should be embarrassed to charge anything.

[WUPHF]

At least they are pronouncing the names correctly this year...

[WUPHF]

Rochester leads Washington University at the half, 37-21.

Turnovers continue to be a problem for the Bears as they committed 10 in the first half.  Washington University did a great job defending the screens in St. Louis but not so much today.

[WUPHF]

Just about time to switch to Chicago at Emory as the Maroons have rallied from an 11 point deficit to lead by three with 8 minutes left.

[WUPHF]

Chicago wins 114-107.

Chicago was holding on to a one point lead with just over two minutes left in the game and then got a Jordan Baum three-pointer and played textbook late game basketball in the second to last minute, rebounding everything and converting (enough) from the line.

Emory extended the final minute and narrowed a double digit gap with a few big shots, but to no avail.

Chicago finishes with 6 players in double figures and led by Noah Karras with 25 points.

Washington University decided midway through the second half to begin playing for next season.  Only one starter played more than 23 minutes.

Rochester pulls even with Emory! Wow!

[WUPHF]

The UAA standings with three games to go.

Emory 8-3
Rochester 8-3
Washington University 7-4
Chicago 7-4
Brandeis 6-5
Carnegie Mellon 5-6
Case Western Reserve 2-7
New York 1-8

Emory and Rochester will travel to Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve looking to go 2-0 and 2-0 against the Cleveland-Pittsburgh travel partners.  The two would then play a de facto championship game in Atlanta.

Chicago is not out of contention, but they will need three wins of their own and a little help from other teams.  The do have the 2-0 lead over Emory but are 1-1 against Rochester.

[WUPHF]

As an addendum to the prior post, if I understand the tiebreaker rules correctly, Chicago does still have a shot at a championship and AQ.

This would require Chicago to win out. 

This would also require the team that wins the final Emory and Rochester match-up in two weeks to lose on the road to Carnegie Mellon or Case Western Reserve next weekend.

Then as far as I can tell, the league would have three co-champions and Chicago would get the AQ thanks to the head to head results against the next in the standings which should be Washington University.

Chicago fans will need to pray or whatever for a Carnegie Mellon win at home.  The Tartans played both Rochester and Emory tough on the road.