MBB: University Athletic Association

[WUPHF]

There are enough recorded ties in basketball that Harvard-Yale joke football joke falls flat here.

So, anyway, games on Friday...

[deiscanton]

A quick midweek look at the UAA according to Ken Massey.

No. 4 Emory
No. 32 Rochester
No. 43 Washington University
No. 59 Brandeis
No. 101 Case Western Reserve
No. 127 Carnegie Mellon
No. 132 Chicago
No. 205 NYU

It is a little early for the return of my Fridays in the UAA post, but while I am thinking of it:

Emory at NYU
90-73 win for the Eagles

Rochester at Brandeis
61-57 win for the Yellowjackets

Washington University at Case Western Reserve
72-69 win for the Bears

Chicago at Carnegie Mellon
81-81 win for the Maroons

Is that like the famous Harvard-Yale game where the headline in the Harvard Crimson was Harvard downs Yale, 14-14?  (Or whatever the final score was.)  Yale was so heavily favored that a tie felt like a win to Harvard.   I believe that was with Brian Doyle(?) as the Yale QB, who was immortalized as BD in Doonesbury.

The final score was 29-29.  The game was played in 1968.  Pete Varney, who played tight end for Harvard at the time, caught the tying 2 pt conversion pass with 42 seconds left.  He would later go on to become Brandeis's baseball coach for many years before retiring a few seasons ago.

[Gregory Sager]

The final score was 29-29.  The game was played in 1968.  Pete Varney, who played tight end for Harvard at the time, caught the tying 2 pt conversion pass with 42 seconds left.  He would later go on to become Brandeis's baseball coach for many years before retiring a few seasons ago.

Varney was a backup catcher in the majors with the White Sox and Braves for a few years in the mid-'70s. His biggest claim to fame was that he was traded for the legendary Blue Moon Odom.

There is a celebrated documentary that came out a few years ago about that football game, entitled (naturally) Harvard Beats Yale 29-29, that I'd like to see sometime.

[deiscanton]

A quick midweek look at the UAA according to Ken Massey.

No. 4 Emory
No. 32 Rochester
No. 43 Washington University
No. 59 Brandeis
No. 101 Case Western Reserve
No. 127 Carnegie Mellon
No. 132 Chicago
No. 205 NYU

It is a little early for the return of my Fridays in the UAA post, but while I am thinking of it:

Emory at NYU
90-73 win for the Eagles

Rochester at Brandeis
61-57 win for the Yellowjackets

Washington University at Case Western Reserve
72-69 win for the Bears

Chicago at Carnegie Mellon
81-81 win for the Maroons

As of Friday morning, Jan. 17, Massey has slightly adjusted its Chicago/Carnegie Mellon probable scoreline.  Currently, it's now an 82-80 win for the Maroons.

[WUPHF]

I am moving this forward as I have no interest in the Harvard-Yale game and it is indeed Friday in the UAA.

Emory at NYU
90-73 win for the Eagles

Rochester at Brandeis
61-57 win for the Yellowjackets

Washington University at Case Western Reserve
72-69 win for the Bears

Chicago at Carnegie Mellon
82-81 win for the Maroons

__________

I have not watched a lot of Case Western Reserve this season for whatever reason, but I am excited for the game tonight.

Last season, the Bears had a 25 point lead at the half and cruised to a victory in St. Louis but then had to defend against two last second three-point attempts to avoid overtime.  The 8-4 Spartans are certainly going in to the game expecting to win.

On paper, the teams look surprisingly similar in terms of shooting percentages, free throw percentages, points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game, turnovers per game, steals per game and personal fouls per game all being very close.

The Bears have struggled to score in the past two games as they adjust to line-up changes, scoring 61 against Millikin and 66 against Chicago.  They defense has been very good and will be even more important tonight, but I am not sure a low scoring game will get it done on the road.

Washington University was a good perimeter shooting team in the Fall, but they will go in to the game tonight with their leading scorer shooting 48-104 (.462) and then a drop-off with other players going: 12-44 (.273), 3-10 (.300), 14-38 (.368), 4-16 (.250), 3-11 (.273) and 0-6 (.000).

[deiscanton]

I am now on the Brandeis campus getting ready to see tonight's doubleheader vs Rochester.  I stopped in the office to ask about Lawrence Sabir's status.  He is recuperating from an injury that he sustained in practice leading up to the NYU game.  He is fine otherwise, and should not be out of action for too long, but in the meantime, I will miss his 4 assists and 1.5 steals per game that he brings to the table.   Sabir is a heavily valued defender, and I hope to see him back in action soon.

In the meantime, any neutral fan who picked Rochester to win tonight and make it 6 wins in a row in Waltham is probably playing the safe pick.  I will.se r tonight.

[WUPHF]

Washington University leads Case Western Reserve at the half, 47-23.

Hank Hunter is back and got the start, but Justin Hardy is out for the game so the Bears are still down two starters.  Hardy is on the bench so hopefully he is back for Sunday.

The Bears are playing some of their best defense of the season and getting very good offensive contributions from the bench. 
__________

In other games, Chicago and Carnegie Mellon are tied at the half, 28-28.  Emory leads NYU at the half 44-39.  That is the most shocking result of the night despite the other lopside scores.  Let's see if the Violets can keep it close.  I'll wait for the Brandeis update.

[deiscanton]

Brandeis easily beat Rochester, and it was not even close.  Brandeis was up by 23 at halftime and cruised to the win.

[WUPHF]

Washington University is to 2-0 in the league with a 88-66 win over Case Western Reserve.

That is a very good result for the Bears considering that Nolan finished with just 13 points and both Hardy and Nester were on the bench.

The Bears shot 50% from the field and 50% or so from three-point range.  Payden Webb had a career night, scoring 21 points including 7-8 from downtown.  Very good games by a host of players including DeVaughn Rucker who finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds for the double-double.

43-26 advantage in rebounding too.
__________

Carnegie Mellon defeats Chicago, 71-62
Emory defeats NYU, 83-69

[deiscanton]

I am home from the men's game.

Brandeis defeated Rochester 76-54 today in front of an Auerbach Arena packed with Brandeis students, some Brandeis alumni, a lot of Boston area Rochester alums who attended the game because it was a Rochester Alumni Association event, and some other Rochester fans who made the eastbound trip.

Midway through the first half, Brandeis had a 27-13 lead and Rochester was never able to get back into the game.  Brandeis was up 43-20 at halftime, and was up 60-35 with 10 mins left in regulation.

To be honest, this was one of the better games that I have seen the Brandeis men play in quite a while.  Each player was defending very intensely.  On offense, Brandeis was able to get 20 assists on their 27 made baskets, even with Lawrence Sabir not playing due to injury.  Brandeis made 9 of 18 from 3 pts land, and 18 of their 32 2 pt field goal attempts. At the charity stripe, Brandeis shot 13 of 16.  Leading Brandeis was Collin Sawyer with 24 pts and Nolan Haggerty with 18 pts.  For Rochester, Ross Gang led with 16 pts, while Ryan Algier had 15 pts and Kailan Lee with 10 pts.

Rochester had swept this doubleheader for the past five seasons.   Tonight, Brandeis swept Rochester at the Auerbach Arena for the first time since 2014.

I am awaiting Sunday's game vs Emory to see what happens next.

[WUPHF]

It may be Saturday, but Sundays in the UAA is almost here so...

Here is the schedule with the corresponding Ken Massey predictions.

Rochester at NYU
67-58 win for the Yellowjackets

Rochester is 0-2 in conference play, but moves to 1-2 after this game. Rochester. Sharpie.

Emory at Brandeis
82-75 win for the Eagles

I do think this game is worthy of a game to watch list.  I think Emory gets the win, but at the same time, I think Brandeis and Washington University are the only two teams that have a chance at the upset and all four of those games will be played on Sunday so... 

I agree that the absence of Lawrence Sabir leaves Brandeis at a disadvantage defensively speaking and the Judges will need their best defensive effort of the season.

Chicago at Case Western Reserve
74-73 win for the Spartans

Washington University at Carnegie Mellon
80-75 win for the Bears

[deiscanton]

Once again, I will be at Brandeis to watch the doubleheader in person, and I welcome fans who cannot be in Waltham, MA today to watch the live Boxcast stream on the Brandeis Judges website.  Commentary is being done this year by Brandeis first year student Jonah White, who has done a terrific job so far.

In a first this year, short post game remarks from the Brandeis coaches and a player from each team are being uploaded on Youtube on (I believe) a same day basis.  Remarks on the Rochester games are now available on the Brandeis Judges Youtube channel.

[deiscanton]

I am on campus for the Sunday doubleheader, and behold, today is Brandeis Alumni Family Day at Auerbach Arena!
  Usually, I register for this event, but I did not recall getting an email this season for the event.  It usually does not fall on the first Sunday home UAA game, but this year, it does.  I can use my fellow alumni today to cheer Brandeis on vs Emory.

Update-- Today is also Brandeis Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day.  In addition, we have a Special Olympics related event also going on in the Gosman Center.

[WUPHF]

Today I am a Brandeis Judge.

[deiscanton]

I just met Brandeis sophomore Jesse Lieberman, who does the commentary for the men's games, at courtside.  Brandeis first year Jonah White does commentary for the women's games this season.  Just to get my bearings straight since I usually watch the Brandeis home UAA games in person.