MBB: University Athletic Association

[theBroadcaster]

Just to let everyone know, WBRS Sports has made the 6 hr trip from Waltham to Rochester to broadcast the big game tomorrow at noon.  Log on to www.wbrs.org or tune your radios to 100.1FM in the Waltham area to hear all the action as #2 Brandeis battles #1 Rochester.

[howardjp]

no video? boo! 

seriously, thanks, looking forward to noon!

[Hugenerd]

It appears we're looking at a three-way race for the UAA title. I think what it will come down to is which one of the big three can steal a game at the other's house. It also will come to how many games Carnegie can steal from the big three. But by and large, Wash.U., Rochester and Deis will be very tough to beat at home. Including last season's 2 playoff games, Wash.U. has won 25 straight at home and I know Deis and Roch are tough at home as well. But Case, Chicago and Emory are all pretty down this year and I don't think any of the big 3 will have trouble on the road at those places. I haven't seen NYU yet, but they could pose some trouble. By the end of 7 league games, I think we'll be able to definitively determine the trajectory of this race.

I think Emory is a very hard place to play (if they still have the same floor as a few years ago).  When we played there (a few years back), it always seemed like 50% of the floor was dead spots.  Chicago is always pretty tough at home too.  I think we could have a few surprises as the season progresses.

Also, CMU hardly ever wins on the road at WU, UC, UR, or EU.  CMU has won 4/21 games in the last 5+ years at those four schools (UR: 1/6, UC: 1/5, WU: 2/5, and EU 0/5).  2 of those wins came when CMU swept the UC, WU weekend in 04-05 and the other two came in 05-06 (years when they finished 2nd and 1st in the conference).  In the other 3+ seasons (since 2002) they have not won a single game away against those 4 teams.  As evidenced by their record at Emory, it is not easy to win in Atlanta. Even in their two strongest (04-05, 05-06) CMU still lost to Emory on the road.  During the same span, they were 5-0 against Emory at home (quite a discrepancy).

[Pat Coleman]

no video? boo! 

seriously, thanks, looking forward to noon!

There is video at Rochester but the capacity has been very limited in the past. They were working to increase capacity for this weekend but I don't know what the result was.

Link on our front page scoreboard.

[Pat Coleman]

Feel free to join the blog discussion on this game:

http://www.d3hoops.com/dailydose/2008/01/20/game-day-no-2-brandeis-at-no-1-rochester/

[ILive4This]

The bandwidth is too limited, and I can not get on, this is very disappointing. I guess audio will have to do.

[howardjp]

same here, but thanks for letting us know, Pat!

[ILive4This]

Quite a game so far, once Hollins gets back into the game in the second half, the Judges should get atleast a little boost

[howardjp]

1:04 left, Coppins trey makes it a two point game, 64-62, Rochester ...

PS -  was Hollins ever in the game?

ah well, close loss to the number #1 team on the road, congrats to Rochester, see you in Waltham ....

[ILive4This]

Hollins was physically on the floor, as for in the game, because of fouls, impact was minimal. He finished with 3 points, (one FG), and UR just seemed to have him frustrated most of the game when he was in, committing 4 fouls (one intentional). This is a game possibly the first where Brandeis truly needed DeLuca, as it would have been much nicer to rotate Deluca, Hollins and Hill in a foul trouble scenario, rather than Hollins, Hill and the two freshmen who just have not gotten the minutes necessary to be ready for this kind of action. That being said the two did step up and played well. I am unsure how this will affect the rankings, we shall see.

[scottiedawg]

After a so-so first half, WashU is demolishing Case Western.  32-8 so far in the second half.  Troy Ruths has something like 17 in the second half.  Congrats to the UAA, who should have teams #1, #2, and #4 in the country. 

[martin]

All Finals

Rochester 74
Brandeis 68

NYU 63
CMU  58

Wash 85
Case 57

Chicago 91
Emory 65

Case battled against both Chicago and Wash - but ultimately did not have the depth and fell.  On Friday, Chicago would get up double digits but then Case would cut it back to 4 or 6.  The Maroons were finally able to make the gap stick late in the second half.  Today, Case battled Wash, trailing by only 6 at the half.  But they could not keep it up in the second half.

NYU's win surprised me - hard to win on the road in the UAA and I think Sunday road wins are tougher to come by.  I should check that some time.

Trying to start an argument - with Sean Wallis out, is Chicago's Jake Pancratz the best point guard in the UAA?  A lot was expected of him last year and he seemed overwhelmed at times.  I think he is really coming into his own now.

[Jacketfan2011]

What a great weekend at UR. The house was packed Friday for the NYU game and the student section was ...vocal.  So much so that Coach Neer got on the mike after the game and asked them to get up early and come support the team Sunday.  As an added bonus, the History Channel was recording the game Friday for an upcoming show.  The students were back in full voice for the Brandeis game but there were a lot more families in the crowd.  Nice to see.  It really was a teriffic game and both teams are deserving of their ranking.  So many clutch performances on both sides.  It was a LOT of fun.

[Rhodes Scholar]

NYU's win surprised me - hard to win on the road in the UAA and I think Sunday road wins are tougher to come by.  I should check that some time.

It surprised me as well. I looked at the box score and discovered that NYU's high scorer was John Mish. He averages 5.5 ppg and scored 24 today against CMU. Tough weekend for the Tartans: Not only did the upset vs. Brandeis fail to materialize, but they themselves were upset at home by NYU. There's still plenty of conference games left, but right now CMU is 0-3 in the UAA.

[theBroadcaster]

This is a game possibly the first where Brandeis truly needed DeLuca, as it would have been much nicer to rotate Deluca, Hollins and Hill in a foul trouble scenario, rather than Hollins, Hill and the two freshmen who just have not gotten the minutes necessary to be ready for this kind of action. That being said the two did step up and played well.

Being at the game today myself and broadcasting the Judges all season, I couldn't agree with you more.  Even in the Amherst game, it never really felt like the Judges were missing something on the floor, but today it did.  It is clear that as good as Hollins is, he is still a sophomore, and in the UAA every once in awhile he is going to play like one.  When that is the case, as was so today, the Judges desperately are in need of one more quality post player.  Now thats not to say that the freshman didn't play well, because they are showing improvement game after game, but if the Judges are to truly contend for a title it seems like they just might be that one player short.  But after watching them play really a B quality game at best in a hostile environment and yet they still had a shot late, I feel like with DeLuca they would be the odds on favorite for the national title.