PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Opening night in college basketball took me south for the World Vision Invitational. More will come from this over the next couple of days, but some quick hitters on the first night are in order as there were 126 games played on Friday involving Division I teams.
- Bucknell has some freshmen that will certainly help them this season. They started Joe Willman up front, and he played well early before struggling later, but it was Bryson Johnson who will get the most notice as he led the team with 18 points on 6-10 shooting from long range. Johnson did play like a freshman at times, as he had some defensive lapses and head coach Dave Paulsen noted as much during the post-game interview. Mike Muscala showed some promise, although he was in foul trouble later in the game.
- Senior guard James Florence is the big known factor for Mercer, and his 33 points on 12-20 shooting weren’t a surprise. The big question is how good the complementary pieces will be, and on Friday they were good in addition to backcourt mate Jeff Smith, who had a couple of clutch baskets en route to 16 points on 5-7 shooting. Up front, Daniel Emerson had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Brian Mills had 11 and seven before fouling out not long after he made a couple of clutch plays. Head coach Bob Hoffman thinks Emerson can put up those numbers on a nightly basis, and noted the staff has done a lot of work with Mills to get him stronger.
- How thoroughly did Providence beat Bryant? Well not only did the Bulldogs commit 21 turnovers while making just 20 shots, but when they broke the press and got into the halfcourt set, they weren’t really able to run their patient offense and at times settled for early shots. Barry Latham was the only Bulldog to score in double figures with 12 points.
- The Friars’ press was “at another level” from the exhibition games, according to head coach Keno Davis. “I thought, to be able to make that kind of improvement in a week is a really good sign,” Davis added.
- Arkansas wing Rotnei Clarke could always shoot, and if you ever told me he had a stretch where he made 13 of 17 from long range over a few games, I wouldn’t be surprised. But to do that in one game, en route to scoring 51 points? No, not that. You would think after a couple that someone would try to stay right with him all night, and even though he wouldn’t be shut out, he might finish the night with perhaps six or seven – not 13. The Razorbacks certainly needed it with just six scholarship players suiting up.
- A tough loss for St. Peter’s, as Seton Hall edged them 53-51 on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Eugene Harvey. Next up for the Peacocks is a 6 a.m. tip against Monmouth on Tuesday morning as part of ESPN’s 24-hour marathon. (Note: I will be following that marathon right here on Hoopville on Tuesday prior to heading to Chestnut Hill for Boston College’s 7 p.m. matchup with St. Francis (NY).)
- John who? Freshman Eric Bledsoe had a nice debut for Kentucky in their victory over Morehead State, scoring 24 points.
- Rider coach Tommy Dempsey talked up his team at MAAC Media Day, and the Broncs didn’t waste any time making him look good as they knocked off Mississippi State.
- Pittsburgh trailed Wofford by seven at halftime, but the Panthers pulled out a 63-60 win.
- Saint Joseph‘s opened the new Michael J. Hagan Arena with a 77-67 win over Drexel in overtime. Darren Govens had seven of his 23 points in overtime as part of a 13-0 run.
- Wright State gave a valiant effort, but Washington made the key stops down the stretch to hold off the Raiders in Seattle in the Athletes in Action Basketball Classic.
- Give William & Mary credit, the Tribe was able to hang with Connecticut for much of the game before succumbing by a 75-66 margin.
- One of the best games of the night happened after a lot of people went to bed, as Pacific edged Pepperdine 67-64 in double overtime. Pacific led by 10 with five minutes to go in regulation.
