Touring Around the Northeast
It’s been a slow period around New England, and indeed much of the country, as many schools were off for final exams and the Christmas break then came. Teams had to pause to focus on the classroom, before the holidays bring a host of in-season tournaments and more great matchups to conclude non-conference play. So with that in mind, we’ll take a look at just a few of the teams who played right before the Christmas break around New England.
Eagles Survive Again, Remain Undefeated – Barely
Boston College had their third straight close call against a mid-major on Sunday, as it took double overtime for the Eagles to knock off visiting Yale, 82-80. Yale led for much of the game before the Eagles took over later in the second half.
The Eagles have had several slow starts before coming on to win games, which clearly has head coach Al Skinner and the players concerned despite standing 9-0, as he and the team are keenly aware that they’re a couple of bounces away from being 6-3.
“I’m not sure what it is, but it’s clearly a flaw that lies in this team,” Skinner said. “Of late, we’ve been far too relaxed.”
Jermaine Watson had a different take.
“I think we’re showing a lack of respect for our opponents,” the senior guard said. “In NCAA basketball, if there’s anything that’s true, any team can beat any team on any given night. We have to learn to respect our opponents more than we’re doing and take every game like it’s our last game.”
The Eagles don’t blow many teams out, but since last season this team has come through when it counts to get wins time and time again, including seven straight overtime wins dating back two seasons. Players say that’s just how they play, and sophomore point guard Steve Hailey wonders if they feel less a sense of urgency against mid-majors, but they all know that coming from behind won’t always be possible this same way against Big East teams.
“You can’t deny the character on this team,” Skinner said. “We could have just as easily lost this game, and it would have been easier to lose it than it was to try to win it. I’m pleased about that, but we just can’t think we can turn it on when we want. I don’t think we’re that talented.”
In the Yale game, Craig Smith came alive after the halftime intermission. He scored 21 points on 10-11 shooting in the second half and the two overtime sessions, including 10 of the Eagles’ first 14 points of the half as they cut a 10-point halftime lead down to two. But they would never get even until two free throws by Watson (13 points) with 23 seconds left in regulation.
Wednesday, it was a case of lesson learned, as the Eagles came out clicking on all cylinders and beat Duquesne 88-70 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score might indicate. Smith had another big game, scoring 30 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, while Sean Marshall continues to play well in adding 20 points and 7 rebounds. Marshall didn’t just do it shooting the ball, the primary thing he is known for, though he did make 3 of 5 from long range.
“I was trying to get inside to get easy baskets and get my rhythm, and it worked for me – I hit a couple of threes after that,” he said after the game.
Marshall also sees something in Smith, who has come out on fire the last two games. He mentioned a team meeting before the Yale game, where the team knew it was searching for a vocal leader. Marshall thinks Smith may be trying to step into that role, and his play the last two games certainly supports it.
The Eagles are 9-0 as non-conference play is about to draw to a close. They know they should be at this point based on their schedule, but at times they’ve made it look difficult. If the Duquesne game is a sign of things to come, the Eagles figure to be in good shape going forward.
Friars Come Back From Finals In a Big Way
Providence has been difficult to get a read on this season save for one thing: they’re going to be hit-or-miss. On Tuesday night, they blew out Maine 104-74 in each team’s first game after a long layoff for final exams, then went to Memphis and took home a 72-59 win.
The Friars came out and played a solid game from start to finish, scoring 14 of the game’s first 16 points and leading 32-11 at one point in the first half. They forced 29 Maine turnovers and took advantage of them to the tune of 35 points, and they scored 46 points in the paint to Maine’s 22.
“Usually at the end of exams, I’m very, very apprehensive about the next game, just as far as losing rhythm and where we’re at mentally as far as going through the exam period,” head coach Tim Welsh said after the game. “But I have to admit that tonight, I was not. I was as confident in my team before the game as I’d been in a while because of a renewed commitment by the players to ‘give it’ every day.”
A major bright spot was the 17 points (5-8 shooting, including 4-6 on three-pointers) from junior point guard Donnie McGrath. McGrath had not scored the entire month of December and had just three points in the final game of November. The Friars clearly suffered without him scoring, as they need all they can get from their veterans while the freshmen develop.
“As much as we try to get the ball to Ryan, he’s going to pass it out of double-teams and sometimes triple-teams, and we’ve got to be able to make them pay for it,” Welsh said. “It’s tough when you just keep missing, and it was nice to see the crowd get behind him tonight. He’s taken it too personally as far as the team losing, where he’s blamed himself.”
On Thursday, the Friars went to Memphis with a quick turnaround and knocked off the Tigers. The Tigers are similar to the Friars in their makeup, with solid talent but some inexperience, and they’ve had their struggles. Gomes led the Friars with 24 points and 8 rebounds, but the big story was McGrath (14 points, 6 assists) and Dwight Brewington (15 points) having another good night.
After the Maine game, McGrath said he felt much better, and it certainly showed Thursday night.
“I’ve just been waiting for one game where I hit a few shots and it gets me out of it,” he said Tuesday. “Now I feel like there’s pressure off my back.”
The Friars are off until December 31, when they play at San Diego State.
Terriers Enter the Holidays In Good Shape
Boston University continued its solid non-conference play with a 62-45 win against Canisius last Thursday. It was a game that symbolized the Terriers’ season thus far, as they started slowly before taking over for the remainder of the game.
“The first half, we looked like a team that had just come off exams,” head coach Dennis Wolff said. “I thought we were way more decisive with what we tried to do in the second half.”
Indeed, the Golden Griffins jumped out to an 8-2 lead and held on to the lead until a little past the halfway point of the first half. In contrast, the Terriers opened the second half with a 19-6 run to pull away.
The Terriers held the Golden Griffins to 34.5% shooting and got 17 points and 7 rebounds from sophomore forward Etienne Brower, who continues to emerge this season. With more consistent minutes in the starting lineup, Brower is fourth on the team in scoring and tied for the lead in blocked shots while making 47.6% of his three-pointers. His work over the summer, particularly on his jump shot, is paying off.
“Brower’s a good player, I said that at the beginning of the year,” head coach Dennis Wolff said.
Brower is the fifth Terrier to lead the team in scoring in a game this season, showing the balance and depth of this team. The starting lineup has been solid, and with Notre Dame transfer Omari Peterkin now eligible and providing a mobile big body and freshman Ben Coblyn set to return from a nagging back problem, they only get deeper.
The Terriers are now 7-2, having won five of six in a recent road stretch that included wins at Michigan (second straight year) and Rhode Island and a close loss to Boston College. Wolff is certainly pleased with how his team responded after a tough season-opening home loss to Holy Cross.
“We lost that first game to Holy Cross, and you know how that stuff goes – you can really get yourself wound up,” he said.
The Terriers head west of town to take on Massachusetts on Tuesday night, then pick up America East play on Sunday at Albany.
The Canisius game was originally supposed to be a return to the hometown of Richard Jones, who was to be a senior at Canisius. The native of Charlestown, Mass. passed away on May 5 after collapsing during a workout. Wolff said he would have understood if they did not opt to play the game, which was scheduled before Jones’ passing, but Canisius head coach Mike MacDonald said there was never much thought of that. After practice the night before the game, he brought his team to see Jones’ grave and to see his family.
“These guys are 18, 19-year-old guys who have never had somebody like a close friend die,” MacDonald said. “It’s been an adjustment period for them a little bit. Richard was a senior, he’d been here and was looked up to by guys like (Darnell) Wilson and (Chuck) Harris, who are sophomores. He was a role model for those guys, and now that he isn’t there, it’s changed their roles on the team, in some ways, but it’s made them grow up a little faster than they had to.”
Also of note from the Canisius game was the attendance of former Boston College and Ohio State head coach Jim O’Brien. It is at least the second game at BU that O’Brien has been spotted at this season.
Maine Above .500 as America East Play Nears
With just one non-conference game left, Maine stands 5-4 after bouncing back from the blowout loss at Providence with a 67-64 overtime win Thursday night over IPFW in Fort Wayne, IN. Their non-conference schedule includes a win over Rhode Island, while they played Boston College tough to start the season, and they have yet to play at Alfond Arena – in fact, they have played nine games at nine different arenas thus far.
The Black Bears have been guard-oriented on the offensive end, as their top four scorers are guards Ernest Turner (13.0 ppg), Kevin Reed (11.1), Chris Markwood (9.1) and Jermaine Jackson (6.9). They shoot a combined 33.3% on three-pointers, which matches the team total thus far. The most troubling statistic thus far is the assist/turnover ratio, as only Markwood has more assists than turnovers; Tuesday night, the Black Bears committed 29 turnovers in the loss at Providence.
“It’s been a concern all year, something we always talk about, and something we hope to correct,” head coach Ted Woodward said after the game.
With the struggles of the inside players early on as a unit, the guards have had to carry the offensive load. But the inside game appears ready to turn the corner, which will only help. Senior Mark Flavin was one slow starter, but reached double figures in both games last week, including a team-high 17 against IPFW to go with three blocked shots.
“We’re just hoping that some of our inside game will be able to flow a little bit better, so we can get a little more balance in our offense,” Woodward said after the Providence loss.
While Flavin started slowly, David Dubois has thrived and especially since he moved into the starting lineup. Always a solid interior defender, he scored in double figures in three games since being moved into the starting lineup in the fourth game of the season.
“I love the way David’s been playing, he’s doing a super job for us,” Woodward said. “He’s a four-year senior, we trust him. He runs the floor, he’s extremely athletic, he does a lot of good things for us.”
The Black Bears have had just two home games thus far, so they will be glad to have a few more games in the familiar surroundings. Woodward noted the difficulty of playing on the road, and knows they had to transition at the point, which has contributed to the problem of turnovers. But at 5-4 with one game left, and having won their only America East game thus far (a 62-51 win at UMBC earlier in the month), the Black Bears appear to be in a good position to make a charge in conference play despite the clear areas for improvement.
“There’s always things you want to improve on,” Woodward said. “I think some of those things, you can do a little better when you’re home sometimes – familiar surroundings and things like that. We like some things we’ve done, but we also know we’ve got a ways to go.”
The Black Bears play their first game at Alfond Arena on December 30 when they take on Maine-Farmington.
Other Notes From Around the Nation
- The story at Louisville with freshman center Terrance Farley, who was kicked off the team on a week and a half ago for being late several times, may not be over yet. Hoop Scoop reported that Farley’s father wrote a letter to the Louisville Courier-Journal defending his son, then publicly exchanged words with head coach Rick Pitino – and Pitino has recently said that Farley could be reinstated onto the team.
- Xavier gave Mississippi State all they could handle on December 18th, and the Musketeers look like they should certainly be a factor in the Atlantic 10. It doesn’t hurt that the conference is clearly down this year, but Vanderbilt transfer Brian Thornton clearly adds toughness inside and there’s still plenty of talent on the perimeter to keep the Musketeers in the mix.
