Colonial Athletic Association Tournament – Quarterfinals
RICHMOND, Va. – The quarterfinal round brought more of the same as Friday’s first round games, as close games were the norm. As with Friday, only one game was decided by double figures, and the crowd got more lively in the evening.
The semifinals are now set, with No. 1 UNC-Wilmington taking on No. 5 Northeastern to start the day, followed by No. 2 George Mason taking on No. 3 Hofstra. Now we take a look back at stories from the quarterfinals.
Saturday Honor Roll
Harding Nana, Delaware: 11 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists
T.J. Carter, UNC-Wilmington: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals
Jose Juan Barea, Northeastern: 20 points, 9 assists
Alex Loughton, Old Dominion: 14 points, 9 rebounds
Will Thomas, George Mason: 19 points on 8-10 shooting, 6 rebounds, 3 steals
Jai Lewis, George Mason: 12 points, 13 rebounds
Antoine Agudio, Hofstra: 34 points, 4 assists
Loren Stokes, Hofstra: 12 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
Nick George, VCU: 28 points, 12 rebounds
Eric Maynor, VCU: 16 points, 5 rebounds
Nothing Free About Them
Free throw shooting has been a subject of much discussion in recent years, and this weekend adds to it as there have been some bad free throw shooting numbers in box scores. In Friday’s win, VCU made 16-of-18, and a couple of other teams have shown well, but only one team topped 70 percent yesterday.
Delaware went 18-32 from the line, and UNC-Wilmington wasn’t much better as they made 28 of their 43 attempts. In the next game, free throws made a real difference, Northeastern put forth the best line of the day at 12-16, while Old Dominion went just 8-20 in losing by eight. Both Georgia State and George Mason were below 60 percent, and in the day’s final game, Hofstra went 19-33 and had to sweat out a close one.
“It’s very cold out there, so when you try to shoot with cold hands and cold arms, it’s harder to make your free throws,” said George Mason sophomore Will Thomas, who was just 3-10 from the foul line in the Patriots’ win over Georgia State. That was a bad night even for Thomas, a 53 percent free throw shooter on the season.
George Mason head coach Jim Larranaga noted that senior guard Lamar Butler was blowing on his hands during the game.
Courtney Shows His Promise
Perhaps benefiting from the defensive attention put on Harding Nana, Delaware sophomore Herb Courtney closed out the season with a 14-point, six-rebound effort in their season-ending loss. The Blue Hens hope it’s a sign of things to come from the talented sophomore wing.
Courtney had to redshirt last season due to a torn ACL. Head coach David Henderson hinted that he still isn’t mentally recovered in terms of what he can do on the knee, and that would partially explain what was basically an up-and-down sophomore season.
“Herb Courtney is a kid that we think has the potential to be an all-conference player,” said Henderson. “He hasn’t performed at the level we think he can, but I think today he showed a little bit of a flash of what he’s capable of. I think another summer and mentally getting a little more comfortable with where he is on that leg, I think he’ll become that player.”
Courtney, who averaged 6.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in 22.7 minutes per game this season, has shown flashes of his potential before, like his career-high 20-point effort against William & Mary in 2003-04. In that game, he went 8-9 from the field and made all three of his three-pointers. The next step will be for him to play more like that on a consistent basis.
New-Look Huskies Get Another Crack at Revenge
Northeastern debuted new road uniforms in Saturday’s game against Old Dominion. The new ones are red with white numbers, after wearing black with white numbers. While it surely wasn’t a key to their 71-63 win over Old Dominion, it was the first thing one could notice.
Old Dominion led for a good portion of the game, but the Huskies never let the Monarchs break the game open. The key point in the game was when Shawn James picked up his fourth foul with 13:18 left and the Monarchs leading 42-39. Right after he went out, the Huskies committed a turnover where Janon Cole fell asleep and missed a pass from Jose Juan Barea, and they pushed the lead to 45-39.
But when James came back into the game about eight minutes later, the lead was just four points at 58-54. He wasn’t a major factor the rest of the way, but he helped in the comeback as the Huskies would finish the game on a 12-1 run after trailing 62-59.
“I think it’s a credit to Shawn that he was able to play intelligently, moved his feet, was still able to bother some shots,” said head coach Ron Everhart.
“While I was on the bench, everybody else just stepped up,” said James. “That just shows what kind of character and what kind of players we have on our team.”
Chief among the players who stepped up all game long were Bennet Davis (10 points on 5-5 shooting and nine rebounds) and Janon Cole (10 points, eight rebounds). Aaron Davis and Bobby Kelly made some key plays down the stretch as well, the latter coming after a tough first half shooting the ball with some open looks.
“It’s a team game, and those other guys stepped up,” said Old Dominion head coach Blaine Taylor.
Now the Huskies will take on No. 1 seed UNC-Wilmington. In their only meeting of the regular season, the Huskies lost 46-44 at the buzzer. If they were to split the season series, they surely wouldn’t mind if it turns out that way.
Progress Is Made For New Member
Georgia State finished its inaugural CAA campaign with a 7-22 record following Saturday’s quarterfinal loss to George Mason. It was a struggle overall, but they played right until the end and were always a threat with their four senior guards, and they had a chance to win Saturday night’s game.
The Panthers will move forward with a younger nucleus, but a good starting point for a team that moved to a tougher conference. Four senior guards will be gone, but freshman Leonard Mendez started 10 games late in the season and showed some promise, and the young frontcourt has plenty of promise, from CAA All-Rookie selection Rashad Chase to sophomores Deven Dickerson and Justin Billingslea.
“We made tremendous strides during the course of the year that aren’t reflected in the scoreboard,” summed up head coach Michael Perry.
For this team, getting a win in their first-ever CAA Tournament game will only help, and with the talent available in Atlanta, they’ll be battling for the top of the conference before long.
Agudio’s Not Just a Shooter
Hofstra sophomore guard Antoine Agudio is known for his shooting, and he certainly showed why in the first half of last night’s win over VCU. He started off with a long three-pointer right off the opening tip (just five seconds in), and scored 20 points in the first half on 5-7 three-point shooting. A couple of those shots were from well behind the arc.
Head coach Tom Pecora said he talked with Agudio, who finished with a career-high 34 points, before the game about taking the shots if he has them. It seems the message was heard loud and clear.
“At times, he’s too unselfish,” Pecora said of Agudio. “I want him to step up and take those shots, because he’s capable of making them and it changes the game. That was as good a first half as I’ve seen anyone play since I’ve been at Hofstra.”
Agudio kept going in the second half, but did his scoring from inside the arc. He drove to the basket several times and finished, also drawing a few fouls, and made perhaps the highlight of the tournament thus far. He went in on the fast break, and as the defender got back and tried to block his shot, he got turned around and still tossed the ball up, and it somehow went in.
He finished 9-12 from the foul line and didn’t make a three-pointer in the second half, but he got the Pride started and seemed to open up his own offense with his shooting early on.
VCU Hopes For More
VCU’s loss to Hofstra finishes their regular season at 19-10, and now they hope their season isn’t over. An NCAA Tournament bid won’t come, but an NIT bid is a possibility.
The Rams put together a nice season, going 11-7 in conference play and getting a win at Houston during non-conference play, while having a close loss at UAB. They have a star in senior Nick George, who had 28 points and 12 rebounds in what head coach Jeff Capel hopes will not be his last game.
“I hope I have at least one more game left with him,” Capel said of George, who’s been a nice story in player development. Capel noted that George went from taking one three-point shot as a freshman to leading the conference in three-point shooting this year.
They will have to sweat it out this week, watching conference tournaments to see if any regular season champions do not win their conference tournament and then don’t get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The more that happens, the worse VCU’s chances of getting a bid become.
“Hopefully we still have a game left, hopefully we still have a shot to do something,” Capel said.
Other Notes
- Harding Nana finished out his fine career with 11 points and 11 rebounds, again hampered by foul trouble and often being double-teamed.
- Old Dominion should still be bound for the postseason despite Saturday’s loss. An NCAA Tournament at-large bid was a longshot coming into the tournament, but with 21 wins, they should be in the NIT.
- A little inspiration goes a long way: George Mason freshman Sammy Hernandez, who had two key baskets in overtime after Jai Lewis fouled out, made his big plays with his sister and grandmother in attendance. It was the first chance they have had to see him play.
