Colonial Athletic Association Tournament – Semifinals
RICHMOND, Va. – The championship game is set, as No. 1 UNC-Wilmington dominated No. 5 Northeastern and No. 3 Hofstra turned up the defense in the second half to knock off No. 2 George Mason. The Seahawks had a decided edge over Northeastern in the first game, while the second game turned around in the second half and the Pride had to hold off the Patriots in the final minutes.
The teams split in the regular season, with Hofstra winning a triple-overtime game in Hempstead in January and the Seahawks winning in Wilmington nearly three weeks ago.
Sunday Honor Roll
Beckham Wyrick, UNC-Wilmington: 11 points, 17 rebounds
T.J. Carter, UNC-Wilmington: 15 points, 5 rebounds
Carlos Rivera, Hofstra: 25 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists
Loren Stokes, Hofstra: 20 points
Will Thomas, George Mason: 17 points, 6 rebounds
Who’s Going to Postseason Play?
Now that some of the top teams have been eliminated, the questions begin about what the immediate future is for them. In recent weeks, most projections of the NCAA Tournament field have the CAA getting multiple bids, perhaps as many as three, and the NIT is an open question as well.
At this point, George Mason is on the bubble along with both championship game participants. The thinking has generally been that the loser of the championship game is likely in, and George Mason has been thought to be in as well. But given that the power conferences have won out in this over the years, as well as the talk of just how many teams the Big East will get, it’s easy for a player, coach or fan to be a cynic and have the “I’ll believe it when I see it” mindset regarding the CAA getting multiple bids.
Asked if he thinks the perception of mid-majors is changing, UNC-Wilmington head coach Brad Brownell said he thinks it is. His club has reached the championship game, and the thinking is that they should be in the NCAA Tournament whether they win or lose on Monday night.
“We’re 24-7 right now and we’ve only played 12 home games. I think that’s the most overlooked stat in college basketball, and it’s the most unfair stat,” said Brownell, whose club started the season by winning the BCA Invitational in Wyoming by winning three games in three days. “If we had 18 home games, who knows what our record would be right now? We just don’t have those opportunities.”
“For us to be playing 31 games and have 12 or 13 home games – I don’t care if they’re neutral court games, they’re not in your gym – the big schools just don’t do that. That’s the biggest thing that is unfair about it, that’s why we went to Wyoming – to try to get to play Wyoming, and Butler, who’s a great team, and Northwestern, on a neutral court. I think those are things that have to be considered by the committee, and if you do, then I think you have to look at our league getting at least three teams.”
As far as the NIT is concerned, Old Dominion should be in after winning 21 games, and one would think Northeastern and VCU have good chances. The Huskies said they plan to practice this week as if they’re going to the NIT.
George Mason head coach Jim Larranaga brought up comparisons to the much-talked about Missouri Valley Conference.
“I hope we see five or even six teams from the CAA in postseason – I hope three, or maybe even four teams in the NCAA Tournament,” Larranaga said. “If the Missouri Valley can talk like they’re going to get five or six – we played them, Wichita State’s not as good as Hofstra. Hofstra’s so much more difficult to guard because of how many different weapons they have. If the Missouri Valley is going to get multiple bids, hopefully the Colonial will get the recognition it deserves.”
After losing to UNC-Wilmington in the quarterfinals, Delaware head coach David Henderson said he thinks the Seahawks should be in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what they do the rest of the weekend.
“They’ve been consistent all season long, and I think they’ve played a very good schedule and I think they’re very deserving of it,” Henderson said. “You need to be rewarded for being at the top of your league.”
As far as his team goes, Larranaga is hoping the NCAA Tournament selection committee will see what they did. The Patriots have been thought of as the best at-large hope for the conference for a while. They had a close loss at Wake Forest, then ranked No. 18 in one poll and lost by two at Mississipipi State, while winning at MAAC regular season co-champion Manhattan and blowing out Patriot League runner-up Holy Cross. All of that is in addition to the highlight, the 70-67 win at Wichita State in February.
“We have not lost to a bottom 100 team, we have not lost to a team in the bottom 150, we have gone on the road in our non-conference portion of the schedule,” said Larranaga, who talked about some of their non-conference road games. “We didn’t sit back; we worked at becoming a team worthy of consideration for an at-large berth.”
A Little Different the Second Time Around
The first time Northeastern and UNC-Wilmington hooked up this season, the game was far from a barn-burner. The teams shot about 33 percent from the floor combined, and the Seahawks won 46-44 on a buzzer-beating jumper by T.J. Carter.
In Sunday’s semifinal, the Seahawks almost matched that point total in the first half as they took a 42-29 lead into the locker room. They led wire to wire, breaking the game open early by taking advantage of a number of defensive lapses by Northeastern. Northeastern’s shot selection at the offensive end didn’t help matters, and after a layup by Jose Juan Barea (17 points on 6-19 shooting) made the score 9-5, the Huskies would get no closer the rest of the way. Adding to the domination was a 26-12 edge in second-chance points and a 34-18 edge in points in the paint.
“Defensively, I thought we really set a tone,” said head coach Brad Brownell, whose team held the Huskies to just over 30 percent from the field.
While the Huskies have been hurt at times by things like bad shot selection and rebounding woes (they were out-rebounded 50-34, with UNC-Wilmington rebounding half of their own misses), head coach Ron Everhart thought a partial explanation was the value of having a bye, which the Huskies did not have.
“I thought we were just a step slow,” said Everhart. “I think that having played two games took a bit of a toll on us, as evidenced by our missed layups and not being able to take advantage of easy opportunities around the basket early.”
More on the Late Game Incident
When Loren Stokes went down well away from the play with under a minute to go, the attention went his way. He stayed down for several minutes while officials went to review the tape to see what happened, as just about no one saw what happened save for NBC affiliate WECT in Wilmington, NC.
As reported earlier, all of the television replays that were viewed, with onlookers including CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager, had Stokes and George Mason’s Tony Skinn screened out of view by other players. The officials spent a good deal of time reviewing what everyone saw, and as they saw no evidence of what happened, did not call a foul of any sort. They didn’t have the footage that WECT had, which was seen after the game and showed that Skinn was holding Stokes, then landed a punch to the groin area with his right hand.
Skinn sat for the remainder of the game as the Patriots tried to make a late comeback. When the teams shook hands after the game, Skinn had his head turned away from the Hofstra players and staff just about the entire time. Stokes, who had a large hand in the second-half rally by the Pride, was not seen in the line at all, presumably headed to the locker room early. He has already been banged up before this incident.
Hofstra head coach Tom Pecora was satisfied with the officials’ explanation that they called nothing because they saw nothing conclusive. He didn’t see it, nor did George Mason head coach Jim Larranaga, so neither commented on it after the game.
“If that’s what happened, it’s just a shame that something like that happens in a game that was played at such a high level throughout the game,” Pecora said.
Pecora was certainly on the money, as the Patriots had control of the game for most of the first half, before Stokes and Carlos Rivera led Hofstra’s charge in the second half. The Pride also held the Patriots to 17.4 percent shooting in the second half.
Quote of the Day
“I wish I had played for me, because all I do is beg him and (Loren) Stokes and Antoine (Agudio) to shoot the ball more. I’m fun to play for.” – Hofstra head coach Tom Pecora
