Division II Schools Post More Wins
The rhetoric is tired, the clichés used. They simply outplayed us. They deserved to win. Coaches routinely play the better-than-us-today card, especially after unexpected losses to fired-up teams. Two Big Ten coaches expressed those sentiments already this season – in fact, before the official season. Both Minnesota and Penn State suffered losses in home exhibition games against Division II opponents, and Michigan State narrowly escaped against another.
Defending Division II national champs Winona State invaded Minnesota’s historic Williams Arena November 7th, bringing busloads of fans and an immeasurable supply of intensity, and downed the Gophers 69-64. Chants of “D-II’s better” echoed from the stadium’s Winona-backing upper deck as the final seconds ticked off.
“There are no excuses. Winona was a better basketball team than us tonight,” Gopher coach Dan Monson said after the game. “They deserved to win, and I’m glad I don’t have to count that game and we can move on.”
Penn State fell limp a day earlier against in-state Shippensburg University, losing at home 67-61.
“We didn’t play with purpose tonight again,” Nittany Lions coach Ed DeChellis said. “That is the disappointing thing. I am talking about team demeanor. There weren’t any guys getting upset out there or getting mad or rallying. That is a little disappointing. There wasn’t any type of coming together as a team, and that is leadership.” Shippenburg’s mindset was clearly different.
“Man, we were psyched for this game,” guard Chuck Davis said. “We’ve been looking forward to this game ever since we found out we were going to play it.”
Michigan State needed a late rally to fend off Grand Valley State in its exhibition opener on November 1. The Spartans trailed by as many as thirteen points in the second half, and took their first lead of the game with less than four minutes to play.
There are several conclusions to be drawn from these results. Most importantly, there are loads of quality college basketball players who aren’t on Division I rosters and deserve recognition. Each D-II squad had players that the opposing coaches warned their teams about.
“We told them that Chuck Davis was a very good player, and that he could probably play anywhere in the country, in any league,” DeCheillis said of Shippenburg’s leader, who posted 29 points and 6 steals. The same could be said of Winona State’s Jonte Flowers, John Smith and Zach Malvik and Grand Valley State’s Jason Jamerson. There is plenty of talent to filter down into the smaller leagues and schools. While the players may not always produce the athletic tangibles their Division I peers possess, team basketball and on-court execution are stressed.
Then there’s the motivation factor. D-II schools relish their opportunities to play against the big schools, and the players come in focused and psyched. They play loose, without fear and bring hustle and intensity that unmotivated squads have trouble matching. Such a gap of passion and determination was evident in Minnesota, where a smaller, less-athletic Warrior group out-rebounded the Gophers 40-27, including three crucial offensive rebounds on missed free throws. Winona had the desire and won the game.
Clearly, there are other circumstances that affect the outcomes. Penn State was without two starters, including preseason all-Big Ten forward Geary Claxton, who is out until December with a broken hand. Minnesota played minus Jamal Abu-Shamala, a starter who could have stretched Winona’s defense. Michigan State was playing their first game without departed starters Maurice Ager, Shannon Brown, Matt Trannon and Paul Davis. But the bottom line is this: each Big Ten team faced a team full of players they deemed too short, too slow, too something to play in their league. That knowledge undoubtedly seeps into the minds of the Division I players. No matter what the players say afterward, it’s hard to believe that they actually took the small school seriously. Besides, the game doesn’t even count.
Players shouldn’t need any motivation for any game, no matter the opposition or meaning. Representing a major college basketball program is an honor, and a small school should not be able to control the game against a Division I squad. Penn State guard Ben Luber agrees.
“Not to take anything away from Shippensburg, because they played a good game,” Luber said, “but losing tonight is a little embarrassing,”
And it should be. But as these results become more common, and Division II schools earn more wins, coaches will lean on their familiar expressions. On these nights, they’ll say, we got beat by a better team.
