CHARLESTON, S.C. – The second day of the 2012 Charleston Classic is in the books. It started and ended with two very competitive games, and the two in between were good as well albeit for different reasons. Only one game was decided by double digits. Now the final matchups are set for Sunday, featuring the championship game between Murray State and Colorado.
Here are some quick hitters from the four games on the day.
- Baylor head coach Scott Drew said he got the look he wanted on the last play of the game. Isaiah Austin caught a long pass near the foul line, turned around and shot it over a defender, but it was no good and Colorado held on.
- Pierre Jackson had a big afternoon on Thursday against Boston College, but Colorado brought him back to earth on Friday. Jackson was just 3-11 from the field for 12 points and had one assist with three turnovers.
- Both Archie Miller and Steve Donahue spoke of the need to have a short memory after a first-game tournament loss, as both suffered on Thursday. Clearly, Dayton was better at that than the Eagles, and Donahue hopes the Eagles learn the lessons from it.”I give our kids a lot of credit,” said Miller. “That was a hard-fought game yesterday against Colorado, and as we evaluated it, we could have played better. I thought our kids today really learned from it.”
Said Donahue: “I thought Dayton reacted to their loss yesterday and unfortunately taught us a real hard lesson, but hopefully it’s a lesson we learn.”
- You can sense that Donahue is still taking a patient approach with his team. The Eagles are still a very young group, albeit far more experienced than they were a year ago at this time. Still, with two freshmen guards, the youth is sure to show at times this season. Said the coach: “We’re in a growth mode, we’re not there yet.”
- St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin said that Marco Bourgault joined the team only about an hour before the game. The junior college transfer was in class back in Queens when he was cleared to play, and they got him on a plane to Charleston in time for Friday night’s game. He wasn’t sure how much time to give him, and it’s part of a larger issue of trying to figure out minutes for the nine regulars he figures to have.
- Lavin added that D’Angelo Harrison, who had a game-high 27 points, is “one of the most prolific scorers” he’s ever coached. Harrison just missed a double-double as he grabbed nine rebounds.
- Auburn senior guard Frankie Sullivan suffered a deep gash in his shooting arm on Thursday and required 20 stitches. He still came out and showed no ill effects on Friday, scoring a game-high 24 points on 9-18 shooting in 36 minutes.
- Count Sullivan’s coach as one of those impressed by his quick turnaround. Said Auburn head coach Tony Barbee: “He’s the heart and soul of our team, that’s what he is. He’s one of the toughest kids, mentally and physically, I’ve ever coached. When I saw that gash in his arm, I almost fainted.”
- Barbee said he changed his starting lineup on Friday in part because he wanted to get off to a better start. He moved freshmen Jordan Price and Shaquille Johnson into the starting lineup, and felt it worked better at least on this night.
“That doesn’t mean a fast start offensively, because we didn’t get off to a fast start tonight, but we got off to a fast start defensively,” said Barbee. “We weren’t scoring, but guess what? Neither were they, so we had a chance. So I liked the combination tonight.”
