January 2006 Archives

Wright State speaks for most of the Horizon League right now - decent little team, .500-or-so record, completely overshadowed by Wisconsin-Milwaukee. But they stuck with UWM in a 61-54 loss in Brew City two weekends ago, and broke a four-game slide last night with Youngstown State in the house. The hero was a 5'11" junior pointman, who exploded for a career-high 35 points and became the 25th Raider to score 1000. It was the 11th time he's led his team in scoring this season, and the fourth time he's topped the table in rebounds - the little guy chipped in seven boards too.

Postseason-ineligible Fresno has made life difficult for postseason-hopeful Utah State and Nevada in the WAC, but postseason-maybe-just-maybe LaTech has been able to take care of them - twice, in fact. Last night, the Bulldogs' Ja'Vance Coleman lofted a three-pointer over the head of the man pictured to the left did send this game to overtime, but the massive 29-and-18 performance of Mr. MMBOD - his 16th double-double of the year - was too much to overcome.

LaTech (14-7, 7-1) is off to their best start since they've joined the WAC, and the man from Grambling joined the exclusive 1000/1000 club (that's points and rebounds). And he's just a junior.

Astyle=font-weight:bold HREF=http://schools.basketballstate.com/KENN>Kennesaw State may be reigning over the A-Sun right now, but they can't go to the conference tournament as a transitional D1. Last night on regional television, Belmont knocked Matt Doherty's FAU Owls out of "first," and did so by runnin' fast and shootin' hot.

The Bruins paid for the victory in blood - literally. Early in the second half, sophomore guard Hare took a caromed free throw in the nose, which poured blood all over his 24 jersey. He returned shortly thereafter wearing 34, and finished off a remarkable night, shooting 50% and leading his team to a hard-fought win. The (6-5 conference favorite Gardner-Webb Bull)dogs can't hunt right now, but this Hare can.

The CAA's chances to avoid going stag to the Big Dance likely fizzled for another year when the last team having anything an at-large NCAA resumé, George Mason, lost to UNCW last Saturday. There are just too many untimely and/or embarrassing losses here. But now, hopefully, we can forget about all that and shift our focus towards enjoying one of the hottest league races in the country.

Just like last year around this time, you have five sub-100 RPI teams that are fighting it out, and these are the two best. The homestanding Patriots (14-5, 8-2, 44 RPI) are the most skilled team in the CAA, while preseason favorite ODU (15-5, 8-2, RPI 35) is the squad most likely to survive a three-day Richmond gut-check. Both are solid defensive-minded teams with offensive weaponry - it's more than likely that whoever doesn't blink today will be your one seed heading into the conference tourney.

We're sticking with the SoCon tonight. North-leading Elon has streaked to a 6-0 record and has won eight straight games. How are they doing it? Certainly not by shooting the ball: their 42% team FG rate is second-to-last in the league. And how they've been managing without the services of Chris Porn, the best name in D1, is anybody's guess. Their secret so far has been defense - the Phoenix have allowed a second-best 62.5 ppg in league games, and they're winning a lot of close games. That defense will be severely tested tonight by South co-leader Davidson, who's scored 80.2 per SoCon contest. The No. 96 Wildcats are also the only team in the league to have a double-digit RPI number; they'll try to break their one-game losing streak tonight at home.

It's on in the Ohio Valley tonight, as the two best teams in the conference battle for seeding position. Tech (9-2) is on a six-game win streak; the RPI No. 73 Golden Eagles are led by a three-man double-figure-scoring backcourt, and despite being solidly in the middle of all OVC statistical measurements, lead the league in wins.

Murray (8-2) is a study in equal distribution -- their leading scorer, 6-5 senior Shawn Witherspoon, has 11.1 ppg but they have four guys who average nine. They're the best rebounding team in the Other Valley (34.8 rpg) and sport the most efficient defense (.94 points per poss. defense); and as I often like to mention, the Racers are among the national leaders in floor percentage (54.4%, 13th in D1), the statistic that measures how often possessions result in scores.

After a rough December against tougher opposition, Penn is ramping up at the right time: January. Last night at the cozy Philly Palestra, the Quakers overcame an old Big 5 nemesis and A-14 foe in LaSalle. Four Penn men scored in double figures to give coach Fran Dunphy his 10th win of the season and 300th win overall, but the hero of the day was Ol'Mop-Top. Zoller also outscored and outrebounded NBA prospect Steven Smith 25-23 and 6-4, and shot better too (Smith went 10-for-20).

And yeah, about that picture. This is the most recent snapshot we could find of Zoller, taken last season -- he's since trimmed his hair a little bit to escape the Justin Guarini look. He may not bear much resemblance to Clay or Ruben either, but he might be leading Penn back to March Fantasia.

The Fightin' Leathernecks are a perpetual afterthought in the Mid-Con, and the only thing they've had to celebrate in recent years was the 29th-rated recruiting class in D1 last year. Didn't matter, WIU stumbled to 11 wins. They're not doing too much better this year (six wins and a 2-6 conference record), but last night

That high-rated recruiting class finally paid a dividend last night -- an athletic sophomore from Memphis (pictured, left) had the night of his career against preseason conference favorite Oral Roberts, scoring 16 of his 24 in a first half that resulted in a 37-23 Leatherneck lead. Four three-pointers and a key pair of freebies in the final moments helped hold off the Golden Eagles for a four-point win. If that isn't worth a trip to Rocky's Locker, I don't know what is.

Undefeated powers collide tonight in the Patriot League! One of them you're aware of: league favorite and ESPY winners Bucknell, who are off to a 5-0 start after bravely battling the top teams in the nation. You probably aren't familiar with the home team tonight, Lehigh, unless you're old enough to remember their 2004 PL championship and loss in the play-in game. The Mountain Hawks have won seven straight, including a romp over ancient rivals Lafayette on Saturday.

The present-day hero of this Mountain Hawk team was a freshman on that NCAA squad -- Jose Olivero is a solid two-guard who's averaging 17.4 ppg. When the ball goes down low, it's a block party (league-leading 3.5 bpg), but it's an intelligent tea-sippin' affair (league-low 15.9 fouls per game). We'll see what happens when Mr. McNasty brings his loud rock and roll to the Bethlehem bash.

A lot of great performances on Monday night, but we turn to the latest chapter in intriguing two-headed race that's shaping up in the SoCon's two divisions, one which features a not-a-misprint 6-0 Astyle=font-weight:bold HREF=http://schools.basketballstate.com/ELON>Elon squad. After sweeping the conference in the regular season last year, Davidson has lost two of four - their latest drop came to a feisty flock of Chatanooga Mocs (remember, that means Mockingbirds now, not Moccasins). The 6'0" senior from Syracuse followed a 22-point performance last week with another career high of 23, seven of those coming during a run of 17 unanswered points in the first half. The streak proved just enough to fight off the defending regular-season champions, who switched up their defense after Crouch accounted for four points in a late Mocs' 6-0 mini-run. Down the stretch, Crouch was lovingly congratulated for his performance by the Davidson players, who touched and hugged him then stood idly by as he made seven of eight free throws in the final minute.

The MAC is the blackest and bluest mid-major conference in America, and an up East division has feasted on a down West. The top four teams in the league all come from the right-hand geographical side, and they have two losses to Western teams between them, Ohio's loss last Tuesday at Northern Illinois, and Miami's shock drop at Western Michigan this past Saturday.

Tonight, the Buckeye State Bloodbath begins: the top four pair off, an undefeated and a one-loss in both Athens and Oxford (we'd go with Akron at Ohio here, but it's a fair/balanced thing - I've blabbed up the Zips over at ESPN a lot lately). After a couple of listless years at Kent, the last mid-major to go Elite Eight has experienced a resurgence this year, going 12-5 and winning all six games against the West. They have the most efficient defense in the MAC (.92 points per poss. defense) and athletic swingdude Jay Youngblood (15.5 ppg). The Redhawks (9-6 overall) play at a slow, grinding pace (league-low 63.3 poss. per 40 min.) and are a three-headed monster. The Flashes look better on paper, but as we learned last night with Utah State's win over Nevada, previous G!O!T!N! experience is everything. Kent is 1-0 so far under the white-hot spotlight, and Miami is 0-1.

If the WAC is indeed going to get two bids this year, here are the two that will most likely nab 'em, and they're on display on Big (Mid-Major) Monday on ESPN tonight. Utah State is doing quite well in their first season up from the Big West - after being broken in by a December trip to Hawaii, they've won four of five of their last league games to go 4-2. They lead the WAC in every category that has to do with shooting the basketball, and Nate Harris has been emerging as one of the league's best big men, hitting inside shots on a regular basis (63.7% FG). Nevada, like USU, has lost to Fresno, but every time the Pack loses, they get fewer votes in the coaches' poll... Fazekas & Co. are under a bit more national scrutiny than the Aggies are. But the most important stat of all: Utah State is 4-0 in Games! Of! The Night!, and Nevada is 1-1.

Yesterday afternoon, a big 6'7" sophomore Saluki had the breakout game the SIU coach and fans have been waiting for. He was the team's leading scorer and rebounder in a game in which Southern Illinois wobbled early, but clamped down in during the second half -- Shaw had key tip-ins during a 9-0 unanswered stretch, then stepped out to hit several key three-pointers to ensure the Redbirds didn't do anything like put on a late surge.

Shaw was recruited by Stanford, but ended up choosing SIU. He;s a product of the winningest high school program in history (Centralia Ill., 1,950+ wins) and apparently likes playing ISU's... his career high of 22 came against Indiana State last year.

There's a division of opinion as to whether current military operations are doing anything to truly protect this homeland of ours, but the fact remains that without the past efforts of our armed forces, we don't get to enjoy fun diversions like college basketball. No matter where I travel across Hoops Nation, they always play the same song before each game, the one with the lyrics that so vividly describe freedom's perilous fight. It's difficult not to be proud.

All that being said, appreciating the basketball played by America's two largest officer-training academies requires dedication beyond the call of duty. Both have spent most of the past generation propping up the Patriot League, and both enter this game searching for their first 2006 league win. This year, Army (4-12, 0-4) sports both the least efficient offense and defense in the conference (.85 points per poss. offense, 1.05 defense) and have lost seven straight. Navy (7-9, 0-3) got fat on D2's, the MEAC and low Ivies to get close to their first 10-win season since 2002, but they have the best long-distance number in the PL (37.6% 3FG). So it's minus seven (Army: 56.1 PF, 63.4 PA) if by land, three if by sea.

Chant it with me now: "Chaminade, Valpo, North Dakota State." The independent Bison (RPI No. 187) and their nine freshmen lost on a buzzer-beating tip-in against Utah Valley State on Thursday, and the Wisconsin Badgers (RPI No. 3) had the extreme misfortune of being next on the schedule. Despite turning the ball over on a full 31% of their possessions, NDSU took the lead around the 10 minute mark of the first half and never looked back, holding the Big Tenners to 22% shooting (16-for-72) including 4-for-27 from three.

This monumental upset probably doesn't happen unless a 5'11" redshirt frosh gets to the line and makes the bulk of the 14 free throws awarded to him. The Bison's scoring (18.0) and assists (5.0) leader is also their best still-shooter (80.7% FT), but the Badgers didn't know that. They never visit this site.

Here's a matchup of two teams that have lived the harsh reality of the modern-day SoCon, long ago the romping grounds of Duke and Carolina but now a league that struggles to get out of the teen-seeds. Georgia Southern (12-5, 3-1) had a breakthrough 21-win season in 2003-04, but were nipped by Chattanooga in the tourney semis. Davidson (10-6, 4-1)... well, there's getting dumped by a yummy girlfriend, and then there's going undefeated in conference and missing out on the NCAA's (18-0 last year, semifinal loss). This game gives both teams a chance to take their frustrations out on each other.

Memo to the airlines: do not put Lipscomb and Belmont on the same plane. When Music City's hottest basketball rivalry touched down at BNA lst night, a 6'5" junior swingman rose above. Air Ard kept hitting shots and threes and free throws, and 11-6 (7-2) Lipscomb broke open the city pair in a blowout 18-6 overtime session. The Bison are high in the standings, too - their win helped them keep pace just below the A-Sun's mile-high club of Florida Atlantic and Kennesaw State.

Here's an alternative way to look at tonight's Battle of Music City, an enticing matchup of 6-2 Atlantic Sun squads. Belmont is the new school, Nashville 2.0, slickly-produced CMT twang. The Bruins get a lot of hits (league-leading 50.2% FG, 9th nationally), but they're disposable and quickly forgotten (79.3 points allowed per game) with very little staying power (29.3 rebounds per game, 8th in A-Sun). Lipscomb plays like an old Hank tune: gritty and tough (league-leading .94 points allowed per possession), and they get their point across (34.8 boards, 2.8 blocks per game) in a truly heartfelt way. It's this simple: the very soul of country music is being fought over this evening, and you are required to pick a side.

The future of the Colonial Athletic Association may not only be "next," he might even be "now." Hofstra's star junior guard scored seven of a gamebreaking 11-0 run, and the Pride notched a tremendously large road win at league favorites Old Dominion. The Pride shot just 42% as a club, but Stokes took the scoring into his own hands, dropping 12 field goals (a few of them off rebounds by teammate Aurimas Kieza, who had 15). Hofstra (12-3, 5-2 CAA) took the lead just after halftime, and never looked back -- this was the second year in a row that the Long Islanders have beaten ODU at the Constant, and the Monarchs are now "22-0 against teams other than Hofstra" at home over the last two seasons.

The CAA went into the New York area to raise the league's visibility, so it's odd that of all the good-but-not-great teams that make up the league's core this year, Hofstra has received the least love. They won nine of ten against the middle of the RPI table in late December and early January, and are coming off a triple overtime barnburner against UNCW. Junior guard Loren Stokes is probably the name mid-major junkies know from this squad, but he's not even their leading scorer -- that would be fellow 6'3" junior Antoine Agudio, who's averaging 17.1 ppg. Those two are the reason why the Pride are the pre-pre-pre-preseason favorites for 2006-07.

The preseason 2005-06 fave and league champion Monarchs have won six in a row to leap back atop the CAA standings, but there's something unsatisfying about the run - they've handled the bad teams easily enough, and have come perilously close to drops against the good teams. We're still waiting for ODU to recapture the form it's capable of, and a convincing win tonight might help get that mojo back.

Nevada's first WAC loss came against Hawaii two weeks ago, when three Rainbow Warriors came together to negate WAC scoring leader Nick Fazekas' 37-point outburst. The Freak only had 17 last night, but it took a total team effort to bring down the talented Pack - in a fast-paced game, five Fresno Staters scored in double digits and Nevada received their second league L of the year.

Now, Fresno really wants to win basketball games. Bad. They'd call every recruit in the country every day if they could, but that's wrong. They'll stay home for the WAC tournament this year for their recruiting violations, but they're doing quite well (9-6, 2-2) with the guys they have, including a former Providence recruit who had a career night against Nevada. The 6'6" New York native keyed a defensive effort, served as the focus of the clicking Bulldog offense, and scored the most points in Save Mart Center history.

When Iona lost three of four in the wraparound week between 2005 and 2006, there was no mystery why they were tanking. Sure, the Gaels have a great backcourt, but they were being murdered inside. After spending a couple weeks on the back of an egg nog carton, their quint-captain and sturdy post presence is back.

Wachsmann has turned it back around in recent days, notching two double-doubles in three games (the other was a 12-and-11 performance against Saint Peter's), and he's doing a lot of what he's doing in the picture: using his ass to move people away from the basket. After Iona's win against previously resurgent Fairfield, the Gaels are 6-1, just a shade back of archrivals Manhattan in the MAAC.

It's WAC-y Wednesday, and La-Tech is your surprise conference leader, sprinting out to a 4-0 start that includes nice wins against Hawaii and Fresno State. Defending two-time NCAA rebounding king Paul Millsap used the mini-run to climb back into the national lead in glasswork (12.5 rpg), and has his eyes on a three-peat prize. So are the Bulldogs for real? Hard to say. Sure, they lead the WAC in rebounding (obviously), but they cough up the ball a lot (22.4% turnover rate) and they don't shoot so well (42.3% FG). After Millsap's 20.8 ppg, you have to go down into single digits to find any more offense. And I mean well into single digits - Corey Dean (8.6 ppg) is their second-leading scorer.

They'll test their mettle tonight against a tough Utah State squad, one's that still decently positioned to go NCAA. They lead the WAC in shooting (51.7%, 4th overall), threes (41%), offensive efficiency (1.08 ppp), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5) and floor percentage (52.9% of their possessions result in scores). What's more, they have a nice little inside-outside thing going with Nate Harris (18.2 ppg) and Jaycee Carroll (17.8 ppg). So tune in tonight and get your WAC on!

Georgia Southern has won eight in a row, and has raced out to a 3-0 record (12-4 overall) in the redundant SoCon South division. The Eagles feature the league's leading scorer (Elton Nesbitt, 21.8 ppg), they lead the league in threes (40.6%), speed (77.5 poss. per 40 minutes). and D (.95 points per possession defense). And all you want to talk about is Davidson? Sheesh!

Hey, and don't sleep on Furman either. The Paladins are 9-6 (3-1) and lead the SoCon in FG's (48.2%) and O (1.04 points per poss. offense), and they just snapped Davidson's 27-game regular season conference win streak on Saturday. Furman is led by a big backcourt of Robby Bostain and Eric Webb, who together convert themselves into 27.7 points of offensive producton a night. So I don't know what else is on tonight, but I'd have to say that you've got yourself some hot SoCon action on tap. What else do you need?

I don't know what it is with diminutive nicknames, but undersized players with names like "Mookie," "Smush" and "Spud" will always find a place in the hearts of casual sports fans. Last night, a 5'11" Portland Pilot senior guard named "Pooh" helped lead his team a WCC overtime victory over Pepperdine with a game-high 25 (increasing his ppg in league games to an even 24.0), and helped keep the score close down the regulation's stretch with key shots and free throws -- Pooh's trey with nine seconds left in the second forced overtime.

There were more exciting performances last night, sure - more points, more rebounds, more assists. But when there's a Pooh in the house, you've got to pick Pooh. Kids of all ages love Pooh. Say it with me: Pooh, Pooh, Pooh.

Martin Luther King didn't specifically mention basketball in his 1963 "I have a dream" speech, but its echoes were felt in the 1966 Texas Western national championship and later in the inclusion of HBCU's in the NCAA's Division I. Today, many of those historically black colleges and universities are in action today - four of those games can be seen on ESPNU, so call your satellite or cable operator for details.

This is not one of those televised games, but tonight in the state of Mississippi, much more an "oasis of freedom and justice" than it was in Dr. King's day, the top two SWAC teams go at it on the court. Southern is out to a surprising 5-0 start with a league-high 157 RPI. and have been doing it with defense: the Tigers have given up only 58.3 ppg in conference play, and a decent 66.3 if you count all their money-games. The homestanding Delta Devils from Itta Bena are 3-1, and feature the most efficient offense in the league: 91.4 points per 100 possessions. Granted, these two teams are fighting for a 16b seed and aren't quite ready to contend for the national championship... but you know, give it time.

Brion Rush is the scoring machine you've never heard of. You know about Redick and Morrison (and if you read this site regularly, about Clark and Burtt and Neal), but this 6'2" senior guard from Shreveport is sixth in the nation in both points per game (24.1 ppg) and points per 40 min. (28.7 p40). Granted, he takes a lot of shots to get there (209 in 11 games), but he leads his team in assists (2.9 apg) and rebounds too (6.4 rpg).

On Saturday, Rush had the night of his career, dropping 39 points on an unsuspecting Texas Southern squad and leading his Tigers to a squeaker home win. It was the ninth time he's led his team in scoring this season, and Grambling is now 3-2 in the SWAC.

Hot thunder in the Valley this afternoon. Here are two of the teams that have legitimate chances to capture two of the MoVal's presumed three bids, chances that have been enhanced by key injuries at Northern Iowa and Creighton.

Blake Ahern (MVC-leading 18.8 ppg) is the floor leader of a Missouri State (11-3, 4-2) team that leads the conference in three-point shooting (41.4%), assists (17.1), rebounds (36.4 rpg), and speed (75.6 possessions per 40 minutes). The lunchpail Shockers (13-4, 4-2) feature four double-figure scorers -- all of whom have been game-high scorers over the past month -- and while ex-SMS may be the best team in the Valley on paper, Wichita may be the most nuts-and-bolts solid. We'll see which one comes out on top on the Shox' floor today. Thund-der!

What can you say about Gardner-Webb? So intriguing on paper, so enticing. They beat Minnesota, and almost beat UNC! But they've looked unfocused and wobbly in losing three straight league games at home, and are providing plenty of ammunition to the argument that pundits are dumb.

But then again, what can you say about Campbell? After losing all 20 of their Atlantic Sun games last year, they're 4-3 to start the league season. Last night at Boiling Springs, N.C., a sophomore (pictured, left) leapt off the line of folding chairs to lead his team to victory. He drilled three consecutive treys during a first-half charge, then keyed a 12-0 run in the second period that put the Bulldogs away. Not only is this one of th emore remarkable turnarounds in the country, this is also the first time in nearly five years the Fightin' Camels have won consecutive roadies.

Non-conference is officially over: the Ancient Eight are in the house! Tonight marks the annual Friday kickoff for Hoops Nation's brainiest, zaniest, no-postseason-tourney-iest league. Every game counts in the 14-Game Tournament®, and tonight's Palestra tip-off counts more than some others do. Pennsylvania (6-5) is widely presumed to be the team to beat again, seeing that historical co-power Princeton (2-10) is, um, really bad. Cornell (5-9) was picked as the Team To Finish Third, primarily due to the on-paper strength of their frontcourt, so this should serve as a barometer of how competitive the Ivy Odyssey will be. But it's been the Bears' guard play that's been their main strength so far - senior Lenny Collins (13.1 ppg) and freshman Adam Gore (12.4 ppg) have provided the . Penn is coming off a 78-63 loss at Fordham's Rose Hill Gym, while Cornell got rocked at Albany. Now that they're back in the great big ivory tower of college hoops, it's time to catch Ivy Fever all over again.

Can't hold out much longer -- gotta give some BOTD love to the power forward on my ESPN.com mid-major all-star team from last month. The two-time rebounding champion had 23 points and 18 rebounds (his eleventh dub-dub of the season) as Louisiana Tech beat Hawaii at home. Millsap scored eight of the team's first 11, and then hit a key trey with five to go. It's not listed anywhere in the boxscore, but he may have sold popcorn in the stands too.

Remember that "who's going to the Tournament out of the WAC" poll from last week, the one that didn't include Louisiana Tech? Well, they're now 3-0 in the WAC (a first for them), and is now tied with Fresno State for the conference lead. While it may still be too early to consider the Bulldogs a serious contender for the conference's Dance card (considering that they'd have to go through Nevada at their Lawlor Center to take it), Millsap is answering the skeptics and critics the best way he knows how - by dunking on them and outrebounding them.

There are clapping dogs, rhythmic dogs, harmonic dogs, and America East dogs. Tonight at The Roof, the Terriers host the Great Danes in a battle of the most atomic dogs in the conference - like the boys when they're out there walkin' the streets, they may compete, but it's nothin' but the dog in them.

The visiting Scooby-Doos (8-6, 4-0) are riding a school record-tying six-game winning streak, and are led by flashy senior guard Jamar Wilson (15.8 ppg). Boston (5-9, 2-1) is coming off a month-long road trip, not having played a home game since December 8. These dogs are still recovering from massive graduation losses, but they do it with solid and smart defense - they're first in the league in blocks-to-foul ratio (0.2, 62nd nationally) as well as fewest fouls per game (16.1, 40th in D1). Bow-wow-wow-yippie-yo-yippie-yeah!

If there are two things that never fail to satiate my entertainment jones, it's "Dueling Banjos" and dueling backcourts. The MAAC provides precious little of the former, but plenty of the latter. Last night, two of the highest-scoring players in the country went at it in Jersey City, Iona's Steve Burtt Jr. (doodle-doo doo doo doo doo-doo-doo) and two-time BOTD Keydren Clark (doodle-doo doo doo doo doo-doo-doo) of St. Peter's.

After halftime, the homestanding Peacocks raced out to an 19-point lead with an 8-2 run (doodle-doo doo) but Iona fought back with a mammoth 20-2 run of its own (doodle-doo doo) to pull even, and then pluck their way to an eight-point win. "Kee Kee" had 28 but went 3-for-10 from three (doodle-doo-doo), but Burtt was rolling off picks and grinnin', ending with 37 points - a total that included a perfect night from the line (doodle-doo-doo doo doo, doodle doo-doo-doo). Take a bow, Steve.

It takes a special breed of player to be mentioned in the G!O!T!N! preview, then go out and have a BOTD-worthy performance. The Fairfield Stags hit a team-record 16 three-pointers last night in a victory at Rider, two of which were directly made by the sweet and streaky Mr. Todd, and many were created with his help. The 6'0", 185-lb. senior from Neptune, N.J. scored only twice from Pluto, but he hit a lot of shots from merely Mars: his 26 were a game-high, and he hit the bucket with 2:23 remaining in regulation that put the Stags up for good.

And yes, I know that there was a promise of free chalupas if either team hit 100. To directly answer a few postgame e-mail queries, 85 and 81 may add up to 166, but that doesn't count. One team, people, one team. Maybe next time, Tex-Mex fans.

After every Manic Monday is a Tragic Tuesday. Last season, I'd often conveniently forget to tab a G!O!T!N! on Tuesdays, and only one or two of the 25 regular readers cared. But now that The Mid-Majority is the number one site with D1 assistant coaches and sports information directors, godda do it daily.

But because I'm Mr. Brightside, I like to use this light day to point out teams and players that don't regularly get the pub. Sure, Fairfield (3-8, 1-2) and Rider (4-7, 0-3) will likely be playing on first round Friday at the MAAC tourney in Albany, but they're both intriguing collections of awkwardly-matching parts. Senior Stags forward Dewitt Maxwell (15.5 ppg) is returning from a semester in the spanking machine after a team-rules violation, and Terrence Todd is a streaky little three-point shooter. On the Rider side, they;ve got a pair of Thompson gunners (Jason and Lewis) and distribute well (MAAC-best 60.6% assisted-basket percentage)

But if there's anything these two squads have in common, it's horrible defense: Rider has the 268th most efficient D (104.0 raw rating), and Fairfield's is ninth-worst in the country (111.2, 324th). If either team scores 100 points, everybody wins a chalupa.

Arkansas is a large battlefield - 52,068 square miles. So the Sun Belt's Trojan-Indian war for the Natural State is pretty big stuff, and has produced some memorable scrums in years past. Last night's Battle of Wounded Knee was no exception yet an exceptionally good one, as injury-depleted Arkansas State was down to their last five men but came back and beat UALR at Little Rock 74-70 after trailing for most of the game.

The hero of the day was Corporal Tipler, who battled through a knee injury to rally the troops from a 10-point halftime deficit and score a career-high 30 points. The 5'10" senior may soon be called to play center - after Lorenzo Hampton went down with a hamstring injury in the first half, the ASU infirmary now seats four.

Hey hoops nuts, it's Monday night in the SWAC! We have three teams with no league losses yet, and just behind at 2-1 is our league pick, the Jackson State Tigers. One of those undefeated teams is the Delta Devils of MVSU, who offer the most efficient offense in the Swickity (relatively... they score 90.3 points per 100 possessions, 10 short of "average"). Homestanding JSU has one of the nation's leading scorers (Trey Johnson, 23.2 ppg, 49.4% FG%) and plays at the SWAC's highest rate of speed (a brisk 78.2 possessions/40 minutes). They're coming off a 58-56 loss at Alcorn, in which they had a 31-15 halftime lead but scored a single point in the final three minutes. Shoulder chips!

It's not for me to say, but now that it's official that Nate Funk will redshirt and undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, chances are that other Creighton Jays will have to step up and play like a man-and-a-half. In Omaha yesterday, Johnny Mathies was wonderful! wonderful!, hitting shots (including 6 of 10 from three) on the way to a convincing win over Drake. It's especially warm and tender because Mathies was coming off three straight starts with single-digit scoring. Oh captain!

Giving up 115 points to a Division III squad, and losing, pretty much ensures that you'll be a punchline for the remainder of your season -- quite possibly for the remainder of the decade. But two and a half weeks since R'Side lost to Puget Sound 115-111, they stunned the Pacific Tigers, embarrassing the two-time Sweet 16'ers on their home court. Not only was this a bad way for Pacific (9-5, 0-1) to start conference play, it broke their streak of 31 consecutive regular season Big West wins.

The Highlanders used a ferocious up-tempo attack to pull the upset against a team that had its usual solid showing, but it was the all-world performance of a 6'3" guard from Fountain Valley, Ca. that put the Highlanders over the top. Porter scored 40 points, just over half from beyond the arc (7/7 from three), and came just two short of the UC-Riverside record. Will this win negate the Puget Sound D3 sting? Either way, UCR wil always be the Inland Empire's Division I home team.

A lot of ink's been spilled about the Valley in the past month or so: Indiana State's 8-0 start, Northern Iowa and Mo-State and Creighton and three four five bids and blabbity-blabbity. But what about the mid-pack squads that will provide the league its RPI strength and crouch in the shadows come Arch Madness, ready to spill some metaphorical basketball blood? We've got two of those teams squaring off today in Salukiville.

Bradley's 2-2 MVC start has featured two impressive wins (1,2) and a pair of two-point losses at Wichita and Drake. Kong/Hulk Patrick O'Bryant's return has had a lot to do with their good play, but their main problem has been winning on the road. Difficult place to get off the schneid, Carbondale -- the seeming NCAA perennial Salukis, currently moving away from a dark cloud, have won 29 straight home games. Can't throw out the record book for this one, because it's important.

Trap game! On Jan. 7, 2005, St. Mary's blitzed the Unnamed Major Program 89-81, and stole many of the RPI points they needed to sneak in as a tournament at-large. SMC would go on to lose in the WCC title game - their resumé is slightly worse this year, due to a four-game losing skid to high-RPI teams back in early December. But will the WCC's new ESPN Big Monday gig give Randy Bennett's squad the juice they need to get over the at-large hump should they repeat their run to the title game? The 6-5 Gaels have beaten Nevada and TCU in the past week, and are hungry for some UMPFN.

Friday evening was a night of firsts for Division I newbie Kennesaw State: they notched their first-ever road win as a member of the NCAA's top flight, and their first-ever televised win as a D1. And that it came against -- and at -- Atlantic Sun favorite Gardner-Webb was pretty neat too. After a seesaw battle, the Owls came out of the final media time-out and pulled away from their hosts.

Leading the charge was Ragsdale, who chipped in 15 points on 7 for 11 shooting and hit a key three-pointer during a 10-0 first-half KSU run that announded to the Paul Porter Arena crowd that his team wasn't going to wilt in the TV spotlight. Another first: the 6'4", 180 lb. local product led the Division I Owls in rebounds for the first time this year, despite being towered over by the two Boiling Springs bigs.

This is it - the New York mid-major explosion we've (and, hopefully, you've) been waiting for. The two class teams of the MAAC go at it tonight on ESPNU (never graduate, m-f's!), and won't meet again until the regular-season finale on Feb. 26, so this one will set the tone for the next two months.

The two backcourts will likely cancel each other out, and it might all come down to what kind of night Manhattan's all-everything sophomore C.J. Anderson (19.7 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 3.4 apg, all team-leading) has. The momentum factor also favors Manhattan - they've won six in a row after dropping their first four, while Iona (RPI No. 18) has struggled, losing two of three - the Gaels dropped decisions against Kentucky and Seton Hall, and just got off the plane from Fresno State. But as Iowa State found out, when their guards are both clicking, they can outscore anyone and everyone. There's nowhere to run and nowhere to hide... when Jaspers and Gaels collide!

You might have noticed that this space is only big enough for one person, so there's no way to appropriately honor all three Rainbow Warriors (Matt Lojeski, Julian Sensley, Matt Gipson) who came together to defeat Nevada in a pitched overtime thriller last night. Like three safeties trying to pull down a giant running back at the Luau Bowl, the Hawaiians kept Nick Fazekas and the Wolfpack from reaching the goal line. Or something like that. (note: first, and final, American football analogy of the season.)

But it wasn't easy - Fazekas' monstrous dub-dub featured the Big Freak's career high in points, topping the 35 he had in the famous "f-you" game at Kansas. He just keeps getting better and better. Thirty-seven and 15 could possibly be enough to beat a few WAC teams singlehandedly, and yes we're talking about 1-on-5.

Most of you mid-major fans have heard about Montana by now - the Griz gave Washington a hafway-decent fight as a 16-seed last season, beat Stanford, and have compiled a 10-2 start on their way to establishing themselves as the team to beat (again) in the Big Sky. But what about Idaho State? They didn't even qualify for the conference tourney last year, thanks to a 3-11 conference record (9-18 overall), and lost three starters. With a 7-4 record against out-of-league teams they usually lose to, the Pocatello posse is turning it around.

A lot of the about-face is due to the explosive emergence of Antoine "Slim" Millen (16.5 ppg/24.2 Pp40, 7.6 rpg, 3.0 bpg), last year's BSC field-goal percentage leader, who's playing as big as the sky the conference is named after. And the Bengals bring the "block" (7.1 bpg, 8th nationally) as well as the "party" (an uptempo 77.5 possessions/40 min.). This is the league opener for both teams, and will be played in front of a packed house in Mizzoula.

High school exchange program: meet kids from a distant land and learn to better appreciate another culture. MAC exchange program: meet teams from a distant division and beat the RPI out of each other. We've already gained some understanding about the Mid-American Conference's East-West divide with Miami's win at NIU last night, and we have another inter-cultural clash on tap this evening.

But as those exchange programs taught us, we really all do have so much in common. Kent (East) and Toledo (West) have followed similar paths this season: they've beaten the teams they've supposed to beat, lost to their power conference opponents, and have evenly-matched squeakers that have gone either way. Neither has any real "stars" or defining characteristics (both are solidly in the top half of D1 in just about every statistical category), and both play tough, hard-nosed, gutty ball that produces close and exciting games upon collision. And look, they both like wearing blue and gold shirts and pants! See? We're not so different after all.

Memo to Big West teams who think that Pacific is nothing more than The Christian Maraker Show after the Tigers lost the other four starters from last year's team: nope, sorry. Meet Johnny Gray, a juco transfer from Moorpark College (Calif.), who spent a lot of time on the bench during his first year in Stockton (3.9 ppg). During the Tigers' 9-4 start, he's been their secret weapon - the 6-1 senior guard has led Pacific in scoring three times, and has shot 49.2% from Threeland for the season (29-59).

And last night was Johnny's time to break through. Against a previously undefeated Big 12 squad, he went wild for a career-high 28 (including 5-for-7 from behind the line), made all nine of his freebies, and keyed a torrid 17-3 Tiger run that put the game away. Pacific was able to punish Texas A&M-College Station for their insolence and indolence, denying them those road-weighted RPI points that they were too lazy to try for last season. Stick to that SWAC schedule, Aggies.

We're keeping a close eye on ODU lately, because this is the stretch when they either prove themselves worthy of their hype or become an argument for the abolition of preseason magazines. Old Dominion's G!O!T!N! win last Friday night over the ACC's Virginia Tech is impressive until you start looking at the internals - they shot 32% and only pulled it off because VT shot just as badly and missed half their free throws.

They won't be able to get away with that kind of performance against UNCW, a solid defensive squad (88.6 D-Rating, 44th nationally) led by one of the CAA's shooting stars, John Goldsberry. But the 9-4 Seahawks have problems of their own - they've lost two straight shoulda-couldas to C of C and ECU, and their D is masking some bad O (43.8 FG, 198th nationally). Despite what the (hopefully soon-to-be-abolished) "mid-major polls" say, this is such a frustrating conference this year... I don't envy those who have pledged to wear it like a glove for the next two months.

You can start that "true parity in Division I basketball" conversation for real now - the Youngstown State Penguins won a road game a last night. It was their first since the 2003-04 season, a streak that had reached 25. That it ended at the expense of Loyola, which had started the season 9-2 and had nudged their way into the Horizon League favorite role for a while, makes it all the more impressive. Or, perhaps, more bizzare.

Yes, the strange and unfamiliar phrase "Hot-Shooting Youngstown State" was used last night in Chicago, as YSU (4-8, 1-1 HL) scored the first six points of the game and opened up a 22-8 early lead. Leading the charge was junior guard Humphrey, a preseason all-HL second-teamer who followed up a 33-point performance in a close loss at UIC with a resounding double-double, his fifth of the young season. It should also be noted that Humphrey shot a blistering 75% from the floor. I'll say it again: "Hot-Shooting Youngstown State!"

Like a new day finally dawning, a sunburst of conference play breaks over Hoops Nation on January 2. We've got games in the SWAC, Valley, A-Sun, NEC and Mid-Con on tap. But we're going to focus our G!O!T!N! cameras on Boston tonight. The Colonial was a major disappointment in the 2005 portion of the season, with just about every team has played their way out of at-large contention. But if there's still a two-bid scenario here, George Mason holds the key: they've had their One Bad Loss, and two relatively unembarrassing, close road drops at power conference foes (Mississippi State and Wake Forest). If they can get through the season with only one regular season loss, win a Bracket Buster against a Valley squad and go down in a close CAA final, then maybe, just maybe, they'll have worked those L's off. A razor-thin unlikely scenario? Yeah.Wake Forest)

And what can one say about NU? Northeastern picked the wrong time to go cold if they want to instill fear in their new conference. Sure, they already have a 2-0 CAA record at the expense of the lower divisions, but they endured a 0-31 run at Providence, lost at Wright State, and showed how toothless they are without Jose Juan Barea on Friday vs. Holy Cross, a game he sat out with a bruised knee. A win here would bring the Husky pride back, but then again it would cement the CAA's one-bid status for another year.

Even with the super-light holiday schedule on Monday, we were able to keep the G!O!T!N! machine running and rang in 2006 at the same time. On New Year's Afternoon in Cheney, Wash., San Diego dropped the ball on Eastern Washington, led by the strong inside play a Torero sophomore forward.

A big reason why USD were able to blow out the homestanding EWU Eagles, and pick up their 10th win, was the fact that they kept getting second chances on offense - credit young Gyno Pomare for that. His seven offensive rebounds were awesome, but it was the tip-ins afterwards (10-for-16 shooting) that kept the scoreboard churning. Along with frontcourt mate Corey Belser (23 pts), the Baby-Blue Bullfighters are looking good heading into conference play But one thing, San Diego - those uniforms with that mystical wizard-type font. The WCC is going all Big Monday starting this month, and you're going to wear those?

Happy New (Calendar) Year, Hoops Nation! There's a lot of hot conference action that will spread like wildfire all across the land in the days and weeks to come, but today we have a tepid holiday slate of four games. Only one is a matchup of mid-majors, and it gives us the opportunity to talk about two squads we haven't mentioned much this year.

Eastern Washington of the Big Sky (4-5) is one year removed from a 15-seed - they crashed hard last year, finishing 8-20 and 5-10 in conference. They did find at least one productive piece in 2004-05's wreckage, though - 6'4" guard Rodney Stuckey, who's averaging 21.3 ppg and dropped 36 in a losing cause the other night at Boise State. That's a forumla that will repeat itself a lot this year as the Eagles continue to rebuild. San Diego (9-3) is an intriguing little team and a legitimate NIT threat in the WCC - they shoot better thanUMPFN's (49.6% FG, 19th nationally), play at D1's 14th fastest rate of speed (78.3 possessions/40 min.), but still find a way to be led by a big man (Nick Lewis, 19.5 ppg). So forget the football and get your mid-major ball on as we ring in Sexy '06.

Reaganomics may not have helped the little guy very much, but there's a trickle-down effect in college basketball that works pretty well. At Maryland, Andre Collins was picked up as a backup for Steve Blake and spent a lot of time buried on the bench, but at Loyola (Md.) he's a star, showing up on the national PPG leaderboard. (OK, so maybe second-year Greyhounds coach and former UMD assistant Jimmy Patsos had something to do with it. But still!)

On Saturday, Collins won a scoring contest with Delaware's snap-shooter Calvin Cannon, pouring in 36 for his seventh team-leading performance of the year and moving his average up to 24.3 ppg. It was part of a 63% team shooting display and a 132.3 team offensive rating that was more woo-woo than voodoo. Talk about supply-side basketball.

Game 116: at Delaware 79, Central Connecticut State 73

Thursday, December 30, 2005
Bob Carpenter Center - Newark, DE

Game 115: Carnegie Mellon (D3) 51, at Princeton 46
Wednesday, December 29, 2005
Jadwin Gymnasium - Princeton, NJ