February 2006 Archives

Northern Arizona wrapped up the Big Sky one-seed on Saturday afternoon at Sac-State, but their long-awaited trip to pre-season favorite (and No. 2 seed) Montana resulted in a romp that should give the Jacks pause as they move towards tourney time. The Grizzles took the lead five minutes in and never looked back.

It was senior night in Missoula, but the Grizz' redshirt freshman stole the show. The 6'9" hometown boy shot 80% from the floor and blew away his career best. His previous high ahd been 20, which occurred during UMT's biggest win of the season, their 88-69 Stanford shocker; he also ended up shooting 53.7% from the floor in the regular season. Yo, give Jordan the rock.

In the NBA, the playoffs mean "win or go home," but in campus-site tournaments like the OVC's, an opening round victory means "win and go on the road." The winner of this game gets a trip to Nashville to (presumably) play No. 1 seed Murray State on Friday.

The Gamecocks feature four double-figure scorers and have won three straight -- as the No. 4 seed, they get to host. Eastern, the defending league champs, have had their struggles (14-15 overall), they finished as one of seven winning OVC teams (11-9). EKU also features my favorite D1 statistical curiosity, sophomore guard Bubba Long. After toiling for 100 scoreless minutes, Long got his first basket in the Colonels' blowout of SEMO last weekend. Yay Bubba!

The farthest-flung teams in the MEAC go at it tonight in sunny Florida; northeast corner Delaware State (15-1, six straight wins) and far southeastern representative Bethune-Cookman (10-5, four straight) also happen to be the two hottest teams in the league. DSU has dominated the league for the second straight season, using a deliberate style (58.6 possessions per 40 minutes, fourth-slowest in D1) to cover their rebounding issues (24.6 per game, fourth-worst in D1). The Hornets are led by Jahsha Bluntt, a 6-6 backcourter in a league with more than a few 6-6 power forwards.

It's good to see BCC have success. They've spent the last two years stuck in 8th place with sub-.500 records, and their calling card is the steal: 9.4 per game, 30th in the country. Clifford Reed's Wildcats are still glowing from their guarantee-game upset over South Florida; even though USF is 0-13 in their league, they're still a Big East team.

In early January, Manhattan looked like the class of the MAAC; academic and injury losses brought adversity. But last night, Manhattan fought back from a 10-point deficit against their closest rivals in front of an overflow SRO crowd at their green gym, led by Pawtucket's own Jeff Xavier. The Jaspers closed a home-and-home sweep of Iona, won the regular season title, and will be assured of at least an NIT invite.

Every time Iona tried to make a move down the stretch, Xavier answered. He nailed a three at 7:02 that put a dagger an Iona run, and stole the ball at 4:33 to keep the Gaels from building on a five-point lead. Another steal at 2:33 set up a layup that tied it at 70, then he sank the two freebies at 1:27 that expanded the lead to an unassailable four. Manhattan now gets a week off to prepare for their semifinal matchup in Albany, by virtue of clinching the double-bye that comes with the MAAC's No. 1 seed.

IUPUI had the hot 11-1 start and all the headlines (well, here anyway), crimping Oral Roberts' hopes of avenging their agonizing near-miss in last year's tourney. But on the last day of league play, ORU (18-11, 13-3) took advantage of an untimely IUPUI two-game skid, claimed a slice of the regular season championship, and clinched the tourney one-seed. Talk about "faith-based" basketball.

A lot of ORU's recent resurgence been due with the return from a month-long DL stint -- and return to form -- of speedy guard Ken Tutt (18 pts. yesterday), but it was the other Wonder Twin Power that sealed this one. There's certainly nothing cheap about a 27 and 15 dub-dub, his league-leading 15th of the year. He had more O-rebounds than D (8-7), and even though he went 9-of-16 from the line, his 214 FTM's for the year broke a school record.

When these two MAAC titans met in January, the result was a Manhattan blowout at Iona's house. As expected, both teams are 13-4 heading into their return match -- tonight's game will end up settling the regular season title, the tourney No. 1 seed and a double-bye into the semis. The Jaspers had the early momentum, winning their first six, but they've been dealing with the academic suspension of leading scorer C. J. Anderson (18.8 ppg); they've been 6-3 in MAAC play since. Iona is coming off a home drop to Siena, but they're 11-3 since the Manhattan loss. If you can get MAAC-TV on your dish, enjoy what could be a fascinating shootout between IC's Steve Burtt (25.0 ppg) and MC's Jeff Xavier.

USU and UNR are old chums; they've got scrapbooks full of Big West memories, back when the Aggies would invite the Wolf Pack over to their house and kick the %&@ out of them just for fun (USU holds a 22-8 all-time edge vs. Nevada). And the last time this 2005-06 Nevada squad lost, it was the 59-53 home-floor decision to Utah State that convinced them it was time to get serious. Since then, the Pack Men have wokka-wokkaed their way to eight straight wins, most of them in dominating fashion. That's earned them a spot back in the AP poll after a seven-week siesta -- but if they don't remember what bad luck that is, Mason, Bucknell and UNI can remind them.

This matchup also tests two of our iconic Mid-Majority staples, which are way cooler than those lame polls. Nick Fazekas is a three-time Baller of the Week, and Utah State is a perfect 5-0 in G!O!T!N! play. Which half of the TMM homepage will be more relevant tonight?

There are two types of people in this world: Ibby and anti-Ibby. When you're Ibby, you conduct your business with a calm dignity and dart-sharp exactitude. Why, being Ibby might make you the most efficient scorer in Division I basketball if you measure the highest effective FG% (64%) for ppg (19.1). But if you're anti-Ibby, you're selfish and arrogant, repeatedly driving the lane of life and not looking to kick it out.

Last night, Ibby was very Ibby, spacing his 21 shots over 44 minutes, matching his season 64% eFG% and setting a career-high for points. Eighteen of those came in the first half, and his three free throws at the end of overtime helped sink the Crimson. Penn is 8-1, and could still be the first bid-clincher in Hoops Nation again next weekend... now that's Ibby.

At some point, a team will simply refuse to accept a national ranking; George Mason was the most recent mid-20's mid-major to fall, losing at Hofstra last night and setting up the most incredibly thrilling Colonial tourney in league history. With GMU, Hofstra and UNCW (even Astyle=font-weight:bold HREF=http://schools.basketballstate.com/ODU>ODU!) at 20 wins, we really and truly might see the first extra CAA bid in two decades.

Sometimes the ball has a string on it, and you can move and share it at will: all of Hofstra's starters finished in double figures, and the Pride only turned it over nine times all night. And the performance of their junior star helped ensure the ball went in a lot too. Hofstra dominated the final 30 minutes -- every time Mason got close, Stokes would hit a key shot, and hit the runner in the lane with a minute and a half to go that squashed the final comeback try.

The University of North Carolina at Wilmington is a classic mid-major tale in the making: a scrappy bunch who masks their shooting inefficiencies with nationally-ranked defense, who shook off an embarrassing loss to RPI No. 278 East Carolina to go 13-3 in conference. But they're competing with lots of other 20-win mid-major hopefuls and power-conference sixth-place teams, and so the real tale of their season is yet to be written: if they advance all the way to the final game of the CAA tourney, and only if they do that, they have a shot at NCAA glory. Don't think the Selection Committee doesn't remember ECU.

And you can bet they're no looking past the rival Rams: they have some solid defense of their own (62.4 PA), and they can shoot over D's with their 38.4% mark from three (34th in D1). A lot's happened since their first meeting, a 60-40 UNCW blowout on Dec. 4, so VCU will be looking for cold-served revenge on their own floor.

The Five-Bid Valley: wonderful idea in theory, but it proved to be a complicated Rube Goldberg device with far too many moving parts. Last night, the spoon-lever designed to move the golden egg from the mini-seesaw to the hamster wheel was smashed to pieces.

Much like Wichita State's thunderous collapse last year, Southern Illinois (18-9, 11-6) has been far more about chutes than ladders during the stretch run -- last night, a free and loose bunch of Evansville Aces broke down the Salukis for their fourth Valley win against 13 losses, taking the lead late in the first half and never looking back. And look who we have here! It's our second-ever MMBOD (Nov. 18), chiming in with a repeat performance. It was the 13th time the 6'7", 250-lb. Indiana native has led his team in scoring, and also the 13th time he's topped all Ace rebounders. All this triskaidekaphobia should end up turning lucky for traditional Mo-Val punching bag Evansville; with Webster returning next year, they just might.

Short odds that there would be a game like this this late in the Patriot League season; you'd be right if you guessed that 12-0 Bucknell would be one of the participants, but traditional power Holy Cross' losses (three) means that the 'Saders could make this particular party. Nobody expected Lehigh (11-1), who won the whole thing two years ago. They can't shoot a lick (41.8%, 264th in D1), but they've been keeping teams down with a nationally-ranked defense (.895 points allowed per possession, 19th). And then there's that schedule: they've made it this far without going into the two toughest places to play in the league. Lewisburg tonight, Worcester on Sunday... their season's legitimacy hinges on this.

Bucknell's double-OT loss at Northern Iowa over the weekend puts them on the outer meniscus of the bubble (even though their RPI rose from 40 to 39); they need to win out to get into the NCAA field. With a league where their closest neighbor in the RPI is 132 (Holy Cross), any loss from here on out would be the final nail.

Two 9-4 teams go at it tonight with a share of the Southern Conference South division title on the line, and will get top seeding in next week's tourney should fellow 9-4 Elon stumble in the North. Davidson (16-9 overall) is a good team that has turned in too many awful performances, such as their defensive meltdown against Wofford and Western Carolina. While their offensive efficiency (107.3 rating) and turnover rate (17.4%) are among the nation's best, their 69.7 PA and 1.014 points allowed per defensive possession are pedestrian at worst.

Georgia Southern (18-8 overall) kills you with speed and the three, a combination that could prove deadly tonight on the Eagles' home floor; Davidson is 3-8 away from the cozy confines of Belk Arena. But can Davidson manage to provide an instant replay of the SoCon smackdown of the year, the 83-58 drubbing that occurred one month ago today?

Dr. Jerry Falwell might be tempted to explain Liberty's worst-beats-first win over Winthrop (18-7, 11-3) as evidence of the divine, but the Big South upset special was likely a combination of two very secular factors: fatigue from the Eagles' double-overtime BracketBuster victory and the uplifting play of team leader Blair, who hasn't had much assistance during the Flames' lost season (6-20, 3-11) but put it all together last night in Liberty's biggest win of the year. He led his team in scoring for the 16th consecutive game, and his 37 came one short of his season-high of 38 against High Point. And if he hadn't hit all those free throws, Liberty likely wouldn't have had a prayer in this one.

It's back to work for the BracketBusting Cats and Dogs of the America East. Albany did the conference proud by dominating on the boards (+14) in their 70-67 near-miss against VCU on Friday night; Vermont had less luck, shooting 27% and losing to ex-AE Drexel in the radio-only portion of the event.

And there won't be any halftime ceremony tonight, but is somewhat of an Flanders Fields game: Vermont, the champions of the past half-decade, with failing hands, throwing the torch... be Albany's to hold it high. The Great Danes are 11-2 in the league, and their biggest test of the upcoming tourney will be defeating both second-place Binghamton and their host building. Vermont? This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, but Mike Lonergan's boys have scraped together a 7-6 record on league-best shooting (44.5% FG). Yo Scoobies, don't get too comfy up there.

Senior Day is a special occasion, a chance for the fans celebrate the careers of your outgoing players one last time. And while preseason America East favorite Boston University hasn't had much to crow about this season (they're 10-15, 7-7), the senior forward pictured to the left had the game of his life (and yesterday's best performance in mid-majordom) against lowly Stony Brook. His 27 points were a career high.

Gardner is a big guy who's always shot well (he ranks 10th on BU's all-time list with a 51.7% FG mark); his time at The Roof started with a few minutes here and there in his 2002-03 freshman year, a little more action as a sophomore, and he started every game (7.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg) for the 20-win Terrier team last year, one that came up short in the AE quarters. This year, he's been averaging a team-high 13.4 points a game for a not-so-good team. There are thousands of players in mid-majordom who have solid and unheralded careers, and Gardner is one of them.

One of the strengths of the Joint Photographic Experts' Group (JPEG) compression format is that pictures can be displayed over and over in web browsers, with no degradation of image quality over time. That's why we can put Nick Fazekas here in this space over and over, and not have to worry about ever replacing the file. The Big Freak gained his fourth MMBOD nod of the season (on his 12th double-double) with a dominating performance over Mid-American leaders Akron in last night's BracketBusters nightcap. He went over, around and through the Zips, keying a gigantic 17-2 first-half run that put this one away early. Then he decided to get all fancy, dropping a killer three early in the second that put the Pack up 61-37. The 27-point final margin isn't a reflection on how bad Akron (or the MAC) is, it shows that Nevada is really that good. As in, Sweet 16 or Elite Eight good.

Sure, there's that Bucknell-Northern Iowa tilt, but this is the only game in BracketBusterLand that matches up the current leaders from two of America's premier mid-major conferences. In the midst of the Four-Bid Valley discussion (or 5BV or 6BV, if you swing that way), Wichita State (21-6, 12-4 MVC) leads the Mo-Val by a game and owns its highest RPI (15). If you look at their schedule, you'll notice that they've beat all different styles of squads with their team-first approach, and as such may stand as the league's best chance to go deep into March.

George Mason (20-5, 14-2 CAA) has a seven-game win streak and leads the Colonial by a single game, and a win here in a tough environment would be the spark that relights the powderkeg of the "Two-Bid CAA" (2BC?) discussion. The game will feature the best post matchup you'll see all day - Mason's linebacker-like Jai Lewis and the Shockers' Paul Miller will do more butt-bumping than you'll see at a fraternity Disco Night fundraiser. It's on ESPN2, be there.

No, not Gardner-Webb (although they did get a big win over Belmont last night), Rodney Webb. In an 83-78 win that likely saved their season, Florida Atlantic's hot guard scored 21 of his 30 in the first half and banged out jumpers at a 75% clip, all of which helped Matt Doherty's boys take down a big, tough ex-SoCon ETSU team, the one that will end up hosting the conference tourney early next month. It was one of the conference's many hello-goodbye matchups this year. In FAU's (12-12, 11-6) final year in the A-Fun -- they join the Fun Belt next year -- and the Owls cannot now finish any lower than fifth.

Here is is... it's BracketBusters time, and while we'll stop short of encouraging signal theft, do whatever you need to do to be in front of one of the 39 U.S. television sets that can pick up ESPNU tonight. Because you're going to get to see two teams that will likely have NCAA seed numbers attached to them in a month.

The told-you-so Zips are hot: 14 wins in 16 games, but the doesn't-take-a-genius-to-know-they're-awesome Pack is just a tad hotter: they had the presence of mind to have their struggles back in January, and have rattled off 9 of 11, including six straight. Akron's job number one will be to stop Nick Fazekas from dropping 35 on them. And the Zips' 6-foot-or-so guard combo of Dru Joyce (10.4 ppg) and Nick Dials (10.8 ppg) doesn't match up size-wise to Nevada's oversized backcourt (a constant rotation of 6'3" greyhounds) so they'll have to out-quick them. Extra bonus for the winner: it'll be their 20th of the season (Akron: 19-7, Nevada: 19-5).

The Atlantic Sun race looks just like the Missouri Valley's: five teams with guady league records battling it out for conference supremacy. Well, at least until you look at the RPI numbers. Tonight is Thrill-A-Minute Thursday, as the A-Fun hosts two meaningful separation games among its elite. East Tennesee State travels to Florida Atlantic in one matchup, and we've got the other one here on G!O!T!N!, a battle between a resurgent conference favorite (that would be 10-6 G-Webb) against co-leader Belmont (12-4).

Belmont is the hottest team int he conference right now, with the seventh-best shooting in the land (49.3%) and a six-game winning streak during which they've topped FAU and fellow 12-4 Mercer. The Runnin' Bulldogs from Boiling Springs have shaken off a four-game January skid and have won seven of eight. Their two big guys, Brian Bender and Simon Conn, are both averaging 14.9 ppg, and will attempt to provide you, the listening public, with exactly one thrill per minute.

The Southland race has devolved into a romp for 10-1 Astyle=font-weight:bold HREF=http://schools.basketballstate.com/NWSU>Northwestern State, so it's easy to forget about the other good team in the league - the one that's hovering just outside the RPI Top 100, the one the was stealing all the headlines at the beginning of the year. Sam State helped precipitate the fall of Quin Snyder with their opening salvo on Missouri back in November, and went on to compile a 9-3 non-conference record. And after a couple of stumbles to Nicholls and McNeese to start the SLC slate, the best-rebounding team in the Southland (34.5 per game) has won eight of nine.

Last night, against honorary league commissioner Billy Tubbs and his Lamar Cardinals, the Bearkats struck again, stealing a three-point decision in Beaumont. The night's first star was the young man pictured to the left, who scored a career-high 30 on blistering 79% shooting, putting him on the school's 1000-point honor roll. The total included a threebie at 2:09 remaining that began the call-and-response that signified the game's final moments. With the win, SHS takes second place in the SLC.

When I called Hofstra head coach last summer to get his take on this season's CAA race, he said, "It's all about Old Dominion, baby." Well, in a strange twist of fate, it's been partially about Hofstra. They're just a game out in the loss column as the Colonial's stretch run begins.

Tonight's tilt features two teams on hot streaks: second-place UNCW (19-7, 12-3, 44 RPI), who've won seven of eight, and the third-place Pride (18-4, 11-3, 54 RPI), who are riding a six-game win streak. The Seahawks have the 10th most efficient defense in the country (.874 points allowed per possession), and guard T.J. Carter, who dropped a combined 49 against league-leading George Mason during their season split. Hofstra scores on 52.9% of their possessions, ranking them 28th nationally in floor percentage. Could one of these teams be the second NCAA squad in for the Colonial? Hope springs eternal, or at least until Selection Sunday.

Eastern Kentucky was one of the great feel-good stories of last season, completing a five-year rebuilding program by winning 22 games and winning the OVC championship. One of the primary symbols of that team was a pass-first, shoot-last point guard who set the Colonel's tempo with a steady staccato drumbeat.

A year later, and Matt Witt is the star attraction for EKU. While they haven't enjoyed last year's success (11-13. 8-8), they're a solid shooting team and Witt has been putting up big numbers. Last night, he moved into the school's all-time scoring lead with 1,743 points by dropping 33 points on second-place Samford, a total which included seven threebies and which came on 63% shooting. And Witt also hit the two last-minute free throws that made the score 74-70, effectively icing the win.

The Southern Conference is one of the oldest and proudest leagues in college basketball. Once the stomping grounds of Duke and Carolina, events have conspired to unspin the most disappointing season in the SoCon's 85-year history: once unthinkable, it now looks like a possible play-in league. On a night when a 13-12 team clinched the North Division, a player from the best team in the conference -- Georgia Southern (18-7, 9-3, 160 RPI) -- had the best mid-major performance in Hoops Nation. The 5'9" senior guard helped key 11-3 and 11-2 second-half runs to put away traditional league power Charleston and ice the Eagles' sixth straight win.

It's not that SoCon hoops are bad - there's just not any one team that's clearly defined itself, and none of them really did the league proud in the 2005 part of the schedule (to wit: Mo-State 101, GSU 55). The Eagles may yet make it to the Tournament, but if they have to fly to Dayton it would be a shame for the entire league.

All due respect to the Valentine's Day bloodbath tonight between Penn and Princeton, there's no love lost in the upper reaches of the MVC. After a freaky weekend that saw five road wins, the best (and mathematically strangest) mid-major conference in America still features a four-way tie at the top at 11-4 with three regular-season games remaining.

At No. 29, Creighton is actually fifth in Valley RPI (9-6 Astyle=font-weight:bold HREF=http://schools.basketballstate.com/MOST>Mo-State has a 25); they're coming off a home loss to Southern Illinois and will try to lock down WSU with the 26th most efficient D in the country (90.6 rating). Wichita State earned its 20th win of the year over the weekend, always a good sign when it comes to the NCAA's. They also would seem to have the inside track to the MVC one-seed: the Jays will act as the Shockers' final test of the regular season, before they face Drake and Ill-State to close out the slate. Will the house rock? You bet. (Note to the 34 U.S. households with ESPNU: you're in luck!)

When they say Big Monday, they mean it. Two 8-3 teams square off in a showdown that will determine sole possession first place in the Wizzac; third wheel Utah State made this possible by graciously obliging at home to NMSU on Saturday. Last time these two met was Groundhog Day, which saw a 65-53 Pack win in Ruston. If Paul Millsap's clock radio plays "I Got You Babe" this morning, LaTech's in big trouble.

Multiple-MMBOW Millsap is a big reason why the slept-on 'Dogs are in the race this late, with 20.2 points and 12.8 rebounds per game - the 6'8" junior is going for his third straight national rebounding title. He'll take on 6'11" multiple-MMBOD Nick Fazekas (21.7 ppg, 9.4 rpg); now that's a Big Monday. (And if you don't get ESPN2 for some reason, you can watch the game here.)

Very, very few players in the NEC have Tournament experience that doesn't involve a high teen seed. A.J. Jackson does - he was the guy who came off the bench when Zakee Wadood had too many fouls, back in East Tennessee State's recent SoCon glory days. But that gets tiring. Jackson sat out a year and transferred back to his native Pittsburgh region.

Good move - the 6-6, 230-lb. forward is the Colonials' leading scorer (16.4 ppg) and posted the game of his life against the Q yesterday: it was his 13th double-double in a RMU uni, he came within 1.5 of what will be forever termed a "Half Kobe," and his 75% shooting percentage was his best since an 8-of-9 in the infamous Medaille game. Monessen, Pa. represent!

The fifty minutes of a double-overtime game give everyone equal opportunity to be hero and goat -- oftentimes, all in the same contest. Wright's sparkplug junior guard had 20 points in regulation, but missed an opportunity to win the game with a wildly unsuccessful lane-drive at the buzzer; then he committed an untimely offensive foul in the first extra frame. He tied the game with a Dr. J finger-roll, then coughed it up on the next possession. Early in the second OT, he drove hard to the rim to keep Butler from putting together a run, and then hit the final free throw of the game that iced the Raider win. After the game, he was seen with a bright red gash on his shoulder, the end-result of contact on that end-of-regulation drive. With a game like this, goat horns just ain't gonna fit.

Ever since Moss Man and the Indiana State Sycamores upset the Salukis on their home floor, 10-4 SIU's been a bit blue. But a road win at 11-3 Creighton (a team that they beat back on Jan. 24) would certainly give them the emotional lift they need to head into the MVC's stretch run. The Bluejays, on the other hand, have only lost once in the past 10 games: yup, Jan. 24.

Interesting Valley race subplot: Chris Lowery of SIU and Creighton's Dana Altman are being relentlessly name-dropped as the mainstream media coach-poachers line up one or both up for the Missouri vacancy. Is it possible to coach a team when your ears are constantly buzzing? Tune in and find out!

Folks have questions about the surprise team atop the Big Sky (especiallyWestern Kentucky, the team that drew them in the BracketBuster), and The Mid-Majority has answers. The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks are not real lumberjacks, and the Walkup Skydome is not available from the Home Depot. And their most exciting player is not a "glob," it's Golob. Golob, people.

Last night, the 6'5" senior guard chalked up season highs in points and rebounds on 75% FG and 92% FT. The 'Jacks have unleashed the lethal combination of an efficient defense (league-high 98.6 points per 100 opponent's possessions) and hot shooting (league-high 47.9%), and they've won a whole lot of games: ten in their last 11 to build a 9-1 conference record, 16-7 overall.

Bobby Gonzalez played just seven guys in this one, and five of them played 30+ minutes. Exhausted? No way! One of those Jaspers who played a full 40 (pictured, left) was a high-hopping 6'0" guard who shot 64% from the floor including four big threes, and Wingate helped lead Manhattan to a big win across the Hudson at Jersey City's Yanitelli Center, one that clinched an escape from first round Friday at the tourney in Albany (the Jaspers can now finish no lower than fourth).

And for those of you keeping track of the MAAC race, blood rivals Manhattan and Iona - both 11-3 - are engaging in a little long-distance call-and-response leading up to their regular season finale: Manhattan dropped 86 on Loyola on Sunday, Iona dropped 101 in regulation on Loyola last night.

With the sad state of the MAC West these days, I'm ready to declare Northern Illinois (13-7, 8-4 Mid-American) an honorary member of the East division. Their current four-game win streak echoes the West-beating runs of the right-siders' thumpings of the Astyle=font-weight:bold HREF=http://schools.basketballstate.com/BSU>Ball States and Directional Michigans, so why not move them over? They'll all be seeded in straight numerical order come tourney time anyway.

Yes, the East runs four deep, and Ohio is one of those teams - even if they've lost three of five and are currently about as "it" as Ivana Trump. They'll go up against an NIU team that's a statistical conundrum: they're the second-most efficient offense in the league (1.05 pts. per poss.) and the worst defensively in terms of efficiency (1.02 pts. allowed per def. poss.), but they only give up four less points per game than they make. How? They play at the 20th-slowest pace in the country (64.1 possessions per 40 minutes). And if you go, say hi to the guy with the basketball tie.

There hasn't been too much of a reason to mention David Letterman U. in this space so far -- the Cardinals have really struggled to find points (62.3 PF, 42.8% FG) and have slumped to a 4-8 league record, continuing a slow and sad decline for a program that used to contend for the MAC title year in and year out. But last night, double-letterman "Skip" Mills dropped a career high 27 against Buffalo including 18 in the first half. Insodoing, the MAC's third-leading scorer broke out of a long shooting slump and displayed the leadership his coach had been looking for. File this name away - he'll make an impact on the MAC race next season, for sure.

Doesn't it seem like every time you turn around, there's a life-or-death game in the MVC? With Wichita State's 2OT win over Southern Illinois on Saturday, the four-headed monster atop the Valley standings is now three: UNI, Wichita and Creighton are all 10-3 with five league games to go, with SIU a game back at 9-4. Tonight will provide another degree of separation as the Panthers host the Shockers; UNI broke open the first matchup in the second half, 75-61 on Wichita's home floor. Keep an eye out for UNI's Grant Stout, who's collected three straight double-doubles (nine this season) all while only missing seven field goal attempts (20-of-27, 74%).

Mr. Holcomb-Faye started his season with a bang, leading his team in scoring 11 times in Radford's first 17 games (including a BOTD nod on Nov. 30). But in the past couple of weeks, Holcomb-Faye has struggled, shooting 28% from the floor over a recent three-game stretch against Birmingham Southern, High Point and UNCA. But last night, in a grind-it-out battle against those same league-leading Panthers, the 6'1" senior came back strong with a solid 31. He drove the baseline for a layup that beat the halftime buzzer and scoring 13 during a 14-2 gamebreaking run early in the second half. Most importantly, the win stopped a four-game losing streak for Radford and helped restore order in the Big South: two-lossWinthrop is now tied in the loss column with 9-2 Birmingham Southern.

When Old Dominion drew Marist in the BracketBusters Presented by The Mid-Majority event, it seemed like a slap in the face, an insult, a punishment for not living up to the hype. Now there's a real possibility they might lose that game. Why? The Red Foxes are starting to ramp it up, winning nine of ten going back to the Jerry Falwell game. A large part of that success is due to their tough junior pointman, a dude who came within a board of a triple-double yesterday against co-league leader Iona. It was the eighth time Jordan has had double-figure assists (8.3 apg), and he's now a couple of tenths back of Jose Juan Barea for the national lead.

All due respect to Grambling's Brion Rush and Josh Hinz of Beloit (he's D3-ineligible) - but we're not about gaudy stats around here, just the solid performances that win ballgames. The Big Freak is our first three-time winner of the BOTD award, and it's for his third 35+ performance of the season. The Wooden Award mid-season All-American dropped a couple of old-fashioned three-point plays right before halftime to kill a New Mexico State run, and his 71% floor performance (along with some key freebies by a rare 6-11 guy who hits 83% FT) helped keep the Aggies at bay and secure a WAC road W. The Pack have now won four straight after splitting its first six conference games, and are a half-game out of one-seed position.

It's tough toiling inUMPFN's shadow, but these two squads have done yeoman's work indeed - the Lions and the Toreros will battle for second place in the West Coast Conference tonight at the Slim Gym. LMU has shaken off a rough non-conference start (3-11) to run a 5-2 WCC record; they give up as many points as they have all year (75.1 per game), but are finding ways to score more (78.0 conference PF, 72.3 overall). San Diego's the other way around: they went 10-3 in non-league games but lost three of four to start their WCC campaign. But USD, the 10th-hottest shooting team in the country (49.3% FG) and second-best three-shooters (42.8%), have won four straight. Keep an eye out for Nick Lewis , the 6'10" Arizona native who's coming off a 30-point performance vs. Pepperdine on Saturday.

This season's first meeting between the Shockers and Salukis was a see-saw showdown in which SIU held Wichita State to 32% shooting, their worst floor performance of the year. Tonight, when two of the four 9-3 MVC teams collide, 6-10 Shox center Paul Miller and co. will attempt to avenge that loss in front of the loudest home crowd in the Valley (arguably, of course).

SIU was shocked in a different way earlier this week, when Indiana State came in and clipped their all-time MVC record conference home streak, which had reached 42 games and stretched beck to 2001. It'll be interesting to see how they come out on the road in their first game since that loss, but they have the second-most efficient defense in the country (.84 points per opp. possession) on their side.

The two Division I newbies in the Atlantic Sun have taken drastically different paths. North Florida has performed exactly how a team new to this level should. They're second-to-dead-last in the RPI (No. 333), due primarily to their ugly 2-11 conference record, 5-15 overall. That's not to say there haven't been bright spots: they have a nice player in the form of Alain LaRoche, and they aren't league-worst in any significant statistical category. They just lose a lot.

The Owls, on the other hand, have won quite a bit -- 11 times so far, including a streak of seven. They've fallen back to earth lately with a three-game skid to sink back to .500, but this team will serve as a shining example to future D1 transitionals that it's okay not to suck. Side note: these are old Peach Belt rivals from their D2 days; KSU leads the all-time series 11-6.

David Fisher's had a rough couple of weeks (no, not that David Fisher). The New Mexico State guard was declared academically ineligible in mid-January, but appealed to the school and NCAA to "reinterpret" his grades and was successfully reinstated. Now, I don't know what any of that means (I got a D in political science), but Fisher deserves the benefit of the doubt. He's back with the team, that's what matters, right?

After two consecutive horrendous shooting nights against Fresno and San Jose, Fisher had the game of his life, going all sorts of 80% from the floor and grabbing seven boards for good measure. The unfortunate victims were the Utah State Aggies, who shot 61% from the floor. But Fisher's NMSU Aggies squad was one percentage point better, with 62%. Those might look like D's on the academic grading curve, but in hoops those are both A+ performances.

This is it - preseason Big West favorite Pacific's last chance to rein in runaway UCI before the stretch run starts. The Anteaters (12-8, 8-0) were 4-8 in non-conference play, but they suddenly found their mojo once BWC play started. They've already beaten UOP once,a 70-61 decision at their Bren Events Center, a game in which the Tigers led most of the way except for an explosive final five from the best three-point shooting team in the conference (42.7%).

Pacific? Well, they've fought through a tough pre-league schedule, winning at Western Kentucky and taking Texas A&M to the mat. But they're 4-2 in conference, and all they have to show for their efforts is a RPI that's currently five points worse than UCI's (128-133). But Bob Thomason's club has the best field goal shooting in the BWC (48.7%) and the most efficient defense (92.6 pts per 100 opp. poss.), and they won't be afraid to use them tonight.

Of all the teams to break Southern Illinois' 33-game home win streak and all-time Valley 42-game run, you'd never figure it would be Indiana State -- the streaky Sycamores went in to the game losers of 11 straight (remember, they went 8-0 to start the year). It was ISU's first win at SIU Arena since 1981, and the first time Saluki coach Chris owery had lost at home as a player, assistant or head coach since 1994.

Granted, Tyson Schnitker has shown the propensity for hitting big shots when it counts, and in this game he hit a lot of them -- nine, to be exact. Eighteen of those points came during a first half that sent the Trees out to a commanding 34-25 lead, and he came out of the break hot, hitting the first two baskets of the second half. And just look at that picture. He's so happy about it.

What can the Mid-American Conference do to catch a break? Take the Bracket Buster, for instance. Whellistonian darling Akron gets a sweet shot at Nevada (RPI No. 53), but Kent hosts Butler (98) and Ohio takes on Samford (79). How's that going to bring up the numbers, One Bid MAC?

Tonight in Athens, the Bobcats and Flashes will get to work out some of their respect issues with each other. Ohio will unleash their pow-pow backcourt of Green and Fears, and try to turn around a two-game losing skid. Kent has the most efficient defense in the conference (91.6 rating) and sits in the MAC East's first place with an 8-1 record. Keep an eye on senior guard Jay Youngblood (15.0 ppg), who's quietly putting together a run at MAC player of the year. R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to he.

Just as Northern Iowa ascended into the Top 25's popularity contest, Valley reality kicked in: last night, Creighton's home floor swallowed the Panthers up for the 10th straight time. That's the macro view; CU's won eight of their last nine (including the matchup with UNI in Iowa) since they lost Nate Funk for the season. The Bluejays prevailed last night on the strength of a career-high 16 from Mr. Porter, 14 of which came in a second half that saw a 20-6 Creighton burst. When UNI tried to mount a comeback, Porter stuck a dagger in the run by nailing a three with six minutes left.

It's likely that this loss will send the Panthers back out of the coaches' and writers' polls, as the voters will have once again deemed the Valley unworthy of poll love, no matter what the RPI says. But you and I, we know better.