SB Nation - Texas-Pan American Broncos

RPI WATCH: 12/16/09

BracketCat — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:00:33 -0000

If you were wondering, there was no RPI Watch yesterday because none of our opponents played Monday night.

But a few of them did Tuesday night. Hit the jump to see how they did.

Current Kansas State AP Ranking = 17

Current Kansas State Record = 9-1

Current Kansas State RPI = 2

Current Kansas State SOS = 3

Great Wins (RPI 1-50, bold = RPI 1-25) = Loyola, Dayton, UNLV

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = IUPUI, Washington State, Xavier

Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = none

Loyola (6-2, 1-1) | RPI = 40
Western Illinois (4-6, 0-2) | RPI = 320
Boston (4-6) | RPI = 146
No. 25 Ole Miss (8-1) | RPI = 34
Dayton (7-2) | RPI = 27
IUPUI (8-3, 2-0) | RPI = 60
No. 22* FHSU (7-1)
Washington State (8-2) | RPI = 88
Xavier (6-3) | RPI = 61
UNLV (8-1) | RPI = 24: Win at Southern Utah (77-59)
Alabama (6-3) | RPI = 91
UAPB (0-7) | RPI = 302
Cleveland State (4-7, 0-2) | RPI = 235: Loss to Robert Morris (78-70)
South Dakota (6-4) | RPI = 139
Missouri (6-3) | RPI = 161
No. 16 Texas A&M (8-2) | RPI = 18
Colorado (6-4) | RPI = 229
No. 2 Texas (9-0) | RPI = 5: Win over UTPA (104-42)
Oklahoma State (8-1) | RPI = 31
Baylor (8-1) | RPI = 72: Win over Jackson State (90-60)
No. 1 Kansas (9-0) | RPI = 21
Nebraska (7-2) | RPI = 151
Iowa State (7-3) | RPI = 155
Oklahoma (7-3) | RPI = 142
No. 23 Texas Tech (9-0) | RPI = 18

*Division II Top 25

RPI WATCH: 12/03/09

BracketCat — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:00:37 -0000

by Charlie Riedel - AP

Kansas State's RPI and strength of schedule are rising like Jam Sam going up for a dunk — despite the Wildcats' poor play of late. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

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The majority of our opponents, both past and future, were in action last night — including our three opponents from Puerto Rico, three of our four immediately upcoming opponents and seven of the Big 12 teams.

And what a crazy night it was. There were overtime games, upsets, the Big Ten winning the Challenge against the ACC (one of the signs of the impending apocalypse), you name it.

To see how everyone fared, click the jump.

If for some reason you absolutely need to know up-to-date numbers, I get them here.

Current Kansas State RPI = 15

Current Kansas State SOS = 20

Great Wins (RPI 1-50) = Loyola, Dayton

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = IUPUI

Bad Losses (RPI 100 or greater) = none

Loyola (4-1) | RPI = 27
Western Illinois (3-3) | RPI = 207
Boston (2-6) | RPI = 162: Loss at Connecticut (92-64)
Ole Miss (6-1) | RPI = 39: Win at Arkansas State (79-57)
Dayton (4-2) | RPI = 46: Win at Miami University (65-58)
IUPUI (5-2) | RPI = 84
FHSU (4-1)
Washington State (6-1) | RPI = 112: Loss at No. 17 Gonzaga (74-69)
Xavier (4-2) | RPI = 114
No. 24 UNLV (6-0) | RPI = 5: Win at Arizona (74-72 in double overtime)
Alabama (5-2) | RPI = 52: Win over North Florida (73-51)
UAPB (0-5) | RPI = 229
Cleveland State (3-4) | RPI = 191
South Dakota (5-3) | RPI = 143: Win over Dakota State (111-59)
Missouri (4-2) | RPI = 107: Loss at Vanderbilt (89-83)
No. 19 Texas A&M (6-1) | RPI = 8: Win over PVAMU (84-59)
Colorado (5-2) | RPI = 181
No. 3 Texas (5-0) | RPI = 3
Oklahoma State (6-1) | RPI = 18: Loss at Tulsa (86-65)
Baylor (6-1) | RPI = 160
No. 1 Kansas (6-0) | RPI = 38: Win over Alcorn State (98-31)
Nebraska (5-1) | RPI = 81: Win over UTPA (81-53)
Iowa State (6-2) | RPI = 148: Loss to Northern Iowa (63-60)
Oklahoma (4-3) | RPI = 206: Win over Arkansas (67-47)
Texas Tech (7-0) | RPI = 48

RPI WATCH: 11/23/09

BracketCat — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:00:13 -0000

Well, it's officially basketball season here at BOTC, so I'm going to try and get some basketball-related stuff on here on a more consistent basis. Big 12 Outlook will return after New Year's, but in the meantime, I need to resume the Big 12 previews and shift them into overdrive a little in order to make up for lost time.

The other thing I want to do is update you on all of our opponents on a daily basis. I'll look at how they performed in yesterday's games and maybe track the RPIs a little, too. The idea is to get a general picture, on a day-to-day basis, of how strong our non-conference schedule is, because I've seen some concern from various corners of late.

For a more detailed discussion, hit the jump. But here's a short preview: We did ourselves a lot of good in Puerto Rico.

Here's how our opponents have performed to date, in order to provide a baseline comparison and bring everyone up to speed. (After all, not everyone has been paying attention to hoops like I have, given our North-contending football team and what have you.)

Kansas State RPI = 28

Great Wins (RPI 1-50) = Dayton

Good Wins (RPI 51-100) = Loyola

Bad Losses (RPI 100 or greater) = none

Loyola (2-1) | RPI = 64: Loss at Kansas State (92-54), Win over Canisius (89-69), Win at Holy Cross (76-73)
Western Illinois (2-2) | RPI = 112: Loss at Arizona State (87-35), Loss at Kansas State (82-50), Win over Truman State (71-59), Win at Central Arkansas (56-46)
Boston (1-4) | RPI = 141: Loss at Iona (82-73), Loss to George Washington (69-59), Loss to Kansas State (80-70), Win over Indiana (71-67), Loss to No. 21 Georgia Tech (85-67)
Ole Miss (4-1) | RPI = 76: Win over UALR (92-64), Win over Alabama State (90-53), Win over Indiana (89-71), Win over Kansas State (86-74), Loss to No. 5 Villanova (79-67)
No. 18 Dayton (2-2) | RPI = 32: Win over Creighton (90-80), Win over No. 21 Georgia Tech (63-59), Loss to No. 5 Villanova (71-65), Loss to Kansas State (83-75)
IUPUI (4-1) | RPI = 75: Win at Drake (88-82), Win at Eastern Illinois (69-66), Win over Austin Peay (77-63), Loss at Auburn (80-65), Win over Georgia State (67-56)
Fort Hays State (2-0) | RPI = N/A (D-II): Win over Friends (82-46), Win over Central Christian College (85-66)
Washington State (3-0) | RPI = 140: Win over MVSU (94-66), Win over Eastern Washington (67-61), Win over IPFW (89-70)
Xavier (3-0) | RPI = 79: Win over Youngstown State (83-57), Win over Bowling Green (101-57), Win over Sacred Heart (105-65)
UNLV (3-0) | RPI = 1: Win over Pittsburg State (91-52), Win over Nevada (88-75), Win over Southern Illinois (78-69)
Alabama (2-1) | RPI = 186: Loss to Cornell (71-67), Win over Jackson State (86-69), Win over Providence (84-75)
UAPB (0-3) | RPI = 166: Loss at Colorado (88-72), Loss at Denver (75-56), Loss at UTEP (70-52)
Cleveland State (3-1) | RPI = 260: Loss at St. Bonaventure (72-62), Win over Wilmington (99-74), Win over Florida A&M (78-64), Win over Sam Houston State (80-65)
South Dakota (2-2) | RPI = N/A (D-I transition): Loss at Texas Tech (88-49), Loss to Oregon State (62-47), Win over TAMUCC (76-73), Win over Mayville State (99-67)
Missouri (2-0) | RPI = 280: Win over UT Martin (83-68), Win over UTPA (100-64)
Texas A&M (3-0) | RPI = 135: Win over Angelo State (88-69), Win at SMU (80-68), Win over Samford (68-49)
Colorado (3-0) | RPI = 128: Win over UAPB (88-72), Win over Coppin State (82-58), Win over Texas Southern (88-77)
No. 3 Texas (2-0) | RPI = 17: Win over UC Irvine (89-42), Win over Western Carolina (73-41)
Oklahoma State (3-0) | RPI = 21: Win over Seattle (86-64), Win over Southern (93-61), Win over North Texas (82-68)
Baylor (4-0) | RPI = 60: Win over Norfolk State (86-58), Win over Hartford (71-69), Win over Southern (61-45), Win over Hardin-Simmons (106-45)
No. 1 Kansas (3-0) | RPI = 46: Win over Hofstra (101-65), Win over Memphis (57-55), Win over Central Arkansas (94-44)
Nebraska (2-1) | RPI = 134: Win over SCUU (76-49), Loss at Saint Louis (69-55), Win over TCU (90-77)
Iowa State (4-0) | RPI = 188: Win over Idaho State (88-68), Win over Chicago State (72-50), Win at Drake (90-70), Win over MVSU (96-55)
No. 17 Oklahoma (2-1) | RPI = 65: Win over Mount St. Mary's (95-71), Win over UL Monroe (72-61), Loss at VCU (82-69)
Texas Tech (5-0) | RPI = 86: Win over South Dakota (88-49), Win over TAMUCC (66-59), Win over Oregon State (64-60), Win over Northwestern State (94-75), Win over Lamar (77-54)

My plan is to update this daily with the games are played the previous day, and I'll probably start looking at RPIs some time after Thanksgiving (they're pretty meaningless before that point due to the disparity in scheduling).

Update: Got bored and added the RPIs around midnight. I'll save the analysis for tomorrow's edition.

Know Your (Temporary) Rival: Texas-Pan American Broncs

Bill C. — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:00:12 -0000

by L.G. Patterson - AP

about 1 month ago: Missouri's Laurence Bowers, bottom, gets tangled up with Truman State's Andrew James, top, as they battle for a rebound during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Friday, Nov. 6, 2009, in Columbia, Mo. Missouri won the exhibition game 96-33. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)

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Mizzou's second game of the regular season will come against UT-Pan American, a historically, um, based team. They won an NAIA title in the 1960s, and under future former Texas coach Abe Lemons. Under Lemons, UTPA went 13-9, 22-2, and 20-5, but because they are UT-Pan American, they never made the NCAA Tournament. In the 1980s, they got Lon Kruger's somewhat illustrious career started, and after a stint in the Sun Belt conference early in the 1990s, they ended up back among the ranks of the independents. They are now a member of the greatest conference in the history of the world, the Great West Conference. What makes it so fantastic? Its members: Chicago State, Houston Baptist, N.J.I.T., North Dakota, South Dakota, UTPA, and Utah Valley. Again, it is called the Great West Conference...because it is west of the Atlantic Ocean, I guess? Anyway, before they can take on those natural geographic rivals, they take on Mizzou.

UTPA is 0-3 thus far this season, with losses to Louisiana Tech (80-62), Lamar (77-72), and Texas A&M-CC (77-55). Even though it's only three games, I'll go ahead and use 2009-10 stats for this one instead of last year's stats.

UT-Pan American: 0-3

	UTPA	Opp
Points Per Minute	1.58	1.95
Points Per Possession (PPP)	0.92	1.14
Points Per Shot (PPS)	1.17	1.42
2-PT FG%	49.0%	60.5%
3-PT FG%	30.2%	31.7%
FT%	63.2%	73.8%
True Shooting %	50.8%	61.0%

	UTPA	Opp
Assists/Gm	14.7	15.0
Steals/Gm	5.3	7.7
Turnovers/Gm	16.7	16.3
Ball Control Index (Assists + Steals) / TO	1.20	1.39

	UTPA	Opp
Expected Offensive Rebounds	36	30
Offensive Rebounds	31	35
Difference	-5	+5

Where the Broncs are decent: They're really not a bad ball-handling team. A 1.20 BCI is not amazing, but it's certainly not bad. It is driven mostly by an apparent risk-taking defense that forces over 16 turnovers per game. Mizzou has been a little careless with the ball thus far, so they might find some success there. Not a ton, but some. Meanwhile, rebounding is not necessarily a strength, but it's not a tremendous weakness--in terms of expected rebounds, they are only about -3.3 per game.
Where the Broncs are less than decent: Um, everywhere else? They turn the ball over almost 17 times per game, and that has come against defense that I'm assuming are less impressive than Missouri's. Expect about 23-28 turnovers from the Broncs (not Broncos, mind you). They are also giving up a ton of easy buckets, as evidenced by the fact that they have allowed a True Shooting % of over 60%.

Player Stats

Player	*AdjGS/Gm**	GmSc/Min	Line
Jared Maree (6'3, 200, So.)	13.5	0.52	25.7 MPG, 11.3 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.3 TOPG
Julius Hearn (6'0, 175, Jr.)	6.7	0.29	22.7 MPG, 7.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 3.3 APG, 2.7 TOPG
Luis Valera (6'7, 219, Sr.)	6.3	0.34	18.3 MPG, 8.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.0 TOPG
Aaron Urbanus (6'0, 147, Fr.)	5.1	0.35	14.7 MPG, 4.7 PPG, 2.0 APG
Ben Smith (6'3, 193, Sr.)	5.0	0.25	20.0 MPG, 5.3 PPG, 1.3 APG
Manny Hendrix (6'2, 182, Jr.)	4.9	0.29	16.7 MPG, 4.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.3 APG
Nick Weiermiller (6'1, 203, Jr.)	4.8	0.18	27.3 MPG, 6.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 4.0 APG, 4.0 TOPG
ChaRunn Jones (5'9, 187, So.)	3.7	0.22	17.0 MPG, 4.7 PPG, 1.7 APG
Jacob Trader (6'9, 227, Jr.)	3.3	0.47	7.0 MPG, 2.3 PPG
Nathan Hawkins (6'6, 279, Sr.)	2.8	0.19	14.7 MPG, 6.7 PPG, 1.3 RPG
Rakeem Couch (6'3, 239, Jr.)	2.7	0.19	14.3 MPG, 1.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG
Rico Seagears (5'10, 168, Jr.)	0.0	0.00	2.0 MPG

* AdjGS = a take-off of the Game Score metric (definition here) accepted by a lot of basketball stat nerds. It redistributes a team's points based not only on points scored, but also by giving credit for assists, rebounds (offensive & defensive), steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls. It is a stat intended to determine who had the biggest overall impact on the game itself, instead of just how many balls a player put through a basket.

A 147-pounder, a 6'3, 239-pounder, and a 6'6, 279-pounder. Interesting team.
This team's best player by far is Jared Maree, the biggest of what looks to be almost a four-guard lineup. Of the seven players averaging 15 minutes or more so far, six of them are 6'3 or shorter. But then two bigger (weight-wise, anyway) guys in Hawkins and Couch average over 14.
I'll say this much: Aaron Urbanus isn't very big (can't wait to see him guarded by Zaire Taylor, who is only four inches taller and 50 pounds bigger), but it appears he may be better than both Nick Weiermiller and ChaRunn Jones, both of whom are more experienced and receiving more minutes.

Keys to the Game

3-Point Shooting. I say this not because of UTPA, but because Mizzou has just been brutal from behind the arc, and since this offense will always take quite a few 3's, um, they should probably make some.
Turnovers. One thing at which UTPA is rather adept is forcing turnovers, and this early in the season, Mizzou has been a big turnover prone. If this game stays closer than it should, it's probably because Mizzou was too careless with the ball (that, or they went 0-for-22 from 3-point range, of course).
Justin Safford. While Laurence Bowers has been lighting the world aflame early on, Safford has remained relatively quiet. With a significant size advantage on most of the UTPA roster (and what has to be a pretty big quickness advantage over the others), Saffy should by all means have the opportunity to make some things happen. If he wants to hold onto his starting job, he should probably take advantage.

Prediction

Um, how does Mizzou 87, UTPA 59 sound? Good? We'll go with that.

The 2009-10 Coaching Carousel Recap

Chris Dobbertean — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:00:23 -0000

More photos » by Dusty Compton - AP

(Yes, it's a column about coaching changes that doesn't feature a picture of either John Calipari, Josh Pastner, or Sean Miller.) Former Florida assistant Anthony Grant left VCU during this offseason to return to the SEC, taking over at Alabama. (AP Photo/Tuscaloosa News, Dusty Compton)

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As I posted last Monday, everyone knows that John Calipari is Billy Gillispie's replacement at Kentucky, and that Josh Pastner now has to try to keep Memphis at the top of Conference USA. It's also no secret that Sean Miller left Xavier to become Lute Olson's permanent replacement at Arizona, and that the Musketeers promoted assistant Chris Mack to the head job.

But there were 24 other coaching changes in Division I after the 2008-09 season. Some of these were the result of the domino effect that happens when a school in a power conference hires someone who was successful at a lower level, a decision that often leads to multiple jobs opening up. Others were cases where athletic directors felt that they needed to make changes, but stayed within the current staff.

This year's coaching carousel was a pretty lengthy one. Proving that the pressure is getting a bit ridiculous, even at lower levels of Division I, John Cooper (No, not THAT John Cooper.) replaces Cy Alexander at Tennessee State, which is a noteworthy story because Alexander was fired back on Feburary 9. Cooper was previously Jeff Lebo's associate head coach at Auburn. The final change of the offseason (I say that now like it's a certainty.) was finalized late Thursday when Cornell assistant Zach Spiker was hired at Army to replace Jim Crews.

While that's a start, it's certainly not everything that happened in the world of coaching during the spring and summer. After the jump, I'll run through the rest of the coaching changes made this offseason.

At one point, Kevin O'Neill was the interim coach in Tucson and the replacement in waiting for Lute Olson. That obviously didn't happen, so now the former Northwestern and Tennessee head coach has replaced Tim Floyd at USC.

Alabama hired Anthony Grant to replace Mark Gottfried. VCU then followed its own playbook by replacing Grant with another Florida assistant, Shaka Smart.

Georgia hired Mark Fox to do what Dennis Felton failed to do, rebuild the program. Nevada promoted assistant David Carter to replace Fox with the hopes he'll have the Wolf Pack ready to challenge Utah State and Idaho at the top of the league this year.

Tony Bennett left Washington State to replace Dave Leitao at Virginia. Former Portland State coach Ken Bone heads to the Palouse to replace him, with Vikings assistant Tyler Geving taking over the head job there.

Buzz Peterson left his job as Director of Player Personnel with the Charlotte Bobcats to return to Appalachian State. He left the Mountaineers to take the Tulsa job in 2000, leaving there for an average four seasons at Tennessee. After being forced out in Knoxville, Peterson coached Coastal Carolina for two years before heading to Charlotte. Elon will also have a new coach. Ernie Nestor was fired, and the school looked to tap into a winning formula in hiring his replacement. The Phoenix will now be led by former Davidson assistant Matt Matheny.

Isiah Thomas will now attempt to not ruin Florida International's program like he ruined the CBA and the New York Knicks. He's off to a great start at earning friends and influencing people.

Holy Cross hired Notre Dame assistant Sean Kearney to replace Ralph Willard, who left to be an assistant for Rick Pitino at Louisville.

Ritchie McKay left Liberty to be one of Bennett's assistants. Another former Colorado State head man, Marquette assistant Dale Layer is his replacement. Former South Carolina assistant Scott Cherry is the other new hire in the Big South, he replaces the fired Bart Lundy at High Point.

Dennis Wolff couldn't bring America East glory to Boston University, so he was fired and replaced with Villanova assistant Patrick Chambers.

Tom Green (not the "funny" Canadian) had significant success at Fairleigh Dickinson, just not over the past couple of years. He was fired and the Knights will be led by his former assistant, Greg Vetrone, at least on an interim basis.

Washington assistant Cameron Dollar, a star player on UCLA's 1995 National Championship team will lead Seattle through their Division I transition period, replacing Joe Callero, who took the job at Cal Poly in the Big West. North Carolina Central is the other Independent with a new coach for 2009-10. Henry Dickerson wasn't rehired, and he will be replaced by one of his assistants, LeVelle Morton.

Kevin Nickelberry resigned at Hampton, where Edward Joyner, Jr., one of Nickelberry's assistants will lead the team on at least an interim basis.

At Grambling, a tragic incident led to the end of Rick Duckett's tenure. Henry White, a transfer from Hill (Tex.) Junior College, died after an offseason workout on a 104 degree day at the Louisiana school. The school says Duckett resigned, but the coach says he was fired via a letter from the school. Assistant Robert Washington, Jr. will be the interim coach.

Tom Schuberth was fired at Texas-Pan American, where winning will always be tough because of the slim chance at making the NCAAs (something that won't change with Great West membership). St. Edward's coach Ryan Marks is the new head man in Edinboro.

There were two other changes in the Ohio Valley this offseason besides the Tennessee State switch I mentioned before the jump. Former Arkansas State head man Dickie Nutt is back in the business, taking over a Southeast Missouri State program that spent most of last season in turmoil after the Scot Edgar regime. Bret Campbell resigned at Tennessee-Martin. His replacement is former assistant Jason James.

At the end of the season, I'll come back and look at how each of these coaches did in filling their new jobs. On Tuesday, however, I turn my attention back to the players with my first ever preseason All-America teams.

Cal Basketball Blows Out UTPA, Proves Little

ragnarok — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:06:14 -0000

The Bears controlled this game almost from the opening tip.

Sometimes you can learn a lot from watching a 30-point blowout; I'm sure of it. Thursday night was not one of those times.

Instead, I witnessed the first round of the hideously non-descriptively-named "Global Sports Classic", a marketing debacle if ever there was one. I have no idea what is 'global' about this tournament, unless you take the Bears' opponent's name, 'Texas Pan-American', literally, and calling the first edition of something 'classic' is just a wee bit pretentious, don't you think? Moreover, the name of the tournament doesn't even imply basketball; "Global Sports Classic" could just as easily apply to a croquet club tournament in Duluth, MN, as it could to this bizarre manifestation of a college basketball tournament.

Moreover, I'm not even sure how these games work in the tournament. To guarantee TV ratings, I'm assuming, the tourney places the Bears directly into the final four of this tournament in Las Vegas with UNLV, Cincinnati, and Florida State, regardless of whether they win their first two games, last night's match vs. Texas Pan-American, and Monday night's tune-up vs. North Carolina A&T. Those two teams, plus two others (Coastal Carolina and Western Illinois) play the part of cannon fodder for two of the major teams each, and then are seeded directly in the "loser's bracket" regardless of whether they actually win one of these games or not. It's like these games don't even matter.

And in some sense, they don't. They're barely contests. The four "chump" teams in this tournament bring basically no name recognition or fan interest to the tournament, and they were all ranked between 234 and 278 by Ken Pomeroy's RPI last year. I honestly don't understand why these teams are in this tournament, or why the tournament is even 4 games long to begin with.

Anyway, enough ranting. UTPA (say "Opah!" in a loud and cheerful Greek accent) did manage to keep the game close for a little bit, holding leads of 6-2 and 11-8 before a 19-3 run by the Bears burried the Broncos and essentially ended the game before the half. It was painfully obvious that UTPA was no match for the Bears in any sense of the word, and the only suspense was whether Cal would let up and keep the Broncos in the game, or press their advantage and really put this game beyond reach. Thankfully, it was the latter.

Jamal Boykin's 18 points paced the Bears.

Though obviously you never want to read too much into a 27-point victory over a massively outgunned opponent, I did see a few encouraging signs:

• Other than the first few minutes, the Bears really got after it on defense. We saw almost none of the lazing around with a 10-point lead that marked the victories over Pacific and San Francisco. 9 steals by 7 different players makes for a lot of easy points.

• Speaking of getting after it, I really liked it when, in the middle of the first half, the Bears began applying full-court pressure. I'm not sure why Monty went to the press against UTPA -- perhaps something in the matchup suggested it would work. Nevertheless, it clearly harassed the Broncos and even led to a couple turnovers.

• Also regarding pressure, the Bears forced at least two shot-clock violations from UTPA, both times to due to 35 seconds of relentless, tiring defense. The Bears are by no means perfect defensively, but I think the improvement from the first game to this (the third) is definitely noticeable.

• Montgomery was finally able to empty his bench, getting everyone in on the action, including D.J. Seeley, who saw his first mintues as a Bear. Theo Robertson went to the bench with about 8 minutes to go, and he was the last starter still playing last night.

• Yes, the competition was suspect, but 23 assists to 11 turnovers is an encouraging statistic regardless of the opponent.

It's also quickly becoming apparent that Max Zhang is going to be a fan favorite. And why not? Sure, he's still a work in progress, but he also does things on the court that no one else can, blocking shots without jumping and drastically altering or discouraging the shots he doesn't get to.

However, due to the lopsided score, Max also got more action than he's seen before, and he responded by fouling out after just 8 minutes played.

Also discouraging: despite having the two tallest people in the building, the Bears were outrebounded 19-20, including giving up 12 offensive rebounds. Gotta do better than that, Bears.

For haltime entertainment, the Bears were treated to a demonstration from Cal's No. 7 women's volleyball team, stumping for more fans to make it out to their weekend matches with UCLA and USC. Indeed, the match vs. No. 9 UCLA should begin just about as this gets posted (5PM Friday).

Come watch us play! - Image via grfx.cstv.com

Anyway, I took a few photos of the halftime entertainment. Danzig, these are for you:

I also took a couple minutes of video, just so you can get a better feel of what the action is like. Enjoy!