SB Nation - Wichita St. Shockers

Game Preview :: Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Wichita St. Shockers

Seth C — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:00:27 -0000

INFORMATION:	Detail
OPPONENT:	Wichita State Shockers (9-1, 0-0)
LOCATION:	Charles Koch Arena : Wichita, Kansas
DATE:	December 19, 2009
TIME:	7:00 p.m. CST
TV:	None
RADIO:	Affiliates
GAME CAST:	Fox Sports

Wichita State: The Shockers haven't really played anyone other that Pitt, where they lost on a neutral court, 55-68, and creamed Iowa, 74-57. That's not a knock (Texas Tech has only played Washington and Oregon St.) so it's hard to determine what exactly the Shockers actually are. What we do know is that the Shockers have been fantastic defensively, ranking 37th in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency and have held opponents to 43.8% eFG% (anything below 50% is pretty good). That's really good. One other note, the Shockers and Red Raiders have both played TCU. WSU handled the Frogs 80-68, a 12 point win at home, and the Red Raiders beat the Frogs by 10, 80-70, on the road.

Texas Tech: The focus of the team has been an improved defense and that's certainly been true for the best part of the year. And despite the improved defense, the Red Raiders are also playing at a decent level offensively, shooting 51% eFG%. Leading the way are Texas Tech's most important players as John Roberson (51.7%), Mike Singletary (48.3%) and D`Walyn Roberts (61.2%) are all shooting at fairly high rates.

Wichita State: Much like Texas Tech, the Shockers are a fairly balanced team, but sophomore G Toure` Murry (6-4/194) is averaging 13.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.8 steals a game. Murry is doing a ton for the Shockers this year, but junior F/C J.T. Durley (6-7/240) is second on the team in scoring and averages 11.0 points and 3.9 rebounds. Just keep in mind that the Shockers have seven players who average at least 7 points a game this year. Just think balance.

Texas Tech: PG John Roberson has been on a bit of a roll the last two games where he's averaged 23 points on 61.9% shooting. Roberson's shooting percentage overall, 44%, isn't outstanding, but it is an improvement on past years where his shots have seemed questionable and typically not in the flow of the offense. Seems like the Washington game (doesn't that seem like ages ago?) and the TCU game, Roberson took what the defense was giving him. That's a good sign for Roberson and the entire offense.

Wichita State: Pretty tough to find much fault with either team here, but in WSU's only loss of the year, against Pitt, the Shockers were out-shot at the free throw line 30-18. Other than the free throws and the fact that Pitt shot slightly better from the field, I think it may have been the fact that Pitt simply wore down the Shockers.

Texas Tech: In these early games against non-conference opponents that may not have quality big men, PK has reduced the minutes given to Darko Cohadarevic and Robert Lewandowski (only about 8 minutes a game, compared with 2008 where Lew had almost 16 minutes a game). I know that PK is playing the guys that he thinks can and will get the "W" but I also tend to think that PK has to be somewhat careful not to eliminate the big guys prior to Big 12 play. The conference has quality post players and Darko and Lew need to be ready to play.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 12.18.09

Seth C — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:31:39 -0000

Year End Photos: Hat-tip to SBN, the Boston Globe's best sports photos of the year: Part I and Part II. Part III is to post today.

Game Tomorrow Tonight:
#16/20 Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Wichita State Shockers
Television: None
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Charles Koch Arena : Wichita, Kansas
Preview: Noon post :: Game Day Thread: 6:00 p.m. post tomorrow

Ease Up on the Fast Start: FWST's Dwain Price writes that Pat Knight is not getting carried away about Texas Tech's fast start and gives credit to the players:

"I always tell people there’s no secret to coaching," he said. "If you’ve got good players it makes you a good coach. I really like this group of kids, and I think we’ve got a lot of good players."

PK has been really consistent with his stance regarding how the lack of athletes limited what he could do on defense and offense. I think I like the honesty and for everyone watching the games from last year to this year, it's obvious that that there are more athletes on this year's squad. PK also acknowledges that it's what happens in the conference that matters the most:

"No matter how well you do in the preseason, you’re still going to be judged on what you do in the conference," he said. "I just think these next five games are going to be important for us to get our confidence, to get our defense down.

"We’re still working on our rotation and just trying to get these guys more experience before we get into conference play."

Unexpected Hoops Success: Storming the Floor's Eric Angevine writes that Santa delivered unexpected hoops success to this Texas Tech squad:

Texas Tech (9-0): Honestly, I thought Pat Knight taking over for his father had echoes of a previous Big 12 nepotism case: Sean Sutton's disastrous tenure at Oklahoma State. But the younger Knight has put together a canny schedule that gives his team challenges (Oregon State and Washington) mixed in with confidence-builders over decent mids. We'll know more in a couple of weeks, as the Red Raiders travel to Wichita State and New Mexico before starting the tough Big 12 schedule.

Shockers Getting to the Line: Wichita Eagle's Paul Sullentrop writes that the success of Wichita St. has been their ability to get to the free throw line:

The Shockers are both making free throws and taking more. Last season, opponents shot 69 more free throws than WSU and made 56 more. After 10 games, WSU is outscoring opponents by 18 points (162-144) on one more attempt (212- 211).

"I know a good stat is being able to make more free throws than your opponent attempts," Marshall said. "My teams have not always done that, have rarely done that, because we shoot a fair amount of three-point shots. At the same time, I don't want there to be a (large) discrepancy."

Interview with Pat Knight: ESPN's Andy Katz interviews Michigan St.'s Tom Izzo, New Mexico's Steve Alford and Texas Tech's Pat Knight. PK starts around the 27 minute mark.

Big 12 and Miscellaneous Links: Rush the Court's Patrick Sellars checks in on the Big 12 . . . Blogger So Dear (a Wake Forest blog) interviews StatSheet's Robbie Allen . . . former Texas Tech coach Bob Knight says things that really surprise no one and asks how in the hell can Kentucky's John Calipari be coaching at Kentucky despite leaving two schools on probation (I know, it's not Calipari's fault, it's someone else's fault) . . .

Smith to Sign, Langley Signed Up: LAJ's Don Williams has a good update on the status of DE's Donald Langley and Scott Smith. I probably won't get to a post about Smith until tomorrow morning, but Williams article is good insight as why there was a delay in Smith's LOI:

Two years ago, Scott Smith left the University of California, where his college football career started. But in choosing a new school, he remembered a piece of advice from one of the former Cal assistants: After going on a recruiting visit, take two days to think it over before making any decisions.

Snip

"Two days passed, and I thought about where I wanted to be, and that was Texas Tech," Smith said, adding that one of the former Cal coaches told him to impose a two-day waiting period after returning from a visit before making any pledges.

For those of you wanting to know a little more about Smith, he's coming from the same JUCO as DE Daniel Howard, Butler Co. CC and Smith is currently rated the 4th best JUCO player by Rivals.com and this isn't just by position, this is overall.

Langley has already sent in and the staff has received his letter of intent and he certainly is no lacking in confidence:

"If I can be recruited on a national level two times and go to a big-time program like Texas Tech, it can’t be just me talking a good game," Langley said. "The proof’s on film. I really am excited about the opportunity to go to Texas Tech and get coached by coach (Charlie) Sadler and coach (Mike) Leach and coach Ruffin (McNeill)."

As an aside, Langley is the 41st best JUCO in the aforementioned Rivals rankings.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 12.15.09

Seth C — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:38:59 -0000

Red Raiders #16: For the first time in a long time, the Red Raiders are #16 in the Associated Press top 25 and #20 in the Coaches Poll. I'm happy for this group, but basketball rankings are funky early in the season and I tend to look rankings as a snap-shot of where teams are rather than where teams will eventually finish. I don't think that by the end of the year, the Red Raiders will be the 16th team in the nation, but right now, I think the publicity is great.

LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes that Pat Knight is happy his team came through against TCU:

"Our whole goal is we want to see how long we can stay in the Top 25," Knight said. "Playing TCU on Tuesday after getting ranked on Monday, I was worried we were only going to be ranked one day. The kids came through."

And PK understands that the more teams that are ranked the better the chance of being picked in the field of 65:

"We’re always worried on Selection Sunday that the Big 12 is going to get four or five in, when we should get six in and this year maybe seven," he said. "It just helps us from a tournament standpoint the more we have in the Top 25, especially in the preseason, because then when you win in your own conference those games mean even more in an RPI sense. Probably the only time we all root for each other is in the preseason."

Get to Know Roberson: ESPN's Andy Katz is showing the Red Raiders a lot of love recently and writes today that PG John Roberson is a player the nation should get to know:

• John Roberson, Jr., G, Texas Tech: The Red Raiders had a huge win at TCU to go to 9-0 under Pat Knight, and a lot of the credit has to go to Roberson. He scored 25 points last week in the win over Washington and then followed it up with 21 points and 10 assists and just four turnovers (and two steals) in the win over the Horned Frogs.

Looking Ahead to the Shockers: Kansas.com's Paul Sullentrop writes that Texas Tech is a big test awaiting the Wichita St. Shockers:

Tech's visit is a rare convergence of a nationally ranked non-conference opponent visiting Wichita when a Shocker team is playing well. No. 21 Mississippi is the last ranked non-conference team to play at WSU, during the 1997-98 season. Since 2005-06, WSU has played six ranked non-conference opponents, all on the road or at neutral sites.

Texas Tech defeated WSU 72-69 last season in Lubbock. The Shockers tied the game in the final minute after trailing by 17 at halftime.

"It's been in the back of our heads since last year, because we felt we could have won that game," WSU junior J.T. Durley said. "We took a lot of games this year, in the non-conference, personal."

Big 12 Links: FWST's Mike Jones writes that the Big 12 teams are making early statements . . . Big 12 Hoops with the Big 12 All Decade Team . . .

TCU Travles to Wichita State and Looking to Rebound after tough loss to Texas Tech

Jeremy Mauss — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:02:03 -0000

Next Game

TCU Horned Frogs (5-4)
@ Wichita St. Shockers (8-1)

Saturday, Dec 12, 2009, 5:05 PM PST
Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge - Charles Koch Arena

Complete Coverage >

TCU is trying to overcome from their previous loss to Texas Tech, which would have been their best win in a couple of years. Wichita State is from the Missouri Valley Conference and this game is part of the MVC/MWC challenge, and the Shockers are not a push over. Their best win is against Iowa and their only loss is to Pitt. This game should be a slugfest, because of the Schockers defense that is only giving up in the mid 50's. TCU is not a scoring machine but they get in the 70 point range per game, so something will give.

TCU has a few big time scorers and should be able to surpass what Wichita gives up. Zvonko Buljan, Ronnie Moss, and Edvinas Ruzgas are all studs and combine for 46 points. However, if any of those three are stopped then Witchita State will be able to take care of TCU.

TCU Stats

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Ronnie Moss	9	35.0	5.7	14.4	39.2	2.7	6.7	40.0	3.7	5.4	67.3	0.7	2.6	3.2	6.9	3.1	1.1	0.4	2.7	17.7
Zvonko Buljan	9	28.8	5.4	11.6	47.1	1.0	3.6	28.1	2.6	3.7	69.7	2.9	7.6	10.4	2.4	4.2	1.0	0.0	3.3	14.4
Edvinas Ruzgas	9	31.6	5.3	9.6	55.8	2.6	5.8	44.2	1.1	1.7	66.7	0.6	2.3	2.9	0.4	0.7	0.6	0.0	1.9	14.3
Garlon Green	9	20.0	1.7	4.1	40.5	0.1	1.1	10.0	2.3	3.1	75.0	1.2	2.0	3.2	0.2	1.3	0.1	0.6	2.4	5.8
Greg Hill	9	20.1	1.8	5.1	34.8	0.8	3.2	24.1	1.3	1.7	80.0	0.3	1.8	2.1	1.1	1.1	0.8	0.0	1.6	5.7
Kevin Butler	9	27.8	1.9	4.0	47.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.4	2.4	59.1	4.0	2.1	6.1	0.9	0.6	0.7	0.8	3.3	5.2
Keion Mitchem	9	21.8	1.7	3.8	44.1	0.8	2.3	33.3	0.6	0.9	62.5	0.7	1.8	2.4	1.2	1.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	4.7
Nikola Cerina	9	15.0	1.1	2.6	43.5	0.1	0.4	25.0	0.9	1.2	72.7	0.8	1.3	2.1	0.4	0.8	0.1	0.9	2.6	3.2
Xavier Roberson	9	6.3	0.6	1.6	35.7	0.4	0.9	50.0	0.8	1.1	70.0	0.0	0.6	0.6	0.8	1.1	0.4	0.0	1.1	2.3
Logan Lancon	4	4.3	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.3	0.5	0.3	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.8	0.0
Marin Bavcevic	1	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Wichita State Stats

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Toure` Murry	9	29.6	4.6	10.1	45.1	1.6	4.3	35.9	2.9	4.1	70.3	1.1	4.8	5.9	3.2	2.4	2.0	0.1	2.1	13.6
J.T. Durley	9	18.9	3.7	6.7	55.0	0.4	1.3	33.3	2.3	2.7	87.5	1.3	2.3	3.7	0.8	1.6	0.8	0.2	2.6	10.1
Garrett Stutz	9	17.3	3.7	7.6	48.5	0.3	0.9	37.5	1.9	2.3	81.0	2.6	2.9	5.4	0.3	1.0	0.6	0.4	2.7	9.6
Graham Hatch	9	25.6	2.3	6.0	38.9	1.7	3.8	44.1	2.3	3.0	77.8	1.2	2.0	3.2	1.8	1.1	1.0	0.1	2.0	8.7
Clevin Hannah	6	23.7	2.7	5.3	50.0	1.2	2.7	43.8	1.8	2.0	91.7	0.8	1.5	2.3	4.7	2.0	1.5	0.0	1.7	8.3
David Kyles	9	23.6	3.0	5.8	51.9	0.8	2.0	38.9	0.9	1.4	61.5	0.7	1.7	2.3	2.3	1.0	1.3	0.6	0.7	7.7
Gabe Blair	9	20.7	2.7	6.2	42.9	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.6	2.1	73.7	2.2	4.0	6.2	0.9	1.6	1.1	0.4	2.6	6.9
Aaron Ellis	9	22.2	2.6	5.0	51.1	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.6	1.0	55.6	1.2	3.0	4.2	0.8	1.0	0.8	0.6	2.4	5.7
Demetric Williams	8	14.4	1.4	3.5	39.3	0.4	1.9	20.0	0.8	1.0	75.0	0.1	0.8	0.9	1.1	1.4	0.9	0.0	2.1	3.9
Kenny Manigault	9	9.6	0.4	1.4	30.8	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.8	1.3	58.3	0.2	0.6	0.8	1.8	0.8	0.2	0.0	1.0	1.7
Bryce Mayes	6	2.5	0.3	1.2	28.6	0.2	1.0	16.7	0.2	0.3	50.0	0.2	0.5	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.2	1.0
Derek Brown	8	2.8	0.1	0.6	20.0	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.5	0.6	0.3	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.4	0.3

Pulse of the Team :: Week 3

Seth C — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:00:17 -0000

The "Pulse of the Team" is a weekly or whenever-I-get-to-it post about the state of the team, what's going well and what isn't. The Pulse of the Team looks at the week that was, the week ahead, what's trending up, what's trending down and the current player impact, courtesy of StatSheet.

Last Week:

Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
W : 63-61 (Box Score)

Saturday, November 28, 2009
Samford Bulldogs
W : 74-53 (Box Score)

This Week:

Thursday, December 3, 2009
Washington Huskies

Slightly Improved Rebounding: This has been the first time that I've been able to write that the rebounding is improving. I'm going to take this opportunity to highlight last week's game against Samford and hope the team does as well. Against SFA, the team was out-rebounded by 4 (28-32). This team seems to have been much more focused on the rebounding issue as I've read player quotes from PF D`Walyn Roberts and PF Darko Cohadarevic mention that the rebounds must improve and I believe they are taking this to heart. Against Samford, the team was much better, grabbing 35 rebounds to Samford's 20, including 9 offensive boards by the good guys. Granted, anything to this date has been against relatively weaker competition (save Oregon St.), but that's about to change relatively soon.

Playing to Competition: I think the Samford game is an indication that Pat Knight is learning how to coach. I know that PK has adjusted his lineup according to the opposition previously, but against Samford, and a very small squad, PK had the players and confidence in those players to get the job done and secure a 21 point win. The combination of guards John Roberson, Nick Okorie and David Tairu played 100 of the 200 minutes available, which means that the remaining 100 minutes generally went to SF Mike Singletary (20), SF Brad Reese (24) and PF D`Walyn Roberts (27). PK went relatively small against Samford and I hope that's an indication that he has the players to play different styles and not play his best player in Singletary (although he did have 4 fouls), yet still grab a 20 point win.

Tough Road Ahead: There's not much to get down about with this team, but I'd just like to remind everyone about the upcoming non-conference schedule, the KenPom Rank is in parentheses:

12.03.09 :: Washington Huskies (14)
12.08.09 :: @ TCU Horned Frogs (126)
12.19.09 :: @ Wichita St. Shockers (78)
12.22.09 :: Stanford Cardinal (165)
12.29.09 :: @ New Mexico Lobos (13)
01.01.10 :: McNeese St. Cowboys (313)
01.03.10 :: UTEP Miners (27)

The average KenPom ranking of the first 7 opponents was 193.71 and the average KenPom ranking of the next 7 opponents is 105.14, and that factors in a really bad McNeese St. team that's dragging down the rest of the group. There's a reason to be excited about what's happened thus far and thus far the team hasn't lost a game that they should have won. It's only a little bit of progress, but it's progress nonetheless. We'll know quite a bit more about this team after the month of December.

The one thing that this chart doesn't show are the shooting percentages. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit concerned about PG John Roberson's 39.4% shooting, although as I've mentioned before he's always shot at that rate and was hoping that he could get that shooting percentage higher. Also under 40% is SG Nick Okorie (37.2%) and SF Brad Reese (39.0%) and I'm not as concerned about those 2 players because they do not seem to take the volume of shots that Roberson can. I'd love for Roberson to be more selective and I think that percentage improves.

NCAA Basketball Stats

RPI WATCH: 11/29/09

BracketCat — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:14 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

Kansas State's Jacob Pullen (0) puts up a shot under pressure from IUPUI's Jon Avery, behind, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009, in Kansas City, Mo. Pullen scored 25 points, leading Kansas State to a 70-57 win. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Browse more photos »

A quick note about yesterday's game:

We've been a notoriously slow-starting team so far this season, but I was surprised to learn that our 40 first-half points Saturday were the most we have scored in the initial period all year. Considering how poor our offense looked at times against IUPUI's matchup zone, we must have done a few things right.

Also, these numbers were striking:

	Points	Minutes
Jacob Pullen	25	34
Dominique Sutton	14	34
Denis Clemente	12	35
Curtis Kelly	11	33
everyone else	8	11*

*average per player

We clearly missed Jamar Samuels yesterday. I have to think he would have contributed at least 10 points and probably would have helped us top IUPUI on the boards. Furthermore, we really missed his energy and ability to create on offense, as well as the matchup difficulties he presents on defense.

But the bottom line is some other players on this team need to step it up. Our five best players can't do it all, and there's simply no excuse for no other player on the team scoring more than two points. That won't cut it against teams such Xavier and UNLV.

Anyhow, you can see how our other opponents fared yesterday after the jump. I'll even give you a hint: One of them suffered a pretty nasty spider bite... (chortle) ... And another one picked up a huge quality win.

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 = 24

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

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = IUPUI

Bad Losses (RPI 100 or greater) = none

Quick discussion: Our numbers have not been this high in November in a long, long time. As long as we win three of the next five, and at least nine in conference play, there is very little doubt in my mind we will be in the Big Dance. The difference between last year's schedule and this year's needs to be measured in units of astronomical distance.

Loyola (4-1) | RPI = 27: Win over St. Ambrose (81-42)
Western Illinois (3-3) | RPI = 207: Win over Greenville (84-46)
Boston (1-4) | RPI = 141
Ole Miss (4-1) | RPI = 76
Dayton (3-2) | RPI = 42: Win over Towson (74-69)
IUPUI (5-2) | RPI = 84: Loss to Kansas State (70-57)
Fort Hays State (3-0)
Washington State (6-0) | RPI = 146: Win over San Diego (93-56)
Xavier (4-1) | RPI = 106
UNLV (5-0) | RPI = 8: Win over No. 16 Louisville (76-71)
Alabama (3-2) | RPI = 91
UAPB (0-4) | RPI = 249
Cleveland State (3-4) | RPI = 191: Loss to Wichita State (69-54)
South Dakota (3-3) | RPI = 95: Win over Dana (100-65)
Missouri (4-1) | RPI = 96: Loss to Richmond (59-52)
Texas A&M (4-1) | RPI = 25
Colorado (4-2) | RPI = 127
No. 3 Texas (4-0) | RPI = 71
Oklahoma State (5-0) | RPI = 16
Baylor (5-1) | RPI = 113
No. 1 Kansas (5-0) | RPI = 52
Nebraska (3-1) | RPI = 126
Iowa State (6-1) | RPI = 161: Loss to Northwestern (67-65)
No. 25 Oklahoma (3-3) | RPI = 214: Win over Nicholls State (81-60)
Texas Tech (7-0) | RPI = 48: Win over Samford (74-53)

IOWA TOTALLY UPSETS TEXAS (...If Second Half Were 60 Seconds Long)

Oops Pow Surprise — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:05:39 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

24 days ago: Iowa's Jarryd Cole (50) beats Texas' Damion James (5) to a rebound during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Monday, Nov. 23, 2009, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Browse more photos »

Okay, did we see this coming? Yes. And no. And yes. And no.

We did, for example, foresee the fact that Texas would throttle the Hawkeyes; that 15.5 point line seemed comically low at the time, and it's only for the pervasive power of pessimism (when it comes to our own decision) that we didn't bet December's rent on the 'Horns.

And hey, for about 21 minutes, that restraint looked brilliant. After Texas jumped out to a 29-13 lead, they stopped playing defense--possibly on account of the horse tranquilizers someone slipped into their Gatorade--and Iowa fought back to within 3 points late in the half.

Then this happened:

(Please let this video survive the night.)

Score tied at 38, and then Iowa hit a three to open up the second half scoring at 41-38.

That would be the last we heard from the Hawkeyes.

From then on, Texas scored 17 points straight, all white absolutely erasing any Iowa attempts to score. Didn't matter if it was inside, outside, whatever; Rick Barnes' crew slapped on that trademark Longhorn defense, and Iowa was just useless, hoisted contested shots or throwing frazzled passes to nobody in particular. Essentially, Iowa had no answer for defensive aggression; they knew well enough to draw a defender with a shot fake and dribble past him, but once inside the three-point line, they seemed lost. No mid-range jumper game, and that's precisely where it's most deadly--far more than a hurried pass back out to the perimeter. At least a mid-range game slows the defender down.

The rest of the half was little better for Iowa; the Horns parlayed the 17-point spurt into a 47-16 rally before Anthony Tucker--who was just brutal tonight--added a three-pointer on the last shot of the game. So, really, it was a 47-22 half, and that was bookended by two three-pointers by Iowa. That, folks, is an utter ass-pounding. 85-60 was your final. We don't know what the record is for biggest victory in a game that was tied at the half, but tonight's game was probably within 10 points of that mark--and if it isn't, we really feel bad for whoever's on the losing end of that record.

Oh, well. Texas is the third-ranked team in the nation, and uh, Iowa isn't. So it goes. Up next are the Wichita State Shockers. WSU cheerleaders, anything to say about that?

Hmm. Okay, then. See you tomorrow, cheerleader lady--and we'll bring the pinky condom just in case. No sense in getting pink eye.

November 14 Recap, November 15 TV Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:06:56 -0000

by AJ Mast - AP

about 1 month ago: Butler's Willie Veasley, left, shoots a three-point shot in front of Davidson defender Bryant Barr in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Indianapolis, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009. Butler won 73-62. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

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There was quite a bit of action on the first Saturday of the season, a day that will always have an uphill fight against football for media attention.

The two biggest matchups featured four of the best mid-major programs in the country. In Indianapolis, No. 11 Butler pulled away late to beat Davidson 73-62. It was basically the same story for No. 21 Dayton, as they beat Creighton 90-80. And after a night when Rider won at Mississippi State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi beat Oregon State in a tourament in Lubbock, and San Diego beat Stanford, the mid-majors pulled two more upsets. Ivy League favorite Cornell ruined Anthony Grant's Alabama debut.and Kent State defeated UAB. A&M-CC couldn't repeat their feat from Friday, as they lost to Texas Tech by 7.

Most major programs were a bit more lucky yesterday. Gonzaga, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State won their openers, while 14th-ranked Washington won their second straight in the round-robin event they're hosting.

A few more teams get started today, as yet another hybrid multi-team event gets started. More on today's action after the jump.

The CBE Classic opens up today, and it has the same format as its corporate sibling, the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. Instead of traveling to New York for the semifinals, the four host schools will visit the very underrated Kansas City, which hosts the CBE--or College Basketball Experience, the home of the sport's Hall of Fame. The building is conveniently a part of the Sprint Center, which hosts the final rounds. Three games from this event will be on ESPNU today, starting at 2. (All times are Eastern.)

Texas hosts UC Irvine in the tournament opener.
At 4, Wichita State opens up at home agains Fairleigh Dickinson.
At 6, Iowa faces Texas-San Antonio from the Southland Conference.

In other televised action today,

Wake Forest opens up their season in the Greensboro Coliseum against East Carolina. (MASN, 2)
Stetson, who's never made the tournaments, visits Florida, who looks to return after a two-year absence. (Select FSN and CSN Networks/Full Court, 4)
No. 6 North Carolina gets another tuneup in before they travel to New York for the Coaches vs. Cancer semifinals. They host Valparaiso today at 4 (FS South/FS Florida/NESN).
Kansas State hosts Western Illinois. (FS Kansas City/Full Court, 4)
IPFW takes on Wisconsin in Madison. (Big Ten, 5)
Sean Miller makes his official debut at Arizona when the Wildcats host Northern Arizona. (FS Arizona/FCS Pacific, 5)
Oregon looks to go 3 for 3 in the round-robin they're hosting. They face Colorado State at 6:30. (OSN/CSN Northwest)
Washington looks to do the same in their tournament, against defending Big Sky champ Portland State. (10 FSN Northwest/FCS Pacific)

TV info, as always, is from Matt Sarz's College Sports on TV site.

BtB 2009-10 Missouri Valley Conference Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:00:26 -0000

Northern Iowa was the only Valley team to make the NCAAs last season. Drake, in their only season under Keno Davis, was the only MVC squad to make it in 2008. For those of you (like me) who keep track of this kind of stuff, that's not a good trend for a conference that's used to multiple bids.

"Wait!," you say. "The Valley is a one-bid league. 2006 was an aberration."

If you look at the numbers, they tell a very different story.

In the first decade of the new century, the only two seasons when the MVC received a single bid were the last two. Sure, in some cases, one of the two bids was a bid thief who deprived a bubble team of a slot, most notably UNI's entry as 14 seed in 2004. But in most years, the Valley's entrants repaid the Committee's faith in the conference, with MVC teams recording a single win in 2001 and 2005 and multiple victories in 2002, 2006, and 2007.

The Valley even started building a reputation in the final years of the 20th century. The MVC earned multiple bids in '94, '95, '96, and '99, finishing with a .500 mark in all of those years, except for '96. Former league member Tulsa represented the conference in the Regional Semis in '94 and '95, while Missouri State reached that stage in 1999.

So, over the past 16 tournaments ('94-'09), the MVC has been a multi-bid league 12 times. The challenge for this year is to make it 13 out of 17. To help reach this goal, the conference has even entered into a challenge series with the Mountain West this year in a bid to schedule some exciting matchups and generate more attention for both leagues. (Go here to see the matchups.)

More on the teams who will attempt to make the Valley a multi-bid league again after the jump.

Let's begin with a look at the final 2008-09 Missouri Valley standings.

Missouri Valley Conference Standings

(updated 3.31.2009 at 10:55 PM EDT)

	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Creighton Bluejays	14	4	27	8
Northern Iowa Panthers	14	4	23	11
Illinois St. Redbirds	11	7	24	10
Bradley Braves	10	8	21	15
Evansville Aces	8	10	17	14
Wichita St. Shockers	8	10	17	17
Southern Illinois Salukis	8	10	13	18
Drake Bulldogs	7	11	17	16
Indiana St. Sycamores	7	11	11	21
Missouri St Bears	3	15	11	20

Now here are my picks for the 2009-10 season, presented in reverse order.

Evansville (last NCAA: 1999) The Aces climbed their way up to the middle of the Valley pack after spending most of the decade in the bottom three, but it looks very much like Marty Simmons' team will sink right back down to the bottom due to some significant losses. Most of the Aces offense has moved on, double-figure scorers Shy Ely, Jason Holsinger, and Nate Garner graduated, and freshman point guard Kaylon Williams, a truly talented passer, transferred. So, Simmons' two newcomers with experience, Valparaiso transfer Bryan Bouchie, a 6-10 center, and 6-0 point guard Monie Hudson, a late JC signee, will have to contribute immediately for UE to avoid the basement. The Purple Aces don't face a BCS school this year, but they host Butler and visit Western Kentucky.

Drake (last NCAA: 2008) The Bulldogs went from winning 15 regular season MVC games, sweeping the league's regular season and tournament crowns, and losing to WKU on a buzzer beater in the first round of the NCAAs in '08 to losing 11 league games, falling out of the MVC tournament in the first round, and losing to Idaho in the dying moments of the CollegeInsider tournament in '09. Second-leading scorer and leading rebounder Jonathan Cox (12.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg) is gone, but the backcourt is solid with seniors Josh Young (15.4 ppg) and Craig Stanley (7.9 ppg, 3.8 apg) back. They'll be supported by two intriguing newcomers, Arkansas State transfer Ryan Wedel (15.1 ppg in '07-08) and point guard Frank Wiseler, a point guard from (wait for it) Luxembourg. The frontcourt is a major area of concern for Mark Phelps, however. He'll need more out of 6-6 Adam Templeton (5.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and will have to plug in 6-8 freshman Ben Simons immediately. Besides hosting Iowa State and traveling to Iowa, the Bulldogs will participate in the Glenn Wilkes Classic. They'll host IUPUI and take on Akron, UCF, and Georgia Statein Daytona Beach.

Missouri State (last NCAA: 1999) The Bears opened up their new arena, the JQH Center, with a new coach at the helm, Quonzo Martin. The highlight of the year was an upset of Arkansas to christen the new building, but the rest of the season was disappointing, as Missouri State only managed to win 10 more times. Forwards Chris Cooks and Wayne Knapp, who combined to average over 21 points and 10 boards a game are gone, but the Bears have a lot of hope thanks to a good mix of newcomers and returnees. The National JC Player of the Year, Nafis Ricks, a 6-2 guard who averaged over 17 points a game and nearly 6 assists per contest is now on board, as are Eastern Kentucky transfer Adam Leonard, a 3-point sharpshooter; Jermaine Mallett, another JC transfer who can score; and 7-foot center Caleb Patterson, a transfer from Colorado. They'll join key returnees F Kyle Weems (10.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg), G Justin Fuehrmeyer (4.7 ppg, 2.8 apg), C Will Creekmore (7.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg), G Cardell McFarland (6.9 ppg), and F Ryan Jehle (4.9 ppg). If Martin can get some more production out of his returnees (especially on the offensive end, where they struggled) and integrate the newcomers quickly, the Bears could really surprise. Missouri State welcomes Auburn to the JQH Center this year.

Indiana State (last NCAA: 2001) Kevin McKenna's side 2008-09 campaign started badly, as they dropped 19 of their first 23. But there were two glimmers of hope during that span, a double OT win over UNI in Cedar Falls and a home win over Illinois State. The Sycamores ended up winning 7 of their last 9, completing the sweep over the Redbirds, sweeping Missouri State, and winning a game in the Valley tournament. Indiana State may be able to carry that momentum into this year, as four starters return, led by the backcourt of Rashad Reed (11 ppg) and Harry Marshall (13.6 pgg). They'll get some help from the addition of Louisiana Tech transfer Dwayne Lathan. McKenna has some issues in the frontcourt as 6-8 Jay Tunnell (12.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg) has graduated. 6-5 swingman Carl Richard showed he can be a force, but ISU may need 6-10 Brant Leitnaker, 6-8 Isiah Martin, or 6-11 Josh Crawford to step up inside. The Sycamores are in the NIT Season Tip-Off where they're in a challenging regional. They face hosts LSU first, then either Milwaukee or WKU.

Wichita State (last NCAA: 2006) The Shockers finished at .500 overall last year, 8-10 in the MVC, but it could have been a much better season. They were doomed by a 0-6 start to the Valley season, granted most of those losses weren't close. Still, a two-point home loss to Bradley and a five-point away loss to Drake are games Gregg Marshall's team wishes they had back (as is the 13-point loss at Missouri State). It wasn't a good start for a team that actually knocked off Siena at the Old Spice Classic, one of the most thrilling games I saw all year. However, the Shockers recovered enough to win a game in the Valley tournament (over Missouri State) and in the CBI (over Buffalo). Marshall brings back most of his key performers from last season, including his starting backcourt of Clevin Hannah (11.2 ppg, 4.3 apg) and Toure' Murry (11 ppg, 3.8 rpg). The frontcourt is a bit thin on experience, but the presence 6-7 J.T. Durley (8.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg) provides a solid foundation. The Shockers' scorelines show their main issue, plenty of defense, but not enough scoring. If Marshall can get more points, they'll contend for a tourney bid. WSU will open their season in the CBE Classic. They'll face Pitt in Kansas City, then either Iowa or Texas.

Bradley (last NCAA: 2006) Typical of teams who finish their league seasons at 10-8, Jim Les' Braves lacked consistency last season. They only managed two sweeps, Indiana State and Wichita State, while they were swept by Creighton and Northern Iowa. Still, 10 league and 18 overall wins got the Braves into the CollegeInsider tournament, where they fell to Old Dominion in the final. Now, Bradley must try to improve on that showing without last year's leading scorer Theron Wilson (14 ppg, 7.3 rpg). His departure leaves the frontcourt thin (which is a common thread in the Valley this year). That means 6-6 Taylor Brown and 6-9 Will Eglof, who's coming off an ACL injury, will have to be more productive this season. The backcourt, led by Sam Maniscalco (12.6 ppg, 3.1 apg) and Andrew Warren (13.2 ppg) , who's returning from a stress fracture in his foot, is in much better shape. The Braves will be challenged by a schedule that features a trip to BYU for the MVC/MWC Challenge, and games against Oklahoma State and either Illinois or Utah at the Thanksgiving Las Vegas Invitational.

Southern Illinois (last NCAA: 2007) Last year, the Salukis not only missed the NCAAs for the second year in a row, after a streak of six straight tournaments from 2002-07 (which included two Sweet 16 appearances), they suffered their first losing season since 1998. They did win 8 Valley games, but much like in the case of Wichita State, they could've done so much more, particularly in a span from January 31 to February 21 when they dropped 5 of 6 league contests and a BracketBuster against Illinois-Chicago. Chris Lowery's side will have to try to rebound without two key starters forward Tony Boyle (9.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and defensively-minded guard Bryan Mullins. The Salukis get their two leading scorers, sophomore guard Kevin Dillard (12.2 ppg) and 6-8 F Carlton Fay (10.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg), back, and they'll be joined by some interesting newcomers, led by Iowa transfer Tony Freeman, who will help Dillard out in the backcourt, and 6-9 C Gene Teague. SIU will need his help to get a boost in their inside scoring to rise up the standings. SIU travels to Las Vegas twice, once to face UNLV, and again to face San Diego and San Francisco in a neutral site event.

Creighton (last NCAA: 2007) I actually had the Blue Jays as my "Last Team In" last season, figuring the Committee would pull an "Air Force in '06" and surprise us all with the last 12 or an at-large 13. If I would've stuck with my own numbers, I would've put Arizona in and been perfect on at-larges for two years in a row. C'est la vie. This year, the Jays look like a team who could be on the bubble again. Dana Altman has two significant holes to fill, as not only is point guard Josh Dotzler (3 ppg, 3.5 apg) gone, but Booker Woodfox (15.8 ppg, 47.6% from 3) is no longer there to make pressure shots for Creighton. Expect P'Allen Stinnett, who averaged 12.5 points per game last year, to have an even bigger impact this season, along with swingman Justin Carter (8.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg)--one of the better defenders on the team, sharpshooter Kaleb Korver (3.7 ppg), Cavel Witter (7.7 ppg), and Antoine Young (4.9 ppg). The frontcourt is a bit thin on experience, especially as backup center Kenton Walker transferred after last year. Starting C Kenny Lawson (8.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg) can be a force, while 6-6 JC transfer Wayne Runnels, 6-7 frosh Ethan Wragge, and 6-8 senior Chad Millard will need to provide substantial levels of support to take the scoring load off the perimeter players. The Jays travel to Disney World for the Old Spice Classic, where they open against Michigan, with Marquette or Xavier to follow in their second game. Creighton also visits Dayton and George Mason, in what should in an interesting non-BCS triangular series.

Illinois State (last NCAA: 1998) The Redbirds have been close to breaking down the Tournament doors the past two years, but their non-conference schedule has been criticized heavily during both seasons. Last year, Illinois State skidded at the end of the year, losing badly at Niagara in a BracketBuster, then dropping two heartbreakers to their main league rivals. They recovered to make the Valley final, where, despite Osiris Eldridge's best efforts, UNI again broke their hearts in OT. The Redbirds closed their season with a close loss at Kansas State in the NIT. While Tim Jankovich lost two starters, guards Emmanuel Holloway (10.3 ppg, 2.8 apg) and Champ Oguchi (15.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg), Eldridge (14 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.4 apg) is back and so is Lloyd Phillips (10.6 ppg, 3.6 apg), meaning the backcourt is still in good shape. 6-8 center Dinma Odiakosa, who averaged nearly 9 points and 8 boards a game last year, will be the key man in the frontcourt, and he'll get support from 6-6 Bobby Hill, who's coming off a knee injury, 6-7 JC transfer Tony Lewis, and 6-8 Blake Mishler, who transferred from East Tennessee State. Eldridge will hope to carry his team to the Dance, but he'll need a lot of help from the redesigned frontcourt to get there. The non-league schedule should again provide a lot of wins, as a home date with Central Michigan and back-to-back December road trips to Ohio and Utah are the biggest hurdles.

Northern Iowa (last NCAA: 2009) The Panthers hold the top spot as they return all five starters off a team that won both the MVC regular season and tournament crowns before falling to Purdue in a close, but ugly game in the first round of the NCAAs. Junior guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe (11.8 ppg, 3.1 apg) runs the offense, and he's helped out in the backcourt by sharpshooters Ali Farokhmanesh (9.6 ppg) and Johnny Moran (8.4 ppg). In a league where many teams are frontcourt-challenged, the combo of 6-9 Adam Koch (12.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2 apg) and 7-foot center Jordan Egelseder (10.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg) is hard to get around. Koch's younger brother, Jake, who's also 6-9, should also see action this year after redshirting last season. UNI also finished last year first in the league in field goal percentage and second in field goal percentage defense, and they should remain a solid team all-around. The Panthers face DePaul in their first game at the Paradise Jam. If they win that, they'll probably face Tennessee in the semifinals. UNI also welcomes Iowa and Siena to Cedar Falls, while they travel to Iowa State.

The Panthers are my pick to win the Valley's auto bid this season, so they'll appear in my Final Preseason Bracket, which I'll release on Monday, November 9. Now, to wrap up this preview, here is my preseason All-MVC team, featuring the best returning players from last season.

Preseason All-MVC Team

Player of the Year: Osiris Eldridge, 6-3 G/F, Sr. (Illinois State)

Remainder of the Team
Kwadzo Ahelegbe, 6-2 G, Jr. (Northern Iowa)
Jordan Egelseder, 7-0 C, Sr. (Northern Iowa)
Adam Koch, 6-9 F, Sr. (Northern Iowa)
P'Allen Stinnett, 6-3 G, Jr. (Creighton)

Poll

Who is your pick to win the MVC this season?

Bradley

89 votes

Creighton

12 votes

Drake

4 votes

Evansville

1 votes

Illinois State

8 votes

Indiana State

1 votes

Missouri State

1 votes

Northern Iowa

14 votes

Southern Illinois

29 votes

Wichita State

8 votes

167 votes | Poll has closed

Conference tournament wrap: 3/6/09

Mike Rutherford — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 15:03:47 -0000

Cornell became the first squad to punch its dance ticket last night by clinching an outright Ivy League title. Friday also saw a great day of quarterfinal action in the Valley, as well as the first toppling of a No. 1 seed this postseason.

Three titles are on the line Saturday, but first, let's look at the best of the day that was.

Game of the Night

2) Creighton 63, 7) Wichita State 62 (Missouri Valley)

All four quarterfinal tilts in the Valley were entertaining, but second-seeded Creighton and No. 7 Wichita State provided the game of the '09 postseason thus far.

After trailing by as many as 22 in the second half, Wichita State took a one-point lead after Toure' Murray buried a three-pointer with nine seconds to play. Creighton failed to convert on the other end, but a Shocker player dropped the rebound and the ball went our-of-bounds and back to the Bluejays with 1.9 to play. Naturally, MVC Player of the Year Booker Woodfox got the ball in his hands and buried a jumper (see the video here) to beat the buzzer and keep Creighton's Missouri Valley - and probably NCAA Tournament - title hopes alive.

"I'm excited we won but I'm extremely disappointed with what happened in that last 10 minutes," Creighton coach Dana Altman said. "By the time I got to the locker room, I was very upset. I didn't let them off the hook.

"I got after them. If we're going to win a championship, we're going to have to play better basketball than that."

Woodfox missed all five shots he attempted in the first half, but scored 17 in the second.

Creighton (26-6) moves on to face Illinois State in Saturday's semifinals.

Upset of the Night

4) Morehead State 62, 1) Tennessee-Martin 55 (Ohio Valley)

Lester...no exclamation point.

Two-time OVC PLayer of the Year Lester Hudson scored 34 of UT-Martin's 55 points and snatched 10 of its 27 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to get the top-seeded Skyhawks into the conference title game for the first time.

I am more upset for No. 5 (Hudson) than anybody else," said UTM coach Bret Campbell. "He came to play, and he didn't get any help.

"Lester makes his teammates better, but his teammates didn't allow that to happen. After everything he has done for this program, we couldn't let him dance. It is disappointing that the country won't see him in the NCAA's field of (65)."

Morehead State was led by Kenneth Faried's monster 22-point, 17-rebound performance.

As a result of their regular season title, Tennessee-Martin has earned an automatic bid to the NIT.

Player of the Night

Lester Hudson (Tennessee-Martin/Ohio Valley)

Martin earns the honor for the second time this week after dropping 34 and 10 in his final collegiate game.

Honor Roll

Kenneth Faried (Morehead State/Ohio Valley)

Scored 22 points and snatched 17 rebounds in his team's semifinal upset of NO .1 UT-Martin.

Courtney Pigram (East Tennessee State/Atlantic Sun)

Scored a game-high 30 points as ETSU knocked off three-time defending champion Belmont in the A-Sun semis.

Ryan Wittman (Cornell/Ivy League)

Led Cornell with 25 points as the Big Red clinched their second consecutive Ivy League championship.

Shy Ely (Evansville/Missouri Valley)

Kept the Purple Aces in their quarterfinal loss to Illinois State by scoring 29 points.

Dior Lowhorn (San Francisco/West Coast)

Scored a career-high 32 points for the Dons in a losing effort.

Full Results

Ohio Valley (Semifinals)

4) Morehead State 62, 1) Tennessee-Martin 55
2) Austin Peay 67, 3) Murray State 50

Atlantic Sun (Semifinals)

1) Jacksonville 88, 4) Lipscomb 72
2) East Tennessee State 88, 3) Belmont 74

Horizon League (Quarterfinals)

3) Cleveland State 67, 7) Illinois-Chicago 64
4) Wright State 80, 5) Milwaukee 70

Missouri Valley (Quarterfinals)

1) Northern Iowa 73, 9) Indiana State 69
2) Creighton 63, 7) Wichita State 62
3) Illinois State 78, 6) Evansville 68
4) Bradley 67, 5) Southern Illinois 55

America East (First Round)

9) Hartford 65, 8) Maine 56

Colonial Athletic Association (First Round)

5) Hofstra 79, 12) UNC-Wilmington 66
11) Towson 73, 6) Drexel 62
7) James Madison 70, 10) William & Mary 48
8) Georgia State 54, 9) Delaware 41

Metro Atlantic Athletic (First Round)

10) Marist 43, 7) Iona 40
9) Canisius 74, 8) Loyola 68

Southern (First Round)

3N) Samford 57, 6S) Furman 52
3S) Charleston 69, 6N) UNC-Greensboro 56
4N) Appalachian State 86, 5S) Georgia Southern 75
5N) Elon 62, 4S) Wofford 55

West Coast (First Round)

5) San Diego 62, 8) Loyola Marymount 56
6) Pepperdine 93, 7) San Francisco 85