Mid Major Hoops

Drexel Downs Mason, Hofstra Beats St Joe's Again and Delaware Finally Wins

It was a very interesting night in the CAA.   First and foremost, Drexel (9-2, 1-0 CAA) looks to be the team to beat in the CAA after pulling away from George Mason (5-6, 0-1 CAA) in the second half, downing the Patriots 61-49.  Dominick Mejia had his biggest game of the season leading the way with 20 points including 6 of 14 from three point range.  Chaz Crawford had 8 points and 14 rebounds, while Frank Elegar chipped in with 12 points and 7 rebounds for the Dragons.  Will Thomas led the way for the Patriots with 19 points and 8 rebounds.   

Drexel was only up two at halftime before pulling away in the second half.  Mason actually outshot the Dragons in field goal percentage and in free throws.  However, the big difference was in three point shooting; the Dragons were 9 of 20 from three point land compared to the Patriots 1 of 9. 

Meanwhile at Madison Square Garden, I was there at the Holiday Festival to watch Loren Stokes hit a jumper with less than three seconds left to lift Hofstra (7-4, 1-0 CAA) to a 65-63 win over St Joseph's in a rematch of last year's NIT second round contest (also won by Hofstra).  The Pride overcame an eleven point second half deficit to win the game.  Stokes and Rivera each had 15 points and Antoine Agudio added 14 points. 

However, the biggest contribution in the Hofstra game perhaps came from Chris Gadley who came off the bench to chip in 8 points and 9 rebounds in 24 minutes of action before fouling out.  Gadley helped give the Pride a 28 -21 rebound advantage.  The Hawks were led by Aaron Nivins with 14 points and Robert Ferguson chipped in with 12.  The Hawks shot 50 percent from the field, but only shot 57 percent from the free throw line as opposed to Hofstra shooting 82 percent from the line.

Hofstra will play St John's in the championship game of the Holiday Festival.  St John's barely beat Boston University in overtime 45-44 in what might have been the ugliest men's college basketball game I ever saw live.  It was, in a way, really really bad streetball.  An undisciplined, bad shooting turnover fest.

Delaware (1-9, 0-1 CAA) is no longer winless and they did it in style.  Herb Courtney and Sam McMahon combined for 42 points as Delaware easily defeated Niagara 71-53 in the first round of the LaSalle Invitational in Philly.  Delaware had lost its previous nine games before this win and now only Iona is the only winless team in Division I at 0-10 (ironic since Iona made the NCAA tournament last season).  Delaware shot 52 percent from the field and was 11 of 19 from the three point arc.  Delaware now plays Holy Cross in the championship game.  The Crusaders crushed the home team Explorers 68-48.

Finally, William and Mary (6-4, 0-1 CAA) continues its under the radar winning ways defeating Hampton 72-67 at home.  Laimis Kisielius led the Tribe with 18 points, while Adam Payton and Nathan Mann each chipped in with 12.

Miscellaneous Goings On

First, if you read this blog (all five of you), you may see the comment listed below by John, which I still can't figure out.  Wisconsin is ranked #5 in the country and Pitt is #12, not the other way around.  Marquette is ranked in the top 25 in both the AP and ESPN polls.   Don't understand the rant dude.  Besides, we're mid major hoops talk here...mostly. :-)

Ok, more important things.  Mid major hoops.  Wichita State had their stumble this past week, losing twice to New Mexico (9-3) and USC (10-3).  It happens and its not exactly like Wichita State lost to Charlotte and Manhattan (yes that was a dig at Hofstra).  The Shockers will right themselves, they're too good a team.   

Did anyone notice a week ago Wright State knocking off Marist 63-53?  Marist had been one of the hottest mid major teams in the country with wins over Old Dominion and Minnesota.  Well, guess who the head coach of Wright State is?  Brad Brownell.  Yup, the former head coach of UNC Wilmington left the Seahawks due to differences with the athletic director and went to Wright State.    The Raiders have struggled this year, including a 39 point pasting by Bradley, but the win over the Red Foxes was a huge step in the Wright direction (ok, bad pun).  Brownell is a terrific coach and look for the Raiders to improve over the next few seasons.

Finally, give it up for Appalachian State (10-3).  They go into the San Juan shootout and knock off Virginia, Central Florida, and Vanderbilt to win the tournament.  Donte Minter scored 27 in the win over the Commodores while Nathan Cranford had 18 in the win over UCF and  23 in the win over Virginia.  Next up for the Mountaineers, a tough road contest at VCU.

How about Drexel (9-2)?   Drexel comes from behind at the Carrier Dome and upsets Syracuse 84-79.  Then the Dragons just crush Big Five rival Temple 69-54.  Combine that with their impressive wins over Villanova and St Joe's, and Drexel is the best team in Philly right now.  The difference between this year and last.  Simply put, Frank Elegar.   Elegar had 23 points and 13 rebounds vs St Joe's; 27 points and 10 rebounds against Syracuse; and 14 points and 11 rebounds vs Nova and Curtis Sumpter.   That's where the Dragons tailed off last year.  No inside scoring presence.  Drexel had been effective in years past with Robert Battle (one of my favorite CAA players in recent history) and Mark Brooks inside, but went away from that last year and struggled.  Nice to see some teams realize inside post play wins games.

Where one CAA team succeeded in Syracuse, another failed miserably last Friday.  I was at the Carrier Dome this past Friday when Syracuse dominated Hofstra (6-4, 1-0 CAA) 85-60.  Its the same old story for Hofstra.  Too much perimeter 3 point shooting and not enough post inside play for the Pride.  The Hofstra two big men, Mike Davis Sabb and Chris Gadley combined for....1 point.  Yes, 1 point.   Well its hard to score points when your big men only attempt 3 field goals, while the four guards for Hofstra (Loren Stokes, Antoine Agudio, Carlos Rivera and 6th man Greg Johnson) shot a combined 19 for 56 (Rivera and Johnson were 3 of 20 from the field).  Hofstra was outscored in the frontcourt 34-5.  That was the difference in the game and has been the difference all year for the Pride.    Where Drexel has succeeded, Hofstra has failed this year;  Lack of inside presence on both sides of the court.

Big game in the CAA this week - George Mason at Drexel. This may determine who is the elite team in the CAA.  Look for Drexel to win this game.

CAA Power Rankings
1) Drexel - Wins over St Joe's, Villanova and now Syracuse give them the #1 ranking.  Huge game against the Patriots on Thursday.
2) Old Dominion - Game against Winthrop on the 29th not an easy one. Winthrop has played UNC, Maryland, and Wisconsin very tough
3) VCU - another team with a tough non conference opponent in surging Applachian State.
4) George Mason - a chance to right themselves vs the Dragons.
5) Hofstra - Holiday Festival tournament vs St Joe's and with a win possibly St John's.  Need 2 wins here.
6) UNC Wilmington - On the road vs NC State before home game vs. Hofstra on January 3rd.
7) Towson - Hung in there vs. Temple before getting pasted by Georgetown.  Too much Gary Neal.  Neal scores 26, rest of team scores 15.  Subtract Neal and team shoots 5 of 33 vs Hoyas. Ugh.
8) Northeastern - Another team with tough road game, tomorrow night at Louisville.
9) Georgia State - How do you rebound off a 42 point loss at Iowa.  Go on the road and face undefeated Clemson?  Um, not the way to go.
10) William and Mary - The good news.  They're 5-4 overall.  The bad news, combined record of teams they have beaten - 16-39.
11) James Madison - What's the old motto - If you can't say anything good, don't say anything at all. Ok.
12) Delaware - If not for the fact that James Madison plays in this conference, Delaware might not get a win the entire year.

Old Habits Die Hard

Yes, as a reader pointed out, Virginia Tech is in the ACC and has been for a couple of years now.   Sorry, old habits die hard. :-)

CAA Miscellaneous

If you have looked at the most recent College Insider Mid Major College Poll, three CAA teams are ranked #13, #14, and #15 respectively -  Drexel, Hofstra, and Old Dominion.   All have similar records (6-2 Drexel, 6-3 Hofstra, 6-3 Old Dominion).  But if you look at the records closely, two teams records are legitimate, Drexel and Old Dominion, while another's, Hofstra's looks very suspect.

Drexel has come on strong of late having won its last four.  The Dragons first got by a very underrated Toledo team that has played a strong schedule.  Toledo lost to Kansas at Kansas by only 10, 68-58 and has played Missouri State, Iowa, VCU (which they defeated), and Vanderbilt.  Drexel then crushed St Joseph's by 16, then in their most impressive win of the year, the Dragons downed Villanova 81-76, after being down by as many as eight points. Nova had looked impressive in their previous game, a 16 point win at Oklahoma.  Drexel has had its typical bad games, a 68-49 brickfest loss at Penn, and an eight point loss at Rider (who is not bad actually). 

What's interesting is that neither of the two leading scorers for the Dragons is Dominick Mejia.  Frank Elegar leads the Dragons in scoring at 14.3 points a game and Bashir Mason is second at 13.3 points a game.  Mejia is only averaging 9.4 points a game and 24 minutes a game, which
leads me to believe he is still in the Bruiser Flint doghouse.  Of course, Drexel's trademark rough and tough defense has been evident.  Elegar and Chaz Crawford combine for 16 rebounds a game and 5.6 blocks a game.  Flint can shuttle the 6-9 Elegar, the 6-10 Crawford and 6-7 Randy Oveneke around which gives the Dragons a significant advantage in size and strength in the post on offense and defense.

Old Dominion started off like gangbusters, including an impressive road win over then #8 ranked Georgetown.  struggled of late, losing two out of its last three at Virginia Tech and Marist (winning at JMU).  The Marist loss of course is no shame, Marist is #9 in the Mid Major Top 25 Poll and Virginia Tech is of course a Big East team and is not bad (the Monarchs other loss was vs. Clemson earlier in the year).  What's most interesting for the Monarchs is their leading scorer - Valdus Vasylius, averaging 15.8 points per game.   Even more interesting is that no Monarchs player, with the exception of Drew Williamson (at 30.6 minutes a game), averages more than 30 minutes a game. In fact, nine Monarchs players average 10 minutes a game or more.  This is consistent with coach Blaine Taylor's philosophy of keeping his players fresh.  Anyone who saw the NIT quarterfinal game vs Hofstra this year knows that Taylor's philosophy works and comes in very handy during the CAA tournament.

Hofstra however has played a very very soft schedule so far.  The combined record of the teams they have defeated in their six straight wins is an awful 13-34.  What may be even less impressive is the combined record of the teams they have lost to (Charlotte, Manhattan, and Hawaii) is 10-15.  Charlotte for example has lost at Davidson by 28 and lost to North Texas at home by 18.   

Hofstra's has two problems.  First, simply put, they significantly lack an inside post presence on offense and defense. They average an anemic 31 rebounds a game.  Their inside players, Zygis Sestokas (who is really a 3 guard), Mike Davis Sabb,  Arminas Urbutis, Chris Gadley, and Mantas Leonavicius average 19.8 points a game and get this, 14.3 rebounds a game.  Last year, Aurimas Kieza and Adrian Uter, both lost to graduation, averaged more points and more rebounds combined by themselves.  They are consistently being outrebounded every game, including by 0-11 St. Francis this past Tuesday night.  The real disappointment is Gadley, who only averages 7.7 minutes and 1.4 rebounds a game after being the main replacement for Uter off the bench last year. 

Second, a consistent phrase I have read in several post game articles, "We're didn't come out and play hard".  Here's a few of those quotes from Newsday articles

November 11 after losing to Charlotte, comment is made by one of the Hofstra players that they didn't come out and play hard in the first half, which resulted in them trailing by 19 at halftime.

November 19 after losing to Manhattan - "We just weren't mentally prepared for the game and it showed out there on the court," said Hofstra senior guard Loren Stokes. "They came out and brought the fight to us. We didn't come out with intensity."

December 12 after barely beating 0-11 St Francis -  "We didn't come out and play hard," Stokes said. "The responsibility is on us [players]."

You would think a team that was snubbed from the NCAA tournament this past season would come out and play hard every night with something to prove, especially in the season opener.  That has not been the case with Hofstra.

The key games to watch next week are when Syracuse plays both Drexel on Tuesday and Hofstra on Friday.  It will be interesting to see how those two games play out and what team will be a tougher task for Syracuse.  I will be at the Hofstra/Syracuse game next Friday and will give you an in depth analysis over that weekend.

CAA Notes

Goings on this past week in the CAA;

(5-2, 1-0 CAA) Old Dominion lost for only the second time this year 84-71 at Marist on Wednesday.  Valdus Vasyilus led the Monarchs off the bench with 15 points while Arnaud Dahi was limited to just seven points.  The one two punch of Jared Jordan and Will Whittington , as usual, led the way for Marist combining for 50 points for the Red Foxes on 10 of 22 shooting from three point land. 

But Monarch fans should take note that this was not such a bad loss.  The Red Foxes at 5-2 are a solid team, a team that finished third in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando Thanksgiving weekend with wins over Western Michigan and Minnesota.  Marist lost in the semifinal round to eventual tournament champion Arkansas.

The Monarchs made up for it by winning their opening CAA conference game, a 70-57 win over James Madison (2-4, 0-1 CAA).  Drew Williamson scored 17 points and Valdus Vasylius poured in 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead the way for ODU. 

The Dukes were led by Juwann James who had 14 points. Joe Posey added 11 for the Dukes.  The Dukes lost to Eastern Kentucky earlier in the week at home 70-66.  Posey led the way with 17 points, James had 11 for the Dukes.

(2-4, 0-1 CAA) UNC Wilmington lost on Sunday 91-70 to College of Charleston but rebounded and downed Colorado 67-55 on Thursday.  Against College of Charleston, Vladimir Kuljanin led the way with a double double, 16 points and 10 rebounds.  In the win over the Buffaloes, Daniel Fountain scored a career high 21 points as the Seahawks held Colorado to 18 points in the second half.  It was the first time this season that the Seahawks held their opponents under 80 points.

However on Saturday, the Seahawks traveled to Northeastern (2-5, 1-0 CAA) and while the Seahawks again held their opponents under 80 points, the Huskies downed UNC Wilmington 58-51 in the CAA opener for both teams.  Bennett Davis had 12 points, 8 rebounds and 7 blocks to lead the Huskies.  Adrian Martinez had 12 and Jeff Horowitz added 11 for the Huskies.  Vladimir Kuljanin again led the Seahawks with 20 points.  Northeastern held the Seahawks to  2 of 17 shooting from the three point arc.   

(4-2) Drexel lost on Monday to Rider 89-81 but bounced back to defeat Toledo at home 57-52 on Wednesday then convincingly downed St Joseph's 72-56 at the Palestra.    Bashir Mason led the Dragons against Rider with 26 points while Dominick Mejia was held to five shot attempts and two points in 22 minutes.  In the win over the Rockets, Frank Elegar led the way with 15 points and nine rebounds.  Mason chipped in with 12 points.  Again, Mejia was held to five shot attempts and only scored 6 points in 15 minutes of action due to foul trouble.  However, Mejia returned to form against the Hawks by scoring 19 points. Elegar led the way again for the Dragons with 23 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.  Chaz Crawford chipped in for Drexel with 7 blocks as the Dragons held the Hawks leading scorer Ahmad Nivens to 1 point for the game on only 5 shot attempts.

(4-3, 1-0 CAA) Hofstra survived a late scare in Albany and held onto to defeat Siena 84-80 on Wednesday.   Carlos Rivera led the way for Hofstra with 26 points including 10 of 10 from the line.  Loren Stokes scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half to help the Pride even their record at .500.  Antoine Agudio added 17 for the Pride.  Unfortunately, Stokes and Antoine Agudio, who chipped in 17 points,  combined for an abysmal 3 for 10 from the line. 

The Pride followed that up with a late rally on Saturday to defeat Georgia State (3-4. 0-1 CAA) 62-59 in their conference opener at home.  The Pride had been up as many as 13 points before Georgia State made a second half run and actually led 59-57 before Hofstra scored the last 5 points of the game.  Stokes led the Pride with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.  Mike Davis Saab added 14 points and 8 rebounds.  Rivera and Agudio each added 10 points.  Agudio and Stokes again shot poorly from the line, going 4 for 8 from the charity stripe.

Lance Perique led the Panthers with 17 points.  Deven Dickerson had 10 points and 9 rebounds for the Panthers. The Panthers won earlier in the week , defeating Savannah State 70-60.  Leonard Menedez led the way with 19 points and Perique added 15 in the win.   The  Panthers made more free throw attempts (25) than Savannah State had attempts (20).

George Mason (3-3) had an up and down week, winning easily at home over FIU 65-39 but then losing to Bucknell in the BB&T Classic game on Sunday 60-57. Dre Smith came off the bench and scored a  career high 20 points in the win.  Smith was the only player in double digits in points for the Patriots.  In the loss to Bucknell, Folarin Campbell led the Patriots on Sunday with 20 points. However George Mason only attempted four free throws the entire game (they made all four attempts).   Mason's 3-3 record is very misleading in the fact that they lost their three games to a 2006 Sweet Sixteen team in Wichita State, a 2006 NIT team (and a definite NCAA bubble team) in Creighton, and a 2006 NCAA tournament team in Bucknell by a total of 11 points.

(5-2) VCU capped off an impressive week by dominating Houston 102-84 on Saturday.   Earlier in the week, the Rams crushed Elon 91-49.  In the game against the Cougars, Eric Maynor scored a career high 28 points, B.A.Walker added 26, and Jesse Pellot Rosa chipped in with 20 to lead the way for the Rams.  In the game against Elon, five Rams scored in double figures - Maynor had 15 points, Walker had 14, TJ Gwynn 13, Pellot Rosa 11 and Michael Anderson added 10 as the Rams shot 56 percent from the field.

(3-3) William and Mary won their tip off classic, a 73-68 overtime win over Cornell.   Laimius Kisielius came off the bench and scored 20 points to lead the Tribe to the come from behind win.  The Tribe were down as many as 12 points in the second half before storming back to force overtime.  Nathan Mann also came off the bench and added 15 points for the Tribe.  William and Mary lost at Navy earlier in the week 79-63.  Adam Trumbower and Adam Payton each had 12 points for the Tribe in the loss.

Towson (4-3) downed Vermont at Vermont 67-54 Friday night.  Gary Neal scored 29 points including 8 of 8 from the line to lead the Tigers. Tim Crossin added 13 for Towson.  Towson opens their CAA schedule at William and Mary tomorrow night. 

Delaware (0-6) is still looking for their first win after losing to the aforementioned Catamounts on Sunday 57-55 at home. Zaire Taylor led the Blue Hens with 19 points. Delaware was outrebounded 42-30, shot only 36 percent from the field and also committed a season high 16 turnovers.  Earlier in the week Delaware lost at Loyola Maryland 75-63.  Taylor again led the Blue Hens with 30 points, 23 of them coming in the second half.

Moore's CAA Power Rankings as of December 4

1) Old Dominion - Georgetown not as good as everyone thought, but Monarchs look to be solid.
2) Drexel - Impressive win over St Joe's puts them here.
3) George Mason - Team is better than record.
4) VCU - Anthony Grant run and gun style fits athletic VCU to a T.
5) Hofstra - Must improve frontcourt defense, free throw shooting and shot selection
6) Towson - Must be more than the Gary Neal show. Dennard Abraham where are you?
7) NC Wilmington - Loss at Northeastern may be a bad sign of things to come.
8) Northeastern - Bennett Davis, the new Shawn James?
9) Georgia State - Athletic - yes.  Erratic - yes. By the way, why doesn't Devon Dickerson start?
10) William and Mary - Bench producing more than starters. uh oh
11) James Madison - Seen them here before..little hope of going higher up
12) Delaware - Not much fight in these blue hens.