First, welcome back Tom Kemp. Tom left me a comment from my most recent Baker's Dozen post. Let's put it up front and center.
Well its great to have Tom Kemp back. Tom knows the MAC very well,and it is very interesting to see Tom talk about the A10 being strong. Mind you, I don't consider the A10 a mid major conference, but hey, I'll let Tom talk about it this year if he wants! Looking forward to a lot of good post again, Tom!
Now onto other things. Tony Bozzella's Iona Lady Gaels are 3-0 after a 53-51 win at Monmouth Thursday night. Anna Ivkovic and Thazina Cook combined for 22 points in the win. Its the first time in 26 years that Iona has started the season 3-0. The Lady Gaels look to make it 4-0 when they play at Wichita State tomorrow.
Its dangerous to be a member of the Baker's Dozen. Soon as I added two teams, George Mason and Akron to the Baker's Dozen on Thursday morning, they went out and lost. The Patriots led by my favorite mid major enigmatic shooting guard, Dre Smith, shot 2 of 17 from three, en route to losing to the Pirates 50-44. Smith went 2 of 7 from the field, with all 7 shots being from outside the arc (typical). The Pirates won despite not having a single player score in double digits (huh?!). The good news for GMU was that Louis Birdsong finally had a solid scoring night leading all scorers with 15 points while Darryl Monroe chipped in with 11. The big men for Mason shot 12 of 25 while the guards shot 7 of 32 from the field. Note to Jim Larranaga. Feed the post more next time!
The other new member of the Baker's Dozen, Tom Kemp's aforementioned Akron (and not in a good way mind you) went to #6 Pitt and got smoke by Sam Young and company 86-67. DeJuan Blair had more rebounds for Pitt at halftime then the entire Zips team. Young had 26 to lead the way for Pitt.
In other mid major news, Davidson on Friday walloped Winthrop 97-70 as Stephen Curry had 30 points and a career high 13 assists. Curry seems to be taking to his new point guard duties quite well. The key for the Wildcats is that they may have found a second scoring option in forward Andrew Lovedale. Lovedale had a career high 20 points and 15 rebounds for the Wildcats.
Baker's Dozen member Middle Tennessee State played host to #13 Tennessee last night in front of a sold out crowd in Murfreesboro, home of the Blue Raiders. The Blue Raiders had the scored tied with seventeen and half minutes left but the Volunteers pulled away for a 76-66 win. Despite the Volunteers shooting 55 percent to the Blue Raiders 47 percent and being outrebounded 35-20, the Blue Raiders stayed in the game by only committing 9 turnovers to Tennessee's 16. The Blue Raiders downfall was at the line as they only shot 12 of 25 as opposed to Tennessee's 20 of 26.
San Diego continued to roll by beating Valparaiso in the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. In the Toreros 73-66 win, Gyno Pomare at 17 points, 13 in the second half. The Toreros outrebounded the Crusaders 50-30.
Southern Illinois had a rough two days in the Big Apple during the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at MSG. First #5 Duke turned a close game into a rout, downing the Salukis 83-58. There was a huge disparity at the free throw line as Duke shot 40 of 47 while SIU was only 12 of 19. Carlton Fay had 17 to lead SIU. In the consolation game, SIU was only down two at the half to #4 UCLA. But then the Bruins outscored the Salukis by 15 in the second half to win 77-60. The Salukis shot much better in their second game shooting 47 percent from the field but had 23 turnovers to UCLA's 9.
Missed free throws cost two mid major teams victories Friday night. Vermont's terrific forward Marcus Blakely missed one of two free throws with 16 seconds left which allowed Maryland's Greivis Vasquez to tie the game with a three pointer with 6 seconds left to force overtime. The Terrapins would outscored the Catamounts 17-2 in overtime to win 89-74. Blakely had a double double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Meanwhile, Iona lost in overtime to #15 Wisconsin 60-58. The Gaels only shot 9 of 15 from the line as opposed to the Badgers shooting 25 of 34. As I have noted several times on this site before, free throw shooting is a lost art and can be very costly. Ask Vermont and Iona.
Finally, a little love to the Mercer Bears. While Belmont gets all the press in the Atlantic Sun, Mercer started out to a 3-0 record with road wins over SEC members Alabama and Auburn. The Bears tried for the canasta at home vs. Georgia Tech and almost got it done. However, the Yellow Jackets won in overtime 82-76. The Bears however have a star in guard James Florence who led the Bears with 26 points. His lowest point total in four games has been 19 points. He had 23 vs. the Tide and 25 vs. the Tigers. The Bears are a team to watch in the A10 this year. It doesn't get any easier for them though with a road game coming up vs. Dayton on November 25.
Hey Gary,
It IS that time of year. Hope you are doing well and ready for a strong year of mid major hoops!
Keep an eye on Cleveland State and the Golden Flashes of Kent State with Al Fisher, Chris Singletary, and Tyree Evans being perhaps the country's best guard trio in the country. See link below about Evans who at one time was considered by many the number one high school player in the country...but he comes with risk...hope Kent knows what they are doing...see site below.
He will not be eligible until December 15th I think Akron will struggle to be .500 with 10 freshmen on the squad. Miami will have some nice wins but the MAC all in all will have a down year. I really like VCU and Mason...and the CAA in general. Finally watch the A-10. I hammered them last year but they will have 6 or 7 strong teams...keep an eye on Richmond despite losing there leading scorer and big man Dan Gerrot. St Mary's will visit Kent in two weeks! Hope all is well!