Stony Brook an AE contender and random variance

Wednesday provided three illustrations of different ways to win and lose basketball games. Stony Brook delivered a crushing blow to UMBC, 89-49. Fordham was on the other side in an 80-62 loss to Saint Joseph’s and Hofstra lost a heartbreaker to Northeastern 64-62 to fall to 0-5 in CAA play.

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Hofstra with an early season “need to win” tonight

It’s too early in conference play to call any game a “must win,” but Hofstra certainly has a “need to win” tonight when Northeastern comes to the Mack Center. The Pride are 0-4 in CAA play, having already lost as many conference games as they did all of last season, and  are quickly falling behind the pack. The only other winless team thus far in conference play is Towson, and no one wants to be associated with the Tigers and losing streaks.

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New York Mid-Major Non-Conference Teams

Nobody is in action today as we get ready for conference play, so it’s time to look back once more and name the All-New York Mid-Major Non-Conference teams. There are a lot of talented players to pick from in the New York City area. If I left your favorite player off one of the teams below let me know in the comments. I don’t like expanding beyond two teams, even though it’s possible, because at some point you just start including everyone and I wanted to avoid that situation.

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Assist Tracker: Dec. 29

Keegan Bell (G, Chattanooga) — Bell got to play against Longwood last night and he took advantage of the situation going off for 16 assists, 10 points and nine rebounds in the 85-50 win. Eight of Bell’s assists were for threes and the Mocs only made nine. He also assisted on five layups and three dunks. The player distribution was pretty even five of Omar Wattad’s six baskets came off assists from Bell. Wattad was Chattanooga’s leading scorer with 18 points.

Matthew Dellavedova (G, St. Mary’s) — The west coast Gaels welcomed BYU into the WCC with a convincing 98-82 win in which Delledova played magnificently. He had 18 points, 12 assists and six rebounds in the win. Stephen Holt, who scored 21 points, was the greatest beneficiary on the night. He got four assists from Dellavedova. Half of Dellavedova’s assists went for layups as St. Mary’s just dissected the Cougars’ defense.

Neil Watson (G, Southern Miss) — Southern Miss is 12-2 after trouncing Alcorn State 80-49 last night. In that game Watson had 10 assists off the bench. None of those 10 assists were on a shot near the basket. He recorded assists on four threes and six jumpers. You don’t see that very often. Credit his teammates Jonathan Mills (19 points, 7-13), Darnell Dodson (16 points, 6-12) and LaShay Page (10 points, 3-11 — all makes off Watson assists) for knocking down the shots.

Scott Machado (G, Iona) — Yes, Machado ended up with 10 assists last night, but he also had five first half turnovers and really struggled with foul trouble. Half of those assists went to Mike Glover. Those five resulted in two dunks, two layups and a jumper. Momo Jones got three of the others. Three of Machado’s 10 assists were on jumpers as Hofstra’s defense forced him to pass out instead of in for most of the game.

Dwan McMillan (G, Hofstra) — Part of the reason for that was the pesky play of McMillan. He had nine assists in the game. Just one of the eight assists were for a basket around the rim (a layup by Mike Moore). There were five jumpers and three threes in the mix as well. Moore (24 points) and Nathaniel Lester (21 points) each knocked down three shots off passes from McMillan.

Kendall Marshall (G, North Carolina) — Marshall had eight points – on a perfect shooting night – and eight assists in 22 minutes as North Carolina rocked Elon 100-62. His eight assists included three dunks, two layups, two threes and a jumper. John Henson got two of the dunks. Harrison Barnes had the third.

Trey Burke (G, Michigan) — Freshman Burke had 13 points and seven assists – though the play-by-play says eight – and held Tim Frazier to four assist and five turnovers in Michigan’s 71-53 win over Penn State. (Note: Frazier did have 20 points.) Playing in John Beilein’s offense it’s not surprise that five of Burke’s assists in the play-by-play went for threes.

Kenneth Ortiz (G, Wagner) — The Seahawks have eight wins over non-conference opponents, the most in school history after a 72-61 victory over Air Force. It was Wagner’s most efficient offensive game of the season and Ortiz had 10 points and seven assists. Unfortunately there’s no play-by-play on ESPN for the game, so I can’t break them down. But I thought his performance should be noted here.

5 Thoughts from Hofstra’s 83-75 win over Iona

Iona rolled into the Mack Sports Complex at Hofstra with a 10-2 record and hopes of receiving an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament. The Gaels had been road warriors, winning six of their last seven, all away from home. But it was Hofstra, still searching for the right formula after the graduation of Charles Jenkins that pulled out that raced out to a 15-point halftime lead and pulled out a convincing 83-75 victory on Thursday night. Here’s five thoughts from that game, including some post game quotes.

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CAA Projection: VCU’s not dead yet

There’s been a lot of doom and gloom about VCU this season. The Rams are suffering from a “Final Four hangover” if you listen to the typical pundit, so of course they’re 9-3 (1-0 in the CAA) and are ranked 48th in Pomeroy. Nope, Shaka Smart has his team right where he wants them as they enter conference play. Also, the CAA is down this season. It’s a one-bid league probably. Thus, who finishes first in conference play, which starts back up January 2, is even more important.

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Thursday Round Up / Friday Previews

Fordham and Hofstra both got wins on Thursday and NJIT even threw a pre-Christmas scare into a young Rutgers team. For the Rams and Pride the wins were solid bounce backs from losses and provide jumping off points for some more challenging games on the horizon. Also, there’s three teams in action tonight as Manhattan takes on George Mason, Wagner is at #13 Pittsburgh and St. Francis (NY) hosts Norfolk State.

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Three Bob Cousy Nominees and Notes

Three local guys have been nominated for the Bob Cousy Award. Brian Barbour of Columbia, Bryan Dougher of Stony Brook and Scott Machado of Iona are all on the list. Of course Barbour and Dougher only play point guard because their teams require it in a pinch. Both are really playmakers in the truest sense. Even though the Cousy guys get to pick 60 names to start they always seem to miss someone. This year the four big whiffs seem to Phil Pressey of Missouri, Jordan Theodore of Seton Hall, Vincent Council of Providence and Nate Wolters of South Dakota State. (At least they remembered Jordan Taylor this season!)

Also in the news is the fact that St. Francis (NY) plays its first home game of the season in Brooklyn against Albany tonight. The Terriers played nine true road games (and are 3-6) before returning home. Even though he wasn’t playing at home Ben Mockford hit seven threes against Howard to earn NEC Player of the Week honors.

Hofstra’s Mike Moore was named the CAA Co-Player of the Week along with Drexel’s Samme Givens. Iona’s Mike Glover was named the MAAC Player of the Week.

Finally, if you love point guards you should check out my Assist Tracker. It’s going to be updated nightly with stats and insights into the guys with the most assist each night. (Even one big guy each evening.) Because I don’t want to clutter up the home page with those updates you’ll have to go to Assists page to find it though, so make sure to bookmark it.

Early season grades for area teams

Since its exam break it seems like a good time to hand out some grades for each of the area teams. These grades are based on preseason expectations and there is absolutely no grade inflation here. Most teams are going to be in the C range and you’ll notice that I’ve liberally handed out a bunch of D’s as well. If you think your school deserved a better one feel free to argue in the comments. They’re listed from best to worst and I’ve also included a special one grade at the end.

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