Category: NEC

Holy Cross 69, Sacred Heart 60 : Welcome Back, Bill Carmody

WORCESTER, Mass. – The past, of course, is an extremely poor place to live, but if you’re a mid-major fan, particularly the Ivy League, you couldn’t help but root for Bill Carmody at Northwestern. For 12 seasons, he tried mixtures of magic potions and illusions that seemed to rival the Copperfields and Blaines of the world, trying to get the Wildcats to their first ever NCAA Tournament (one of five with St. Francis Brooklyn, Army, The Citadel, and William & Mary who have been a Division I institution since the beginning in 1939 and never gone to the NCAAs).

While it was tough sledding, Carmody always had an upset or three in him, and from 2010-2012, looked to have gotten over the hump. In each of those three seasons, Northwestern ranked in the top 30 nationally in offensive efficiency, with a deliberate style that almost never turned the ball over, and seemed to miss shots even less (as he did at Princeton while going 92-25 in Ivy games from 1996-2000). He won 20 games in 2009-10 and 2010-11, but just fell short of the NCAA bubble. The Wildcats started 10-1 in 2011-12, but finished 8-10 in the Big Ten, the last two losses coming in overtime to ranked Michigan and by a pair to Ohio State, who eventually ended up in the Final Four. The verdict, once again, was NIT.

Soon after that (two seasons later), Carmody’s sleeves were out of tricks and he was fired.

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Three Thoughts: LIU Brooklyn 78, N.C. Central 77

For the second time in three games LIU Brooklyn survived. The Blackbirds made the necessary defensive stops down the stretch to come back from a 12-point deficit and pull out a 78-77 victory over North Carolina Central at the Barclays Center on Sunday. Continue reading “Three Thoughts: LIU Brooklyn 78, N.C. Central 77” →

Three Thoughts: Bryant 71, Prairie View A&M 58

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – It was a tale of two halves for Bryant Friday night in the semifinals of the 2K Classic at the Chace Athletic Center.

In Act I, the Bulldogs (2-1) obliterated a weaker opponent in Prairie View A&M (which entered No. 348 in KenPom) to the tune of a 23-point halftime lead. It ballooned to as much as 29 early in the second half before things started to go wrong in Act II, especially on the offensive end. Bryant was never seriously threatened (although close, the Panthers never got to within single digits), but the sloppiness was concerning for a Bryant team that wants to contend for an NEC title and its first NCAA Tournament berth in March.

Or was it?

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Three Thoughts: Yale 99, Sacred Heart 77

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Anthony Latina was a little frustrated his team couldn’t have done a little better Monday night, but he knew that going up against a frontcourt like Yale was going to be difficult for his undersized team anyway. And without the injured Tevin Falzon and Matej Buovac – two players expected to play major minutes for the Pioneers – it was always going to be an uphill battle.

You throw in the new freedom of movement rules, and Yale (2-0) had an offensive bonanza, posted 1.34 points per possession (unofficially, its highest since a win at Dartmouth in 2008) and posting its highest point total against a Division I opponent in 13 years (incidentally, Yale lost that game 114-102 at George Washington) at Lee Amphitheater.

All Latina could do was tip his proverbial cap.

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Work To Do For St. Francis Brooklyn, But Time Too

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Glenn Braica had seen the season-opening movie he was watching Saturday afternoon at Boston College before. Fortunately, he knows it probably it’s quite as bad as it looked.

Defending NEC regular season champion St. Francis Brooklyn missed its first 13 shots from the field and went 8:28 without scoring a point to open the season, and never really recovered, getting blown out 75-49 at Conte Forum.

It was eerily similar to Glenn Braica’s first game in charge of the Terriers five years ago when Boston College raced to a 24-2 start and led 38-15 at the break en route to a 79-49 rout. St. Francis Brooklyn scored just 15 points and shot just 5-27 from the field that day. Saturday, after that opening drought, St. Francis finished 5-29 from the field in the first half and trailed 41-16 at the intermission.

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First Impressions at the Connecticut 6

(photo courtesy: Yale athletics)

 

You never get a second chance to make a first impression (might as well get all the cliches out of the way on Opening Day), but in the mid-major basketball world, particularly for the six teams competing at the Connecticut 6 Friday night, first impressions will mean very little in the end.

Unless Yale has an outrageous non-conference slate and somehow gets edged out for the tournament-less Ivy League automatic bid, none of the teams playing at Detrick Gym are getting an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, so the focus is on getting better and rounding into form as the conference season commences.

For Fairfield and Quinnipiac, both of whom struggled mightily, that’s only a couple of weeks away. But for Yale and Hartford, it’s still many moons off (about two months to be precise). However, given the roster turnover of the teams playing in New Britain, it was nice to actually see them on the court and get a look at what might be coming for the rest of the campaign.

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Awards and Observations From the Connecticut 6 Basketball Event

College basketball is finally upon us and I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Connecticut 6 (CT6) basketball tournament, an event that allows the 6 mid-major Division I teams from the Nutmeg State to face off in three games. Continue reading “Awards and Observations From the Connecticut 6 Basketball Event” →