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: Quinnipiac 69, NC Central 59

Quinnipiac head coach Tom Moore

HAMDEN, Conn. – New season, same old Quinnipiac.

The Bobcats crashed the offensive glass and attempted to pound North Carolina Central into submission. But, oh, that outside shooting, 309th nationally a year ago.

Wait, that’s a nine next to Quinnipiac’s made three-pointer number on the boxscore? Hmmm.

In fact, while the season is just four games old, the Bobcats are shooting a robust 38.5% from behind the arc (9-22 Tuesday) and a big reason why they’ve now won two straight after dropping two to start the season.

Continue reading “Three Thoughts: Quinnipiac 69, NC Central 59” →

Becker, Vermont Trying To Make Pieces Fit Early

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Even if there are large, shiny trophies involved, early-season college basketball games at the mid-major level are not exactly the life or death struggles they become in March, where it’s winner take all and loser go home (or to the CIT if you’re lucky).

But Sunday’s 77-71 loss to Buffalo in the finals of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic at Mohegan Sun Arena stung a little more than the usual November fare for Vermont, and not just because they are a proud, successful program who is used to winning.

Unfortunately, after the Catamounts (2-3) raced to an early lead with hot shooting (its biggest eight at 21-13), John Becker and his team saw the Ghosts of Mistakes Past haunt them all the way to the end. And they know going forward, they will need to exorcise them if they want to unseat Albany and hold off fellow contenders Stony Brook and upstart New Hampshire in America East.

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Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Nov. 23

What Happened Last Week: Columbia and Yale led most of their games at Northwestern and SMU, respectively, but couldn’t pull off upsets. Several teams forgot how to shoot free throws this weekend. Lehigh never wants to see the Ivy League again after being dominated by the Lions and Bulldogs. Penn improved to 3-0 for the first time since 1981, then went to Washington, and oh, the humanity. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Nov. 23” →

Three Thoughts: Boston College 69, Harvard 56

Who is the best team in Massachusetts?

For the last few years, the answer has been Harvard: The Crimson was a top-100 team nationally in each of the last five seasons, going 16-3 against their Bay State brethren in that time. But after Sunday’s 69-56 defeat at Boston College — on the heels of a 69-63 loss to UMass earlier in the week — Harvard’s reign has ended, at least for a year. Continue reading “Three Thoughts: Boston College 69, Harvard 56” →