Bleacher Report - NCAA Basketball

Kansas Jayhawks Gobble Up Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, Improve to 5-0

Neil Powell — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:09:01 -0500

In last Wednesday night's win over Oakland, the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks got only 13 points combined from preseason All-Americans Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins, but still managed a 30-point blowout.

The Jayhawks' opponent on Friday evening at Allen Fieldhouse, Tennessee Tech didn't look to have a much better chance.

The Golden Eagles played Oakland at home earlier this season and lost by 21 points.

Also, the school had never played a No. 1 opponent in it's history.

Just two of the many factors that weighed heavily in home team's favor.

Coach Bill Self's Jayhawks had no problem extending it's current home winning streak to 45, the nation's longest.

Kansas jumped used an early 14-1 run to build a 27-9 lead.

Tennessee Tech, led by senior guard Frank Davis' 23 points, went on an 8-0 run of its own to cut the lead to ten, 27-17, much to coach Self's dismay.

After a fiery timeout Kansas finished the half on a 15-3 run to take a 53-31 lead to the break.

Tyshawn Taylor, who had been struggling coming into the contest (27 percent shooting), had 13 of his team-high 18 points in the first 20 minutes.

The second half was much of the same as the Jayhawks got contributions from everyone.

Of the 13 players that got in the game, 12 of them scored including five in double-figures.

Team leaders Collins and Aldrich had big games. Collins hit four three-point shots and Aldrich posted a double-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and three assists.

Freshman phenom Xavier Henry added 15 points and has scored in double figures in the first five games of his career.

Even seldom used sophomore guard Jordan Juenemann, who had yet to score a point in his career as a Jayhawk, got his moment in the sun with six points in two minutes of action.

Kansas shot 60 percent from the field and 47 percent from behind the arc in the 112-75 victory.

Seven players hit three-pointers in the win.

Notes: Sophomore forward Markieff Morris, who was 2-2 from behind the arc on the evening, is 14-15 from the field on the season.

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Players to Watch: Atlantic 10

Scott McGrath — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:21:30 -0500

This is the second volume of the conference players to watch, this time with the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Ryan Brooks - Temple

With the graduation of Dionte Christmas, the Owls needed someone to step up both offensively and defensively to fill Christmas’s shoes. Brooks has done just that as every single one of his statistics is up this season so far, and fairly drastically.

Brooks has scored 17 or more points in all games except one, which was a game against Georgetown where only 91 total points were scored in the game.

Other players also need to improve for Temple to have the kind of season they had last year, but Brooks showed what he can do in a game against Delaware where he finished with 23 points and nine rebounds.

Look for Brooks to have a big season in his senior year as the Temple Owls try to compete in the talented Atlantic 10 Conference.

Keith Cothran - Rhode Island

With the graduation of top scorers Jimmy Baron and Kahiem Seawright, Cothran is the most experienced player on this team, and needs to pick up the scoring that left with Baron and Seawright.

Coming off the bench last season, Cothran averaged 13 points per game, and as a starter this year he is only averaging 14 points. However, Cothright showed last season he is capable of putting up big numbers, scoring 19 points against Dayton, 26 points against Massachusetts, and over 20 points five times, all off the bench, even after missing five games.

Cothran may not appear to be a great player right now, but look for him to improve throughout the season as his minutes have increased from last season.

Chris Johnson - Dayton

As a freshman, Johnson’s numbers were fairly low, but he only saw 16 minutes per game. This season, Johnson’s minutes are up to 26 per game, and his production has drastically improved.

Johnson has gone from six points per game to over 16, from five rebounds per game to over eight, and from half a steal per game to 1.3 steals. Johnson’s play should definitely help the Flyers this season, even though they have suffered two disappointing losses to Kansas State and Villanova (games where 16 and 13 points respectively).

Nevertheless, Chris Johnson has been huge in every single game, scoring 18 on Creighton and 19 on Georgia Tech in Dayton’s two other games so far this season. Clearly, Johnson is going to be very important to this team this year, but he will also rely on junior Chris Wright to carry some of the load.

Jordan Crawford-Xavier

Jordan Crawford, possibly more famous for being the “kid” who dunked on LeBron James, transferred from Indiana to Xavier two years ago, and therefore had to sit out last season.

The sophomore has been stellar, averaging 21 points a game through four games, dropping 26 points on Sacred Heart, but finished disappointingly with only nine points against Marquette.

Crawford might be a little shaky at the beginning of the year after sitting out for a whole season, but he should improve throughout the season and become the leader, along with Jason Love, of this Musketeer team and try to lead them again to an Atlantic 10 championship.

This article was first featured on http://www.thebracketbusters.com

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No Cracks in Kentucky's John Wall During Perfect Start

Jonathan Lintner — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:53:18 -0500

Potential, talent, tremendous upside: all aptly describe the Kentucky Wildcats this season.

It's no coincidence that the same directly applies to freshman sensation John Wall.

Wall, a first-year guard out of Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh, N.C., chose to play basketball for Kentucky after ruling out Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, and a slew of others.

He's lived up to the hype for a Wildcat team that's seeking consistency.

So coach John Calipari's dribble-drive offense is still eluding the newer members of Kentucky's young team. So the Wildcats haven't put together the pieces on defense. So team chemistry isn't quite there yet.

Doesn't matter, because there are no significant cracks in Wall's game.

He leads Kentucky in average minutes played with 38 a game, points at 19.8 a game, and assists at 6.6 per game. His field goal percentage for the season is greater than 50 percent. He's scoring almost two points per shot.

He's the reason why the NBA should reconsider its one-year rule, which prevented Wall from entering the draft last summer. Because right now, Wall is the only thing holding Kentucky's perfect record together.

The Calipari era looked to start at .500 with the Wildcats down 16 points in the first half against Miami of Ohio. Nineteen Wall points and a buzzer-beater later, Kentucky was 2-0.

The Wildcats averted a second would-be upset when Wall hit a circus-shot jumper with 30 seconds left to tie Kentucky with Stanford in Tuesday's Cancun Challenge. The game went to overtime, and Wall's team came out 6-0.

But it's not only a numbers game for Wall, whose breakneck speed has allowed for easy layups in transition—or in half-court offense, for that matter. When Wall can't get the open lane, he's found teammates to boost his 1.4-1 assist-to-turnover ratio

When asked about Wall after Rider's 92-63 loss to Kentucky, where Wall had 21 points and 11 assists, head coach Tommy Dempsey said “He's as good as I've ever seen in the open court.”

And he does it all with the growing reputation of a guy who plays with a smile on his face—maybe the reason why his teammates embrace the best talent amongst Calipari's top recruiting class rather than loathe in jealousy over his growing fame and impending fortune.

“NBA, that's all I have to say,” sophomore forward Patrick Patterson said, referring to where Wall's talent truly belongs. “John Wall is a pro player and he wants the ball in crunch-time situations. Whenever we need a basket or something on the offensive end John is going to be the one to do it.”

He's only 19, and yet has become the Wildcats' vocal and statistical leader. Because Kentucky's positive attributes aren't making Wall.

As long as the defense struggles, the offense sputters, and chemistry is beginning to form, Wall is making them who they are—that tape's already played six times over.

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Northern Michigan Men's Basketball Opens Season with Strong Play, New Hope

Joe Dexter — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:18:41 -0500

MARQUETTE, Mich. — When the Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team took the court at the Berry Event Center for the season's first game Tuesday night, the demons of last season officially were lifted.

All the struggles that came with the 2008-2009 campaign were forgotten.

In the Wildcats' home opener against the Northland College Lumberjacks, there seemed to be a new feel on the basketball court—one that goes way beyond a jump shot, bounce pass, or rebound.

From the tipoff, something was different about this squad that returns most of its players from last year. The hunger to improve as a team was in their eyes. Teammates were communicating to each other back and forth on the court.

A new season brings new hope.

On Tuesday, the Wildcats outplayed their opponent in every facet of the game. The final scoreboard read 81-42 in favor of the home team, and unlike last year’s home opener, the ‘Cats worked together on both sides of the floor.

Right out of the gates, the Wildcats have established a better chemistry on the floor, something last year’s team struggled with.

“We had no chemistry last year, we were in the psychology department,” head coach Dean Ellis said with a laugh.

“Our team chemistry is night and day for whatever reason. We are in the chemistry department to start this season, not in the psychology department, which is good.”

The Wildcats were led in scoring by Marc Renelique and Raymont McElroy with 22 points each. Both guards were able to drive to the hoop and also find isolation on the perimeter. Both worked well together to set up shots.

McElroy’s passing and court vision was exceptional. His effort on the court was shown by his game-high eight assists and four steals.

It also showed in Renelique’s ability to separate from defenders and drain five-of-seven three pointers.

McElroy was the spark plug Ellis was looking for at the point guard position.

After a slow start last season as a freshman, the NMU floor general showed the maturation on the court that a year of experience brings.

“Your point guard has to be a leader, and he is constantly working on that,” said Ellis.

“We are constantly working on that with him. He had a great week in practice, and Raymont was a great leader with the ball tonight.”

Wildcats center Jared Benson led the game in rebounds with six.

As a team, the Wildcats shot 65 percent from the field. Everyone on the roster for the Wildcats were able to get into the action, including senior walk-on Kyle Hawley, who was greeted late in the second half by solid fanfare when entering the game.

“Kyle is a classic walk-on,” said Ellis. “He is a senior and got in and made a block. We got out on the court, and it was good for everybody to get the experience in our first home game.”

NMU struggled in last season's first home game against Northland Baptist Bible College, despite the win. That team did not possess the level of team play displayed in this season's first win.

McElroy has noticed what a difference a year makes on the court and in his own game. His ball control, speed, and strength give him a distinct advantage at the Division II level.

The young guard is still looking to make every game a learning experience, while leaning on the senior leadership around him.

“Even though I am a leader and a captain, I look to them," said McElroy.

"I’m vocal, but when it comes down to the end of the day, we have five seniors that play major roles on this team."

McElroy added, “We are clicking at a different level as of now,” he added. “You can tell on this team there is a lot of chemistry. We are together in this. Already, we are using the post more. With Hawley, D’Agostino, Benson, and Murphy, we have a lot of depth.”

The Wildcats return to the court on Monday, Nov. 30, to take on Finlandia University.

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Marquette's Chris Otule Breaks Foot, Likely Out for the Year

Mark Strotman — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:48:29 -0500

Marquette received some bad news on the eve of their game against South Dakota when they learned that sophomore center Chris Otule will likely miss the remainder of the season with a broken foot he suffered in practice Monday.

In three games where Otule had been used sparingly against smaller competition, he was averaging 3.7 points and 2.2 rebounds to go along with 1.7 blocks per game.

He had played just 25 total minutes in the first three games due to the lack of height of the opponents Marquette faced, but was expected to get a heavy dose of minutes in the Old Spice Classic Tournament coming up later this week in Orlando.

This is not Otule’s first time suffering from a foot injury, as last season the 6′10″ center from Texas was lost for six weeks after injuring his foot early in November.

As a freshman on a senior-laced team, the injury set him back and he saw minimal minutes the rest of the year.

Despite the lack of production, Otule was expected to fill in for the graduating Dwight Burke as Marquette’s “big man”, and he had been preparing accordingly.

Daily workouts with trainer Todd Smith, and a trip to Germany over the summer that helped him gain confidence and skill as well, had Otule pegged as a breakout candidate for Marquette’s young team.

The Golden Eagles will be able to redshirt Otule if they choose to, but that is about the only positive that comes out of the injury.

This newest injury to Otule will surely set him back, but the hope is that he can come back with a positive attitude and is champing at the bit to get back on the court.

For the here and now, Marquette will need to continue on with their season down a man, and a big man at that.

While the loss of Otule will not hurt the Golden Eagles much in the box score or on the offensive end, Otule’s presence on defense and the fact that he was another body coming off the bench will.

Without Otule, Marquette has just one player over 6′7″, Youssoupha Mbao, who is more of a project than anything.

Because of this, Marquette will more than likely go back to the small lineup that they implemented last year and try to out-run teams on offense while playing aggressive defense to make up for the lack of size.

This will mean an instant increase in the minutes of freshman Jeronne Maymon and junior Joe Fulce, who is battling a knee injury of his own.

In particular, the young Golden Eagles will have to grow up even faster than they once thought, now done one more man on the bench.

Just as it was last season, the guards will need to step up big and carry the team on both ends of the court, while the front court will need to play out of position and compete while being undersized the majority of the time.

The injury to Otule probably shifts Maymon over to the 5 spot, while Lazar Hayward and Jimmy Butler could see some time there as well.

The guard rotation of Maurice Acker, David Cubillan, Dwight Buycks, and Darius Johnson-Odom helps, but expect to see some more of Buycks playing the three spot if Marquette finds themselves in foul trouble.

Even freshman Erik Williams will need to pick up the slack for a Marquette team that currently has 10 healthy players on their roster, including the less-than 100 percent Fulce.

The Golden Eagles have suffered a slew of injuries over the past year and a half that have really cut into the depth of the team, including Otule, Fulce, and Dominic James last season and Junior Cadougan, Darius Johnson-Odom, Fulce, and Otule this season.

Then-freshman Liam McMorrow also left the team for medical reasons after last season.

As little silver lining as their could be to having your best big man go down for the season, at the same time it will help the young guns progress even quicker.

While throwing them into the fire right away wasn’t the game plan, things change over the course of the year and coach Buzz Williams will have to make those adjustments.

Williams recruits players who are going to fight for their team because they want to win and they want to be here, and with Marquette’s back against the wall right now after Otule’s injury, it’s time to fight.

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College of Notre Dame Cancels 2009-10 Women's Basketball Season

Jarrett Carter — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:25:18 -0500

I know the College of Notre Dame is small, and its athletic program minute compared to other area colleges and universities. But I’ve never seen an entire schedule get canceled because a team didn’t have enough players to safely compete on a regular basis.

College of Notre Dame of Maryland head soccer coach and recruiting coordinator Kirsten Russell has been appointed the interim head basketball coach, effectively immediately. After the 2009-10 basketball season was canceled due to a series of injuries that depleted the program’s roster, Russell —a former college basketball student-athlete and assistant coach —will oversee the program’s administration and recruiting efforts to rebuild the College of Notre Dame basketball team in time for the 2010-11 season.

Wow. 1216 women on campus and there aren’t seven or eight ladies available to field a team? That’s rough. Here’s hoping the Gators basketball program can come back strong as they were two seasons ago when they recorded an 18-7 overall record; their best in the last 20 seasons.

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