Basketball, BBQ, and Teitel: HoopsHD at the BB&T Classic

Last Sunday was the 22nd annual BB&T Classic Basketball Tournament , a DC-based basketball tournament that raises funds for the Children’s Charities Foundation to financially support Washington-area charities. This year’s doubleheader featured Elon-Georgetown in Game 1 followed by Florida State-GW in Game 2. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel hopped on the subway, hopped off in Chinatown, and filed this report.

1 of the best parts of working a game at the Verizon Center is the pregame meal: Hill Country BBQ! After wolfing down some chicken/beef/mac and cheese I assumed I was heading upstairs to my usual 2nd-deck media seating, but was thrilled to discover that I was sitting in the front row directly next to the basket! Pro: I was only a few seats away from 2004 NCAA runner-up coach Paul Hewitt (who is now a scout for the LA Clippers). Con: while you would think sitting right in front of the cheerleaders is great, it becomes a lot less exciting after they spend 2 hours shouting cheers every 2 seconds. Attendance was pretty low due to Sunday afternoon competition from the NFL and some proactive preparation for final exams, but I consider basketball doubleheaders to be a rare treat.

Elon has never played in the NCAA tourney but was hoping that this might be their year.  The Phoenix started the season 6-1 but Georgetown was their 1st big test of the season. Rodney Pryor led the way for the Hoyas in the 1st half with 13 PTS, but despite not taking a single FT attempt or blocking a single shot Elon made 6 threes en route to a 36-36 halftime tie. The Phoenix continued to make 3-PT shots in the 2nd half to keep it close, including a trio of trifectas off the bench from Dainan Swoope. Pryor finished with a game-high 23 PTS by using his entire bag of tricks: dunks, 3-PT shots, steals that led to coast-to-coast layups, pull-up jumpers, baseline jumpers, and an 8-9 performance from the FT line. He received a ton of offensive help from LJ Peak, who made a season-high 9 FG by getting to the hoop time and again for layup after layup. Elon did not give up and remained competitive right to the very end: SR PG Luke Eddy had the ball in his hands down by 3 with 5 seconds left, but as he dribbled past his man into the lane he tried to pass it out to a teammate at the top of the key for a game-tying 3-PT shot…but the buzzer sounded before he could make it happen. At the postgame press conference I asked Pryor how he has made such a smooth transition as a grad transfer from Robert Morris: he gave most of the credit to his teammates/coaches for accepting him for who he is and said that he tries to play 120% every game (so the next time you think giving 100% is good enough, think again!).

Unlike the 1st game that was close throughout, game 2 was a blowout early and continued to get ugly from there. GW had just eked out a 1-PT win over South Florida on Saturday afternoon so there was some concern that the Colonials might come out flat.  They did not disappoint by shooting 5-25 from the field in the 1st half and committing 11 turnovers as Florida State opened up a 35-19 lead at the half. Collin Smith scored 22 PTS against the Bulls but followed that up by failing to make a single FG against the Seminoles. GW fell behind by 30 midway through the 2nd half so the lone bright spot was FR PF Kevin Marfo. The big man set career highs with 18 PTS/9 REB in only 26 minutes off the bench by doing damage inside with put-backs, dunks, and even a tough reverse layup over 7’4” Christ Koumadje. Florida State was only average on offense and got outrebounded 52-42, but their defense just wore down the Colonials: 10 STL, 6 BLK, and only 4 made threes allowed all afternoon. Koumadje was a site to behold: all he did was convert alleyoop dunks and an occasional put-back, but when you are the tallest player in program history that is all you need to do. I asked Coach Leonard Hamilton after the game why superstar freshman Jonathan Isaac did not start for the 1st time in his young college career and was told that he sat out due to a strained hip flexor: HoopsHD breaking the injury news!

Conclusions: Elon is not good enough to overtake UNC-Wilmington in CAA play (the Seahawks are only a 5-PT loss away from being undefeated), Georgetown is going to have a rough road ahead in Big East play (the only conference team with more losses is St. John’s), GW is good when they get some rest (0-2 with no days of rest but 7-2 when they do not play back-to-back), and Florida State is going to make the NCAA tourney for the 1st time since 2012 (the Seminoles are only a 3-PT loss away from being undefeated).