Hoops HD Staff Bracket (David Dorman): Nov 22nd

Posted on November 22, 2021 by David Griggs

For today’s News, Notes, and Highlighted Games – CLICK HERE

Today’s Staff Bracket was put together by David Dorman!  His notes are posted below.

This does not take into account any games played on or after Monday, Nov 22nd

-My at-large field came down to 8 spots for 15 teams.

The last 8 teams that got in were: Oregon, Marquette, Notre Dame, San Diego State, Michigan State, LSU, and the very last two in were Maryland and San Francisco

-The seven that just missed in my bracket were: UCF, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Washington State, Mississippi State, and Saint Mary’s

What stood out?
-Seton Hall on the #3 line? Yes, the Pirates earned the spot with the victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor.  That is the best true road win of the season so far

-Marquette was not in my bracket last week but with the very solid showing in the Charleston Classic they moved in.  Yes they got blown out by the Bonnies in the title game but the Bonnies are a legit top 20 team

-Michigan State (10 seed) and North Carolina (11 seed) will have plenty of opportunities to better their seed but for now this is where they sit.  As of today they both lost their big opportunities

-The Big Ten got 8 bids and the SEC got 7 bids

-The American got 2 bids (Memphis and Houston) but were very close to four bids (UCF and Cincinnati).  This conference will be wild to track all year long

-Watch out for the West Coast Conference this year and how many bids they receive.  Today they have three (Gonzaga, BYU, and San Francisco) and Saint Mary’s was right on the cut line and could have been the last team in.  Will the WCC get four teams in the bracket this year?

-I was very high on the Missouri Valley coming into the season.  In my bracket today they only have one team in (Loyola Chicago).  Can Drake and Missouri State go on a run and get The Valley more than one team in?

-The Atlantic Ten seems to be down this year with one great team (Saint Bonaventure) and not much else.  Will anyone push for a second bid for the A-10?

Enjoy the great games and tournaments this Thanksgiving Week as many teams have their chance to make an early statement!!

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Monday, Nov 22

Posted on November 22, 2021 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For Jon Teitel’s coverage of the Roman Main Event – CLICK HERE

-I say this multiple times every November, but it is definitely true.  NOVEMBER IS THE BUSIEST MONTH OF THE SEASON!!  It’s not even close.  March is the most climactic month of the season, but November is the busiest.  If you really love college hoops, you can gorge on it in November.  That’s why sometimes it takes a little longer to get the daily write-up posted.

-Arizona isn’t in the rankings, but they are about to be.  They are off to about as good of a start as any team could be off to, and last night they blew it open against Michigan for an 80-62 win.  If you weren’t a believer in the Wildcats, then you probably should be now.

-Villanova lost their second close game to a top six team as they fell to Purdue 80-74.  This is a game where Nova actually had a lead for a lot of it, but Purdue kept it close, and got control of it at the end.  This was a really well played game by both teams, and while Nova has two early season losses, losing at UCLA in overtime and to Purdue in a close game hardly even constitutes a setback.  They can still have a monster year, and they’ve got ample opportunities at big wins.  As for Purdue, they had a great weekend!  They beat two ranked teams away from home!

-Tennessee got an impressive 89-72 win over North Carolina in the third place game of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off.  The fact that it was a third place game means nothing.  All the committee will treat it as is a neutral floor game between two (presumably) good teams.

-Saint Bonaventure had sleepwalked through some of their early buy games, but they were wide awake yesterday.  They blew it open against Marquette 70-54 in the Charleston Classic.  This was a Marquette team that had been playing really well prior to that game.

-Utah State picked up a nice win against Oklahoma in the Myrtle Beach Invitational.  Utah State will have more chances at quality wins than what under the radar teams get later on in the season, but not as many as most power conference teams, so it’s important for their resume that they get them now.

-Furman, who won at Louisville and nearly won at Belmont, had a somewhat damaging home loss to Navy yesterday 77-66.  Or…what it??  This Navy team has now won at Virginia and at Furman, and their only losses are at Virginia Tech and at Louisville.  So…as preposterous as this may seem…Navy has an outstanding resume just a couple of weeks in!

-West Virginia knocked off Clemson in the Charleston Classic to pick up another nice neutral floor win and move head coach Bob Huggins to 4th on the all time wins list for college coaches.  WVU, once again, has a good team.

-Colorado State pretty much led Creighton tip to buzzer in their 95-81 win in the Paradise Jam.  This is a really good Colorado State team who should be cracking the rankings soon, and who should be high in the rankings before the year is over.

-Missouri got a nice win over SMU in the Jacksonville Classic.  I don’t know yet if this is a good win for Missouri (who is noticeably better than when Kansas City ran them over) or a really bad loss  for SMU.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-VERMONT VS OAKLAND (Gulf Coast Showcase).  These are two really good UTR teams with an outside shot at landing inside the bubble.  Oakland already has a nice win against Oklahoma State and while Vermont doesn’t have the big win on their resume yet, they do have what will probably turn out to be a decent win at Northern Iowa, and their only loss was at Maryland.

-TEXAS A&M VS WISCONSIN (Maui Invitational).  TAMU is a potential dark horse this year, and if they can make some noise in this tournament they could end up being more than just a dark horse.  Wisky is a likely NCAA Tournament caliber team as well.

-BROWN VS COLORADO (Paradise Jam).  Brown could make some noise in the Ivy League this year, and has actually looked good early on.  Colorado is a likely tournament team that’s trying to add some neutral floor wins to their resume.

-BUTLER VS HOUSTON (Maui Invitational).  Butler has had some great teams in recent years.  This year they have looked a little less than great so far, but a strong showing in this tournament can completely turn that around.  Houston, once again, looks like they can be a protected seed.

-CREIGHTON VS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Paradise Jam).  Both teams are coming off losses, but both have the chance to pick up what should be at least a notable neutral floor win today, and get an even better chance in their third game.  The selection committee doesn’t care that it’s in the loser’s bracket.  To them it’s the same as any neutral floor game.

-OHIO STATE VS SETON HALL (For Meyer’s TipOff).  Really good early season match-up from a Seton Hall team that’s off to a good 3-0 start, and an Ohio State team that, while coming off of a loss, still has the make up of a top ten caliber team.

-ILLINOIS VS CINCINNATI (Hall of Fame Classic).  This is the first real test for Cincinnati who is off to a 3-0 start.  Illinois is high in the rankings and will likely remain there for most of the season.

-HOFSTRA AT RICHMOND.  Hofstra’s record is just 1-3, but considering that they took Arkansas to overtime and lost by just 2 at Maryland, I think Hofstra will still end up having a big year.  Richmond is coming off a tough loss to Drake and is looking to rebound from that.

-BELMONT AT LSU.  We think this Belmont team is really good, and if they can get some notable wins early on they can play their way inside the bubble.  Well, this is a chance for them to pick up a notable win early on.

-ARKANSAS VS KANSAS STATE (Hall of Fame Classic).  Arkansas is in the rankings, and Kansas State is off to a 2-0 start.  This will easily be their biggest test of the season up to this point, though.

-WYOMING AT GRAND CANYON.  We weren’t overly excited about either of these teams, but both have looked good early on, and both are coming in 3-0, so it’s a game worth keeping an eye on.

-GEORGE MASON VS WASHINGTON (Crossover Classic).  This is a much better than expected (at least by me) George Mason team that already has a big win at Maryland and who can pick up some more wins away from home in this event.

-PROVIDENCE VS NORTHWESTERN (Roman Legends Classic).  Both teams are coming into this one unbeaten and Providence already has a notable win on their resume.

-SAINT MARY’S VS NOTRE DAME (Maui Invitational).  I don’t think we are to the point of being all in on either team, but both do come into this without a loss (and perhaps without a test), and this event is their test.  It’s also an opportunity to add notable wins to their resume, so it’s worth staying up for.

BUY GAMES AND OTHER GAMES WORTH MENTIONING:

-Toledo vs Charlotte (Nassau Championship) – Two UTR teams that are off to good starts
-Kent State vs James Madison (Naples Invitational) – JMU can get to 5-0 with a win
-Akron vs Fordham (Gulf Coast Showcase) – very liberal use of the word “Showcase” but we do like this Akron team
-East Tennessee State vs Murray State (Naples Invitatioanl) – two decent UTR teams
-Cornell @ Penn State – Cornell can get to 5-0 with a win and pick up their 3rd road win
-Albany @ Kentucky
-Western Illinois @ Northern Kentucky – The Leathernecks are off to a 3-1 start with a win at Nebraska and can pick up their second road win today
-Lafayette @ Rutgers
-Nevada @ South Dakota State – SD State is a really good UTR team
-Charleston Southern @ Georgia Tech
-Virginia vs Georgia (Roman Legends Classic) – Winnable neutral floor game for UVA
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Ohio U – I still think this Ohio U team can play their way into the bubble
-UCLA vs Bellarmine (Good Sam Empire Classic)
-Colorado State vs Northeastern (Paradise Jam) – a win for Colorado State keeps them unbeaten
-California vs Florida (Fort Meyers TipOff) – winnable neutral floor game for Florida
-Missouri vs Florida State (Jacksonville Classic) – Neither team is in the rankings, but I don’t think Florida State will be out of them for long.
-Western Michigan @ Iowa – a win for Iowa gets them to 5-0
-The Citadel @ Duke – Citadel did win big at Pitt, but this is a much taller order
-Oregon vs Chaminade (Maui Invitational)
-Winthrop @ Washington State – Wazzu can get to 5-0
-UC Riverside @ UTEP – two fairly decent UTR teams
-Morgan State @ San Francisco – The Dons can get to 6-0, but all games have been at home
-TCU vs Santa Clara (SoCal Challenge) – both teams unbeaten
-Gonzaga vs Central Michigan (Good Sam Empire Classic) – a likely huge mismatch
-Dixie State @ USC
-Pepperdine vs Fresno State (SoCal Challenge) – Fresno can get to 4-0

Posted in Daily Rundown, News and Notes | 1 Comment

All-access at the Roman Main Event: Day 1 Recap

Posted on November 21, 2021 by Jon Teitel

The Roman Main Event has quickly become 1 of the best 4-team early-season basketball tournaments in the nation that has a different field every fall, putting itself right up there with other events such as the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic and the Jimmy V Classic. This year’s edition features a fearsome foursome of Arizona/Michigan/UNLV/Wichita State. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel is on the scene in Vegas this weekend trying to bring you as much access as possible. He continues his coverage with a review of Friday night’s doubleheader:



After waking up early in DC and flying across the country to Vegas, I checking into my room at Excalibur and took a much-needed nap, then woke up and took a short walk to T-Mobile Arena for Game 1 to see my Wildcats take on the Shockers. You never know what kind of crowd you are going to get for a neutral-site event, but Arizona has a long history of students/alumni making the trip to Sin City for the Pac-12 Tourney every March, and with low temperatures in Wichita approaching 32 degrees in late-November it served as a great excuse for the Midwesterners to make the trip west for some 70-degree weather:



Not sure how to feel about an in-arena entertainer named DJ Prenup(?!) but the music was great so I cannot complain. The media room had plenty of snacks/drinks but not a proper meal: fortunately I found a concession stand hot dog to help me make it through the night. We also had quite an eclectic mix of fans in the front row including this mismatched pair of unmasked folks: a large older gentleman in a red hat who brought his walking stick sitting near an attractive young woman in a slinky brown dress who spent most of the night talking to her friend or texting on her phone:



UofA’s average height of 6’7” is #1 in the nation and they used their size to dominate the paint for most of the 1st half. On the defensive end they were blocking lots of shots, forcing some shot-clock violations, and even taking charges for new coach Tommy Lloyd:



Most of the team was ice-cold from the 3-PT line but Bennedict Mathurin made a trio of 1st half threes, and when the defense extended out to guard him he would get to the hoop for a follow dunk/alley-oop dunk or get to the line after drawing contact:



The shortest starter also happens to be the most energetic: Kerr Kriisa might look like a mild-mannered Estonian with a headband, and frankly he had a poor shooting game with only 2-10 3PM. However, when he finally made a 3 in the 2nd half he stuck out his tongue to let the crowd know about it, and when the Shockers called a timeout to regroup he screamed at the top of his lungs while heading to the huddle. He was so amped up to go congratulate a teammate on the court after 1 good play that he had to be held back by half his team!



Wichita State was able to close the deficit to 8 PTS by halftime thanks to SG Craig Porter Jr., who made several jump shots while the rest of his team was in search of a spark. Since the colors of the 2 teams in Game 2 (Michigan/UNLV) are very similar to the 2 teams in Game 1, when most of the fans had arrived at the arena by halftime it looked like a sea of red and yellow.

The Cats opened up a 54-38 lead early in the 2nd half in large part due to the Shockers’ foul trouble: Wichita State was whistled for 7 fouls in the 1st 6 minutes and ended up having 3 guys foul out after the team committed an incredible 31(!) total fouls. It seemed like they were ready to fold but to their credit they turned it up a couple of notches and fought all of the way back. Tyson Etienne had a quiet 1st half but simply exploded in the 2nd stanza with 18 PTS in 19 minutes: jump shots, threes, floaters, bank shots, you name it. The 1 place he did have a problem converting was from the foul line: he had not missed a single FT all year but only made 4-8 on Friday. He did make 1 with 39 seconds left to give his team a 1-PT lead, then Azuolas Tubelis answered with an old fashioned 3-PT play to give Arizona a 69-66 lead with just 22 seconds left. Everyone in the arena knew that the ball was going to be in Etienne’s hands on the final possession…yet he somehow was able to drill a 3 with 17 seconds left to tie it at 69-69 and send it to OT. Even though the Shockers had all of the momentum they were simply running out of players due to foul trouble and ended up losing 82-78. In an era of inconsistency it was nice to see 2 stars go head-to-head and showcase their skills: Etienne finished with 27 PTS and Mathurin countered with 25 PTS.

In the sparsely attended postgame press conference I asked Coach Tommy Lloyd about the message he had for his team heading into OT after blowing a huge 2nd half lead. He said he knew they would take some punches but they stood their ground:



After 3 of the Shocker’s tallest players fouled out (6’11” Kenny Pohto/6’8” Morris Udeze/6’7” Clarence Jackson) and they were forced to go small, Lloyd decided to get the ball to his 6’11” big man Tubelis inside, which ended up helping the entire team find its rhythm. In his words, “Sometimes you have to slow down and play chess”:



After the game it was revealed that Christian Koloko’s mother had finally gotten to see her son play for the 1st time in person that evening, and since he finished with 13 PTS/11 REB/4 BLK/3 AST it was surely worth the wait!



During 1 of his answers Lloyd referred to Etienne as a “hard-shot maker” so I decided to inquire how the SO SG trains for those moments. He responded that he employs several different methods (such as getting off a shot as the clock is winding down and practicing them with a hand in his face) but that he treats each of them as just another shot thanks to the trust he has in both his mechanics/teammates:



My question for Coach Isaac Brown was how on earth his team was able to get 20 offensive rebounds against the tallest team in the country. His answer was that his guys battled/competed while sending 3 frontcourt players to the glass: after falling behind in the 2nd half they learned their lesson and began to dish it out:



I was starting to fade after my day of cross-country travel and salty snacks so I barely made it through the 1st half of Michigan-UNLV before calling it a night:



Bryce Hamilton made a 3 with 3 seconds left in the 1st half to cut the deficit to 3…and I wondered if this was a sign that I should put $3 on the roulette wheel to land on #3! Then I got another sign that perhaps I should pick Tampa Bay to beat the Giants on Monday night despite Tom Brady’s history of not beating New York when it matters the most:



The semi-home crowd (the arena is just 2 miles west of the Thomas & Mack Center) seemed to think that they might be getting lucky that night, but the Wolverines used a 21-4 advantage from the FT line to pull away in the 2nd half. DeVante’ Jones singlehandedly had as many AST as the entire Rebel team (8) as Michigan ended up winning 74-61, setting up a Sunday night showdown between a coach who was an assistant for a #1 seed last March (Lloyd) and a coach who was a #1 seed last March (Juwan Howard):



Check back in the days ahead for continuing coverage from Vegas Baby Vegas!

Posted in CBB | 1 Comment

News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Nov 21st

Posted on November 21, 2021 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES:

-In the two feature games of the day (which were actually semifinal games at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off where tomorrow’s 3rd and 1st place games will be the feature events tomorrow) Villanova blew past Tennessee in one of the more impressive showings of the season for any team, and Purdue put away North Carolina.  That sets up a top six match-up between Villanova and Purdue, which if both teams end up being as good as we think they will, will end up having #1 seed implications…or at least considerations.

-In the upset of the day, Colgate actually led Syracuse for most of the game, and then ran away in the final couple of minutes for a 100-85 win on the road in the dome.  Colgate shot over 41% from beyond the arc against Syracuse’s match-up zone, so it’s safe to say they didn’t struggle with it.

-Baylor blew out Stanford 86-46.  They lost some key pieces from last year’s national championship team, but they seem to be quite good again this year.

-Drake and Richmond was an important game between (we think( two NCAA Tournament caliber teams.  Richmond led for much of the game, but Drake kept it close and ended up with a 73-70 win.  Richmond falls to 2-2, but neither loss was overly damaging and they’ll have some chances to get their resume back up.  Drake improves to 3-0 on the year.

-Louisville had to sweat out winless Detroit Mercy.  Now, they did get the win, and they may get things turned around as the season goes on, but right now Louisville has not looked anything like an NCAA Tournament caliber team in any of their first four games.

-Chattanooga is 4-0 after a road win at VCU.  I know VCU is beat up with injuries, but this is still a good road win for a good, and still unbeaten, UTR team in Chattanooga.

-Liberty, a team we were big on and that we think can still be good, wasn’t good yesterday.  They lost to Manhattan (who is a surprising 4-1) 76-60 and fall to just 1-3.

-Tulsa got a nice win out in the Sunshine Slam against a Rhode Island team that had previously been unbeaten to improve to 3-1.

-UC Irvine blew Pepperdine off the court.  A win for the Eaters in and of itself isn’t the kind of thing that would jump off the page, but blowing out a team that many thought of as a dark horse in the WCC and improving to 3-1 is kind of worth taking note of.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-VILLANOVA VS PURDUE (Hall of Fame TipOff).  This is the third time in this young season where we’ve seen two top ten teams square off, and one of the other times was Villanova’s game at UCLA, that they nearly won.  Both these teams are really good.  Both are coming in having just knocked off a top 25 team.  Both will likely end up as protected seeds, and winning a game like this can make a case that they deserve a #1 seed.  Even though it’s November, these games are still hugely important.

-UTAH STATE VS OKLAHOMA (Myrtle Beach Classic).  Both teams are off to decent starts, and both can add some quality neutral floor wins to their resume if they’re able to do well in this event, which would ideally mean winning this game and getting on the winners’ side of the bracket.

-PRINCETON AT OREGON STATE.  Highlighting this because Princeton is 3-1 with a decent win against South Carolina, and Oregon State has struggled.  If Princeton can get this one, they’ll get another (potentially) big notch on their belts.

-TENNESSEE VS NORTH CAROLINA (Hall of Fame Tip-Off).  This is the third place game, but that won’t mean a thing on their tournament resumes.  The committee will look at this as two top 25 teams (well…if they’re still in the rankings at the end of the year) playing on a neutral floor with a chance for a quality win.  Both teams lost to top ten teams yesterday (Purdue and Villanova), but those are hardly damaging losses, and this is a chance for them to bounce back in a big way.

-CLEMSON VS WEST VIRGINIA (Charleston Classic).  This is the third place game, but as mentioned earlier that doesn’t mean anything.  Both teams have the potential for big years, and both are looking for notable wins to establish themselves, and both have the opportunity to do that today.

-BOSTON COLLEGE VS RHODE ISLAND (Sunshine Slam).  We aren’t all that high on either team, but both are off to somewhat respectable starts and can boost their resumes up some if they do well in this event.

-COLORADO STATE VS CREIGHTON (Paradise Jam).  We are really big on this Colorado State team, and Creighton comes in at 4-0, so it’s a chance for both of them to pick up a really good early season win.

-SAINT BONAVENTURE VS MARQUETTE (Charleston Classic).  Marquette is unbeaten with two really big wins, and should land in the rankings very soon.  Saint Bonaventure has high expectations, and while they kind of sleepwalked through their first couple of games, they did have an impressive come from behind win against Clemson the other night.  This will be their biggest test of the year so far given how well Marquette has been playing.

-UTAH VS TULSA (Sunshine Slam).  We aren’t all that big on either team, and neither has really been all that tested, but both have good early season records, and I suppose they’ll be tested (at least to a point) tonight.

-SMU VS MISSOURI (Jacksonville Classic).  We think SMU can end up having a big year, but they haven’t been all that impressive early on and really don’t want to stub their toes tonight against a Missouri team that is also struggling.

-ARIZONA VS MICHIGAN (Roman Main Event).  Michigan had a nice win last night against UNLV, but will likely be tested a little bit in this one against an Arizona team who’s coming in 4-0 and who beat a pretty good Wichita State team the other night.

-WICHITA STATE VS UNLV (Roman Main Event).  This is the third place game where both teams still have the chance to pick up a decent win for their resumes.

BUY GAMES AND OTHER GAMES WORTH MENTIONING:

-Green Bay vs Weber State (Jersey Mike’s Classic) – Weber State can get to 5-0
-Norfolk State @ Xavier – both teams unbeaten
-Boise State vs Ole Miss (Charleston Classic) – both are off to respectable starts and can get another win away from home today
-Navy @ Furman – really like this Furman team
-Alabama A&M @ UAB
-Morehead State @ Mississippi State
-Southern @ Nebraska
-Merrimack @ Virginia Tech
-Georgia Southern @ Wofford – two UTR teams with good early records
-UNC Greensboro at FIU – two UTR teams with good early records
-LMU @ Florida State – we think this LMU program is improving and could even be a darkhorse in the WCC, but they’re probably overmatched in this one
-Davidson vs East Carolina (Myrtle Beach Invitational) – ECU is 4-1
-Grambling @ Iowa State
-Texas Southern @ NC State
-Louisiana @ Indiana – it’s a buy game, but both teams are 3-0, and IU better not overlook the Ragin Cajun
-Northeastern vs Southern Illinois (Paradise Jam) – Southern Illinois is coming off a nice win against Colorado
-New Mexico State vs Indiana State (Myrtle Beach Invitational) – New Mexico State is coming off a lopsided loss to Utah State and can’t afford to lose this one

Posted in News and Notes | Comments Off on News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Nov 21st

All-access at the Roman Main Event: HoopsHD interviews Arizona director of player relations Jason Gardner

Posted on November 20, 2021 by Jon Teitel

The Roman Main Event has quickly become 1 of the best 4-team early-season basketball tournaments in the nation, putting itself right up there with other events such as the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic and the Jimmy V Classic. This year’s edition features a fearsome foursome of Arizona/Michigan/UNLV/Wichita State. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel is on the scene in Vegas this weekend trying to bring you as much access as possible. He commences his coverage by chatting with Arizona director of player relations Jason Gardner about making the 2001 NCAA title game and how his new gig is going so far.

In 1999 you were named a McDonald’s All-American: which of your fellow honorees impressed you the most (Carlos Boozer/Mike Dunleavy Jr./Jay Williams/other)? I would probably go with Jonathan Bender, who set a scoring record with 31 PTS (breaking Michael Jordan’s record of 30 PTS). He was 6’11” but could handle the ball/shoot the 3: it was pretty impressive to see a guy like that who could do it all.

You were born/raised in Indianapolis: what made you choose Arizona? It was Lute/Bobbi Olson. I felt a great relationship with Coach Olson and liked his style of play and how his players got up and down the court. He allowed us to shoot the ball when we wanted to, which is every kid’s dream! He also had a great 1-on-1 relationship with everyone.

What was the most important thing that you ever learned from your Hall of Fame coach? Preparation. Being a former head coach myself, I learned to try to take away the 1-2 things that your opponent liked to do. We were always ready for whatever our opponent did, whether it was in the regular season/postseason.

In 2000 you were named national Freshman of the Year: how were you able to make such a smooth transition from high school to college? We had a good team: Gilbert Arenas, Richard Jefferson, Luke Walton, and many other guys who teams would have to focus on. It gave me a lot of opportunities to go 1-on-1 and I had some good looks from 3-PT range. Our team was loaded and Gilbert was great at being able to get me good looks.

In the 2001 NCAA tourney title game you scored 7 PTS in a 10-PT loss to Duke: how close did you come to winning it all? Really close: it is 1 of those games that I wish I could have back. It came down to the final 5 minutes: we missed a shot and they made a shot on about 3 straight possessions. Duke had a really good team with guys like Shane Battier/Chris Duhon but it was pretty balanced during the course of the game and was neck-and-neck until the end.

In 2003 you won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award as the best senior in the nation standing 6’ or shorter (you are 5’10”): did you see your size as an advantage or a disadvantage on the court? I never looked at it liked that. As a kid I was normally 1 of the smaller guys when playing against other guys so once I got to college I was just used to it. I always had to compete/fight, and when your teammates see that they piggyback off of it.

You were a 2-time All-American and had your #22 jersey retired in 2005: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? There are only 6 other jerseys in the rafters despite numerous Arizona players who went on to have very good NBA careers. During my 4 years I created a bond with the guys and it showed that my hard work paid off. It is priceless for my kids to see my jersey still up there: they thought it was 1 of the coolest things ever!

You spent almost a decade playing pro basketball overseas: what is the biggest difference between basketball in the US vs. basketball in other countries? Skill development. No matter your size everyone overseas goes through ballhandling/shooting drills. In the US the taller kids work on layups and do not work on handling the ball, which hurts their development. I hope that US coaches change their training methods in the future.

Last July you were hired as player relations director at your alma mater: why did you take the job, and how is it going so far? The job is going great: I always wanted to come back here and be on the staff. Coach Tommy Lloyd is a great coach and he gave me the opportunity. He brought a fast-paced style from Gonzaga so it seems a little like being back with Coach Olson: shooting threes, getting shots up within 5 seconds, etc.

I know the season is not even 2 weeks old but based on what you have seen up to now how far do you think this year’s team can go? We had a very tough game against Wichita State on Friday and Michigan will be a tough test on Sunday. It is hard to say right now but the guys are buying in and get better.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Saturday, Nov 20

Posted on November 20, 2021 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Memphis turned in another impressive performance against another good team.  Western Kentucky stayed with them for a good portion of the game, but the Tigers got control at the end for a 72-64 win.

-Kentucky pulled away from Ohio U in the second half for a 77-59 victory.  This Ohio U team is pretty good, and they actually stayed with Kentucky for the first half.  Kentucky probably deserves more credit for how well they played in this game than what they’ll probably get.

-Alabama played another solid under the radar team yesterday in Oakland, and totally blasted them off the floor 89-56. Another impressive showing for The Tide.

-Maryland bounced back from their loss to George Mason with a hard fought 69-67 win over Hofstra.  Hofstra has fallen to 1-3 on the year, but two of those losses were to ranked teams, and one of those came in overtime.

-After sleepwalking through their first couple of games, Saint Bonaventure looked like they were going to continue sleepwalking in the first half against Clemson.  The woke up in the second half, though, and overcame a 16pt deficit to get the win.  It was the first time the Bonnies had really looked good this season, and I’m betting it won’t be the last.

-Colorado State had to sweat out Bradley a lot more than what we were expecting, but they held on for the 66-60 win.

-Iona got a big neutral floor win against Liberty to stay unbeaten.  These are two really good UTR teams, and it’s probably a win Iona will get some credit for once the season is over.

-Marquette picked up their second notable win of the year yesterday as they knocked off West Virginia in the Charleston Classic.  They’ve put together quite the resume early in the season, and I’ll be shocked if they don’t crack the rankings next week.

-After a somewhat disappointing start to the season, Southern Illinois picked up a nice win against Colorado in the Paradise Jam.  They are one of several Missouri Valley teams that we think we need to keep an eye on this year.  Of course, the bad news about this is that we don’t get a Colorado vs Colorado State game this year!!  IT IS AN ASSAULT ON THE FRONT RANGE!!!

-Arizona needed overtime to get past Wichita State in the Roman Main Event out in Las Vegas.  We thought this Wichita State team would be good this year, and while this was a missed opportunity for them, it is far from their only opportunity.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-VILLANOVA VS TENNESSEE (Hall of Fame Tip-Off).  Villanova has already had a big test out at UCLA where they lost in overtime.  Despite the loss, they showed they could play against a really good team on the road.  It’s the first real test for Tennessee, so we should learn something about them today.  It’s an early chance for both teams to pick up a quality win away from home.

-STANFORD AT BAYLOR.  Stanford is off to a 3-1 start, but they haven’t been tested at all like they will be today.  Baylor can improve to 4-0 with a win

-RICHMOND AT DRAKE.  This is a really big opportunity for both of these teams.  We think both are good enough to land inside the bubble, and an early win in a game like this would go a long way toward helping build their resume.  Both teams are still looking for their first notable win.

-PURDUE VS NORTH CAROLINA (Hall of Fame Tip Off).  Both teams are in the rankings, and both are deserving of it.  It would’t shock me at all if they both ended up as protected seeds.  Both teams will have a lot of chances at big wins this year, so this is more of an early season litmus test than anything else.

-CHATTANOOGA AT VCU.  Chattanooga is an under the radar team that we really like.  They are coming into this one 3-0 and already have a road win, but if they can pull this one off it would give their resume a nice boost.  VCU is dealing with injuries, but they are still a pretty good team.

UTAH VS BOSTON COLLEGE (Sunshine Slam).  Both teams have good records so far, but neither team has really won a game of note.  This event is a chance for them to do that.

-TULSA VS RHODE ISLAND (Sunshine Slam).  Rhody is unbeaten, but also hasn’t really been tested.  They will get a bit of a challenge from Tulsa today.  As is the case for all the teams in these kinds of events, it’s a chance to pick up some notable wins away from home.

-WESTERN ILLINOIS @ DEPAUL.  This is a buy game, but both teams are 3-0 and Western Illinois has a notable win at Nebraska, so we’ll go ahead and highlight it.

BUY GAMES AND OTHERS WORTH MENTIONING:

-Binghamton @ UConn
-UCF @ Evansville – UCF can improve to 4-0 on the year and pick up their second road win
-Detroit Mercy @ Louisville
-Rider @ Buffalo
-UIC @ Loyola Chicago – inter city battle!!
-Chicago State @ UC Santa Barbara
-NC A&T @ Wake Forest – Wake can get to 4-0
-Mercer @ Saint Louis
-Texas Tech vs Incarnate Word (Game at South Padre Island)
-Colgate @ Syracuse
-Eastern Michigan @ Michigan State
-Duquesne @ Colorado
-San Jose State @ Texas
-Fairleigh Dickinson @ Saint John’s
-Winthrop @ Vanderbilt
-Iona vs North Alabama (MAAC/ASun Challenge) – Iona can get to 5-0
-Central Methodist (nonD1) @ BYU
-UT Arlington @ San Diego State

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