PointGuard

Dec. 28, 2030: Boston College Eagles (7-4, 1-0) at Louisville Cardinals (5-5, 0-1) at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky SF James Pratt Coach Anderson’s scouting report said that 4 of Louisville’s starters average between 9 and 12 ppg. I’ve been tasked with guarding the guy Coach Anderson feels is Louisville’s best player, Allen Brown. While he’s not their leading scorer since he had a very slow start in their first 4 games, he’s scored in double figures in their last 6 games. The guy mostly likes to shoot from midrange, but isn’t afraid to take the ball inside or step out for the 3. He’s also a very strong rebounder (5.8 rpg) and is sound defensively. I really want to beat the Cardinals since I’ve never liked Joey Johnson, their head coach. He’s a braggart. His best days were when he was coaching Texas, but to use a Texan phrase, “he’s been all hat and no cattle” during his 2 subsequent years at Syracuse and 2 years at Louisville. He’s getting old and resting on his past laurels. A friend of mine played for him at Syracuse and said Johnson doesn’t respect his players. Coach Monty (Darrell Montgomery, our 1st Asst Coach) is handling the team for this game since Coach Fed had some type of family emergency. We silenced the Cardinals’ crowd immediately by scoring the first 8 points. We had a shut-down defense the entire first half and led 37-16 when we went to the locker room. I felt good about how I did, since I not only scored 11 points but held Allen Brown to just 2 points with him just hitting a single basket in his 6 attempts. In the first half Coach Monty played we starters more than Coach Fed does, but with our big lead, he split time in the 2nd half between starters and subs. Our defense continued to be solid as we squashed the Cardinals and their lousy head coach. I got a kick out of watching and listening to him holler at his players. Our lead grew to 37 points at one point, and we ended up thrashing Louisville 73-40. We held Louisville’s shooting to just 26% on FG’s and a meager 18% on 3’s. I was high point man with 16 points plus had 4 assist and 6 rebounds. Coach Monty awarded me the Player of the Game honors. C Ben Schau also had a big game, scoring 10 points and hauling down 17 rebounds while handing out 5 assists. SG Corey Graham scored 15 and PG Bobby Grannum added 11. Allen Brown hit just 2 of 9 shots and scored just 7 points for Louisville. We totally dominated the boards to the tune of 48-26. The only stat they bested us on was free throws since we only got to the line 3 times the entire game.

Game Results—Feb 19-25 Conference V Western Illinois (16-8, 10-3)—70, Eastern Illinois—53 (Big win for the Leathernecks over the team that had been in first place a game ahead. 2 minutes into the game Western Illinois took a lead they never relinquished. “Coach said to grab the lead and just keep grinding and that’s exactly what we did,” said SF James Johnson. C Jamar Curtis tossed in 21 points.) NJIT—81, Western Illinois (16-9, 10-4)—73 (“We let the game get away from us in the latter part of the 2nd half instead of driving to the finish. I hate losing home games,” said Coach Morillo. The top scorer was SG Marcelo Barker with 18 points.) UC-San Diego (17-7, 10-3)—62, North Florida—37 (The Tritons stomped North Florida by outshooting them 42% to 32%, outrebounding them 32-24, and making fewer turnovers 13 vs 20. UC-San Diego’s defense was great all the way, but particularly in the 2nd half when they allowed the Osprey to score just 13 points. SF Gregg Green scored 17 and PF Jack Robinson scored 16.) Central Connecticut—73, UC-San Diego (17-8, 10-4)—70 (2 OT) (The Tritons were on their way to a road win, but let the Blue Devils hit a 3 to tie the game in regulation. Neither team could gain an advantage in the first overtime. With 3 of their starters having fouled out, the Tritons made a gallant effort in the 2nd OT, but fell just short. The team stats were just as close as the score. PF Jack Robinson led the scoring with 20 points plus had 6 rebounds and 4 blocks.) Conference U Morgan State—65, MD-Eastern Shore (16-8, 9-4)—57 (MD-Eastern Shore fell behind early and never could make a run to get closer than 4 points behind the Bears. The Hawks controlled the boards but shot poorly. SF Jibran Hale scored 15 points.) MD-Eastern Shore—70 (17-8, 10-4), North Dakota—63 (The Hawks played so well in the first half, gaining a 20 point lead and ahead 45-29 at the end of the half, that they seemed to have this game in the bag. But North Dakota came back in the middle of the 2nd half and tied the game with 7 minutes to go. The lead bounced back and forth for the next 3 minutes, but then MD-Eastern Shore rallied in the final 4 minutes to beat the Fighting Hawks. C Dwayne Bullett was the high point man with 20 points and PF Tony Rueter had 11 points and 11 rebounds.) Conference T Seattle—62, Alcorn State (18-6, 11-2)—51 (Seattle used a stingy defense and a controlled the boards to cool off Alcorn State. The Braves attempted a comeback but had fallen just too far back to catch up. SG Craig Brown hit for 17 points.) Alcorn State (19-6, 12-2)—95, Central Arkansas—72 (The Braves got their potent offense back on track to drub Central Arkansas. PG Caleb Sanden scored 22 points and SG Craig Brown had 20 points, 6 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks.) Arkansas-Pine Bluff (18-7, 9-4)—64, Bethune-Cookman—56 (It was a tough battle with 13 lead changes, but after falling behind by 2 points with 4 minutes to go, the Golden Lions went on a run that carried them to a nice road victory. Two players had double-doubles as PF Delvon Palmer scored 20 and had 10 rebounds and C Chris Betts had 15 points and 10 boards.) Arkansas-Pine Bluff (19-7, 10-4)—77, Southern—62 (Playing away from home against the team that was tied for 2nd place with them, the Golden Lions scored first and then quickly pulled away to lead 40-23 at the break. While their defense let up in the 2nd half, the Golden Lions never let the Jaguars get close enough to make a serious challenge. C Chris Betts hit for 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to record a double-double.) Awards: none Significant Injuries: none Comments: The only team not to lose this week was Arkansas-Pine Bluff which propelled them into sole possession of 2nd place in Conference T, two games behind first place Alcorn State. MD-Eastern Shore’s loss dropped them out of a first place tie in Conference U and down to sole possession of 3rd place, a game behind Jackson State and North Alabama. In Conference V, UC-San Diego and Western Illinois re now tied for 1st place, one game ahead of Eastern Illinois.

Game Results—Feb 12-18 Conference V Western Illinois (15-7, 9-2)—56, NC-Central—46 (Western Illinois trailed the Eagles most of the way in the first half, but managed to gain a 29-28 halftime edge by tightening their defense late in the half. The Leathernecks’ defense became even ore restrictive in the 2nd half which allowed Western Illinois’ struggling offense to slowly pull away. The biggest difference in the game was in turnovers…10 by Western Illinois and 19 by NC-Central. Both SF James Johnson and SG Marcelo Barker scored 14 points. C Jamar Curtis scored just 9 points but pulled down 15 rebounds.) Alabama State—81, Western Illinois (15-8, 9-3)—63 (“We let the Hornets get ahead of us at the start and just didn’t have it in us tonight to make a comeback,” said Coach Morillo. PF Craig Grant had 19 points.) Eastern Illinois—97, UC-San Diego (15-7, 8-3)—93 (OT) (UC-San Diego’s players hit nearly 2/3 of their shots but couldn’t shake Eastern Illinois which hit almost 60% of their shots. At the half the score stood at 53-58 in favor of the Tritons. But Eastern Illinois turned the tables in the 2nd half, slowing down the pace and both teams had a much more difficult time of scoring. Both teams held small leads at various parts fo the 2nd half, but when the buzzer sounded the score was knotted at 84-84. In the OT, Eastern Illinois scored the first two baskets. From there on UC-San Diego gamely tried to overtake the Panthers but each time they’d get within a point or two, Eastern Illinois would thwart the Tritons efforts to wrest away the lead. The result was a disappointing overtime road loss by UC-San Diego to one of the teams which they had been tied for 1st in the conference. SF Gregg Green hit for 27 points.) UC-San Diego (16-7, 9-3)—68, Longwood—53 (The Tritons led from wire to wire, outshooting the Lancers 50% to 40% and outrebounding them 39-22. PF Jack Robinson had 12 points and 8 rebounds and SF Gregg Green had 12 points and 7 rebounds.) Conference U MD-Eastern Shore (15-7, 8-3)—75, Dartmouth—49 (Dartmouth controlled the game for the first 6 minutes but the Hawks spurted to a 38-28 halftime lead and then completely buried the Big Green in the 2nd half. Reserve C Romolo Pantini scored 16 points and SF Jibran Hale had 15 points and 7 boards.) MD-Eastern Shore (16-7, 9-3)—78, Howard—72 (The Hawks fashioned a 12 point lead in the first half only too it evaporate as the half ended with the score tied at 40-40. Howard threatened to upset the Braves throughout the 2nd half until MD-Eastern Shore put together a 10-2 run and then held on the final 3 minutes to score the win. SG Marcos Santini hit for 23 points and SF Jibran Hale added 20.) Conference T Alcorn State (17-5, 10-1)—85, Sacred Heart—58 (The Braves blew the Pioneers out of the water, quickly jumping ahead and then steadily adding to their lead throughout the first and second halves. Complete and total domination. All five starters scored in double figures, led by SG Craig Brown’s 21 points and PF Will Friel’s double-double (11 points and 11 rebounds).) Alcorn State (18-5, 11-1)—75, Bethune Cookman—50 (“Our defense was solid the entire game and never let the Wildcats make a run,” said Coach Montez. Up by as much as 35 points, the Braves’ entire team got time on the court. C Gabriel Atwood led the scoring with 20 points.) Texas Southern—91, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (16-7, 7-4)—90 (Texas Southern looked to have this game wrapped up, leading nearly all the way and by as much as 17 points, but the Golden Lions came roaring back late in the 2nd half to lose by the narrowest of margins. The lead shifted back and forth the last 3 minutes but the Tigers were able to score on a tip-in with 2 seconds remaining to stymie Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s remarkable comeback. SF Dan Jefferson scored 22 points and had 7 assists.) Arkansas-Pine Bluff (17-7, 8-4)—84, Seattle—67 (Seattle out-rebounded the Golden Lions 38-28 but turned the ball over 22 times which allowed Arkansas-Pine Bluff to gain the lead early and hang onto it the rest of the way. Coach Spencer commented, “We really needed this win tonight.” SG Kwame Mickens had 23 points, 5 assists, 3 boards, 3 steals, and 3 blocks.) Awards: none Significant Injuries: Marcelo Barker of Western Illinois suffered a bruised abdominal which will hamper him for 2 weeks. Alcorn State’s Harold Hein has a strained calif that is likely to require 2 weeks to fully heal. Comments: All 5 teams continue to do well this season. Alcorn State rolled off 2 easy wins and now has an 11-game win streak. The Braves now are 3 games ahead of Arkansas-Pine Bluff and South Carolina Upstate which are tied for 2nd place in Conference T. Conference U features a 3-way tie for 1st place composed of MD-Eastern Shore, North Alabama, and Jackson State. MD-Eastern Shore has now won 7 of their last 8 games. Western Illinois and UC-San Diego are tied for 2nd place in Conference V, a game behind first place Eastern Illinois.

Coach Fred Aura After finishing basketball practice, I headed to my office. I was surprised to find Renee McEntire sitting in my office. I wasn’t sure why she was there or how she got in. But I tried to be gracious even though she made me feel uncomfortable. She’s no longer married to Gerald, the President of our fan club “Eagles Soar”, but she feels she should get special treatment. Turns out she wanted to continue talking to me about the cousin of one of her family members. He plays high school basketball and she encouraged (strong encouraged) me to scout him since according to her he’s a real star. The kid’s not on our radar. But she went on and on, so mostly just to conclude her monologue, I finally said we’d check him out. She thanked me and did her normal touch on my arm together with a contrived smile as she departed my office. I sat down at my desk shaking my head. The woman is weird. My 3rd Assistant Coach Jeremy Anderson was coming toward my office as she stepped out and was nearly knocked over by her as she marched out, not paying him any attention. He gave her a quick backwards glance but launched into talking to me about his scouting schedule before I could say anything. I was beginning to feel like a conversation sponge…again hearing but having little to say in reply. As he spoke I wrote down the kid’s name and where he goes to school so I can eventually pass it along to Landon Friel, my 2nd Asst Coach and recruiter, since I’m sure Renee will again mention this to me.

Dec. 26, 2030: Miami (FL) Hurricanes (8-1, 0-0) vs Boston College Eagles (6-4, 0-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut hill, MA Mary St. James, Boston College Athletic Department Publicist I’m hoping we not only win tonight but win BIG. A great win in our ACC opener will make it possible to get out some good publicity. A slow start, but midway through the half we hit two consecutive 3’s to pull ahead 16-9. From there on it was pretty much all Eagles. By the end of the half, we led 41-19. To be honest the 2nd half wasn’t very thrilling. The two teams just sort of traded baskets. But the result was good: an 81-62 thumping of the Hurricanes. PF Danny Toliver had a good game with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Others scoring in double figures were: SF James Pratt with 12, PG Bobby Grannum with 10, and C Tim Cotton with 10. While it wasn’t really a very exciting game, the 19 point win will give me something to crow about, particularly since it was against the ACC team with the best pre-conference record.

Game Results—Feb 5-11 Conference V Longwood—64, Western Illinois (13-7, 7-2)—62 (Western Illinois was playing catchup almost the entire way. And they very nearly tied the game at the end with a missed 10 footer as time ran out. “This was a strange game. We hit 50% of our shots, the Lancers hit 59% of theirs…but both teams scored in the low 60’s. But even though the teams shot well, the defenses were tough with 16 turnovers by them and 19 by us,” said Coach Morrillo. C Jamar Curtis had 15 points and 7 boards.) Western Illinois (14-7, 8-2)—75, Mississippi Valley—56 (The Delta Devils outplayed Western Illinois for the first 16 minutes, but the Leathernecks came back to lead 34-31 at the break and then drew away in the 2nd half. Western Illinois held a 50% to 42% shooting advantage, dominated the boards 32-16, and had 8 fewer turnovers. PG Martin Dixon came off the bench to score 14 and SG Marcelo Barker had 13 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals.) UC-San Diego (14-7, 7-2)—76, Houston Baptist—72 (The teams were within a few points of each other for the first 28 minutes. The Tritons then edged ahead and their lead grew to 10. But Houston Baptist made a late run that put a scare into UC-San Diego. “I can’t say we played good tonight, but it was nice to our guys take over late in the 2nd half and then hold on to get a road victory,” said Coach Yamoto. SF Gregg Green scored 20 points.) UC-San Diego (15-6, 8-2)—85, SIU Edwardsville-65 (The Tritons trailed 40-37 at the half. But the 2nd half was all UC-San Diego as they steadily pulled away from the Cougars. PF Jack Robinson scored 17 points, C Shannon Van Hook had a double-double (14 points, 10 boards), and C Joe Roland scored 16 points during his 10 minutes on the court.) Conference U MD-Eastern Shore (14-6, 7-2)—76, Kennesaw State-42 (This game was in doubt for just 3 minutes and then the Hawks flew circles around the Owls. MD-Eastern Shore outshot Kennesaw State 50% to 27% and destroyed the Owls on the glass 45-19. SF Jibran Hale dropped in 17 points and had 7 rebounds.) Massachusetts-Lowell-73, MD-Eastern Shore (14-7, 7-3)—66 (MD-Eastern Shore led 33-30 at the break. But the Hawks couldn’t overcome the refs in the 2nd half. Mass-Lowell got to the line 18 more times and score 16 more points on foul shots. A frustrated Coach McMillan sighed while saying, “Playing on the road is difficult enough when you’re only having to play against 5 guys.” SF Jibran Hale was high point man with 16 points.) Conference T Alcorn State (15-5, 8-1)—63, Omaha—53 (In a defensive battle, the Braves held the advantage throughout. “It wasn’t pretty, but anytime you can win on the road, it’s great,” said Coach Montez. C Gabriel Atwood had a double-double, scoring 12 and pulling down 13 boards.) Alcorn State (16-5, 9-1)—68, Charleston Southern—55 (The lead shifted often in the first 12 minutes but then Alcorn State spurted ahead and never looked back. “Pretty good for only getting to the foul line 4 times the entire game,” said Coach Montez. PG Caleb Sanden poured in 24 points.) Arkansas-Pine Bluff (15-6, 6-3)—70, Charleston Southern—62 (“We did what we needed to do, particularly defensively. It was really touch-and-go through much of the 2nd half, but they guys put things together in the final 8 minutes,” said Coach Spencer. “I was on pins and needles with 4 of our starters having 4 fouls apiece late in the game.” SF Dan Jefferson had a rare game of coming in off the bench, but showed why he normally starts by scoring 19 points.) Arkansas-Pine Bluff (16-6, 7-3)—87, Sacred Heart—66 (The Golden Lions offense clicked the entire 40 minutes enroute as they smashed the Pioneers. C Chris Betts dropped in 22 points.) Awards: none Significant Injuries: none Comments: Alcorn State held onto a 2-game lead in Conference T over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Southern. MD-Eastern Shore is in a 4-way battle for 1st place in Conference U. Western Illinois and UC-San Diego are tied with Eastern Illinois for 1st place in Conference V. In Conference U there are 7 teams within one game of each other for the top spot. “All 5 of us have our teams up there fighting for the lead in our respective conferences and also in the battle to earn promotions. We all just gotta keep our team focused on beating our very next opponent. A loss might not only knock out of the conference championship fray but also could drop us low enough to miss out on being promoted. It’s one game at a time, baby,” said Coach Dontell Spencer of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Game Results—Jan 29-Feb 4 Conference V Western Illinois (12-6, 6-1)—74, UC-San Diego (12-6, 5-2)—51 (The lead changed hand 6 times early but then the Leathernecks, with their home crowd cheering them on, took control and pulled away to crush the Tritons. SF James Johnson dropped in 19 points.) Western Illinois (13-6, 7-1)—63, North Florida—50 (The Golden Lions got an early lead and were on top 23-17 at halftime. Both teams got their offenses going in the 2nd half, but Western Illinois lead expanded throughout the half. SG Marcelo Barker finished with 13 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and 3 steals. PF Craig Grant also scored 13 points.) Western Illinois (12-6, 6-1)—74, UC-San Diego (12-6, 5-2)—51 (“We just didn’t get the job done tonight. You’re not going to win when you hit just 36% of our FG’s and 14% of our 3’s and get outrebound us 38-24,” commented Coach Ken Yamoto. PF Jack Robinson and reserve C Joe Roland both scored 10 points.) UC-San Diego (13-6, 6-2)—79, Alabama State—62 (The first half was highly contested with 13 lead changes and UC-San Diego hanging onto a narrow 35-34 lead at the break. But the Tritons poured it on in the 2nd half to win decisively. SG Chris Williams dropped in 16 points.) Conference U MD-Eastern Shore (12-6, 5-2)—73, Tennessee-Martin—68 (OT) (MD-Eastern Shore trailed the Skyhawks most of the game, but the Hawks tied the game just before the end of regulation time. The lead shifted between the two teams for 4 minutes in the OT, but the Hawks scored 5 points to none by the Skyhawks. C Dwayne Bullett scored 17 points and SF Jibran Hale had 14 points, 3 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 4 steals.) MD-Eastern Shore (13-6, 6-2)—77, Jackson State—74 (The Hawks were ahead 35-25 at the half and held onto a narrower lead throughout the 2nd half. Jackson State made a big run late in the game, but MD-Eastern Shore was able to hang on for a nice road victory. SF Jibran Hale and reserve G Marcos Santini both scored 14 points.) Conference T Alcorn State (13-5, 6-1)—54, Citadel—48 (“I need to thank Coach Spencer at Arkansas-Pine Bluff. They must have wore out the Bulldogs’ last week so we were able to shut down their offense that had been so awesome against the Golden Lions,” said Coach Ramon Montez. C Gabriel Atwood scored 13 and pulled down 9 boards.) Alcorn State (14-5, 7-1)—86, Texas Southern—76 (The lead went back and forth (24 lead changes and 16 ties) throughout the first half and for the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half. But then the Braves asserted themselves and drove to a successful conclusion. Alcorn State hit an amazing 61% of their shots. SG Caleb Sanden scored 17, C Gabriel Atwood had 16 points and 8 boards, and PF Will Friel had 14 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 6 steals.) Arkansas-Pine Bluff (13-6, 4-3)—80, Bellarmine—62 (This was Arkansas-Pine Bluff the entire way. Total domination. SF Dan Jefferson scored 17 points. SG Kwame Mickens had a double-double, scoring 10 points and getting 10 assists.) Arkansas-Pine Bluff (14-6, 5-3)—67, Omaha—62 (This was a tightly contested game with good defense by both teams and team stats that were as close as the score. C Chris Betts poured in 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.) Awards: Jibran Hale of MD-Eastern Shore was named the Conference U Freshman Player of the Week. Significant Injuries: MD-Eastern Shore’s Lataryl Brown’s sprained wrist still hasn’t healed and isn’t expected to for another week-and-half. Comments: Another big week for these teams with 9 victories and just 1 loss. Alcorn State is now alone in first place in Conference T, 2 games ahead of 5 teams including Arkansas-Pine Bluff. MD-Eastern Shore is in a 3-way tie for 1st place in Conference U. Western Illinois is now tied for 1st place in Conference V with UC-San Diego alone in 3rd place, a single game behind the two leaders. “All 5 coaches began at the same time with independent teams competing to move up into Division I and thence up the promotion ladder. Ken (Yamamoto) and Terry (Morillo) turned out to be saddled with the toughest challenges. Their two initial teams, Dixie State and Tarleton State, are simply dogs. They were unable to make those 2 teams into winners, and after 3 seasons they wisely moved on to other teams. Their 2 initial teams have continued to be losers. It was no different this season…those two combined to win just 9 and lose 21 games against Division I opponents. Hell, it’s been 5 years and Dixie State has a 26-49 record against Division I teams. And…Tarleton State has an ignominious 15-60 record against Division I competition. Ken and Terry have subsequently built their new teams into winners. So good for them,” said Coach Ramon Montez. Top Scorers for each team: Gregg Green is averaging 15.9 ppg for UC-San Diego; Jibran Hale is averaging 11.8 ppg for MD-Eastern Shore; Gabriel Atwood is averaging 13.1 ppg for Alcorn State; Marcelo Barker is averaging 15.1 ppg for Western Illinois; and Dan Jefferson is averaging 16.8 ppg for Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Fred Aura BC’s fan club, “Eagles Soar”, had one of their fancy social events tonight. It’s the type of event I hate going to but can’t avoid as head coach. These type of social events are maybe even more intolerable than a lot of the press conferences and media interviews. Tonight the club wanted me to say a few words about our upcoming ACC season. Again, not something I enjoy, but have to do. Got through it and thought I would be able to get out quickly. But Renee McEntire sidled up to me. She’d had far too much to drink and went on and on...something about a cousin’s son who plays basketball somewhere or other. The woman’s the ex-wife of the president of the club, so there was no way to quickly end the conversation. I’ve noticed in the past when she’s talking with someone, she has the habit of doing a lot of touching. That made it even more uncomfortable. As the ex-wife of the president of the club, I had to endure her innocuous comments far too long. Finally I extricated myself and got out of there and went to the solitude of my office to do some preparation for our upcoming game. Our first ACC game is against Miami. The Hurricanes are 8 and 1 this season, but all 8 wins have been at home against relatively weak opposition. Their only loss was their opening game in a pre-season tournament and not to a particularly strong team. They’re playing us on our home court so we’re prohibitive favorites. But Miami is averaging 77 ppg and only has given up 63 ppg, so we definitely have to take them seriously. Looking over their stats, they’ve shot well and have a lot of assists, primarily due to their excellent PG Chris Skiffer. Three of their starters are averaging in double figures, led by star freshman SG Reggie Spatola who’s averaging 13.7 ppg. I’m going to continue to try to give Tim Cotton and Mike Williams more time. They’ve done a good job inside when they’ve come into games off the bench thus far. Ben Schau has been in a bit of a funk lately. I’ll continue to start him, but let Tim and Mike take some of his minutes.

Game Results—Jan 22-28 Conference V Western Illinois (10-6, 4-1)—82, South Carolina State—59 (Western Illinois had a slow start but pulled into a tie 7 minutes into the game and then ran away from the Bulldogs. SG Marcelo Barker had 28 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and 4 steals.) Western Illinois (11-6, 5-1)—67, Central Connecticut—56 (The Leathernecks used some hot-shooting (hitting 55% of their FG’s) to achieve a solid road victory. SG Marcelo Barker scored 19 points.) UC-San Diego (11-5, 4-1)—75, NJIT—65 (UC-San Diego trailed 36-31 at halftime. NJIT held onto a solid lead until the Tritons went on a run with 6 minutes left in the game to not only capture the lead but pull away for a solid win. Leading the way was PF Jack Robinson with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.) UC-San Diego (12-5, 5-1)—95, Merrimack—64 (The Tritons simply trounced Merrimack, dominating all aspects of the game enroute to a start to finish win. SF Gregg Green hit for 22 points and reserve C Joe Roland scored 19.) Conference U MD-Eastern Shore (10-6, 3-2)—63, St. Francis (PA)—62 (It took a while for the Hawks to get untracked, but once they did midway through the first half, they just continued to expand their lead. SG Travis Temple had 21 points and 6 rebounds.) MD-Eastern Shore (11-6, 4-2)—58, S.E. Missouri St.—43 (The Redhawks opened an early 10 point lead and were in control most of the first half, but the Hawks rallied late to tied the score at 24-24 when the half ended. MD-Eastern Shore came on strong in the 2nd half, using a lockdown defense to overwhelm the Redhawks. PF Tony Rueter had a double-double (16 points and 10 boards).) Conference T Alcorn State (11-5, 4-1)—67, Tennessee Tech—50 (Alcorn State opened a big lead midway through the first half and lost it to end up in a 29-29 tie at the break. The Braves fell behind in the 2nd half but came back to retake the lead with 14 minutes remaining and poured it on to whip the Golden Eagles..and rise into a tie with Omaha for first place in the conference standings. C Gabriel Atwood scored 17 points.) Alcorn State (12-5, 5-1)—80, Hampton—62 (The Braves took an early lead and were never threatened after that and they breezed to an easy victory. Leading the way were SG Craig Brown 17 points and 7 rebounds and PF Will Friel who also scored 17 points but had 6 rebounds.) Hampton—76, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (12-5, 3-2)—55 (“The Pirates made us walk the plank tonight,” said Coach Spencer. The Golden Lions made just 28% of their FGA’s and 15% of the 3PA’s. SF Dan Jefferson scored 16 points. Clemson—108, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (12-6, 3-3)—106 (OT) (Although each team at one point in the game held a 10 point edge, the score was very close most of the way with 19 lead changes and 11 ties. It was an offensive show the entire way and even more so in the OT with Citadel outscoring the Golden Lions 19-17 in those 5 short minutes. SF Dan Jefferson scored 29 points, C Chris Betts had 15 points and 9 board, and SG Kwame Mickens scored 17 while dishing out 6 assists and getting 5 steals. Coach Spencer said, “Our guys played their hearts out, but the Bulldogs had the last possession and got the ball in the hoop. A tough loss at home, though.”) Awards: none Significant Injuries: Lataryl Brown of MD-Eastern Shore sprained his wrist and is expected to not be fully recovered for a week. Western Illinois’ Zac Johnson sustained a sprained knee and will be hampered all next week. Comments: Great week for 4 of the teams as they each won both their games. But previously high-flying Arkansas-Pine Bluff came up short in both of their games to drop into the middle of the pack in Conference T. Alcorn State is tied for the lead in Conference T. MD-Eastern Shore is now in a 4-way tie for 2nd place, one game behind North Alabama. In Conference V, UC-San Diego and Western Illinois are in a 3-way tie for 2nd place, one game behind Eastern Illinois. Terry Morillo, head coach of Western Illinois said, “All 5 of us coaches are obviously intent on having our teams do their best, but we really want to finish high up in the standings so we can all get promoted to the next higher conference next season.”)

RyReys Blog, Ryan Reynolds Boston College is ready to begin their quest for the Atlantic Coast Conference crown this coming week. The Eagles 6-4 pre-record isn’t as good as they wanted or their fan-base expected and isn’t as good as 9 of the ACC teams (see ACC team records below). But BC played a very tough schedule. 4 of their 10 games were against Top 25 opponents and they went up against no pushover teams. When asked about his team Coach Fred Aura said, “To be honest it’s a mix of positives and negatives. We’re not quite as far along as I had hoped, but I think we ill just get better and better as the season progresses. We’ve got the talent and just need to refine things, particularly working to get more clear shots so we improve our shooting efficiency. There are no real holes in our starting lineup and our backups are pretty solid. We just need to pick up our intensity and drive.” Aura has experimented this season, starting a lot of different players and spreading playing time widely throughout his roster. Because of that only the two top scorers are SG/PG Glen Robinson at 10.8 ppg and PG Bobby Grannum who’s averaged 10.0 ppg. C Ben Schau is the team’s top rebounder at 6.4 rpg and Grannum leads in assists with 4.5 apg. Here’s how the ACC teams have done thus far: #10 North Carolina St.: 11-0, NET Ranking: 14 Miami (FL): 8-1, NET Ranking: 131 Virginia: 8-2, NET Ranking: 30 Clemson: 8-2, NET Ranking: 42 #9 Duke: 8-3, NET Ranking: 23 Pittsburgh: 7-2, NET Ranking: 213 Notre Dame: 7-2, NET Ranking: 60 Wake Forest: 6-3, NET Ranking: 71 Virginia Tech: 6-3, NET Ranking: 134 Boston College: 6-4, NET Ranking: 21 North Carolina: 6-4, NET Ranking: 85 Florida State: 6-4, NET Ranking: 95 Louisville: 5-4, NET Ranking: 145 Georgia Tech: 5-4, NET Ranking: 73 Syracuse: 3-6, NET Ranking: 260 “I think the pollsters have been tough on ACC teams this season, but that’s OK. What I think stands out is that the conference this season is likely to be evenly balanced. We need to play tough each and every game if we want to win. At this point I just don’t see a favorite. It’s going to be a dog-fight for the conference championship,” admitted Aura. ACC Commissioner Buck Morgan echoed Aura’s thoughts when he said, “I think we’re going to see over half of our teams hotly contending for first place this season. I like the competitive balance that we have. It’s going to make for a lot of fan interest for the supporters of all of our teams. And the Conference Tournament is going to be amazing.” You probably are wondering about NC State and their perfect record. Winning 11 straight is impressive, but the quality of their schedule isn’t impressive. The Wolfpack does have 5 players averaging in double figures, though. The ACC’s other ranked team, Duke, has played a far less difficult schedule than the Eagles and the Blue Devils sustained two home losses to relatively weak teams. For the first time in recent history, Duke has no freshmen who are burning up the top of the stats sheets. So fans, if you don’t have tickets yet for BC’s home games, you better get them now or you’re going to miss some exciting basketball.

Game Results—Jan 15-21 Conference V Florida A&M—82, UC-San Diego (9-5, 2-1)—69 (“We shot well (52%) and dominated the boards (+18). Hard to believe we lost. But…you gotta hold onto the ball and play defense. And we had 28 turnovers and let the Rattlers score 51 points in the first half and hit 52% of THEIR shots the whole game,” said Coach Yamoto. PF Jack Robinson had 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 1 block) UC-San Diego (10-5, 3-1)—83, Maine—68 (The Tritons took an early lead and stretched it out. Maine was tagged for 30 fouls which gave UC-San Diego a huge advantage on the foul line. SF Gregg Green scored 18 points and PF Jack Robinson again had 18 points and 8 rebounds.) Western Illinois (8-6, 2-1)—82, Merrimack—70 (Western Illinois held a small lead throughout most of the first half and left the court at intermission with a 41-38 advantage. Merrimack came back to capture the lead early in the 2nd half. But the Leathernecks stormed back to lead by as much as 17 before relaxing a bit for what turned out to be an easy victory. With starting C Jamar Clark in foul trouble, reserve C Larry McClain filled in to lead the team in scoring (16 points) and rebounding (9 boards).) Western Illinois (9-6, 3-1)—76, Florida A&M—70 (The Leathernecks got ahead early to take the Rattlers’ home crowd out of the game and held off a late run by Florida A&M. SF James Johnson hit for 18 points.) Conference U MD-Eastern Shore (9-5, 2-1)—71, Nicholls State—51 (Big road win for the Hawks. The game was oh so close the entire first half, but MD-Eastern Shore came out in the 2nd half on a mission and rapidly pulled away as they outshot the Colonels 51% to 39% and were +13 on the boards. C Dwayne Bullett had 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks.) North Alabama—71, MD-Eastern Shore (9-6, 2-2)—53 (“North Alabama is a very good team, particularly at home. They immediately took us out of our game and hounded us defensively the entire 40 minutes,” said Coach McMillan. SF Jibran Hale scored 16 points.) Conference T Alcorn State (9-5, 2-1)—92, Arkansas-Pine Bluff—89 (“This was just a helluva close game the entire way. When you go up against one of Donnell’s teams, you just know your team’s gonna have to play its best. We did, but our fans really helped us pull off this win in the closing minutes of the 2nd half,” said Coach Montez. PG Caleb Sanden dropped in 20 points.) Alcorn State (10-5, 3-1)—72, Bellarmine—60 (After trailing 33-31 at the half, Alcorn State came on strong in the 2nd half and won easily. The Braves outshot Bellarmine 54% to 34% and were +10 on the boards. C Gabriel Atwood had 22 points and PG Caleb Sanden scored 20.) Alcorn State—92, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11-4, 2-1)—89 (“This game made me 10 years older. 25 freakin’ lead changes. Just two really good teams fighting it out the entire 40 minutes,” said Coach Spencer. SF Dan Jefferson scored 24 points and SG Kwame Mickens had 20 points and 11 rebounds.) Arkansas-Pine Bluff (12-4, 3-1—87, Tennessee Tech—62 (Arkansas-Pine Bluff totally overwhelmed the Golden Eagles with both teams deploying their entire bench late in the game. PG Darrin Randolph pumped in 20 points and SG Kwame Mickens nearly had a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds,and 9 assists.) Awards: James Johnson of Western Illinois was selected as the Conference V Freshman Player of the Week. Significant Injuries: none Comments: All the teams except MD-Eastern Shore are nipping at the heels of their respective conference leaders. The highlight of the week was the exciting game featuring Alcorn State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Dec. 20, 2030: #21 Wisconsin Badgers (7-2) vs Boston College Eagles (5-4) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut hill, MA Gerald McEntire, president of “Eagles Soar” I’m trying my best to maintain positivity toward the team and Coach Aura. And that requires that as president of the Eagles Soar fan club I have to try to reduce the negative comments coming from a growing number of our club’s members, help generate enthusiasm, and provide the members with hope as well. Many of our members quickly became accustomed to the Eagles doing better each season. But this season the team is barely above .500. Wisconsin is BC’s final tuneup for ACC play, so it’s important the Eagles put together a good game. After missing two games, its been reported that SG Corey Graham is fully recovered from his ankle injury and will start tonight I recently remarried so my new wife Monica is attending her first game at Boston College. When I divorced my previous wife Renee after 32 years of marriage, she took her half of the season basketball tickets for BC and maintained her membership in Eagles Soar. Sometimes I think its just to spite me. But Renee has been attending home games this season and of course sitting in the club’s seating section. It can make things a little dicey since there are those in the club that have sided with her and look askance at the May December relationship that exists between Monica and me. But so what! They’re just jealous that I, at the age of 59, now have a 28 year old wife. BC started off well…not particularly strong offensively but their defense was stellar. Hopefully they can keep it up to mollify the malcontents in our club. We were ahead 26-12 midway through the half, but the damned refs are whistling too many fouls on us. Two starters are now on the bench with 2 fouls apiece. A lot of our members are grousing that Coach Aura isn’t being tough enough on the refs. Three starters now off the court with foul troubles and Wisconsin is within 5 points with 6-1/2 minutes left in the half. The half ends with the Eagles on top 41-35. By then 4 of our starters and a reserve had been relegated to the bench due to fouls. During halftime, Monica and I make our way to the club’s private room at Conte Forum. Janet Renwick is in there talking to Renee. I’m sure they’re making snide comments about Monica. When she sees Monica and I enter, she smiles and says, “Oh Jerry, let me buy the two of you drinks. I assume you’d like your usual Old Fashioned. And what for your wife? A Shirley Temple?” She and Renee snicker. I can’t help myself and respond, “No, since you were in here first, Janet, I’m sure there’s no longer any bourbon remaining to make an Old Fashioned.” I quickly usher Monica away from the two of them and join up with my buddies in the club. Lots of grumbling about the refs and Coach Aura being too laid back. But my mind is continuing to seethe about how Renee is acting. She’s being totally unreasonable. She got a reasonable divorce settlement (too much so in my mind), so she should be happy. Monica can’t help it that she’s a lot better looking and elsewise. The Eagles again have a solid start. I’m watching the game, but my attention wavers as I notice out of the corner of my eye that Renee looks to be bad-mouthing me to any and everyone. BC goes on a run to go up by a 64-44 score with 9 minutes to go. The home crowds become energized in the 2nd half and Wisconsin has had to burn timeout trying to curb BC’s momentum. The Eagles triumph by a final score of 79-67. Turnovers (19 by Wisconsin and just 9 by the Eagles) were a key factor in BC’s dominance. Two reserves…PG/SG Glen Robinson with 18 points and SF Maynard Gardner with 14 points, led the scoring for the Eagles with starters SG Corey Graham and PG Bobby Grannum scoring 13 and 11 points, respectively. A pretty good game by the Eagles, but we have club members who feels we should win by 20 or more points every time at home.

Game Results—Jan 8-14 Conference V: NJIT—66, Western Illinois (6-6, 0-1)—59 (Coach Morillo stated, “We got jobbed in this road game. We outshot the Highlanders 46% to 43% and made 6 more FG’s than they did. But we were sent to the foul line 22 fewer times and NJIT scored 19 more points on free throws. Road games are tough enough without having that kind of discrepancy.” SG Marcelo Barker scored 21 points. Western Illinois (7-6, 1-1)—72, Maine—53 (The Leathernecks led the entire game, but it wasn’t until the 2nd half they were able to pull away. SG Marcelo Barker and C Jamar Curtis both scored 17 points and Curtis had 11 rebounds to record a double-double.) UC-San Diego (8-4, 1-0)—69, Central Connecticut—63 (The Tritons’ defense limited the Blue Devils to just 19 points in the first half and led by 9 at the break, but then both teams’ offenses clicked in the 2nd half. UC-San Diego fell behind by 6 points with 10 minutes to play but the Tritons rallied to regain the lead and pull away in the final 6 minutes of play. SF Gregg Green scored 20 points.) UC-San Diego (9-4, 2-0)—91, South Dakota State—54 (The game was tied with 9 minutes to go in the first half, but UC-San Diego then shut down the Bulldogs defensively and their offense went into high gear. By the end of the half they were up 52-34 and then continued to blow away the Bulldogs in the final 20 minutes. SF Gregg Green poured in 29 points, SG Chris Williams hit for 19 points, and PG Brian Thomas had 13 points plus 10 assists.) Conference U: North Dakota—80, MD-Eastern Shore (7-5, 0-1)—77 (While North Dakota held a 5 point lead at halftime, the two teams traded the lead repeatedly throughout the 2nd half. But the Hawks, trying to send the game to OT, couldn’t make their 3 point shot in the closing seconds. SF Jibran Hale had 16 points and 8 rebounds.) MD-Eastern Shore (8-5, 1-1)—73, Presbyterian—69 (The Hawks trailed 36-26 at the half, but 6 minutes into the 2nd half began to rally. With 8 minutes to go MD-Eastern Shore tied the Blue Hose and went ahead by 10 points before nearly losing their lead in the final few minutes. The top scorer was C Dwayne Bullett who had 21 points plus 8 boards.) Conference T: Central Arkansas—82, Alcorn State (7-5, 0-1)—79 (Alcorn State fell behind by 16 points in the first half and trailed by 9 at the break. But the lead changed back and forth throughout the 2nd half. Central Arkansas hit a 3 to win the game in the final 12 seconds. PF Will Friel had 18 points and 9 rebounds before fouling out.) Alcorn State (8-5, 1-1)—45, Southern—40 (A total and complete defensive battle the entire way. But Alcorn State was in control the final 28 minutes of the game. Reserve C Bernie Graham scored 15 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.) Arkansas-Pine Bluff (10-3, 1-0)—74, Southern—59 (The Golden Lions took over 4 minutes into the game and rapidly pulled away and led 49-28 at the end of the first half. The team was never seriously challenged in the 2nd half. SF Dan Jefferson scored 26 points and pulled down 7 boards). Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11-3, 2-0)—76, Central Arkansas—68 (Central Arkansas led most of the first half, but the Golden Lions rallied late to achieve a 37-33 advantage at the break. Arkansas-Pine Bluff led nearly the entire 2nd half. SF Dan Jefferson tossed in 23 points.) Awards: Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Dan Jefferson was named the Conference T Player of the Week. Significant Injuries: none Comments: UC-San Diego and Arkansas-Pine Bluff had great starts. Both went 2-0 to start conference play. The other 3 teams are 1-1 in conference play. Dan Jefferson (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) and Gregg Green (UC-San Diego) both totalled 49 points in their two games.

Janeka Aura Fred’s been having a hard time handling how his team is playing this season. He’s complained about the negatives being written about him and the team by blog writers and others and how the support of the alumni has been eroded. The loss to Providence really got to him. He’s holding himself responsible by advocating the change of non-conference rivals to Providence. He’s concerned that every season his team has been less motivated than the Friars for the rival game. But he holds himself responsible. So now I have TWO despondent members of my family. Malik continues to fret about the loss of playing time at Georgetown. In the last 4 games his time on court has gone from over 30 minutes per game to 15, then 8, then 7, and most recently just 4 minutes.

Game Results—Jan. 1-7 High Point—82, Western Illinois (6-5)—73 (The Leathernecks trailed from start to finish and lost this game primarily due to making 22 turnovers. SG Marcelo Barker scored 17 points.) Seton Hall—68, UC-San Diego (7-4)—60 (The Tritons led 37-28 at halftime, but couldn’t hold onto the lead as the Pirates took control in the 2nd half. Seton Hall scored 9 more points at the foul line, but UC-San Diego’s 22 turnovers also led to their losing. C Shannon Van Hook scored 11 points.) Alcorn State (7-4)—78, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi—56 (Alcorn State was on top the entire game and totally dominated the Islanders in the 2nd half to bury them. PG Caleb Sanden led the Braves’ scoring with 17 points.) Arkansas-Pine Bluff (9-3)—91, South Carolina State-68 (The Golden Lions had no problem handling the Bulldogs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff led 60-37 at the half and eased their way through the 2nd half. SF Dan Jefferson had 24 points and 7 rebounds and SG Kwame Mickens scored 22 points while dishing out 9 assists.) MD-Eastern Shore (7-4)—58, Albany—52 (Even though the Hawks led the entire game, the game was close most of the way. SF Jibran Hale had a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Reserve guard Edouardo Gaultier also scored 12 points.) Awards: none Significant Injuries: none Comments: At the conclusion of pre-conference play, all 5 coaches had their teams over .500. Arkansas-Pine Bluff had the best record (9-3), but MD-Eastern Shore had the best NET ranking (21st best within Division I). Ken Yamoto (UC-San Diego): “My guys have played pretty well thus far. All 4 of our losses were on the road. SF Gregg Green is averaging 16.5 ppg and C Joe Roland has scored 10.4 ppg. As a team we’re averaging 79.5 ppg which is 15th best in the country. Our team has hit 51% of our FGA’s and 39% of our 3PA’s. But we need to tighten our defense since our opponents averaged 75.5 ppg. I like our chances in Conference V.” Mike McMillan (MD-Eastern Shore): “We did damned well since every one of our 11 pre-conference games was on the road. Next season we need to schedule a decent amount of home games. Our biggest victory was over Florida State and we have won 5 of our last 6 games. Our defense has been stronger than our offense. But we have 3 players averaging in double figures: SG Travis Temple (12.4 ppg), SF Jibran Hale (11.5 ppg), and C Dwayne Bullett (10.0 ppg). Our top rebounders are Bullet (6.5 rpg), PF Tony Rueter (6..2 rpg), and Hale (5.6 rpg). Our guys are excited to begin play in Conference U.” Ramon Montez (Alcorn State): “We’re ready to take on what’s likely to be tough Conference T competition after doing well in pre-conference play. 2 of our losses were playing at Stanford and #6 ranked Providence. We’ve outscored our opponents 74.9 ppg to 68.6 ppg. After missing 4 games due to an injury, Caleb Sanden has returned to average 14.6 ppg. C Gabriel Atwood is averaging 13.5 ppg and 7.4 rpg while PF Will Friel averages 11.8 ppg and 5.8 rpg. Our interior players have combined to score 41 ppg.” Terry Morillo (Western Illinois): “Three of our 5 losses were by 2 points or less. And although we lost to #9 Indiana and strong Georgia Tech, we nearly pulled off big-time upsets of both of those teams on their home courts. We’re a good defensive team and don’t do bad offensively either. So I think we can do well in Conference V. Our top scorers are SG Marcelo Barker (13.0 ppg); C Jamar Curtis (12.51 ppg) who has also grabbed 6.5 rpg; SF James Johnson (10.6 ppg); and SF James Johnson (10.6 ppg).” Donnell Spencer (Arkansas-Pine Bluff): “Pre-conference play was an excellent tune-up for going up against our Conference T opponents. After losing our first 2 games, we’ve reeled off 9 victories in our last 10 games. We’ve got the 5th best scoring team in Division I, averaging 81.2 ppg. SG Kwame Mickens is having another strong season, scoring 14.6 ppg. SF Dan Jefferson isn’t far behind with 14.3 ppg. And C Chris Betts is right on his tail with 13.9 ppg. Mickens also is averaging 5.8 apg and 4.4 rpg. Betts is our top rebounder (7.1 rpg).”

Dec. 13, 2030: Boston College Eagles (5-3) vs #19 Providence Friars (7-2) at Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island 3rd Assistant Coach Jeremy Anderson (scouting) Providence has a lock-down defense, having allowed just 60.2 ppg which is 29th best in the nation. Defensively they use m-2-m primarily but also mix in a 1-3-1 zone. They play a slow-down offense and shoot poorly so are only scoring 63.8 ppg (which is 276th best in Division I). Their primary offensive set is a motion offense. The Friars are a good rebounding team, particularly Coach Aura’s oldest son Omari (7.7 rpg). SG James Young is their top scorer (11.2 ppg) and is one of their few good shooters, hitting 53% of his FG’s and 50% of his 3’s. The only other Friars who have been productive offensively are PF Omari Aura (9.7 ppg) and SF Michael Butler (8.9 ppg). I like our chances but the Friars have been our nemesis since they became our non-conference rival and they have yet to lose at home this season. Coach Aura has returned to the normal starting five, minus Corey Graham, who is still bothered by a sprained ankle. While he may get into the game for a while, Glen Robinson will start at SG. Glen’s had very strong games the past two games. Providence hit their first 4 FG’s but we were scoring well also. But the refs tagged us with a bunch of fouls. Midway through the half we began having a really tough time hitting our shots plus became careless resulting in too many turnovers. With 6-1/2 minutes remaining we were behind 28-17. By the end of the half we trailed 42-27. Providence outshot us 50% to 33% and got to the foul like 11 more times than did we. But 12 turnovers really were our undoing. Providence maintained a double-digit lead in the 2nd half until there was just 6 minutes to go. While we got the deficit to a single digit, we could never get closer than 6 points and ended up on the losing end of a 71-63 score. We hit just 39% of our FG’s and only 18% of our 3’s. C Ben Schau scored 16 and SG Glen Robinson added 12. We’ve lost other games, but this one seemed to affect Coach Aura much more than the others. He didn’t say anything, but you could tell it by his facial expression…a mix of frustration and disappointment.

Dec. 6, 2030: George Mason Patriots (2-4) vs #24 Boston College Eagles (4-3) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut hill, MA Fred Aura We dropped to #24 in the Media Poll and totally out of the Coaches Poll. We deserve the big fall. This past summer I got our AD Jason Braxton to schedule this game since my ex-assistant coach, David Woodruff, is now the head coach for George Mason. Even if the Patriots lose to us, it’s a feather in David’s hat to go up against us. And with the way we’ve played of late, the Patriots might just win. I’m so upset with how the starters have played that I told the team we were going to shake things up. We’ll have an ENTIRELY NEW starting 5 for this game. We’re going with Tim Cotton at C, Mike Williams at PF, Maynard Gardner at SF, Adrian Moss at SG, and Rashon Thorn at PG. I’m not sure when I’ll put our usual starters in, but plan to do it as a group, and when I do it, let them know that they need to PRODUCE…or the new starters will be back on the court. Thorn hit a 3 after we controlled the tip in. I’m hoping that ignites our new starters. First media time out, we’re up 7-0 and my old starters are rather surprised that they continue to sit. With 13 minutes left in the half the new starters are up 11-4 but their legs are giving out, so I bring in our usual starting 5 (less Corey Graham who is nursing a sprained ankle so Glen Robinson will go in at SG). Let’s see how they do. Not all the impressed. 7-1/2 minutes later we’re up 21-13. 3 of the 5 to the bench. 30-21 at the half. We only hit 34% of our shots, but held the Patriots shooting to 26%. We got out-rebounded 22-17. So in the 2nd half we need to get our shooting eyes adjusted and attack the boards. I start the new starting 5 in the 2nd half also. 33-27 at the first media time out. Let’s see if our usual starters can pull this one out. Alright! We’re up by 19 six minutes later. With 8 minutes to go we’re up 57-36. We scored 24 points in 8 minutes by the original starters. We cruise with a hodgepodge lineup the rest of the way and win 74-50. So a pretty good 2nd half. All 12 of our players scored. SG Glen Robinson was the only one in double figures…he hit for 20. Robinson’s now scored 36 points in our last two games and hit 13 of 21 from the field and 8 of 11 from 3-point distance. Bobby Grannum had 8 points, 7 rebound, 7 assists and 2 blocks tonight.

Game Results—Dec. 25-31 Western Illinois (6-4)—72, William & Mary—48 (It took 10 minutes for Western Illinois to gain control but they ten progressively pulled away for the remainder of the game. Sf James Johnson pumped in 21 points and PG Tom Daniel hit for 14 points while dishing out 7 assists.) UC-San Diego (7-3)—64, Northwestern State—63 (Northwestern State held the lead for the first 13 minutes. The Tritons then went on top for the next 22 minutes of the game. But the Demons regained with 5 minutes to go and held onto it until PG Brian Thomas hit a 14 foot jumper with 2 seconds left to gain the one-point victory for UC-San Diego. SG Craig Williams scored 12 points and C Shannon Van Hook had 10 points and 10 rebounds.) Alcorn State (6-4)—92, Coppin State—70 (After the Braves gained their first lead 7 minutes into the game, they steadily expanded their lead until the buzzer sounded ending the game. PF Will Friel had 25 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists and PG Caleb Sanden scored 19 points.) DePaul—72, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (7-3)—62 (Arkansas-Pine Bluff hung with DePaul for the first 29 minutes of the game but then faded as DePaul’s home crowd buoyed the Blue Demons. C Chris Betts had 18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 4 blocks.) Arkansas-Pine Bluff (8-3)—78, Tarleton State—75 (The first half totally belonged to the Golden Lions an they fashioned a 48-42 halftime advantage. The Texans came back on their home court to go ahead 4 minutes into the 2nd half. Arkansas-Pine Bluff wasn’t able to regain the lead until there were just 3 minutes remaining. They held of for an exciting victory. SF Dan Jefferson scored 26 points which included hitting 6 of 10 from beyond the arc. C Chris Betts got sick during halftime, but reserve Jacob Allen replaced him to score 14 points and pull down 10 boards in his 17 minutes on the court.) MD-Eastern Shore (6-4)—73, Florida State—70 (A HUGE road victory by the Hawks for a much more vaunted opponent. Florida State led 37-32 after 20 minutes of play and then opened as much as an 11 point lead in the 2nd half. But in the final 4 minutes the plucky Hawks made a game comeback and finally tied the Seminoles with 42 seconds remaining. Florida State was unable to score inside and Travis Temple knocked down a long 3 with 5 seconds on the clock. Florida State could only get off a desperation shot from nearly 30 feet away that was far off the mark. C Dwayne Bullett scored 20 points.) Awards: Will Friel of Alcorn State was Conference T’s Player of the Week. Significant Injuries: Back spasms are limiting Western Illinois’ C Craig Grant. While he may play in the team’s next few games, his effectiveness Is likely to be affected. Comments: MD-Eastern Shore’s upset win over Florida State highlighted the week. Coach Mike McMillan exclaimed after the victory, “No one thought we could win, particularly taking on the Seminoles in Tallahassee. But our guys just wouldn’t give up even after Florida State put us in a big hole in the 2nd half.

RyReys Blog, Ryan Reynolds 2+2 is not equaling 4 for Boston College basketball. The Eagles land what are believed to be great recruits and transfer players and have strong and experienced players returning from last (in my book that’s “2”) plus are ranked #5 in the pre-season polls and picked to be the top team in the ACC (yet another “2”), but have posted 3 losses in their first 7 games. And the last 2 losses have been abominations. The had a late game meltdown against Marquette and an embarrassing total misfire against Missouri…two opponents that are not going to light Division I on fire. The team has dropped from 5th in the polls to 8th to 12th to 14th to 24th (and totally out of the top 25 in one poll). Who’s ultimately responsible for this season’s debacles? I posit that it’s the one at the top of the BC totem pole. Yes, I’m referring to Coach Frederick Aura, the coach brought it to SOLVE the Eagles basketball woes and lead them to dominance in the ACC and to nirvana in the post-season. But it seems any positive aura is off Aura who is totally squandering the talent that is on his roster. Yeah, the team now has a home game against a patsy (George Mason) so should post a win, but then they go to Providence, a team they’ve had absolutely NO success against the past few seasons and which already has won 7 of their 9 games. To those in power at BC: How long are you going to maintain blind faith in a head coach who obviously is unable to take the team to the next level?

Janeka Aura Got a call from Malik. He was depressed. After starting 5 straight games and playing 30+ minutes in each of them at Georgetown, he’s upset about riding the bench in the Hoyas last two games and playing just 15 minutes and 8 minutes in those 2 games. I tried to buoy his spirits but was unsuccessful. Fred was at work, so I had him call Malik. I also texted Omari at Providence to get him to talk with Malik. That night Fred told me he reminded Malik that he’s a freshman and there’s a big learning curve in going from high school ball to Division I ball and that at Georgetown he’s got a lot of talented teammates. Fred went over his last two games in which he scored 10 point in the combined 23 minutes on the court and hit 4 of 6 shots. Malik has not shot well in his games before those two games, so Fred told him to be happy about starting to get his shooting back in shape. He told him to just keep working hard in practice, keep his spirits up, and to be ready to just contribute in any way he can during games, rather than worrying about starting. Not sure what Omari said. But since Omari didn’t start regularly until he was a junior at Providence but is now (in his senior season) the Friars top rebounder and shot blocker aand is the 2nd highest scorer on the team, I think his brother will listen and learn from him. I’m going to try to get down to DC for a Hoyas’ game as soon as I can. I was hoping Fred could accompany me, but Georgetown has 4 straight home games coming up the next 3 weeks and BC plays the same nights each time, so that won’t work. I’ll take Devany along with me. She can always brighten her brother’s spirits. Speaking of Devany, she switched from playing soccer to field hockey. While she was a good soccer player, she seems to be a natural at field hockey. I think Fred was hoping she’d play basketball, but she wanted to go her own way and do something different than her father and brothers.

Dec. 2, 2030: #14 Boston College Eagles (4-2) vs Missouri Tigers (3-0) at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri PG Bobby Grannum The day after our loss to Marquette, Coach Fed got us into a Junior College gym and ran the hell out of us. He really got on us about failing to play all-out. I feel like I let the team down since I made a bunch of turnovers in that game. I FELT like I was trying though, but just had trouble with Marquette’s defense. And maybe some of our guys weren’t playing as hard as usual and that caused some of my turnovers by them being a half-step slow. I get bent out of shape when my teammates don’t play all out and I’m not bashful about letting them know it, so I’m definitely not the best liked guy on the team (yeah, I know I can be a hard-ass). But Coach Fed has it right about guys taking it easy. I’m sure hoping Coach Fed feels like we put out in this game against Missouri, though. Another practice like he just ran will likely kill us. Here’s the highlights and lowlights of the game: *Off to our patented slow start, down 6-0 and 9-2. *Refs called 2 fouls on me in first 4-1/2 minutes. To the bench. NOT happy!!!! *Coach benched all the starters with score 15-2. *Subs scored but no defense. We’re down 31-14 with 7-1/2 to go in half. Starters back in (less me). *We cut into the lead a little but still trailed 44-35 at the end of the half. Coach Fed blasted us in the locker room about our defense. *Missouri makes first 19 points in 2nd half. We’re scoreless at the first media timeout and Coach Fed is furious. *We get our first point, not points, on free throw with 13:27 to go. Trail by 27. *All starters sent to far end of the bench. *Our first FG of half comes with 11 minutes left in the game. *Coach Fed puts in walk-ons for first time in season. 8:14 to go and we’re down 73-47. *Game finally over. A 94-69 slaughter. *Reserves Glen Robinson with 16 points and C Tim Cotton and Mike Williams with 8 each are the top scorers for us. No starter played even 20 minutes. *Tough practices are on the horizon. At least the road trip is finally over though.

Game Results—Dec. 18-24 Western Illinois (5-4)—75, Ohio—67 (During the first 10 minutes there were 8 lead changes and 4 ties, but then the Leathernecks offense outpaced the Bobcats. Western Illinois was ahead 46-34 at the break. The Leathernecks stubbornly refused to relinquish the lead in the 2nd half to garner a solid road victory. SG Marcelo Barker scored 19 points.) UC-San Diego (6-3)—85, Loyola (IL)—82 (Loyola looked like the stronger team early in the game, but UC-San Diego came on strong midway through the half to forge a 47-42 lead at the end of the half. The Ramblers quickly jumped on top early in the 2nd half. Neither team could gain a real advante over the next 12 minutes as the lead flip-flopped. But with 5 minutes to go, UC-San Diego jumped ahead by 6 points. The Tritons gamely held off Loyola’s attempted charge in the final 2 minutes. PF Jack Robinson scored 18 points by sinking 9 of 13 shots and PG Brian Thomas had 14 points and 7 assists.) #6 Providence—86, Alcorn State (5-4)—59 (Providence established their dominance early in the game and led 44-33 by the end of the first half. The Friars defense completely sunk the Braves in the 2nd half and Providence’s SG Will Sanchez poured in 30 points. SG Craig Brown and PF Will Friel both scored 12 for Alcorn State.) Arkansas-Pine Bluff (7-2)—73, Vermont—70 (The Golden Lions never let Vermont get ahead in the game. At the end of the first half, Arkansas-Pine Bluff led 31-20. The Golden Lions’ stout defense of the first half totally fell apart in the 2nd half. Vermont very slowly narrowed the gap throughout the 2nd half but just ran out of time in their effort to get ahead. Vermont fans left the arena frustrated. C Chris Betts and SG Kwame Mickens each scored 16 points while SF Dan Jefferson hit for 12 points and had 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals.) MD-Eastern Shore (5-4)—66, Fairleigh Dickinson—56 (The Hawks pulled ahead early and led by as much as 10 with 6 minutes remaining in the first half, but the Knights fought back to get within 2 points at the end of the half. The lead shifted back and forth between the teams for the firsts 15 minutes of the 2nd half, but then MD-Eastern Shore drew away. SF Jibran Hale scored 17 points and PG Lataryl Brown finished with 14 points and 8 assists.) Awards: none Significant Injuries: none Comments: Junior walk-on PG Dalonte Keams got upset with head coach Ken Yamoto at UC-San Diego and blew up when confronted by Yamoto. That earned Keams a one-weak suspension even though Keams has been averaging 7.3 ppg in his 13.8 mpg of playing time. The Tritons will have little depth at the guard positions when in their upcoming game. Otherwise a very good week since the teams won 4 of their 5 games with all games being on the road and the only loss was to the team ranked 6th in the polls.

Coach Aura commenting to 1st Assistant Coach Darrell Montgomery after the game: “Damn! That was a p--- poor effort. Even though I have to give credit to Marquette’s defense, we just never really seemed to get up for this game. We got here early yesterday, so its not like our guys didn’t get enough rest. They just never ignited. We have to kick up the intensity level and not be so damned lackadaisical out there. I know its tough to win on the road, but we were the better team tonight. We just sort of seemed to be going through the motions. We need to kick our guys in the butt and let them know to never put it on cruise control and that they need to play every game like it’s the national championship game, no matter who we play.”

Game Results—Dec. 11-17 Western Illinois (4-4)—69, Chicago State—54 (The game was close in the first half with the Leathernecks taking a narrow 29-27 advantage into the 2nd half. But then Western Illinois continually expanded their lead in the final 20 minutes. C Jamar Curtis had a big game, scoring 26 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.) Virginia Tech—80, UC-San Diego (5-3)—74 (OT) (Virginia Tech opened an early 14 point lead, but then the Tritons came on late in the 1st half to narrow the gap to 34-31 at the intermission. The Hokies held onto a small lead throughout the 2nd half until UC-San Diego hit a last second FG to tie the game at 67-67 and send the two teams to overtime. But the Tritons weren’t able to keep up in the OT. SF Gregg Green tossed in 30 points and grabbed 7 boards, but none of the other Tritons was able to score in double figures.) Alcorn State (5-3)—77, Robert Morris—56 (Alcorn State overwhelmed the Colonials from the start. At the end of the first half the Braves held a 47-25 lead and expanded their lead to as much as 27 points in the 2nd half. SG Caleb Sanden topped the scoring with 29 points, hitting 5 of 7 of his 3PA’s.) Arkansas-Pine Bluff (6-2)—79, Saint Francis—53 (Another run away. The Golden Lions never trailed and led 43-22 at the end of the first 20 minutes. C Chris Betts scored 21 points and had 5 rebounds and 3 steals.) Saint Peters—77, MD-Eastern Shore (4-4)—61 (Even though Saint Peters led the entire first half, the Hawks closed to within just 2 points when the half ended. But the Peacocks totally shut down the Hawks’ offense in the 2nd half and cruised to an easy victory. SG Travis Temple scored 15 points.) Awards: C Jamar Curtis of Western Illinois was named Conference V’s Player of the Week. Significant Injuries: none Comments: Arkansas-Pine Bluff has the 22nd best NET ranking and even though MD-Eastern Shore is playhing .500 ball, their NET ranking is 55th best in the country.

Nov. 29, 2030: #14 Boston College Eagles (4-1) vs Marquette Golden Eagles (3-2) at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, WI Boston Herald EAGLES TARNISHED BY GOLDEN EAGLES After travelling to California where they eked out a last second two point victory over Stanford, the Boston College Eagles began their way back east by stopping off in Milwaukee to take on the Marquette Golden Eagles last night. The game began with both teams employing scrappy defenses which made it difficult to get clear shots and resulted in a bunch of turnovers. BC’s offensive problems continued longer than did Marquette’s and after 9 minutes of play, the Golden Eagles held an 18-5 lead. Late in the half Boston College finally began hitting their shots and narrowed the gap to 4 with 2 minutes left and that was the difference when the teams were sent to the locker room with the score 37-33 in favor of Marquette. Two minutes into the 2nd half, PG Bobby Grannum cashed in a 3 to give the Eagles their first lead at 38-37. The score stayed close until Marquette went on a 7-0 run midway through the half. The Golden Eagles extended their lead to 63-54 with 5:45 to play. A deadly combination of poor shooting and frequent turnovers prevented BC from catching up. The final score was 69-63 in favor of Marquette. The only Boston College player to score in double figures was PG Bobby Grannum who had 15 points, although that was offset by him making 11 turnovers. “It was disappointing to let this game get away from us in the final 10 minutes. But Marquette just played a little better defense than we did,” said Coach Fred Aura. The Eagles now move on to finish up their road trip by going up against the Missouri Tigers.