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Because of most schools taking a break for final exams it has been a slow week for college basketball around the state. Louisville was the biggest name in action, and they did not have a good week as the Cardinals suffered their first ever loss at the new KFC Yum! Center 52-46 to upstart Drexel. Virtually everyone else returns to the court over the weekend, starting with Friday's game:
SIU-Edwardsville (2-9) at Indiana (7-2) 7pm - The Cougars are a relative newcomer to Division I, while the Hoosiers are undefeated at home. SIU-Edwardsville is one of the worst teams in the nation according to the Crimson Quarry:
IU begins its play in the IBN/Las Vegas Classic tonight when the Hoosiers play the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars at Assembly Hall. This game and Sunday night's game are part of the Classic, but I'm not exactly sure how or why. IU's Sunday night game against South Carolina State also is part of it, but it's not a tournament at this point. In other words, an unexpected loss tonight or Sunday would not prevent IU from going to Las Vegas for the two games next week. (EDIT: apparently there are two brackets in Las Vegas. The "small school" bracket, for lack of a better term, includes SIUE, South Carolina State, The Citadel, and Longwood. This week, those schools are playing teams from the major bracket: IU, Northern Iowa, Colorado, and New Mexico).
SIUE is in its third year of a transition to Division I, and the Cougars are struggling, as would be expected. SIUE is 2-9 this season and its wins have come against something called McMurray and against Kennesaw State. The Cougars have played Iowa, and that is their only major conference matchup to date. The Hawkeyes aren't a dominant team (they are 5-5 with losses to South Dakota State, Wake Forest, and Long Beach State) but beat SIUE by 61 points. IU's schedule isn't great, but this game stands out nonetheless.
Saturday's Games:
Stanford (6-2) at Butler (5-4) 2pm - The Bulldogs welcome their biggest named opponent of the season to Hinkle Fieldhouse when the Stan ford Cardinal come to town. SBNation's Rule of Tree will cover thing from the Stanford perspective, but this is pretty much a must win for Butler. the Bulldogs ahve missed on chances for resume building wins against Xavier, Duke, and Louisville so far. they could use a name win even if it does come against a struggling Pac-10 school.
Middle Tennessee State (4-6) at Evansville (4-4) 3pm - The Purple Aces have been very up and down so far, so a win over the Blue Raiders would provide a nice boost before going into Missouri Valley Conference play. Batesville's Colt Ryan leads Evansville at more than 15 points per game.
Gardner-Webb (6-7) at Louisville (8-1) 3:30pm - Louisville shouldn't have much trouble against Gardner-Webb at the Yum! Center, but the Bulldogs have pulled off some shockers in the past. One only needs to look at their stunning 84-68 upset of Kentucky in Rupp Arena three years ago.
Indiana State (5-5) vs. Purdue (9-1) 4pm at Conseco Fieldhouse - The Boilermaker Blockbuster makes a one-year return with the Boilermakers women's team facing Auburn and the men facing the Sycamores. Hammer & Rails has already posted a preview:
We can't totally write them off though. They played Notre Dame to a nine point game in South Bend, so they have the ability to hang with good teams. They don't have the size to really do much with JaJuan Johnson in the post, so this should be another game where Travis Carroll and Sandi Marcius get some solid minutes. They have more size than North Florida, so an improved game from the Hanson Brothers would be a good sign, as it would come against better competition.
Dwayne Lathan is a solid junior guard that started his career at Louisiana Tech, but is in his second season in Terre Haute. The numbers above paint the picture that he is a very versatile guard. He can shoot the three or drive and distribute. His distribution element is a new thing this year. he nearly has as many assists through 10 games as he did int he 20 games he played last year. His best game came against DePaul when he had 24 points on 8 of 14 shooting.
Jake Kelly can also be a dangerous player. He is eligible after transferring from Iowa, so he has experience in facing Big Ten opponents. In his second game against Purdue during the 2008-09 season he had 19 points in a close 49-45 Purdue win. He has faced JJ and E'Twaun four times in his career before Saturday.
IPFW (7-2) at Valparaiso (6-4) 8pm - Both of these teams have already started well with 2-0 records against their respective conferences. They are hoping to stay at or near the top of their respective leagues in order to have a chance at the NCAA's later on. For now, it is a good test for each. The Crusaders were a surprising top 50 RPI team until an ugly loss to Toledo last week. The Mastodons have already made some noise in the Summit League, but they will be chasing league favorite Oakland.
Sunday's Game:
Stony Brook (4-5) at Notre Dame (9-1) 4:30pm - The Fighting Irish should have little trouble with Stony Brook, whose best win has come against Monmouth.
Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) – JaJuan Johnson had a career-high 31 points as No. 19 Purdue pulled away late to defeat Indiana State, 65-52 at Conseco Fieldhouse in the Boilermaker BlockBuster.
Johnson was 10-of-19 from the field, made 11-of-12 free throws and also had three blocks for Boilermakers (10-1). E’Twaun Moore notched 16 points and five rebounds for the victors.
Purdue improved to 9-3 in the Indianapolis event, which hadn’t taken place since December 18, 2004.
Dwayne Lathan recorded 15 points and grabbed nine boards for Indiana State (5-6), which had a two-game winning streak snapped. Carl Richard chipped in 11 points and six rebounds in the loss.
Lathan’s jumper with 9:09 left cut the Boilermakers’ lead to two, but Purdue made six straight free-throws.
After D.J. Byrd made a behind-the-back save to keep the ball from going out of bounds, he was rewarded with a wide open layup to give Purdue a 55-45 lead with 4:38 to play. Lewis Jackson added a free throw to complete the nine-point burst.
The Boilermakers made 6-of-8 free throws in the final 90 seconds to secure the win.
Purdue broke a tie just past the midway point of the first half on a Byrd three. The long ball sparked an eight-point spurt, capped by Ryne Smith’s trey with 5 1/2 minutes left to play.
The Sycamores fought back, though, and Aaron Carter’s four-point play with 94 seconds left gave Indiana State a 30-29 edge.
But Johnson followed with a jumper, and Byrd’s 1-of-2 performance from the line gave the Boilermakers a 32-30 lead at the break.
Johnson had 25 of Purdue 32 first-half points…Purdue is 12-10 all-time at Conseco Fieldhouse, and 9-6 at the venue under head coach Matt Painter… Purdue has won 11 games in a row over in-state opponents…Carter had nine points in the loss…The Boilermakers shot 80 percent (24-of-30) from the free throw line…Purdue scored 16 points off 18 Indiana State turnovers, while ISU scored only two points off seven Purdue turnovers.
For a short time on Saturday, it looked like JaJuan Johnson would beat the Indiana State Sycamores by himself. The senior All-American had a career high 31 points, including Purdue’s first 17 as the Boilermakers triumphed over Indiana State at Conseco Fieldhouse. Our own Hammer & Rails chose to focus on Little Things though:
Maybe I am totally delusional and trying to convince myself that this is a National Title caliber team. That has me looking for the Little Things that prove to be keys to victory. We need them if we’re going to be a good team. We’re going to get great effort from JJ and E’Twaun every night because, frankly, we’re not going to have a chance if they don’t. The other Little Things, like GDB’s rebounds, LewJack’s tempo, Ryno’s little hustle plays, etc., what will make the difference. Tonight I noticed a lot of that in what was an otherwise business-like win.
Perhaps the best story on the day came in the Purdue women’s team defeating Auburn 76-56 before the men played. Drey Mingo, who nearly died three and a half weeks ago after a bout with acute bacterial meningitis, returned to the court for the first time since her illness, scoring two points in two minutes of play.
From Purdue blog Hammer & Rails:
Indiana State hasn’t done much this year. Their best win is a home blowout of DePaul by 22 points. Yes, the Blue Demons are in a major conference, but they haven’t played like a major conference team in quite some time. They have lost games to Eastern Kentucky and Ball State, so at least based on their ten games so far they shouldn’t be a threat.
We can’t totally write them off though. They played Notre Dame to a nine point game in South Bend, so they have the ability to hang with good teams. They don’t have the size to really do much with JaJuan Johnson in the post, so this should be another game where Travis Carroll and Sandi Marcius get some solid minutes. They have more size than North Florida, so an improved game from the Hanson Brothers would be a good sign, as it would come against better competition.
Indiana College Basketball: Tim Abromaitis Lifts 24th-Ranked Notre Dame Past Stony Brook 88-62
South Bend, IN (Sports Network) – Tim Abromaitis scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds as 24th-ranked Notre Dame knocked off Stony Brook, 88-62, at the Joyce Center.
Carleton Scott supplied 20 points, four boards and five assists while Ben Hansbrough chipped in 14 points, four rebounds and eight assists for the Fighting Irish (10-1), who have won two in a row since losing to Kentucky on December 8.
Marcus Rouse scored 15 points and Anthony Jackson contributed a dozen for the Seawolves (4-6), who have dropped two in a row and five of their last six.
Hansbrough drained a three-pointer that started a 10-0 burst and finished it with a layup to hand the Irish an 18-10 advantage with 12:41 to play in the first half.
The Seawolves pulled to within 29-26 with 5:39 remaining before Notre Dame ended the half on a 12-2 run to forge a 12-point lead at the break.
An Abromaitis triple gave the Irish a 20-point cushion with 16:18 to play and the hosts were able to push the lead to 29 at the midway point of the second half and to as many as 33 in coasting to victory the rest of the way.
Abromaitis made 8-of-13 shots while Scott nailed all eight of his, including four from beyond the arc…Notre Dame connected on 9-of-18 three-point tries while Stony Brook went 6-of-16 from long distance…The Irish had 28 assists on 34 made buckets…Stony Brook shot just 37.7 from the floor and attempted only eight foul shots…The Seawolves had only 11 helpers on 26 baskets.
Dec 19 7:16p by Brad Wells - 0 comments