George Mason 28, Liberty 27. The Patriots scored the game’s first nine points and later led 18-9 before the Flames woke up. Liberty was content to continue to play zone defense and keep Mason’s bigs — Will Thomas and Louis Birdsong — from killing them down low. The problem was that Dre Smith hit two 3s and Folarin Campbell added another right out of the gates. Liberty coach Ritchie McKay stuck to his strategy, and Mason cooled down from outside, finishing the half at 4-for-10 after hitting three of its first four 3s.
Liberty struggled early with the Patriots’ trapping defense, but the Flames managed to get the ball up the floor after a couple of ugly early possessions. Anthony Smith and Alex McLean lead Liberty with 10 points each.
Keys for the Flames in the second half:
* Keep playing zone and hope Smith doesn’t get hot again. He’s a 39 percent 3-point shooter, so he’s capable of getting hot.
* Keep being patient on offense. The Flames don’t ever seem to panic offensively. They reverse the ball and don’t take bad shots, and that’s kept them in the game here today.
* Keep TeeJay Bannister out of foul trouble. He sat out the end of the half with two fouls. The first foul was a stupid one on his part — he grabbed the arm of GMU’s Vlad Moldoveanu after the 6-10 center already had possession of a rebound. Liberty is a better team with Bannister on the floor. He can’t keep picking up dumb fouls.
After some well-earned time off, the blog is back and kicking on a rainy Sunday in Fairfax County, which is where I grew up. Last time I was at the Patriot Center, it was to watch my Hayfield Hawks play in the Northern Region playoffs back in the 90s. Here today watching Liberty battle George Mason. Not surprisingly, the place isn’t packed. Students aren’t here, and the Redskins are sort of playing an important tackle football game about 40 miles away in Landover, Md., and winning, right now at least. Even the fans here are asking me who’s winning the Washington-Dallas battle. Hey, it’s pure Redskins country up here. Not a surprise.
Onto the game. Liberty comes into the game fairly healthy after the scare against Campbell Friday night at the Vines Center. George Mason may be without starting point guard Jordan Carter for the second straight game. He rolled an ankle in the practice before Mason’s game at Florida International Dec. 21 and didn’t play. George Mason (8-3) enters the game ranked fifth in Collegeinsider.com’s Mid-Major Top 25, and if Liberty can sneak a win out of Fairfax, it would be the Flames’ best victory in a long time. That won’t be an easy task, though. GMU has won all five of its home games and was the preseason pick to win the CAA. The player to watch is 6-7 forward Will Thomas, who leads the Patriots in scoring (15.5 per game) and rebounding (9.3 per game).
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Mason superfan in attendance who showed up wearing a green and gold pinstriped suit, along with a sleek gold boots. The man has style. Also, props to the Mason band for its choice of “The Final Countdown” right before tipoff. Nice.
There’s a sign near the Virginia Tech ticket office that reads “sellout.” Gotta love semantics. Five minutes before tip between the Hokies and Liberty and there are maybe 4,500 people at Cassell Coliseum. This isn’t a shock, considering school is out and Liberty isn’t the sort of marquee name that generally draws a bunch of fans into your building. Tech’s cheerleaders aren’t even here tonight. That void is being filled by the Glenvar High School squad.
Quick notes about the game:
* There are plenty of internet rumors going on about the status of Flames forward Alex McLean. He’s in uniform and ready to go, though he is wearing a soft brace on his left knee. I’ll know more about his status after the game. Kyle Ohman started in his place.
* Despite his rough showing at Old Dominion Sunday, Tech freshman point guard Hank Thorns is listed as a starter for tonight’s game.
* Tech’s wings are going to be a matchup nightmare for the Flames. Campbell’s Jonathan Rodriguez was a workhorse at the three Saturday night, but he wasn’t tremendously athletic. Tech’s Deron Washington is, and he’s going to be very tough for the Flames to guard. I’d expect to see Flames guard Anthony Smith defending Tech guard A.D. Vassallo. Smith has shown flashes of defensive brilliance in his time at LU, but Vassallo (15.8 ppg) could pose a problem with his ability to shoot from outside and bounce to the basket.
* Tech has won 18 straight non-conference games at Cassell. Liberty has won two straight here, but the Flames haven’t played at Cassell since 2000.
Sitting courtside in Buies Creek, N.C., at Campbell’s Carter Gym, and the piped in music from the “loud” speakers included Arizona State’s fight song. Which makes little sense since I’m actually covering a game at Campbell. Maybe because Campbell is the Camels and Arizona State is in the desert, Campbell felt it was OK to swipe ASU’s fight song. When I asked a member of Campbell’s sports information staff who had the song first, he of course said that Arizona State stole it from Campbell.
Not bloody likely.
Anyhoo, a couple of quick pre-game notes for tonight’s Liberty-Campbell game, which is starting a bit late due to the women’s game between Campbell and Iona going long.
* One LU assistant coach said freshman Jeremy Anderson is ready to play, but he wouldn’t put an over-under on the amount of minutes he’d get. He said it would be dictated by the game situation.
* Quick scouting report on Campbell forward Jonathan Rodriguez, who is averaging more than 20 points and 10 rebounds a game from a Campbell sports information staffer: Great vision for someone of his size (6-5) and has a willingness to outwork just about everyone. LU has put Rell Porter on Rodriguez.
* Not sure I’ve ever been in a smaller Division I gym, though this place is reminiscent of Charleston Southern’s “arena.” Also, the only way you can find Buies Creek is if you try to find Buies Creek. No way you’ll just stumble upon Buies Creek.
Liberty freshman shooting guard Jeremy Anderson, who has missed the entire season so far with a foot injury, has been cleared to play and will join the Flames for Saturday’s game at Campbell.
Anderson, a 6-foot-4 combo guard from Bowling Green, Ky., will give the Flames an immediate boost in outside shooting, even if he can only play limited minutes while he works back into shape. LU coach Ritchie McKay had initially hoped to have Anderson back by the time Big South play began, so getting Anderson some minutes in non-conference games will only help Anderson get accustomed to the college game.
Anderson was the all-time leader at his high school — Warren Central — in points (1,991), field goals (698), 3-point field goals (279) and games played (149). His team won the Kentucky state championship in 2004 and lost in the state championship game in 2005.
Another injured Flame — Tyler Baker — remains in a cast and will still miss several weeks.
I was talking with local media maven Bob Alvis today, the host of The Sports Buffet podcast, which I hear is a hit at parties in Campbell County. (Kidding Bob … or am I?)
We started discussing basketball scheduling philosophies, because Bob really wanted to know what the heck a Nyack was. Now, I think our five loyal readers in the greater Nyack, N.Y., area are probably going to be pretty annoyed at Bob’s continual bashing of Nyack. Some quick info on the Division II school, which will face Liberty in Lynchburg in a varsity men’s basketball game at the Vines Center:
Bob’s beef is with Liberty’s two early January home games against Nyack and Kentucky Christian. Understandable. Nobody has ever heard of either school, so why play games like this?
As I’ve posted in this blog before, Liberty is in a terribly bad spot when it comes to men’s basketball scheduling. The Flames compete in the Big South, which is generally regarded as one of the bottom five basketball conferences in the country. Sometimes Winthrop saves the league, sometimes Winthrop doesn’t. Either way, every team in the league has trouble getting quality home games. Here’s a sampling of the non-DI schools on Big South home slates:
Radford — Southern Virginia, Emory & Henry
VMI – West Virginia Union, Columbia Union, Newport, Southern Virginia
Coastal Carolina – North Greenville, Anderson, Susquehanna
High Point – Warren Wilson, Johnson & Wales, Anderson, Florida Christian
Charleston Southern – Anderson, Virginia-Wise, Florida Christian, Ohio Christian
So this isn’t a Liberty problem. It’s a low-major conference problem. Forget high majors ever coming to Lynchburg. Won’t happen, not even with Virginia or Virginia Tech. What the heck would the Cavs and Hokies have to gain by playing a road game at a low major? You win … so what? You lose … utter disaster.
Now I don’t necessarily think Liberty’s intention was to play three DII games this season at home. But with only a 14-game Big South schedule, that left 16 non-conference games to fill. To make that a full DI schedule, the Flames probably would have had to play 11 road games before league play started. No coach wants to do that. You develop confidence and a home court advantage by playing at home.
LU coach Ritchie McKay also came into this thing late. He wasn’t hired until the end of March, and many teams have their schedules done at that point. You’ll notice that two of the DII games are in January. Most of the teams that Liberty might be able to play at home at that point — teams from the Southern Conference, Atlantic Sun, MEAC or CAA — are already into their conference schedules.
Do you want to schedule a home-and-home with an independent like Texas-Pan American or New Jersey Tech? Probably not. Those are the sorts of games that are out there in early January. So you fill the schedule with a couple of DIIs instead. You get home games, wins, confidence, etc. The Big South isn’t going to get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, so RPI isn’t that big of a concern. Wins and fan support are.
There are logistical issues too. The Big South adds Presbyterian and Gardner-Webb to its league schedule next season, giving each team 18 conference games instead of 14. That’s four less non-conference games. I know Liberty will host George Mason next season and travel to VCU and probably play a guarantee game or two, like it did last year. That leaves only eight non-league games to schedule. There’s no sense getting wrapped up in home-and-home series you might not be able to finish next year.
No, Nyack and Kentucky Christian won’t draw fans to the Vines Center, but sometimes games like that are necessary evils.
Liberty women vs. James Madison at 6; Liberty men vs. Presbyterian at 8:15ish.
Thankfully, Liberty isn’t making a habit of scheduling these men’s and women’s basketball doubleheaders. They may be fun for the fans, who get an opportunity to watch both teams on the same floor during the same night, but they’re an absolute nightmare for intrepid scribes like myself. I’ll spend most of the first half of the men’s game writing about the women’s game, so if anyone wants to come down and tell me what’s going on in the men’s game, it would be appreciated. It might even get you a much coveted mention in the blog. You know, you can’t put a price on that.
OK, in all seriousness … the first game, featuring the 6-1 LU women and the 6-0 Dukes, should be a good one. Aside from No. 5 North Carolina, which Liberty plays Dec. 30. in Chapel Hill, the Flames probably won’t face a better opponent this season. The Dukes are getting votes in both the AP and Coaches’ polls and earned a No. 9 seed in last year’s NCAA tournament, bowing out to No. 8 Pittsburgh in the first round.
JMU’s Tamera Young, a 6-2 senior guard, is averaging 19.3 points per game. The Dukes routed then No. 16-George Washington at home last week, so this will be the toughest test of the year for the Flames to date, even more so than Virginia Tech.
In the men’s game … well, Presybterian is playing the sort of schedule one would expect of a team that’s moving from DII to DI. After opening the season with eight straight on the road, the Blue Hose returned home for a game against Radford, and are now starting an 11-game road swing.
Five home games this season for Presbyterian, that’s it. Radford, Army, Montreat, Allen and Carver Bible College will visit Clinton this year. Season ticket sales must be through the roof.
I don’t want to go into too much detail and ruin our wonderfully crafted stories in tomorrow’s paper, but I will say I’m impressed with the way Tech’s defense clamped down in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter. By the way, the Hokies haven’t allowed a point in the fourth quarter since they’re meltdown against Boston College in October.
This will all be sorted out tomorrow, but here’s what you can probably expect out of the bowls for the ACC:
Orange: Virginia Tech, obviously. I think everyone involved would like to see a rematch with Georgia.
Chick-fil-A: Clemson. The Tigers are too close and draw too many fans for Atlanta not to invite them.
Gator: Virginia. Jacksonville doesn’t want BC back after having it there this weekend. The ‘Hoos are the only other choice. Texas Tech is a possible opponent in what could be a very entertaining game.
Champs Sports: Boston College. The Eagles only sold 3,500 of their allotted tickets to Saturday’s game, upholding their reputation as a school that won’t travel. This is the price they pay.
It’s tough for Liberty to find good home games. That’s always going to be the case for a school in a low-major conference. Even the Big South’s best teams struggle to draw decent opponents on their home floors. Last year, Winthrop played four non-Division I teams at home. Schools in the league are in a bind over it. Yes, you want a decent strength of schedule. But you also don’t want to play 15 road games in the non-conference schedule. So that’s why the Flames have a steady diet of teams like Nyack College, Kentucky Christian and Coker on the schedule.
So why bring this up now? Maybe it’s to illustrate the point that Niagara is probably the best non-league opponent the Flames will face at home this season. The Purple Eagles made the NCAA tournament last season, beat Florida A&M in the opening round and lost to Kansas in the first round. And the whole thing left Niagara coach Joe Mihalich a tad angry.
Here’s the problem. This isn’t written anywhere in stone, but there seems to be some sort of understanding that the NCAA will go out of its way to make sure it doesn’t pair the champions of the MEAC and SWAC in the opening-round game, which is held every year in Dayton, Ohio, to see which of the two lowest rated teams in the bracket advance to get slapped around by a No. 1 seed.
In no way does the NCAA want to see the champions of the two leagues comprised completely of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) playing for the right to get into the main 64-team bracket. It would be a P.R. nightmare.
Since the NCAA went to the 65-team bracket in 2001 (when the bloated 16-team WAC split to create the current Mountain West and WAC memberships), the play-in games have been as follows:
2001: Northwestern State (Southland) 71, Winthrop (Big South) 67
2005: Oakland (Mid-Continent — now called the Summit League) 79, Alabama A&M (SWAC) 69
2006: Monmouth (Northeast) 71, Hampton (MEAC) 49
2007: Niagara (MAAC) 77, Florida A&M (MEAC) 67
You see the trend. Every year save for 2001, one of the HBCU leagues has been relegated to the play-in game. This happens for a reason. The athletic departments at the schools in those conferences don’t generate a lot of cash, and MEAC and SWAC teams spend much of November and December traveling to power conference schools picking up paychecks to fund the overall athletics departments. Thus the low RPI come March.
Now, here are the RPIs of the teams seeded 15th and 16th in last year’s NCAA tournament:
15 seeds
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – 81; Belmont – 116; North Texas – 132; Weber State -141
16 seeds
Eastern Kentucky – 126; Jackson State – 168; Central Connecticut – 147; Niagara – 136; Florida A&M – 171
So clearly, if the NCAA wants to go by RPI, and it usually does when seeding the bracket, the teams in the play-in game should have been Jackson State and Florida A&M. Niagara actually could have made a case to be a No. 15 seed, which is a huge bump up. No. 16 seeds don’t win games in the NCAAs. No. 15 seeds occasionally do — Hampton (2001), Coppin State (1997), Santa Clara (1993), Richmond (1991) all knocked off No. 2 seeds. Rarely have No. 16 seeds even been in the game in the final two minutes against a No. 1 seed. I don’t think a 16 seed that plays in the play-in game will ever have a chance to beat a No. 1 seed three days later. So I can understand Niagara’s beef here.
Why should this concern fans of Big South basketball? Well, most years, when Winthrop isn’t flirting with the Top 25 all season, the Big South is in danger of grabbing one of those spots in the play-in game. The league generally is one of the five lowest ranked in terms of conference RPI, and one of these years, when the MEAC and SWAC teams are again the two lowest rated in the tournament field, a Big South team is going to be swept into the play-in game. Count on it. Forget perception, NCAA. Try seeding the teams on merit.
***
With that rant over, let’s move to the game. Not much in the Buffalo News about the Purple Eagles, who are 3-1 after beating St. Bonaventure in western New York Wednesday. Here’s the recap from that game from the Niagara Gazette:
Also, a note from another Big South school, Coastal Carolina. Point guard Joshua Mack asked to be released from his scholarship, and new coach Cliff Ellis granted that request, according to this report in the Myrtle Beach Sun News.
The defenses finally decided to show up. Neither team had much success moving the ball. Virginia Tech kept hurting itself with penalties and BC stalled the one time it got in Hokies territory. Not much else to report here.
Third quarter thoughts:
– Eagle-eyed TV viewer Chris Lang has informed us that BC’s long snapper Mike McLaughlin was at fault on the two blocked kicks. BC coach Jeff Jagodzinski apparently threw him under the bus during the halftime interview. Instead of trying a 47-yard field goal, BC went for it on 4th-and-1. Matt Ryan’s pass fell incomplete. Another missed opportunity for the Eagles.
– ACC commish John Swofford held an impromptu halftime session with the media and dodged every conceivable question about the poor crowd in Jacksonville. The conference is in talks with Charlotte, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville to host the game next year. He said they should make a decision in the next two weeks. Jacksonville has hosted the game all three years.
