Back in a week

– Chris Lang

The Big South weekly links package will resume next Wednesday. I’ll be on vacation for the rest of the week and won’t have time to get to them before I head out.

Tyler Baker time? Not yet

– Chris Lang

It’s no secret that Liberty is a team in need of a boost of bench depth. The Flames play a seven-man rotation — the five starters plus Kyle Ohman and Jeremy Anderson off the bench — with some sparing minutes thrown Justin Holland and Russell Monroe’s way.

One player who was expected to start this season but has only appeared in one game is forward Tyler Baker, who would add an immediate punch in terms of rebounding and outside shooting. Baker has been out with a stress fracture in his right foot and just had the cast removed last week. I spoke with him last night after practice, and he said he’s day to day with no real timetable set yet for his return.

“Stress fractures are a real trial and error kind of deal,” Baker said. “The doctor said it looks good, it looks healed. Aaron (Schreiner, LU’s athletics trainer) and I are trying to get it back. I’m taking my time. I always rush my way back from injuries, so this time we’re taking it extra slow.”

Baker’s only appearance was Nov. 14 against Coker. That night, he reaggravated his injured foot, and the stress fracture was revealed. An ankle injury forced him to redshirt during his freshman year, so he’s understandably skittish about rushing back and perhaps injuring his foot again.

Baker hasn’t even been cleared to run yet. His cardio activity has consisted of swimming and work on the underwater treadmill at Liberty’s football operations center.

“It’s been getting better,” Baker said.

One other note, somewhat Liberty hoops related, since the Flames will travel to Saint Louis next season to meet Rick Majerus’ Billikens. SLU set the hoops world back about 70 70 years last night by scoring 20 points at George Washington. Fun fact of the day: Forty-four Division I players outscored Saint Louis last night:

Carlos Taylor, Montana State (34) 

Jahmar Young, New Mexico State (33) 

Donovan Morris, Long Beach State (32)

Collin Dennis, North Texas (30)

Lester Hudson, Tenn.-Martin (29) 

Antoine Agudio, Hofstra (29)

Shaddean Aaron, Mercer (29)

Kyle Landry, Northern Arizona (27)

Tristan Blackwood, Central Connecticut State (26)

Trey Gilder, Northwestern State (26)

Bruce Carter, Murray State (26)

Tony White, College of Charleston (26) 

Shamar Youngblood, Monmouth (25)

Jonathan Rodriguez, Campbell (25)

Thomas Sanders, Gardner-Webb (24)

Courtney Pigram, East Tennessee State (23)

Vinnie McGhee, Sacramento State (23)

Marcus Pillow, Central Arkansas (23)

David Jackson, Western Illinois (23)

Willie Powers, Georgia Southern (23)

Daviin Davis, Weber State (23)

T.J. Carter, UNC Wilmington (23)

Robert Hines, St. Francis (N.Y.) (23)

Ken Horton, Central Connecticut State (22)

Matt Hanson, Cal Poly (22)

David Carter, UC Davis (22)

O.J. Mayo, Southern Cal (22)

Steven Moore, Ark.-Little Rock (22)

Trevon Hughes, Wisconsin (22)

Matt Howard, Butler (22)

Ryan Anderson, California (22)

George Hill, IUPUI (22)

Joe Alexander, West Virginia (22)

Stephen McDowell, Chattanooga (22)

Shawn King, Oral Roberts (21)

Kyle Gibson, Louisiana Tech (21)

Mike Hall, Idaho (21)

Jordan Brooks, Idaho (21)

Patrick Christopher, California (21)

DeMario Anderson, Quinnipiac (21)

Brandon Giles, Western Carolina (21)

Jonathan Toles, Jacksonville State (21)

Rasheem Barrett, Auburn (21)

Josh Akognon, Cal State Fullerton (21)

Congratulations, Saint Louis, you’re terrible.

Around the Big South

– Chris Lang

Saturday marks the beginning of the “true” season in Big South circles, as conference play begins in earnest with a full slate of league games.

First, a quick look at some of the various NCAA tournament projections for the conference’s tournament champion.

At www.bracketography.com, Winthrop is projected as a No. 14 seed playing No. 3 Duke in Washington, D.C.

The Bracket Board has Winthrip (sic) as an 11 seed playing No. 6 West Virginia in Denver, though that’s unlikely since Winthrop has already played and lost to WVU, and the tournament committee likes to avoid rematches.

BracketExpress has UNC Asheville as a No. 13 seed playing No. 4 Xavier in Denver.

Bracketology101 has Winthrop as a No. 14 seed, but hasn’t actually posted a bracket yet.

ESPN.com’s bracketology has Winthrop as a No. 13 seed playing No. 4 Texas A&M in Omaha.

Look for a full preview of each conference school in Saturday’s News & Advance. Until then, here’s a smattering of links and notes about each of the league’s teams.

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (6-8)

Last week: beat Ohio Christian 115-44; lost to Virginia Tech 79-49

This week: Saturday vs. VMI, Monday vs. Radford 

To supplement our game coverage of Monday’s CSU-VT matchup, written by Nathan Warters, here’s the take from the Charleston Post & Courier, with some quotes from CSU coach Barclay Radebaugh. On Saturday, CSU destroyed NCCAA member Ohio Christian. Here’s the Post & Courier’s take on that mismatch.

COASTAL CAROLINA (7-6)

Last week: lost at East Carolina 89-64; beat Susquehanna 83-72

This week: Saturday vs. Radford; Monday vs. VMI

Coastal will be happy to open its conference season with two home games. The Chanticleers are 57-19 at home in the last five-plus seasons and has won its last 20 Big South games at Kimbel Arena. One thing to watch for: Coastal guard Jack Leasure is second all-time in Big South history in made 3-pointers with 347, and he needs 55 more to break Radford’s Doug Day’s career mark. Leasure is averaging 3.62 3s per game. He needs to average 3.67 to break the mark.

HIGH POINT (7-6)

Last week: lost to Florida 88-70; beat Florida Christian 3-million-25 (OK, it only seemed that way. Actual final score was 124-43.)

This week: Saturday vs. Winthrop

Well, the Panthers played a 2-17 team from a school that has only men’s basketball and women’s volleyball. Not surprisingly, High Point embarrassed its visitors from Kissimmee, which was once home to my favorite minor league baseball team, the Kissimmee Astros. (Close second, the Macon Whoopee. I can’t make this stuff up, people.)

The box score tells the story. How this romp prepares HPU for its Saturday’s showdown with Winthrop is anybody’s guess. 

Head coach Bart Lundy’s take, from the HPU Web site: “Our guys really came focused and ready to play on both ends of the floor. We got good effort from everybody in our line-up. It was nice to get a victory and allow everybody to gain some confidence. We have some really positive feelings heading into the start of Big South play. I was also glad to get back home and play in front of a really energized crowd, especially the HPU student sections.”

RADFORD (5-10)

Last week: lost to South Carolina 90-63; beat Emory & Henry 124-109.

This week: Saturday at Coastal Carolina; Monday at Charleston Southern

RU got a huge night from Martell McDuffy (22 points and 13 rebounds) and dispatched the Division III Wasps at home in its final Big South tuneup. The wrapup from the Roanoke Times’ Ray Cox is here.

UNC ASHEVILLE (11-3)

Last week: beat South Carolina 61-58

This week: Tonight at North Carolina; Saturday vs. Liberty

So much for UNCA’s success being attributed simply to a soft schedule. The Bulldogs knocked off South Carolina in Columbia Saturday, giving the Big South a marquee win over an SEC team. Several reads on the topic:

From the Asheville Citizen-Times

From The State in Columbia.

From The Post & Courier in Charleston.

VMI (8-6)

Last week: beat Mercer 102-99; beat Southern Virginia 123-85.

This week: Saturday at Charleston Southern; Monday at Coastal Carolina

As I noted last spring when Larry Blair broke the Big South’s all-time scoring record, the Liberty guard was merely renting that space at the top of the leaderboard for a few months. VMI’s Reggie Williams took the top spot Tuesday when the Keydets knocked off Southern Virginia at home in an old-fashioned businessman’s special — aka a midweek matinee.

Randy King, Roanoke’s Virginia Tech football gadfly, provides the breakdown here.

WINTHROP (8-6)

Last week: beat Limestone 78-34; lost at Marshall 67-62 (OT).

This week: Tonight vs. Presbyterian; Saturday at High Point

Winthrop coach Randy Peele provided his own team with bulletin board material by slighting the Eagles and not voting them No. 1 in the preseason, instead voting High Point. The Panthers were voted the Big South preseason favorite by a single point, so it stands to reason that’s all Peele’s doing. The two teams will meet Saturday in High Point.

Here’s a piece in the Rock Hill Herald detailing Peele’s hope to forget three tough losses.

Winthrop gets Presbyterian at home tonight. Though the Blue Hose are 2-19, PC is “a team I fear,” Peele told the Herald.

Halftime – Richmond 25, Virginia Tech 21

– Chris Lang

Typing to the soothing sounds of N’Sync’s “Bye Bye Bye” in the background at the Robins Center. I meant to blog pregame, but apparently I’m not smart enough to find the media will call here, so I barely made it into the building before tipoff. I’m filling in tonight for regular Tech hoops gadfly Nathan Warters, who I assume is happier to be in Miami at the Orange Bowl than at this rock fight at UR.

It took Richmond nearly eight minutes to score its first point, but the Spiders have rallied nicely. The Chris Mooney-led Spiders aren’t really emulating Princeton circa 1996, but Pete Carrill would be proud anyway. UR isn’t hammering Tech with the backdoor cut as much as it is with the 3-point shot. The Spiders have attempted more than half of their shots from long range and have hit five, and they held the Hokies scoreless for nearly the last seven minutes of the first half. Sitting as I am right near the Tech bench, Hokies coach Seth Greenberg’s head looks like it’s about to disintegrate. I wouldn’t blame him a bit.

The Hokies turned it over 14 times in the first half, eight shy of their season high of 22 set two Sundays ago at Wake Forest. Richmond, which leads the Atlantic 10 in steals, has eight thefts and 10 points off turnovers, which is the difference in the game right now.

If it wasn’t for a burst of offense from guard Dorenzo Hudson, who leads Tech with nine points, the Hokies could be in a world of hurt. Obviously, they’ll need to take better care of the ball in the second half to have a chance of pulling out a win here. Richmond may not be glamorous at 6-6, but any road win is a good road win, as any college coach will tell you. With the meat of the ACC schedule coming up, Tech needs this one badly.

Around the Big South

– Chris Lang

As conference season gets closer and closer — Liberty opens league play a week from Saturday at UNC Asheville — I wanted to start a new blog feature checking in with the league’s other seven schools. Check back each Wednesday for more updates. Here’s the first one:

This week’s players of the week:

Player: Winthrop’s Chris Gaynor, who hit 5 of 6 3-pointers and scored 21 points in the Eagles’ upset of Miami Saturday. Also nominated: Omar Carter (Charleston Southern), Everage Richardson (Coastal Carolina), Arizona Reid (High Point), Alex McLean (Liberty), Amir Johnson (Radford) and Bryan Smithson (UNC Asheville).

Freshman: VMI’s Austin Kenon, who averaged 21.5 points per game during the last two weeks. Also nominated: Carter (CSU) and Anthony Breeze (CCU).

Onto the team reports:

COASTAL CAROLINA (6-5)

Last week: No games

This week: Today at East Carolina; Saturday vs. Susquehanna

Chanticleers freshman Anthony Breeze has done a nice job filling in for injured forward Joseph Harris. Read more here in the Myrtle Beach Sun News:

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/175/story/289820.html

UNC ASHEVILLE (10-3)

Last week: beat Buffalo 101-90 (OT); beat Montreat 94-64

This week: Saturday at South Carolina

The Bulldogs have hit the 10-win mark before January for the first time in Eddie Biedenbach’s 11 years at UNCA. One reason: An easier schedule. The Bulldogs haven’t loaded up on money games like in years past. Read more here in the Asheville Citizen-Times:

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080102/COLUMNISTS01/80101042/1002/SPORTS

WINTHROP (7-5)

Last week: beat Miami 76-70

This week: Tonight vs. Limestone; Saturday at Marshall

The Eagles knocked previously unbeaten Miami out of the Top 25 with a win in South Florida Saturday, and Winthrop coach Randy Peele said his team is improving every day. A quick read from the Rock Hill Herald about Winthrop’s final three games heading into Big South play:

http://www.heraldonline.com/news/sports/story/265328.html

HIGH POINT (6-5)

Last week: No games

This week: Tonight at Florida; Tuesday vs. Florida Christian

The preseason injury to forward Jerald Minnis has left coach Bart Lundy with few options other than to run a small lineup. Even forward Arizona Reid, the Big South preseason player of the year, is only 6-foot-5. He’s averaging 24.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game playing his usual athletic game. Center Cruz Daniels, who is playing most of the minutes Minnis would have played, is averaging 3.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. He has blocked three or more shots in his of his nine games.

We still don’t know a lot about how good the preseason pick to win the conference really is. High Point’s wins are against New Jersey Tech, Warren Wilson, Longwood, Johnson & Wales, Anderson and Savannah State. The Panthers’ losses are to Utah, Charlotte, Gardner-Webb, Savannah State and Dayton. How well HPU will fare in league play is a mystery.

VMI (6-6)

Last week: Lost to Richmond, 71-69

This week: Tonight at Mercer; Tuesday vs. Southern Virginia

The Keydets still lead the nation in scoring at 94.8 points per game, but they haven’t broken 100 yet against a Division I team. Some of Duggar Baucom’s concerns heading into the season appear to be coming true. The Keydets have six freshmen on the roster, and the only one making a major contribution so far is 5-10 guard Austin Kenon, who has hit double figures in seven of his last eight games. Baucom was hoping for more from freshmen forwards Hunter Houston (who has missed the last three games) and Quinn Brownfield, who has played less than 10 minutes in his last six games. Lack of frontcourt depth is definitely hurting the Keydets.

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (5-8)

Last week: Lost to Gardner-Webb 105-77; lost to Stetson 76-70

This week: Saturday vs. Ohio Christian; Monday at Virginia Tech

A lot of folks thought the Bucs might be a sleeper in the Big South race, but CSU so far has only beaten two Division I teams — transitional school North Florida and Gardner-Webb. Here’s the Charleston Post & Courier’s recap of CSU’s loss to Stetson:

http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jan/01/csu_falls_apart_against_stetson26371/

RADFORD (4-9)

Last week: Did not play

This week: Today at South Carolina; Monday vs. Emory & Henry

Brad Greenberg’s Highlanders have played a brutal schedule, with games against Michigan, West Virginia, Air Force and Georgetown. RU was also fodder for Presbyterian’s first Division I victory. A pleasant development for Greenberg is the improved play of center Joey Lynch-Flohr. The sophomore from Fairfax averaged 2.9 points and 1.9 rebounds last year. So far this season’s, he’s upped those numbers to 11.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He’s improved his field goal shooting percentage (from .526 to .531) and drastically improved his free-throw shooting (.651 last year to .737 this year).

Halftime: Virginia 21, Texas Tech 7

– Andy Bitter

Wow, what a bizarre first half. As if it wasn’t strange enough that Mikell Simpson busted free for a 96-yard touchdown run, the longest in Virginia history, the Cavaliers registered not one, but two safeties on intentional grounding penalties in the end zone. And to top it off, Virginia tossed a lateral to the sideline to left guard Branden Albert, who ran for a modest 2-yard gain just before the half. I hope the second half is just as fun to watch.

– We’ve just been informed that Simpson’s run is the longest by a running back in bowl history.

Oregon State quarterback Terry Baker ran for a 99-yard touchdown in 1962 Liberty Bowl vs. Villanova. – Virginia has an interesting defensive alignment, with six defensive backs, three down lineman (though one has been linebacker Clint Sintim) and two linebackers. Safety Nate Lyles is essentially playing a linebacker position.

– UVa has been pretty good about rotating its frontline players. When Nate Collins got to Graham Harrell in the end zone, forcing the safety, it was his first play on the field.

– Texas Tech has really yet to get Michael Crabtree involved, other than one tunnel screen where he ran all the way across the field. Put it this way, Crabtree, the Biletnikoff winner, has touched the ball exactly as many times as Albert, an offensive guard. Ras-I Dowling, who is filling in for Chris Cook, has been matched up with Crabtree most of the afternoon and has done a nice job.

– The Cavaliers are trying a newfangled punt formation, probably because of the protection problems they’ve had all year. I think the term is the Swinging Gate, where there are three personal protector types for the punter and the rest of the team is spread out along the line of scrimmage. UVa has Allen Billyk, Gordie Sammis and Patrick Slebonick back as blockers for the punter. So far, it looks like it’s worked pretty well. Texas Tech hasn’t come close to blocking anything.

– Here’s the part where I normally say what an idiot I am for my prediction (45-38 Texas Tech by the way). But it would not surprise me to see the Red Raiders figure things out in the second half. I’m sure Groh is reminding his players of what Tech did in last year’s Insight Bowl, rallying from a 38-7 second-half deficit in an eventual overtime win.

And it’s not as though the Cavaliers have a huge lead. Despite dominating the action, Virginia only leads by two touchdowns, something Texas Tech can make up in the blink of an eye.

Back in Jack

– Andy Bitter

Greetings from lovely Jacksonville! (I’m thinking of trademarking that phrase). Well, I’m back in the River City (I don’t know if that’s what it’s called) for the Gator Bowl between Virginia and Texas Tech a month after being down here for the ACC championship game. So I don’t really have any new observations about the town.

But I’ve got to write something, so here goes:

– At The Landing yesterday, I thought this was going to be a completely pro-Virginia crowd. Then I found out I happened to be walking through the Cavaliers pep rally. Apparently the Texas Tech one later in the day was not as well attended. Who knows what that means? I will say that right now, the crowd’s about even as it trickles into the stadium.

– Beautiful weather for the game. Really, you can’t ask for much better. There’s a little wind, which a lot of people say would affect the Texas Tech passing game. Those people obviously don’t know much about Lubbock, Texas, which is like a wind tunnel most of the time from what I hear. It will take more than wind to slow the Red Raiders’ passing attack down.

– I’m legitimately excited to see this game. Normally, bowl matchups aren’t this intriguing, but I honestly want to see how UVa, with a month to prepare (supposedly Al Groh’s strong suit), can come up with something — anything — to slow this offense down. It will be especially interesting to see how the Cavaliers do it without Chris Cook, who, despite Groh’s reluctance to say so, is Virginia’s best cornerback.

– Texas Tech coach Mike Leach is a trip. At this final press conference before the game, he arrived wearing a black Under Armour shirt with a blue blazer over the top. I wrote an article about him earlier this week, but it didn’t come close to doing him justice. Here’s a much, much, much better article by Michael Lewis of “Moneyball” fame. It’s long, but has a bunch of stuff about Leach’s obsession with pirates. It’s well worth a read.

– The Cavaliers allowed 37 and 31 points in their last two bowl games. I’m guessing they’ll give up more in this one.

– There is no finer food at 1 a.m. in Florida than the Waffle House’s All-American breakfast. Kudos to our waiter, who repeatedly said he was, “Livin’ the dream.”

– Prediction time: Virginia normally shows up in these bowl games, but I think it’s just too undermanned in the secondary to stop Texas Tech. Remember how Sean Glennon carved the Cavaliers up at Scott Stadium late in the year? I see a repeat performance of that. UVa will score, but not enough. Final: Texas Tech 45, Virginia 38.

Halftime update

– Chris Lang

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.

Back in business

– Chris Lang

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.

Cassell ghost town

– Chris Lang

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.