NCAAB
Armadillo's Write-Up
Thursday, November 24
Michigan State is very young team, struggling right now; they start only one senior, are #324 in experience, turning ball over 22.4% of time. Spartans won last three games, wore down St John’s by 11 yesterday, but didn’t look great doing it. Baylor won tough game with VCU; they were down 8 at half, but outscored Rams 27-14 on foul line. Bears start 4 juniors and a senior; they used four guys 29:00+ yesterday. MSU played four guys 27:00+. Big 14 teams are 13-8 vs spread away from home; Big X teams are 6-6.
VCU is #31 experience team but is turning ball over 22.9% of time; they blew 8-point halftime loss yesterday in tough loss to Baylor- three Rams played 35:00+. VCU starts three seniors. St John’s lost its last two games by 6-11 points; they’re 4th-youngest team playing pace #26- they protect ball well and have made 42.3% of 3’s, but they’re shooting same %age inside arc. Red Storm are starting two freshmen, two sophs. Big East teams are 11-9 vs spread away from home; A-14 teams are 12-11.
LSU was awful yesterday; they lost by 35 to Wichita, were down 46-19 at half— one good thing about that is only one of their guys played more than 24:00. Tigers had scored 82 pts/game in its 3-0 start, all against teams outside top 200. LSU starts a freshman and three sophs, so they are learning as they go. Old Dominion lost late game in OT last night, tough game vs Louisville. Monarchs start two seniors, one junior; they used three kids 40:00+ last night, a 4th kid played 34:00. ODU plays disciplined tempo, they were 15-32 on foul line last nite, which was fatal.
Louisville survived OT game with Old Dominion last nite, the late game- tip off for this game is less than 15 hours after that game ended, while Wichita played early game. Cardinals start two sophs, two juniors- they used three kids 39:00+, no one else more than 28. Wichita was up 27 at the half, won by 35 yesterday; Shockers are 5-0 wth 27 points closest game they’ve played so far- they start a freshman and four juniors. ACC teams are 11-10 vs spread away from home. MVC teams are 7-9. Wichita lost to ACC’s Miami by 8 in NCAA tournament last March.
NIT, Brooklyn
Temple is 2-2 with no top 100 games, losing to UNH/UMass; Owls are woefully thin (#340 in bench minutes) because of off-season injuries to backcourt- they’re playing pace #259. Temple is shooting only 31.6% on arc, but they’re protecting ball well. Florida State is their first top 100 opponent; Seminoles are 4-0 with wins over Iona/Winthrop- they start a freshman and couple sophs, play #27 pace with subs playing #32 minutes in country. AAC teams are 8-10 vs spread away from home. ACC teams are 11-10.
West Virginia crushed three stiffs to start season, forcing turnovers 34.2% of time, #1 in nation, but Illinois is Big 14 team that starts four seniors and shouldn’t be intimdated. Illini are 4-1, losing last game at home to #98 Winthrop, their first top 100 game- they made 11-24 on arc and still lost. Illinois does turn ball over 20.2% of time, is making 39.8% of 3’s. West Virginia hasn’t played anyone near as good as Illinois- they made 15-32 on arc last game- this is their first game away from home for both teams.
Advocate Invitational. Orlando
Iowa State won its first three games vs an impressive collection of stiffs; Cyclones start five seniors, so the future is now- Indiana State isn’t great, but they’re lot better than anyone they played so far. Sycamores are 2-1, splitting pair of OT games in their two road outings, beating Northern Illinois, losing to Ball State. Indiana State is 30-33 last two years; they start two juniors, two seniors. Iowa State lost to MVC’s Northern Iowa on neutral floor LY; they generally travel well, should edge in crowd support down in central Florida. MVC teams are 7-9 vs spread away from home.
Miami Hurricanes forced turnovers 23.9% of time in winning first three games, by 49-38-12 points, vs stiffs; Miami starts two seniors, two juniors; only three subs they used in last game were all freshmen- this is their first top 100 game. Stanford is 4-0 with all four wins vs similar group of opponents, ranked between 163-188. Miami is #18, so this is a step up for both sides. Cardinal starts three juniors, two seniors playing for new coach; they’re #51 in bench minutes. Stanford played game in Japan, now they’re in Florida; lot of frequent flier miles.
Florida’s gym is being re-done; they won’t play a home game for 3-4 more weeks. Gators are 4-0 vs decent schedule (teams ranked #80-158); they’ve forced turnovers 26.% of time (#7 in country), are starting two juniors, two seniors, but Seton Hall will be step up in competition. Pirates are 3-0, haven’t played in a week since 91-83 win at rebuilding Iowa. Seton Hall starts four seniors and a senior- their best soph from LY is in the NBA. Big East teams are 11-9 vs spread away from home; SEC teams are 11-9. This should be a good game.
Wooden Legacy, Fullerton, CA
Northridge is local team, which may be their only advantage here. CSUN lost to UCLA/Stanford by 15-27 points in first two road games, beat Northern Illinois by hoop at home last game- they start three juniors and a senior, most experienced, deepest team Theus has had with Matadors. Northridge is playing #4 pace in country; they turn ball over 21.3% of time, kind of expected playing a fast pace. Texas A&M beat couple of stiffs before losing at home to USC by a hoop; Aggies are shooting 27.9% on arc, 58.8% on foul line so far- not good.
New Mexico is 3-0 with 72-59 win over rival New Mexico State last game; Lobos lost their PG last year (coach’s son) because kid was getting ton of grief, but fast start should make natives less restless- their new PG is a soph. Lobos took 37 FTs, were just 1-10 on arc last game, so interior-oriented. Virginia Tech was 20-12 LY, its first winning season in five years; Hokies are 3-0 vs teams all ranked #266 or worse- the three seniors in their rotation all come off bench. In a smallish gym, expect New Mexico fans to make it sound like a Lobo home game.
Dayton has injury issues, with Cunningham out; they won by 5 at Alabama, lost to St Mary’s at home by 4- they’ve played tougher-than-usual early schedule. Flyers start three seniors, two sophs; they’ll probably only play seven guys, but have a really good senior PG. Nebraska is 3-0 vs softer schedule, with #152 Louisiana Tech best team they’ve played; young Cornhuskers are starting four sophs and a senior. A-14 teams are 12-11 vs spread away from home; Big 14 teams are 13-8.
UCLA has a great freshman PG, is scoring 105.8 pts/game in 4-0 start vs competition similar to Portland, with wins by 39-15-20-37 points- two of those wins were vs Pilots’ WCC rivals. Bruins are local team, will have lot of people here- they’re playing #15 tempo, making 45.5% on arc, but they don’t have much depth. Portland has a new coach, is 3-0 but they haven’t played any good teams yet. Portland is #44 experience team playing tempo #86; they’ve made 41% on arc, but if they try to run with UCLA, this could be over early.
