Larry Ness' Weekly Wipeout Winner-CBB
John Brady was less than two years removed from a Final Four appearance when LSU fired him last February. He took over at Arkansas State this year for Dickey Nutt, who was let go at the end of last season, his 20th in Jonesboro and his 13th as the school's head coach. Just goes to prove, coaching is a tough gig in the college ranks! Arkansas St is coming off a 10-20 season and at 9-3, can match last year's win total with a victory tonight in Stillwater. Don't count on it! Brady did a good job bringing in some JUCO players and that's been a huge bonus but the team's 9-3 record is more a reflection of the team's 'cupcake' schedule, than it is on the team's prowess. One of the Red Wolves' JUCOs is 6-5 swingman Boone (12.7), who is the team's lone double digit scorer. Also making contributions are fellow JUCOs the 6-8 McKinney (8.3-6.8), the 6-7 Brown (7.0-5.3) and guard Ayers (6.3). PG Koggu (6.1-3.8-4.9) is a holdover from last year, as is 6-6 small forward Morgan (8.8-5.8). The 6-7 Kur (11.1) has had eligibility issues and hasn't played yet this year. Travis Ford (former Kentucky three-point 'bomber') took over for Sean Sutton at Oklahoma State after leading U Mass to back-to-back seasons of 24 and 25 wins (reached NIT semis LY). OSU is Ford's type of team. It's perimeter-oriented and loves to "shoot the three." The 6-11 Thomas (8.3-3.9) was dismissed from the team earlier TY and that leaves only the 6-8 Kirkland (3.2-2.8) and the 6-6 Brown (3.5-2.5) adding any real contributions inside. The 6-6 Anderson (17.4-5.9) leads the team in scoring with two other 6-5 players off to excellent starts as well. Harris (15.3-5.3) is a senior while junior Muonelo (14.6-9.10 is proving to be an outstanding rebounder. PG Eaton (12.8-3.5-6.4) is a senior and freshman Page (10.0) is not starting but is sure contributing. OSU's "M.O." hasn't changed, the Cowboys a poor team away from home (LY's Feb 16 win at Texas A&M ended a 19-game road losing streak) but is brutally tough to beat here in Stillwater. The Red Wolves come in averaging just 68.1 PPG and will face a OSU team which is averaging 83.8 PPG and shooting .411 from three-point range. OSU just had an impressive win over a talented Rhode Island team 86-82 at Oklahoma City (semi-neutral site) and is already 5-0 at home this year, averaging 92.4 PPG. This is the very definition of a W-I-P-E-O-U-T!
Weekly Wipeout Winner on Oklahoma State
Larry's 9* CBB Tourney Game
I predicted a 20-win season for UTEP this year and maybe even an NCAA invite. The Miners got off to a slow start but they've been outstanding in their last two games, easy home wins over Texas Tech (97-78) and a "revenge game" win over New Mexico St (84-69). I had them in BOTH of those games and will play them again here vs James Madison, in the opening round of the Cable Car Classic in Santa Clara (four-team tourney including the host, Santa Clara). UTEP is not deep and but senior Jackson (23.6-6.5) and sophomore Culpepper (19.6) are a terrific backcourt duo. The 6-6 Stone (5.4-4.3) joins them in the starting lineup with two 6-11 players, freshman Moultrie (9.3-7.1) and sophomore Britten (4.8-2.9). As far as depth goes, it's really only 7-0 Memphis transfer Kareem Cooper (6.5-4.6) and 6-7 senior McCulley (4.4-3.5). James Madison comes off a 13-17 season but that was quite a 'leap,' as the school had not won more than seven games in any of the previous four years. Four starters returned for this year and the Dukes are off to a 7-4 start (not bad). However, senior guard Jalloh (15.5 PPG and 5.5 RPG last year) has been lost for the season with a rotator cuff injury and his absence will hurt. Good news comes in the fact that after missing seven games, the 6-6 James (14.3-6.5) is back and over his last three outings, has scored 47 points (15.7 per). The 6-7 Swantson (14.6-3.7) is off to a very good start plus three freshman, 6-5 swingman Wells (12.2-5.1), the 6-7 Semenov (7.8-4.2) and guard Moore (9.9-3.7-3.8) have all played well. Returning players Curtis (7.5-4.7-3.0) starts with Moore in the backcourt plus the 6-7 Thornton (6.3-3.2) contributes up front. Head coach Matt Brady is in his first year at the school (he went 73-50 in four years at Marist) and while he's highly thought of, I'm not sold on the team's early season record. The Dukes lost at Davidson (no shame there) but also lost games at Loyola-Maryland (a 4-7 team), Longwood (a school which went 1-30 in the 2004-05 season and followed that with years of 10, nine and nine wins!) and a 6-4 Northeastern team. Granted this is a neutral site game but I'm not about to trust these Dukes away from Harrisonburg, while UTEP has beaten St Mary's 75-62 at a tourney in Anaheim (St Mary's lone loss this year at 12-1) plus lost 82-79 to Wake at the same tourney, a school which has yet to lose this year (11-0)
9* CBB Tourney Game on UTEP
