I think CSS is showing UAB v. Memphis tonight at 8 central.

bah

Bucs begin title defense against Campbell

By Kelly Hodge
Press Managing Sports Editor

MACON, Ga. — The top seed is already out, but the road to another Atlantic Sun Conference basketball championship still looks tricky for the defending champ.
East Tennessee State heads into the tournament quarterfinals today as the fifth seed and will face No. 4 Campbell, a team that beat the Bucs by 22 points just 13 days ago. Tipoff is 2:30 p.m. at University Center on the Mercer campus.

Micah Williams, ETSU’s junior guard, thinks his team comes in on a high after winning its last three games.

“We’re kind of throwing everything out there,” said Williams. “It’s a three-game season, and we have to keep winning to get back where we want to be.”

The winner of today’s game will get Kennesaw State in the semifinals. The Owls stunned top-seeded Lipscomb 72-69 on Wednesday, becoming the first 8-seed in a decade to win a tournament game.

The Bucs claimed their first A-Sun championship last year in Nashville on the strength of their all-conference trio of Kevin Tiggs, Courtney Pigram and Mike Smith. None of those three will be in uniform this time around.

With Tiggs and Pigram playing professionally in Europe and Smith sitting out as a medical redshirt, coach Murry Bartow has had to blend players who still have much to prove in the postseason spotlight. Only sophomore forward Isiah Brown has started a game in March.

It’s been a mix-and-match approach much of the season, one that has produced 17 wins overall and a 13-7 conference record. Some nights, like at Arkansas, the Bucs have been very good. Others, like at home against Stetson, not so good.

The inconsistency dims the prospects of this team winning three games in three days here and earning its ninth NCAA tournament bid.

On the other hand, it’s been a season of ups and downs for all of the A-Sun contenders. Four teams finished tied for the regular-season championship with six losses.

ETSU split with Lipscomb and swept Jacksonville, the No. 2 seed, so there isn’t much of a fear factor for the Bucs.

“We think we can play with any of these teams,” said junior forward Tommy Hubbard, a second-team all-conference pick and the only ETSU player so honored. “Being the defending champs definitely carries some weight until somebody can beat us. We’re determined to keep that label as long as we can.”

The Bucs had a little something going at the end of the regular season, winning out after the 79-57 loss at Campbell on Feb. 19. In the finale at Jacksonville last Saturday, they knocked the Dolphins from the top spot in the league, 64-62.

The Camels (19-10, 14-6) are on a roll themselves, having won seven of their last eight. They were able to easily beat the Bucs without much from Jonathan Rodriguez, their all-conference senior forward.

Rodriguez had only nine points and six rebounds that night in Buies Creek, but Lorne Merthie hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 points as the Camels built a 30-point advantage in the second half. Miles Taylor finished with 13 points and Junard Hartley scored 10.

“Jonathan Rodriguez has been a great player in this league for a long time,” said Bartow. “We’ve been able to contain him for the most part, but they’ve got other guys who can hurt you. We saw that in our last game.”

Rodriguez has over 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in his career. He’s averaging 17.3 and 8.2, respectively, this season.

Merthie, a 6-2 sophomore is the team’s only other double-figure scorer, at 10.7. He shoots 42 percent from 3-point range.

Hartley, meanwhile, was named the A-Sun defensive player of the year and leads the league in assists (5.9) and steals (2.5).

Tying it all together, Robbie Laing is the coach of the year in the conference.

The Bucs will need solid games from Hubbard, Tubbs and Williams — a combination that has been spotty late in the season.

Hubbard leads the team in scoring (13.8) and rebounding (8.4) a season after playing a limited role as defensive stopper. Tubbs is averaging 12.2 ppg., with 68 3-pointers, and Williams is also in double figures, at 11.6.

“The games we’ve lost, we haven’t defended as well, or rebounded as well,” said Bartow. “Offensively it’s been a struggle all year. At this point it’s obvious, we’ve gotta make shots to win.”

Campbell leads the league in scoring defense (63.0); the Bucs are third (66.7).

Today is the day

I'm feeling good about todays game.

I have a good feeling about this one as well. I anticipate a close game that hopefully the Bucs can pull out again like they did in the first game against Campbell in the Dome.

My keys:
1) Handle their pressure-we fell apart at their place
2) Contain Merthie (not Rodriquez-Hubbard has done masterful work with this)
3) PG play-I'm a Cooley believer through and through, despite his worst performance as a Buccaneer at Campbell. How much PT will he get, and when will he be inserted in the lineup? Sollazzo struggles against quick pg's, and Hartley is a glove. I still want Sollazzo to get 20 minutes.
4) Inside play-Ward's recent emergence is encouraging; Brown need's a solid night--not a spectacular night, and certainly not a horrible night either.
5) Tubbs + Williams--If these two could emerge like a freight chain, we could mimic a Tiggs/Pigram effect.

I'm hoping for a good game today. I know we are streaky and inconsistent, but if we could just play well today, we could probably play like dogcrap tomorrow and still win.

The way everyone has been carrying on for the past 24 hours....it wouldn't shock me if we beat Campbell today and lose to Kennesaw tomorrow.


I don't like this kind of talk when it comes tournament time.

I don't think so. They do not match up well with us at all. We just need our GOOD game TODAY.

Just tuned in to see ASUN tv has decided to work like **** today. Naturally....

I hope A-Sun.tv gets their $#!* together before our game. The video at the end of this women's game is awful.

Campbell kills us from the three point line

If we press and give them all the hell we can and still lose, I won't feel as bad as if we zone all game.

Is it still just showing the interview for everybody?

Yes but the first game ran late so you arent missing anything.

Lets Go Buc's!!!!!!!

(03-04-2010 02:35 PM)Groundhog2265 Wrote:  Lets Go Buc's!!!!!!!

Indeed

Let's hope Goldfinger has been wrong. Very wrong.

We're the defending champs: Let's play like it!