Friday 7:30 and Saturday 4:00 in Birmingham: UAB (16-4, 9-3 CUSA). Stadium TV
Results to date: Alcorn St (99-50); SE Louisiana (89-59); Kennesaw St (73-48); Troy (77-55); Tuskegee (89-64); E Tenn State (65-61); Southern (88-46); Chattanooga (66-69); S Mississippi (72-65); S Miss (62-58); Charlotte (61-37); Charlotte (55-70); Rice (78-68); Rice (86-74); MTSU (70-59); MTSU (63-52); UTEP (63-51); UTEP (75-60); La Tech (58-70); La Tech (64-69).
Last game: A pair of offsetting runs, 10-0 La Tech and 16-6 UAB led to a 34-31 LT lead @HT. The runs continued in the second half, 8-0 LT and 12-0 UAB before La Tech hit their only second half three and eked out a 69-64 win in Ruston. Tavin Lovan led the Blazers with 19 pts (8-14 FG, 5-6 FT) and Quan Jackson added 12 (5-8 FG, 2-3 3s).
CUSA stats: 67.3 pts (vs 60.7); .444 FG (.312 3s); .678 FT; +1.0 RB; A/TO= 1.38
Starters (La Tech)
C Trey Jamison (7-0 260 Jr). 27.8 min.; .536 FG; .563 FT; 7.0 RB; 1.8 blocks; 6.9 pts
G Tavin Lovan (6-4 210 Jr). 27.6 min.; .538 FG; .638 FT; 4.1 RB; 3.4 assists; 1.8 steals; 13.0 pts
G Tyreek Scott-Grayson (6-5 180 Sr). 26.3 min.; .458 FG (21-46 3s); .833 FT; 2.7 RB; 9.3 pts
G Quan Jackson (6-4 185 Sr). 26.5 min.; .433 FG (8-21 3s); .500 FT; 5.0 RB; 1.6 steals; 8.4 pts
G Michael Ertel (6-2 190 Sr). 29.0 min.; .371 FG (11-49 3s); .821 FT; 2,6 RB; 11.5 pts
Bench
G Jalen Benjamin (5-10 140 So). 26.4 min.; .331 FG (29-85 3s); .826 FT; 1.1 RB; 1 steal; 10.5 pts
F Kassim Nicholson (6-7 200 Sr). 28.4 min.; .480 FG (1-10 3s); .429 FT; 6.0 RB; 6.8 pts
F Rongie Gordon (6-8 225 Fr). 9.8 min.; .458 FG; .500 FT; 2.3 RB; 2.0 pts
Controlled tempo and strong defense define the Blazers: #1 CUSA in pts/g defense, scoring margin and TO margin; #2 steals/g and A/TO. They force 14.7 TO/g while committing only 9.6. However, they are a poor 3-pt shooting team (#11 CUSA) and FT Shooting.
How good is UAB? UAB started 16-2 (9-1 CUSA) but were 13-1 at home vs 3-1 on the road. Also, their lone home loss was to 16-5 Chattanooga while their 13 wins were to team that are 94-142 combined. Their 3 road wins were to teams that are 26-33 combined. Thus, the Ruston road trip (always tough) was their first real test of 2021 and they are now having to rebound at home after the two losses.
Sounds like it should be a good contest. We need to pound the ball in the paint. If Ezikpe continues to play the way he has, I can see him, Oliver, Trice, Reece and Long really taking it to them. Then play our normal strong defense, and if Green can play his minutes without turning the ball over and shoot at least 40% (3 of 7 would be about right) -- while Curry avoids dribbling into a Blazers convention in the paint -- it will be a walk in the park.
Cheers, all!
(02-16-2021 10:38 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote: [ -> ]Sounds like it should be a good contest. We need to pound the ball in the paint. If Ezikpe continues to play the way he has, I can see him, Oliver, Trice, Reece and Long really taking it to them. Then play our normal strong defense, and if Green can play his minutes without turning the ball over and shoot at least 40% (3 of 7 would be about right) -- while Curry avoids dribbling into a Blazers convention in the paint -- it will be a walk in the park.
Cheers, all!
That’s a lot of “ifs”. “Normal strong defense” would have been an appropriate statement before this year. I expect (hope) the guys will battle hard but even if all that happens I don’t see a walk in the park.
This will be a good test. They have beaten the teams they were suppposed to beat for the most part. They have a very good defense, these games could be ugly to watch.
the ODU zone D sounds like the correct play
I just realized this is on Stadium. I don’t have too much of a problem with that, but I was liking our string of games on ESPN+. I am a little jealous of all the CUSA games on CBSSN. Are we not worthy or do we not have any games they want to show on their network?
Its got to be hard as a CUSA player at this point in the season. You know you're likely not getting an NCAA at-large and probably not an NIT bid. So do these games really even matter that much? Id be tempted to be looking ahead to the conference tournament too. Meanwhile our buddies to the north west's team full of freshman is just about on the right side of the bubble.
Edit: Current NET rankings have us at 153. That probably doesnt even get us in a C tournament. Marshall-69, UNT-72, WKU 75, UAB 79, LT 85. I think CUSA has a shot at 2 in the NIT. Maybe even 3 if we get an autobid from our #1 not winning.
(02-17-2021 04:22 PM)monarx Wrote: [ -> ]Its got to be hard as a CUSA player at this point in the season. You know you're likely not getting an NCAA at-large and probably not an NIT bid. So do these games really even matter that much? Id be tempted to be looking ahead to the conference tournament too. Meanwhile our buddies to the north west's team full of freshman is just about on the right side of the bubble.
Edit: Current NET rankings have us at 153. That probably doesnt even get us in a C tournament. Marshall-69, UNT-72, WKU 75, UAB 79, LT 85. I think CUSA has a shot at 2 in the NIT. Maybe even 3 if we get an autobid from our #1 not winning.
The top two seeds in each division receive a bye in the conference tournament. So if you want to maintain the current standing in the division to get that bye, these games matter a lot.
Does the regular season champ still get NIT? That'll be tricky with this year's schedule, but it's still something to play for.
(02-17-2021 12:17 AM)Chillie Willie Wrote: [ -> ] (02-16-2021 10:38 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote: [ -> ]Sounds like it should be a good contest. We need to pound the ball in the paint. If Ezikpe continues to play the way he has, I can see him, Oliver, Trice, Reece and Long really taking it to them. Then play our normal strong defense, and if Green can play his minutes without turning the ball over and shoot at least 40% (3 of 7 would be about right) -- while Curry avoids dribbling into a Blazers convention in the paint -- it will be a walk in the park.
Cheers, all!
That’s a lot of “ifs”. “Normal strong defense” would have been an appropriate statement before this year. I expect (hope) the guys will battle hard but even if all that happens I don’t see a walk in the park.
so they start 4 guards and a 7 footer that is pretty good! We may be able to hold our own against this size.
I'm mostly glad that their Harpo Marx lookalike is long gone.
This series should be a good test for our team.
As of this morning, we are a 6.5-point dog.
(02-19-2021 06:28 AM)AdoptedMonarch Wrote: [ -> ]As of this morning, we are a 6.5-point dog.
That’s moved a whole point. Opened at 7.5.
(02-17-2021 12:17 AM)Chillie Willie Wrote: [ -> ] (02-16-2021 10:38 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote: [ -> ]Sounds like it should be a good contest. We need to pound the ball in the paint. If Ezikpe continues to play the way he has, I can see him, Oliver, Trice, Reece and Long really taking it to them. Then play our normal strong defense, and if Green can play his minutes without turning the ball over and shoot at least 40% (3 of 7 would be about right) -- while Curry avoids dribbling into a Blazers convention in the paint -- it will be a walk in the park.
Cheers, all!
That’s a lot of “ifs”. “Normal strong defense” would have been an appropriate statement before this year. I expect (hope) the guys will battle hard but even if all that happens I don’t see a walk in the park.
I stand by the first "if" in my post as a very real possibility, but I think maybe you missed the overall tongue-in-cheek nature of my post. It will be a walk in the park:
"if Green can play his minutes without turning the ball over and shoot at least 40%"; and "while Curry avoids dribbling into a Blazers convention in the paint."
I think the chances of either one of those two happening are slim and none -- but if they do, it will be a walk in the park.
I think this comes down to hitting shots from the perimeter. With a 7 foot rim protector, getting all of our points around the basket seems like it will be a challenge. Shoot well, and we are in these games, shoot poorly and its probably a blow out.
(02-19-2021 09:06 AM)ODU AGGIE Wrote: [ -> ] (02-17-2021 12:17 AM)Chillie Willie Wrote: [ -> ] (02-16-2021 10:38 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote: [ -> ]Sounds like it should be a good contest. We need to pound the ball in the paint. If Ezikpe continues to play the way he has, I can see him, Oliver, Trice, Reece and Long really taking it to them. Then play our normal strong defense, and if Green can play his minutes without turning the ball over and shoot at least 40% (3 of 7 would be about right) -- while Curry avoids dribbling into a Blazers convention in the paint -- it will be a walk in the park.
Cheers, all!
That’s a lot of “ifs”. “Normal strong defense” would have been an appropriate statement before this year. I expect (hope) the guys will battle hard but even if all that happens I don’t see a walk in the park.
I stand by the first "if" in my post as a very real possibility, but I think maybe you missed the overall tongue-in-cheek nature of my post. It will be a walk in the park: "if Green can play his minutes without turning the ball over and shoot at least 40%"; and "while Curry avoids dribbling into a Blazers convention in the paint."
I think the chances of either one of those two happening are slim and none -- but if they do, it will be a walk in the park.
thats about how I see it too.
UABs defense is really good overall but its even better on the perimeter. It should be just an ugly grind. The good news is they can't shoot at all from the perimeter.
Hope we can win 45-39
(02-19-2021 09:06 AM)ODU AGGIE Wrote: [ -> ] (02-17-2021 12:17 AM)Chillie Willie Wrote: [ -> ] (02-16-2021 10:38 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote: [ -> ]Sounds like it should be a good contest. We need to pound the ball in the paint. If Ezikpe continues to play the way he has, I can see him, Oliver, Trice, Reece and Long really taking it to them. Then play our normal strong defense, and if Green can play his minutes without turning the ball over and shoot at least 40% (3 of 7 would be about right) -- while Curry avoids dribbling into a Blazers convention in the paint -- it will be a walk in the park.
Cheers, all!
That’s a lot of “ifs”. “Normal strong defense” would have been an appropriate statement before this year. I expect (hope) the guys will battle hard but even if all that happens I don’t see a walk in the park.
I stand by the first "if" in my post as a very real possibility, but I think maybe you missed the overall tongue-in-cheek nature of my post. It will be a walk in the park: "if Green can play his minutes without turning the ball over and shoot at least 40%"; and "while Curry avoids dribbling into a Blazers convention in the paint."
I think the chances of either one of those two happening are slim and none -- but if they do, it will be a walk in the park.
Gotcha. But unless Jason Wade comes hobbling onto the court like Willis Reed in the 1970 NBA finals, I don’t think it will be a walk in the park.
Our games with UAB over the years have been ugly. I don’t like the fact they are coming off two road losses. Not liking our chances. Stealing one of these games would be great. Game should be a dogfight if ODU brings the energy.