The next OOC game in the Garden State Showcase is the lumberjacks. They beat a bad lowly NC Central team and then a close win by 9 over Niagara. They play Rutgers this coming week. Harris is the guard we need to worry about. He is scoring over 20 a game so far through their 3 games. He is a big guard at 6'6" so we likely need to use Walton/TJ/Mate to cover him. Overall they have some decent height so this will definitely be another challenge.

Vegas has them favored by 1.

Until I see us show we can win on the road I see us dropping this one in a close battle. I think we are a better team but far away from home and with our current poor shooting, this will be a tough game. Would be a nice victory if we come ready to play this evening but it wont be easy.

DU- 65
SFA- 68

Their big man giving us issues. He is wide but has some moves down low. Just gave up 3 straight offensive boards to him. Not good. Otherwise look ok so far.

Awful first half. By far our worst of the season. Down 44-23. Their bigs are owning us. It is physical one direction. We have to be physical on defense to keep pace, but getting called for fouls left and right. Our guys getting fouled often with no calls. SFA really good at deceiving the refs into charge calls. Just tough all around. Shocked Spiker didnt get a technical in that half. We were super sloppy with the ball too. And still not a shooter to be found who can hit an open 3.

Butler played hard and held his own in a physical game. He was the lone bright spot. Game was a disaster. 31 turnovers. 21 fouls. We only made 20 field goals on 40 attempts. Any time you have more turnovers than shots made you are in deep trouble. We also gave up 12 offensive rebounds. SFA attempted 21 more field goals than we did. 17 steals and 12 offensive rebounds will do that. Final ended up 82-67, but it was not that close. This is a game to scrap and move on quickly.

That first half was as embarrassing as it gets. I didn't even bother to watch the second half, so I can't comment on the entire game. The talent appears to be there this year. I don't see how there can be any excuses for this one. I'm not as upset about the loss itself, but rather how they lost. I know that it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things since it's an OOC game, but they have to come ready to play, every game, regardless of their opponent and location. This was unacceptable.

Stephen F. Austin won 85-83 in overtime at Number 1 Duke. Duke wasted a chance to win at the end of regulation. In overtime, Duke committed 6 turnovers, and they had as many shot clock violations as points with 2 of each. After an offensive rebound with about 14 seconds left, Duke could have held for the final shot of overtime tied at 83. Instead, Stephen F. Austin stole the ball, had a breakaway down the court, and made a layup by the basket off the backboard at the buzzer. I hate Duke.

(11-26-2019 11:34 PM)EvanJ Wrote:  Stephen F. Austin won 85-83 in overtime at Number 1 Duke. Duke wasted a chance to win at the end of regulation. In overtime, Duke committed 6 turnovers, and they had as many shot clock violations as points with 2 of each. After an offensive rebound with about 14 seconds left, Duke could have held for the final shot of overtime tied at 83. Instead, Stephen F. Austin stole the ball, had a breakaway down the court, and made a layup by the basket off the backboard at the buzzer. I hate Duke.

Thanks for the update EvanJ. Sounds like SFA is going to be a top notch team this year. As embarrassing as I thought that loss was for Drexel, I'm sure it was even more embarrassing for Duke. Duke was a 27.5 point favorite. When was the last time that a mid-major beat Duke at CIS?

I just watched the highlights and got goose bumps. Watching the Dookie band members reactions were priceless.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket...=401168219

(11-27-2019 07:49 AM)J.B. Wrote:  When was the last time that a mid-major beat Duke at CIS?

They ended a 150 game nonconference home winning streak. The last nonconference home loss was 83-82 to St. John's on February 26, 2000. Looking at their Media Guide, it was their first home loss to a mid-major in my life. Their previous home loss to a mid-major was 91-76 to Number 9 Louisville on January 12, 1983 if you count the Metro Conference as mid-major. If you don't count it as mid-major, it was 84-77 to Wagner seven days earlier. That was Coach K's third season, and Duke went 11-17.

(11-27-2019 09:31 AM)EvanJ Wrote:  

(11-27-2019 07:49 AM)J.B. Wrote:  When was the last time that a mid-major beat Duke at CIS?

They ended a 150 game nonconference home winning streak. The last nonconference home loss was 83-82 to St. John's on February 26, 2000. Looking at their Media Guide, it was their first home loss to a mid-major in my life. Their previous home loss to a mid-major was 91-76 to Number 9 Louisville on January 12, 1983 if you count the Metro Conference as mid-major. If you don't count it as mid-major, it was 84-77 to Wagner seven days earlier. That was Coach K's third season, and Duke went 11-17.

Thanks Evan. You're much better than the news media. You'd think that the media would want to quickly get the answer to my question, but I guess they're all too lazy to look it up. But a streak of 37 years without losing to a mid-major at home is beyond remarkable. Last night's game could go down as one of the greatest regular season games of all-time in college basketball.

i see it as another sign that college basketball is dying. one and done players are killing it. i don't even know who plays for duke this year and it doesn't matter anyway because they'll be gone next year. zion was their only player last year if you ask espn. Kentucky's loss I'm sure was similar. how do you get a kid motivated to play the Tuesday night before thanksgiving against a school like this when he's already counting his money from the nba?

I think the one and done made basketball better for the smaller guys. I felt it actually gave them a chance because senior driven teams can compete against a bunch of freshman. I think it is great for SFA and basketball. That was a ridiculously impressive run by Duke in their non conference at home. SFA was down by 15 or 17 and stormed back, which makes it even better. Despite this SFA will still have quite the challenge in front of them. They will compete for their conference title for sure, but Rutgers kept them at arm's reach the entire game. Rutgers is not going to be that good this year. Nice game, fantastic victory, but just shows how small the line of victory and defeat can be at times.

(11-27-2019 11:28 AM)hiroshimacarp Wrote:  i see it as another sign that college basketball is dying. one and done players are killing it. i don't even know who plays for duke this year and it doesn't matter anyway because they'll be gone next year. zion was their only player last year if you ask espn. Kentucky's loss I'm sure was similar. how do you get a kid motivated to play the Tuesday night before thanksgiving against a school like this when he's already counting his money from the nba?

If you're expected to be the first draft pick before you play in the NCAA, don't you have incentive to reach or exceed people's expectations as opposed to still being elite but being drafted fifth or tenth?