Friday, 12/22/06

One Devil Of A Pick

National championship picks in December are for suckers. Go on record at your own risk.

But when backed into a corner at various holiday engagements over the past couple weeks I’ve taken Duke and last night’s unpretty victory over No. 22-ranked Gonzaga showed why. Here are five more specific reasons I think the Devils have the juice to play into April:

• The best defense in the country (or close to it)
  
  The Blue Devils rank second in adjusted defensive efficiency among the 336 teams in Division I, surrendering just 77.8 points per hundred possessions. Consider that Duke trailed just 21-20 at the break Thursday despite making 7-of-31 shots from the floor — an abysmal 22.6 percent clip — and going close to nine minutes without a made basket. The reason that’s possible is because the Blue Devils play some of the most energetic and fundamentally sound perimeter defense in the business and force the opposition to work (and concentrate) for each and every bucket. It’s as much a mental exercise as a physical one. Make no mistake: This defense is Final Four good on Dec. 22. If the offense catches up in time for March, watch out. But in the meantime the Blue Devils have a defense outstanding enough to weather extended stretches of offensive mediocrity and, in the case of the Gonzaga game, downright ineptitude.

• The didactic effects of a confection-free schedule
  
  The casual fan might not bristle at the sight of Duke’s non-conference schedule (which just happens to rank as the second-most difficult OOC slate in Division I), but the youngest Blue Devils team of Krzyzewski’s 28-year tenure has been cutting their teeth on an array of reputable major-conference, mid-major and special-preparation teams. Duke’s last nine opponents ranked in the RPI Top 80 and eight played in last year’s NCAA tournament. (The one that didn’t, Holy Cross, lost to Bucknell in the Patriot League championship game.) Coach K breaks his players down and builds them back up with teeming confidence during November and December — and the youthful Blue Devils will emerge from their baptism by fire as prepared for the rigors of league play as any Atlantic Coast Conference team.

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Friday, 12/22/06

No Introduction Necessary for Larranaga

WORCESTER, Mass. - Old habits die hard for the man who made an entire career for himself over these past 12 months.

George Mason head coach Jim Larranaga is still introducing himself to people.

“Hi, Jim Larranaga,” he says to each of the four media members in front of him, before shaking hands with each one. “Nice to meet you.”

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Thursday, 12/21/06

A Tight One in Worcester

WORCESTER, Mass. - George Mason is using the 3-ball to its advantage and maintains a 13-12 lead with 7:19 left in the half.

Mason is also starting to trap a bit in the halfcourt, looking to take advantage of the lack of depth currently available to Ralph Willard. All 10 of his available players have already played - many of whom who average eight minutes or less per game coming in.

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Thursday, 12/21/06

Starting to Pick Up a Bit

WORCESTER, Mass. - A sloppy affair to start off with Mason holding a 5-4 lead with 11:37 left in the half.

Both teams are playing as if it's an empty building (which is basically is) and as if they'd rather be wrapping holiday gifts (but at this pace, they wouldn't finish until St. Patrick's Day).

Holy Cross has started of 2 of 8 from the field and Mason has come out 2 of 6. Turnovers are also plaguing both teams through the games first 8-plus minutes.

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Thursday, 12/21/06

Library Quiet Start

WORCESTER, Mass. - We're underway at the Don't Count on Us Center and we are still overwhelmed by the lack of energy and emotion in the arena.

The game's first points came at 15:58 form Mason's Will Thomas.

With 15:44 left in the half, Mason leads 2-0.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have an early candidate for most uninspired, least attended game of the season, and your Hang Time hanger is here to chronicle it for you (until our WiFi allowance runs out, of course).

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Thursday, 12/21/06

Empty Seats and a Chill in the Air

WORCESTER, Mass. - We're a few minutes from tip and the dilapitated DCU is basically empty - it's an AT&T game for the most part - friends and family only. The building is firgid and the upper leavels are curtained off. One Holy Cross official was hoping for 3,000 fans in the house - he might have been wishing for that third zero.

George Mason continues to display as one of the loosest teams we've ever seen go through lay-up lines and pre-game shooting. During the shoot-around with 60 minutes until tip, a handful of the Patriots were challenging each other from NBA 3-point land and beyond - and you should have heard the trash-talking. The undisputed king of GM's trash talking was junior guard Jordan Carter.

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Thursday, 12/21/06

Live From the Don't Connect Users (DCU) Center

WORCESTER - Well, we've got some good news and some bad news for you:

Good News:
We are able to connect to a wireless network courtside from the DCU Center, but it's costing us 10 bucks for an hour of usage (of 50 for a full day's usage).

Bad News:
Since we can't imagine the CSTV.com bean counters are going to be very happy paying for something that just about every REAL arena in the country provides for free, we'll just be with you until our WiFi time expires, which should be at about 7:30 EST.

What we will do for you is still file an end-of-game columnette - but we'll have to do that latenight once we return to the land of affordable web access (aka Hang Time World Headquarters).

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Thursday, 12/21/06

(Plausibly) Live from Worcester

WORCESTER, Mass. - Welcome to the DCU Center for tonight’s game between 6-4 Holy Cross (from the Patriot League) and 4-4 George Mason (Colonial Athletic Association).

(Full Disclosure: There’s a slight chance that the DCU is not wireless -equipped, so we’re doing an advance first-posting. At the very least, we hope to be able to file from the press room, but having done a few games at the old Centrum (since re-named), we’re not all that confident that live-blogging will be possible. We’ll let you know as soon as we can once we arrive in Worcester. Thanks for your patience.)

We have to say we’ve already seen higher profile games than this match-up this season - BC-Maryland and Providence-BC to name two - but we’re also confident that no game (until March) will be more anticipated by this Hang Time correspondent than HC-GM.

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Wednesday, 12/20/06

Freshman Wiggins Emerges for Huskies

HARTFORD - As one of seven children (four brothers and two sisters), Doug Wiggins has grown accustomed to waiting, sharing and being in the shadows.

Now, as a freshman for the undefeated (10-0) UConn Huskies, Wiggins is starting to emerge from those shadows and beginning to cast his own. The waiting is apparently over - but not the sharing.

“The way we want to break the press is exactly the way Dougie did it tonight,” said Husky head coach, Jim Calhoun after his teams 88-66 win over Pepperdine in front of 15,117 at the Hartford Civic Center. “Dougie plays end to end and when Craig (Austrie) and (seven turnover) AJ (Price) were playing just okay, he made some end-to-end drives.”

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Wednesday, 12/20/06

UConn Wins

HARTFORD - UConn asserted its will in the second half to wrap up the 88-66win. Pepperdine's 3-point barrage petered out and the Huskies defense dominated, holding the Waves to 30 second-half points, while putting up 48 of their own.

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Wednesday, 12/20/06

Huskies in Control

HARTFORD - UConn has bucked down on the defensive end with some high-intensity effort from Marcus Johnson and Stanley Robinson. They now lead 82-62with under three minutes left in the game.

. . . Hasheem Thabeet's first field goal of the seocnd half didn't come until 8:11 left. he then converted a free throw for the thrre-point play and a 67-53 lead, UConn's biggest of the game.

. . .Doug Wiggins, who had five points in the first half, now stands with 16 - two shy of a career-high for the freshman from East Hartford.

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Wednesday, 12/20/06

Waves Won't Go Under

HARTFORD - Pepperdine continues to scrap and claw and launch three's, but UConn has picked up the pace considerably to extend to a 56-46 lead with 11:52 left in the game.

The crowd at the HCC has been quite subdued (a result of no students being around, we're guessing) and the game has been a bit too ragged for real fan invovlement.

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Wednesday, 12/20/06

Dyson Slicin' and Dicin' to Start Second Half

HARTFORD - UConn is playing with a bit more focus through 4:07 of the second half and, as tonight’s special “Hang Time” analyst Seth Davis has pointed out, the Huskies appear to be trying to get Jerome Dyson more involved.

UConn now leads 46-38, after a 6-2 spurt to start the half.

Dyson had four points in the first half and already has four in four minutes of the second half. He did, however pick up his third foul of the game with 15:18 left.

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Wednesday, 12/20/06

Cirque De Soleil Entertainer Steals Halftime

HARTFORD - Just a truly wonderful halftime stat sheet if you like to see the bizarre:

Pepperdine shot better form 3-point land (8 of 15) than it did from the rest of the court (6 of 17). Overall, the Waves shot 43.8 percent form the field. UConn shot 54.5 percent from the field (just 2-of-8 form 3-point land).

The Huskies out-rebounded the Waves 22-15 and outscored Pepperdine 28-12 in the paint.

Still, we’re left with a 40-36 halftime score and whatever remnants from Jim Calhoun’s pneumonia that still exist, we’re guessing he’s sweating them out during the course of his halftime diatribe.

. . . The halftime entertainment at the HCC consisted of a bleach-blonde gentleman spinning around the floor in what appears to be a an oversized wheel rim. Known as “Wheelwork by Chris,” he hails from Cirque de Soleil and according to UConn super-assistant SID, Leigh Torbin, the contraption breaks down into five pieces for easy plane travel.

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Wednesday, 12/20/06

Waves Keep It Close

HARTFORD - A spirited latter half of the first stanza by Pepperdine has made a game out of it, trimming the Husky lead to six at halftime, 40-36.

Pepperdine’s Tomas Pranciliauskas has single-handedly kept the Waves in the game with 14 first-half points on 4 of 5 shooting from 3-point land. Hasheem Thabeet has 12 for UConn, which really fell apart on the defensive end during the last minutes of the half.

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Wednesday, 12/20/06

Three-Ball Keeps Peperdine in Game

HARTFORD - Pepperdine continues to throw the ball away with regularity, but is able to keep the UConn lead to under 10 through its extensive use of the three-poin shot. Still, with under 8:00 to play, the Huskies maintain a 30-21 lead.

. . . AJ Price continues to shine for UConn with five points and at least one astonishing dime. We’ll ignore - for now - the 3-point air ball he heaved with 9:04 left in the half.

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Wednesday, 12/20/06

Huskies Out Quick

HARTFORD - As expected, the game is fast-paced and frenetic, with UConn jumping out to a 13-5 lead at the first media timeout. UConn’s Jeff Adrien has six points to lead UConn.

. . . UConn head coach Jim Calhoun has been battling pneumonia this past week. It’s not yet affecting his ability to yell at the troops.

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Wednesday, 12/20/06

Foot Guard In the House

HARTFORD - The Connecticut Governor’s foot guard presented the colors for tonight’s Star-Spangled Banner.

We tell you this for two reasons:

1. Why does the governor’s foot need guarding?

2. These guys have some unbelievable hats. A bit reminiscent of the furry hats Fred and Barney used to wear for that men’s group they were part of.

. . . Students, of course, are on break, but the Civic Center is still about two-thirds filled. The student section in one end zone is quite vacant.

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Wednesday, 12/20/06

Waves About to Roll

HARTFORD - Just a few minutes from tip and the HCC is filling in with Husky supporters.

. . . The Waves very rarely get to the Northeast, but they did play UConn’s Big East Brethren Syracuse during the 1996-97 season under then-coach Lorenzo Romar (a 77-64 loss). There have been just ten other Waves’ head coaches in the program’s history (since 1938). Included on the list is Jim Harrick, Jan Van Breda Kolf and Paul Westphal (who left after last season).

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Wednesday, 12/20/06

Walking in a Winterland

HARTFORD - We’re about 40 minutes from tip and both teams are currently on the floor, stretching and doing some light shooting. Both teams have blue warm-up jerseys, but the Huskies are wearing white shirts and shorts underneath, Pepperdine is in its road blues.

The PA system at the HCC is playing holiday music - the current selection is "Walking in a Winter Wonderland." Sadly, no snow is forecast for the Hartfrord-area - so we're all walking in a Winter Warmland, to be technical about things.

. . . Vance Walberg is considered a bit of an innovator for his wide-open offensive style. In fact, much of what Walberg runs on the offensive end is being used (and has been used) by Memphis coach, John Calipari. Calipari, when we visited with him in Memphis during the pre-season, raved about Walberg and the system. Calipari also likes it for what it does for him on the recruiting end - “Kids want to play like this, up and down,” he said.

Here’s how Walberg explains his system in his Pepperdine bio:

"Shoot, shoot and shoot some more. It's really very simple. What I do is I spread you out and we attack. I call it AASAA-Attack, Attack, Skip, Attack, Attack. Everybody gets a big plus out of it. It starts with the guards. The first thing I want them to do is come down and look to score. It's up to the guards to be able to break their man down. Once the breakdown process begins and whoever helps, that's where the kick goes. If we struggle, we reverse things and put it inside and it's time for the big guys to take over. It's very simple."

. . Senior guard Jason Walberg (Vance’s son) is lost for the remainder of the season after suffering a knee injury during practice on November 24. Walberg played in five games and averaged 14.0 points and 2.4 rebounds a contest.

. . . Pepperdine ranks fifth in the country in three point field goals made. The Waves have totaled 133 and are averaging 11.1 made three-pointers per game. Virginia Military Institute leads the nation with 14.7 three-pointers a game. The Wave has also forced a WCC-high 259 turnovers (21.6 turnovers a game) and has a league-best turnover margin of +4.9. Uconn averages just under 15 turnovers per game, something that has been a big focus for the Huskies who started the season turnover-prone. (Since the fifth game of the year against Albany when the Huskies turned it over 19 times, they have had games of 13, 14, 12 and 14 turns.

. . . UConn Sophomore point guard A.J. Price has totaled 22 assists and one turnover in the past three games and has 49 assists and 15 turns on the season

. . . UConn is 6-0 record against teams from the West Coast Conference under Jim Calhoun, 2-0 against Gonzaga, 3-0 vs. Pepperdine and 1-0 vs. St. Mary’s.

. . . We're told that tickets are still available for tonight's game, if you find yourself in the Hartford area in the next half hour or so.

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Wednesday, 12/20/06

Hartford for the Pre-Holidays

HARTFORD - Welcome to the Hartford Civic Center for tonight’s pre-Holiday clash between No. 14/11 UConn (9-0 out of the Big East) and Pepperdine (3-9, out of the West Coast Conference).

It is the fourth-ever meeting between the two clubs and UConn has won all three prior meetings, most recently in last season’s Husky opener in Malibu, by a score of 75-56.

Pepperdine game note are available here, while UConn notes are here.

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Tuesday, 12/19/06

Christmas Prelude Features Live Blogs

Hello Hang Time hangers-on - hope all your holiday shopping is complete and you're ready for a bit of live-blogging coming your way this week, here at CSTV.com.

On Wednesday evening, LIVE from Hartford, we'll be courtside for a rare eastern trip for the Pepperdine Wave, as they take on the No. 11 UConn Huskies. It will be our second glimpse of UConn this season, but the first in a month, so it should be interesting to see how Jim Calhoun's kiddie corps is coming along. (The game will be televised by ESPNU.)

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Wednesday, 12/13/06

Looking Back At Tuesday

Just a dozen games on the slate Tuesday night. Here’s a quick look at some results of note:

• No. 13 Texas A&M 84, Fordham 61: After dropping both ends of a murderous two-step — at then-No. 9 Louisiana State and at top-ranked UCLA — the Aggies rebounded with a convincing victory over the Rams at Reed Arena. Spurred by the unselfish play of point guard par excellence Acie Law IV (seven assists), Billy Gillispie’s team tallied 22 dimes on 30 team field goals.

• San Diego State 119, Campbell 82: The prohibitive Mountain West favorites converted 48-of-69 attempts from the floor — a blistering 69.6 percent clip — to obliterate the visiting Camels and rebound from Saturday's demoralizing home loss to No. 14-ranked Arizona. Reserve forward Lorrenzo Wade, a transfer who played on Louisville's Final Four team as a frosh during the 2004-05 season, scored a career-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting to lead six Aztecs in double figures.

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Sunday, 12/10/06

What A Difference A Year Makes

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. - It was all new to BC last season when it launched its inaugural ACC season with a game at Maryland before 17,950 fans at the Comcast Center one year ago. The pomp, the circumstance and that old ACC aura probably took the Eagles by a bit of surprise.

They lost that game 73-71 and it was the start of three straight league losses to begin the campaign. They eventually bounced back for an 11-5 ACC record, but those early games were a cause for concern in Chestnut Hill.

This season - year No. 2 of BC in the ACC - concern has turned to optimism and enthusiasm for a dangerous Eagle squad. With a 73-62 win over those same Terps, at lively Conte Forum before a sell-out of 8,606, the 6-2 Eagles have served notice that two early season, surprise losses at home - to Vermont and on the road at Providence - are well behind them.

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Sunday, 12/10/06

Eagles Win

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. - BC bent but never broke as Maryland could never get closer than three points in the second half. The Eagles knock off the No. 22/23 Terps, 73-62, behind a gritty performance from Jared Dudley and another defensive display by junior Sean Williams (10, points, 11 rebounds and 7 blocks).

Maryland certainly played a better second half than its dismal first half, but DJ Strawberry was held 10 points below his scoring average of 15 ppg with just five points. Strawberry never got on track after picking up two quick fouls in the game’s first minute.

BC got double-figure scoring from Dudley (game-high 20 and 11 rebounds), Tyrese Rice (17), Sean Marshall (12) and Sean Williams (10). Maryland was led by junior James Gist’s 17 points (one off his career high) and Mike Jones‘s 10.

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Sunday, 12/10/06

Williams Swats Away

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. - Maryland continues to linger and hover, keeping the game to two possessions, 56-50, with 7:54 left in the game.

. . . BC's Sean Williams has once again been a force in the paint with two blocks on the same possession (at just under 8:00) and an altered shot at the end of the sequence that led to it being BC’s ball. A made field goal would have cut the lead to four.

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Sunday, 12/10/06

Maryland Lingers

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. - Maryland has turned things up a notch in the second half, buckling down a bit more on the defensive end and disrupting passing lanes. Still, they trail 49-42 with 11:58 left in the game.

. . . Maryland started the second stanza on a 5-0 run to cut the BC lead to 38-34, but BC stormed right back and led 44-34 with 15:53 left in the game.

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Sunday, 12/10/06

Halftime Thoughts and Observations

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. - The halftime box score bears out the BC domination in the first half, as the Eagles out-rebounded (24-15) the Terps and absolutely dominated in second chance opportunities (13-2).

Both teams shot 44 percent for the half and BC connected on 4-of-11 from 3-point land, with Maryland taking just six 3-pointers (hitting two).

Maryland will need to get more aggressive on the boards and they probably wouldn’t regret pressuring the turnover-prone Tyrese Rice (better than 3 per turns per game coming in).

Losing DJ Strawberry in the first minute of the game to two fouls, clearly disrupted the Maryland gameplan.

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Sunday, 12/10/06

BC Imposing Its Will on Maryland at Half

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. - Maryland, which averages three-and-a-half more rebounds per game than the Eagles (40.0-36.4) has been getting out-rebounded on both ends of the floor and the result is a 38-29 halftime deficit for the Terps.

BC completely outplayed the Terps in the first twenty minutes and you wouldn’t want to be a fly on the Terps locker room wall when Gary Williams gets a hold of his club. He could be peeling paint right now.

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Sunday, 12/10/06

Dudley Taking Control

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. - A tremendous display of offensive rebounding and glass-pounding by BC resulted in a Jared Dudley put-back in the lane with 3:21 left in the half, to give BC a 34-27 lead. Dudley now has nine points for the Eagles.

. . . Al Skinner chose to sit his red-hot point guard, Tyrese Rice afte rthe 8:00 media timeout - a curious move with Rice absolutely killing the Terps from all over. Marquez Haynes gave him the breather as Rice came back in with 5:14 left in the half.

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Sunday, 12/10/06

Maryland Comes Back

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. - An up and down, fast-break first half has broken out in Conte Fourm and Maryland has made a nice first-half comeback after trailing by nine. BC now leads 25-23 with 7:45 left in the first half.

Tyrese Rice has 12 points through the games first 12 minutes and Maryland can not find a defensive answer for him. (Rice’s career high is 23, which he got last year at Wake Forest.)

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Sunday, 12/10/06

BC and Maryland Start Off Fast

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. - Some fast-paced action to start off as BC leads 8-7 at the under-16:00 timeout.

Jared Dudley has been playing particularly inspired ball for BC, starting off with four of BC’s first six points. James Gist has four of the Terps first 7.

. . . BC has started in a two-three zone, Maryland started off in full court press and then fell back into a man-to-man.

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Sunday, 12/10/06

On the Verge of ACC Season. . .

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. - We’re moments from tip of this one and the we should expect a close contest throughout (the Vegas wise guys have BC as a very slight, one point, favorite).

Maryland is averaging just under 81 points per game and BC is at just under 75 points - but both teams allow just 64 points per game. BC has trouble hitting its 3-pointers (.277 on the year), while Maryland shoots .401 from beyond the arc.

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Sunday, 12/10/06

Wimp and Andy and Jeff, Oh My!

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. - The pre-game clock tells us there are 30:00 until tip of this early season ACC match-up.

The traditionally late-arriving BC crowd (forgive us if you’ve heard this before) is, late-arriving. Not to mention the fandom is a bit glum after a demoralizing afternoon loss by the local faves, the New England Patriots (21-0 at Miami).

Couple that with the fact that BC lost its football coach (to an IN-CONFERNECE school), and these BC fans that will fill Conte tonight, could use a little holiday cheer.

. . .Tonight’s game is also on XM Satellite radio, Channel 191, with Andy Demetra on play-by-play and ex-coach Wimp Sanderson on color

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Sunday, 12/10/06

Robert Novak is in the House!

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. - We’re about an hour from tip at Conte and we have our first celebrity sighting of the evening.

Standing in the catacombs of Conte, just outside the Maryland locker room was DC insider, Robert Novak. Novak is an Illinois alum, but his wife and son are Maryland alums.

Novak, a full 90 minutes before tip, was positioned behind the Maryland bench in his red Terrapin sweatshirt. We’re guessing he came on the team bus, seeing as he was so early in arriving to the arena. If you’r e ooking for him on TV, he is between the fourth and fifth seat of the Terp bench.

Mike Gminski, with his left ear hoop earring in tact, went over and shook the hand of Novak and his two friends on either side of him.

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Sunday, 12/10/06

ACC Opener for BC and Maryland is 100 Minutes Away

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. - Welcome to the Conte Forum on the campus of Boston College for tonight’s ACC match-up between No. 22/23 Maryland (9-1) and Boston College (5-2). It is the ACC opener for both schools and the first trip ever for the Terps to Conte.

The game is being broadcast locally by NESN and nationally by Fox SportsNet with Tim Brando on Play by Play, Mike Gminski on color and Jenn Hildreth (a former sportswriter, even) providing Sideline reporting.

. . . Maryland game notes are here and Boston college notes are here.

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Saturday, 12/09/06

Nevill Comes East and Puts on a Show

Hang Time

KINGSTON, R.I. - His nickname is Niffty, his accent is Australian and his game, according to his coach, is still in its formative stages.

But Utah’s 7-foot-1, 265-pound sophomore, Luke Nevill had his East Coast unveiling on Saturday at the Ryan Center and the overall reaction after he went 10-for-14 from the field for a season-high 25 points and 16 rebounds (in 38 minutes), was one of awe.

Or more precisely, for at least one observer, one of Uwe.

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Saturday, 12/09/06

Rams Get the Win

KINGSTON, RI - A wild finish at the Ryan Center results in an 85-84 win for Rhody, as Utah's final possession ended with a block by URI's Darrell Harris on the game's high-scorer, Luke Nevill (25 points, 16 rebounds).

A missed three by Utah and a controversial no foul call at the end, highlighted the entertaining affair that saw both teams shoot better than 47 percent from the field. Utah coach ray Giacoletti and Nevill both pleaded for a foul, but to no avail.

We'll have more after player and coach availibility.

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Saturday, 12/09/06

Wild OT Ensues

KINGSTON, R.I. - A wild back and forth affair has ensued in overtime as the teams have exchanged 2’s and 3’s with reckless abandon, scoring a combined 23 points in the first four-plus minutes of OT.

Utah leads 84-83 with 28.4 seconds remaining. Jim Baron has called a timeout to set up the Rams last play, which they will in-bound from mid-court

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Saturday, 12/09/06

Utes Force OT

KINGSTON, R.I. - We’ve got overtime at the Ryan Center, after a wild finish saw Utah’s Shaun Green hit a desparation three to knot the game 72-72 as time expired. It was Green's third 3-pointer of the game.

Following Keith Cothran’s one of two from the line for Rhody with 15 seconds left, Utah in-bounded and Johnnie Bryant missed a wild 3-pointer which would have tied the game. The ball went out of bounds near the Ute bench, leaving .7 seconds remaining. Utah inbounded from that spot, executed a tremendous play and Shaun Green buried a 30-foot swish to send the game into overtime.

Utah then came out and hit the first field goal of the OT for its first lead of the afternoon.

With 2:14left in the first OT, we are tied 77-77

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Saturday, 12/09/06

Utah Ties it Up

KINGSTON, R.I. - Utah has fought back to tie the game at 65 with 3:35 left in the contest.

Junior Johnnie Bryant for Utah has 11 second half points and is 3-of-4 from 3-point land in the second 20:00 (4-of-9 overall). The Utes are now 9-of-24 from behind the arc and Rhody is 9-of-21.

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Saturday, 12/09/06

Utes Hang Tough

KINGSTON, R.I. - Utah displays great perimeter ball movement and it’s helped them to stay in the game, trailing 59-53 with 7:41 left in the game. The Utes are 3-of-6 from 3-point land in the second half and 7-of-19 for the game.

Luke Nevill continues to lead all scorers with 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. He is 6-of-9 from the field.

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Saturday, 12/09/06

Rams Build Lead to Eight

KINGSTON, R.I. - Rhody got out on a 7-2 run to start the second half, forcing Ray Giacoletti to call a timeout with 17:11 left in the game. It was reminiscent of the first half run by the Rams that had the same effect.

The first possession after the timeout resulted in a Luke Nevill dunk. But the next tow Rhody trips resulted in 3-pointers from Parfait Bitee and Jimmy Baron. Rhody now leads 51-43 with 13:25 left in the game.

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Saturday, 12/09/06

Halftime Observations and Stats

KINGSTON, R.I. - An entertaining first of basketball form the Ryan Center as the teams combined to take 27 3-pointers (four makes for Utah and six for URI).

Utah has been gaining more and more comfort in the half court set and Rhody continues to try and push things when they can, but only managed two fast break points in the first stanza. The pace, at this point, favors the Utes.

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Saturday, 12/09/06

Rhody By Five At Half

KINGSTON, R.I. - Rhode Island holds a 38-33 lead at the half after shooting 50 percent from the field (13 of 26). Utah overcame a sluggish start to get back to 42 percent from the field (11 of 26).

Ram Joe Mbang hit a fall away, fall down jumper with 1.3 seconds left in the half, was fouled and then converted on the free throw to account for the five point lead.

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Saturday, 12/09/06

Tight One at the Ram Dome

KINGSTON, R.I. - Rhode Island has managed to maintain a 34-30 lead with 2:04 left in the half. Utah’s 3-point shot is starting to fall and Luke Nevill continues to dominate in the middle with 11 points and 8 rebounds.

Will Daniels leads Rhody with 10 points.

. . . Utah is outrebounding Rhody 18-12.

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Saturday, 12/09/06

Runnin' Rams Get Out Quick

KINGSTON, R.I. - Utah’s Luke Nevill is living up to the hype early. He’s a determined beast on the boards, he hit his first two of three from the field and sank one of two free throws before six minutes had elapsed. He has seven points at the under-12:00 timeout. URI leads 19-12 with 11:28 left in the half.

The Utes are clearly content with dumping it to Nevill on the block and letting him either score or get banged for the free throws (he shoots 70 percent from the line on the season).

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Saturday, 12/09/06

The Fast and The Furious

KINGSTON, R.I. - Rhode Island opened with two straight 3-pointers to spring out to a 6-0 lead. It’s the second straight game in which Rhody has opened with back-to-back threes.

Rhody proceeded to hit its first four threes (two for Will Daniels), taking a 14-6 lead and forced Utah to call a timeout with 16:24 left in the half. Both teams were perfect form the field (8-8) through the games first four minutes.

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Saturday, 12/09/06

Ten Til Tip

KINGSTON, R.I. - Just about 10 minutes from tip and the Ryan Center is starting to fill in a bit.

The locals haven’t quite embraced the Runnin’ Rams yet, but Rhody still draws fairly well, averaging 3,699 per home game. The Rams win 60 percent of the time in this building which opened four years ago. The Ram Dome holds 7,687.

. . . The Utah roster has a big international flavor with two Serbians, two Australians and a French native.

. . . The Hang Time Sign of the Day goes to the creative soul in the North end zone who has created a “Hit’em So They Can’t Seawright” poster in honor of Rhody sophomore Kahiem Seawright, the team‘s minutes (31.8 mpg) and rebounding leader (9.2 rpg).the game.

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Saturday, 12/09/06

The Next Bogut?

KINGSTON, R.I. - We’re about 45 minutes from tip at The Ram Dome, aka the Ryan Center and after watching Utah shoot around, beginning at about 12:45, we have but one conclusion: They grow ‘em big in Salt Lake.

With two seven-footers listed on the roster, it appears the Utes have about five who hover quite close to the 84-inch mark. We’re quite excited to see Luke Nevill, who Coach Giacoletti was raving about back at MWC media day. He was comparing Nevill quite favorably with former Ute, Andrew Bogut, the consensus National Player of the Year in 2004-2005 and Milwaukee‘s No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. Nevill shoots 70 percent form the field currently; Bogut, in his POY campaign shot 62 percent.

. . The first playing of the season’s anthem, “Show Me What You Got (Little Momma)” was played in pre-game at 12:54 EST. My Budweiser reflex kicked in almost immediately. That’s good marketing.

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Saturday, 12/09/06

Welcome to the Ryan Center

KINGSTON, R.I. - Welcome to the Ryan Center on the campus of the University of Rhode Island for today’s cross-country match up between the 5-4 URI Rams (Atlantic 10) and the 3-4 Utah Utes (Mountain West).

Be prepared for all manner of “U” usage as we unravel the 2 p.m. tip that will serve as both teams final game before a week off for finals.

Utah game notes can be here; and Rhody notes are here.

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Thursday, 12/07/06

A Bad Time for a Timeout

BOSTON - Down, 56-54, his private school Terriers dressed in white, wouldn't stop biting, scratching and nipping at the heels of the big state university with the mean, black uniforms and the script "UMass" on the chest.

Unfortunately, Dennis Wolff, the coach, did stop pestering the repeatedly lackluster and mostly benign Minutemen.

He stopped everyone, in fact, with a timeout - ball in hand - with 4.2 seconds remaining and BU down a deuce.

Problem was, that at about 4.4 seconds, freshman Tyler Morris launched what would have been his third 3-point attempt of the game. It also would have been the only one he made (a swish, no-less) and it would have, in all likeliehood given BU a deserved come-from-behind win.

Instead Wolff, in his 13th year at BU, called a timeout he later said he wished he didn't have. He was granted the stoppage, rightfully so, by official John Hughes, and Travis Ford's Minutemen escaped Boston - barely.

"Obviously I should not have called that timeout," said Wolff. "What I told the kids in the locker room is that the only person that should be blamed for this loss, is me."

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Wednesday, 12/06/06

UMass Hangs On for Two Point Win

BOSTON - UMass used to Refuse to Lose. On this night, they Refused to Put It Away, but preserved a 56-54 win over BU.

With numerous chances to bury the America East Terriers, the Atlantic10 Minutemen let the Terriers stick around and stick around until a final possession for BU with 19.5 seconds left.

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Wednesday, 12/06/06

BU Hangs Tough

BOSTON - UMass continues to play in fits and starts as BU refuses to go away, but a good Minuteman spurt in the 6:00-area moved the lead back to 10, after it had been trimmed to 5. A key three by Minuteman Brandon Thomas was included in the run.

Now, with 2:17 left in the game, UMass leads 56-51 with the ball.

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Wednesday, 12/06/06

UMass Pulls Ahead

BOSTON - UMass has pulled away from BU as the second half has unfolded and with under 12 minutes left in the game, the Minutemen now lead 44-32, its largest bulge of the evening.

. . . James Life picked up his fourth foul for UMass with 12:13 left in the game. He joins Bonner as a four foul man. The game has seen 38 fouls called through 28 minutes of play.

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Wednesday, 12/06/06

Minutemen Extend Lead Early

BOSTON - UMass continues to show flashes of good team play and has doubled its half-time lead to 36-30 with 15:12 left in the game.

UMass’s Luke Bonner hit his first collegiate 3-pointer at the 18:00 minute mark to put UMass ahead 32-28. Bonner is a sophomore transfer from West Virginia where he played in 22 games and went 0 for 11 from 3-point range as a freshman.

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Wednesday, 12/06/06

Halftime Observations and Stats

BOSTON - UMass out-rebounded the Terriers 20-14 and shot 43 percent fromthe field, but still only lead by three at the half. BU shot 33 percent for the first stanza and Corey Lowe was 2-of-7.

Travis Ford's lingering concerns over free-throw shooting and turnovers have reared their heads once again as UMass turned over the ball 10 times (four for Rashaun Freeman) to just five for BU. The Minutemen were 7-of-11 form the line, but failed to convert at least three one-and ones.

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Wednesday, 12/06/06

Minutemen Lead - barely - at the Half

BOSTON - BU’s Corey Lowe - immediately after some praise and love form Hang Time - began to force things a bit for BU and some poor shot selection (including a 3-pointer from New Hampshire) helped UMass surge ahead to an eight point lead with 2:08 left.

Lowe then took another deep three with 14.8 seconds left in the half and was fouled on the swish. He completed the four-point play to trim the Minuteman lead to 27-24.

That is where we stand at half, as the scrappy Terriers have given the Minutemen all they can handle. Lowe finished with six first half points and Morris Tyler had seven for the Terriers.

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Wednesday, 12/06/06

Tight One at The Ag

BOSTON - A back and forth affair sees the Terriers and the Minutemen tied 14-14 with 7:38 left in the half.

Through the early going, UMass has been dominating the boards, 12-9, but BU is shooting better from the field (43 percent to 36 percent).

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Wednesday, 12/06/06

Terriers Out Ahead Early

BOSTON - Some sloppy play through the first four and a half minutes of action as BU leads, 4-2 with 15:31 left in the half.

UMass would appear to have a size advantage, but have yet to assert that size inside.

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Wednesday, 12/06/06

Ready to Go

BOSTON - UMass trainer Ron Laham is leading the Minutemen through pre-game stretching as The Ag begins to slowly fill up for the men’s portion of the doubleheader.

The final Minuteman stretched out by Laham was Rashaun Freeman. BU had been in the locker room for a bit by the time the Minutemen returned for final pre-game instructions.

. . . UMass is wearing the rare all-black unis that were deemed jinxes back in the day by the Minutemen under John Calipari. The team always wanted to wear the black, but the Coach used it is a carrott to dangle in front of his players faces for big games they NEEDED to win. Tonight's game doesn't quailify as such, but it's pretty close.

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Wednesday, 12/06/06

Thirty Minutes Til Tip

BOSTON - . . . And we’re back in The Ag, where the BU women’s team is involved in a one-point game with under a minute to go against Brown. The Lady Terriers hit a go-ahead shot with just over two seconds left and held on for the 60-59 win.

. . .It was a nice change of pace to do a little live-blogging from a bursting-at-the-seems T’s Pub. But we’re wise enough to know where that blogging session was headed.

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Wednesday, 12/06/06

UMass Pride in BU Country

BOSTON - T's Pub is filling with a post-work crowd and the Umies are doing their best to take over the place.

Leading the UMass cheering group is the president of the Friends of UMass Football, Bill DeFlavio. DeFlavio, who played at UMass from 1968-72, is one of many alum who are finding the sudden resurgence of UMass sports to his liking.

"I know for football, we've got a great coach and a great athletic department and it's exciting to be aorund it right now," said DeFlavio. "It feels a lot like 1998 (UMass's first National Championship in football). There's that kind of excitement and Coach Brown was the defensive coordinator for that team.

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Wednesday, 12/06/06

Hang Time On Location: T's Pub, Comm. Ave.

BOSTON - Through the wonder of wireless and a short walk up Comm Ave, we are now with you (plausibly) live at T’s. There are a several UMass alums filtering in and we've already met up with Associate AD Tim Kenney who is shaking hands and kissing babies. Okay, there's no babies - but he's working the room nicely.

It’s a big week for UMass athletics as the football team is playing in the semifinals of the (formerly known as) I-AA Playoffs, on Friday night against Montana.

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Wednesday, 12/06/06

At the Agganis Again

BOSTON - Welcome to the Agganis Arena on the campus of Boston University where the 3-4 Terriers are set to host the 6-2 UMass Minutemen. Currently, the 4-3 BU women are playing the opener of the men’s/women’s doubleheader against 2-7 Brown, with the Lady Terriers leading 20-12 midway through the first half.

BU’s men’s team is in the middle of four consecutive (and five overall) games against Atlantic 10 opponents, and stands 1-2 in its trip through the adopted scheduling partner (losing its season-opener at home to George Washington). The Terriers also lost 55-39 at St. Joseph’s and throttled St. Bonaventure 74-46 this past Saturday night.

BU plays A-10 member, Rhode Island on the 22nd (its next game after a two-week plus break for finals) and could possibly face St. Joe’s again in the MSG Holiday Fest on Dec. 29. The Terriers are 44-83 all-time vs. the A-10 and 29-39 vs. UMass. Dennis Wolff, at one-time a potential candidate for the UMass job, is 0-4 against the Minutemen.

UMass (just dropped from CSTV.com’s Cindex ratings) is coming off an 84-73 home loss to Boston College on Saturday night. The game was hardly that close (check Hang Time’s Saturday entries) and the Minutemen need to show bounce-back ability against a less-talented America East foe.

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Wednesday, 12/06/06

Looking Back At Tuesday

Late night at the Garden so just a quick look at some results of note before I grab a couple hours:

• Washington State 77, No. 18 Gonzaga 67: Could Wazzu be for real? Tony Bennett’s ballclub moved to 8-1 with a thorough beating of the Zags before one of the largest and most raucous Friel Court crowds in more than a decade. Derrick Low paced the Cougars with 22 points — seven more than his team-leading average — to spirit his side to the upset.

  

• New Mexico State 103, New Mexico 72: The 198th meeting between the Aggies and Lobes was a wire-to-wire laugher — and the most lopsided State victory in the long-running series since a 96-59 win in Albuquerque on Jan. 3, 1959. David Fisher scored 24 points and pulled nine rebounds for Aggies coach Reggie Theus. Telling number: The Lobos went nearly 10 minutes in the first half without a rebound.

• Temple 76, Western Michigan 71: Dustin Salisbery poured in a career-high 34 points as the Owls won their third straight game following an 0-2 start. Dionte Christmas added 21 points and Dion Dacons grabbed 15 rebounds for Fran Dunphy’s improving ballclub.

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Tuesday, 12/05/06

Chase Budinger Comes To Town!

Arizona freshman Chase Budinger makes his New York City debut Tuesday night when the No. 14-ranked Wildcats meet Louisville in the nightcap of the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. (No. 22 Oklahoma State meets No. 21 Syracuse in the early game.)

If you’ve yet to see the 6-foot-7 Budinger in action, you’re in for a treat. The high-rising McDonald's All-American is a freak athlete who scores in bunches and can play all five positions on the floor. Just weeks after earning co-MVP honors of the McDonald’s game, the pasty Encinitas, Calif., native collected national high school volleyball player of the year honors. (Check out this clip from last year's CIF Division I championship match.) Should make for a fun night of hoops at the Garden.

Kind of a dead Monday around the game, but three results jump out:

• No. 5 Kansas 72, Southern California 62: Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush scored 13 points apiece to lead five Jayhawks in double figures as Bill Self's side rebounded from its second loss of the season with a convincing decision over USC. Freshman and Brooklyn native Taj Gibson, who entered the game averaging 12.8 points and 10.3 rebounds for the Trojans, recorded a more ignominious double-double against Kansas: 15 points and 11 turnovers.

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Sunday, 12/03/06

Saturday Recapitulation

Checking in with you Internet people from the Verizon Center with a little over an hour to go before Bucknell and George Mason get underway in the first game of the BB&T Classic Tripleheader. Here’s a quick look at some notable results from a wild Saturday’s journey into night around college hoops:

• North Dakota State 64, No. 8 Marquette 60: Last year, the Bison — still a Division I baby — topped then-No. 15 Wisconsin on the road. On Saturday, they took down another BCS program on its home court in upending the eighth-ranked Golden Eagles in the title game of the Blue and Gold Classic.

• No. 3 Ohio State 78, Valparaiso 58: Playing in his first competitive game since his June ligament injury, 7-foot wunderkind Greg Oden recorded 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots coming off the bench to lift the Buckeyes to their seventh victory in eight tries.

• Marist 81, Richmond 73 (OT): Marist floor general Jared Jordan, one of my All-November team selections, enjoyed his best outing of the season with 30 points, seven rebounds and eight assists as the Red Foxes improved to 6-2 overall. The six wins matches the program’s season total from the 2003-04 campaign — the season prior to third-year coach Matt Brady’s arrival in Poughkeepsie.

• No. 16 Arizona 84, Illinois 72: The Wildcats got the best of the Illini in the first meeting between the two schools since their Elite Eight classic from 2005.

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Saturday, 12/02/06

"Super Saturday" Turns Sour for UMass

AMHERST, Mass. - There was a time when this was exactly the kind of game the UMass program would have taken to the Mullins Center Court and absolutely throttled its BCS conference opponent. The place would have been going wild, the indoor humidity would have been climbing and John Calipari would have been exhorting the fans, his team and probably a few ushers into “Refusing to Lose.”

But that time is long ago (the early 1990s) and far away (six years and counting since a post-season berth) and second-year head coach Travis Ford has to settle for the moral victory of filling the house and keeping it close - for about eight minutes of game time. His Atlantic 10 Minutemen fell well short against the ACC’s Boston College on Saturday night, 84-73, before the first sellout crowd (9,493) in Amherst in almost five years.

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Saturday, 12/02/06

Garbage Time Ensues

AMHERST, Mass. - Well, so much for Cindex No. 10 UMass’s return to the national spotlight - at least for now. The Minutemen continue to trail 72-59 with just under four minutes remaining in the game and BC managed to expose the Minutemen a bit by slowing down the game and defending the 3-point shot.

UMass will still be fine in-conference, but this was the opportunity for a statement game against an ACC opponent and coach Travis Ford’s troops didn’t answer the bell. There’s no other way of stating it.

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Saturday, 12/02/06

Eagles Regain Control

AMHERST, Mass. - The Minutemen are more active on defense (the sign of a good halftime speech) and were managing to stay with the Eagles, but a regrouped Eagles team has once again extended its lead to 57-44 with 11:44 left.

Jared Dudley, who had five points, four rebounds and a team-high six assists in the first half, has stepped up his scoring in the second half and now has 10 points for BC. Rashaun Freeman continues to pace UMass with 16.

The re-energization that UMass’s mini-run gave the building has been all but extinguished.

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Saturday, 12/02/06

Minutemen Battle Back

AMHERST, Mass. - UMass has been able to run a bit more to start the second half and the full court press after made baskets has rattled BC to some extent, as the Eagles half time lead has dwindled to five points, 46-41, with 15:43 left in the game.

. . . James Life hit s a three-pointer for UMass, with 15:47 left to cut the BC lead to 46-41 and bring the Mullins Center crowd back into the game. This is more of what the Minutemen were hoping for and BC is going to need to answer with some up and down play, as well.

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Saturday, 12/02/06

Halftime Stats and Observations

AMHERST, Mass. - BC leads 39-27 at the half and controlled the pace and tempo of play for much of the first 20 minutes.

BC is led by Sean Marshall’s 13 points, and Rashaun Freeman leads UMass with 12 points. Sean Williams has 10 points for BC and Stephane Lasme has 10 points for the Minutemen.

UMass has struggled mightily from 3-point land, hitting just 1 of 12 (8.3 %) - they shoot .355 from 3-point land for the season.

BC scored 12 points off of eight UMass turnovers, while the Minutemen had four points off five Eagle turns.

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Saturday, 12/02/06

Minutemen Struggling

AMHERST, Mass. - Stephane Lasme and Rashaun Freeman have kept UMass in the game with 10 points each through the first 17:30 minutes, but BC has taken the air out of the Mullins Center with its 34-25 lead with 2:31 left in the first half.

. . . Through the first 12-plus minutes of the game, BC turned six UMass turnovers into nine points. Coach Travis Ford had expressed concern over his team’s turnover problems during the week (as well as his club’s free throw shooting ability).

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Saturday, 12/02/06

BC Out Ahead Early

AMHERST, Mass. - The early pace is favoring UMass who likes the up-tempo style. BC likes the half court set better, and, in the early going, is using their interior people with more efficiency to take the 18-13 lead with 11:35 left in the first half. Both teams appear determined to get it inside the paint.

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Saturday, 12/02/06

Tippin' at the Mullins

AMHERST, Mass. - Tip is just a few minutes away and the Mullins Center is buzzing a bit as many of the 17,000 fans who witnessed a last second defensive stand by UMass football for a 24-17 win over UNH, have been able to beat the traffic over to the 9,493 capacity on-campus arena.

The day is being billed by the outstanding UMass SID, Jason Yellin, as “Super Saturday” in his comprehensive game notes package.

. . . Senior Associate Athletic Director, Thorr Bjorn, worked the student section, pressing the flash and even getting a full-band wave form the UMass pep band. Bjorn, an ex-Minuteman football player has the body and name of a fierce warrior, but the heart of a teddy bear. (The preceding paragraph is good for two beers, minimum, post-game.)

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Saturday, 12/02/06

Official Word from the Official Scorer

AMHERST, Mass. - Hang Time was able to visit briefly with the Mullins Center official scorer, Howie Davis. (We actually had title of Official Scorer for several games in this building and often was forced to wear a sleeveless, ladies size medium, referee’s vest at the Scorer’s Table (for identification purposes, they say). We are still scarred from that experience, by the way, and have been considering suing the State of Massachusetts for un-due duress on formerly sane-minded individual.

Anyway, Davis, the former UMass Sports Information Director reports that this will be a great test for UMass to determine whether or not they are “ready for prime time.”

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Saturday, 12/02/06

The Co-Eds are in the House!

AMHERST, Mass. - We’re about an hour from tip and many of the good folks who were enjoying UMass football’s 24-17 win over UNH in the Division I-AA quarterfinals at nearby Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium are filtering into the Mullins Center.

At about 6:00, Boston Colleges players began shooting around on the Mullins’ parquet and so too did the Minutemen. UMass stopped about half an hour later, BC continued on.

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Saturday, 12/02/06

Lincoln Pours In 201 Points In Record-Breaking Performance

Lincoln University, a Division III school on the outskirts of Philadelphia, has earned a reputation for its high-octane offense under third-year coach Garfield Yuille.

But while the Lions (5-1) have ranked among Division III leaders in team scoring in each of Yuille's two seasons at the helm, no one could have predicted the kind of offensive outburst the Chester County school would engineer Saturday at the Salem International Tournament in Salem, W.Va.

Lincoln throttled Ohio State-Marion, 201-78, establishing a Division III record for points in a game and points in a half with 104 over the final 20 minutes.

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Saturday, 12/02/06

Welcome to Amherst (and my Alma Mater)

AMHERST, Mass. - A few ground rules are in order for this particular evening of live-blogging from the UMass-Boston College intra-state battle (LIVE on CSTV at 7:30 P.M. EST).

I am both a Massachusetts native (grew up 30 minutes north of Boston) and a University of Massachusetts graduate (1993 plus/minus). During my years at UMass as an undergrad and a few months of post-graduate employ, I was an assistant in the school’s sports information office. I left the two years before John Calipari and Marcus Camby took the Minutemen to the Final Four and I haven’t been back inside this building - The Mullins Center - in about a decade. I used to park in the building’s back lot EVERY day.

So, needless to say, there’s a history here for me. In addition to giving me a degree (thanks, in large part to the honorable Ralph Whitehead, Jr.), the once proud ZooMass gave me an identity. A decade and a half later, I actually still write the same column that I did for the student paper, The Daily Collegian for about the same number of readers and at about the same maturity level.

I grew up here to some degree - probably devolved a good bit, too. So there are some serious emotions rolling around as we chronicle this battle for Mass. Bragging rights.

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