December 2001 - NCAA Basketball

December 1

Fordham (+9) vs St John's - 11:00am Pacific - @ MSG
Make no mistake about it, there is no team on Fordham's schedule they would rather beat more than the Red Storm. They knocked off St. John's here last season and appear to have every bit as much of a chance to do it again today. We played Fordham in their first game at DePaul early on in the season. They ended up having to play the game without head coach Bob Hill who needed surgery for a health problem the day of the game. They led DePaul for the majority of the game before losing by 9 in the end. They suffered 25 turnovers in the game. They then played at a very good South Florida team. This time they committed 29 turnovers and a 4 point game at half-time turned into a 20 point USF win. A team meeting was held on Thanksgiving Day and since the team has regrouped and won two straight games. They beat Sienna by 9 and more recently got an impressive road win at Iona. After averaging 27 turnovers in their first two games, they averaged just 14 in their last two. 

JC transfer Smush Parker has emerged as a bona fide lead guard. He has scored in double figures in all four games including 30 in the win at Iona last time out. He comes in averaging 18.8ppg, 4.5rpg, & 4.2apg. For a guard he is shooting an impressive 54% from the field, 86% from the free throw line, and 44% from behind the arc. Forward Michael Haynes (14.2ppg, 3.5apg) and F/C Jeff McMillan (13.5ppg, 8.8rpg) are as good as if not better than any two Red Storm frontcourt players. The Rams have settled on a very solid 8 man rotation with all 8 players seeing at least 15 minutes per game.

St. John's still has more questions than answers. They won two consolation games over decent teams (Oregon State & a less than full strength Tennessee) at the Alaskan Shootout to move their record to 3-1. In the process they opted to make freshman point guard Tristan Smith a starter, which has yet to be proven a wise decision. The Red Storm are playing an 11 man rotation and still mixing and matching different lineups. It may be awhile before they find out what is most effective and gel as a team. Last year they finished 14-15 and point guard Omar Cook led the team in minutes, scoring, and assists. He is now in the NBA and will not be replaced. Fordham has good chance at another upset and will at the very least keep this one close. Take the points. Fordham  1 UNIT

St. Bonaventure (+1.5) at Toledo - 4:00pm Pacific
I have been very impressed with this Bonnies team. First year head coach Jan van Breda Kolff has come in and installed a fast paced attacking scheme that so far has left opponents for the most part dizzy. They opened the season with a very impressive win at Cleveland State by 15 points. They took control of the game early and never looked back in that one. They then knocked off a pesky Niagara team by 15 points in their second game. Last time out, they bolted to an 18 point 1st half lead over #18 Boston College. On the hot shoulders of All-American Troy Bell, the Eagles mounted a 2nd half rally and pulled away late. It was an impressive performance nonetheless. The Bonnies badly lack inside size and strength but they make up for it with lots of speed. Sophomore point guard Marques Green is playing like an all league candidate so far averaging 16.0ppg & 6.0apg. Senior guard J.R. Bremer will be one of the nations most prolific scorers this season and is averaging 22.0ppg already. Two others are also averaging in double figures and a total of 6 players have made at least 2 3-pointers through the first three games. The Bonnies commit only 12.8 turnovers per game while forcing 19.3 and lead the A-10 with a +6.5 turnover ratio.

The Bonnies should do very well against teams that do not have strong frontcourts, and not many teams can fit the bill better than Toledo this year. The Rockets lost all three of their frontcourt starters from last year. They are very undersized and inexperienced down low right now. They are utilizing a 3 guard lineup similar to the Bonnies. The Rockets lost 4 seniors (4 of top 6 scorers) from last years team including star forward Greg Stempin. This year they are very young with just 1 senior and 2 juniors. They head into this game with a 1-2 record, the lone win coming over IPFW (who is 0-5 right now) by 9 points. In their last game they lost by only three at George Mason, but it should be noted that it was GMU's first game without leading scorer Tarver (24.3ppg) due to injury. The Bonnies should relish the fact that Toledo only plays one player bigger than 6-7 and he only averages 4.0ppg & just 13.7 minutes per game. I look for the frontcourts to be even and the Bonnies deep and talented backcourt to be the big difference here. Bonnies start quick again and do not look back. St. Bonaventure  1 UNIT

Colorado State at South Carolina (-13) - 4:30pm Pacific
I was not a big fan of Dave Odom at Wake Forest but perhaps with a new beginning he can do some good things here at South Carolina. This years team really has a chance to be good. So far the Gamecocks are 3-2 with losses coming to Duke in UCLA at the Maui Invitational. The team features solid leadership and ball handling on the perimeter with a senior starting backcourt of Jamal Bradley and Aaron Lucas. Do it all small G/F Chuck Eidson is back after a knee injury caused him to miss 15 games last year. The team went 5-10 in his absence which is an indication of his importance. The team is just as solid in the frontcourt with bruising centers 6-10/260 Tony Kitchings and 6-10/250 Marius Petravicius who just rejoined the team after missing the Maui trip with an injury. Both are solid and provide a nice one-two punch. Sophomore Rolando Howell 6-9/220 is another big body who leads the team in rebounding at 7.2 per game. Freshman forward Carlos Powell (9.0ppg in just 19 minutes per game) has also looked good. Six Gamecocks have made at least 4 3-pointers through 5 games this season and nine players are now averaging 13 minutes or more.

Colorado State is 4-2 coming into this game. They have upset wins at Washington State and vs Hawaii, two teams who were missing key players. They started the season with a win over Montana Tech and they also beat South Carolina State at the Big Island Invitational. They had a chance at the title but lost to Weber State in the final. They followed that game with a road loss at Garner Webb, a North Carolina college that is making the transition into Division 1 right now and is playing in the Atlantic Sun conference. Now they will head into South Carolina to play their fifth road game in nine days. CSU was not a very good team last season, finishing 15-13 & 6-8 in conference. They lose 5 seniors (4 of which were starters) from that team. This team just is not very good and one of their top newcomers Ronnie Clark (MVP of Division 2 team two years ago) will not be eligible until the second semester. 

The Gamecocks have won their last two by an average of 16, including a convincing 15 point road win vs in-state rival Wofford. The three primary ball handlers mentioned above all shoot better than 80% from the free throw line. They should have their way here against a struggling, tired, and bad Colorado State team. Gamecocks win big. South Carolina  1 UNIT

Washington (pick) at San Diego - 7:00pm Pacific
The Huskies are off to a very quick start this season. It is puzzling why they are not getting anymore respect here. UW is 4-1 on the season with the only loss coming by 3 points to Butler in the championship game of the Top of the World Classic in Alaska. The Huskies led that game most of the way and by as many as double digits but just could not hold on against a very good Butler team. The Huskies did beat a good Bowling Green team, and since returning to the mainland has beaten Santa Clara by 20 and UNLV by 13. UConn transfer Doug Wrenn had to sit out the teams first game but has been great ever since. Wrenn leads the team in scoring at 18.0ppg and is 2nd in rebounding at 6.2rpg. Few transfers in the country will have a bigger impact than Wrenn this year. He is a super talent. Meanwhile, everyone else on the team is doing what they are supposed to. Sophomore Curtis Allen (13.2ppg, 5.2apg) has taken over nicely at point guard. 6-11 senior center David Dixon (10.2ppg, 8.2rpg) is having a breakout season and is finally living up to expectations. Freshman Errol Knight (Washington's Mr Basketball last year) has been a pleasant surprise averaging double figures so far. Five others are averaging double digit minutes and filling their roles admirably. The Huskies are playing defense too having blocked at least 5 shots in every game this season. They rank 6th in the nation right now averaging 7.0 blocks per game as a team. 

San Diego appears to be in a bit of a rebuilding mode right now. They lost 4 seniors (4 of top 6 scorers) from last years team, three of which were starters. So far only Southwest Texas State transfer Jason Blair has stepped up to offer any help to the two returning starters. The Toreros are 2-2 but struggled in their only two contests vs worthy competition. They shot just .346 in a 11 point home loss to BYU and just .357 in a 9 point loss at Oregon State in last game. With Wrenn, Washington is better than both of those teams. The Huskies avenge last years embarrassing 72-54 home loss to San Diego with a nice road win here tonight. Washington  1 UNIT

December 4

Creighton (pick) at TCU - 5:05pm Pacific
Blue Jays head coach Dana Altman is so good that its a shock he has lasted here 7 years without being lured away by a bigger name school. The school has averaged over 20 wins a season for 5 straight years now. This year are they having to replace their 4 year starting backcourt of Ryan Sears and Ben Walker but still appear to be in good shape with their holdover talent and influx of newcomers. The two returning starters from last years 24-8 team junior forward Kyle Korver (17.3ppg this year) and junior guard Terrell Taylor (15.7ppg this year) are now the team leaders as expected. However, it was newcomer sophomore forward Brody Deren (transfer from Northwestern) who led the team with 21 points and 11 rebounds in their big win over a very good and nationally ranked Western Kentucky team. This win occurred well before WKU's big man Marcus went down with injury. 6-10 sophomore center Joe Dabbert is the fourth man averaging double figures despite playing only 19 minutes per game. JC transfers Larry House and DeAnthony Bowden have both earned starting roles and bring increased athleticism to this years team. 11 players in all are averaging 8.0 minutes per game or more. This team is deep, has size, and athleticism. Dana Altman has plenty of options.

TCU heads into this at 4-3, with their only quality win coming vs UTEP in a tournament in Las Vegas. Their other three wins came vs Northwestern State, Arkansas Monticello, and SW Texas State. They were beaten on their home court 94-90 by UL Monroe. The Horned Frogs lost all 5 of their starters from last years team. Their two best returnees Bingo Merriex and Nucleus Smith are both battling injury problems right now. Merriex (expected to be teams best player this year) broke a foot 2 weeks before the season started. He has not missed any games, but has been coming off the bench thus far and only playing 25 minutes per game as he works himself back. Meanwhile, Smith (expected to be starting point guard) missed the first 6 games (ankle injury) and played just 15 minutes vs Texas Tech in last game. He was noticeably still favoring his ankle and was just a shadow of his normal self. TCU's most glaring weakness right now is lack of defense. In their last four games they allowed their opponents to shoot: .493 (Texas Tech), .476 (SW Texas St), .516 (UL Monroe), and .500 (Oklahoma State). Creighton opponents are shooting just .402 from the field. Watching TCU vs Texas Tech, I was amazed at how easy the Red Raiders were getting open looks and it was not from running any elaborate plays, it was just bad defense. 

Creighton is 3-0 and comes into this game with a lot of confidence. They are eager to prove they are for real. Dana Altman is a win machine. Altman won 5 of 8 meetings over Tubbs while the two were at KSU and Oklahoma respectively. Tubbs is gone at the end of the season and this may end up being a long year for him. Better team play and better defense win this for the Blue Jays. Creighton  1 UNIT

December 5

Colorado (-2) at Colorado State - 6:05pm Pacific
The Buffs pounded CSU 109-86 last year and head coach Ricardo Patton declared after the game that the win was personal because CSU had tampered with one of his recruits. Clearly, it is a big rivalry. The good thing for Colorado is that they are clearly a better team than CSU is this year. The Buffs are just 3-2, but both their losses came vs pretty good teams on the road at St. Joseph's by 6 and at Georgia by 8. At Georgia on Saturday, the Buffs really appeared to be in control but ice cold shooting in the 2nd half doomed them and they lost their lead late in the game eventually losing by 8. In the game senior guard Nick Mohr, recovering from injury, only played 17 minutes and did not score. He should be much more effective tonight. The big news on CU this year are the Harrison brothers. DJ Harrison is a senior small forward who is coming off his best game of the season an 18 point performance at UGA. He led the team with 15.3ppg last year but has gotten off to somewhat of a slow start. His younger brother is David Harrison, a 7-0, 240 pound freshman center considered to be the best Colorado recruit ever. He made both the Parade and McDonald's All-American teams and is considered every bit as good as the three high school centers taken in the NBA draft. He is still playing his way into shape but is getting more and more minutes and is also coming off his best game of the season. He is HUGE and can be a major force inside. Junior power forward Stephane Pelle (11.4ppg, 8.2rpg) is another solid player who can rebound, defend, and has some nice moves in the post. JC transfer James Wright has taken over at point guard and is lightning quick averaging 9.0ppg & 6.2apg. Sophomore forward Blair Wilson surprisingly has emerged as a nice player averaging 10.3ppg so far. The Buffs will play this game without suspended forward Michel Morandais, but they still have 10 total players who are averaging double figures in minutes so there is plenty of depth.

Colorado State is not a good basketball team. They return home from a 6 game road trip tonight, but I am not even sure that will be a good thing for them. They are extremely young and it is anyone's guess as to how they will respond to this pressure situation. They have lost three straight games to the likes of Weber State, Garner Webb, and South Carolina. I still think they were fortunate to only lose by 8 to the Gamecocks. South Carolina saw two key players leave the game with injuries, and CSU shot an almost perfect 15-for-16 from the line compared to 11-for-22 by USC. Reserve freshman guard Freddy Robinson (12.8 minutes per game) will miss his second straight game with a knee injury which hurts their depth. As mentioned last week, transfer Ronnie Clark who is one of their better players, is still not eligible for another week. The Rams have averaged 24.2 turnovers per game in their last four games.

I like what I have seen from Colorado. Their narrow loss at St. Joe's shows their class. They should have beaten Georgia in last game but having lost two straight will only add to their sense of urgency here. Ricardo Patton took last years game personal, and I am sure he will want to win this one on CSU's home floor just as much. Colorado has too much more talent and experience. Buffs win this handily. Colorado  2 UNITS

Ohio U (+5) at DePaul - 5:30pm Pacific
I really like the look of this Bobcat team. They return three starters and four of their top five scorers from last years 19 win team. First year head coach Tim O'Shea takes over after serving 12 years under Al Skinner at Rhode Island and Boston College. O'Shea is given a lot of the credit for the resurgence of both of those programs and he is now being rewarded at the age of 40. The key returnee is MAC preseason player of the year Brandon Hunter (MAC player of the year runner up last year). Hunter has picked up where he left off last year by averaging 21 points, 7 rebounds, 2.5 steals, and 3 blocks per game from his power forward spot so far. Senior center Patrick Flomo is one of the better shot blockers in the country, finishing 7th in the nation last year. He has 9 blocks in just two games so far this year. Playing alongside Hunter has allowed his offensive skills (12.5ppg this year) to blossom as well. Junior Steve Esterkamp averaged double figures last year and is doing so again this year while also chipping in on defense with 5.0rpg & 2.5spg. Sophomore Sonny Johnson (a double digit scorer at Cleveland State two years ago) has emerged as an impact player and scored all 18 of his points in the final 13 minutes in a season opening win at Navy. Junior forward Jon Sanderson (a starter at Ohio State in 1999) started here last year but has been coming off the bench due to the logjam of talent in the frountcourt. Nine players in all are averaging double figures. The Bobcats were able to play 5 games in Italy over the summer which only further advanced their development for new head coach.

Have not been impressed with Depaul at all. They were fortunate to beat Fordham in their season opener as the Rams committed 26 turnovers and still led most of the game. The Blue Demons barely squeaked out that win as the game was much closer than the final 9 point margin indicated. Depaul was then beaten soundly by Syracuse in next game. After beating an outmatched Youngstown State team, they most recently were blown out by Notre Dame 82-55 in a game that was never close. They are now 2-2 on the season. Starting point guard Omari Sawyer has been suspended for this game for throwing an elbow vs the Irish. Sawyer is 2nd on the team in minutes played and averaged 10.0ppg, 4.0rpg, and 8.5apg. The Blue Demons seemed to be having trouble running any kind of offense even with Sawyer, it could get ugly without him. He will be missed.

Ohio is one of the co-favorites in the MAC this year. They are already 2-0 with a road win under their belts and they are eager to follow the early season trend of upsets set by fellow MAC rival Ball State and others. Depaul appears to be ripe for the taking. Looking for an outright win here. Take the points. Ohio U  1 UNIT

San Diego State (+2) at San Diego - 7:30pm Pacific
The Aztecs have had this game circled on the calendar for a while. They have lost 7 of the last 8 to their cross-town rival including the last three meetings. Steve Fisher has never beaten USD, and last years home loss is fresh in SDSU's memory. We talked in length at the start of the season about how improved this Aztec team will be this year. So far they are 4-2 with the only two losses coming on the road at two very difficult places to play right now, Texas Tech & New Mexico State. Furthermore, the team did not get to full strength until two games ago when senior guard Al Faux was reinstated from suspension. Faux was a starter last year and has averaged 15.5 points per game since his return. The leader of the team has been Syracuse transfer guard Tony Bland who was named MWC player of the week last week. He is averaging 22.7 points per game and has scored at least 20 in every game! Michigan transfer Brandon Smith has been getting more and more minutes after missing the first two games with injury. Smith was a starter at Michigan two years ago and can do a little bit of everything. These two guys consistently led victories over the first team in practice last year. Senior forward Randy Holcomb is averaging 15.9ppg & 8.7rpg. This team has a lot of talent. With the return of Faux, 11 players are now averaging double figure minutes. They are coming off a nice 10 point win over CS-Northridge. Aztecs could have won by much more if not for 26 turnovers.

San Diego has now lost to BYU and Washington at home. They have shown deficiencies on both sides of the ball. The UW final margin was only 4, but they trailed by 14 with 1:16 left before making an almost miracle comeback in last game. I really feel the Aztecs have too much talent, depth, and athleticism for USD to compete with. The motivation of having lost 3 straight in the series will be more than enough. Aztecs will get tested tonight and pass. San Diego State  1 UNIT

December 7

Minnesota (+5.5) at Georgia - 4:30pm Pacific
Third year head coach Dan Monson is one of my personal favorites. He is largely responsible for the huge success of the Gonzaga program. He does not always have the most talented team on the court, but his teams always play solid basketball and consistently overachieve. The Gophers are coming off an embarrassing home loss to NC Wilmington last time out. They led by as many as 13 in the first half and by 9 at halftime, but shot miserably in the 2nd half (made only 7 shots, scoring just 19 points) and were unable to handle the full court press applied by the Seahwaks. That game will certainly serve as a wake up call and make for an added sense of urgency tonight. Three Gopher seniors are said to have "cleared the air" in a team meeting after the game. I fully expect Minnesota to come out fighting tonight. Prior to the UNCW debacle, the Gophers were 4-1 with a high quality loss at Wake Forest. In that game they led 79-74 with just 1:38 left before letting things slip away as the Deacons scored the final 11 points of the game. The Golden Gophers lead the Big 10 in assists (17.0), fewest turnovers (13.5), steals (10), and blocks (6.8) per game. 

Minnesota has a deep and versatile frontcourt. They have a lot of size but also account for 31 three pointers between four different players. In fact 8 of the top 9 scorers have hit at least 2 three pointers this season. Senior forward Dusty Rychart (12.5ppg, 6.8rpg) is as steady and blue collar as they come. Sophomore Mike Bauer (13.5ppg, 4.3rpg) at 6-8 leads the team in 3-pointers made. 6-10 freshman Rick Rickert (12.7ppg, 6.0rpg) is a McDonald's high school All-American and has scored in double figures 4 out of 6 games. 6-10 JC transfer Jerry Holman is the most athletic of the group (10.2ppg, 4.5rpg, 9 dunks). 6-7 senior Tavarus Bennett (8.3ppg, 3.3rpg, 2.2 steals) has been starting at off guard and is also very athletic and one of the conferences best defenders. I look for him to matchup with UGA leading scorer Ezra Williams and do a fine job on him. These five have accounted for 6.3 blocks per game. Junior Kevin Burleson (6.3 assists per game) is doing a fine job at the point with senior guard Kerwin Fleming and freshman Maurice Hargrow providing depth. 

Despite their 5-1 record I have not been too impressed with UGA thus far. They got a big win early on over Georgetown, but the Hoyas played terribly in that game. I watched their recent win over Colorado last Saturday and I am still wondering how they did it. They only played 7 players and gave up huge size advantages to the Buffaloes. The Bulldogs got close at the end of the first half thanks to back to back 3 & 4 point plays and then for some reason CU could not hit a shot in the 2nd half finally giving up the lead late. UGA followed that game with a loss to Georgia State for the second straight season. They have played their last three games without 2nd leading scorer Jarvis Hayes (16.0ppg) due to a knee injury. He was expected to be out 2-4 weeks but will see some action today with a knee brace. However, it remains to be seen how effective he will be. In his absense, his older brother Jonas Hayes had averaged 15.5ppg in two games but missed the last game with an ankle injury. He is expected to see only limited minutes today as well. This is not a very deep team to begin with. Only seven players have seen action in the last two games. Their two tallest players are 6-7 & 6-8. 

This is our fifth consectutive play on a road team. Fortunately, well respected Tim Higgins is scheduled to be the lead official tonight so we should not expect any ridiculous hometown officiating (i.e. TCU). Minnesota is definitely the more hungrier of the two teams at this point in the season. Monson is by far a better coach than Harrick. He is already 2-0 against him as the Gophers have beaten UGA two straight years. Those were with weaker Gopher teams against stronger Georgia teams. Take the points and expect a straight up win here. Minnesota  2 UNITS

December 8

Fordham (+16.5) at Marquette - 11:00am Pacific
The Rams have blown two seemingly sure covers for us but I am willing to give them one more chance today. Fordham continues to not get any respect despite some decent showings. They led Depaul most of the way on the road in their season opener. They also trailed at South Florida by only 4 at halftime, and the Bulls have been a real juggernaut this year. They bounced back from those two losses with two solid wins before losing to St. John's last Saturday. That game was particularly disturbing as the Rams held an 11 point lead at the half, and led by 1 with under two minutes left before succumbing to a 12-2 Red Storm run to end the game and lose by 9. They have had a week to think about that game and should be hungrier than ever. Marquette is coming off an impressive 22 point win over Dayton. The Golden Eagles were playing with revenge motivation having lost two straight to the Flyers including a buzzer beater game last year. They do not have much to play for today against Fordham and could very easily take them too lightly. Marquette does not play for 11 days following this game due to exams week. Marquette is also slightly thinner without starting forward Blankson (averaged 20.6 minutes, 2nd on team in rebounding) who is currently out with an injury. Rams could make a little noise here. This line is too high. Take the points. Fordham 1 UNIT

Wisconsin at Ohio U (-4) - 12:00pm Pacific
MAC teams do not get many Big 10 teams at home and when they do it is a big deal. Michigan visited both Bowling Green and Western Michigan (both losses) this year and today's visit by Wisconsin will be the last of three Big 10 trips to MAC home courts this season. The Bobcats showed a lot of class and heart by winning a very close game at Depaul last time out. They are now 3-0 and should have a fired up home crowd today. Conference preseason player of the year Brandon Hunter did not disappoint with a 25 point, 8 rebound performance and hit the game winner vs the Blue Demons. Four other players scored in double figures as well so this team is not a one man show. Wisconsin comes into this game at 2-5. They lost in double overtime to Temple last time out. The Owls blew a 14 point second half lead and played without their frontcourt star Kevin Lyde or else the game probably would not have been as competitive. The Badgers are an extremely young team with 2 freshman and a sophomore accounting for 3 of their top 4 scorers. They only go 7-8 deep and are just 1-4 away from home with the only win coming over Hawaii-Hilo. I look for the Bobcats to continue to impress with another quality win here. Ohio U  1 UNIT

St Joseph's (-5) vs Penn - 12:15pm Pacific
The SJU Hawks are a legitimate top 15 basketball team. They head into this at 4-1 with their only loss coming in their season opener to Eastern Washington by 1 point. Eastern Wash head coach admitted that watching SJU tape all summer contributed to the win. Since then they have taken care of business in impressive fashion. I look for them to tighten the screws a little more today as they participate in their first Big 5 game of the season. The Hawks feature 4 senior starters (always like to see) and one of the premier backcourts in the country in Jameer Nelson & Marvin O'Connor. The frontcourt of Bill Phillips, Naim Crenshaw, & Damian Ried is not too shabby either. The Hawks have had a week of practice to prepare and should be itching to go in this historic Philadelphia triple header at the Palestra. This is much more of a neutral court setting as SJU plays at least one home game every year here. Penn is clearly an improved team and one to be reckoned with at that. However, they will be without one of the catalysts to their early season success in guard Andy Toole. He played with a stress fracture against Villanova in last game and led the team with 21 points but had surgery on Thursday. He is third on the team in scoring (14.6ppg) and leads the team in assists. Without him in the lineup, the Hawks just are too much for the Quakers. St. Joseph's  1 UNIT

Alabama (+2) vs UCLA - Anaheim, CA - 4:00pm Pacific
The Crimson Tide have been looking ahead to this game for some time. Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried served as an assistant at UCLA for 7 years from 1988-to-1995 and was part of the national championship. The players know Gottfried wants this win badly. During his time in Westwood, Gottfried developed a close relationship with John Wooden, and the legendary coach was scheduled to speak to the Crimson Tide team upon their arrival on Thursday. If that if not enough to inspire them, nothing will. Alabama is a very talented team and comes into this game with an impressive 6-1 record. Their only loss came by 7 to now #2 Missouri. They own a double digit neutral court win over a ranked opponent in Memphis. Four junior starters return from last years 25-11 team, led by Rod Grizzard (16.0ppg, 6.7rpg). Erwin Dudley and Kenny Walker provide a solid 1-2 punch inside. Freshman point guard Maurice Williams (10.4ppg, 5.6apg), a McDonald's high school All-American, is getting better with every game. Ten different players are averaging double figures in minutes. Not much has gone right for UCLA this year. They are 3-2 with wins over Houston, South Carolina, and UC Riverside and losses to Ball State and Pepperdine (at home). They will be playing the next few weeks without starting point guard Cedric Bozeman and they have no adequate replacement. Seniors Matt Barnes and Dan Gadzuric have disappointed so far by only averaging a combined 13.4ppg after averaging 23.3ppg between them last year. In their first game without the star freshman Bozeman, the Bruins looked awful against a horrible & winless UC Riverside team. UCR led by 6 in the first half and tied UCLA at the half before finally going away in the 2nd half. The Bruins most experienced player Ray Young is redshirting and without Bozeman, only 7 players remain averaging double figure minutes. Alabama is coming off a lackluster 6 point win over UT-Chattanooga. They were clearly looking ahead to this game. Look for them to score a big win over a struggling, without a point guard, UCLA team. Alabama  1 UNIT

December 14

Texas Tech vs Houston (+3.5) - 7:00pm Pacific
The Cougars basketball program is on the right track under 2nd year head coach Ray McCallum. He is largely responsible for the success at Ball State and even showed he is a class act by sitting in the Ball State fan section and rooting the Cardinals on at the Maui Invitational. This year his starting 5 is made up of three juniors and two seniors. Four of them are returning starters from last years team, while the 5th is transfer Louis Truscott who was a starter at Nebraska two years ago. Four players are averaging double figures. They have talent and experience. They lost to UCLA & Kansas in Maui, but since returning home have won four straight games over decent enough competition. They blew large second half leads in their last two games making the final scores a bit misleading. The big news around today's game is the debut of Michigan transfer Kevin Gaines. He started 28 games at Michigan two years ago and averaged 32 minutes, 11.7ppg, 4.5apg, and 3.8rpg while earning team co-MVP honors. He is eager to play and will eventually take this team to another level. He went a combined 1-for-28 vs Bobby Knight in two games vs Indiana while at Michigan and will be looking to redeem himself tonight.

We went against Texas Tech earlier in the year with SMU. The Mustangs appear to be a disappointment right now as they have lost 4 of their last 6. I am still willing to go against a Texas Tech team that I feel is overrated. The Red Raiders also have not played in 13 days. The Cougars are looking for some respect (picked last in C-USA depsite 4 returning starters and addition of Truscott & Gaines) and want this game more than Tech. Take the points. Houston  1 UNIT

December 15

Indiana at Miami, Fla (+1) - 2:00pm Pacific
Look for the Hurricanes to finish in the top 2 of the Big East standings this year. They are a legitimate top 20 team. They are currently 8-0 with an RPI ranking of 20, yet have been unable to crack any of the top 25 polls. They own wins on neutral courts over UAB & Clemson and are coming off a nice road win at Texas A&M last Saturday. They will definitely be pumped up for this game. Super sophomore Darius Rice leads the team with a 14.4ppg & 7.4rpg average but those numbers do not do him justice. At 6-10 he has the size of a power forward, the athleticism to jump out of the gym, and the touch of a shooting guard (21 of 43 from behind the arc). 6-9 Senior Elton Tyler is a quality big man back after sitting out last year and has averaged 10.0ppg so far. 6-8 junior James Jones is really coming on this year with 13.9ppg, 7.1rpg, and 2.8 blocks per game. This is one of the better frontlines in the country. Senior John Salmons is a great leader that can do it all. He comes in averaging 12.5ppg, 6.2rpg, and 4.6apg. He is also a great defender. Sophomore guard Marcus Barnes has scored in double figures in all 8 games this season. The starting five all average in double figures and have all the components to be great. JC transfer forward Rafael Berumen, junior guard Michael Simmons, and sophomore forward Rodrigue Djahue provide solid depth. 

Indiana is coming off back to back wins at home over quality opponents but outside of their win at North Carolina has not been particularly impressive on the road. They lost at Southern Illinois, to Marquette in Alaska, and were severely tested at Charlotte in their season opener. I really feel that Miami is better than any team the Hoosiers have faced this season, home or away. Perry Clark's Hurricanes make a statement today. Miami, Fla  2 UNITS

UNLV (-3.5) at Loyola Marymount - 7:05pm Pacific
UNLV is 0-3 on the road heading into this but all three losses have come against higher quality opposition. They lost at Cincinnati who after Friday's win over Xavier is looking very strong. They then lost at Washington in a game that second leading scorer Lou Kelly had to leave early in the 2nd half with a finger injury, and most recently lost at UAB by just 6. It is hard not to like the talent and depth on this team. Spoonhour seems to have one good player after another coming off the bench. Nine players played at least 13 minutes vs UAB. The team has yet to fully gel under Spoon but they opted to take the 4-5 hour bus ride from Las Vegas to Southern California for this game giving the team a chance to get closer.

LMU has posted a modest three game win streak, but I am still not a believer. They ambushed UCSB here after shocking a banged up Texas A&M (lost by 30 to Tulsa on Friday) by 2 on the road. They followed those two upsets with a win over Sacramento State here last Saturday. Prior to that they were beaten soundly here by UC Irvine (trailed by 18 at halftime) which I think is more indicative of their ability. Their leading scorer is a true freshman and both starting guards Eurskine Robinson (leads team in assists, probable) and Marcus Smith (leads team in minutes played, third in scoring, questionable) are suffering from ankle injuries. Rebels have too much talent, athleticism, and depth. UNLV  1 UNIT

December 16

Florida State (+14) at Wake Forest - 5:00pm Pacific
We talked at length earlier in the season as to why we felt Florida State would be a much improved team this year. They have a deep team that is more than capable of competing with ACC teams this year, they just have to go out and show it. The Seminoles get some added value tonight as they are coming off an unthinkable embarrassing home lose to Western Carolina last week. Clearly, they are not that bad and they have had what one player called "the hardest practices since he has been here" this week. They have listened all week from fans and media about how bad they are and how bad their coach is. They are eager to make amends today. Wake Forest is no world beater. The Deacons have already had home court scares against NC Wilmington (by 1 point) and Minnesota (6 points). They have been off for 9 days and tonight's attendance should not be overwhelming. Wake is turning the ball over 16.3 times per game and is giving up 14 offensive rebounds per game. They are lacking size and depth inside which should give FSU a nice edge in the post. The Seminoles have experience with a 5th year senior at point guard and have already played at Florida this year. I am expecting a very competitive game here and will gladly take the big number. Florida State  1 UNIT 

December 17

Georgia at Pepperdine (-2) - 7:30pm Pacific
The Waves have already proven they are a good team this year despite only returning two starters, breaking in a new head coach, and relying on 5 first year players for significant minutes. They are only going to get better and better. Former NBA & college coach Paul Westphal has already made a big splash with wins at UCLA and over USC at the LA Forum. This will be the first big name opponent they get in their on campus home court. People talk of Pepperdine being inconsistent this year, but their four losses all came on the road and against good teams: at UCSB, at UC Irvine, at Oregon, and at Utah. They go at least 10 deep and have talent, size, and speed. The Waves are forcing 19.4 turnovers a contest and have an impressive +5.4 turnover margin despite their consistently tough schedule.

Georgia talks about this being a business trip, but truthfully Jim Harrick is more focused on his 2nd homecoming to Pepperdine, and the team is more enamored with being in Southern California and a trip to Hawaii to follow. The Bulldogs just played at South Alabama on Saturday and we have seen time and time again college teams struggle after making a cross country trip. Tonight should be no different. Firestone Fieldhouse is a tough place for a road team to get a win. In the past four seasons, Pepperdine is 45-7 (.865) in games played here, including a 23-3 (.885) mark the last two-plus seasons. Look for the Waves to establish their own tempo and cash in on a win. Pepperdine 1 UNIT

 December Recap

After a dismal start to the season we decided it would be in the best interest of all parties to step away and take a brief hiatus from college basketball handicapping.  Hopefully we will finish the season strong and it will prove to be a wise decision.  Season record to date: 12-19, -9.1 UNITS.