Thursday, November
16, 2006

 

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Michigan State-Texas

Press Notes

After capturing the East Lansing Regional of the College
Hoops Classic with victories over Brown and Youngstown
State, the Spartans are ready to
play the Championship Rounds in New York City.
Michigan State
and Texas are very similar in
that they both lost a lot of their experience, scoring and rebounding from last
year. MSU fills the void with a mix of returners and freshman, while UT leans heavily on
first-year players. Michigan State
defeated Brown (45-34) and Youngstown
State (86-61) to advance to the
Championship Rounds of the College Hoops Classic. In the season opener, MSU managed to score just 45 points, but held Brown to 34,
the lowest total by a Spartan opponent since Northwestern scored 29 on Jan. 27, 2000. The next day, the
Spartan offense erupted for 86 points. Through three games, Michigan State
leads the Big Ten in scoring defense (45.3 ppg) and field-goal percentage
defense (.320), while ranking tied for second in blocked shots (5.33 bpg) and third in 3-point field-goal percentage defense
(.281). Texas advanced to New
York with two victories in the Austin Regional by an
average margin of victory of +42.5 points. In the regional semifinal, UT
defeated Alcorn State,
103-44, behind 20 points from freshman Kevin Durant. In the second game, the
Longhorns used a 28-point effort from A.J. Abrams to
defeat Chicago State, 92-66.

Like Michigan
State, Texas had three players
drafted in the 2006 NBA Draft (LaMarcus Aldridge, P.J. Tucker and Daniel Gibson). The Longhorns return just
14 percent of their scoring, 10 percent of their rebounding and 17 percent of
their minutes played from last season. Texas’
roster features seven true freshmen and the probable starting lineup consists
of three freshmen and two sophomores.

South Carolina-USC

Press Notes

The USC men’s basketball team (0-0) opens the season vs. South
Carolina (1-0). Two-time defending NIT champion South
Carolina returns two starters and five lettermen from
a team that went 23-15 during the 2005-06 season. They have added seven
newcomers, including three transfers that are eligible for action this season.
USC returns four starters from a team that went 17-13. Things would really be
looking up for the Trojans if not for the tragic shooting death of freshman
point guard Ryan Francis last May and for junior All-Pac-10 guard Gabe Pruitt being academically ineligible for the first
semester. All-Pac-10 swingman Nick Young, however, does return to lead the
Trojans. Last season he was one of three players in the Pac-10 to rank in the
top 10 in the conference in both scoring and rebounds (17.3 ppg. 6.6 rpg) and is the leading returning scorer. Also back are
senior guard Lodrick Stewart, who is the top
returning career scorer in the Pac-10 and senior center Abdoulaye
N’diaye, who had 47 blocks and averaged 4.5 points
and 4.7 rebounds per game in his first year at USC. The Trojans have brought in
a strong recruiting class which features seven freshmen and is expected to give
the Trojans the depth that they lacked a year ago. The Trojans lead the Pac-10
in returning production with 83.7 percent of their scoring and 86.5 percent of
their rebounding from the 2005-06 season returning (includes Pruitt’s numbers).
USC also leads with 96 percent of their blocked shot producers returning. The
Trojans return the conference’s top two scorers from last season (Young – 17.3
and Pruitt 16.9) and the fourth-leading rebounder in
Young (6.6). Senior Lodrick Stewart is the top active
career scorer in the Pac-10 with 956 points.

Friday, November 17,
2006

 

CBB

Cleveland State-Buffalo

Press Notes

Cleveland State
takes to the road with an even 1-1 record after routing Notre Dame College,
88-62, on Monday night (Nov. 13) in the Wolstein Center.
Buffalo comes into the contest with
a 1-1 record, including a 77-61 loss at South Florida on
Monday night.

Xavier-Virginia Commonwealth

Press Notes

Xavier is off to a 1-0 start under third-year head coach
Sean Miller after winning its 17^th straight season opener with the
win over Coastal Carolina. XU was 21-11 overall last season, recording its
ninth 20-win season in the last 10 years and its 19^th 20-win season
in the last 24 years. XU has appeared in five of the last six NCAA Tournaments.
The Musketeers won the 2006 Atlantic 10 Championship by winning four games in
four days this past March, making NCAA history by accomplishing that feat twice
(having also done it in 2004). The 2006 championship was XU’s second A-10 title
in three years and its fourth in the past nine years, including 1998, 2002,
2004 and 2006. All five starters are back from the team that made the
late-season championship run, including seniors Justin Cage and Justin Doellman. Cage was the 2006 A-10 Championship MVP while Doellman has led XU in rebounding two straight seasons.
Junior forward Josh Duncan, who sat out the exhibitions due to injury, returned
Saturday.  Virginia
Commonwealth, 19-10 last season, has a new head coach in Anthony Grant,
a former long-time assistant under Billy Donovan at Florida. Grant is no stranger to Xavier fans, having played at the
University of Dayton from 1983-87.

Cleveland State-Buffalo

Press Notes

Cleveland State
takes to the road for the first time during the 2006-07 season
when the Vikings play three games in three days. Cleveland
State takes to the road with an
even 1-1 record after routing Notre Dame College, 88-62, on Monday night (Nov.
13) in the Wolstein
Center. Buffalo
comes into the contest with a 1-1 record, including a 77-61 loss at South
Florida on Monday night.

Saturday, November
18, 2006

 

Wichita State-George Mason

Press Notes

Fewer than 1,000 tickets remain for Saturday’s George
Mason men’s basketball season opener against Wichita State and not only will it
be the first chance for fans to see the Patriots in action at home since making
the Final Four, it will also be a chance for fans to see the Washington
Regional Championship trophy.