Boy, life on the road in college basketball certainly can be a bummer. Even in nice places. The glut of holiday tournaments is now upon us, but to show how quickly things can go sideways in this sport, even near a beach or a golf course, consider a few recent reports.
This just in from the Bahamas...
No. 22 St. John’s came to the islands 4-0 with its highest ranking in 10 years. Its visit included letting an 18-point lead get away against Baylor and losing 99-98 in double overtime, and a 66-63 loss to Georgia despite forcing 24 turnovers and outscoring the Bulldogs 23-13 from the free throw line. This is what comes from shooting 31 percent from the field and missing 17 of 19 3-point attempts. That box score was a lousy souvenir to take back up north.
“As long as we play hard, I’m not going to judge where we are now, I’m going to judge where we’re at the end,” coach Rick Pitino said. “As long as we play hard, fight, try to win games, I think we’ll be okay. We’re certainly not a great team, but we’re a pretty good team.”
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And while we’re in the Bahamas...
Virginia arrived at the Baha Mar Hoops Championship 3-0 and just off a win over Villanova. Maybe this unexpected life after coach Tony Bennett's sudden retirement in mid-October would go OK.
Then the games started in Nassau.
The Cavaliers lost to Tennessee 64-42 and St. John’s 80- 55. They were outscored 16-0 in fastbreak points during the two games, 68-26 in the paint, and 48-10 in points off turnovers — 30-2 by the Volunteers. The team that led the nation last season with just 8.1 turnovers a game had 34 in 40 minutes in the Bahamas. Virginia had not lost back-to-back games by at least 22 points since 2008.
Interim coach Ron Sanchez mentioned problems with transition, rebounding and handling the basketball.
“That’s the one thing that was exposed in this tournament to me,” he said. “How they’re going to handle it is TBD. The one thing we did here is we learned a lot about ourselves. The question is how are we going to use that knowledge. Are we going to grow or are we going to wallow in it. It’s a young group, this is probably some of the toughest moments these young guys have had, and I have to do a really good job helping them navigate this new space.”
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This just in from Charleston, South Carolina...
Miami came rolling into town for the Charleston Classic 3-0 after being picked to finish sixth in the ACC's preseason rankings with a mostly new roster. But by Sunday, the Hurricanes had been downgraded to a tropical depression after losing 80-69 to Drake, 80-74 to Oklahoma State and 77-70 to VCU. Talk about a long weekend, Miami played 120 minutes in Charleston and trailed for 116 minutes and 56 seconds. The Hurricanes never led one second. Miami’s defense allowed 48 percent shooting from the field and forced fewer than nine turnovers a game. “A major concern for us,” coach Jim Larranaga said of defensive intensity.
However, one team’s nightmare weekend is another team’s dream trip. Drake had never played a basketball game in the state of South Carolina in program history, but the Bulldogs charged through the state with three double-digit wins to take the tournament and stand at 6-0.
This just in from Kennesaw, Georgia...
To give freshman phenom Ace Bailey a chance to play a game near his roots, Rutgers went looking for a date in the Chattanooga/Atlanta area. Kennesaw State coach Antoine Pettway got wind of that and called Scarlett Knights’ Steve Pikiell. Why not Kennesaw?
“Kudos to coach. He jumped right on it,” Pettway said.
Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Rutgers showed up Sunday 4-0 and ranked No. 24. The doors were closed and the next thing the Scarlet Knights knew, they were down 21. They rallied, as the big guys on the block usually do, but the Owls hung on to win 77-75, clinching the game when they stole a pass thrown by Bailey.
Kennesaw State had been 0-16 all-time against ranked opponents and 1-43 against the power conferences. Although the Owls were 4-1, they had lost to California Baptist in their second game of the season. Who saw this coming? Pettway did. His message to his players before the game: “These are the moments you pray for, these are the moments you work for. Why would you be afraid?”
And later, after Kennesaw State had survived 22 turnovers by dominating the Big Ten brutes on the boards 46-27, Pettway emphasized that “we’ve got champions in that locker room. We’re young, but we fight, and we fight for each other. They’re hungry. They’re hungry for success."
“Amazing win for this beautiful place we call Kennesaw State University. It is a sleeping giant."
It might not have seemed so beautiful to Rutgers. “We have to figure out how to play 40 minutes, especially when we’re on the road,” Pikiell said. “It’s always on the coach. I thought I sent out enough warning signals for our guys about going on the road in tough environments.”
This just in from White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia...
Do you remember UCF? The bunch who stunned No. 13 Texas A&M for the biggest upset on the season’s opening day. The Knights, picked to finish 11th in the Big 12, were up to more mischief playing in a converted hotel ballroom at the Greenbrier resort, leading LSU by 20 late in the first half in the third-place game of the Greenbrier Tip-off.
The gap was still 18 with under 13 minutes left to play, but then the winds changed. The Tigers tied it with 22 seconds left, and battled back to win 109-102 in triple overtime. Six players from the game scored at least 20 points. Two days earlier, UCF had been rolled over by Wisconsin 86-70 despite having more rebounds, fewer turnovers and a 26-12 advantage in free throws. Not to mention, they shot 2-for-17 from three.
“This is the reason you play in an event like this, to play against this type of competition, to kind of see where you are at this stage in the season” coach Johnny Dawkins said. “We learned that we can be pretty good. But we have to do some things right on the court, offensively and defensively, to get that done.”
This just in from Boone, North Carolina . . .
Poor William & Mary. The Tribe rallied from 18 points down to catch up to Appalachian State, then were beaten 79-76 on a 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left. That’s not to be confused with their trip to the Rock Hill Classic in South Carolina the week before when they were beaten 86-85 on a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Winthrop. Or, the next night in Rock Hill when they were down 11 points and came back, only to lose to North Carolina Central 78-76.
Life is so much simpler at home in college basketball. But not always.
This just in from Omaha, Nebraska . . .
Crash investigators are still working on answering how Creighton, averaging 98 points a game, could score 63 on its own court and lose by 11 to Nebraska. And how Ryan Kalkbrenner, who's averaging 25.8 points and shooting 89 percent, could only score four points in 39 minutes and miss his one shot.
Fred Hoiberg’s plan was to surround Kalkbrenner with Cornhuskers so he had no room to operate, no ball to shoot, and no air to breathe. That left a lot of 3-point opportunities, and Creighton put up 42 of ‘em.
The problem is, only 12 went in.
The Bluejays attempted just 10 2-pointers all night and had 17 turnovers. “You name it, we did it,” coach Greg McDermott said.
So as the tournament feast begins, we are reminded hard lessons come everywhere in this sport at this time of year. The Bahamas. Hawaii. Even Omaha.
