WEEK 5 MBB.....

[Ship69]

Interesting stat from Saturday:

West Chester beat Mercyhurst 83-80 in OT.

WCU made a whopping 37 free throws on 51 attempts.

The visitors attempted 24 FTs.




51 FTs is an astonishing number.

Sometimes the FT stats really get out of whack, usually in favor of the home team. But it's hard to comment on the fairness or unfairness of it all without actually seeing the game. If West Chester was going uptempo and slashing to the hoop as their tendency in recent years has been, I can see how they'd get a lot of FTs. Ship had a large FT edge on California at home Saturday, but when I saw they had outrebounded Cal 50-28 it wasn't as surprising. Steve Bardo made what I thought was an astute observation during a Big Ten game Sunday on how hard it is to win a road game in a major conference. He said he figured his team when on the road had to play 10 points better than the home team to overcome the usual home-team advantage in FTs plus the crowd atmosphere. It's insanely hard to win an away game against a top team in a conference such as the B1G. If Illinois, Bardo's old school, had hung on to beat Maryland Saturday (they lost by a point), it would have been their first away win against a top 5 school since 1989, when they reached the Final Four.

Crowd atmosphere usually doesn't enter in as often in Division II ball, but it's safe to say you usually have to play significantly better than the home team to grab an away win. Certainly the great majority of Ship's losses the last couple of seasons have come on the road.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Sometimes the FT stats really get out of whack, usually in favor of the home team. But it's hard to comment on the fairness or unfairness of it all without actually seeing the game. If West Chester was going uptempo and slashing to the hoop as their tendency in recent years has been, I can see how they'd get a lot of FTs. Ship had a large FT edge on California at home Saturday, but when I saw they had outrebounded Cal 50-28 it wasn't as surprising. Steve Bardo made what I thought was an astute observation during a Big Ten game Sunday on how hard it is to win a road game in a major conference. He said he figured his team when on the road had to play 10 points better than the home team to overcome the usual home-team advantage in FTs plus the crowd atmosphere. It's insanely hard to win an away game against a top team in a conference such as the B1G. If Illinois, Bardo's old school, had hung on to beat Maryland Saturday (they lost by a point), it would have been their first away win against a top 5 school since 1989, when they reached the Final Four.

Crowd atmosphere usually doesn't enter in as often in Division II ball, but it's safe to say you usually have to play significantly better than the home team to grab an away win. Certainly the great majority of Ship's losses the last couple of seasons have come on the road.

It was a big enough number it made me curious. Upon further review, WCU does get to the line a ton -- and they are hitting 76% for the season (220 for 290). They are averaging 32 FT attempts per game -- and getting 25 ppg at the line. The next closest is UPJ with 238 attempts (and one more game played).

WCU's Robbie Heath has hit 69 of 80 FTs already this year. He leads the PSAC in FT and FTA. WCU's Malik Jackson is 4th in the league -- hitting 43 of 51.

[Ship69]

It was a big enough number it made me curious. Upon further review, WCU does get to the line a ton -- and they are hitting 76% for the season (220 for 290). They are averaging 32 FT attempts per game -- and getting 25 ppg at the line. The next closest is UPJ with 238 attempts (and one more game played).

WCU's Robbie Heath has hit 69 of 80 FTs already this year. He leads the PSAC in FT and FTA. WCU's Malik Jackson is 4th in the league -- hitting 43 of 51.

That is a helluva lot of free throws. Ship through eight games had taken 157 FTs and made 120 for a percentage similar to West Chester's. But obviously anyone who plays WCU this year is going to have to make a serious attempt to keep them off the line. I'm actually surprised how well Ship has done so far as the three-point shooting, a major weapon for them in recent seasons, has been relatively lousy so far this year at 29 percent. In the three previous seasons they've averaged no lower than 35 percent and as high as 38. I expect their three-point shooting to pick up, but they don't seem to have the depth of good shooters they've had recently. Despite that, they've won several games by fairly healthy margins. What has helped so far is they seem to be quicker on defense and also have picked it up on the boards. The three-game stretch coming up next week with Fairmont, UPJ, and IUP should answer a few questions.

[Scrub]

Some MEC scores:

UC 83 WLU 73 (Hilltoppers continue to scuffle)
WVWC 73 Urbana 65 (Bobcats continue to roll)
GSU 119 Frostburg 89

Wheeling & WVSU are in a tight one late.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Some MEC scores:

UC 83 WLU 73 (Hilltoppers continue to scuffle)
WVWC 73 Urbana 65 (Bobcats continue to roll)
GSU 119 Frostburg 89

Wheeling & WVSU are in a tight one late.

Wheeling game is wild.

[Scrub]

Wheeling game is wild.

Looks like State pulled it out. But Wheeling is serving notice that there won't be a two-month hangover with the new coach this year.