Season Record: 10-7 +3.3 UNITS
Three plays today.
Dayton at St. Louis (+1.5) - 11:10am Pacific
This is a big game for first year coach Brad Soderberg and the Billikens. Soderberg served as interim head coach at Wisconsin when Dick Bennett retired midseason. He was looked over as head coach by the Badgers at the end of the year but was an assistant here last year and takes over this year with Lorenzo Romar departed to Washington. His style may not be pretty but he can flat out coach. He inherits a team loaded with experience. Four starters are back from last season, and the eight man rotation includes 4 seniors & 3 juniors.
It all starts with point guard Marque Perry who was only fully healthy in about half the teams games last season. A concussion problem slowed him all season. Perry is 1st-team C-USA material and should have a great senior season. He leads the team with 15.0ppg. Five players average between 5 and 9 points per game led by senior F/C Kenny Brown (9.0ppg), junior G/F Chris Sloan (8.6ppg), and junior guard Josh Fisher (8.4ppg). Senior F/C Chris Braun, senior guard Drew Deiner, junior forward Ross Varner and good looking freshman guard Anthony Drejaj (late signee) round out the rotation. This is primarily the same team who finished 9-7 in C-USA games last season, including 6 of 7 to end the regular season, and 6 of 8 at home.
The Billikens got off to a rocky start this year losing to UT-Martin by 5 and to SWMS in OT but bounced back with a high quality road win at St. Bonaventure (held Bonnies to season low 54 points). They were blown out as expected at #1 Arizona in following game but looked sharp in 15 point win over TX Pan-American in most recent game last week. They held TPA to just 25% shooting for the game. Holding St Bonnie to 54 points and TPA to just 25% shooting are strong signals that the tough defense Soderberg taught with Bennett at Wisconsin is being carried over here.
Dayton comes in with a 4-1 record that includes a 6 point win over Cincinnati. However, the Flyers have played four of five at home and were beaten soundly by 14 points in their only road game of the season at Miami, Ohio. The Flyers lost standout point guard David Morris (6.0 assists per game last year) to graduation. This year head coach Oliver Purnell has made a controversial decision to move last years leading scorer Ramod Marshall from shooting guard to point guard and last years back-up point guard Mark Jones to shooting guard. Both players have a lot of adjusting to do. Marshall is not a true point guard and Hall certainly is not a consistent scorer. The loss of Morris will be most felt in road games. This is just not a fluid offensive team right now. Following Miami Ohio loss, the Flyers scored only 59 points in an unimpressive win over UNC-Wilmington (3-3, has not looked good early on) in last game. I fully expect them to struggle offensively again on the road here against a strong SLU defense. First game in 7 days following finals week and early afternoon start time will not help them.
The Billikens are 46-13 (.780) against non-conference opponents at the Savvis Center and 111-34 (.766) in their last 145 home games overall. In meeting last year in Dayton, the Flyers won by just 6 points. I believe SLU has gained slightly in terms of returning talent. Revenge and exchange of home courts should be plenty to turn the tables this year.
St. Louis 1 UNIT
Rutgers (-1.5) at Princeton - 4:30pm Pacific
Fairly high on this Rutgers team. They return four starters from an 18-13 season of a year ago. Head coach Gary Waters is in his second season here and the team has looked good early on.
Few teams have a a trio of starting guards as talented as senior Jerome Coleman (21.8ppg, 2.3spg), junior Mike Sherrod (5.5ppg, 5.2rpg, 4.5apg, 2.2spg), and sophomore Ricky Shields (13.0ppg, 4.3rpg, 1.8spg). If you were keeping count these three average 5.3 steals a game between them! Senior center Kareem Wright lost a whopping 50 pounds in the offseason and has been much more active this year. Junior forward Herve Lamizana is a budding star (8.2ppg, 5.3rpg, 4.0 blocks, 20 points vs North Carolina). Rutgers has some active players off the bench including forward Sean Axani who was a starter last year.
The Scarlet Knights were incredibly close from upsetting the Tar Heels in North Carolina and advancing to the semifinals of the preseason NIT. Rutgers led by 11 with under 8 minutes to play but got some unfavorable calls and folded down the stretch losing by 4 points. They built a double digit lead in their next game at Temple as well, and this time held on for a 6 point win. They also played decent in a loss at Auburn this year so they have quality road game experience. At home Rutgers has been sensational in blow out wins over Marshall, Columbia, and most recently Fordham.
Princeton is clearly down this year. The Tigers inexcusably lost to a bad Florida International team at home three games back. In their next game they needed a 65 foot buzzer beater to beat a 1-4 Monmouth team. They beat a winless Lafayette team in most recent game. The Tigers have suffered some major attrition. They lost leading scorer Mike Bechtold as well as minute per game leader Ahmed El-Nokali to graduation. So three starters return, right? Wrong. Returning starting forward Dominick Martin opted to transfer out of the program, reserve forward Chris Klug quit the team, and key returnee F/C Konrad Wysocki (conference rookie of the year 2 years ago, played starters minutes last year) has not played a game yet this season due to a foot injury. The worst news came just recently that starting forward Andre Logan (second on team in scoring last year and this year) will miss the remainder of the year as he has not fully recovered from offseason knee surgery. Logan had averaged 32.3 minutes per game (team high) in first three games of the season. He will be sorely missed. This leaves Princeton with just one active starter from last years 16-12 team who trailed by 17 in the 2nd half before losing by 12 at Rutgers.
Princeton is said to have "sped up the offense" as they scored a season high 89 points in last game vs Lafayette. This would play right into the hands of Rutgers who will want nothing more than to play an uptempo game. Scarlet Knights love to harass with full court pressure and create turnovers. They do it very well (forcing 21 per game). Either way, they have too much talent, athleticism, and depth for Princeton to match up with. New Jersey locals report that Rutgers always brings a large contingent of fans for this game (almost making it a 50/50 crowd) which lessens the home court advantage significantly.
Rutgers 1 UNIT
Three plays today.
Dayton at St. Louis (+1.5) - 11:10am Pacific
This is a big game for first year coach Brad Soderberg and the Billikens. Soderberg served as interim head coach at Wisconsin when Dick Bennett retired midseason. He was looked over as head coach by the Badgers at the end of the year but was an assistant here last year and takes over this year with Lorenzo Romar departed to Washington. His style may not be pretty but he can flat out coach. He inherits a team loaded with experience. Four starters are back from last season, and the eight man rotation includes 4 seniors & 3 juniors.
It all starts with point guard Marque Perry who was only fully healthy in about half the teams games last season. A concussion problem slowed him all season. Perry is 1st-team C-USA material and should have a great senior season. He leads the team with 15.0ppg. Five players average between 5 and 9 points per game led by senior F/C Kenny Brown (9.0ppg), junior G/F Chris Sloan (8.6ppg), and junior guard Josh Fisher (8.4ppg). Senior F/C Chris Braun, senior guard Drew Deiner, junior forward Ross Varner and good looking freshman guard Anthony Drejaj (late signee) round out the rotation. This is primarily the same team who finished 9-7 in C-USA games last season, including 6 of 7 to end the regular season, and 6 of 8 at home.
The Billikens got off to a rocky start this year losing to UT-Martin by 5 and to SWMS in OT but bounced back with a high quality road win at St. Bonaventure (held Bonnies to season low 54 points). They were blown out as expected at #1 Arizona in following game but looked sharp in 15 point win over TX Pan-American in most recent game last week. They held TPA to just 25% shooting for the game. Holding St Bonnie to 54 points and TPA to just 25% shooting are strong signals that the tough defense Soderberg taught with Bennett at Wisconsin is being carried over here.
Dayton comes in with a 4-1 record that includes a 6 point win over Cincinnati. However, the Flyers have played four of five at home and were beaten soundly by 14 points in their only road game of the season at Miami, Ohio. The Flyers lost standout point guard David Morris (6.0 assists per game last year) to graduation. This year head coach Oliver Purnell has made a controversial decision to move last years leading scorer Ramod Marshall from shooting guard to point guard and last years back-up point guard Mark Jones to shooting guard. Both players have a lot of adjusting to do. Marshall is not a true point guard and Hall certainly is not a consistent scorer. The loss of Morris will be most felt in road games. This is just not a fluid offensive team right now. Following Miami Ohio loss, the Flyers scored only 59 points in an unimpressive win over UNC-Wilmington (3-3, has not looked good early on) in last game. I fully expect them to struggle offensively again on the road here against a strong SLU defense. First game in 7 days following finals week and early afternoon start time will not help them.
The Billikens are 46-13 (.780) against non-conference opponents at the Savvis Center and 111-34 (.766) in their last 145 home games overall. In meeting last year in Dayton, the Flyers won by just 6 points. I believe SLU has gained slightly in terms of returning talent. Revenge and exchange of home courts should be plenty to turn the tables this year.
St. Louis 1 UNIT
Rutgers (-1.5) at Princeton - 4:30pm Pacific
Fairly high on this Rutgers team. They return four starters from an 18-13 season of a year ago. Head coach Gary Waters is in his second season here and the team has looked good early on.
Few teams have a a trio of starting guards as talented as senior Jerome Coleman (21.8ppg, 2.3spg), junior Mike Sherrod (5.5ppg, 5.2rpg, 4.5apg, 2.2spg), and sophomore Ricky Shields (13.0ppg, 4.3rpg, 1.8spg). If you were keeping count these three average 5.3 steals a game between them! Senior center Kareem Wright lost a whopping 50 pounds in the offseason and has been much more active this year. Junior forward Herve Lamizana is a budding star (8.2ppg, 5.3rpg, 4.0 blocks, 20 points vs North Carolina). Rutgers has some active players off the bench including forward Sean Axani who was a starter last year.
The Scarlet Knights were incredibly close from upsetting the Tar Heels in North Carolina and advancing to the semifinals of the preseason NIT. Rutgers led by 11 with under 8 minutes to play but got some unfavorable calls and folded down the stretch losing by 4 points. They built a double digit lead in their next game at Temple as well, and this time held on for a 6 point win. They also played decent in a loss at Auburn this year so they have quality road game experience. At home Rutgers has been sensational in blow out wins over Marshall, Columbia, and most recently Fordham.
Princeton is clearly down this year. The Tigers inexcusably lost to a bad Florida International team at home three games back. In their next game they needed a 65 foot buzzer beater to beat a 1-4 Monmouth team. They beat a winless Lafayette team in most recent game. The Tigers have suffered some major attrition. They lost leading scorer Mike Bechtold as well as minute per game leader Ahmed El-Nokali to graduation. So three starters return, right? Wrong. Returning starting forward Dominick Martin opted to transfer out of the program, reserve forward Chris Klug quit the team, and key returnee F/C Konrad Wysocki (conference rookie of the year 2 years ago, played starters minutes last year) has not played a game yet this season due to a foot injury. The worst news came just recently that starting forward Andre Logan (second on team in scoring last year and this year) will miss the remainder of the year as he has not fully recovered from offseason knee surgery. Logan had averaged 32.3 minutes per game (team high) in first three games of the season. He will be sorely missed. This leaves Princeton with just one active starter from last years 16-12 team who trailed by 17 in the 2nd half before losing by 12 at Rutgers.
Princeton is said to have "sped up the offense" as they scored a season high 89 points in last game vs Lafayette. This would play right into the hands of Rutgers who will want nothing more than to play an uptempo game. Scarlet Knights love to harass with full court pressure and create turnovers. They do it very well (forcing 21 per game). Either way, they have too much talent, athleticism, and depth for Princeton to match up with. New Jersey locals report that Rutgers always brings a large contingent of fans for this game (almost making it a 50/50 crowd) which lessens the home court advantage significantly.
Rutgers 1 UNIT
