Happy Holidays everyone! We were given a late present last night as AU downed the Fordham Rams 73-57 in the first round of the Cable Car Classic on the campus of Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, CA. Bear with me tonight as I tie up some loose ends and simultaneously try to give you a recap of this game, a preview of today's game, and some thoughts about our previous outing at #6 Pittsburgh, as we failed to adequately do that before. That's a lot of ground to cover, so without further adieu let's delve right in!
Billygoats Can't Find Their Footing in Moving Cable Cars
Without a doubt, this was one of our most solid wins of the season so far. We found a tempo, burst out to a 10-0 lead, stuck to it, and kept our opponent from finding one of their own. Fordham was riding a four-game win streak, which included an upset of St. John's from the Big East conference, and in no way would I have predicted that we would manhandle them as we did. To be fair, Fordham's three-day trip to Santa Clara could best be described as a harrowing ordeal, so that may have affected their play. Still, they were a formidable opponent for the first time in years (I believe since they left the Patriot League in 1997 they've had one winning season), and we made a statement on the West Coast. Most importantly, we proved we can take on someone our own size, as opposed to beating near-winless teams or standing up to top ten powerhouses. For the trivia buffs out there, despite Fordham being a former member of the Patriot League, this is the first time we ever played them.
There are definitely some highlights I want to touch on. First is the point guard play this game. That's right, I want to compliment our point guards, which we don't have an opportunity to do nearly enough. The Munoz and Luptake duo combined for all 40 minutes at the 1 spot, together contributing 7 points, 6 assists, and a steal. What's missing there? You may notice that not a single turnover is listed. That's right: ZERO TURNOVERS from the point this game. Additionally, they held While Danny and Steve may not be an offensive spark all the time, their ball handling skills are commendable, and with the rest of the scoring options we have, that may be enough to get us back to the Tournament this March.
Next up on my congratulatory list is Stephen Lumpkins. The Lump proved to be unstumpable yet again, posting his fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 boards, plus an assist for good measure. Fordham's frontcourt was highly touted coming into the game, with forward like Chris Gaston averaging a double-double. We held Gaston to 10 points and 9 boards (just shy of that double-double), with foul trouble keeping him out for a while and Lump locking him down the rest of the time. Vlad also poured in a solid game, with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. He didn't lead the team, and it's good to see that he doesn't always have to - surely Fordham felt all they'd need to do to win was stop Vlad, but we had more weapons than them, and it showed.
While we were edged slightly on the boards by the Rams, 39-37, we entered the game ranked very low in the NCAA in rebounds per game, with the Rams definitely in the top 50, if not 30. We didn't kill them on the boards, but we certainly didn't let it drag us down, either. Our frontcourt proved last night they could hang with big men as good as you'll find anywhere in the Patriot League, and they did so handily.
There was one other major standout performance last night, but we'll get to that in a bit. Some things that could have been better (and I am truly loathe to criticize anything that happened in this game) was that once we smelled blood in the water, we went for it and played very aggressively - so aggressively that with 10 minutes left in the second half, Fordham was already in the double bonus. We need to limit the needless fouls, and we are fortunate that the Rams struggled mightily from the line. If they hadn't, the game might have swung differently. However from beginning to end we took control, and were never seriously threatened. In that vein, though, I was surprised that the transfer duo of Troy and Charles was relatively quiet. Ultimately, they played solid defense, pulled their weight, and kept Fordham honest, but if either of them (or hey, both) had really gone off offensively then it would have been an incredible blowout. However, the game was definitely highlighted by none other than...
Hendra Sends Resounding Message Back to New York City
NICK HENDRA! The NYC native sent a powerful message back with the Rams, scoring a career-high 22 points, 7 boards, 6 assists, and a really incredible block. He played incredibly hard and smart the entire game, set up Lump and Vlad with incredible passes, fearlessly drove to the basket without trying to be showy, and shot lights out from beyond the arc. He created his own shot, and made everyone around him better. This is the Nick Hendra we've been waiting for for over three years. If he continues to play like this, we're golden. If he continues to play half as well as this, heck, I'll be happy. Needless to say, I can safely predict that his starting spot is absolutely safe.
The Transitive Property of Basketball
While I could speak volumes about how if every game was played like this, we'd skip our way into March, I'd like to leave some room for those with a higher basketball IQ than myself to show me up in the comments. I do want to take some time, however, to talk about the most useless statistic of all in college hoops (so useless, it's practically not real): the transitive property of basketball.
So here's where I'll talk about Pitt. We lost to Pitt by 16 points. In Pitt's next game, which happened to be the Big East opener vs. #4 UConn (and I'll be transparent and say I'm from Connecticut and am a lifelong Huskies fan), the Panthers won by 16. Curious - but it gets curiouser. Vlad scored 23 of our 46 points in the loss, exactly 50%. UConn's Kemba Walker, the leading scorer in the entire NCAA, scored 31 of UConn's 66 points, pretty darn close to 50%. While I cannot find the link right now for the life of me, I distinctly remember reading an interview after the Pitt game where one of their players said that our slow, grind-it-out style reminded him of a Big East game, which I took as an utmost compliment. It's noteworthy that prior to our game, Pitt was averaging 82 points per game, and we held them to 21 below that. What does this all mean? Absolutely nothing. But for the sake of seeing if we can make something of nothing let's continue.
So as previously mentioned, Fordham's marquee win on the young season was an intra-city upset of St. John's of the Big East. They also handily Lehigh (aka the CJ McCollum show) on their home court, but I digress. Immediately after losing to Fordham, St. John's rebounded in a big way by beating West Virginia on their home court, followed by a drubbing of Northwestern at home. Coincidental that we held our own against both of those teams in recent days, no?
However, this can all be spun the other way. Sure, I could talk about a team that beat us (say, Columbia), and some team that beat them handily, and how that means we're inferior to whatever team beat the Lions. As I said, it's all rubbish. Yet it's worth noting that the RPI actually considers the transitive property noteworthy, as (correct me if I'm wrong), 25% of the calculation is the record of opponents' opponents. So when we beat Fordham, who beat St. John's, who beat two teams that beat us - well, the complex computer algorithm really likes that, and that's all I have to say on the matter.
Up Next: The Fightin' Blue Hens
OK, deep breath. Phew, we're almost done. I'm sure this entire time you've been itching to find out if we'll win the Cable Car Classic crown (which is why I provided the handy headers in case you became impatient and decided to scroll down). Well, I believe our chances are pretty good, as we lucked out with the best possible matchup (of two, so that's not saying too much) for this game. Delaware will not have the home court advantage of Santa Clara, and is also operating on eastern time, in case anyone is feeling the jet lag.
The Blue Hens (6-4) have gone 3-3 on the road so far this season, including last night's narrow 54-53 win over Santa Clara where they rallied from a 6-point halftime deficit. Their other two wins come against Hampton and Lafayette, and both were relatively close games. The losses were a little less close, and came to Ohio University, Cornell, and #10 Villanova. So while Delaware does not yet have something as solid as our Fordham win on their road resume, they are not a team to be trifled with.
The only major threat on UD's team that I can see is guard Jawan Carter, who pours in 15 ppg. Big man Jamelle Hagins rebounds about as well as Lumpkins, and has 3.8 bpg to boot. Otherwise, there are some very solid roleplayers that might not be stars in their own right, but have won their fair share of contests this season.
Needless to say, if we play like we did yesterday, this one is in the bag. However, that is far from guaranteed. Hopefully we're still fired up from yesterday's win, but if fatigue or jet lag sets in, it could hurt, and we'll have to hope that the Blue Hens find themselves in the same situation. The trick to repeating last night's success is a balanced attack, solid ball handling, and playing at our speed and not rushing the 3. A few less fouls would be nice, too, because if UD is on their game then they'll likely shoot much better from the charity stripe than Fordham. If all these things can come together, we'll find ourselves crowned Cable Car Classic champion, a dream that was dashed the one other time we participated in the Classic in the late 80's by Santa Clara in the second round. As always, let's live the dream.
The Blue Crew, Coast to Coast
Finally, I just want to point out yet again how we have the greatest fan section in the Patriot League. The advantage the Blue Crew brings officially spreads from coast to coast, as three native Californians (Lumpkins, Tony Wroblicky, and Charles Hinkle) have a homecoming of sorts this week.
EDIT: I was quite remiss in forgetting that Jordan Borucki is also from California. My apologies to Jordan and thanks to the commenter who pointed this out to me!
Below are some pictures of Lump and Tony's families absolutely rocking Santa Clara's Leavey Center. Huge kudos to the Lumpkins for bringing so many Lumpkins Patch shirts back with them from their last trip to Bender!
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| The signs speak for themselves |
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| "Cali Boys Welcome Home" |
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| Next season I can see Tony the Tiger becoming a fast moniker |
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| Incredible excitement from a sizable AU section for a game played 3,000 miles from home |
Pro Deo Et Patria
Josh
