First Real Battles Of The Season

A couple of good close games were played today, although one was a bit more expected than the other:

Miami (OH) 70, Weber State 66
An exciting game that unfortunately was not on television nationally. Weber State actually led much of the second half, but Miami tied the game up and went ahead on a Kenny Hayes three-pointer with 1.7 seconds to go. This is one of those games that nobody notices now, but could have huge implications down the road. I've been projecting Miami of Ohio as a really legitimate at-large contender. A loss here would have really been a killer to the resume of a team from a conference that more often than not is a one-bid league. This is a team that won't roll over tomorrow against UCLA. They have four seniors on the roster who got over 25 minutes per game last year. These kids have a lot of experience playing together, and they have a lot of experience winning. Obviously UCLA should win, but don't be surprised to see Miami hang close.

Southern Illinois 80, UMass 73
A very impressive comeback win for the Salukis. They were losing for most of the game, including a deep 11 point deficit at halftime. Remember that this is a very good UMass team - Travis Ford may have left, but a lot of very good players remain. Ricky Harris and Chris Lowe were expected to be among the best in the Atlantic 10, but Anthony Gurley might take some people by surprise. Gurley sat last season out after transferring from Wake Forest, and he could end up having a great season for the Minutemen. But in the end, SIU did what they have done so much these past few years, which is to just find a way to win. Despite the fact UMass vastly outrebounded them, the Salukis countered with their classic pressure defense and forced 10 more turnovers than they themselves coughed up. Once again, Carlton Fay came up big (17 points, 4 rebounds), and he looks like he'll be a fixture inside all season. And Bryan Mullins proved that his previous game was a fluke, coming up very strong with 16 points and 13 assists (for comparison, UMass only had eight assists as an entire team). I'd be shocked if UMass isn't in the RPI Top 100, so this is a win that will look good on the resume all year for SIU.

Michigan 76, Northeastern 56
You might wonder why this is a good win for Michigan. They are a Big Ten team after all. But you might be surprised to know that Northeastern returns all five starters from a team that went 9-9 last season in the Colonial and actually finished with a higher RPI than Michigan. I picked Northeastern to finish fifth in what should be a strong Colonial this coming season. Michigan should be beating teams like Northeastern at home if they expect to be in the bubble picture, but this is still a very solid win. Once again, Manny Harris got to the rim at will, earning 14 free throws attempts (he hit 13 of them). DeShawn Sims was also very good off the bench. The key, though, was a swarming Michigan defense that held Northeastern to 29% shooting. One problem again, though, was rebounding. Despite superior shooting (with all else equal, of course, you'd expect the better-shooting team to outrebound the poorer-shooting team), Michigan had equally as many rebounds as Northeastern (29). Northeastern had a remarkable 18 offensive boards. And if they can do that, what are Michigan State, Purdue and Wisconsin going to do? I know that part of it is a pure lack of size and athleticism on the inside. But they also struggle to box out. Still, no reason to expect everything to be perfect at this point in the season. It's a solid start for Michigan, for sure.