Post by Commissioner on Mar 1, 2019 13:35:40 GMT -5
UIC
Who: UIC @ Detroit
What: College Basketball!
When: Saturday, March 2, 4:00 p.m.
Where: Historic Calihan Hall
Why: It's Senior Day, and we're going for a .500 conference finish
How: A combined 63 points from Antoine and Josh... or more of a group effort, like Thursday
TV: ESPN+; WADL TV 38
Radio: AM 910 Superstation
It's Senior Day at Calihan Hall. The Titans will honor Josh McFolley, Gerald Blackshear, Darrien King, Jacob Holland. King and Holland have been important cogs in stabilizing the Titans in what could have been a year of epic disaster. Blackshear has played hard through a lot of nagging injuries, and Josh McFolley has been a good player who has methodically worked his way onto several of the Titans' career leader charts, as I've followed at udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/836/mcfolley-watch. Josh and Blackshear have also stayed the course during some turbulent and clearly disappointing years. So I really hope they get a nice send off, with a win a serious HL Tournament run.
The Titans are also playing for seeding in the HL tournament. If the Titans win and IUPUI loses, we'll be the #6 seed in the tournament, and open at either Green Bay or Oakland. If the Titans win and IUPUI wins, we could be seeded anywhere between 6th and 8th, depending on other games. If the Titans lose, we'll be relegated to either the 7th or 8th seed, opening at either Northern Kentucky or Wright State. A win will also get the Titans to .500 in conference play, something almost no impartial observer predicted before the year began.
The opponent is the UIC Flames, the probable #5 seed in the tournament (they could still lose that to Youngstown State if they fall to the Titans, Youngstown State beats Cleveland State--probable--and IUPUI beats Oakland--less likely. To put it another way, Youngstown State finishes behind both Detroit and UIC in any two or three-way tiebreaker, and so (probably) does IUPUI, but YSU jumps ahead of everyone in any tiebreaker involving IUPUI. Don't ask, that's just the way it works). After opening February with a home sweep of Wright State and Northern Kentucky, then winning at IUPUI, UIC has dropped 3 of 4. The Flames come in at 15-15 overall, 9-8 in the conference, and with a NET ranking of 218 and an RPI of 227, to the Titans' 227/228. They're just 3-11 on the road, but that includes the win over IUPUI and a good win at Wright State. And they handled the Titans with ease at the Pavilion in January, a game they led by 19 at halftime and won by 12. The Titans trailed by as much as 24 early, rallied late to within 7, but couldn't get the key bucket to put real heat on the Flames, who are rather famous for folding after holding big leads.
Antoine Davis actually had a pretty game at UIC, finishing with 28 points on 8-16 shooting, including 5-7 from three. Lamar Hamrick had 14 in that game, plus 4 steals. But McFolley and King, our usual 2/3 options on offense, were a combined 3 for 17 for 9 points, the Titans were blitzed 36-25 on the boards, and UIC outscored us 20-11 at the foul line.
UIC is a good passing team and a good shooting team, two attributes that often go together, since good passing teams tend to get good shots. Their performance against Detroit in January notwithstanding, they're not a particular strong rebounding team, and despite a guard oriented lineup, they are prone to turnovers. Guards Tarkus Ferguson and Godwin Boahen, and backup guard Jamie Ahale, are very good long range shooters, but UIC has a bunch of guys who will hit the three if left open. A good passing team that can hit threes is a tough match up for the Titans' zone. In January the Flames also used that crisp perimeter game to open up the inside game, with big man Jordan Blount finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds as the Flames hit 67% from inside the arc. The first half of that game was probably our worst defensive half of the conference season.
There is a perception that the Flames have underperformed under Coach Steve McClain--that the talent he has brought in has not been well-coached on the floor. It's the same charge that was often leveled at Ray McCallum in Detroit. The problem is, as I often said then, you get the whole coach. McClain has his strengths, and his weaknesses. He's not enjoyed as much success as Ray had in Detroit, but he's at least made the Flames respectable again after the awful Howard Moore years. KenPom has the Titans as 1 point favorites with a 57% chance of winning on Saturday.
Probable UIC Starters
PG: #4 Tarkus Ferguson, 6-4 Jr. (15.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 5.2 apg, 36.4% 3PtFG)
SG: #1 Marcus Ottey, 6-2 Jr. (15.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.4 apg)
SG: #25 Godwin Boahen, 5-11 Jr. (14.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.1 apg, 37.2% 3PtFG)
PF: #13 Jordan Blount, 6-8 Jr. (9.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 53.2% FG)
PF: #22 Rob Howard, 6-8 Jr. (6.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 50.3% FG)
Key Reserves
G: #20 James Ahale, 6-5 Soph. (3.2 ppg, 36.6% 3PtFG)
F: #2 Michael Diggins, 6-8 Soph. (6.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 51.4% FG)
F: #35 Travell Washington, 6-9 Fr. (2.1 ppg, 36.8% 3PtFG)
F: #3 Jacob Wiley, 6-7 Soph. (2.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg)
Who: UIC @ Detroit
What: College Basketball!
When: Saturday, March 2, 4:00 p.m.
Where: Historic Calihan Hall
Why: It's Senior Day, and we're going for a .500 conference finish
How: A combined 63 points from Antoine and Josh... or more of a group effort, like Thursday
TV: ESPN+; WADL TV 38
Radio: AM 910 Superstation
It's Senior Day at Calihan Hall. The Titans will honor Josh McFolley, Gerald Blackshear, Darrien King, Jacob Holland. King and Holland have been important cogs in stabilizing the Titans in what could have been a year of epic disaster. Blackshear has played hard through a lot of nagging injuries, and Josh McFolley has been a good player who has methodically worked his way onto several of the Titans' career leader charts, as I've followed at udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/836/mcfolley-watch. Josh and Blackshear have also stayed the course during some turbulent and clearly disappointing years. So I really hope they get a nice send off, with a win a serious HL Tournament run.
The Titans are also playing for seeding in the HL tournament. If the Titans win and IUPUI loses, we'll be the #6 seed in the tournament, and open at either Green Bay or Oakland. If the Titans win and IUPUI wins, we could be seeded anywhere between 6th and 8th, depending on other games. If the Titans lose, we'll be relegated to either the 7th or 8th seed, opening at either Northern Kentucky or Wright State. A win will also get the Titans to .500 in conference play, something almost no impartial observer predicted before the year began.
The opponent is the UIC Flames, the probable #5 seed in the tournament (they could still lose that to Youngstown State if they fall to the Titans, Youngstown State beats Cleveland State--probable--and IUPUI beats Oakland--less likely. To put it another way, Youngstown State finishes behind both Detroit and UIC in any two or three-way tiebreaker, and so (probably) does IUPUI, but YSU jumps ahead of everyone in any tiebreaker involving IUPUI. Don't ask, that's just the way it works). After opening February with a home sweep of Wright State and Northern Kentucky, then winning at IUPUI, UIC has dropped 3 of 4. The Flames come in at 15-15 overall, 9-8 in the conference, and with a NET ranking of 218 and an RPI of 227, to the Titans' 227/228. They're just 3-11 on the road, but that includes the win over IUPUI and a good win at Wright State. And they handled the Titans with ease at the Pavilion in January, a game they led by 19 at halftime and won by 12. The Titans trailed by as much as 24 early, rallied late to within 7, but couldn't get the key bucket to put real heat on the Flames, who are rather famous for folding after holding big leads.
Antoine Davis actually had a pretty game at UIC, finishing with 28 points on 8-16 shooting, including 5-7 from three. Lamar Hamrick had 14 in that game, plus 4 steals. But McFolley and King, our usual 2/3 options on offense, were a combined 3 for 17 for 9 points, the Titans were blitzed 36-25 on the boards, and UIC outscored us 20-11 at the foul line.
UIC is a good passing team and a good shooting team, two attributes that often go together, since good passing teams tend to get good shots. Their performance against Detroit in January notwithstanding, they're not a particular strong rebounding team, and despite a guard oriented lineup, they are prone to turnovers. Guards Tarkus Ferguson and Godwin Boahen, and backup guard Jamie Ahale, are very good long range shooters, but UIC has a bunch of guys who will hit the three if left open. A good passing team that can hit threes is a tough match up for the Titans' zone. In January the Flames also used that crisp perimeter game to open up the inside game, with big man Jordan Blount finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds as the Flames hit 67% from inside the arc. The first half of that game was probably our worst defensive half of the conference season.
There is a perception that the Flames have underperformed under Coach Steve McClain--that the talent he has brought in has not been well-coached on the floor. It's the same charge that was often leveled at Ray McCallum in Detroit. The problem is, as I often said then, you get the whole coach. McClain has his strengths, and his weaknesses. He's not enjoyed as much success as Ray had in Detroit, but he's at least made the Flames respectable again after the awful Howard Moore years. KenPom has the Titans as 1 point favorites with a 57% chance of winning on Saturday.
Probable UIC Starters
PG: #4 Tarkus Ferguson, 6-4 Jr. (15.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 5.2 apg, 36.4% 3PtFG)
SG: #1 Marcus Ottey, 6-2 Jr. (15.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.4 apg)
SG: #25 Godwin Boahen, 5-11 Jr. (14.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.1 apg, 37.2% 3PtFG)
PF: #13 Jordan Blount, 6-8 Jr. (9.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 53.2% FG)
PF: #22 Rob Howard, 6-8 Jr. (6.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 50.3% FG)
Key Reserves
G: #20 James Ahale, 6-5 Soph. (3.2 ppg, 36.6% 3PtFG)
F: #2 Michael Diggins, 6-8 Soph. (6.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 51.4% FG)
F: #35 Travell Washington, 6-9 Fr. (2.1 ppg, 36.8% 3PtFG)
F: #3 Jacob Wiley, 6-7 Soph. (2.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg)