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Friday, March 16, 2007
Live from courtside at Nationwide Arena:
10 minutes to tip: It appears we will get a late start. Thanks TV. The official tip time is here already and the two teams are actually back in the lockerrooms, getting final instructions before coming back out to complete warmups.
There's a healthy crowd of HC fans, along with the pep band, cheerleaders and the mascot. The band, cheerleaders and pep band do not appear to have consumed pregame spirits. All bets are off on the fans, especially the students, who look about how you would expect students to look at this time on a Friday night ... ready for a good time.
3:25 to tip: Both teams just returned to the floor. No obvious advantage crowd-wise if the size of the ovations as the teams came on the floor is any measure. It appears the obviously partisan sections are the only ones expressing a rooting interest thus far. That should be good news for the Crusaders. It does not appear as if the leftover Illinois fans are taking sides. At least not yet.
Player introductions: Having trouble publishing due to what is expected to be a brief server outtage. Great timing, eh? We will keep up while we wait for the server to come back on line.
HC 4, SIU 4 15:34 first On Keith Simmons' first shot, a missed three, Tim Clifford hustled after the long rebound in the corner, then tried to trap the Southern Illinois player who beat him to the ball. Admirable effort, but not a great idea. With Clifford trailing the play down the floor, Jamaal Tatum found an easy seem to the rim for a layup.
Clifford just tied things on a little jump hook after SIU's Randy Falker went down trying to draw a foul. Falker already has one personal. IF Clifford can get him in foul trouble, it could be key.
We're going to try to track deflections, a key stat for the HC defense which does not show in the official box score. At the first TV timeout, the Crusaders have three. Would be four, but a ref behind the play called a foul on Torey Thomas when he tried to strip the ball from SIU's Tony Young. .Missed the replay, so not sure about the call, but will question how the refs decided Young was in the act of shooting, thus giving him a pair of free throws.
SIU 9, HC 7 (11:32 first): HC's first lead comes at the 12:17 mark on a Tim Clifford bucket from two feet, powering through an SIU double team. The bucket came with Falker on the bench. the guy who replaced him, Tony Boyle, does not seem big enough to handle Clifford one on one and unlike Falker, seems to lack the athleticism to overcome the size and strength disadvantage.
HC 14, SIU 12 (8:58 first):potential problem for HC, Torey Thomas picks up his second personal at the 10:18 mark. It came on a three-point try by Tatum, who appeared to simply slip coming down from the shot.
To Thomas' credit, it does not seem to have taken away any of his aggressiveness. Less than a minute later he drew a charge.
Meanwhile, Eric Meister has 5 points off the bench, the last three on an old fashioned three-point play after he beat the shot clock with a layup in traffic after a nifty pass from Pat Doherty.
Falker broke into the scoring column with a bucket in the paint while Clifford was on the bench catching a blow. Falker has done nothing offensively thus far when Clifford has been on him down low.
HSIU 24, HC 19 (3:37 first): Southern Illinois first to reach the bonus. Three quick calls against the Crusaders gave them seven team fouls at the 7:31 mark. The seventh was Tim Clifford's first. He got his second 37 seconds later and went to the bench.
Clifford's second, and most of the questionable calls against HC thus far, came from the whistle of the portly white-haired older gentleman, who thus far has not distinguished himself.
More trouble for HC. Vander Baan picks up his third foul with 4:36 to play. That brings Greg McCarthy into the game.
With Simmons catching a breath on the bench, and the starting bigs also sitting, SIU takes a 22-19 lead on an alley-oop layin by Matt Shaw. They extend it to 24-19 on another Shaw bucket, off a fastbreak -- this time after a goaltend call on McCarthy, who knocked the ball off the rim. The Salukis are in the midst of a 7-0 run.
HC deflections thus far stand at 9.
SIU 30, HC 25 (11:32 first):Clifford retunred at the last timeout and scored on another jump hook at the 2:58 mark, interrupting SIU's run, which had reached 9-0.
SIU's Shaw appears to have hurt his ankle coming down with an airball at the buzzer ending the first half. He was down a few moments, then got up and limped off. Shaw has a team-high 11 points at the half.
Other halftime stats: For SIU -- Tatum and Falker with 6 points each. SIU shooting 50 percent from the field (9 of 18), 1 of 6 from three-point range, 11-14 at the foul line.
For HC: Meister with 9 on 4 for 4 shooting. Clifford has 6.
HC shooting 33 percent (7 of 21) from the field; 0 for 6 at the arc, 11 of 13 from the foul line.
Turnovers: HC with 12, SIU 12
Points from TO: HC 6, SIU 10
Points in the paint: HC 12, SIU 14
Fast break points: HC 2, SIU 6
Bench Points: HC 11, SIU 1
Largest lead: HC by 3 at the 9:44 mark; SIU by 7 at the 3:18 mark
There have been 6 ties and 6 lead changes
Halftime analysis: Holy Cross has definitely shown it can hang with the Salukis when it has its best players on the floor. Whether they can keep those guys on the floor enough to pull off the upset remains to be seen. Most of SIU's late spurt came with Tim Clifford on the bench.
Still, if someone had told you Keith Simmons would be without a field goal and HC would still be within 5 at the half, you'd have to feel pretty good about your chances, assuming of course, Simmons gets things going a little on offense in the second half.
Thus far, HC unofficially has 9 deflections. That is well off the pace for reaching their goal of 40, but the defense has been very strong in the halfcourt. Where SIU has hurt them has been in transition. Limit that, get Simmons going, and keep Clifford on the floor and out of foul trouble, and things don't look bad for the Crusaders.
More halftime observations: Team fouls were even when Meister picked up HC's fifth team foul with 8:18 to go in the half. That started a string of 5 straight calls against HC players over the next two minutes, including two on Clifford and two on Vander Baan. When Meister picked up that foul, HC was up 16-13.
Team fouls in the first half: 11 on HC, 9 on SIU. But SIU's are spread across eight players, none of which has more than two.
SIU 31, HC 27 (15:20 to play) : Two fouls on SIU in the first two minutes include Tony Young's third and Falker's second.
Clifford's third foul -- at the 16:20 mark by our grey haired friend -- is an absolutely horrible call. Clifford straight up and down, holding his ground when Falker, out of control, drove into him. Falker made one of two, the first points of the half.
Clifford's answer was a strong bullrush move at the other end for HC's first bucket of the half.
SIU 35, HC 29 (13:21 to play): Speaking of officials, a check of the first round box scores shows friends of Hoop Time John Hughes and Rich Giallella each drew tournament assignments. Hughes worked the Virginia Commonwealth-Duke game; Giallella had the Belmont-Georgetown debacle.
HC cut the deficit to 31-29 on Thomas' free throws out of the last timeout. SIU responded with two buckets inside, one by Falker and one by TGony Boyle, bringing Ralph Willard off the bench for a timeout.
Simmons still without a field goal for HC. Actually, so is Thomas, who was 0 for 7 in the first half.
No sign of Shaw in the SIU rotation this half.
SIU 38, HC 34 (11:28 to play): Thomas gets his third personal at the 12:49 mark. Wanna guess which official made the questionable call?
Doherty hit HC's first three of the game at the 12:18 mark and Thomas followed with an acrobatic layup after a steal with Tatum defending. Thomas' bucket, at the 11:28 mark, is his first FG. Thomas and Simmons a combined 1 for 12 from the field so far.
SIU 44, HC 38 (7:53 to play): Simmons out of the game at the 10 minute mark, the trainer working on the back of his right leg. Looks like he is trying to massage out a cramp. Simmons returned 30 seconds later.
If HC should lose by one, or two, look back at Tony Boyle's tip in around the 9 minute mark. The ball seemed obviously on the rim to everyone near me on press row.
HC band, cheerleaders and some of the students break out that crazy drum cadence dance step at the timeout, trying to generate some heat for Simmons and Thomas, no doubt. Right now they are a combined 1 for 15.
SIU 52, HC 45 (3:16 to play): Clifford's fourth at the 5:40 mark. Guess who?
Adding insult to injury, after Boyle makes both free throws, Clifford misses an open peep on an alley oop pass, though he did recover to break up an SIU fast break at the other end.
Falker also picked up his fourth, foulding Vander Baan at the 4:39 mark, but Vander Baan missed boith free throws, and another when he was fouled again six seconds later after HC got the rebound of his second miss.
Meister keeping the Crusaders in the game. His latest layup gives him 13 points and cuts the SIU lead to 52-45 with HC about to shoot two free throws after the timeout.
SIU 55, HC 46 (2:02 to play) Clifford returns at the timeout at 3:16 and fouls out 12 seconds later trying to block a Boyle shot. He got all ball with his hands, but may have had the body.
With Clifford out, Boyle scores an easy reverse layup for a 55-46 SIU lead. Things looking mighty tough for the Crusaders.
Simmons was out getting worked on again. He is back, but hard to expect him to suddenly become effective, especially if he is cramping.
SIU 56, HC 47 (1:29 to go): SIU fans on their feet and celebrating already. Of course a 9 point lead with a minute and a half to go seems fairly safe when you play D the way SIU does.
SIU 61, HC 51 (FINAL) Vander Baan fouls out with 1:12 to go. If you guessed our old buddy made the call, you'd be right.
Simmons leaves the game with 1 minute to play, finishing without a field goal in the final game of his career.
In the end, the Crusaders just didn't have the horses to keep with the Salukis, not with Simmons hobbling, Thomas missing shots and the big guys saddled with foul trouble. Given the circumstances, staying within 10 is probably as good as you could expect.
10 minutes to tip: It appears we will get a late start. Thanks TV. The official tip time is here already and the two teams are actually back in the lockerrooms, getting final instructions before coming back out to complete warmups.
There's a healthy crowd of HC fans, along with the pep band, cheerleaders and the mascot. The band, cheerleaders and pep band do not appear to have consumed pregame spirits. All bets are off on the fans, especially the students, who look about how you would expect students to look at this time on a Friday night ... ready for a good time.
3:25 to tip: Both teams just returned to the floor. No obvious advantage crowd-wise if the size of the ovations as the teams came on the floor is any measure. It appears the obviously partisan sections are the only ones expressing a rooting interest thus far. That should be good news for the Crusaders. It does not appear as if the leftover Illinois fans are taking sides. At least not yet.
Player introductions: Having trouble publishing due to what is expected to be a brief server outtage. Great timing, eh? We will keep up while we wait for the server to come back on line.
HC 4, SIU 4 15:34 first On Keith Simmons' first shot, a missed three, Tim Clifford hustled after the long rebound in the corner, then tried to trap the Southern Illinois player who beat him to the ball. Admirable effort, but not a great idea. With Clifford trailing the play down the floor, Jamaal Tatum found an easy seem to the rim for a layup.
Clifford just tied things on a little jump hook after SIU's Randy Falker went down trying to draw a foul. Falker already has one personal. IF Clifford can get him in foul trouble, it could be key.
We're going to try to track deflections, a key stat for the HC defense which does not show in the official box score. At the first TV timeout, the Crusaders have three. Would be four, but a ref behind the play called a foul on Torey Thomas when he tried to strip the ball from SIU's Tony Young. .Missed the replay, so not sure about the call, but will question how the refs decided Young was in the act of shooting, thus giving him a pair of free throws.
SIU 9, HC 7 (11:32 first): HC's first lead comes at the 12:17 mark on a Tim Clifford bucket from two feet, powering through an SIU double team. The bucket came with Falker on the bench. the guy who replaced him, Tony Boyle, does not seem big enough to handle Clifford one on one and unlike Falker, seems to lack the athleticism to overcome the size and strength disadvantage.
HC 14, SIU 12 (8:58 first):potential problem for HC, Torey Thomas picks up his second personal at the 10:18 mark. It came on a three-point try by Tatum, who appeared to simply slip coming down from the shot.
To Thomas' credit, it does not seem to have taken away any of his aggressiveness. Less than a minute later he drew a charge.
Meanwhile, Eric Meister has 5 points off the bench, the last three on an old fashioned three-point play after he beat the shot clock with a layup in traffic after a nifty pass from Pat Doherty.
Falker broke into the scoring column with a bucket in the paint while Clifford was on the bench catching a blow. Falker has done nothing offensively thus far when Clifford has been on him down low.
HSIU 24, HC 19 (3:37 first): Southern Illinois first to reach the bonus. Three quick calls against the Crusaders gave them seven team fouls at the 7:31 mark. The seventh was Tim Clifford's first. He got his second 37 seconds later and went to the bench.
Clifford's second, and most of the questionable calls against HC thus far, came from the whistle of the portly white-haired older gentleman, who thus far has not distinguished himself.
More trouble for HC. Vander Baan picks up his third foul with 4:36 to play. That brings Greg McCarthy into the game.
With Simmons catching a breath on the bench, and the starting bigs also sitting, SIU takes a 22-19 lead on an alley-oop layin by Matt Shaw. They extend it to 24-19 on another Shaw bucket, off a fastbreak -- this time after a goaltend call on McCarthy, who knocked the ball off the rim. The Salukis are in the midst of a 7-0 run.
HC deflections thus far stand at 9.
SIU 30, HC 25 (11:32 first):Clifford retunred at the last timeout and scored on another jump hook at the 2:58 mark, interrupting SIU's run, which had reached 9-0.
SIU's Shaw appears to have hurt his ankle coming down with an airball at the buzzer ending the first half. He was down a few moments, then got up and limped off. Shaw has a team-high 11 points at the half.
Other halftime stats: For SIU -- Tatum and Falker with 6 points each. SIU shooting 50 percent from the field (9 of 18), 1 of 6 from three-point range, 11-14 at the foul line.
For HC: Meister with 9 on 4 for 4 shooting. Clifford has 6.
HC shooting 33 percent (7 of 21) from the field; 0 for 6 at the arc, 11 of 13 from the foul line.
Turnovers: HC with 12, SIU 12
Points from TO: HC 6, SIU 10
Points in the paint: HC 12, SIU 14
Fast break points: HC 2, SIU 6
Bench Points: HC 11, SIU 1
Largest lead: HC by 3 at the 9:44 mark; SIU by 7 at the 3:18 mark
There have been 6 ties and 6 lead changes
Halftime analysis: Holy Cross has definitely shown it can hang with the Salukis when it has its best players on the floor. Whether they can keep those guys on the floor enough to pull off the upset remains to be seen. Most of SIU's late spurt came with Tim Clifford on the bench.
Still, if someone had told you Keith Simmons would be without a field goal and HC would still be within 5 at the half, you'd have to feel pretty good about your chances, assuming of course, Simmons gets things going a little on offense in the second half.
Thus far, HC unofficially has 9 deflections. That is well off the pace for reaching their goal of 40, but the defense has been very strong in the halfcourt. Where SIU has hurt them has been in transition. Limit that, get Simmons going, and keep Clifford on the floor and out of foul trouble, and things don't look bad for the Crusaders.
More halftime observations: Team fouls were even when Meister picked up HC's fifth team foul with 8:18 to go in the half. That started a string of 5 straight calls against HC players over the next two minutes, including two on Clifford and two on Vander Baan. When Meister picked up that foul, HC was up 16-13.
Team fouls in the first half: 11 on HC, 9 on SIU. But SIU's are spread across eight players, none of which has more than two.
SIU 31, HC 27 (15:20 to play) : Two fouls on SIU in the first two minutes include Tony Young's third and Falker's second.
Clifford's third foul -- at the 16:20 mark by our grey haired friend -- is an absolutely horrible call. Clifford straight up and down, holding his ground when Falker, out of control, drove into him. Falker made one of two, the first points of the half.
Clifford's answer was a strong bullrush move at the other end for HC's first bucket of the half.
SIU 35, HC 29 (13:21 to play): Speaking of officials, a check of the first round box scores shows friends of Hoop Time John Hughes and Rich Giallella each drew tournament assignments. Hughes worked the Virginia Commonwealth-Duke game; Giallella had the Belmont-Georgetown debacle.
HC cut the deficit to 31-29 on Thomas' free throws out of the last timeout. SIU responded with two buckets inside, one by Falker and one by TGony Boyle, bringing Ralph Willard off the bench for a timeout.
Simmons still without a field goal for HC. Actually, so is Thomas, who was 0 for 7 in the first half.
No sign of Shaw in the SIU rotation this half.
SIU 38, HC 34 (11:28 to play): Thomas gets his third personal at the 12:49 mark. Wanna guess which official made the questionable call?
Doherty hit HC's first three of the game at the 12:18 mark and Thomas followed with an acrobatic layup after a steal with Tatum defending. Thomas' bucket, at the 11:28 mark, is his first FG. Thomas and Simmons a combined 1 for 12 from the field so far.
SIU 44, HC 38 (7:53 to play): Simmons out of the game at the 10 minute mark, the trainer working on the back of his right leg. Looks like he is trying to massage out a cramp. Simmons returned 30 seconds later.
If HC should lose by one, or two, look back at Tony Boyle's tip in around the 9 minute mark. The ball seemed obviously on the rim to everyone near me on press row.
HC band, cheerleaders and some of the students break out that crazy drum cadence dance step at the timeout, trying to generate some heat for Simmons and Thomas, no doubt. Right now they are a combined 1 for 15.
SIU 52, HC 45 (3:16 to play): Clifford's fourth at the 5:40 mark. Guess who?
Adding insult to injury, after Boyle makes both free throws, Clifford misses an open peep on an alley oop pass, though he did recover to break up an SIU fast break at the other end.
Falker also picked up his fourth, foulding Vander Baan at the 4:39 mark, but Vander Baan missed boith free throws, and another when he was fouled again six seconds later after HC got the rebound of his second miss.
Meister keeping the Crusaders in the game. His latest layup gives him 13 points and cuts the SIU lead to 52-45 with HC about to shoot two free throws after the timeout.
SIU 55, HC 46 (2:02 to play) Clifford returns at the timeout at 3:16 and fouls out 12 seconds later trying to block a Boyle shot. He got all ball with his hands, but may have had the body.
With Clifford out, Boyle scores an easy reverse layup for a 55-46 SIU lead. Things looking mighty tough for the Crusaders.
Simmons was out getting worked on again. He is back, but hard to expect him to suddenly become effective, especially if he is cramping.
SIU 56, HC 47 (1:29 to go): SIU fans on their feet and celebrating already. Of course a 9 point lead with a minute and a half to go seems fairly safe when you play D the way SIU does.
SIU 61, HC 51 (FINAL) Vander Baan fouls out with 1:12 to go. If you guessed our old buddy made the call, you'd be right.
Simmons leaves the game with 1 minute to play, finishing without a field goal in the final game of his career.
In the end, the Crusaders just didn't have the horses to keep with the Salukis, not with Simmons hobbling, Thomas missing shots and the big guys saddled with foul trouble. Given the circumstances, staying within 10 is probably as good as you could expect.
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