Quick peek at Non P5 hoops standings

SunBelt : I was all set to give the #herd  a toast, but ULM behind Blackmon's 35 points beat them Thursday night in double OT. USM and ULL are 7-2. Marshall and ULM are 6-3 in conference play.

Sienna handled Iona(Pittino Sr) last night and sits alone atop the MAAC. Same can be said for San Diego St(MWC), Liberty(Atlantic Sun), and then there are a bunch of undefeated teams in conference play including these three, Charleston (Big South), FAU(CUSA), and Eastern Washington(Big Sky).

However, it's Saint Mary's(18-4, 7-0, WCC) with a one game lead over Gonzaga that has tongues wagging. Aidan Mahaney leads the team in scoring with 15.0 ppg. Their four OOC losses are all by single digits to UW, Houston, Colorado St, and New Mexico. The loss to CSU is the worst of that bunch. 

Jan 29, 2023

I thought Cincy was going to beat Houston after seeing part of the first half, but the Cougars roared back for the win. HOU 75 CIN 69. These two games caught my eye.

I'm keeping an eye on Memphis who beat Tulsa yesterday for its fifth straight W to stay in the AAC race with Temple and Houston.

Feb 2, 2023

AAC: Cincy(6-4) rebounded from the tough loss to Houston with an 81-55 blowout of Tulsa. Tulane(7-3) rode the Mustangs and cruised to a 74-52 win over SMU.

WAC- Wow, NM St has been ragged since Coach Heiar replaced Coach Jans who went to Miss St, but they beat Stephen F Austin 73-65 last night for their first conference win

The other new kids in town had nice nights. Abilene Christian beat Seattle. Southern Utah beat Cal Baptist. Sam Houston beat UTRGV.

 

Big 12 to discuss adding Gonzaga(WCC) to the conference tomorrow, per 

dennisdoddcbs

Feb 3, 2023

#herd got a solid game from Taylor in a win over Appy to remain a game behind USM and ULL who each won.

FAU didn't look like a team who had won 20 straight and lost to UAB in CUSA action.

St Marys(9-0) and Gonzaga(8-1) won in WCC action.

Feb 4, 2023

Ball St(7-3) eked out a 91-90 win over EMU. It was he!! of a battle. Akron(9-1) beat Kent St(8-2) to stay atop the MAC. 

 SDST(18-5, 9-2 MWC) is ready for Pac 12 hoops. Nathan Mensah scored 17 points for No. 22 San Diego State in a 72-52 win over Boise State. 

Feb 5, 2023

WCC: St Mary's beat the Zags and are in a solid spot for the WCCT one seed. BYU is showing a pulse with a win over Pacific and trails the Zags by a game.

CUSA: FAU bounced back from the loss to UAB with a win over Charlotte while UAB beat FIU and may be a threat in the CUSAT.

SunBelt: Two 10-2 teams won yesterday. ULL beat Marshall and USM beat GA St.

AAC: Speaking of GASt, man do they miss Coach Ron Hunter, whose Tulane squad gutted out an 82-81 win over Memphis yesterday and are 1.5 GB of Houston.

ASUN: Queens(6-6) edged Austin Peay. Liberty and Kennesaw sit at the top with 10-2 records. E.Kentucky trails them by a game.

Feb 6 2023

Houston beat Temple. Tulane moved into a tie for second in the AAC.

Feb 7, 2023

Freddy Hicks scored 22 for Tarleton(13-11, 6-5) in a WAC win over UTA(8-16, 3-8). Billy Gillepsie seems to be doing ok and staying out of trouble at Tarleton. UTA is struggling in its first WAC season since the Sunbelt kicked them and Ark-LR to the curb for not having football programs.

Feb 8, 2023

J. Cook(27PTS 14AST) led Tulane to a 101-94 win over Cincy in AAC action.

Houston 80 Tulsa 42- Sasser 25 points. Memphis beat USF and SMU knocked off Temple , who will probably slide more. It's looking more and more like it's HU, Memphis, and Tulane are heading to the Dance. 

WAC: Tough night for Cal Baptist who lost to UVU 71-55. Nice win for Seattle over Utah (Dixie) Tech to stay in the conference title race. 

MWC: M. Bradley - SDSU(18PTS 6REB 3STL) in the Aztecs W over Utah St.

Feb 10, 2023

WCC: Zags handled San Fran while St Mary's got tripped up by ULM. C. Shelton(G - LMU) scored 31 points in the 78-74 win.

SunBelt: USM beat ULL to take sole control of first place.  Andrew Taylor scored 33 points to help Marshall defeat Coastal Carolina 92-74 and move within a game of second-place ULL.

Feb 11, 2023

New Mexico State men's basketball canceled tonight's game at Cal Baptist and suspended its season indefinitely following "new allegations" within the program. Alleged hazing issues are the latest in the mess.

East Carolina won't play its men's basketball game at Tulane tonight after the death of Pirates radio announcer Jeff Charles(70) while with the team Friday in New Orleans.

 Dwayne Cohill scored 33 points for Youngstown State(12-3) who beat Purdue Fort Wayne 81-72 last night and moved into first place in the Horizon Conference

Kent St(10-2) moved into first in the MAC with a win over Buffalo and Akron's(9-3) loss to Ohio. 

Feb 12, 2023

WCC: St Marys took of care of Portland and the Zags beat BYU, who will need a serious boost to survive in the Big 12 next season. LMU was edged 71-69 by Santa Clara.

SunBelt: Taevion Kinsey scored 37 points for Marshall(10-4)  in 88-77 win over Georgia State. ULL(10-4) lost to Troy. JMU(9-5) beat CCU. USM(12-2) remains the top team with a win over ULM.

CUSA: Florida Atlantic(24-2, 14-1C-USA) keeps rolling with a win over La Tech, while NTX(21-5, 12-3C-USA) stays in the hunt with a win over Charlotte.

Feb 13, 2023

Just wondering if some of the culture at N Mex St predates Heiar, was hired from Northwest Florida State, a JC power. He previously worked as an assistant at ETSU, LSU, Wichita State, and S Miss.

 Chris Jans, the previous HC, is the Miss St HC.

Feb 15, 2023

Three of the four teams atop the MAC are from Ohio. Kent State 11-2, Toledo 11-2, Ball State 10-3 ,Akron 10-3.

Muncie, Indiana: Payton Sparks scored 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Ball State to an 87-77 home victory over NIU.

Feb 16, 2023

I'll end this blog with this: NMSU Chancellor Dan Arvizu backed AD Moccia's firing of head coach Greg Heiar over the locker room hazing of a male basketball player and claimed that was not reflective of the athletic department or the school overall. You can bet the CUSA will want better answers than we're hearing, and I'm not surprised that Heiar was sacrificed.  However, I doubt this culture started as soon as Heiar arrived on campus.

Vegas to Diamondhead- those players' first names part2

 Just my way of keeping track of odd player names. The prior blog ran for four years.  Sion James scored 30 points for #Tulane in an AAC win over Memphis 96-89 last night.  Don't confuse it with Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans (NBA).

A buddy sent me this one Earthland Moreland, a former PAT among many of his NFL teams played his college ball at Georgia Southern while it was still in DII. His HC was Paul Johnson who later went on to coach at NAVY and Ga Tech.

Jan 19, 2023

Umoja Gibson, a kid from Waco, TX, scored 22 in Depaul's upset of Xavier in Big East action. His teammate, Yor Anei from Overland Park, Kansas, scored two points. Hearing the word your often in daily conversation must be interesting for this kid.

Feb 6 2023

I'm unsure how I missed this one. Probably cuz he was a UFA from Auburn and landed on the Saints IR in August. Quindarious "Smoke" Monday.

March 4, 2023

Tywone Malone scored a run for Ole Miss in the second inning, but La Tech roared back for a 6-5 win. First La Tech win over Ole Miss in baseball since 1989. I got no idea what Tywone parents were thinking when spelling his name on his birth certificate.

March 11, 2023

Just having some fun: Ark St left-fielder, CROSS JUMPER, went 1-4 in in his team's 11-8 loss to E.Illinois in college baseball.

April 2, 2023

Ryan John "Rowdy" Tellez, Toronto Blue Jays (2018–2021). Milwaukee Brewers (2021–present). 

Got me thinking of Rowdy Yates, played by Clint Eastwood on the Rawhide TV series.

May 4, 2023

 Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro were known as 'Thunder and Lightning' for the Miss St 1985 baseball team. I watched some of a 2015 documentary with same title, and was surprised that they showed Will Clark on hunting trips, and Raffy discussing his transition from Cuban emigre in Miami' FLA to Miss St w/o bashing Starkville' Mississippi.

These players were drafted by the MLB. Will Clark  - Rafael Palmeiro - Bobby Thigpen - Jeff Brantley - Gator Thiesen - Dan Van Cleve - Gene Morgan. By now Gator is probably a common southern first name.

June 17, 2023

Curious first names: Blaze Brothers, second baseman for Oral Robert U.

August 3, 2023

Those first names: Bake McBride, a decent OF with the Phillies, Cards, etc.

Sept 23, 2023

Pig Cage, an LB for UTSA. Quite a name! His team plays the Vols today.

Nov 18, 2023

Bullets Walson, born in Austria-Hungary, played QB for the Washington Senators of AFPA, which later became NFL. Record -keeping was shaky.

Dec 28, 2023

I'm reading a book about the St Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles history and came across  the name Baby Doll Jacobson, a solid outfielder for the Browns and other teams.

 On opening day of the Mobile Sea Gulls of the Southern Association 1912 season, the band began playing, "Oh, You Beautiful Doll", as Jacobson came to the plate. and he led off with a home run on the first pitch. A lady sitting behind the plate jumped up and shouted, 'You must be that beautiful doll they were talking about.' The nickname stuck.

Feb 6, 2024

Blaze Brothers from Oral Roberts to the Cleburne Railroaders(AA_IND). He batted around .230.

April 7, 2024

Indiana St baseball 23-7 (7-2 MVC). How about this first name, Josue Urdaneta, starting 2B.

those players names      earlier blog