Big E Hoops Weekend Preview: Game 1 - Monmouth vs. Robert Morris

We are in the final days of preparation for Big E Hoops Weekend. To make sure every one is completely up to date with who plays when, and what person went where, we are going to breakdown each of the games we'll see in person this weekend, with everything you need to know to get through the hoops overload.

What About Bob?
Official Name: Robert Morris University (not to be confused with Robert Morris University in Chicago)
Daily Onions Name: Bob Morris

Location: Near Pittsburgh, PA

Conference: Northeast Conference (NEC)

Mascot: Colonials

Famous non-sports alum: Robin Sanders, US Ambassador to Nigeria.

Famous sports alum: Kevin Colbert, GM of Pittsburgh Steelers; Hank Fraley, NFL offensive lineman

You might know them because... Bob Morris was a 15 seed in the NCAA tournament last year, and gave Villanova everything it could handle in the first round game, losing by 3 in OT. Last year’s coach, Mike Rice, is now the head coach at Rutgers.

This year’s team: First year head coach Andy Toole, 30, is the youngest head coach in D-1 basketball and looks like he could be the youngest person on the roster. Daily Onions worked a few basketball camps with Toole (good guy) a few years back during his time with Hoop Group. Thus far this season, Bob Morris is 6-9 overall, 2-2 in the NEC (winning by 1, losing by 2, losing by 5 in OT, and winning by 3). They play FDU on Thursday as their last tune-up before Saturday night.

Roster Check: Bob Morris might be a simple name, but their roster includes Karon, Coron, Yann, Velton, Treadwell, Lijah and Deion.
Best Player: Russel Johnson averages 13 ppg and 7 rpg.


Watch Your 'Mouth
Official Name: Monmouth University
Daily Onions Name: The Mouth

Location: Bruce Springsteen, New Jersey

Conference: Northeast Conference (NEC)

Mascot: Hawks

Famous non-sports alumni: Anthony Beltempo, creator of MTV’s Jersey Shore; two contestants on Survivor; Jack Lawless (attended for a semester) before joining the Jonas Brothers as their drummer.

Famous sports alumni: Miles Austin, Dallas Cowboys WR (and one of Kim Kardashian’s former flings); Christie Rampone, US Women’s National Soccer Team captain

You might know them because…they actually have won a game in the NCAA tournament – the play-in game vs. Hampton in 2006. Head coach Dave Calloway was a counselor at a basketball camp I attended when I was just a little onion. He’s been at Monmouth for 14 years and has gotten them to the NCAA tournament 3 times.

This year’s team: 5-11 overall and 1-3 in the NEC.  They hosted Villanova on Dec. 22 and lost by 40.

Roster Check: The Hawks have a Phil Wait (from England) and an Ed Waite (from Florida) on this year’s team.

Best Player: Ed Waite averages 10 ppg and 6 rpg.

Daily Onions Prediction: Despite having distinguished alum Ramy Nammour, and his guests, in attendance, the Hawks can't overcome the Colonials experience and depth. Bob wins 68-61, making this the second most important sports victory in the city Saturday night (see: Steelers, Pittsburgh).

Coming Wednesday: Preview of Sunday afternoon's West Virginia vs. Purdue game.

The Weekend that Was

Kemba was kept in check for only so long. (AP)

-Kemba Walker reads Daily Onions! Or at least that's what I am telling myself, after he went out and willed UConn to a win on the road at Texas. Using my post last week as bulletin board material, Kemba was 8-27 shooting and he scored 22 points, including this ridiculous shot as the shot clock was expiring at the end of the game. He also hit the game winner in overtime and grabbed 9 rebounds. Big time win for the Huskies, and they get Rutgers and DePaul next.

-Georgetown continues to baffle me. I want to like the Hoyas and possibly pick them as a team to go deep into the tournament, but late game situations have been killing them of late.  Despite having an experienced PG in Chris Wright, the Hoyas turned it over on their final four possessions of the game against West Virginia. For the game, Wright had 5 turnovers and 2 assists...not really what you are looking for from your floor general. G'town drops to 1-3 in the Big East and now has to host Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. On the flip side, huge with a capital U, win for the Mountaineers. Exactly what they needed after dropping two of their first three conference games.

-University of Kentucky fans took out their frustration on the Enes Kanter decision on a New York Times writer, and then watched their team lose on the road to Georgia, 77-70. Hey UK fans, your team might be young and immature, doesn't mean you have to be.

-As predicted on Friday, Villanova knocked Cincinnati from the unbeaten list. Other notable results from the weekend: Penn State knocked off Michigan State, Colorado beat 8th ranked Missouri, Notre Dame beat St. Johns, Kansas needed overtime to win in Ann Arbor, and UCF dropped their first game of the season at Houston.

-Coming tomorrow: Daily Onions starts to breakdown the games that are a part of the upcoming Big E Hoops Weekend.

'Nati Light

There are seven undefeated teams left in major D-1 basketball right now. Thus far, Daily Onions has at least mentioned six of them in this space: Duke, Ohio State, Kansas, Syracuse, San Diego State, and UCF. Time to give some love to the other remaining perfect team, the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Ranked for the first time this week, Cincy was catching some flack for their strength of schedule.  Sure they were undefeated, but who'd they beat. Talk a look at their schedule and the answer is no one. That is unless you consider Utah Valley, Savannah State, Dayton, and Toledo quality wins.

Gates was up, and good last night vs. X (AP)

Well last night, the Bearcats faced their toughest test to date - one of the more underrated rivalries in college basketball - a matchup with cross-town rival Xavier (although X hasn't been that great this season). If this game was meant to be a test to see if Cincy was legit (not sure if you can say that yet), then they passed with flying colors. Led by 6-9, 260lb forward Yancy Gates, the Bearcats dominated. Gates had 22 points, 14 boards and 2 blocks, and looked like a man amongst boys inside, on both sides of the floor.

Next up for 'Nati is the true measuring stick, a Sunday afternoon play date at Villanova. If Gates dominates, then Cincy has a chance since Nova is a little thin up front. With that said, I think guard play from the two Corey's (Fisher and Stokes, not Haim and Feldman) will be too much for the Bearcats to handle, especially at the Pavillion. After Nova, Cincy hosts USF, then goes to Syracuse, ND and St. Johns. They are 15-0 right now, and Daily Onions predicts they'll be 17-3 after that stretch.

With what they've done, I'm fine with Cincinnati being ranked in the Top 25. But as we have discussed this week, things will only get tougher for the Bearcats as they go through the gauntlet that is the Big East schedule. Am I betting heavy on Cincy being one of the top 5 teams in the Big East? Nah, I'll bet light.

The Sunshine State....Gorgeous

Name the hottest school in college sports located in Florida. Ready, Go. Florida State? No, hoops team  lost to Auburn on Monday night. Miami? Ehh, 11-4 thus far, nothing special...and their football team got trounced by Notre Dame in the Sun Bowl. Florida? Maybe getting a little warmer; they've been in and out of the Top 25 this season. How bout Central Florida? Who?

The University of Central Florida. The basketball team that is 14-0, ranked 18th in the country, and has already taken down in-state rivals South Florida, Miami and Florida. The Knights are the early favorite to win Conference USA, a league that has been dominated by Memphis and UAB in years past (the Knights first meeting with the Tigers is in Memphis on January 26th, followed by a game with UAB 3 days later). Oh, and their football team beat Georgia in the Liberty Bowl for their first ever postseason victory.

So where'd this hoops success come from? Well, first year head coach Donnie Jones knows a thing or two about winning basketball games in Florida.  He was an assistant at the University of Florida for 11 years, helping them win back-to-back titles in 2006-2007.

Marcus's trademark is his specs, and not a wagging tongue (AP Photos)

On the court, the Knights are led by sophomore Marcus Jordan....yep, THAT Jordan. Don't worry, no need to place "the next MJ" tag on this Jordan, but he's been all-around solid in just his second collegiate season. The younger, left-handed Jordan leads the team in scoring, is second in assists, and is shooting 51/47% from the field/3-pt, respectively. Marcus's older brother, Jeff, who played three seasons at Illinois, also is on the Knights roster after transferring in the summer (he'll need to sit out this season due to transfer rules).

One other reason the Knights might be playing so well this year, the shoes. "It's gotta be the shoes." During Jordan's freshman year, UCF was an Adidas school.  A Jordan in Adidas? That doesn't make sense. So, Marcus stubbornly (like father, like son) wore his Nike's and cost the school their deal with Adidas. No worries, I think UCF had a connection at Nike. What do you know, the Knights are now rockin' the swoosh and are undefeated. As Marcus would probably tell you, father knows best.

You Can Get With This...

Or you can get with that. Not sure what's up with the song-themed titles this week, but hopefully this one is more enjoyable to have stuck in your head today. A few random thoughts from the sports world to get you through this hump day.

-For those of you that saw the movie The Fighter (which we highly recommend), it looks like Tony Allen opted for "head, face, head, face" instead of "head, body, head, body" in an altercation with OJ Mayo. Really? You both make a crap load of money playing basketball for a living, but you feel it necessary to get in a fight over a card game on a team flight. You guys are teammates, remember? Really? Grow up.

Sidney, left, looks like he's done this before (AP Photos)

-In other teammates fighting news, Renardo Sidney of Mississippi State was reinstated to the team after a altercation in the stands with team captain Elgin Bailey last month at the Diamond Head Classic tournament in Hawaii (Seriously, who fights in Hawaii?). Sidney is the same kid that was a high school All-American, but then had to sit out all of last season due to NCAA eligibility issues. He had played in just two games this season prior to the fight, scoring 31 points total. So the high school All-American is back with the team, and the junior captain who averaged 5 ppg, 4 rrpg so far this season is.....transferring. Oh, ok. Makes sense.

-I'm not sold on Kemba Walker. I said it when UConn lost to Pitt last week, and now I will say it again after they lost to Notre Dame last night. Not sure exactly why, just a gut feeling. In his first two years on campus, he was an erratic point guard/2-guard that was an atrocious shooter from the outside. He's improved that part of his game and has been great this year. Its pretty tough to find flaws in his game, especially when looking at his stats this season (26.7 ppg, 5 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2 spg, 2 topg, 48% FG, 84% FT). The fact the Huskies next leading scorer only averages 10 ppg, worries me a bit (or makes me smile, as a Syracuse fan). Maybe its my anti-UConn bias that can't give Kemba the credit he deserves, but I don't think the shoot-first PG will bring the Huskies a Big East title, or a deep run in the tournament. He was unstoppable early on when UConn beat Kentucky and Michigan State.  Now as the season progresses and the tough get going in Big East play, UConn has dropped its last two.

-Pittsburgh finally played its first "true road game" last night and squeaked out a 4 point win at Providence. The Panthers could be 17-1, when Syracuse comes to town for the finale of Big E Hoops weekend.

-It was awesome seeing Andrew Luck dominate on Monday night in the Orange Bowl - kid is the real deal. Then last night, another exciting BCS Bowl game as Ohio State held off Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl. Let's keep the momentum going and watch the National Championship game between Auburn and Oregon tonight, or even tomorrow night. But no, we'll wait another 5 days until that game (Monday, January 10th). Come on BCS, if you aren't giving us a playoff, at least give us a favorable viewing schedule.

Say it Ain't 'Sota: The Conference Schedule is Here (Updated w/ Video!)

Just last Monday, Minnesota was ranked 14th (AP poll) in the country, with an 11-1 record. Then the Big Ten Conference schedule started. Loss at Wisconsin, loss at Michigan State. In this week's poll, the 11-3 Gophers aren't ranked. Ahh, welcome to conference play everyone. Granted, losing on the road to the Badgers and Spartans isn't anything to get too worked up about, but it is a reminder that this is the time questionable out of conference schedules get sniffed out. Luckily, Minnesota has a shot to get back on the winning track tonight against a rebuilding Indiana Hoosier team.

We don't have to leave the Big Ten to look at another team suffering from early Conference-itis. Northwestern, a team that has never made the NCAA tournament....ever, started this season 9-1. Two games into conference play, two losses (at #12 Purdue, #18 Michigan State). Again, nothing to be ashamed of, but at some point, you need to beat some good teams for your tournament resume.

Lavin's LA Looks in NYC (NY Daily News)

And with that, we head to the Big East. Don't look now (seriously, don't...because their upcoming schedule is brutal and I'm worried the curse of Daily Onions will take over), but St. John's is 3-0 in the Big East. Steve Lavin and his gel have the Johnnies playing good basketball with road victories at West Virginia and Providence, as well as an exciting 3-point win at the Garden last night against 13th ranked Georgetown (who is now 1-2 in the Big East, by the way). How exciting was it? Well, on one of the final plays of the game, Bill Raftery got so excited about a crossover he couldn't even complete his patented "lingerie on the deck" call. Instead it came out like this, "Oh my goodness.....Lingerie...!" As we mentioned on our Christmas List, we want St. John's to be important again, and they are definitely on their way (even if their next 7 games are against teams currently ranked in the Top 25...Lavin's gonna need some more hair gel to survive that stretch).

With conference play upon us, some teams will look for the quality wins to get them into the field of 68, while others will look to just survive, aka The Big East.  Currently with 7 teams in the top 25, the Big East tends to beat up each other during the regular season and the conference post-season tournament only to fizzle in the Big Dance. Last year, 8 teams from the Big East made the tourney and only 2 (Syracuse and WVU) made it to the Sweet 16. So for everyone that is giving 4th-ranked Syracuse a hard time for not playing a "true road game" yet this season, maybe Jimmy B knows what he is doing. After all, its much more fun to travel in March and early April then it is in November and December.

Since We've Been Gone

Happy New Year from the Daily Onions! It's been quite some time since we last spoke (Daily Onions was on winter break - hey, if we are writing about college hoops, we should get a winter break as well).

 Marrone and the Orange looked good in Pinstripe. (NJ Star Ledger)

Over the the last 10 days or so, Daily Onions spent time a lot of time with the family (a good thing), spent a few days snowed in, ate a lot of food, got acquainted with a new iPad, watched a lot of sports (prompting the First Lady of Daily Onions to ask, "how are there so many sports in the world?" - I don't know, but we should be thankful), attended and watched (and saluted) the Syracuse Football team become Pinstripe Bowl Champions (first postseason victory since 2001), and last but not least, thought about what the new year has in store for Daily Onions.

Since we've been gone (hopefully Kelly Clarkson is in your head for the rest of the day), the college basketball conference schedule has started, already separating contenders and pretenders.  We'll dive in to some early learnings from the conference schedule later today.

We are just 12 days away from the Big E Hoops Weekend so we'll start taking a closer look at those festivities over the next two weeks, and you'll know all you've ever wanted to about Bob Morris, Bob Huggins and The Mouth.

With that said, welcome back. We'll be back later today with a look at some of the major news and happenings over the last two weeks (Syracuse is still undefeated, Tennessee has gotten the worst of Daily Onions curse, etc). For now, its time to dig out of my inbox.