News & Notes returns with a brand new contributor reporting. Jonathan Vollinger, a current intern for Dynasty, will be keeping you up-to-date with how our coaches fare throughout the college basketball season. For a full listing of Dynasty’s coach clients, go to the Dynasty web site, click on Clients, then Coaches. Enjoy.
Marquette University (1-0) (Scott Monarch)
Wesley Matthews scored a career-high 27 points and No. 16 Marquette rolled past Houston Baptist 95-64 Friday night in Buzz Williams’ debut as the Golden Eagles’ head coach. Jerel McNeal had 20 points and Lazar Hayward added 19 points and 12 rebounds for Marquette. The Golden Eagles never trailed and broke open the game with a 14-0 spurt to start the second half. Matthews added a career-high eight assists and five steals.
SE Missouri State (0-2) (Rodney Hamilton)
(11/14/08) New Mexico started the second half on an 18-3 run to blow open the game and then coasted to a 102-59 win over Southeast Missouri at the Pit in Albuquerque. Southeast led by as many as five points early in the game, leading 16-11 with 12:14 remaining, but the bigger and stronger New Mexico team built up a 46-31 halftime lead. The home standing Lobos put six players in double figures led by Tony Dandridge with 16 points. Roman Martinez added 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
(11/16/08) Kansas State of the Big 12 Conference built up a 39-16 halftime lead but had to hold on for an 88-68 win over Southeast Missouri State. The Wildcats, 2-0, built a 39-16 halftime lead while controlling the boards 34-19 while the Redhawks shot only 17% from the field.
Arkansas State (0-1) (Elwyn McRoy)
Ole Miss’ David Huertas poured in 24 points to lead the Rebels against the Arkansas State Red Wolves, 65-52, in ASU’s season opener Friday at the Tad Smith Coliseum. ASU had trouble converting its shots, hitting only 35 percent (21-60) from the floor for the game and scoring only one three point basket (1-12) in the game.
University of Illinois-Chicago (0-1) (Tracy Dildy)
A career-high offensive output for Robo Kreps and Scott VanderMeer’s double-double were not enough as the UIC men’s basketball team suffered a 67-61 road defeat at the hands of Bradley in the season opener for both teams at Carver Arena on Friday night. Kreps led all scorers with 24 points, hitting five of his nine three-point attempts for the Flames (0-1). VanderMeer scored 15 and pulled down 11 rebounds for his ninth career double-dip effort. Theron Wilson had a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds for Bradley (1-0), while Dodie Dunson led the Braves with 21 points.
North Carolina Central University (0-1) (Henry Dickerson)
North Carolina Central University opened its second season as a Division I men’s basketball program with a 94-48 loss to No. 21 Wake Forest University inside Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Friday night. NCCU freshman guard Jamar Briscoe scored a team-high 18 points to lead three Eagles in double figures. NCCU senior J’Mell Walters came off the bench for 11 points, while sophomore transfer Vincent Davis added 10 points. As a team, NCCU shot just 26.7 percent from the field, including 18.8 percent in the first half. Wake Forest, on the other hand, hit 59.7 percent of its field goal attempts, including 60.6 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
Savannah State (2-0) (Horace Broadnax)
(11/14/08) Rashad Hassan scored 19 points in his first collegiate game to pace Savannah State in a resounding 83-45 win over Brewton-Parker in the Tigers’ season opener Friday night. Arnold Louis, another freshman forward for Savannah State (1-0), had seven rebounds to kick off his college career. Jurbien Byrd scored 14 points and had six rebounds to lead the Barons (1-4). Brewton-Parker started the season with three straight defeats, but ended the losing streak Tuesday with a win over Morris College before dropping tonight’s contest.
(11/16/08) The University of North Florida put together a furious second-half rally but couldn’t sustain it in a 75-60 loss to open the season at Savannah State. UNF (0-1) made up a 15-point deficit, eventually taking a three-point lead in the second half of play before Savannah State put together a late 18-2 run to capture the victory.
Tennessee Tech (1-0) (Steve Payne)
Senior Daniel Northern scored 18 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots to lead the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles to a 76-48 victory over Bryan College Saturday night in Eblen Center to open the regular season.
Louisiana-Lafayette (0-1) (Robert Lee)
Louisiana Tech outscored Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team 13-4 in the final six minutes to rally and escape the CAJUNDOME with a 61-59 victory in the 2008-09 season opener for both teams.
