Wednesday Night Recap - 11-10-11

        It was impressive Lehigh not only stayed with St. John's for the duration of the 40 minute game, but led with as little as 2:51 on the game clock. Perhaps even more impressive was that coach Steve Lavin, in his first game since undergoing treatment on prostate cancer, offered the right pick-me-up down the stretch and the Red Storm pulled ahead. There was hype about Lavin's freshman class he was able to pull together, taking in six ESPN Top 100 players, including four-star wings Moe Harkless and Sir'Dominic Pointer and scoring sensation JuCo guard Nurideen Lindsey. But the key to this year's team will be the last signee- God'sgift Achiuwa, the lone inside presence on St. John's at the moment. Against Lehigh, he went 37 minutes and finished with 21 points on a perfect shooting night, 6-for-6 from the field and 9-for-9 from the foul line, with 8 rebounds. He played 38 minutes in the season-opener against William & Mary the other night, collecting 17 points and 9 rebounds.

        An early-injury limited Texas A&M's standout wing Khris Middleton, but the Aggies rolled over Liberty regardless. With new head coach Billy Kennedy sidelined following his recent diagnosis of Parkinsons disease left Associate head coach Glynn Cyprien in charge and he responded helping the team shoot 65.4 percent from the field, including some hot shooting that put the Flames away early with a 24-4 first-half run.

        Turnovers continue to haunt the Arizona Wildcats as they have all preseason, game one of the season (15 vs. Valparaiso) and again last night (21) against Duquesne. Thought to be the two best options to replace star Derrick Williams, veterans Solomon Hill and Kyle Fogg force the issue time and time again, collecting 10 turnovers as a pair and didn't fair much better shooting the ball on 2-of-12 from the floor). Guards Jordin Mayes and Nick Johnson were once again the offense threats with both their playmaking and much-needed perimeter shooting, but forward Jesse Perry takes home the game ball for the second straight game. The energetic, athletic 4-man recorded his second double-double in as many games with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

        In the surprise of the night, Akron took down the darkhorse SEC candidate Mississippi State and exposed seemingly all of their weaknesses in one 40 minute contest. Perimeter shooting was one worry- check. The Bulldogs were just 2-for-13 from behind the arc. Big men floating out on the perimeter- check. Despite a distinct size advantage, Arnett Moultrie and Renardo Sidney combined for shoot just 7-of-22 from the floor and attempted just 11 free throws. And then of course, playing with Dee Bost as the starting point guard, turnovers will always be an issue and Mississippi State racked up 19 of them in the loss.


By President - Corey Ruff - 11-10-11