The Big Game 2-11-12: The Rookie Point Guards

Who'da thought that the eyes of the basketball world would all be focused on a rookie point guard at the Target Center tonight--and it wouldn't be Ricky Rubio? No, suddenly, the fickle basketball world has found a new darlin', a new hero. His name is Jeremy Lin, and a week ago nobody had ever heard of the guy. He was averaging 4 points per game as a back-up point for the New York Knicks.

But the Knicks were mired in an unexpected rut. I mean, these guys paid billions for Carmelo Anthony, and they were supposed to be on their way back to respectability. But it wasn't happening. They were 7-15, but more to the point, they'd lost 11 of their last 13 and were going nowhere with another rookie, Iman Shumpert from Georgia Tech, at the point.

So, in went Lin. And now, less than a week later, he's a folk hero, the 4th most searched term on Google--not sports term, but search term of any kind. And the Knicks are now 5-0 with him in the starting lineup after tonight's 100-98 win over the Timberwolves.

The Wolves led most of the way, or to put it another way, the Knicks led 4-2 and 38-37, and that was it, until taking a 95-94 lead on a Shumpert FG at 1:21. Kevin Love put the Wolves back on top with 2 FT after an offensive board, and then Rubio made it a 3-point game with a driving lay-up. Steve Novak hit a 3 to tie it up at :36. Rubio, who had 0 turnovers to that point, then turned it over on 2 consecutive possessions, and the Knicks hit 1-of-2 FT each time. Minnesota got the ball back with less than 2 seconds remaining, and that was all she wrote.

For the night, Lin scored 20 points, but needed 24 FGA (he was 8/24 or 33 percent) to do it, and added 8 assists and 3 steals. Rubio matched the 8 assists and 3 steals, as well as the 33 FG percentage, but scored just 12 points. On the other hand, Rubio had just 2 turnovers while Lin had 6 turnovers and 4 blocked shots against. Still, meeting #1 goes to Lin.

For the season, it's hard to compare as Rubio has been playing regularly since game #5 or 6, while Lin has started, how, 5 games. But, be that as it may, the season records look like this.

Lin 11 points, 4 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 54 FG percent, 20 percent on 3s
Rubio 11 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 turnovers. 3 steals, 37 FG percentage, 33 percent on 3s

And so the Player of the Day is...

Reid Travis of DeLaSalle scored 36 points in a 71-62 win over Minnehaha.

Coach of the Day...

is shared by Moorhead State coaches Chad Walthall of the men and Karla Nelson of the women, each of whom won at Bemidji State in a total of 4 OT. The men won 84-77 in a single OT, while the women won 95-93 in 3OT for their 7th straight win.

The Big Game 2-10-12: Lakeville North surprises Eastview

Some of you have already read my report re. the Moorhead State women and their 6th straight win. But I just discovered that the #3 Lakeville North boys surprised #1 Eastview (at Eastview, no less), 57-56, giving the Lightning their 1st loss of the season.

Junior guard Grant Erickson scored his only 2 points of the night on a driving lay-up with 2.7 seconds remaining to win it. Lakeville had led by 9 at the half, but Eastview led 56-51 before the Panthers scored the last 6 point of the game to win.

I had said in an earlier report that I hoped Eastview would lose 1 in the regular season. I think most teams are more relaxed in the post-season that way, but time will tell.  But if the Lightning was going to lose, Lakeville North would be among the few candidates to beat 'em. Tyler Flack is one of the few kids down thataway who can match up to Joey King, and he did so for the most part though King ended up with an 18-12 advantage.

For the moment, I imagine that Eastview will fall all the way to #3 in the ratings. Hopkins, with 1 loss, will be #1 and Lakeville North, also with 1 loss, will be #2.

Moorhead State women 84 UMD 77

Left for dead a month ago, the Moorhead State women continued an unexpected resurgence last night, winning 84-77 at Minnesota-Duluth. They've gone from 3-8 and near the bottom of the Northern Sun to 9-8 and back in the playoff picture in 6th place.

UMD led most of the way last night--25-18 early on, 40-36 at the half, and by as much as 6 in the 2nd half at 42-36 and 58-52. Moorhead only took the lead for good at 66-65 with 3:28 on the clock on a free throw by Megan Strese. Strese quickly made 2 more throws, Morgan Zabel and Marissa Yernatich a pair of 3s and Zabel a pair of throws to close out a 13-0 run for a 76-65 lead at 1:12.

Yernatich came off the bench to score 19 points for the Dragons, Haley Thomforde did the same and scored 17. Angie Jetvig added 16 and 9 boards, 4 assists and 3 blocks. Yernatich, grew up 2 miles from the Romano Field House on the UMD campus where the game was played.

Last summer I tabbed the Dragons to contend for the NSIC title when it was announced that Angela Christianson would be coming from Drake to Moorhead. She was hurt early, then played very little as the Dragons struggled mightily to find some chemistry. Now Christianson has not appeared in a game since January 3 and Moorhead, 4-8 at that time, is 8-2 since. And, Christianson is no longer listed among the team roster on their Web site.

Player of the Day

Meanwhile, among the NSIC men, St. Cloud State won a 64-63 thriller over Mankato State on a Tim Bergstrasser put-back at the buzzer. Guard Brett Putz of the Huskies scored 22 points on 60-of-11 3-pointers, giving him a career total of 228 3s, 3rd on St. Cloud's all-time list.

But now that I have the high school results, I guess I am going to have to go with Thomas Sjoberg of St. Thomas as Player of the Day. He scored 36 points in the Tommies 61-47 win over Mahtomedi.

Coach of the Day

Karla Nelson, Moorhead State women, who kept her team together through some very very tough going.

And now I also have to recognize John Oxton of Lakeville North on his big upset last night.

The Big Game 2-9-12: Tough Night to Be a Gopher

It was a tough night to be a Minnesota Gopher. Again. The men and women both dug themselves into a deep hole. The men climbed back out of it, then ran out of gas as a Wisconsin team that failed to score in the final 7:37 of regulation exploded for 17 points in OT.

The women, well, their hole just got deeper and deeper, as Iowa held leads of up to 25 points. To say the Gophers rallied would be an overstatement, but they trailed by 17 when the final horn sounded.

Wisconsin men 68 Minnesota 61

The Gophers led only at 4-2 and 16-14, and only tied the score at 51-all deep in the heart of Texas. Wisconsin had led by as many as 13 at 42-29 and again at 49-36, and still led by 10 at 51-41 at 9:16. But the Badgers, amazingly, failed to score over the last 7:37 of regulation. Andre Hollins scored 6 of the Gophers last 10 points, and Austin Hollins hit a pair of throws at 1:02 to tie it at 51. Minnesota got the ball back at :28 and went for a final shot, but a jumper by Dre and another by Austin after an offensive rebound were both off the mark.

Too bad, because Bucky scored the first 6 points of OT and Minnesota never got closer than 4.

Jordan Taylor led Wisconsin with 27 points and 3 steals, while Ryan Evans had 17 and 11 boards. Dre scored 20 and Rodney Williams 16 for Minnesota. The Gophers out-shot Wisconsin 42 percent to 36, but Bucky hit more 3s (9-6) and many more FT (21-9), including 15-of-17 throws in OT.

Iowa women 75 Minnesota 59


The women never led as the host Hawkeyes ran out to leads of 11-4, 24-12, 39-21 and 40-25 at the half. Strangely, the FG were only 13-12 Iowa in the 1st half, but the Hawkeyes out-scored Minnesota 12-4 from 3-point land and 10-0 from the line.

Minnesota shot 50 percent in the 2nd half but it was a case of too little, too late. The Gophers scored the 1st 2 points of the 2nd half to get within 13, but never got closer and trailed by as many as 25 on 3 occasions.

As a sidebar, this marked the 1st of many match-ups of freshman point guards Rachel Banham and Samantha Logic, and tonight each scored 20 points. Logic added 9 points and 6 assists, but 8 turnovers. Banham added 6 boards but just 1 assist and 3 turnovers. Logic got a lot more help including 23 points from Morgan Johnson and 19 from Kamille Wahlin in her final regular season game against her home-state school. Iowa dominated the boards 43-26.

Player of the Day

So you'll have to pardon me if I look elsewhere for a player and a coach of the day. Player of the Day is Rashad Vaughan, the big sophomore forward from Robbinsdale Cooper, who scored 31 points in a rivalry game win over Robbinsdale Armstrong 79-70. Mitch Biewen scored 29 for Armstrong.

Coach of the Day

That would be Willie Braziel of Columbia Heights, who got the big upset of the day, 59-46 over #2AAA Spring Lake Park as the Hylanders held the Panthers' Sean Scott to just 8 points.

The Big Game 2-8-12: Bethel escapes St. Ben's

The Bethel women edged host St. Ben's to stay in a tie for 5th and 6th place in the MIAC and for the last spot in the upcoming playoffs. Bethel never trailed in this game, running off to a 12-2 led early. After that it got a lot harder real quick.

St. Ben's got back into it at 24-23 and 26-25 in the 1st half, though Bethel spurted to a 31-25 half-time lead. The Bennies tied in at 38-all at of the 2nd half, whereupon Bethel ran off 9 straight points. With the score 54-46 Bethel, the Bennies ran off 7 straight to get back within 1 at 54-53. Taylor Sheley made 4 FT down the stretch to keep Bethel out front. Blazers' guard Tish Alexander's 3 at :03 was off the mark.

Despite missing 7 of its 1st 8 shots, the Bennies outshot the Royals 46 to 32 percent from the field, but Bethel shot 84 percent from the line to St. Ben's 59, and out-rebounded the Blazers 37-28. Taylor Sheley led all scorers with 21 points.

Player of the Day

Darrion Strong of the Tartan boys gets Player of the Day honors ahead of Sheley for his 26 point effort in Tartan's 59-52 win over St. Thomas.

Coach of the Day

Ryan Green, Coon Rapids boys, didn't let a 4-14 record stop them from upsetting Anoka 97-85.

The Big Game 2-7-12: Benilde boys 60 DeLaSalle 59

Let’s be honest. The DeLaSalle gym is old, it’s small, it’s dark, it’s hot, it’s crowded, it’s noisy, especially as the Islanders’ great pep band is ripping through everything from the brass band standards to Led Zeppelin. All those things, and more, combine to make DeLaSalle a great place to see a game. And if you happen to have 2 games, well, that’s twice as nice, especially when all four teams are rated in their respective top fives.

And that’s what we had Tuesday night—a boy/girl doubleheader matching arch-rivals Benilde-St. Margaret's and DeLaSalle. The girls game description can be found at kjasr.com. The boys game description is as follows.

The Red Knights of Benilde-St. Margaret's seemed to be in control of the DeLaSalle Islanders much of the way Tuesday night, fashioning a 34-27 half-time lead, and extending that to 54-45 at the 5 minute mark. But the Islanders slowly pulled back into the game, getting within 4 at 3:39. 

Then at 58-52 at 1:45, Reid Travis cleanly stripped Sanjay Lumpkin at mid-court and took it in for a lay-up. Lumpkin fouled Travis from behind, drawing the intentional/flagrant call. Travis made 1-of-2 throws, and then Luke Scott came off the double screen at the top of the key to pop the 3, getting the Islanders to their closest approach to Benilde since 28-27. 30 seconds later Scott popped open in the same spot, missed the 3 but was fouled, and made all 3 throws for DeLaSalle's 1st lead since 27-26.

But Isaiah Zierden responded with a big time shot, taking an in-bounds pass, driving to the top of the key, then putting up a jumper with 2 defenders all over him. It went in at :18 for the final score of 60-59. DeLaSalle was unable to get off a good shot in :18, settling for a desperation 3 at the final buzzer.

Luke Scott and Reid Travis scored all of the DeLaSalle points down the stretch, and 23 of 32 for the half. For the game it was Scott leading the Islanders with 18 while Travis scored 16. 

For Benilde, it was equally a 2 man show, as Lumpkin and Zierden combined for 37 points. The difference in the game was that Benilde's supporting cast--Isaiah Gray, Will Dunn, et al--was a little better than DeLaSalle's. But of course the Islanders' cast is very largely made up of sophomores and juniors and, if not 2012, their "year" is out there ahead of them. For Benilde, the future is now.

The 1st half had started out, in fact, as the Sanjay Lumpkin show. He scored the game's 1st 2 points on the fast break, then 2 more on an alley-oop from Isaiah Gray. He added 3 buckets in a row around the 11-13 minute mark on 2 drives to the rim and another fast break, this one triggered by a Danon Briggs steal. Lumpkin got down the court in transition in about 3 big strides, it seemed. His other highlight was an absolutely filthy crossover dribble approaching the lane for a lay-up and a 32-27 Benilde lead 1:42 before half-time. 

Lumpkin kind of disappeared in the 2nd half, however, with 6 points compared to 14 in the 1st, and I only had him down for 2 boards (both on the offensive end) on the night. Still, there were an assortment of assists, steals and blocks on his resume along with those 20 points.

Oddly enough, DeLaSalle shot 46 percent in falling behind by 7 at intermission. They clawed back into it in the 2nd half despite shooting 42 percent. Of course, those numbers mirror the Knights' who shot 58 percent in the lay-up drill that was their 1st half, and shot 43 percent in the 2nd. DeLaSalle's comeback had more to do with the possession game as the Knights got off 3 more shots in the 1st half, DeLaSalle 5 more in the 2nd. 

It was cold outside, but it was steaming in the Islanders' gym. And nothing was decided until a DeLaSalle 3 fell short at the final buzzer.

Player of the Day

Isaiah Zierden was the player of this game with 17 points, 8 boards and 3 assists, and of course the game-winning shot.

But Tyseanna Johnson of DeLaSalle was spectacular with 33 points and 14 rebounds in the girls game earlier in the evening. She is Player of the Day.

Coach of the Day

Dave Thorson, DeLaSalle boys, despite the loss. He not only had his kids ready to play but they were all the more ready to play after falling down 54-45 with 5 minutes to play.

The Big Game 2-6-12: More from the High Schools

That big silence you heard last night was the absence of basketballs bouncing on basketball courts. There was no Timberwolves action, no Gophers, no Northern Sun, no MIAC and just a few high school games last night. Enough, however, to produce a few highlights.

Boys

Two games matched up rated teams--both in the Lake Conference.

Wayzata won at Edina 59-50 as Colin Nugent scored 23 points.

Visiting Hopkins hammered Minnetonka 94-76 as Siyani Chambers scored 25 and Zach Stahl 20.

Girls

There appear to be 4 games matching rated opponents. First, and also in the Lake:

Edina won at Wayzata 66-54 and Katybeth Biewen scored 22 for the winners. Marissa Grossfeld 20 for the losers.

Host Hopkins clobbered Tonka 68-40 as Nia Coffey scored 18.

Host Simley edged Richfield in a big Classic Suburban Conference game 61-58 as Abby Kain scored 21 for the winners, Jessica January 23 for the losers.

Finally, host Kennedy edged Lakeview North 45-43. It was 34-20 at the half, meaning that Kennedy managed just 11 points in the 2nd half, but held on for the win. Caroline Sjoberg of North led all scorers with 15.

Player of the Day

Siyani Chambers

Coach of the Day

Tim Peper, Simley girls

The Big Game 2-5-12: Gopher Men, Women Do Their Thing

The Gopher men and women go into today's ball games at 4-6. If either is going to make any noise at all, now would be a good time. In fact, a 2-0 week would be pretty much essential.

The men took care of business down at Nebrasky, the first time that the Gophers (men) have ever played Nebraska in a Big 10 game. They came away with a 69-61 win. It was a bit of a scrum most of the way. Minnesota led 48-42 after 34 minutes of play (for about 2.67 points per minute). Over the final 6 minutes the Huskers out-scored the Gophers 22-21 (about a 7 points per minute rate, or 2.67 more points than previously).

It was 33-32 Nebrasky at the half. The 2 teams traded the lead and/or tied for about 8 minutes of the 2nd half, then the Gophers scored 9 straight to take a 48-39 lead. The biggest lead was 11 at 64-53 and 66-55. Nebraska scored on 9 of their last 13 possessions to keep some pressure on the Gophers, but Minnesota scored on 11-of-13 possessions.

The stats were pretty even, except offensive boards which were 11-7 Minnesota, and 2nd chance points were 15-4 favoring the Gophers. Minnesota also made just 8-of-16 FT overall, and a remarkable 1-of-7 down the stretch.

Chip Armelin was hot during the 2nd half and finished with 15 points and 3 assists.

The Gophers rotation looked like this.

C-Sampson 21 Eliason 17 Ingram 2
PF- Williams 33 Osieneks 7
SF- Coleman 19 Armelin 21
PG- Welch 21 Ahanmisi 18 Austin Hollins 1
SG- Austin Hollins 21 Andre Hollins 16 Armelin 3

The Women...


Well, they couldn't get it done at home. They came back from a 60-55 deficit at 4:43 by scoring 8 straight points (Buford 2, Mastey 2, Mastey 1+1 and Kellogg 2). Penn State hadn't scored for over 4-and-a-half minutes, but got a 3 to tie. Banham hit a pair of throws to make it 65-63 at :50. The Gophers did not score again.

Penn State did, however. Another 3, this one by Alex Bentley, gave the Lions the lead at :38. Banham missed a 2, then the Lions missed a free throw but Mia Nickson grabbed the rebound and made a pair of throws at :21 for the final score of 68-65. The Gophers didn't even get off a shot until :03, a Banham 3 that was off the mark.

Banham scored 14 points, Kiara Buford 13, Kionna Kellogg and Brianna Mastey 11. Buford led the team with 10 boards, 5 assists and 5 steals, but also 6 turnovers.

The Gophers rotation looked like this.

C- Loberg 15 Riche 7 Dvorak 18
PF- Kellogg 34 Riche 5 Mastey 1
SF- Buford 35 Mastey 5
PG- Banham 36 Buford 4
SG- Cotton 10 Noga 22 Mastey 8

Player of the Day

Chip Armelin, Gopher men 15 pts 5 rebounds 3 assists

Coach of the Day

Tubby Smith, Gopher men