by Paul Jordan
GAME 35 – MARCH 18, 2009
7:15 PM TV – CBS
NEW ORLEANS ARENA – NEW ORLEANS, LA
EAST TENNESSEE STATE BUCCANEERS (20-14)
KENTUCKY LEADS ALL TIME SERIES 2-0
LAST MEETING:
12/21/1984 KENTUCKY 62 ETSU 57
Who are these guys? Well, Joe Lunardi calls them “far and away the best” of the #16 seeds. There is an interesting historical note to this game. These two teams met nearly 30 years ago (11/29/1980) when Kentucky was also the number two ranked team in the country. Kentucky won that game by just the margin of 62-57. ETSU has been historically a tough NCAA tournament out, but I know Corey will have more on that in his “Inside the numbers” segment early Thursday morning. So what about this years Buccaneer team?
Well the Buccaneers got to the NCAA Tournament by virtue of winning the A-Sun Tournament 72-66 over Mercer. This is the second consecutive appearance in the dance for the Bucs, so they do have some Tourney experience. Truth be told, the Buccaneers are not a team that will wilt from Kentucky’s presence on the court. ETSU had a fairly aggressive pre-conference schedule in which they went 0-4 against eventual NCAA teams, but did play pretty respectably, losing to Tennessee by just 12 and to Louisville by 13.
Let’s get to know these upstart Buccaneers:
THE STARTERS
G- JUSTIN TUBBS , JR 6’3 195
12 ppg, 3.8 rebounds, 0.6 assists
G – MICAH WILLIAMS, JR 6’4 215
12.5 ppg, 3.3 rebounds, 1 assist
G – JOCOLBY DAVIS, SR 6’1 185
2.8 ppg, 1.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists
F – TOMMY HUBBARD , JR 6’4 210
14.1 ppg, 8.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists
F – ISIAH BROWN, SO 6’8 210
7.7 ppg, 5.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists
BACKCOURT: Justin Tubbs is a transfer from Alabama has good shooting range, but is way too in love with the three pointer. He is hitting 32.7% of his treys and he has attempted 223 3-pointers on the season. He appears to have never met a trey attempt he does not live as his last six games have 1-7 and 1-8 nights. He is a pretty good rebounder and a solid defender. He has a good knack of getting offensive rebounds. Micah Williams also has pretty good range and is more selective than Tubbs, and is hitting 35.1 from beyond the three point line. Williams also has pretty good speed and can get to the rim and the foul line. He has picked up his scoring, averaging 16.1 over his last ten games and has hit double digits 10 games in a row. Jocolby Davis offers nothing offensively – he has just two games in double digits all season. He does have a reputation as a tenacious defender and is probably the best passer on the team. Freshman Sheldon Cooley is also one of the best passers on the Bucs and has pretty good size at 6’3 and 180. He is having a pretty good season averaging 6.9 points and 2.5 boards in only about 17 minutes a game. Adam Sollazzo brings size (6’6) to the backcourt but is nothing special. He is averaging 3.7 points and 1.7 assists in just 14 minutes a game. Jarvis Jones is another guard that is averaging about 4 points a game, but he has seen his playing time cut to close to nothing lately.
FRONTCOURT: Tommy Hubbard is the only returning started from lat season’s NCAA squad and is a rebounding machine, despite being just 6’4. He also is a pretty good defender and leads the team in steals with 1.6 a game. He is pretty consistent offensively and can launch the occasional three. He likes to play rough and aggressively down low. He is a foul machine however and has accumulated at least four fouls in his last six games. For the season, Hubbard has fouled out five games and gotten four fouls on 14 other occasions. Brown is pretty effective as a rebounder as well and his offensive game is limited, but he is a threat for an occasional double double. J.C. Ward provides a little rebounding off the bench (3.2), but little to none offense (2.4)
OUTLOOK: There are a couple of keys in this game for ETSU to remain competitive in this game. The first is obviously to take care of the ball. This is easier said than done as the Buccaneers have about 50 more turnovers than assists on the season. Justin Tubbs is especially horrid at handling the rock with 20 assists versus 51 turnovers. Yes sir, I can see Wall and Bledsoe stealing the ball and taking it in for a slam about four times combined.
And the other key? That ETSU frontcourt. I can see Tommy Hubbard picking up his second foul, oh five minutes in, and then Cousins and Patterson feasting. The one strength of this Buccaneer team as they are a pretty good defensive team, allowing just 66.5 points a game. The downside is that they are pretty anemic offensively, allowing just 69 a game. They shoot around 43% a game and are not a good three point shooting team.
This game should not be close at all. Another thing to look for is to see if UK can hang a quick 20 point lead on the Bucs and cruise … or will we play down to the level of the competition and let this game be fairly close for the first half. I am counting on a focused, determined Wildcat squad and a 81-60 opening round romp.
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