12.05.07 College Basketball Update
College basketball is off and running here in the state of Indiana. There are 41 programs across the state, and many of them have gotten off to impresive starts. Let’s take a look at some of those teams.
The UIndy Greyhounds are 6-0 on the season, and are in a 4-way tie at the top of the Great Lakes Valley Conference standings at 2-0. Saturday the Hounds beat Missouri-Rolla 84-53 behind 26 points from Waldron’s Justin Barnard. Warren Central product DeAndre Brock added 16 in the win.
St. Joseph’s is also 2-0 in the GLVC, and knocked off Missouri-St. Louis 90-82 in overtime on Saturday. Ronald Coleman went 6-12 from the floor and 18-19 from the line to score a career-high 31 in leading the Pumas to the conference win.
Hanover is off to a 5-1 start this year, and opened Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play last Saturday with a 58-47 win over Rose-Hulman. Brownstown’s Clint Parker had 13 points to lead a balanced Panthers attack while Perry Meridian grad Jared Moore had 17 to pace the Engineers.
Several Mid-Central College Conference teams are off to strong starts this season. Goshen, picked to finish 9th in the conference, moved to 10-1 Saturday by defeating preseason conference favorite Indiana Wesleyan 81-73 in the league opener for both schools. The loss dropped the Wildcats to 8-2. Errick McCollum had 34 for the Maple Leafs and Indianapolis Northwest grad Antonio Murrell had 27 to lead Indiana Wesleyan.
Elsewhere in the MCC, Huntington is 8-3, Grace 9-2, Bethel 9-2, Taylor 7-3, St. Francis 6-3, and Marian 4-4. The conference as a whole is 60-17 in non-conference games so far this season for a very impressive .779 winning percentage.
Huntington beat St. Francis 68-61 on Tuesday, with Plymouth’s Kyle Benge scoring 19 for the Foresters and Ft. Wayne Dwenger’s Nate Bojrab 16 in a losing effort for the Cougars.
Grace survived Taylor 59-54 on Tuesday. Columbia City’s Marcus Moore had 15 as the only player in double figures for Grace, while New Castle’s Luke Bennett led Taylor with 11 points.
Bethel won at home over Marian 76-62 Tuesday night. Michigan City’s William Walker had 22 as one of five Pilots in double digits. Hamilton Southeastern’s Anthony Furlin had 20 for the Knights.
The DePauw Tigers are 4-1, losing their Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference opener on Saturday at Centre College 78-64. Warsaw grad Steve Lemasters hit four three-pointers on his way to a game-high 17 for DePauw.
Oakland City beat Ohio-Lancaster 89-58 on Sunday to improve to 5-1 on the season. Darius Clark had 29 to lead the way as the Mighty Oaks put four in double figures.
Vincennes is still unbeaten at 8-0. The Trailblazers were last in action on November 27, overwhelming Clark State 113-48. Rashad Reed had 20 as the Trailblazers put an amazing six in double figures. Vincennes has hit the century mark in five of their eight wins thus far.
The state’s Division I programs are having their own successes in the early part of the season.
The Butler Bulldogs improved to 7-0 with a 65-46 home win over Ohio State on Saturday night in Thad Matta’s first return to Hinkle Fieldhouse as an opposing head coach. Connersville’s Matt Howard had a career-high 23. On Monday, the Bulldogs were rewarded by moving to 13th in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Top 25 polls.
Indiana followed up Saturday’s impressive 64-51 road win at Southern Illinois with a 84-72 win over Tennessee State on Monday. D.J. White scored a career-high 29 against Tennessee State, taking over the scoring load for North Central’s Eric Gordon, who left the game in the first half with a lower back injury. The Hoosiers remained 15th in both national polls for a second consecutive week.
IUPUI achieved their first win over an Atlantic 10 opponent on Saturday night, knocking off UMass 89-77. Broad Ripple’s George Hill had 30 and Jon Avery had 25 in the come-from-behind win. The Jags poured in 57 second half points to recover from a 11-point halftime deficit.
Purdue is 4-1 and beat Indiana State 71-60 at Mackey Arena on Saturday. The Boilers were led by Nemanja Calasan’s 16, while the Sycamores got 20 from Owen Valley’s Harry Marshall.
For more on all the statewide college basketball programs, visit the Indiana Sports Talk College Hoops page.
