Going to NIU today

We travel to Northern Illinois today. This is a big game in a way. We are predicted to win. If we do, it will be the first time we have been 10-2 to start the season since the '87-'88 season, when we finished 24-7 and went to the NIT, back during the Wimp Sanderson days.

UNO

If we can't win the SBC this year, I hope New Orleans does. They have a few players who stuck it out after Katrina and did not jump ship. They are to be commended. And they have a pretty good team. Right now they have the best record in the SBC, and have wins at NC State and Colorado.

Hat's off to Trojan coaching staff

Last year perimeter defense was one of our most glaring deficiencies. Obviously that was a point of emphasis this season and it has payed huge dividends.

This is a pretty impressive stat about our team. Of the nine D-1 opponents we have played, seven of them have shot less than their season average from the 3-point line. The average difference for all nine is 6.6 percentage points less.Now, get this: of those nine opponents, five of them have shot MORE THAN 10 pct points less than their season average from the 3-point line when they played us.For whatever reason, for two games in a row (Rice and LaTech), they shot well over their season averages against us. Then we seemed to right the ship, and Centenary was about nine pct points less again. What that says is that 3-point numbers MAY go out completely out the window when teams play us – if we are on our game.Even Creighton shot over 10 points below their season average against us. Pretty impressive, huh?

In the Sun Belt it is not even close:
FG% Defense - First at 36.3%. Second place is 41.9%3PT% Defense - First at 26.7%. Second place is 32.0%.Scoring defense - First at 56.9. Second place is 61.9Trojan defense is BACK WITH A VENGEANCE!I love it!

dominating SBC stats

We are doing something right. In the Sun Belt stats through last night’s games, we lead the conference in these categories:
Scoring defense
Scoring margin
FG% defense
3 PT% defense
Rebounding margin
Assists

Also, interestingly, we are third in the league in blocked shots, which is a change from the last couple of years. In another change, we do not have anyone in the top 30 in scoring average in the league.

Upcoming Creighton game

Creighton is the biggest opportunity we have this year to make a ripple on the national scene. They have lost only one game and are playing very well. They have several quality wins so far this year. The Missouri Valley Conference has pressed the BCS conference in stature the last two or three years, and Creighton has been one of the better MVC programs. We probably would not beat them once in every five or six tries, but who knows: this might be the time.

We are 8-1! First time since 1995-96. Granted we have played a fairly easy schedule. No BCS schools on our schedule. Our only loss is to Arlington, which lost its first game only this week. Our biggest non-conference test comes Saturday when we travel to Creighton, which is having a good year in the tough Missouri Valley Conference. Two more non-conference games left. Worst case basis is 8-3 at the end of non-conference, which is much better than we have done for several years. Given the fact that we had so many new faces, it was a good schedule.

The trouble is that we have no idea yet how good this team may be. A lot of their wins have been "ugly" wins, but that may just be the nature of this team - blue collar, scrappy, hard-nosed - I love it! The game at Creighton should tell us a lot.

Taking on Pepperdine tonight. I really would like to win this game, because they play run-and-gun, and I always like to see a more disciplined team beat one of the playground sort, especially when it is my team that wins.

FIU game

We had a great time at the FIU game this past Saturday night. There were 24 of us, including ankle-nippers, coming from both directions. It was a good game. The Trojans did not play particularly well. FIU had a skilled big man who ate their lunch inside, but their perimeter defense was good and they managed to eke out a win. I was impressed by Mike Smith and Derrick Bails offensively. They know how to score in the paint, but they did not have an answer defensively for FIU. It was a definite “ugly” win, but we’ll take it.

This week the Trojans led the nation in scoring defense and FG% defense.

The Trojans currently lead the Sun Belt Conference in these categories:
Scoring defense
Scoring margin
FG% defense
3-pt % defense
Rebounding margin

That's good basketball!