Path to the Hall of Fame (v2)

[randy]

DePaul, Won 84-66

• FG: 43-40%; REB: +2; TO: -6
• POG: SG Jonathan Ballinger 22 pts, 7 rebs

@#6 Pittsburgh, Won 59-46

• FG: 42-31%; REB: +4; TO: -1
• POG: PG Chris Hunter 14 pts, 6 asts

Ohio St, Won 78-65

• FG: 53-40%; REB: Even; TO: +3
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 27 pts, 7 rebs

@Louisville, Lost 58-74

• FG: 47-44%; REB: +11; TO: +21

@St John's, Won 80-54

• FG: 54-40%; REB: +9; TO: +1
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 20 pts, 5 rebs

@Iowa, Lost 71-74

• FG: 46-46%; REB: -4; TO: +3

@Vanderbilt, Won 90-62

• FG: 51-41%; REB: -2; TO: -11
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 14 pts, 9 asts

@South Carolina, Won 75-50

• FG: 48-38%; REB: Even; TO: -9
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 30 pts, 2 rebs

@Georgetown, Won 65-55

• FG: 39-36%; REB: +5; TO: -1
• POG: PG Chris Hunter 19 pts, 3 rebs

[randy]

@Florida St, Won 70-56

• FG: 43-37%; REB: +15; TO: +6
• POG: PG Chris Hunter 24 pts, 5 asts

@North Carolina, Lost 60-70

• FG: 39-49%; REB: -16; TO: -7

#18 Virginia, Won 73-53

• FG: 48-38%; REB: +4; TO: -5
• POG: PG Chris Hunter 11 pts, 7 asts

#2 Georgia Tech, Won 80-63

• FG: 48-38%; REB: +25; TO: +9
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 15 pts, 8 rebs

@Boston College, Won 72-65

• FG: 48-40%; REB: -7; TO: -5
• POG: PG Chris Hunter 16 pts, 6 asts

#18 Duke, Won 69-61

• FG: 41-39%; REB: -2; TO: -6
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 13 pts, 2 rebs

ACC Conference Standings

1. #18 Clemson, 5-1
2. #2 Georgia Tech, 4-2
3. #15 North Carolina St, 4-2
4. Virginia Tech, 4-2
5. #14 Virginia, 4-2
6. North Carolina, 3-3
7. #20 Duke, 3-3
8. Maryland, 3-3
9. Wake Forest, 2-4
10. Miami (FL), 2-4
11. Boston College, 1-5
12. Florida St, 1-5

[randy]

@Virginia Tech, Won 83-61

• FG: 50-39%; REB: +13; TO: Even
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 11 pts, 5 asts

@Wake Forest, Won 77-64

• FG: 48-40%; REB: +8; TO: -1
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 28 pts, 5 asts

Florida St, Won 80-62

• FG: 43-35%; REB: +4; TO: -9
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 30 pts, 7 rebs

Maryland, Won 82-62

• FG: 47-44%; REB: +2; TO: -11
• POG: PG Chris Hunter 19 pts, 6 asts

Miami (FL), Won 84-57

• FG: 53-42%; REB: +14; TO: -6
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 25 pts, 11 rebs

@#15 North Carolina St, Lost 55-66

• FG: 39-45%; REB: +3; TO: +8

ACC Conference Standings

1. #14 Clemson, 10-2
2. #2 Georgia Tech, 8-4
3. #20 Duke, 8-4
4. #15 North Carolina St, 8-4
5. #18 Virginia, 7-5
6. Virginia Tech, 7-5
7. North Carolina, 6-6
8. Maryland, 5-7
9. Wake Forest, 5-7
10. Miami (FL), 4-8
11. Boston College, 2-10
12. Florida St, 2-10

[randy]

North Carolina, Won 84-60

• FG: 60-42%; REB: +3; TO: -3
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 22 pts, 3 asts

@#18 Virginia, Lost 81-85 OT

• FG: 45-55%; REB: -4; TO: -3

@#2 Georgia Tech, Lost 50-62

• FG: 33-35%; REB: +11; TO: +10

Boston College, Won 79-38

• FG: 50-24%; REB: +4; TO: -6
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 22 pts, 2 rebs

@Duke, Won 75-47

• FG: 43-31%; REB: +7; TO: -1
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 18 pts, 4 rebs

Virginia Tech, Won 79-50

• FG: 41-35%; REB: +13; TO: -3
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 29 pts, 6 rebs

ACC Conference Final Standings

1. #14 Clemson, 14-4
2. #2 Georgia Tech, 14-4
3. #15 North Carolina St, 13-5
4. #17 Virginia, 12-6
5. Duke, 9-9
6. Maryland, 9-9
7. Virginia Tech, 8-10
8. Miami (FL), 8-10
9. Wake Forest, 7-11
10. North Carolina, 7-11
11. Florida St, 4-14
12. Boston College, 3-15

[randy]

Quarter Finals
(9) Wake Forest, Won 89-73

• FG: 51-44%; REB: +6; TO: Even
• POG: C Dan Dickel 19 pts, 6 rebs

Semi Finals
(5) Duke, Won 60-54

• FG: 41-36%; REB: -10; TO: -9
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 13 pts, 2 rebs

Finals
(2) #2 Georgia Tech, Won 79-66

• FG: 47-44%; REB: +7; TO: +8
• POG: SG Cory Mastern 31 pts, 4 rebs

1st ever ACC tournament title for Clemson!

[randy]

Rank (Media/Coaches): #13/#14; RPI: #2

We're in the West (Oakland) Regionals

1st round matchup:
(1) #13 Clemson vs (16) Play In

Teams in the West Regionals

• (1) #13 Clemson
• (2) #14 Louisville - 4 National Titles, 6 Final Fours
• (3) #12 Villanova - 3 Final Fours
• (4) #3 UNLV - 3 Final Fours
• (5) #24 UCLA - 1 National Title, 5 Final Fours
• (6) LSU - 2 National Titles, 7 Final Fours
• (7) #23 North Dakota St
• (8) Maryland - 4 Final Fours
• (9) Missouri St
• (10) Marshall - 2 Final Fours
• (11) Stanford - 1 National Title, 6 Final Fours
• (12) Wagner
• (13) UC Riverside
• (14) South Carolina St
• (15) Seattle
• (16) Play In

Other Ranked Teams

East

• (1) #1 Kansas St
• (2) #15 Georgetown
• (3) #4 Oklahoma
• (4) #16 North Carolina St
• (5) #19 Xavier
• (6) #22 Arkansas
• (8) #25 Florida International

Midwest

• (1) #2 Georgia Tech
• (2) #6 Indiana
• (3) #9 Pittsburgh
• (4) #20 Virginia
• (5) #18 New Mexico
• (6) #21 Temple

South

• (1) #5 Seton Hall
• (2) #10 Iowa
• (3) #8 Arizona
• (4) #7 Houston
• (5) #17 Creighton

On Probation

• #11 Georgia

ACC teams appearing on post-season tournaments

NCAA

• East: (13) Texas-Arlington vs (4) #16 North Carolina St
• East: (16) Alabama St vs (1) #2 Georgia Tech
• Midwest: (13) Idaho vs (4) #20 Virginia
• South: (9) Gonzaga vs (8) Duke
• West: (9) Missouri St vs (8) Maryland
• West: (16) Play-In vs (1) #13 Clemson

NIT

• South: (7) Northern Illinois vs (2) Virginia Tech

CBI

• East: (5) North Carolina vs (4) St Francis(PA)
• West: (8) IUPU-Fort Wayne vs (1) Wake Forest

[randy]

Mar 17, 2009: (16) NC-Asheville (13-18, 7-7) vs (1) #13 Clemson (24-6, 14-4)

Scouting Report

1. Primary defense: --
2. Offense focus: --
3. Key players:
   
   • Jr SF David Kemppe (9.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg)
4. Strengths:
   
   • Defense: 59.8 opp ppg (#26), 41.1% opp FG (#51)
   • Rebounding: 33.4 rpg (#48)
   • Ball Handling: 13.2 topg (#45)
5. Weaknesses:
   
   • Offense: 58.0 ppg (#343), 41.4% FG (#323), 30.0% 3PT (#326)
6. How they got here:
   
   • Finished 3rd Northeast Atlantic; Won Conference Tournament
   • (Play-In) Def Cleveland, 66-47 (Kemppe 16 pts, 9 rebs; CLEV: 30% FG)

Strategies

1. NC-Asheville would clearly like this game to be low scoring. If we don't go crazy on our turn overs, we should finish this early

Start of 1st half

UNCA already with 9 turn overs. SG Cory Mastern started our scoring with two 3pt shots, and we have scored easily against UNCA's porous defense. Up 21-5, 10:47. PG Chris Hunter (17 pts) got into scoring groove, and this game is already settled except for the final score. Halftime, Up 43-21.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• Turn overs: UNCA 16, CLEM 5

Start of 2nd half

I pulled out my starters with more than 13 mins remaining and a 28 pt lead. Tougher games ahead


Final Score: NC-Asheville - 54, Clemson - 68


Box Scores
[INDENT]Mastern 19, 5, 0, 2 stls (*)
Hunter 19, 4, 4 (*)
Stuart 11, 1, 2
Dickel 6, 4, 2
DeWitt 4, 3, 0, 2 stls, 4 tos
Weston 4, 0, 1
J Lewis 3, 0, 2
Davis 2, 2, 1
Ballinger 0, 4, 2
Hickman 0, 3, 2
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 43-44%
REB: -8
TO: -12
Pts in paint: +2
2nd chance: Even
Fast break: +6
[/INDENT]
Notes

• Good shooting display by our starting guards Hunter and Mastern, as they combined for 8-15 3PT

[randy]

Mar 19, 2009: (9) Missouri St (22-10, 10-6) vs (1) #13 Clemson (25-6, 14-4)

Scouting Report

1. Primary defense: M2M
2. Offense focus: Balanced
3. Key players:
   
   • Sr(R) C Greg Mociler (15.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 55% FG, All-Conf)
   • Sr SG Mike Simmons (12.2 ppg)
4. Strengths:
   
   • Offense (inside the arc): 70.6 ppg (#43), 46.6% FG (#28)
5. Weaknesses:
   
   • 3PT shooting: 30.1% 3PT (#325)
6. How they got here:
   
   • Finished 4th Missouri Valley; Lost Conference Tournament Finals
   • (Round 64) Def Maryland, 81-57 (PG Craig 15 pts; MOST +20 pts in the paint, +18 2nd chance pts)

Strategies

1. We'll use a variety of defenses, and adjust depending on where Missouri St gets their pts. If they find success scoring inside similar to their last game against Maryland, we'll shift to 2-3 zone

Start of 1st half

MOST has shot a paltry 9% FG, as our big men did a good job shutting down MOST's inside game. Up 20-4, 10:42. MOST got some of their outside shots to fall, but we're fine giving them low percentage shots Halftime, Up 41-23.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• Pts in paint: MOST 4, CLEM 16

Start of 2nd half

A bit of a run earlier by MOST, as they get close the gap to 15 pts, but we scored 5 unaswered to restore our 20 pt advantage. MOST already in the penalty, severely limiting their capability to make defensive stops. Up 54-34, 11:22. Early rest for our key players with more than 7 mins remaining, and a 27 pt lead.


Final Score: Missouri St - 55, Clemson - 89


Box Scores
[INDENT]Stuart 20, 5, 3, 6-8 3PT (*)
Mastern 11, 0, 2, 2 stls
Davis 10, 4, 1
Ballinger 9, 3, 3
Dickel 9, 2, 0
Weston 8, 8, 0
Hunter 6, 2, 6, 2 blks
J Lewis 6, 1, 4
DeWitt 4, 3, 1
Hickman 4, 2, 0
Lee 2, 0, 0, 3 stls
M Lewis 0, 1, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 63-38%
REB: +14
TO: -1
Pts in paint: +22
2nd chance: -2
Fast break: +3
[/INDENT]
Notes

• MOST averages only just a little above 11 3PA per game; today, they attempted 23 shots from beyond the arc (made 7) which is beyond their comfort zone, and the results clearly reflected in their final FG%
• On the other hand, we continue to shoot well from the outside, going 11-20 3PT today

[randy]

Tough draw, as get to face the top-ranked team in the West Regionals, but was given only a (4)-seed

Mar 19, 2009: (4) #3 UNLV (29-5, 14-2) vs (1) #13 Clemson (26-6, 14-4)

Scouting Report

1. Primary defense: M2M
2. Offense focus: Outside (slow)
3. Key players:
   
   • Jr SG Anthony Moreland (16.0 ppg, #41 class rank)
   • Sr SF Andre Hancock (10.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg, All Conf, #26 class rank)
   • Fr PF Jason Correa (10.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, #18 class rank)
   • Plus 4 other players ranked in the top 50 of their respective classes
4. Strengths:
   
   • Defense: 54.1 opp ppg (#2), 41.3% opp FG (#57), 18.0 opp topg (#8), 8.1 spg (#17), 4.4 bpg (#11)
   • Ball handling: 12.2 topg (#3)
5. Weaknesses:
   
   • Offense: 68.1 ppg (#110), 44.0% FG (#189), 31.2% 3PT (#303)
6. How they got here:
   
   • Finished 1st Mountain West; Won Conference Tournament
   • (Round 64) Def UC Irvine, 74-64 (Hancock 21 pts; UNLV: -15 tos)
   • (Round 32) Def Wagner, 67-37 (C Christian 15 pts, 11 rebs; UNLV: -17 tos)

Strategies

1. How mature are we as team will be tested in this game. UNLV's last 2 tournament opponents have combined for 45 turn overs. If we keep our turn overs low, we'll have a chance
2. We'll force UNLV to shoot from the outside; they only shot a combined 7-30 3PT in their 2 tournament games so far

Start of 1st half

UNLV making mincemeat on our interior defense, as their 4 and 5 combined for 7 of their 9 pts. Down 6-9, 15:27. Out of nowhere, UNLV has exploded from the outside, and very quickly we're in a deep hole. We'll shift to 1-2-2 zone. Down 16-31, 8:48. Our deficit extended to as high as 19. We're trying to shoot our way back into the game, but we have racked up 10 turn overs already, offsetting most of the efforts we had in putting an extended rally. Halftime, Down 36-49.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• FG shooting: UNLV 59%, CLEM 45%
• We'll quicken up the pace in the 2nd half

Start of 2nd half

We're scoring enough, but we're not making stops on the defensive end, as UNLV continues to shoot hot from the outside. We'll use m2m defense, double team on all their perimeter players. Down 47-61, 15:31.

SG Cory Mastern (25 pts) is still putting up a fight, but UNLV still hitting shots even against our double teaming defense. Down 58-72, 9:42. UNLV just hit another 3, and we're staring at a 22 pt lead now. We'll start looking for 3s, with a 4 guard lineup. Down 60-82, 6:01.

We cut it down to 11, with just over 2 mins remaining. Down 73-84, 2:19. A miss by UNLV. I'm not calling a timeout to hurry up our offense. SG Jonathan Ballinger nails another 3. Down 76-84, 1:41.

Another miss by UNLV. We get the rebound. SG Cory Mastern gets the ball in deep right corner. Mastern puts up a 3, and its good! Down 79-84, 1:11. UNLV puts up a 3. Miss. We control the rebound. Same spot for Mastern. Mastern shoots and drills another trifecta! Down 82-84, 0:44.

Another miss by UNLV. Do I call a timeout? No, I will them play. Players are tired, and we'll try to win during regulation. SG Cory Mastern puts up a 3 for the lead .... he missed! UNLV with the rebound. I yell that we foul immediately. Or 7th team foul. 1-and-1 for UNLV. They hit both. I call a timeout. Down 82-86, 0:18.

As SG Jonathan Ballinger is about to put up a 3, he lifts his pivot foot and travels. UNLV scored 2 more FTs. Tough way to exit the Sweet 16, esp that we are the (1)-seed, but gallant effort by the players for not giving up


Final Score: UNLV - 88, Clemson - 82


Box Scores
[INDENT]Mastern 34, 2, 2
Ballinger 14, 5, 4, 2 stls, 5 tos
Dickel 9, 4, 0
Hunter 9, 3, 6, 2 stls, 6 tos
Stuart 7, 1, 1
Weston 5, 3, 0
Davis 2, 1, 2
J Lewis 2, 0, 2
DeWitt 0, 1, 1
Hickman 0, 0, 1
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 53-51%
REB: -11
TO: +3
Pts in paint: -8
2nd chance: -9
Fast break: -1
[/INDENT]
Notes

• We're down by 22 with 6 mins left, and then we went on a 22-2 run. We even had a chance to take the lead, but SG Cory Mastern missed a 3. Many would question if we should have just taken a more conservative approach and went a 2 pt shot instead, to possibly send the game to OT. But no point in debating now, as the game is already over. To their credit, UNLV played excellent offense for most part of the game, forcing us to adjust our pace and strategies
• It could have been a better ending, but still a memorable last college game for SG Cory Mastern.

[randy]

Final 4

• #2 Georgia Tech def #16 North Carolina St, 72-55
• #12 Villanova def Gonzaga, 90-73

Championship

• #2 Georgia Tech def #12 Villanova, 69-64
• This is Georgia Tech's 3rd national title in the last 5 years. They now have a total of 6 titles, tied for the most number in NCAA history (Indiana also with 6)