by jksander » Tue Apr 11, 2023 2:09 am
- Code: Select all
Date Rank Team Score W/L Record Key Players
2/1 Michigan W 60-40 12-8 (6-5) N. Wilkes (13 pts 6 reb 1 ast 2 stl) M. Hartsfield (10 pts 7 reb 3 ast)
2/3 @ Penn State W 77-71 13-8 (7-5) A. Watkins (22 pts 7 reb 1 ast) S. Sears (15 pts 2 reb 8 ast)
2/6 @ Ohio State L 59-74 13-9 (7-6) J. Sullivan (15 pts 2 ast 2 stl) S. Sears (12 pts 2 reb 5 ast)
2/10 Indiana W 63-62 14-9 (8-6) A. Watkins (22 pts 4 reb 3 ast) J. Sullivan (11 pts 4 reb 4 ast 2 stl)
2/15 @ #13 Minnesota L 50-78 14-10 (8-7) B. Brown (7 pts 5 reb 2 ast 2 blk) M. Hartsfleid (6 pts 5 reb)
2/17 #9 Wisconsin W 67-57 15-10 (9-7) A. Watkins (16 pts 7 reb 2 ast 2 blk) S. Sears (17 pts 1 reb 1 ast)
FEBRUARY 18, 1952 . . . Beating Wisconsin, even just here at home, is clearly the signature win of our season. We’ve played very well defensively all year, aided by the fact that the prior coaching system here was based on frequent high use of man to man pressure sets, so the players were already versed in at least a version of my program, but even then it was stunning to take a 32-29 lead into halftime and then manage to hold it through the entire second half! With just a few games remaining in the regular season, it’s looking like we may actually make the NCAA Tournament in my first year leading the program! Beating Wisconsin moved us up to a theoretical 9-seed, so we’re not safely in. But we havea a chance, and that’s more than I ever would have expected this year. - Code: Select all
Date Rank Team Score W/L Record Key Players
2/22 #4 Illinois L 61-70 15-11 (9-8) J. Sullivan (17 pts 3 reb 1 ast 2 stl) A. Watkins (9 pts 8 reb 3 ast 3 stl)
2/24 @ Indiana L 40-57 15-12 (9-9) A. Watkins (10 pts 9 reb 1 stl 2 blk) M. Hartsfield (7 pts 2 reb 1 stl)
3/1 @ Michigan L 69-85 15-13 (9-10) M. Hartsfield (20 pts 2 reb 4 ast) N. Wilkes (12 pts 7 reb 2 ast 2 stl)
3/3 #1 Michigan State L 55-78 15-14 (9-11) M. Hartsfield (11 pts 2 reb 3 ast) S. Sears (10 pts 2 reb 3 ast 1 stl)
MARCH 5, 1952 . . . Losing our last four games knocked us right from being a solid underdog seed to being completely off the bubble. Unless we win some big games in the Big Ten Tournament, it’s unlikely we’ll even make the NIT considering how many amazing teams are still riding the bubble. We finished in a three-way tie for 7th place in the Big Ten and we won the series of tiebreakers allowing us to go into the tournament with the 7th seed.
Big Ten Tournament- Code: Select all
Date Rank Team Score W/L Record Key Players
3/8 (10) Rutgers L 81-84 15-15 S. Sears (17 pts 2 reb 2 ast 1 stl) A. Watkins (16 pts 6 reb 1 ast 3 stl)
MARCH 13, 1952 . . . Having lost our last five games and finishing with a .500 record exactly, we remained at least technically postseason eligible but also unlikely to be picked by any of the lower level tournaments. We watched the remainder of the Big Ten Tournament from the sidelines, (4) Minnesota stunned (1) Michigan State in the semifinals, blowing them out 90-69, while (2) Illinois handled (3) Wisconsin routinely 94-77. And in the Big Ten Championship Game, Minnesota earned another solid upset win, beating Illinois at their own defensive game 78-69 to take the title home to the land of 1,000 lakes. Those four teams dominated the conference this year, each finishing with 25+ wins and 14+ wins in conference play and finishing inside the top 15 NET and the AP poll’s top twelve. And despite the loss this weekend, #1 Michigan State (29-2) remains a favorite to compete for a repeat National Title, though Lafayette -- which dominated the Patriot League this season and rose all the way to #4 in the nation with a 31-1 regular season record -- would love to spoil that if they can manage to prove they’re not grossly overrated. Army and Navy finished tied in the conference at 11-7 each, and though each won 20+ games, they remained firmly on the bubble to the very end.
Big Ten Teams that made the NCAA Tournament:
#12 Seed Dayton Play-In: Maryland (17-13) - Plays in to Orlando Regional
#2 Seed, Lexington: Wisconsin (25-9)
#1 Seed, Spokane: Michigan State (29-2)
#2 Seed, Spokane: Illinois (29-5)
#3 Seed, Spokane: Minnesota (27-7)
#9 Seed, Spokane: Indiana (20-13)
Other NCAA seedings of note:
#2 Seed, Charlotte: Lafayette (31-1)
Big Ten Teams Elsewhere in the Postseason:
#6 Seed, NIT East Region: Ohio State
#1 Seed, CBI Tourney East Region: Purdue
#6 Seed, CBI Tourney West Region: Northwestern
Army earned a top seed in the NIT’s East Region, Bucknell got the 3rd seed in the NIT’s Midwest Region, American earned the 5th Seed in the NIT’s South Region, and Navy drew the 2nd seed in the NIT’s West Region! I guess the other teams in the conference really have stepped it up in competition -- I don’t have to feel like I left the Academy in poor position when I moved up here to the Big Ten!
College Basketball Invitational Tournament- Code: Select all
Date Team Score W/L Record Key Players
3/15 (3) West Virginia L 57-60 15-16 A. Watkins (17 pts 5 reb 2 ast) J. Sullivan (11 pts 4 reb 4 ast 1 stl)
MARCH 16, 1952 . . . We lost our CBI Tourney first round game in a heartbreaking fashion, having led 31-28 at the half only to completely surrender any sense of control in the second half, letting them overtake us in the final five minutes. By making the tournament and losing in the first game we also managed to finish with a losing record after being so close to the school’s first winning record. We’ve finished one game under .500 four times in the last seven years, This is also the third time we’ve finished 9-11 in the Big Ten, again just shy of a .500 record, so there’s definitely work to be done.
We got our second confirmed scholarship acceptance notification today, which is excellent news:
- Kevin Hastie (6’3” SG, HS Sr, Chicago IL) is a three-star recruit ranked #245 in the Nation, and playing for a disciplined coach close to home was his biggest concern. He finished with a 3.1 GPA but passed his SAT with a score of 1140. His athleticism is above average, he has average defensive knowledge coming into college, and he’s got significant skills in passing and outside shooting. But he’s going to need to work on his overall ball handling skills. Overall his potential is way up there, so I’m excited to see what he can do with us here in Evanston.
MARCH 24, 1952 . . . Lafayette made it to the Sweet Sixteen, but stumbled hard against the (3) Duke Blue Devils, losing 58-79. They may never top the 33-2 season, but I can guarantee they’ll always remember the experience of getting to the Sweet Sixteen. I know that Army season will remain way up there among my greatest experiences. It’s hard for the “little guy” to advance too far when confronted with the sport’s blue bloods.
MARCH 27, 1952 . . . Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan State were the only two Big Ten teams to make it to the Elite Eight. Wisconsin beat (9) UNLV 82-68 to make it back to the Final Four, while (1) Michigan State obliterated (2) Illinois 87-62 to return there as well to defend their title.
MARCH 31, 1952 . . . American won the NIT, beating Clemson in the title game 64-48 in a game Clemson was never truly in. Poor Clemson, they’ve now lost in the NIT Championship in two consecutive years to two DIFFERENT Patriot League teams -- how undignified!
APRIL 4, 1952 . . . In the Final Four, (2) Wisconsin beat (1) Louisville soundly 79-63, but (1) Michigan State stumbled against (1) Kansas, falling hard 43-53 in an ugly defensive game. And Kansas continued their winning ways, stumping the Badgers in the title game 72-83 to win the title. In the last seven seasons Michigan State and Wisconsin each have two titles while Arizona, Kentucky and now Kansas each have one. Wisconsin, Michigan State and Kentucky have each been to three championship games, while Arizona has two. Kansas, Minnesota and Texas have each been to one.
Team Leaders
Scoring: Adam Watkins (11.8 ppg) Marcelo Hartsfield (9.5 ppg) Jeffrey Sullivan (8.9 ppg) Scott Sears (8.7 ppg)
Rebounds: Adam Watkins (6.6 rpg) Nick Wilkes (6.1 rpg) Marcelo Hartsfield (3.8 rpg) Bevon Brown (3.4 rpg)
Assists: Scott Sears (4.2 apg) Jeffrey Sullivan (2.8 apg) Bryan Waters (2.0 apg) Marcelo Hartsfield (1.4 apg)
Steals: Jeffrey Sullivan (2.2 spg) Scott Sears (0.9 spg) Bryan Waters (0.9 spg) Marcelo Hartsfield (0.9 spg)
Blocks: Marcelo Hartsfield (1.0 bpg) Adam Watkins (0.8 bpg) Bart Daniels (0.6 bpg) Bevon Brown (0.6 bpg)
Graduating
Marcelo Hartsfield (4.0 GPA) 10.8 ppg 4.6 rpg 1.4 apg 0.8 spg 1.0 bpg (109 games, 105 starts)
Chris Lopez (4.0 GPA) 1.4 ppg 0.3 rpg 0.3 0.6 apg 0.2 spg 0.1 bpg (52 games)
Jason Roberts (4.0 GPA) 1.2 ppg 0.3 rpg 0.1 apg 0.1 spg 0.1 bpg (43 games)
Andrew Smith (4.0 GPA) 2.1 ppg 0.9 rpg 0.3 apg 0.2 spg (65 games)*
___________________
* 3-Year Walk-on
Awards
None.
APRIL 9, 1952 . . . We finished in the top half of the conference and had no academic ineligibility, but we did not make the NIT, we failed to reach .500 or above, and our prestige nationally stayed flat. So my first year here at Northwestern is at best considered a wash, particularly since it’s hard to really boast about our CBI Tournament appearance when the loss there was our sixth in a row as well as being our eighth loss out of our last ten games this year. So that’s definitely disappointing. My job approval rating dropped to about a nine out of ten -- they’re giving me room to build my program, but I understand there are goals and metrics for success that I need to meet. I think we’re on the right track, but it’s not going to be an easy process trying to claw our way up in this conference, particularly with our stringent academic restrictions.
APRIL 16, 1952 . . . James Taylor, my AHC, wants to wait to see if he gets a chance to become a head coach in the coming seasons, so he declined an extension to his contract, but both my other coaches accepted slight raises to go with extensions to their terms. Michael Frazier will now be earning $50,470 per year for three years, while Abel Seals will earn $19,950 per year for three years. That keeps them on contract through the final year on MY contract. In other news, our final recruit signed his Letter of Intent today:
- Matt Eldridge (6’7” SF, HS Sr, Ypsilanti MI) is a two-star recruit ranked #478 Nationally. He has a 3.9 GPA but only scored an 1130 on his SAT, but that’s good enough to get him in the door so I’ll take it. Academics are his top concern, with playing time being a close second. He’s very athletic and has surprisingly good rebounding and blocking skills for his height, but he’s also a decent passer who can steal quickly to help with fast breaks. His defensive skills are raw and will need serious work to fit in with my rigorous man to man pressure defense, but he has good potential. Depending on how he looks in early practice sessions I may consider him for a redshirt.
We finished the season’s recruiting with two three star recruits and a two star. Right now that looks to put us somewhere between 7th and 10th in the Big Ten in what was a very “down” recruiting year for the conference.
Last edited by
jksander on Sat Apr 15, 2023 4:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.