Vandy vs. MTSU
@ 9 PM ET/8 CT at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. ESPNU will televise.
Middle Tennessee State is presently 8-3 with a 65-62 home win over a pretty good Ole Miss team, an 84-64 victory over UAB and a 75-61 victory over Central Florida at UCF. Their three losses have come to Florida (45-66), Akron in overtime (77-82) and Belmont (49-64). So they’re definitely beatable, but we have to be ready to put our hard hats on. These MTSU guys would love to beat us. We’re their biggest rival without a doubt.
The Blue Raiders are led in scoring by Marcos Knight, a 6’2″, 216 guard, who is averaging 12.5 per game. He has also pulled down 5.3 boards. Shawn Jones, a 6’8″, 236 power forward, is averaging 10 per game and pulling down 5.7 rebounds. Raymond Clinton, a 6’0″, 198 guard, is averaging 8.7 per game. They shoot 44% from the field, 35 % from three and 68% from the line. They are averaging, as a team, 36 rebounds per game. We are averaging 32.9. They have 156 assists to 147 turnovers (13.3 to’s per game). They are scoring 70.7 per game and giving up 60.5. Opponents are shooting 42% against them from the field and 28% from trifecta.
Their coach, Kermit Davis, is in his 11th season and has compiled a 188-136 record (58%) at MTSU. He is 325-211 (61%) overall in his 18th season as a head coach, both on the junior college level and the Division One level. He hasn’t taken MTSU to the tournament, but did take Idaho in 1989 and 1990. Looks like he’s got his program pretty well positioned for the present and the future. He’s got a pretty veteran group this year with six seniors and seven juniors. He just turned 53 on Dec. 14.
VU is 5-4 on the season coming off a 66–55 victory over Cornell Monday Night. Kedren Johnson is leading us in scoring at 17 per game. He’s also averaging 2.7 assists and 4.4 rebounds. Would like to see that assist number go up. Kyle Fuller is next at 13 per game along with three assists and three rebounds. Rod Odom is at 10.4 per game and 4.2 rebounds. Would like to see that rebound number go up a couple to around six per game. Kevin Bright is averaging 7.2 points per game and 7.3 rebounds. Kevin is an excellent rebounder and a very good three-point shooter. He’s shooting 56% from three (14-of-25). Kevin just needs to shoot it when he has an open look.
We are shooting 42.5 % from the field (opponents 41%), 36% from three (71-of-198) and 59.5 % from the line. The charity stripe has got to improve. The guys just need to relax at the line and focus on looking over the front of the rim, having a smooth stroke and knocking them down. That is a must. We’re going to lose some games late unless we can execute from the line better. Opponents are shooting 31% from three against us and 69% at the line. We are averaging 61.2 points per game and our opponents are averaging 60 per game. We pull down 33 rebounds per game and our opponents are pulling down 33 as well. We are averaging 11.3 assists per game and 12.9 turnovers. Our opponents are averaging 11.1 assists and 12.7 turnovers.
Kevin Stallings is 261-159 in 14 seasons at VU (62%). He is 364-222 overall (62%).
We’re going to have to ratchet up the defense and be solid from three. Josh Henderson needs to give us good work inside and when Shelby Moats and James Siakam are in, they need to be good. J.T. Sulton is a 6’8″, 223 pound senior who’s averaging 4.1 rbg. Neiko Hunter is 6’7″, 221, and he averages three boards a game. They’ve got some beef and Marcos Jones is a good rebounding guard. So this is tough. Winnable, but tough.
If we can get good work from the inside guys, Henderson, Odom and the others, both scoring and rebounding, and we can be sharp with our shooting, both inside and outside the arc, and we lock down on D which we have to do all year since we’re not always prolific at scoring, we’ve got a good shot of winning this. I’m going to say we get these things done and move to 6-4. And we’ve got to be better at the line. That’s critical in a game like this.
Us 70, MTSU 66
I’m getting pretty bearish on the Bears. Play at Arizona Sunday at 4:25 PM ET/3:25 CT. Lance Briggs was complaining about the booing by the Chicago fans. It’s tough, but these fans are starved for a championship, and they are passionate about their football team. They had such high hopes for this team when it was 7-1, but the team has let them down in the last six. The fans have a right to boo with some of the less than stellar play on both sides of the ball from this football team. Briggs just needs to focus on doing everything he can to help his football team win and not worry about the fans’ booing. They’re disappointed and they have a right to be. They pay good money on Sundays to see high priced players like Briggs win football games and the Bears haven’t been getting the job done. So they can do whatever they want. If the Bears would win, the fans would be ecstatic and lauding them. You have to take the bad with the good. Gotta win.
The Bears can get right back in the hunt for a wild card spot if they can win at Arizona. Win against the Cards and take care of business at Detroit (which won’t be easy), and the Bears should make it in. But they’ve got to get a lot better starting with Cutler. He’s got to get on the same page with his receivers. The defense played OK last week against Green Bay, but they’ve got to get better too. Not sure why defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli didn’t blitz more last week to try and throw ARodg off. Kind of a mystery. If the Bears want any chance at the playoffs, they have to win Sunday. It’s do or die.