rakim sanders

Weekly Awards: Devoe Joseph, Rakim Sanders, Ohio St & More

Greg Mengelt — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 11:06:27 -0800

A review of the week that was in college basketball focusing on the best (and worst) performances. Check in every Monday morning for CollegeHoops.net's weekly awards by Greg Mengelt.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Devoe Joseph, Oregon Senior Guard: Joseph led Oregon to wins over Colorado and Utah with 45 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and four steals.

On Thursday, Joseph went 11-for-16 from the field, including 2-for-4 from the 3-point line, and scored 24 points in the Ducks’ 90-81 win over Colorado. He also had five boards, five assists and two steals in the win.

The senior guard came back for 21 points – on 8-of-9 from the floor – six boards, five assists and a pair of steals in a 94-48 win over Utah on Saturday.

Behind Joseph – Oregon’s leading scorer at 16.8 points per game – the Ducks have won three straight and five of their last six, and at 22-8, they may be a viable option for an NCAA Tournament bid.

MID-MAJOR PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Rakim Sanders, Fairfield Senior Forward: Sanders had team-bests with 15 points and eight rebounds in Saturday’s MAAC Tournament quarterfinal win over Rider.

In Sunday’s 85-75 upset of Iona, Sanders was even better. He went 11-for-17 from the field and 2-for-3 from the 3-point line and scored 26 points as Fairfield advanced to Monday’s title game against Loyola (Md.). He also had 12 rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot against the Gaels.

For the season, Sanders is averaging 16.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.4 steals and is shooting 50 percent from the floor.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Ohio State: The 11^th-ranked Buckeyes earned a pair of road victories to come two games from behind and clinch a share of their third consecutive Big Ten regular-season title.

Jared Sullinger banked in the game winner with 3.1 seconds left Wednesday to give OSU a 75-73 win over Northwestern.

On Sunday, the Buckeyes overcame an early 23-9 deficit to beat league-leader Michigan State, 72-70. William Buford hit a 20-foot jumper over the outstretched fingertips of Keith Appling with a second to play.

“I was fortunate to knock down the big shot of the night to give us another Big Ten title,” said Buford, who finished with a game-high 25 points.

Ohio State, which finished the regular season 25-6 overall, is the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will face either Purdue or Penn State in Friday’s conference quarterfinal.

SINGLE-GAME PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK

Jamaal Franklin, San Diego State Sophomore Guard: Franklin concluded his second regular season at SDSU with his best performance as an Aztec.

In Saturday’s 98-92 overtime road win over Texas Christian, which gave the Aztecs a share of the Mountain West Conference championship, Franklin went off for 35 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a blocked shot. He made nine of his 18 shots from the floor, 14-of-17 from the charity stripe and went 3-for-8 from the 3-point line.

For the season, Franklin is averaging 17.1 points, eight boards, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals.

WIN OF THE WEEK

North Carolina 88, Duke 70: The Tar Heels jumped out to a 24-8 lead midway through the first half and were never really threatened en route to the ACC regular-season crown.

The 18-point win was the third-largest victory ever at Cameron Indoor Stadium. UNC led 48-24 at the half, shot 54.5 percent from the field, out-rebounded the Blue Devils 45-28 in its seventh straight victory.

“We were kind of overwhelmed by them and the situation,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski admitted.

The No. 6 Tar Heels, who were led by sophomore Kendall Marshall’s 20 points and 10 assists, will face either Maryland or Wake Forest in Friday’s ACC quarterfinal as the tourney’s top seed.

UPSET OF THE WEEK

Arkansas State 64, Middle Tennessee 61: Arkansas State entered the Sun Belt Tournament with just 11 wins. The Red Wolves had lost two straight, five of their last seven and 10 of their last 14.

But after Saturday’s first-round win over Florida Atlantic, the tournament’s No. 9 seed earned its biggest win of the season by knocking off the top-seeded Blue Raiders.

Middle Tennessee is 25-6 overall, is ranked 47^th in the latest RPI and has wins over UCLA, Akron, Belmont and Mississippi on its resume. The Raiders will have to wait a week to find out whether that’s enough to get them into the NCAA Tournament.

LOSS OF THE WEEK

Fairfield 85, Iona 75: The nation’s leading scoring team was held to 75 points as its 6-game winning streak came to an end.

On the other end, Fairfield shot 59.6 percent from the field, out-rebounded the Gaels 32-20 and went on a 16-1 run midway through the second half to turn a 60-54 deficit into a 70-61 lead.

Iona’s fate will now be decided by the NCAA Tournament committee. The Gaels have 25 wins, a strong RPI at 48 and have victories over Nevada, Maryland, St. Joseph’s, Long Island, Denver, Marshall and Richmond.

PLAY OF THE WEEK

Jewaun Long’s layup sinks Tennessee State’s hopes: Murray State trailed 50-43 with five minutes left, and after a 9-2 run got the Racers even with the Tigers, Long hit a layup with 4.4 seconds left to send Murray to the NCAA Tournament.

The senior scored just six points on 2-of-7 shooting.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in him,” Murray State coach Steve Prohm said. “He hadn’t made a lot of shots all night, but that’s his shot.”

Long’s shot put the No. 9 Racers within a game of their school-record 31^st win and gave them their seventh consecutive triumph.

It was heartbreak for Tennessee State, which handed Murray its only loss on Feb. 9. But it was relief for several teams on the bubble. With the Racers already presumably in the field, if the Tigers had held on, they would have bumped one of the current bubble teams out of the field.

Boston College Basketball Preview: #93

Joel Welser — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:21:41 -0700

Overall Rank: #93

Conference Rank: #11 Atlantic Coast

2008-09: 22-12, 9-7

2008-09 postseason: NCAA

Coach: Al Skinner (232-149 at Boston College, 370-275 overall)

Following the lead of point guard Tyrese Rice, Boston College reached the NCAA Tournament. Once there the Eagles did what they did most of the season; they were very inconsistent and lost to a better team in Southern California. In fact that was one of the few games where Rice was held to single digits in the scoring column and nobody else was able to step up enough to give the Eagles a chance to win the game. Somebody better step up this year now that Rice is gone or it will be a long season on Chestnut Hill.

Key Losses: G Tyrese Rice

Key Newcomers:

Coach Al Skinner did not sign anybody for the 2009 class. Unless there was a great recruit out there that wanted to go to Boston College, any newcomer would not play much this year anyway, if at all. Not using a scholarship this year also makes sense because BC only has one senior on their roster this year and that gives the coaching staff more options for the class of 2010.

Backcourt:

Rice got all the publicity, but the players on the wings were pretty productive last year too. Joe Trapani, a transfer from Vermont, was second on the team with 13.4 points per game. At 6-8, Trapani is a nightmare to guard for most opposing small forwards. Trapani can knock down the three-pointer rather consistently and he usually has little problem simply shooting over his defender. Rakim Sanders is pretty tall for a shooting guard too and that makes this backcourt very dynamic. Sanders, at 6-5, can score in a variety ways and, like Trapani, is more than willing to help out on the glass.

Frontcourt:

Corey Raji, despite being just an inch taller than the team’s shooting guard, is the most dangerous scorer under the basket. Raji nearly hit the double digit scoring average as a sophomore and also proved to be a very capable rebounder. Josh Southern started all 34 games at the center position last year and should start again this time around. He is not much of a scorer, but he is a good rebounder and a decent shot blocker who can clog the lane on both ends of the floor. If Southern could stay out of foul trouble, he could emerge as a double digit scorer and rebounder. But that is unlikely and the Eagles will need players like Tyler Roche and Evan Ravenel to fill in when Southern is forced to the bench.

Who to Watch:

The potential of the rest of the team is one thing, but the big question is who replaces Rice? Reggie Jackson had a pretty productive freshman campaign, tallying 7.0 points and 1.7 assists per game. He is certainly the point guard who can also score, but Biko Paris is a junior with more experience and better suited to run the team. One of those two will step into Rice’s shoes, or most likely a combination of the two players, but Boston College needs their point guards to keep the turnovers down and find the new scorers.

Final Projection:

Trapani and Sanders could be superstars. Raji and Southern are capable frontcourt players, but who is going to take over this team? Even if all the returning starters step up their games to help cover for the loss of Rice’s 16.9 points per game, can Jackson or Paris keep the team under control? Many considered Boston College a one-man team in 2008-2009 and if that was the case, the team has a lot of growing up to do this year or their inconsistencies will be even more prevalent in 2009-2010.

Projected Post-season Tournament: CBI/CIT

Projected Starting Five:

Reggie Jackson, Sophomore, Guard, 7.0 points per game

Rakim Sanders, Junior, Guard, 12.9 points per game

Joe Trapani, Junior, Forward, 13.4 points per game

Corey Raji, Junior, Forward, 9.9 points per game

Josh Southern, Junior, Center, 6.0 points per game

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