The Report Card: Providence, West Virginia surge to tourney titles
DATE: Sunday, Nov. 23
A+ — LaDontae Henton, Providence
When I previewed the Big East a few weeks ago, LaDontae Henton was the last player I left off my five-man preseason all-league team. In retrospect, the Providence senior is probably going to make me feel pretty foolish for that oversight — and he may just boost his team into contention in that league in the process.
All Henton has done so far this season is step into the role of go-to scorer vacated by Bryce Cotton, average 23.5 points per game and propel the Friars to an impressive 5-0 start. The 6-foot-6 forward had a career high 38 points on 14 of 19 shooting on Sunday afternoon as Providence rallied from an eight-point deficit with just over five minutes remaining to edge previously unbeaten Notre Dame, 75-74.
What was most impressive about Henton's performance Sunday was that he was at his very best when Providence needed him most. He scored 16 points in the final 11-plus minutes against Notre Dame, sinking the game-winning free throws after drawing a foul with 14 seconds to go and then preserving the one-point lead by blocking Pat Connaughton's short jumper. Big win for Providence, and a huge game for Henton, who is quickly evolving into one of the nation's most underrated stars.
A — West Virginia
So far the departure of double-digit scorers Eron Harris and Terry Henderson hasn't been nearly as big a loss for West Virginia as many predicted when they transferred. The Mountaineers have won their first five games thanks to the steady play of star point guard Juwan Staten, the emergence of a handful of newcomers who have stepped into complementary roles and a swarming full-court pressure defense that has consistently forced turnovers.
West Virginia's new identity was on full display Sunday night when the Mountaineers handed defending national champion UConn a 78-68 loss in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off title game, the Huskies first setback since before last season's NCAA tournament. Staten tallied 21 points for West Virginia and the Mountaineers harassed UConn into 19 turnovers, eight by freshman Daniel Hamilton alone.
What will likely determine whether West Virginia returns to the NCAA tournament this season after a two-year hiatus is whether enough other scorers emerge around Staten to make sure he doesn't have to shoulder too big a load. So far sophomore forward Devin Williams and Rhode Island transfer Jonathan Holton have provided interior production, while freshmen Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles have helped replace the perimeter scoring lost when Harris and Henderson departed. The one concern is outside shooting, an area in which Harris and Henderson excelled. West Virginia is shooting below 30 percent as a team from 3-point range.
B+ — Miami
Even though Miami didn't notch a single marquee win this weekend en route to the Charleston Classic title, what the Hurricanes accomplished is still impressive. They performed like the best team in a mediocre field should, dispatching of Drexel, Akron and Charlotte by a minimum of 18 points apiece.
Sunday's 77-58 demolition of Charlotte was probably Miami's most notable victory simply because of the 49ers' recent history in preseason tournaments. They won the 2012 Great Alaska Shootout, upset Kansas State and Michigan en route to the Puerto Rico Tip-Off title last year and edged Penn State and South Carolina in Charleston to reach Sunday's title game.
Miami's formula Sunday night was pretty simple: Superior guard play. Texas transfer Sheldon McClellan had a game-high 19 points, Manu Lecomte scored 15 and point guard Angel Rodriguez tallied 13 points, 5 assists and 5 steals. It also surely didn't help Charlotte that leading scorer Braxton Ogbueze appeared to hurt his right knee in the first half and did not return. Coach Alan Major did not have an update on his status after the game.
F — Paul Hewitt, George Mason
Rather than dissect everything that went wrong for George Mason during a lost weekend in Puerto Rico, why not just merely address the Patriots' final play in Sunday night's 61-60 loss to College of Charleston? Facing a one-point deficit with 5.9 seconds remaining, George Mason inbounded the ball too deep into the backcourt to have time to get a good look. Then Shevon Thompson set a sloppy screen for guard Marquise Moore, who panicked and passed to senior role player Vaughn Gray for a contested 3-pointer that not surprisingly did not go in.
That's not the mark of either a good team or a well-coached team, which is fitting because George Mason doesn't appear to be either. The Patriots fell to 1-4 this season with games against Manhattan, Old Dominion, Northern Iowa, Iona, Wright State and Oklahoma left before Atlantic 10 play begins. Perhaps there's a win or two in there somewhere for George Mason, but it's hard to imagine the Patriots starting league play with anything less than seven or eight losses minimum.
That can't be good news for coach Paul Hewitt, who is under pressure to win this season after going 11-20 last year in his third season on the job and the program's first year in the Atlantic 10. An anemic offense and early losses to Cornell and College of Charleston suggest Hewitt may be hard-pressed to even match last season's win total, let alone approach the success Jim Larranaga achieved at the height of his tenure.
NOTES:
• Three straight losses to Northeastern, Providence and UMass certainly has to worry Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton, but the bigger concern for the Seminoles (1-3) may be their health. Guard Devon Bookert sat out against UMass with a foot injury that may sideline him a while, big man Kiel Turpin has a knee injury that has limited him so far this season and leading scorer Aaron Thomas had to be rushed to the hospital at halftime Sunday due to dehydration. With games against Nebraska, Notre Dame and Florida all looming in December, Florida State needs to get healthy fast.
• Tyler Lamb's first game against his ex-UCLA teammates probably didn't go as he envisioned. The Long Beach State wing shot just 1-for-8 from the field and finished with more turnovers (4) than points (3) as the Bruins pulled away late for a 77-63 victory.
• Also notable from that UCLA-Long Beach State box score: Bryce Alford played 38 minutes, Norman Powell 37 and Isaac Hamilton 32. That's a sign of things to come for a Bruins team that has only three scholarship guards. It's also a major long-term concern if any of the three either get hurt or wear down.
• The headline from Danuel House's Texas A&M debut was this monster jam against New Mexico, but don't let that obscure everything else he did to lead the Aggies to a 64-51 come-from-behind win over New Mexico. The 6-foot-6 Houston transfer had 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting and was the best player on the floor throughout the second half. His immediate eligibility could pay major dividends for Texas A&M this season.
• Surrendering a late lead in a 62-56 home loss to Texas A&M Corpus Christi was a reality check for Saint Louis. Try as they might, the rebuilding Billikens simply are too inexperienced and too short on proven scorers to even approach the accomplishments of the last two seasons.
• It came against Sacred Heart, not Wisconsin, and it came in mid-November, not mid-March, but D'Angelo Russell's 32-point, nine-rebound, five-assist masterpiece is still a great sign for Ohio State. The Buckeyes desperately need the talented freshman to make an immediate impact offensively, and so far it appears he's capable of doing just that.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
