SWAC Basketball

Big Monday featured a one-sided battle in the Big East and a second half surge by Texas in a Big 12 clash.

Who else was in action on Monday night?

Winners:

Jackson State (17-11, 15-1): Jackson State continued its dominance in the SWAC, posting a 57-54 win over Arkansas Pine-Bluff in a game that was featured on ESPNU. The Jaguars have been the bright spot in SWAC play, improving to 15-1 in the standings.  Jackson State can clinch the SWAC regular season title with a win over Alabama A&M on Thursday.

West Virginia (23-6, 12-5): Da’Sean Butler scored 22 points on senior night and West Virginia moved that much closer to solidifying a double bye in the Big East tournament, which begins next week. They wrap up the regular season at Villanova on Saturday.

Utah State (24-6, 13-2): The Aggies continued their dominance in WAC play. They beat up on Fresno State 76-39 led by a 21 point performance from Taj Wesley.

Texas (23-7, 9-6): It was a sloppy first half for Texas, but the Longhorns played well down the stretch and held off Oklahoma at home. With their recent struggles, this was a game Texas could not afford to squander. The former No. 1 team in the country improved to 23-7 with a 87-76 victory.

Losers:

Arkansas- Pine Bluff (13-15, 13-4): Yes, they did not win a single non-conference game, but Arkansas Pine Bluff missed an opportunity at the SWAC regular season title with a 57-54 loss to Jackson State.

Oklahoma (13-16, 4-11): The Sooners came out hot behind the 3-point shot of Cade Davis, but could not slow down Texas in the second half, allowing 49 points. Oklahoma has dropped seven games in a row, four of which have been without their star player, Willie Warren.

North Carolina A&T (10-20, 6-9): They had a halftime lead on the road over conference-leading Morgan State and got blown out in the second half. In search of a bright spot on a disappointing season, North Carolina A&T was outscored by 19 in the second half and lost 81-67.

At the end of each season, the Southwestern Athletic Conference is represented by one team in the NCAA Tournament.

For this year it will be the same, and just over a month into the college basketball season, a date in the NCAA Play-In game might be all the conference has to look forward to.

High expectations are rare for any of the ten teams featured in the SWAC conference, and in 2009-2010, the struggles to begin the season are among the worst in the country.

Here are some the early-season highlights from the conference:

• A total of 14 wins between the conference’s 10 teams.
• No teams are above .500
• The conference is 14-63 overall
• The conference has a combined winning percentage of .182
• The most wins by any team is four (Prairie View A&M)
• Three winless teams totaling an 0-22 start
• Four one-win teams totaling a 4-27 start
• Combined, the bottom seven teams in the conference are 4-49 overall
• Alabama A&M sits in first place at 3-3
• Alcorn State is 0-10, losing by an average of 32 points

Let’s be honest. The conference cannot be expected to put up big numbers, but the stats don’t lie, the Southwestern Athletic Conference is just awful.

Alcorn State began the season as one of the few teams playing in early November as part of the 2K Sports Coach vs. Cancer Classic. The end result was an embarrassing 100-60 loss at the hands of Ohio State, while their most recent game was a 98-31 loss to the nation’s top team in Kansas.

For the conference’s first place team, Alabama A&M, they sit at 3-3 overall. However, all three of their wins have come against teams who are not Division I. Their three losses are against South Carolina, Auburn, and Stillman (another school that is not Division I).

Prairie View A&M has the most wins overall in the conference at four. Three of which have come against non-Division I programs as well. At 4-5 the only victory which served any meaning was a 69-54 win over Florida Gulf Coast.

The four teams that have secured one win overall are Grambling State, Alabama State, Southern University, and Mississippi Valley State. With the exception of Southern University, the other three one-win teams have picked up their lone victory on the year against a non-Division I opponent. Southern University picked up their first win of the season over New Orleans just yesterday, Dec. 12.  

The scheduling is questionable for the lower Division I programs that make up the SWAC conference. However, if the lower competition was not featured on the schedule of these teams, their overall records might just be even worse than 14-63.

The 10 team league will fight for the one lone spot in the NCAA Tournament once conference play begins. For these teams, the opportunity cannot come quicker.

*Photo Credit: The Sacramento Bee

Photo originally appeared at www.sports.espn.go.com

Senior Jonathan Boyd scored 20 points and converted six of his 10 three-point attempts, but it was not enough as the Alcorn State Braves lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes 100-60 Monday night.

The Braves knew that their first game of the 2009-10 season would present a significant, if not overwhelming, challenge. Alcorn State was facing a raucous crowd of over 11,000 at the Value City Arena eager to witness the debut of their beloved Buckeyes.

The Braves were competing against a team ranked 16th in the Associated Press top 25 preseason poll while Alcorn State won just six contests last season. Head coach Larry Smith inserted three freshmen into the starting lineup to face an Ohio State team returning all its starters from last year.

Alcorn State felt little comfort realizing that Ohio State forward/center Dallas Lauderdale would miss the game due to an injury to his hand.

The Braves gained momentum early by winning the opening tip, but the enthusiasm didn't last long. When Buckeye Evan Turner stole a Jamar Ragland pass attended for Keith Searcy and turned it into a fast-break slam dunk, the 2-0 deficit marked closest Alcorn State would be for the entirety of the game.

The score was 8-0 before Boyd made a three-pointer to get Alcorn State on the board. The Braves appeared jittery at the beginning of the game, and the size and athleticism of the Buckeyes made it difficult for the team to run its offense effectively.

Twelve minutes into the game, the Braves were trailing 34-15, and two players for the Buckeyes, Turner and Jon Diebler, had more points combined than the entire Braves' roster.

Boyd's three three-point baskets and some nice interior moves made by JaMarkus Holt were basically the only highlights to a first half that ended with Ohio State ahead 56-28.  The Buckeyes leading 18 to five in assists and 15 to zero in points off of turnovers indicated that a blowout was occurring.

Despite the deficit, the Braves played the second half with more confidence and aggressiveness. Alcorn State was better able to run its half-court sets and drive to the basket.

The Braves converted on 11 of its 17 foul shots in the second half while attempting only three in the first. Unfortunately, the renewed sense of purpose didn't translate on the court as Alcorn State actually shot worse from the field and from three-point range in the second half.

Along with his 20 points, Boyd led the Braves in assists with three. Holt contributed nine points, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks to the effort. Tony Eackles sparked the Braves off the bench, and his 14 points scored represented the most for any of the six freshmen that played forAlcorn State.

Ohio State finished the game with five players reaching double-digits in scoring. Diebler had 22 points, and William Buford chipped in 19.

Turner created a lasting memory by becoming just the second Buckeye to post a triple-double by registering 14 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists.  The only other Ohio State player to perform such a feat was Dennis Hopson in 1986.

The Braves will next take on the Arkansas Razorbacks on the road Nov. 13. Alcorn State does not play in front of its home fans until Dec. 30 against Central Michigan.