Hawaii Diamond Head Classic

[AUChizad]

Looks like it was a hell of a game going on late last night.

http://www2.oanow.com/blogs/aublog/2011/dec/23/chubbs-dunk-lifts-auburn-win-over-hawaii-honolulu-ar-2919193/

Auburn 65, Hawaii 62

Chubb's dunk lifts Auburn to win over Hawaii in Honolulu

Credit: Todd J. van Emst | Special to the News

By: David Morrison | Opelika Auburn News
Published: December 23, 2011 | 0 Comments | Post a Comment

Varez Ward charged down the lane and found Rob Chubb for the game-winning dunk with 3.9 seconds to go in the Tigers’ 65-62 win over host Hawaii in their first game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu on Friday morning.

Hawaii went ahead for the first time in the game with a Vander Joaquim jumper in the lane with 8.6 seconds to go, but Chubb answered and Chris Denson stole the ensuing inbounds pass and knocked down two free throws for the final margin.

Frankie Sullivan led the Tigers with 17 points and seven rebounds, Kenny Gabriel had 13 points and nine boards, and Chubb scored 14, including 10 in the second half.

But none were bigger than the 2 he jammed through the net at around 2:40 a.m. Central time, sending the Tigers to the win.

Auburn (8-1), which is off to its best start since the 1999-2000 season, plays Long Beach State (6-5) in the tournament semifinals Friday at 10 p.m.

The Tigers led by 6 with 2 minutes to go, but a Zane Johnson 3-pointer – followed by a Joston Thomas free throw – brought the Warriors within 59-57 of Auburn with 43.2 seconds to go.

Sullivan knocked down two free throws, but Trevor Wiseman converted a 3-point play to cut the Tigers’ lead to 61-60 with 28.2 seconds to go.

Sullivan missed two free throws with 24 seconds to go, and Joaquim knocked down the jumper to set up the late-game dramatics.

Johnson scored a game-high 18 points for the Warriors, and Joaquim had 10 points and nine rebounds.

The Tigers extended their lead to 9 early in the second half, thanks to two 3-pointers by Sullivan, but Hawaii (5-5) came right back, ripping off a 9-0 run to tie the game at 43-43 with 14:40 to go, the first tie of the game.

Auburn gained 7 points of separation later in the half, but Hawaii closed back within 53-51 on a Joaquim free throw after Chubb picked up his fourth foul with 4:55 to go.

The Tigers went into the half up 35-29 after threatening to break away against the Warriors, but never gaining more than 11 points of separation.

Auburn started the game on a 9-2 run in the first 2:34, knocking down four of its first six shots while Hawaii made only one of its first five.

After the Warriors reeled off 6 straight points to cut the lead to 9-8, the Tigers went on a 15-5 run to take a 24-13 lead with 7:42 left in the first half.

But Hawaii had an answer, scoring 10 straight points to get back within 24-23 at the 5:07 mark.

Auburn shot 48.4 percent in the first half – including 4-of-11 from 3-point range – as Denson and Sullivan each scored 7.

The Tigers’ big men battled foul trouble the whole first half, with 6-foot-10 center Willy Kouassi and 6-8 forward Adrian Forbes each picking up three fouls, and Chubb fouling twice.

Johnson scored 10 in the first half for Hawaii, which couldn’t capitalize on frequent trips to the charity stripe and hit only 5-of-12 free throws in the first 20 minutes.

Barbee echoed Sullivan.

"We didn't pass our first road test at Seton Hall and this is the second true road test and I was proud the way they responded," Barbee said. "I talk about there's going to be adversity in every game. There was adversity tonight. We weren't making shots. We were turning the ball over. They made some big shots late, but we didn't let that affect us."

Zane Johnson scored 18 points to lead Hawaii. Joston Thomas added 12, and Joaquim had 10 points and nine rebounds.

Next we draw Long Beach State, who I thought was one of the few cupcakes in this thing, but apparently not. They beat #15 Xavier last night.

Winning this one would be H-U-G-E.

[AUChizad]

ESPN's take on the teams before this thing started:

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/tag/_/name/diamond-head-classic-2011

Tourney preview: Diamond Head Classic
December, 22, 2011

By Eamonn Brennan
College hoops doesn't totally shut down over the holiday. In fact, eight lucky teams get to spend Christmas in Hawaii, where they'll compete for top honors at the annual Diamond Head Classic. OK, OK, so this isn't quite the Maui Invitational. The field is nowhere near as strong as what we saw at the Lahaina Civic Center in November, as is usually the case when you compare the two. But for holiday hoops -- including a couple of college games on Christmas Day to distract from you all that NBA and NFL goodness (and, for that matter, your family) -- it definitely gets the job done.

And hey, there are some intriguing storylines here. Kansas State proved itself as an emerging defensive force after a dominant victory over Alabama on Saturday; the Wildcats just might be this tournament's favorite. Xavier is the obvious candidate for those honors, but can the Musketeers overcome the personnel losses they suffered in the Cincinnati brawl to avoid a first-round loss to a very tough Long Beach State team? For that matter, can the Beach -- which beat Pittsburgh at Pitt and has tested Kansas, North Carolina and Louisville on the road -- turn its impressive play into some attention-garnering wins? And what do we make of Clemson?

To get you up to speed, let's take a quick run through the eight teams in the 2011 Diamond Head Classic field, in order of their placement in the bracket. UTEP plays Clemson in the first round, Kansas State plays Southern Illinois, et al. You get the idea. And in case you'd rather not visualize an invisible bracket running across your computer screen, here's the bracket itself (PDF). To the preview:

UTEP

Where they stand: Things kicked off in ugly fashion for the 2011-12 Miners -- their season opener was a home loss to Texas-San Antonio -- and haven't improved much since. The Miners also own a home loss to Stephen F. Austin, they split with New Mexico State, and their only high-major opponent to date, a struggling Oregon team, topped them in Eugene. UTEP was no doubt thrilled when it landed Tim Floyd in the wake of the USC mess, but the big-name coach has a major project ahead of him in his second season in El Paso.

Key player: Senior forward Gabriel McCulley doesn't get as many touches as some of his teammates, but he still leads the Miners in scoring, rebounding and steals, and he gets his points efficiently -- his offensive rating of 116.7 is vastly better than any of UTEP's other main contributors.

Key stat: 22.6. That's the percentage of possessions on which UTEP (4-5) turns the ball over to its opponents, which ranks the Miners No. 237 in the country. Put simply, UTEP doesn't take care of the ball, and that trait is dragging what could otherwise be a decent offense down.

Best-case scenario: UTEP gets the kind of game it prefers in Clemson -- a slow-paced defensive battle -- and manages to hold on long enough to take down the Tigers and play Kansas State tough in the second round.

Worst-case scenario: A first-round loss should give way to a favorable second-round matchup in Southern Illinois, but at that point, thanks to the dearth of quality teams on the wrong side of the bracket, UTEP will have missed its one chance to get a remotely impressive win.

Clemson

Where they stand: It's hard to say. The Tigers are 6-4 this season, thanks in part to three disconcerting losses (to College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina and South Carolina, all at home). But the Tigers lost those games by three, one and three points, respectively, and thus far they've posted very impressive defensive-efficiency stats, the kind that lend confidence for the future. Perhaps this tournament, giving the Tigers the chance to test their mettle against the likes of Kansas State and/or Xavier, will help us form a more reliable picture.

Key player: Guard Andre Young is this team's leader in minutes and points, and he's been good at just about everything this year, posting an offensive rating of 129.8 (one of the top 40 in the country to date) while shooting efficiently, setting up his teammates and keeping turnovers to a minimum. Young's size (he's listed at 5-foot-9, which is almost certainly generous) could hold him back at times, but as far as efficient point guards go, he's a good one.

Key stat: 0.88. That's the number of points the Tigers allow to opponents per possession, which ranks them No. 17 in the country by Ken Pomeroy's metrics. It's a very good defense. But because Clemson has struggled to score, it has gotten bogged down in close games to seemingly inferior opponents at home, and its record has suffered as a result.

Best-case scenario: Clemson handles UTEP and moves on to play Kansas State -- another stout defensive team -- in the second round, where it finally wins one of those close games. Don't count the Tigers out.

Worst-case scenario: A loss to UTEP would certainly qualify. Then you're 6-5, and you've got a bunch of bad marks on your at-large sheet, and all of a sudden a trip to the NCAA tournament from the jumbled middle of the ACC is looking incredibly unlikely.

Kansas State

Where they stand: Quietly and steadily, Kansas State coach Frank Martin has his team off to a 7-1 start in 2011-12. The Wildcats' only loss came in double OT to West Virginia, but they bounced back with a 71-58 victory over Alabama on Saturday. For many, that might be proof enough that Martin's team is back and ready to wreak havoc in the Big 12. But a solid trip to Hawaii certainly couldn't.

Key player: Kansas State doesn't always look fluid on offense; when the Wildcats get their points, it's usually because freshman forward Thomas Gipson already hauled down a miss. Gipson has been something of a revelation early in his career, particularly on the offensive boards, and without his and fellow forward Jamar Samuels' contributions under the rim, K-State really struggles to score.

Key stat: 41.4. That's what Wildcats' opponents are shooting from the field (as measured by effective field-goal percentage) this season. That's the 11th-lowest mark in Division I hoops and a key reason why this defense has been so stout so far this season.

Best-case scenario: A championship. If Xavier isn't the favorite anymore -- and we'll see -- then it has to be Kansas State, which has one of the most talented outfits on the island and can heartily defend (like Clemson) but can also score a little bit, too (unlike Clemson).

Worst-case scenario: It's hard to imagine K-State falling to a truly bad SIU team in the first round, so worst-case is probably a loss in a knock-down, drag-'em-out defensive slugfest with Clemson in Round 2. If the Wildcats fall there, they lose a chance to play and beat the Musketeers in the finale, and that would be a nice little addition to the tournament resume.

Southern Illinois

Where they stand: On shaky ground. Remember when Southern Illinois was a mid-major darling and coach Chris Lowery was the next big thing? Those days are long gone now, and in their place is yet another brutal Salukis squad, one off to a 3-5 start that includes losses to Western Kentucky, Western Michigan, Northeastern and -- believe it or not -- something called Ohio Dominican. SIU's only wins to date: Chicago State, Northern Illinois, SIU-Edwardsville, three of the cupcakiest opponents you'll ever see. Yeah. It's bad.

Key player: Mamadou Seck. For one, he has a fantastic name. Two, he's basically Lowery's only effective player, a guy who contributes points, blocks, steals, assists and rebounding on both ends of the floor.

Key stat: 0.89. That's how many points the Salukis are averaging per possession this season. For reference's sake, it ranks them No. 314 in the country. There are 345 D-I basketball teams. You get the idea.

Best-case scenario: A win or two in the consolation rounds, maybe, or at least some signs of progress in close losses.

Worst-case scenario: Three more losses and the unfortunate continuation of what has already been a painful nonconference slate.

Long Beach State

Where they stand: Long Beach State's record doesn't come anywhere close to doing this team justice. Sure, the Beach is 5-5, but look closer. The 49ers have beaten Pitt in its own building. They lost by four at San Diego State, two at Montana, eight at Kansas and six at North Carolina, and they gave Louisville a decent run in the Yum! Center, too. This is an interesting tournament for Dan Monson's team. It clearly has the ability to hang with top teams on the road, let alone on a neutral floor, and gets to face a crippled Xavier squad in the first round. Could LBSU really pull this thing off?

Key player: The dynamic duo of Casper Ware and Larry Anderson. Ware and Anderson form one of, if not the, best mid-major backcourt duos in the country -- combined, they averaged 32.6 points per game -- and both are at their best when attacking opposing defenses off a miss in the open court. They're both good, and they're both very fun to watch. Don't miss 'em.

Key stat: 71.0. That's the number of possessions the 49ers average per game, which ranks them among the 20 or so fastest teams in the country. LBSU wants to run, run, run and then run some more, and if an opposing defense doesn't have its guard up, look out.

Best-case scenario: A championship! LBSU can play with the big boys, as it has proved in some incredibly hostile and difficult road environments this season. What's more, the 49ers get Xavier in the first round, before guard Mark Lyons finishes his suspension for his role in the Cincy-Xavier brawl two weeks ago. Call it an early Christmas present for Monson and company. If they get past the Muskies, hey, they might just win this thing.

Worst-case scenario: A loss to Xavier, which would at the very least banish them to the consolation bracket and probably end any and all hopes -- slim though they were -- of garnering some at-large consideration from the tournament selection committee in March.

Xavier

Where they stand: Before the brawl, everything was peachy. The Musketeers were undefeated. Tu Holloway was doing his thing. In the post-brawl fallout, after suspensions to Holloway (one game), Lyons (two games) and Dezmine Wells (four games), the Musketeers looked putrid in a 64-42 home loss to Oral Roberts. Holloway is back for the start of the Diamond Head, but Lyons will miss one more game. Wells didn't make the trip. Can Xavier overcome the losses and assume its rightful position as this tournament's clear favorite?

Key player: Holloway. Xavier has had a tendency to underperform for roughly 35 minutes at any given time this season, at which point Holloway has rescued them with late 3s and clutch heroics. Without Lyons as his running mate Thursday, Tu won't be able to wait that long.

Key stat: 40.2. That would be Xavier's opponents' effective field-goal percentage, and if you remember the Kansas State stat, you'll know that it is very low -- the sixth-lowest in the country, to be precise. Xavier gets out on top of you, and it has both the speed and physicality to make sure good looks at the rim are rare.

Best-case scenario: A title. Frankly, Xavier should be the favorite, even with all the post-brawl personnel losses. Even with Wells at home, the Musketeers will be the most talented team on the island.

Worst-case scenario: That said, taking on LBSU's Ware-and-Anderson show without Lyons is a daunting task. It wouldn't be a shock to see Xavier drop this one, at which point it would be in the consolation bracket and facing the loser of the Auburn-Hawaii game. Ouch.

Auburn

Where they stand: Here's to a forgiving schedule. The Tigers are 7-1 to begin the season, but check out this hardy list of opponents: McNeese State, Kennesaw State, Nicholls State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Seton Hall, South Florida, North Florida, Florida A&M. The loss (81-59) came at Seton Hall. The wins came at home. Michigan State, this is not.

Key player: This team's main strength is blocked shots, and its chief purveyor of the rejection is forward Kenny Gabriel, who records a swat on 12.2 percent of available possessions. (Fellow forward Rob Chubb is no slouch defending the rim, either.)

Key stat: 20.4. That's the percentage of available possessions when this team records a block, the third-highest in the country to date. That's a lot of blocks! Unfortunately, the Tigers haven't shown much offensive know-how just yet, and they're weak in other areas. (And, to be fair, those block rates might be the product of playing that murderer's row of interior talent you see listed above.) Either way, that mark trails only Kentucky and Connecticut this season. That has to be worth something.

Best-case scenario: A win in the first round and an encouraging coming-out party -- win or lose -- in a second-round matchup against a full-strength Xavier team. At the very least, it would help improve that dreadful nonconference strength of schedule. Ick.

Worst-case scenario: A loss to Hawaii in the first round and a blowout to either Xavier or LBSU in the second.

Hawaii

Where they stand: Gib Arnold's team is 5-4 and ranked No. 231 in Pomeroy's rankings. That kind of says it all. The wins have come against Cal-State Northridge, UC Davis, Pacific, Hawaii-Hilo and North Carolina A&T; the losses were a product of matchups with Gonzaga, Eastern Washington, Pepperdine and Pacific. That's exactly what you'd expect. The good news? Hawaii doesn't have to do the traveling, time-change adjusting, touristing and everything else that comes with a trip to Hawaii. The Warriors can just play. Maybe that's good for an upset or two?

Key player: Zane Johnson is this team's leading scorer, but forward Vander Joaquim -- 11.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.4 blocks per game -- is its most productive player, and one the Warriors will need if they plan on playing at the rim with the block-happy Tigers.

Key stat: 24.3 percent. That's Hawaii's turnover rate this season, which puts it near the bottom 50 or so in the country and has, along with subpar shooting, truly stunted this offense to date.

Best-case scenario: Auburn hasn't had to experience road basketball often this season, let alone road basketball in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, so Arnold's team might have an early upset (so to speak) in them here. But with LBSU or Xavier awaiting in the second round, it's hard to picture the Warriors going any further than that.

Worst-case scenario: Finishing without a win, which would mean (almost certainly) losing to Southern Illinois at some point. Losses to Southern Illinois are probably best avoided. To put it kindly.

So our best case scenario was to beat Hawaii (which we did) and then not get blown off the court by Xavier (which we won't get the opportunity to do since they lost to LBSU already). So I guess the new goal is not to get blown out against LBSU? Like I said, a win would be monumental.

[AUChizad]

Just found the bracket.



UTEP beat Clemson.

Next they get Kansas State.

We'll both likely lose our next game.

Does that mean Barbee may play his old team next in the consolation bracket?

[Buzz Killington]

Yeah, I think that is right.  I ended up watching the second half of the LBSU/Xavier game, then made it to halftime of Auburn's game.  Just from watching those two halves, I believe the Barbee dolls are going to get their shit pushed in tonight.

[War Eagle!!!]

I am surprised with this win. Maybe we can win this thing...

[djsimp]

I am surprised with this win. Maybe we can win this thing...

I would text Santa for this wish but I've been a bad boy this year. One of you will have to do it.

[CCTAU]

Yeah, I think that is right.  I ended up watching the second half of the LBSU/Xavier game, then made it to halftime of Auburn's game.  Just from watching those two halves, I believe the Barbee dolls are going to get their shit pushed in tonight.

I somehow watched it till the end. We are really streaky. And the Ward kid was just looking lost at times. When he gets his game back 100%, we'll be pretty good. Frankie is not even back 100% yet and he looks pretty talented. The Gabriel kid is one long dude. He pulls down some nice rebounds.

When this team gets all of its pieces moving together, they can compete. we'll see how the SEC goes.

But you know you are in trouble when your offense runs through the white guy.

I will add one other thing, this team looks to be a lot better in the free throw category than the previous teams.

[ssgaufan]

So what time will I be able to find our game on today?

[AUChizad]

So what time will I be able to find our game on today?

10pm. On the Deuce.

[ssgaufan]

10pm. On the Deuce.

Thank you   

[ssgaufan]

Fuck, this is ugly.  I wonder why we don't rebound on offense?  This team very rarely gets second chance shots.  It also seems that every time LBSU goes on offense AU decides to foul them.   

[AUTiger1]

Fuck, this is ugly.  I wonder why we don't rebound on offense?  This team very rarely gets second chance shots.  It also seems that every time LBSU goes on offense AU decides to foul them.   

We play hard on D and get over aggressive.    I have seen them get a little rough and not call it.  There were a couple of times when we were down low or on a drive and they would hack the shit out of our guys and it not get called.  Would look better if he hadn't fouled on that last shot and gave them three free throws.  At least we are scrappy and play hard.  Other than that, I have nothing and agree.  We play O ugly.

[ssgaufan]

We play hard on D and get over aggressive.    I have seen them get a little rough and not call it.  There were a couple of times when we were down low or on a drive and they would hack the shit out of our guys and it not get called.  Would look better if he hadn't fouled on that last shot and gave them three free throws.  At least we are scrappy and play hard.  Other than that, I have nothing and agree.  We play O ugly.

The only reason I'm still watching is because I'm up all by myself, and am drinking heavily.     Cable Car Amber Ale.

[AUTiger1]

They should have beat us.  They were a little better than we were and we were cold as hell but this stat pisses me off.

                                 LBSU               AU

FT Made-Attempted      19-25 (.760)      6-6 (1.000)
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant)    10 (0/0)            19 (0/0)

Sorry, even taking off the O&B glasses they were playing rough and all they got were 6 fouls?  No way they were 21 points better than us.  10 maybe, but 21? No.

[AWK]

We play UTEP tonight at 6:30 cst.   3rd place game.

[GH2001]

We play UTEP tonight at 6:30 cst.   3rd place game.

We started well. Sullivan was hot. Now they appear flat. 30-23 with a couple of mins left til the half.

[CCTAU]

I stopped watching. It seemed like we send 2 guys after the ball every time, but forgt to tell the other three to guard the basket!