By Roscoe Nance
It has been a season of growing pains for Morgan State and Delaware State, both of whom will participate in the ninth annual ESPN Sears BracketBusters event this weekend.
Morgan State, the dominant team in the MEAC the last five seasons, is relying on newcomers for the first time since the second of Coach Todd Bozeman's five seasons at the helm. The result has been the Bears, the defending MEAC regular season and preseason champions and the preseason picks to successfully defend their titles, are at 12-10 and third in the conference with an 8-3 mark.
Delaware State, which has five freshmen on its roster, including two starters, has had a difficult time duplicating its success of a year ago when the Hornets were the regular season runners-up. The Hornets are 9-15 overall and 5-7 in the conference. They will travel to Nashville, Tennessee to take on the Tennessee State Tigers. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Bozeman and Delaware State coach Greg Jackson says their teams should benefit from their growing pains in Sears BracketBusters when Morgan State hosts Virginia Military Institute and Delaware State plays at Tennessee State Saturday and during the remainder of their conference schedules.
Sears BracketBusters features NCAA Tournament hopefuls from 11 conferences competing in 57 games. This year's 114-team pool is the largest ever. The matchups include 24th-ranked Utah State playing and No. 23 Saint Mary's. Six other teams in the field - Cleveland State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Valparaiso, Virginia Commonwealth and Wichita State - have received votes in the USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 poll. Five schools - Montana; Northern Iowa; St. Mary's (CA); Utah State and Vermont - participated in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
This is the third consecutive season that the MEAC has been represented in Sears BracketBusters and the third appearance for Morgan State, which is hosting a game for the first time. They will face Virginia Military Institute on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Bears are 7-2 Hill Field House this season.
Morgan State has a seasoned frontcourt that is manned by sophomore forward DeWayne Jackson, the 2010 MEAC Rookie of the Year, and junior forward Kevin Thompson, the 2010 MEAC Defensive Player of the Year. Jackson leads the Bears with 15.7 points a game, sixth best in the MEAC. Thompson averages 12.3 points and is third in the conference with 8.5 rebounds per game.
The Bears start two transfers, point guard Larry Bastfield and swingman Aric Brooks; freshman swingman Justin Black and guard Tola Lawal, another transfer, are their top two reserves.
"It's a different mix,'' Bozeman says. "After my second year I've always had incumbents with a year under their belts. The freshmen or new guys didn't have to take a heavy role. It's been a transition.''
A rugged non-conference schedule that included road games against Loyola Marymount, LaSalle, Syracuse, Baylor and Louisville has helped the Bears develop as a unit, Bozeman says, and made them better in some areas.
He notes that in previous years the Bears had some difficulty playing against zone defenses. However, most of the teams that they played out of conference used zones, and the experience of going against them has made the Bears one of his better passing teams; they are second in the conference in assists with 12.7 a game.
"Most of the teams played zone,'' he says, "and they were big, active and successful but we actually got shots.''
That may seem like a small thing, but it is positive sign that gives Bozeman reason to be optimistic that the Bears will come together during the second half of the conference schedule.
"There are a lot of expectations for this team,'' he says. "I have them; they have them. I expected to be further along. In retrospect don't know if that would be far. You have to reassess. You have to look at the fact that we're relying on these new guys. We're not where we want to be. We're where we should be with room to improve.''
Virginia Military is 14-11 and sixth in the Big South Conference with a 7-8 mark. Sophomore forward Stan Okoye is Keydets top player. He averages 17.5 points, No. 2 in the Big South, and 8.4 rebounds, third-best in the conference.
Delaware State, who is competing in Sears BracketBusters for the first time, has lost a number of close games, underscoring its lack of experience. The Hornets, who have just three seniors on their 14-man roster, lost nonconference games on the road to LaSalle 65-61 and North Carolina State 72-70.
"One thing you can't substitute is experience,'' Jackson says. "You never know what is going to happen with freshmen. At times they play like seniors. Our attitude is to try to win every game. We know there are going to be ups and downs.''
Guard Desi Washington and swingman Casey Walker have been responsible many of the Hornets' ups. Washington is their leading scorer at 13.4 points a game. He is fifth in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage at .408 (64-for-157), and third behind Walker in 3-pointers made.
"He shoots the ball as well as anybody I've ever coached,'' Jackson says. "He will eventually be one of the better shooters to play in this conference. He has to learn to other things to complement his shooting. But no question he has been an asset.''
Walker is the team's second leading scorer at 12.9 points a game while shooting 37.3% on 3-pointers.
"It's a good experience,'' Washington says of playing a prominent role for the Hornets as a freshman. "Sometimes we see our youth come out. We're able to stay in games but sometimes we can't finish. The frustrating thing in the world is to be there and have it slip out of your hands. It's all about experience.''
Jackson says the Hornets' biggest problems have been on the defensive end. The Hornets have held opponents to only 65.1 points a game, the second fewest in the conference. However, opponents have shot 49.1% from the field, the second highest in the conference.
Jackson tries to minimize the Hornets' defensive deficiencies by limiting opponents' possession. The Hornets have attempted a conference-low 51.3 field goal a game.
"You have to make your offense your defense,'' Jackson says.
That strategy has worked well. The Hornets allow the second-fewest points in the conference, 63.6.
The Hornets' shooting accuracy allows them to play defense with their offense. They are 43.5% from the field, and lead the league with a 36.4% from behind the 3-point line and 73.4% from the free throw line. They also take care of the ball. They lead the conference in turnover margin at +4.30, and they have turned the ball over 267 times, the lowest total in the conference.
"I had no expectations going into season,'' Jackson says. "We have made a lot of improvement from day one. We're getting better in certain areas, but we have a long way to go in others.''
Tennessee State is 11-14 overall and 8-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Tigers are 8-2 at home.
Washington says that despite the Hornets' ups and downs, the team is confident that it will play well against Tennessee State in Sears BracketBusters and that it can be a factor in the MEAC Tournament next month, given how they played in non-conference games.
"We're going out and playing our game,'' he says. "Playing those non-conference games was a confidence booster. We felt we could play with anyone. We knew no one was giving us a shot. It was like 'We don't have anything to lose. Coming up short was still heartbreaking, but when you think about it they were supposed to beat us by 20 (points) but they only beat four or sometimes two.''