November 18, 2009

Mike Pegram
Peegs.com & Inside Indiana Staff Writer

Things are tough from the start for Indiana in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. At 5:00 pm Eastern on Thursday the Hoosiers take on a well regarded Mississippi team from the Southeastern Conference. The Rebels are already getting AP poll votes and are picked by many to be one of the main contenders to win the SEC West Division.

Ole Miss and Indiana are on the bottom half of the Tip-Off bracket (Click here for printable bracket).  The other part of the bottom bracket will feature a well regarded Kansas State team of the Big 12 against a team projected by many to win the American East Conference -- Boston University.

As good as that bottom half is the top half is the one with the three ranked teams. Leading that group is #5 Villanova, the preseason favorite to win the Big East tournament and a Final Four team from last March. The Wildcats will face  George Mason in the first round. The tourney gets started at 11:30 am on Thursday with the most intriguing first round game as #18 Dayton takes on #21 Georgia Tech. That means there will be a ranked team falling immediately into the losers bracket in San Juan.

After Friday's second round or semifinal games the tournament is off on Saturday and will conclude on Sunday with the final set for 8 pm. The Indiana vs. Ole Miss game will be shown on ESPN2.

Here is a quick synopsis of the eight teams in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off starting from the top of the bracket:

Dayton - a year ago this team won 27 games led by the one-two duo of 6-foot-8 power forward Chris Wright (13.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and 6-foot-3 guard Marcus Johnson (11.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg). 10 of the top 11 scorers and four starters are back, so depth and experience on this team is abundant. The Flyers are off to a good start, knocking off a good Creighton team, 90-80. 6-foot-5 wing Chris Johnson had a huge game with 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Georgia Tech - the Yellow Jackets are not a proven team yet like Dayton but they have talent that many top programs would love to have, especially up front with super frosh Derrick Favors and junior Gani Lawal. Both are 6-foot-9 athletes that will be a matchup nightmare. Lawal averaged nearly a double-double a year ago and will probably do so this year as evidenced by his 16 point, 12 rebound opening game performance against Florida A&M. Favors had a solid first game with 10 points and eight boards. He was ranked by most everyone in the top five players in the Class of 2009. The perimeter scorer is 6-foot-5 Iman Shumpert. He had a team high 18 points in the opener after averaging 10.6 ppg a year ago.

George Mason - the Patriots won 22 games a year ago and finished one game out of first in the Colonial Athletic with a 13-5 league record. Jim Larranaga has lost several players but has leading scorer Cam Long (11.7 ppg) returning. There is a lot of young talent on this team led by sophomores Ryan Pearson and Michael Morrison and a recruiting class ranked as best in the Colonial. The Patriots are off to a 2-0 start and 6-foot-6 Pearson leads them in scoring (15.5) and rebounding (9.0). 6-foot-5 Luke Hancock (11.5 ppg) has been the best of that heralded freshmen class thus far.

Villanova - the Wildcats really came on at the end of last year and may have more pure perimeter talent than any program. Corey Stokes, Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher, Maalik Waynes, Dominic Cheek -- just an overflowing of riches for Coach Jay Wright.  The issue is inside where some veterans have graduated but Duke transfer Taylor King is eligible and averaging 11.5 ppg his first two games as a Wildcat. Antonio Pena is a solid veteran but not a lot proven yet after that pair and King is known more for his outside shooting. 

Indiana - through the first two games the Hoosiers have seen freshmen dominate their scoring led by the trio of Christian Watford (15.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg), Maurice Creek (15.5 ppg, 66.7% 3FG) and Derek Elston (12.0 ppg, 76.9% FG). It will be interesting if experienced guys like Jeremiah Rivers, Verdell Jones, Tom Pritchard and Devan Dumes take on more of a central role as the competition level ratchets up this week. The Hoosiers inexperience will show itself often, especially early.

Mississippi - the Rebels were 16-15 a year ago despite losing three key players to injuries. Point guard Chris Warren was averaging 19.6 point and 4.0 assists when he went down with a knee injury. His numbers through two games are more modest (10.5 ppg, 3.5 apg) but there is more talent around him in the now healthy Eniel Polynice (13.0 ppg) and talented sophomore Terrico White (17.5 ppg). The 6-foot-5 White is so good that the NBA could be the eventual future for the talented sophomore. Things are murkier in the frontcourt but returnees DeAundre Cranston (13.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg) and Murphy Holloway (12.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg) have played well early. Cranston is 6-foot-9, 260 pounds and Holloway is 6-foot-7, 230 pounds. There is more size off the bench in 6-foot-9, 235-pound junior college transfer DeAngelo Riley and 6-foot-8, 210-pound freshman Reginald Buckner.

Boston University - it was interesting to see that the Terriers played Tuesday night since that doesn't give them much rest for this three game tourney. Boston fell to George Washington, 69-59 and is now 0-2. Some magazines have projected this team to win the America East Conference because of the return of two all-conference players, forward John Holland and guard Corey Lowe. The pair combined for 45 of the 59 points against George Washington. In an earlier loss to Iona former Lawrence North guard led the team with 21 points. 6-foot-8 forward Jake O'Brien was America East Rookie of the Year last season.

Kansas State - the Wildcats were snubbed from the NCAA Tournament last year despite 21 wins and an above .500 record in the Big 12. Add the edge from that to five-star big man Wally Judge and some other highly regarded newcomers and this should be a team in the dance in March. The backcourt will be manned again by the dangerous duo of Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen. While Judge has had a modest start (8.0 ppg in two games) there has been development from sophomore Jamar Samuels (15.0 ppg) and UConn transfer Curtis Kelly has started out with a bang (15.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg). This really looks like a rock solid group that could make some noise in San Juan.