The Coaching Career of Mitch Collins (CH2k8)

[mpejkrm]

AP Week 10 Top 25 Poll

NCAA Hoops Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Jan 13, 2008
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	RECORD
1	1	Kentucky Wildcats	16-0
2	2	Marquette Golden Eagles	14-1
3	4	Memphis Tigers	13-2
4	3	North Carolina Tar Heels	14-3
5	7	Michigan State Spartans	13-2
6	8	Louisville Cardinals	14-2
7	10	Auburn Tigers	14-0
8	6	Tennessee Volunteers	12-2
9	11	Stanford Cardinal	15-1
10	5	Kansas Jayhawks	11-3
11	9	Duke Blue Devils	10-3
12	12	Arizona Wildcats	12-3
13	14	Clemson Tigers	12-2
14	15	Xavier Musketeers	15-2
15	18	Connecticut Huskies	13-2
16	16	Virginia Cavaliers	13-1
17	21	Rhode Island Rams	17-1
18	24	Georgia Bulldogs	10-2
19	13	UCLA Bruins	11-5
20	NR	Oregon Ducks	11-5
21	25	Oklahoma State Cowboys	12-2
22	19	Texas A&M Aggies	10-4
23	NR	Saint Joseph's Hawks	12-3
24	17	Mississippi State Bulldogs	12-4
25	23	Georgetown Bulldogs	9-5

Poll Breakdown

#1 Kentucky: Close win over Vanderbilt (12-5).
#2 Marquette: Strong win over Seton Hall (12-4) and a close win over Notre Dame (11-4).
#3 Memphis: Strong wins over East Carolina (4-6) and Marshall (8-4).
#4 North Carolina: Strong wins over UNC Asheville (4-8) and NC State (6-6).
#5 Michigan State: Strong wins over Purdue (10-6) and Iowa (11-6).
#6 Louisville: Strong win over West Virginia (8-7) and a close win over Rutgers (7-9).
#7 Auburn: Strong wins over Arkansas (10-6) and Florida (8-8).
#8 Tennessee: Strong win over Ole Miss (2-12) upset by unranked South Carolina (8-7) on the road.
#9 Stanford: Strong wins over Oregon State (6-10) and #20 Oregon (11-5).
#10 Kansas: Strong win over Nebraska (4-8), upset at home by unranked Loyola (MD) (12-5).
#11 Duke: Strong win over Temple (7-7), upset at home by #16 Virginia (13-1).
#12 Arizona: Strong wins over Arizona State (9-6) and Houston (7-7).
#13 Clemson: Strong win over Charlotte (5-10), close OT win over Florida State (11-6).
#14 Xavier: Strong win over St. Bonaventure (6-9), close OT win over Fordham (12-3).
#15 Connecticut: Strong win over St. John's (10-5), close win over #25 Georgetown (9-5).
#16 Virginia: Strong upset win over #11 Duke (10-3).
#17 Rhode Island: Strong wins over Dayton (8-6) and Duquesne (11-4).
#18 Georgia: Strong win over Georgia Tech (7-7), close win over #24 Mississippi State (12-4).
#19 UCLA: Strong win over Washington (9-5), upset at home by unranked Washington State (9-6).
#20 Oregon: Strong win over California (10-5), loss at home to #9 Stanford (15-1).
#21 Oklahoma State: Strong win over Texas Tech (11-4).
#22 Texas A&M: Upset at home by unranked Colorado (9-5).
#23 Saint Joseph's: Strong wins over UMass (3-12) and Richmond (6-9).
#24 Mississippi State: Upset on the road by unranked LSU (13-3), close loss to #18 Georgia (10-2) at home.
#25 Georgetown: Strong win over DePaul (7-9), close loss to #15 Connecticut (13-2) at home.

Remaining Undefeated Teams (Team, Conference, Record, Conference Record)

On February 6th, Auburn will welcome Kentucky to Auburn Arena for a matchup that will knock off an undefeated power if one is still standing.

#1 Kentucky, SEC (16-0, 1-0) This Week: @ #24 Mississippi State (12-4), @ Florida (8-8)
#7 Auburn, SEC (14-0, 2-0) This Week: @ LSU (13-3), vs. Ole Miss (2-12)

[pfeifere1]

Great start in the SWAC so far. How are the other teams in the SWAC doing this season...any shot within the conference for you??

[mpejkrm]

Quote: Originally Posted by pfeifere1

Great start in the SWAC so far. How are the other teams in the SWAC doing this season...any shot within the conference for you??

Still very early, but I'd say we have a pretty good shot. Here are the standings:

[mpejkrm]

vs.

UAPB Hits Last Second Free Throw To Clinch Close Win



Above: Howard McBride hits a clutch free throw to put the Golden Lions up 1 up 2.0 seconds remaining.

The Birmingham News
January 14th, 2008

The Alabama State Hornets (4-8, 2-2) fought resiliently, but were not able to overcome a late second half surge by the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions (5-7, 2-1) at home on Monday as the Lions came back from a four-point deficit at the half to put up 52 points in the second half and come out on top, 80-79.

The Golden Lions spent most of the second half trailing, even by as much as 12 at one point, but they fought back with some nice steals and solid overall defense to go up one point with 30 seconds left, and with possession of the ball. Brennan Ebong had a steal and ran the ball back for a one-handed reverse slam to make the game 79-78 with 8 seconds left? Game over, right?

Not just yet.

Tariq McCalebb tightened his coverage on Lions sophomore point guard Howard McBride, and when McBride took a three near the buzzer, McCalebb made contact and sent McBride to the line for the three most tense free throws of his career. McBride is a career .714 free throw shooter. He missed the first, and the Dunn-Oliver Acadome went wild.

McBride's second shot went a bit off course, but did manage to tip in. Tie game.

And his third shot was perfect, right on line and a swish. The Golden Lions retook the lead, and it would not be relinquished as Ebong's half-court shot at the buzzer went for naught.

"A disappointing loss," said Hornets head coach Mitch Collins. "I'm very upset with all the fouls and turnovers today. We're lucky they missed many free throws earlier in the game or they would have gotten out to a lead much earlier in the game." The Lions shot 19-34 in free throws on the night, an overall poor mark.

Jason Butler led the Hornets in scoring with a strong 20 point effort while also grabbing 3 boards. Jarrod Nystrom added 13 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals, while Ebong had 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in his second straight strong game following reports that he wasn't working as hard as he could. "I think I've gotten everything worked out, as I said I would," said Ebong.

For the Golden Lions, senior power forward Blake Kowalczuk led the team in rebounding with 10 boards and also added 12 points. Senior center Pearson Starkey led UAPB with 17 points and also had 5 rebounds. Senior small forward Marcellus Bruff also added 14 points and three steals in a 28-minute outing.

The Hornets will cap off their short three-game home stand with a match-up against a strong opponent in Alabama A&M (7-6, 3-0) before hitting the road again en route to Lorman, Mississippi to play Alcorn State.

Arkansas Pine-Bluff Golden Lions at Alabama State Hornets
Jan 14, 2008	1ST	2ND	SCORE
Arkansas Pine-Bluff (5-7)	28	52	80
Alabama State (4-8)	32	47	79

Arkansas Pine-Bluff Golden Lions
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
H. McBride	31	1-4	0-0	6-11	0	7	2	0	6	8
A. Buboltz	28	3-8	1-1	4-4	2	2	0	1	2	11
M. Bruff	28	6-10	0-0	2-5	2	1	3	0	0	14
B. Kowalczuk	30	5-11	0-0	2-4	10	1	3	3	2	12
P. Starkey	29	7-11	0-0	3-4	5	1	2	2	0	17
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
O. Monserez	11	3-5	0-0	0-1	1	0	1	0	0	6
B. Hodge	10	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	0	1	0	0	0
L. McCants	17	3-5	0-0	0-1	5	2	1	0	2	6
R. Douthit	16	2-4	0-0	2-4	1	2	1	0	2	6
W. Njila	-- DID NOT PLAY --
N. Gill	-- DID NOT PLAY --
J. Toumou	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		30-60	1-1	19-34	26	16	14	6	14	80

Alabama State Hornets
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
B. Ebong	32	6-9	0-0	0-0	4	3	3	0	3	12
T. McCalebb	31	2-7	0-0	0-0	8	2	1	0	1	4
V. Alleyne	32	3-14	0-0	1-2	7	3	2	1	1	7
J. Butler	24	7-12	2-2	4-7	3	3	1	0	1	20
J. Nystrom	24	5-9	0-0	3-3	8	5	4	1	5	13
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
H. Hanavan	16	4-9	0-1	2-2	6	2	0	0	3	10
J. Gastel	19	3-10	0-1	0-0	5	2	0	1	0	6
Z. Zwikker	12	0-1	0-0	0-0	2	1	0	0	2	0
D. Bozeman	10	3-5	0-0	1-1	3	0	1	1	0	7
S. Norton	-- DID NOT PLAY --
J. Malaman	-- DID NOT PLAY --
A. Parks	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		33-76	2-4	11-15	46	21	12	4	16	79

[pfeifere1]

Wow that game sounds amazing! The roller coaster of emotions had to be incredible.

Sorry for the loss, but it must have been epic!!

[mpejkrm]

Quote: Originally Posted by pfeifere1

Wow that game sounds amazing! The roller coaster of emotions had to be incredible. Sorry for the loss, but it must have been epic!!

Yeah, it was a great, very intense game. I'm upset how my defense managed to just fall apart in the second half. I've made some slider adjustments as I feel I'm getting some unrealistic results in the rebounding and fouls department.

[mpejkrm]

vs.

SWAC Leaders Dominate Hornets


Above: Jason Butler fails to defend an easy layup in the paint, the story of the day for the Hornets' D.

The Birmingham News
January 19th, 2008

What is likely the most disappointing part of Saturday's loss to the SWAC-leading Alabama A&M Bulldogs (8-7, 4-0) is that the Alabama State Hornets (4-9, 2-3) were leading with about 5 minutes to go in the game. That's when everything fell apart.

It was as if Moses had parted the defense so that they couldn't guard in the paint. Easy layup after easy layup, plus a number of fouls allowed the Bulldogs to comfortably outscore Mitch Collins' Hornets by 17 in the second half and cruise to an 80-64 victory on the road, ending the Hornets' home stand at 1-2.

A terrible shooting percentage (.312), a ridiculous 32 combined fouls and turnovers, and going 2-14 in three point attempts led the Hornets' downfall in their arguably worst game of the season, aside from possibly the early loss to Auburn. "Very disappointing," said Coach Collins. "We just didn't play well tonight. Especially on defense. We need to improve our defense. It's not a request. It's an order. We're not going to win games if we just allow easy layups and make silly fouls. That's what happened tonight, and ou all saw what happened."

Sophomore point guard Lee Victoriano led the Bulldogs' charge with 19 points (5-12 shooting, 9-11 free throws), 2 rebounds, 5 assists and four steals. Sophomore two-guard Max Walker added 13 points and 5 rebounds, while senior center Solomon Nunez dropped 6 points and also had 10 rebounds and four blocks in his limited 21 minutes of action.

Vasilis Alleyne had his best game of the season, dropping 15 points and also grabbing five rebounds in 30 minutes of action. Tariq McCalebb also added 10 points and Jarrod Nystrom chipped in 12 points and 11 rebounds. Halston Hanavan had 9 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals off the bench. Jason Butler followed up a monster game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff with only 3 points on Saturday, but he had 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 each of steals and blocks.

Alabama State will look to bounce back next Saturday after a week-long rest when they take on the SWAC's worst team, this season, Alcorn State (3-11, 0-4). The Braves are 331st in RPI, for reference, that is 6th-worst in the entire NCAA.

Alabama A&M Bulldogs at Alabama State Hornets
Jan 19, 2008	1ST	2ND	SCORE
Alabama A&M (8-7)	34	46	80
Alabama State (4-9)	35	29	64

Alabama A&M Bulldogs
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
L. Victoriano	31	5-12	0-1	9-11	2	5	4	0	4	19
M. Walker	24	5-13	1-4	2-4	5	2	2	0	2	13
A. Matthews	22	5-8	0-1	0-0	6	0	0	0	0	10
A. Roberts	28	3-8	0-0	0-2	8	0	1	2	0	6
S. Nunez	21	2-5	0-0	2-2	10	1	0	4	1	6
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
C. Lopez	16	3-8	0-2	0-0	2	0	1	0	0	6
W. Kemp	13	2-2	0-0	0-0	0	1	2	0	0	4
L. Muhleisen	15	2-6	0-0	4-5	2	2	0	0	1	8
J. Finley	6	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	2	1	0	1	2
R. Toumou	15	2-4	0-0	0-0	3	0	1	0	1	4
B. Klein	9	1-1	0-0	0-0	2	0	1	0	0	2
N. Myles	-- DID NOT PLAY --

Alabama State Hornets
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
B. Ebong	16	1-1	0-0	0-0	2	3	0	0	2	2
T. McCalebb	31	3-12	0-4	4-4	2	0	1	0	2	10
V. Alleyne	30	5-18	0-1	5-5	5	0	2	0	0	15
J. Butler	27	1-10	0-4	1-2	8	5	2	2	1	3
J. Nystrom	24	6-9	0-0	0-1	11	1	1	3	2	12
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
H. Hanavan	18	3-7	1-2	2-2	2	1	2	0	2	9
J. Gastel	14	2-8	0-0	0-0	3	0	0	0	1	4
Z. Zwikker	13	1-5	0-1	2-2	4	0	0	0	2	4
S. Norton	8	0-2	0-1	0-0	1	0	0	0	1	0
J. Malaman	3	2-2	1-1	0-0	1	0	0	1	1	5
D. Bozeman	12	0-3	0-0	0-0	3	2	0	0	1	0
A. Parks	3	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	1	1	0	1	0
TEAM TOTALS		24-77	2-14	14-16	43	13	9	6	16	64

[Knickerbocker91]

Tough loss, between the shooting woes and the late defensive lapses I can't imagine you were a happy coach as that game ended. But nothing like the bottom of the barrel next game to get a win streak up and running.