The UW Huskies took on the Morgan State Bears in the first round of the BCA Classic on Sunday evening. The Black Coaches Association Classic should not be confused with the BCA Invitational which happens over the same days and is sponsored by the same group. The BCA Classic has been around since 1994 but they have only been crowning a champion since 1999.
Morgan State University for those of you that did not know is in Baltimore, MD and they play in the Mid-Eastern Athletic conference. Las Vegas odds makers had this game being a blowout; 35 pts. and it was as the Huskies took care of business and won 118-51. The game was never in contention. It took the Bears like four minutes to score and there was seven and half minutes left in the first half when they finally got into double digits. It looks like the Huskies new seven footer; Joe Wolfinger is going to be red-shirted. Harvey Perry also did not play so I guess they are going to red shirt him.
Timothy Mathis led the Bears with 10 pts. Bobby Jones led the Dawgs with 18 and I think at least 8 of those points were off of dunks. Freshman Jon Brockman had 17 pts and 10 rebounds for a double double — he did only go 3-7 from the charity stripe. All of the starters were in double digits except for freshman Justin Dentmon. It should be noted that Hans Glasser came off of the bench to score 14 in 18 minutes and Brandon Burmeister had 12 in 14 minutes.
For this tournament they are using a wider key — it looks like a foot on each side. A three point line about a foot back and they arch inside the key like the NBA where you cannot be call for a charge.
I guess I should also note that a few BCA Classic records went down in the game tonight. 118 is a new high for points scored by one team (the old record was 108 by Wake Forest over Mount St. Mary’s in 2000). 23 steals blew away the old record of 15 (Wake Forest vs. Mount St. Mary’s in 2000 and Arkansas vs. Georgetown 1994). 9 block shots tied a second place record with four our teams. My prediction is that Jon Brockman will get into the top 5 for tournament scoring (56+) and he will also get there for rebounds (26+). Some Husky will tie or break the tournament record in steals. Assists is also in reach but it might be a stretch.
The Huskies play U. of Wisconsin – Green Bay in the 6 pm game on Monday. Miami plays Air Force in the other winner’s bracket game.
UW-Green Bay vs. UNC Greensboro 71-48
Miami vs. Texas-Arlington 76-65 (Miami almost blew a 20 pt half time lead)
Air Force vs. Northern Arizona 62-49
In the loser bracket Morgan State takes on UNC Greensboro and Texas-Arlington takes on Northern Arizona.
My prediction is that the Dawgs will win by at least 20 on Monday night.
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