By Kenneth Cross
As we are getting closer to the opening of practice, the preseason matchups in several conference tournaments bear watching. The Myrtle Beach Invitational will foster a competitive field, led by rising programs in Texas A&M and Boise State. The opening games appear below as we look at these matchups on Nov. 17 which is opening day.
Colorado vs. UMass – Coach Frank Martin moves from South Carolina to UMass where he added seven players, five of whom were transfers, and he will work to make the Minutemen once again a priority in Atlantic 10 basketball circles. UMass returns leading scorer in Noah Fernandes, who averaged 14.9 points per game while shooting 36 percent from the three-point line. The Minutemen have had a tough run of late as they were 8-7 in the covid season of ’20-21 which has been their only winning season since 2014-15.
The Buffaloes lost their top three scorers after sophomore Keeshawn Barthelomy transferred to Oregon. Colorado will look for Tristan de Silva and KJ Simpson to take their games to the next level. De Silva is the leading returning scorer (9.4 ppg) as he shot 53.5 percent from the floor. Colorado has to look to force turnovers to start the offensive transitions as the Buffs only forced 5.5 steals per game, 286th in college basketball.
Texas A&M vs. Murray State – Coach Buzz Williams had Texas A&M within a whisper of an NCAA Tournament bid last season as they made it to the SEC championship game and lost to Tennessee. A&M returns it’s No. 2 and No. 3 scorers in forward Henry Coleman, III, and guard Tyrece Radford, who were the Aggies’ leading rebounders when they tied with 6.2 rebounds per game. The Aggies were at a higher level defensively as they held opponents to 41.4 percent from the field.
Murray State lost coach Matt McMahon to LSU and then leading scorer K.J. Williams followed McMahon after he averaged 18.0 points and 8.4 rebounds last season. This is a major rebuild for new head coach Steve Prohm as the Racers return only one player, DJ Burns (5.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg), out of the first ten scorers from a year ago. Murray State also moves from the Ohio Valley Conference to the Missouri Valley in what is the utmost of transition situations in 2022-23.
Charlotte vs. Boise State – Robert Braswell and Aly Khalifa, who was the CUSA Freshman of the Year, are the leading returning scorers for coach Ron Sanchez, who enters his fifth season as the head coach. Charlotte will look to the defensive end of the floor as the Niners were outscored by 1.2 points per game in 2021-22. Charlotte was a steady winner last season as the 49ers went 8-1 vs. CUSA teams that were fifth or below in their division.
Boise State has become a consistent challenger in the Mountain West and last season, the Broncos won the league with a 15-3 record and finished 27-8, overall. Boise State’s 53-52 win over San Diego State was the Broncos’ first appearance in the Mountain West Finals and they were the first team in league history to win the tournament and the regular season title. Marcus Shaver, Jr., was Boise State’s second leading scorer at 13.3 points as he played 33.1 minutes per game. Boise State allowed only 5.7 made threes per games, 24th in college basketball.
Loyola (IL) vs. Tulsa – The Ramblers move from the Missouri Valley into the Atlantic 10 as they are the fourth Midwestern team to set up shop in the A-10. Loyola returns only three of their top 10 scorers, led by guard Braden Norris, who averaged 10.4 points and then 3.9 assists per night. The Ramblers added four new players through the transfer portal as former Valparaiso Crusader Shelden Edwards could be an important acquistion.
Tulsa brought in Louisiana Tech head coach Eric Konkol to take over the program after Frank Haith resigned at the end of the season. The Golden Hurricanes welcome back Sam Griffin as their leading returning scorer after he was second last season at 14.6 points per game. Tulsa had a tough time scoring the ball as the offense was 271st in the nation with 67.4 points. The Golden Hurricanes are going to look for more defense inside as they were outshot, 50.5 percent to 48.5 percent, from inside the arc. They also trailed blocked shots by an average of 3.9-2.2.