The Futon Report

A roundup of tonight’s college basketball action, in statistical pigeonholing format, if we may:

• Division I teams that played basketball tonight: 50
• Division I teams that scored at least 35 points in at least one half: 32
• Division I teams that scored at least 35 points in both halves: 12
• Division I teams that scored only 35 points for the entire game: one

• D-I teams that scored less than 20 points in one half: 5
• D-I teams that scored less than 20 points in both halves: that same one

Image via WikipediaIf it hasn’t been made redundantly clear, scoring 35 points in a basketball game is only commendable if it’s well before the 40 minutes of regulation time has elapsed, and the level of competition is somewhere between high school JV and Magic Johnson’s Fastbreak. A Division I basketball team playing a winless team on the road? Yeah, not so much. Toledo went down 50-35 to Wright State, giving the WSU Raiders their de facto “best defensive performance ever” for holding an opponent to such a low number. Their previous defensive best was 37 against U. of Detroit last season in the Horizon League Tournament. UT, though, hasn’t scored this few points since, well, also last season (at Old Dominion).

Only one other team couldn’t make it to 40, and that was Ball State against ranked Purdue. Aside: I got a kick out of the AP lede: “Ball State hadn’t faced a suffocating defense like Purdue’s since the Truman administration.” Maybe it’s because I picture Gene Keady holding up a newspaper with the headline “BALL STATE DEFEATS PURDUE.”

Oh, and somehow UT out-rebounded WSU 37-36. This means that they also out-rebounded their own point total. Try sleeping soundly after that aberrant factoid. Justin Anyijong was as dominant as you can be on the boards when your team scores 35, as he grabbed eight rebounds, five of them offensive. Here was the problem though: 1-for-11 from the field. Harf.

Image via WikipediaUT “power” forward Justin Anyijong has the body of a praying mantis. When you’re 6′9″ and 205, you’re going to get knocked around if you’re guarding centers. Despite his 6 points, 7 rebounds, and small handful of hustle plays, it seemed like Anyijong found himself in turnover or near-turnover situations. You might’ve guessed that he lost a bet 8 years ago and as a result had to play college basketball.

Last year he was even worse. One of the funniest Google referrals I had was “will justin anyijong make it to the nba.” If it isn’t clear, Justin Anyijong was the last person I would have picked to make the winning basket in any game, let alone opening night of Savage Arena against the University of Massachusetts.

Yet when Ty Kent’s last-second drive tipped out, Justin was there in rebounding position and … Jesus Christ on a graham cracker he won the game. FOX Toledo has video of the final put-back, which sadly I cannot embed here without feeling really really bad about it.

This was a guy who turned the ball over in the final 30 seconds that lost the lead for UT. This was a guy I was cursing for, well, most of the game. But, hot damn, what a redemption story. There will be a two-month embargo on Justin Anyijong jokes effective immediately.

Photos of the new Savage Arena are forthcoming. They just have to be, like, downloaded and stuff.

Drag. Oh well, this guy seems more qualified anyway.

It looks like Toledo is going with Notre Dame assistant Gene Cross as their new head coach, replacing Stan Joplin. What this means is that rather than take a fired head coach, they’re admitting to UT basketball being a rebuilding project. Other than that, since I’ve never heard of Gene Cross, my opinions are non-existent. Hence the extremely painful pun-o-shop.

Also, the last Notre Dame assistant coach to take a head coaching job in Northwest Ohio? Urban Meyer. Just sayin’. ◼ Toledo Blade/Xs and Mo’s

…well, maybe not how UT had it planned. But the carousel of candidates has been spinning non-stop. The coaches UT wants, they can’t have. The coaches UT can get, they don’t want.

Maureen Fulton’s been doing a ton of coverage on this story, and as it stands, it looks to be either former Providence coach Tim Welsh, former Saint Louis coach Brad Soderberg, or Notre Dame assistant Gene Cross. Read more

It was a brief, yet memorable 40 days of Indiana University basketball. Ever see an ivory tower simply implode on its own weight? That was Hoosier hoops under Dan Dakich. (Okay, most of the blame can sensibly be put on Kelvin Sampson, since without his textualnanigans, Dakich is never anointed as a Big Ten coach, but <stephen_a>THE FACT REMAINS!</stephen_a>)

The era barely scratched April, and certainly didn’t make a dent in the second round of March Madness. Tomorrow Indiana will name Tom Crean head coach. Crean? That’s my detergent! He leaves Marquette, where he coached both Dwyane Wade and Dwyane Wade’s teammates.

So now Dan Dakich is sans head coach position. And Toledo still heads a head coach. Pleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease. ◼ Indy Star

Okay, not really. I’m 2nd in my group of 31 picks, 93rd percentile overall.

And the guy ahead of me, well, works for Yahoo! Sports, so you can reasonably assume he’s cheating. Read more

It has only been a few days since the bombshell news of Stan Joplin being fired, but the only reason I can come with as to why he was canned is money-related, not basketball-related.

Boosters might not have wanted to donate money to a basketball team led by Stan Joplin. Money talks, most notably when you fold up a C-note like one of those grade school fortune telling thingies and pretend to have it speak. But let’s see what others think. Read more

This just broke about a half hour ago. After 12 years of being Toledo’s colorful yet inconsistently successful basketball coach, the Rockets have parted ways with Stan Joplin.

There will probably be further details coming out, but initial reactions are basically those of shock. The timing is about as goofy as one could expect, even coming off an 11-19 season. Most of those losses can be attributed to a brutal nonconference road schedule and the mysterious exile of Kashif Payne. But those with firing authority felt otherwise.

I’m definitely going to miss Joplin patrolling the sidelines for the Toledo Rockets, and the excitement I had for next year’s team suddenly has a confusing flavor to it. ◼ Toledo Blade

Kent State 49, Miami 47 ◼ Miami interim coach Jermaine Henderson has done an admirable job of filling in for Charlie Coles under adverse conditions. And it’s too bad to see the Miami season end in a closely fought, albeit alarmingly low-scoring game against Kent State.

Before Al Fisher’s hesitation jumper to seal the win, coach Henderson had a message for his RedHawks team during the timeout, since Kent was able to take the last shot: Kent State will shoot once, and once only. Thanks to the majesty of ESPN360, here’s an audio snippet of Henderson’s final message (right after Steve Mix quips “take it down to about 4 seconds”):

Read more

There aren’t enough words in the unabridged dictionary to thank you, Nam Y. Huh from the Associated Press, for remembering why we loved ol’ Dan Dakich in the first place. He and Indiana won their first game on the road at Northwestern, 85-82.

I like to imagine that, moments before this photo, Dakich merely flexed and his sportcoat flew off.