Russell Burnett is the RTC correspondent for the Southland Conference.

Current Standings as of Jan. 29, 2009:

EAST

1. Stephen F. Austin 14-5 (4-2)
2. SE Louisiana 11-8 (3-3)
3. Nicholls State 7-12 (3-3)
4. McNeese State 7-12 (2-3)
5. Northwestern State 6-12 (1-4)
6. Central Arkansas 7-13 (1-5)

WEST

1. Sam Houston State 13-5 (5-0)
2. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 11-8 (5-0)
3. Texas State 10-10 (4-2)
4. UT-San Antonio 12-6 (2-3)
5. Lamar 10-11 (2-4)
6. Texas-Arlington 9-9 (1-4)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi forward Kevin Palmer was named the SLC Player of the Week after extending his scoring in double figures to 40 games with a season-high 32 points in a victory over Lamar last Wednesday. Palmer then came through with 18 points in an overtime win over UTSA. This is the second league player of the week honor for the senior from Baltimore, Maryland.

UNBEATENS

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Sam Houston State sit atop the Southland Conference with identical 5-0 marks. The two teams have a showdown on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Corpus Christi for unbeaten supremacy.

TEAM UPDATES

EAST

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN – The ‘Jacks sit at the top of the SLC East, one game ahead of Southeastern Louisiana. Both of the Lumberjacks’ losses in conference play have come on the road to SHSU and Nicholls State, respectively. The ‘Jacks have a three-game conference winning streak as they overpowered Southeastern Louisiana in Nacogdoches by 11 and took down Northwestern State by 10 on the road.

SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA – After starting conference play 2-0, they lost three straight before picking up a seven-point win over Central Arkansas on Jan. 27. SELA will have to travel to Nicholls State then host Texas State this week.

NICHOLLS STATE – A Jekyll and Hyde team, the Colonels can’t seem to string any wins together on a consistent basis. NSU’s leading scorer, Anatoly Bose (18.8 PPG) was held to six points in the loss to UCA. NSU faces the East’s top two teams this week in SELA (Jan. 30) and SFA (Feb. 3).

MCNEESE STATE – Halted a five-game (non-conference and SLC play) skid by beating SELA, 71-67, on Jan. 20, then lost to Nicholl State by two on Jan. 27.  The Cowboys face streaky Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State this week.

NORTHWESTERN STATE – Picked up its initial SLC win with a 99-98 win over Nicholls State on Jan. 23. The Demons have lost nine of their last 11 dating back to a Dec. 12 setback at the hands of LSU. NW State could pick up a couple of wins as they face Central Arkansas (Jan. 30) and McNeese State (Feb. 3).

CENTRAL ARKANSAS – The Bears picked up their first Southland Conference win of the year (64-50) against Nicholls State as former Bear and NBA great Scottie Pippen looked on. UCA retired Pippen’s No. 33 uniform at halftime. Pippen was a two-time NAIA All-American for UCA and delivered a pregame talk to the Bears. They promptly lost two more games to McNeese and SELA.

WEST

SAM HOUSTON STATE – The Bearkats are riding a five-game SLC win streak and have won eight of their last 10 games. In those five SLC games, the ‘Kats are beating their opponent by 15 PPG on average. Sam Houston hits the road for a big game Saturday as they face fellow unbeaten A&M-Corpus, then they host UTSA.

TA&M-CC – The only other unbeaten in the conference, the Islanders have put together a six-game SLC winning streak. The streak comes on the heels of A&M-CC losing six of seven games before picking up a league win against UCA. After the SHSU tilt, the Islanders hit the road to test UTA.

TEXAS STATE – The Bobcats have come as bit of a surprise after starting the season 3-8. TSU has won three of its last four conference games and can separate itself a little from the middle of the pack with games against UTA (Jan. 30) and SELA (Feb. 3).

UTSA – Has lost three straight in league play after winning its first two games. Lost a close four-point game to league-leading A&M-Corpus Christi, then took it on the chin by 14 points against Texas State. The Roadrunners need to pick up at least one victory over Lamar or SHSU this week.

LAMAR – After winning two games against UTA and McNeese State, the Cardinals fell back to Earth with three straight losses to the Islanders, Bobcats and Bearkats. Important games loom against UTSA (Jan. 30) and Central Arkansas (Feb. 3).

UTA – The Mavericks haven’t found their rhythm as they have lost two consecutive SLC games twice this year. They took a day off from SLC play to defeat Houston Baptist, but face hot teams in Texas State and A&M-CC this week.

BOXSCORE BREAKDOWN

Stephen F. Austin had four players in double figures and shot 57% from the field in the second half to escape with a 10-point victory over Northwestern State on Jan. 27. Eddie Williams, Walt Harris and Jereal Scott all score in double digits for the Lumberjacks.

DeShawn Patterson tied a career high with 17 points and Southeastern Louisiana held off Central Arkansas on Jan. 27.

Anatoly Bose scored a Southland Conference season-high 46 points, but the Nicholls State Colonels fell 99-98 in double overtime to Northwestern State on Jan. 23.  Bose then went off for 23 points and 11 rebounds in a victory over McNeese State.

SHSU sophomore Antuan Bootle posted double-figure rebounds in two of the last three games. Bootle had 12 rebounds in 20 mintues of action against Texas State, and 11 boards in 15 minutes against Lamar.

A&M-CC’s Demond Watt has heated up and scored in double-figures in 12 straight games to push his season average to 11.9 PPG. Watt tied a season-high with 13 rebounds against non-conference foe UT-Pan American on Jan. 25.

Texas State had six players in double figures in an overtime victory against Lamar on Jan. 23. Cameron Johnson had 24 points and 15 rebounds, and is averaging 16.6 PPG in conference play.

Devin Gibson had a season-high nine assists for UTSA in a loss to the Islanders. Gibson was two rebounds and one assist away from a triple-double.

Lamar’s Justin Nabors had a string of double figure scoring games snapped at 12 when he scored nine in a 90-63 blowout loss to SHSU. Nabors is close to averaging a double-double as he scores at a 13.7 PPG clip and pulls 9.7 RPG.

UTA guard Marquez Haynes netted his sixth 30-point game this year as he tossed in 32 points in a non-conference win over Houston Baptist. Haynes also dished out a season- and career-high nine assists in the victory.

The Mavericks welcomed back senior forward Tommy Moffit from a broken foot. The 6’5 Moffit missed 11 games, but came back against Houston Baptist to play 16 minutes.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Saturday, Jan. 30

Sam Houston at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 3

Texas State at Southeastern Louisiana, 7 p.m.

Russell Burnett is the RTC correspondent for the Southland Conference.

Current Standings (as of Dec. 30, 2009)

EAST

1. Stephen F. Austin 9-3
2. SE Louisiana 7-4
3. Northwestern St. 5-6
4. McNeese State 5-7
5. Central Arkansas 5-7
6. Nicholls State 4-9

WEST

1. UTSA 8-3
2. Sam Houston 8-4
3. UTA 5-5
4. Lamar 6-7
5. A&M Corpus 5-6
6. Texas State 4-8

PLAYER OF THE WEEK.  UT-Arlington guard Marquez Haynes scored 31 points and grabbed seven boards in a 101-85 win over Texas Wesleyan. This is the second POW honor for Haynes this year.

NON-CONFERENCE.  With Southland Conference action slated to begin the second week of the New Year, let’s take a look at the games, players and statistics from non-conference play in 2009:

GAMES

• Sam Houston State University set several Rupp Arena records as they lost to the nation’s fourth-ranked team, Kentucky, 102-92, then hammered fellow SEC member Auburn 107-89 a month later.
• The Nicholls State Colonels began the season losing their first eight games after being picked second in the SLC East in the preseason polls. Included in the 0-8 start was a 72-58 loss to Division II Alaska.
• Texas A&M Corpus Christi started the season off with a bang by downing Oregon State, of the Pac-10, 67-43, in Lubbock of all places. The Islanders were led by Kevin Palmer’s 23 points.
• In its first contest of the year in Ames, Iowa, UTSA bested Iowa 62-50. The loss snapped Iowa’s 46-game winning streak in home openers.
• The Southland Conference has battled numerous Top 25 teams in non-conference thus far, including teams ranked No. 1 (Kansas), 2 (Texas), 3 (Kentucky).

PLAYERS

• One of the biggest surprises has been the improvement of Lamar’s Anthony Miles. The 6’1 sophomore guard from Clear Brook High School is seventh in the league in scoring (15.2) after averaging 6.3 ppg as a freshman last year. Miles has doubled his stats in nearly every statistical category this year.
• UTA’s Haynes, a senior transfer from Boston College, has lived up to his billing as a preseason All-Southland Conference selection. Haynes has scored in double figures in all 11 Maverick games and has posted 30 or more points four times. He leads the conference in scoring at 24.7 ppg.
• Another All-SLC preseason pick, SHSU’s Corey Allmond, has been streaky thus far. The senior guard from Maryland torched Kentucky and Auburn for 37 and 25 points, respectively. He hit 11 of 16 three-pointers against Kentucky, which is a Rupp Arena record. The 37 points are a career high.
• Nicholls State’s Anatoly Bose is on a tear. The 6’6 junior from Australia has scored more than 20 points in five consecutive games with a season-high of 27 points coming against Southern-New Orleans. It’s no coincidence that the Colonels have won four of their last five games as Bose has heated up.
• Kevin Palmer, a 6’6 senior at A&M CC, has scored at least 20 points in six of the Islanders’ 11 games this year. He is second in the SLC in scoring at 20.2 ppg.
• Lamar’s Justin Nabors continues to lead the SLC in rebounding. His 9.2 boards a game is nearly three more than the 6’7 senior averaged two years ago. Nabors pulled down a league-high 24 rebounds against Louisiana College.
• SLC newcomer and junior college transfer Gilberto Clavell has helped SHSU to an 8-4 mark. Clavell averaged 25.2 points per game during a four-game stretch. His 34 points against Auburn are a season and career high.
• Stephen F. Austin’s Jordan Glynn had a stretch where notched a double-double in five straight games, averaging 13.8 points and 11.2 rebounds a game during that span.

TEAM BREAKDOWNS

EAST

• Stephen F. Austin – Put together winning streaks of three and four games to start the year 9-3. Nearly missed on big wins against Texas Tech and Arkansas. Won the SLC West last year with a 12-4 mark. Looks to start the New Year and SLC season off right when they play arch-rival Sam Houston State in Huntsville on Saturday, Jan. 9.
• Southeastern Louisiana – Might be a little of an unknown quantity in the SLC this year. Picked to finish third in the East, SELA played Mississippi State and LSU relatively well, but has played a relatively weak non-conference schedule with three non-Division games. Senior center Patrick Sullivan (15 ppg, 8.4 rpg) will need to play big as conference play begins.
• Northwestern State – Looking to improve after a dismal season last year, the Demons are streaky at best. They are last in the SLC in free-throw percentage (61 percent) and in the middle of the pack in field goal and 3-point percentage. The Demons have no real go-to player, but senior guard Damon Jones tries to fit that bill, having scored in double figures in six of the last seven games.
• McNeese State – Led by senior Diego Kapelan and sophomore Patrick Richard, the Cowboys played eight of their 12 games on the road thus far. Kapelan has increased his scoring average each year, and after scoring five points a game as a freshman last year, Richard is now throwing in 12 ppg.as a sophomore. McNeese closes out the non-conference schedule with Texas Tech and LSU before playing three tough SLC games to open the season.
• Central Arkansas – Picked by most to finish last in the SLC East, the Bears lost four of their first five games, then went on a four-game winning streak and sit at 5-7. UCA boasts a balanced scoring attack with five players netting double figures. Junior guard Chris Poellnitz leads the way with 13.8 points a game. The play of JC transfer Tadre Sheppard (11 ppg.) has the Bears optimistic they can better last year’s 3-13 mark in the SLC.
• Nicholls State – The Colonels were picked to finish second in the rough and tumble SLC East, but began the 2009 campaign by losing their first eight games. NSU rebounded by winning four of its next five, but the Colonels have an 18-day layoff until their SLC season begins. Forward Anatoly Bose has been a beast of late, but NSU will need more production from Fred Hunter and Maurice Foster if they want to start the SLC off the right way.

WEST

• UTSA – Junior point guard Devin Gibson (13.7 ppg.) from Cy-Falls in Houston has led an experienced group of Roadrunners to an SLC West best 8-3 mark. Of UTSA’s eight leading scorers, six of the players are either a junior or senior. The Roadrunners played in the championship game of the SLC Tournament last year, losing to SFA. UTSA begins SLC play on the road in two of its first three games.
• SHSU – Year in and year out the Bearkats are one of the teams to beat in the SLC. Picked to finish first in the West, SHSU has played well in non-conference, but four of its eights wins have come against non-Division I teams. JC transfer Gilberto Clavell has been labeled by his coach as a “beast” and he brings toughness down low to the Kats, who rely heavily on their guard play. SHSU tips off conference play at home against bitter rival Stephen F. Austin.
• UTA – The Mavericks have one of the best scorers in college basketball on their side. Senior guard Marquez Haynes has scored in double figures every time he has stepped on the court, and along with fellow senior Brandon Long (16.6 ppg.) make up a troublesome duo for teams in the SLC. Things could be rough for the Mavs without senior guard Tommy Moffitt, who broke his foot in early December. UTA opens with Texas State in Arlington on Saturday, Jan. 9.
• Lamar – Had a stretch of six of seven games on the road, but has won three of its last four to stand at 6-7. Senior forward Ashton Hall (9 points, four rebounds a year ago) has only played one minute this year due to a knee injury. The Cardinals are picked to finish second-to-last in the West after finishing in last place a year ago. Look for guard Anthony Miles and senior Justin Nabors to carry the load.
• TAMU-CC -The Islanders are picked to finish right behind SHSU in the West, and have played some stiff competition in non-conference to check in with a 5-6 mark. Mr. Everything Kevin Palmer was an All-SLC pick a year ago and he hasn’t disappointed thus far. Palmer scores 20 points per game to go with 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists and 3 steals. The Islanders start conference play with Central Arkansas, Texas State, Northwestern State and Lamar and could be 4-0 on Jan. 20.
• Texas State – After finishing fifth in the West last year, the Bobcats are picked to be the team in the cellar this season. TSU has losing streaks of five and three games this year and open the SLC campaign against two strong opponents in UTA and A&M-CC. The Bobcats have three players scoring 10 points each – John Rybak (10.9), Cameron Johnson (10.9) and J.B. Conley (10.2). One of these players will need to step up for Texas State to be competitive in 2009-10.

LOOKING AHEAD

Saturday, Jan. 9

• Stephen F. Austin at Sam Houston State, 2 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 13

• Southeastern Louisiana at Northwestern State, 7 p.m.
• Nicholls State at UTSA, 7 p.m.

The Debacle in Hinkle.  #17 Butler 69, Xavier 68. The story over the weekend was the bizarre and (some say) unconscionable ending to the Butler-Xavier game on Saturday afternoon.  If you somehow missed it, check out our post on the subject from last night.  We pretty much agree that the referee crew followed the rules as they’re written, but that the rules as they’re written pretty much suck in a situation such as this.  RTC Live was there, and as our correspondent wrote at the time:

That would be one ballsy crew to take a full second OFF the clock against a visitor down by 1 point.  HUGE controversy WOW…. I have been doing bball for years and I cannot believe that they just did that?!?!?!?!?!”

Ballsy they were, but also correct by the letter of the law.  Unfortunately for Xavier and Chris Mack, the Musketeers were left holding the bag when a timing error led them to believe they’d have a final shot to win the game.  The NCAA needs to step up and immediately clarify this rule, including what kind of stopwatch can and cannot be used to estimate the time so that we’re not faced with an equally ridiculous ending on a much bigger stage later this year.

Jerry’s Joint.  #2 Texas 103, #10 UNC 90.  The featured game of the weekend at Jerry’s World known as the new-and-improved-to-a-ridiculous-degree Cowboys Stadium showed why many people are very high on Rick Barnes’ Texas team to cut down the nets in April.  UT put four players in the 20+ points column, including huge dub-dubs from seniors Damion James (25/15) and Dexter Pittman (23/15) to go along with Avery Bradley’s 20/4 assts/3 stls and J’Covan Brown’s 21/5/3 assts.  Showing the depth that Barnes now has at his disposal, much ballyhooed transfer Jai Lucas (recently eligible) only played six minutes and recorded zero points.  He’d start for most of the teams in the Top 25 from day one.  UNC’s Ed Davis was the only Carolina player who seemed comfortable with the waves of Texas players inside, as he blew up for 21/9/4 blks for one of his best performances of the year.  Texas will get another test on Tuesday of this week as Michigan State visits Austin, while UNC will head back home for a few easier games prior to the start of the ACC in early January.  We’re still worried about UNC’s point guard play, but we’d imagine that Texas is going to make a lot of pretty good teams look bad over the course of this season.  That team is loaded!

The JumboTron Dwarfs the Court (AP/Tony Gutierrez)

Gonz-awfulness.  #7 Duke 76, #15 Gonzaga 41.  In a game all too reminiscent of other early-season blowouts that Duke has administered on overrated teams, the Devils completely overwhelmed the Zags defensively to, as Mark Few put it after the game, “woodshed” his team on Saturday afternoon at MSG.  Duke’s defense held Gonzaga to a mere fifteen FGs for the game, 28% shooting, a single three-pointer and a quarter-century team low of 41 points.  Despite all the hype for the Duke bigs coming into the season, it’s been the backcourt play of Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith, combining for 36 PPG, 7 RPG, and 10 APG that has truly driven this team to have the look as one of the best teams in America this year.  Scheyer’s ridiculous A:TO ratio of 5.8 to 1 actually went down after two TOs in this one, but his 20/5/8 assts more than made up for the miscue.  Smith added 24/3/3 assts, and we’re going to spare talking about the Gonzaga awfulness since not a single Zag got into double figures on the day.

Shot of the Weekend.  Cornell 91, Davidson 88 (OT). Ryan Wittman’s 30-footer at the buzzer in overtime gave the Big Red its eighth win of the year and a shot at a Big East team (St. John’s) on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.  Lost in the heroics and glee of Wittman’s shot was the fact that it wouldn’t have even been possible had Louis Dale not hit a driving layup with 0.7 seconds remaining in regulation.  Cornell’s only two losses this year were against Big East teams (Seton Hall and Syracuse), so this will likely be the Ivy League favorite’s best chance to get a huge win this season (Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse is not realistic).  We haven’t been able to locate a video of this shot yet, but if you see one, let us know.

SEC Sucktitude. A week ago, we were ready to start believing that the SEC is much-improved this year.  Then the SEC East craps itself on Saturday and Sunday.  We’re reserving judgment for now, which of course means we really think this league is terrible and deserves only one bid (ok, not really).

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Predicted Order of Finish:

East

1.      Southeastern Louisiana (12-4)
2.      Nicholls State (11-5)
3.      Stephen F. Austin (10-6)
4.      Northwestern State (7-9)
5.      McNeese State (5-11)
6.      Central Arkansas (4-12)

West

1.      Sam Houston State (13-3)
2.      Texas-San Antonio (11-5)
3.      Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (10-6)
4.      Texas-Arlington (9-7)
5.      Lamar (7-9)
6.      Texas State (6-10)

All-Conference Team:

•    Marquez Haynes (G), Sr, Texas-Arlington
•    Ashton Mitchell (G), Sr, Sam Houston State
•    Anatoly Bose (F), Jr, Nicholls State
•    Kevin Palmer (F), Sr, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
•    Corey Allmond (G), Sr, Sam Houston State

6th Man. Devin Gibson (G), Jr, Texas-San Antonio

Impact Newcomer. Rodney Jones (G), Jr, Southeastern Louisiana

What You Need To Know.  The Southland is comprised of twelve schools over three states (you can probably figure them out from the schools’ names).  The conventional wisdom says that the league is “West-heavy,” though we feel that’s giving Southeastern Louisiana and Nicholls State a little less credit than they deserve.  Stephen F. Austin was last year’s representative in the NCAA Tournament but they lost their two best players from last year (actually, the conference’s last two Players-Of-The-Year!), Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsley.  And, with transfers and new freshmen, half of their personnel are totally new.  Since the 1985 NCAA Tournament, the Southland’s tournament representatives have logged only two wins in the Big Dance, both by Northwestern State:  2001’s play-in game against Winthrop, and that thriller against #3-seed Iowa in 2006.

Predicted Champion.  Sam Houston State (NCAA Seed: #14).  Ashton Mitchell and Corey Allmond are a formidable guard combo who blend together seamlessly; Mitchell was 8th in the nation in assists (6.5 APG) last season and averaged 12.5 PPG as well, while Allmond is more than happy to accept those dimes from Mitchell as the leading returning scorer (15.3 PPG) on the team and ranking 4th in the conference in 3FG% (43.4).  Senior forward Preston Brown will see a rise in minutes and touches as the main inside scoring threat though he’ll be partnered with Gilberto Clavell, a promising junior college transfer.

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