Billikens' bricks were an all-time worst
Posted: Friday, January 11, 2008 9:35 AM
Filed Under:
Records, A-10
This is when the writer’s strike really hurts. In less than two weeks, we’ve seen three new records for scoring futility. [Insert raunchy joke here.]
Where’s Judd Apatow when a guy needs him? Even if he can’t write a joke, he could probably make a shot for Rick Majerus. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
First, it was Pennsylvania setting a record for fewest points in a half (6) during a 60-30 loss to Florida Gulf Coast. The Quakers missed every shot in the first 13:15 of the first half, breaking Central Michigan’s record set two years ago against Miami (Ohio). Not since the advent of the shot clock had a team had such trouble scoring.
Nine days later, Savannah State to put on a real (ugly) show.
The Tigers, 12-18 last season, 2-28 the year before and winless in 2004-05, know something about not scoring. But an 85-25 loss to Kansas State was bad even for them.
Savannah State was outscored 48-4 in the second half, making just 1-of-23 field goal attempts. That’s a 4.3 shooting percentage. It got so bad, some K-State fans yelled “mercy bucket,” according to the AP story.
So how does it get any worse? When your opponent has as many blocked shots and steals combined as you do points – and you’re the team with the better record. That’s the truly amazing part in Saint Louis’ 46-20 loss to George Washington on Thursday.
Sure, the Billikens missed 23 consecutive shots. Yeah, they trailed 23-7 at halftime and set the modern record for fewest points in a game.
But this was the A-10 opener for both teams. Neither could’ve expected an outcome like this.
“Sometimes you miss,” Majerus said after the game. “We are a team that has some issues. That is why we are practicing (Friday). We did miss some good shots, yes. Anyone can look at us and see we don’t have height, we don’t have depth.”
Maybe, but this is the same team that beat Southern Illinois in mid-December. The Billikens (9-6) were considered to be part of the A-10 revival, thanks to Majerus’ coaching. The Colonials (4-6) hadn’t beaten a team ranked among the RPI’s top 200 teams all season.
To put it bluntly, this was like nothing we’ve ever seen before.
Consider:
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Penn was 4-7, while was Florida Gulf Coast 3-9 entering their game. Both teams were capable of bad night, which is what the Quakers had.
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K-State is an NCAA caliber team that played well at home and had an opponent struggle beyond what one would expect.
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The Billikens, meanwhile, put on a performance everyone would like to forget.
Their offensive efficiency for this game was 37.5 on 53 possessions. Their previous low this season was 61.4 in a 61-40 loss to Kent State. Their eFG% was 15.6, half of their previous low, also against Kent State. Both were also worse than Savannah State against K-State.
Ken Pomeroy could confirm this, but it looks like the Billikens put on one of the top five worst offensive displays in history.
The good news? Thank God for the shot clock.
North Carolina trailed Duke 7-0 at halftime during a 1979 loss (Dean Smith’s four corners offense never worked better.) Arkansas State once lost 75-6 to Kentucky in 1945, while Temple lost 11-6 to Tennessee in 1973.
11-6. That’s not even a good football game.
