Dec. 17, 2010

GAME NOTES | LIVE AUDIO | AUDIO: JAMAL BROWN PREVIEWS PITT

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Following finals week and a six-day hiatus from the hardwood, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team is ready to take on the University of Pittsburgh Panthers Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Peterson Events Center.

Last Saturday, the Hawks fell, 90-56, at Evansville. UMES (2-7) shot just 36.7 percent from the floor while the Purple Aces hit 59.2 percent of their shots. The bright spot of the weekend came from junior Tyler Hines (Sicklerville, N.J.) who recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Kevin White (Brooklyn, N.Y.) also scored 11 points while redshirt senior Tim Burns (Franklinville, N.J.) posted all 10 of his points in the second half.

Redshirt junior Hillary Haley (Oxon Hill, Md.) and junior Dishawn Bradshaw (Baltimore, Md.) led the Hawks in scoring this season with averages of 12.9 and 12.3 points per game, respectively. Hines averages 7.0 rebounds per game to lead UMES while White posts 5.1 assists per contest for the Hawks.

As of the Dec. 13 poll, Pittsburgh (10-1) is ranked eighth in the country by both the Associated Press poll and the ESPN/USA Coaches Poll. The Panthers also played their last game on Saturday when they lost their first game of the season, 83-76, to Tennessee. Senior Brad Wanamaker led Pitt with 21 points in the contest. Junior Ashton Gibbs leads the team in scoring with an average of 17.2 points per contest while senior Gary McGhee averages 6.6 rebounds per game.

Saturday's matchup between UMES and the Panthers is the second in the history of the schools. The only previous meeting came on Dec. 27, 1997 when the Panthers defeated the Hawks, 85-51, in Pittsburgh. The last Big East opponent UMES faced was when they fell to Marquette, 70-63, on Nov. 17, 2009.

The game between the Hawks and Pitt can be heard live on the Hawks Radio Network at 95.9 The Sports Animal and on the Internet at UMESHawks.com thanks to allinbroadcasting.com. Br

Saturday's will also be televised on ESPN Regional/FSN Pittsburgh with commentators Rob King and Brooke Weisbrod. There are 11 nationwide television affiliates that will also pick up the game including MASN in Baltimore, Md. and Washington, D.C.

NATIONAL TELEVISION AFFILIATES ESPN Regional/FSN Pittsburgh (Rob King and Brooke Weisbrod; Prod. Bill Shissler). 11 nationwide, Live: Pittsburgh (FSN Pittsburgh), Washington, D.C. (MASN), Baltimore, Md. (MASN), Kansas City, Mo. (Metro-KC), Milwaukee, Wis. (TW-WI), San Antonio-Austin, Texas (KCWX-TV), Providence-New Bedford, R.I. (Cox-NE), Green Bay-Appleton, Wis. (TW-WI2), ESPN Full Court; Tape Delay on December 19: New York City (SportsnetNY) at 2 p.m., Hartford-New Haven, Conn. (SNY-CT) at 2 p.m., New Orleans, La. (Cox-NO) at 2 p.m.et Lasky has the call for UMES while Dave Vatz hosts the studio show.

FREE THROWS UMES' top two scorers are both in the top ten in the conference in free throw shooting. Dishawn Bradshaw ranks third in league (19-of-22, 86.4) while Hillary Haley ranks fifth (30-of-36, 83.3). The Hawks are shooting 69.8 percent from the stripe as a team, fourth best.

BACK ON POINT Point guard Kevin White recorded his fourth double-figure scoring game of the season with 11 against Evansville (three in first five games). He scored just four points in each of the previous three games prior on 4-for-20 shooting. White has just six assists in his last three games. He dished out 40 assists in his first six games (6.67 per).

Tim Burns IN DOUBLE FIGURES Reserve guard Tim Burns scored in double figures for the third time this season against Evansville. Burns had scored just six points in the last four games combined. The senior finished second on the Hawks in points per (11.3) and minutes played per game (33.1) last season.

FIFTH IN CONFERENCE Tyler Hines ranks fifth in the MEAC in offensive rebounds per game (3.2). Thomas Coleman of N.C. A&T leads the league with 4.4 offensive rebounds a contest. Hines leads the Hawks with 29 offensive rebounds.

SLOW STARTING UMES started very slow against both Old Dominion and Evansville last weekend. The Monarchs jumped to an 18-0 lead (13:45). UMES did not score their first points until 12:36 left in the first half. Evansville built a 19-6 lead over UMES by the 11:19 mark in the first half. The Hawks did not score their first field goal until the 13:15 mark in the first half. Dishawn Bradshaw scored the first field goal in both instances. Earlier in the season, Columbia shot out to a 30-7 lead by the 13:04 mark in the first half.

MOST POINTS Through nine games, the Hawks have allowed the most points in the MEAC (734, 81.6 per). Six of the nine UMES opponents have scored over 80 points. The Hawks rank tenth (out of 11 teams) in field goal percentage defense. Opponents are shooting 48.6 percent from the floor.

SHARE THE WEALTH AND WIN The Hawks top two assists totals this season have come in their two wins. They recorded a season high 20 assists at Navy and 19 against Kean. UMES has notched just 11 assists in each of the last three games.

SHARING THE MINUTES Nine UMES players are averaging over 10 minutes per contest through seven games. The UMES benched logged 66 of the 200 minutes against Delaware State and scored 17 points while the bench scored 23 points in 95 minutes of action against Evansville.

LIFE AWAY FROM THE HYTCHE The Hawks are in the midst of a five-game stretch away from the Hytche Athletic Center. UMES return to Princess Anne on Dec. 21 to take on Washington College (Md.). It will be their first home game since Nov. 24 (NIU). The Hawks went 0-8 in non-conference road games last season. They beat Navy (Patriot League) earlier this season.

EFFICIENT FRONTCOURT Tyler Hines and Freddy Obame Obame have been very efficient this season. Hines is shooting 57.4% from the floor this season (27-47) while Obame Obame is 24-of-45 (53.3%). Hines ranks second in the MEAC.

COMMON OPPONENT The Hawks and Panthers have one common opponent this season. UMES lost to Delaware State (12/4), 63-54 while Pittsburgh beat Delaware State (12/8), 70-42. No Pittsburgh starter played more than 22 minutes against the Hornets. Only Marques Oliver scored in double figures (11) for the Hornets. Delaware State shot just 32.6 percent against the Panthers. The Hornets shot 48 percent against the Hawks. The Hawks and Panthers share a future common opponent. Pitt plays American University on Dec. 22. American beat UMES 65-58 on Nov. 20.

OVER 500 POINTS With 16 points against Delaware State, Hillary Haley went over 500 points in his two-year stint with UMES. Haley has 514 points at UMES. He transferred to the Hawks from St. Bonaventure.

SECOND IN MEAC Point guard Kevin White ranks second in the MEAC in assists per game (5.1). White led the league last year in assists with 5.4 a contest. Jay Threatt of Delaware State leads the league (6.6).

400 POINT CLUB Senior guard Tim Burns crossed the 400-point marker with 10 points against Evansville. He has 406 points in his two years at UMES. Burns has scored in double figures 20 times over his career. Including his two-year stay at High Point, Burns has scored 638 points in his college basketball career.

DEFENDING THE THREE The Hawks were one of the best in the nation last season at defending the 3-point shot. UMES ranked 14th in the country last year in 3-point FG defense (29.6%). Only four teams shot 40 percent or better from beyond the arc against UMES (Eastern Michigan, The Citadel, Nebraska and Howard). The Hawks held 17 of their 32 opponents under 30 percent from 3-point range.

BETTER ON OFFENSIVE GLASS Hines was the only player in the MEAC that had more offensive rebounds than defensive rebounds (amongst players with at least 20 offensive rebounds). Hines finished eighth in the MEAC with 2.3 offensive rebounds per.

COACHES' CORNER RADIO SHOW The next live radio show from Peaky's Pub will be on Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. The show airs on WGOP 540 AM and 100.7 FM.

PANTHERS SCOUTING REPORT Pittsburgh was the preseason pick to win the Big East conference, one of the toughest in the nation. The Panthers roughed up their first ten opponents by an average margin of 21.4 points per. They have five wins of 20 points or more. Junior Ashton Gibbs leads the offensive in scoring (17.2), 3-pointers made (36), 3-point percentage (45.6) and free throw percentage (86.1). Brad Wanamaker is Pitt's second leading scorer 13.5 points per. He leads the team in assists (66) and ranks third in rebounds (58). The Panthers have used the same starting five in each game (Ashton Gibbs, Brad Wanamaker, Gilbert Brown, Talib Zanna and Gary McGhee).

QUICKEST TO 200 In just his eighth season as the head coach at Pitt, Jaime Dixon is just two wins shy of 200. He will tie Mark Few (Gonzaga) and Roy Williams (Kansas) for quickest to 200 wins. Dixon will become the fastest in school history to 200 wins. Dixon has guided the Panthers to seven straight trips to the NCAA tournament.

REMEMBERING 2008-09 Pitt had one of the best teams in college basketball two years ago. They were led by Sam Young (19.2), DeJuan Blair (15.7 points, 12.7 rebounds) and LaVance Fields (10.7 points, 7.5 assists). The Panthers reached the East Regional finals before losing to Villanova (78-76). Young was drafted with the 36th pick by the Grizzles while Blair was taken by the Spurs with the 37th pick.

NO TRUE ROAD GAMES The Panthers have not played a true road game this season. They have played three neutral site games; two at Madison Square Garden in the 2K Sports Classic (Maryland & Texas) and one at the CONSOL Energy Center (Pittsburgh, Pa.) against Tennessee. The Panthers' first true road game is Jan. 4 when they travel to Big East opponent Providence. The Panthers are 7-0 at the Peterson Events Center this season.

GLASS WORK The Panthers lead the Big East in rebounds per game (44.0). They also lead entire nation in rebounding margin (+15.2). Interestingly enough, no one player ranks in the top 14 in the league in rebounding. Six players are averaging more than four rebounds per game. The Panthers have outrebounded nine of their 11 opponents. Only Texas and Tennessee have outrebounded the Panthers.

GREAT PASSING TEAM The Panthers lead the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.66). They lead the Big East with 217 assists in 11 games (19.7 per). The Panthers have recorded 17 or more assists in nine of their 11 games. Brad Wanamaker ranks fourth in the league in assists per game (6.0). Pitt is averaging just 11.9 turnovers per game.

18-0 VS. MEAC The Panthers are 18-0 all-time against teams in the MEAC.