After three close encounters to open A-10 Conference play, it was nice to see the Billikids break out and enjoy a lopsided victory for a change.
The kids came out focused and with a lot of energy against Fordham, resulting in a 75-48 victory.
I think the sting of the OT loss in Charlotte was still on everyone's mind and the kids had to take it out on someone. It turned out to be Fordham.
Once again, it was a solid all-around team effort where everyone got a chance to share in the big victory. Key players were not pressed to play heavy minutes and hard-working, walk-on Darren Young was rewarded with some playing time for the final four minutes of the game.
Usually, in my game recaps, I like to add the picture of a player who really stood out in the game. Well, because so many players stood out on Wednesday night, I just could not single one out. That's why you see the Billiken mascot's photo.
For the first time, Coach Majuerus unveiled his new starting lineup of Willie Reed, Cody Ellis and Jon Smith up front with Kwamain Mitchell and Kyle Cassity in the backcourt.
That lineup really got a lot of things done during our two-game road swing at Duquesne and Charlotte. They really jumped on Fordham from the start as they raced to an 11-2 lead.
Things really clicked with this group. Willie was back to his bouncy, energetic self on both ends of the floor. Jon has continued his stellar play since the calendar turned to 2010. Cody stroked some long 3-pointers and moved down the lane for an emphatic two-handled slam dunk. Kwamain penetrated and scored and Kyle facilitated and defended well.
What pleased me was when Rick went to the bench, the guys kept up the intensity and production without much slippage. Brian Conklin ended up being the top scorer on the night with 15 points. He was active and physical all evening.
Fordham is really struggling right now at 2-15 and winless in the league, but they had been competitive in all of their conference games. However, seized control of the game early and never gave them a chance to build any confidence.
It was a fun evening with a lot of crowd-pleasing plays. As I mentioned, Jon and Willie were dunking all over the place and the crowd loved it.
Cody continues to get better with each game. He looked like Linas Klieza last night with his long-distance shooting range and a big-time move to the bucket which resulted in a dunk off an inbounds play. He is still trying to play himself into game shape, thus he played a team-high 29 minutes.
Jon Smith continues to emerge as a force. He finished with a near double-double with eight points and eight rebounds. The beauty about Jon is that you never have to run a play for him and he will still get those numbers because he is so active.
Jon is a great example of recruiting an extraordinary athlete with a lot of length and a big upside. A raw talent like that in the right hands (such as Rick's) makes for a very dangerous player when developed the right way. We saw it last year with Willie and now history is repeating itself. It's nice to have two athletic jumping jacks on the front line creating all kinds of havoc on the interior. And both are still babies in their development as college players. Just wait until they are grown men.
At 3-1 in the league, the Bills have put themselves in a pretty good position early on. The kids are playing some good ball right now, but what's most promising is that there is so much more room for growth in each and every one of them.
Even when I am at my most frustrated (which was the case in Charlotte), I still have to remind myself that this is a very young team that is prone to making lots of mistakes.
With that being said, I think we can all see the growth in this team and can be excited about how good they are going to be one month from now. Obviously, we cannot afford any more injuries because we've had our share this year, starting with Paul, then Jeff, Kwamain, and now Femi.
It was a nice turnout last night considering it was mid-week and we were playing a team at the bottom of the league. If the youngsters continue to play well and compete in the A-10, I am expecting to see some sellouts down the stretch.
I'm not going to lie to you. I will be disappointed if we're not packing 9-10K in the Chaifetz for games with Dayton, Xavier, Temple and Rhode Island, who are still left on the home schedule.
These formidable teams are all contenders in the league and we have them all at our house in Februrary (Temple is on March 3). St. Bonnie and Duquesne come calling as well in Feb. I hope everyone is one hand to give them a nice Billikens' welcome.
The rest of the league slate will be very tough, beginning with the GW, Richmond swing next week. Oh, it would be nice to get another road win. If that happens, we could really put ourselves in position for something interesting.
I'm looking forward to seeing it all unfold.
I know you are too.
Go Bills!
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