Feb. 29, 2008

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THE WEEK IN REVIEW... Johns Hopkins has won three in a row, including overtime wins against McDaniel and Washington College. Those two wins clinched the #3 seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament for the Blue Jays.

Hopkins went on the road for a crucial conference match-up at McDaniel on Wednesday and came away with a 76-68 overtime win. Senior Doug Polster paced the Blue Jays with 21 points, while sophomore Pat O'Connell posted his first career double-double with 10 points and 13 boards.

The Blue Jays made it two OTs in a row on Saturday, rallying for a 69-68 win over the Shoremen on Senior Day. Polster hit a baseline jumper with 9.6 seconds left in OT for the win. Senior Kevin Roach stole the Shoremen's inbounds pass and found a wide open Polster for the gamewinner.

THE CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE TOURNEY... Johns Hopkins is making its sixth consecutive and 11th overall appearance in the Centennial Conference Tournament. JHU is tied with both Franklin & Marshall and Muhlenberg for most CC Tournament appearances.

Hopkins will take on the #3 seed, Gettysburg, in the second semifinal on Saturday at Ursinus. The first semifinal will feature #1 Ursinus versus Dickinson. Red Devils defeated the McDaniel Green Terror on Wednesday.

The Blue Jays are 9-8 all-time in the tournament with two titles, including the 2007 title. In semifinal games, Hopkins is 7-2, with a 2-0 mark against Gettysburg. The Blue Jays are 2-5 in the title game.

AGAINST THE FIELD... Gettysburg leads the all-time series with Johns Hopkins 43-25, though the Blue Jays are 2-0 against the Bullets in the Centennial Conference Tournament. Gettysburg swept the season series this year.

Against Ursinus, Hopkins is 41-36 all-time, though the Bears swept the season series. The Blue Jays are 1-2 against the Bears in the tournament.

Hopkins also leads the series with Dickinson, 37-23 and swept the series this season. The Blue Jays and the Red Devils have also never met in the tournament.

CC TOURNEY RECORDS... Matt Griffin `07 holds the championship game record of 31 points, set in a loss at Ursinus in 2006. Danny Nawrocki `07 shares the single-game rebounding record. He grabbed 16 boards in a first round loss at Haverford in 2005.

ALL-CENTENNIAL... Senior guard Doug Polster was named to the All-Centennial Conference Second Team on Thursday. This is his first career all-conference honor. Polster leads the team with 15.3 points per game, while shooting 36.3 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from downtown. He's also dished 24 assists to go with 29 steals. Polster leads the Centennial in made three pointers (68) and ranks sixth in free throw percentage (80.2).

I'M HONORED... After wrapping up the final week of the regular season with lots of momentum going into tournament play, senior Doug Polster has been named the PrestoSports/Pride of Maryland Player of the Week.

Polster averaged 17.5 points last week in two key conference wins for Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays put themselves in the driver's seat for the #3 seed in the playoffs with an overtime win at McDaniel on Wednesday. Polster punched up 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including seven of Hopkins' 17 points in OT. On Saturday, Polster scored 14 points, including the game-winning bucket with 9.6 seconds remaining in overtime against Washington. The win clinched the #3 seed and a first round bye for the Blue Jays. For the week, he shot 50.0 percent from the floor, including 35.7 percent from downtown. He was also perfect from the free throw line and had four rebounds, two assists and one steal.

COUNTDOWN TO 800... Johns Hopkins needs just two wins to hit the 800-win mark. This is the 83rd season of basketball at Hopkins and the Blue Jays post an all-time record of 798-899-1 (.470).

The Blue Jays also post a Centennial Conference record of 150-70 (.681), ranking second behind Franklin & Marshall (159) for most conference wins.

FIVE AND DIME... The Blue Jays have won four of their last five and seven of the last 10 games. During the last 10 games, Hopkins is averaging 65.6 points while holding opponents to 62.3. The Blue Jays are also winning the battle of the boards (33.2/32.1) and turnovers (15.9/17.2). Senior Doug Polster and sophomore Andrew Farber-Miller are averaging in double figures in the last 10 outings. Polster is averaging 15.9 points, while Farber-Miller is putting up 10.6 per game.

HITTING THE BOOKS... Senior guard Doug Polster has been rewarded for his work in the classroom. With a double major in psychology and Spanish, Polster boasts a 3.41 cumulative GPA. On February 7, he was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Second Team. He is the third men's basketball player in the last two seasons to earn the honor.

300 AND COUNTING... Johns Hopkins has some outstanding three-point shooters in its history. In fact, JHU has hit atleast one three-pointer in 316 consecutive games. A streak that dates back to February 17, 1996. It is the 11th longest active streak in NCAA Division III. Salisbury holds the record for consecutive games with a three-point basket - 500 - from 1986-2006.

Senior guard Doug Polster had his streak of consecutive games with a trey snapped at 18 in the loss to McDaniel on January 23. That streak dated back to February 25, 2007 and was the eighth longest in school history. Polster got back on track just three days later, hitting 4-of-8 from downtown, and he has hit atleast one three-pointer in the last nine games.

T.J. Valerio `07 holds the individual record for consecutive games with a three-pointer. He hit a trey in 35 straight games, a stretch from January 8, 2005 to February 1, 2006.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP... After seeing limited playing time in his rookie season, Andrew Farber-Miller is having a solid sophomore campaign. Last season he played in 13 games, while this season he has played in all 25 games and started 20.

Farber-Miller is second on the team with 5.7 boards and 10.0 points per game. He's shooting 51.8 percent from the floor and 76.0 percent from the free throw line. In the triple-overtime win over Muhlenberg on January 16, Farber-Miller played a school-record 49 minutes, including the final 24 minutes of the game. He's grabbed two double-doubles so far this season.

PICKPOCKET... Junior guard Collin Kamm broke a school record in the win against Eastern in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. He had nine steals, including six in the first half, breaking the program single-game record of seven - held by both Dave Wilson (02-05-1986) and Bill Zahn (11-27-1989). Kamm's nine steals are also tied for the third most in Centennial Conference history. For the season, Kamm has a career high 45 steals, just three behind sophomore Pat O'Connell.

As a team, Johns Hopkins had 15 steals in the win over Eastern - the most in a game in exactly seven years. The Blue Jays last had 15 steals in a game on January 5, 2001 in a 67-50 win over New York University.

FREE BASKETBALL... For the second time this season, Johns Hopkins played back-to-back overtime games last week. The Blue Jays have played a school-record seven overtime games this season, and won six of those. Hopkins dropped its first overtime game of the season, a 78-74 loss to Richard Stockton in the championship game of the Blue Jay Invitational. Since then, Hopkins has won six straight overtime contests. On the season, the Blue Jays have played 50 minutes of extra basketball.

COACH NELSON... Head coach Bill Nelson, now in his 22nd season with the Blue Jays, is the winningest coach in program history. He posts a 368-208 (.638) record entering this week's action. Nelson ranks second in Centennial Conference history in conference wins (150), conference tournament wins (9) and NCAA Tournament wins (5).

For his career, Nelson's record stands at 473-260 (.645) in 28 seasons. Nelson coached at the Rochester Institute of Technology and Nazareth College before taking over at Hopkins.

MOVING ON UP... Senior guard Doug Polster is climbing the ranks in the Johns Hopkins record book. On February 9 at Haverford, he broke the school single-season record for three-point attempts and now has 198 this season. Polster enters this week with 365 career three-point attempts and 138 career made three-pointers. Both rank fifth all-time. He also ranks fourth with a career free throw percentage of .819 and 20th with 154 made free throws.

Also making a move in the Hopkins record book are senior forward Kevin Roach, junior guard Collin Kamm and sophomore guard Pat O'Connell. Roach enters this week with 254 career defensive rebounds and ranking 15th all-time. He also has 52 career blocks, which is good for 11th in school history. Kamm currently ranks 15th all-time with 78 career steals and is just two shy of moving into a tie for 14th all-time. O'Connell meanwhile, has 72 career steals, good for 18th all-time.

CHARITY STRIPE... The Blue Jays have eight players who are shooting better than 64.0 percent from the charity stripe this season. In fact, four of those eight are shooting better than 75.0 percent. Senior Doug Polster leads the team, connecting on 80.2 percent of his shots from the free throw line. As a team, Hopkins ranks fourth in the Centennial with a 71.0 free throw percentage.

In the Blue Jays triple-overtime win against Muhlenberg, the team broke school and Centennial Conference records for free throw attempts (57) and free throws made (46).

COACHES' PICK... The Blue Jays were picked to finish fourth in the Centennial Conference in the coaches' preseason poll. Hopkins received 111 points and was the only team in the top-five to not receive a first place vote. Ursinus is the conference preseason favorite, earning seven first place votes and 137 points.

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