Men's Basketball Weekly Report

Johns Hopkins in the Playoff Hunt

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Junior Collin Kamm ranks 20th in school history with 70 career steals.

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2008-09 Johns Hopkins Men's Basketball Season Review

Johns Hopkins Drops Season Finale, 63-57, at Washington College

Johns Hopkins Falls at Home to McDaniel, 66-54

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Feb. 5, 2008

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THE WEEK IN REVIEW... After posting a 1-1 record last week, Johns Hopkins is a three-way tie for third place in the Centennial Conference. JHU is tied with McDaniel and Muhlenberg at 7-5.

Hopkins used a dominating first half to down Washington College 70-57 on Wednesday night in Chestertown. The Blue Jays led 38-19 at the half, thanks to 53.6 percent shooting. They held the Shoremen to just 33.3 percent from the floor and forced 11 turnovers in the first half. Senior Doug Polster led four Blue Jays in double figures with a game-high 19 points. Senior Kevin Roach posted his first career double-double with 12 boards and 11 points.

Saturday's game was a tale of two halves. Hopkins and Ursinus went into the half tied at 29 apiece. In the second half, the Centennial leading Bears turned it up, shooting 60.7 percent from the field en route to an 82-66 win. Polster scored a career-high 29 points to earn Wall-O'Mahony MVP honors.

The game was played in memory of former Johns Hopkins basketball players Glen Wall and Matt O'Mahony, who lost their lives in the attack on the World Trade Center. The two were teammates, classmates and best friends.

THE WEEK AHEAD... As Johns Hopkins battles for a play-off spot, it will have to face Franklin & Marshall (T-6th) and Haverford (8th) this week.

The Blue Jays are looking to split the season series with the Diplomats when they visit Goldfarb Gym on Wednesday night. Frankin & Marshall won the first meeting this season, 70-61 in Lancaster, PA. The Dips lead the all-time series 50-29.

On Saturday, the Blue Jays are looking for a series sweep when they visit the Fords. Hopkins defeated Haverford 65-51 in Baltimore earlier this season. The Blue Jays lead the all-time series 57-34 and have won the last three meetings.

COUNTDOWN TO 800... Johns Hopkins is just seven wins shy of hitting the 800-win mark. This is the 83rd season of basketball at Hopkins and the Blue Jays post an all-time record of 793-898-1 (.469).

The Blue Jays also post a Centennial Conference record of 145-69 (.677), ranking second behind Franklin & Marshall (158) for most conference wins.

LAST FIVE... The Blue Jays are 3-2 in their last five meetings, including 2-0 on the road. Senior Doug Polster (15.8) and sophomore Pat O'Connell (11.2) lead the team in scoring during this stretch. While senior Kevin Roach (7.2) and sophomore Andrew Farber-Miller (6.8) are leading on the boards.

Hopkins opponents are averaging 17.6 turnovers per game and shooting 44.2 percent from the floor. While the Blue Jays are shooting just 43.4 percent, their three-point field goal (33.3/28.8) and free throw percentages (71.6/66.3) are better than their opponents.

300 AND COUNTING... Johns Hopkins has some outstanding three-point shooters in its history. In fact, JHU has hit atleast one three-pointer in 310 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. 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 thee 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 their rookie seasons, Adam Baumgartner and Andrew Farber-Miller are having solid sophomore campaigns.

Farber-Miller is third on the team with 9.4 points and second with 5.8 rebounds per game. He's shooting 49.2 percent from the floor and 77.3 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.

Baumgartner averages 4.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He ranks third on the team in blocks (7) and is shooting 41.4 percent from the field.

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 37 steals, a career-high.

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... Johns Hopkins played back-to-back overtime games on January 16 and 19, for a total of 25 extra minutes of basketball that week. On the season, the Blue Jays have gone to overtime four times and are 3-1 in those games. JHU lost its first overtime game of the season, 78-74 to Richard Stockton, but has won the last three. Hopkins last played back-to-back overtime games on November 20 & 23, 1999. That season, the Blue Jays played a school-record six overtime games (3-3).

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 363-207 (.637) record entering this week's action. Nelson ranks second in Centennial Conference history in conference wins (145), conference tournament wins (9) and NCAA Tournament wins (5).

MOVING ON UP... Senior guard Doug Polster is moving up the ranks in the Johns Hopkins record book for career three-point field goals made and attempted. He enters this week with 319 attempts and ranking eighth all-time. Polster has nailed 121 treys and now ranks sixth all-time. For the season, he has attempted 152 three-pointers, ranking third in school single-season history. Averaging 8.0 three-point attempts per game, Polster is just 16 shy of tying the school record (Luke Busby, 93-94 - 168). He also ranks 20th in JHU history with 148 free throws made.

Also making a move in the Hopkins record book are senior forward Kevin Roach and junior guard Collin Kamm. Roach enters this week with 217 career defensive rebounds, tied for 20th all-time. He also has 44 career blocks, which is tied for 16th in school history. Kamm currently ranks 20th all-time with 70 career steals and is just one shy of moving into a tie for 18th all-time.

AROUND THE CENTENNIAL... Senior guard Doug Polster leads the Centennial Conference in three point field goals (2.68). He also ranks fifth in free throw percentage (.826) and eighth in scoring (15.5). Senior forward Kevin Roach is 10th in the conference in rebounds (6.6), while sophomore forward Andrew Farber-Miller ranks 10th in field goal percentage (.492). Roach averages 1.05 blocks for game and ranks fifth in the Centennial.

Junior guard Scott Weisenfeld is averaging 2.88 assists per game, good for sixth in the Centennial. He also ranks second in assist/turnover ratio (1.40). Junior guard Collin Kamm ranks sixth and sophomore guard Pat O'Connell ranks seventh in the conference in steals with 1.95 and 1.79 respectively. O'Connell is shooting 47.7 percent from three-point range, which ranks fourth in the conference.

CHARITY STRIPE... The Blue Jays have six players who are shooting better than 65.0 percent from the charity stripe this season. In fact, four of those six are shooting better than 75.0 percent. Senior Doug Polster leads the team, connecting on 82.6 percent of his shots from the free throw line.

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.