Wednesday night, Savannah State comes to Omaha as the WORST scoring team in America. Yes, you read that right: out of 344 Division One teams, Savannah State is 344th. How many points must you average to be dead last, you ask? The answer is 51. They shoot a frosty 38% from the floor (318th Nationally), 24% from three-point range (338th) and 65% from the line (239th). Clearly the Tigers struggle to score, unlike their namesake from another sport.
With shooting percentages like that, a team had better play legendary defense or they won’t win many games, obviously. Given that Savannah State went winless in 2005, when they finished a staggering 0-28, it wouldn’t be shocking to find out they don’t play defense well either. Except, they’re actually a good defensive team. 13th in the country, to be exact, allowing just 57 points a game on 44% shooting. Further, they outrebound their opponents (albeit slightly, 30-29).
So what gives? They can’t score, but they don’t allow other teams to score much, either. Hence their respectable 4-6 record. In games versus Top 100 opponents, that defense held Georgetown nine points under their season average, and Duquesne six points below their average, both losses. So they aren’t just padding their defensive stats against bad teams: they’ve performed well against the better teams on their schedule, too. As a matter of fact, St. Bonaventure is the only team to meet or surpass their season average in points against the Tigers this year!
Their style of play is a slow, deliberate, half-court game, and they’ve been mostly successful forcing that tempo on their opponents. They average just 60 possessions per game, the least of any team in D1.
The Tigers remain an independent in 2009-10, with hopes of moving into the MIAC Conference next season. The recruiting challenges are enormous when you have zero chance of making the NCAA Tournament — Savannah State is never, ever getting an at-large bid, and with no conference affiliation, there is no hope of an auto bid. What a task that must be, recruiting kids who know if they go to Savannah State, they will never even have a chance to play for a NCAA bid, much less get one.
From the depths of going 2-56 over a two-year period from 2004-06, they’ve improved their record incrementally each year under coach Howard Broadnax. Their 15-14 record last year shows their program is progressing, and the Tigers are undoubtably a vastly improved team from the squad that came to Omaha two years ago.
All that said, their RPI so far this season is 341 out of 344 teams, meaning there are just three worse teams in all of Division One. Never fear, we’ll see one of those other three next week when Houston Baptist comes to town. Yuck. My suggestion is to use your own “Jay Bilas Eye Test” to determine which team is more crappy, because statistically they’re too close to differentiate.
What I took the scenic route in arriving at is this: Savannah State is an opponent tailor-made for Creighton to blow out and get some confidence back after a tough road loss. Ordinarily, it would be the sort of game that people would gripe about, what with their RPI, ability to compete, etc. I would argue that is of minimal concern here. The Jays just need to get a win and play well, period, regardless of the opponent.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Savannah State is 4-6, but 0-4 in true road games (do they have ANY positive stats? Jeez.) … Two of their four wins have come against non-D1 schools, Webber International and Virginia-Wise (can it get worse? Yep, wait for it, the worst is to come.) … Those two wins are the only two games all season that they’ve scored more than 53 points in (Whoomp, there it is. Apologies to the 90s.) … Creighton is 54-1 under Dana Altman when allowing the opponent to score less than 53 points, and Savannah State hasn’t scored that many points against a D1 team all season … The Tigers gave a scare to Michigan last November in Ann Arbor, taking a 39-19 lead to the locker room at halftime before bowing 66-64 in overtime … Coach Howard Broadnax was a sophomore guard on Georgetown’s 1984 NCAA Championship team, which is how the Tigers were able to get a home game against the Hoyas this season … Broadnax has a 46-84 record at Savannah State, which is actually a fairly impressive record considering his first team went 2-28. He’s 44-58 since, improving their record each season he’s been in charge … Broadnax’s first Tiger team went 2-28 in 2005-06, and the season before he arrived, the team went 0-28, capping a remarkable 2-56 run over two seasons. TWO-AND-FIFTY-SIX! Incidentally, that winless campaign was the first for any team since Prairie View A&M in 1991.
The Last Time They Played: Creighton won 78-52 in the only previous meeting, in November of 2007. It was remarkable how terrible Savannah State was in that game. I described it this way:
One of my co-workers emailed me at halftime to say, “This is like watching paint dry. I’ve never seen a worse basketball team in my life, and I’m at least 73% sure my son’s high school team could beat them.”
While his claim likening the game to watching paint dry was hyperbole, and his braggadocio about a high school team being better was dubious, it wasn’t that far off from being plausibly true. The Tigers were not good.
The Jays had a 22-4 lead just six minutes in; they had an amazing 18 steals (also a school record); and they got 60 points from their bench. But my favorite stat of the night, dedicated to the Husker fans in bib overalls who sat in front of us at the game (loudly rooting for Savannah State just to be ornery): Creighton led 47-28 at the half, meaning for as bad as Savannah State was, they were 8 points better than Nebraska against the Jays the week before.
Man, I remember that game now. It was so horrible it made horrible feel bad about itself.
Historical Lesson Of The Day: Savannah State University is a four-year, state-supported, historically black university located in Savannah, Georgia. Savannah State holds the distinction as the oldest public historically black university in Georgia. In 1996 the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia elevated Savannah State College to the status of state university and the name was changed to Savannah State University. Famous sports alumni include NFL great Shannon Sharpe and WWF star Ernest “The Cat” Miller.
Gratuitous Linkage: The 15 Worst Christmas Movies Ever. Usually these lists have plenty of jumping-off points for an argument, but I gotta be honest, I don’t know where to start here. Pretty much every single entry on this list is completely, utterly unwatchable — most of them are so bad they even surpass the “so bad they’re secretly good” phase. I could be roped into watching “Jingle All The Way” if in the right mood because Ahhhnold in a comedy is usually unintentionally hilarious. And “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” is OK, I guess. But the rest? Just a toxic wasteland of holiday coal.
Official Gametime Snack: I’m leaving this one open, because at least for myself, I will have no room for snacking. There is a tray of 150 cookies, brownies, and other assorted goodies sitting in the office breakroom, free, courtesy of one of our vendors. I’ll be grazing off that thing for days. DAYS!
The Totally Random Song I’d Play Right Now if I was Still a Radio DJ:
Going back to the deep, dark 1970’s with this one: The Average White Band’s “Pick Up The Pieces.” The title is self-explanatory as it pertains to the Jays situation in trying to pick up the pieces from yet another late blown lead, I think…plus late-70s funk just sounded like a good idea. Its always a good idea, actually. Ohio Players, Rufus, Rose Royce, Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, Gap Band, Parliament…I mean, these are all great choices. But the title of this song fits the situation best, so instead of those artists, you get AWB. Could be worse.
Prediction: Savannah State has not scored more than 53 points against a D1 opponent this season. Against the Jays defense, they will on Wednesday. Savannah State has allowed more than 60 points just twice this season. Against the Jays on Wednesday, that number will become three.
Creighton 77, Savannah State 59