Kevin Henderson Suspended After DUI

I first saw this over at NBC Sports college basketball blog, that Montana sophomore guard Kevin Henderson was suspended today after being pulled over for a DUI.

According to the report, Henderson was pulled over by campus police Sunday and found to have a blood-alcohol level of greater than 0.02, which is the legal limit for persons under the age of 21. Henderson, only a sophomore, is 20. He pleaded not guilty on Monday.

Henderson has been a little up and down this season, but is playing 12 minutes per game. He has averaged 2.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game, and is also a good defender with his solid athleticism and quickness.

While he did plead not guilty, it seems that Wayne Tinkle didn't waste any time in suspending him. Good on them for a quick suspension... as I learned in my college criminal justice classes, one of the best deterrents is a efficient penalty. Here's thinking that any current or future Montana players will think twice about getting into a car after drinking at all, which is a good thing.

Hopefully this will wind up being a small blip in a solid career for Henderson.

EDIT: He is suspended for one game, according to The Missoulian.

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Kevin Henderson's Game Winner

I will write more about this weekend's games later, but Montana guard Kevin Henderson hit a three-pointer with 2.5 seconds left to help Montana beat San Diego 67-66.

The video can be found here.

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2012-13 Breakout Sophomores in the Big Sky

A few days ago I took a look back at my picks for breakout sophomores in the Big Sky last year, and was pretty happy with my efforts. Now, it's time to look into the crystal ball again and try to identify five sophomores from the Big Sky that will have breakout years compared to their freshman years.

One note... Dylan Garrity of Sacramento State is a guy I am not including on this list, but not because I don't think he is worthy. I just think that since he was the Freshman of the Year in the conference, and led all NCAA freshman in assists, it would be too easy to project him as "breaking out." It is a compliment to him, because I think he was too solid in year one to include here, and I wanted to dig a little deeper. So, the five I am choosing...

Tevin Svihovec (Northern Colorado)
You could almost argue that he should be similarly gauged as Garrity, but I am including him on this list because I think he is going to break out in a big way. By the end of last season, Svihovec was the guy UNC went to if they needed a bucket down the stretch, and he became a leader for them. I see that continuing this year. He does not beat you with athleticism, but he knows how to play the game and get good shots. He is an efficient player and that should improve with a year under his belt. If he can be a leader defensively, and be a little more of a pure point guard (in terms of taking care of the ball and getting teammates involved), he can be an all-conference guy sooner rather than later.

Gelaun Wheelwright (Weber State)
With the loss of Damian Lillard, Wheelwright has a great chance to be the starting PG, which will give him a lot of responsibility. Last year, a lot of his offense came either off Lillard or off the fast break, so it will be interesting to see how effective he can be in a half court game. He might be the fastest player in the conference, and this allows him to get easy baskets at times. He has to improve his outside shot to keep teams honest. He shot 31% from downtown last year, but needs to get that up to ensure teams won't sag off of him. If forced to play up on him, he will beat a lot of guys off the dribble. He also had a low assist rate of 10.8%, which obviously must improve if he is going to start at the one. He has a long way to go, but you get the feeling he is only scratching the surface of his potential.

Kevin Henderson (Montana)
A lot of this prediction will depend on playing time. Minutes will be opened up by the loss of Art Steward, but there are other candidates to take those minutes. If he does play, he has the athleticism to be a difference maker defensively, and solid offensively. Against UNC last year, I saw a press featuring Will Cherry, Kareem Jamar, and Kevin Henderson, and it was lethal. There is a lot of speculation here because he only played 98 minutes last year, but I have a good feeling about Henderson's future in the Big Sky.

Tim Huskisson (Northern Colorado)
Athletically, there are not a lot of guys with his talent in this conference. He can play above the rim, and just make things happen that other guys can't. The unique thing about him is that he also shot 46% from three (19/41) lst year, and over 51% from two. The talent is there to be a big time player. However, like many freshman, he looked like he may have been farther along physically than mentally. Look for him to take a step closer to putting it together, which will earn him the extra minutes that comes along with that trust.

Gaellen Bewernick (Northern Arizona)
Bewernick was a rare bright spot on a bad Lumberjacks team, as he played a bit out of position but posted solid rebounding rates and efficient offensive numbers. I think NAU is going to be a lot more organized and tougher this year, and that could benefit Bewernick. With better gameplans in place, he could take the next step and become a focal point of Jack Murphy's rebuilding efforts. It can be tough to predict how a guy is going to do in a new system, but I think he has the talent to make it work.

Just Missed:
- Keron DeShields (Montana) - Has lots of talent on the offensive side of the ball, but will be battling for minutes again in a crowded backcourt. For Wayne Tinkle, tie goes to defensive-minded guys.
- Gary Winston (Portland State) - The hardest guy to leave off. Good all-around player that should have a much bigger role in year two.
- Parker Kelly (Eastern Washington) - He had a nice impact as a freshman and should be equally solid this year, but I'm not sure he has the talent to break through and get a ton of minutes in a crowded backcourt.

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Montana Tops Northern Colorado Behind Will Cherry's Defense

Here were my halftime thoughts from the game.

The last time Montana came to Greeley, they lost the Big Sky conference championship to the Bears, who celebrated their first conference crown.

That seems like so long ago, as Montana erased some of those bad memories en route to a 75-68 victory. The win moves Montana to 11-1 in the Big Sky, while Northern Colorado falls to 4-8.

The biggest key for Montana winning the game was Will Cherry. He was, quite simply, phenomenal. If there was any doubt that he was the best defensive player in the Big Sky, he erased that in this game.

As the head man on a 1-3-1 three quarters court press, Cherry seemed to be everywhere. He finished with 30 points and 8 steals (one off his career record on the night), also chipping in 4 assists and 4 rebounds. He had the look of a man that was not going to let them lose, as he was the leader both offensively and defensively.

The turnovers were really the difference in the game. Northern Colorado shot almost 59% from the floor, and played solid halfcourt defense. However, Montana forced them into 27 turnovers, and scored 36 points off those turnovers (compared to 6 points off turnovers for the Bears).

"We were responsible for half of their points," UNC coach BJ Hill said. "They obviously cranked up the pressure, but it was more a lack of our toughness both mentally and physically than something they did."

At times, UNC struggled to get the ball past half court, and when they did, they had significantly less time to run their offense. Their young guards were just no match in this one for the Grizzlies' pressure defense.

Kareem Jamar and Derek Selvig had 12 points apiece for Montana. Kevin Henderson also contributed solid minutes, and he was their best bench player. He is athletic and will be a force defensively, even if he can only bring it in spurts right now. Next season, a Cherry/Jamar/Henderson trio is going to be a nightmare for opposing offenses.

Northern Colorado at times looked better than they have all year, which has to be a little bit encouraging for BJ Hill. They fell behind early thanks to the barrage of threes from Montana, but came right back and led by as many as 7 in the second half. Four guys were in double figures, including Mike Proctor with 18. In the end, it just wasn't enough.

Cherry now moves into the top 10 in career for Big Sky steals, which is scary since he has another year of eligibility left. With Weber State beating Northern Arizona, we are one step closer to the dream scenario of two 14-1 teams meeting on the final day of the regular season.

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Montana Falls to Colorado State 64-58

I made the trek up to Ft. Collins on Friday night to watch Montana take on Colorado State, and was treated to a defensive slugfest. The Grizzlies shot 41% from the field, the Rams shot 40%, and neither team was in sync offensively (no doubt with help from the opposing defenses). Here are some of the notes from the game that I jotted down.

- The biggest factor in the game was the huge rebounding disparity. CSU outrebounded the Griz 43-24, including 11 offensive rebounds to 3. The biggest of the game was with about 35 seconds left. CSU was up 3 with the ball, and the shot clock was winding down. They had to force a shot, and because of a switch Will Cherry was stuck trying to box out Pierce Hornung (who finished with 12 rebounds), and Hornung rebounded the miss, and that was essentially the ballgame. At the end of the ballgame, the Griz lineup looked like: Cherry-Stockton-Jamar-Steward-Weisner.

- Of the big guys we talked about stepping in, Mathias Ward probably had the best game. He was 4/5 from the field and displayed good range on his jumpshot out to 18 feet. However, I suspect he was on the bench in crunch time because he only had 1 rebound in 20 minutes. Eric Hutchison was solid defensively in his 22 minutes of action, with 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. He is not very skilled offensively, but he did use his body well to get a couple easy buckets. Billy Reader his a nice jump hook on the block early in the first half, but then essentially disappeared the rest of the game. He strangely is not appearing the box score that I got, but he definitely played (trust me!). He was simply not a factor.

- Will Cherry definitely still is inconsistent on his jump shot, which I thought was the biggest thing he needed to work on. He was 1/5 from beyond the arc, and all were good looks. He did hit a big 3 midway through the 2nd half, but missed an open one with the Griz down 59-56 with 2 minutes to play. He struggled a bit with his midrange jumper as well, as he missed a couple of good looks. I suspect that will come in time. He played almost the whole game and drew a tough defensive assignment, so I'm not sure if fatigue was a factor at all. He was assertive at the end of the game, and got to the foul line a couple times late to keep the game tight. I believe his first rest came with about 10 minutes left to play in the second half, and his absence was felt immediately. With Montana down 48-39, he sat on the bench and Montana immediately turned it over before they even got in their set. On the other end, Jesse Carr hit an open 3, and all of a sudden it was 51-39.

- Art Steward and Kareem Jamar were both plagued with first half foul trouble, and that was a big factor. Montana struggled to get good looks without them in there, and the lack of Derek Selvig was definitely felt. They weren't able to get open shots, and it didn't seem like anyone other than Cherry was able to get a shot for himself or for a teammate. It almost seemed at times like the offense was running through Shawn Stockton.

- Kareem Jamar played an excellent second half, and he is a guy that can create shots. He is athletic, and good range on his jumper, and gets down low and battles for rebounds. They also effectively got him the ball on the block, and he showed an ability to score on smaller defenders down there. He was the best on the team last night at getting his own shot. He finished 5/10 with 12 points, and also had 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

- Two guys hit big 3s. With Montana down 30-20, Michael Weisner hit a big 3 to make it 30-23 going into the break, which had to be a nice lift (CSU coach Tim Miles said after the game... "33 hit a big shot at the end of the half... I don't even know his name"). Near the end of the game, Art Steward his a huge 3 to cut the lead to 58-56, and it looked like the Griz had momentum. Unfortunately, Wes Eikmeier responded with an NBA range 3 on the next possession, and Montana would never cut it to 2 again.

- Of the freshman, Kevin Henderson was the first to see action. He played two minutes but had little to no impact. Jordan Gregory played 6 minutes but also was unable to provide any type of spark. Keron DeShields did not play, but he was the guy that is always trying to sit closer to the coach on the bench to get noticed. It didn't work in this game, but I liked his attitude!

- The above photo of Coach Tinkle in the huddle talking to the guys was snapped by my lovely wife! Selvig was off to the left in the black sweatsuit. He was walking gingerly but his limp from the sprain was not too bad.

All in all, it is a disappointing loss but not a bad loss. I think it is definitely a game Montana thinks they could have won, but they were definitely impacted by the loss of Selvig, both in rebounding and in creating some shots for teammates. Miles said that Montana, "Came in a man down and really did a great job," but the Griz won't be taking a moral victory here. They had a chance to win a game on the road against a quality opponent and just came up a little bit short.

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Montana's Frontcourt Without Derek Selvig

The biggest question mark for Montana heading into the season was their frontcourt after the loss of Brian Qvale, and that frontcourt will have a little less depth for the opener on Friday. Derek Selvig, who hurt his ankle in their exhibition game, is a game-time decision according to Griz Central, but I have a hard time believing he will be ready to play.

In case he is not, Wayne Tinkle is going to have to improvise. The guy that will be most relied on is Mathias Ward, a skilled offensive player at 6'7''. Ward had 11 points in 23 minutes against Lewis-Clark State, and looks to be the top option in the post. He is not a great rebounder but he will provide some scoring inside.

A couple other guys that will see significant minutes are Billy Reader and Eric Hutchinson. Hutchinson is a sophomore that is a bit raw, but has a lot of upside as a defender and rebounder. In the exhibition he had 4 rebounds in 6 minutes. I think Reader will get the start, and he has a lot of upside. He is a redshirt freshman, but is offensively skilled.

Colorado State is not deep in the post, and that is a good thing for Montana. Beyond those three guys, the Grizzlies do not have a lot of places to turn to for help. I suspect we will see more than a couple four guard sets, with Art Steward, Kareem Jamar, or Kevin Henderson at the 4.

Safe to say that whether Selvig is able to play a bit or not, we will quickly learn a lot about the rest of the post men for Wayne Tinkle's ballclub.

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