Buzz and the buzzer
Buzz Peterson has issues with the shot-clock buzzer at Holmes Center.
It apparently isn’t loud enough to be consistently heard, and the lack of volume would have been even a bigger issue if Appalachian State had lost to Davidson on Thursday night.
The Mountaineers had built some momentum with a 7-0 run in the first half when Ben Allison of Davidson took a 3-point shot that might or might not have left his hands before the shot clock expired. Referees, trained to watch a shooter’s hand – not the clock – and rely on the buzzer, never heard the buzzer.
Allison missed the shot, but, with no shot-clock violation signaled, Bryant Barr of the Wildcats grabbed the offensive rebound, hit a 3-pointer and ignited an 8-0 run that gave the Wildcats the lead at halftime.
Peterson wasn’t happy.
“I’ve complained about that thing from Day One,” Peterson said of the buzzer. “It’s never had a loud buzzer since I’ve gotten here. It’s quiet. When there are people in the place making noise you can not here it.
“I don’t know if you can go back on replay and see if (the shot left the hands in time) but all I know, and I trust my assistants, that zero hit when it was in his hands. They missed the shot, but got the rebound and scored and that made me even madder.”
Kellen the Brand
Fans attending Thursday’s game at Holmes Center were given plastic construction-worker hats to wear in honor of hard-working and hard-nosed senior Kellen Brand.
A sticker on the yellow hats read: “Kellen the Brand.”
The blue-collar Brand didn’t disappoint, scoring 10 points and taking at least one tumble to the floor.
“He made a heck of a play one time with a save and I turned and looked and we only had four against five,” Peterson said. “I was thinking where in the world is (Brand). I figured he was probably in the stands, or knocked himself out.
“One thing I can say about KB is that he brings it every night. He works his tail off.”
Nearing a first-round bye
ASU improved to 9-4 in Southern Conference play with the victory over Davidson. That stretched its lead in the North Division to a full game over Western Carolina and, perhaps more importantly, increased its lead over third-place Chattanooga to four games with five left to play.
The top two teams in the division will get a coveted first-round bye in the SoCon Tournament.
Strange season
The Mountaineers are 15-10, but don’t seem that far removed from what could have already been a 20-win season.
In retrospect, the Mountaineers could have and perhaps should have won several of the games they lost – to Division II King College; at home to 11-13 Furman and 13-12 The Citradel; close losses on the road at 13-13 Chattanooga and 13-12 East Tennessee State; and in overtime at Arkansas.
Of course, the Mountaineers can feel fortunate with a notable victory at 18-8 Wofford, and do have a nice set of victories over Western Carolina and Davidson as well as wins over conference-leaders Morgan State and Robert Morris.