Published: March 17, 2009 11:33 pm      

Bolen questions seeding

NAIA No. 3 MSU kicks off national tournament today as fifth seed

Mountain State University coach Bob Bolen and his team will take to the court this morning at 9:30 (CST) with a bit of a chip on their collective shoulder.

Mountain State (27-5) takes on LSU Shreveport in the NAIA national tournament at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.

Bolen is a little incensed over the fact his team went from being No. 3 in the last NAIA poll to the No. 5 seed in the tournament in a matter of two hours. And then, on top of that, the NAIA runner-up last year drew the opening (morning) game of the tournament.

“I don’t know how we went from No. 3 in the poll and then two hours later we are the No. 5 seed when the brackets are released,” Bolen said. “We’ve won more games out here than anyone in the last 10 years (18-9). The two teams with the most wins out here, us and Oklahoma City — which didn’t make the tournament this year — and we get a 9:30 a.m. game?

“That’s fine. We’ll just use that as motivation. We’ve been practicing early in the morning since the brackets were released. I think we are prepared.”

Bolen knows his team will have to be to prepared to beat the Pilots (22-11).

LSU Shreveport features the outside shooting of Chris Gatlin, a gun who has hit on an extraordinary 43.3 percent of his three-point attempts (93-215). He leads the team in scoring at 16.5 points per game.

Then the Pilots added 6-foot-9 post presence Mike Pilgrim, a Cincinnati transfer. Since he became eligible, the Pilots have gone 15-6. Pilgrim averages 14.0 ppg and 7.6 ppg.

Tyrone Hamilton averages 15.9 ppg and Derrick Parker 10.1 and a team-best 7.7 rebounds per game.

“We’re going to have to defend them, get out on Gatlin and play a great defensive game,” Bolen said. “Then we have to get into our transition game and put the ball in the basket. We have to do those things and dominate on the boards. Those are three things we must do.”

MSU does lead the country in rebounding, with three players averaging over seven boards per game.

It’s not like any game is going to be a pushover, as Bolen knows all too well. In 2004, when the Cougars won the national title, Wayland Baptist took MSU to the brink before the Cougars escaped with a 10-point win.

“Two of the past five years, the No. 27 and 28 seed won the tournament,” Bolen said. “When you get out here, all 32 teams are good teams. In the last 10 years, we’ve had one blowout in a first-round game.”

Andrew Lee, the Independent Region player of the year, leads the Cougars in scoring (16.5) and rebounding (7.7). Nick Aldridge, who like Pilgrim became eligible at the semester break after transferring in from Western Carolina, averages 15.9 and 7.4 boards per game. A.J. Pigram averages 14.8 and Bo Harris 12.7 and 7.1 rebounds.

Marcus Hunter (9.8) and Tony Brown (9.6), who form the Cougars’ three-man rotation in the backcourt, will play major minutes along with long, athletic wing Greg Grimes (6.3 ppg), Ermin Tarcin (8.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and Vedrin Zivic (3.0 ppg).

The winner of the MSU-LSU Shreveport game will play the winner of Oklahoma Christian-Concordia, Calif. game Friday at 10:45 a.m.

— E-mail: demorrison@

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