Mike Moore scored a career-high 24 points in Saturday's loss at Xavier. (Photo courtesy of Joe DiBari, Fordham University's Sports Information Director)

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

Heading into yesterday’s matchup with No. 14 Xavier, Dereck Whittenburg talked about how Fordham needed to slow the game down if they had any chance of upsetting the Muskateers, or even keeping the game competitive. For the first 10 minutes Saturday afternoon, that game plan worked. Then, Xavier got it going and kept it going the rest of the way. By the time this one was over, the Muskateers had handed Fordham their fourth straight blowout loss, this one an 88-53 setback in front of 10,250 at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“They [Fordham] gave a great effort with our bench being depleted,” assistant coach Travis Lyons said after the game on WFUV. The Rams were playing without Chris Bethel and Brenton Butler, who are out for the remainder of the season with injuries, and Trey Blue, who left the team to return home to Chicago for personal reasons. “We’re coming along. The game plan was there. Hopefully the guys keep battling.”

At the start of this one, that’s exactly what the Rams did, trading baskets with the Muskateers until midway through the first half. But Xavier, 30-point favorites heading in, shot extremely well, especially from three-point range, and eventually started to pull away. By halftime, Xavier led 42-29 despite the game being tied at 18-18 with just over 10 minutes to play in the first half.

“They got all-around scoring from a lot of different places,” Lyons said about Xavier’s balanced attack. Six Muskateers reached double figures in points. All 10 Xavier players to enter the game scored, and Fordham was outscored 32-2 in bench points. The Muskateers connected on eight three-pointers in the first half, and finished with 14 for the game. They shot 53.4 percent overall from the floor, while Fordham struggled once again, shooting just 32.8 percent.

“They’re an all-around good team” Lyons added. ”We came out and gave them different looks. It really shook them up. But they’re a good team and they made some adjustments.”

Mike Moore scored a career-high 24 points for the Rams. The sophomore also pulled down 10 rebounds, also a career-high. It was Moore’s first double-double of his college career. Jio Fontan (12 points) and Herb Tanner (10 points) also reached double figures.

Fordham is now 3-19 on the year, 1-9 in the Atlantic 10, while Xavier improves to 21-4 overall, 9-2 in conference play.

On Feb. 2, Fordham SportsNet reported on the murder of Nova Henry, the sister of Fordham guard Trey Blue’s girlfriend, and her 9-month old daughter. The two were shot to death in their Chicago apartment on Jan. 24.

Blue, a freshman, missed Fordham’s game against Saint Louis when he returned to Chicago two weeks ago for the funeral. Now, he has left the team once again to head back to Chicago to be with his girlfriend, Jillian Henry, and family. Blue did not make the trip with the team for today’s game at Xavier. Understandably, the freshman guard, and those around him, are having a difficult time dealing with the tragedy.

“That’s a tough thing,” Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg said on WFUV today when asked to comment on Blue’s situation. ”You can’t measure how a tragedy affects an individual. Mentally it’s been tough for him. He’s taking a quiet leave of absence. We didn’t want to make a big deal out of it and [we want to] let him try to get himself together.”

Blue played just nine minutes in Wednesday’s loss to UMass, shooting 0-of-2 from the floor and turning the ball over twice. In 19 games this season, he is averaging 8.2 points in 19.6 minutes. However,  Blue is shooting just 32.3 percent from the floor and he has struggled defensively.

Whittenburg wasn’t sure when, or if, Blue would return to the team. But he did offer his support.

“Maybe he comes back, maybe he doesn’t,” Whittenburg said. ”It’s just unfortunate for (him). His personal well being is much more important right now.”

Charles Costello

Jio Fontan was named to the Atlantic 10 Conference's Honor Roll after averaging 20.5 points in two Fordham losses this past week. (Photo courtesy of Joe DiBari, Fordham University's Sports Information Director)

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

In a season filled with disappointments, injuries, and a whole lot of rebuilding for the Fordham Rams, the one constant has been the play of point guard Jio Fontan. Since he opened his college career back on Nov. 14 with just two points against Columbia, to this past Wednesday’s 19-point performance in a loss to UMass, the freshman has emerged as one of the Atlantic 10′s best guards, and it’s safe to say that, barring injury or an unlikely early departure, the point guard position is now secure at Rose Hill through the 2011-12 season. 

As for this season, fans, media, and opposing teams have taken notice. Yesterday, the Atlantic 10 Conference announced that Fontan was named to this week’s Honor Roll after scoring 22 points in a loss to George Washington last Saturday, followed by his 19 points against the Minutemen on Wednesday. It’s the latest conference honor bestowed on Fontan. He was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week on Dec. 14 and Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie of the Week on Dec. 28.

This afternoon, Fontan and the Rams face their most difficult challenge of the year. Fordham is in Cincinnati, Ohio to take on the No. 14 Xavier Muskateers (4:00, 90.7FM and WFUV.org). Xavier beat Fordham 86-60 back on Jan. 11 at Rose Hill. Today the Rams will be without Chris Bethel and Brenton Butler, both out for the season with injuries. And Fordham enters today’s game having been blown out in their last three contests. While Xavier is currently facing their first crisis of the season, having lost their last two games, the Muskateers are still a 30-point favorite over the Rams.

“I think we have to slow the game down to a crawl, run our offense, try to block out, play some different defenses, and hopefully not give up a lot of three-point shots,” Whittenburg said when asked Wednesday night about the rematch with Xavier. “The three-point shot hurts you more than anything else. We’re going to really try to concentrate on their shooters. We cannot take quick shots. We’re going to slow the pace down, be very deliberate, try to take a good shot, and take some time off the clock.”

GAME RESULTS

(Statistics and game results posted on ESPN.com)

Mike Moore led the Rams with 21 points in last night's loss to UMass. (Photo courtesy of Joe DiBari, Fordham University's Sports Information Director)

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

Home is where the heart is. Or so we’re told.

For the Fordham Rams, especially as the season has moved further along, the Rose Hill Gym has been anything but a place of comfort. Despite December wins against Lafayette and New Hampshire, home has become a place of horrors for the Rams. Last night, that storyline continued.

Despite outscoring the Massachusetts Minutemen 40-34 in the second half, the game was all but over by halftime. The Minutemen led from start to finish in this one, going up by as many as 35 in the second half, en route to a 91-68 trouncing of the host Rams in front of only 1,935 at Rose Hill.

Massachusetts got out of the gates strong, leading 9-0 less than three minutes in. A steady diet of crisp passing, fast-break points, three-point shots, and offensive rebounds by UMass led to a 57-28 halftime lead. From the opening tip straight through until halftime, the Minutemen had their way with Fordham. UMass hit eight three-pointers in the first half, two each by Tony Gaffney, Luke Bonner, and Ricky Harris, and single treys by Anthony Gurley and Gary Correia. The Minutemen shot 58.3 percent in the first half. Meanwhile, the Rams shots just 29 percent, hitting just 2-of-10 three-pointers.     

“[UMass] shot the ball absolutely great from the outside,” Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg said. ”We just couldn’t make a three-point shot. We couldn’t make any layups. Once we got behind it got easier for them to get some shots off and loosen up.

“I was impressed with [UMass] but for us it really came down early on to making a shot. If we make a couple of those shots [then we start to feel good about ourselves]. They end up making some big shots to make a run. Our offensive execution really hurt us because we didn’t run our offense and didn’t pass the ball enough and they took advantage of that.”

Gaffney and Harris led the Minutemen with 19 points apiece, while Bonner (12 points) and Chris Lowe (10 points) also finished in double figures. Gaffney had 10 rebounds, helping UMass outrebound Fordham, 46-29. For the Rams, Mike Moore led the way with 21 points, Jio Fontan had 19, while Herb Tanner and Jacob Green had 10 points apiece. Moore also led the Rams with nine rebounds. UMass scored 20 second-chance points to Fordham’s eight.

“Once again we started off with three freshmen out there and we looked like it,” Whittenburg said. ”[UMass] looked like a veteran team. They just took advantage of every mistake we made and they capitalized.”

With Wednesday's loss, Jio Fontan and the Rams fell to 3-18 on the season, 1-8 in conference play. (Photo courtesy of Joe DiBari, Fordham University's Sports Information Director)

Yes Fordham won the second half, but by the time the teams took the court to play the game’s final 20 minutes, this one was all but decided. Nonetheless, the Rams continued to play and saw their shooting percentage increase to 53.3 percent as they began to execute better on offense. At the same time, however, UMass continued to light it up, never giving the sparse crowd at Rose Hill, many of whom left at halftime, any indication that this was going to be a game.

Fordham only has two days of practice to prepare for No. 14 Xavier (4 p.m. Saturday in Cincinnati, Ohio), their second meeting of the year with the Muskateers. On Jan. 11 at Rose Hill, Xavier beat the Rams, 86-60. Fordham was competitive in that contest, but a lot has changed since then. For starters, Chris Bethel is lost for the season, which means rebounds and inside scoring are lost as well. Brenton Butler didn’t play in the first game with Xavier, but he’s out for the year too. And the Rams are playing perhaps their worst basketball of the season, having been blown out in their last three contests, twice at home in embarrassing fashion. The good news is that Xavier has shown some vulnerabilities, losing their last two games to Duquesne last Saturday and Dayton last night. The bad news, this is still arguably the Atlantic 10′s best team. And Fordham is at the bottom of the league.

“I think we have to slow the game down to a crawl, run our offfense, try to block out, play some different defenses, and hopefully not give up a lot of three-point shots,” Whittenburg said when asked about the rematch with Xavier. ”The three-point shot hurts you more than anything else. We’re going to really try to concentrate on their shooters. We cannot take quick shots. We’re going to slow the pace down, be very deliberate, try to take a good shot, and take some time off the clock.”

With Wednesday night’s loss the Rams fall to 3-18, 1-8 in conference play. The schedule doesn’t get any easier as Temple and Rhode Island await the Rams following Saturday’s game at Xavier.

“There’s no Chris Bethel and there’s no Brenton Butler” Whittenburg said. ”You’ve got a team that doesn’t have confidence. They’re trying to learn how to win. This is on the job training for them. Nobody in the league is starting three freshmen and a sophomore. We’ve got guys who have never been there before and we don’t have anybody [on the court] to help them through it.”

With forward Chris Bethel done for the year, senior walk-on Zach Wing will play a more prominent role for the Rams down the stretch. (Photo taken by Keith Krebs, courtesy of Joe DiBari)

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

No excuses, but injuries do hurt.

With Brenton Butler (ankle) and Chris Bethel (knee) done for the year, and coming off perhaps their worst defeat of the season, the Fordham Rams had little reason for optimism as they headed to the nation’s capital for this afternoon’s game against George Washington.

Of course, the Colonials aren’t doing much better. Entering today’s contest having lost their last 11 games, George Washington hadn’t won a game in Atlantic 10 conference play this year, and they were winless overall since December 23. Add to that the Rams propensity to play better on the road, evidenced by their upset at St. Bonaventure 10 days ago and their near upset at Dayton back on January 14, and there was hope for Fordham today.

“We really played totally different than we played on the road,” head coach Dereck Whittenburg said today on WFUV, talking about last Saturday night’s loss to Saint Louis following the team’s upset win at St. Bonaventure. ”We’ve had a tough time (this year) playing at home. I just think [our players] lose focus, they get out of the realm and the scheme that we’re trying to do. I don’t know if they’re trying to play for their families or play to the crowd. We were just totally out of character (against Saint Louis) and as a result we didn’t play any defense and we didn’t make many shots. The result was getting blown out against a good team.”

But 57 first-half points by the Colonials, leading to a 33-point lead at the break, silenced the Rams. The end result was an 87-62 loss that saw Fordham get outrebounded 46-27 while the team shot just 23.3 percent (to GW’s 63.9 percent) from the floor in the first half. George Washington (7-13, 1-7), led by as many as 41 points in the second half, taking a 67-26 lead less than four minutes into the half. For the game, the Rams shot just 32.8 percent from the floor. Jio Fontan (22 points), Trey Blue (18 points), and Mike Moore (15 points) led the Rams. Luke Devine (5), Zach Wing (1), and Jacob Green (1) combined for just six rebounds, a big concern for Fordham with Bethel now lost for the season.

“We have no choice, you have to go,” Whittenburg said in response to how the team is dealing with the injuries to key players. ”We’re still right in the hunt for getting into the conference tournament. We have to put that behind us and try to find a way with Chris out to do things better. We have to rebound a little better and our guards have to be a little bit more aggressive. Hopefully we can get something out of Jacob Green, and Zach Wing is going to play more. I just think we’re going to have to continue to try to play the game the right way. If we do that we’ll have a chance.”

As for Bethel, who went down for good during the first half of last Saturday night’s game, Whittenburg praised the way the senior has handled the end to his college career.

“I think he’s taken it pretty hard, but to his credit he knows he has to move on and concentrate on his academics and rehab and see what happens with his basketball future,” Whittenburg said. ”It’s unfortunate. I thought he was starting to play better. Hopefully we were going to put him back in the starting lineup. He’s a guy who’s a very capable scorer so we’ll miss him. It’s a big loss for us but I just feel sad for him that he didn’t get a chance to finish his senior year on the court.”

With today’s loss, Fordham falls to 3-17, 1-7 in Atlantic 10 play. Fordham still has a chance to make the Atlantic 10 tournament, but if the Rams are to play basketball in March, things are going to have to turn around quickly.

“With nine games left in the conference anything can happen,” Whittenburg said before today’s game. Eight games now remain after today’s loss. ”You have to stay the course and take it one game at a time.”

(Dereck Whittenburg’s quotes are taken from his pregame interview on WFUV Radio.)

GAME RESULTS

(Statistics and game results posted on ESPN.com)