Three Things to Watch - Tulsa World (3-3-2007)

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Three Things to Watch

By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer

3/3/2007

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1) Energizer Bunny

Perpetual motion. That?s Southern Utah guard Steve Barnes. The 5-foot-10 senior makes up with energy what he lacks in size. He just keeps going and going and going.

When Barnes isn?t setting up teammates ? he leads the Mid-Con with 5.8 assists per game ? he?s scoring at a career-best 13.3-point clip.

He?s also one of the best rebounding guards in the league. He averages 3.1 rebounds per game.

?It?s fun jumping in there with the big guys,? he said.

Barnes never slows down. It?s all by design.

?I wasn?t as active last year because I was more of a pure point guard. But we lost some shooters and coach (Bill) Evans wanted me to be more of a scorer and create a little more,? he said.

Barnes is eighth in the league in scoring, ninth with 51 treys, and fi rst in free throw shooting (.886).

He had 17 points, six rebounds and five assists as the Thunderbirds beat Utah for only the second time.

Against Weber State, he had 24 points and five assists.

2) Equal partners

No Mid-Con team has better balance than Oakland?s Golden Grizzlies. Four starters score in double figures and freshman point guard Jonathon Jones averages

9.6 points per game.

The Grizzlies can score from every spot,which makes them almost impossible to contain and a threat to win the conference tourney for the second time in three years.

Senior forward Vova Severovas is sixth in the league in scoring (14.2), followed by sophomore guard Erik Kangas (12.5), senior center ShawnHopes (12.3) and sophomore forwardDerick Nelson (10.0).

Kangas bombs 3-pointers, Severovas and Nelson are fierce rebounders and the 275-pound Hopes is a round mound of power inside.

With those returnees, coach Greg Kampe recruited Jones to run the show. The freshman was fourth in the league with 3.6 assists and had 32 steals.

3) Sideline Sideshow

Once the game starts, IUPUI coach Ron Hunter can?t sit still. He paces. He stomps. He storms. He windmills his arms and pumps his fist.

He exhorts players. He cajoles referees.At times, he can?t watch. At other times, he kneels and prays.

Hunter once stomped so hard he broke a bone in his lower leg.

The way he carries on, you?d think people paid to watch him and not the game.

But it isn?t an act. It?s Hunter.

?My mother says I was the same way when I was little,? he said with a chuckle.?If you could watch me in my office, you see me doing the same things. I?ll watch myself on tape and I?m like,?Gosh, I really did those things.? But I couldn?t coach any other way.?

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