At power forward and center, a steady rotation has developed between Darius Songaila, Josh Shoemaker, Rafael Vidaurreta and Antwan Scott. But the most important key to the frontline is Songaila staying out of foul trouble. In the team's nine January and February losses he had at least four fouls in every game but one. In the team's last seven wins, he had three or fewer fouls in five of them. Songaila also is an excellent free-throw shooter, shooting 82 percent from there in addition to his 50 percent from the field.
Shoemaker is second on the team in total minutes played but no one ever really notices.
The team needed Shoemaker to increase his presence when Vidaurreta had knee surgery and was out early in the season, and he exceeded expectations. Then the team fell apart in a close loss to North Carolina on Jan. 6, going 3-7 before scrambling to finish at .500 in the league. The late-season recovery was helped when the backcourt began to step up its play again. O'Kelley reached double figures in scoring in seven of 10 games and salvaged his shooting percentage from dropping below 40 percent. Broderick Hicks became the starting point guard almost by default, thanks to health problems Ervin Murray has suffered this season.