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COLLEGE BASKETBALL DAILY
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Rick Gagliano
Monday, February 14, 2005
Panthers Dump Orange Again
Syracuse just can't seem to close out games recently, especially against Pitt.
The Panthers once again came from behind - not from as far as the 17-point lead they overcame when these two teams met back on February XX - but they rallied from 8 down with 6 1/2 minutes left, to beat the Orange, in Syracuse, 68-64.
Gerry McNamara had another poor night shooting for the Orange, hitting only 5-21 from the floor and 3-13 from beyond the arc. Hakim Warrick also struggled, scoring a season-low 12 points.
For the Panthers, it was all about Chevon Troutman, who was only 2-2 from the field, but got plenty of frequent fouling miles, visiting the free throw line 20 times - courtesy of the Orange big men - and hitting 16. Troutman finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Pitt's Karl Krauser, who struggled much of the game, hit three big treys down the stretch to give the Panthers the lead and eventually put the game away.
The Big East is far from settled, with five teams holding conference records of 7-3 or better with five games left. The stretch run won't be easy for any of the top teams, as the conference is strong, top to bottom.
Texas Tech's Darryl Dora hit a three-pointer with 7.9 remaining in overtime and the #25 Red Raiders knocked off one of college hoops' powerhouses, the Kansas Jayhawks, 80-79.
Knight's Raiders, who were dropped from the AP Top 25 earlier in the day, proved they belonged with a must-win triumph at home.
Dora, who was 0-4 from 3-point range before his winning shot, finished with 11 points. Tech's Martin Zeno and Kansas' Keith Langford shared high scorer honors with 24 apiece. Ronald Ross was 10-15 from the field for the Raiders and ended with 21. Kansas strongman, Wayne Simien had 20.
Texas Tech improved to 8-3 in the conference and 15-6 overall. For Kansas, it was only their second loss of the season, both on the road.
Tech can improve its argument for ranking when they meet up with Oklahoma State this Saturday. The Cowboys won their first meeting, back in January, 76-66.
What may have motivated Knight and his troops was the ranking of Oklahoma, at #21. Not only does Tech have a better conference record than the Sooners, but they beat them, 88-81 on February 5. The Sooners are currently in the throes of a three-game losing streak and have lost four of their last five.
One can say whatever one likes about Bobby Knight, but he's proven over the years that he gets players to play, and tonight his players proved him right.
Utah Rolls On
The Utes showed up as #14 in the polls this week and deservedly so. With their 71-62 win over Wyoming tonight, they've reeled off 17 straight.
Two of their three losses, all in 2004, were close ad on the road, at Arizona and Washington, both ranked and battling for the PAC-10 title.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Carolina Cleans Up
The #2 North Carolina Tar Heels completed the most gruelling part of their season with a road win over UConn, 77-70. Though the Huskies blocked 16 shots, the Carolinans more than made up for that with 13 steals. In all, the Huskies turned the ball over 22 times to NC's 11.
The game was close for about the first 30 minutes, but in the final ten, the Tar Heels man-to-man pressure defense took its toll as NC opened up a lead - at one juncture, 11 points - and easily held off UConn.
Scoring was well-balanced, as both squads had four players in the teens.
The win concluded a stretch of six road efforts in eight games for the Tar Heels, who were 6-2 during the span, losing road games to Wake Forest and Duke, the latter by one point.
Despite the win, NC still trails Wake Forest in the ACC standings by 1/2 game. Duke, a loser to Maryland over the weekend, is another 1/2 game back.
Oregon St. 90 #15 Washington 73
Things are far from settled in the PAC-10. Washington fell a game behind front-running Arizona in the standings after being outplayed by a hustling Oregon State squad.
Playing on their home floor, the Beavers chewed up the Huskies, shooting 60% for the game, including 7-12 three-pointers.
While the rest of the conference has almost no chance of catching the top two, the good news for te Huskies is that Arizona has to play both Oregon and Oregon State before ending the regular season with a three-game road swing against Washington St., Washington and Arizona St.
Right now, it looks as though the PAC-10 may only get four teams into the NCAA tournament. After Washington and Arizona, only three teams - Stanford, UCLA and Oregon St. - are .500 or over in conference play.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Illini Eye Perfection
Illinois took the lead early in the 2nd half and were never headed, beating #20 Wisconsin for the second time this season, 70-59. Luther Head scored 26, with 8 rebounds, and backcourt mate Dee Brown chipped in with 16, including 4 3-pointers.
The #1 Illini improved to 25-0 and are now within 5 wins of a perfect season. Their remaining road games are against Penn State, Iowa and Ohio State, the season finale. At home, they face Northwestern and Purdue. None of their upcoming opponents are currently ranked, though Iowa was ranked earlier in the season.
Wake Not Resting
Wake Forest, ranked #6 nationally, dismantled Florida State, 87-48. Forward Eric Williams had another phenomenal game, with 15 points and 14 boards. Justin Gray topped everyone with 20 for the Deacons, who outrebounded Florida State 55-27, and outshot them 53-34%
This team is looking VERY strong right now with balanced scoring, superior interior play and a trio of very athletic guards in Grey, Chris Paul and Taron Downey.
Oklahoma Not OK
A vigorous comeback propelled the Missouri Tigers to a 68-65 overtime win against the struggling Oklahoma Sooners.
The Sooners had a 7 point lead with 2 1/2 minutes to play, but Kalen Grimes scored on a layup and then Thomas Gardner hit a tough shot underneath and nailed a 3-pointer with 1:04 remaining to tie the game at 59.
After an Oklahoma miss, Missouri took possession with under 30 seconds to play. After working the clock down to 6 seconds, the Tigers were able to get off 3 shots before the buzzer sent the game into overtime.
Gardner came up big again in overtime, hitting two consecutive threes midway through the extra frame.
Mizzou took a 2 point lead with 1:30 left on a tough inside bucket by Junior forward Kevin Young. After a shot clock violation by the Oklahoma, coach Kelvin Sampson instructed his troops to foul the Mizzou as the clock ticked under 40 seconds.
But the Tigers, not known for great free throw shooting, struggled down the stretch, missing four of five attempts, but the Sooners could not get off a good shot.
Missouri snapped a five-game losing streak by handing the Sooners their third straight loss.
Gardner and Linus Kleiza - who grabbed a couple of critical rebounds in the OT - each scored 18 points. Young finished with 11 on 5 of 6 shooting.
Elsewhere in the Big 12, Kansas built a 7-point lead at the half, then rolled over Colorado, 89-60, outscoring the Buffaloes 49-27 in the second half. Kansas has now won 20 games in 16 consecutive seasons.
Texas needed overtime to knock of Kansas State, 75-72, and #25 Texas Tech was smacked by Iowa State, 81-68.
In the Big East, Pittsburgh won at home, holding off a determined Notre Dame team, 68-66. The Irish are once again firmly on the bubble for the post-season.
Hakim Warrick scored a career-high 32 points as #8 Syracuse walloped #22 Villanova in Philly, 90-75.
#5 Kentucky handled Georgia 60-51. The Wildcats have all but sewn up the SEC East and are a lock for the tourney, but the rest of the SEC is rather weak. Other than Kentucky, only Alabama is ranked, at #18, and the other tournament-possible teams are flawed, with at least 6 losses. The SEC may get five teams in, but they don't look to go far.
In Conference USA, Louisville regained their winning form with a 65-57 win over South Florida.
#21 Cincinnati was upset again, this time at DePaul, who put an 85-66 beating on the Bearcats. DePaul has now pulled to within 1/2 Game of Louisville for the C-USA lead. For Cincy, it was their third straight loss and now have fallen to 6-4 in conference play. Look for the polls to reflect the demise of the Bearcats and rise of DePaul - 15-5 and winners of 8 of their last 9 - in the polls on Monday.
Williams has Coach K's Number
Maryland completed a regular season sweep of Duke with a 99-92 overtime win at College Park. Maryland has now won three straight against the Blue Devils.
Gary Williams, coach of the Maryland Terrapins, certianly has plenty of experience against the Blue Devils - he's been coaching at Maryland for 16 years.
Though the rivalry betwen the two squads is intense, this battle is being won on the bench. Williams has been a constant threat to Duke coach, Mike Krzyzewski , having won the national championship in 2002, rebuilding and reloading to battle the ACC's perennial powerhouse again in 2005.
With the Terps only 6-5 in ACC play, tonight's win does not ensure a NCAA bid. The ACC tournament looms, though Maryland has a relatively light schedule ahead. Their next test will be at home against North Carolina.
For Duke, the loss is possibly more significant, as it puts them a full game behind Wake Forest in the ACC standings. Wake had already beaten the Blue Devils, but a showdown is set for February 20 at Cameron Indoor Arena.
After tonight's loss, Duke now looks like #3 and maybe #4 in the ACC. Wake Forest and North Carolina continue to roll and the ACC tournament should help to sort out the pecking order on Tobacco Road.
With the ACC tourney and seedings ahead, if ever a team has been in a "cat bird's seat" it's certainly Maryland. Duke's dilemma may be dicey indeed.
#14 Gonzaga squeezed by Loyola Marymount, 61-58, Utah dispatched Colorado St., 64-50, and Pacific earned it's #24 ranking by winning on the road at Utah State, 64-63.
#17 Alabama demolished Mississippi, 71-45, #10 Oklahoma State beat Texas A&M, 66-59.
#12 Arizona won in SoCal, topping UCLA, 83-73.
Lest we forget, Tom Izzo's #12 Michigan State Spartans plowed over Michigan, 64-49. The Spartans have lost all three games against Top 25 competitors this season, plus losing to George Washington.
State's current ranking is somewhat of an anomaly and a tribute to Izzo. The reality of being the second best team in the Big 10 is something else altogether. It's called mediocrity.
Friday, February 11, 2005
Weekend Top 25 Games
There were no Top 25 teams in action on Friday night.
Saturday, February 12
Notre Dame at #18 Pittsburgh
Sunday, February 13
#2 North Carolina at #19 Connecticut
Thursday, February 11, 2005
#6 Wake Forest 86 N.C. State 75
Chris Paul scored 13 points, dished out 8 assists and pulled in 4 rebounds as the Demon Deacons moved into a 1st place tie with North Carolina and Duke for the ACC lead. The Dekes put five players in double figures, including Justin Gray who led the team with 18.
#21 Cincinnati 65 Xavier 54
The Bearcats hit only 2 of 13 3-pointers, but their defense overwhelmed Xavier into shooting 31% from the field. Eric Hicks scored 13 and had 12 rebounds (8 offensive), as Cincy improved to 18-5.
#24 Pacific 78 Idaho 56
Little known Pacific is making a lot of noise in the Big West Conference.
The Tigers are steamrolling the competition, at 13-0 in conference and riding a 15-game win streak in which their average margin of victory has been 12.5 points.
Their up-tempo style, conference dominance and 19-2 record make them a lock for the NCAA Tourney in March. Their two losses were an 11-point loss at #3 Kansas and at home against San Francisco, 67-64.
Other late West Coast scores:
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
CAMERON CLASSIC
The first of two home-and-home matchups between ACC powerhouses, Duke and North Carolina, went exactly as planned, with Duke winning a squeaker on its home floor, 71-70.
With the palpable intensity this time-honored rivalry regularly produces, the #2 Tar Heels and #7 Blue Devils played one for the ages.
Looking like a throwback team, Duke slowed the tempo on offense, holding the ball for long periods, allowing the shot clock to run down before driving to the hoop or shooting from the outside. The Devils let their defense do the talking on the other end of the floor, forcing Carolina into 23 turnovers.
Despite the turnovers, Carolina never lost its cool, cutting the lead to one with under a minute to play and having a chance to win it at the buzzer, though they failed to get off a shot as time expired.
Carolina's Sean May turned in one of monster performances of the season, scoring 23 points and hauling down 18 rebounds. The Duke offense was spread out, most of it coming from JJ Redick (18), Daniel Ewing (15) and freshman DeMarcus Nelson added 16. Duke was nearly flawless from the foul line, hitting 21 of 22 attempts.
The two teams are now tied for the lead in the ACC at 8-2, with Wake Forest (7-2) breathing down their backs. Duke hosts Wake Forest on Feb. 20, and travels to Chapel Hill to face the Tar Heels in the season finale on March 6. North Carolina has already lost to Wake and does not play the Demon Deacons again this season.
Cardinals Upset
Hounded all night by the tenacious Memphis defense, the #9 Louisville Cardinals shot 33% from the floor, were outrebounded, 41-30, and routed on their home floor, 85-68, as John Calipari earned his 300th collegiate win.
Freshman Darius Washington was the game's point leader with 25. Rodney Carney had 24 for the Tigers, who beat a ranked team for the first time this season.
At 14-10, the Tigers are unlikely to be ranked any time soon, but they are surely going to be on the bubble for the tournament as their season winds down. If they run the table, they could finish with 20 wins, but that means winning at Charlotte on the 23rd, beating Louisville again on the 26th and closing with a win over Cincinnati on March 5.
How the Tigers fare in those games will have much to do about whether or not they make the post-season field of 65.
Louisville had a nine game winning streak snapped with the loss.
In other Top 25 action, #3 Kansas got 24 points from Keith Langford and 23 from Wayne Simien to handle Kansas State, 74-65. The Jayhawks are now 19-1.
#17 Alabama pounded Tennessee, 72-54; #13 Michigan State held Ohio State to 26 2nd-half points and raced to a 83-69 win; #20 Wisconsin held on at home for a 72-69 win over Iowa.
Bobby Knight's upstart Texas Tech Red Raiders shot the lights out (53%, 8-11 3-pointers) in a 83-67 win over Baylor. The Raiders improved to 15-5, but face three ranked teams - Kansas, Oklahoma State and Texas - in the next two weeks.
Tuesday, February 8, 2005
Illinois Stands Alone as BC Suffers 1st Setback
The #1-ranked Illinois Illini are now the only team in Division 1 with an unblemished record as #4 Boston College fell to Notre Dame, 68-65 and Illinois won at Michigan, 57-51.
The BC Eagles could not contain Notre Dame's hot-shooting Colin Falls and Chris Thomas who both were deadly from the field. Falls was especially on-target from beyond the arc, hitting 7 of 12 and going 8-14 overall to lead all scorers with 23.
Thomas chipped in with 19 of his own, on 6 of 10 shooting, including 3 of 5 three-pointers. Thomas also had 4 rebounds and 9 assists. His four free throws in the final 1:11 sealed the deal for the Irish.
BC still holds a one-game lead in the Big East standings at 9-1, over Syracuse (8-2). The teams have a heavy date set for Saturday night in Boston.
As for #1, they didn't look unbeatable for most of the game at Michigan, at one point in the second half going almost 12 minutes without a bucket. Backcourt mates Dee Brown and Luther Head scored 16 and 14, respectively, to pave the way to the Illini's 24th win without a loss.
#5 Kentucky kept pace with a come-from-behind win against revitalized Florida, 69-66. The Wildcats were outshot throughout, but turned rebounding, steals and a ball-control offense into a win. Kentucky outrebounded the Gators 34-27, had six steals and only turned the ball over 11 times, as opposed to 16 for Florida.
Pittsburgh rebounded at home to defeat St. John's after losing at West Virginia on Saturday. The #18 Panthers used their inside size and strength to overwhelm the Red Storm, 55-44. Chevon Troutman scored 19 while collecting 7 rebounds. Frontcourt mate Chris Taft added 12 and 8 boards.
Nearing the bottom of the list, #23 Texas got whacked at Colorado, 88-79. The Buffaloes took an early lead and were never challenged by the struggling Longhorns, who have now lost 4 of their last 5 games.
Monday, February 7, 2005
Huskies Put the Bite on Orange
In one of the most anticipated Big East match-ups of the season, #19 Connecticut mushed into the Carrier Dome and showed the Orangemen who were kings of the North.
The Huskies shut down hot-shooting Gerry McNamara and dominated the interior, dumping the #8 Orange, 74-66.
McNamara was 4 of 17 from the floor, including a horrific 1 or 9 from 3-point range, easily his worst shooting performance of the season.
With McNamara effectively shut down, the scoring burden fell to Hakim Warrick, who led the Orange with 16 points. But Charlie Villanueva put up 21 to go with his 10 rebounds, while Rudy Gay added 18 from the backcourt.
The loss was the first at home this season for the Orange, while the Huskies improved to 15-5 and 2-3 against ranked opponents.
Bedlam Part Two
After knocking off Oklahoma State, 67-57, two weeks ago, the Oklahoma Sooners have fallen on lean times, dropping games to Iowa State and Texas Tech, with a win over Texas A & M sandwiched in between.
Tonight was the real acid test for the #16 Sooners, in their road rematch with their in-state rivals.
After a tight first half, the Cowboys took control on their home floor and delivered another blow to the Sooners, 79-67. JamesOn Curry and Joey Graham each scored 22 points as the Cowboys maintained sole possession of 2nd place n the Big 12 at 8-2, trailing 8-0 Kansas.
In other Top 25 action, Villanova defeated St. Joseph's, 67-52.
Top 25 Changes
The Top 10 remained virtually the same, with Duke dropping from #4 to #7 and Boston College, Kentucky and Wake Forest all moving up a notch. Illinois remained the unanimous #1, followed by North Carolina, Kansas, Boston College, Kentucky, Wake Forest, Duke, Syracuse, Louisville and Oklahoma State.
Alabama, after being pounded at Florida, 54-85, dropped from #11 to #17, while Utah rocketed from #21 to #15. The 19-3 Utes are tearing through the Mountain West conference with a 7-0 record and a two-game lead over Air Force.
Two ACC teams, Maryland and Georgia Tech, dropped out of the rankings, replaced at 24 and 25 by 18-2 Pacific and Bobby Knight's 14-5 Texas Tech Red Raiders.
February 6, 2005
Ho, Hum: Illini and Tar Heels March On
The top two teams in the nation took to the court on Sunday and went about their business while the rest of the country focused on football's finale.
There were no surprises, except that Illinois was held to their lowest point total of the season by Indiana. The #1 Illini managed to notch win #23, a 60-47 effort that wasn't very pretty, but nonetheless, effective.
#2 North Carolina continued their road odyssey with an 80-60 triumph over Florida State.
In a swing that began at Wake Forest on January 15 and resulted in their second loss of the season, the Tar Heels are two-thirds of the way through the roughest part of their schedule - in which 6 of 8 games are away from the friendly floor at Chapel Hill.
The road-tested Tar Heels play at Duke on Wednesday and at UConn on the 13th before a brief, but well-deserved two-game home stand.
February 5, 2005
Upset Saturday!
With the sports world firmly focused on tomorrow's Super Bowl, there was plenty of excitement in the college hoops arena on Saturday.
In the premiere ACC event, #4 Duke got off the schneid at Cameron Indoor Arena and knocked off #25 Georgia Tech, 82-65, probably sending the Yellowjackets out of the Top 25 for the balance of the regular season. Tech dropped to 13-7 and 4-5 in the ACC.
JJ Redick shot only 7-15 from the floor, but 6 of those were for 3, and finished with a game-high 26 points.
Keith Langford lit up the Cornhuskers for 27, as #3 Kansas continued to rocket through its Big 12 schedule, dismissing Nebraska, 78-65.
#6 Kentucky got balanced scoring - three players, Kelenna Azubuike, Chuck Hayes and Patrick Sparks all had 15 - and rolled past Vanderbilt, 84-70.
Wake Forest, ranked #7 nationally, kept their hopes of an ACC title alive with a 83-63 win at Virginia Tech. The Deacons pulled to within a half-game of North Carolina, at 7-2, and are tied with Duke.
Wake is in a good spot as they have wins over both Duke and North Carolina (who have to play each other twice), though they still have one game left against the Blue Devils, at Cameron.
The day had its share of upsets, as Minnesota held #19 Wisconsin to 33% shooting and downed the Badgers, 60-50. The Golden Gophers improved to 16-6, and while they may not make the Top 25, they are certainly looking like tournament material. Five of their six losses have been to ranked teams, though one, Iowa, is now out of the Top 25.
Maryland's road woes continued in Miami, as they lost in overtime to the Hurricanes, 75-73. The Terps, just days after dishing Duke and Georgia Tech and entering the Top 25 at #22, lost at Clemson on Tuesday.
Tied at 73, Maryland's Mike Jones fouled Miami's William Frisby with .08 seconds left, putting the Hurricane's into the double bonus. Frisby hit both free throws and the Terps were unable to get off a shot before the buzzer.
Six of the Terrapins' 7 losses have been on the road.
In the most lopsided upset of the day, unranked Florida knocked off #11 Alabama, 85-54, in Gainseville. The Gators went on an early 15-0 run and the Tide could never cut the deficit to less than 11 points. It was Alabama's worst loss and lowest point total of the season. On the other side, the 85 points scored by the Gators was the most they've scored in a conference game this season. The Gators next play at Kentucky on Tuesday.
Iowa State ended its 28-game conference road losing streak with a gutsy overtime win against #20 Texas, outscoring the Longhorns 24-12 in the extra 5 mintues for a final score of 92-80.
The Cyclones didn't do anything too flashy, but played solid defense and shot well from the floor (46%), hit half of their three-point attempts (8-16) and were 22 or 29 from the charity stripe. If Texas could point to anything that cost them the game it could be their 20% shooting from 3-point range, where they went 6-30.
The loss was the third in the last four games for the Longhorns and dropped them to 4-4 in the conference.
Brendan Plavich hit 8 of 17 3-pointers and Charlotte upset the #18 Cincinnati Bearcats in Conference USA, 91-90. With the win, Charlotte now has a better conference record than Cincy, (6-2 vs. 6-3) but no respect in the polls. Maybe that's because they haven't played Louisville, to whom Cincinnati has lost twice.
The 49ers have to wait all the way until March 3rd for that game, but can improve on their 15-4 record in the interim, against unranked C-USA competition. The 49ers may just belong, however, as besides an earlier loss to Cincinnati, they lost to East Carolina by 3, Rutgers by 2 and Alabama by 1.
Just to make sure the Big East was represented in the pantheon of upsets, the #16 Pitt Panthers fell in overtime at West Virginia, 83-78. The Mountaineers were down double-digits in the second half but rallied to take a series of small leads before the Panthers tied the game with under 2 seconds to play. In overtime, Kevin Pittsnogle scored 8 of his game-high 27 to lead the way to the win.
It was only West Virginia's 3rd conference win against 6 losses, but the fans didn't seem to mind as they swarmed the floor at the end of overtime.
The Panthers, meanwhile, continue to search for an identity. After starting the season 10-0, they dropped consecutive home games to Georgetown and Bucknell, threw in a clunker at St. John's (62-65), but then beat ranked teams Connecticut and Syracuse. After a 20-point romp against Providence on Monday, they had plenty of time to prepare for West Virginia, but could never put the game away, despite shooting 50% from the floor.
Texas Tech 88 #14 Oklahoma 81
Bobby Knight's Texas Tech was in need of a win and they got a big one in Norman as they shut down the Sooners.
The Red Raiders built a 21-point lead in the 2nd half, dismantling the suddenly slumping Sooners and holding off a furious rally that fell short.
The inside tandem of Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout was turned into a solo act, as Bookout was limited to 4 points while Gray tallied 20. Texas A & M did the same thing on Wednesday night, as Bookout scored only one point in 26 minutes.
Jarrius Jackson lit up the Sooners for 32 points on 10-18 shooting. The Red Raiders shot the lights out overall, blistering the nets at a 57% clip.
The Sooners, after starting out 5-0 in conference play, have dropped 2 of their last three and narrowly escaped, 69-65, against A & M. With the win, Tech improved to 14-5 on the season.
Boston College Goes 20-0
Besides #1 Illinois, there's only one other undefeated Division-1 team, and that would be the Boston College Eagles, who became the first Big East team ever to start a season 20-0, with a 60-52 win at Seton Hall.
Jared Dudley topped everybody on the court with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
Rounding out a busy college hoops schedule:
#8 Syracuse 60 Notre Dame 57
#9 Louisville 77 UAB 73
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