Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Dropping Like Flies in SEC
Georgia 90, Kentucky 85 - Very damaging loss at home for the Wildcats drops them to 19-11 and 8-7 in the SEC. Third straight conference loss. Kentucky plays at Florida Saturday to finish the season.
Mlssissippi St. 80, Florida 71 - losses for leaders all around in SEC. Florida now 21-9, 8-7.
#6 Louisville 95, Seton Hall 78 - The Cardinals improved to 15-2 in the Big East, with only a game at West Virginia on Saturday between them and a possible conference title. If Pitt beats UConn on Sunday, Louisville would finish at 16-2, Uconn and Pitt, 15-3.
If the Huskies avenge an earlier loss to Pitt, they will be the outright champ.
#5 Memphis 65, Houston 60 - The Tigers host Tulane Saturday. A Memphis win completes a 16-0 regular season in Conference-USA.
Labels: Florida Gators, LSU Tigers, SEC
Saturday, February 28, 2009
LSU Upends Kentucky; Purdue Hammers Ohio State
Tasmin Mitchell's 3-pointer with 9.3 seconds left provided the winning margin for LSU's 10th consecutive victory, as they won at Kentucky for the first time in 20 years, leaving no doubt that they are a team to be reckoned with in the post-season.
The Tigers led by as many as 12 points in the first half, only to see Kentucky to come back to lead by 10 in the second half.
As the two SEC foes battled through a memorable contest, Bo Spencer's 3-pointer at 1:18 gave the Tigers a 69-66 lead. After the teams traded free throws, Darius Miller hit a clutch three for Kentucky to tie the game at 70, but then Mitchell hit the biggest shot of the game, his only 3-point make of the game, with 9.7 left.
Marcus Thornton led the Tigers with 23 points to go with 6 rebounds; Michell had 21 and 8 boards. Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks had 28 and 24 points, respectively, for Kentucky.
LSU has already wrapped up the SEC West and is assured an NCAA bid, but Kentucky lost for the third time in four games and is on the tournament fringe, at 8-6 and 19-10 overall.
#16 Purdue 75, Ohio State 50
In a team effeort, Purdue shot 55%, put five players in double figures, and seriously damaged Ohio State's chances of getting a NCAA invite.
The Boilermakers sent the Buckeyes to an 8-8 record in the conference and 18-9 overall. The Buckeyes need to win their remaining Big 10 games - March 3, at Iowa and March 8, against Northwestern - in order to keep their hopes alive as they have lost 4 of their last 5.
Labels: Big 10, LSU Tigers, Purdue Boilermakers, SEC
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
BC Drops Seminoles; LSU Takes Out Gators for 9th Straight
The schizophrenic BC Eagles were at their multi-faceted best Tuesday night, scoring 24 points in the first half before exploding for 48 in the second, downing Florida State in the process and keeping alive hope for a ticket to the NCAA tournament.
The Eagles were led by Vermont transfer, Joe Trapani, who tallied 19 points and had 6 rebounds. Florida State's Toney Douglass equaled that output, hitting five 3-pointers and going 4-4 from the foul line.
BC improved to 8-6 in the ACC and 20-9 overall, while the Seminoles fell to 8-5 and 21-7
#18 LSU 81, Florida 75
LSU's Marcus Thornton scored 32 points to lead the Tigers to their 9th straight win, clinching the SEC West title with a signature win over Florida, one of the leaders in the SEC East. It was the sixth time this season that Thornton had scored 30 or more points in a game.
LSU is virtually assured of a solid seeding in the NCAA tourney, though the rest of the conference isn't performing at a very high level.
The 8-5 Gators dropped a half game behind South Carolina and Kentucky - both at 8-4 - in their division. LSU is 12-1 and 24-4.
Labels: Boston College, Florida Gators, Florida St. Seminoles, LSU Tigers
Sunday, February 15, 2009
SEC Snub: LSU Wins 9th Straight But Remains Unranked
The Tigers received 167 votes in last week's poll, a solid #26 right behind Florida St, which made the poll for the first time since 1998. On Saturday, the Seminoles were brought back to earth by #7 Wake Forest, taking an 86-63 beating on the road.
While losing to the high-ranked Demon Deacons may not be enough to pull down Florida State (19-6, 6-4), LSU's come-from-behind, 73-66 win over Mississippi should carry more weight with the voters.
Along with the Tigers, South Carolina seems deserving of a ranking as well. The Gamecocks, at 7-3, are in a logjam with Kentucky and Florida for the East division lead, but they hold a win over Kentucky and a split with the Gators and have won 6 of their last 7 en route to an 18-5 record.
Both the Tigers and amecocks are idle until Feb. 18 (Wednesday), so it will be interesting to see if the voters decide to include the SEC in their calculus. The SEC normally places 4 or 5 teams in the NCAA tournament, so it would be stunning to see the conference shut out of the rankings in the polls leading up to the big dance.
With #21 Utah State, #24 Ohio State and #25 Florida State all suffering losses and #23 Syracuse being taken to overtime by Georgetown (4-8 in the Big East) on Saturday, will the voters find a spot for at least one SEC squad?
Labels: LSU Tigers, SEC, South Carolina Gamecocks