Articles

A review of the week that was in college basketball focusing on the best (and worst) performances. Check in every Monday morning for our weekly awards.

 

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

 

CINCINNATI (9-3) AT NO. 22 PITTSBURGH (11-3)

 

Time/TV: 7 p.m./FSN

The matchup between #10 Florida and Rutgers on Thursday night was hyped up due to the return of Mike Rosario, who transferred from the New Jersey school following two seasons in New Brunswick. But his return was a subplot in what turned out to be one of the best games of the calendar year, with the focus by the end being Mike Rice's young guards. Eli Carter led the way with 31 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while Myles Mack knocked down some big shots late in regulation and during the overtime periods to lead Rutgers to the 85-83 double overtime victory.

With suspensions ruling out two of their key interior players for the next six games, many wondered what Mick Cronin's Cincinnati Bearcats would do to make up for the absence of Yancy Gates and Cheikh Mbodj. Without a consistent scoring option in the paint the strategy was to let the guards go to work, and that they did in the Bearcats' 78-58 win at Wright State. Sean Kilpatrick, who was a non-factor in their loss at Xavier on Saturday, scored a game-high 20 points (6-12 3PT) while JaQuon Parker added 14 points and all five starters finished in double figures.

Thanks to the events of Saturday afternoon and their aftermath a dangerous road trip is now even tougher for Cincinnati (5-3), who will be shorthanded on their trip to Wright State (4-6). Yancy Gates, Cheikh Mbodj and Octavius Ellis are all suspended six games for their roles in Saturday's brawl at Xavier while Ge'Lawn Guyn sits one game, meaning that even with the Raiders having lost five of their last seven they've got every chance to defend their home floor successfully. So who steps up for the Bearcats?

CINCINNATI --- Xavier University Associate Vice President and Athletic Director Mike Bobinski announced today that four XU men's basketball student-athletes will serve suspensions as a result of their parts in yesterday's incidents at the Crosstown Shootout. Bobinski made the announcement on behalf of Xavier and the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Freshman Dezmine Wells, who had a mandatory one game suspension for being ejected from the game for fighting, has been given an additional three games by Xavier and will serve a four-game suspension.

CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati today announced the suspension of four men's basketball student-athletes for their participation in a fight that brought a premature end to Saturday's game at Xavier University.

Yancy Gates, Octavius Ellis and Cheikh Mbodj will each be suspended for a total of six games and Ge'Lawn Guyn for one game. The suspensions will take effect immediately and will be concurrent with the NCAA-standard one-game mandated suspensions that would be applied to Gates and Mbodj for ejections from the game for fighting.

In the days leading up to Indiana's game against#1 Kentucky at Assembly Hall there weren't too many people who thought that the Hoosiers could knock off the Wildcats. There were a few outside of the Indiana fan base who picked Tom Crean's team to win, but the majority of the predictions ranged anywhere from a close loss to a Kentucky blowout with IU's schedule to date being the main reason why.

To this point in the season Dion Waiters was playing more minutes per game than senior starter Scoop Jardine, as the Syracuse sophomore was playing good basketball. But Jardine displayed his value in the second half of Friday's game against Florida, scoring eight of Syracuse' nine points during a critical stretch that put the Orange in control of a game they went on to win 72-68. Jardine finished with 16 points and seven assists while Brandon Triche (20 points) and Kris Joseph (14) also finished in double figures.