Game Recaps

The lesson learned this weekend: almost anyone can be had. And that should make for an exciting month of March if results like the ones we saw become the norm. Twelve ranked teams went down on Saturday, but it should be noted that four of the losses came to opponents who were also ranked and eight of the twelve lost on the road. How does one narrow these results down: ask the simple question of which losers may be in some trouble at this point in the season. One such victim has to be Syracuse, who has now dropped four straight and has to play at Connecticut on Wednesday night.

Has the torch been passed in the West Coast Conference? While this is an unfair question overall when taking into consideration Gonzaga's decade of dominance, it certainly isn't in regards to this season. Mickey McConnell capped an outstanding performance with a tough shot with ten seconds remaining to give Saint Mary's the 73-71 victory in Spokane, dropping the Bulldogs to 3-3 in WCC play. McConnell finished with 27 points, six assists and four rebounds while backcourt partner Matthew Dellavedova added 15 points and five assists in their first victory at Gonzaga since 1995.

In arguably the most hyped regular season game in the history of the Mountain West it was only fitting that the stars on the marquee put on an impressive show. San Diego State forward Kawhi Leonard fought through flu-like symptoms to score 22 points and grab 15 rebounds, but his effort wasn't enough for the Aztecs in Provo. That's because Jimmer Fredette went off, scoring 43 points (14-24 FG) in a 71-58 BYU victory, moving the Cougars into sole possession of first place in the MWC.

If you were upset that the game between Florida and Georgia wouldn't end in time for the tip between Purdue and Ohio State that's understandable. Because by the time ESPN switched its coverage from Athens to Columbus the Buckeyes had just about ended the game, going on a 17-1 run following a Purdue basket to make the score 6-4 with 17:27 remaining.

The return of the "burn" paid dividends for Mike Brey's Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Monday night, with a style of play that got them to the NCAA Tournament making the difference in a 56-51 win at #2 Pittsburgh. Ben Hansbrough led the Irish with 19 points, 13 of which came in the final nine minutes of the game, while Carleton Scott added 16 and Scott Martin 10.

With Kansas beginning Saturday's game on a 10-0 run it may have been easy for the casual observer to chalk this one up as the Jayhawks' 70th consecutive win at Allen Fieldhouse. But such concessions weren't coming from the visiting Texas Longhorns (16-3, 4-0), who used their defense to erase a 12-point halftime deficit and made some key baskets late to win going away by the final score of 74-63. J'Covan Brown was the hero on this day, providing 23 points off the bench with 17 of those coming in the second half.

One sequence, featuring Darnell Gant and Isaiah Thomas, summed up the second half for the Washington Huskies last night.

The series of events that would underline the Huskies' pulling away in an 85-68 victory began with Gant forcing a bad pass inside to Aziz N'Diaye, resulting in a turnover. But instead of sulking and lazily getting back on defense, Gant hustled to the other end and blocked a Kevin Parrom shot...which was then kept inbounds by a diving Thomas. Wait for one of the premier point guards in America to get back into play...give him the ball and watch him go to work.

It would have been extremely difficult to find many people who expected Wednesday's rivalry game between Texas A&M and Texas to be a blowout. But that's what happened in Austin as the Longhorns took control of the game defensively while also executing on the offensive end, winning by the final score of 81-60 and ending the Aggies' 13-game win streak.

Up by as many as 18 points in the second half, Anthony Grant's Alabama Crimson Tide looked to be in good shape after an Andrew Steele gave them a 59-43 lead with 11:31 remaining at Coleman Coliseum. But from that point the Crimson Tide struggled mightily in the face of mounting Kentucky defensive pressure as John Calipari's team finally answered his halftime challenge to "man up". Kentucky held Alabama without a field goal for more than eight minutes before a JaMychal Green tip-in made the score 64-61 with 3:04 remaining.

While games tend to have their fair share of dueling spurts and runs, few can match what was seen at the Petersen Events Center on Monday night. Pittsburgh sprinted out of the gates, scoring the first 19 points of the game with Nasir Robinson providing nine of his career-high 21 points during that stretch. But the better teams are able to answer and that's exactly what Syracuse did despite playing without leading scorer Kris Joseph (head injury), going on a 17-0 run to close to within two points with 6:03 left in the half.