Texas Tech

Games of the Night: Texas Tech at Kansas

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:02:19 -0800

A companion to our daily Three Stars of the Day, we present the top three Games of the Night.

Texas Tech (16-12) at #9 Kansas (26-3)

9:00 PM ESPN

As odd as it sounds.. Pat Knight's Raiders still have a shot at making the NCAA Tournament. The fact they're even within 20 team of making the field is amazing considering they lost to Centenary and Sam Houston State earlier in the year. But one win over a Top 10 team (Texas) goes along way this year.. considering how much parity there is outside of the Top 20. Still, Tech has been horrendous (1-9) away from home.. and they have little shot of winning tonight.

Prediction: Kansas

Pittsburgh (21-8) at West Virginia (20-9)

7:00 PM ESPN

Pittsburgh's a Tournament lock while WVU is a Tournament probable. The Mountaineers resume is rather unimpressive though.. home wins over Marquette & Syracuse are the highlights, mixed in with a lot of wins over bad teams. Thus, their 1-7 record against Top 50 teams shouldn't give the committee much hope that they'd be competitive in an opening round game. However, a win tonight over a quality Pitt team would assure WVU of getting 10 Big East wins, which should be enough to lock up a bid.

Prediction: West Virginia

Santa Clara (14-14) at #23 Gonzaga (23-6)

11:30 PM CBS

Gonzaga should lock up the WCC regular season title tonight with a win over Santa Clara. The Broncos took GU to the limit back in early February (and basically blew a game they should have won), but have little shot of winning at the Kennel. It's interesting to watch Gonzaga at this point in the season.. they have a lot of talent, but still lack cohesion and consistency at times. Seems like different guys play different roles each night.. and what's happened to Josh Heytvelt?

Prediction: Gonzaga

Previous Game of the Night (Predictions, 75-48)

March 2nd - Clemson at Maryland (1-2)

February 28th - Maryland at Wake Forest (2-1)

February 27th - Miami at Clemson (2-1)

February 26th - Tennessee at Vanderbilt (0-3)

February 25th - Marquette at Villanova (2-1)

February 21st - South Alabama at WKU (1-2)

February 20th - UNC at NC State (3-0)

February 19th - Purdue at Indiana (2-1)

February 18th - Texas A&M at Texas (2-1)

February 16th - Stanford at Arizona (1-2)

February 14th - Wisconsin at Indiana (2-1)

February 12th - Michigan State at Purdue (2-1)

February 11th - Kansas at Texas (2-1)

February 10th - Indiana at Ohio State (2-1)

February 9th - Georgetown at Louisville (2-1)

February 7th - UCLA at Washington State (2-1)

February 6th - Duke at North Carolina (1-2)

February 5th - Florida at Tennessee (2-1)

February 4th - Gonzaga at SMC (1-2)

Seven Day Stretch: The Week in College Hoops

Rob Carpentier — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 08:53:27 -0800

Okay, this may now become a curse…I have written this column two times now and each time I’ve written about a savior (team), that team, or teams, seems to flop the following week. This past week’s victims are the teams from New Jersey, specifically Seton Hall and Rutgers who were both 0-fer for the week in the Big East. It was an especially bad week for the Hall as the Pirates had won a nice stretch of games to put themselves in position for an NCAA Tournament bid and are now, at best, back on the bubble. Hey, at least Princeton won both of their Ivy League games this past week. Well, here we go this week…

Seven Day Savior (Team): Drake Bulldogs

I’ve finally given in to the groundswell that is Drake. Much of the college basketball landscape has fallen in love with Coach Keno Davis and his Bulldogs as they have become the mid-major darling of the college hoops world. This week they definitely deserve the accolades. Drake went 2-0 this past week, winning both on the road in the tough Missouri Valley Conference. The Valley may be “down” this season, but it is still one of the premier second-tier conferences in the country. To win on the road is an accomplishment in this league. The topper, though, was that Drake beat a tough Indiana State team to begin the week and then essentially clinched the conference by coming back from 16 points down in the second half to defeat second place Illinois State. At this point Drake is now positioning itself for a 3-seed in the Big Dance.

Seven Day Savior (Player): K.J. Garland, UNC-Asheville

The senior guard scored 26 points in a huge win over Big South Conference rival, Winthrop. The game between Asheville and Winthrop was a battle for first place in the Big South. The game was all the more important for Asheville because it was a home game, (the return game is at Winthrop on March 1). Many have heard of Winthrop because of their 7’7” post player, Kenny George. George, who would be a handful in any conference, is dominant in the Big South, but he sat out the Winthrop game with an injury. KJ Garland stepped up in a huge way, hitting all 4 of his shots from behind the arc while going 9-11 overall from the floor. He was also 4-6 on his free throw attempts. It was a huge game for the Bulldogs and Garland, and the senior came up big.

Game of the Week (The one you DON’T know about): NC State at Maryland

I typically like to pick an important mid-major game each week, but there really aren’t any match-ups in the smaller conferences that scream “big game”. Instead I turn to the ACC and a game between two teams that are bunched in the middle of the pack trying to emerge as a solid third or fourth candidate for NCAA Tournament out of the ACC. Maryland started the year poorly, losing to American, Ohio and VCU. They have come on strong as of late, as evidenced by their win at North Carolina and woulda, coulda, shoulda game against Duke. North Carolina State looked dreadful in their loss to the tar heels and collapsed in the second half at Duke. In the last week they have taken a step in the right direction with wins over Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, both of whom are bunched together in the mess that is the middle of the ACC standings. NC State has the better RPI but they probably need this game more. They can’t seem to win on the road and that loss to the Tar heels was honestly bad enough to keep the Wolfpack out of the NCAAs unless they can get a couple of decent road wins.

Seven Days Under the Radar: Purdue Boilermakers

It is unusual to call the co-leaders of the Big Ten a team that is “under the radar,” but in all honesty, outside of Indiana, who’s really talking about the Purdue Boilermakers? They sit atop the Big ten with a conference mark of 9-1, (tied with Wisconsin), and have already beaten the Badgers. Their lone conference loss was a three point nail biter at Michigan State. They’ve already won three of four conference road games, which is good considering that 5 of their last 8 are on the road. To top it off, Coach Matt Painter is relying on two freshmen, E’Twaun Moore and Robbie Hummel, to not only be key contributors, but to lead the team. The Boilers will no longer be under the radar if they can win this Saturday when they travel to Madison to play the return engagement against Wisconsin.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: Ernie Kent, Oregon

Tow weeks ago, Oregon State fired Coach Jay John. Last week, I wrote that fellow Pac-10 coach Ben Braun of California was feeling the heat. Now I return to the Pac-10 once again to find another coach whose bottom might be getting a bit warm. A bit of history here; Kent was in serious trouble of losing his job just two seasons ago. His team had tanked in the second half of that season and his kids were holding player-only meetings that were called to discuss whether the players should go to the athletic director and ask him to fire Kent. There was some serious dissention in Eugene. Kent held onto his job and thanks to Aaron Brooks and an athletic supporting cast, Oregon had a successful year last season. This season, players like Malik Hairston, Bryce Taylor and Maarty Leunen were supposed to make Oregon a legitimate contender for the Pac-10 Conference crown. Instead, Oregon sits in a tie for 7^th place in the conference and still has to travel to Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Oregon is in real danger of missing out on the NCAAs. It only gets worse for Kent. He graduates three starters and has no significant replacements on the horizon. Barring an unforeseen recruiting coupe by Kent, Oregon will be one of the two worst teams in the Pac-10 next season. The Oregon athletic department may not wait that long to hand Kent his walking papers.

News of the Week: Bobby Knight’s Retirement

This was an obvious choice. Knight’s stepping down from the head job at Texas Tech has had many pundits commenting on the General’s career, both positively and negatively. I, for one, could care less that Knight decided it was time for a rest and time for his son to take over. Knight had become a shell of himself at Texas Tech. For the life of me, I can’t see why Knight took the job in the first place. His chase for both the all-time wins record and 900 wins were mere afterthoughts to a career that had seen Knight win three national titles and an Olympic gold medal, when the medal actually meant something. There was no question that the man could teach the game as well as anyone, but his ability to change, even slightly, how he dealt with players was what many remember about him. He won with players that made little name for themselves at the next level, Isaiah Thomas aside, but he didn’t win any popularity contests. More importantly, he wasn’t as respected as many would have you think. Knight ran a “military” program wherever he was coaching. That meant that he ruled by fear and intimidation. The world of Bob Knight was and always will be black and white. That means it was always either his way or the highway. That’s what Knight will be remembered for by me.

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Knight’s “Retirement”, Part Deux

I may catch some serious flak for this, but how many of you think Knight would have left when he did if his Texas Tech team had a record of 17-4 instead of its current 12-9? I, for one, do not think Knight would have stepped down until the end of the season. The Red Raiders could be looking at a losing record this season, what, with Texas, Kansas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Baylor still left on the schedule. My feeling is that Knight knew this, too. However, even if I am wrong, and I very well could be, the real head scratcher here is wondering why Knight would leave his son Pat in such an unenviable position. Pat Knight has no head coaching experience and his only assistant coaching experience comes from being on his father’s staff. Knight is a great teacher, but there at least a hint of nepotism there. Now Texas Tech has a head coach with no head coaching experience, taking over a team mid-season from a coach who is revered by many in the basketball community. There is a chance that Pat Knight’s players may not listen to him because he’s not Bobby Knight. Look, this probably is overplaying the situation, but why would Knight put his son in a position where any of these questions could even be reasonably asked?

Welser Wonders: WAC Struggles & Sun Belt Battle

Joel Welser — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 07:53:26 -0800

How can you not feel bad for Brody Angley? And it has nothing to do with the hair. The poor guy is in the 1,000 point club and has been a superb leader for Santa Clara for four years, but he might now be mostly remembered for losing the game against Gonzaga this week. Angley was a little over aggressive at the end of regulation and fouled a Bulldog with virtually no time left on the clock. It was a dumb play, but it was an aggressive foul, and it is hard to blame anybody for hustling. But that led the game to overtime where the Broncos lost. The status of UNC’s Ty Lawson dominates what “Welser Wonders…”

…when Ty Lawson will return?

North Carolina is a different team without their point guard. Usually the Tar Heels could survive thanks to quality depth provided by Bobby Frasor. However, Frasor is done for the year. That leaves Quentin Thomas. Thomas has some of that senior leadership in his favor, but he has never been expected to contribute a large amount of minutes.

This goes beyond the Duke game last night. UNC has had an excuse to lose that one and it’s not like it goes down as a bad loss anyway. Yet, if Lawson is out for a larger period of time, it could put a big damper on the Tar Heels record and seeding come March.

…when the WAC will get better?

If you haven’t noticed, the

Western Athletic Conference still exists. It’s just nobody is paying attention. And that is for a good reason. As a whole, the conference is horrible compared to what we have become used to seeing. Being sandwiched between the Metro Atlantic and Big West on the conference RPI rankings is not a good place to be unless you’re the SWAC. The conference is a one-bid league this year and that is a very odd thing to say in early February. Even if Utah State, Boise State or Nevada win out the rest of the year, it will be very unlikely that they will earn an at-large bid.

Those are the only three teams in the league with a winning record. Louisiana Tech is one of the ten worst teams in the nation, being surprised by such powerhouses like Longwood, Presbyterian and The Citadel according to the RPI numbers. The WAC still has an opportunity to save face this season by winning some of the BracketBusters games, but even most are those are pretty bad match-ups that won’t do much for public perception.

…why the race for the Sun Belt title has gone so widely unnoticed?

Maybe it is the lack of television exposure…most of us would need one heck of a dish to pick up WKYU PBS in Bowling Green, Kentucky. But South Alabama and Western Kentucky are both having great years. The Jaguars (that’s USA (that’s University of South Alabama)) are 18-4 overall. They’ve beaten teams like San Diego and Mississippi State and their four losses are at Mississippi, at Vanderbilt, at North Texas and to Miami (OH) on a neutral floor. Besides the UNT loss, who represented the conference in the NCAA Tournament last year, those are all understandable defeats.

Western Kentucky lacks the quality win to get an at-large bid, but they still have beaten everybody they should beat and are 18-5 overall. South Alabama won the first battle between the two

Sun Belt East leaders, but WKU will look for revenge on their home floor on February 21^st. Yet, it will be the third meeting between the two teams in March that will be the most important.

This is a rivalry that has been very interesting to watch over the last few years. Western Kentucky has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2003 when they nearly knocked off Illinois in the first round, but they have continued to be the team to beat in the conference. South Alabama is trying to become the cream of the crop after winning at least 20 games the last two years. But the pundits have always found an excuse to keep the expectations of USA up where they belong. A coaching change and some key graduations have made most of us, myself included, write off USA as a one year wonder. This year proves that they are not going anywhere and another trip to the NCAA Tournament will cement their spot as the new team to beat in the Sun Belt for years to come.

…what everyone is worried about?

Skipping all that Bob Knight stuff, we’ll jump right to new Texas Tech coach Pat Knight. It was not long ago when we were all worried about the nepotism of college basketball. Dr. Tom Davis handed the reins to his son Keno and, one of my all-time favorites, Dick Bennett gave way to his son Tony. Drake is only 21-1 at the moment and we all know what the younger Bennett has done at Washington State over the last year and a half.

There is something to be said about the traditional road to big time college basketball coaching…paying your dues, working your way up…but it’s not like Pat Knight doesn’t know a thing or two about hoops. The guy has spent his entire adult life preparing to be a head coach behind a man who knows more than a thing or two about the college game.

Picture of the Day: Bob Knight

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 07:36:37 -0800

Picture of the Day

Thanks to our friends over at Icon Sports Media, we now have access to thousands of great college basketball photos to use on the site. Each day, CHN will feature a Picture of the Day, which might include a newsworthy, funny, or simply interesting subject. At the bottom will be a caption or headline that might be informative or amusing. The possibilities are endless!

Bob Knight

By the time I became conscious of college basketball, Bob Knight's greatest accomplishments were in the past. I mostly remember the coach with the most wins in D1 history for his scowls, theatrics, and childish antics. Three of Knight's last four teams will miss out on the NCAA Tournament.. and as this picture shows, Knight's face has seen as many sighs as scowls in recent years. After 42 years of intense coaching.. its hard to blame the guy for being a little tired.

- Check out recent Pictures of the Day!

Daily Poll: Are You Sad to See Bob Knight Go?

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:22:23 -0800

Bob Knight Resigns

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:59:56 -0800

Bob Knight announced his resignation on Monday, and his son Pat will take over as head coach at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are 12-8 overall, and currently 3-3 in Big 12 play, with little chance of making the NCAA Tournament. Knight, 67, recently won his 900th game against Texas A&M has the most wins of any D1 coach with 902. He retires having won 3 National Titles with Indiana in 1977, 81, and 87.

Daily Dribble: Thursday Report Card

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 11:25:27 -0800

The Report Card

A new series, the Daily Report Card tells you all you need to know about the day in college hoops. From good to bad and bad to worse, I'll be laying down the law.

First off, I apologize for the lack of updates the last few days. I've been on the road and my laptop broke on me.. so I'm just getting back in the swing of things.

A - Drake

The Bulldogs beat Bradley last night to improve to 15-1 overall and 6-0 in MVC play. The mass media is slowly realizing the shocking season Drake is having (projected to finish 9th in the conference), and our own Jason Tomassini wrote a little something up on their success today. First year head coach Keno Davis (son of former coach Tom) is having the same type of early success that Tony Bennett had out in Washington State. The Bulldogs leading scorer is a sophomore and they even have two quality recruits coming in next year in Sean Jones and Alex Weldon. Its hard to imagine Drake continuing to roll through the Valley like they have so far, but the future does seem bright.

B - Bob Knight

Knight's been at this coaching thing for over 40 years, so he deserves respect for hitting the 900 win mark. Truly an amazing total, if you consider that it would take 30 years of amazing 30 win seasons to get there. As is, his teams have averaged over 20 wins a season since he started back in 1965. And it might surprise that his Texas Tech squads have won 21 games or more in 5 of his 6 seasons there. At 10-6 though, this years Raiders are destined to miss out on the NIT or NCAA tournaments, the 2nd time in 3 years this will happen. (And only the 1st time since 72-74 that Knight has missed out 2 of 3 years). The reality is that Knight is slowly slipping into irrelevancy outside of an occasional hunting or yelling incident. His career gets an A, but his now gets a C.

C - Arkansas

Just when it seemed like Arkansas finally found some consistency, having won 4 straight including road games at Baylor and Auburn and a home win over Alabama, they throw up a dud against mediocre South Carolina. At 14-3 and 3-0 in SEC play, the Razorbacks would have been in contention for serious Top 25 consideration, but a home loss to a .500 team is unacceptable.

D - Rutgers

The Knights are already 0-5 in Big East play, and its hard to imagine them winning a game anytime soon. Last night's game against Syracuse was over after 7 minutes when Rutgers was down 10-2. The closest they've come to winning a game is a 12-point defeat to Georgetown on ESPN. January 30th against Seton Hall at home seems like the first winnable game.

F - HP Laptops

As I mentioned above, my laptop broke on me while out in Los Angeles. This is the 2nd time the motherboard has been "fried" since I've owned this bad boy, and HP already had to rebuild this machine less than a year ago. Next time I'm getting a Sony.

Previous Best / Worst

January 14th - Roy Hibbert / Michigan State

January 10th - Tony Bennett / Saint Louis

January 9th - DJ White / CSTV

January 8th - Robert Morris / Schedule Makers

January 7th - Wayne Ellington / Illinois

January 6th - Herb Sendek / Kentucky

Daily Poll: How Good of a Coach is Bob Knight Right Now?

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 09:27:52 -0800

Three Stars of the Day: Zeno, Booker, Williamson

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 08:20:47 -0800

Three Stars of The Day

We handpick the best performances of the day, whether it be stat lines that make you drool, or clutch performances. Either way, its our way of showing the love:

Martin Zeno - Texas Tech

The Red Raiders barely escaped with a win over Lamar, but Zeno had a nice 28 point, 7 rebound, 6 assist game

Trevor Booker - Clemson

Along with James Mays, owned the paint against Alabama with 18 points and 8 boards

John Williamson - Cincinnati

Was one off his season-high with 13 points as the Bearcats upset struggling Louisville

Other Top Performers

Only four games last night, so three guys is enough..

Previous Stars of the Day

December 30th - Andrew Reed, ETSU

December 29th - Brian Roberts, Dayton

December 22nd - Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis

December 21st - Andrew Brown, Lafayette

December 20th - Levance Fields, Pittsburgh

December 19th - Jordan Hill, Arizona

December 18th - Tim Pollitz, Miami (OH)

December 17th - Darnell Dials, Eastern Kentucky

December 16th - Ty Lawson, UNC

December 15th - Demetric Bennett, South Alabama

December 13th - Jack McClinton, Miami

December 12th - Lee Cummard, BYU

December 11th - Bryan Mullins, SIU

December 10th - Ben Nwachukwu, Columbia

December 9th - Dane Watts, Creighton

December 5th - Drew Lavender, Xavier

December 4th - Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

December 3rd - DJ White, Indiana

December 2nd - Jerryd Bayless, Arizona

December 1st - George Hill, IUPUI

November 30th - Craig Brackins - Iowa State

November 29th - Ryan Anderson, California

November 28th - James Powell, UCSB

November 27th - Stephen Curry, Davidson

November 26th - Michael Bramos, Miami (OH)

November 22nd - Michael Beasley, Kansas State

November 21st - Kyle Singler, Duke

November 20th - Patty Mills, Saint Mary's

November 19th - Matt Causey, Georgia Tech

November 18th - Daniel Hackett, USC

November 17th - Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis

November 16th - JJ Hickson, NC State

November 15th - Jon Brockman, Washington

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Poll: Best Coach in the Big 12?

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:25:19 -0800