UMASS

NCAA Tournament Interviews: Kentucky's John Calipari

Jon Teitel — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:48:48 -0700

Just before the NCAA tournament began CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with Kentucky head coach John Calipari, whose Wildcats take on Louisville on Saturday in a national semifinal. Calipari has won more than 500 games at three stops: Massachusetts, Memphis and Kentucky.

Jon Teitel: In 2009 you were hired at Kentucky, where you became the second coach to ever lead three different schools to a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. How have you been able to have so much success despite coaching at several different schools?

John Calipari: By making each program about the players first. Everywhere we have been we have focused on helping our players reach their dreams. If we are helping them become better players and people, what do you think that is going to do for us? In turn, they drag us along the way and help us win.

JT: You set a record by having five players selected in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft. How crucial is recruiting to a coach's success?

JC: A lot of people did not like it when I said it then but I will say it again: having five players selected in the first round of the draft was one of the most important days in this program's history. This is about them reaching their dreams. Obviously that has an effect on who wants to come here, as kids know that we are developing them for the rest of their lives. One of the reasons that I was brought here is because I can recruit the best of the best. A couple of years ago I said that there were three keys to winning: really good players, really good players, and really good players!

2011 NCAA Tournament

JT: Brandon Knight went scoreless for the first 39 minutes before making a layup with two seconds left in a two-point win over Princeton. Where does that rank among the most clutch shots you have ever seen?

JC: I do not get into ranking shots and saying this one was better than that one, but I will say that is what winners do in those situations. At the time I did not know he was 0-for-the-game (I thought he had hit one shot), but I had all the faith and confidence in the world for him. He is not afraid to make a play. Guys like him are not afraid to miss.

JT: Knight continued his heroics by making a 15-foot jumper with five seconds left in a two-point win over Ohio State. Did you start to feel that you had a team of destiny?

JC: Our guys had a refuse-to-lose attitude. We had been in those situations before. I cannot remember how many games we lost on the last shot in January and February, but it felt like every game. Everybody was going crazy and saying that we were going to get bounced in the first round of the tourney. We put ourselves in a position to make that shot because we bought in defensively, Josh Harrellson transformed his body and became a new player, Knight grew into his position at point guard, and DeAndre Liggins dove on the floor for loose balls. We played for each other and grew together at the right time.

JT: Tournament MOP Kemba Walker scored 18 points in a one-point win by eventual champion Connecticut. You obviously know how to win games in March, but what will it take to get over the hump and finally win a national title?

JC: I do not take this as life or death, and the reason is because you die a lot. I have the peace of mind that I am doing the best I can and am doing it for the kids. If I do those things, I can live with myself and know that we are doing right.

JT: You are famous for popularizing the dribble-drive motion offense, which was invented by former Pepperdine coach Vance Walberg. What is the key to making it work, and why has it been so successful for you?

JC: It unleashes players and gives them the freedom to take their man to the hoop on any given play. Face it: every kid wants to put up scoring numbers and this offense allows for it, but this offense is not made for everyone. I cannot hide you in this offense. It reinvigorated me because it got me to re-think the game and study it again. The offense challenges the players and prepares them for almost anything on the court.

JT: You have written several books about basketball ("Refuse to Lose", "Basketball's Half-Court Offense", and "Bounce Back: Overcoming Setbacks to Succeed in Business and in Life"). What is the most important lesson you hope to teach people?

JC: To dream and write your own story. My grandfather was a coal miner and my grandparents did not even speak English when they came to America. Now I am the basketball coach at Kentucky. It is like "what?" Do not be afraid to dream big things.

Calipari is on Jon's list of best coaches in both Atlantic 10 and Conference USA history.

Atlantic 10
Charlotte: Bobby Lutz (1998-2009) 199-146, 5 NCAA tourneys, 1 conference title
Dayton: Don Donoher (1964-1989) 437-275, 8 NCAA tourneys, 1 NIT title
Duquesne: Chick Davies (1924-1943, 1946-1948) 314-106, 1 NCAA tourney, 3 NIT appearances, 1 conference title
Fordham: John Bach (1949-1968) 263-193, 2 NCAA tourneys, 1 conference title
George Washington: William Reinhart (1935-1966) 319-237, 2 NCAA tourneys, 2 conference titles, 1-time conference COY
La Salle: Ken Loeffler (1949-1955) 144-28, 2 NCAA tourneys, 1 NCAA title, 1 NIT title
Massachusetts: John Calipari (1988-1996) 189-70, 5 NCAA tourneys, 5 conference titles, 1-time national COY, 3-time conference COY
Rhode Island: Frank Keaney (1920-1948) 401-124, 8 conference titles
Richmond: Dick Tarrant (1981-1993) 239-126, 5 NCAA tourneys, 5 conference titles, 4-time conference COY
Saint Louis: Eddie Hickey (1947-1958) 211-89, 2 NCAA tourneys, 3 conference titles, 1 NIT title, 2-time conference COY
St. Bonaventure: Larry Weise (1961-1973) 202-90, 2 NCAA tourneys
St. Joseph's: Jack Ramsay (1955-1966) 234-72, 7 NCAA tourneys, 7 conference titles
Temple: John Chaney (1982-2006) 516-253, 17 NCAA tourneys, 8 conference titles, 2-time national COY, 5-time conference COY
Xavier: Pete Gillen (1985-1994) 202-75, 7 NCAA tourneys, 6 conference titles, 5-time conference COY

Conference USA
East Carolina: Tom Quinn (1966-1974) 102-106, 1 NCAA tourney, 1-time conference COY
Houston: Guy Lewis (1956-1986) 592-279, 14 NCAA tourneys, 3 conference titles, 3-time national COY
Marshall: Cam Henderson (1935-1955) 362-160, 3 conference titles, 1 NAIB title
Memphis: John Calipari (2000-2009) 214-68, 6 NCAA tourneys, 5 conference titles, 1 NIT title, 2-time national COY, 3-time conference COY
Rice: Buster Brannon (1938-1942, 1945-1946) 85-37, 2 NCAA tourneys, 2 conference titles
SMU: EO "Doc" Hayes (1947-1967) 299-192, 6 NCAA tourneys, 8 conference titles
Southern Miss: MK Turk (1976-1996) 300-267, 2 NCAA tourneys, 1 conference title, 1 NIT title
Tulane: Perry Clark (1989-2000) 185-145, 3 NCAA tourneys, 4 conference titles, 1-time national COY
Tulsa: Nolan Richardson (1980-1985) 119-37, 2 NCAA tourneys, 3 conference titles, 1 NIT title, 2-time conference COY
UAB: Gene Bartow (1979-1996) 350-193, 9 NCAA tourneys, 3 conference titles, 3-time conference COY
UCF: Kirk Speraw (1993-2010) 279-233, 4 NCAA tourneys, 1 conference titles, 1-time conference COY
UTEP: Don Haskins (1961-1999) 719-353, 14 NCAA tourneys, 9 conference titles, 1 NCAA title, 2-time conference COY

Early 2012-13 Ranking: Teams 31 to 45

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:30:12 -0700

Continuing with the Early 2012-13 Ranking, here are teams 31 to 45.

Its worth repeating that I had to make many assumptions about the NBA Draft in compiling the following list, and I've noted which assumptions I've made. This ranking will be updated later in the summer once players have made their official draft decisions. Also uncertain is where some remaining unsigned recruits will end up, and how the coaching carousel will take form. I purposely made no assumptions about where unsigned prospects will end up. (All prospect rankings are according to the Rivals 150 ranking.)

Early 2012-13 Ranking: Teams 31-45

31 UNLV UNLV loses two starters, though returnees Mike Moser and Anthony Marshall are two of the MWC's top talents. The hope is that incoming freshman Katin Reinhardt (7th best shooting guard by Rivals) helps offset the loss of sharp-shooter Chace Stanback.

32 Arizona While Solomon Hill and Nick Johnson are solid returning players, its really all about the newcomers. In Brandon Ashley, Kaleb Tarczewski, Gabe York, and Grant Jerrett, Arizona welcomes 4 Top 50 recruits with pro potential. The team's lack of star point guard could hold them back however.

33 Davidson Already the Southern Conference's elite team, Davidson should be even better next year with everyone of note returning. De'Mon Brooks and Jake Cohen form a solid inside-outside tandem, and with a little bit of luck in non-conference play, Davidson could be a Top 25 team. This is the year Davidson reaps the rewards of the Steph Curry recruiting bounce.

34 Tennessee Once Jarnell Stokes joined the team, Tennessee played like an NCAA Tournament team down the stretch. With the likes of Golden and Maymom returning, the Vols could even surpass this projection.

35 Ohio Everyone returns from a team that was just a few possessions away from the Elite Eight. Despite that, Ohio will not be a lock for the MAC title with solid squads returning across the league. Perhaps the league can potentially return to multiple-bid territory?

36 Washington It all comes down to the Draft for Washington. Freshman Tony Wroten and sophomore Terrence Ross are potential 1st Round Draft picks. I'm assuming for this prediction, that one of the two returns. If both return, UW could certainly make a push for the Pac-12 title.

37 Georgetown While Georgetown had a Top 15 season, they lose their best guard in Jason Clark and best big in Henry Sims. Hollis Thompson should return along with emerging talent Otto Porter to form a solid frontcourt. 5-star recruit D'Vauntes Smith Rivera (ranked 22nd by Rivals) is the key however. He replaces Clark as the team's main cog in the backcourt.

38 Cincinnati Cincinnati heads into next season without seniors Yancy Gates and Dion Dixon. Besides losing their 2nd and 3rd leading scorers, Gates was also their leading rebounder and main interior presence. With little recruiting help on the way, it will be key that Sean Kilpatrick continues to emerge as a bona fine star.

39 Colorado St The Rams were probably never as good as their RPI suggested, but they still had a damn good season. Will Bell is a minor loss, but the key cogs return for another shot at an MWC title. A pair of 3-star recruits join the fray as well, a better recruiting haul than usual.

40 St. Joseph's With the entire roster returning, St. Joseph's should be a contender for the Atlantic 10 crown. Anything less than a tourney bid would be extremely disappointing.

41 Murray St Although Isaiah Canaan is a star, others will need to step up now that Donte Poole, Ivan Aska, and Jewaun Long depart. In those three seniors, Murray loses almost 45% of its scoring. The program does potentially welcome the OVC's best recruiting class however.

42 UMASS Although leading rebounder Sean Carter graduates, UMASS should be in the A10's upper echelon. Do-everything sophomore guard Chaz Williams has been lighting up the NIT, and will be a contender for next season's A10 Player of the Year.

43 South Dakota St With no seniors on the roster, South Dakota St will be hoping to improve on their 1st round NCAA Tournament loss. Although Nate Wolters improved his all-around game this year, he needs to recapture the long-range shot that propelled him to 40% from three his sophomore year.

44 Purdue In Robbie Hummel, Lewis Jackson, and Ryne Smith, Purdue loses almost 50% of its scoring production, as well as their leaders in rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals. Although there is young talent waiting to breakout and a top-25 recruiting class on the way, Purdue will need another year before they're a major contender.

45 Missouri Frank Haith will somehow try and rebound from this year's shock 1st round exit without Denmon, English, Ratliffe, or Pressey. Although Missouri is loading up on solid (though not amazing) freshmen, it will take another year or two before the new squad finds its identity.

>> Continue to Teams 46 to 60.

Return to 2012-13 Ranking: Teams 1 to 30

Conference Semifinals Predictions: ACC, A10, Big Ten, SEC

Greg Mengelt — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 23:48:37 -0800

Our g ame prediction guru Greg Mengelt has been on fire this year. Here are is predictions for Saturday's conference semifinals game. Read more about Championship Week at CollegeHoops.net.

ACC SEMIFINALS: AT ATLANTA

(1) North Carolina (28-4, 14-2) vs. (5) North Carolina State (22-11, 9-7)

Tipoff: 1 p.m. TV: ESPN. Regular-season meetings: Jan. 26 – UNC 74-55; Feb. 21 – UNC 86-74*. RPI: UNC 3, NC State 44. Analysis: Don’t know what to make of the Henson wrist injury. Stay away from this game. If you must, take the Heels. Line: North Carolina -11. Pick: North Carolina 87, North Carolina State 74.

(2) Duke (27-5, 13-3) vs. (3) Florida State (22-9, 12-4)

Tipoff: 3 p.m. TV: ESPN. Regular-season meetings: Feb. 21 – Florida State 76-73*; Feb. 23 – Duke 74-66*. RPI: Duke 4, Florida State 22. Analysis: FSU covers and could beat the Devils again. Pick: Florida State 63, Duke 59.

ATLANTIC 10 SEMIFINALS: AT ATLANTIC CITY

(4) St. Bonaventure (18-11, 10-6) vs. (8) Massachusetts (22-10, 9-7)

Tipoff: 1 p.m. TV: CBS Sports Network. Regular-season meetings: Feb. 8 – UMass 76-67. RPI: UMass 71, St. Bonaventure 86. Analysis: No clue what to make of this line, but St. Bona’s Andrew Nicholson and Minutemen PG Chaz Williams are both really good. Williams is clutch. Line: St. Bonaventure -3. Pick: Massachusetts 73, St. Bonaventure 72.

(2) Saint Louis (25-6, 12-4) vs. (3) Xavier (20-11, 10-6)

Tipoff: 3:30 p.m. TV: CBS Sports Network. Regular-season meetings: Jan. 25 – Saint Louis 73-68*; Feb. 28 – Saint Louis 70-59. RPI: Saint Louis 29, Xavier 59. Analysis: The Billikens will be facing a desperate Xavier squad. They’ll pass the test. Pick: Saint Louis 68, Xavier 61.

BIG TEN SEMIFINALS: AT INDIANAPOLIS

(1) Michigan State (25-7, 13-5) vs. (4) Wisconsin (24-8, 12-6)

Tipoff: 1:40 p.m. TV: CBS. Regular-season meetings: Jan. 3 – Michigan State 63-60*; Feb. 16 – Michigan State 69-55. RPI: Michigan State 5, Wisconsin 20. Analysis: Baffled by this line. Rob Wilson isn’t going to score 30 points again. Line: Michigan State -4. Pick: Michigan State 58, Wisconsin 48.

(2) Ohio State (26-6, 13-5) vs. (3) Michigan (24-8, 13-5)

Tipoff: 4:05 p.m. TV: CBS. Regular-season meetings: Jan. 29 – Ohio State 64-49; Feb. 18 – Michigan 56-51. RPI: Ohio State 7, Michigan 10. Analysis: When the Buckeyes play well, they’re really good – and they’re playing well now. Pick: Ohio State 74, Michigan 61.

SEC SEMIFINALS: AT NEW ORLEANS

(1) Kentucky (31-1, 16-0) vs. (4) Florida (23-9, 10-6)

Tipoff: 1 p.m. TV: ABC. Regular-season meetings: Feb. 7 – Kentucky 78-58; March 4 – Kentucky 74-59*. RPI: Kentucky 1, Florida 21. Analysis: After the regular-season finale, it is obvious this is a bad matchup for the Gators. Line: Kentucky -9½. Pick: Kentucky 79, Florida 66.

(3) Vanderbilt (21-10, 10-6) vs. (7) Mississippi (20-12, 8-8)

Tipoff: 3:30 p.m. TV: ABC. Regular-season meetings: Feb. 16 – Vanderbilt 102-76*. RPI: Vanderbilt 28, Ole Miss 48. Analysis: No contest. Pick: Vanderbilt 81, Mississippi 66.

*Road win

Greg Against the Spread This Season: 182-141-5

Bracketology: Remaining Teams That Can Steal Bids

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 19:55:54 -0800

While bubble teams were able to breathe easier when Murray St and Creighton won close conference titles, the coast is not entirely clear.

Here's a brief look at the remaining teams most likely to "steal" bids from the bubble hopefuls**.

ACC

With UNC and Duke lurking, its hard to imagine a spoiler coming from the ACC, but you never know..

Clemson (16-14, 8-8, RPI #138)

The ACC might be down this year, but .500 in that league still counts for something. The Tigers would need to beat VT in the opening round and then steal one from Duke. Clemson only lost to Duke by 7 at Cameron.

Maryland (16-14, 6-10, RPI #110)

The Terps have an easy opening game against Wake Forest, and they'd they have to beat UNC in the quarterfinals.

Atlantic 10
While Temple and St Louis are locks, there is a ton of parity in the A10. All of these teams deserve more respect than they get nationally and are extremely dangerous in the A10 tournament.

Dayton (20-11, 9-7, #73)

Dayton cruised past GW in the opening round and now faces Xavier. While Xavier is more likely to get an at-large bid, both teams have similar resumes. The loser of that game will be eliminated from at-large contention.

La Salle (210-11, 9-7, #79)

La Salle beat a tough Richmond squad in the opening round and now faces Saint Louis. La Salle struggled against the Billikens earlier in the year, but does have a geographical advantage playing in Atlantic City.

St Bonaventure (17-11, 10-6, #95)

A dangerous squad, St Bonaventure faces bubble team Saint Joseph's Wednesday afternoon. The Bonnies have already beaten Saint Joe's and with Andrew Nicholson leading the way, no one wants to face them.

UMASS (21-10, 9-7, #87)

UMASS topped Duquesne Tuesday night, which sets up an afternoon game with #1 seed Temple. UMASS took Temple to OT a few weeks, so they're far from scared.

Big East

UCONN showed that its not impossible to run through the Big East Tournament from a Tuesday start.

Pittsburgh (17-15, 5-13, #98)

Perhaps there is a little bit of magic left from this preseason top 25 team that struggled mightily.

Big Ten
These 3 teams have had their moments during the season, and would need to go on epic runs to win the league.

Illinois (17-14, 6-12, #82)

As bad as Illinois has been, how many teams have beaten the likes of Michigan St, Ohio St, and Gonzaga. The Illini would need Brandon Paul to go off for 40 every game in Indy..

Iowa (16-15, 8-10, #131)

Iowa has been surprisingly competitive this year, and has beaten Wisconsin twice along with beating Michigan and Indiana. They face Illinois in round one, the winner could have great momentum going forward.

Minnesota (18-13, 6-12, #81)

Once considered a potential tourney team, Minnesota's season went south in a hurry. They face bubble team Northwestern in round one and could seriously hurt the Wildcats at-large hopes.

Conference USA

While the RPI suggests Memphis and Southern Miss are by far the class of this league, these teams certainly have to be feared. If not for the tournament being in Memphis, the odds of one of these teams stealing a bid would be even bigger.

UCF (21-9, 10-6, #64)

With an opening round by, the Knights would face the winner of UAB or Tulane in round two. UCF is a close loss or two away from being firmly in the NCAA Tournament field. With the exception of one bad showing at Memphis, UCF has been competitive in every CUSA game.

Marshall (18-12, 9-7, #66)

Like UCF, Marshall is a dangerous squad that could be looking at the NCAA's with a little more luck. As it is, they have a very favorable spot in the bracket, opening against SMU and then potentially facing Tulsa in the quarterfinals.

Tulsa (17-13, 10-6, #112)

Most wouldn't have guessed that Tulsa would earn the #3 seed in the CUSA Tournament.

UTEP (14-16, 7-9, #158)

A real darkhorse as a #8 seed, UTEP has beaten Memphis and Southern Miss this year, so you never what could happen if they got hot.

MWC
The MWC is a small league, so you only have to win 3 games to earn the title.

Wyoming (20-10, 6-8, #80)

The Cowboys face UNLV in the opening round, and have already beaten the Rebels. While they've struggled away from home, they can't be written off.

TCU (17-13, 7-7, #101)

TCU can ruin Colorado St's bubble hopes in the opening round. The two split their season series, and the game should be close.

Pac-12
The Pac-12 is a complete mess. Cal and Washington can't be considered locks and a ton of teams could potentially win the league title.

Arizona (21-10, 12-6, #77)

Arizona awaits the winner of UCLA/USC after getting a first round bye.

Colorado (19-11, 11-7, #83)

The #6 seed opens with lowly Utah. The Buffs aren't that much worse than anyone else in the league.

Stanford (20-10, 10-8, #97)

The only team in the league to beat a Top 50 opponent in non-conference play, Stanford has been playing better after slumping a few weeks back.

UCLA (18-13, 11-7, #118)

With the tournament in Los Angeles, and a favorable bracket, you certainly can't write off the Bruins.

SEC

Outside of Kentucky, the SEC is much more even than you might think. Teams like Florida and Vanderbilt are overrated, and 2nd seed Tennessee is not that great away from home. Kentucky might lose focus, and then the league is up for grabs.

Arkansas (18-13, 6-10, #100)

If the Hogs can get by LSU, they'd face Kentucky in the quarterfinals. If they could somehow beat UK..

LSU (17-13, 7-9, #89)

The same exact situation as Arkansas.

**I'll define the bubble as including the following teams:

BYU

California

Colorado St

Drexel

Miami

NC State

Northwestern

Ole Miss

Oregon

Saint Joseph's

Seton Hall

South Florida

Tennessee

Texas

UCONN

Washington

Xavier

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#18 Louisville vs. USF: Wednesday's Preview

Raphielle Johnson — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 01:33:47 -0800

Wednesday's Conference Tournament Primer

It took a while but on Sunday, USF (18-11, 11-5) finally picked up their second Big East win over a team ranked in the Top 100 of the RPI, beating Cincinnati 46-45. Wednesday night offers the opportunity to not just pick up a Top 25 win but to also do it on the road, as the Bulls visit #18 Louisville (22-7, 10-6) with the Cardinals still entertaining hopes of a double-bye in next week's Big East Championship. One key reason for the Bulls' success this season has been freshman point guard Anthony Collins, who has been the steadying influence that was missing from last year's squad that won a paltry ten games.

Collins isn't a big scorer but he's done a solid job of distributing the basketball and he already ranks among the best defensive point guards in the Big East. How he matches up with Louisville's Peyton Siva will be something to watch, because even though Siva is one of the best athletes in the country his decision-making can be downright mystifying at times.

The same can be said for redshirt freshman Russ Smith, who comes off the bench and scores an average of 12.2 points per game and that number ranks second on the team. Smith, like Siva, is a fearless guard and his confidence can sometimes get him into trouble. If these two can play fast while avoiding the poor decisions that can haunt both them and their team, Louisville is a tough squad to beat. USF has just one player averaging double figures (big man Augustus Gilchrist - 10.0) but six average between 7.7 and 10.0 points per game.

Balance and defense are what's gotten the Bulls to this point and if they're to go dancing that's what they'll have to rely on. Toarlyn Fitzpatrick has proven to be a good option as a three/four, shooting 45.6% from the field and 42.1% from beyond the arc. In addition to him there's Ron Anderson Jr., a forward more adept at banging inside, and Arizona State transfer Victor Rudd Jr. is a versatile wing who can score despite low shooting percentages this season.

Kyle Kuric may be the player to watch for Louisville both Wednesday night and in tournament play, as his effectiveness has a major impact on the Cardinals' success. Kuric's averaging 13.1 points per game but over the last five games he's alternated good performances with ones that have left a lot to be desired. With Kuric scoring 17 in the 57-54 win over Pittsburgh does the trend continue? If so it could be a long night for both Kuric and the Cardinals. Chris Smith is another perimeter option averaging double figures while also ranking fourth on the team in rebounding.

Inside, freshman Chane Behanan has steadily become the Cardinals' best interior presence and that's with the improvement of Gorgui Dieng. Behanan may be undersized from a height standpoint as he plays the four at 6'6", but his physicality makes him a tough matchup for most opponents. He and Dieng will need help on the glass however, as USF is a slightly better rebounding team when looking at the margin as well as offensive rebounding numbers (Louisville grabs 13.3 per game but gives up that same amount).

Turnovers will be critical at the KFC Yum! Center, as USF has been the slightly worse team in regards to turnover rate and the Cardinals force their opponents into turnovers on 22.4% of their possessions according to statsheet.com's numbers. Simply put, live-ball turnovers will get the Bulls beat and it could get ugly if they happen too often.

The Bulls have won five of their last six and the nine-turnover outing against Cincinnati was a nice change when compared to the 18 they handed over in the loss at Syracuse. In the last six games USF has turned the ball over 15 times or more four times, so that should be the number to watch. Fifteen or lower they've got a shot at beating Louisville. Anything above that and the uphill climb becomes that much steeper.

Outside of the conference tournament action it's another good day to check out some bubble teams in need of wins, chief among them Cincinnati and Colorado State. The Bearcats, who are being weighed down by a non-conference strength of schedule that's embarrassing to be frank, has a great opportunity to impress as #7 Marquette rolls into town.

The Golden Eagles found a way to win at West Virginia on Friday night despite three starters (Vander Blue, Junior Cadougan and Darius Johnson-Odom) sitting for the first half and their best reserve (Todd Mayo) sitting for the second due to disciplinary issues. What that did was further bolster the resume of Jae Crowder, who is looking more and more like the best option for Big East Player of the Year.

As for the Rams they host #17 UNLV, and if they can get through this three-game stretch against the best in the Mountain West with a 2-1 record (beat UNM, lost at SDSU) that would do wonders to validate their already solid computer numbers. Pierce Hornung was outstanding in the win over New Mexico and he'll need to do more of the same for CSU to knock off the Runnin' Rebels.

Massachusetts is hanging on for dear life at this point but a win at #25 Temple would be quite the boost for Derek Kellogg's team, and in order to do so Chaz Williams will have to be the best guard on the floor. Miami visits NC State and the Hurricanes need to take care of business, especially with Reggie Johnson being reinstated after missing Sunday's game due to eligibility issues in regards to a relative possibly receiving improper benefits.

Shane Larkin and company played well in beating Florida State on Sunday, but a loss in Raleigh to a team that's gone downhill since their loss at Duke would hurt the Canes' chances of dancing. There aren't many chances left for teams to impress the selection committee, which means that those squads need to step up and take advantage of the opportunity.

Top 25 Games
7:00 PM Maryland at (6) North Carolina (ESPN)
7:00 PM (7) Marquette at Cincinnati (ESPN2)
8:00 PM Iowa State at (8) Missouri (ESPN3)
8:30 PM (11) Ohio State at Northwestern (BTN)
10:00 PM (17) UNLV at Colorado State (CBS SN)
7:00 PM South Florida at (18) Louisville (ESPN3)
10:00 PM (23) San Diego State at Boise State (The Mtn.)
7:00 PM Massachusetts at (25) Temple

NCAA Division I Games
12:00 PM VMI vs Coastal Carolina*
2:00 PM Winthrop vs Campbell*
2:30 PM Jacksonville vs Belmont* (ESPN3)
6:00 PM High Point at UNC-Asheville
6:30 PM Penn State at Purdue (BTN)
7:00 PM La Salle at George Washington
7:00 PM Georgia Tech at Boston College (ESPN3)
7:00 PM Lafayette at Holy Cross
7:00 PM Marshall at East Carolina
7:00 PM Saint Joseph's at St. Bonaventure
7:00 PM Miami (OH) at Bowling Green
7:00 PM St. John's at Pittsburgh (ESPNU)
7:00 PM Fordham at Rhode Island
7:00 PM Dayton at Richmond
7:00 PM Buffalo at Akron
7:00 PM Central Michigan at Ball State
7:00 PM Navy at Bucknell
7:00 PM Ohio at Kent State (ESPN3)
7:00 PM Colgate at Lehigh
7:00 PM Eastern Kentucky vs Southeast Missouri State*
7:00 PM Eastern Michigan at Western Michigan
7:30 PM Army at American
7:30 PM Duquesne at Charlotte
8:00 PM Tulsa at UAB
8:00 PM Air Force at New Mexico (The Mtn.)
8:00 PM Tulane at Houston
8:00 PM Texas A&M-CC at Texas-Arlington
8:00 PM Lamar at Texas State
8:00 PM Auburn at Alabama (ESPN3)
8:00 PM UTSA at Central Arkansas
8:00 PM Liberty vs Charleston Southern*
8:00 PM Toledo at Northern Illinois
8:00 PM Nicholls State at Northwestern State
8:00 PM Stephen F. Austin at Sam Houston State
8:00 PM McNeese State at Southeastern Louisiana
8:00 PM SMU at Southern Miss
8:00 PM Mississippi State at South Carolina (ESPN3)
8:00 PM Nebraska Omaha at Western Illinois
8:05 PM SIU-Edwardsville at Chicago State
8:30 PM Lipscomb at Mercer (ESPN3)
9:00 PM Tennessee at LSU (ESPN3)
9:00 PM Miami (FL) at NC State (ESPN3)
9:00 PM Iowa at Nebraska (ESPNU)
9:00 PM Oklahoma at Texas (ESPN2)
9:00 PM Jacksonville State vs Austin Peay*
9:00 PM Santa Clara vs Portland*
9:00 PM Rice at UTEP
10:00 PM UC Irvine at Long Beach State
10:05 PM Cal State Northridge at Cal State Fullerton
10:10 PM Longwood at Seattle

#5 Kansas vs. #3 Missouri: Saturday's Preview

Raphielle Johnson — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 21:00:17 -0800

Late offensive fouls and the foul line made the difference in the first meeting between #5 Kansas (23-5, 13-2) and #3 Missouri (25-3, 12-3), with the Tigers gaining the edge in both categories and ultimately winning 74-71. There's a lot more on the line in the rematch as the Jayhawks can clinch at least a share of the Big 12 regular season title with a win, but a Missouri win would not only move the Tigers into a tie for first but also give them the all-important head-to-head tiebreaker. Two of the central figures in Saturday's contest will have an impact in different areas: one on the perimeter and one in the paint.

Missouri guard Marcus Denmon is the leading scorer for Frank Haith's team, and his performance in the first meeting was a clear signal that the senior had snapped out of the slump he was mired in at the start of league play. Denmon scored 29 points and grabbed nine rebounds, knocking down ten of his sixteen field goal attempts. To say the least the Jayhawks will keep tabs on Denmon at all times, meaning that Michael Dixon Jr. could enjoy a little more freedom to roam the floor when he's in the game (Dixon Jr. attempted just five shots in Columbia).

Point guard Phil Pressey has been one of the best in the country, with his being to set up the Tigers' capable scorers holding more importance than scoring (he does average 9.9 ppg, however). The matchup between he and Kansas senior Tyshawn Taylor will be interesting to watch given the fact that the Jayhawks are more reliant on Taylor to score than the Tigers are Pressey.

Taylor scored 21 points and dished out three assists in the first meeting but he also turned the ball over six times, most notably a charge with just over ten seconds remaining and the Jayhawks down a point (72-71). If Taylor's making sound decisions the Jayhawks are a tough team to beat. But even if he is struggling Kansas still has a shot due to the presence of one of the frontrunners for national Player of the Year.

Junior forward Thomas Robinson scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the first meeting, and his skill set makes Robinson a guaranteed double-double on the block. The key for Robinson in the return match is to take better care of the basketball, as he accounted for five turnovers in Columbia. It should help matters that Jeff Withey is playing excellent basketball, meaning that Ricardo Ratliffe (who leads the nation in field goal percentage) and Steve Moore when he gets into the game can't focus solely on Robinson.

Two players (in addition to Denmon and Robinson) to keep an eye on are Missouri's Kim English and Kansas' Elijah Johnson. English is a tough matchup for most teams given the fact that Frank Haith uses him at the four, as his perimeter skills can expose the traditional four-man on the perimeter. The senior from Baltimore made just two of seven three-pointers in the first meeting but he still finished with 18 points.

As for Johnson, he's a very good athlete who has shown flashes of the skills needed to be a guy Kansas can rely on offensively to help out Robinson and Taylor. But he's still a work in progress, meaning that there would be no better time for Johnson to put together a performance on par with his 21-points outing against Texas A&M earlier this week. Missouri outscored Kansas by 12 from three (30-18) and by nine at the foul line (14-5) in the first meeting. Kansas can afford to lose one category but not both if they're to settle the score, so keep an eye on those areas as well.

Saturday's action has a number of critical matchups in regards to the NCAA tournament bubble, most notably UConn hosting #2 Syracuse at Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies hung around for 35 minutes or so in the first meeting before the wheels fell off in an 18-point Syracuse win. UConn needs consistent play from Jeremy Lamb and Alex Oriakhi throughout; drifting in and out of the action won't cut it against one of the nation's best teams. And keep an eye on Colorado State as they look to back up their win over New Mexico with a victory at #24 San Diego State. Tim Miles' Rams beat SDSU by 17 in Fort Collins, and if Pierce Hornung can play as he did in the win over New Mexico on Tuesday night they can sweep the season series.

Vanderbilt and Virginia are going to be in the NCAA tournament, but games against #1 Kentucky and #7 North Carolina would give their resumes a serious boost when considering seeding possibilities. John Jenkins and Jeffery Taylor have to shoot well if the Commodores are to win in Lexington, as the Wildcats are playing better than any team in America. Marquis Teague has taken better care of the basketball and Anthony Davis has a bigger impact defensively than any player in America. Virginia was able to slow down the tempo in their first meeting with UNC but that didn't matter as the Tar Heels pulled away in the second half. Sammy Zeglinski has to get going if the Cavaliers are to have a shot at knocking off Kendall Marshall and company.

Other bubble teams looking to improve their resumes include Purdue (at #13 Michigan), and there are also games matching bubble teams to keep track of. George Mason at VCU may not net an at-large bid at this point but if one of these two (or Drexel) were to grab the CAA's automatic bid the others may need to win out until the title game in order to impress the selection committee.

UMass and Dayton play each other with the loser being in serious trouble with just a week left in their regular seasons, and Saint Joseph's has a great opportunity to boost their profile with Big 5 rival #22 Temple making the short trek across town. There are many important games on the slate as Championship Week is right around the corner, be it with bubble implications or teams in one-bid leagues jockeying for seeding in their conference tournaments. Enjoy.

Top 25 Games
12:00 PM Vanderbilt at (1) Kentucky (CBS)
9:00 PM (2) Syracuse at Connecticut (ESPN)
4:00 PM (3) Missouri at (5) Kansas (CBS)
12:00 PM Virginia Tech at (4) Duke (ESPN3)
8:00 PM Nebraska at (6) Michigan State (BTN)
4:00 PM (7) North Carolina at Virginia (ESPN)
2:00 PM Villanova at (8) Georgetown (CBS)
4:00 PM (11) Florida at Georgia (ESPN3)
8:30 PM (12) Murray State at Tennessee Tech (ESPN3)
6:00 PM Purdue at (13) Michigan (BTN)
1:45 PM Oklahoma at (14) Baylor (ESPN3)
12:00 PM (18) Notre Dame at St. John's (ESPN)
1:30 PM Drake at (19) Wichita State
4:00 PM Air Force at (20) UNLV (NBC SN)
7:00 PM (21) New Mexico at TCU (The Mtn.)
7:00 PM (22) Temple at Saint Joseph's (ESPNU)
11:00 PM (23) Saint Mary's at San Francisco (CSN CA)
10:00 PM Colorado State at (25) San Diego State (The Mtn.)

NCAA Division I Games
11:00 AM Robert Morris at Quinnipiac (ESPNU)
12:00 PM Northeastern at Delaware (CSN NE)
12:00 PM Saint Francis (PA) at Sacred Heart (MSG+)
1:00 PM Boston College at Wake Forest (ESPN3)
1:00 PM UMBC at Vermont
1:00 PM La Salle at Fordham (YES)
1:00 PM Coastal Carolina at VMI
1:30 PM Iowa State at Kansas State (ESPN3)
1:45 PM LSU at Ole Miss (ESPN3)
2:00 PM UCLA at Arizona (CBS)
2:00 PM Duquesne at George Washington
2:00 PM Illinois State at Bradley
2:00 PM Green Bay at Illinois-Chicago (CSN CHI)
2:00 PM St. Francis (NY) at Fairleigh Dickinson
2:00 PM Texas A&M at Oklahoma State (ESPN2)
2:00 PM Saint Louis at Rhode Island (CBS SN Regional)
2:00 PM Providence at DePaul (ESPN3)
2:00 PM Wright State at Cleveland State
2:00 PM Winthrop at UNC-Asheville
2:00 PM Appalachian State at Western Carolina
2:00 PM Georgia State at William & Mary
2:00 PM Longwood at NJIT
2:00 PM Stetson at USC Upstate
2:05 PM Missouri State at Evansville
2:05 PM Detroit at Youngstown State (ESPN3)
2:30 PM Maryland at Georgia Tech (ESPN3)
2:30 PM North Carolina State at Clemson (ESPN3)
3:00 PM Hartford at Boston University
3:00 PM Miami (OH) at Buffalo
3:00 PM Charleston at Citadel (SoCon TV)
3:05 PM Northern Iowa at Southern Illinois
3:05 PM Urbana at Chicago State
3:30 PM Wagner at Central Connecticut State
4:00 PM Arkansas at Auburn (ESPN3)
4:00 PM Lafayette at American
4:00 PM Towson at James Madison
4:00 PM Memphis at Marshall (FSN)
4:00 PM Creighton at Indiana State (ESPN2)
4:00 PM Drexel at Old Dominion (CSN)
4:00 PM Lehigh at Army
4:00 PM Norfolk State at Bethune-Cookman
4:00 PM Navy at Bucknell
4:00 PM Holy Cross at Colgate
4:00 PM Florida Gulf Coast at East Tennessee State (ESPN3)
4:00 PM UNC Wilmington at Hofstra
4:00 PM Hawaii at Louisiana Tech (ESPN3)
4:00 PM Milwaukee at Loyola (IL) (ESPN3)
4:00 PM Nicholls State at McNeese State
4:00 PM Morgan State at Maryland-Eastern Shore
4:00 PM North Carolina Central at Savannah State
4:00 PM North Carolina A&T at South Carolina State
4:00 PM Texas at Texas Tech (ESPN3)
4:00 PM Boise State at Wyoming (The Mtn.)
4:00 PM Mount St. Mary's at Bryant
4:30 PM Ball State at Eastern Michigan
4:30 PM Presbyterian at Gardner-Webb
4:30 PM Belmont at Mercer
4:30 PM Charleston Southern at Radford
5:00 PM UAB at East Carolina
5:00 PM Houston Baptist at North Dakota (FCS)
5:00 PM Lipscomb at Kennesaw State
5:00 PM Southern University at Alcorn State
5:00 PM Southeastern Louisiana at Central Arkansas
5:00 PM Rutgers at Seton Hall (ESPNU)
5:00 PM Texas State at UTSA
5:30 PM Alabama State at Texas Southern
6:00 PM Hampton at Florida A&M
6:00 PM Middle Tennessee at Western Kentucky (ESPN3)
6:00 PM Kent State at Bowling Green (ESPN3)
6:00 PM Columbia at Brown
6:00 PM Portland at BYU (BYUtv)
6:00 PM Mississippi State at Alabama (ESPN)
6:00 PM Massachusetts at Dayton (CBS SN)
6:00 PM George Mason at VCU (ESPN2)
6:00 PM Mississippi Valley State at Grambling State
6:30 PM Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Jackson State
7:00 PM Cornell at Yale
7:00 PM Pennsylvania at Harvard (ESPN3)
7:00 PM Princeton at Dartmouth
7:00 PM Davidson at Georgia Southern
7:00 PM Gonzaga at San Diego (ROOT)
7:00 PM Howard at Delaware State
7:00 PM Eastern Illinois at Eastern Kentucky
7:00 PM UNC Greensboro at Elon
7:00 PM Troy at Florida Atlantic
7:00 PM Campbell at Liberty (MASN)
7:00 PM LIU Brooklyn at Monmouth
7:00 PM St. Bonaventure at Charlotte
7:00 PM Texas A&M-CC at Stephen F. Austin
7:00 PM Western Michigan at Toledo
7:00 PM Furman at Wofford
7:05 PM UC Riverside at Long Beach State
7:30 PM Samford at Chattanooga
7:30 PM South Alabama at Florida International
7:30 PM SIU-Edwardsville at Morehead State
8:00 PM USC at Arizona State (FSN AZ)
8:00 PM SMU at Houston
8:00 PM Northwestern State at UT-Arlington
8:00 PM Washington at Washington State (ROOT)
8:00 PM Arkansas State at Arkansas-Little Rock
8:00 PM UTEP at UCF (CBS SN)
8:00 PM Lamar at Sam Houston State
8:00 PM Rice at Southern Miss (CSS)
8:00 PM Tennessee at South Carolina (ESPN3)
8:00 PM Tulsa at Tulane
8:00 PM Richmond at Xavier (ESPN2)
8:05 PM IPFW at UMKC
8:15 PM Louisiana-Monroe at Louisiana-Lafayette
8:30 PM Oakland at South Dakota
8:30 PM Stanford at Utah (CSN Bay)
8:30 PM Southeast Missouri State at Austin Peay
8:30 PM Western Illinois at North Dakota State
8:30 PM Alabama A&M at Prairie View A&M
8:30 PM IUPUI at South Dakota State
8:45 PM Tennessee-Martin at Jacksonville State
9:00 PM Montana State at Montana
9:00 PM San Jose State at New Mexico State (ESPN3)
9:00 PM Northwestern at Penn State (ESPNU)
9:05 PM Sacramento State at Idaho State
9:05 PM Texas-Pan American at Utah Valley
9:30 PM Oral Roberts at Southern Utah
10:00 PM Nevada at Fresno State (ESPN3)
10:00 PM Cal State Fullerton at UC Davis
10:00 PM Nebraska Omaha at Cal State Bakersfield
10:05 PM Eastern Washington at Portland State
10:30 PM Cal State Northridge at UC Irvine
11:00 PM Santa Clara at Loyola Marymount (CSN Bay)
11:00 PM Cal Poly at UC Santa Barbara (ESPNU)

Pierce Hornung Leads Colorado State Past New Mexico

Raphielle Johnson — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:08:02 -0800

This eight-day stretch for Colorado State has the potential to be a season-defining on as Tim Miles' team faces all three of the teams ahead of them in the Mountain West standings. Thanks to Pierce Hornung the Rams are off to a good start, as the senior accounted for 13 points, 15 rebounds and four steals in the 71-63 win at Moby Arena. About a month ago the Lobos embarrassed Colorado State at The Pit, doing whatever they pleased in an 85-52 laugher that was part of a 2-5 stretch for the Rams.

And coming off of a big win at home over UNLV, maybe the leftover euphoria from Saturday combined with thoughts of that first meeting lulled UNM into a false sense of security. Hornung's play on both ends of the floor was critical for Colorado State, especially on the defensive end where he was one of the undersized bodies that helped frustrate Gordon. After going off for 27 points and 20 rebounds against UNLV the shots didn't come as easily for Gordon, who finished with 13 points, six rebounds and six turnovers.

"You have to be active," remarked Hornung. "He's a heck of a player and he was tough to go against all night. You have to be physical, match his physicality and tenacity (quote from Colorado State Athletic Media Relations)."

Colorado State doubled the post practically every time that Gordon touched the ball on the block and he struggled in dealing with this strategy. As a whole the Lobos struggled to take care of the basketball as they finished with 17 turnovers on the night, and their guards were outplayed despite 16 points from Kendall Williams. Dorian Green led all scorers with 17 points and Wes Eikmeier added 11, and the steady play of reserve Jesse Carr (nine points, five assists and one turnover) shouldn't be ignored either.

"I really like our guards," Head Coach Tim Miles said. "They know they can put it on the deck, create for somebody else, move it, move it, move it, we're going to get a better shot later. I thought that we did that a lot tonight (quote from Colorado State Athletic Media Relations)."

The obvious question for many will be what a win like this does for a team that entered the week with an RPI of 30 according to the NCAA's most recently released numbers, but with games against San Diego State (away) and UNLV up next that's unlikely to be CSU's concern. Will Bell didn't play on Tuesday night due to injury but the Rams stepped up on the glass, finishing with just three fewer rebounds than the Lobos. And a lot of the credit for that should go to Hornung, whose made a career of doing the little things that don't show up in the box score. He certainly came up big on Monday night.

Three Notable Performances

1. G Kendall Marshall (North Carolina)
22 points, 13 assists and no turnovers in the Tar Heels' 86-74 win at NC State.

2. G Chaz Williams (Massachusetts) and G Jordan Theodore (Seton Hall)
Williams tallied 29 points, nine assists and five rebounds in the Minutemen's 80-73 win over Xavier. Theodore matched the point total with five assists and four rebounds in Seton Hall's 73-55 win over #8 Georgetown.

3. F Pierce Hornung (Colorado State)
13 points and 15 rebounds to go along with some solid defense on reigning Mountain West Player of the Week Drew Gordon to lead the Rams past #21 New Mexico 71-63.

Seton Hall, Kansas State bolster NCAA prospects

Seton Hall Whips Georgetown: Tuesday's Quick Hitters

Raphielle Johnson — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:14:07 -0800

In the recap of Tuesday's big game, Pierce Hornung led Colorado State to a key win over New Mexico. The rest of Tuesday's key happenings include:

1. Jordan Theodore leads Seton Hall to a statement victory over #8 Georgetown.
To say the least this was a huge game for Kevin Willard's Pirates, as they were looking to bounce back from a 62-57 loss to fellow bubbler Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon. Enter senior point guard Jordan Theodore, who took control of the game as seniors are expected to this time of the year. Theodore led Seton Hall to the 73-55 win over the Hoyas with 29 pointsfive assists and four rebounds, and he had a role (scoring four points and assisting on two Herb Pope buckets) in Seton Hall's first eight points of the game. Herb Pope added 12 points and Fuquan Edwin and reserve Brandon Mobley scored ten apiece, for the Pirates, who have won four of their last five after losing six straight.

Offensively the Pirates were outstanding as they shot 61% from the field and posted eighteen assists to just eight turnovers. Georgetown on the other hand finished the night with a field goal percentage of 40.4%, and John Thompson III's team uncharacteristically finished with more turnovers (11) than assists (nine). For the second time in the last three games Seton Hall has shot better than 61% (62.3% against St. John's), and according to statsheet.com's numbers Tuesday marked their most efficient offensive performance of the season. SHU's final two regular season games (Rutgers, at DePaul) are ones that will have a bigger impact if lost than one, but with Theodore leading the way it's difficult to think that they'll fail to take care of business.

2. Kansas State sweeps the season series with #3 Missouri.
Last season Frank Martin's Wildcats inexplicably lost to Colorado (now in the Pac-12, of course) three times. It was all a matter of matchups, just as Kansas State sweeping their season series with Missouri this season is. Kansas State beat the Tigers 78-68 in Columbia on Tuesday night, limiting the Tigers to 38.8% shooting from the field and Rodney McGruder led the way offensively with 24 points. With consecutive road wins at Baylor and Missouri the Wildcats have added two big wins to their resume, likely punching their ticket barrin a collapse. One key in both wins over Missouri for K-State has been the play of Jamar Samuels in his matchup with Missouri's Kim English.

Against most teams the matchup between English, a guard who plays the four for Frank Haith's team, and the opposing team's four is a mismatch in favor of the Tigers. That hasn't been the case against K-State, who can count on the athletic Samuels to limit the senior's quality looks from the perimeter. In the two games English has scored 17 points (8.5 ppg) on 6-for-12 shooting, a far cry from his season average of 14.0 points per game. Also of note is that in both games the Wildcats have set the tone, leading by 19 at the half in Manhattan and leading by ten at the break on Tuesday night.

3. #13 Michigan takes Northwestern to overtime and controls the extra session to win going away.
Never been a big fan of placing "Northwestern" and "bubble" in the same sentence due to the fact that the Wildcats have never reached the NCAA tournament. But to be fair Bill Carmody's team had reached that point going into their game against Michigan, which represented a golden opportunity for the Wildcats to pick up a big win. Michigan would refuse to go down without a fight, as Tim Hardaway Jr. tied the game at 49 on a three-pointer with 1:41 remaining and the Wolverines would outscore Northwestern 18-6 in overtime to win 67-55. Hardaway Jr. finished with 14 points while Trey Burke led the way with 19, and crucial threes from Zack Novak and Stu Douglass in overtime established a nine-point margin the Wildcats couldn't overcome.

John Shurna led the Wildcats with 14 points but he shot just 6-for-16 from the field, and sidekick Drew Crawford had a quiet night with just six points in 27 minutes of action. Michigan (37.5%) shot a lower percentage from the field than Northwestern (41.2%), which isn't a surprise given the similarities found in their offensive systems, but they took better care of the basketball (seven turnovers to NU's 14). Northwestern scored .937 points per possession while Michigan was at 1.164, and that turned out to be the difference. The key for Northwestern now is to make sure that Michigan doesn't "beat them twice" with a trip to Penn State up next.

Quick Hitters

1. Three things in the second half in Starkville pushed #1 Kentucky to a 73-64 win over Mississippi State. One was the shifting of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to Dee Bost on the defensive end, a move made possible in part by Rodney Hood going down with an injury in the first half. After scoring 16 points in the first half Bost managed just five in the second, and as a team the Bulldogs shot just 32% from the field. Secondly there was the effort of senior guard Darius Miller, who scored all 12 of his points in the second half and knocked down some huge shots. And Terrence Jones played far better in the second half as the Wildcats clinched at least a share of the SEC title with the win.

2. The upset of the year in college basketball took place in Vestal, New York as Binghamton, who entered the game 0-26, knocked off Vermont 57-53 for their first win of the season. After a Matt Glass jumper 41 seconds into the game opened the scoring the Catamounts wouldn't lead again, and Binghamton led by as many as 12 points. Robert Mansell led the Bearcats with 18 points and Ben Dickinson added 16 and 11 boards, and the result also gave Stony Brook sole possession of first place in America East.

3. As if it wasn't time to get concerned about Xavier before their game at UMass, the Musketeers didn't show up on the defensive end in their 80-73 loss. Chaz Williams went off for 29 points, nine assists and rebounds to lead the Minutemen, who have road games at Dayton and Temple next. As for Xavier, Tu Holloway and Mark Lyons combined to shoot 8-for-29 from the field, and if not for Dezmine Wells' 19 the final score would have been a more accurate representation of what happened in the Mullins Center.

4. It wasn't a good night for ACC bubble teams as both Miami and NC State fell. NC State can point to the fact that their loss came at the hands of North Carolina, who frankly is not a good matchup for the Wolfpack. Kendall Marshall scored 22 points and handed out 13 assists...without one turnover. Few teams will beat UNC when their sophomore point guard is dealing like that. As for the Hurricanes, they lost 75-70 at Maryland, a defeat that dropped Miami to 7-6 in league play. The win at Duke certainly helps their cause, but it would be wise for Jim Larranaga's team to pick up another resume-building victory.

5. Anton Grady scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Cleveland State, but it wasn't enough as the Vikings lost 71-67 at Green Bay. All of a sudden Gary Waters' team sits a game behind Butler in the loss column for second place, and that seed receives the other bye straight to the semis in the Horizon League tournament. The other bye goes to Valparaiso, who clinced the regular season title by beating Loyola (IL) in overtime. It hasn't helped CSU that D'Aundray Brown's been out due to injury, and they've dropped five straight with him on the sidelines.

6. Creighton nearly took the momentum gained from their comeback win over Long Beach State and flushed it down the drain but a Josh Jones shot with 23 seconds remaining in overtime gave the Bluejays a 93-92 win over Evansville. Creighton survived a 43-point night from Evansville's Colt Ryan, and it took a Gregory Echenique putback as time expried to send the game into overtime. Creighton picked up the win but there's no doubt that they have to get better defensively (UE shot 58.9%) if they're to make some noise in March.

7. Two key personnel notes in the SEC on Tuesday involving Alabama and Florida. Alabama head coach Anthony Grant stated that the recently reinstated JaMychal Green is unlikely to play on Thursday at Arkansas, and Green's return (whenever that happens) will have an impact on the Crimson Tide's at-large hopes. As for the Gators, forward Will Yeguete is out indefinitely due to a broken foot suffered in their 63-47 win over Auburn. His absence puts even more pressure on Patric Young and Erik Murphy inside, but it helps to have guards can hit the glass like Bradley Beal and Erving Walker (seven boards on Tuesday).

Wednesday Recap: Lineup Changes Spark Nothing As UConn Falls

Raphielle Johnson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:56:20 -0800

Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun knew heading into Wednesday's game that his struggling team, losers of three straight, needed some kind of spark to get things going. That meant shuffling the lineup, with Shabazz Napier and Alex Oriakhi being replaced as starters by Ryan Boatright and Roscoe Smith, and for a short time on Wednesday night the move paid off. UConn got out to a 13-7 lead at the first media timeout and generally played better basketball on the offensive end, which was likely the desired effect of the move.

But Georgetown went to their 2-3 zone defense, and against zones UConn has shown neither the confidence nor the basketball IQ needed to solve such a riddle. It didn't help matters that Boatright, who did a good job of facilitating the offense, picked up his second foul with just over ten minutes left in the half and the Huskies leading 15-14. It was essentially all downhill from there as the Hoyas woud outscore the Huskies 17-6 the remainder of the half, going on to beat UConn 58-44 and lead many to ask whether or not the defending national champs had what it took to turn things around.

"We come back from six [down] and somebody went for a steal, next thing you know we took a bad shot and now were down ten," remarked Calhoun of his team's struggles. "And you can't keep running up the hill for only so long and so that's where we picked up our fourth straight loss and should have lost all four games."

So how did the four players involved in the lineup changes respond? Not well, with Boatright having his performance short-circuited by foul trouble (zero points, four assists) being the biggest blow given how the flow of the contest changed when he had to sit. Napier, who earlier in the season lamented the lack of a response to his attempts to be a leader, shot 0-for-9 from the field and scored just one point while Oriakhi went scoreless. And Smith opened the scoring 33 seconds into the game...only to not score again.

Last year's team struggled in conference play, but the difference is that (in addition to having Kemba Walker) they were a lot tougher mentally than this group. Who steps up to change the path that this season is currently travelling? Jeremy Lamb's not the vocal type and while he scored 14 points it took 18 shots to do so (making four), and while Andre Drummond (18 points, seven rebounds) was UConn's best player on the floor it's tough to ask a freshman to become the team leader.

The truth of the matter is that Napier and Oriakhi should be the leaders for this team, and yet neither has shown the ability to do so. The teams that leave a mark in March will fight for everything in the face of adversity, pulling together to accomplish the common goal. That hasn't been a trait of this current edition of Huskies, as they either fail to respond or the "fight back" dissolves into guys trying to close the gap all by themselves.

Georgetown, a team picked to finish tenth in the Big East in the preseason, should be the story here given the play of Hollis Thompson (18 points, nine rebounds) and Jason Clark (11 points, five rebounds), and they're likely to improve even more as the season approaches it's defining month. Can the same be said for UConn? That's a tough question to answer at this point, but with a game against a Seton Hall team that's also struggling a lot will be learned about the toughness of both teams on Saturday.

Other Notable Happenings

1. Michigan jumps out to a big lead and holds off Indiana's second half rally to remain undefeated at home.
There's no doubt that Tom Crean's Hoosiers can win big games at home, with the energy provided by the Assembly Hall crowd providing a needed boost to a program that's definitely improved. But what about on the road, where teams have to manufacture their own energy in the face of a hostile crowd? That question remains unanswered thanks to Indiana's slow start in Ann Arbor, as they trailed Michigan by as many as 20 points in the first half on the way to a 68-56 defeat. Indiana was able to get as close as two points (52-50) with less than four minutes remaining but they couldn't overtake the Wolverines, who were led offensively by Trey Burke (18 points, four assists), Zack Novak (13 points) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (13 points).

Indiana shot a respectable 42.9% from the field in the first half but they turned the ball over eight times to just one for Michigan, and the Wolverines converted those miscues into eleven points (led 33-22 at the half). Michigan's now 13-0 at home this season while Indiana remains with just one conference road victory (Penn State) this season. While the Hoosiers are in a dogfight to remain in the top half of the league standings Michigan's bounce back from the loss at Ohio State shows that they remain a serious contender for the Big Ten crown.

2. UT-Arlington opens their new arena with a win over UTSA, increasing their lead in the Southland.
Wednesday night was a special night in the history of UT-Arlington, with the Mavericks playing in the new College Park Center for the first time. And they picked a good matchup for the debut, as defending Southland tournament champ UTSA was in town looking to move into a tie for first place with the Mavericks. But despite turning the ball over 23 times on the night UT-Arlington found a way to win, beating the Roadrunners 67-66 to expand their lead to two games. A pair of Kevin Butler free throws with 13.7 seconds remaining proved to be the points the Mavs needed to remain on track for the regular season crown in their final campaign before they head to the WAC in July.

LaMarcus Reed III scored 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the way while Butler added 21 and eight, and these two are a big reason why the Mavs were able to make up for their turnovers by out-rebounding the Roadrunners 46-33 and score 16 second-chance points to just seven for UTSA. Kannon Burrage led the Roadrunners with 21 points off the bench and Melvin Johnson III added 14, but with Michael Hale III and Stephen Franklin combining to shoot 2-for-18 UTSA wasn't able to take full advantage of their turnover margin edge. With these two meeting in the regular season finale UTSA essentially has to win out while hoping for some help, and with UT-Arlington having won 12 straight that strategy may not bear fruit.

3. Pierre Jackson and Quincy Acy make big plays late to lead Baylor past Texas A&M.
Scott Drew's Bears seemed to try their best to give Texas A&M the game in the second half as they shot 31% from the field while the Aggies made half their field goals. But thanks to big plays down the stretch from Pierre Jackson (14 points, five assists) and Quincy Acy (11 points, four rebounds) Baylor escaped College Station with a 63-60 win in what could be the last regular season meeting in the "Battle of the Brazos" for a long time. A Jackson three with 17 seconds remaining proved to be the push Baylor needed to get to the finish line, and his two free throws with just over a second remaining sealed it.

Those two free throws came as a result of a hustle play by Acy, whose quick move to tip Jackson's missed free throw out (which Jackson was able to chase down), gave the junior college transfer a second chance at increasing the Bears' lead and he cashed in. After a Ray Turner basket gave A&M a 49-44 lead it was Acy who scored six of Baylor's nine points in a 9-0 run that put them up 53-49 with 6:13 to go. While the lottery picks (Perry Jones III and Quincy Miller) will enjoy the majority of the attention the contributions of a player like Acy cannot be ignored. In fact, that may be what allows Baylor to go deep into the NCAA tournament.

Quick Hitters

1. While the Atlantic 10 has enough quality teams to warrant four bids to the NCAA tournament, the chances of that happening become slimmer when teams at the top of the conference don't take care of business as they should. Wednesday's results of note were UMass losing 81-78 in overtime at Rhode Island and Dayton losing 83-73 at home to Duquesne. Xavier nearly joined those two teams but Tu Holloway's layup with 30 seconds remaining capped a good night for him (21 points, seven assists, six rebounds) and pushed the Musketeers past George Washington 59-58.

2. In a battle for sole possession of first place in Conference USA, Southern Miss finally got over the hump as they beat Memphis 75-72 to snap an 18-game losing streak in the series. Darnell Dodson and Neil Watson combined to score 40 points off the bench for the Golden Eagles, who are now 7-1 in conference play.

3. Center Garrett Stutz has been outstanding in road games for Wichita State this season and that trend continued in the Shockers' 74-67 win at Missouri State as he scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds on the night. Ben Smith added 21 for Wichita State, who remains a game behind first-place Creighton (102-74 win over Illinois State) as a result of the victory.

4. With seven freshmen and three sophomores on the roster many expected the first year of Mountain West play to be a tough one for Boise State and it has been. But they've also shown signs of growth, and if not for a missed Thomas Bropleh three as time expired the Broncos would have left San Diego State with a win. Leon Rice's team has the ability to scare some teams in the MWC, and with the likes of Bropleh and Anthony Drmic the future looks to be bright for Boise State.

5. There's now a three-way tie for first place in the CAA as Delaware beat George Mason 65-60 in Newark. Kyle Anderson shot 8-for-11 from the field and scored 21 points to lead the way for the Blue Hens, and as a team Delaware shot 7-for-14 from deep (Mason finished 3-for-16). Drexel and VCU both picked up victories on Wednesday, and with the league's profile being poorer than in seasons past the fight for the CAA crown should be even fiercer than it's been of late.

6. Huge news in the recruiting world was broken by ESPN's Dave Telep, who reported that Tilton School big man Nerlens Noel move back to the 2012 class. Noel, who counts Kentucky and Syracuse among his most vigorous suitors, returns to his original class and is now right there with Shabazz Muhammad for the honor of being the best player in the class.

7. Vermont held off a Boston University rally to beat the Terriers 68-67 in Boston to take over sole possession of second place in America East. Luke Apfeld scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Catamounts, who swept the season series as a result of the win.

Three Notable Performances

1. F Julian Mavunga (Miami (OH))
19 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists in the RedHawks' 62-57 overtime win over Eastern Michigan.

2. F Thomas Robinson (Kansas)
20 points, 17 rebounds and four assists in the Jayhawks' 84-62 win over Oklahoma.

3. F Orion Outerbridge (Rhode Island)
29 points and 11 rebounds in the Rams' 81-78 overtime win over Massachusetts.

Company/Product Review: Retro College Cuts

Raphielle Johnson — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:24:21 -0800

Just a few years ago the demand for throwback jerseys was impossible to ignore, with many flocking to stores in search of that item that would allow them to relive their "glory days" as a fan. But the wearing of tops has faded away somewhat, and the words of one Sean Carter in his song "What More Can I Say" may sum up why for many people.

"And I don't wear jerseys I'm 30-plus..."

So what's a college basketball fan to do if they want to travel back in time without the throwback jersey? The founders of the company Retro College Cuts have just the answer: throwback shorts. Founded in 2011 by a pair of former college basketball players, Retro College Cuts specializes in the selling of replicas of game shorts worn by some of the more famous teams in college basketball history.

According to one of the founders the NCAA merchandising market grosses anywhere from $4-$4.5 billion, but the shorts market only makes up about $50 million of that amount. But while there's certainly a market for replica game shorts, this business isn't solely about making money.

"It started with my own crazy interest and passion for college basketball," he noted in a phone conversation earlier this week when asked about the reason for beginning the company. "I'm a former college basketball player and my dad was a Division III coach."

That devotion and knowledge of college basketball is noticeable from the moment you visit the site, as a highlight montage featuring some of the top players and teams of yesteryear plays. Each of the fourteen shorts in the first "class" has a story, with a paragraph of information on that specific team accompanying the page where customers can buy the shorts of their choice. There's also a link to a YouTube video for each team, which helps bring back memories of the "glory days" that each short is made to represent.

One may ask why there are only fourteen teams represented at this point, and this was a question posed to the founder during our chat. There are three different governing bodies when it comes to applying for the rights to sell officially licensed collegiate apparel, and they need to be negotiated with separately. Retro College Cuts was able to procure those rights with two of them and are currently negotiating with the third, which will open up the possibility of additions being made to the "catalog" later this year.

Retro College Cuts isn't just about shorts either as they also sell select retro T-shirts. They also offer a "combo" deal where customers can purchase a shirt and a pair of shorts for $99, a price that includes membership in their VIP program (which gives a 10% off discount for life) and free shipping (a perk that normally isn't given unless $75 or more is spent in a transaction). And $1 of every purchase is donated to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, which is another positive.

But what about the quality of the short? Made in the USA, the shorts are made of a fabric blend that replicates the weight and quality of an actual game short. The shorts are comfortable and with a 22" outseam there's no concern of replicating the size of those old-school shorts (which is good from a personal pride standpoint). The graphics are digitally printed and as an officially licensed product there's isn't a concern of being duped into buying something that isn't legit. From personal experience I can tell you that the shorts, which run large, fit well and look good.

Retro College Cuts also has a few promotions running that you should take advantage of in addition to checking out the gear. Twitter is utilized on both Tuesdays and Thursdays, with the "TIXonTUESDAY" promotion giving Twitter followers the chance to win a pair of college basketball tickets. The possible reward for "ThrowbackThursday" is either a retro t-shirt or a pair of replica game shorts. The "cost" of entry: just a simple follow of their Twitter account and a retweet of the message that they send out.

Lastly there's the contest that the founders are running, which closes on February 24th with a prize that the college hoops fan would definitely appreciate: an all-expenses paid trip for two (the winner and a guest of their choice) to Las Vegas for the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. The prize includes a three-day stay at The Hotel boutique and round-trip airfare, and with Vegas being what it is on that weekend the experience would be a phenomenal one.

Retro College Cuts is a new company that should meet the demand of college basketball fans hoping for a way to relive some of their favorite moments from back in the day in a fashion beyond searching the web for grainy video footage. The shorts certainly won't turn you into a Mark Jackson, Larry Johnson or Xavier McDaniel (our phone chat included the founder saying that the Wichita State design was his favorite) once you put them on, but they'll allow you to think back on their exploits and smile.