Category: College Basketball (Page 105 of 153)

OJ Mayo and Bill Walker played on the same aau and high school teams. Throughout their high school careers Walker was always second fiddle. Not Tonight! Walker owned the first half as Michael Beasley got in foul trouble. Wlaker ended with 22 and Beasley had 23 to lead the Kansas State Wildcats to a 80-67 victory over USC. Mayo finished with 20, but had to work for every point.

Credit Coach Frank Martin with gambling with Beasley in the first half, helping the Wildcats secure a 37-27 halftime lead. In the second half he switched defenses constantly and kept the Trojans off balance. Not bad for a guy in his first college head coaching job.

The upset of the day almost happened in the 2-15 game. Belmont took Duke to the wire and lost on a driving layup with 11 seconds to play. Belmont exploited Duke and showed that they are not a team capable of making the Final Four. If Coach K was not their coach and they didn’t have Duke on their uniforms they would have never been a 2 seed.

The Big 10 stayed on a roll as Wisconsin knocked off Cal-Fullerton 71-56. It was the third double digit win of the day for a Big 10 team. I guess the league is a little better than the national pundits thought.

Bob Huggins took over at West Virginia and a whole lot of writers thought he would have a tough time getting this team to adjust to his system. Well, he proved that he is a Hall of Fame coach by leading them to their 25th win of the season. they knocked off an Arizona team, that in my opinion had no business being the tournament. With Joe Alexander having a bad night it was Darris Nichols picking up the slack. If this team gets good guard play, look out.

Notre Dame put away George Mason by halftime. It what many thought was the 5-12 matchup that could be an upset (I know I did), the Irish came out smoking. Coach Mike Brey has put together a very balanced squad led by Luke Harangody. For my money I would take Harangody over Hansborough any day of the week.

UCLA beat Mississippi Valley State 70-29. Not much to say about this game. They did what they were supposed to do.

A year after Winthrop won an opening round game, they lost a player and their coach. More importantly, they lost the ability to sneak up on anybody. Washington State did it’s homework and wore down the Eagles by outscoring them 42-11 in the second half.

Coaching note: Look for Tony Bennet to be in the mix at Indiana.

Matt Painter has his young team refocused and rolling. Watch out!! they totally took Baylor out of the game in the first half enroute to their 10th straight opening round win. Four guys in double figures led by Grant is a trademark of this team. The win keeps the Big 10 undefeated.

Kudos to Scott Drew who got Baylor into the tournament this year after bringing the program back from the dead. Bad line, sorry. Curtis Jerrells showed why he is one of the best guards in the Big 12 with 27 points and 8 assists.

In Colorado, the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts got their wings clipped by a rugged Pittsburgh team. Once again it was defense that won out. Jaime Dixon has built this program on tough guard play and it was on full dispaly today. With Levance Fields healthy, the Panthers could be a threat in this tournament.

The biggest surprise so far was the route by UNLV of Kent State. The Rebels limited the Golden Flash to only 10 points in the first half anf forced 20 turnovers. The 10 points by Kent was the lowest since 2001 when Butler held Wake Forest to that score. Lon Kruger has done a wonderful job of mixing in four new starters and changing the toughness level of this team. They truley resemble their coach from his playing days.

Marquette disposed of a Kentucky team that many thought shouldn’t have made the field. I disagreed. Anyone who goes 12-4 in the SEC deserves to be in. And the Wildcats had a chance to tie with under 20 seconds, but turned it over. That’s kind of how the whole season went for them.

In the battle of perfect graduation rates, Stanford whacked Cornell. When you have twin 7′ it’s tough to lose.

Two of the last three years have seen the Kansas Jayhawks upset by high seed. First, it was Bucknell then it was Bradley. They showed no signs of flashbacks today as they steamrolled Portland State from the opening tip.

Scoring inside to open the game and then banging three’s when the Vikings collapsed, they showed why they are a #1 seed. If Rush (4-9), Chalmers (3-6) and Collins (3-4) can shoot the three ball like they did today, the Jayhawks will be cutting down the nets. On the defensive side they played with the type of defensive tenacity Bill Self emphasized. This is by far the most dangerous Kansas team defensively in 20 years. They do something that Roy Williams’ Jayhawks teams never did. They swarm and smother!!

Georgia’s miracle run came to an end, but not without some fight. They led the #3 seed Xavier Muskateers for the firs 35 minutes, but finally succumbed to Xavier’s defensive pressure and 3 point shooting. Hats off to Dennis Felton and his team. They really did show that there was some fight left in the Dawgs. Their players should be remembered for a great run under adverse circumstances. Also, Dennis Felton may have earned himself a contract extension. I say may have because you never know with college administrators. He certainly deserves it. Not only for his teams run in the SEC tourney, but also for the class in which he carried him self under trying times. That is the true test of a man’s character and he is a great example for his young men.

Michigan State crushed Temple. It looked like Coach Izzo must have thrown his players out of the lockerroom again. The Spartans played with a determination that has not been seen in the last couple weeks of the season. Balanced scoring was the key on a night when Drew Neitzel looked awful. That’s a good sign for Michigan State.

Mark my words…. All close games will be won and lost by which team bangs consecutive three pointers in the last 4 minutes of a game. Xavier proved that theory today. Making three late is just as important as making free throws!!!

A great article by Kyle Welliston on the differences in college basketball budgets. It is pretty accurate although a little misleading. A lot of schools don’t count scholarships and salaries in the athletic budget. I know that sounds stupid, but it’s true. It has to do with where the funding comes from (fees, outside donations, endowments, institutional aid, etc…).