Tag: 2009-10 College Basketball (Page 15 of 19)

#2 Kentucky fends off #12 Tennessee

For 31 minutes, the Vols gave Kentucky all they could handle, but a 16-4 run — including back-to-back three-pointers from Eric Bledsoe — put the game away. Kentucky prevailed, 73-62.

The Wildcats were perplexed by Tennessee’s zone, failing to attack the high post (enough) or the baseline (at all), the two weakest parts of a 2-3 zone. They made their run by getting out on the break and were fortunate when Bledsoe knocked down those back-to-back bombs.

John Wall led the Wildcats with 24 points, while Bledsoe chipped in with 16. DeMarcus Cousins had a tough night scoring the ball, hitting just 2-6 shots from the field and going 1-8 from the free throw line. However, he had 12 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.

Lack of continuity is killing the Tar Heels

North Carolina put up a fight, but lost at home to #7 Duke, 64-54. The score was tied, 45-45 with eight minutes to play, but a pair of Jon Scheyer bombs — one with 5:35 to play to give Duke a four-point lead and another with 2:35 to play to push the lead to nine — effectively broke Carolina’s back.

The Tar Heels are a mess, especially offensively. It’s no surprise that they’re suffering from a lack of leadership, considering that just two of the team’s top seven players (in terms of minutes), Deon Thompson and Ed Davis, returned from last year’s championship team. And it’s tough for big men to be leaders because they don’t handle the ball as much as guards do and aren’t able to set a standard for taking care of the ball and making that extra pass for an open shot. Upperclassmen are so important in terms of leading the youngsters by example, and Roy Williams simply isn’t getting that kind of leadership from seniors Thompson and Marcus Ginyard, or junior Will Graves.

The Tar Heels also got killed on the defensive glass. Duke had 19 offensive rebounds, which allowed the Blue Devils to shoot 11 more shots than UNC.

North Carolina is now 2-7 and isn’t likely to get a bid to the NCAA tournament. Meanwhile, Duke is 8-2 and in sole possession of first place in the ACC.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

#3 Syracuse nips UConn amidst controversy

With the game tied and 0:38 to play, Syracuse attempted a shot and Rick Jackson grabbed the offensive rebound. Sophomore Scoop Jardine got the ball and unwisely attacked the hoop. He didn’t realize that Syracuse could run the clock down. As he was driving, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim called a timeout and the ref actually blew the whistle after the ball left Jardine’s hand.

It could very well have been UConn’s ball, but some leeway needs to be given to the ref. If he saw Boeheim signal for a timeout before the ball left Jardine’s hand, then there is going to be some lag time between that moment and when he blew the whistle and stopped play. Boeheim clearly was signaling for a timeout as Jardine started his drive, so the right call was made.

When Jardine came back to the huddle, even the worst lip-reader could see what Boeheim said to him:

“You know I just saved your a** right there. You don’t know what the f**k you’re doing, do you? You know you almost lost the f**king game for us.”

Boeheim looks like a professor, but curses like a sailor.

UConn stupidly fouled on the inbounds play — Stanley Robinson actually grabbed Wesley Johnson’s jersey right in front of the official — and Syracuse went on to win the game, 73-67.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

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