06 Dec11 - Broken Borders And States' Rights

Volume XI, No. 6 - 06 Dec 11 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Broken Borders And States' Rights

This past week and the one coming up mostly feature in-state rivalry games and cross-border clashes between neighboring states before the last wave of preseason tournaments in two weeks. Butler's bid to run the table in the state of Indiana hit a snag when the Bulldogs fell 64-@72 at Indiana State (of the MVC). That by itself isn't enough to negate everything they accomplished in winning the NIT SEASON TIP-OFF, but if they look ordinary against Purdue on Saturday in the JOHN WOODEN TRADITION, you might wonder if it was all just a lucky fluke run. (But a solid showing against the improved Boilermakers, even in a loss, and those early results would hold their full value through to the February BRACKETBUSTERS game.) Washington State kicked in the door to make itself part of its state supremacy conversation by beating Gonzaga @77-67 at home (but the 'Zags won the bigger battle later in the week, routing talented-but-young Washington @97-77 in Spokane). UNLV emerged as the "victor" in a badly played game at Nevada, winning 58-@49 despite 16p17r from cNick Fazekas as both teams combined to shoot 5-for-34 from three-point range. Tennessee's one-man-show -- gChris Lofton (34p5r;12/18fg,6/11 3s) -- was enough to rout rival Memphis in their newly invigorated in-state clash.

LSU and Texas A&M battled, with the Tigers winning @64-52 as cGlen "Big Baby" Davis had 24p/10r and LSU's defensive stopper gGarrett Temple held the Aggies' gAcie Law to 4p/3a on 1-for-11 shooting. Texas A&M (and Law) fared a little better in the JOHN WOODEN CLASSIC, playing it close all the way with UCLA before coming up short 62-@65 (as Law finished with 21p/4a on 10-for-20 shooting). LSU fought with another neighbor as Texas was able to prevail @76-@75(OT) in front of a split crowd in Houston. UTx's cKevin Durant(10p11r4a) and LSU's cDavis(21p10r3a) played second fiddle to emerging teammates pD.J. Augustin(25p5a6r) and tTasmin Mitchell(23p10r6a) as the Tigers were unable to stop Augustin's lefty drives to the basket. If Augustin can continue to be an equal Tag Team partner to Durant, then the Longhorns have a shot at some ahead-of-schedule results this season to match up with their fantastic potential. LSU's backcourt is still a work in progress, but this week did represent the team's best results.

Southern Illinois won 75-@70 at Western Kentucky in one corss-border clash this past week and will again test its limits when it travels to Indiana on Sunday. (That MVC bubble just won't burst.)

Arizona and Oklahoma State were travelling buddies this past week as they turned in double-feature victories on two coasts. First, UofA downed Louisville 72-65 while OSU edged home-state Syracuse 72-@68 in the JIMMY V CLASSIC in New York on Tuesday. Then, on Saturday, the Wildcats thumped host San Diego State 69-@48 while the Cowboys drubbed Ball State 75-56 in the SAN DIEGO SLAM. Speaking of Unwelcome Guests, 3-4 San Diego came away the winner of the GOLDEN BEAR CLASSIC over host California, 72-@67 in the final.

Notre Dame followed up a road win over Maryland with a home victory over Alabama, @99-85, as the threes came raining down from the perimeter trio of tRussell Carter (27p5r5s;6/11 3s), gColin Falls(20p4a) and gKyle McAlarney(20p). Donut Teams -- (sweet on the outside with a hole in the middle) -- the Irish, Butler, Oregon, Washington State, Tennessee (and even Ohio State before cGreg Oden joined them) -- have had lots of success early in the preseason. It's the kind of style that's good for a one-game upset (or, say, a first-round NCAA splash), but not necessarily good for consistent results over the long haul since the outside shots need to fall to ensure the win.

Purdue routed Loyola-Illinois (Butler's main obstacle in the Horizon League) and previously undefeated Missouri in a couple of big home games, led by fCarl Landry (22p8r and 23p12r). Saturday's in-state clash with Butler in the JOHN WOODEN TRADITION could kick the Boilermakers' season into another gear.

Boston College righted itself with an early league game home victory, @73-62, over visiting Maryland. Even without last year's frontcourt partner Craig Smith, BC's fJared Dudley still does lots of damage all on his own (20p11r3a vs MD).

Things slow way down this week -- the only clash between ranked teams is Saturday's matchup when Pittsburgh visits Wisconsin. Some lesser Border War / State Title clashes sprinkle the schedule the next 7 days. Louisville has a chance to take next week's headline with home games against Massachusetts (Wednesday) and Kentucky (Saturday).

Texas Tech's coach Bob Knight passed Adolph Rupp for second-place on the all-time wins list this past week. He's up to 877 career victories and needs two more to tie Dean Smith. (Knight will most likely be passed by Duke's Mike Krzyzewski some day, though. Meanwhile, North Carolina's Roy Williams hit 500 victories faster than anyone else in history.)

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Wednesday:
CROSSTOWN SHOOTOUT @ Cincinnati OH
- (Xavier@Cincinnati),
BILLY MINARDI CLASSIC @ Louisville KY
- (@Louisville-Massachusetts),

Friday:
@Oregon-EaWashington,

Saturday:
Pittsburgh@Wisconsin, @MissouriSt-IndianaSt, @Tennessee-WeKentucky, @Arkansas-TexasTech(@LittleRockAR), Creighton@FresnoSt, Kentucky@Louisville, NoIowa@LoyolaIL,
JOHN WOODEN TRADITION DblHdr @ Indianapolis IN
- (OhioSt-Cincinnati, @Butler-@Purdue),
COORS CLASSIC DblHdr @ Mobile AL
- (@Alabama-SoMississippi, Mississippi@SAlabama),
CYCLONE CLASSIC DblHdr @ Des Moines IA
- (Bradley@IowaSt, @Iowa-@Drake),

Sunday:
@Illinois-Belmont, @Indiana-SoIllinois,

Sunday, Tuesday week, Friday-Saturday week:
LAS VEGAS [CHRISTMAS] CLASSIC Sun, Tue week on-campus, Fri-Sat week @ Las Vegas NV
- (@WichitaSt, @USC, @KansasSt, @NewMexico, KennesawSt, CharlestonSo, MDEaShore, {Longwood}).

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Top 25 - 06 Dec 11 - [] Column

1. UCLA (7-0)
2. Pittsburgh (10-0)
3. North Carolina (7-1)
4. Ohio State (8-1)
5. Gonzaga (9-2)
6. Florida (8-2)
7. Arizona (7-1)
8. Butler (9-1)
9. Wichita State (6-0)
10. Oklahoma State (11-0)
11. Missouri State (7-1)
12. Wisconsin (9-1)
13. Florida State (8-2)
14. Kansas (8-2)
15. Notre Dame (6-1)
16. Duke (9-1)
17. Alabama (8-1)
18. Connecticut (8-0)
19. Maryland (9-2)
20. LSU (5-2)
21. Michigan State (9-2)
22. Texas (6-2)
23. Syracuse (8-2)
24. Texas A&M (7-2)
25. Oregon (7-0)

Honorable Mention:
- Washington State (8-1), Indiana State (5-3), Boston College (6-2), UNLV (6-2), Purdue (8-1), Southern Illinois (6-1), Tennessee (7-2), San Diego (3-4).