07Jan15 - Heart-Stoppers Abound

Volume XI, No. 11 - 07 Jan 15 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Heart-Stoppers Abound

It wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing affair, but Round One of The Big Ten Showdown proved one thing: for all of the hype surrounding Ohio State's cGreg Oden and his defensive prowess, it's actually Wisconsin that is the better defensive team. UW won it @72-69 in Madison, leading throughout and even extending to a 17-point lead midway through the second half. cAlando Tucker couldn't score point blank very much but he still managed 17p6r4a; it was the outside scoring from bKammron Taylor(25p5r) that gave the Badgers their working margin. Oden was held to 10p7r6b and the outside attack of the Buckeyes was limited to gIvan Harris (17p) and bRon Lewis(14p7r).

Virginia Tech found a way to make North Carolina pay for its "All-Star Game" mentality. The Hokie guards [gZabian Dowdell(23p), pJamon Gordon(17p6a6r5s) and gA.D. Vassallo(17p)] drove past the Tar Heel defenders and scored relentlessly off the dribble. VaTech had a 23-point lead at one stage in the second half before holding on for a @94-88 home victory. Maryland looked ahead and stumbled at home, @58-63, against Miami(Florida); but the Terrapins won The Big One, @92-87, knocking off the last unbeaten team, Clemson on Saturday. Now that that distraction is over, the Tigers can focus on what can still be one of their best seasons. (Too bad they don't get to play at UNC this year and attempt to break their 0-for-Chapel-Hill losing streak -- they only get North Carolina once this year, at home on Wednesday.)

Kansas crushed Oklahoma State at home, @87-57, and Marquette routed visiting West Virginia, @81-63. But many of the past week's big games were nail-biters that came down to the last shot, miss or make. Oregon beat Arizona, 79-@77, on gAaron Brooks(21p6a)' game-winner; UCLA survived 65-@64 at USC, thanks to gAaron Afflalo(15p)'s jumper. Those two teams share the Pac-10 lead at 4-1 for the moment. (The Ducks are two points away from being undefeated, and seven points away from being in eighth place.) Butler lost in OT, 67-@73, at Illinois-Chicago and now the Horizon League is a three-way race between the Bulldogs, the Flames and the Wright State Raiders. (If Butler fails to dominate in conference, it's bad news for the likes of Wichita State, Bradley and Northern Iowa, who would be the odd team out if UIC or WSU got an automatic bid.) Stanford played spoiler with two nail-biter wins at home, @78-77 over Washington on gAnthony Goods(19p)' game-winner, at @71-68 in OT over Washington State as gGoods(30p) did it again with a game-winning three-pointer.

Georgia Tech showed signs of improving maturity with two big home wins, over Duke @74-63, and over Florida State @88-80. tAnthony Morrow (19p and 17p) is getting more minutes after the suspension of gLewis Clinch and it's making a difference. (But road games at North Carolina and Maryland this week could stop the turnaround right in its tracks.) Texas has begun to win its games more convincingly the past couple of weeks, but a big test comes Tuesday night when they visit Oklahoma State and then there's an out-of-conference road game at Villanova on Saturday. The future could be now for both of these young clubs (whereas young Connecticut lost at home to Marquette, @69-73).

Memphis has already won two of its toughest road games inside thin Conference USA. The Tigers won at Houston, 79-@69, and then won at Southern Mississippi, 72-@62. Remaining road games at Tulsa, Central Florida and UAB don't make for the most fearsome schedule. There's no BRACKETBUSTERS game for them, but there is a February road trip to Gonzaga, a team that beefed up its nonconference schedule so much in the preseason that it may have done more harm than good. If Memphis doesn't win that one, they could roll all the way into the NCAAs as a mystery team with a great record, semi-recognizable players, and no name wins to show for themselves.

Nevada's cNick Fazekas has missed the past two games after turning his ankle against Boise State a week ago. The Wolf Pack has managed to keep winning behind the guard trio of bMarcelus Kemp, bRamon Sessions and gKyle Shiloh in the short run, but two big league games are up this week, Fresno State (Thursday) and at New Mexico State (Saturday), and they'll need to be at full strength.

Indiana and Boston College keep posting the Ws under the radar, beating the teams they're supposed to beat. After a home game with Iowa on Tuesday, the Hoosiers travel to Connecticut on Saturday for a big nonconference matchup. BC gets Miami(Florida) on Tuesday and then has a surprisingly important showdown at Clemson on Saturday. Texas A&M faces its first ranked opponent in over a month when Oklahoma State comes to town on Saturday. The Aggies have last year's rep and a gaudy record going for them, but don't have a big win on their resume as of yet.

The Pac-10 is too, well, packed, to call Saturday's UCLA vs Arizona game any kind of showdown -- both teams have already lost to Oregon. Creighton is on top of the MVC at the moment, but a road game at Wichita State (Monday) and a home game against Southern Illinois (Saturday) could easily change that.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:
@Kansas-Missouri, Marquette@Louisville, @WichitaSt-Creighton, Marist@Siena,

Tuesday:
@Pittsburgh-Connecticut, Maryland@Virginia, @OklahomaSt-Texas, @Memphis-UAB, @BostonCol-MiamiFL, @BYU-Wyoming,

Wednesday:
@Wisconsin-Purdue, NCarolina@Clemson, Alabama@Vanderbilt, @Arkansas-Georgia, @FloridaSt-VirginiaTech,

Thursday:
@Oregon-Stanford, Arizona@USC, @Nevada-FresnoSt, @MissouriSt-NoIowa, @Xavier-Massachusetts, @Creighton-Bradley, @LongBeachSt-CalStFullerton, SamHoustonSt@StephenFAustin, @Samford-MoreheadSt,

Saturday:
@UCLA-Arizona, Wisconsin@Illinois, @NCarolina-GeorgiaTech, @Oregon-California, Kansas@TexasTech, @Clemson-BostonCol, OklahomaSt@TexasA&M, @Alabama-Georgia, @WashingtonSt-Washington, Nevada@NewMexicoSt, @AirForce-SanDiegoSt, Texas@Villanova, Indiana@Connecticut, @Arkansas-LSU, WichitaSt@Bradley, SoIllinois@Creighton, @FloridaSt-MiamiFL, @NoIowa-IndianaSt, @VCU-OldDominion, @Davidson-AppalachianSt, @Michigan-Purdue, @Samford-EaKentucky,

Sunday:
@Pittsburgh-Marquette, Maryland@VirginiaTech, @Albany-Hartford.

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Top 25 - 07 Jan 15 - [] Column

1. Florida (16-2)
2. UCLA (14-1)
3. Wisconsin (16-1)
4. North Carolina (15-2)
5. Oregon (16-1)
6. Kansas (14-2)
7. Ohio State (14-3)
8. Arizona (13-3)
9. Pittsburgh (16-2)
10. Duke (14-3)
11. Maryland (15-3)
12. Clemson (17-1)
13. Tennessee (13-4)
14. Oklahoma State (14-2)
15. Notre Dame (14-2)
16. Alabama (14-2)
17. Washington State (15-3)
18. Texas A&M (15-2)
19. Butler (13-2)
20. Nevada (15-1)
21. Air Force (16-1)
22. Texas (13-3)
23. Georgia Tech (12-4)
24. Memphis (13-3)
25. Marquette (14-4)

Honorable Mention:
- - Virginia Tech (12-4), Illinois(Chicago) (8-9), Vanderbilt (10-6), Stanford (10-6), Mississippi (12-5), Miami(Florida) (9-9), Southern Illinois (12-4), Indiana (12-4), Boston College (12-4).