08 Dec22 - Special Marks

Volume XIII, No. 7 - 08 Dec 22 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Special Marks

Specialty games and a special player highlighted last week.
     cTyler Hansbrough became the all-time leading scorer in school history for North Carolina, passing the magnificent pPhil Ford. He's not the greatest Tar Heel ever (or even in the Top 5, actually). Former great Len Rosenbluth played before freshmen were eligible; the likes of James Worthy, Michael Jordan, Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter all left for the NBA before the senior years. Hansbrough, like Ford, has stayed all four years for his career (and benefits from playing in Roy Williams' up-tempo style). Give him his due, though. He's made more free throws than field goals, and he's made fewer than 10 three-pointers in his career.

The BIG EAST / SEC INVITATIONAL pair of double-headers ended up in an unsatisfying 2-2 tie, with the four host teams winning at both sites. In the most interesting game, Tennesee couldn't shake Marquette until the final two minutes in Nashville, closing with a 10-0 run to win @80-68 behind 26p11r from cWayne Chism, (despite 30p;15/18ft from MU's gWesley Matthews). Meanwhile, Vanderbilt easily handled South Florida @71-52. In Cincinnati, Louisville's cEarl Clark had 25p16r in its @77-68 win over troubled Mississippi (who lost gChris Warren(18p3a) to injury while coach Andy Kennedy got into legal trouble off-court); and home-standing Cincinnati beat Mississippi State @75-63.

Connecticut showed plenty of resilience against host Gonzaga at the BATTLE IN SEATTLE. The Huskies led early before cHasheem Thabeet got in foul trouble; but they stayed in contact while he sat and finished strong with an overtime win, 88-@83(OT), thanks to 24p10a from pA.J. Price and 21p9r from bJerome Dyson. It hasn't always worked well having both guards on the floor, but UConn seems to have worked that out now. The 'Zags played well -- they're deeper and more athletic than before -- but reserve gSteven Gray's 23p wasn't enough as they settled for jumpshots down the stretch even while cThabeet was on the bench.
     Duke played its yearly "home-away-from-home" game in East Rutherford NJ, this time against Xavier. The Blue Devils led 18-1 five minutes into the game and cruised to an 82-64 rout. When the threes are falling, against an opponent that doesn't worry them physically, Duke can be awesome. (But it's nothing new and yet they haven't even made Sweet 16 the past two seasons. Then again, there's no team out there like last year's Kansas squad to push around the Blue Devils ... or the Tar Heels, for that matter.)
     Louisville played Minnesota in Phoenix(Glendale) AZ as part of the STADIUM SHOOTOUT double-header. Tubby Smith's Golden Gophers validated their undefeated record with a surprising 70-64 win, thanks to 18p5a5r from pAl Nolen. Meanwhile, host Arizona State escaped a buzzer-didn't-beater from previously unbeated BYU, winning @76-75 behind 30p6a5s;16/21ft from bJames Harden.

Texas played host to Michigan State in Houston, but it was the visiting Spartans who came away with the surprise 67-@63 win. cGoran Suton(18p) is back on the court for MSU. It's not all bad news for Texas, though. They got 20p5r from reserve fGary Johnson, which is exactly where they need help. UNLV found its game and routed Arizona @79-64 behind 25p5r from bWink Adams. Host Purdue led 21-0 after seven minutes over visiting Davidson on the way to an easy @76-58 win. DC's gStephen Curry(16p6a8r) shot 5-for-26 from the floor as his slump continues. 10-1 Texas A&M handed LSU its first loss, @72-61.

It was a roller-coaster week for Syracuse. They let Cleveland State hang around and lost @69-72 on gCedric Jackson's beyond-halfcourt buzzer-beater. Then, gEric Devendorf was officially suspended from school for an on-campus incident; yet they were able to go on the road without him and earn their best win of the season, 72-@65, at struggling Memphis (behind 24p6a from pJonny Flynn).

Clemson has a history of going undefeated in the preseason and crashing to the ground once conference play starts. The remedy? Play a conference game in December! It worked -- they routed highly regarded Miami(Florida) on the road, 91-@72, to get an early jump on the ACC race, as bK.C. Rivers had 28p.

Virginia Tech gave the ACC its sixth preseason tournament crown with an Unwelcome Guest win at the HOLIDAY FESTIVAL in NYC, beating home-standing St. John's 81-@67 in the final.

The BIG 12 / PAC-10 HARDWOOD SERIES finishes up this week with Arizona and Stanford doing double-duty. The BIG 12 leads 6-4, but it needs a road win from either Kansas at Arizona in the FIESTA BOWL CLASSIC on Tuesday, or from Texas Tech at Stanford on Sunday.
     Creighton should cruise through Fresno State and DePaul to win the LAS VEGAS-CHRISTMAS CLASSIC on Monday and Tuesday. Vermont has a chance to come through with a nice crown at the RAINBOW CLASSIC (George Washington, at Hawaii.
     Illinois and Missouri are both having fine seasons so far heading into the annual BRAGGIN' RIGHTS game in St. Louis. Texas has a tough road game at Wisconsin. Louisville suddenly is no lock at home against visiting UAB. Butler gave Ohio State a scare on the road and could do the same to Xavier. Speaking of the Buckeyes, OSU shouldn't look past visiting West Virginia.

Happy Holidays, everybody!

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Maryland-American(MD/DC), @Villanova-Navy, @StJosephs-Cornell, @UtahSt-Utah(UT),

Monday-Tuesday:

LAS VEGAS-CHRISTMAS CLASSIC RndRob3/3+ @ Las Vegas,NV /OHA/
- (Creighton-FresnoSt, DePaul-StLouis, NoColorado-Liberty, Southern-{SCUpstate}),

Tuesday:

@Gonzaga-PortlandSt, Texas-@Wisconsin, @Xavier-Butler(BG), @ClevelandSt-KentSt(OH),
BRAGGIN' RIGHTS @ St. Louis,MO - (@Illinois-@Missouri),

Tuesday, Sunday:

BIG 12 / PAC-10 [1-0] HARDWOOD SERIES on-campus (Arizona and Stanford play twice; BIG 12 leads 6-4)
- (Tue: FIESTA BOWL CLASSIC 1Off @ Tucson,AZ - (@Arizona[0-1]-Kansas);
   Sun: @Stanford[1-0]-TexasTech),

Wednesday:

@SantaClara-SanFrancisco(CA),

Saturday:

@OhioSt-WVirginia, @Louisville-UAB,

Saturday-Sunday:

SOS CLASSIC 1st/Semis @ Moraga,CA
- (@StMarys-SanJoseSt, MorganSt-{WilliamJessup}),

Saturday-Tuesday week:

RAINBOW CLASSIC 1st/Qtrs @ Honolulu,HI
- (Sat: Vermont-GeoWashington, @Hawaii-ColoradoSt;
   Sun: Colorado-CoppinSt, Pepperdine-Buffalo),

Sunday:

@StJosephs-Siena(/Palestra/),
ORANGE BOWL CLASSIC DblHdr @ Miami/Sunrise,FL
- (@Florida-Winthrop, @FloridaSt-WeKentucky),

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Top 25 - 08 Dec 22 - [] Column

1. North Carolina (10-0)
2. Connecticut (9-0)
3. Duke (9-1)
4. Oklahoma (11-0)
5. Pittsburgh (11-0)
6. Gonzaga (7-2)
7. Tennessee (8-2)
8. Georgetown (8-1)
9. Ohio State (8-0)
10. Maryland (7-2)
11. Michigan (7-2)
12. Michigan State (8-2)
13. Notre Dame (6-2)
14. Texas (9-2)
15. Syracuse (10-1)
16. Purdue (9-2)
17. Wake Forest (8-0)
18. Baylor (8-1)
19. UCLA (8-2)
20. Minnesota (9-0)
21. Clemson (10-0)
22. Xavier (9-1)
23. Villanova (9-1)
24. Illinois (10-1)
25. Creighton (8-2)

Honorable Mention:

UNLV (10-2), Cleveland State (6-4), Texas A&M (10-1), Arizona State (9-1), Virginia Tech (8-4) [2@HOLIDAY].