10 Feb 1 - "Guys, where are we?" (MIDCONFERENCE)

Volume XIV, No. 13 - 10 Feb 1: MIDCONFERENCE - [] Top 25 Ballot

"Guys, where are we?"

The young Kentucky Wildcats didn't last long as the sole remaining undefeated team in the nation -- all of one day, actually. They went on the road at South Carolina and were mesmerized by 5-9 pDevan Downey's ball-handling and shot-making skills as he burned them for 30p5r in the Gamecocks' @68-62 stunner. It's not the first time that UK let a guard go wild, either. Miami(Ohio)'s tNick Winbush hit 8 three-pointers against them when the 'Cats won @72-70; Sam Houston State's gCorey Allmond had 37p; 11 three-pointers in a @102-92 UK win. They believe in their own talent too much and expect to pull out the win with a spectacular play at the end. This time, it was DD who was making circus shots in the lane.
    Now that the pursuit of an undefeated season is over, we can take stock and get our bearings. Conveniently, only four teams have just one loss at this point: Syracuse, Kansas, Villanova and Kentucky. Early frontrunners for a #1 seed come tournament time, but that may be less important this year with none of those teams head and shoulders better than the rest of the Top 16. The #4 seeds may be every bit as good as the #1s this time around.

Georgetown played some great basketball this week and still wound up only 1-1 for their troubles. They broke out to an impressive 14-0 lead on the road at Syracuse, but the Orange steadily climbed back into the game and tied things up before halftime and then won going away, @73-56. 'Cuse is such a well balanced team that no one player usually posts individual stats that make you take notice, but take notice, anyway. tWesley Johnson is every bit as smooth a player as, say xDamion James of Texas, yet tJohnson's numbers are never jaw-dropping (14p9r7to against GU). SU has too many weapons to ever need for one player to carry the load.
    At home against Duke, the Hoyas shot 72% from the floor (including 17-for-23 on three-pointers) as they won easily @89-77. Once again, the Blue Devils were vulnerable in the paint to a quality big man, cGreg Monroe(21p5r5a); but they couldn't stop the guards, either: gChris Wright(21p), pAustin Freeman(20p5a).
    Kansas routed Missouri @84-65, outrebounding them 53-28 and holding them to 28% shooting. Then, they Jayhawks travelled to Manhattan and won 81-@79(OT) against Kansas State. KSU had been able to win at Baylor, 76-@74 behind 25p4a from gJacob Pullen. Baylor regrouped and was able to hand Texas its third loss in four games, 80-@77(OT) as gTweety Carter had 50p in two games. Missouri bounced back from its loss to KU with a resounding @95-80 win over visiting Oklahoma State. Despite losing last year's no-name "stars", Mizzou has kept it rolling with a new set of no-names.

Purdue edged Wisconsin at home @60-57. Better news is the return gLewis Jackson to action after being sidelined a with a foot injury. The Boilermakers can struggle on offense and gJackson should help them get more easy baskets on penetration and an in transition.
    The treacherous Big East schedule usually trips up at least one quality team each year. This year, it seems to be Connecticut (still without coach Jim Calhoun), who dropped two games on the week: 66-@81 at Providence, and @68-70 at home to Marquette -- and those are the games you're supposed to win compared to the powerhouse opponents besides. Pittsburgh was tripped up at South Florida. Clemson lost at Boston College, but knocked off ACC front-runner Maryland @62-53. Gonzaga fell in OT at lowly San Francisco, falling back into a two-way with St. Mary's for the WCC midway through conference play. Vanderbilt earned a split of its two rough road games, winning at Tennessee (85-@76) but losing to a focused Kentucky team (72-@85) as gJermaine Beal had 44p in two games.

New Mexico edged visiting Brigham Young @76-72 (but still trails BYU by one game at the break in MWC play). Western Carolina beat College of Charleston @100-90 (but CofC still leads the SoCon). IUPUI blew out Oakland @78-54 (but it's still the OU Grizzlies who lead the Summit). Northeastern beat Old Dominion @74-64 (shooting 60% from the field) but both teams trail 10-1 George Mason. Cornell had no such trouble; the Big Red routed its main Ivy rival, Harvard, @86-50 to firmly take control of the league race.
    Michigan State is undefeated with a three-game gap on second place at the midway point in the Big 10. Arizona beat California @76-72 to claim a share of the Pac-10 lead at 6-3. Xavier, Dayton and Temple have yet to sort out the Atlantic 10 lead. Same for UAB, Tulsa and UTEP in Conference USA. Pacific is two games up halfway through Big West play; Morgan State is undefeated and two up in the MEAC. Old foes Lafayette and Lehigh are deadlocked atop the Patriot League.

Villanova at Georgetown (Saturday) is the highlight of the week. Pittsburgh at West Virginia (Wednesday), Michigan State at Wisconsin (Tuesday), Texas at Oklahoma State (Monday) should also be great. Georgia Tech travels to Duke (Thursday). Gonzaga at Memphis (Saturday) is a rare out-of-conference matchup this time of year.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

Texas-@OklahomaSt, @Louisville-Connecticut, @Campbell-Lipscomb, @ETennesseeSt-Belmont(TN), @ARPineBluff-JacksonSt,
(BRACKETBUSTERS PAIRING SELECTION)[98_teams/49_games],

Tuesday:

@Kentucky-Mississippi, MichiganSt-@Wisconsin, @Northwestern-Michigan, @WakeForest-MiamiFL,

Wednesday:

@WVirginia-Pittsburgh, @Missouri-TexasA&M, @Vanderbilt-MississippiSt, @Memphis-UAB, @Tulsa-Marshall, @NoIowa-WichitaSt, @OldDominion-William&Mary(VA), @UTEP-Houston(TX), @Maine-Vermont,

Thursday:

@Duke-GeorgiaTech, @Gonzaga-Portland, @NotreDame-Cincinnati(BG), @FloridaSt-Maryland, @Pacific-UCSantaBarbara(CA),

Friday:

@Siena-Iona(NY), @Belmont-Jacksonville,

Saturday:

Villanova-@Georgetown, MichiganSt-@Illinois, Texas-@Oklahoma, WVirginia-@StJohns, @Tennessee-SCarolina, Baylor-@TexasA&M(TX), Gonzaga-@Memphis, @New Mexico-SanDiegoSt, BYU-@UNLV, @FloridaSt-MiamiFL(FL), @Florida-MississippiSt, @UTEP-Tulsa, @Dayton-Xavier(OH), @Richmond-Temple, @UCLA-California(CA), @VCU-Old Dominion(VA), @UtahSt-Nevada, @WeCarolina-AppalachianSt(NC), @Oakland-OralRoberts, @MontanaSt-WeberSt, @CoCarolina-UNCAsheville, @{NCCentral}-SavannahSt, @PrairieViewA&M-TexasSo,

Sunday:

Syracuse-@Cincinnati, @Lipscomb-Jacksonville,

Monday week:

@Texas-Kansas, @WVirginia-Villanova, @Pittsburgh-RobertMorris(PA), @NewMexicoSt-LouisianaTech, @Siena-Fairfield, @MorganSt-BethuneCookman.

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Top 25 - 10 Feb 1: MIDCONFERENCE - [] Column

1. Syracuse (21-1)
2. Kansas (20-1)
3. Villanova (19-1)
4. Kentucky (20-1)
5. Georgetown (16-4)
6. Michigan State (18-3)
7. Purdue (17-3)
8. Duke (17-4)
9. Kansas State (16-4)
10. Texas (18-3)
11. West Virginia (17-3)
12. Ohio State (15-6)
13. Missouri (16-5)
14. Tennessee (16-4)
15. Wisconsin (16-5)
16. Baylor (15-4)
17. Pittsburgh (16-5)
18. Oklahoma State (16-5)
19. Vanderbilt (15-4)
20. Georgia Tech (14-5)
21. Gonzaga (16-4)
22. New Mexico (20-3)
23. Brigham Young (20-2)
24. Cornell (15-3)
25. Butler (18-4)

Honorable Mention:

South Carolina (13-8), South Florida (14-7), Marquette (13-8), Providence (12-9), Boston College (12-10), Charlotte (15-5), San Francisco (8-14).