12 Feb20 - Separate From The Pack

Volume XVI, No. 16 - 12 Feb20 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Separate From The Pack

It's mighty late in the season for introductions, but New Mexico saved its best form of the year for its biggest week. The Lobos swept San Diego State (77-@67) and UNLV (@65-45, behind 29p20r from cDrew Gordon). Now, it's UNM that's in first place in the MOUNTAIN WEST with a two-game gap (thanks to further stumbles by UNLV [97-@102(OT) at TCU] and SDgoSU [56-@58 at Air Force]).
     Michigan beat suddenly vulnerable Ohio State, @56-51, as the Wolverines held the Buckeyes to 3-for-16 shooting on three-pointers as xDeShaun Thomas' 25p13r wasn't enough. (When the 3s aren't falling, fJared Sullinger[14p8r] isn't nearly as dangerous inside.) UM and OhSU are tied for second in the BIG 10, but first-place Michigan State controls its own fate (led by do-it-all xDraymond Green[20p10r6a average] in wins over Wisconsin[@69-55] and Purdue [76-@62]).
     Syracuse won at Louisville, 52-@51, for the first time since the Cardinals joined the BIG EAST (despite shooting 1-for-15 on threes).

Murray State's @65-51 win over St. Mary's in the feature BRACKETBUSTERS game was the most anticipated matchup of the event. gIsaiah Canaan was fine (23p4a) while pMatthew Dellavedova was subpar (17p6a), but very impressive was the Racers' interior defense on cRob Jones(4p3r). MSU has already clinched the OVC and is officially an Anti-Spoiler -- (the conference tournament is at Tennessee State, the one team to beat them on the year). "TCB, guys!"
     The most impressive team performance belonged to Wichita State, which methodically put away Davidson on the road, 91-@74, behind 30p7r from bJoe Ragland as the Wheatshockers shot 64 percent from the floor. Meanwhile, Creighton and Long Beach State had the best played game by both squads, coming down to gAntoine Young's game-winner giving the Bluejays an @81-79 win. CU's xDoug McDermott's 36p11r;14/20fg performance was great (but he'll miss out on Player of the Year because he couldn't post those numbers when the MVC title was on the line).
     The solid BRACKETBUSTERS win over MAC-leader Akron, @67-58, may have been enough to push Oral Roberts (already clinched in the SUMMIT) into Anti-Spoiler status as well. (The Golden Eagles have split routs with second-place South Dakota State; and ORU will get no love at the conference tournament in unfriendly Sioux Falls.)
     The HORIZON had the best record (7-3) in BRACKETBUSTERS, but its lead teams flopped: Valparaiso lost 53-@61 at Loyola Marymount, and Cleveland State was routed at home, @49-69, by Drexel. Although only 7-5 overall, it was the COLONIAL that stood out with its top half teams going 6-0.
     BIG SKY/Weber State beat SOUTHLAND/Texas-Arlington (@72-70); METRO ATLANTIC/Iona beat WAC/Nevada (@90-84, on 62 percent shooting) and the MAC's Ohio University crushed BIG SOUTH/UNC-Asheville (@81-62) in matchups involving league leaders.

Harvard routed Yale, @66-51, but it's still the rarest regular season Anti-Spoiler -- one slip-up (with four games yet to go) will drop it into a playoff with second-place Penn (where a loss would force the NCAA to waste an at-large bid). "Go Crimson!"
     St. Mary's was routed at home by Loyola Marymount, @60-75, dropping back into a tie with Gonzaga for the WCC lead; but the Bulldogs returned the favor, losing 65-@66 at San Francisco. SMC retains a one-game lead with a couple of road games to go.
     Southern Mississippi (71-@73 at Houston) and Memphis (@58-60 vs UTEP) stumbled in step with one another as well, remaining tied for the C-USA lead -- Memphis has tougher finish (and Tulsa, Central Florida and Marshall all still have a shot).
     Loyola(Maryland)'s blowout loss at Marist, 54-@72, has put Iona in the driver's seat with a one-game lead and a week to go in the METRO ATLANTIC.
     Despite being undefeated with a gap lead at midconference, a @63-73(OT) loss vs Delaware State dropped Norfolk State out of first place in the MEAC; it's now Savannah State alone at the top with two weeks to go.

Baylor routed Iowa State, @79-64 (on 60 percent shooting), but couldn't handle Kansas State at home, falling 56-@57. Indiana was handled, 66-@78, at Iowa (as gMatt Gatens had 30p). Illinois' second-half slide has reached five straight losses and a tie for ninth place. (Granted, they're in the toughest conference in the land.)

Undefeated overall is off the table, but an undefeated run in conference play is still very much on for Kentucky in the SEC -- host Mississippi State (Tuesday) and guest Vanderbilt (Saturday) sort of have a shot at making a dent. Missouri and Kansas remain tied atop the BIG 12 with a THREE-GAME GAP on everyone else (with the second Showcase Showdown in Lawrence looming on Saturday). Florida State, Duke and North Carolina have opened a THREE-GAME GAP over the rest of the ACC -- Duke visits Florida State (Thursday) (and still has UNC yet to play at home).
     In the competitive COLONIAL, Drexel and George Mason lead with VCU and Old Dominion third and fourth -- (BRACKETBUSTER winners all) -- any one could be on top after Saturday's clashes: (GMU-@VCU, DU-@ODU). Middle Tennessee's calling card for an at-large bid is an early season rout of Akron. How UofA finishes may determine whether MSU as well as Oral Roberts are positioned to steal bids -- (if the Zips go TiTo in the MAC, it's bad news for bubble teams everywhere).
     Weber State and Montana are virtually tied atop the BIG SKY, FIVE GAMES UP on the rest of the pack (and still with the season-ending meeting in Missoula to come). Vermont and Stony Brook (both BRACKETBUSTERS winners) remained tied atop AMERICA EAST with one week to go (and only a couple of scrub games in the way).

It's the final pair of games in the BIG 5 this week: 2-0/Temple has two true road games, at 1-2/La Salle (Wednesday) and at 2-1/St. Joseph's (Saturday). (2-2/Villanova and 1-3/Penn [and the split-crowd Palestra] are done.)

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

Baylor-@Texas(TX), @Villanova-Connecticut, @Belmont-SCUpstate, @SavannahSt-BethuneCookman, @MSValleySt-TexasSo,

Tuesday:

Kentucky-@MississippiSt, @Missouri-KansasSt, NCarolina-@NCState(NC), NewMexico-@ColoradoSt, @Massachusetts-Xavier,

Wednesday:

@Syracuse-SFlorida, @NotreDame-WVirginia, Temple-@LaSalle(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG_5), @LongBeachSt-UCSantaBarbara(CA), @Buffalo-OhioU, @SanDiegoSt-Wyoming, @McNeeseSt-TXArlington, @CoppinSt-MorganSt(BaltimoreMD),

Thursday:

Duke-@FloridaSt, Louisville-@Cincinnati(BG), MurraySt-@TennesseeSt, @Gonzaga-BYU, @ClevelandSt-Detroit, @American-Bucknell,

Friday:

Marquette-@WVirginia, @Harvard-Princeton, @Valparaiso-Butler(IN), @Iona-Fairfield,

Saturday:

@Kentucky-Vanderbilt, Syracuse-@Connecticut, Missouri-@Kansas, NCarolina-@Virginia, @Michigan-Purdue, Temple-@StJosephs(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG_5), @Harvard-Penn, @Mercer-Belmont, @Marshall-Memphis, @VCU-GeoMason(VA), @OldDominion-Drexel, @OhioU-Akron(OH), @KansasSt-IowaSt, @SanDiegoSt-ColoradoSt, @Alabama-MississippiSt, @GeorgiaSo-Davidson, @TXArlington-NorthwesternSt, @BethuneCookman-NorfolkSt, @UTValley-TXPanAmerican, @CalStBakersfield-{NEOmaha},

Sunday:

@OhioSt-Wisconsin, FloridaSt-@MiamiFL(FL), California-@Colorado, @SFlorida-Cincinnati, @Manhattan-LoyolaMD,

Monday week:

@OklahomaSt-Kansas, @Georgetown-NotreDame, @Baylor-TexasTech(TX), @Gonzaga-Longwood,

Mon week, Thu week, Sat week:

BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT Qtrs on-campus/@ #1-seed[UNCAsheville/AshevilleNC]/on-campus
-(@UNCAsheville, CoCarolina, Campbell, CharlestonSo).

---

Top 25 - 12 Feb20 - [] Column

1. Kentucky (26-1)
2. Syracuse (27-1)
3. Missouri (25-2)
4. Duke (22-4)
5. Michigan State (21-5)
6. Kansas (21-5)
7. North Carolina (23-4)
8. Georgetown (19-5)
9. Michigan (19-7)
10. Ohio State (22-5)
11. Wichita State (23-4) [@BB]
12. Florida (21-6)
13. Notre Dame (18-8)
14. Marquette (22-5)
15. New Mexico (19-4)
16. Florida State (19-7)
17. UNLV (20-6)
18. Louisville (21-6)
19. Murray State (22-1) [vBB]
20. Vanderbilt (19-8)
21. Wisconsin (20-7)
22. Baylor (21-5)
23. Temple (21-5)
24. California (22-6)
25. Harvard (21-3)

Honorable Mention:

TCU (15-11), Kansas State (18-8), Iowa (14-13), San Francisco (18-11), Loyola Marymount (18-10), Air Force (13-11), Creighton (22-5) [vBB], Weber State (20-4) [vBB], Oral Roberts (23-5) [vBB], Iona (22-6) [vBB], Drexel (23-5) [@BB], Ohio University (20-6) [vBB].