13 Jan14 - Value Pack

Volume XVII, No. 11 - 13 Jan14 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Value Pack

North Carolina State delivered the needed win over Duke, @84-76, behind monster games from fC.J. Leslie(25p6r) and cRichard Howell(16p18r); but the Blue Devils were without tRyan Kelly (injured foot) and gSeth Curry(22p5r) missed the endplay with an ankle injury. The win is great and keeps the Wolfpack's season from taking a nosedive, but they need to bring that same intensity game-in, game-out. Earlier in the week, they only beat Georgia Tech, @83-70 -- playing to the level of your competition like that will get you snakebit come tournament time.

The last of the unbeaten teams all fell. Ohio State got a needed win of its own, hanging on to edge Michigan, @56-53, in a defensive struggle. Yes, the elite result puts the Buckeyes back in the Final Four conversation, but don't read too much into a squeak win in front of the home crowd.

    
Oregon just plain outhustled Arizona, holding on for a @70-66 win, giving the Wildcats their first (official) loss. And gJeff Elorriaga's game-winning/buzzer-beating three-pointer sank unbeaten Wyoming in Boise State's 63-@61 road win.

Minnesota's power game got a boost from 9-for-15 three-point shooting as the Golden Gophers pulled away from Illinois on the road, 84-@67. But back to their regular shooting prowess, they were routed by Indiana's running game -- down 29-52 at halftime -- before rallying for a respectable 81-@88 loss. The Hoosiers finally have a quality win to go along with all of their no-name blowouts. Meanwhile, Illinois went on the road and was thumped again at Wisconsin, 51-@74 -- as the guard-rich Illini were an atrocious 5-for-38 on three-pointers in two games.

    
Notre Dame's balanced attack was too solid for host Cincinnati, 66-@60; but the Irish fell at home to Connecticut, @58-65. Pittsburgh got its first name-brand win, thumping offensively challenged Georgetown, 73-@45 (as the Hoyas had no players in double-figures); but Marquette came to town and knocked off the Panthers, 74-@67(OT). For the second year running, Syracuse has lost a key player due to academics -- last year, it was cFab Melo; this year, it's tJames Southerland who's out indefinitely.

    
Florida State edged Maryland, 65-@62, thanks to 15 straight points from fOkaro White(20p9r6b); but North Carolina used a 34-18 rebound margin to beat the Seminoles, 77-@72, days later. It was Miami(Florida) who managed to go 2-0 on the week, though, winning at UNC (68-@59) and beating 0-2 Maryland (@54-47).

    
Missouri found the road in the SEC was tougher than it thought as surprising Mississippi stunned the Tigers, @64-49, behind 22p from fMurphy Holloway. Meanwhile, Texas A&M went into Rupp Arena and gave coach John Calipari his first conference home loss at Kentucky, winning 83-@71 thanks to tElston Turner Jr.'s star turn: 40p;14/19fg,6/10 3s.

The first chapter of the MOUNTAIN WEST WARS did not disappoint. (Besides BoiseSt's big win), New Mexico held UNLV in check, @65-60, (as the Runnin' Rebels only managed 4-for-5 on free throws). San Diego State led Colorado State 41-23 at halftime, but the Rams used a 51-34 rebound margin and 22p from gWes Eikmeier to rally on the road and force overtime before falling 72-@79(OT).

    
In the ATLANTIC 10, Xavier knocked off Temple, @57-52. The Owls turned around and beat St. Louis, @64-54. Dayton couldn't break through, falling 62-@74 at VCU. Butler kept the Flyers grounded with a 79-@73 road win -- in a scary moment, Bulldog gRotnei Clarke slammed head-first into the support under the basket and was taken to the hospital on a stretcher. Thankfully, it's "just" a sprained neck (i.e., "whiplash"), but he won't be 100% for a while.

    
Another comeback almost came through as Gonzaga had St. Mary's down 54-34 early in the second half before gStephen Holt(23p0a) led the rally to close within one point before the Bulldogs prevailed, @83-78. Evansville knocked off Wichita State, @71-67.

Memphis had no trouble with upstart East Carolina, winning @67-54. Eastern Kentucky surprised Murray State, 77-@65, opening up the OHIO VALLEY race. Stephen F. Austin may have ended the SOUTHLAND race before it got started with a 61-@50 win at Oral Roberts.

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In one of the last big non-conference games (besides BRACKETBUSTERS), Gonzaga visits Butler (Saturday).

    
It's the BIG EAST Game of the Year (Part I) on Saturday when Louisville hosts Syracuse (after the Cardinals visit Connecticut [Monday]). Minnesota hopes to keep Michigan down (Thursday). More MOUNTAIN WEST WARS: UNLV (at San Diego State, Wednesday; at Colorado State, Saturday) has a rough week ahead; SnDgoSt also visits Wyoming (Saturday); New Mexico visits Boise State (Wednesday). Florida welcomes the SEC's newcomers: (at Texas A&M, Thursday; vs Missouri, Saturday).

    
Wichita State's (?only?) chance to stay in the MVC race comes Saturday (vs Creighton). Newcomer Belmont gets its first OHIO VALLEY showdowns: (vs Eastern Kentucky, Thursday; vs Tennessee State, Saturday). Valparaiso can turn the HORIZON race with a couple of wins: (at Detroit, Thursday; vs Wright State, Saturday). Western Illinois runs the gauntlet in the SUMMIT: (vs S.D. State, Thursday; vs N.D. State, Saturday).

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Kansas-Baylor, Louisville-@Connecticut,

Tuesday:

@Indiana-Wisconsin,

Wednesday:

NCState-@Maryland, NewMexico-@BoiseSt, @SanDiegoSt-UNLV, @BYU-StMarys, @Washington-Colorado,

Thursday:

Michigan-@Minnesota, Florida-@TexasA&M, @Detroit-Valparaiso, @Belmont-EaKentucky, @WeIllinois-SDState, @MidTennessee-ARLittleRock,

Friday:

@Vermont-StonyBrook,

Saturday:

@Louisville-Syracuse, Arizona-@ArizonaSt(AZ), OhioSt-@MichiganSt, @Florida-Missouri, Gonzaga-@Butler, @KansasSt-Oklahoma, Creighton-@WichitaSt, Oregon-@UCLA, SanDiegoSt-@Wyoming, Connecticut-@Pittsburgh, @Cincinnati-Marquette, @NCarolina-Maryland, @ColoradoSt-UNLV, @Memphis-Harvard, @Valparaiso-WrightSt(BG), @Davidson-ColofCharleston, @Stanford-California(CA), @Penn-@StJosephs(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG_5)(/PALESTRA/), @BYU-SanDiego, @Belmont-TennesseeSt(TN), @WeIllinois-NDState, @CalStFullerton-LongBeachState(CA), @WeKentucky-ARLittleRock, @Denver-UtahSt, @KentSt-Akron(OH), @Bryant-Wagner, @SamHoustonSt-OralRoberts, @Delaware-Northeastern, @CoCarolina-VMI, @ARPineBluff-TexasSo, @TXPanAmerican-UTValley,

Monday week:

@Syracuse-Cincinnati, @NotreDame-Georgetown, @Baylor-OklahomaSt, @Fairfield-Loyola-MD.

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Top 25 - 13 Jan14 - [] Column

1. Indiana (15-1)
   
2. Kansas (14-1)
   
3. Duke (15-1)
   
4. Louisville (15-1)
   
5. Michigan (15-1)
   
6. Arizona (15-1)
   
7. Ohio State (12-3)
   
8. Florida (12-2)
   
9. Minnesota (15-2)
   
10. Syracuse (16-1)
    
11. Gonzaga (15-1)
    
12. North Carolina State (12-2)
    
13. Kansas State (12-2)
    
14. Creighton (16-1)
    
15. Butler (13-2)
    
16. Oregon (14-2)
    
17. New Mexico (15-2)
    
18. Missouri (12-3)
    
19. San Diego State (12-2)
    
20. Connecticut (12-3)
    
21. Notre Dame (14-2)
    
22. VCU (14-3)
    
23. Mississippi (13-2)
    
24. UCLA (14-3)
    
25. Wisconsin (11-4)
    

Honorable Mention:

Xavier (9-6), Evansville (10-6), Boise State (10-2), Marquette (12-3), Miami(Florida) (12-3), Texas A&M (12-3), Oklahoma (11-3), Washington (11-5), Eastern Kentucky (13-3), Stephen F. Austin (10-1).