13 Jan28 - Ready For Their Close-Up (MIDCONFERENCE/Minor)

Volume XVII, No. 13 - 13 Jan28 : MIDCONFERENCE/Minor - [] Top 25 Ballot

Ready For Their Close-Up

When the national spotlight came to Coral Gables, Miami(Florida) was more than ready for their close-up. The Hurricanes throttled Duke, @90-63, especially shutting down the Blue Devils' perimeter attack (4-for-23 on three-pointers). The early return of fReggie Johnson(thumb), who's missed the past 8 games, was more moral support than material(2p5r). Instead, it was bDurand Scott(25p6r) and fKenny Kadji(22p6r) who did the damage. And, unlike N.C. State, they were just as impressive the next time out, whipping slumping Florida State, @71-47. It's early yet, but UofM is 6-0 with a two-game gap in the ACC race.

    
Georgetown had a great week as well, shutting down Notre Dame on the road (63-@47) and then hanging on to edge Louisville (@53-51), as xOtto Porter averaged (18p11r4b) in two games. A couple of Philadelphia Big 5 also-rans turned in four big results: Villanova also beat Louisville (@73-64) and followed that up with a win vs Syracuse (@75-71[OT]; behind 25p6a from pDarrun Hilliard. La Salle tripped Butler (@54-53) and then won at VCU, 69-@61, as gRamon Galloway hit the game-winner in the first game and pumped in 31p in the second.

UCLA found another level, leading 17-@3 right out of the gates at Arizona on the way to a decisive 84-@73 road win; but Wolfpack-itis must have struck the team when the Bruins followed with a 60-@78 blowout loss at Arizona State. Wisconsin split home squeakers: vs Michigan State (@47-49), vs Minnesota (@45-44; on gTraevon Jackson's game-winner). MichSt earned a split as well, losing 70-@75 at Indiana. 'Cuse's @57-55 win over Cincinnati also put it 1-1 for the week. New Mexico survived against Colorado State (@66-61), but was totally shut down at San Diego State (34-@55) -- the Lobos (who feature 7-0 cAlex Kirk) were outrebounded 46-78 in two games. N.C. State thought it had put away host Wake Forest, but let a 84-@86 loss slip away (in freshman 6-9 cDevin Thomas' coming out party [25p14r4a]); but NCSt got up for rival North Carolina, extending to a 25-point lead [61-36] before allowing the Tar Heels to close within 5 [80-85] and salvaging a @91-83 win -- (their first after 13-straight losses to UNC). Duke bounced back to rout Maryland, @84-64, as gRasheed Sulaimon continues to come on (25p).

Louisville's two losses are part of a three-game skid, most troubling because of the disappearance of pPeyton Siva. pSiva and gRuss Smith were supposed to be one of the best backcourts in the country, but right now it's a one-man show. Kansas State couldn't pull off the upset of Kansas, falling @55-59, and dropped a second decision, 67-@73 at Iowa State. Minnesota's second loss on the week was its first to a non-elite opponent, 48-@55, at Northwestern. Besides the home shocker vs La Salle, VCU also fell in Round 1 of this year's BLACK & BLUE series, 74-@86(OT), at Richmond. Wyoming (one of the last unbeatens, remember) is in danger of losing contact in MOUNTAIN WEST after dropping two (50-@62 at UNLV, @48-57 vs Air Force).

9-10 Drake knocked Creighton out of a first-place tie in the MISSOURI VALLEY with a @74-69 shocker. Lehigh, channeling a Month After Rule vibe, knocked off Bucknell on the road, 65-@62, (holding fMike Muscala to 16p6r6b) to grab the reins in the PATRIOT; but the Mountain Hawks gave back the goodness with a weak @57-78 home loss to 10-12 Lafayette. Northwestern State pulled Stephen F. Austin back to the pack in the SOUTHLAND with a @61-57 win.

    
A couple of star turns in 1BC-land had big implications. bNate Wolters had 26p7r4a in South Dakota State's rematch rout with North Dakota State, @69-53, making the SUMMIT a legit 3-way race (along with Western Illinois). bWill Cherry saved his best game of the season (28p6r3a;15/16ft) for the biggest -- a @76-74 squeaker in the BIG SKY showdown with Weber State. Elsewhere, Belmont has broken open the OHIO VALLEY race with an 85-@74 win at Eastern Kentucky. Ditto for Northeastern in the COLONIAL, a @71-51 winner over George Mason.

Notable performances: Great news -- Butler's pRotnei Clarke seemed none the worse for wear (after his scary crash) with a solid 24p9a performance in his return in their @83-71 win vs Temple. gTravis Bader's 47p;15/24fg,11/18 3s for Oakland in an @89-71 win over IUPUI is the top scoring mark so far this year. Northern Illinois' 4 points/1 field goal/1-for-31, 13% shooting in the first half [4-@18(H)] in its 25-@42 loss at Eastern Michigan set new NCAA records for first-half team futility.

More conferences have hit the midway point.

- MISSOURI VALLEY: Wichita State came through in first place; Creighton was second.

- - OHIO VALLEY: Newcomer Belmont came through undefeated with a two-game gap in the East
(and overall), ahead of West-leader Murray State.

- - HORIZON (with one game to go): Valparaiso came through in first place with a two-game gap.

- - WAC: Louisiana Tech came through undefeated with a two-game gap.

- - AMERICA EAST: Stony Brook is in first, followed by Vermont, with Boston University and Albany right behind, tied for third.

- - SOUTHERN: Davidson came through in first place in the South (and overall); North-leader Elon was second.

- - - BIG WEST (with one game to go): Long Beach State came through in first place; Pacific was second; Cal Poly-SLO was third.

- - - NORTHEAST (with one game to go): Not much has been decided -- Bryant, Robert Morris and Sacred Heart were all tied for first; Wagner and Long Island were tied, one game back.

- - - ATLANTIC SUN: Florida Gulf Coast, Mercer, Jacksonville and Stetson were all tied at 6-3, with SC Upsate a half-game back. North Florida was a bust.

- - - SOUTHLAND (with one game to go), Stephen F. Austin and newcomer Oral Roberts were tied for first place, with Northwestern State one game back in third.

- - - COLONIAL (with one game to go), Northeastern rolled through undefeated with a three-game gap. (Old Dominion was winless.)

- - - BIG SOUTH (with one game to go): Charleston Southern came through undefeated with a two-game gap in the South (and overall), ahead of North-leader Campbell.
(Newcomer Longwood was winless.)

- - - BIG SKY: Montana came through undefeated with a two-game gap. Weber State was second.

- - - SWAC (with one game to go), Southern was in first place, a half-game ahead of Arkansas(Pine Bluff); Texas Southern was third. (Grambling was still winless overall.)

- -

A couple of Games of the Year (Part I) are on tap: BIG 10/Michigan at Indiana (Saturday), and MID-AMERICAN/Ohio University at Akron (Saturday). Mississippi (and the excitable gMarshall Henderson)'s dream season could get a reality check with two rough games (vs Kentucky, Tuesday; at Florida, Saturday). Pittsburgh has a tough double as well (at Louisville, Monday; vs Syracuse, Saturday). It's Overachiever vs Underachiever on Saturday when first-place Miami(Florida) visits N.C. State.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Louisville-Pittsburgh,


(BRACKETBUSTERS PAIRING SELECTION) [122 teams/61 games],

Tuesday:

@OhioSt-Wisconsin, @WichitaSt-IndianaSt, NCState-@Virginia, @Mississippi-Kentucky, @Albany-StonyBrook(NY),

Wednesday:

Oregon-@Stanford, NewMexico-@Wyoming,
@ColoradoSt-BoiseSt, @NotreDame-Villanova, @ECarolina-Memphis, @FloridaSt-Maryland, @OklahomaSt-IowaSt, @Baylor-Oklahoma, @Temple-Richmond, @Xavier-Dayton(OH),

Thursday:

Butler-@StLouis, @MichiganSt-Illinois, Arizona-@Washington, @Niagara-Iona(NY), @LongIsland-RobertMorris,

Friday:

Saturday:

Michigan-@Indiana, @Kansas-OklahomaSt, @Florida-Mississippi, Syracuse-@Pittsburgh, MiamiFL-@NCState, Duke-@FloridaSt, UNLV-@BoiseSt, @ColoradoSt-Wyoming, @Oklahoma-KansasSt, @TexasA&M-Kentucky, @IowaSt-Baylor, @StLouis-Dayton, @Akron-OhioU(OH), @StJosephs-Temple(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG_5), @Washington-ArizonaSt, @LongBeachSt-CalPolySLO(CA), @Niagara-LoyolaMD, @LongIsland-RobertMorris, @Northeastern-Drexel,

Sunday:

@Louisville-Marquette, Wisconsin-@Illinois,

Monday week:

@Syracuse-NotreDame, @IowaSt-Oklahoma.

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Top 25 - 13 Jan28 : MIDCONFERENCE/Minor - [] Column

1. Michigan (18-1)
   
2. Kansas (18-1)
   
3. Florida (16-2)
   
4. Indiana (18-2)
   
5. Syracuse (18-2)
   
6. Butler (16-3)
   
7. Miami(Florida) (15-3)
   
8. Duke (17-2)
   
9. Ohio State (14-4)
   
10. Oregon (18-2)
    
11. New Mexico (17-3)
    
12. Gonzaga (18-2)
    
13. Michigan State (16-4)
    
14. Arizona (17-2)
    
15. Louisville (16-4)
    
16. Wichita State (19-2)
    
17. Creighton (18-3)
    
18. Wisconsin (13-6)
    
19. UNLV (15-4)
    
20. San Diego State (14-4)
    
21. North Carolina State (16-4)
    
22. Marquette (14-4)
    
23. Mississippi (17-2)
    
24. Pittsburgh (17-4)
    
25. Georgetown (14-4)
    

Honorable Mention:

Villanova (13-7), UCLA (16-5), La Salle (14-5), Iowa State (13-5), Northwestern (12-9), Drake (9-11), Richmond (13-8), Wake Forest (10-9), Arizona State (16-4), Lehigh (13-5), South Dakota State (12-6), Montana (12-4).