15 Jan 5 - Road Tripped

Volume XIX, No. 9 - 15 Jan 5 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Road Tripped

The true road games that come with conference play are the great equalizers. This year, the PAC-12 has two brutal weekends on the schedule: at Utah/Colorado and at Stanford/California -- (Arizona has both; Utah and Colorado have neither). Washington started right away with the Bay Area swing and dropped two: 75-@81 at California (who committed only 4 turnovers as gJordan Matthews had 31p;5/8 3s) and 60-@68(OT) at Stanford. Meanwhile, UCLA tumbled on the Mountain swing, falling at Colorado (56-@62) and getting trounced at Utah (39-@71).
     Both Illinois and Minnesota started out BIG 10 play with two road games as well (and also double-dipped). Ill was edged (65-@73[OT]) at Michigan and then went cold as host Ohio State got hot (60 percent shooting), falling 61-@77. Similarly, Minn tripped at Purdue (68-@72) and was handled at Maryland (58-@70). (Also, pretender Penn State was KO'd right away: routed [72-@89 at Wisconsin; understandable as gD.J. Newbill's 29p1a wasn't nearly enough to combat the Badgers' 64 percent shooting overall], and edged at newcomer Rutgers [46-@50; ruinous].)

In the first round of the BIG EAST Wars, the top four teams squared off twice each right away. It was Seton Hall (still playing without sidelined freshman gIsaiah Whitehead) who went 2-0, handling St. John's (@78-67; as pSterling Gibbs had 25p8a;5/7 3s) and handing Villanova its first loss, @66-61(OT). Villanova did beat Butler (@67-55) as those two split on the week; while it was St. John's who started 0-2 as Butler won on the road (73-@69; as 28p;6/7 3s from gKellen Dunham countered 31p5r from bD'Angelo Harrison). Meanwhile, Providence is fighting to be relevant for more than just tLaDontae Henton's spectacular season (35p8r in its @65-63 win over Creighton; 28p in its 66-@75 loss at scrappy Marquette). (Also, Georgetown split routs: tanking at upstart Xavier [53-@70] and thumping Creighton [@76-61; as the Bluejays stumbled out the blocks at 0-2].)
     Despite its Mid-Major status from the preseason, the MISSOURI VALLEY might drop to 1BC if the top two teams can't maintain separation from the rest of the pack. Wichita State started 2-0, including @70-62 win over Illinois State; but Northern Iowa only managed a split, falling 49-@52 at 11-2 Evansville while beating 11-3 Loyola(Illinois), @67-58.
     In the MOUNTAIN WEST, while there are enough tournament-worthy teams to keep its MM status secure, there may not be anyone truly splashworthy by season's end with everyone so evenly matched. Colorado State beat 10-4 Boise State (@71-65), but dropped its first game of the season (53-@66) at 10-4 New Mexico. Wyoming started 2-0, including edging 9-4 UNLV (@76-71). Meanwhile, San Diego State tripped disappointingly (57-@59) at lowly Fresno State.
     In the AMERICAN, Temple got an early 2-0 jump on the league (including a 57-@53[OT] win at Connecticut) while Cincinnati beat SMU (@56-50).

Virginia survived with its unbeaten record intact with a 89-@80(2OT) win at Miami(Florida) (after giving back a 38-@20 halftime lead as pLondon Perrantes' 26p8a;11/12ft matched pAngel Rodriguez' 25p7a;10/12ft). TCU, however, couldn't handle its first big test, falling for the first time (at home, no less) to tough West Virginia (@67-78; even as WVa's star gJuwan Staten sat out).
     Newcomer 2-0 Maryland (now back at full strength with the return of bDez Wells) ended all "pretender" doubts ith a 68-@66(2OT) road win at name-brand Michigan State.

In 1BC-land, Old Dominion (61-@54 at Charlotte) and UTEP (85-@71 at North Texas) kept the CONFERENCE USA pretenders at bay. In HORIZON, Valparaiso tripped at Oakland (75-@89[OT] as 5-9 pKahlil Felder had 32p5a). In the PATRIOT, American fell at Bucknell (47-@57) but beat Holy Cross (@53-49). In the SOUTHLAND, Sam Houston State beat upstart {Incarnate Word}, @84-78. In the SUMMIT, South Dakota State's rough weekend began with a 69-@76 loss at disappointing Denver and ended with a 69-@72 defeat at surprising North Dakota State. In the BIG SOUTH, it was 10-3 Coastal Carolina who took early control of the league race with a road rout of 9-4 High Point (83-@68). In the METRO ATLANTIC, Iona handled disappointing host Siena (86-@72). In the NORTHEAST, St. Francis(New York) edged at Sacred Heart (73-@71).

Out of conference, South Carolina surprised Iowa State, 64-60, at the BARCLAYS CENTER in Brooklyn, NY. Improving Dayton edged Mississippi (@78-74). In a much lower calibre rematch from last year's Final Four, 7-5 Connecticut won at 7-6 Florida (63-@59) in a dreary affair. Yale couldn't pull off a second quality road win, falling just short in double-overtime at 10-3 Vanderbilt (74-@79[2OT]).
(Elsewhere, Virginia handled upstart Davidson [@83-72; committing only 5 turnovers for the game as cAnthony Gill led the way with 25p13r].)

- -

Mississippi has it rough (Tuesday at Kentucky, Saturday vs upstart South Carolina). Notre Dame is up against it this week (Monday at North Carolina, Saturday at Virginia) while North Carolina also gets to host Louisville (Saturday). 0-2 St. John's desperately needs a home win vs Villanova (Tuesday) to stay in the BIG EAST race. Iowa State has a lot to prove (Tuesday vs Oklahoma State, Saturday at West Virginia). Georgia's bid for a second-straight second-place SEC finish may well depend on this week (Tuesday vs Arkansas, Saturday at LSU). Ohio State has a rough road ahead (Tuesday at Minnesota, Saturday at Indiana). Colorado State hosts Wyoming (Wednesday) in a big MOUNTAIN WEST clash. Connecticut needs a home win vs Cincinnati (Saturday) to stay relevant in the AMERICAN. Xavier makes its bid to be a factor in the BIG EAST (Wednesday vs Seton Hall, Saturday vs Butler).
     Georgia State has a big week (Monday vs Texas State, Thursday at last year's tourney champ Louisiana).

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Texas-Oklahoma, @NCarolina-NotreDame, @MichiganSt-Indiana, @GreenBay-WrightSt, @GeorgiaSt-TexasSt, @Chattanooga-Wofford, @StFrancisNY-Bryant, @SacredHeart-CConnecticutSt(CT)(CT6),

Tuesday:

@Kentucky-Mississippi, Villanova-@StJohns, @IowaSt-OklahomaSt, @Minnesota-OhioSt, @Georgia-Arkansas, @Butler-Providence, @Toledo-CMichigan, @SanDiegoSt-NewMexico, @Akron-WeMichigan, @Iona-Quinnipiac,

Wednesday:

@Utah-Colorado, Maryland-@Illinois, SetonHall-@Xavier, Kansas-@Baylor, @VCU-Davidson, SCarolina-@Florida, @ColoradoSt-Wyoming, @UNLV-Nevada(NV), @Evansville-LoyolaIL, @Hawaii-CalPolySLO,

Thursday:

Arizona-@Oregon, @Iowa-MichiganSt, @UTEP-LouisianaTech, @UCIrvine-LongBeachSt(CA), @JamesMadison-Northeastern, @Louisiana-GeorgiaSt, @IPFW-Denver, @Wofford-VMI, @TennesseeTech-MurraySt,

Friday:

@NJIT-Yale, @Toledo-Akron(OH),

Saturday:

Virginia-@NotreDame, Louisville-@NCarolina, @WVirginia-IowaSt, Texas-@OklahomaSt, OldDominion-@WeKentucky, SCarolina-@Mississippi, @Indiana-OhioSt(BG), @TCU-Baylor(TX), @Butler-Xavier(BG), @Drake-NoIowa(IA)(BIG4), @LSU-Georgia, @Wyoming-BoiseSt, @Providence-Georgetown, @Connecticut-Cincinnati, @William&Mary-JamesMadison(VA), @Army-Navy(MIL), @Princeton-Penn, @SCUpstate-KennesawSt, @ARPineBluff-AlabamaSt,

Sunday:

WichitaSt-@LoyolaIL,

- - - - - -

Monday week:

(None).

---

Top 25 - 15 Jan 5 - [] Column

1. Kentucky (12-0)
   
2. Duke (13-0)
   
3. Virginia (13-0)
   
4. Arizona (13-1)
   
5. Gonzaga (13-1)
   
6. Wisconsin (13-1)
   
7. Louisville (13-1)
   
8. Villanova (13-1)
   
9. West Virginia (12-1)
   
10. Utah (11-2)
    
11. Texas (12-2)
    
12. Maryland (14-1)
    
13. Seton Hall (12-2)
    
14. Kansas (11-2)
    
15. Oklahoma (10-3)
    
16. North Carolina (11-3)
    
17. Iowa State (10-2)
    
18. George Washington (11-3)
    
19. Wichita State (11-2)
    
20. Notre Dame (14-1)
    
21. Stanford (10-3)
    
22. Washington (11-3)
    
23. Old Dominion (12-1)
    
24. VCU (11-3)
    
25. South Carolina (8-3)
    

Honorable Mention:

California (11-4), Butler (11-4), Evansville (11-2), New Mexico (10-4), Coastal Carolina (10-3).