16 Feb22 - Plain Gap
Volume XX, No. 16 - 16 Feb22 - [] Top 25 Ballot
Plain Gap
With a big week to stay in the BIG 12 conference race, West Virginia went 0-2 to fall two games off of the lead. First, Texas didn't turn the ball over and converted 25-for-30 free throws in its @85-78 win over the Mountaineers. Then, Oklahoma handled WVU on the road (76-@62 behind 29p from gBuddy Hield). But The Sooners couldn't stay within striking distance of first-place Kansas, either, tripping at Texas Tech (63-@65). Baylor kept Iowa State out of contention with a @100-91(OT) as cJonathan Motley(27p19r) and bAbdul Nader(26p5r) cancelled each other in a free-for-all; the Bears stayed in the conversation with a road win at Texas (78-@64 on 63 percent shooting).
Iowa tripped at Penn State, falling back into a tie for first in the BIG 10. Indiana moved up to share the top spot after edging Purdue (@77-73 while committing only 4 turnovers). Despite tripping at Minnesota, Maryland stayed in the hunt with an escape of its own over Michigan (@86-82 despite 25p5r from fMark Donnal). Michigan State handled Wisconsin (@69-57 behind pDenzel Valentine[24p10a7r]), but can probably only play spoiler at this point. Michigan's earlier loss on the week (at Ohio State) puts an at-large bid in jeopardy.
Duke came back on the road to edge arch-rival North Carolina (74-@73 on bGrayson Allen[23p7r]'s game-winning free throws despite 29p19r from cBrice Johnson). But the Tar Heels stayed in first place in the ACC with a home rout of Miami(Florida) (@96-71 as six players posted double-figures). Louisville swept Duke (@71-64 despite 29p3a5to from gAllen) and Syracuse (@72-58 as the Orange only shot 1-for-2 free throws) to tie MiamiFL for second place by week's end. Notre Dame couldn't keep pace, tripping at lowly Georgia Tech (62-@63). Pittsburgh kept Syracuse well out of the running with a road win (66-@52 outrebounding 'Cuse 40-20). Neither could Clemson hang, tripping at N.C. State (74-@77 despite 33p from fJaron Blossomgame).
LSU tumbled out of first place in the SEC with an 0-2 week, losing at home to Alabama (@69-76 as Retin Obasohan[35p] starred) and tanking on the road at Tennessee, to wind up tied for fourth place. Despite tripping on the road at Texas A&M (77-@79 on cTyler Davis' game-winning putback), it was Kentucky alone at the top when the dust cleared. South Carolina's 1-1 split -- tripping at Missouri, edging Florida in overtime -- was good enough for the Gamecocks to tie TXAM for second place. Vanderbilt couldn't keep pace,
tripping at Mississippi State.
Connecticut knocked SMU out of first place in the AMERICAN with a (@68-62) win, leaving Temple alone on top after the Owls escaped on the road at slumping Houston (69-@66). Cincinnati kept Connecticut from doing more damage, beating the Huskies @65-60 in a defensive struggle. Meanwhile, Tulsa kept the Bearcats in Splitsville with an overtime home win (@70-68[OT]) of its own, as Cincy, UConn and Tulsa all shared third place by the end of the scrambled week.
Villanova continued to cruise, leading the BIG EAST with a gap after handling Butler (@77-67). Xavier kept pace in second place (two games back) with a solid win over Providence (@85-74). Seton Hall's 2-0 week left it alone in third place (two more games out). Creighton fell to fourth after falling at Butler (75-@88).
Dayton dropped two to fall out of first place in the ATLANTIC 10 -- first St. Joseph's beat the Flyers (@79-70) and then St. Bonaventure followed suit with a road win (79-@72 behind pJay Adams[31p6a]). VCU took over the top spot with a 2-0 week. Neither StJoes (falling at Davidson 93-@99 as pJack Gibbs[35p5a] starred) nor StBon (falling at La Salle) could make more hay despite their big wins.
Oregon and Arizona both beat their arch-rivals (Oregon State and Arizona State) to remain tied atop the PAC-12 standings. Utah remained tied for third after sweeping the Los Angeles road trip (escaping at UCLA and handling USC 80-@69 behind cJakob Poeltl[29p13r]). Likewise for California on the road (including escaping at Washington). Colorado fell out of contention completely, swept in L.A. (losing 72-@79 at USC behind pJordan McLaughlin[25p5a]
qand tanking at lowly UCLA).
No-name St. Mary's tied things up in the WEST COAST race, escaping on the road at Gonzaga (63-@58 in a defensive battle).
Hawaii edged UC-Irvine on the road (75-@71 behind fStefan Jankovic[25p6r]) to complete the season sweep and open a gap lead in the BIG WEST race.
Iona routed first-place Monmouth on the road (83-@67 as pA.J. English[31p5a7r7to] starred), closing to within a game of the lead in the METRO ATLANTIC.
Princeton won the rematch with Yale (@75-63) to tie things up in the IVY race. (It's now up to third-place Columbia to play spoiler between those two in order to avoid a postseason playoff.)
UAB handled Middle Tennessee on the road (77-@67 on 61 percent shooting) to keep control of the CONFERENCE USA race. IPFW handled South Dakota State (@91-79) in the showdown for first place outright in the SUMMIT. Akron split on the week (beating Buffalo @80-70) and losing at Kent State (76-@85) but hung on to lead the MID-AMERICAN. UNC-Wilmington tanked at William & Mary (69-@87) but held onto the COLONIAL lead. New Mexico State beat Cal State-Bakersfield (@63-55) to stay on top of the WAC standings. Winthrop edged UNC-Asheville (@81-80) in the BIG SOUTH showdown to take sole possession of first place. Wagner went 2-0, including a road-rout of Fairleigh Dickinson (94-@74 as both teams combined to shoot 57-for-62 free throws) to break out of a four-way logjam to lead the NORTHEAST outright.
- - - - - -
San Diego State's 2-0 week allowed it to clinch its second-straight MOUNTAIN WEST title (with a FOUR-GAME GAP). Boise State continued to tumble, tripping at New Mexico (78-@80 despite 30p from Anthony Drmic).
Likewise, Wichita State cruised 2-0 in conference to clinch the third-straight title in the MISSOURI VALLEY (with a three-game gap) for the Mid-Major legendary backcourt of pFred Van Vleet and bRon Baker.
Valparaiso clinched its second-straight title (and FOURTH OUT OF THE LAST FIVE) in the HORIZON (with a three-game gap) thanks to a (squeak) home win over Oakland (@86-85 despite 26p8a6r from pKahlil Felder).
Belmont went 2-0 to clinch a share of the OHIO VALLEY title. North Florida went 2-0 to clinch its second-straight ATLANTIC SUN title.
Out of conference, Villanova routed Temple on the road (83-@67) to clinch the BIG 5 title (undefeated, for the third-straight season). Meanwhile, Wichita State drubbed New Mexico State (@71-41) in a rescheduled matchup from December.
- - - - - -
Kansas hosts Texas Tech (Saturday). Iowa hosts Wisconsin (Wednesday). Xavier has a big week: hosting Villanova (Wednesday) and visiting Seton Hall (Sunday). North Carolina visits Virginia (Saturday). West Virginia hosts Iowa State (Monday). Kansas visits Baylor (Tuesday). Arizona has a rough week: visiting Colorado (Wednesday) and Utah (Saturday). Miami(Florida) has a big week: hosting Virginia (Monday) and Louisville (Saturday).
Maryland visits Purdue (Saturday). BYU hosts Gonzaga (Saturday). Tulsa hosts Temple (Tuesday). Pittsburgh has a big week: hosting Louisville (Wednesday) and Duke (Sunday). Seton Hall has a big week: hosting Providence (Thursday) and Xavier (Sunday). California hosts USC (Sunday). Wisconsin hosts Michigan (Sunday). Oklahoma visits Texas (Saturday). Vanderbilt has a big week: visiting Florida (Tuesday) and hosting Kentucky (Saturday). VCU visits
George Washington (Saturday).
Marshall gets its shot at taking control of C-USA when it visits UAB (Thursday) and Middle Tennessee (Saturday). Iona visits Siena (Monday). Leader UNC-Wilmington hosts challenger Hofstra (Thursday) in the second COLONIAL showdown. IVY-co-leader Princeton hosts challenger Columbia (Friday). Host Tennessee State can claim a share of the OVC title when league-leading crosstown rival Belmont visits (Saturday).
Cal State-Bakersfield hosts {Grand Canyon} (Saturday). Weber State hosts Montana (Saturday) in their only BIG SKY showdown. BIG SOUTH-leader Winthrop visits challenger High Point (Thursday).
-- Ron
Top 25 - 16 Feb22 - [] Column
Plain Gap
With a big week to stay in the BIG 12 conference race, West Virginia went 0-2 to fall two games off of the lead. First, Texas didn't turn the ball over and converted 25-for-30 free throws in its @85-78 win over the Mountaineers. Then, Oklahoma handled WVU on the road (76-@62 behind 29p from gBuddy Hield). But The Sooners couldn't stay within striking distance of first-place Kansas, either, tripping at Texas Tech (63-@65). Baylor kept Iowa State out of contention with a @100-91(OT) as cJonathan Motley(27p19r) and bAbdul Nader(26p5r) cancelled each other in a free-for-all; the Bears stayed in the conversation with a road win at Texas (78-@64 on 63 percent shooting).
Iowa tripped at Penn State, falling back into a tie for first in the BIG 10. Indiana moved up to share the top spot after edging Purdue (@77-73 while committing only 4 turnovers). Despite tripping at Minnesota, Maryland stayed in the hunt with an escape of its own over Michigan (@86-82 despite 25p5r from fMark Donnal). Michigan State handled Wisconsin (@69-57 behind pDenzel Valentine[24p10a7r]), but can probably only play spoiler at this point. Michigan's earlier loss on the week (at Ohio State) puts an at-large bid in jeopardy.
Duke came back on the road to edge arch-rival North Carolina (74-@73 on bGrayson Allen[23p7r]'s game-winning free throws despite 29p19r from cBrice Johnson). But the Tar Heels stayed in first place in the ACC with a home rout of Miami(Florida) (@96-71 as six players posted double-figures). Louisville swept Duke (@71-64 despite 29p3a5to from gAllen) and Syracuse (@72-58 as the Orange only shot 1-for-2 free throws) to tie MiamiFL for second place by week's end. Notre Dame couldn't keep pace, tripping at lowly Georgia Tech (62-@63). Pittsburgh kept Syracuse well out of the running with a road win (66-@52 outrebounding 'Cuse 40-20). Neither could Clemson hang, tripping at N.C. State (74-@77 despite 33p from fJaron Blossomgame).
LSU tumbled out of first place in the SEC with an 0-2 week, losing at home to Alabama (@69-76 as Retin Obasohan[35p] starred) and tanking on the road at Tennessee, to wind up tied for fourth place. Despite tripping on the road at Texas A&M (77-@79 on cTyler Davis' game-winning putback), it was Kentucky alone at the top when the dust cleared. South Carolina's 1-1 split -- tripping at Missouri, edging Florida in overtime -- was good enough for the Gamecocks to tie TXAM for second place. Vanderbilt couldn't keep pace,
tripping at Mississippi State.
Connecticut knocked SMU out of first place in the AMERICAN with a (@68-62) win, leaving Temple alone on top after the Owls escaped on the road at slumping Houston (69-@66). Cincinnati kept Connecticut from doing more damage, beating the Huskies @65-60 in a defensive struggle. Meanwhile, Tulsa kept the Bearcats in Splitsville with an overtime home win (@70-68[OT]) of its own, as Cincy, UConn and Tulsa all shared third place by the end of the scrambled week.
Villanova continued to cruise, leading the BIG EAST with a gap after handling Butler (@77-67). Xavier kept pace in second place (two games back) with a solid win over Providence (@85-74). Seton Hall's 2-0 week left it alone in third place (two more games out). Creighton fell to fourth after falling at Butler (75-@88).
Dayton dropped two to fall out of first place in the ATLANTIC 10 -- first St. Joseph's beat the Flyers (@79-70) and then St. Bonaventure followed suit with a road win (79-@72 behind pJay Adams[31p6a]). VCU took over the top spot with a 2-0 week. Neither StJoes (falling at Davidson 93-@99 as pJack Gibbs[35p5a] starred) nor StBon (falling at La Salle) could make more hay despite their big wins.
Oregon and Arizona both beat their arch-rivals (Oregon State and Arizona State) to remain tied atop the PAC-12 standings. Utah remained tied for third after sweeping the Los Angeles road trip (escaping at UCLA and handling USC 80-@69 behind cJakob Poeltl[29p13r]). Likewise for California on the road (including escaping at Washington). Colorado fell out of contention completely, swept in L.A. (losing 72-@79 at USC behind pJordan McLaughlin[25p5a]
qand tanking at lowly UCLA).
No-name St. Mary's tied things up in the WEST COAST race, escaping on the road at Gonzaga (63-@58 in a defensive battle).
Hawaii edged UC-Irvine on the road (75-@71 behind fStefan Jankovic[25p6r]) to complete the season sweep and open a gap lead in the BIG WEST race.
Iona routed first-place Monmouth on the road (83-@67 as pA.J. English[31p5a7r7to] starred), closing to within a game of the lead in the METRO ATLANTIC.
Princeton won the rematch with Yale (@75-63) to tie things up in the IVY race. (It's now up to third-place Columbia to play spoiler between those two in order to avoid a postseason playoff.)
UAB handled Middle Tennessee on the road (77-@67 on 61 percent shooting) to keep control of the CONFERENCE USA race. IPFW handled South Dakota State (@91-79) in the showdown for first place outright in the SUMMIT. Akron split on the week (beating Buffalo @80-70) and losing at Kent State (76-@85) but hung on to lead the MID-AMERICAN. UNC-Wilmington tanked at William & Mary (69-@87) but held onto the COLONIAL lead. New Mexico State beat Cal State-Bakersfield (@63-55) to stay on top of the WAC standings. Winthrop edged UNC-Asheville (@81-80) in the BIG SOUTH showdown to take sole possession of first place. Wagner went 2-0, including a road-rout of Fairleigh Dickinson (94-@74 as both teams combined to shoot 57-for-62 free throws) to break out of a four-way logjam to lead the NORTHEAST outright.
- - - - - -
San Diego State's 2-0 week allowed it to clinch its second-straight MOUNTAIN WEST title (with a FOUR-GAME GAP). Boise State continued to tumble, tripping at New Mexico (78-@80 despite 30p from Anthony Drmic).
Likewise, Wichita State cruised 2-0 in conference to clinch the third-straight title in the MISSOURI VALLEY (with a three-game gap) for the Mid-Major legendary backcourt of pFred Van Vleet and bRon Baker.
Valparaiso clinched its second-straight title (and FOURTH OUT OF THE LAST FIVE) in the HORIZON (with a three-game gap) thanks to a (squeak) home win over Oakland (@86-85 despite 26p8a6r from pKahlil Felder).
Belmont went 2-0 to clinch a share of the OHIO VALLEY title. North Florida went 2-0 to clinch its second-straight ATLANTIC SUN title.
Out of conference, Villanova routed Temple on the road (83-@67) to clinch the BIG 5 title (undefeated, for the third-straight season). Meanwhile, Wichita State drubbed New Mexico State (@71-41) in a rescheduled matchup from December.
- - - - - -
Kansas hosts Texas Tech (Saturday). Iowa hosts Wisconsin (Wednesday). Xavier has a big week: hosting Villanova (Wednesday) and visiting Seton Hall (Sunday). North Carolina visits Virginia (Saturday). West Virginia hosts Iowa State (Monday). Kansas visits Baylor (Tuesday). Arizona has a rough week: visiting Colorado (Wednesday) and Utah (Saturday). Miami(Florida) has a big week: hosting Virginia (Monday) and Louisville (Saturday).
Maryland visits Purdue (Saturday). BYU hosts Gonzaga (Saturday). Tulsa hosts Temple (Tuesday). Pittsburgh has a big week: hosting Louisville (Wednesday) and Duke (Sunday). Seton Hall has a big week: hosting Providence (Thursday) and Xavier (Sunday). California hosts USC (Sunday). Wisconsin hosts Michigan (Sunday). Oklahoma visits Texas (Saturday). Vanderbilt has a big week: visiting Florida (Tuesday) and hosting Kentucky (Saturday). VCU visits
George Washington (Saturday).
Marshall gets its shot at taking control of C-USA when it visits UAB (Thursday) and Middle Tennessee (Saturday). Iona visits Siena (Monday). Leader UNC-Wilmington hosts challenger Hofstra (Thursday) in the second COLONIAL showdown. IVY-co-leader Princeton hosts challenger Columbia (Friday). Host Tennessee State can claim a share of the OVC title when league-leading crosstown rival Belmont visits (Saturday).
Cal State-Bakersfield hosts {Grand Canyon} (Saturday). Weber State hosts Montana (Saturday) in their only BIG SKY showdown. BIG SOUTH-leader Winthrop visits challenger High Point (Thursday).
-- Ron
- Key games this week:
- Monday:
- Virginia-@MiamiFL, @WVirginia-IowaSt, @Siena-
Iona(NY),
- Tuesday:
- Kansas-@Baylor, @Tulsa-Temple, @Florida-Vanderbilt,
- Wednesday:
- Villanova-@Xavier, @Iowa-Wisconsin, Louisville-@Pittsburgh, Arizona-@Colorado,
- Thursday:
- Providence-@SetonHall, @LittleRock-
TXArlington, @UAB-Marshall, @UNCWilmington-Hofstra, @Canisius-Niagara(NY)(BIG4), @Jacksonville-NFlorida(JacksonvilleFL), @HighPt-Winthrop,
- Friday:
- @
Princeton-Columbia,
- Saturday:
- @Kansas-TexasTech, Oklahoma-@Texas, NCarolina-@Virginia, Louisville-@MiamiFL, Kentucky-@Vanderbilt, Maryland-@Purdue, @Utah-Arizona, @GeoWashington-VCU(VA/DC), @BYU-Gonzaga, @NewMexico-FresnoSt, @VMI-TheCitadel(MIL), @
JamesMadison-William&Mary(VA), @TennesseeSt-Belmont(NashvilleTN), @MidTennessee-Marshall, @CalStBakersfield-{GrandCanyon}, @WeberSt-Montana, @StephenFAustin-HoustonBaptist(TX), @AlcornSt-Southern, @CoppinSt-MorganSt(BalitmoreMD),
- Sunday:
- Xavier-@SetonHall, Duke-@Pittsburgh, @
GreenBay-Valparaiso, @Connecticut-Houston, @California-USC(CA), @Wisconsin-Michigan,
- - - - - - -
- Monday week:
- Monday week:
- @Texas-Kansas, @NCarolina-Syracuse.
Top 25 - 16 Feb22 - [] Column
- Villanova (24-3) [BIG5u]
- Kansas (22-4)
- Oklahoma (20-5)
- Oregon (21-5)
- North Carolina (22-5)
- Iowa (20-6)
- Xavier (23-3)
- Virginia (21-5)
- Louisville (20-6)
- Michigan State (22-5)
- West Virginia (19-7)
- Kentucky (20-7)
- Baylor (19-7)
- Indiana (22-6)
- Maryland (22-5)
- SMU (22-4)
- Duke (20-7)
- Iowa State (19-8)
- Utah (20-7)
- Miami(Florida) (21-5)
- Arizona (22-5)
- Providence (19-8)
- St. Mary's (21-4)
- San Diego State (18-7) [MWC+4]
- Wichita State (20-7) [MVC+3]
- Honorable Mention:
- Penn State (14-13), Texas Tech (17-9), Texas (17-10), Texas A&M (20-7), Minnesota (8-19), Connecticut (18-8), Baylor (19-7), St. Joseph's (22-5), St. Bonaventure (18-7).
Belmont(19-9) [OVC],
Valparaiso (20-5) [HORIZ+3],
North Florida(17-10) [A-SUN].
posted by Ron @ Thursday, May 05, 2016
<< Home