19 Jan21 - Stellar Flares
Volume XXIII, No. 12 - 19 Jan21 - [] Top 25 Ballot
Stellar Flares
The last two undefeated teams went down, but it wasn't so much massive team efforts that pulled off those wins as it was explosive indidivual efforts from this year's star players.
Earlier in the week, Duke suffered a home loss in overtime at the hands of Syracuse (@91-95[OT] as gTyus Battle[32p] starred despite 35p10 from xZion Williamson and xR.J. Barrett[23p9a16r]). But the D/Blue Devils bounced back (without gTre Jones, who injured his shoulder against 'Cuse), handing Virginia its first loss of the season (@72-70 as bBarrett[30p3a5r] and fWilliamson[27p9r] were once again a Dynamic Duo).
It only took a One-Man Show to hand Michigan its first loss of the season as Wisconsin won (@64-54 as xEthan Happ[26p10r7a] did it all).
Texas Tech's 0-2 week plunged the BIG 12 into a five-way tie for first place. First, Iowa State edged the Red Raiders on the road (68-@64 despite 20p16r5to from cJarrett Culver); then, Baylor handled TxT (@73-62). Kansas split on the week: edging Texas (@80-78 on gLagerald Vick's game-winning three-pointer) but then tripping at lowly West Virginia (64-@65). Meanwhile, Kansas State stepped it up going 2-0: winning at Oklahoma (74-@61 as pBarry Brown Jr.[25p5a] starred) and beating TCU (@65-55).
LSU stayed unbeaten in the SEC (along with Tennessee) with a road win at Mississippi (83-@69). Kentucky continued its rise with a (squeak) road win of its own over Auburn (82-@80).
Indiana dropped back in the BIG 10 with an 0-2 week: falling at home to Nebraska (@51-66) and then tanking on the road at rising Purdue (55-@70). Michigan State stayed unbeaten (and alone on top of the standings) with a road win at Neb (70-@64 as pCassius Winston[29p6a] starred). 2-0 Maryland kept pace, edging Wisconsin (@64-60) and winning on the road at Ohio State (75-@61). Minnesota turned in a disappointing effort, tanking mightily at lowly Illinois (68-@95).
UCF's loss at mediocre Wichita State (67-@75) created a five-way tie atop the standings in the AMERICAN.
Elsewhere in the ACC, SIX TEAMS TIED FOR THE LEAD. Virginia had looked great in dumping arch-rival Virginia Tech (@81-59). North Carolina State tripped at mediocre Wake Forest (67-@71). Florida State dropped back with an 0-2 week: falling at Pittsburgh (62-@75 as the P/Panthers sank 38-for-46 free throws on bTrey McGowen[30p4a7r5to;18/19ft]'s star turn) and tripping at Boston College (82-@87 as tKy Bowman[37p9r] outdueled 26p9r from fMfiondu Kabengele).
Villanova remained unbeaten inside the BIG EAST as only Seton Hall was among the prominent losers on the week, falling at Providence (63-@72).
Wofford kept its unbeaten roll going in the SOUTHERN CONFERENCE, edging Furman (@59-54).
Washington stayed unbeaten in the PACIFIC-12 with a 2-0 week. Arizona State didn't lose any ground, edging Oregon State (@70-67) and handling Oregon (@78-64). Ore had knocked Arizona out of the lead with a (squeak) road win (59-@54).
Loyola(Illinois) earned a share of the lead in the MISSOURI VALLEY, dumping previously unbeaten Valparaiso (@71-64 as six players posted double-figures).
Pennsylvania earned at least a share of this year's BIG 5 with a road win at Temple (77-@70 despite 21p15r from cErnest Aflakpui). At 3-0, one more win will make the Quakers the outright winners.
Jacksonville State stayed unbeaten (along with Murray State) atop the OHIO VALLEY after an overtime win over Belmont (@91-80[OT] as Jason Burnell[30p] starred).
In early IVY LEAGUE play, YALE edged at Brown (70-@67).
Nevada escaped on the road at Boise State (72-@71 on Cody Martin's game-winning three) to hang on in a three-way tie for the lead in the MOUNTAIN WEST.
Georgia State fell back into a tie (with Texas State) for the lead in the SUN BELT after tripping at Troy (75-@77 as fJordan Varnado[32p9r]'s game-winning three outdueled 28p4a9r from tD'Marcus Simonds).
Northeastern was unbeaten with a two-game gap in the COLONIAL after handling College of Charleston (@86-72 as bEli Pemberton[26p5r]). It was the second loss on the week for CofC, which earlier lost at Northeastern (60-@69).
In the Free-For-All that is CONFERENCE USA, it's Marshall that is unbeaten on top of the standings. Old Dominion edged Louisiana Tech (@64-63 on Dajour Dicken's game-winner) while tumbling Western Kentucky tripped at home against Florida International (@76-77).
UC-Santa Barbara was left alone on top of the BIG WEST after UC-Irvine fell at home to Long Beach State (@70-80 as pDeishuan Booker[28p6a] starred).
A 2-0 week gave Bucknell the outright lead in the PATRIOT LEAGUE: the B/Bison_ thumped Holy Cross (@93-78 as fNate Sestina[32p7r] outdueled 25p7r from fJehyve Floyd) and edged Lehigh on the road (85-@83 despite 26p5a8r from tKyle Leufroy).
Lipscomb remained unbeaten (along with Liberty) on top of the ATLANTIC SUN standings after dumping upstart New Jersey Tech on the road (70-@52 allowing no double-figure scorers).
Radford stayed unbeaten in the BIG SOUTH after dumping Gardner-Webb (@75-58).
Norfolk State and North Carolina A&T (both unbeaten) shared the lead in the MEAC after North Carolina Central fell off the pace, tripping at home against lowly Coppin State (@60-64).
It's unbeaten Prairie View A&M who leads the SWAC. Meanwhile, Grambling avoided falling out of contention completely, edging Texas Southern in overtime on the road (88-@87[OT] on pIvy Smith Jr.'s game-winner).
- - - - - -
The final CONFERENCE CHALLENGE finally gets under way (Saturday). With the likes of LSU, Auburn and Mississippi State sitting out, look for the BIG 12 to roll 8-2 over the SEC (thanks to road wins by Iowa State [over Mississippi], Kansas State [over Texas A&M] and Texas [over Georgia]).
Penn can wrap up the BIG 5 outright with a home win over St. Joseph's at THE PALESTRA (Saturday).
Unbeaten Michigan State has a monster week on tap, playing three ranked opponents: hosting Maryland (Monday), visiting Iowa (Thursday) and visiting Purdue (Sunday).
In the BIG 12 Wars, Kansas looks for payback against visiting Iowa State (Monday) while Kansas State looks for payback against visiting Texas Tech (Tuesday). Unbeaten Villanova hosts Seton Hall (Sunday). Virginia Tech has a big week visiting North Carolina (Monday) and hosting Syracuse (Saturday).
Louisville hosts North Carolina State (Thursday). TCU hosts Texas (Wednesday). Mississippi State has a tough week visiting Kentucky (Tuesday) and hosting Auburn (Saturday). Ohio State has a tough week hosting Purdue (Wednesday) and visiting Nebraska (Saturday). Washington has a big week on the road at Oregon (Thursday) and at Oregon State (Saturday). Indiana hosts Michigan (Friday). Minnesota has a big week visiting Michigan (Tuesday) and hosting Iowa (Sunday). Unbeaten St. Louis has a big week visiting Duquesne (Wednesday) and hosting Davidson (Saturday). Temple hosts Cincinnati (Sunday).
OVC/Belmont has a big week on the road at unbeaten Murray State (Thursday) and at Austin Peay (Saturday). IVY/Yale looks for a sweep against Brown (Friday). Georgia State looks for a sweep at home against Texas State in the SUN BELT Game Of The Year-Part II (Thursday). BIGW/Hawaii hosts UC-Irvine (Wednesday). SUMMIT/South Dakota State hosts Omaha (Saturday).
Unbeaten teams clash in the AMERICA EAST Game Of The Year-Part I when Stony Brook hosts Vermont (Saturday). SKY/Montana hosts Weber State (Saturday). MEAC/North Carolina Central hosts unbeaten North Carolina A&T (Saturday).
-- Ron
Top 25 - 19 Jan21 - [] Column
Stellar Flares
The last two undefeated teams went down, but it wasn't so much massive team efforts that pulled off those wins as it was explosive indidivual efforts from this year's star players.
Earlier in the week, Duke suffered a home loss in overtime at the hands of Syracuse (@91-95[OT] as gTyus Battle[32p] starred despite 35p10 from xZion Williamson and xR.J. Barrett[23p9a16r]). But the D/Blue Devils bounced back (without gTre Jones, who injured his shoulder against 'Cuse), handing Virginia its first loss of the season (@72-70 as bBarrett[30p3a5r] and fWilliamson[27p9r] were once again a Dynamic Duo).
It only took a One-Man Show to hand Michigan its first loss of the season as Wisconsin won (@64-54 as xEthan Happ[26p10r7a] did it all).
Texas Tech's 0-2 week plunged the BIG 12 into a five-way tie for first place. First, Iowa State edged the Red Raiders on the road (68-@64 despite 20p16r5to from cJarrett Culver); then, Baylor handled TxT (@73-62). Kansas split on the week: edging Texas (@80-78 on gLagerald Vick's game-winning three-pointer) but then tripping at lowly West Virginia (64-@65). Meanwhile, Kansas State stepped it up going 2-0: winning at Oklahoma (74-@61 as pBarry Brown Jr.[25p5a] starred) and beating TCU (@65-55).
LSU stayed unbeaten in the SEC (along with Tennessee) with a road win at Mississippi (83-@69). Kentucky continued its rise with a (squeak) road win of its own over Auburn (82-@80).
Indiana dropped back in the BIG 10 with an 0-2 week: falling at home to Nebraska (@51-66) and then tanking on the road at rising Purdue (55-@70). Michigan State stayed unbeaten (and alone on top of the standings) with a road win at Neb (70-@64 as pCassius Winston[29p6a] starred). 2-0 Maryland kept pace, edging Wisconsin (@64-60) and winning on the road at Ohio State (75-@61). Minnesota turned in a disappointing effort, tanking mightily at lowly Illinois (68-@95).
UCF's loss at mediocre Wichita State (67-@75) created a five-way tie atop the standings in the AMERICAN.
Elsewhere in the ACC, SIX TEAMS TIED FOR THE LEAD. Virginia had looked great in dumping arch-rival Virginia Tech (@81-59). North Carolina State tripped at mediocre Wake Forest (67-@71). Florida State dropped back with an 0-2 week: falling at Pittsburgh (62-@75 as the P/Panthers sank 38-for-46 free throws on bTrey McGowen[30p4a7r5to;18/19ft]'s star turn) and tripping at Boston College (82-@87 as tKy Bowman[37p9r] outdueled 26p9r from fMfiondu Kabengele).
Villanova remained unbeaten inside the BIG EAST as only Seton Hall was among the prominent losers on the week, falling at Providence (63-@72).
Wofford kept its unbeaten roll going in the SOUTHERN CONFERENCE, edging Furman (@59-54).
Washington stayed unbeaten in the PACIFIC-12 with a 2-0 week. Arizona State didn't lose any ground, edging Oregon State (@70-67) and handling Oregon (@78-64). Ore had knocked Arizona out of the lead with a (squeak) road win (59-@54).
Loyola(Illinois) earned a share of the lead in the MISSOURI VALLEY, dumping previously unbeaten Valparaiso (@71-64 as six players posted double-figures).
Pennsylvania earned at least a share of this year's BIG 5 with a road win at Temple (77-@70 despite 21p15r from cErnest Aflakpui). At 3-0, one more win will make the Quakers the outright winners.
Jacksonville State stayed unbeaten (along with Murray State) atop the OHIO VALLEY after an overtime win over Belmont (@91-80[OT] as Jason Burnell[30p] starred).
In early IVY LEAGUE play, YALE edged at Brown (70-@67).
Nevada escaped on the road at Boise State (72-@71 on Cody Martin's game-winning three) to hang on in a three-way tie for the lead in the MOUNTAIN WEST.
Georgia State fell back into a tie (with Texas State) for the lead in the SUN BELT after tripping at Troy (75-@77 as fJordan Varnado[32p9r]'s game-winning three outdueled 28p4a9r from tD'Marcus Simonds).
Northeastern was unbeaten with a two-game gap in the COLONIAL after handling College of Charleston (@86-72 as bEli Pemberton[26p5r]). It was the second loss on the week for CofC, which earlier lost at Northeastern (60-@69).
In the Free-For-All that is CONFERENCE USA, it's Marshall that is unbeaten on top of the standings. Old Dominion edged Louisiana Tech (@64-63 on Dajour Dicken's game-winner) while tumbling Western Kentucky tripped at home against Florida International (@76-77).
UC-Santa Barbara was left alone on top of the BIG WEST after UC-Irvine fell at home to Long Beach State (@70-80 as pDeishuan Booker[28p6a] starred).
A 2-0 week gave Bucknell the outright lead in the PATRIOT LEAGUE: the B/Bison_ thumped Holy Cross (@93-78 as fNate Sestina[32p7r] outdueled 25p7r from fJehyve Floyd) and edged Lehigh on the road (85-@83 despite 26p5a8r from tKyle Leufroy).
Lipscomb remained unbeaten (along with Liberty) on top of the ATLANTIC SUN standings after dumping upstart New Jersey Tech on the road (70-@52 allowing no double-figure scorers).
Radford stayed unbeaten in the BIG SOUTH after dumping Gardner-Webb (@75-58).
Norfolk State and North Carolina A&T (both unbeaten) shared the lead in the MEAC after North Carolina Central fell off the pace, tripping at home against lowly Coppin State (@60-64).
It's unbeaten Prairie View A&M who leads the SWAC. Meanwhile, Grambling avoided falling out of contention completely, edging Texas Southern in overtime on the road (88-@87[OT] on pIvy Smith Jr.'s game-winner).
- - - - - -
The final CONFERENCE CHALLENGE finally gets under way (Saturday). With the likes of LSU, Auburn and Mississippi State sitting out, look for the BIG 12 to roll 8-2 over the SEC (thanks to road wins by Iowa State [over Mississippi], Kansas State [over Texas A&M] and Texas [over Georgia]).
Penn can wrap up the BIG 5 outright with a home win over St. Joseph's at THE PALESTRA (Saturday).
Unbeaten Michigan State has a monster week on tap, playing three ranked opponents: hosting Maryland (Monday), visiting Iowa (Thursday) and visiting Purdue (Sunday).
In the BIG 12 Wars, Kansas looks for payback against visiting Iowa State (Monday) while Kansas State looks for payback against visiting Texas Tech (Tuesday). Unbeaten Villanova hosts Seton Hall (Sunday). Virginia Tech has a big week visiting North Carolina (Monday) and hosting Syracuse (Saturday).
Louisville hosts North Carolina State (Thursday). TCU hosts Texas (Wednesday). Mississippi State has a tough week visiting Kentucky (Tuesday) and hosting Auburn (Saturday). Ohio State has a tough week hosting Purdue (Wednesday) and visiting Nebraska (Saturday). Washington has a big week on the road at Oregon (Thursday) and at Oregon State (Saturday). Indiana hosts Michigan (Friday). Minnesota has a big week visiting Michigan (Tuesday) and hosting Iowa (Sunday). Unbeaten St. Louis has a big week visiting Duquesne (Wednesday) and hosting Davidson (Saturday). Temple hosts Cincinnati (Sunday).
OVC/Belmont has a big week on the road at unbeaten Murray State (Thursday) and at Austin Peay (Saturday). IVY/Yale looks for a sweep against Brown (Friday). Georgia State looks for a sweep at home against Texas State in the SUN BELT Game Of The Year-Part II (Thursday). BIGW/Hawaii hosts UC-Irvine (Wednesday). SUMMIT/South Dakota State hosts Omaha (Saturday).
Unbeaten teams clash in the AMERICA EAST Game Of The Year-Part I when Stony Brook hosts Vermont (Saturday). SKY/Montana hosts Weber State (Saturday). MEAC/North Carolina Central hosts unbeaten North Carolina A&T (Saturday).
-- Ron
- Key games this week:
- Monday:
- @MichiganSt-Maryland, IowaSt-@Kansas, VirginiaTech-@NCarolina, @WeKentucky-Marshall, @PrairieViewA&M-
GramblingSt,
- Tuesday:
- @Michigan-Minnesota, TexasTech-@KansasSt, @Kentucky-MississippiSt, @KentSt-Toledo(OH),
- Wednesday:
- Purdue-@OhioSt, @TCU-Texas(TX), @Duquesne-StLouis, @Hawaii-
UCIrvine,
- Thursday:
- MichiganSt-@Iowa, @Louisville-NCState, @MurraySt-
Belmont, @Oregon-Washington, @GeorgiaSt-TexasSt, @Winthrop-GardnerWebb, @Longwood-HighPt,
- Friday:
- Michigan-@Indiana, @KentSt-Buffalo, @
Yale-Brown,
- Saturday:
- @VirginiaTech-Syracuse, @Nebraska-OhioSt, @MississippiSt-Auburn, @Toledo-CMichigan, @OregonSt-Washington, @
GeorgiaSo-TexasSt, @Valparaiso-Drake, @StLouis-Davidson, @TheCitadel-VMI(MIL), @AustinPeay-Belmont(TN), @Penn-StJosephs(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG5)(/PALESTRA/), @ClevelandSt-YoungstownSt(OH)(NEO), @SDState-Omaha, @StonyBrook-Vermont, @Montana-WeberSt, @NCCentral-NCA&T(NC), @ARPineBluff-TexasSo,
BIG 12[3-1;1]/SEC[1-3;1] CHALLENGE on-campus
[Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State and Missouri all do not play.]
-(@Tennessee-WVirginia, IowaSt-@Mississippi, Kansas-@Kentucky, @TexasTech-Arkansas, KansasSt-@TexasA&M, @TCU-Florida, @Oklahoma-Vanderbilt, @Georgia-Texas, @Baylor-Alabama, @OklahomaSt-SCarolina),
NYC-F BIG 10 SUPER SATURDAY @ NewYorkNY/MSG/
-(Maryland-Illinois),
- Sunday:
- MichiganSt-@Purdue, Iowa-@Minnesota, @Villanova-SetonHall, Cincinnati-@Temple,
- - - - - - -
- Monday week:
- Monday week:
- @TexasTech-TCU(TX), @Oklahoma-Baylor, @ARPineBluff-PrairieViewA&M.
Top 25 - 19 Jan21 - [] Column
- Duke (15-2)
- Tennessee (15-1)
- Gonzaga (17-2)
- Michigan State (16-2)
- Virginia (16-1)
- Iowa State (14-4)
- Kansas (15-3)
- Michigan (17-1)
- Texas Tech (15-3)
- Marquette (16-3)
- Maryland (16-3)
- Louisiana State (14-3)
- Kansas State (14-4)
- Kentucky (14-3)
- Iowa (16-3)
- Buffalo (16-1)
- Houston (18-1)
- Villanova (14-4)
- Cincinnati (16-3)
- Nevada (17-1)
- Virginia Tech (15-2)
- Purdue (12-6)
- Syracuse (13-5)
- Wofford (12-4)
- Hofstra (16-3)
- Honorable Mention:
- Wisconsin (11-5), Baylor (11-6), West Virginia (9-9), Nebraska (12-5), Wichita State (8-9),
Pennsylvania (10-6).
posted by Ron @ Friday, September 13, 2019
