The Morning Dish – Monday, February 17th, 2003
by Andrew Flynn
The major story about yesterday’s hoops action was that there wasn’t any. The East Coast was socked in with a severe winter storm. Now usually in the East, and especially in those areas that are in more moderate climes, such as our nation’s capital, they are hair-trigger quick to cancel schools and close airports when they experience what the rest of the nation considers a light dusting. So when DC gets that half-inch of powder, everything inside the Beltway shuts down, as the one guy with the plow is busy.
But they also say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s the scoop:
There’s a bit of a storm in the Northeast. Thanks to the NOAA and the G.O.E.S. 8 satellite (the same one in the opening scene of “Twiser”).
So, where does that leave us? Lots of games have been postponed.
• Last night’s ACC matchup between two teams tied in the rankings – No. 17 Wake Forest against No. 17 Maryland in College Park, may be made up this afternoon, as both teams are in town (Wake arrived on Friday).
• Tonight’s No. 7 Pittsburgh at Georgetown game and the Miami (Fla.)-Providence game have been re-scheduled for tomorrow night, while the Villanova – Seton Hall game has yet to be rescheduled.
• Also being pushed to Tuesday was East Tennessee State at UNC-Greensboro, along with South Carolina State at Delaware State.
• No make up dates have been announced yet for two other MEAC games that were postponed: Norfolk State at Morgan State, Florida A&M at Howard, as well as a Mid-American matchup with Ohio at Akron.
• Quinnipiac at Long Island will likely reschedule tonight’s game to tomorrow, but that’s tenative. The latest on the Fairleigh Dickinson at Monmouth is that it will be made up on March 4th.
Side Dishes
Odd day in Lawrence: The Iowa State Cyclones visited the No. 8 Kansas Jayhawks in what turned out to be an odd game, but one that left the Jayhawks alone atop the Big 12 standings with a 70-51 victory. Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison scored 19 points each for Kansas, who has won 24 of their last 25 conference games. Those are the facts, here are the oddities: Iowa State coach Larry
Eustachy was ejected after his second technical for arguing a call. But he didn’t know the charging call against Jackson Vroman (his fifth) had been changed to travelling. Eustachy begged to be told what was going on as he left the sidelines.
Aaron Miles had 14 points, nine assists and a school-record nine steals, but accidentally started a brawl under the basket, when Vroman shoved the returning Wayne Simien, who missed 11 games with a dislocated right shoulder. Vroman was charged with two fouls (his fifth and sixth) for shoving and a T. Jake Sullivan led the Cyclones with 18 points.
Another Streak: After winning 15 in a row, the Manhattan Jaspers now are the proud owners of a shiny-new two-game losing streak. Trying to bounce back from Thursday’s two-point loss to Fairfield, the Iona Gaels took the Jaspers into double OT in New Rochelle before winning out 80-77. The Gaels’ Maceo Wofford scored 18 points and Ricky Soliver added 14, including a jumper with 40 seconds remaining in the second overtime to seal the deal. Iona had six players in double figures.
Luis Flores led the Jaspers with 32 points, but missed a potential tying trey with 10 seconds remaining. Courtney Fields had 12 points, Marvin McCullough had 11 and Charles Henson had 10 for Iona, while Jared Johnson notched a 16/10 double-double and Dave Holmes had a 12/11 split for Manhattan.
Tonight’s Menu
• As mentioned above, the No. 17 Terrapins host the No. 17 Demon Deacons in College Park in an ACC showdown. Let’s hope they get the game off.
• No. 6 Texas hosts the General and his Texas Tech Red Raiders, continuing their brutal road trip (Texas Tech last faced Oklahoma). Texas leads the all-time series by only a 55-52 margin, but have won the last 11 meetings.
• No. 5 Florida picks on the University of New Orleans in non-conference action, trying to rebound after their loss to Tennessee last week. For their part, UNO is 0-9 on the road this year, and Florida has won 17-straight in Gainesville.
That’s it for this Monday. Enjoy!
