The Morning Dish – Saturday, November 29th
Florida wins Tipoff: No. 9 Florida nailed a layup with 7 seconds left to defeat No. 3 Arizona 78-77 in the Tipoff Classic last night from Springfield, Massachusetts. Senior Gator center Bonell Colas scored his only points of the game by laying up the inbounds pass, which was followed by Arizona’s Salim Stoudamire jumper attempt, and Andre Iguodala’s tip-in attempt, neither of which dropped for the Wildcats. The Gators were led by sophomore Matt Walsh, who scored 27 points, including 5-for-8 from the three-point land, and Chris Rodgers led Arizona with 17 points. Hoopville senior writer Phil Kasiecki has a live report from the Springfield Civic Center.
Preseason NIT: In a battle of Techs for the Preseason NIT finals, Georgia Tech handled Bobby Knight’s Texas Tech squad handily last night, winning 85-65 at Madison Square Garden. The Yellow Jackets had six players in double figures, and played a swarming defense that twice kept the Red Raiders from getting off a shot before the shot clock expired. Jarret Jack led the Jackets with 17 points, and tournament MVP Isma’il Muhammad and B.J. Elder each added 16. Andre Emmett led the Red Raiders with 25 points and six rebounds, and Devonne Giles was the only other Texas Tech player in double figures, with 16 points. In the consolation game, No. 1 UConn recovered from their loss to Georgia Tech and downed Utah 76-44. Emeka Okafor, who was still suffering from a sore back, finished with 21 points and 7 boards. He spent half of the game on the sidelines or in the locker room receiving treatment for his back. Denham Brown added 19 points for the Huskies, and Ben Gordon notched 12 points. Utah was down 37-13 at halftime, and the lone bright spot was Nick Jacobson’s 19 points, including 4 three-pointers.
Collapsed: UCLA freshman forward Trevor Ariza will miss the next two weeks after suffering from a collapsed lung. Ariza, who has asthma, suffered the collapse in practice, when he complained of pain in his upper back. It was determined at the UCLA Medical Center that his lung had collapsed, more specifically a spontaneous pneumothorax, the presence of air within the pleural cavity of the lungs. The air collects in the pleural cavity and causes the lung to collapse. Ariza will miss at least four games, including today’s season opener against Vermont.
Jayhawk Down: No. 5 Kansas received some bad news coming off the win over No. 7 Michigan State, as junior guard Michael Lee will miss the next two months due to a broken collarbone. Lee, who started each of the Jayhawks two games, averaged 6.5 points and 3 rebounds, broke his right collarbone in practice, and will miss at least eight weeks with the injury.
Red Storm: St. John’s has suspended senior guard Willie Shaw indefinitely for violating team rules. Late yesterday, the Associated Press announced that Shaw was arrested on a fifth-degree charge of marijuana possession, along with former Red Storm great Marcus Hatten on the same charge. Shaw, who was suspended last season, also for marijuana, had been averaging 4.5 points and 4 rebounds per game.
Back on Track: New Iowa State head coach Wayne Morgan notched a victory in his Cyclone debut last night, defeating Mercer 87-64, putting an offseason of turmoil behind him. Morgan was an assistant to Larry Eustachy when Eustachy was ousted in May following the release of photos depicting an intoxicated Eustachy with Missouri co-eds at a party after a game. After an extensive search for a replacement, Morgan was named the head coach, and has had to deal with offcourt problems this fall, including alcohol and drug abuse by current players. Now with hoops officially underway in Ames, everyone was talking about Cyclone freshman Curtis Stinson. In his first college game, guard Stinson scored 20 points, and had six rebounds, five assists, and three steals – and only 1 turnover. He was assisted by 16 points apiece by Jared Homan and Marcus Jefferson, and Jake Sullivan’s 14, which included passing Dedric Willoughby for the all-time Iowa State three-point lead. Scott Emerson led Mercer with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Tonight’s Menu
• 122 Division I games are slated for today, and two ranked teams get their seasons underway. No. 5 Missouri starts its season against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, finally focusing on basketball after a tumultuous offseason, one that includes an NCAA investigation into the recruitment of former point guard Ricky Clemons, who spent most of a 60-day sentence in prison this summer. Meanwhile, Oakland (2-3 on the season) is looking to be a spoiler, again, as they have a monster non-conference schedule, and has lost three straight – to Xavier, Michigan, and Cincinnati. They also face Memphis in December.
• No. 20 Louisville also tips off their season today, in the John Wooden Tradition at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, facing the Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa (2-0) defeated UNC-Asheville, and also defeated Drake in the return of former Hawkeyes coach Dr. Tom Davis. The schools have faced each other twice, with Louisville winning both meetings, in 1983, and in the 1980 Final Four.
• Four ranked teams hit the road today as a battle of unbeatens has No. 8 North Carolina at Cleveland State, No. 13 Illinois at Temple, No. 16 St. Joseph’s at Old Dominion, and No. 19 Wake Forest on the road against Yale (the two teams played last November at Wake). No. 15 Wisconsin didn’t get the memo, as they’re hosting an undefeated Rutgers squad.
• Meanwhile, a re-creation of the 1979 NCAA Final Four will happen this weekend in East Lansing, Michigan, as No. 7 Michigan State hosts Pennsylvania, and DePaul and Indiana State face each other in the afternoon matchup. In the last matchup, Magic Johnson led the Spartans over Penn 101-67, before defeating Larry Bird and Indiana State in the Finals. No offense to the Quakers, but this game is a breather for the Spartans, as they just came off a loss to No. 5 Kansas, and next face probable No. 1 Duke, No. 14 Oklahoma, and No. 10 Kentucky in consecutive games over the next two weeks.
