The Morning Dish – Tuesday, December 30th
33 Straight At Cameron: J.J. Redick caught fire, hitting 7-of-12 shots – including six from behind the arc – and Duke strolled by Davidson, 88-54. The Blue Devils extended their winning streak over the Wilcats to 17 games and have now won 33 straight at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Redick, who finished the victory with 22 points, led three other players in double figures. Luol Deng tallied 18.
The win put Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke mark at 599-176. If the Dookies can get him a win at Clemson on January 3, Coach K will become only the 13th Division I coach to notch 600 wins at one school. He has 672 overall wins, including 73 in five seasons at Army.
Nothing Common About G-Tech: Georgia Tech continues to steamroll through early-season competition, and last night the Yellowjackets made Virginia Commonwealth their latest victim. Five GT players scored in double figures in the 86-65 blowout. Marvin Lewis led the Wreck with 19 points, 15 on 3-pointers, and BJ Elder and Jarrett Jack each poured in 17. Domonic Jones and Michael Doles each hit for 15 for VCU, which fell behind 48-25 at the half.
Texas G-Drubs Colonials: The Texas Longhorns need any way to stay in the Hoopville Top 25, so they made a statement against George Washington, 88-72. PJ Tucker shot a proficient 12-of-15 from the field for 27 points. Kenny Taylor added 19 for UT, which played its first game since its humiliating 89-61 loss to Duke in the Madison Square Massacre on December 20. Craig Collucci paced GW with 23, 21 of which came from deep range.
Kansas Flies Right: Kansas was looking for redemption after its uninspired loss to Nevada last week. KU got its redemption, against Binghamton, to the tune of a 78-46 win. The Jayhawks, who were led by freshman guard J.R. Giddens’s 16 points and 7 boards, jumped out to a 19-2 run and never looked back. Kansas played its first game at Allen Fieldhouse in three weeks and had a long layoff due to fall semester finals.
Sooners Pan For Gold: Who says Keith Bookout is playing injured? The Sooners got 18 points, 12 rebounds from the sophomore forward and Oklahoma burned Texas-Pan American, 72-57. OU outboarded the Broncs, 44-29. Texas-Pan American has now dropped six straight.
A Jolly Holiday For Penn: A 25-2 first-half run helped Penn dethrone two-time Holiday Festival champ Manhattan, 49-47, at Madison Square Garden. The Quakers’ Jeff Schiffner was named tournament MVP, more for his efforts against St. John’s in the opener, where he hit the game winning jumper in double overtime. Against Manhattan Schiffner was a measley 1-for-12 from the floor for 4 points, but Tim Begley had 13 points to lead Penn over the Jaspers.
Host school St. John’s got by Holy Cross, 64-61, in the consolation game. Kyle Cuffe scored 14 points and grabbed 13 boards, but it was Grady Reynolds’ 11 second-half points – five of which were scored in the final minute – that spurred the Red Storm to the win. MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Luis Flores recorded 20 points in the loss.
Scoring Watch: And now for something completely superficial…but fun! All three of the top NCAA Division I scorers were in action last night. Western Carolina’s Kevin Martin, the top popper in the land at 28.7 ppg, scored 19 in a humdinger against Southeastern Louisiana. The Catamounts prevailed 72-71 in overtime. St. Peter’s got slammed by Birmingham Southern, 75-59, and KiKi Clark was held to 17 points, well below his 27.4 ppg average. And Ike Diogu (24.9 ppg)notched 15 points and 9 rebounds as Arizona State upended San Diego, 89-70, in the azcentral.com Hoops Classic.
Tonight’s Menu:
• Where’s Marcus Camby and Khalid El-Amin when you need them? What used to be one of the best regional rivalries in college hoops is now nothing more than just another game on the schedule. Still, UConn-UMass is always good for turf-war talk, and the Huskies and Minutemen take up arms tonight in Storrs. UMass is winless on the road so far this year.
• Same state, different deal. The 8-0 Deamon Deacons of Wake Forest host 0-8 North Carolina A&T in Winston-Salem. Also in the Tarheel state, Carolina looks to pad its win total against 5-5 Coastal Carolina. From what they tell us here at Hoopville, a Chanticleer is a just fancy chicken.
• Don’t expect a conga line, but do expect Arizona to go hard against Louisiana-Lafayette at the Fiesta Bowl Classic, a tournament the Wildcats are hosting in Tucson. Also in that tourney, Valparaiso chases Liberty.
• Other Hoopville Top 25 teams are playing their last games of the 2003 calendar year tonight. 12-0 Pittsburgh gets a pre-New Year’s challenge from 7-2 Georgia; Canisius treks across I-90 to take on Syracuse; Louisville hopes to build off their stunning upset of Kentucky with a win over Toledo; Undefeated Cincy looks to subdue the Phoenix of Elon; St. Joe’s leaves the Mainline to tussle with Delaware; Missouri tunes up against Belmont; Wisconsin goes deep south against Alabama; Purdue travels to 6-4 Colorado State; Red-hot Vandy welcomes Lehigh to Nashville and Illinois heads to the big city for a clash with Illinois-Chicago.
• Other games that may pique your interest include 8-0 Creighton at home against MVC rival Southwest Missouri State; Boston U. visits 8-1 Michigan. Big Blue is also vying for an 8-0 mark at home; 9-1 Boston College heads to Clemson; 8-0 LSU takes on Houston; The Seminoles of FSU shoot down to Stetson; and Harvard, which continues its West Coast road trip and its quest for its first victory, battles San Jose State.
