The Morning Dish – Sunday, January 11th
Stanford Wins Showdown: Once upon a time, Arizona was the one team Stanford couldn’t seem to beat. Not anymore. On Saturday, the No. 4 Cardinal remained undefeated with an 82-72 win over the No. 6 Wildcats in Tucson, marking their fourth straight win there. They got 19 points from Josh Childress and 17 points from Matt Lottich to lead five players in double figures. The Cardinal (13-0, 4-0 Pac Ten) shot over 48% from the field and led by 20 with just over four minutes to play before Arizona (10-2, 2-1) made the score more respectable with a late run. The Wildcats got a career-high 20 points from freshman Mustafa Shakur, though 14 came in the last four minutes, and 15 points and 11 rebounds from Andre Iguodala.
Wildcats Hand First Loss: No. 7 Kentucky was the first big test in SEC play for No. 21 Vanderbilt, which brought in a 12-0 record. The Wildcats got 16 points each from Gerald Fitch, Erik Daniels and Kelenna Azubuike and overcame 23 turnovers to hand the Commodores their first loss, a 75-63 decision in Lexington. The Wildcats (10-1, 1-0 SEC) led for most of the game, though the Commodores (12-1, 1-1) got within 57-55 before the Wildcats pulled away with an 11-2 run.
Hawks Win Again: No. 8 St. Joseph’s went on an early 24-4 run and got 41 points from the stellar backcourt of Jameer Nelson (21) and Delonte West (20) in their 78-61 win over Duquesne in Pittsburgh. The Hawks (13-0, 3-0 Atlantic Ten) led by as many as 28 points and shot 12-28 on three-pointers, making more three-pointers (8) than the Dukes made total field goals (7) in the first half.
Conference USA Teams Keep Rolling: No. 10 Cincinnati remained undefeated with a 90-65 blowout of DePaul on Saturday. The Bearcats (11-0, 2-0 C-USA) forced 22 turnovers and got 19 points from Tony Bobbitt and 18 from Jason Maxiell to lead five players in double figures. Delonte Holland had a fine game in defeat for the Blue Demons (7-6, 0-2) with 29 points.
Meanwhile, No. 11 Louisville won its 11th straight game on Saturday with ease, an 85-40 thumping of South Florida. The Cardinals (11-1, 2-0 C-USA) shot 58% and held USF to 26.5% shooting as they dominated in every facet of the game.
One C-USA Team Just Does Win: No. 23 Marquette got a bank shot near the baseline from Travis Diener with 2.6 seconds left, then a deflection on the inbounds pass by Diener in a 61-59 home win over St. Louis. Diener led the Golden Eagles (11-2, 2-0 C-USA) with 18 points, while Reggie Bryant had a game-high 25 points in defeat for St. Louis (8-5, 1-1).
Still Undefeated: No. 3 Wake Forest got 21 points from Chris Paul to lead four players in double figures in a 78-63 win over visiting Clemson. The Demon Deacons (11-0, 2-0 ACC) forced 23 turnovers.
It took two overtimes, but No. 15 Pittsburgh finally managed to keep their undefeated mark alive with an 84-80 win in Miami. The Panthers (16-0, 2-0 Big East) allowed the Hurricanes to shoot 58% from the field, committed 18 turnovers and were out-rebounded, but they pulled it out in the second extra session with late free throws after gaining the lead with under two minutes to play. Carl Krauser, who sent the game into overtime with a game-tying layup at the buzzer in regulation, led the Panthers with 19 points in his first game back from a groin injury. Chris Taft added 17 points and 9 rebounds. Darius Rice led Miami (10-5, 0-1) with 22 points and 9 rebounds.
No. 22 Mississippi State (13-0, 2-0 SEC) got 29 points and 11 rebounds from Lawrence Roberts to roll to an 80-62 home win over Arkansas.
Gators Easily Handle Volunteers: No. 12 Florida was going to be the first big SEC test for Tennessee, and the Volunteers didn’t do too well in getting blasted by a 95-57 count in Gainesville. The Gators (11-2, 2-0 SEC) shot a scorching 65% from the field and held the Volunteers (9-2, 1-1) under 38% shooting and forced 20 turnovers. Matt Walsh led Florida with 20 points.
Defending Champs School Young Visitors: Boston College brought its young team that was off to a good start into Syracuse on Saturday, and the No. 17 Orangemen showed them how the game is played. The Orangemen ran out to a big lead in the first half, then broke the game open again after a rally to win going away, 96-73. Behind Craig Smith’s 27-point, 9-rebound effort, the Eagles (11-3, 1-1 Big East) got within 61-55, but clutch plays by Gerry McNamara (26 points, 7 assists) and Hakim Warrick (19 points) helped the Orangeman put them away. Syracuse (11-1, 2-0) shot over 58% from the field.
This Time, They Pulled It Out: Rutgers nearly knocked off No. 1 Connecticut earlier in the week. Saturday, they finished the job against No. 25 Providence, getting a three-pointer from Herve Lamizana with less than one second left to pull out a 65-64 win. For good measure, Lamizana, who had 21 points and 8 rebounds to lead Rutgers (8-4, 1-2 Big East), then blocked the inbound pass to run out the clock. Providence (8-3, 0-1) was led by Ryan Gomes’ 27 points.
Big Ten Battles: No. 18 Wisconsin (11-2, 2-0 Big Ten) kept Michigan State (5-7, 0-1) on the losing end of games with a 77-64 home win, but that wasn’t the matchup of the day in that conference. Later in the day, No. 24 Purdue scored nine unanswered points as part of an 11-2 run in the second half to take the lead for good in handing No. 20 Illinois its first home loss in 24 games, a 58-54 decision in Champaign. David Teague led the Boilermakers (11-4, 1-1) with 15 points, and they held Illinois to 37.7% shooting. James Augustine led Illinois (10-3, 1-1) with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Big 12 Wins In Texas: Baylor made a valiant effort with its zone defense against No. 19 Texas, but the Longhorns got 16 points and 10 rebounds from Brad Buckman in posting their 23rd straight home win, a 79-57 decision over the Bears, who have with just five scholarship players. Texas (9-2, 1-0) opened the second half with a 12-2 run to break the game open, and Baylor never got closer than 15 after that.
Across the state, Andre Emmett scored 32 points, and Texas Tech held Oklahoma State to just over 35% shooting en route to an 83-62 blowout of the Cowboys in Lubbock. The Red Raiders (13-2, 1-0 Big 12) also forced 21 turnovers and shot nearly 53% from the floor in the Big 12 opener for both teams. Ivan McFarlin led the Cowboys (10-1, 0-1) with 13 points and 8 rebounds.
Red-Hot ‘Zags: No. 16 Gonzaga had no trouble scoring, shooting 64% from the field in a 74-60 win over Loyola Marymount. The Bulldogs (12-2, 2-0 WCC) got 27 points (10-16 shooting) and 8 rebounds from Ronny Turiaf to lead the way, winning despite 19 turnovers. Sherman Gay led the improving Lions (8-5, 0-1) with 18 points and Keith Kincade added 17.
Bidding For The Polls: A couple of teams made their case to be ranked in next week’s poll. Western Michigan continued its hot start, improving to 9-1 (3-0 in the MAC) with an 84-54 blowout win at Buffalo, shooting almost 56% from the field. Seton Hall (11-2) won its Big East opener, 71-54 over St. John’s behind 21 points from Andre Barrett. LSU (11-1) had five players in double figures to improve to 2-0 in SEC play with a 70-66 win over Alabama. South Carolina (14-2, 1-1 SEC) blew out Georgia, 84-63 in Athens behind six players who scored in double figures.
Jayhawks Lose One, Gain One: Kansas head coach Bill Self said that freshman center David Padgett will miss at least one week of action due to a stress fracture in his left foot. He indicated that Padgett would miss Wednesday’s game against Kansas State, and would be re-evaluated next Friday before they decide if he can play at Texas A&M next Saturday. Meanwhile, the 13th-ranked Jayhawks will regain junior guard Michael Lee for Wednesday’s game after he missed the last nine games with a shoulder injury.
Former Colonial Passes: Yinka Dare, who played two seasons at George Washington and was a first round draft pick of the New Jersey Nets in 1994, died after collapsing at his home. Dare, who was 32, had a heart attack due to an arrhythmia condition that was discovered while he was at George Washington, and was pronounced dead Friday at Englewood Hospital in New Jersey. He led George Washington to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances playing for head coach Mike Jarvis before leaving after his sophomore year for the NBA Draft, where the Nets took him with the 14th selection.
Tonight’s Menu
• One big non-conference matchup highlights today’s schedule, as No. 5 Oklahoma visits No. 1 Connecticut in a battle of two of the nation’s best teams.
• The ACC has a couple of games on tap, highlighted by No. 14 North Carolina hosting No. 9 Georgia Tech. No. 2 Duke heads to Charlottesville to take on Virginia, and North Carolina State and Florida State go head-to-head in Tallahassee.
• The Missouri Valley has a few games on tap, notably Creighton stating its case for the Top 25 as they host Drake and a matchup among two of the favorites as Wichita State travels to take on Southern Illinois.
• Rhode Island hosts Xavier in the Atlantic Ten opener for the Musketeers (the Rams are 1-0 thus far).
