The Morning Dish – Sunday, December 5th
Wake Rebounds: After getting crushed on Wednesday night, Wake Forest came back on Saturday with a 90-73 home win over Richmond behind 22 points from Justin Gray and 21 from Eric Williams. The Demon Deacons (6-1) never trailed and shot 53% from the floor, while holding the Spiders (3-2) to 39% shooting.
Another Game, Another Double-Double: Kansas senior Wayne Simien is nothing if not consistent, as evidenced by his track record with double-doubles this season. On Saturday, he posted his fourth in as many games this season with 12 points and 15 rebounds as Kansas pulled away from visiting Pacific, 81-70 in Lawrence. Keith Langford led the Jayhawks (4-0) with 21 points and 7 assists, and Aaron Miles added 19 and 8. The Tigers (2-1) were led by Christian Maraker with 22 points.
Cowboys Show Some Defense: To say that Oklahoma State shut down visiting Washington State might be an understatement. The Cowboys built up a 29-2 lead in the first half, and the Cougars scored 10 points in the first half in an 81-29 romp by the Cowboys. In leading Cowboys (5-0), John Lucas (19 points) and Joey Graham (18) combined to outscore the Cougars (3-2).
Tar Heels Finally Beat Wildcats: In a matchup of the two winningest programs in college basketball history, host North Carolina scored the first eight points of the game and never trailed en route to a 91-78 win over Kentucky. Rashad McCants scored 20 of his 28 points in the first half to lead the Tar Heels (6-1), who outrebounded Kentucky 51-30 behind 19 from Sean May. May added 14 points and Jawad Williams added 19. Kentucky (4-1) was led by Kelenna Azubuike’s 24 points, while leading scorer Chuck Hayes scored just four points and was in foul trouble. It was the first win against Kentucky since 1995 for the Tar Heels.
Illini Keep Rolling: Illinois got a challenge from host Arkansas, but they were up to the task as they got 19 points and 11 rebounds from Roger Powell and 13 each from Dee Brown and Deron Williams in a 72-60 win. The Illini (6-0) won despite 14 turnovers, holding all of the Razorbacks (5-1) to single digits save for Ronnie Brewer’s game-high 21 points.
Huskies Rally To Win: Connecticut used a 17-1 run in the second half to rally from a 13-point deficit en route to a 74-69 win over visiting Indiana. Bracey Wright had a game-high 28 points in the loss for Indiana (2-2), but they were outrebounded 53-38 by the Huskies (3-0), who got 17 points from Rashad Anderson and 11 points and 10 rebounds from Rudy Gay.
Upset in BB&T Makes For Local Matchup: Two teams from around the nation’s capital will play in the BB&T Classic final thanks in part to George Washington pulling off a 96-83 upset of Michigan State. The Colonials (4-1) forced 22 turnovers and got 23 points (9-13 from the field) and 4 blocks from Pops Mensah-Bonsu, while T.J. Thompson had 18 and Carl Elliott 17. The Spartans (3-2) got 22 points from Maurice Ager.
George Washington will face Maryland in the final, as the Terrapins (4-1) were 78-54 winners over George Mason. They held the Patriots to just four first-half field goals and got 20 points each from Chris McCray and Nik Caner-Medley. George Mason (3-2) was led by Jai Lewis’ 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Guards Win in Florida: Miami rode strong guard play to a 72-65 upset of Florida on Saturday. The Hurricanes (3-2) got 55 points from their three starting guards, including 23 from Anthony Harris (18 in the second half) as they snapped Florida’s 26-game winning streak against in-state opponents. The Gators (4-1) got 20 points from Anthony Roberson and 16 from David Lee.
Marathon In Charlotte: It was a long haul, but well worth it in the end for Kennedy Winston and Alabama. Winston’s jumper with 20.5 seconds left in the third overtime capped a career-high 33-point effort as the Crimson Tide took home a 102-101 victory over host Charlotte. Winston first forced overtime with a jumper with 2.9 seconds left in regulation, capping a late rally by Alabama (6-1) in the final minutes. Curtis Withers led Charlotte (3-2) with 24 points, but none came in the extra sessions.
Irish Thwarted — Again: Well, this time it wasn’t on the gridiron, but Notre Dame had two chances in the final ten seconds to get a go-ahead basket against Michigan that each failed as the Wolverines pulled off a 61-60 upset of the Fighting Irish in Ann Arbor. Chris Thomas missed the first shot, then Brent Petway swatted away the final attempt as time expired for the Wolverines (4-3) to hold on and snap a three-game skid. Daniel Horton scored the winning points on a three-point play with 20.7 seconds left to cap a 15-point effort. Notre Dame (3-1) was led by Dennis Latimore’s 18 points.
Longhorns Hang On: Texas came in shooting over 50% from three-point land, but had to go inside on Saturday when the shots weren’t falling at Seton Hall. The Longhorns succeeded, getting 14 points from Jason Klotz and 11 from Brad Buckman to complement Daniel Gibson’s 15 as they took home a 70-62 win over the Pirates. Texas (5-1) never trailed, though Seton Hall (2-2) got within one on seven different occasions. The Pirates were led by Andre Sweet’s 26 points, a career-high.
Williams Eligible: Earlier in the day, Texas declared freshman forward Mike Williams eligible. School officials had been trying to resolve issues with his amateur status, though he was never declared ineligible by the NCAA. Williams played 13 minutes in the game, scoring two points and grabbing six rebounds.
Some Teams Have It Easy: A few top teams had easy times, or at least relatively speaking.
- Duke (5-0) routed Valparaiso 93-61, getting 26 points from J.J. Redick and moving Mike Krzyzewski to within one win of 700 for his career.
- Pittsburgh (5-0) rolled over crosstown rival Duquesne 87-57, getting 16 points from Chris Taft.
- Louisville (4-1) got 25 points from Francisco Garcia and rolled to a 98-57 win over Lafayette (1-4).
Also Winning: Syracuse (7-0) got 23 points from Hakim Warrick to beat Colgate (2-4) for the 39th straight time, 68-55. Wisconsin (4-1) got 26 points from Mike Wilkinson in a 70-62 win over visiting Rutgers (2-2), while Cincinnati (4-0) picked up a road win at Dayton (1-3) 65-55. Clemson (4-1) edged South Carolina (4-1) in overtime, 63-62, while Oregon (4-0) beat visiting Vanderbilt (4-3) 75-65.
Aggies Roll: Utah State had an easy time with Utah, shooting 82% in the second half and 65% for the game in a 71-45 romp over the visiting Utes. Spencer Nelson scored 21 points and Nate Harris added 20 for the Aggies (5-1), who have now won five of the last seven meetings. Utah (4-2) was led by 15 points each from Andrew Bogut and Marc Jackson.
Tonight’s Menu
• In-state rivals hook up as Georgia Tech hosts Georgia and Washington hosts Eastern Washington.
• Maryland takes on George Washington in the finals of the BB&T Classic, while Michigan State takes on George Mason in the consolation game.
• The John Wooden Classic in Anaheim has a doubleheader of good matchups. First, Mississippi State takes on Arizona in a battle of ranked teams, then a matchup of undefeated teams takes place as Boston College battles UCLA.
• North Carolina State hosts Manhattan.
