The Morning Dish – Wednesday, December 29th
Giant Killers: Gonzaga knocked off another top five opponent for the second time in as many weeks. The Bulldogs beat Oklahoma State 78-75, handing the Cowboys their first loss of the season. The Bulldogs manhandled Georgia Tech two weeks ago in Las Vegas in front of a largely supportive crowd. Against the Cowboys, Gozaga traveled to Oklahoma City to play a neutral game. But it was clearly a pro-Cowboy fan base. Senior forward Rony Turiaf played with two bad ankles and helped the Bulldogs fend off a frantic Oklahoma State second-half rally. Sophomore forward Adam Morrison broke a 75-75 tie with a deuce at the top of the paint. Senior forward Stephen Graham – the less heralded member of the Cowboy’s brothers Graham – led the Cowboys with 22 points. But Oklahoma State made only 9-of-31 three-point attempts, including a blocked final prayer by John Lucas as time expired.
ACC Power Surge: Four of the ACC’s best – Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina and North Carolina State – manhandled four less powerful teams last night. The Yellow Jackets prepared for the New Year’s Day clash at Kansas with a 92-58 slaughter of Lafayette. The Terrapins cracked triple figures with a 112-68 annihilation of Liberty. Junior guard John Gilchrist scored 28 points, his fifth consecutive game with at least 20 points. Meanwhile, North Carolina abused sibling school UNC-Wilmington 96-75, and North Carolina State shook off a slow start to beat Columbia 84-74 in the Dreyfus Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden.
Big East Roundup: Two of the Big East’s best tried to keep pace with the ACC as Syracuse continued to dominate the state of New York with a 72-55 win against Albany and Connecticut handled Sacred Heart, 73-55. The Huskies needed a 40-19 second half to overcome a three-point halftime deficit against Sacred Heart. Sophomore forward Josh Boone was unstoppable in the latter period, scoring 16 of his 20 points during Connecticut’s run. Meanwhile, senior forward Hakim Warrick led the Orange with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Syracuse’s defense held Albany to 33 percent shooting from the field, so there were plenty of rebounds to collect.
Other Top 25 Action: Arizona beat Eastern Washington 79-45 in the Fiesta Bowl Classic hosted by the Wildcats in Tuscon, Ariz. Arizona will play Richmond tonight in the championship game of the classic. And Iowa beat Air Force 73-63 to move to 11-1, the team’s best start since 1998-99. The Hawkeyes built a 23-point advantage early in the second half before putting it in cruise control for the remainder of the game.
Broken Hand Sidelines Ute: Utah junior forward Richard Chaney will miss four to six weeks while he recuperates from a broken hand. School officials said Chaney will undergo surgery after he broke two bones in his left hand. The Utes will be without their third leading scorer. Chaney averages 11.5 points per game and has broken 20 points twice this season.
UNLV Tweaks Roster: UNLV coach Lon Kruger announced that he released John Winston from the team after the sophomore guard requested to leave in search of another school. Winston has played in only five games this season and averages 2.2 points per game. Nearly half of his points came in an 84-78 loss at Nevada. There’s no word about where Winston will seek to play basketball. In addition, Kruger said junior forward Wilbur Williams is no longer on the team after failing to meet academic qualifications, and senior guard Jerel Blassingame will not start against Texas-Pan American because he was late to practice. Blassingame averages 10.7 points and 7.7 assists per game.
Battered Rams: Rhode Island is off to a rough start, including losses to Boston University, Manhattan and Maine. The Rams are struggling in large part because their best player, senior guard Dawan Robinson, missed every game of the season until Monday’s 77-62 loss to Iona. And in the first minute of Robinson’s first game back, he tweaked his previously injured foot and missed the remainder of the game. School officials have not determined the severity of the injury, but the Rams clearly need Robinson to return to salvage a disappointing season.
Caudle Clears His Name: An Oct. 26 bar fight led to a charge of felonious assault against Xavier junior forward Will Caudle. But he wasn’t even at the bar, according to more than 30 people who were at the bar during the fight and testified to a grand jury. The grand jury agreed that there was no evidence to support the charge and dropped it. Caudle said he was in his dorm room during the evening of the fight. Caudle apparently became a suspect when a clerical error changed the suspect’s height from 5’11 to 6’11. Somebody in the police department owes Caudle an apology.
Where’s Daddy?: Arkansas freshman forward Charles Thomas will miss the Razorbacks’ game against Jacksonville State tonight because Thomas will be at a hospital for the birth of his first baby girl. Coach Stan Heath expects to start freshman forward Darian Townes in the new daddy’s place. Thomas and Townes are Heath’s offensively minded big men, and he usually pairs each with a defensive specialist. Thomas qualifies as one of the former, and Townes has been his counterpart off the bench. Thomas averages 9.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.
