The Morning Dish – Sunday, January 9th
Tar Heels Stay Hot: North Carolina kept rolling Saturday in its first big ACC Test, routing Maryland 109-75 in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels (13-1, 2-0 ACC), who have now scored over 100 points in three straight games, shot 57 percent from the floor and led by as many as 42 points in the victory. Rashad McCants led seven Tar Heels in double figures with 19 points, while Maryland (9-3, 1-1) got 13 points each from Travis Garrison and Chris McCray.
Illini Come Back: After trailing for most of the first half, Illinois opened the second half with a 23-6 run to take over the game en route to a 68-59 win against host Purdue. Dee Brown hit three three-pointers during the surge and scored all 14 of his points in the second half, and Luther Head led the Illini (16-0, 2-0 Big Ten) with 15 points. Matt Kiefer had 17 points and 6 rebounds to lead the Boilermakers (4-8, 0-2).
Huskies Rebound: Connecticut bounced back from Wednesday’s home loss with a 66-59 win at Georgetown. The Huskies (9-2, 1-1 Big East) shot just 38 percent, but converted 17 offensive rebounds into 18 second chance points and built a 39-19 halftime lead. Freshman Jeff Green continued his stellar play for the Hoyas (9-4, 1-1), scoring a game-high 22 points to lead the way.
Buckeyes Stop Iowa: Ohio State used a 12-0 first-half run to build a double-digit lead, then was never seriously threatened the rest of the game as they coasted to an 81-69 win in Columbus. Terence Dials scored 22 points, and Tony Stockman added 19 for the Buckeyes (12-3, 1-1 Big Ten), who never trailed. Pierre Pierce had a career-high 31 points for the Hawkeyes (12-3, 0-2), who are now 0-2 in the Big Ten for the first time in 12 years – with the losses that year also coming to Michigan and Ohio State, the two teams that have defeated the Hawkeyes this week.
Panthers Hang On: Pittsburgh came into Saturday’s game at Rutgers having lost two straight at home, and Rutgers’ home at the RAC was unlikely to be a friendly place to stop the streak. It took overtime, but the Panthers escaped with a 66-63 win behind a career-high 21 points from freshman Ronald Ramon. Ramon nearly won it in regulation for the Panthers (11-2, 1-1 Big East) with a three-pointer with 7.6 seconds left, but Ricky Shields (team-high 18 points) sent it to overtime with his own three-pointer with 0.4 seconds left. Rutgers (6-5, 0-1) had two late attempts to tie it in the extra session but missed both.
Cardinal Show Up, Knock Off Wildcats: Struggling Stanford pulled away in the second half from Arizona, then had just enough later to hold off the visiting Wildcats by an 87-76 margin. Dan Grunfeld scored a career-high 29 points and Chris Hernandez added 23 to lead Stanford (7-7, 1-3 Pac-10), who shot over 58 percent from the field and held the Wildcats (12-3, 2-1) to 38 percent. Rob Little added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Cardinal. Channing Frye led Arizona with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
More Upsets Out West: It wasn’t just Arizona that was upset on the West Coast. St. Mary’s got a career-high 30 points from Paul Marigney and made 16 of 27 three-pointers en route to an 89-81 win over visiting Gonzaga, snapping a 17-game losing streak against the ‘Zags. The win also ended the 17-game winning streak in West Coast Conference play for the Bulldogs (11-3, 1-1 WCC), who got 20 points from Adam Morrison. St. Mary’s (14-4, 2-0) is now atop the conference.
Further south, UCLA (9-3, 3-1 Pac Ten) got 29 points from Dijon Thompson and exploded in the second half, overcoming a 21-point deficit to take home a 95-86 win against the Huskies (13-2, 3-1).
Blue Devils Stay Undefeated: Daniel Ewing and J.J. Redick combined for 46 points to lead Duke to an 82-74 win over visiting Temple. Ewing had 24 and Redick added 22 to lead Duke (11-0), which lead throughout the second half. Temple (5-6) got close several times but couldn’t get over the hump despite 23 points, seven rebounds, six assists and six6 steals from Mardy Collins and a career-high 21 points from Dustin Salisbery.
Mountaineers Bounce Back: D’or Fischer had 18 points and three blocked shots to lead West Virginia to a 64-60 win against visiting St. John’s. The Mountaineers (11-1, 1-1 Big East) used a 29-19 rebounding edge to bounce back from Wednesday night’s 84-46 loss to Villanova. Daryll Hill led St. John’s (6-6, 0-2) with a career-high 29 points.
Cowboys Get A Good Road Win: Oklahoma State held Texas Tech below 42 percent from the field and got a combined 38 points from twins Joey and Stephen Graham in a 76-66 win over the host Red Raiders. Joey Graham had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and John Lucas added 20 to lead the Cowboys (11-1, 1-0 Big 12), who took the lead for good with an 18-6 run midway through the second half. Ronald Ross led Texas Tech (8-4, 0-1) with 22 points and Devonne Giles added 20.
Bulldogs Win In-State Battle: Mississippi State continued to win on the road, as the Bulldogs took home their 16th straight contest away from Starkville with an 87-76 win at Misssissippi. Lawrence Roberts led the Bulldogs (14-2, 2-0 SEC) with 23 points, and Gary Ervin added 15 points and 10 assists as they took control in the second half after trailing for much of the first half. Tommy Eddie led Mississippi (9-6, 0-2) with 17 points.
Tide Wins With Defense: Alabama went on a 17-0 run in the second half to break open a close game, holding visiting LSU without a point for nearly nine minutes in a 73-58 win. Kennedy Winston scored 21 points to lead Alabama (12-3, 1-1 SEC), while freshman Glen Davis had 13 points and seven rebounds to lead LSU (6-5, 0-1), which lost for the fourth time in five games.
Spartans Roll: Michigan State made it look easy on Saturday, blowing out visiting Northwestern 87-58 behind 18 points from Maurice Ager and 17 from junior classmate Paul Davis. Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field, but the Spartans (10-2, 2-0 Big Ten) had a 29-16 rebounding edge and committed just only turnovers in getting their seventh straight win. The Wildcats (8-6, 1-1) played without forward Davor Duvancic, who was experiencing flu-like symptoms and did not make the trip.
Back Down to Earth: Villanova had to be riding high after blowing out West Virginia Wednesday. A trip to South Bend, Ind., changed that as the Fighting Irish got 25 points from Chris Thomas, including several in the final minutes in a 78-72 win against the Wildcats. Thomas scored eight points in the final 3:35 and made all eight of his free throws to lead the Fighting Irish (10-2, 2-0 Big East). Villanova (8-2, 1-1) got a career-high 26 points from Randy Foye. The Wildcats played without leading scorer Curtis Sumpter, who sprained his right knee in practice Friday.
Working Overtime – Really: Massachusetts and Xavier had nothing better to do in snow-filled western Massachusetts, so they decided to play a little more basketball. In fact, it took three overtime periods before the Minutemen (7-5, 1-1 Atlantic 10) knocked off the Musketeers 90-86 behind a career-high 21 points from freshman Jeff Salovski. Salovski had eight of his points in the third overtime after also tying the game in regulation with the last basket and making the last two of the second extra period. Xavier (6-5, 0-1) was led by Dedrick Finn, Justin Doellman and Stanley Burrell, all with 16 points. Doellman added 10 rebounds.
Top Teams Roll: A few top teams made it look easy Saturday. Wake Forest (13-1, 2-0 ACC) shot 61 percent from the field and blew out host Clemson (9-5, 0-2) by a 103-68 margin behind 31 points from Justin Gray. Syracuse (15-1, 2-0 Big East) stomped Seton Hall (8-5, 0-2) 75-51 behind 21 points from Gerry McNamara. Georgia Tech (11-2, 2-0 ACC) got 22 points from Jarrett Jack in a 92-69 romp against Virginia (9-3, 0-2). Louisville (12-3, 1-1 C-USA) jumped out early and never looked back en route to an 86-61 rout of visiting TCU (10-5, 0-1). George Washington (10-2, 2-0 Atlantic 10) blew out Duquesne (4-11, 1-1) 81-57 behind Mike Hall’s 19 points.
Postponed: Saturday’s game in Dayton between Cornell and Dayton was postponed because flooding at Dayton’s arena. Dayton officials said the game would be played Sunday at another arena in the area.
Henson Released: New Mexico State coach Lou Henson was released from the hospital Saturday. Henson, who is recovering from pneumonia, is expected to make a full recovery according to school officials, but no timetable is set for his return to coaching. Henson is 21 wins short of becoming the fifth Division I head coach with 800 career victories.
Headed to Lawrence: Rodrick Stewart will be transferring to Kansas, starting Monday. Stewart left USC earlier this season and can practice immediately with the Jayhawks, though he won’t be eligible to play in games until December of next season. He averaged 4.4 points and 2.7 rebounds while starting 17 of 27 games as a freshman at USC last season. Stewart, whose twin brother Lodrick remains at USC, will be reunited with high school teammate C.J. Giles, a freshman on the Jayhawks.
President Emphasizes Cost Control: NCAA President Myles Brand gave his state of the NCAA speech on Saturday, and his primary emphasis was on the increasing athletic budgets. He talked about how increased expectations have led to this increase in spending, but the increase does not necessarily lead to more winning or revenue. In addition, he talked about academic reform, the status of amateurism in college sports, and said that it is “simply appalling” that there are very few black head football coaches in Division I, as well as Divisions II and III.
Tonight’s Menu
• The headline match up of the day is Kentucky hosting Kansas.
• Texas hosts Baylor in a Big 12 matchup.
• North Carolina State heads to Miami for an ACC contest.
• Southern Illinois visits Creighton in the top game among Missouri Valley match ups.
• Conferences with multiple games on tap include the Mid-American, West Coast and America East.
