The Morning Dish – Monday, January 10th
Game of the Week: After a 10-0 start, the Kansas Jayhawks hit the road for the first time to face the Kentucky Wildcats in front of the second largest crowd in Rupp Arena’s history. Kansas committed a season-high 21 turnovers, but walk-on Christian Moody led four Jayhawks in double figures with 11 points as they gutted out a 65-59 win. After a sloppy first half, Kansas controlled the second and led by as many as eight with a little more than six minutes to play. Kentucky fought back and took a one-point lead on a bucket from Patrick Sparks with less than four minutes to play. But Aaron Miles answered on the next possession with his only deuce of the game, and the Jayhawks never looked back. Already mising All-American candidate Wayne Simien with a thumb injury, Kansas had Moody and senior Keith Langford both go down with injuries late in the second half. Simien is expected to try to return for the Jayhawks’ next game Wednesday against Iowa State but the status of Moody and Langford remains uncertain. With 12 points, Kelenna Azubuike led Kentucky, which dropped to 10-2 on the season. The Wildcats, whose only other loss is to North Carolina, return to action Wednesday when they host Vanderbilt.
Bulldogs Down a Man: Mississippi State may have taken out cross-state rival Ole Miss 87-76 Saturday, but they may have lost their second leading scorer for an extended period of time. Senior guard Winsome Fraiser injured his left foot halfway through the first half when he landed on it wrong. He is expected to miss Wednesday’s showdown with Tennessee and X-rays on Monday will give a more accurate assessment of how long he will be out.
Wolfpack Continue to Fall: North Carolina State welcomed Julius Hodge back to the lineup, but that wasn’t enough as the Wolfpack dropped their third straight game, 67-66 at Miami. Hodge had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a 26 point effort from the Hurricanes’ Guillermo Diaz. For Miami, the victory was their first-ever ACC conference win and moved their record to 10-3 on the year. The Wolfpack fell to 10-4, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier with games against Duke and Georgia Tech next week.
Longhorns Win Big: After a tight first half, the Texas Longhorns out-distanced Baylor 79-60. Daniel Gibson led the Longhorns with 18 points and freshman LaMarcus Alridge picked up his first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Tim Bush’s 20 points led Baylor, which dropped to 7-4 on the season. The Longhorns are now 12-2 and play Texas A&M Wednesday.
Missouri Valley Action: Behind 15 points from Darren Brooks, Southern Illinois defeated Creighton 69-63 to join Wichita State at 3-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Northern Iowa moved to 2-1, a game behind Southern Illinois and Wichita State, with a 64-48 win against Indiana State. At 3-2, Evansville also remained a game behind first place with a 69-61 win against Illinois State.
Tonight’s Menu:
• A pair of two-loss teams hook up when Oklahoma hosts Connecticut.
• Notre Dame hosts Syracuse in a battle of teams unbeaten in Big East play.
• 10-4 Middle Tennessee State hosts 9-4 Arkansas-Little Rock in a key Sun Belt conference matchup.
• UNLV and Utah kick off their Mountain West schedules with a date in Salt Lake City.
