The Morning Dish – Wednesday, January 19th
FSU stuns Wake Forest: After making an NCAA record 50 consecutive free throws over two games, the Demon Deacons picked the worst time to miss. With the game tied at 76 and four seconds left, Wake’s Taron Downey missed a potential game-winning free throw. The real story of the game, however, was Florida State’s Von Wafer, who scored 30 points, including six three-pointers. The Seminoles twice built 19-point advantages, but needed overtime to prevail 91-83.
Syracuse Upends Georgetown in OT: Syracuse snuck into overtime after Georgetown’s Brandon Bowman hit a game-tying two-pointer that was inches from being a game-winning three pointer. Hakim Warrick led the Orange with 25 points, who prevailed 66-59.
St. John’s Upsets Pitt: Daryll Hill scored 26 points, including three free throws in the final 25 seconds, and St. John’s ended a three-game losing streak with a 65-62 victory over Pittsburgh. The win was the Red Storm’s second win over a ranked team this season. Pitt continues to struggle and has lost three of five.
Alabama Crushes Mississippi State: Behind 34 points from Earnest Shelton, the Crimson Tide dominated Mississippi State, 98-49. Alabama jumped out to a 49-18 halftime lead and never looked back.
Arkansas Green and Blue?: Yep, that was Arkansas practicing in Walton Arena even though there wasn’t a spec of red uniform on the floor. Instead, Stan Heath’s Razorbacks practiced in uncustomary blue and green jerseys. The ploy was used to send a message to the team that every player is important. Heath wanted to eliminate the starters versus bench mentality and just get the most out of his team. Following Arkansas’ embarrassing 80-55 loss to Mississippi State, it’s likely the coach will try just about anything to light a fire. Heath will find out if it worked when his team tackles LSU tonight.
Walsh May Return Sooner Rather Than Later: Florida’s Matt Walsh sprained his ankle Dec. 29 and was estimated to miss four to six weeks of action. But now coach Billy Donovan is hinting that Walsh may return sooner than that. Last week, doctors removed his boot cast and allowed Walsh to do some light shooting drills. Donovan insists that he’ll wait to see how Walsh responds to contact before making a decision on an early return. Walsh was Florida’s leading scorer at 16.0 points per game. The Gators are 3-1 without him.
Richmond Down a Player: Richmond will be without freshman guard Courtney Nelson when it plays at Xavier tomorrow night. Coach Jerry Wainwright said yesterday that Nelson will miss the Atlantic 10 Conference game because of “failure to fulfill an academic obligation.” The Spiders’ backcourt already is thin. Sophomores T.J. Paterick and Tim Mayes are out indefinitely because of back and hip problems, respectively.
Michigan Gaining a Player: Michigan might be welcoming back forward Brent Petway soon. Petway practiced for the first time Monday since injuring his shoulder Jan. 8. His shoulder popped out in Michigan’s win versus Fairfield. He hasn’t played since but is expected to get some minutes tonight versus Indiana.
Colorado May Be Getting Inside Help: Forward Julius Ashby, dominant inside player for Colorado, is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation of a torn tendon in his left foot. Ashby may even return for the Buffs’ game against Iowa State Saturday. If he isn’t ready for Saturday, he’ll target Colorado’s Jan. 26 home matchup with Missouri. He was originally expected to miss as many as 10 weeks with the injury. But the quick healing Ashby has missed just four weeks of action since suffering the injury Dec. 21. The 6-foot-9 Ashby is averaging 9.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game for Coloarado. The Buffs have sorely missed his presence inside.
Duquesne Forward Cleared to Practice: Freshman forward Chauncey Duke, who has been suffering with a stomach virus, has been cleared to return to practice. Duke missed two games and is still taking medication for the ailment. The 6-foot-6 Duke has appeared in 15 games — eight as a starter — and is averaging 3.1 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.
