The Morning Dish – Sunday, February 13th
Illini Keep Rolling: Illinois got 26 points from Luther Head and 21 from Deron Williams, both of whom led a decisive run, en route to a 70-59 win over visiting Wisconsin. The Badgers (16-6, 7-4 Big Ten) tied the game at 27 early in the second half, but Head and Williams scored the next 16 Illini points as they took the lead for good. The Illini (25-0, 11-0) were playing in front of the biggest crowd ever at Assembly Hall, as 16,865 fans showed up. Alando Tucker had 24 points and eight rebounds to lead Wisconsin.
Good Homecoming: Hakim Warrick and Gerry McNamara were welcomed home with open arms by Villanova, as they combined for 50 points in their return to Pennsylvania in a 90-75 Syracuse win. Warrick had a career-high 32 points and 11 rebounds (seven offensive) and McNamara added 18 for the Orange (22-3, 9-2 Big East), who scored 26 second-chance points and shot nearly 59 percent from the field. Randy Foye led Villanova (14-6, 5-5) with 18 points.
Terps Sweep Duke: It took overtime, but Maryland completed its first regular season season sweep of Duke in ten years with a 99-92 win over the Blue Devils in College Park. The Terrapins (15-7, 6-5 ACC) won a war of attrition, as five Duke players fouled out, including their game-high scorers, Daniel Ewing and Shelden Williams, who each had 23 points (Williams added 16 rebounds). Without them, the Blue Devils (18-3, 8-3) missed all nine field goal attempts in overtime. John Gilchrist led Maryland with 19 points and Travis Garrison added 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Demon Deacons Romp: Host Wake Forest made it look easy after breaking a 17-17 tie in an 87-48 romp over Florida State. The Demon Deacons (21-3, 9-2 ACC) shot nearly 55 percent from the field and got 20 points from Justin Gray and 15 points and 14 rebounds from Eric Williams. On the defensive end, they held the Seminoles (11-13, 3-8) to 34.5 percent shooting and took over the game, outscoring the Seminoles 31-11 the remainder of the half and coasting.
Panthers Hold Off Irish: Carl Krauser hit a runner in the lane with 11 seconds left to give Pittsburgh a 68-66 win over visiting Notre Dame. It was a back-and-forth game, with the Fighting Irish (14-7, 6-5 Big East) making a couple of rallies in the second half and leading at various points earlier in the game. Krauser led the Panthers (17-4, 7-3 Big East) with 16 points, while Chevon Troutman and Ronald Ramon each added 13. Chris Quinn tied a career high with 25 points to lead Notre Dame, while Tuesday’s hero, Colin Falls, was held to just eight points on 2-of-11 shooting.
Wildcats Take the Lead: Arizona scored 19 straight points to take over the game in the second half en route to an 83-73 win over host UCLA. After the decisive run, UCLA would get no closer than ten, as Arizona head coach Lute Olson came within three wins of John Wooden’s record for career Pac-10 wins. Salim Stoudamire scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half to lead the Wildcats (21-4, 11-2), who are on top of the Pac-10 for the moment. Jordan Farmar had a career-high 27 points to lead UCLA (13-7, 7-6).
Tigers Upset Sooners: Missouri ended a five-game losing streak on Saturday at a good time, as Thomas Gardner led a late rally and the overtime effort in a 68-65 upset of Oklahoma. Gardner scored 11 of his 18 points in the final two minutes of regulation and the extra session, and the Tigers (11-13, 3-7 Big 12) shot 50 percent from the field. Linas Kleiza also had 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Taj Gray led Oklahoma (17-6, 6-4) with 19 points and nine rebounds.
Texas Hangs On Behind Frosh: Daniel Gibson continued to step up for Texas on Saturday, as he scored 14 points in overtime to lead the Longhorns to a 75-72 win over visiting Kansas State. Gibson, who finished with 23 points, scored the first eight points of the extra session and put it away with six straight free throws in the final minute. The Longhorns (16-7, 5-5 Big 12) shot over 47 percent and held the Wildcats below 36 percent, but they committed eight more turnovers than the Wildcats did. Brad Buckman complemented Gibson with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his third straight double-double. Fred Peete led Kansas State (13-8, 3-7) with 28 points.
Blue Demons, Bearcats Going Opposite: DePaul won its fourth straight game on Saturday and kept Cincinnati slumping in conference play with an 85-66 rout of the visiting Bearcats. Quemont Greer scored 25 points and Drake Diener added 22 for the Blue Demons (16-5, 8-2 C-USA), who won despite allowing the Bearcats to shoot 51 percent from the field. The Bearcats (18-6, 6-4), who have lost three straight conference games, made just 14-of-27 free throws and were led by Eric Hicks’ 22 points.
Wildcats Keep SEC Perfection Going: Kentucky quietly remained perfect in SEC play with a 60-51 home win over Georgia. The Wildcats (19-2, 10-0 SEC) got 14 points each from Chuck Hayes and Patrick Sparks and forced 18 turnovers. Georgia (7-14, 1-10) lost its sixth straight game and was without leading scorer Levi Stukes because of an injury.
Cyclones Stay Hot: Iowa State has suddenly caught fire, as they won their fifth straight game Saturday with an 81-68 win over Texas Tech in Ames. The Cyclones (13-8, 5-5 Big 12) forced 18 turnovers and got 23 points from Jared Homan and 17 from Tasheed Carr. Texas Tech (15-6, 7-3) was led by Ronald Ross’ 27 points.
Gonzaga Survives: Loyola Marymount tried valiantly to knock off Gonzaga in a game that was close throughout, but a late layup and free throw by J.P. Batista gave the Bulldogs a 61-58 win in Los Angeles. Ronny Turiaf had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs (19-4, 10-2 WCC), who committed 20 turnovers to nearly lose despite holding the Lions to 35 percent shooting. Brandon Worthy and Matthew Knight each had 13 points for Loyola (11-12, 3-7).
Thriller in Logan: Pacific kept its winning streak going at the end, getting a jumper by Christian Maraker with 2.5 seconds left to take home a 64-63 win over host Utah State. With the win, the Tigers (20-2, 14-0 Big West) have now won 16 games in a row. Jaycee Carroll led Utah State (18-6, 9-4) with a game-high 19 points.
Other Top Teams Win: Kansas (20-1, 10-0 Big 12) blew out Colorado (12-10, 4-7) 89-60 behind 25 points and 12 rebounds from Wayne Simien; Michigan State (17-4, 8-2 Big Ten) dumped host Michigan (12-13, 3-8) 64-49, leading from wire to wire; Alabama (19-4, 8-2 SEC) jumped out early and coasted to a 71-45 win over Mississippi (12-12, 3-8); Utah (21-3, 9-0 Mountain West) coasted to its 15th straight win, a 64-50 decision over visiting slumping Colorado State (9-13, 1-8) behind a career-high 33 points and 16 rebounds from Andrew Bogut; Oklahoma State (19-3, 9-2 Big 12) held off host Texas A&M (15-6, 4-6) 66-59 behind 18 points from John Lucas; Louisville (21-4, 9-2 C-USA) knocked off South Florida (10-12, 3-8) by a 65-57 score despite shooting just 37 percent from the field.
What a Comeback: UNLV scored 11 points in the final 22 seconds of regulation to force overtime, then came up with key plays in the extra session for a stunning 93-91 win over host San Diego State. They scored the tying points with a putback, three free throws, a three pointer and an off-balance three pointer at the buzzer after the Aztecs (10-12, 4-5 Mountain West) made one free throw. Odartey Blankson scored the first five points and finished with 23 to lead UNLV (11-11, 3-6) and Michael Umeh had 22.
Streak Over: Vermont came to Boston University with the nation’s second-longest winning streak at 15 games as the Terriers played the first basketball game at the new Harry Agganis Arena. The Terriers never trailed in the game, opening the arena in style with a hard-fought 61-55 victory. Rashad Bell led the Terriers (18-5, 12-2 America East) with a career-high 29 points, while Chaz Carr had 24 points and several clutch shots. Vermont (18-4, 13-1) was led by Taylor Coppenrath’s 37 points and 13 rebounds.
Cardinal Dealt a Blow: Stanford guard Dan Grunfeld, the team’s leading scorer, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament Saturday and will miss the remainder of the season. Grunfeld, who was second in the Pac-10 in scoring with a 17.9 scoring average, suffered the injury in the Cardinal’s 71-56 win over California. The junior guard had the best improvement in scoring by a Division I player this season, as he averaged just 3.4 points per game last season.
Former Coach Faces Another Charge: Former Barton County Community College coach Ryan Wolf is accused of defrauding the University of Louisville, according to a report from the Associated Press. the grand jury filed the indictment Tuesday, saying he made it appear that a former player, Nouha Diakite, was eligible to play for an NCAA Division I school when that was not the case. The indictment alleges that he provided the registrar’s office with a certificate that indicating that Diakite had earned the equivalent of a high school diploma – but he had not done so. Wolf now faces 37 charges of fraud, theft and embezzlement from his tenure at Barton County. Diakite played at the school from 2001 to 2003 before playing 19 games last season at Louisville, then leaving to pursue a professional basketball career in France.
They Want Him Gone That Bad: With North Carolina State in a slump, another “fan” site has popped up wanting head coach Herb Sendek to be fired. A year after the site firesendek.com was shut down, a new site named fireherbsendek.com has popped up. It calls for Sendek’s dismissal and ridicules him, but that may not be the worst part of all – the petition, which had 382 signatures as of Friday, alleges to have signatures from George W. Bush, Osama bin Laden and porn star Ron Jeremy.
Tonight’s Menu
• North Carolina travels north to take on Connecticut at the Hartford Civic Center in a crucial game for both teams.
• Washington takes on Oregon State in Corvallis.
• Atlanta is home to an important ACC game as Georgia Tech hosts North Carolina State.
• Rutgers visits Providence in Big East action and Duquesne visits Xavier in an Atlantic 10 matchup.
• The Patriot League has a full slate, while the Atlantic Sun has two games on tap as well.
