The Morning Dish – Tuesday, February 22nd
Jayhawks Drop Third Straight: Oklahoma jumped to a 15-point halftime lead and held off Kansas’ frantic second-half rally to win 71-63 at home and hand the Jayhawks their first three-game losing streak in 11 years. Junior Terrell Everett and freshman David Godbold combined for 34 points on a night when Saturday’s hero Drew Lavender struggled. Lavender shot just 1-of-7 from the field. Wayne Simien scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds in defeat.
Huskies Take a Bite Out of Irish: Sophomore point guard Marcus Williams finished with 17 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds to lead the Huskies to an 88-74 win over Notre Dame at home. Charlie Villanueva scored a game-high 25 points for UConn, which won for the sixth time in its last seven games.
Lobos End Utes’ Streak: Andrew Bogut was held to 15 points as Utah suffered its first Mountain West Conference loss of the season, a 65-54 setback to New Mexico at the Pit. Utah, which had won 18 straight, shot just 37 percent from the field. Mark Walters scored a season-high 22 points for the Lobos, who have played their way into NCAA tournament consideration with six wins in their last seven games.
Roberts Day-to-Day: Mississippi State forward Lawrence Roberts is day to day after bruising and straining his right quadriceps in the second half of the Bulldogs’ 94-78 loss at Kentucky Saturday. Coach Rick Stansbury said he wasn’t sure if the injury, which looked worse than it turned out to be, will sideline Roberts for tomorrow’s game at Georgia.
Buffs Benched: Four Colorado players will sit out tonight’s game against Missouri after being suspended for one game for violating team rules. Coach Ricardo Patton said Chris Copeland, Martane Freeman, Julius Ashby and Marcus Hall violated team rules prior to Colorado’s 92-77 loss to Texas A&M Saturday. Copeland is averaging 12.6 points per game and Hall is averaging 11.9 points per game to go along with 4.4 assists per game. Ashby leads the Buffalos in rebounding with 6.1 per game.
Williams Denies Report: Illinois junior point guard Deron Williams denied a report in The Sporting News that he will hire an agent, forego his senior year and enter the NBA draft. Illini coach Bruce Weber said he doesn’t know anything about the report, but that he thinks Williams would consider jumping to the NBA if he’s a projected top 15 pick. Williams is averaging 12.5 points per game and leads the Big 10 with 6.8 assists per game.
Tonight’s Menu:
• North Carolina visits North Carolina State.
• Texas travels to Texas Tech.
• Nebraska hosts Oklahoma State.
• Alabama rolls into LSU.
