The Morning Dish – Sunday, February 27th
Eagles Put Away Pirates: It took some work, but Boston College pulled out a 70-58 home win over Seton Hall with some late defense and free throws in a game that featured 40 offensive rebounds. Although they led for most of the first half, the Eagles (23-2, 12-2 Big East) never broke the game open and trailed late in the half. The second half was back and forth for a while, before the Eagles took the lead for good. Jared Dudley had 19 points and seven rebounds to lead Boston College and Craig Smith added 16. Seton Hall (11-14, 3-11) got a career-high 15 points from freshman Brian Laing and 10 points and 10 rebounds from Kelly Whitney off the bench.
Milestone For Boeheim: Behind a career-high 36 points from Hakim Warrick, Syracuse broke open a close game in the second half in a 91-66 blowout of visiting Providence, giving coach Jim Boeheim his 700th victory. Boeheim has reached the mark in his 29th season at Syracuse, becoming the sixth active coach and 18th overall to accomplish it. The Orange (24-5, 11-4 Big East) shot nearly 57 percent from the field and outscored the Friars (12-16, 2-12) 51-30 in the second half. Ryan Gomes led Providence with 21 points, and freshman Randall Hanke added a career-high 17 points.
Key Win for Wildcats: Kentucky made 13-of-19 three-pointers and rallied from a first-half deficit to clinch the outright SEC regular season title with a 78-71 win at Alabama. Patrick Sparks led the barrage from behind the arc, scoring 20 of his game-high 26 points in the second half and making 7-of-10 three pointers to lead the Wildcats (22-3, 13-1 SEC). Alabama (21-6, 10-4), which got 21 points from Kennedy Winston, scored 11 unanswered points to build up a 33-19 lead in the first half before the Wildcats started the comeback with a 10-3 run to close the half.
Huskies Keep it Close With Big Win: Washington stayed in the hunt for a Pac-10 regular season title with a 93-85 win against visiting Arizona. Tre Simmons led the Huskies (23-4, 13-3 Pac-10) with 24 points in his final home game, and the Huskies can still clinch a share of their first Pac-10 crown in 20 years if they sweep California and Stanford next weekend. Junior guard Nate Robinson, who may have also played his final home game, added 22 points as the Huskies won their 22nd straight home game. Arizona (24-5, 14-3) was led by Channing Frye’s 30 points.
Cardinals Win Ugly: Louisville took the lead for good with a 12-0 run in the second half en route to a 53-44 win against host Memphis. Both teams struggled mightily on the offensive end, shooting less than 27 percent from the field. Taquan Dean led the Cardinals (24-4, 12-2 C-USA) with 14 points, while Darius Washington led Memphis (16-12, 9-5) with 14 as well.
Huskies Keep Panthers Reeling: Connecticut shot better than 48 percent from the field and took over the game in the second half to keep host Pittsburgh reeling in a 73-64 win for the Huskies. Pittsburgh (18-7, 8-6 Big East), which lost its third straight game, led for much of the first half as the Panthers shot 50 percent in that frame and forced 13 Husky turnovers. The Huskies (19-6, 11-3) were led by Rudy Gay’s 17 points, while Charlie Villanueva had 14 points and 13 rebounds. Chevon Troutman scored 22 points and had 12 rebounds in his final home game to lead the Panthers.
Blue Devils Slug One Out: Duke didn’t exactly put on an offensive clinic, but they had enough to knock off St. John’s by a 58-47 margin at Madison Square Garden. Both teams shot less than 33 percent from the field and committed more than 20 turnovers, with the Blue Devils (21-4) getting 16 points and nine rebounds from Lee Melchionni and having a 37-26 edge on the glass. Lamont Hamilton led St. John’s (9-16) with 15 points.
Aggies Win Battle of Texas: Texas A&M broke open a close game in the second half and turned it into an 85-63 blowout against visiting Texas Tech. Antoine Wright scored 22 of his 29 points in the first half for the Aggies (18-7, 7-7 Big 12), then Joseph Jones took over as he scored all 16 of his points in the second half when the decisive run was made. Martin Zeno had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead Texas Tech (17-8, 9-5).
Tigers Keep Winning: Christian Maraker and Tyler Newton each scored 15 points, and Pacific pulled away steadily near the midway point of the second half in a 75-61 win against visiting Cal State Northridge. In a key stretch, the Tigers (23-2, 16-0 Big West) made four straight three-pointers, and they had two other players score in double figures. Davin White led the Matadors (15-11, 11-5) with 17 points.
Bearcats Shoot the Lights Out: Cincinnati shot 61 percent from the field to overcome 22 turnovers in an 89-74 win against host TCU. Jihad Muhammad led the charge by making 8-of-11 shots en route to 21 points, while James White added 16 for the Bearcats (21-6, 10-4 C-USA). Aaron Curtis led TCU (17-11, 7-7) with a game-high 22 points.
Utes Add Bragging Rights: With the Mountain West regular-season title already wrapped up, it was local bragging rights that were mainly at stake Saturday as Utah shot nearly 69 percent in the second half en route to a 69-60 win against Brigham Young in Salt Lake City. Andrew Bogut had another double-double, scoring 26 points and grabbing 13 rebounds to lead the Utes (24-4, 12-1 MWC), who cut down the nets to celebrate the regular season title. Austin Ainge led Brigham Young (9-19, 3-10) with 17 points.
Bogut Wants to Stay “Home”: Staying on the Utes for a moment, and Bogut specifically, the super sophomore wouldn’t mind playing right where he plays right now – but not as a college player next season. The 7-foot center told the Melbourne Herald Sun in Australia that his “first choice would be to stay here in Utah and play for the Jazz in the NBA.” He has not said that he is leaving the school after this season, but it is widely belived to be a foregone conclusion that he will declare for the draft and be a sure lottery pick.
Blowouts of Note: A couple of top teams that won in blowouts were Oklahoma (21-6, 10-4 Big 12), which shot a school-record 66.1 percent in a 103-60 win against visiting Baylor (9-16, 1-13), and Charlotte (21-4, 12-2), which capped a perfect month of February with an 81-58 win against visiting Southern Miss (10-17, 1-14) behind 25 points and 11 rebounds from Curtis Whithers.
Quakers Are the First: Penn became the first team in the NCAA Tournament Saturday, as the Quakers clinched the Ivy League with an 80-72 victory against Columbia in New York. Ibrahim Jabber had 26 points and Tim Begley added 24 to lead the Quakers (17-8, 10-1 Ivy), who will win the league for the fifth time since 1999. Columbia (12-13, 3-9) lost its eighth straight game and was led by John Baumann’s 17 points.
Bubble Teams: A number of games had NCAA Tournament implications on Saturday.
- George Washington (18-6, 10-4 Atlantic 10) scored the game’s final 10 points, including a steal and buzzer-beating three pointer from just past halfcourt by Carl Elliott, to pull out a 62-69 win at Dayton (16-9, 9-5).
- Texas (19-8, 8-6 Big 12) used a 13-0 run in the second half to take over the game in a 63-51 win against visiting Missouri (14-14, 6-8).
- DePaul (18-7, 10-4 C-USA) picked up a 53-49 win against visiting St. Louis (7-20, 4-10), holding the Billikens to 34 percent shooting.
- West Virginia (18-8, 8-7 Big East) won its fourth straight game, a 76-58 decision against visiting Rutgers (9-16, 2-12).
- Any remote hopes of an at-large bid for St. Joseph’s (15-10, 12-2 Atlantic 10) likely died Saturday when host Rhode Island (5-20, 3-11) knocked off the Hawks by a 65-60 margin.
- Minnesota (19-9, 9-6 Big Ten) rallied from a 15-point deficit to knock off Purdue (7-18, 3-11) in Gene Keady’s final home game by a 59-57 margin.
- LSU (17-8, 10-4 SEC) stayed hot, getting 22 points from Brandon Bass in a 77-64 win at Auburn (12-15, 3-11).
- Behind 21 points from Jarrett Jack, Georgia Tech (16-9, 7-7 ACC) knocked off host Miami (16-10, 7-7) by a 76-72 score.
- Arizona State (18-11, 7-10 Pac-10) likely lost all hopes of an at-large bid with a 57-55 loss at Washington State (11-14, 6-10).
- Houston (18-10, 9-5 C-USA) held on for a 76-72 win at East Carolina (9-18, 4-11), led by Cedric Hensley’s 20 points.
- Mississippi State (20-8, 8-6 SEC) came back to beat in-state rival Mississippi (13-14, 4-10) 71-68, as Lawrence Roberts showed no ill effects from last Saturday’s injury with 20 points and 15 rebounds.
- Stanford (16-10, 10-6 Pac-10) got a late jumper from Matt Haryasz to cap an 18-point, 10-rebound effort in a 58-56 win against host Oregon (13-12, 5-11).
- Nevada (22-5, 13-2 WAC) got 28 points and 11 rebounds from Nick Fazekas in a 76-63 win at Fresno State (14-12, 8-8).
Vermont Names Next Leader: Vermont named Maryland assistant coach Mike Lonergan as the successor to retiring head coach Tom Brennan Saturday. Brennan is retiring after 19 seasons as head coach. Lonergan is in his first season as an assistant at Maryland after 12 seasons as the head coach at Division III Catholic University and three seasons as an assistant at Colgate.
McCants Won’t Play Sunday: Rashad McCants will miss a second game with an intestinal disorder, this one being Sunday’s game at Maryland. The junior, who leads the Tar Heels in scoring, did not travel with the team to College Park.
Former Boilermaker in Trouble: A former key player at Purdue has been in some trouble with the law. Porter Roberts, a point guard on the Boilermaker teams that won three consecutive Big Ten titles in the 1990s, has been charged with auto theft and has reportedly admitted to using crack cocaine. A high school basketball assistant at Marion High School in Indiana until last month, Roberts spent two days in jail and was released Feb. 11 on $5000 cash bond. Prior to this, he had no history of arrests, and he told police he had difficulties since being fired from his job last month.
Tonight’s Menu
• A Big 12 showdown is on tap in Lawrence as Kansas hosts Oklahoma State. Also in the Big 12, Iowa State hosts Nebraska.
• Key Big Ten matchups include Indiana hosting Michigan State and Ohio State hosting Wisconsin.
• The ACC has a few games on tap, led by Maryland hosting North Carolina and Wake Forest hosting Virginia.
• Villanova travels to Georgetown.
• Notre Dame hosts UCLA in a non-conference matchup.
• The America East has a full slate of games to close out the regular season, while the WAC, Atlantic 10, Atlantic Sun and Mid-American all have multiple games on tap.
