The Morning Dish – Friday, March 4th
Brown and Williams Lead Illini to Rout on Senior Night:
On a night when they honored their seniors, the Illini were led by juniors Dee Brown and Deron Williams for Illinois’ 29th straight victory. Brown scored 27, and Williams finished with finished with 21 as Illinois raced to a 50-26 halftime lead, en route to an 84-50 annihilation of Purdue. Next up for the Illini is Ohio State Sunday to conclude the regular season.
Duke Tunes Up for Sunday Showdown at UNC:
Duke concentrated on the task at hand and throttled Miami 83-59 in Durham Thursday night. Junior J.J. Reddick had 29 points, and senior Daniel Ewing had a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists. The senior played in his final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Shelden Williams had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Devils. Robert Hite led the rapidly fading Hurricanes with 17.
May Leads UNC Comeback:
After trailing 44-41 at halftime, junior Sean May helped lead a second-half Tar Heel charge with a career-high 32 points and 12 rebounds. Playing without leading scorer Rashard McCants, the Heels outscored Florida State 50-32 after the break to capture a 91-76 victory. May connected on 13-of-15 shots and finished with his seventh straight double-double. Al Thornton led Florida State with 19 points and five rebounds.
O’Bannon Steals the Show on Senior Night:
Playing in junior Francisco Garcia’s shadow all season, senior Larry O’Bannon stole the show on senior night at Freedom Hall. O’Bannon scored 26 of a career-high 33 points in the first half, and Louisville took command of the Conference USA race with a 94-82 victory over Charlotte. The victory clinched the top seed in the Conference USA tournament for the Cardinals. A victory at De Paul tomorrow or a loss by Charlotte would give the Cardinals the conference title outright. Junior Taquan Dean backed up O’Bannon with 27 points. Ellis Myles, Otis George and Garcia also played their last home game. Myles narrowly missed a triple-double with 10 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, Garcia had 10, six and six, and George chipped in with three points and five boards.
Huskies Continue to Roll:
After putting on a three-point shooting exhibition in its victory over Arizona Saturday, Washington showed no signs of slowing down as they demolished Cal 106-73 in Berkeley Thursday night. With the Win, the Huskies tied Arizona for the Pac-Ten lead. Either a Washington win or Arizona loss will give Washington the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament in Los Angeles next weekend. Tre Simmons, Bobby Jones and Nate Robinson continued to lead the way for the Huskies. Simmons and Jones finished with 22 and Robinson 21 as the Huskies shot 16-of-30 from three-point range. Rod Benson led Cal with 15.
Pacific Survives Upset Attempt:
Guillaume Yango scored 27 points, and Tyler Newton hit two free throws with one second remaining, as Pacific won its 20th straight game with a 92-88 victory against Cal State Fullerton. The Tigers overcame a late six-point deficit to move within one game of a perfect season in the Big West. Ralphy Holmes had 24, and Yaphett King 22 to lead the Titans.
Nevada Clinches WAC Title:
Despite playing with a broken nose, Nick Fazekas scored 20 points and had 12 rebounds to lead Nevada to a 55-47 victory at Hawaii to capture the WAC’s regular season title. The Wolf Pack have not lost a conference road game this season and will finish the season at San Jose State tomorrow. They were ranked for the first time in school history earlier this week and, at 23-5, are off to the school’s best start since 1946. Kevinn Pinkney had 14 points and 13 rebounds. Matt Gibson scored 14 to become Hawaii’s only double figure scorer in the game.
Cougars Pull Off Another Shocker:
With a spot squarely on the bubble and Washington coming into Maples Pavilion Saturday, Stanford could not be caught looking ahead to their showdown with the Huskies. After winning at Arizona earlier in the season, Washington State added another impressive road win to its resume with a 59-48 shocker at Stanford Thursday night. The Cougars led 16-12 at the half, and no, that wasn’t Cardinal and Cougar football teams playing Thursday night. But the second half turned into a track meet, and Wazzu outscored Stanford 43-36 after the intermission. Robbie Cowgill paced Washington State with 15, and Thomas Kelati had 14. Matt Haryasz led Stanford with 17 before fouling out.
Conference Tournaments:
The top seeds won close games in the Atlantic Sun conference tournament yesterday, as No. 1 Gardner Webb beat No. 8 Troy 64-62, No. 2 Central Florida won by 13 against No. 7 Mercer 81-68, No. 3 Belmont took care of No. 6 Georgia State 67-61, and No. 4 Jacksonville slipped by No. 5 Lipscomb 68-64. The first potential Cinderella story is brewing in the Big South as No. 7 Charleston Southern advances to the conference championship with a 58-55 win at No. 6 High Point. Charleston Southern will play No. 1 Winthrop, as the Eagles beat No. 4 Birmingham Southern 78-64.
Meanwhile, the NEC’s quarterfinals produced one upset as No. 6 Wagner beat No. 3 Robert Morris 69-65 while No. 1 Monmouth beat No. 8 Central Connecticut State 54-53, No. 2 Fairleigh Dickinson beat No. 7 St. Francis, N.Y., 78-60, and No. 4 Long Island beat No. 5 St. Francis, Pa., 76-67. The Southern Conference tournament also produced one upset in the quarterfinals as No. 3 North Appalachian State beat No. 2 South College of Charleston 63-60 while No. 1 South Davidson beat No. 4 North Elon 67-53, No. 1 North Tennesee-Chattanooga beat No. 5 North East Tennessee State 77-70, and No. 2 North UNC-Greensboro beat No. 3 South Georgia Southern 73-71. For complete coverage of conference tournaments, visit our Thirteen Days: Championship Week 2005.
Coach Comings and Goings:
Nick Macarchuk will retire after 28 years at the Division I level. Macarchuk has compiled a 63-107 mark in seven years at Stony Brook and is 373-427 overall. He has also coached at Cansius and Fordham. Macarchuk took Fordham to its first NCAA Tournament in 20 years in 1992 and was named the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year in 1999 after guiding the Rams to a 12-15 record in its first season in the conference. Stony Brook has an 11-16 record this season and will open against Hartford tonight in the America East Tournament.
After 320 wins in 25 years at Eastern Illinois, Rich Samuels has been fired at Eastern Illinois. The Panthers suffered their through their fourth consecutive losing season this year. EIU finished 12-16 this year and eighth in an 11-team Ohio Valley Conference.
After a six-season run with a 58-133 record, the John Robic era has come to an end at Youngstown State. The Penguins went 5-23 this season and lost to Loyola, Ill., in the first round of the Horizon League tournament. Robic helped oversee the transition from the Mid-Continent to the Horizon conference. To find out more information about who’s in and who’s out, check out Hoopville’s Coaching Changes
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Despite only a 30-52 record in three seasons, Evansville has given coach Steve Merfeld a two-year contract extension. The Purple Aces begin the Missouri Valley conference tournament tonight against Drake.
Pierce Hearing Cancelled:
A hearing into burglary charges against former Iowa player Pierre Pierce has been dropped. Pierce’s attorney Alfredo Parrish sent a letter to judge Gregory Hulse asking to cancel the hearing because of the way that the charges were filed by prosecutors. Two separate burglary charges were filed from the same incident. Pierce pleaded not guilty to two counts of first degree burglary, assault with intent to commit sexual abuse and fourth degree criminal mischief. A trial date should be set today. Pierce could face 56 years in prison and $9,000 in fines if he is convicted. Pierce was booted from the Iowa team earlier in the season by coach Steve Alford. Previously, Pierce sat out the entire 2002-03 season because of another sexual assault incident.
Syracuse Overtakes Kentucky for Lead in National Attendance:
After 10 years at the top. Kentucky has lost its title as the national leader in attendance. The Orange averaged 22,978, while Kentucky attracted 22,520 fans per contest this season. The Wildcats attendance was a drop from 22,710 last season.
Kentucky Will Add Hall of Fame:
Kentucky has decided to bring the way their teams honor former athletes under one umbrella. Previously, the football teams had a ring of honor in Commonwealth Stadium, and the basketball team would retire jerseys. There had not been a way for deciding which athletes would receive those honors, though. The first 89 athletes to be inducted in the new Wildcat hall of fame will be the ones who have had jerseys retired or are in the ring of honor. In the future, inductees will have a five-year waiting period at the conclusion of their UK careers and will have both their Kentucky and post-Kentucky accomplishments considered for a spot in the UK hall. Athletes will have to be in the hall to have a jersey retired or a spot on the ring.
Washington State Players Cleared of Violations:
Washington State freshmen Alex Kirk and Robbie Cowgill have been cleared of any violations of the school’s conduct code. Kirk and Cowgill were accused of making racially harassing gestures toward an Asian-American student. The student is employed at WSU’s Multicultural Center and complained that the two were part of a group of students who pass her window and make animal and racially insensitive gestures. It was concluded that although the behavior was adolescent and repeated, it did not violate the school’s conduct code.
ASU and Xavier Announce Schedule Agreement:
Arizona State and Xavier have announced a deal for a home-and-home series commencing in 2006. The Sun Devils will visit Xavier in December 2006 and then welcome the Musketeers to Tempe in November 2007. Xavier reached the Elite Eight last season and has participated in four consecutive NCAA tournaments and six of the last eight. ASU has also announced agreements with Minnesota and Iowa for the next two seasons. The Sun Devils have a 15-13 record against the Big Ten.
Former Minnesota Whistle Blower Dies:
Jan Gangelhoff, who blew the whistle on academic fraud at Minnesota, has died at the age of 56 from cancer. Gangelhoff announced in 1999 that she had done course work for at least 18 former Gopher basketball players. Gangelhoff’s admission led to former coach Clem Haskins’ and several top administrators’ resignations. Gangelhoff pled guilty to felony fraud but had the plea thrown out on technical grounds. The Justice Department decided not to prosecute Gangelhoff.
Floyd Doesn’t Accept Bibby Recruit:
Saying he wants USC to compete at the level of Arizona, Tim Floyd has decided not to offer a scholarship to 6-7 forward Theo White from Tyler Junior College in Texas. White had been recruited to play at USC by Henry Bibby who was fired four games into this season. He had made a verbal agreement to attend USC but did not sign a letter of intent.
