Welcome to the latest edition of Talking Hoops With Ted Sarandis. As the great rivalry matchups hit, we have plenty to look back on both early in this week and over the weekend that was, and then we look ahead as well.
First, we talk about Tennessee and Kentucky after the Volunteers edged the Wildcats 61-59 for their first season sweep in 19 years. It’s a reminder that Rick Barnes is a pretty good coach, as the Volunteers don’t have the individual talent of Kentucky although they have more experience and don’t lack talent. Tennessee is all alone in second place in the SEC, while Kentucky is further back and has a tough schedule remaining before the SEC Tournament. This Kentucky team has some resemblance to the team of 2013-14 that was very inconsistent in the regular season before making a run to the national title game, but the comparison doesn’t seem likely to extend that far.
We then go on to talk about the wild Saturday of college basketball we just had, which began with St. John’s beating Duke. In fact, the Blue Devils, Kansas and Kentucky all lost on the same day as ranked teams for the first time in over a decade.
The next subject is a Big Ten showdown coming up on Wednesday night as Purdue hosts Ohio State. The Boilermakers are winning in an unorthodox way – with a senior-laden team, without flash, by moving the ball (assisting on over 60 percent of their baskets) and shooting over 50 percent from the field, including almost 43 percent from long range, as a result. Ohio State, meanwhile, has been quite the turnaround once Big Ten play began, with the big change for this team being better defense.
Purdue is one of a dozen teams remaining that has not lost a conference game yet this year. We run down the list, then Ted and I both talk about who has the toughest and easiest road to finishing conference play undefeated.
Finally, we look ahead a little more and also note that this weekend will feature Autism Speaks Coaches Powering Forward. Towson head coach Pat Skerry and USF assistant coach Tom Herrion created it in 2014, as both have sons diagnosed with autism. We invite you to find out more about the event, autism and Autism Speaks at this link.
We hope you enjoy the show and share it with your fellow college basketball fans. We look forward to coming back again next week.
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