Everybody’s doing it. Everybody denies it, but everybody’s doing it. At this time of the year, every coaching staff in America is scrutinizing its remaining schedule. Can we win our conference? Can we get a conference tournament bye? Can we get an at-large bid to one tournament to another?
But Wait - There's More!
Reggie Jackson Emerges For Boston College
Entering the season, Reggie Jackson projected to be the best of Boston College’s three freshmen. He looked the part early on, as it’s clear he’s a terrific athlete and has some offensive skills that should get better. But you could also tell early on that he was a freshman, and with the way Boston College plays, the learning curve that comes with playing college basketball isn’t always expedited.
Hoop Group Lehigh Valley Showcase Recap
Parkland High School was the site of the 14th annual Lehigh Valley Hoop Group Showcase on Sunday. It consisted of four games, the last two of which came right down to the end. The first game of the day was short on Division I prospects but not long on good shooting by one team. Victorious Emmaus, the alma mater of former Pitt big man Aaron Gray, shot 54 percent from the field and a scorching 10-17 from long range en route to their 84-74 win.
UIC Flames at Wright State
Tonight Wright State held University of Illinois-Chicago to just five buckets in the second half and a school record 31 points in the game as the Raiders win 57-31.
Wildcats Hang Tough, Hold Off Quinnipiac
DURHAM, N.H. – Dane DiLiegro opened and closed the game with authority, but it took a team effort during his absence to overcome a tenacious Quinnipiac team and earn a 77-70 victory.
With the win UNH improved to 3-1 on the season. Eric Gilchrese scored 20 points, while Mike Christensen added 17 and Alvin Abreu came off the bench for 14, as the Wildcats overcame 25 points each from Quinnipiac’s combo of DeMario Anderson and Evann Baker.
The local media might still be ignoring the Wildcats, but it’s apparent to everyone who’s seen them play that this New Hampshire team is for real.
Horizon Notebook: Butler Too Good for Green Bay in Battle for First Place
The Wisconsin-Green Bay team may not have read this space recently, as we had long decided that the Horizon regular season belongs to Butler. In fact, the only question that remains in the mind of this writer is whether Butler will lose a single game, either in the Horizon regular season or in a conference tournament in which it will need to win but twice, both games at home.
Losing Hasn’t Slowed Dartmouth’s Barnett
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Alex Barnett remembered something his coach said about their Ivy League travel partner. Dartmouth last won at Harvard in 1999, despite having some chances since then to pull out a win at Lavietes Pavilion. Fifth-year head coach Terry Dunn was determined to change that, and, it turns out, his senior star had something to do with it.
Wolfpack Playing with Heavy Hearts
Coaches talk all the time about playing for 40 minutes. You don’t win games playing 20, 30, 35 or even 39 minutes unless you’re significantly better than a team. Even then, a full 40-minute effort is what’s needed to get a win. Right now, that’s the big battle North Carolina State is facing, and their latest example is their 79-68 loss at Boston College on Saturday.
Wright State Shuts Down Loyola
Another day, another defensive gem for the Wright State Raiders as they held Loyola to 29.4 percent shooting for the game and 15.4 percent in the second half to get a homecourt win, 68-47.
Vaughan’s Terrific Outing Makes us Appreciate the Game
Thankfully, it appears John Vaughan will be okay after what happened Wednesday night at Matthews Arena. A report on Thursday said he will be out for at least a week, but it’s certainly better than being a life-changing injury, which some at the arena surely feared.
