The Morning Dish – Tuesday, March 1st
Pitt Rocks BC: Pittsburgh snapped a three-game losing streak with a 72-50 win at
Boston College last night. Antonio Graves led five Panthers in double figures with 13 points
and five rebounds. The Eagles failed to clinch a share of the Big East title but can still
claim the conference crown outright with a win in their regular season finale coupled with a
Connecticut loss to Georgetown or Syracuse.
Salukis Sneak By Sycamores: Southern Illinois got 22 points from Darren Brooks on
8-of-10 shooting en route to a 60-52 win at Indiana State. It was the Salukis’ 25th win of
the season.
Sooners Handle Texas: Oklahoma had little trouble taking care of Texas in Austin last
night, leaving town with a 74-58 win. David Godbold scored 14 points and grabbed nine
rebounds, and Lawrence McKenzie scored a game-high 16 points off the bench for the Sooners,
who out-rebounded the Longhorns 38-29 and clinched a bye in the first round of the Big 12
tournament.
Zags Cruise Past Bears: Ronny Turiaf delivered a 22-point, eight-rebound performance
on senior night at the Kennel to lead Gonzaga to an 87-60 win against Northern Colorado. The
Zags jumped out to a 50-19 halftime lead in a late-season non-conference tuneup. Gonzaga,
which won the West Coast Conference regular season title, has a bye into the semifinals of
the WCC tournament.
Landry Done: Purdue’s Carl Landry, the Big Ten’s second-leading scorer averaging 18.2
points per game, will miss the rest of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate
ligament in his right knee during Saturday’s home loss to Minnesota. Landry was also
averaging 7.1 rebounds per game.
VMI’s Bellairs Dismissed: Virginia Military Institute head coach Bart Bellairs was
reassigned by athletic director Donny White Monday, two days after the Keydets beat High
Point 69-61 to finish the season 9-18 overall and 3-13 in the Big South. Bellairs was
116-191 at VMI, which was the only team in the conference not to qualify for the postseason
tournament. He had five years remaining on his contract and will coordinate marketing
contracts for VMI among other duties in his new position.
Pierce Pleads Not Guilty: Former Iowa basketball guard Pierre Pierce, who was
dismissed from the team Feb. 2, pleaded not guilty to charges that he assaulted his
ex-girlfriend. Pierce was charged in February with two counts of burglary, assault with
intent to commit sexual assault, which are felonies, in addition to one charge of criminal mischief. If convicted of
all charges, he could be sentenced to up to 56 years in prison and fined $9,000. His trial
will begin by mid-May.
Hobbs Gets Three-Year Extension: George Washington head coach Karl Hobbs signed a
three-year contract extension that will keep him in D.C. through the 2010-11 season. The
Colonials are 18-6 this season and can clinch a share of the West Division title with a win
against last year’s champ Saint Joseph’s Tuesday. Hobbs is 60-51 in three-plus season at
George Washington after spending eight seasons as an assistant at Connecticut.
Moore’s Career Ends: Cincinnati junior guard Chadd Moore, who has been sidelined for
most of the last four games by the flu and a sore back, has opted to leave the team because of
back problems that have bothered him throughout his three seasons. Moore, who was averaging
3.3 points and 2.5 assists in 24 games this season, will keep his basketball scholarship.
His departure leaves Jihad Muhammad as the Bearcats’ only point guard.
Leibovitz Fills In for Chaney: Temple assistant coach Dan Leibovitz will take over
the helm of the Owls for the final three games of the regular season while head coach John
Chaney serves his suspension. Leibovitz will also lead the Owls in the Atlantic 10
tournament. As part of a self-imposed penalty, Chaney will not coach at the event because Saint Joseph’s John Bryant,
who broke his arm as a result of a hard foul Chaney instructed a Temple player to commit against the Hawks, will not
be able to play.
NCAA Releases APR Numbers: Slightly more than 50 percent of Division I schools could
lose scholarships in at least one sport next year because of poor academic performance. The
NCAA will penalize teams that score below its new Academic Progress Rate (APR) cutoff of
925. The APR awards scholarship athletes one point for staying eligible and another point
each semester for staying school. A team’s APR is calculated by dividing the sum of its
members’ point totals by the total number of possible points. Forty-seven percent of
Division I basketball programs fell below the 925 cutoff based on 2003-04 data. The report
was sent to every Division I school for review and as a precautionary warning to schools
with poor academic performance.
Tonight’s Menu:
• Michigan State travels to Northwestern.
• Indiana visits Wisconsin.
