Full Court Sprints

After the Feast

by Michael Protos

FULL COURT SPRINTS

BASELINE TO BASELINE

LAST SHOT
Go coast to coast with our roundup of the nation’s top stories.

The Bruce Pearl edition:

  1. News broke early last week that SEC Commish Mike Slive has banned Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl from the Volunteers’ first eight SEC games.
  2. In Jason King’s SEC roundup on YahooSports.com, King writes that the Volunteers are keeping their focus on the court in this time of trouble for their coach.
  3. Pearl’s suspension should be considered within the context of other SEC machinations, writes ESPN.com’s Dana O’Neil.
  4. Meanwhile, David beat Goliath in Maui as Chaminade, host of the EA Sports Maui Invitational, upset Oklahoma in the final game of the tournament for both teams.
  5. Chaminade’s upset wasn’t the only event that shook the major conference teams in Maui: A 4.7-magnitude earthquake rattled Kentucky and Washington for five seconds during their second-round match up, according to the Associated Press.
  6. You just don’t want to play Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence. The team won a 63rd consecutive game at home, the longest such streak in school history, according to a CBSSports.com news report.
  7. Division III Skidmore and Southern Vermont go seven overtimes to settle a 128-123 marathon that ties the NCAA record for longest game, according to the Associated Press.
 The pre-Thanksgiving holiday tournaments served several excellent appetizers this past week. Here are some of the biggest games.

  • Michigan St. 76, Washington 71
  • Duke 82, Kansas State 68
  • Kentucky 74, Washington 67
  • Kansas State 81, Gonzaga 64
  • UNLV 68, Wisconsin 65
  • Pittsburgh 68, Texas 66

Meanwhile, four teams had some eye-opening wins or losses: Connecticut, Minnesota, North Carolina and Old Dominion.

  • Connecticut 84, Kentucky 67
  • Connecticut 70, Michigan State 67
  • Old Dominion 67, Xavier 58
  • Old Dominion 61, Clemson 60
  • Vanderbilt 72, North Carolina 65
  • Minnesota 72, North Carolina 67
  • Minnesota 74, West Virginia 70

STUDY SESSION

OPENING TIP
Phil Kasiecki spent a long weekend in New Haven, Conn., for the National Prep Showcase, which — as the event’s name implies — showcased plenty of up-and-coming high school players. Many of those players are destined for top programs, and plenty of others will land with hard-working mid-major teams. Phil wraps up the action from the Friday, Saturday and Sunday before Thanksgiving. The Big Ten/ACC Challenge gets under way this week, capped by a battle royale between Duke and Michigan State. Here are some of the tastiest morsels of the next week.

11/26:

  • Tennessee vs. Villanova in New York

11/28:

  • Florida at Florida State

11/30:

  • Ohio State at Florida State
  • Cornell at Syracuse
  • Georgetown at Missouri
  • North Carolina at Illinois
  • Saint Louis at Portland

12/1:

  • Michigan State at Duke
  • Purdue at Virginia Tech
  • Saint Mary’s at San Diego State
  • American at West Virginia
  • Richmond at Old Dominion

12/2:

  • UCLA at Kansas
  • Missouri at Oregon

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Happy Thanksgiving, Hoops Nation!

On this holiday weekend, I’d like to take a moment to give thanks for the privilege of watching great players and great teams in action. In the past week, we have seen a bona fide superstar emerge in Maui, as Connecticut’s Kemba Walker cooked two top 10 teams with a huge serving of 90 points in three games. In Kansas City, better known for barbecue than turkey feasts, Duke devoured all comers, including a resilient Marquette squad and top five Kansas State, which played in front of a partisan crowd.

Last season, Walker battled through a tough season for the Huskies, who missed the NCAA Tournament for only the fifth time since 1990. As a sophomore, he averaged a respectable 14.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.1 rebounds per game. This season, he has more than doubled that points total through five games, averaging 30.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. Although Walker’s assists are down, he isn’t committing as many turnovers this season and actually has a better assist-to-turnover ratio. He’s almost single-handedly dominating games, and he’s lifting holiday hopes in Storrs that this season will see Connecticut return to the top of the Big East standings after a one-season hiatus.

In Durham, Duke fans are already thankful to celebrate Thanksgiving as reigning national champions. With the Blue Devils’ start to this season, there’s reason to be hopeful that they’ll get to do so again next year. Duke dismantled Kansas State 82-68 in Wildcat territory in the CBE Classic. Although team leaders Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith pitched in 28 points on 40 percent shooting, the rest of Duke’s players looked great, tallying 54 points on 55.2 percent shooting. Freshman point guard Kyrie Irving lived up to the hype with 17 points, five rebounds and six assists. If Duke can continue to play balanced basketball, this Blue Devil team genuinely might end up being better than last season’s squad.

It’s early in the season, and we already have plenty of high-quality hoops to celebrate. The holiday season promises to deliver plenty of gifts on the hardwood, setting us up for a fantastic conference season with the turn of the new year.

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