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Last Call for 2010

December 31, 2010 Columns No Comments

FULL COURT SPRINTS

BASELINE TO BASELINE

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

  1. The Connecticut women’s team finally lost after 1,000 days and 90 consecutive wins. Stanford knocked off the Huskies by a dozen to end one of the most remarkable runs in sports history.
  2. On the topic of remarkable runs, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski passed North Carolina’s Dean Smith on the list of careers win when the Blue Devils beat down UNC Greensboro Dec. 29. He’s up to 880 wins and has his mentor, Bob Knight, in his sights at 902.
  3. Mississippi landed a McDonald’s All-American somewhat indirectly as former Memphis recruit Jelan Kendrick announced he will transfer to the Rebels and will be eligible after the 2011 fall semester, writes the Associated Press’ Neal McCready.
  4. CBSSports.com’s Gary Parrish points out the NCAA’s hypocrisy in handling the violations committed by Kansas State’s Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly compared to, say, the ridiculously massive fiasco of Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton, whose father basically sold his son’s services to the highest bidder.
  5. The Associated Press’ Luke Meredith goes on a whirlwind tour of teams with new coaches and finds many of them struggling in Year One.
  6. Speaking of new coaches, Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg is losing a little depth as junior guard DeMarcus Phillips announced that he will transfer, according to a university release.
  7. ESPN’s Andy Katz sums up the financial and competitive costs of Fairfield’s weather-induced cancellation against Florida.
  8. Florida State’s Chris Singleton tells you who he finds difficult to defend in the ACC with a top five list led by Duke’s Kyle Singler.
  9. Injury update: Xavier’s Jay Canty is out for at least a month with a stress fracture while Northwestern could have John Shurna for a huge game against Purdue Dec. 31 after he sprained his ankle against Mount St. Mary’s Dec. 23.
 As the year comes to a close, a few big non-conference games provided an opportunity for quality wins, while the Big East kicked off its conference season with a match up of top 10 teams.

  • Pittsburgh 78, Connecticut 63
  • Wisconsin 68, Minnesota 60
  • Syracuse 81, Providence 74
  • Notre Dame 69, Georgetown 55
  • St. John’s 81, West Virginia 71
  • Dayton 73, George Mason 67
  • Missouri State 58, Northern Iowa 57
  • Vanderbilt 77, Marquette 76
  • Villanova 78, Temple 74
  • Missouri 81, Old Dominion 58

STUDY SESSION

OPENING TIP
Phil Kasiecki foresees Patriot League success for a battle-tested Bucknell team that nearly took out Boston College recently.

Phil also shares his observations on Cornell, New Hampshire, VCU and Wofford from the Holiday on the Hardwood Classic, including notes on some talented bench depth and a team playing more competitively than expected.

Michael Protos shows off the impressive stats posted by Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger in the latest Total Impact Quotient player ratings for the Big Ten. He also has updated ratings for ACC players, with Florida State rising while its star player falls a little in production.

Michael also bemoans the lack of a middle class in the ACC, as Duke continues to rule the roost and the rest of the conference scuffles along.

 We flip the calendar on a new year at midnight tonight, and there are plenty of great games to entertain the masses today. Conference play heats up with the arrival of 2011, and the Big East, Mountain West and Big South have some huge match ups on the docket this week.

12/31:

  • Minnesota at Michigan State
  • Ohio State at Indiana
  • Northwestern at Purdue
  • Kentucky at Louisville
  • Oklahoma State at Gonzaga

1/1:

  • Notre Dame at Syracuse
  • West Virginia at Marquette
  • Valparaiso at Butler
  • New Mexico at Dayton

1/2:

  • Wisconsin at Illinois
  • Miami at Duke
  • High Point at Coastal Carolina

1/3:

  • Michigan State at Northwestern

1/4:

  • Connecticut at Notre Dame
  • Missouri State at Creighton

1/5:

  • Memphis at Tennessee
  • BYU at UNLV
  • Harvard at Boston College
  • Drexel at VCU

1/6:

  • Northwestern at Illinois
  • Xavier at Cincinnati

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The new year brings hope, optimism and resolutions as players, coaches, fans and everyone else looks to make 2011 even better than 2010.

If you’re Duke, that’s pretty hard to do. The Blue Devils’ resolution might easily be repeat everything in 2010: Peek in March (and April), win the national championship, deliver a great recruiting class led by a dominant guard, and witness your coach pass a legendary coach on the list of all-time most coaching victories. The scary part is that Duke has a significant chance of checking off all those items on the list.

For everyone else who didn’t enjoy as much success in 2010, the arrival of a new year is an opportunity to open a new chapter on the season or continue on the path to improvement. It helps that for college basketball teams, the new year also coincides with the arrival of the meat-and-potatoes portion of the conference season. You didn’t win many big-time games against other conferences? That’s OK. Just take care of business in January through early March, and you’ll still be in good shape to earn an NCAA Tournament bid.

For the vast majority of Division I teams, winning a conference championship and simply getting an opportunity to reach the Big Dance is a thrilling goal. The new year is their time to shine, and we’ll be watching closely to see which teams continue success forged in 2010 or turn over a new leaf with the new year and rise to conference glory.

Comment on this Article:

Phil Kasiecki on Twitter

  • The next game will be tomorrow night, with George Mason at Northeastern, a 7 p.m. tip. about 16 hours ago from web
  • Final score: UMass 80, Xavier 73. UMass and Xavier are both 8-5 in Atlantic 10 play. about 16 hours ago from web
  • Xavier has struggled all game, largely with turnovers, but has slowly battled to within 77-71 with 24.9 seconds left. about 16 hours ago from web
  • Getting online was a major challenge all night. Finally got connected with a few minutes left in this one. about 16 hours ago from web
  • The next game will be on Tuesday night with Xavier at UMass, a 7 p.m. tip. 1:01 AM February 20, 2012 from web
  • Final score: Duke 75, Boston College 50. Duke has won four in a row since losing to Florida State. BC has lost three straight. 1:00 AM February 20, 2012 from web

Michael Protos on Twitter

  • Those 3 games for the Tar Heels have also been the slowest-paced games since early December. Slower pace, more PT for starters, better team? about 3 hours ago from web
  • For the first time in ACC play, UNC's offense has 3 straight games with at least 1.1 points/poss. Offense looks to be peaking. about 3 hours ago from web
  • With X losing at UMass and Colorado State beating New Mexico, I've got Xavier moving out of the brackets and the Rams moving in. about 5 hours ago from web
  • Scores outside Top25 to note: Binghamton 57 VT 53 (1st win!); S Brook 74 Hart 50; UMass 80 Xav 73; UMD 75 Miami 70; Creigh 93 Eville 92 OT. about 5 hours ago from web
  • I pretty much agree 100% with the Poynter Institute on ESPN's handling of racial insensitivity related to Jeremy Lin. http://t.co/FDlQJwlr about 20 hours ago from web
  • Here are some of the top news from yesterday and a look ahead to some great action on tap tonight: http://t.co/rp7t3qHX 2:09 PM February 21, 2012 from web

Your Phil of Hoops

Ivy League showdown looms between old rivals

February 18, 2012 by

ivy

The stage is set. Saturday night at Lavietes Pavilion will be a potentially epic battle with first place on the line after Friday night’s results. Old rivals Yale and Harvard will battle for the top, with Harvard hoping for a repeat of the result the last time these two teams met.

St. John’s moves forward through a season of adversity

February 13, 2012 by

stjohns

St. John’s hasn’t stopped competing despite numerous challenges this season. That was clearly evident in a tough 71-61 loss at Georgetown on Sunday, one where the team moved forward despite the game going in the right-hand column.

Boston College looks confident in win over Florida State

February 9, 2012 by

bostoncollege

Boston College looked like a confident team on Wednesday night. With that and some excellent three-point shooting early on, they got a big win against Florida State that shows how they have developed and will only add to their confidence.

Northeastern is not yet a contender in the CAA

February 3, 2012 by

northeastern

After losing to Drexel on Wednesday night, where Northeastern stands is clear in the CAA. They are not contenders yet, and until they knock off a team ahead of them in the standings, that’s where they will be.

Harvard asserts itself in the opening weekend of Ivy League play

January 29, 2012 by

harvard

The first full weekend of Ivy League play is in the books, and one thing that wasn’t too surprising happened: the league favorites asserted themselves as just that. Harvard looked like a team on a mission, and coming away with two convincing road wins is what was desired.

Quick Hitters – January 27, 2012

January 27, 2012 by

author_kasiecki

Some quick hitters about Boston University’s rebounding, a transfer helping Marquette, an improving Husky guard and a couple of key road wins among others as we head into another weekend.

Quinnipiac finally pulls one out to close road swing

January 22, 2012 by

quinnipiac

Quinnipiac can now head home with the hope that their last game in the current road stretch does more for them than add one into the left-hand column. The Bobcats had a few tough games recently, and had another one in which they managed to pull out a 78-71 win in overtime at Bryant on Saturday.

Quick Hitters – January 21, 2012

January 21, 2012 by

author_kasiecki

We have a few quick hitters on a streaking America East team, another whose star had his first rough night, two inconsistent Patriot League teams and a couple of teams who have lost a player for the season but for different reasons.

Ron Hunter is already changing the culture at Georgia State

January 19, 2012 by

georgiastate

Ron Hunter knew he had a culture to change at Georgia State, and he knew he was in a different place. Now he has a different issue on his hands with his team, which stands 5-2 in CAA play after a loss at Northeastern on Wednesday night.

Boston College off to a surprising start in ACC play

January 15, 2012 by

bostoncollege

There’s a big surprise near the top of the ACC standings. With only Duke sporting an undefeated record, one team in the logjam at 2-1 is the very young Boston College Eagles after two straight home wins.

Full Court Sprints

Plenty of teams prepare to jockey for seeding, selection tonight

In the immortal words of the Black Eyed peas, tonight’s gonna be a good night. There are 40 teams in action tonight, and more than half of them are likely to appear in the NCAA Tournament or seriously challenge for their conference’s automatic bid. We’ve got elite powers like Kentucky, …

Conference Coverage

Much Is At Stake In The Final Week Of Horizon League Play

February 21, 2012 by

horizon

The last week of conference play has arrived in the Horizon League. Over the past few years, the battle for the top seeds in the Horizon League has not been decided until the final game of conference play. This year is no exception, with multiple teams having a legitimate chance …

Cleveland State Loses To Drexel Dragons 69-49 In ESPN BracketBusters Matchup

February 18, 2012 by

horizon

The Cleveland State Vikings and Drexel Dragons squared off on Saturday morning at the Wolstein Center as part of ESPN’s BracketBusters series. Saturday’s contest marks the second straight year in which the Vikings have participated in the BracketBusters series. Last season, the Vikings dropped a hard-fought contest to Old Dominion …

Butler Bulldogs Hang On To Defeat Cleveland State Vikings, 52-49

February 11, 2012 by

horizon

Although the rivalry between the Cleveland State Vikings and Butler Bulldogs may not be as nationally known as the rivalry between Duke and North Carolina, the intensity that is in the air whenever these two Horizon League rivals square off is just as strong. In fact, the animosity between these …

Valparaiso Crusaders Dominate Cleveland State Vikings 59-41

February 9, 2012 by

horizon

The Cleveland State Vikings and Valparaiso Crusaders squared off on Thursday night at the Wolstein Center in one of the most important games of the season for both teams. While the Vikings’ season-opening victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores may have been extremely important with regards to quality wins that are …

Big Sky Conference update – Jan 26, 2012

January 26, 2012 by

bigsky

JUST IN TIME FOR TONIGHT’S GAMES… All the news you ever wanted to know about the Big Sky, the weekly edition. YOUR WEEKLY DAMIAN LILLARD IS A STUD LINK-FEST: A Salt Lake Tribune story on his success. USA Today also jumped in sometime in the last week to talk about …

Cleveland State Vikings Overwhelm Milwaukee Panthers 83-57

January 22, 2012 by

horizon

In a game with major implications for the regular season Horizon League championship and seeding for the Horizon League Tournament, the Cleveland State Vikings dominated the Milwaukee Panthers by a score of 83-57 in a game in which the Panthers never led. The Vikings and Panthers began the day in …

Big Sky Conference update – January 18, 2012

January 18, 2012 by

bigsky

One team stands alone atop the standings for now, with another a little behind them and a logjam near the middle of the pack.

Cleveland State Use Barrages from Outside to Defeat Loyola

January 7, 2012 by

horizon

The Cleveland State Vikings started 2012 off on a winning note with a 69-48 victory at home on Saturday afternoon over the visiting Loyola Ramblers. In his pregame radio comments, Vikings coach Gary Waters stated that the Ramblers’ 5-10 record heading into Saturday’s matchup was deceiving and that the Ramblers were …

Big Sky roundup, week 1

January 5, 2012 by

bigsky

Opening weekend in the Big Sky Eastern Washington Record: 7-7, 1-1 Weekend: 1-1 Major superlatives: Won by 16, lost by 8; 76.5 ppg for, 72.5 against; plus-4 scoring margin; 52-112 FG; 20-53 3pt; 29-43 FT. Summary: One night, the lead stuck. The other, it didn’t. The Eagles made an early …

Your Big Sky Conference primer

December 28, 2011 by

bigsky

The Big Sky is about to dive in to conference play, and so far, the season has unfolded pretty much as expected, with Sacramento State looking like the one surprise.

Around the Horizon League: Week 7

December 28, 2011 by

horizon

Like the rest of the country, the Horizon League teams have been enjoying the holiday season and taking it easy on the hardwood. Here’s a roundup of the action that did go down during the past week.

Cleveland State messes with Texas, defeats Sam Houston State Bearkats

December 22, 2011 by

clevelandstate

Cleveland State had plenty of Christmas cheer to share in the Vikings’ easy win against Sam Houston State, though they didn’t exactly give the Bearkats a festive feeling.

Around The Horizon League: Week 6

December 22, 2011 by

horizon

Butler Bulldogs (5-7): Butler began the week with a matchup against the Purdue Boilermakers at Conseco Fieldhouse. Having struggled in the early part of the season, the Bulldogs probably weren’t given much of a chance by most observers against the Boilermakers. Summing up some of the magic that has helped …

Around The Horizon League: Weeks 4-5

December 14, 2011 by

horizon

Butler Bulldogs (4-6): Butler has continued to struggle in the early stages of the 2011-12 college basketball season. However, don’t start writing Butler’s obituary just yet. Horizon League fans shouldn’t forget that Butler began last season slowly and bottomed out with a loss to Youngstown State before turning their season …

A busy and exciting week in the Big Sky

December 13, 2011 by

bigsky

We take a quick run through the results from the past week in the Big Sky Conference, giving a little love to each team in the conference.