Porter comes up big again for Georgetown

STORRS, Conn. – Otto Porter didn’t need to score 33 points on Wednesday night, although like on Saturday he did have a much better second half than first half.  Georgetown won the game after many twists and turns.  And while Porter didn’t need to be a hero by scoring as many points, he was still the one who made the play that counted the most when the game was on the line.

It wasn’t a memorable individual game, but no one who was at Gampel Pavilion on Wendesday night will forget Georgetown’s 79-78 win over Connecticut in double overtime where they scored the last eight points, five coming from Porter.

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Galloway, La Salle closing in on the NCAA Tournament

SOUTH KINGSTON, R.I. – When Ramon Galloway gets going, he can be fun to watch unless you’re on the other team. While he has a couple of teammates that can be like that as well, the La Salle senior guard stands out among them. While he didn’t do that on Sunday to the level he has often this season, he was able to spur his team to a 72-65 win at Rhode Island by leading a big stretch when he came alive.

Teammate Tyreek Duren, who led the way with 21 points, said Galloway didn’t feel good about his performance but knows how good he has often been for this team.

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Lalanne could be the missing piece for UMass

AMHERST, Mass. – Cady Lalanne just might be the missing link for UMass.  His play of late seems to indicate as much, and on Saturday, he was a difference-maker in the Minutemen’s 76-66 win over Dayton.  He showed what they’ve needed from him all year in a season that has been hampered by things outside of performance on the court.

Lalanne scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds on Saturday to help the Minuteman out-rebound a Dayton team that is pretty good on the glass.  The Flyers entered the day with the fourth-best rebounding margin in the Atlantic 10, while the Minutemen held the slightest of edges on the season.  But the Minutemen had a 36-27 edge on the glass on the afternoon, including 13 rebounds, and that made a big difference.

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Another Ivy League showdown is on the way

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The stage is set for another showdown on Friday night. Two familiar foes in recent years will meet in Jadwin Gym with first place in the Ivy League on the line, and that’s pretty much what was expected all along. The only question was the teams’ records coming in, and they will remain separated by a game in the loss column after Harvard pulled out a 72-66 win at Yale on Saturday night.

Princeton took care of their end of the bargain by blasting Cornell a night after they took care of Columbia. With the late start in New Haven, this was known well before the game was over. It was just a question of whether or not Harvard would hold up its end and head to Princeton with one league loss or two.

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A look around the country – February 24, 2013

Among the 140 games played on Saturday were the last BracketBusters games, as the event is going away after this season. The event was a mixed bag in its time; great for many of the teams that got TV games, just okay for those who didn’t. It also meant a change to many teams’ conference schedules over the years since it meant one weekend off from conference play, but many teams were already mixing in a conference game or two in December before it starts in earnest in January.

Saturday had more than that, though. What stands out the most is that the SEC had four overtime games, including one that took three overtimes to settle and another that took four. The SEC may not be very good this year, but it’s certainly been competitive, and Saturday was indicative of that.

Some thoughts coming out of the games played on Saturday:

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Dayton can’t get over the hump to reach its potential

AMHERST, Mass. – Dayton might be best summed up as a team that’s been knocking on the door all season but hasn’t been able to get inside. They have looked very good, they have looked just okay, and they seem very close to being a good team. But the Flyers haven’t been able to get over the hump quite often this season, and Saturday’s 76-66 loss at UMass was no different.

Watch the Flyers and you can see that there’s a high skill level with this team to go along with some length and athleticism. They don’t have as much of the physical gifts as some teams, but they are hardly lacking. The big problem is that they haven’t yet been able to maintain a high level of play to reach the potential they have.

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Brown puts forth a rare bad effort against Harvard

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Give Harvard credit for coming to play on Friday night and putting forth a good game. Brown has played Harvard tough, taking them to double overtime earlier this month, and the Bears don’t lack confidence playing against them. But Brown did a lot to hurt its own cause on Friday night in dropping a 65-47 decision, and head coach Mike Martin didn’t mince words.

“That was unacceptable from me on down tonight,” said the Brown mentor. “We have to be a lot better than we were tonight, and we will be going forward. Absolutely unacceptable performance from our team tonight.”

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Defense has been a struggle for Central Connecticut

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Every team has at least one team that is a bad matchup for one reason or another. For Central Connecticut, one of them would seem to be Bryant, a relentless offensive team that is tough enough to beat as it is and even tougher if they get some defensive stops. That was in evidence in the Blue Devils’ 88-67 loss to the Bulldogs on Thursday night, especially in the second half as Bryant broke open what was a close game for some of the first half and showed the growing pains this Central Connecticut team has had.

Central Connecticut has just one senior to go with four freshmen and a junior college transfer. Last season’s team had three seniors, all very experienced, along with a junior, so while last year’s team also had some youth they had more veterans to carry them. Head coach Howie Dickenmann is now starting three underclassmen and is bringing the one senior, Joe Efese, off the bench. How long he will stick with that lineup remains to be seen, but to a degree Tuesday night is an aberration because they struggled against a hot offensive team. The Bulldogs shot over 53 percent from the field on the evening.

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Xavier starts big home stretch with a road win

SOUTH KINGSTON, R.I. – Xavier opened its home stretch with a road win, and while it’s not a big one in that it came over an 8-17 team, it is a road win nonetheless, and one they had to battle to take home. In beating Rhode Island 55-42, the Musketeers got back on track as they head into a tough slate to end the regular season. They also ended a stretch with seven of ten games on the road and now get to go home for a few games.

This is not your vintage Xavier team in more ways than one. Whereas the Musketeers have in recent years had teams with good class balance, this year’s is a decidedly young edition with just four scholarship upperclassmen. They also come into mid-February not being a lock for the NCAA Tournament, and in fact they don’t look like an at-large candidate at all. They entered the week with an RPI of 98.

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Boston College is growing up before our eyes

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – It was just the right situation.  Maryland, the clear favorite in the game, had just scored their signature win of the season over Duke.  Many teams have a letdown following such a big win unless they have had a number of them, and that’s not the case for this Maryland team as they have a dearth of such wins.  The Terrapins are also young.  Sure enough, it was also visible in Boston College’s 69-58 victory over Maryland on Tuesday night, but there was much more.

Boston College is growing up before our eyes.

“I don’t know if I’ve been more proud of my team than tonight,” said head coach Steve Donahue.  “I thought we just played really inspired basketball for 40 minutes.”

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