The Morning Dish – Tuesday, December 28th
Red Storm Dealt Another Blow: St. John’s forward Rodney Epperson
was suspended indefinitely Monday pending a review of his transfer from
Barton County Community College in Kansas during the 2002-03 school year.
The decision was made in the wake of the Dec. 14 indictment of former
Barton coach Ryan Wolf, who is charged with providing false academic
information about his players to potential Division I suitors. Wolf is also
charged with helping his players get paid for campus jobs they did not do. The loss of Epperson, who was averaging 14.1 points
per game, is the latest in a long line of recent off-the-court setbacks
for the once-proud St. John’s program. First-year coach Norm Roberts
inherited a squad with only three scholarship players returning after
last season’s debacle.
Billings Leaves Ohio State: Junior guard Ricardo Billings has left
the Ohio State men’s basketball team according to Buckeyes head coach
Thad Matta. An Ohio State spokesman said Billings, a junior reserve,
wants to transfer. Billings appeared in 38 games during the past two seasons
after sitting out the 2002-03 season to concentrate on academics.
Illini Top Longwood: It’s not often that a team walks away from a
26-point loss feeling good about itself, but you can’t fault the players from tiny Longwood University for doing so after falling to top-ranked Illinois 105-79 in Champaign
last night. The Lancers never led, but managed to trim a 13-point
halftime deficit to eight with just more than nine minutes to play before
Illinois buckled down defensivley and put togehter a win-clinching 16-0
run. Deron Williams led the Illini with 23 points and seven assists.
Michael Jefferson poured in a career-high 30 points for Longwood, which
shot 53 percent from the floor. Located in Farmville, Va., Longwood
is playing its first full Division I schedule this season. Although last
night’s loss dropped coach Mike Gillian’s club to 1-14, it should
provide a confidence boost for the remainder of the season.
Bearcats Maul Miami of Ohio: Eric Hicks scored a game-high 21 points
to lead Cincinnati to a 77-53 win against the RedHawks. James White and
Armein Kirkland chipped in 18 points apiece for the Bearcats, who improve
to 10-0.
Garcia Leads Louisville: Louisville went on a 19-0 run to start
the game and never looked back in a 104-40 victory against visiting Morehead
State. Francisco Garcia scored a career-high 29 points for Louisville,
which shot 57 percent from the field while holding Morehead to 33 percent
shooting and forcing 30 turnovers. Taquan Dean added 16 points for the
Cardinals.
