The Morning Dish – Tuesday, February 1st
Kansas Overcomes Shaky Start: The Jayhawks shot just 36 percent in the first half and
trailed by eight at the break but warmed up in time to defeat Missouri 73-61. Senior
forward Wayne Simien led all scorers with 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting, and J.R. Giddens
and Aaron Miles combined for 29 points. Miles added 10 assists and five rebounds for the
Jayhawks, who have won eight of the last nine meetings between their longtime rivals. Jason
Conley scored 20 points in defeat for the Tigers, who have lost seven of their last eight.
Pitt Pummels Providence: Chris Taft scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed 15
boards to lead the Panthers past the Friars, 89-66, at home. After back-to-back comeback
wins over ranked opponents, Pitt needed no such heroics to drop Providence to 0-7 in Big
East play. Carl Krauser scored 19 points and dished out nine assists for Pitt, which took a
nine-point lead into halftime.
Utah Rolls: Andrew Bogut scored 20 points to lead the Utes to a 72-58 win over
Brigham Young in Provo, Utah last night. Bogut also matched his career high with five
blocks, as Utah won its 13th straight.
Bracket Buster Pairings Set: The pairings for the third annual Bracket Buster
Saturday were announced Monday, with a showdown between 2004 NCAA Tournament teams Vermont
and Nevada headlining the 11-game slate to be played Feb. 19. Pacific hosts Texas
– El Paso and Western Michigan visits Northern Iowa in the two other match ups featuring a pair
of teams whose names were called on Selection Sunday last year. Two other schools looking to
get back to the Dance, Murray State and Southern Illinois, will play at Rice and Kent State,
respectively. Rounding out the schedule, Wisconsin-Green Bay hosts Illinois State, Drexel
travels to Ball State, Buffalo visits Fresno State, Bowling Green hosts Arkansas-Little
Rock, Wichita State heads to Miami of Ohio and Wisconsin-Milwaukee travels to Hawaii.
Officials Called For Foul: The West Coast Conference suspended three of its men’s
basketball officials Monday for using video replay to reverse a call on a three-point shot
midway through the first half of a game between Saint Mary’s and San Francisco last weekend.
Thomas Wood, Tom Spitznagel and Chad Johnson were suspended one game apiece after
disallowing a three pointer by the Dons’ Dommanic Ingerson that replays showed came after
the shot clock expired. The reversal, which came four minutes after the shot was initially
ruled good, was clearly the right call, but officials are only allowed to use video to
review shots at the halftime buzzer or the end of the game.
Jayhawks Honor Stallworth: Kansas retired former forward Bud Stallworth’s No. 15 at
halftime of last night’s game against Missouri. It’s fitting that Stallworth was honored
with the Tigers in town after he shot 19-of-38 from the field and dropped 50 points on them
Feb. 26, 1976. Stallworth’s 50 points rank just behind Wilt Chamberlain’s school record
52 in a game against Northwestern in 1956. Stallworth played in the NBA for five years,
retiring in 1977 after suffering a back injury in an automobile accident.
McClure to Undergo Surgery: Duke forward David McClure, a freshman averaging 1.6
points and 1.4 rebounds per game, will undergo surgery to remove a loose body in his left
knee. McClure left Wednesday night’s game against Maryland and did not play in Sunday’s win
over Virginia Tech.
Knox Leaves Loyola: Sophomore guard Andre Knox has left the Loyola – Chicago
basketball team and is looking to transfer to another school. Knox played in 21 games as a
freshman, averaging 1.4 points, but did not appear in a regular season game this season.
Pierce Under Investigation: Iowa guard Pierre Pierce is under investigation after a report of burglary, assault and vandalism at a female friend’s home last
week in West Des Moines, Iowa. The alleged incident occurred late Thursday night or early
Friday morning. Pierce, whose status for Saturday’s game against Michigan State is unknown,
pleaded guilty to assault after allegations of sexual assault against a former member of the
Iowa women’s basketball team in November 2002.
Louisville and Marshall Make a Deal: Louisville and Marshall signed a four-year
contract to play each other for the next four seasons. The schools will alternate games each
year between Huntington and Louisville, with next year’s game being played at Marshall. The
schools have met 13 times but not since 1979.
Tonight’s Menu:
• Illinois puts its unbeaten streak on the line at Michigan State.
• Streaking Maryland travels to Clemson.
• West Virginia visits Boston College looking to knock the Eagles off their unbeaten
perch.
