The Morning Dish – Monday, February 21st
Two Big East Coaches Make the Cut: Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim and Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun have been selected as finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame. Calhoun narrowly missed election last year and added the 2004 NCAA title to his resume, which includes the 1999 NCAA title and almost 700 wins. Boeheim’s resume includes the 2003 NCAA title, two other Final Four Appearances and over 650 wins. The two coaches join 14 other finalists including Joe Dumars, Hubie Brown, Dominique Wilkins, Maurice Cheeks and Bernard King. Finalists who receive at least 18 votes from the 24-member Honors Committee will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in September. The year’s Hall of Fame class will be announced at the Final Four April 4.
Duke Gets Revenge: Duke upended Wake Forest 102-92, stopping a two-game losing streak and avenging an earlier loss to the Demon Deacons. Guard J.J. Redick scored a career-high 38 points, leading the Blue Devils back from a two-point halftime deficit. Wake Forest was led by 27 points from Chris Paul but fell to 10-3 and out of a first-place tie in the ACC. Duke sits a game back in third at 9-4.
Battle of Pennsylvania: Villanova took a giant stride toward the NCAA tournament by beating Pittsburgh at home 80-72. Allan Ray scored 21 of his game-high 23 in the second half as his Wildcats erased a two-point halftime deficit. Carl Krauser led the Panthers with 16 points, including a half-court shot at the end of the first half. Pitt falls to 8-4 in the Big East and 18-5 overall; Villanova moved to 7-5 in the Big East and 17-6 overall.
Stoudamire Sets Team Record: Arizona celebrated Senior Day with a 91-70 thumping of Oregon State. Salim Stoudamire scored 32 points and hit a school record nine three pointers. At 13-2, Arizona increased their Pac Ten lead to a game and half over Washington. Oregon State’s NCAA tournament hopes were most likely dashed as they fell to 6-8 in the Pac-10 and 14-11 overall.
Cardinals Alone in First: Louisville broke up a tight game early in the second half and coasted to an 84-66 win over St. Louis. Playing with mono, Taquan Dean paced Louisville with 15 points, all on three pointers. The Cardinals pushed their C-USA record to 11-2, a half-game lead over Charlotte.
C-USA Bubble Battle: Marquette moved closer to the 20-win plateau, beating DePaul 67-57. Steve Nowak scored 22 points for the Golden Eagles, who moved to 18-8 overall and 6-7 in C-USA play. Drake Diener scored 16 points to lead DePaul, which dropped to 8-4 in C-USA, two and a half games behind leader Louisville.
Yellow Jackets Make Their Case: B.J. Elder led all scorers with 22 points and hit two free throws with less than a second remaining to give Georgia Tech a 76-75 on the road over Florida State. The Yellow Jackets move to 6-6 in the ACC, 15-8 overall as they fight to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive. Florida State dropped their sixth straight game and fell to 3-9 in the ACC.
Hernandez Blows Up: Chris Hernandez scored a career-high 37 points as the Stanford Cardinal outdistanced UCLA 78-65. Injuries have plagued the Cardinal all season long, but they still are in third place in the Pac-10 at 9-5. Dijon Thompson led the Bruins with 19 points and 11 rebounds, but his team fell to 8-7 in the Pac Ten, 14-9 overall.
Hoyas in Trouble: Georgetown’s tournament hopes took a hit Sunday when they fell at St. John’s 76-67. The Red Storm had six players in double figures, led by Daryll Hill with 20 points. Jeff Green had 20 points, but his Hoyas couldn’t overcome a 16-point halftime deficit. The Red Storm, a team that is ineligible for post-season play, moved to 3-10 in the Big East and 9-14 overall. Georgetown fell to 8-5 in the Big East and 16-8 overall.
Mountaineers Keep Hopes Alive: Behind 25 points from Tyrone Sally, West Virginia scored a 96-86 win over Seton Hall. The Mountaineers moved to 6-7 in the Big East, 16-8 overall, keeping their faint NCAA tournament hopes alive. West Virginia has now won five of their last seven games to counter a five-game losing streak during the month of January.
Duke Feeling the Love: Senior forward Reggie Love has been named a captain of the Duke Blue Devils. Coach Mike Krzyzewski said Love earned the honor, joining J.J. Redick and Daniel Ewing as tri-captains. Love played football at Duke from 2000-03 and rejoined the basketball team this year after a three-year absence. Love broke his foot in early January and recently returned to action against Virginia Tech.
Michigan’s Leading Scorer Done For Season: Michigan’s Daniel Horton has been suspended for the remainder of the season after choking his girlfriend. Originally suspended indefinitely Jan. 25, he has returned to practice with the team. In 13 games, Horton averaged 12.4 points per game for the Wolverines, who are currently mired in a 10-game losing streak, their longest in more than 20 years.
Wolverines Honor Past Hero: At halftime of Sunday’s game versus Indiana, Michigan retired Glen Rice’s No. 41 jersey. Rice is the Wolverines’ all-time leading scorer and led Michigan to the 1989 NCAA title, scoring a record 184 points in the tournament. He is the fourth Wolverine to have his jersey retired, joining Cazzie Russell, Rudy Tomjanovich and Phil Hubbard in the rafters. In the game, Robert Vaden scored a career-high 18 points as his Hoosiers erased a late deficit to beat Michigan 70-63.
Battle of Boston-America East Style: Saturday, Northeastern junior guard Jose Juan Barea declared himself eligible for the 2005 NBA Draft. Sunday, he backed that up with an eight point, 2-17 from the field performance against Boston University. Despite the bad outing, Barea’s Huskies beat the Terriers 63-48 behind 20 points from Marcus Barnes. Both teams are now tied for second in the America East at 13-3, a game and a half behind first place Vermont.
Tonight’s Menu:
• Two of the Big East’s best battle as Connecticut hosts Notre Dame.
• Kansas looks to snap a two-game losing streak at Oklahoma.
• WAC leader Nevada, coming off a Bracket Buster win over Vermont, hosts Tulsa. UTEP, second place in the WAC and coming off a Bracket Buster loss to Pacific, travels to Hawaii.
• Utah continues its march for an unbeaten Mountain West season at New Mexico.
• Vermont tries to bounce back from their Bracket Buster loss by hosting New Hampshire.
