Monday, November 19, 2007

Coast to Coast...like Tyus Edney against Mizzou

It wasn't just NFL football on Sunday. We had the Eric Gordon show game #2, the Tyler Hansbrough domination tour rolling along, Miami and Providence meeting in the Puerto Rico shootout final, and Temple need OT to beat Marist for their first win. Temple is now 1-3. Lets call a spade-to-spade, John Cheney's once proud program has turned to shit. Nobody wants to get verbally abused, have 6 am practices for five straight months, and be non-competitive in the Atlantic-10. Quick mention to some Saturday games: Virginia went into McKale and upset Arizona, still without coach Lute Olsen. Stanford was upset by Siena 79-67 in a game that wasn't that close. Florida quietly moved to 4-0 behind big man Marreese Speights, and K-State's Michael Beasley has another 20-20 game (28-22 actually).

Indiana 100 Longwood 48 - This was the "Chicago Invitational Challenge" in Bloomington. Eric Gordon scored 21 including five threes, his Freshman partner in crime Jordan Crawford has 16 in 19 minutes off the bench, and six Hoosiers scored in double figures against this glorified high school team. IU's three point shooting is lethal. 11-18 in this one. Did you know the most famous Longwood grad is former Portland Trail Blazer legend Jerome Kersey?

North Carolina 107 Iona 72 - Tyler Hansbrough is unstoppable against ACC opponents, so what did you think he was going to do against The Gaels? How about 27 and 9 in 26 minutes. Wayne Ellington hit 4-6 from deep, which the Heels are going to need if they are going to play deep into March. Their #1 question mark is consistent three point shooting and Ellington must improve on his Freshman year 37% mark.

New Orleans 65 N.C. State 63 - Good for the Privateers. They deserve a win like this. After two years of toiling without a steady home, the program stayed the course, led by four year starter and New Orleans native Bo McCalebb. He led the Privateers with 20, but it was T.J. Worley who banked in a three with 1.7 seconds left to spring the upset in Raleigh. It was only their third three point make in 17 attempts. They held Brandon Costner to just seven points and won the battle of the boards 38-37. The Wolfpack was led by their fabulous Frosh J.J. Hickson, who netted 22 and grabbed 13 boards. Shame on Sidney Lowe for losing this game, at home no less.

Villanova 70 Bucknell 64 - Looking at this boxscore as a KU fan, I was glad to see Chrish McNaughton had finally graduated, yet Bucknell still hung tough with the Big East power. Shane Clark led four Wildcats in double figures, but they struggled shooting all night, especially from deep. They shot just 6-22, including 0-5 from starting guard Reggie Redding. Interesting to see Jay Wright only went essentially six deep in this game.

Arkansas 70 VCU 60 - We love VCU point guard Eric Maynor for what he did to Duke in last year's NCAA Tournament, but so far that hasn't translated to 2007-08. The Rams are now 2-2 after getting taken down by the Razorbacks. John Pelphrey benched our favorite turnover machine Gary Ervin in favor of Stefan Welsh. Welsh scored only two points and turned the ball over three times, so back to Ervin Pelphrey went. He responded with 12 points and just one turnover in 27 minutes. Sonny Weems led the Razorbacks with 17.

Louisville 84 Jackson State 53 - Rick Pitino's squad played like a top five team during this blowout in Las Vegas. Interesting to see that PG Edgar Sosa and PF Derrick Caracter didn't start, Pitino instead went with veterans Andre McGee and David Padgett. The real story was Earl Clark, who scored 20 points, grabbed 14 boards, and dished out seven assists. This team is experienced and deep and a serious national title threat.

Texas 100 Arkansas-Monticello 52 - Where did this Arkansas-Monticello team come from and why are they playing Texas, Tennessee, and West Virginia in the same week? A.J. Abrams scored a high 30 and the Longhorns buried an incredible 15-26 from downtown. All you need to know is that the score at halftime was 49-11. Props to loyal reader Ari for knowing the Arkansas-Monticello mascot is the bo-weevil.

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