Pitt Panthers lead quartet into MSG
By: Willie Bee
The 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer returns to the hardwood Thursday when the four host schools from last week's opening round meet at Madison Square Garden.
Illinois, Maryland, Pittsburgh and Texas each posted 2-0 marks straight up on their home courts a week ago. The Illini, Terrapins and Panthers all played weekend games to move to 3-0 on the young season.
The quartet will pair off Thursday with Illinois facing Texas and Maryland meeting Pitt. Losing teams on Thursday will meet Friday in the consolation game with Thursday's winners squaring off for the early season tournament championship the same day.
Rankings listed below are from the most recent AP poll.
No. 5 Pittsburgh (3-0 SU, 1-1 ATS) vs. Maryland (3-0, 1-1)
The Panthers faced the stiffest of opening-round challengers when they took down the Rhode Island Rams in the season opener, 83-75, failing to cover the 11½-point spread. Pitt subsequently topped Illinois-Chicago by a 97-54 count as 25-point chalk before beating North Florida in an unlined game this past weekend, 95-49.
Maryland opened with a 105-76 triumph over Seattle, easily covering the 19½-point line. The Terps then ran into an upset-minded Charleston team, surviving with a 75-74 victory as 13½-point chalk. Gary Williams' bunch then rolled past Maine, 89-59, on Sunday in a contest that had no line.
Pitt is going to have the backcourt advantage 90 percent of the time this season with junior Ashton Gibbs and senior Brad Wanamaker. The pair of guards top the Panthers' early stats sheet with identical 19.3 PPG marks. Pittsburgh's biggest task in Thursday's contest will be finding a way to stop Maryland center Jordan Williams. The 6-foot-10 soph posted a trio of double-doubles last week for the Terps, averaging 21 points and 13.7 boards per game.
Maryland leads the all-time series 5-1, though it's been about 12 years since the two schools last met. Pitt has enjoyed playing at MSG over the years, winning 24 of its last 35 games at the arena. Panthers take this one by eight.
No. 13 Illinois (3-0, 2-1) vs. Texas (2-0, 2-0)
The Longhorns just fell short of making this a top-25 matchup with the writers listing Texas 26th on their list. Rick Barnes' club rose from No. 25 to No. 22 in the coaches poll after taking down Navy and Louisiana Tech last week by similar scores. The 'Horns covered 25½- and 21-point lines respectively in the two victories.
Illinois let a rout slip away in its opener, a 79-65 win over Cal-Irvine with the Illini favored by 21. Bruce Weber's bunch then got its first cover of the campaign as 30-point favorites in an 84-45 romp over Toledo before pasting an 85-63 win and cover against Southern Illinois (plus 14½) this past Saturday.
The Illini are led by senior guard Demetri McCamey who leads three players in double-digit scoring with 14.7 per game. Fellow seniors Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis form a strong frontcourt duo for Texas to contend with.
Texas is breaking in a new lineup that features sophomore Jordan Hamilton along with true freshmen Cory Joseph and Tristan Thompson. Where the Longhorns have shown a shortcoming in the early going is sinking the three-pointer. Texas converted just eight of its 33 tosses from beyond the arc as well as missing 20 of its 56 free throws (64.3 percent) in last week's pair of wins.
Keys for Texas will be its backcourt defense and keeping Illinois honest on defense by hitting some of the three-pointers. The Illini have to keep the Longhorns from simply dominating on the inside, limiting Texas on its offensive chances. A last-possession game, I like Illinois to take it by two.
College Basketball Knowledge
Florida State beat Isiah Thomas' FIU team 82-62 LY; Seminoles are 3-0 this year, winning by 20-24-25 against collection of stiffs (won by 24 at NC-Greensboro. FSU has three starters back from 22-10/10-6 team; all their guards are back. FIU has four starters back from 7-25/4-14 team.
Home side won all three South Florida-Central Florida games; Bulls lost 71-63 in last visit here. USF lost by 7 at home to a good Southern Miss team last week, then was shaky in beating St Francis by 3. Knights have all five starters back from LY, have beaten couple of stiffs so far.
Arizona has four starters back from 16-15/10-8 team that started couple freshman and a soph; they won opener vs Idaho State by 48, leading by 26 at half. Wildcats won last meeting with New Mexico St. 102-87 four years ago. Aggies have three starters back 22-12/11-5 team that already has a road win, by 16 at UL-Lafayette.
Denver went 0-3 in Portland last week, losing by 16-12-11 points; they scored only 53 ppg in those games, despite having 4 starters back from 19-13/10-8 team. Pioneers are 2-6 in last eight games vs Colorado State; teams split last four played here. Rams have four starters back from last year's 16-16/7-9 team- CSU's program is slowly getting better.
Virginia has six newcomers, six holdovers from Bennett's first team; he got rid of guys who didn't fit his program. Stanford has seven freshmen, no seniors, but four returning starters- the freshmen are going to take lot of the starters' minutes away, which creates chemistry issues. Cardinal won last three games vs Virginia, by 16-1-5 points.
West Virginia lost three starters from LY's Final Four team; they're going to miss Butler a lot; question is can guys who were support players last year become stars now? WVa lost 68-65 on neutral floor to Davidson two years ago, back when Wildcats had Curry. Davidson lost its opener 69-64 at Penn; they're well-coached, but physically overmatched here.
Nebraska has four starters back from 15-18/2-14 team; they suspended their backup PG for this trip. He's there, but won't play. Vanderbilt lost PG and C from LY's 24-9/12-4 team, but they're deeper and will be able to play faster with Ogilvy. New PG Tinsley getting rave reviews early.
Hofstra starts three senors who return from 19-15/10-8 team; they've got star player in 6-3 G Jenkins and new coach in former BC assistant Cassara, who should be familiar with Tar Heels from days in the ACC. North Carolina lost three starters from 20-17/5-11 team; Barnes is one of highest-rated freshmen in recent years. PG play was an issue last year.
Western Kentucky won by 28 at St Joe's in its opener; Hilltoppers have three starters back from 21-13/12-6 team, plus they add Padilla, who is Oklahoma transfer. Minnesota already beat couple of decent mid-majors at home, Wofford by 14, Siena by 7; Gophers have four starters back from LY's 21-14/9-9 team.
Charlotte fired Lutz, a pretty good coach, then hired Ohio St assistant Major, who lost his opener to Gardner-Webb; 49ers have four starters back from 19-12/9-7 team. George Mason has all five starters back from 17-15/12-6 team- they won their opener, by 13 points over Harvard.
Maryland lost three starters from 24-9/13-3 team; they're already 3-0, but only beat Charleston by a point at home- they've got six new guys on this year's team. Pittsburgh returns 86% of its scoring and 91% of its rebounding from LY's team; they're also 3-0, beating pretty good Rhode Island team by 8.
Morehead State has an NBA player in senior C Faried, who was second in country in rebounding LY; they've got three starters back from 24-11 team that went 15-3 in OVC. NC-Wilmington lost by 17 at Florida, then needed OT to beat Liberty; they're rebuilding after going 9-22/5-13 and then changing coaches.
Iona has all five starters back from LY's 21-10 team, but they went 0-3 in tourney in Cleveland, allowing 75 ppg, losing games by 1-10-2 points. MAAC teams are 4-11 so far this season. Richmond has three starters back from 26-9/13-3 team that made NCAAs LY- they won first two games this year, beating Citadel by 42, WmMary by 24.