Saturday Hoops Rewind
By Bruce Marshall
Here’s a quick rewind of Saturday college hoops action, highlighting some not-so-obvious winners and losers of the day. We look at various teams in schedule order from Saturday...
WINNERS...
Georgia State...Beating Northeastern in overtime isn’t like knocking off unbeaten Ohio State. But we’re not sure Panthers’ HC Rod Barnes has ever had many bigger wins in his gig at GSU. Barnes can ill afford another 20-loss season if he wants to be invited back for a fifth year at the helm in Atlanta, but with 6'7 juco F Brandon McGee contributing 31 points and 13 rebounds off the bench against the Huskies, Barnes and the Panthers live to fight another day. That’s now 3 wins in 4 games for GSU after a disastrous 7-game losing streak, and if Barnes can at least hold serve at home the rest of the way and win a game or two in the CAA Tourney (which some regional observers believe is possible), Barnes’ chances to return will increase. We volunteer to speak on Barnes’ behalf to lovely AD Cheryl Levick.
Vanderbilt...We’ve been calling the Commodores a "stealth" Final Four team on many of our VegasInsider.com radio appearances for the past two months. And now we might be getting a few believers after Vandy completed a big week by KOing hated Kentucky at Memorial Gym, 81-77. There were two real stories for the Dores on Saturday. First was soph G John Jenkins (now 19.2 ppg) and his 32-point explosion vs. the Cats, confirming his emergence as one of the most-refined backcourt threats in the nation, not just the SEC. The second major development was another clutch performance by G Brad Tinsley, whose big 3-point play proved the winner on Thursday vs. Alabama and who again put the Dores ahead late with a big bucket on Saturday. If Tinsley can continue to deliver in the clutch, Kevin Stallings has an extra threat at crunch time beyond Jenkins and slashing F Jeffery Taylor. The Dores are now moving close to NCAA "protected seed" (1 thru 4 regionally) territory as well.
Boston College...The Eagles had played themselves to the edge of the Big Dance bubble and were not even included in our most recent "Bracketology" projections other than to be mentioned as one of the "next four" out. With no room for error after losing 5 of its last 7, BC responded with a 76-72 win over Maryland at Chestnut Hill, temporarily reviving NCAA hopes for Steve Donahue’s squad. A career-high 31-point explosion from Reggie "Mr. February" Jackson highlighted the win.
Old Dominion...The Monarchs had seen enough of Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason taking over the Colonial race. So ODU just decided to rely upon brute force to shut down the Rams in Richmond and avenge an earlier 59-50 loss to VCU in Norfolk. With big Frank Hassell dominating on the blocks and ODU recording a whopping 46-21 rebound edge, ODU revived its own faint Big Dance at-large hopes with a 70-59 triumph that makes the Colonial a 3-team race (or 1+2, with George Mason galloping) once again.
George Mason...Speaking of Mason, how about this results line: 11 straight wins and 12 straight pointspread covers after Saturday’s 82-68 win at the Patriot Center over regional rival James Madison, a result that also moved Jim Larranaga’s team to a sparkling 11-1 as Fairfax chalk this season. This time, GMU had to play comeback after falling behind by 12 points, but the Patriots methodically took apart the Dukes, dismantling the JMU offense (which hit only 35.9% from the floor) and winning the battle of the bench, with Larranaga’s reserves outscoring their Dukes counterparts 29-4. Ryan Pearson led balanced GMU attack with 15 points as Larranaga’s team also notched its 7th straight win by a double-digit margin (all wins by 14 or more in that stretch).
Wisconsin...This is no news bulletin, putting the Badgers in the Saturday winners circle. All the Badgers did was rally from a 15-point second-half deficit to hand top-ranked Ohio State its first loss of the year. Other than that, Wiscy didn’t do too much on Saturday. Except practically assure itself a protected seed in the upcoming NCAA tourney, with a good chance of a sub-regional assignment in nearby Chicago, which would suit Badger backers and the pride of Chester, PA, HC Bo Ryan, just fine.
Wyoming...Wyoming? Wy-o-not? The Cowboys broke an 8-game losing streak and presented interim HC Fred Langley with his first win (after Heath Schroyer’s dismissal earlier in the week) by defeating fading TCU in Laramie, 77-67. The Cowboys are continuing to play hard, however, as the win over the Horned Frogs was also their fifth spread cover in their last six outings.
UW-Milwaukee...The Panthers aren’t within sight of the NCAA bubble. But at 14-10 they are playing good basketball for HC Rob Jeter and are setting themselves up for a possible call from one of the secondary postseason tournaments (the CBI or CollegeInsider.com). Saturday’s 70-59 win at UIC was Milwaukee’s fifth win in a row (4-1 vs. line in those games). And who is to say the Panthers won’t be a threat in the Horizon Tourney after already disposing of defending champion Butler on two occasions this season? Anthony Hill’s career-high 32 points doused the Flames on Saturday.
Alabama...After that brutal Thursday loss at Vandy, the Tide bounced back with an impressive 74-64 win at Tuscaloosa over a hot Ole Miss team that had won three in a row. The Tide has now won 11 of its last 13 straight up and covered 10 of its last 12 as it moves clear in the SEC West and begins to zero in on an NCAA at-large invitation, which becomes more likely once the Tide gets to 20 wins (Bama is now 16-8). Forward Tony Mitchell’s 20 points vs. the Rebs paced Bama, which plays other beatable West teams its next four games before finishing the regular season at Florida and hosting Georgia.
Columbia...What can we do to get back in the good graces of our favorite Columbia alum, McLaughlin Group regular and Fox News babe Monica Crowley? We apologize to Monica for being so harsh on her Lions in our earlier Ivy League preview and "fade alerts" this weekend after the lopsided loss on Friday vs. Princeton. But Columbia showed heart in bouncing back from a 3-game losing streak to beat hard-luck Penn, which entered Saturday night’s game in Morningside Heights on the heels on three straight overtime losses. Guards Noruwa Agho and Brian Barbour, who have a case to make as perhaps the Ivy’s best backcourt pair, combined for 35 points in the 75-62 win over the snakebit Quakers. Are we okay now, Monica?
UCF...No, the Golden Knights didn’t cover the pointspread against Tulsa in Orlando on Saturday night; UCF’s spread losing streak is now at 11 games. But the Golden Knights did notch a straight-up victory (58-57) after a debilitating 8 losses in a row. At 15-8, UCF is still in position for some sort of postseason invitation, especially if it reaches 20 wins. Although it’s worth noting that swingman Marcus Jordan (you-know-who’s-son) missed 12 of his 16 FG attempts, and PG A.J. Rompza only played for 11 minutes in his second game back from a foot injury. But no team needed a win as badly on Saturday as did UCF.
Colorado State...The thought persists among many Bracketologists that the Mountain West likely gets at least three bids to this year’s Big Dance. With San Diego State and BYU practically assured of two of those, the Rams made a case for another invitation in Saturday’s 68-62 home win over New Mexico, avenging an earlier loss to Lobos at Albuquerque. Even with sharpshooting G Wes Eikmeier sidelined again by foot problems, the Rams (who donned their throwback orange "Aggie" uniforms) found some offense from other sources, including G Adam Nigon, who tallied 13 points, and 6'6 soph F Greg Smith off the bench when tying his season-high with 14 points. Should Tim Miles’ squad beat Lon Kruger’s UNLV next Saturday at Moby Arena and sweep the season series from the Runnin’ Rebels, the Rams will have a powerful case to make as the third MWC entry to the Dance.
Nevada...Maybe nobody outside of Reno is paying much attention to the Wold Pack. But Saturday night’s overtime win at San Jose State was Nevada’s 6th win in its last 7 games heading into Monday’s tussle at Honolulu vs. Hawaii. Indiana transfer G Malik Story scored a career-high 29 points at the Event Center on Saturday vs. the Spartans as the Pack continued its quiet second half surge into the WAC’s upper division.
LOSERS...
South Florida...How much rope does HC Stan Heath have left in Tampa? His Bulls watched Notre Dame run off a 22-0 spurt in the first half to turn Saturday’s game at the Sun Dome into a laugher. USF has now lost 13 of its last 15 games, with only DePaul keeping the Bulls out of the Big East cellar. A pair of remaining games vs. Big East leader Pitt are still on the schedule. Making it more difficult to watch is the fact that USF is averaging only 62 possessions per game, which ranks 327th out of 345 D-I teams. The Bulls had actually covered 6 of their last 8 before Saturday’s humiliation vs. the Fighting Irish, and we have to wonder of it will mark the beginning of a pointspread slide to match the straight-up collapse.
Maryland...The Terps need wins to get the attention of the NCAA Selection Committee. But results such as Saturday’s aforementioned loss at Boston College are going to do Gary Williams’ team no favors with the Selection Committee. The Terps are now 0-8 this season against teams ranked in the Top 50, not the sort of mark that will do much to help on Selection Sunday.
Dayton...Like Maryland, the Flyers are running out of time to post signature wins that could come in handy on Selection Sunday. And Saturday’s game hosting A-10 contender Temple looked to be a perfect chance to get one of those. Instead, Dayton was rarely in a 75-63 loss to Fran Dunphy’s Owls, who were playing minus injured star F Lavoy Allen. It’s time for the Flyers to start making their NIT reservations once again.
South Carolina...The Gamecocks were late arrivals to Saturday’s game at home vs. Georgia. Really late arrivals, like missing the entire first half. SC was sleepwalking through the first 20 minutes vs. the Dawgs, trailing 28-9 at the break, shattering its previous one-half low scoring output in SEC play which had previously been 13 points. The Cocks ended the game on a gallant 32-13 run to almost pull out a miracle win, and had a chance to level matters when frosh G Bruce Ellington launched what would be an errant 3-pointer (blocked by Trey Thompkins) with 6 seconds to play. SC’s fifth loss in six games realistically eliminates it from NCAA at-large consideration, and now the Cocks must simply try to stay at .500 or better (they’re now 13-10) to get an invite to the NIT or one of the other lesser postseason events.
Tennessee...How many losses can Tennessee absorb and still be considered a viable NCAA at-large candidate? The Volunteers are now up to 10 defeats after Saturday’s close 61-60 loss at Florida, which is no embarrassment but does relate to the bigger picture involving UT. Meaning, how is the Selection Committee going to view all of the defeats? The Vols have now lost 10 of their last 18 and could easily post 3 or 4 more losses before Selection Sunday. Wins over Villanova, Pitt, Vanderbilt, Missouri State, VCU, and Memphis are nice scalps to to have claimed, but it is not out of the question to begin wondering if the Vols are playing themselves into bubble trouble after suffering their third straight loss. By the way, UT is 0-2 since HC Bruce Pearl returned to the sidelines from his 8-game SEC suspension.
Mississippi State...What else can go wrong for the Maroon? We thought it was impossible for any team to a blow a 19-point lead against this season’s punchless Auburn side before MSU did it on Saturday. It’s the latest lowlight in a series of them for the Bulldogs, who have now covered only 5 of 20 decisions vs. the line this season.
UNLV...The Rebels played their hearts out once more against San Diego State, but like the first meeting last month at Viejas Arena, it didn’t help avoid another 6-point defeat to SDSU. Once again the Rebs were betrayed by awful 3-point shooting, hitting just 1 of 15 from beyond the arc in a 63-57 defeat. This after connecting on 1 of 18 triples exactly one month earlier in a 55-49 loss at SDSU, bringing the Rebels’ 3-point shooting tally to 2 of 33 in the two games vs. the Aztecs. Whew! No surprise, perhaps, with UNLV under 30% from tripleville for the season. In the bigger picture, the loss puts the Rebs in some bubble trouble, especially if they can’t win at Colorado State next Saturday. That would put UNLV at 0-6 against Mountain West heavyweights BYU, SDSU, and the Rams, and make it pretty hard to justify an NCAA at-large bid despite pre-league wins over Wisconsin and Virginia Tech. The Rebs also have a road date upcoming at New Mexico, but remember that UNLV does get to host the Mountain West Tournament once again at the Thomas & Mack Center. It remains to be seen of the Rebs will have to win that event to get back to the Big Dance.
Southern Cal...Remember when we were actually thinking about SC as a possible NCAA Tourney team last month? It’s hard to believe we’re talking about the same Trojans after Saturday night’s ugly 61-51 home loss to Oregon. Were it not for Nikola Vucevic’s 22 points, things would have been even worse for SC, now 3-6 their last nine games overall. The Trojans’ long-range shooting eye has deserted them, as they’ve hit only 12 of 51 triples in their last three games. Moreover, Kevin O’Neill is now 0-8 vs. the line against the Oregon schools the past two season despite being favored in each of those games, and SC has have now covered just 1 of its last 9 on the board this season. Also note that in the second games of weekend sets vs. Pac-10 foes, the Trojans have lost and failed to cover all five of the second games on Saturdays after faring a bit better in the Thursday games.