Baylor Cruises as Dunn Hangs 43 on Morgan State

College Hoops Player of the Day for Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Last season, the Baylor Bears compiled an impressive 28-8 record, making its way to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tourney, where they were knocked off by eventual nation champion, Duke, in the third round, 76-71.

After that kind of performance, much was expected of the Bears this season, led by shooting star LaceDarius Dunn. The Baylor bandwagon was derailed in December with three losses in a four-game stretch after a 7-0 start.

Beaten by Gonzaga, Washington State and Florida State, the Bears were looking more like bubble babies than bracket busters, but since rebounded with wins over Texas Southern and, on Tuesday, Morgan State, topping the Golden Bears, 89-72.

The game was an eyeful for all manner of Bears, golden or otherwise, as Dunn erupted for career-highs in scoring, with 43 points, and three-pointers, canning 10 of 18. Baylor took a 42-40 lead into the half, but blew out their opponents, outscoring them 47-32 in the second half, fueled by Dunn's hot hand. He finished with a stat line which included 13-of-22 from the field, 7-for-7 from the foul line, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in 37 minutes.

While Dun is among the nation's leading scorers at 23.4 points per game, the jury is still out on Baylor as the team heads into conference play January 8 at Texas Tech. The Bears may remain a mystery until later in the month, when they face Kansas at home on the 17th and travel to Kansas State on the 24th.

NOTABLE: It was a rough night for the Razorbacks. Not only did their football team fall to Ohio State, 31-26, in the Sugar Bowl, but 12th-ranked Texas Longhorns blitzed them on the hardwoods, 79-46.

#2 Ohio State battled to a 73-68 win at Iowa, getting 24 points from freshman Jared Sullinger.

In the Big East, #5 Pitt toughed out an 83-79 win at Providence, while Notre Dame kicked Georgetown, 73-70, handing the Hoyas their second loss in three Big East Games. Pitt beat them in their conference opener on Dec. 27, 78-63.

Dunn Paces Bears with 24 Points in Pac-10/Big 12 Hardwood Series

College Hoops Player of the Day for DAY, Month, 2010

Ranked #11 in the nation, the Baylor Bears are one of 23 undefeated teams in the college basketball universe. On Thursday, the Bears took on Arizona State as part of the Pac-10/Big 12 Hardwood Series, coming away with a 68-54 home win to go to 6-0 on the year.

Leading all scorers, as he does with regularity, was senior LaceDarius Dunn who only made baskets from beyond the three-point line, totaling 24 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Dunn took just two shots that weren't three-pointers and missed them both, adding 6-of-8 free throws, four rebounds and a pair of assists.

Dunn, who missed Baylor's first three games due to suspension, hasn't taken long to get his stroke back. He's hitting at a 52.5% clip overall and has nailed 16 of 31 treys (51.6%). The two-dozen points scored on Thursday matched his season high.

Baylor has a light schedule through the holidays, but one home game stands out. On December 18, they host Gonzaga, and then open conference play on January 8 at Texas Tech.

Notable: Borrowing a page from the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, the Pac-10/Big 12 Hardwood Series featured some exciting contests on Thursday, with more to come, starting Friday night.

#4 Kansas survived a scare at home from UCLA, with a 77-76 win, the winning margin coming on a Mario Little free-throw with seven-tenths of a second on the clock. Little's make came after he was fouled following Tyler Honeycutt's three-pointer which tied the game with 5 seconds to play. Honeycutt scored 33 points for the 3-3 Bruins. Kansas improved to 7-0, keeping alive their home court winning streak, extending it to 64 straight.

Out in Eugene, the Oregon Beavers were beaten by #9 Missouri, 83-80. The Beavers dropped to 4-3, while the Tigers won their sixth game against just one loss, a 111-102 loss to Georgetown on November 30.

The remaining games in the series are (all times Eastern):

Kansas St. Wildcats at Washington St. Cougars, Dec. 3, 11 pm

Dec. 4:
Iowa St. Cyclones at California Golden Bears, 2 pm
Texas Tech Red Raiders at Washington Huskies, 4 pm
Oregon St. Beavers at Colorado Buffaloes, 10 pm

Dec. 5:
Oklahoma Sooners at Arizona Wildcats, 4 pm
Texas Longhorns at USC Trojans, 10:30 pm

Dec. 11:
Washington Huskies at Texas A&M Aggies, 4:30 pm

Dec. 21:
Stanford Cardinal at Oklahoma St. Cowboys, 9 pm

Wright, Hoyas Hand Pitt 1st Big East Defeat

College Hoops Player of the Day for DAY, Month, 2010

There are just too many good teams in the Big East to think that any one of them will go through the conference schedule without tasting defeat, and probably more than once.

Such was the case on Wednesday night, when the Georgetown Hoyas stormed into Pittsburgh's Petersen Events Center and stopped the Panthers' 31-game home win streak and 5-0 Big East start with an important 74-66 road win. Led, as they often are, by point guard Chris Wright's game-high 27 points, Georgetown broke a second-half 56-all tie with a 7-0 run and never allowed the Panthers closer than 6 after that.

Wright went 11-for-17 from the field, including hitting all 3 of his 3-point attempts and going 2-for-2 from the foul line. He also added 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal while outplaying his counterpart, Pitt's Ashton Gibbs, who was just 3-for-16 and 2 of 8 from beyond the arc for 8 points.

Pitt's loss left Villanova alone atop the Big East, at 6-0, followed by 5-1 Syracuse and Pitt. Georgetown improved to 5-2, good for sole possession of 4th place in the conference standings.

Notable: #3 Kansas staved off a determined effort by Baylor for an 81-75 win. Sherron Collins all but sealed the deal when he hit his 5th 3-pointer of the game with 1:13 left, giving KU a 5-point lead. Collins finished with a game-high 28 points, closely followed by Baylor's LaceDarius Dunn, who scored 27 and also canned 5 3-pointers. Dunn, who leads Baylor at 19.5 points per game, grabbed 9 boards to go with 2 assists and 4 steals.

Duke and North Carolina both lost on the same night, the first time that's happened since 2003, though it appears it could happen again sooner rather than later, especially with a slew of injuries plaguing the Tar Heels. Carolina was mangled, 82-69, by visiting Wake Forest (13-4, 3-2), probably the best unranked team in the country. Duke had its own problems at NC State, as the Blue Devils were spanked by the Wildcats, 88-74. North Carolina is 1-3 in ACC play; Duke's conference record is 3-2.

Dunn's 25 Leads Baylor Over Oklahoma St.

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, January 16, 2010

Oklahoma State has a pretty good basketball team. At 13-4, they've established themselves as a contender in the Big 12. The problem for the Cowboys, however, is that there are a lot of good teams in the conference, such as Baylor, the team they visited on Saturday. After a closely-contested first half, from which the Cowboys emerged ahead, 40-39, Baylor took control in the latter stages, thanks to a 25-point effort from the Bears' leading scorer, LaceDarius Dunn, propelling Baylor to a harder-than-it-looked, 83-70 win.

Dunn, who is averaging 19.1 points per game this season, hit 9 of 17 shots overall, including 4 of his 9 three-point attempts. He also grabbed 9 rebounds, as the #22 Bears improved to 14-2, and 2-1 in the conference, along with Kansas State, Oklahoma and Missouri. That foursome trails Kansas (2-0) and Texas (3-0) in one of the nation's most loaded conferences. With anywhere from 6 to 8 teams likely to head to the Big Dance, wins over other contenders - give Baylor one here - will be an important determinant weighing on the final selections. Baylor appears to be headed that way.

NOTABLE: There was no lack of Top 25 action on Saturday, including a huge 72-67 overtime victory for #1 Texas, who hosted the Aggies from Texas A&M. Forward Damion James scored 26 points, including seven in overtime to keep the Longhorns unbeaten at 17-0.

Now that Ohio State has a healthy Evan Turner back playing full time, they've managed to even their conference record at 3-3 and should be a force - barring injuries -for the rest of the Big Ten season. After dispatching Purdue on Tuesday, the Buckeyes hosted #13 Wisconsin, defeating the Badgers by a 60-51 score. The 14-5 Buckeyes are making plenty of noise in the crowded Big Ten, where Purdue, which had been undefeated heading into conference action, has now lost three straight, their latest a 72-64 beat-down at Northwestern.

#12 North Carolina is in danger of dropping out of the Top 25 after dropping two straight, including Saturday's 73-71 loss to Georgia Tech. The Tar Heels are 12-6, and 1-2 in the ACC.