Marcus Morris Leads Kansas Over Cowboys

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, February 21, 2011

Resuming their winning ways after being knocked off the #1 spot in the polls, the Kansas Jayhawks put together a rather convincing win over Oklahoma State Monday night at Phog Allen Fieldhouse, blasting the Cowboys off their saddles with a 92-65 explosion.

A week ago, just as pollsters earlier in the day had anointed the Jayhawks the #1 team in the land, A determined Kansas State squad had humiliated them, 84-68. Since then, Kansas has been on a mission, to finish the season with a flourish and a top seeding in the NCAA tournament.

After knocking off Colorado by 26 points on Saturday, the Jayhawks muscled and hustled their way to a 27-point win over Oklahoma State, led by Marcus Morris' 27 points. Morris hit 9 of 13 shots, including 2 of 3 three-pointers, adding six free throws and five rebounds.

The Jayhawks dominated the glass, outrebounding the Cowboys, 38-25, and shared the ball, with 20 assists in the game. It also didn't hurt that they were red-hot from the field, hitting 54% and 44% from beyond the arc. Kansas upped its record to 26-2, but remain 1/2 game behind the Texas Longhorns (11-1) in the Big 12 standings at 11-2.

The only chance the Jayhawks will have to avenge their two losses (Texas and Kansas State) will be in the conference tournament. Kansas has just three remaining dates in the regular season, at Oklahoma, home against Texas A&M and at Missouri.

NOTABLE: With the top teams suffering upsets all week, the top spot in this week's polling fell to the Duke Blue Devils, though the voting seems rather a case of triumph by elimination rather than one of deserved respect. Sure, Duke's a quality team, but the ACC is in a down year and the Blue Devils are an eminently beatable team. Still, they seemed vulnerable last season as well, before their run to the championship. For now, the polls matter little. What happens on the court will offer more in terms of seeding for the tourney.

Moore Scores 38 as Boilermakers Dump Buckeyes

College Hoops Player of the Day for Sunday, February 20, 2011

Road wins are becoming harder and harder to get. Presumed walkovers go down to the final shot. Teams once thought to be pushovers are springing upsets against the Top 25... no, make that the Top Ten.

It must be late February.

The latest victim of late-season surging was the one many thought could not be beaten just a week ago, the Ohio State Buckeyes, who, in the course of just eight days and three games have proven not only to be beatable, but downright vulnerable. Of course, it helps when you have a player like Purdue's E'Twaun Moore, who normally plays big, but plays even bigger in big games.

Moore knocked down 7 of 10 three-pointers and was 13 of 18 from the field as he put up a career high 38 points to lead the Boilermakers to their 4th straight win, a 76-63 home court conquest of Ohio State.

Moore torched the Buckeyes from the start of the game to the finish as the Boilermakers snuck to within a game of Ohio State in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes, undefeated at 24-0 and 10-0 just a week ago, lost at Wisconsin on February 12 and beat up a depleted Michigan State squad on the 15th before falling at Purdue, casting doubt on their assumed superiority in the league.

Purdue looms a force with which to be reckoned as the regular season heads into its final two weeks and four games. The Boilermakers improved to 11-3 and 22-5 overall and will surely move up from their #11 ranking after knocking off the #2 Buckeyes.

NOTABLE: Four other Top 25 teams were on the hardwoods Sunday, all winners. #5 Duke polished off Georgia Tech, 79-57; #10 Wisconsin handled Penn St. 76-66; visiting #14 Florida held off a late rally by LSU for a 68-61 win, and #23 Temple scorched St. Joseph's, 66-52.

Fisher, Yahou Save Wildcats as Top Teams Stumble

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, February 19, 2011

With Top 25 teams tumbling all around them, Corey Fisher and Mouphtaou Yarou lifted #15 Villanova to a hard-earned road win over a determined DePaul squad, 77-75, in overtime.

Fisher scored a game-high and career high 34 points, hitting 5 of 8 3-pointers, including one with six seconds left in regulation, sending the game into overtime. Fisher was 11-for-18 from the field, 7 of 9 from the foul line with 5 rebounds and three steals.

While the senior guard was handling most of the scoring duties, sophomore center Yarou was cleaning the glass, handling 8 offensive and 7 defensive rebounds, and scoring 12 points, primarily on put-backs. It was Yarou's 5th double-double of the season, and came at a most opportune time for the Wildcats, who improved to 21-6 overall and 9-5 in the Big East, good for a tie for 4th place with Louisville and St. John's in America's most contentious conference.

NOTABLE: While Villanova escaped from DePaul with a win, other teams weren't so lucky on a Saturday full of surprises. At Madison Square Garden, the plucky St. John's Red Storm pulled off the upset of the day when Dwight Hardy tossed in an impossible scoop shot with 2 seconds left in the game, lifting the Red Storm to a 60-59 victory over Big East-leading Pitt. The win was the 5th straight conference triumph and seventh straight home victory for St. John's, surely the surprise team of the year.

#8 Notre Dame, second in the Big East, got a rude welcome from the Mountaineers in West Virginia, suffering a 72-58 loss.

The other major upset came from the Big 12, where Nebraska defended their home court with a 70-67 win over #3 Texas. The Longhorns had not lost in 11 conference games this season. Texas remains one game ahead of Kansas (10-2), easy winners at home over Colorado.

Louisville Sweeps Season Series with UConn, 71-58

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, February 18, 2011

Winning on the road in college basketball is hard. Getting it done in the Big East borders on ridiculous. Just ask Louisville. Or Connecticut.

Just two days after being thoroughly throttled in Cincinnati, the Louisville Cardinals returned to a more familiar floor at the KFC Yum! Center and beat up on the visiting Huskies, 71-58, sweeping the season series.

Freshman center Gorgui Dieng put up 13 points and 12 rebounds for his first career double-double while point guard Peyton Siva harassed UConn's Kemba Walker into a rare 3-for-10 shooting performance. Siva led Louisville with 15 points.

The Cardinals got off early and held an 8-point lead at the break, but the Huskies rallied early in the second half to take their only lead of the game, which turned out to be brief. Louisville went on a 14-5 run to reclaim the lead and held off Connecticut down the stretch.

Louisville (20-7, 9-5) shot just 41%, but the Huskies hit a only a 37% clip. 16 UConn turnovers resulted in a large shooting discrepancy. Louisville hoisted up 65 shots to Connecticut's 46.

All five of Louisville's conference losses have come away from home. They've won seven straight in their own building. Connecticut (20-6, 8-6) has lost four of six on the road and this loss comes off a home win over Georgetown. The Huskies and Cardinals are ranked 13 and 16, respectively, though those numbers are likely to change come Monday.

NOTABLE: There are 17 Top 25 teams in action on Saturday, all facing unranked opponents, but the most-widely-anticipated contest will be at Madison Square Garden when St. John's hosts #4 Pittsburgh at noon ET. The Red Storm is 8-5 in the Big East and has won four straight conference games. Pitt leads the Big East with a 12-1 record.

Arizona Wins 7th Straight as Williams Clicks for 26

College Hoops Player of the Day for Thursday, February 17, 2011

With much of the focus on the Big East, Big Ten and Big 12, quietly cruising up the Top 25 is the only team from the PAC-10 seemingly with any credence, the Arizona Wildcats.

The Cats have risen to #12 i the AP Poll, mostly because they lead the PAC-10, a conference that has been on the skids lately, though teams from the marginalized group actually fared pretty well in last year's NCAA tourney.

It's not like the Wildcats are running away in the regular season standings. At 11-2, they're just a game ahead of 10-3 UCLA and another 1/2 game better than 10-4 Washington. The Wildcats beat UCLA a couple of weeks ago and the score wasn't very close, but they have a rematch, Saturday, Feb. 26, on the Bruins' home court where things could go differently.

Washington handled Arizona, 85-68, back in January, in Washington, and the Huskies come to Arizona Saturday to complete the season series.

That will be an interesting game by which to gauge both squads, as the Huskies are just 4-3 since beating the Wildcats. Arizona, on the other hand, is 7-0, after having taken the measure of Washington State Thursday, by a 79-70 score.

In that game, sophomore Derrick Williams did what he's done in every game this season, score in double figures, putting down 26 points for the Wildcats on 7-for-10 shooting from the field and canning all 12 of his free throws. Williams, who has eight double-doubles this season, came close, with 8 rebounds.

Which team wins the PAC-10 won't really make much difference in the larger tournament scheme of things, because after Washington, the next best team is only 7-7, that being Washington State. The other six members of the conference all all under .500, so it is reasonable to assume that the PAC-10 will send only three teams to the tourney: Arizona, UCLA and Washington.

Walker, Huskies Halt Hoyas Streak at Eight

College Hoops Player of the Day for Wednesday, February 16, 2011

As tournament time approaches, teams and individual players are bent on winning key games and making statements in hope that the selection committee will award them with a comfortable seeding, preferably a six or better and close to home.

Kemba Walker and the Connecticut Huskies did just that Wednesday night, stopping Georgetown's winning streak at eight straight with a 78-70 win at the XL Center in Hartford.

Walker, who had been leading the NCAA in scoring back in November and December, was looking for his shot first against the Hoyas, though he did manage to record a double-double with 31 points and 10 assists, ripping through the Georgetown defense like a fine-tuned coping saw.

The senior point guard was 13-for-23 from the field, 4-for-8 from the foul line and added seven rebounds in one of his best efforts of the season. Sophomore forward Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, recently promoted to starting forward, added 23 points after scoring a career high 25 in Georgetown's win over Providence Sunday.

The win pushed Connecticut further into the mid-level morass in the Big East. The Huskies are now 8-5 in conference play, tied for 4th place with St. John's, Villanova and Louisville. The Hoyas are just a half game ahead, in third place, at 9-5, trailing 10-3 Notre Dame and 12-1 Pittsburgh.

NOTABLE: Cincinnati improved to 20-6 and 7-6 in conference with a determined 63-54 home win over Louisville, giving the Bearcats a quality win and reason to believe they'll be going to the Big Dance along with 8 or 9 other Big East teams. Near the top of the Top 25, Texas, Pitt, Duke and San Deigo St., respectively ranked 3, 4, 5, and 6, all won over unranked opposition. #11 Pudue upended #10 Wisconsin, and #18 Vanderbilt, #24 Xavier and #25 Utah State were all winners.

St. John's Downs Marquette 80-68, Dwight Hardy Shines

College Hoops Player of the Day for Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Some of the Big East teams near or at the top of the conference standings may be looking over their shoulders at the surging Red Storm.

St. John's won its fourth straight Big East tilt - this one coming on the road - as they downed Marquette, 80-68, with a strong second half and 28 points from their star, senior guard, Dwight Hardy.

Tied 38-all at the break, the Red Storm pressured Marquette into numerous mistakes and outscored them 42-30 in the second half. St. John's forced 18 turnovers.

Hardy, who played all but one minute of the game, got his game-high 28 points on 7-for-16 shooting, with a pair of threes and 12 of 15 free throws. He also had six rebounds, three assists and five steals.

The Red Storm is now 8-5 after a 4-5 start in Big East play and has positioned itself nicely for an NCAA tournament bid, an honor not bestowed upon the team since 2002. The team hosts #4 Pittsburgh, the current conference leader, on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

NOTABLE: All five Top 25 teams in action Tuesday night were winners. #2 Ohio State thumped Michigan State, 71-61 sending the Spartans to their 6th loss in their last 8 games. Michigan State has slumped to 6-7 in the Big Ten and 14-11 overall. Other Top 25 winners included North Carolina, Kentucky, Villanova and Missouri.

Pullen Pours in 38; Wildcats Dump #1 Kansas

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, February 14, 2011

On Monday, the Kansas Jayhawks received the #1 ranking in the national polls. Before the day was over, however, Jacob Pullen and the Kansas State Wildcats sent a message to their in-state rivals that rankings are fleeting things and must constantly be earned.

Pullen scored a career high 38 points in the Wildcats' stunning 84-68 upset win over the Jayhawks. Perhaps it was not only Pullen's performance, but how poorly Kansas executed on both sides of the floor that cost them not only the game, but surely their short-lived top ranking.

The shortcomings by Kansas were obvious. They were outrebounded, 29-23, outshot, 56% to 44%, and outplayed. They had 11 assists to Kansas State's 16.

Pullen, who had been previously widely criticized for his spotty, inconsistent play, was focused on beating Kansas, and so were his teammates. Led by the senior guard's 38 points on 9-for-17 shooting (5-for-6 3-pointers and 15 of 19 from the line), the Wildcats built an early lead and opened it up to double digits in the second half.

With seven minutes remaining, the contest had turned into a laugher. Kansas coach Bill Self pulled both of the Morris twins and other starters played sparingly down the stretch. The final minutes prior to the crowd rushing the court were perfunctory. Unranked Kansas State had finally found he winning formula and there would be a new #1 team in a week.

Delaney, Allen Lead Hokies Over Yellow Jackets

College Hoops Player of the Day for Sunday, February 13, 2011

Malcolm Delaney led all scorers in a revenge win over Georgia Tech on Sunday, scoring a season-high 33 points on 9-for-14 shooting.

The Hokies knocked off the Yellow Jackets, 102-77, avenging an earlier, 72-57 loss at Georgia Tech, a game in which Delaney was saddled with fouls, turned the ball over 8 times and scored only 8 points.

In Sunday's win, Delaney still turned the ball over five times, but made up for his miscues with three steals, five assists and six rebounds. He also went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and nailed 12 of 14 free throws.

Virginia Tech dominated the Yellow Jackets in the paint, outrebounding them 42-21. Senior forward Jeff Allen had his way inside, hitting 10 of 15 shots for 25 points while hauling in 14 rebounds. Allen tied his season high in scoring and recorded his 12th double-double of the season.

Virginia Tech took over sole possession of 4th place in the ACC at 6-4, trailing Duke, North Carolina and Florida State.

NOTABLE: The Fairfield Stags clinched at least a tie for the regular season championship in the Metro Atlantic conference with a 70-69 overtime win at St. Peter's. The Stags sit alone at 13-2 with three conference games remaining, followed by St. Peter's, Iona and Rider, all at 10-5. The Stags can clinch the title outright with a win over Marist Wednesday. The Red Foxes are 3-12 in conference action this season.

And Then There Were None... Wisconsin Hands Ohio State First Loss

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, February 12, 2011

Jordan Taylor scored 21 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, fueling a Wisconsin run that brought the Badgers all the way back from a 15-point deficit to defeat Ohio State, 71-67, ending the Buckeye's unbeaten streak at 24 straight.

Ohio State entered the Kohl Center seeking to remain the only undefeated team in college basketball, but, like so many times before, left the building shaken and defeated. The Buckeyes haven't won at Wisconsin in over a decade.

In an ironic twist, Wisconsin also knocked off #1 Ohio State back in October of this past football season, when the Buckeyes of the gridiron were also undefeated.

Taylor was 8-for-13 from the field, including five three-pointers. He also added four rebounds and seven assists, scoring in double figures for the 23rd time in 24 starts this season.

The Badgers are unbeaten in Big Ten action at home this season, and haven't lost there since being handled by Notre Dame, back in November in a 58-51 loss. Ranked #13 nationally, they're sure to move up in the standings come Monday afternoon. They are 9-3 in the conference, still trailing the 11-1 Buckeyes.

The last time a Division 1 team finished undefeated was in 1975-76 - well before the players on the floor today were even born - when Bobby Knight coached the Indiana Hoosiers to a national championship.

NOTABLE: Unnoticed by most fans of college hoops, Cleveland State's senior guard, Norris Cole is having a heck of a season, leading the Vikings to a 22-5 record and scoring a career high 41 points in Saturday's 71-67 win over Youngstown State. Not only did Cole put up big offensive numbers, he also crashed the boards with impunity, hauling in 20 rebounds and fell just short of a triple-double with 9 rebounds. Cole was 11-for-22 from the field with 5 threes and hit 14-of-17 free throws.

Cleveland State is 11-4 in the Horizon League, just a half game behind Valparaiso, at 11-3, but the conference is top-heavy, with Butler and Wisconsin-Green Bay both 10-5 and Wright State lurking at 10-6.

Big Least? #4 Pitt knocked off #9 Villanova, 57-54, keeping the Panthers clearly in the Big East lead, at 11-1. Notre Dame - who gave Pitt their only loss - trails the Panthers by two games at 9-3 and is followed by Georgetown and Louisville, both 8-4. With Pitt running away from the field, it poses an intriguing question, whether the Big East is really all that great and just how many teams should receive nCAA tourney bids?

The top four appear solid, but there's a gaggle of seven teams behind them all between 7-5 and 6-5, with Syracuse at 7-6. This bunch includes Villanova, West Virginia, St. John's, Marquette, Cincinnati and Connecticut, all looking very much like second or third round NCAA fodder.

Separation Days Top 25 upsets have pretty much ceased over the past two weeks. On Saturday, all twelve ranked teams which faced unranked opponents won their games, providing further separation of the Top 25 from the rest of college basketball.

Fairfield Cruising to Metro Atlantic Title

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, February 11, 2011

The Fairfield Stags are within a game of capturing the Metro Atlantic Association regular season title after a 65-56 road win at Manhattan upped their conference record to 12-2, with just four games remaining on their MAA slate.

Chasing the front-running Stags is second place St. Peter's a 66-54 winner at Marist on Friday.The Peacocks are 10-4 in conference and host Fairfield on Sunday, Feb. 13. The Stags already have a win over St. Peter's - a 70-43 thrashing back in early January - and another win would clinch at least a tie for the regular season crown.

A win in any of their final three games - against Marist, Sienna and Iona - would then clinch the championship outright.

Sophomore guard Derek Needham was the only Stag in double figures, leading all scorers with 23 points, hitting four of seven 3-pointers in the first half and making 9 of 11 free throws. Needham was 5-for-9 from the field overall.

NOTABLE: Harvard held on at home for a 78-75 win over Yale Friday night, staying a game behind Ivy League-leading Princeton (6-0). The Crimson improved to 6-1 and 17-4 overall. Their lone loss in the Ivy was at Princeton - a 65-61 loss - on February 4.

Harvard hosts Princeton in both teams' season finale, March 5th, in a game that may determine the Ivy League champion.

Red Storm Does It Again, Knocks off UConn at the Garden

College Hoops Player of the Day for Thursday, February 10, 2011

It's a great thing to play your home games at storied Madison Square Garden, especially when you have a coach like Steve Lavin running the show for the St. John's Red Storm. The coach, who came out of semi-retirement this season to coach the Red Storm after departing as UCLA's head coach in 2003, has St. John's scaring the daylights out of every opponent who comes to the Bag Apple.

On Thursday night, it was Connecticut's turn to be taken out to the woodshed for an old-fashioned whipping, the fourth time this season that St. John's has played rude host to a highly-ranked team. Senior guard Dwight Hardy scored a career-high 33 points for St. John's, topping the 32 he put up in his last game, a 66-59 loss at UCLA on Saturday.

Hardy had everything going, hitting 10 of 17 shots, going 5-for-8 from beyond the arc and hitting all eight of his free throws. St. John's blew open a close game with a dominant second half for an 89-72 thumping, outscoring the Huskies by 13 points in the second half.

Senior swingman, DJ Kennedy, chipped in with 20 points and 11 boards for his second double-double of the season. In recent weeks, St. John's has taken the measure of Georgetown, Notre Dame and Duke, all wins at the Garden, and are creeping up the Big East standings. At 6-5, they are now in a five-way tie with UConn, Marquette, Cincinnati and West Virginia and have seven games remaining before the Big East Tournament, which will be played on their home court.

With many predicting nine teams to come out of the conference for the Big Dance, don't be surprised if St. John's is one of them.

NOTABLE: Don't count the Michigan State Spartans out just yet. After losing five of their last six and dropping out of the Top 25, coach Tom Izzo's team regrouped at home for a 75-57 pounding of Penn State, getting a triple-double out of junior forward Dramon Green, who scored 15 points, grabbed 14 board and dished 10 assists. The Spartans recovered to 6-6 in the conference, but face a tough test at #1 Ohio State on Tuesday of next week.

It will be interesting to watch how the Spartans fare in the final three weeks of the Big Ten regular season. A permanent feature of the NCAA tournament, Michigan State is currently in bubble-land and needs to finish the season at least with a .500 record and put up a good show in the conference tournament to be considered viable for a taste of March Madness.

Nolan Smith Drives Blue Devils Past Tar Heels

College Hoops Player of the Day for Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Nobody could say for certain, but some people at Cameron Indoor Stadium thought they saw the faint utline of a large, red "S" under Nolan Smith's jersey in the second half of Duke's comeback, 79-73, win over North Carolina.

The Duke senior, with some help from a red-hot Seth Curry, carried the Blue Devils from a 14-point half time deficit to ultimate victory over their main ACC rival. Duke had been outrun, out-rebounded and outplayed in the first half, as the Tar Heels blitzed the home team for a 43-29 lead.

But when the teams took the court in the second half, something surely had changed. The Blue Devils ground into North Carolina's lead, outscoring them 25-11 to tie the game at 54-all. Curry contributed a flurry of seven points in less than a minute during the run and Smith tallied 22 of his career high 34 points in the second stanza. Curry finished with a season-high 22 points.

Smith hit 13 of his 23 shots, and was nearly perfect in the second half after a rough start. He tossed in three of six three-pointers and added five free throws to surpass his previous career high of 33 set a month ago against UAB.

The #5 Blue Devils opened a 1 1/2 game lead on North Carolina in the watered-down ACC. Duke is 22-2 overall and 9-1 in the conference. North Carolina, which returned to the Top 25 this week at #20, is 7-2, followed by 6-3 Florida State, Clemson at 6-4 and Maryland and Virginia Tech, both at 5-4.

The Tar Heels will not forget Smith and the tale of two halves in their encounter when they next tackle the Blue Devils in the final game of the regular season for both squads, March 5, at Chapel Hill.

NOTABLE: The Big East continues to appear as the best top-to-bottom conference, as three games from Wednesday night pointed up the contentious nature of the nation's largest conference. #8 Notre Dame had to go to overtime to knock off #16 Louisville, 89-79, for their 6th straight win. In Syracuse, the Georgetown Hoyas hammered the Orange down the stretch, outscoring them 9-1 in the final 3:47 for a 64-56 victory, the Hoyas' 7th straight after a 1-4 start in conference play.

Outside Trenton, NJ, lowly Rutgers (4-8, Big East) took out #9 Villanova, 77-76 and unranked Marquette rallied from 16 points down to overtake South Florida, 59-58, on the Bulls' home court.

There are eight Big East teams represented in the Top 25, and the conference is expected to send at least that many to the NCAA tourney in March. #4 Pitt leads the conference standings with a 10-1 record.