Princeton Closer To Ivy League Title With Win Over Columbia; Devin Cannady Tallies 18

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, February 24, 2017

Princeton won its 14th straight, improving to 11-0 in the Ivy League, defeating Columbia, 64-45, closing in on another conference title.

Devin Cannady scored a game-high 18 points all on three-pointers, going 6-for-14 from the field, but 6-for-11 from beyond the arc.

A 6'1" sophomore guard from Mishawaka, Indiana, Cannady didn;t go to the foul line at all as the Tigers breezed to the win with a sharp second half.

Princeton has just three games left in the regular season, and needs just one win, over either Cornell, Harvard or Dartmouth to clinch at least a tie. Considering that the Tigers have beaten all three of their upcoming opponents earlier in the season, their chances for getting the automatic NCAA tournament invite are very good.

The Tigers travel to Cornell on Saturday, and play Harvard and Dartmouth next Friday and Saturday, respectively, at home next weekend.

T.J. Leaf Scores 25, Leads #5 UCLA Past Arizona State

College Hoops Player of the Day for Thursday, February 23, 2017

There's a serious showdown coming in the PAC-12 between the Arizona Wildcats and the UCLA Bruins, currently ranked numbers four and five in the AP Poll, and among the leaders in the conference (Arizona is on top; UCLA 2 1/2 back).

The colossal collision is expected to occur beginning with the tip-off Saturday night in Tuscon, when the Wildcats host the Bruins for the second time this season. The first meeting - at UCLA - went to Arizona, 96-85, but, since that result and a subsequent loss at USC, the Bruins have reeled off six straight wins, including Thursday night's 87-75 victory at Arizona State, and 25 points from freshman T.J. Leaf, who fell just shy of his 12th double-double, with nine rebounds.

Leaf dominated the middle, hitting 11 of 16 shots and making all three free throw attempts. The 6'10" frosh has become a mainstay for the Bruins as they improved to 25-3 overall and 12-3 in conference play.

With just two games left for Arizona, 16-0 in the conference, UCLA would have to win Saturday night and the wildcats would have to lose their remaining game against Arizona State, in order to tie the Wildcats for the PAC-12 title.

Syracuse Wins, 78-75, On John Gillon's Buzzer-Beater Over #10 Duke

College Hoops Player of the Day for Wednesday, February 22, 2017

The bank was open for John Gillon.

With time running down and the scored tied at 75, the Syracuse guard let fly from 25 feet, the ball banking in off the backboard for the game winner as Syracuse prevailed at home over the #10 Duke Blue Devils, 78-75.

Gillon finished with a game-high 26 points on 9-for-14 shooting including three of five from three-point range. The Orange had trailed by as many as ten points in the first half, but trimmed Duke’s advantage and the game was tight for the final ten minutes. Syracuse never led by more than two points until Gillon’s heroic buzzer-beater.

Sending the partisan Syracuse crowd at the Carrier Dome into a court-rushing frenzy, the 17-12 Orange kept alive their hopes of receiving an invitation to the upcoming NCAA national championship tournament. It was the third win over a top 10-ranked team for the Orange. They previously upset Florida State and Virginia.

The victory leaves the Orange at 9-7 in the ACC with just two games remaining in the regular season. A Syracuse win on Sunday at #7 Louisville would likely result in a bid to the big dance, but a Marcvh 4 win over Georgia Tech in their regular season finale at home and a good showing in the ACC tournament would also weigh mightily on the selection committee’s decision.

#13 Florida Powers To 9th Straight Win Behind KeVaughn Allen's 26 Points

College Hoops Player of the Day for Tuesday, February 22, 2017

Winning their ninth straight, the Florida Gators moved into a tie for first place in the SEC with Kentucky, sending slumping South Carolina to their third straight loss, 81-66.

Leading the Gators was sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen, who took just seven shots from the field but ended up the game's high scorer with 26 points.

Allen was 5-for-7 overall, including 3-for-5 on three-pointers. He also made 13 of 14 from the free throw line, dished three assists, blocked a shot, made a pair of steals and had seven boards.

Florida, ranked #13 in the most recent poll, avenged a 57-53 setback at South Carolina back on January 18.

The Gators (23-5, 13-2 SEC) play at #11 Kentucky this Saturday, the result likely to determine the SEC regular season champion. Florida topped the Wildcats on February 4, dominating, 88-66.

Jevon Carter, Lamont West Lead West Virginia Past Texas

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, February 20, 2017

Alive and well in the Big 12, #12 West Virginia (22-6, 10-5) still trails Kansas in the conference standings by 3 1/2 games after the Mountaineers trashed Texas Monday night, 77-62, aided in large part by the 38 minutes of floor time from junior guard Jevon Carter.

Carter, 6'2", from Maywood, Illinois, was 9-for-17 from the field with a pair of three-pointers, 4-for-4 from the foul line and had his third double-double with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds.

6'8" freshman, Lamont West, chipped in 23 points in the same number of minutes, went 7-for-10 from the field, including 6-for-8 from beyond the arc, adding four boards, two assists and a blocked shot. Carter also dished four assists and made a steal.

The Mountaineers may not be the ultimate class of the conference, but they're close, and continuing to meld as a unit. The win was their fourth of the last five games, the only defeat coming last Monday, in an 84-80 overtime loss at Kansas.

With just three games left in their regular season, the Mountaineers appear to be headed to the NCAA tournament for the third straight time, after having missed out in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

Marcus Foster Pours In 35, Leading #20 Creighton Past Georgetown, 87-70

College Hoops Player of the Day for Sunday, February 19, 2017

While the Creighton Blue Jays aren't likely to win the Big East conference - that seems to belong to Villanova - they are almost certainly going to the NCAA tournament, aided by Kansas State transfer, Marcus Foster, who scored a career-high 35 points in Sunday's 87-70 win over Georgetown.

A junior guard from Wichita Falls, Texas, Foster was 13-for-19 from the field, canning four of six from three-point range, adding five boards and five assists in his best game of the season. After two years at Kansas State, Foster sat out the 2015-16 season to ply his trade at Creighton and the results have been better than expected.

Foster's range and shooting percentage have improved markedly from his stint at KSU, and he leads the Bluejays in scoring, averaging 18.6 points per game.

Creighton took an 8-point lead (41-33) into halftime, then went on a 19-6 spurt early in the second to essentially put the game on ice.

Creighton (22-5, 9-5 Big East) shot 53%, avenging a 20-point road loss to the Hoyas on January 25. Georgetown (14-13, 5-9) shot just 38.5% and made only 3 of 22 three-point heaves.

The win leaves the Bluejays alone in third place, 3 1/2 games behind second-ranked Villanova (26-2, 13-2). Butler is second, three games back; Xavier, at 8-6 in conference play, is 4 1/2 behind the front-running Wildcats.

With four games remaining on the regular season schedule, Creighton has home games against Providence and St. John's, travels to Villanova on Feb. 25th, finishing up on the road at Marquette, March 4th.

Freshman Lauri Markkanen Scores 26 With 13 Rebounds in Arizona Win Over Washington

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, February 18, 2017

College teams in the PAC-12 and down the road in the NCAA tourney had best acquaint themselves with #5 Arizona's Freshman Finn, seven-footer Lauri Markkanen, who tallied 26 points and 13 boards in the Wildcats' 76-68 victory at Washington Saturday.

Markkanen, who hails from Jyvaskyla, Finland, is a potent scorer, who is equally deadly near the rim or from three-point range, where he splashes at a .457 clip. Though he did not connect on two attempts from beyond the arc Saturday, he was 9-for-17 overall and canned eight of nine from the charity stripe. He leads Arizona in minutes, scoring (15.7) and rebounding (7.5), and has the Wildcats a game better than second place Oregon in the conference standings, at 14-1 (25-3 overall).

Arizona won their fourth straight, following an 85-58 drubbing at Oregon two weeks ago, and they won't play the Ducks again unless they meet up in the conference tourney. The Wildcats have just three games left in the regular season, with a home game against #6 UCLA looming as the potential conference title clincher. UCLA is 11-3 in the conference, 2 1/2 games back after blasting USC on Saturday, 102-70.

Arizona, Oregon and UCLA look like locks for the NCAA tournament, with either Colorado or Cal becoming the fourth team from the PAC-12 to get invited, hinging largely on their performance in the conference tournament.

Notable: Mike Daum of South Dakota State scored a career-high 51 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the Jackrabbits' 97-89 win over the Fort Wayne Mastadons (no really, that's their chosen name). Daum's point total was the highest in the NCAA this season.

Sunday Spotlight: #23 Maryland plays at #11 Wisconsin, Sunday at 1:00 pm ET in a Big Ten showdown. Both the Terps and Badgers trail Purdue by 1/2 game in the conference standings, making the game a must-see (CBS has the national broadcast) despite the NCAA tournament committee completely shunning the Big Ten in their early top 16 seedings last week.