News & Notes. A couple of really bad ideas tonight…
- Please make this stop immediately.
- One game?!?! Dude stepped on Chase Budinger’s FACE. CUSA should be ashamed of itself for this penalty. Well, he was sorry, guess that makes it all better.
Notre Dame is in Serious Trouble. Marquette 71, Notre Dame 64. The Irish are now sitting at four losses in a row, with the following four games on tap: @ Pitt, @ Cincy, @ UCLA, Louisville. Ridiculous. This is the kind of stretch that can derail an entire season. At 12-7 (3-5) after tonight’s second straight home loss, Notre Dame is staring the NIT right in the face if they can’t come out of this tailspin soon. Kyle McAlarney is most to blame for this downslide, as he has shot a putrid 14-45 in the last three games – without more production from him, the Irish aren’t going anywhere. The Big East isn’t for the faint at heart, and it appears that Georgetown and ND have been the most negatively affected by its strength to date. As for Marquette, who had the Warriors Golden Eagles at 7-0 in this conference? They just continue to surprise, getting big nights from any one of their four stars in a given game (tonight’s stud was Jerel McNeal with 27/4). And the Eagles may not be done yet – with their upcoming schedule, it’s not preposterous to imagine that Marquette could be 13-0 going into its last five conference games on Feb. 21 (which are very tough). We still wonder what will happen to MU when they play someone with legitimate size (their studs average 6’3 in height), but it hasn’t hurt them yet.
Oklahoma is Getting No Love From the Media. Oklahoma 89, Oklahoma St. 81. In tonight’s Bedlam game, Oklahoma continued its relatively quiet march through the Big 12 (now 6-0) with efficient precision, shooting a ridiculous 58% and withstanding twelve threes from OSU to win its twentieth game of the year. Why isn’t this team getting more attention? They have arguably the best player in the country in Blake Griffin (who had his 17th dub-dub tonight with 26/19), they are highly efficient on both ends of the floor and they rebound like maniacs. Oh, and they haven’t had a close game in their last eight (since the anomalous Arkansas loss four weeks ago). OSU put up a good fight, cutting the Sooners’ 14-pt lead to only one with seven minutes remaining, but OU responded with what else – going to their NPOY candidate time and time again for kickouts and foul opportunities. OU should continue its winning ways for at least three more games until a trip to Baylor on February 11th.
On Tap Tuesday (all times EST).
- Kentucky @ Ole Miss (ESPN) – 7pm. It really wouldn’t surprise us if UK went 16-0 in the SEC this year. Really. The league is that bad.
- Maryland v. Boston College (ESPN2) – 7:30pm. This is an interesting matchup of potential ACC bubble teams. Both need this one badly.
- Texas @ Baylor (ESPN360) – 9pm. Baylor’s looking a little shaky of late (losing 3 of 6); they need to protect their home court.
- Purdue @ Wisconsin (ESPN) – 9pm. Two teams heading in opposite directions – can UW salvage their season?
- VCU v. Northeastern (ESPNU) – 9pm. Game of the Night that nobody can watch. The top of the CAA is up for grabs.
- BYU @ Utah (The Mtn) – 10pm. Act 1 of the Holy War.