Rush The Court

We’re back with another thrilling edition of Boom Goes the Dynamite where we try to cover every single game on TV. Since we have only two people working on BGTD, we appreciate any reader tips on what games everyone should be watching since there are so many on TV and the Internet. For a rundown of the games today, check out today’s Set Your Tivos.

11:40 AM: ESPN GameDay is live from Spokane site of the Memphis-Gonzaga game tongiht at 9 PM. The crowd is fairly small, but I’ll give the Bulldog fans a break since it started at 8 AM local time on a Saturday morning at a school with just 4,515 undergraduates. I’m still waiting for a basketball GameDay to match a college football GameDay in terms of attendance and crazy fans. Looking at the schedule, I’m going to have go with February 21st when Oklahoma plays Texas in Austin, TX as the ESPN GameDay where the fans actually show up.

Noon: Some great work by the ESPN camera crew making Philadelphia look like something other a dump. The Syracuse-Villanova game should be one of the better ones today with both teams being in the 2nd tier in the Big East after UConn, Pittsburgh, and Louisville. The jury is still out on Marquette after last night’s debacle. Like we said watch the Jonny Flynn versus Scottie Reynolds match-up. The Arinze Onuaku injury could be big particularly with Dante Cunningham on the inside.

12:40 PM: Sorry for the delay in posting, but we’re having some problems with WordPress. Anyways, Villanova is absolutely destroying Syracuse right now. A basket by Cunningham stretches the lead to 21 at 36-15. It might be a while before we have another update on this game unless the Orange make a run. If the game continues like this, Jim Boeheim‘s squad will fall out of the top 25 leaving just 5 Big East teams in the rankings.

1:00 PM: The ESPN announcers just said that Donovan McNabb played some basketball when he was at Syracuse. Either he had some ridiculous intramural basketball career that I’m not aware of or they just assume that every mobile black QB was a two-sports star. I’m guessing it is the latter.

[Update: I’m an idiot. See the 1:55 PM post]

1:15 PM: Jim Calhoun just compared Thabeet’s shot-blocking ability to Bill Russell‘s. That would be Hasheem Thabeet with 0 wins in the NCAA tournament (games not titles) and Bill Russell with an Olympic gold medal, 2 NCAA titles, and 11 NBA titles.

1:20 PM: I believe that was our first Duke-UNC promo. Get ready America. It’s coming. . .

1:25 PM: Cincinnati just cut into Georgetown’s double-digit lead with back-to-back threes in 14 seconds to cut it to 39-35. Georgetown needs this game to help their NCAA tournament chances. Meanwhile, across the country in LA,  Notre Dame (the other Big East team that was ranked in the top 10 earlier this season, but that is now on the bubble) is down 20-9 at UCLA with 11:30 left in the first half.

1:40 PM: Both of the Big East games are getting close. Georgetown is is up 49-44 with 8 minutes left after a Greg Monroe basket. Monroe has been having a solid all-around game and is the first player in double figures today. I think Monroe is a top 10 pick if he comes out this year, but could use an extra year in college and potentially become a top 5 pick. Villanova is leading Syracuse by 11 with 13 minutes left.

1:45 PM: Quick run-down of big games right now: Neither Boeheim nor Jay Wright can be happy with their team’s perimeter defense today as both teams have fouled players shooting 3s twice today. Kyle McAlarney finally hits a 3 to cut the UCLA lead to 37-23 with 4 minutes left in the first half. This Irish team does not look like it is going to make a run for a NCAA tournament bid. Low scoring game at Cameron with Miami leading Duke 4-3 four minutes into the game. It’s a tie game in DC with 5:20 left. I’ll be following that game until the finish unless one team pulls away or if something major happens in another game.

1:50 PM: Timeout in DC. Miami is up 14-6 at Cameron. Could we have another upset today? Miami looks like it is still playing with confidence from its win over Wake and Duke can’t hit anything.

1:55 PM: I stand corrected on my earlier McNabb comment. Apologies to the ESPN announcers. I tried to do a quick fact check (Wikipedia), but apparently I missed the one sentence mention of his career “He also spent two years as a reserve on the school’s nationally ranked basketball team.” We have a clip below of McNabb’s  time at Syracuse on the basketball team courtesy of JR:

2:00 PM: Huge 3 by Alvin Mitchell to tie the game at 59 with less than a minute left. Monroe gets called for a travel. He might not have to worry about that call next year if he goes to the NBA. Timeout with 34.8 seconds left.

2:05 PM: An ugly possession by Cincinnati left them with Deonta Vaughn‘s off-balance 3 that came up short. DaJuan Summers had a clean look at a 3 to win it at the buzzer but he was long and we’re going to OT.

2:15 PM: Low scoring OT (each team has scored 1 point with 2:19 left).  Mike Williams hits 2 from the line to give the Bearcats a 62-60 lead. Monroe got hacked there in the low post. I’m surprised he didn’t get the call there especially at home. A pair of FTs by Vaughn gives the Bearcats a 4-point lead with 1:45 left.

2:20 PM: Some frenetic action with the Monroe making a huge block on Williams. Georgetown has the ball with 13.3 seconds down by 2 coming out of a timeout. Who gets the ball for the Hoyas? The announcers both say Monroe. I tend to agree. He can at least find an open man if he is doubled.

2:22 PM: Wow. That may have been the worst execution on a final play this season. Chris Wright couldn’t get it into Monroe so he passed it to Austin Freeman who attempted a desperation 3 that had a lot of contact. The Hoyas had a chance to tip it, but couldn’t get a good touch on the ball as there was a lot of contact underneath, but the Hoyas didn’t get a call. Nice win for the Bearcats. On the other hand, the Hoyas might need to start thinking about whether or not they need to attend classes in March again.

2:30 PM: Duke is getting spanked at home. They’re down 32-19 at half. I’m guessing the Blue Devils’ 19.4% FG shooting isn’t helping much. I just want to point out that rtmsf predicted the “Duke swoon” before the Clemson game. Interestingly, Frank Haith appears to have let Eddie Rios back on the team after suspending him indefinitely twice and Rios getting arrested for burglary after that. Maybe the old Hurricanes are back, but on the hardwood instead of the gridiron. . .

2:40 PM: Speaking of the NIT, Mike Brey might need to start planning on that (UCLA is up by 31). That is assuming the Irish can stay above .500. It’s amazing that a 1st team All-American from a BCS conference like Luke Harangody might end up playing in the NIT

2:45 PM: Gerald Henderson gets his first basket of the game 23 minutes into the game and follows it with a 3 to cut the lead to 11. Can the Blue Devils turn it around? It will be tough if the rest of the team continues to shoot as poorly as they have and Jack McClinton continues to stay hot. Miami is up 40-29 with 15:51 left as we go to a TV timeout.

2:55 PM: Duke has tied it at 42. Miami is falling apart and the frat boys Cameron Crazies are getting into it. Frank Haith finally calls a timeout. Get ready for a love-fest on ESPN the rest of the day. Here are some words you can turn into a drinking game when ESPN talks about Duke for the rest of the day: heart, courage, and toughness.

2:57 PM: Live look-in on ESPN of the Tennessee-Auburn game with the Vols up by 1 with 16 seconds left and Auburn going to the line for 2 free throws. He misses both, but the Tigers get the rebound and the timeout with 12.9 seconds left.

2:58 PM: Duke takes the lead on a flagrant FT by Jon Scheyer after DeQuan Jones was ejected for a elbowing Greg Paulus. I didn’t see it becuase I was watching ESPN, but it was a very delayed call. Scheyer just hit a 3 to put Duke up by 4.

2:59 PM: Auburn just won the game on a crazy play where they almost turned it over in the backcourt, but somehow found a man open under the basket for a lay-up with 4 seconds left. J.P. Prince missed a 3 at the buzzer that could have won it for the Vols.

3:00 PM: And the game mercifully ends for the Fighting Irish. It’s UCLA in a romp, 89-63 . I know that Notre Dame hasn’t been playing well in the Big East, but they haven’t been getting blown out like they did at Pauley today. Is this just the culmination of their collapse or could it be that the Big East just isn’t as good as everybody makes it out to be?

3:05 PM: Kyle Singler hits a 3 after only making 1 of his first 15 shots.  McClinton makes a jumper to cut the lead back to 3. If Miami is going to pull out a win today, it’s going to take a monster effort from McClinton.

3:15 PM: Oklahoma and Texas have opened up double-digit leads in the 2nd half of their games against Colorado and Nebraska respectively. We’ll update you if anything changes. Otherwise, we’ll stick with the Miami-Duke game.

3:20 PM: Huge step-back 3 by McClinton to give Miami the lead with 3:06 left in the game.

3:25 PM: Henderson responds with a driving lay-up, but misses the “and 1” to give Duke a 1-point lead with 2:40 left. McClinton gets fouled and is going to the free throw line. He makes one of two to make it a tie game with 2 minutes left.

3:30 PM: A bad call goes against Duke and the Cameron Crazies realize what the rest of the nation has been experiencing for the past 18 years. Greg Paulus responds to a McClinton lay-up with a 3-pointer to give Duke a 1-point lead with 1:19 left. Paulus has a season-high 16 points today. David McClure with another rebound. Another one of the other Blue Devils who is stepping up with a huge game to make up for Singler’s sub-par performance. He responds by missing the free throw. Adrian Thomas misses the jumper. Scheyer gets the rebound and McClinton has to take the foul. How did that ball not end up in McClinton’s hands?

3:35 PM: McClinton just hit a HUGE 3 from about 25 feet out to tie it with 15 seconds left. Duke had a chance to win it on a Scheyer 3 and a Singler tip-in, but neither went and we’re going to OT.

3:45 PM: A pretty boring OT as Miami apparently forgot to come out for the 5 extra minutes. Duke is up by 6 off a Henderson jumper and Miami hasn’t scored yet in the extra period with 51.9 seconds left.

3:47 PM: Jack McClinton responds to my crack with a 3 to cut it to a one possession game with about 30 seconds left (officials are trying to figure out how much time is left after a clock malfunction).

3:50 PM: Scheyer at the free throw line for 2. He makes 1 of 2 to give Duke a 4-point lead with 30.2 seconds left. Larry Dews misses a 3. Singler gets the rebound and is headed to the FT line. Why isn’t Haith getting the ball in McClinton’s hands every time down the court? Singler makes 1 of 2 to make it a 5-point game with 19.6 seconds left. McClinton basically gets tripled teamed, but splits it and gets fouled.

3:53 PM: More trouble with the clock. Is Coach K paying off the timekeepers at Cameron to cut time off the game? McClinton makes 2 FTs to cut it to a one-possession game with 11.4 seconds left. Paulus is fouled and heads to the line. He’s a 67% FT shooter, but only needs 1 here to make it a two-possession game.

3:55 PM: Duke finishes the Hurricanes off after Paulus hits 2 free throws and Miami isn’t able to get a foul before the clock runs out.

4:00 PM: I’m going to hand this off to rtmsf who will be taking you into the night. Before I do that, I want to mention another typical Blake Griffin game (26 points and 12 rebounds) in Oklahoma’s win over Colorado. One small criticism: 4 for 10 from the FT line. He has to step that up a bit.

4:09 PM: Good to be back.  Nebraska just had an RTC finish, beating Texas 58-55 in Lincoln.   Speaking of swoon, the Horns are now officially there.  Three Ls in a row, two at home.  Are they a bubble team?  Their last good wins (UCLA, Villanova) were around Thanksgiving.  Gonna need more than that.

4:15 PM: A quick review of my tv shows the following games shown – Arizona @ Oregon (garbage); Indiana @ Michigan St. (more garbage); S. Illinois @ Missouri St. (even more garbage).  Full Court isn’t much better, but at least PC @ WVU is interesting.

4:19 PM: One upset worth mentioning from the mid-majors today was Rider knocking off previously unbeaten Siena in the MAAC.  The Saints are still very much in control of the league race, though, 2.5 games ahead of Niagara.

4:43 PM: How’d I get this shift?  These games are horrible.  KU is doing just enough to stay up double-figures on Oklahoma St.  Virginia is “only” down 8 at UNC going into the half, but let’s not kid ourselves.  WVU is mauling Providence.  Arizona is only up one on Oregon starting the second half, which proves just how bad these teams are.  Ugh.

5:04 PM: Arizona is running away from Oregon – it’s really hard to believe that Ernie Kent got an insane extension to 2012 last summer.  The Ducks may just be on their way to 0-18, like their rivals down the road in Corvallis did last year.  Oregon – where basketball goes to die.

5:09 PM: Kansas up 15, Carolina up 15, WVU up 15…  hey, at least that battle of bad MVC teams is close (Missouri St. up 3).

5:24 PM: It figures that Indiana-MSU is the best game on right now.  Devan Dumes just Chris Pauled Goran Suton while running upcourt.  Somehow he is not only still playing, but didn’t even get a foul for that manuever.

5:32 PM: Now’s as good a time as any to put up the clip of Greg Paulus getting posterized by Dwayne Collins.  Wow.

5:40 PM: I was just informed that Tyler Hansbrough tallied his 13th assist in 19 games (0.7 assists per game).  Throughout his career, his assist rate has steadily dropped, from 1.3 apg his freshman year, down to 1.2 apg his sophomore year, then 0.9 apg last year.  Just think, if he stuck around eight years, Hansbrough might be the Yinka Dare of college hoops.

5:47 PM: Actually, one interesting finish is going on in the Big 12.  K-State is leading Texas A&M and their hideous floor in College Station.  KSU is looking to win its fifth in a row to go 5-4 in the Big 12 (would be tied with Nebraska for 4th place).

5:54 PM: Two huge threes for K-State seem to have put this one away.  KSU is definitely one of the surprises of the Big 12.  Speaking of surprises, Miss. St. followed up its win at UK with another one vs. Arkansas to go 6-2 in SEC.

6:01 PM: Heading into the 6pm games now…  UNC, WVU, Kansas and MSU won easily in the second half.   UConn-Michigan and Steph Curry (Davidson-Charleston) are upcoming.  Let’s hope for some excitement.

6:29 PM: Ok, now we’re getting a good game.  Michigan doesn’t look intimidated playing at UConn yet.  Tied 14-all at this point.

6:35 PM: Davidson is struggling so far against CofC (down 9 mid-first half), which shouldn’t surprise anyone.  Their last matchup was a close DC victory.  Dickie V is calling this game – we’re guessing this is his first trip to the state of NC that didn’t include an ACC team.

6:49 PM: A quick 9-0 run by Michigan has UConn on its heels here.  The Huskies are having a lot of trouble with this zone.  This is the UConn that we just can’t understand.

6:57 PM: A strong run by UConn to close the half here, but Michigan should be proud of the half they’ve had – going in with a lead at UConn is better than John Beilein could have hoped for.  Davidson also made a little comeback and now holds a 2-pt lead at halftime.

7:23 PM: The UConn-Michigan game has the look of a game that’s going down to the wire – hard to believe.  Davidson ran off to a quick second half start also behind Curry, but we’ll see if that holds.  One other game note – South Carolina moved to 6-3 in the SEC – Darrin Horn is doing a great job there this year.

7:37 PM: Huskies just put an 8-0 run on the board – will Michigan respond?  CofC also put a little run up, but Davidson doesn’t look like they’re going to lose tonight.  Score check: Mizzou is about to 7-2 in the Big 12 with a win over Iowa St.; Xavier is down 11 in the first half at Duquesne; and Clemson is leading FSU by 10 also in the first half.

7:49 PM: When Thabeet plays like this, UConn is definitely the team to beat.  All too often, though, we don’t always see this player.

8:00 PM: Michigan looked on the verge of getting blown out, but two absurdly difficult threes brought them back to within four, and UConn hasn’t reponded very well from that yet.  This could get very interesting down the stretch.   On ESPN2, Charleston has also made a run and has it down to 1 pt with under 4.  This is more like it!

8:05 PM: Curry is going to need to show some March heroics in February because Davidson’s in trouble – down 4 with 1:43 to go…  UConn back up six.

8:08 PM: Michigan gave a great effort today in Storrs but UConn had just enough Hasheem to hold on.  We just watched Steph Curry hit the side of the backboard on a three attempt, which was his seventh straight miss.

8:10 PM: Curry just bricked two more threes in a last-ditch effort to come back.  Must be the Vitale effect.  Davidson’s 27-game home and 43-game SoCon winning streaks are in serious jeopardy here.   Over in Clemson, apparently the Tigers went on a 10-0 run to start the second half vs. FSU.

8:15 PM: Ok, we’re getting a little tired of seeing Stephen Curry’s mom – she always looks like somebody stole her puppy in these games.  CofC missed two FTs and then fouled Curry on a three.  Brilliance.

8:18 PM: Well, if there are going to be any Curry heroics today, he has about 2.0 seconds in which to do it.  Xavier is creeping back on Duquesne (down 8 now).

8:21 PM: Wow, Davidson ran an amazing play with that much time left to get Curry a good look at a game-winning three, but Charleston made an even better defensive play to reject it from behind (all ball), and the Davidson streaks are OVER.  Is DC a tourney team if they don’t win the SoCon?

8:24 PM: Ok, we’re going to take a short break, but we’ll be back for the Gonzaga-Memphis game at the top of the hour.

9:08 PM: Holy crap, FSU came back and knocked off Clemson 65-61.  The Noles closed the game on a 14-4 run in the last five minutes.  Xavier is also about to go down to Duquesne.  Early 8-6 lead for the Zags over Memphis – we have pretty high hopes for this game.  Should be a great one.

9:21 PM: Memphis is looking pretty good so far, but Gonzaga will be heard from for sure.  While we have a moment, we just wanted to say…  what the hell was going on with Antwaine Wiggins’ hair in the Charleston-Davidson game?  It’s not a mohawk… it’s not a fade…  it’s a fohawk??  Someone needs to explain this to us.

9:36 PM: ESPN just showed Duquesne RTCing – definitely justified there.  Meanwhile, back in Spokane, Memphis is making notions that it might just run away with this game.  Gonzaga is going to have to stop turning the ball over so much.  Finally, it looks like we’re missing an exciting one in Corvallis – Arizona St. 19, OSU 13.  At the half.  Yeesh.

9:48 PM: Wow, Memphis looks fantastic when they’re hitting shots, and Gonzaga looks totally out of sync.  We really thought by this point in Austin Daye’s sophomore year he’d be an absolute beast.  If anything, he’s regressed.

9:54 PM: Gonzaga is the #1 2fg% defense team in America?  Their defense looks like a sieve from this angle.

10:23 PM: Memphis is absolutely picking Gonzaga apart offensively.  They are getting a good look almost every time down the court.  Dozier couldn’t have been more open on that last three, and it’s obvious that the Memphis size and length are really bothering Gonzaga’s shooters.

10:28 PM: Check-in on other scores.  Arizona St. finished off Oregon St. in the Pacific Northwest.  Utah St. looks ready to improve on its 21-1 start, up 12 with six to go against La Tech.  Cal is starting its game now against Wazzu in Berkeley.  As for the Memphis-GU game, the Zags are showing signs of making a comeback, but seriously, there’s no way they can win this one, right?

10:37 PM: This is phenomenal.  Gonzaga looks like a high school team against Memphis right now.  Keep this game in mind come March when the Zags are bracketed somewhere.  This team doesn’t appear to have a lot of heart.

10:48 PM: This is all too little, too late.  If Gonzaga had started the half like this… maybe.  But with under four to go, maybe their best strategy would be to start fouling Memphis soon – hey, it worked for Kansas.

10:53 PM: Mark Few may want to consider leaving Pargo, Daye and Bouldin on the bench for his next game.  Jay Bilas is right – at least this group is competing with Memphis.

10:59 PM: Ok, that’s it for this one.  Gonzaga has some serious issues, and we’re not completely convinced it relates to basketball.  Memphis, on the other hand, can probably beat just about anybody in a single game if their offense is clicking well enough, because their defense will always be good enough.  It’s unlikely that their offense will be good enough to get to a second consecutive F4 though.

11:03 PM: If Knight talks about those shot fakes one more time…  of course, he just called Calipari’s team “Memphis State” too.  Somebody hire this guy.  Quick note on the wacky Mtn West – UNLV lost at New Mexico in OT tonight, dropping them to 5th, and raising UNM to 3d.  What a crazy conference.

11:38 PM: Things slowing down around the dial, but Cal is up seven on Wazzu.  It’s amazing how much better of a coach Monty is than Ben Braun.  One other earlier score of note: Texas Tech beat Baylor, putting the Bears at 3-6 in the Big 12.  Not.  Good.

12:06 AM: This Pac-10 matchup is a really good game.  Tied at 60-all with 2:18 remaining.  Mychal Thompson’s kid just hit two clutch threes to tie the game for Wazzu.

12:15 AM: Teams don’t do what Wazzu did right there enough.  It backfired here, but their strategy was to trust their defense to the get the stop (down 4) and not foul.  I can’t stand it when teams start fouling in a two-possession game with under 2 mins but more than 35 seconds left.  Makes no sense whatsoever, esp. if you’re a good defensive club.  Well, it looks like Cal is going to 7-4 in the Pac-10, and ten wins is probably the magic number in the Pac-10 to make the NCAAs.

12:21 AM: Well, that’ll wrap it up for another edition of BGTD, as there aren’t any more games on our tvs here at the RTC Western Compound.  Hope you guys enjoyed it.   One score to keep an eye on for your Sunday morning, though…  St. Mary’s (w/o Patty Mills) is getting ripped at Santa Clara by 12 early in the second half.

12:33 AM: Make sure to check in on Sunday’s Set Your Tivos for a viewing outline of tomorrow’s best games.  Have a great night, Hoops Nation.