ATB: Who Wants the Pac-10 Title?
Posted by rtmsf on February 20th, 2009
Farking. The Word is Farking, Roy. From last night’s post-game press conference vs. NC State. So Coach, why didn’t you press Miami again?
Game of the Night. UCLA 85, Washington 76. This game was essentially for the top of the Pac-10, because if Washington had won it would have been nearly impossible for UCLA to catch them in the remaining two weekends. The Bruins therefore did exactly what they needed to do, essentially outscoring the Huskies in a key stretch of the late second half behind a Darren Collison mini-run and Josh Shipp’s 20/8 and Nikola Dragovic’s 15/8. We know we were hyping UCLA a mere week ago before they lost both games on the Arizona swing, but their usually stalwart defense just isn’t what it used to be. Washington was able to get most of the shots they wanted, and that’s the first time in several years we could say that about a team playing the Bruins.
Upset of the Night. Charlotte 65, Xavier 60. Xavier dropped into a tie for second-place in the A10 with three losses (behind Dayton with two) with this loss, XU’s third in the last four games. Make no mistake, though, this is a bad loss for the Muskies, as Charlotte entered the game 10-15 overall and 4-7 in the conference. Sean Miller had no explanation for why his team is faltering lately, having lost its last three road games, but they’ve had two of their worst offensive efficiency performances in their last two losses. Xavier is still safe as far as the NCAA is concerned, but with games at St. Joe’s and home against Dayton looming, the Musketeers seed could really plummet with a couple more late losses.
Some Other Nonsense.
- W. Kentucky 78, Arkansas-Little Rock 69. WKU got a key Sun Belt win tonight to go take a one-game lead on UALR in the Sun Belt race for the outright title.
- Wisconsin 68, Indiana 51. The Badgers couldn’t afford to lose this game, and they didn’t behind Trevon Hughes’ 21 pts. The middle of the Big Ten is a mess, with five teams with either six or seven conference losses.
- Villanova 82, Rutgers 72. Rutgers hung in this game for thirty minutes, but Nova got it together during a decisive 12-0 stretch where Corey Fisher made several key plays. You know what we really like about the Big East top six? They just don’t lose to bad teams, Villanova included (only exception: USF over Marquette two weeks ago).
- Gonzaga 91, Loyola Marymount 54. The Zags clinched the top seed in the WCC Tournament for the ninth straight year behind Steven Gray’s career-high 23 pts.
- California 78, Oregon 60. The Ducks remain winless in the Pac-10 as Cal got one step closer to getting off the bubble with a win to go 9-4 in the conference.
- USC 61, Washington St. 51. USC keeps its slim hopes alive for an at-large by moving to 7-6 in the Pac-10 – what they really need is a win this weekend over UW, though.
- St. Mary’s 65, San Diego 61. The Gaels continue to keep their head above water without Patty Mills leading their way. Omar Samhan had 20/11 in the win.
- Michigan 74, Minnesota 62. Big bubble game goes to the Wolverines at home. Both teams are now 7-7 in the Big Ten. Tubby’s team may be wearing down, having lost four of its last five games.
- Duke 76, St. John’s 69. We don’t know why the Johnnies continue to schedule this game, it’s just embarrassing for SJU most years. Should we read anything into SJU giving Duke a mild test when they’ve only won three games in the Big East this year? Eh, probably not.
On Tap Friday (all times EST). There’s one early Bracketbuster game worth keeping an eye on Friday night…
- VCU @ Nevada (ESPNU) – 9pm. Nevada isn’t getting into the NCAAs short of a run to win the WAC Tournament, but VCU is in a battle with George Mason and Northeastern to win the CAA, so this game could potentially help VCU move up a seed line should they take care of business in their tournament.
