Rush The Court

Welcome back, everyone!  Boom Goes the Dynamite returns for the fourth weekend of the year with a blockbuster Saturday of games that are so good that we’re getting them up today as a reminder to join us tomorrow afternoon.  With noon-to-night coverage and the fact that most of the country is completely frozen over again, we expect that you’ll be right there with us on the couch, eating a bunch of bad food and breaking down zone offenses.  We hope to see you then!

Here are the games we plan on keeping an eye on…

12 PM: La Salle at #15 Temple on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com
12 PM: Marquette at #19 Connecticut on Big East Network HD and ESPN Full Court
12 PM: Louisville at #9 West Virginia on ESPN and ESPN360.com
1 PM: #7 Duke at #11 Georgetown on CBS – RTC Live
2 PM: #4 Syracuse at DePaul on Big East Network and ESPN Full Court
2 PM: Indiana at Illinois on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com
3 PM: FSU at Boston College on Raycom and ESPN Full Court
3 PM: #25 Northern Iowa at Missouri State
4 PM: Baylor at #6 Texas on Big 12 Network and ESPN Full Court
4 PM: #23 Vanderbilt at #1 Kentucky on ESPN and ESPN360.com A
4 PM: Arkansas at #20 Mississippi on SEC Network and ESPN Full Court
6 PM: Notre Dame at Rutgers on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com
6 PM: New Mexico at TCU on CBS College Sports
7 PM: #2 Kansas at #13 Kansas State on ESPN and ESPN360.com
7 PM: Georgia at South Carolina on Fox Sports (regional) and ESPN Full Court
7 PM: Northwestern at #5 Michigan State on Big Ten Network
8 PM: Providence at Cincinnati on ESPN U
9 PM: Utah at #10 BYU on Mountain Network
9:30 PM: #8 Gonzaga at San Francisco on Fox Sports (regional)- RTC Live

We will be dividing the day into three shifts with nvr1983 starting things off then rtmsf will handle the afternoon games before John Stevens takes you into the night with late night coverage of all the day’s big games.

10:50 AM: Apparently ESPN forgot to pay the electricity bill as the lights just went out on Jason Williams. (As a college basketball fan, I refuse to call him Jay. Jason Williams was a great player. Jay Williams crashed his motorcycle.)

11:00 AM: Dear College Students of America, This is how you show up for a College GameDay. I don’t want to call anybody out, but the Kansas State fans are crushing what I saw when I went to GameDay at UNC last year. To be fair, a game against in-state rival Kansas is much, much more important than a disappointing Miami team. This seems more like a College Football GameDay and that’s what we need for the basketball version too. Right now the pressure is on Illinois, Kentucky, Washington, Syracuse, and Duke to match this atmosphere when GameDay comes to town later this year.

11:10 AM: Does anybody have a link to where we can buy one of those Frank Martin t-shirts?

11:15 AM: According to the Kansas State website, the previous record for College Basketball GameDay attendance was 6,700 at Clemson last year before they played Duke. I haven’t heard an official number for today. Bramlage Coliseum holds 12,528 and I would think they are well over half full.

11:20 AM: Is Coach K advocating for abolishing the requirement for players to spend one year in college or wanting them to stay in school for more than one semester, which is all they really have to do to be eligible to play in their freshman year? It sounds more like the former. Jay Bilas is right that this issue is more a NBA/business issue.

11:22 AM: If you’re wondering who Hubert Davis and Digger Phelps are going to pick to win the Kansas-Kansas State game, their clothes might be a pretty good clue. Hubert is wearing a purple shirt and a purple tie. Digger is wearing a purple shirt and a purple tie and he he has a purple highlighter. . .

11:25 AM: We will be previewing some of the games throughout the day, but for a more in-depth preview of the day’s marquee games check out today’s Set Your Tivo even if I disagree with rating Vanderbilt-Kentucky as more of a must-see than Duke-Georgetown and Kansas-Kansas State.

11:30 AM: He smiles?

11:35 AM: One update for our schedule: Arkansas-Mississippi has been postponed until tomorrow night due to inclement weather.

11:45 AM: So when will the nation’s vertically challenged population launch a formal complaint against Tom Izzo for referring to one of his players (probably a mere 6 feet tall) as a “little midget”?

11:50 AM: The ESPN GameDay Elite 8: Kansas State, Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State, Syracuse, Texas, Kansas, and Villanova. Seems pretty reasonable if a lot like they just picked the top 8 teams in the country. Which of those teams do you think is the most likely to fail to make it to the Elite 8? I’m going with Kansas State.

11:55 AM: Weak effort out of the Kansas State student. Not a good sign for the Wildcats.

11:58 AM: Rick Pitino might be in for a long day at West Virginia.

Noon: Of course Digger goes with the home Wildcats. Hubert and Bilas pick the Jayhawks.

12:05 PM: Three solid games to start off the day before we get into the marquee games a little bit later. Despite knocking off “#1” Texas last weekend, UConn is by no means a lock for the NCAA tournament after their loss at Providence. Their opponent Marquette has a lot of work to do after failing to close out several big games this season. West Virginia is a lock, but they should be shooting for a #1 or #2 seed. As for Pitino’s Cardinals, they aren’t even close to being a NCAA team right now. In Philadelphia, Temple needs to rebound from their loss at Charlotte if they want to keep pace with Xavier in the A-10 race while La Salle is sitting in the middle of the A-10 pack at 3-3 in conference.

12:10 PM: It’s surprisingly quiet in West Virginia with the Mountaineers up 13-0. Are they up by so much that they have taken the crowd out of the game?

12:20 PM: It looks like we might have 2 close games (UConn-Marquette and Temple-La Salle) along with one blowout (West Virginia-Louisville).

12:25 PM: Pitino has already used 10 players in 8 minutes trying to find a combination that works. The lead is down to 7 now with 10:47 left with Joe Mazzulla heading to the bench with 2 fouls.

12:33 PM: Marquette up by 7 with 7 minutes left in the 1st half as Darius Johnson-Odom has 9 points early in the game. Temple has open up 26-19 lead with 3:46 left behind 7 points from Michael Eric and 6 points from Ramone Moore.

12:40 PM: Nice comeback by Louisville taking the lead at 32-30. What is it with Big East teams spotting their opponents a huge lead?

12:50 PM: Very quiet in West Virginia right now. Are they still doing the “Karen Sypher” chant? Louisville up by 6. Nice back-door cut by Devin Ebanks and he gets fouled by a lazy Terrence Jennings.

12:52 PM: Reported attendance at GameDay: 8,159. New record.

12:55 PM: UConn uses a 8-0 run to cut the lead to 5 at half. Two home favorites in the Big East down at half. A little more depth in the conference than we thought?

1:05 PM: Obama is in the house for RTC Live (aka Duke at Georgetown).

1:10 PM: Georgetown up 9-3. Things aren’t looking good for the Blue Devils right now.

1:17 PM: Odds that Coach K mentions the fact that Obama should be working on health care or unemployment instead of going to this game?

1:20 PM: Temple and Marquette both have 10 point leads early in the 2nd half, but Lazar Hayward just picked up his 3rd foul with 16:30 left.

1:30 PM: Ater Majok with a follow-up dunk, but then commits a foul, but Johnson-Odom bails him out by missing a pair of free throws.

1:35 PM: Georgetown has opened up an 11-point lead with 7:17 left. The crowd is going crazy. Obama and Biden? Stoic.

1:37 PM: Temple is up by 17 with 4:24 left. This one is over. Nice rebound by the Owls with 4 players in double figures and a 5th with 9 points.

1:45 PM: UConn grabs the lead with an 8-0 lead, but David Cubillan responds with a 3 to give the Eagles the lead. Jerome Dyson and Gavin Edwards with back-to-back lay-ups to give the Huskies a 3-point lead. West Virginia is down 9 despite having 20 from Da’Sean Butler.

1:55 PM: Tied at 63 with 3 minutes left in Hartford. Marquette is 1-7 in games decided by 5 points or less or in OT. Buzz Williams can’t be feeling too good right now.

2:00 PM: Hayward just fouled out with 1:51 left. Finishes the day with 20 points. Buzz Williams is feeling a lot worse right now.

2:05 PM: Huge shot by Kevin Jones and the foul to tie the game at 70 in Morgantown with 3 minutes left.

2:07 PM: Marquette with the ball with a shot to win the game with 12.6 seconds left. Williams calls a timeout and they can take the last shot.

2:09 PM: Jimmy Butler with a huge 10-footer falling away on the baseline to give the Eagles a 2-point lead with 2.8 seconds left. Hopefully Jim Calhoun wasn’t watching that.

2:11 PM: Awful in-bounds play. Nice win for Marquette. Big swing in the Big East.

2:12 PM: Louisville up by 1 with 1:11 left and WVU with the ball.

2:17 PM: Da’Sean Butler hits a huge jumper from the corner with less than 17 seconds left. Big day for the Butlers. And the ball goes out of bounds after a Louisville, but the official on the baseline ducks and misses the call. Pitino is not happy with the call. Wow. They gave the ball to WVU. No wonder he is so upset.

2:20 PM: That was a bad call. Looked like it was off Butler. A horrible way for this game to end. Totally unsatisfying. Mike Kitts will not be a popular guy in Louisville tonight.

2:23 PM: It looks like Illinois is wearing pink shoes today. Breast Cancer Awareness?

2:25 PM: Missouri up 25-10 with 13:05 left in the 1st half. Travis Ford calls a timeout. Ugly start for the Cowboys at Missouri.

2:27 PM: Upset alert? DePaul up by 16 with 8:14 left in first half at home against Syracuse.

2:28 PM: Verne makes a “going right” joke with Obama. And when will we get back to the game?

2:45 PM: Georgetown still up double-digits. Are we already starting our annual Duke swoon?

2:47 PM: I might drop Georgia Tech from my top 25 just for playing Kentucky State. Come on Paul Hewett? Really? Not even Western Kentucky? Kentucky State?

2:50 PM: 14-0 run by Syracuse. So much for that upset.

2:55 PM: It looks like the Louisville fans aren’t too happy about the ending of their game against West Virginia.

2:57 PM: Big shot by James Anderson to cut the Missouri lead to 8 at halftime. Meanwhile Indiana is tied with Illinois at halftime after a half-court heave by Devan Dumes to close out a 16-4 run by the Hoosiers.

3:09 PM: Rtmsf here to take you through the middle of the day’s games, and it should be an excellent afternoon of games.  I’ll be heading over to watch the Zags tonight, so John Stevens will be around for the late shift around 7pm.  For now, we’re just finishing up Georgetown’s whomping of Duke, and I continue to be impressed with this year’s version of the Hoyas.  Can we go ahead and call Duke what they really are?  A team that maximizes its potential, but is a Sweet Sixteen team unless they get a particularly favorable draw.

3:12 PM: Obama and Biden leaving the game early!  That’s gotta burn Coach K a little in that his team is getting so ripped that they’re not even staying for the end of the game.  Listening to Verne Lundquist trying to rap with Obama earlier was a little creepy.

3:16 PM: Ok, back to games that are still in doubt…  I’ve got Mizzou up three on Oklahoma State on ESPN, Indiana tied with Illinois on the Deuce and Syracuse-Depaul in a surprisingly close game still on 360.

3:27 PM: Took me a few minutes to figure out how to do a favorites list on my Dish, but I highly recommend it.  Now I can easily go back and forth between those three games (luckily, I found the Syracuse game on something called MASN).

3:30 PM: Syracuse looks sloppy from what I’ve seen here so far.  It makes a fair amount of sense — you can’t get up for every game, and certainly nobody respects DePaul with all the problems they’re having.  Down seven with 8:45 left, though, the Cuse has some work to do.  This would be one of the biggest upsets of the year if the Blue Demons can hang on.

3:34 PM: Indiana just hit a three to get a 3-pt lead in Champaign.  I’d like to say that I could figure out both of these teams, but I can’t.  Obviously Illinois is better, but sometimes both of these squads are epically bad, and other times they’re capable of pulling a pretty solid upset.  Put them together and you’ve got the potential for a total scheit-fest or a decent game.   Appears to be the latter today.

3:36 PM: Mizzou has gone on a 14-2 run and is now up 66-53.  The Tigers have already hit FOURTEEN threes and there’s 11:13 remaining.  I don’t see any way a team can beat another team if they hit 15+ threes in a game (assuming the other team doesn’t also).

3:38 PM: Quick aside from one other game on 360.  Mississippi State is going to beat LSU, a really bad team this year.  But of note is that Renardo Sidney is not on the floor for the Bulldogs, which means Donald Jackson’s prediction that he might be playing by the weekend was not a good one.  I’ve said it before, but I don’t think we’ll ever see Sidney play college basketball.

3:41 PM: Back to Syracuse, this is where it happens… we’re heading into the last five minutes and I can already see DePaul looking a little skittish the last couple of possessions.  The Orange had two big opportunities to cut it to four, but they’ll have more.  As if on cue, Andy Rautins nails a gigantic three off the break.

3:43 PM: Yep, another three, this time by Jardine to cut it to two.  The only way DePaul is getting offense is from the foul line.  WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3:44 PM: Wes Johnson took off from somewhere around Des Plaines on that last dunk, and this is going to be it.  DePaul is finished in my opinion.  Orange are up two with 3:09 remaining…

3:50 PM: DePaul can’t make a free throw either, missing four of their last five attempts.  But they did finally hit a shot, Walker from three, to now cut it to two.  Syracuse had better get a good shot on this trip.  Boeheim calls TO to make sure.

3:54 PM: What the hell was Rautins doing there?  Terrible shot with nine seconds on the shot clock there… will DePaul go for the win?

3:55 PM: Figured they’d go for three, but it wasn’t close.  I thought they had a shot at the tie with the rebound, but they wasted too much time getting the ball up onto the glass.  Syracuse moves to 21-1, but Boeheim still looks happy.

3:57 PM: Mizzou is running away from Oklahoma State now, so I’m going to concentrate mostly on Ill-IU at the moment.  Five minutes left and the Hoosiers are up two.

4:00 PM: Just realized that Illinois is wearing pink shoes and trim today for cancer research.  Big three by the Illini to tie it up heading into the tv timeout.  This is pretty much a must-win for Illinois and I think they realize that.

4:07 PM: Man, a lotta good games to keep up with in this slot.  I found Baylor-Texas just starting out to go along with Washington-Wazzu and even a Siena game (good to get a visual on them before March).  And of course, Vandy-Kentucky is about to begin in a few.  As for the game where my eyes are hurting because of the strange color combinations, Illinois has pushed ahead by two but they’re by no means safe with 2:46 remaining.

4:10 PM: Wow, that inbounds play looked like a missed kicked ball to me, followed by a weak foul call on Indiana.  The zebras are definitely doing their part for the home team right now.

4:15 PM: Here we go… Doc Rivers’ son hits both (how can he be at only 51%), and now the Illini have 4.4 seconds to get the win.

4:18 PM: Demetri McCamey with a high floater to win it at the buzzer!!!  I thought they were in trouble when they received the inbounds pass, but Indiana’s defense did a pretty bad job of cutting off the driving lanes there.  Still, a very tough shot to get to drop.  Huge one for Illinois, though, as they couldn’t afford a loss to IU here today.

4:20 PM: Ok, switching over to Vandy-UK… and my first reaction is, did UK change the color of their floor?  Admittedly, my tv here is sub-def, but it looks much more periwinkle than it used to.  Almost purple.  It doesn’t match the uniforms at all.

4:24 PM: Jimmy Dykes is doing yet another Kentucky game.  Mitch Barnhart must have him on the double-secret payroll.  I generally like Dykes’ commentary, actually, but it is somewhat tiresome to hear the same announcers doing the same teams game after game.

4:26 PM: I have six games going now, even keeping a look-in available for Northeastern-ODU from the CAA right now.  I’m currently on Baylor-Texas though, and LaceDarius Dunn just hit a three to put the Bears up four.  I think Texas needs to make this a statement game today.  Their defense which was so impressive through the first half of the season just hasn’t been nearly as good the last five games.  As it stands, though, Baylor is now up six.

4:32 PM: Kentucky looks very strong right now, with Vandy’s defense unable to do much of anything with the inside game.  Looking over at UT-Baylor, the Bears have already gotten about four runouts in the few minutes I’ve seen them.  Up six on the Horns.

4:40 PM: DeMarcus Cousins is just destroying the Vandy frontline right now.  At the college level, his size and footwork is outstanding.  I think he’ll have a little trouble at the next level with more athletic players because he doesn’t get off the floor very well, but if he can develop a bit of a 10-12 foot game he’ll be a very nice player.

4:43 PM: Just realized that BronBron is at the UK game this afternoon watching Wall & company.  I bet LB23 would love to have John Wall on the perimeter with him for the Cavs, but it’s far more likely he’ll be a Net next year.  Does that mean Lebron might be interested in moving to Brooklyn?  I wouldn’t read anything into it, but it’s an interesting scenario.

4:45 PM: Baylor with another steal to go up ELEVEN before Texas hits a two at the buzzer.  So a nine-point lead for Baylor heading into the locker room.  Could be a big upset brewing in Austin.  Where is the UT defense?

4:48 PM: Just checked 360, and BC-FSU is going down to the wire in Boston.  BC up 54-53 over the Seminoles.  This is where I’m sticking the next few minutes.

4:51 PM: Too many games to keep track of, another double espresso please!  Wazzu is up four on Washington in Seattle right now.  If UW drops this one, I think we can formally write the Huskies off for the rest of this year.  BC has the ball, now tied.

4:53 PM: Derwin Kitchen hits FSU’s first three of the game after a BC miss to give the Seminoles a three-point lead.  FSU has never won at BC, believe it or not.  This would be a great road win for the Noles to signal they’re not going away in the ACC race.

4:57 PM: UK is putting the whomp down on Vandy at Rupp (up 17), and Michael Snaer, the Burger Boy for FSU just dropped two FTs to give FSU a five-pt lead at BC.

5:00 PM: Where’s Tyrese Rice when you need him?  Reggie Jackson is doing his best impression, hitting a long three after an FSU missed foul shot to cut it back to two with 8 seconds remaining.

5:03 PM: Derwin Kithen’s only five points of the game were the biggest five for FSU, including the g0-ahead three and now two FTs to essentially ice it.  Nice road win for the Noles this afternoon.

5:06 PM: The Kentucky-Vandy first half is interminable.  Seems like an entire game has passed yet there’s still 2:43 left this half.  UK is up big though so I’m more interested in Baylor’s nine-point lead in Austin right now.  Make that seven… after Damion James just did a chin-up on the rim there.

5:10 PM: The Baylor guards — Tweety Carter and LaceDarius Dunn — are tough to handle. Baylor has 9 steals of their 11 forced turnovers on UT, and many of those have led to fast-break points. Quick check-in on a couple of other scores… Washington is now up 14 on Wazzu, Arizona State is obliterating Stanford, and Matt Doherty’s SMU Mustangs are about to knock off Memphis! One other one… Northeastern is up 14 on 9-1 CAA co-leader ODU.

5:19 PM: Kentucky goes into the half only up 15 now, and they’ve been known to blow sizable leads this year. Still, I don’t see Vandy making a serious run at this one unless they start nailing a boatload of threes. Jermaine Beal is 4-5, but nobody else on the team has a single one.

5:24 PM: Baylor is starting to look a little sloppy and Texas is back to within five. In fact, a timeout there just saved the Bears from turning the ball over again. HUGE dunk by Pondexter to push their lead out to 18 over their in-state rival. This one looks as good as over now. Heading back to Austin…

5:30 PM: Texas has it back within four, but I don’t get a sense that they’re going to storm back and run away with this game. Even with the fourth foul on LaceDarius Dunn, I just think Baylor is playing too well to not have this go down to the wire.

5:35 PM: Baylor’s still ahead by four and Ekpe Udoh is now 0-8 from the field after his last jump hook rolled out. Amazing that they’re still leading with their big man playing so poorly on the offensive end. Down to 2 now with a Pittman hook…

5:39 PM: Avery Bradley hits a three and Texas is now only down one, using a 22-9 run in the last few minutes to get there. If I were Scott Drew, I think I’d come back with L. Dunn right now and gamble a little bit. You don’t want the Horns to get up 6-8 and try to come back in the last three minutes. You want to stem the tide now.

5:46 PM: If UT had hit that three, the roof would have come off the place. Under five minutes and Texas is up one now. UK is only up 12 over on ESPN, so I’m trying to do the split-screen here.

5:48 PM: Kevin Stallings just got teched up and the Cats are now up nineteen just like that. I could read his lips as he was clapping after the call, saying “good call, good call.” Gotta love coaches sometimes.

5:49 PM: What’s Dunn is Dunn as LaceDarius just picked up his fifth foul and J’Covan Brown got nailed in the nozzle with Dunn’s elbow on a clearout. Big loss for the Bears there. The officials are trying to figure out if that’s an intentional or flagrant foul, but I agree with the commentator that you don’t call a flagrant there. Good no-call. No malice intended.

5:54 PM: P-Pat has three treys over on the UK game, and that’s a development that will probably make the forward a lot of money in four months from now.  He’s not big enough to be a four at the next level, but suddenly you have a guy with range out to 20 feet and you have a powerful three.  This is why it’s sometimes beneficial to come back to school even though you’re already a first rounder.

5:58 PM: Just catching up now the end of Auburn-Alabama in the SEC.  Bama has a one-point lead with 21.9 seconds to go and the Tide going to the line.  Much better crowd showing up today for this game than the other night.  Wow, the SEC’s FT% leader, Mikhail Torrance at 86%, just missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and DeWayne Reed for Auburn took it straight to the rack and will shoot two on the foul.  He’s in the mid-60s from the line.

6:01 PM: I’m still keeping my eyes on the Baylor-UT game and Damion James just stuck a 15-foot dagger into the eye of the Bears to take a one-point lead.  Still 1:36 left, so stay tuned on that one…  1 of 2 for Auburn and Bama will have 1.1 seconds here to try to win…

6:05 PM: I blew that one, sorry.  Auburn actually got the steal and is now at the line to win with 3.1 left!  Tweety Carter just drew a foul on UT to go to the line with 42.1 left to try and put his team back on top.  Auburn made one of two and Bama will have 2.6 to go length of the court.

6:08 PM: Bama got a pretty good pass off to the other end, but it was knocked away and Auburn wins the game.  Great finish there in the SEC.  Meanwhile, UT is back up on top by one after Baylor fouled them.  Still plenty of time — 32.9 seconds and Baylor down one.  Tweety Carter time?

6:11 PM: It was Tweety time, but he couldn’t quite get the angle to get it to drop over Damion James there.  J’Covan Brown just missed his first from the line – surprising for a 93% shooter from the stripe.  Baylor has another shot…

6:12 PM: And an airball by Udoh is fortuitious because if it hit the rim the game would be over!  Meanwhile, Anthony Jones was standing underneath and put it in with less than a second to go.  Pretty wild finish there.  Texas isn’t going to have very much time at all though, and they have to go length of the court regardless.

6:15 PM: For some idiotic reason the Big 12 Network went to a gambling commercial before it was appropriate to do so, and now we’re in overtime already.  Definite advantage to Texas with LaceDarius Dunn off the court b/c of fouls.

6:20 PM: WOW, Ekpe Udoh just dribbled from halfcourt, spun and laid it in.  Very impresive maneuver for a 6’10 guy like him.  I’m sure the scouts took notice of that play.  Texas answers with a big three, but Baylor looks very confident in this overtime period so far.

6:21 PM: EKPE UDOH has re-energized this Baylor team, with a tremendously powerful dunk right down the gut of the Texas defense on the break.  This guy was 0-11 coming into the overtime!  Still enough time for Texas to get back into this one, but where has Udoh been all game?

6:24 PM: Kentucky continues to lead Vandy by double-figures in Lexington.  A solid coming-off-a-loss win for John Calipari’s team.  I suspect that Vandy will hit more than five threes when these two teams reconvene next month in Nashville.  I wish I’d gotten to concentrate on that one a little more, but this UT-Baylor game has been compelling ball for the entire second half.

6:26 PM: Uh oh.  Ekpe Udoh, the primary Baylor scorer right now, just fouled out of the game as well.  With 1:12 remaining, it’s going to have to be Tweety Carter and/or Quincy Acy producing for Baylor the rest of the way.  Damion James’ 6-12 from the line doesn’t help things, with two big misses there.  Quincy Acy puts another one in and now Texas is going to have to find some quick offense.

6:30 PM: Huge steal and dunk by Damion James to get an easy dunk and cut the lead down to two with still plenty of time left for the Horns (42.3 seconds).  And now Damion James fouls out on a breakaway that Baylor very nearly dunked through.  A ridiculous line for James – 20 pts, 19 rebounds.  Acy, the ~50% foul shooter, just nailed two big ones, but Texas’ J’Covan Brown answers.  It’s time for the fouling game again…

6:33 PM: Unbelievable!  Texas got another trap leading to a steal and Gary Johnson will go to the line for two to tie it.  Baylor’s care with the ball has been extremely suspect in this overtime.  Johnson hits one of two and Baylor surprisingly went straight to the rim and is bricking their own shots at the line.  What is Baylor doing here?

6:36 PM: The free throw shooting both ways is horrible right now.  I think the best thing that could happen is a miss and a rebound by Texas.  They made the second, though.  Let’s see if Baylor can make two to push the lead up to three.  That AJ Walton foul looked like a turnover to me.  Not sure I’d have given him that bailout call.

6:38 PM: A missed three by Texas, but the Horns will have one last shot at it with the ball going out of bounds off Baylor.  The replay shows about one second remaining, which is plenty of time on that end.  If I were Rick Barnes, I’d probably try to get it Avery Bradley in this spot – he has the big-shot cojones that you like to see in these situations.  The question is whether Baylor will risk fouling before the shot gets off.

6:40 PM: I was right about them going to Bradley, and honestly, he got a very good look at it.  Just slightly off to the left, hitting the back iron and bouncing off.  I gotta say… Baylor deserved that win, and it’s huge for their NCAA prospects to get back to 3-3 in the Big 12.  And despite the foul trouble they were able to stay on top of the Horns and get the first win in Austin in a very long time (12 yrs).  So… is it ok now to say, what’s wrong with Texas?

6:46 PM: Whew.  Between the Syracuse and Baylor finishes, I’m exhausted.  But it’s great stuff.  Glad I’m here to see and comment on these games this afternoon.  It’s a little bit of a lull right now for the next fifteen minutes, as Notre Dame vs. the putrid Rutgers Scarlet Knights is on ESPN2, and Gameday is doing there thing in Manhattan.  It looks pretty insane in the Little Apple right now.  Love the energy K-Staters!

6:49 PM: Pretty funny, they just showed the highlights of Georgetown-Duke and it was interesting to see the reaction of the other guys with respect to talking about President Obama’s visit.  You figure that Hubert Davis is an Obama supporter, and I suspect that Digger Phelps is not, but the wildcard is the blue-blooded Dookie Jay Bilas?  What do you guys think — is Jay a lib or a con?

6:55 PM: Alright, let’s look ahead to this evening as we pass the 5,000 word mark on the day’s BGTD…  Of course the big game of the night is Kansas at K-State, but there are a few other interesting games going on elsewhere.  There’s the Holy War between Utah and BYU, and you can bet that’ll be a good one.  There’s also Northwestern visiting Michigan State, and Gonzaga at USF (where RTC Live will be as well).  Just because the sun is down doesn’t mean BGTD ends, folks.  We keep going as long as there’s hoops to be watched…

7:00 PM: So with that said, I’m going to pass it off to John Stevens, who will be keeping an eye on those games through the rest of the evening.  Of course, the primary game will be KU-K State, and it should be a great one.  Thanks to those of you who checked in this afternoon, and I encourage you to stick with JS through the night.

7:02 PM: Here we go.  We’ve had some good preliminaries today.  We’ve enjoyed a good undercard.  And now…your main event.  Thanks for joining me for this one, because this is gonna be fun.  Props to NVR and RTMSF for setting me up like this, and it’s my pleasure to finish our evening of BGTD featuring what I call…the Three Man Weave.  In addition to KU-K-St, I’ll be checking in on ND-Rutgers, New Mexico-TCU, and I’m keeping an eye on Harvard-Cornell.  Serously, if you’re a college hoops fan, wouldn’t you like that one to be on TV near you?  Did you ever think you’d say that?  Man, what an interesting year in college hoops so far!

7:12 PM: Wow, you have GOT to give HUGE PROPS to the Kansas State crowd in this one.  They have REALLY stepped up.  If it were warmer outside and I were sitting in Vegas, I’d swear it was March.  They’ve made some great signs, they’ve filled the place for an all-time Gameday record, and the noise is incredible.  Much respect, K-State.  Right now, not to rely too much on cliche’, these two squads are just feeling each other out.  So far the most interesting thing has been the quick sitting of Aldrich.  He was taken out at the 17:00 mark.  He had shown little to that point and Bill Self had to send a message.  K-State is doing a phenomenal job on the offensive boards but Kansas’ interior defense has prevented much in the way of scoring for the Wildcats.  Now, the substitution chess match starts…

7:26 PM: Aldrich has RESPONDED to the message from Self.  Hits three shots, gets to the line, defense much improved, and he’s hitting the boards HARD.  But K-State is being EXTREMELY aggressive in getting to the hole and are starting to mount a few fouls on KU.  Clemente is more than willing to shoot from deep but K-State’s success so far has been their work in the paint.  And Clemente is 2-8/1-4 from 3 so far.  Martin might want to hit the brake on him juuuust a little for right now.

7:35 PM: Denis Clemente is actually shooting K-State into a deficit.  2-9, and his last two have been hurried threes early in the shot clock and were not close.  Since we’re in the Big 12, how about Baylor?  Is that the Tournament-securing win they needed?  BTW, Cornell is up early on Harvard 19-14, fueled by Jon Jaques and Jeff Foote.  Ryan Wittman hasn’t scored for Cornell and Jeremy Lin only has two FTs for Hahvud.  Back here, Jacob Pullen has brought KSU back into it with a couple of buckets, including a three.  Kansas is playing very efficient basketball right now and K-State is going to have respond with some lay-ups and mid-range jumpers instead of settling for threes.

7:52 PM: There’s a story brewing on ESPN2 as Rutgers is up at home by three with a little less than three minutes left over Notre Dame.  This is notable as Rutgers is 0-8 in the Big East.  Cornell is up 38-24 at the half in that one.  In our game, the story continues to be the KU bigs.  Aldrich has 10/6 and Marcus Morris has 7/9.  The only problem for KU is that they have to hit some free throws (6-11), something Self lamented to Erin Andrews.  K-State did exactly what they needed to do, which is improve shot selection.  Let me offer this — if KU had hit a couple more FTs and hadn’t made a couple of those lay-ups that they missed…they could have a 5-10 point lead at the half.

8:12 PM: I took a little break there to watch the end of Rutgers/Notre Dame, and Rutgers ended up pulling it out, 74-73, for their first Big East win.  We’re back in Manhattan KS, and Aldrich continues to eat up fiberglass.  The K-State crowd, as big as it is and as much as they’ve stepped up today, is OUT of this one right now.  Brady Morningstar’s three makes it 40-32, and KSU’s defense is nowhere NEAR what it was for most of that first half.  Clemente misses another one and I think his teammates are starting to get frustrated with his shot selection.  Might be time to let him sit for the majority of the remainder of this one.

8:27 PM: Clemente is back, and the message might have gotten through.  Gets fouled on his way to the hoop instead of letting it fly from range.  Aldrich has rediscovered how to use his substantial size and it’s like there’s two of them in the paint…on OFFENSE, not just on the defensive end.  Clemente gets an old-fashioned three and suddenly he’s a weapon again.

8:35 PM: K-State continues to take Frank Martin’s message to heart, getting into the lane, and ESPECIALLY hitting the mid-range jumper.  Then, woooow….two straight lay-ups by Pullen gives K-State the lead.  Remember that crowd I was talking about, the one that seemed to be out of that game…yeah, they’re back.

8:42 PM: Here’s what’s developed in the last four minutes — KSU has very cleverly gone to a 1-2-2 zone that morphs into a 3-2 Kansas puts Tyshawn Taylor at the top.  The Jayhawks have had no answer for it, and Self will have to draw something up in the next dead ball, which he seems content to wait for.  Only slightly more importantly, KSU has not taken a three in about eight minutes…and they have therefore taken the lead.  The shot selection has been top-notch for the Wildcats for most of this half, specifically after that early time out that Martin called.

8:49 PM: Kansas just showed their stones by elevating their interior defense and quelling drives to the basket, and a BIG BLOCK by Aldrich on an attempted dunk.  Two straight scores, and they’re back on top.  But here’s the next hook: Aldrich just picked up his fourth foul on, frankly, a silly foul going for a steal.  Aldrich OUT with four at the 7:28 mark.

8:56 PM: AND AS WE HEAD down the stretch, the big-time performers start to step up!!  Sherron Collins drills a behind-the-back fall-away THREE that he should have gotten five points for, and Jacob Pullen answers from even deeper!  Pullen’s drive and dish to Samuels alights the crowd, and KU settles for a pair of FTs…and we are TIED with just over five left.  Self rolls the dice, ad comes back with BOTH Marcus Morris and Cole Aldrich with four fouls.  GREAT stuff here.

9:02 PM: Dominique Sutton just dunked over Marcus Morris, fouling him out.  Converts the FT…and then Brady Morningstar is left open in the corner for a three!  BACK AND FORTH we go….

9:09 PM: K-State just lost Jamar Samuels.  Let’s see if this prompts KU to pound the inside.  Unbelievable game, tied at 66 under two minutes.  Overtime looming?

9:16 PM: KSU has no place to complain about Aldrich’s FT shooting motion.  Yes, it’s bizarre, but you’ve seen it several times tonight and in the past.  Let’s see what shot they choose, down three with a minute left…

9:19 PM: That’d be NO shot, rather a turnover.  KU unbelievably reciprocates and KSU gets an old-fashioned three.  While we have a break in the action, I should tell you that we have RTC Live at Gonzaga at San Francisco coming up in about ten minutes, but I think our attention will be fixed here for some time.  The last 16 seconds…this is for the #1 ranking for Kansas….

9:23 PM: Right.  Who didn’t see this coming?  Overtime in the Little Apple.

9:27 PM: To JR:  yeah, when it got out of hand, I quit checking on it.  Cornell administered a whoopin’.  Back here, we are seeing a candidate for the game of the year.  It’s back and forth, and Jacob Pullen drills what was a bad-decision three.  LOTS of free throws in the overtime so far, and K-State continues to assist KU with multiple lane violations.  That wasn’t Aldrich, that time.  There was no excuse for that one.

9:36 PM: Sherron Collins is going to try and play through the multiple joint pains he’s having.  You’d expect nothing less from him.  I’m interested in how KSU keeps trying to draw contact on the Kansas players, because — even at home — refs are less likely to blow the whistle unless it’s a REALLY bad foul.

9:40 PM: If you’re a KSU supporter, you’ve got to be asking yourself:  Why.  On Earth.  Would you take.  A three if you’re Clemente.  He’s 4-15 and 1-5 from three, and even that one he got to go was not the best shot.  His shot selection caused dissent among his teammates and himself, and they were only down two.  At the other end, Sherron Collins takes it strgon to the hole, TAKES contact, and hits the shot.  Now THAT was ridiculous.  He KNOWS he’s going to get hit, he’s dehydrated and hurting in multiple muscle groups, and he still steps up.

9:52 PM: It’s over.  K-State can’t snag the Collins miss at the FT line, and despite Pullen’s impressive three at the buzzer, KU takes this one, 81-79.  INCREDIBLE basketball game.  The players all look like they’ve been to a funeral, if you’ll pardon that expression.  But there are few smiles, even on the Kansas side…more of a solemn satisfaction, and knowledge that this was a special win.  KU would REALLY have to screw up to lose a 1-seed now.  None of these players have ANYTHING left.

10:03 PM: I’ll finish up Providence vs Cincinnati with you on the U.  Cincy is up 85-74 with about a minute left, so this looks cut and dried.

10:09 PM: UC is having trouble closing this out, or at least things are moving pretty slowly.  They’re  up nine with 23.3 left, so shouldn’t be a problem…unless Providence keeps hitting 25-foot threes.

10:13 PM: ANOTHER three from Providence!  It’s a THREE POINT GAME with 6.6 seconds left.  My goodness…

10:17 PM: OK, Cincy manages to finish it, but lack of focus at the FT line almost did them in.  Four-point win for UC.

10:20 PM: So, while I’m shutting down this version of BGTD — and keep in mind, we’ll have another one coming up this week, I’m thinking Wednesday — we do still have an RTC Live going on with a man courtside at Gonzaga at San Francisco.  Thanks for joining us here.  Congratulations to Kansas who will most likely take over the #1 ranking on Monday, though we know what it means to be #1 in January.  We’d speculate that Villanova and Syracuse will get their chances at the top spot next, but we’ll see.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!