Around The Blogosphere: 12.01.10 Edition
Posted by nvr1983 on December 1st, 2010
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Top 25 Games
- #2 Ohio State 58, Florida State 44: “It wasn’t sexy but Ohio State used a stifling defense and timely scoring to turn back Florida State 58-44 tonight in Tallahassee.” (Eleven Warriors)
- #10 Georgetown 111, #10 Missouri 104 (OT): “Wow. Just wow. I’m going to let that game sink in for a second. Ok, now we’re ready. Georgetown beat Missouri in overtime tonight 111-102 in the game of the year so far in college basketball. Read that score again. Georgetown’s plodding, unathletic, silly little Princeton offense put up 111 points against the most suffocating defense in college basketball. The Hoyas went in and defeated the #8 ranked team in the country in what was, for all intents and purposes, a home game for the Tigers.” (Casual Hoya)
- #14 Kentucky 91, Boston University 57: “What was interesting about this game was the contrast between the first and second half. In the first half, it looked like all my worries in the open game thread were coming true — Knight was having trouble figuring out when to score and when to pass, they Wildcats were giving up scoring opportunities on the dribble drive in favor of the kick, and the defense was struggling to communicate again. But then came the second half. In the second half, the Wildcats went berserk on defense, creating 8 turnovers and scoring 12 points off those turnovers, versus 3 in the first half. One of Kentucky’s weaknesses all year long has been a failure to create turnovers on defense, and that seems way more than passing strange. This team is quicker, more athletic, and just plain more capable defensively than most teams they play. ” (A Sea of Blue)
- #15 Tennessee 86, Middle Tennessee State 56: “Bruce Pearl’s first three teams started three or four players who didn’t top 6’4″, but since their names were Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith, and C.J. Watson to name a few, we did just fine living by the three. It was an exciting brand of basketball to watch, and Lofton especially was a once-in-a-generation shooter. Pearl’s fourth team took just as many threes but clanged most of them, and last year the Vols matured into a team that didn’t have to have the three ball to win” (Rocky Top Talk)
- #16 Syracuse 78, Cornell 58: After struggling for much of the early season the Orange finally had an easy victory. (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)
- #23 Illinois 79, UNC 67: “Well how do you like that? There was an environment in the Assembly Hall tonight that is very unusual for a late November game, it felt like the good old days of the Big Ten ACC Challenge when we would routinely host top tier teams like Wake Forest or North Carolina. The over capacity, extremely amped crowd had plenty to cheer about as the 2010 Illini attempted to exorcise the demons of the 2005 Illini.” (Hail to the Orange)
- #24 Gonzaga 86, Eastern Washington 57: “There’s not much to say after a game like this one. Facing an extremely overmatched Eastern Washington team, Gonzaga absolutely dominated tonight, coming away with a 86-57 win. Steven Gray flashed some brilliant outside shooting to pace the Zags. The senior guard finished with 18 points, all coming in the first half off of three pointers. The news of the evening, however, was that Elias Harris is still in quite a battle with his Achilles injury. The sophomore forward sat tonight’s game out and is reportedly questionable for Saturday’s game. Harris seemed to turn a corner against Marquette in Kansas City but the injury kept him out of a majority of this week’s practice. Fingers crossed as the Zags’ will be severely shorthanded without him against Illinois if he can’t go.” (The Slipper Still Fits)
Other Games of Interest
- Michigan 69, Clemson 61: “On Saturday, we experienced the agonizing side of inconsistency. Tuesday night, we saw the other more exciting side, as Michigan knocked off Clemson, 69-61, at the Littlejohn Coliseum. For the first twenty minutes Michigan looked, dare I say, dominant. They were stifling defensively, forcing Clemson to shoot under 30% from field, and ran their free flowing offense to perfection. It remains to be seen how good Brad Brownell’s 5-1 Clemson squad will end up, but Michigan fans are all too familiar with how hard it is to win on the road. In the preview, I pointed out that Michigan hadn’t won a non-conference road game since December 2006. Conversely, Clemson has lost just one November or December nonconference home game since that season.” (UM Hoops)
Pre-Game Analysis
- Crean discusses Boston College: Video of the Indiana coach Tom Crean talking about Boston College, their ACC/Big Ten Challenge opponent (Inside the Hall)
- Temple versus Central Michigan: “After a frustrating finish to the Old Spice Classic on Sunday, the Temple Owls return to the floor with hopes of getting back on track against the Central Michigan Chippewas.” (Owlified)
Indiana Reacts to the NCAA Ruling Guy-Marc Michel Ineligible
- NCAA rules Guy-Marc Michel ineligible: The initial media relations release (Inside the Hall)
- The explanation behind Michel’s ineligibility ruling: A run-down of the issues surrounding Michael’s eligibility (Inside the Hall)
- Guy-Marc Michel: What we know: A short Q&A about what has been released about the suspension and the events leading up to it (Inside the Hall)
- NCAA needs to get better at this, and fast: Taking a look at how the NCAA handled the investigation and punishment (Inside the Hall)
Other News/Analysis
- Nice and Ugly: Irish Win the Old Spice Classic: Recapping the ups-and-downs of the Irish on their way to the Old Spice Classic title in Orlando over Thanksgiving weekend. (Rake of Mallow)
- DeAndre Daniels Down to Four: “So it looks like former Texas commit DeAndre Daniels has his final four schools decided.” (Burnt Orange Nation)
- A deeper look at Indiana’s strong start: Going behind the numbers on the Hoosier’s strong start (Inside the Hall)
