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Top 25 Games
- #17 Illinois 88, Northwestern 63: “Conan the Barbarian had it right, there is nothing greater in life than a total, demoralizing, suffocating victory over one’s enemies, and the Illini may finally have developed the taste for blood after their performance against Northwestern tonight. The shooting for the game was so good, that the team set a school record for percentage from the field, going an astonishing 70.5% capped by Crandall Head’s breakaway jam in final minute of the game.” (Hail to the Orange)
Other Games of Interest
- Temple 70, Fordham 51: “[Temple] showed the reason, or reasons, they are the front runner in the Atlantic Ten.” (Villanova by the Numbers)
Pre-Game Analysis
- Siena-Canisius: Tale of the Tape: “The Saints have won 46 of 50 against MAAC schools including the last three regular season and conference tournament championships. But that was under the now-departed Fran McCaffery. Buonaguro comes to the KAC for the first time as head coach. The Saints trimmed Iona 73-67 last time out. The Gaels knocked off Canisius 94-85 early in December. Siena’s Clarence Jackson has missed the last four games.” (Pickin Splinters)
News/Analysis
- Jones’ struggles don’t outweigh his benefit: “It has become chic to criticize Jones – one of Indiana’s primary ball handlers – for his sloppy offensive work, coupled with what frankly boils down to fairly average defense. Indeed, there are some whose shouting has almost seemed to hold Jones up as the paradigm for what ails IU basketball today, and I have heard on numerous occasions that Indiana should bench the junior. I get it. I really do. I’m accused of defending Jones too much for my own good. But the argument for significantly trimming his playing time is folly, for two reasons.” (Inside the Hall)
- Why is Effort an Issue Before a USC v. UCLA Basketball Game?!: “Guys like Reeves, Malcolm, Honeycutt, Lane, and Anderson should have no problem giving maximum effort for this game. Yet, that is what all the talk is right now. Will UCLA put out effort for 40 minutes was a question every player had to answer this week. You are playing your crosstown rivals who swept and embarrassed you last year, how much more motivation do you need?” (Bruins Nation)
- Eric Devendorf: Australian For Basketball: Catching up with one of the most controversial players in recent memory. (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)
- SEC East Basketball Preview – The Young and The Restless: Previewing the SEC East, which is essentially the SEC, because the West is so weak. (Rocky Top Talk)
- Kentucky Basketball: Perspective Is Hard To Come By In 2011: “Perspective. It’s something all basketball fans of good will desire, and the Big Blue Nation is no different. We all want to be able to put our teams in perspective, and that has been very difficult to do for this Kentucky team.” (A Sea of Blue)
- Five Key Plays: Michigan at Wisconsin: “The overall theme for this game’s five plays is clear: Wisconsin made plays down the stretch and Michigan didn’t.” (UM Hoops)
- Inside Edition: A Scrimmage with Hoyas Past: A former Hoya analyzes a theoretical game between the 1974-75 Hoyas against the current version of the Hoyas. (Casual Hoya)
- A (semi) Statistical Recap of UMKC: “During games like these, I generally throw out most stats as not necessarily meaningless, but ones I don’t really take into account much when evaluating a team.” (Rock Chalk Talk)