Rush The Court

If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.

Top 25 Games

• #11 Purdue 76, #1 Ohio State 63: “In the last week, Purdue took down Wisconsin and Ohio State…back to back. The number 2 and 10 teams in the nation. Sure, they were at home, but that’s where you must dominate. Ask MSU or Illinois how much they’d like to be unbeaten at home this year and how hard it is to accomplish.” (Boiled Sports or Eleven Warriors)
• Nebraska 70, #2 Texas 67: “The march toward a 16-0 conference mark is over as the No. 2/3 Texas Longhorns fall, 70-67, to the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Despite a furious rally in the final three minutes of the game, aided by mindless Nebraska fouls, Texas could never overcome the lead they relinquished early in the second half. The Huskers dominated the glass from start to finish, crippled the Texas defense with dribble penetration, and limited the Texas offense by sagging four or five players in the paint and daring the Longhorns to score from the perimeter. In a game that looked eerily similar to the December loss at Southern Cal, Texas was thoroughly worked physically, especially in the low post. The Nebraska size gave the ‘Horns fits, got most of the Texas frontcourt into foul trouble, and forced Rick Barnes to play some odd lineups, mostly in the first half.” (Burnt Orange Nation)
• #3 Kansas 89, Colorado 63: “Markieff Morris led the Jayhawks with 26 points and 16 rebounds including 9 on the offensive end. It was one of the best performances of his career and Colorado simply had no answer on the interior.” (Rock Chalk Talk: Part 1 and Part 2)
• St. John’s 60, #4 Pittsburgh 59: The Red Storm notched yet another huge win over a highly ranked opponent at Madison Square Garden. (Villanova by the Numbers)
• #10 Georgetown 61, USF 55: “Georgetown overcame their deficit on the boards and a sub par game from Austin Freeman with 51% shooting from the field and heady play by Chris Wright. Chris scored 14 of his 26 points in the second half to secure a win in a game that the Hoyas could not afford to lose. The Hoyas used their poise to execute down the stretch in another close game on the road. The Hoyas maintain their position at 3rd in the Big East with ND and second place within striking distance and a mass of contenders nipping at their heels.” (Casual Hoya)
• #14 Louisville 71, #12 UConn 58: “Gorgui Dieng, a freshman, pulled down six offensive rebounds and picked & rolled his way to a double-double against a stronger, more experienced Connecticut front court and Louisville again made Kemba Walker look average down the stretch in a 71-58 win in the KFC Yum! Center. Terrence Jennings had to watch Gorgui from the bench in the second half after getting into foul trouble, but the junior center jump-started the Cardinal offense in the first half, scoring 8 of the Cards’ first 10 points. But the biggest story of the game was Peyton Siva outplaying National Player of the Year candidate Kemba Walker. Again.” (Card Chronicle)
• #14 UNC 48, Boston College 46: “No, that’s not a halftime score. Carolina played a full forty minutes, scored the fewest points of the Roy Williams era, and won. It’s reminiscent of the N.C. State game back in Herb Sendek’s first season, when Carolina escaped Reynolds Coliseum with a 45-44 win. That team went on to the Final Four; this one doesn’t have the offense to get nearly that far.” (Carolina March)
• #18 Vanderbilt 77, Auburn 60: “Before this game, I pronounced that either we’d see double-digit minutes from Joe “Fluffy” Duffy or we’d be on the wrong end of an embarrassment for the ages. At halftime, it was hard not to get the impression that the team thought this one was going to be a milk run. Fortunately, the light came on in time, and a 14-0 burst helped the ‘Dores put Auburn away, 77-60. John Jenkins delivered another answer-the-bell performance after an almost scoreless first half with 22 points (including five 3s) and Jeffery Taylor added 20 points and 10 boards to go with Brad Tinsley’s 16.” (Anchor of Gold)
• #19 Missouri 76, Iowa State 70: Breaking down the Tigers close win over the Cyclones. (Rock M Nation)
• #20 Syracuse 84, Rutgers 80 (OT): “It’s already a cliche to say anyone can beat anyone else on any given night in the Big East, but…it is what it is. You do not scoff at Big East victories. Not anymore. You can complain about our play and deficiencies, but as far as winning the game goes, you tip your hat to Rutgers (and to yourself) and you move on. Big East Win No. 9. So yeah, we beat Rutgers 84-80 in overtime.” (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)
• #21 Kentucky 90, South Carolina 59: “For maybe the third or fourth time this year against SEC foes, the Kentucky Wildcats simply dominated the opponent, this time the South Carolina Gamecocks. Kentucky improves their record now to 19-7, 7-5, and the Gamecocks fall to 13-12, 4-8. South Carolina did not come ready to play today, and it is a rare game that Darren Horn does not have his team ready. Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, they could not have picked a worse day to be unprepared, as Kentucky put on a terrific defensive display in the first half, and on top of that, shot almost 60% from the field including 6-7 shooting 3’s in the first half. Kentucky went into halftime with a huge 50-21 advantage. Even though South Carolina played better in the second half and really put a lot of pressure on the Wildcats, the game was simply too far gone for them to get back in.” (A Sea of Blue)

Other Games of Interest

• Penn State 66, Minnesota 63: “The Gophers stormed back from a 10 point deficit with less than 10 minutes to play Thursday night in Happy Valley and took a late lead before fumbling away two critical possessions and watching Talor Battle hit a clutch three to give the Nittany Lions a 66-63 win.” (The Daily Gopher)
• Michigan State 61, Illinois 57: “The Illini were alive in this game up until about two minutes remained in the game, trailing 53-51, the Illini had once again the chance to tie or take the lead in a game that had been up and down and back and forth. What resulted was a forced shot, a blocked shot, and an eventual shot clock violation. From there Michigan State would score on three possessions, the Illini began to foul, Michigan State made their free throws, and Illinois was unable to full close the gap.” (Hail to the Orange)
• California 76, UCLA 72 (OT): “With Arizona winning it’s game in Tucson over Washington last night, the pressure was on UCLA to win a tough road game and keep pace. Unfortunately, the Bruins have done what they’ve done all season and turned in yet another unbalanced and inconsistent performance. Turnovers and stretches of poor defensive rebounding have plagued the Bruins in the past, but they’ve typically had just enough to still win games. That all changed tonight in Berkeley as UCLA fell to 2 games behind Arizona, 76-72, and ruined Malcolm Lee’s second half heroics.” (Bruins Nation)
• Northwestern 70, Indiana 64: “So much for that full week of preparation. Indiana came out flat in this one. And just when it looked like the Hoosiers might finally push ahead in the second half, Northwestern either answered the call or Indiana turned the ball over in a frustrating fashion. Six of seven wins for these Wildcats over the Hoosiers including their first two wins ever inside Assembly Hall. Their second win in their last 15 road tries in the Big Ten.” (Inside the Hall)
• Maryland 87, NC State 80: “Having a “Big Three” is a cliche in the basketball world at this point. But I doubt any Maryland fans will complain about it. The Terrapins rode their newfound Big Three to a much-needed victory over N.C. State tonight in the Comcast Center, 87-80, keeping their NCAA tournament hopes alive in the process. Dino Gregory had a career-high 18 points, Terrell Stoglin tied his career-high with 25, and Jordan Williams came up a point short of tying his, leading all scorers with 26. That Big Three scored 69 of Maryland’s 87 points. 10 more came from Sean Mosley, and all but two of those came in the game’s closing minutes. No one else on the team scored more than 4. But sometimes you take that. This was one of those times.” (Testudo Times)
• Georgia 69, Tennessee 63: The Bulldogs picked up a big win over the Volunteers in a game that leaves the Volunteers in a perilous bubble position. (Rocky Top Talk)
• Michigan 75, Iowa 72: “Any team can win when everyone plays well and every shot finds the net. It takes significantly more willpower and mental toughness to win a game when nothing comes easy. Michigan managed to escape Iowa City with an overtime win despite a first half that was filled with mistakes, fouls, and chaos.” (UM Hoops: Part 1 and Part 2)

News/Analysis

• Week-Long Series: Junior College Transfers: The final installment of a 5-part series analyzing how junior college transfers have affected the game at the Division 1 level. (Lost Letterman)
• Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: Examining The Road Losses: Digging through the numbers to try to figure out why the Wildcats have struggled on the road this season. (A Sea of Blue)
• Never Too Early: Overviewing Maryland’s Target’s in the 2012 Basketball Recruiting Class: An interesting look at how the Maryland roster is going to be set up over the next four seasons and some of the recruits that Gary Williams is targeting to fill in the gaps. (Testudo Times)
• St John’s grabs a huge offensive rebound: “Pitt rebounds 71.8% of its opponents misses, good for 30th in the nation. That is part of what makes the offensive rebound by Paris Horne so surprising with under a minute left in today’s Big East matchup. It was a great move by Paris Horne but he took advantage of a weakness in the box out technique of Gilbert Brown. Take a look at what happened.” (The Mikan Drill)
• Is UNC’s Rashad McCants The Next Denzel Washington?: Taking a look at the fledgling acting career of the former Tar Heel star. (Lost Letterman)
• Inside the play: Utah State executes a lob: “In the biggest game of BracketBusters weekend, I came away impressed with Utah State’s execution in the halfcourt. This play came early in the game and was a well designed play to take advantage of the defense focusing in on Utah State’s best player, Tai Wesley.” (The Mikan Drill)
• The Emergence of Marquise Carter Keys Gonzaga Turnaround: “When Marquise Carter signed with Gonzaga last Spring, I envisioned the performances we have seen from him the past two games being something that would occur from day one. However, as Carter and this Gonzaga team struggled throughout the first half of the season, I became increasingly confused why his game didn’t seem to transfer to the Division I level. While he isn’t a player that will “wow” anyone with remarkable amounts of athleticism, he brings a steadiness and strong court sense to the table which makes him a truly ideal combo guard. Perhaps he was lost as the coaching staff continued to play rotation roulette over the past three months, but as the rotation has settled down, Carter has emerged as the guy that could push this team in the the NCAA Tournament.” (The Slipper Still Fits)
• Inside the play: DePaul gets a late 3 pointer: Analyzing how the Blue Demons created a good look for a late 3-pointer in their close loss to Villanova. (The Mikan Drill)