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

• #1 Ohio State 82, Penn State 61: “Jon Diebler might have missed his first and last triple tries but he connected on 10 straight in between, pouring in a career high 30 points as the Buckeyes clinched at least a share of the B1G regular season conference title by routing Penn State 82-61 tonight in Happy Valley.” (Eleven Warriors)
• #6 Purdue 76, Illinois 67: “The game almost felt secondary tonight, as the Boiler faithful sent off 33 and 25 with many resounding Mackey cheers, as thanks for four years of dedication and hard work. Once again, the place was clearly deafening even through the TV broadcast. Let’s say that first, everyone: great work again, especially the Paint Crew who always brings it. As is always a concern on a night like this, the home team fell behind. However, it wasn’t really that Purdue was playing poorly — Illinois was just shooting the lights out and playing like the team we all thought they were capable of bring this season. Of course, that only lasted about ten minutes and then they reverted to the Illinois who resides on the bubble.” (Boiled Sports)
• #16 Florida 78, Alabama 51: “With their 78-51 victory over Alabama Tuesday night, the Gators clinched a share of their first SEC championship since 2007. The Gators (23-6, 11-3) were led by Chandler Parsons’ 19 points and 11 rebounds, as the Gators dominated the second-half following an even first half. The Gators used several second half runs to put distance between them and the SEC West champions.” (Alligator Army)
• #22 Kentucky 68, #19 Vanderbilt 66: “What a game. I have not been more nervous at any time this year. The Kentucky Wildcats and the Vanderbilt Commodores battled to the wire in Rupp Arena in a wild affair that went down to the last tick of the last second before Kentucky could claim their 15th and final home game for a perfect season in Rupp Arena. But it was by no means a perfect game.” (A Sea of Blue or Anchor of Gold)
• Nebraska 69, #21 Missouri 58: “This was the second game this season in which I was truly and completely disappointed.  The other — Oklahoma State — could be blamed, at least a bit, on ridiculous travel trouble (anytime it takes you two days to get where you’re going, you probably aren’t going to be amazingly sharp).  Missouri is 30 games through the season now, and the fact that they were able to play their worst game of the season now is, in and of itself, cause for alarm.  In each of the past three seasons, they haven’t played their best in the final week before the conference tournament, but to me, at least, this was possibly a new level.  (Then again, I probably didn’t enjoy the 25-point whipping Kansas laid on Missouri two years ago either. That ended up alright.)” (Rock M Nation)

Other Games of Interest

• Boston College 76, Virginia Tech 61: After a huge win over Duke that led some to predict that the Hokies were definitely a NCAA Tournament team they came out flat on Senior Night against the Eagles. (Tech Hoops)

Pre-Game Analysis

• Maryland at Miami (FL): “Maryland’s realistic at-large chances may be toast now, but that (unfortunately) doesn’t mean the season is over. The Terrapins still have two regular-season games left, the first of which is tomorrow’s face-off with the Miami Hurricanes in South Beach. And yes, we can now finally stop saying “must-win”, at least until the conference tournament starts up.” (Testudo Times)
• UCLA at Washington: “The excitement after last Saturday’s memorable (“perfect”) game has been palpable in Bruin Nation. You can get a sense of the anticipation around UCLA basketball in the comment threads from last few days. gbruin tried to bring some perspective and Patroclus laid out the precise scenarios for getting our dance ticket punched. As excitement is building around Thursday night’s game I will try to reconcile my two previous front-page posts going over the possible scenarios for UCLA hoops in our last remaining regular season games. After our win over Arizona, Bruins now have ensured themselves at least a 3-3 finish (“the B scenario”) heading into a very difficult road trip against Washington schools.” (Bruins Nation)
• DePaul at #13 Syracuse: “I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that we’re in the midst of an “anybody can beat anybody on any given night” year in the Big East. Just in case that doesn’t do enough to strike the fear of God into your heart about the upcoming game against DePaul, let me remind you of last season. The great 2009-2010 Orange team that we will speak so highly of for years to come was thisclose to losing to DePaul. Down 18 at one point, Syracuse took its first lead of the night with four minutes left and barely held on for a 59-57 victory. If ever there was a reason to say a team escaped with a victory, that was it.” (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)

News/Analysis

• Top 10: Holy Ground: College Basketball’s 10 Most Sacred Arenas: “A large part of college basketball is the atmosphere. Without the storied courts and intimate environments, the sport would lose much of its intensity and passion that literally seeps through the cracks in the walls. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the 10 most sacred college arenas in the country based on their atmospheres, histories, amazing moments and lore.” (Lost Letterman)
• 2011 Championship Week(s) Primer: One of the most comprehensive posts you will see about Championship Week(s). (Card Chronicle)
• It Is March, It Is Now Time For Five Bold March Madness Predictions: A Georgetown blogger makes some bold predictions for the NCAA Tournament. (Casual Hoya)
• Card Chronicle and Preston Knowles: The Beginning: A historiographical look at Louisville fans have viewed Preston Knowles through the years on the eve of his Senior Night. (Card Chronicle)
• Preston Knowles, Hometown Hero: “Senior night is upon us tomorrow. That means Preston Knowles will be playing his last home game as a University of Louisville Cardinal.  This is going to be a sad day for all of us and especially hard for me.” (Card Chronicle)
• The Great Fan Debate: Tyshawn Taylor Vs. Elijah Johnson: “When Tyshawn moved to the bench due to suspension and EJ filled in with a 15 point performance in a Kansas win, the debate was on. Whether it be here at Rock Chalk Talk, in the seats at Allen Fieldhouse or the Jayhawk Barber Shop the Kansas fan base had a question on their collective mind and that was T2 V EJ.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
• Gopher Basketball Recruiting Update: “With the departure of Devoe Joseph the Gophers have at least one scholarship available to use for the 2011 class. So who do we have, what do we need and who are we pursuing? Let’s take a look.” (The Daily Gopher)
• Turnovers, Possessions, And The Kansas Jayhawks: Analyzing how the Jayhawks handle the ball and the role it has played in their wins and losses. (Rock Chalk Talk)
• Kansas Basketball Press Conference Notes: “Monday is a day off and Wednesday is senior night.  Bill Self takes some time to reflect on the seniors that are departing, talks about the opportunity in front of Kansas in terms of the league title and answers the ever pressing question regarding Tyshawn’s reinstatement.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
• Scotty Hopson Is Allowed on the Furniture: “Quite frankly, it’s about time. For the resident Boston Terrier of this Tennessee team, the big question this season was whether Scotty Hopson could mature into a truly dominant scorer. Hopson’s game isn’t and has never been all-around play, so it’s been a question of whether he can get his points effectively. He can chip in with some boards or assists, but it’s not a huge aspect of his play.” (Rocky Top Talk)
• Senior Profiles: Those Guys: Looking back on JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore. (Boiled Sports)
• Reggie Bullock Out for the Season: “UNC announced today that Reggie Bullock will not play for the rest of the season because of a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee. The knee has been giving him problems this season, and it’s the one he had surgery on in high school. He apparently injured it again in the first half of the Maryland game, and although he made an attempt to play in the second half, it proved too difficult.” (Carolina March)
• Fighting Illini Basketball Senior Week: Mike Tisdale: A look back on the seniors development on the eve of Senior Night. (Hail to the Orange)
• Fighting Illini Basketball Senior Week: Bill Cole: A look back at the career of the fan favorite. (Hail to the Orange)
• UCLA Bruins Heading Towards (March) Madness: “We are heading into the final week of regular season Pac-10 conference play as we know it, and the Bruins enter into the stretch looking to confirm a reservation in one of the eight NCAA subregions. UCLA is in a more secure position re. March than they were last week, though as gbruin wrote yesterday, and Achilies has mentioned on several occasions in the past weeks, the team has not yet ensured themselves an NCAA berth – even with the result of Saturday’s Wildcat hunt. With that said, they are very close to locking it down.” (Bruins Nation)