Fresh off a lesson in efficiency from the Michigan Wolverines, a young and confident West Virginia Mountaineer couldn’t help but offer his two cents on Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway, Jr.
Eron Harris, to his credit, had a respectable night, finishing with 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting. But his team was shallacked 81-66 on national television, while the duo of Burke and Hardaway at the Barclays Center confirmed to many that they may be the most dangerous backcourt in the country. Defining “amazing” in this instance is certainly open to interpretation, but John Beilein has a special tandem to work with, while Bob Huggins has a team in need of a reality check. Oh, to be a freshman in college once again.
Catholic Seven Speak Up
All of a sudden, the infrequently used sports chant “We’ve Got God” has taken on a whole new meaning. The seven Catholic-affiliated schools from the Big East, more commonly known as the seven Big East schools that don’t have a Division I football program, finally used the one bit of leverage they had — a connection with a higher power — as a way out of a decaying conference.
The Catholic Seven will likely add a few more programs that are aligned both religiously and academically, effectively bringing to an end one of the great leagues a basketball hoophead has ever seen. As someone who literally grew up on the Big East, this certainly evokes emotion. Not really the thought of a future with no Big East, but the pause this news gives to remember all those nights you stayed up watching Big East basketball.
And, yea, bro, sucks to be stuck with that…
Down Goes Indiana
There’s just not a game a Brad Stevens-coached team can’t win. Sure they’ll get blown out by a down Xavier team from time to time, but the Bulldogs have made it clear they’re in this for the long haul with wins over North Carolina and now former No. 1 Indiana… and they’re acutely aware of this.
The game itself was one of two instant classics on the day, as Alex Barlow (who?) provided the game winning shot in overtime to lift the Bulldogs over the then-undefeated Hoosiers. A walk-on sophomore who barely sniffed the floor last season was the center of attention in the college sports media world over the weekend, blowing the minds of his family and friends in native Cincinnati.
His first tweet post-Indiana game?
Oh you’re so polite, Mr. Barlow
More Unfavorable Attention to Josh Pastner
Alright I give up. Count me in as an official Josh Pastner skeptic. The boyish smile has lost it’s luster, the “precocious young coach” label no longer applicable. Following the Tigers’ loss to Louisville on Saturday, a defeat in which Pastner’s team blew a 16-point first half lead and came up short at home against the Cardinals, the reality that the third-year head coach hasn’t really done anything impressive during his tenure started spreading.
Yes that’s right, Memphis has never beaten a Top 25 team under Pastner. That’s upsetting, and until Josh gets that monkey off his back, the critics will continue to poke fun at his coaching abilities.