What’s Trending: The Wild Week That Was
Posted by Matt Eisenberg on February 18th, 2019What’s Trending is a column examining the week that was in college basketball social media. Matthew Eisenberg (@matteise) is your weekly host.
It was quite a week for Kentucky at Rupp Arena. It began with a controversial ending as SEC rival LSU got the benefit of the doubt when it came to a tip-in at the buzzer.
The loss pushed Kentucky two games behind SEC-leading Tennessee. Not to worry, though, as the Wildcats took a bite out of the #1 team in the country in a prime time showcase between top-five teams.
The win against the Volunteers pushed Kentucky’s John Calipari into some new territory of his own…
Elsewhere in the Commonwealth, Chris Mack’s Louisville squad began the week by coughing up a game against Duke in which the Cardinals led by 23 points with less than 10 minutes to go…
Louisville’s week almost ended in a similar fashion. The Cardinals led Clemson by eight points with just 35 seconds to go. A late rally by the Tigers cut the lead to just one point with four seconds remaining and Louisville inbounding. A careless Jordan Nwora turnover gave Clemson a final shot to win, but the rising star was quick to make up for his mistake….
Like Kentucky and Louisville last week, South Dakota State suffered late heartbreak against Omaha….
And like the Wildcats and Cardinals, the Jackrabbits had their fortunes turn positive over the weekend in the battle of Dakota supremacy…
While South Dakota State’s David Jenkins, Jr. had the shot of the day to his name after his game-winner, Iowa’s Joe Wieskamp stole that title with this miraculous shot to take a win away from Rutgers..
This week saw Wofford’s Fletcher Magee move up the list of the NCAA record books as he passed JJ Redick for the second most made three-pointers in D-I history. Magee now trails Oakland’s Travis Bader by 39 treys…
When it comes to end of game situations during blowouts, coaches and players often have different mindsets. Starters are often on their feet at the bench shouting for their walk-on teammates to shoot a three or make a play. Coaches give the fiery eye of “you better do nothing more than dribble out the clock.” At the end of Texas Tech vs. Baylor on Saturday, the Red Raiders’ Avery Benson threw down this alley-oop. Benson had scored six points in 14 appearances prior to this dunk. As Bobby Reagan highlights with this tweet, if any opponent feels jaded by a basket of this nature, defend for the entire 40 minutes. In the meantime, let’s all enjoy what those at the end of the bench give us!
This week also featured a few noteworthy moments off the court. as Louisville’s Chris Mack went to Twitter to express a feeling many have regarding the emphasis of the “hook and hold” rule.
No matter how you feel about Dick Vitale, it’s hard to argue about his long-term impact on college basketball. Vitale deserves this accolade as much as anyone and as a fan of college basketball all I can say is, “THIS IS AWESOME BABY!”
