College hoops ready to take center stage - College Basketball. Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college basketball (victory parades scheduled separately at Towson (1), which broke its NCAA-record 41-game losing streak Saturday by beating UNC-Wilmington): Wednesday, we flip the calendar to a month when college hoops finally gets some top billing in the American sporting theater district.
Once the Super Bowl is over, the giant shadow of football passes and casual fans turn their attention to bouncing balls and squeaking sneakers. The hardcore among us have been here all along, but we welcome the company. But before getting into a comprehensive, insightful and fearless February preview, The Minutes wants to review a few key developments in the past month. The rise of Florida State (2) At the start of the month, the Seminoles were 8-5 and coming off a home loss to Princeton in which they scored 10 – yes, 10 – first-half points.
The result is a team that now has a viable chance to win its first ACC title. Rookie coaches on a roll Slive. College basketball transfers impact new teams. Updated 2012-01-31 6:52 PM There are tons of reasons why a player might transfer. There are plenty of explanations for why a player performs better at his second school. It's different for everyone. San Diego State guard Xavier Thames and UNLV's Mike Moser are both transfers. But that NCAA-mandated redshirt year can work wonders. "It's a year of you not playing," Washington-turned-Texas-A&M guard Elston Turner said. "Pretty much, it's a year of working out and getting better at stuff you weren't as good at before you transferred. That brings us to this -- a trend we can't ignore in college basketball this season. USA TODAY's Marlen Garcia and Nicole Auerbach present six key transfers: Kevin Dillard, Dayton A transfer from Southern Illinois after his sophomore year, Dillard hopes to lead Dayton (14-7) to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2009.
Elston Turner, Texas A&M Mike Moser, UNLV Arnett Moultrie, Mississippi State Xavier Thames, San Diego State Royce White, Iowa State. ESPN NCAAB It's a wide-open race for the Wooden Award. ESPN NCAAB MURRvMORE,1/18/2012. Murray State holds off Morehead State, remains unbeaten Associated Press MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Donte Poole helped undefeated Murray State overcome a nine-point deficit to take the lead. Then, with the Racers sputtering again, Poole gave a knowing glance to Isaiah Canaan. "If we're down at certain times and I give him a look I mean, we need to go, we need to pick it up," Canaan said. "He gave me the same look. " Canaan scored 20 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:57 left, and Murray State (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 12 AP) beat Morehead State 66-60 on Wednesday night in its toughest Ohio Valley Conference challenge so far.
Murray State (19-0, 7-0) trailed by nine with just under 13 minutes to play before rallying behind Canaan and Poole to remain one of two unbeaten teams in men's Division I basketball along with No. 1 Syracuse. "We can't win by 30 or 20 by every game," said Poole, who scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half. "We just read each other sometimes. ESPN NCAAB INDvNEB,1/18/2012. Nebraska hands Indiana third straight loss Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. -- Until Wednesday night, Nebraska's students didn't have much to celebrate when it came to their basketball team. So they let it all hang out after the Cornhuskers upset Indiana (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today, No. 11 AP) 70-69, the Hoosiers' third straight loss and Nebraska's biggest victory in its first season in the Big Ten.
As students poured out of the stands and gathered at midcourt, some of them picked up Dylan Talley, who high-fived as many as he could. A couple students even tried to hoist Jorge Brian Diaz but gave up. After all, he's 6-foot-11. Diaz gave Nebraska its first lead since early in the game when he made two free throws with 11 seconds left. And so began the party for a team that started the night tied for last place in the conference. "It was a good win, guys, it was a great win," Nebraska coach Doc Sadler said. The Hoosiers never got a good shot off at the end. "I think we'll be all right," Zeller said. ESPN NCAAB CINvCONN,1/18/2012. Sean Kilpatrick's late 3-pointer helps Cincinnati upend UConn Associated Press STORRS, Conn. -- Don't tell Cincinnati how hard it is to win road games in the Big East. Sean Kilpatrick hit a 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left and Cincinnati beat Connecticut (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP) 70-67 on Wednesday night for its seventh straight conference road victory.
Kilpatrick scored 16 points to lead five Bearcats in double figures as Cincinnati (15-4, 5-1 Big East) withstood two big UConn second-half runs and a half-court shot by Niels Giffey at the buzzer that rimmed out. Cashmere Wright and Yancy Gates each had 13 points for Cincinnati, which sits just behind Syracuse for the conference lead. "We're to a point now mentally that our guys believe that if we play well, we can beat anybody," Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. "That's a big key for us. " Shabazz Napier had a career-high 27 points to lead Connecticut (14-4, 4-3), which lost for the first time at home this season.
ESPN NCAAB Bracketology. Roy Williams of UNC Tar Heels says he apologized to players left on court against Florida State Seminoles. Indiana-Ohio State: Just How Good Are the Hoosiers? - The Triangle Blog. While the rest of the country watched the Packers choke in the NFL playoffs Sunday and made Discount Double Check jokes that quickly became more annoying than the commercials themselves, most college basketball fans in the heartland of America devoted at least half of their attention to the Ohio State-Indiana rematch.
Two weeks earlier, largely because Ohio State’s three best players battled foul trouble all game, the Hoosiers upset the Buckeyes in Bloomington and sent a message to the rest of the country: Their win over Kentucky wasn’t a fluke. Thanks to upset losses by both teams earlier in the week, the rematch didn’t have quite the luster leading up to it that it would’ve otherwise had, but it was still a significant game. One team was going to get back on the winning track, while the other was going to fall behind in the race for the Big Ten title.
What the Win Means for Ohio State In the short term, the win over Indiana was significant for a couple of reasons. The Trey Burke Wolverine Freshman Spectacular - The Triangle Blog. I’m coming out with the big guns today: Trey Burke is the most exciting player in college basketball. You want caveats? OK. Trey Burke is the most electric, dynamic, breathtaking human being wearing a Division I uniform, and Tuesday night he etched his name into Michigan lore with a 20-point virtuoso turn in a 60-59 home win over rival Michigan State. Also, he’s the coolest customer on the court at any given time, and he’s only a freshman. Oh, I’m sorry. Alright, alright, I’m cooling down. I understand I’m under a spell here. I’m just a dude with a computer, and all I know is that whenever I watch Burke play, I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to be amazed. Trey Burke is no J-Will. Tuesday’s game was an instant classic, a great installment in the ongoing Wolverines-Spartans rivalry that culminated in a frenetic finish.
But the real story here is Trey Burke, and to ignore that would be absurd. What’s that? Before you ask, no, I’m not a professional video editor. Incredibly close.