Cody’s Blog

Youth is not something that you would probably want in a big game, but Kentucky is abound with it. John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe are all freshmen, but all scored in double figures in the SEC Championship game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Wall scored 7 of his 17 total points in the overtime period, Bledsoe dropped 18 on 58% shooting, and Cousins scored 10 points and pulled down 10 rebounds including the shot that sent the game into overtime. On the Mississippi State side, the Bulldogs will remain on the NCAA tourney bubble with the loss and will have to wait to see if they earn a bid in the tournament. Ravern Johnson scored 20 points and stud post player Jarvis Varnardo scored 18 points, pulled down 9 rebounds and blocked 5 shots. With the win, the Wildcats know what seed they will be come tourney time, a number 1, as they now sit at 32-2 and have won both the SEC regular season and conferance titles. The future of the Bulldogs remains uncertain, but with the performance they turned in this week, i think that the committee can find a spot for them in March.

After suffering their second worst lost in franchise history to the Dallas Mavericks on January 24th, the New York Knicks turned the tides on the streaking Mavs. In that January game, the Mavs posted 128 points, scoring 30+ in three of the four quarters of play. This time, it was the Knicks putting up three quarters of 30+ and having six players in double figures. Young players Bill Walker and Toney Douglass turned in veteran like performances, going for 23 and 21 respectively and combining on 9 three pointers in 12 attempts. Although the Mavericks had five players in double figures led by Dirk Nowitski’s 20, the Knicks smothered the Southwest Division leaders in the third quarter. They outscored them 33-18, which allowed them to pull away after already nursing a 10-point lead. The loss for the Knicks ended one of the NBA’s longest win streaks but, unfortunately, they don’t get multiple wins for this efficient victory and still sit among the NBA’s cellar of teams at 23-43.

They have never earned an NCAA tournament bid. They have never won their conference tournament. They have never taken home a regular season title. They have never even skeaked out an NIT bid. But, on March 8th, the Wofford Terriers punched their ticket to the NCAA by defeating the Appalachian State Mountaineers in a gutsy performance 56-51. The Terriers, who joined the Southern Conference in 1997.  After competing athletically in the NAIA and Division II, the Terriers made the jump to Division I before the 1994-1995 season. Wofford only committed seven total turnovers for the game, and despite going nearly 10 minutes without scoring after jumping out to a 17-3 lead, their swarming defense allowed them to maintain the lead and the win. Guard Cameron Rundles lead the way with 20 points, and forward Tim Johnson pulled down 13 rebounds. The win gave them their 13th in a row, and marks the 15th time that the Terriers have help an opponent under 60 points. Early signs of a possible tournament berth could possibly have been detected. Wofford lost to the Pittsburgh Panthers by a mere three points, were within two of Illinois with 1o to go, hung in to only lose by 12 over the vastly superior Michigan State Spartans, and defeated both South Carolina and Georgia. The Terriers will probably be anywhere from a 14 to a 16 seed and could cause their opening round opponent some major heartburn come mid-March.

72 straight wins. 16 Big East Titles. 6 National titles. Four 33+ win undefeated seasons. These numbers tell the story of the domination of the University of Connecticut Women’s basketball team. On March 9th, 2010 the UConn women broke their own consecutive wins record, beating West Virginia 60-32 for their 72nd game in a row (and counting), breaking the 70 win record they set from 2001-2003 by two games. An unlikely source stepped up to help the Huskies keep their streak going. Senior Kalana Greene scored 15 points on 7/8 shooting and pulled down 12 rebounds in a superb effort, while the usual stars struggled a bit going a combined 9-31 from the floor for only 22 combined points. On this current streak that they are on, UConn has outscored opponents by an average of 32.5 points, and have outscored ranked opponents by 25.5 points per game. They also have a per game points output of 83.1 points, which is more than many of the NCAA Division I Men’s teams. Over the past nine seasons, the Huskies have gone 301-24 with two undefeated seasons good for an average of 33 wins and 3 losses per season. This great success has put them in the discussion of one of the most elite college sports dynasties of all time, and below I have ranked my Top 5 college sports dynasties.

My Top 5 College Sports Dynasties

1. UCLA Bruins Men’s Basketball- 1964-1975- 10 National Championships in 12 years including 7 of those consecutive

2. North Carolina Women’s soccer team- 1979-1999- 15 National Championships in 20 years and a 442-17-11 record during that span

3. Connecticut Huskies Women’s Basketball- 2001-02-2009-10- 4 National Championships and two 70+ game win streaks

4. Notre Dame Football- 1946-1949- 36-0-2 with 3 National Titles and boasted two Heisman Winners (Johnny Lujack, in 1947 and Leon Hart, in 1949).

5. Oklahoma Sooners- 1953-1958- 2 National Titles and 3 straight undefeated seasons with a total record of 60-3-1

It helps to have a Big Three. Especially if you do not have much else. Duke’s Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, and Jon Scheyer combined for 65 of the Blue Devils’ 82 points, and combined on 44% shooting from the field and an unheralded 95.7% from the free throw line. However, the rest of the 9 guys on the team combined for just 17 points, with their leader being Brian Zoubek, who posted 8 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. At the nine minute mark of the first half, the Dukies were already up 31-11, and continued the rout in the first half as they held a 27 point advantage going into the locker room. Duke only scored 29 second half points, but their vast accumulation of first half points proved to be enough for their first win at home to UNC in four years. The win basically cements their #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and if they get their, I think that they can get to the Final Four pretty easily as long as their Big Three can continue to play at such a high level.

The Louisville Cardinals got a tremendous boost from an unlikely in Freedom Hall’s final game as an athletic venue. Backup shooting guard Kyle Kuric, who averaged 3.5 points all year, poured in 22 points in the second half on 9 for 11 shooting as the Louisville Cardinals downed the number 1 team in the nation by a solid 10 point margin. Although Syracuse did have four players in double figures led by Scoop Jardine had posted 20, Kuric’s 22 helped the Cardinals to outscore the Orange 48-33 in the second half after trailing to them by 5 points at halftime. This Louisville win at home marks the second time that the Cards have beaten the Orange this season, accounting for two of Syracuse’s 3 losses on the year. As for the Cards home venue, the historic era of Freedom Hall will come to an end. Freedom hall has hosted 6 national title games, its fair share of NCAA tournament regional finals and 682 Louisville Cardinals victories. This win pretty much cements a spot for Louisville in March, and caps off an impeccable run by their seniors; they have made the NCAA tourney all four years and have not had to accept for an NIT bid.

In what was a very low scoring affair, the Michigan State Spartans defeated the #3, Robbie Hummel-less Purdue Boilermakers 53-44. Purdue had held the two point advantage 28-26 over the Spartans at the half, but the loss of their star player showed, as they only scored 16 second half points on their way to being defeated by 9 points. The Spartans also had a rough night themselves, only shooting 22% from three while only two players posted double digit points. Forward Raymar Morgan scored 16 points and corraled 11 rebounds to lead the Michigan State, while fellow forward Draymond Green scored 12 points as they carried their teams. For Purdue, E’Twaun Moore led the Boilermakers with 12 points. This Purdue loss caps a weekend that saw the number 1,2, and 3 teams in the nation go down, nad will lead to major changes among the top of the polls. The #4 ranked Syracuse Orange, who defeated #8 Villanova last night 95-77, will most likely jump to number 1, while Duke will no doubt move up, up to where is uncertain, as I think that Kentucky and Kansas are still better than the Blue Devils. After this crazy week in college basketball as the regular season winds down, this would be my top five the rest of the way into tournament time:

1. Syracuse Orange – 27-2 – Their 2-3 defense is the best and most efficient in the nation, and as long as they don’t get complacent, I think that they can easily grab a #1 seed in March and possibly make a run at the national title.

2. Kansas Jayhawks – 27-2 – Although they lost to Ok. State, Kansas is still one of the best teams in the nation. They have four starters averaging in double figures, and if hard nosed point guard Sherron Collins and no-nonsense center Cole Aldrich continue to dominate their inside out style of play, the Jayhawkers will be extremely efficient the rest of the way.

3. Kentucky Wildcats- 27-2 – The leaders of the SEC are still in great position even after their loss to Tennessee. John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins are both averaging over 16 points a game, and Kentucky has the tools needed to make a big run late into March.

4. Duke Blue Devils – 25-4 – Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler, and Jon Sheyer are absolutely game changers, and these types of players are what a team needs to get far in the postseason which is why they are a lock for at least another Sweet 16 berth.

5. Kansas State Wildcats – 24-4 – After showing great character in a rally-style win over the Missouri Tigers, the Wildcats showed that they can play both an up-tempo game, as well as slow things down. They also have great bigs in Curtis Kelley and Luis Colon and a great guard in Jacob Pullen, which is the recipe for success in college basketball.

Led by a barrage of three-point shots, the Oklahoma State Cowboys used a 53% 3-point shooting mark to down the 1 loss Kansas Jayhawks in Stillwater. The Jayhawks came into the game looking for a win to stay undefeated this season in Big 12 play, but no one must have told junior James Anderson and the Cowboys. OSU held the Jayhawks to just 29 first half points, while they scored 45 of their own in the first half of the game. The three-point barrage continued in the second half, as Anderson hit 4 of his 6 three attempts and Keiton Page poured in a perfect 4 for 4 from beyond the arc. The Cowboys defeat of Kansas gives them their first win over a #1 team since they defeated Oklahoma in their 1989 Red River Rivalry game. This feat also marks the first time that the number 1 and 2 teams int eh nation have lost in the same day since 2006, when 17-0 Duke and 17-0 Florida lost. Page finished with 15 points, and Anderson showed up in every statistical category recording 27 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. With his 27 points, Anderson has now scored in double figures in every game this season and will get a multitude of opportunities the rest of the way, as this win solidifies Oklahoma State’s spot in the NCAA tournament come March 18th.

After the Tennessee Volunteers secured an 11-point halftime lead against the #2 ranked Kentucky Wildcats, things began to fall apart. The Vols had built up a 19 -point lead, but looked on in agony as the Wildcats — led by Demarcus Cousins — slowly erased that deficit. After working the entire half to come back, Kentucky tied the game at 65-65 using 6 straight points from freshman Cousins with just over two minutes left to play in the game. At that point, Tennessee’s J.P. Prince scored six of the games final 9 points as the Vols rolled to a 74-65 win over the previously 1 loss Wildcats. Prince led the way for the Vols, as well as led all scorers with 20 points on 60% shooting as the Volunteers delivered their second win this season against a top five team (the other came when the Vols gave the Kansas Jayhawks their only loss). Each of these teams has two remaining regular season games on the slate before starting the SEC tournament, and will look to bolster their win numbers as they face of against lesser SEC opponents.

With an 11-point win over the #7 team in the nation, the UConn Huskies are seemingly back in the discussion for an NCAA tournament bid. After starting off the season with non-impressive wins over teams such as Colgate, Hofstra, UCF, Boston, Maine, and Iona (as does every team in the nation) and jumping out to a 9-2 record, the Huskies dropped games to Cincinnati (twice), Providence, and Michigan and now sit at just 17-11 and a very sub-par 7-8 in the Big East. One of the only reasons that Connecticut is still on the bubble to make the NCAA tournament is that have come up with some great wins in the past few weeks. They whipped then #1 Texas 88-74, and then proceeded to beat #3 Villanova at their place, then came back home and beat the #7 West Virginia Mountaineers last night in Hartford. Kemba Walker paced UConn with 21 points, and Stanley Robinson scored 15 points to go with 13 rebounds. I still think that Huskies have to win their remaining three to get in, but I believe that come selection Sunday, the Connecticut men’s basketball team will find themselves in the Big Dance. (Barely!)