By Paul Gotham
Down to the wire
Semester’s end brought a buffet of college hoops on Saturday. Serendipity, a clock infarction, upsets, and upsets avoided provided another shake up of the polls. When the dust settled, six ranked teams had fallen.
One Atlantic 10 team lost at the buzzer, and another won.
Butler and Xavier gave everyone the weekly dose of controversy. In thirty-six seconds, or thereabouts, the Musketeers found themselves on the short end of the stick with four close calls.
First, Butler’s Gordon Hayward miraculously reached from directly behind Mark Lyons to create a jump ball. Possession went to the Bulldogs with :36 remaining. Next, there was confusion about a possible back court violation. Replays were inconclusive, but the play happened directly in front of the clock operator. This led to the next controversy. When the Butler player retrieved the ball, the clock suddenly lost all blood flow and stopped. Why? Because the clock operator who was looking right at the play saw the Butler player last touch the ball before it went into the back court.
A furious possession ensued. At one point, Butler’s Shelvin Mack went to the floor for the ball. He stood up which could have been called traveling (replays showed Mack did not have complete possession of the ball). No whistle was blown. Hayward grabbed the loose ball and scored with 1.6 remaining. Somehow, officials determined that the clock only stopped for 1.6 seconds, and that Hayward scored just in time to beat the buzzer. Xavier did not get a chance to tie. Butler won, 69-68.
Controversy aside, this was a great game for these two teams. One week earlier, Butler beat Ohio State and Xavier downed Cincinnati. Anyone thinking these two teams would rest on those performances was mistaken. Butler grabbed a 15 point lead before the Musketeers quieted the Hinkle Fieldhouse crowd.
Things we learned: 1. Gordon Hayward is a really good player. His 22 points and 14 rebounds were special – add to that 3 assists. He went 4-5 from the three-point arc, and 6-7 from the free throw line. He scored the winning bucket and finished another basket on a drive to the basket against the half court set. He sees the floor well and makes great cuts.
2. Jason Love has a sweet jump hook. Love finished with fourteen points the hard way – 7-9 shooting. All of his buckets came in traffic. Opposing teams make Love priority one when it comes to rebounding responsibilities. Jamel McLean only played four minutes the other day (not sure why). Love received more attention than usual, and he responded.
3. Jordan Crawford has never met a shot he didn’t like. Crawford took 17 of Xavier’s 53 shots. Some of those shots ranked high on the difficulty meter.
The luck, Xavier found so difficult finding,was lurking in the TD Banknorth Garden. A10 rival, UMass took advantage.
UMass’s Terrell Vinson found himself in the right place at the right time as the Minutemen downed Memphis, 73-72. A last second scrum under the Tiger basket sent the ball flying through the air and into the hands of Vinson for the fortunate basket.
Josh Pastner is doing a great job with Memphis. Don’t be surprised if the Tigers win a game or two in March.
It is pretty en vogue to laud Kentucky’s John Wall. Yes, his athleticism is intoxicating. And yes, he is an uncanny blend of Magic’s handle, Adrian Dantley’s frame, and Calvin Murphy’s speed. But don’t overlook Memphis’s Elliot Williams. He is special. Williams has just as much athletic ability, but he brings a greater basketball IQ to the floor. Williams can catch and shoot and finish. He can catch, up-fake, and drive the lane. Williams has a complete package.
Richmond surprised No. 13 Florida, 56-53. The Gators led by eight at half. David Gonzalvez and Kevin Anderson led the Spiders with 16 and 14 points. Justin Harper grabbed nine boards and Dan Geriot grabbed five off the bench. Along with Florida, Richmond has also knocked off Missouri and Mississippi State.
West Virginia avoided an upset when De’Sean Butler finished a layup with :01. The Mountaineers downed Cleveland State, 80-78.
A 10 showing signs of life
With wins over Villanova and Seton Hall, Temple appeared in the polls this week. The Owls are No.21 in the AP. Three other schools – Dayton, Richmond, and Charlotte picked up votes in both polls.
Hangovers
Not all the games were pretty for all teams involved – take for example, the Tennessee Volunteers.
Bruce Pearl took his eighth-ranked Vols cross country for a tilt with the USC Trojans. Coming into the game, the Pac 10 was 0-10 against ranked opponents. The Trojans were riding a modest two-game win streak. Of course, those victories came at the expense of Idaho State and Sacramento State. Pearl’s Vols must have left their game on the beach because the Trojans delivered a 77-55 beatdown. Perhaps, Kevin O’Neill, the well-traveled head coach of the Trojans, had some motivation. O’Neill coached the Vols in the 90s and left in a huff. SC point guard, Mike Gerrity, is an interesting story.
Tennessee struggled going from the East to the West. Gonzaga did worse in their trip from the West to the East. A series of factors resulted in the Bulldogs losing to Duke 76-41. Whether it was the cross-continental trip, Matt Bouldin’s post-concussion recovery, or Duke’s perimeter defense, Gonzaga looked lifeless connecting on just one three pointer all afternoon. The Bulldogs averaged six trifectas per game before Saturday. Bouldin suffered a concussion on December 9th. The senior guard is invaluable to Gonzaga. Beyond the fact that he averages 15 points, five rebounds, and three assists, Bouldin is the guy who makes good out of bad. If the Gonzaga offense breaks down, it is Bouldin who can create something out of nothing.
Georgetown’s Hoyas also showed an inability to get their heads out of their books. Old Dominion jumped to an 11-point lead at half and never looked back.
How they did it
Wichita State went 11-11 from the line in the final minute of their game to trim No. 20 Texas Tech, 85-83.
Texas outrebounded North Carolina 56-36. Included in that total was a 26-9 advantage on the offensive boards. Yeah, the Longhorns won 103-90.
Michigan took 19 more shots than Kansas. The Wolverines launched 28 three pointers to 19 by Kansas. Michigan grabbed more offensive rebounds (11-7), made more steals (10-6), and committed fewer turnovers (10-14), yet the numbers just didn’t add up.
Kansas took 9 fewer trifectas but made one more than Michigan en route to a 75-64 victory. The Jayhawks growed patience against the Wolvering 1-3-1. Sherron Collins showed he can be a leader dissecting the trapping zone. Collins made good decisions late in the game choosing when to drive and when to keep the ball moving on the perimeter.
Got any college basketball splinters? Share them here.
Can Michigan State win any of their big early season games??
Many of us are quick to point to history and say that Izzo will have his boys ready come March. Is this true with this year’s team?
Or are they just overrated??
UNC is talented but very young and their inexperience has shown against some more veteran teams (i.e. Cuse and Texas)
Is UNC a legitimate contender for the national title this year??
Any early predictions on this year’s Cleveland State??? What small school will make a run in the Big Tourney?? Any guesses??
Any predictions for the Big East?? Many solid teams floating around the top of the polls? Who will emerge as the team to beat in this league??
Just some Q’s to get the ball rolling…
Tom Izzo’s definition of a big game is probably a little different. He has been juggling his lineup quite a bit here in the early in the season. I read somewhere that he has used five different starting lineups. I wonder how many ending lineups he has used. Also, Izzo will cut off his nose to spare his face. He will not allow an individual to carry a team here early in the year. He would rather lose because his kids fail to execute together, rather winning a game because someone goes off for 30.
Judging by his body language last night, Izzo loves teaching this team. His kids respect him and want to learn from him.
Keep in mind that ALL of MSU’s three losses have been on the road. Only the Florida game was on a neutral court.
All that being said, Texas’s perimeter defense is figgin’ solid. Holy cow, the Spartans had ZERO breathing room last night. Now I understand why the Tar Heels struggled on Saturday.
How many Michigan State teams start off slow, but come March are smoking hot? You don’t want to start slow out of the gate, but you want your team playing its best basketball come March – not December…
Speaking of the Big East – the conference might regret its number of teams this year. The lower teams are taking a hit out of conference. Louisville has lost three games – all to teams in conferences considered mid major (UNLV, Charlotte, and Western Carolina). UConn has losses to Duke and Kentucky but close calls with Hofstra and Harvard – even Maine stuck with the Huskies for a while last night. Marquette started strong and has now lost to NC State, Florida State and Wisconsin – none of those are supposed to dominate their conferences. ND has a couple of bad losses. Even Georgetown – they have one loss (Old Dominion), but they escaped with a 1point win against Temple early in November. If those teams played now, the Owls might get the better of the HOyas. Georgetown plays Harvard today. Don’t be surprised if….
That’s not even mentioning DePaul and Providence.
Back to Xavier v. Butler, the clock stopped a few times in the last 30 seconds and was never adjusted. Also, what if the clock was actually where it should have been? Would Butler have seen the clock and actually hurried the shot a little more. Clocks don’t work all the time and mistakes happen, but the game should not have ended the way it did. Give Xavier 1 second to get a shot off and the controversy ends, probably resulting in a Xavier loss anyways.
Gill
First comment on the Pine!!!! Welcome aboard!
To me there is only one way to clear up the clock problems during the Butler – XU game. They need to go back to the last stoppage of time – I think it was :36 – not sure how many tenths, but they can find out. Put that time on the score board and let the replay run. Then they will find out if Hayward scored in time or not.
Thanks for the info. on those Big East teams Casey.
A friend of mine keeps telling me that Kansas is not as good as people think they are…
Any insights into Kansas??
Does Duke have a shot at doing anything significant in the tournament this year??
Dan
The next time your ‘friend’ says: “Kansas is not as good as people think they are.”
Have him say slowly the following: Aldrich, Collins, Henry, and Morris. That should do it. The only thing hurting Kansas is the freakin’ Big 12. What a gauntlet. If Texas doesn’t get ’em, K-State will. And Texas Tech is no slouch either.
Duke? Tournament? It’s not even January for the love of God! Tournament?!? How do I know? Between now and then and one or more of the following could get in the way: injuries, girl friends, family crises,academic ineligibility (it has happened at Duke before), region, draw. Right now, the tournament is unimportant to me.