College Basketball Splinters | December 30,2009

By Paul Gotham

Taking the mid out of mid-major

A quick glance at recent victories by ‘mid’-majors over the ‘majors.’

Xavier 89 LSU 65

Kenny Frease made good on a first career start with 12 points and seven rebounds. Terrell Holloway led the way with 20. Jamel McLean picked up the double-double off the bench with 10 points and 10 boards. The Musketeers out-rebounded the Tigers 51-29.

XU improves to 8-4. Next up for the Muskies: Wake Forest on Sunday.

No. 17 New Mexico 90   No. 24 Texas Tech  75

Steve Alford’s Lobos showed they have earned their ranking. Darington Hobson, with 23 points, led five Lobos in double figures. The junior guard notched a double-double with 12 rebounds. Roman Martinez also contributed a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Lobos are one of two 13-1 teams in the Mountain West.

Brigham Young 99 Arizona 69

BYU, the other 13-1 team from the MWC, proved themselves to be ungrateful guests. Jimmer Fredette led the way with 49 points (POTW Alert).  Jackson Emery contributed 13 and Tyler Haws 12.

Arizona committed 19 turnovers.

Staying undefeated…barely

Numbers four, five, and six put their undefeated records on the line Tuesday, and Purdue, Syracuse, and West Virginia survived.

Purdue overcame a one-point halftime deficit on the road to defeat Iowa, 67-56. E’Twaun Moore led the way with 21 and Robbie Hummel had 16. Iowa turned over the ball 16 times.

Wes Johnson and Chris Joseph helped the Orange turn a six-point deficit with 6:11 remaining into a seven-point victory. Johnson finished with 20 points and 19 boards.  13 of his points and 12 of his boards came in the second half. Johnson and Joseph scored all 15 points as SU went from trailing 57-51 to leading 66-57.

Seton Hall’s Jeremy Hazell followed a 41-point performance against West Virginia with 38 versus the Orange.

West Virginia coach, Bob Huggins, might need heart therapy soon.  Three days after surviving in overtime to beat Seton Hall, the Mountaineers used a buzzer-beater to down Marquette, 63-62. Da’Sean Butler’s twenty-footer with two ticks remaining on the clock helped the Mountaineers erase a five-point deficit with :57 remaining.

West Virginia and Purdue do battle on New Year’s Day.

Kansas (11-0), Texas (11-0), and Kentucky (13-0) are the only other undefeated teams in division one.

Keep UAB on the radar

With wins over Cincinnati and No. 16 Butler, the UAB Blazers have quietly achieved a record of 11-1. Mike Davis – yes, the former Indiana coach – has the Blazers ready for a run to the tournament. UAB plays Virginia tonight and Arkansas on January second. Elijah Millsap leads the Blazers with 15.4 points and 9.8 rebounds. Aaron Johnson has 54 assists for UAB. Howard Crawford and Jamarr Sanders combine for 25 a game.

O’Neill getting the job done

The carnage left from the fallout after Tim Floyd’s resignation at USC led many to believe USC would fall into the bowels of the Pac 10 for a while. Instead Kevin O’Neill has the Trojans thinking NCAA Tournament.  With wins over a pair of ranked teams, USC stands at 8-4. Christmas night, the Trojans downed No. 20 UNLV, 67-56. Less than a week earlier, USC tripped No. 8 Tennessee, 77-55.

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