Breaking down the Sweet 16; latest buzz on coachin
For true college basketball junkies, March Madness means two things: the games, and the games behind the games.
The first refers to the NCAA tournament. The second refers to the annual coaching carousel that picks up steam around the second week of the tournament.
I'm not one of those who report on every twist and turn of the coaching searches, but I must say it is fun trading gossip with people who think they know things. So I burned up the phone lines the last couple of days to see what I could find out. I'll start you off with my breakdown and predictions of the Sweet 16. Then I'll give you my, ahem, informed speculation as to what you can expect on the coaching front.
As always, in both cases, any similarities between my predictions and the actual course of events is strictly coincidental.
MICHIGAN STATE VS. NORTHERN IOWA
A lot of people are going with the Panthers based on the absence of Spartans point guard Kalin Lucas, but I'm going to stick with Michigan State for two reasons. First and foremost, they are coached by Tom Izzo. No disrespect to Ben Jacobson or any other coach in America, but nobody gets his players ready to compete and win in the NCAA tournament better than Izzo does. Second, I often find that after Cinderellas break through during the first week of the tournament, they return home to tons of accolades and distractions, which detracts from their preparation for the next game. It's hard picking against the Panthers while The Rok is on fire, but the Spartans are ready to douse him.
Michigan State 65, Northern Iowa 61
TENNESSEE VS. OHIO STATE
There was a very unusual stat in the first half of the Buckeyes' second-round game against Georgia Tech: Evan Turner took 15 shots in the first 20 minutes. That is very unlike him, and unlike Ohio State. This team has excellent offensive balance, and when Jon Diebler and William Buford get open looks they're almost impossible to defend. Turner took just four shots in the second half and Ohio State pulled away. Unlike Ohio U, the Buckeyes have a big man inside (Dallas Lauderdale) who can bang with Wayne Chism. I also don't think Tennessee will fare well against Ohio State's funky 1-3-1 zone.
Ohio State 79, Tennessee 71
REGIONAL FINAL: OHIO STATE VS. MICHIGAN STATE
It's an old-fashioned Big Ten battle, but in this case the absence of Lucas is too much for Michigan State to overcome. Remember, the one time these teams played during the season, the Buckeyes won by seven in East Lansing -- and that was with a healthy Lucas.
Ohio State 70, Michigan State 64
SYRACUSE VS. BUTLER
If you like smart, fundamental, efficient, team-oriented offensive basketball, this game is for you. Still, I think Butler is going to be a little overwhelmed. The Bulldogs have done well to win 21 straight games, but they didn't do much outside the Horizon League. Butler lost to Minnesota, Clemson and Georgetown on neutral courts, and they fell at UAB by 10 points. Nor is Butler as good an outside shooting team as most people believe.
Syracuse 74, Butler 60
KANSAS STATE VS. XAVIER
Xavier is not used to playing teams with a guard tandem that is as good if not better than theirs, but that is what they're facing in Kansas State. The Musketeers' Jordan Crawford will be the best guard in the game, but as a twosome Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente are more potent than Crawford and Terrell Holloway. Xavier will have more size inside, but Kansas State has more quickness up front and overall toughness up and down the roster.
Kansas State 78, Xavier 75
REGIONAL FINAL: SYRACUSE VS. KANSAS STATE
As Syracuse moves along, it is going to be harder to envision the Orange winning games without Arinze Onuaku. I am going to assume that he will at least be available (albeit limited) for this game, and given the way Andy Rautins and Wesley Johnson are playing, that should be enough.
Syracuse 72, Kansas State 69
KENTUCKY VS. CORNELL
The Big Red are a great story, but the Wildcats are a great team. I was extremely impressed with the way Cornell shredded Temple and Wisconsin in its half-court offense, but Kentucky is different from those teams in two important ways. First, the Wildcats are much bigger, stronger and quicker up front, which means Cornell center Jeff Foote is going to have a hard time scoring and staying out of foul trouble. Second, Temple and Wisconsin play a slowdown style and don't look to punish you in transition. John Wall, Eric Bledsoe and company are devastating on the break, and they will score too many easy baskets for Cornell to keep up. I really hope I'm wrong, but I don't think it's going to be close.
Kentucky 80, Cornell 63
WEST VIRGINIA VS. WASHINGTON
Have you ever seen an 11 seed make the Sweet 16 and generate so little buzz? The Huskies were very impressive against Marquette and New Mexico last week, and they present a tough matchup for West Virginia, especially now that the Mountaineers have lost their starting point guard, Truck Bryant, to a broken foot. The point position is the Mountaineers' one discernible weakness, and Washington is a quick, aggressive teams that loves to generate steals and score in transition -- much like Missouri, which gave the Mountaineers a run in the second round. West Virginia does a good enough job taking care of the ball that I think their experience, size and toughness will prevail, but I don't expect it to be easy.
West Virginia 75, Washington 73
REGIONAL FINAL: KENTUCKY VS. WEST VIRGINIA
In my original bracket, I picked West Virginia to lose to Kansas in the championship game, but now that the Jayhawks are gone I honestly have a hard time envisioning West Virginia winning the title. And while the Mountaineers struggled against Mizzou, the Wildcats were making Wake Forest look like a jayvee team. The injury to Bryant gives me a lame excuse to change my pick.
Kentucky 76, West Virginia 74
DUKE VS. PURDUE
The Boilermakers are not as good an offensive team as they were with Robbie Hummel, but they are a little quicker and tougher on the defensive end. And point guard Lewis Jackson, who missed the first two-and-a-half months of the season with a foot injury, has quietly played some excellent basketball. (He had 9 assists to 1 turnover in the first round against Siena, and on the season has an assist-to-turnover ratio of better than 3-to-1.) Still, that won't be enough to beat a Duke team that also butters its bread with defense and rebounding. Sometime in early February, a light went on in 7-1 senior center Brian Zoubek's head, and since then he has been the most improved player in college basketball. He and the Plumlee brothers give the Blue Devils much more margin for error than they have had in recent years.
Duke 66, Purdue 60
BAYLOR VS. SAINT MARY'S
The Gaels are going to face the same challenge as Northern Iowa with respect to maintaining their mental edge, but they have a bigger problem -- literally. While Richmond and Villanova had gaping holes in the middle, leaving them defenseless against Omar "Mr." Samhan, Baylor's front line consists of 6-foot-10 Ekpe Udoh, 6-10 Anthony Jones and 7-foot Josh Lomers, with 6-7 Quincy Acy coming off the bench. That's 20 fouls if you're scoring at home. St. Mary's is a great three-point shooting team and they should get a few looks against Baylor's zone, but the Bears have a sweet guard tandem of their own in Tweety Carter and LaceDarius Dunn.
Baylor 85, St. Mary's 75
REGIONAL FINAL: DUKE VS. BAYLOR
This is a scary matchup for the Blue Devils, especially since the Bears would have a de facto homecourt advantage in Houston. Duke's problem this season has been the fact that it rarely gets all three of its Big Three clicking at the same time. They won't beat Baylor if Jon Scheyer can't make threes, but my sense is that Scheyer, and the Devils, will rise to the occasion on the big stage.
Duke 77, Baylor 74
St. John's Speculation
Let's start with Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, who interviewed last night in Atlanta for the St. John's job. Many are assuming Hewitt is as good as gone, but I fully expect him to turn St. John's down. From what I am hearing, Hewitt is very happy living in Atlanta with his wife and three daughters, the oldest of whom is a sophomore in high school. Hewitt's relationship with Georgia Tech athletic director Dan Radakovich has been a little spotty in recent years (Hewitt was hired not by Radakovich), but Radakovich has been more publicly supportive of Hewitt the last few weeks, and I think Georgia Tech's strong finish has kept the wolves at bay for now.
If Hewitt turns down the job as I expect, where does St. John's go next? It's hard to say. The school had shown some interest early on in Virginia Tech's Seth Greenberg, but that seems to have cooled. They might insult Greenberg by going back to him at this late stage, which would mean being rebuffed a second time. The idea that St. John's could lure a Billy Donovan or a Rick Pitino was always a pipe dream, and athletic director Chris Monasch has a little egg on his face because those guys gave him the Heisman before he could even officially pursue them.
Two other names that have been bandied about for St. John's are Cornell's Steve Donahue and Siena's Fran McCaffrey, but I don't believe either has been contacted. It may look early on like Monasch is fumbling his way through this process, but keep in mind it also looked that way at Arizona last year and they still ended up with a first-rate hire in Sean Miller.
Donahue and McCaffrey could still find themselves in the mix at Seton Hall. Hofstra's Tom Pecora wanted that job but couldn't get an interview, but he got plucked by Fordham on Tuesday.
Don't Discount Duke: Blue Devils Experiencing a Re
They can win it all, steal the spotlight in the NCAA tourney, and shimmer as the traditional team in college hoops reliving a proverbial convention.
Such is the rebirth of the Duke Blue Devils, a prominent program that is used to prevailing in March and sparking a dynasty, perhaps the most distinguished dynasty in all of sports.
Every now and then, Duke is viewed as an inferior team. But rarely are the Blue Devils downgraded, a demanding program vowing success and reverence each season. If there’s a down season, it’s a damned shame to an athletic program expecting to clinch a No. 1 seed and advance to the Final Four.
With all the ignominy in recent memory, which delayed euphoria, Duke wasn’t the hottest team entering the tournament, nor the most talented. What’s seen at this point is a Duke rebirth, turning into a ravishing nuisance as a No. 1 seed in the toughest region.
The good news is the Blue Devils are playing their best basketball in a long time. But the bad news is they’ll have to confront gritty bouts within a neutral site by staying composed and elevating their mojo.
For all the endless debates about Duke receiving the third overall No. 1 seed, most failed to realize that the Blue Devils are vulnerable of suffering a disheartening exit. It’s appealing to see whether Duke is the team to be reckoned with in the competitive, tight, and tense South Regional.
Winners of four consecutive games, including 12 of their last 13 games after a troubling January, the Blue Devils are favored to survive a significant fight. Therefore, a loss would come as no surprise, especially when probably facing two Big East powerhouses.
Being in a weaker ACC conference, where Duke struggled on the road, they haven’t really matched up against tougher teams from the Big East, arguably the stoutest conference in college hoops.
Meanwhile, their ripple effect is the difference of late, persuading the people of Durham, North Carolina to take pleasure in the thrilling return to prestige. The renewal of Duke is a symbol of good fortune after winning its conference title and pummeling in-state rival North Carolina, who missed the tournament, to take over bragging rights.
Turns out Duke is the feel-good story finding new life on Tobacco Road, a beginning to a usual dynasty, if the Blue Devils advance through all the obstacles expected to create anguish.
Admittedly, they also have a great coach conducting the most prestigious program in college sports. The brilliancy of much-respected and winningest coach Mike Krzyzewski has kept an admirable athletic program intact, even though a rebuilding stage placed a stranglehold on and perturbed an entire population devoted to basketball.
Other than grooming and influencing talented players to commit, he has earned much of his credibility after installing a defense-oriented style and a winning personality. That said, much of the players are comfortable playing within his coaching system, taught to implement unselfishness and teamwork.
If there’s one team being overexposed and anointed roughly in the field of 64 teams, it’s not Duke, the hottest team excelling at perfect timing. As a team the Blue Devils aren’t worth ignoring, led by the highest-scoring trio in the nation.
If you’ve paid close attention, you’ve seen senior guard Jon Scheyer fire scorching shots. You’ve seen Nolan Smith fly to the line and create ideal ball movement. You’ve seen Kyle Singler have the best season of his collegiate career. You’ve also seen the emergence and tallness of Miles and Mason Plumlee disrupt opposing teams' interior games.
After winning for a decade, it’s again a glance at familiarity in which Duke has an almighty origin, established to capture an immediate objective the next three weeks.
More startling than themselves are Villanova, Duke’s biggest threat during a magical surge, as well as the Louisville Cardinals. That’s hard to predict when the Wildcats are erratic, but they rode an 11-game winning streak earlier in the season. If Duke were to meet Louisville in the second round, it’s understandable the contest would generate hype as Coach K meets Rick Pitino, the hippest coach around.
Lots of people think this is Duke’s year. Certainly, the team mascot assumes the same wearing tape on his forehead that reads, “WE’RE BAAACCK!”
Copyright © 2010 Bleacher Report, Inc.
College basketball: South Florida stuns No. 7 Georgetown
With a minute to play in perhaps the biggest win in South Florida history, the star player bellowed to the Georgetown crowd: "Y'all come watch Dominique Jones play!"
When the horn sounded, Jones flexed his muscles, extolled the virtues of his school to anyone within earshot and told the school's radio crew his "heart was beating too fast" with excitement to do a postgame interview.
After four years as a pushover, South Florida is a Big East doormat no more.
The Bulls' 72-64 victory over the seventh-ranked Hoyas on Wednesday in Washington gives them their first road victory over a ranked team in 18 years and pushes their record to .500 in the toughest conference in the country.
"I've been everywhere the past two years -- Big East -- they see us lose and they just say all kind of things," the junior guard said. "I'm not a person of revenge, but it feels good to look in those same people's faces, like, 'Hey, I'm laughing at the end of it.' "
Jones scored 22 of his 29 points in the second half as the Bulls (15-7, 5-5), who had never won more than two straight Big East games before this season, now have a run of four that also includes a 70-61 win over then-No. 17 Pittsburgh on Sunday.
Kansas 72, Colorado 66: Marcus Morris scored six of his 15 points in overtime and grabbed a key rebound that helped the top-ranked Jayhawks (21-1, 7-0 Big 12) avoid the season's biggest upset by beating the Buffaloes (11-11, 2-6) in Boulder, Colo.
Marcus Relphorde's two free throws with 56 seconds left in regulation gave the Buffaloes their first and only lead at 60-59, but Sherron Collins made one of two free throws to tie it with 38 seconds left.
Colorado's Cory Higgins misfired a long-range jumper with two seconds left.
Cole Aldrich hit a free throw to start the overtime, and the Jayhawks never trailed again. Morris' consecutive baskets made it 67-60. He grabbed three offensive rebounds before making the second one.
"That was the best basketball play of the game," Kansas coach Bill Self said.
West Virginia 70, Pittsburgh 51: Da'Sean Butler scored 18 points to lift the No. 6 Mountaineers (18-3, 7-2 Big East) past the No. 22 Panthers (16-6, 6-4) in Morgantown, W. Va.
Women
New Mexico State 68, San Jose State 48: The Aggies (14-8, 4-4) cruised to a Western Athletic Conference victory over the Spartans (5-16, 1-7) in San Jose.
Marnesha Hall led the Spartans, registering her first major-college double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds off the bench.
(c) 2010 - San Jose Mercury News.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Philly honors Chaney, Massimino
John Chaney and Rollie Massimino had one more big date at the Palestra. No city bragging rights were up for grabs on the hardwood. Only spots in Philadelphia's basketball Hall of Fame.
Two of the most accomplished coaches in Philly's rich basketball history were inducted into the Big 5 Hall on Friday. Former La Salle coach Speedy Morris joined Chaney and Massimino among the basketball greats at the venerable gym representing LaSalle, Temple, Villanova, St. Joseph's and Penn.
"We're in a common place, the three of us," Chaney said. "We're all guys that fought like maniacs. When the clock ticked and said it was over, that's when really everything began. That's the kind of friendship, the kind of situation you look forward to when you're in athletics."
Chaney led Temple to 17 NCAA Tournaments, five regional finals, and 516 wins before he retired in 2006.
Massimino led eighth-seeded Villanova to an improbable 1985 national title over Georgetown for the only national title won by a Big 5 school.
Storms thwart teams: Bad weather has forced No. 18 Mississippi to postpone its game against Arkansas scheduled for this afternoon. The game will instead be played Sunday night in Oxford, Miss. The winter weather that has shut down Oklahoma City's airport has also grounded the Oklahoma and Oklahoma State basketball teams. Oklahoma State is scheduled to play at Missouri and Oklahoma is to play at Nebraska today. Both teams were stuck in Oklahoma on Friday.
Women's Top 25: Jasmine Thomas scored 18 of her 23 points in the second half to lead No. 7 Duke (18-3, 6-0) to a 73-43 home victory over No. 13 Florida State (18-4, 4-2).
(c) San Francisco Chronicle.
Memphis shoots for conference streak history
It was supposed to be a down year for Memphis basketball, and in some ways it is. But one part of the John Calipari glory days remains: Memphis' Conference USA win streak, which, if the Tigers top a tough UTEP team at the FedEx Forum Wednesday night, will eclipse Kentucky's mark as the longest conference winning streak of all-time at 65 games.
It's miraculous, when you really think about it. Sixty-five games. College basketball isn't supposed to be that cut and dry. That's why we love it, right? Because any team can win any game, whether in November or March, and superior talent is only a levee against the impending flood of statistical probability. In other words, eventually you lose. Upsets happen. Always. To everybody.
But not to the Memphis Tigers; at least not in conference play.
It's an historic streak almost 60 years in the making. Adolph Rupp's Kentucky teams reigned over the SEC for the coach's entire career, but never more so than from 1945 to 1950, when Rupp and the Cats won 64 SEC games in a row. (Perhaps it's ironic that Memphis' streak was largely helmed by Kentucky's newest savior, John Calipari. Is that ironic? I don't even know what irony is anymore. I blame Alanis Morissette.) With Calipari recruiting the nation's best talent year in and year out, Memphis has lorded over C-USA -- which has never produced a worthy challenger to Memphis' throne -- with similar dominance. That dominance could reach its high-water mark tonight.
Of course, there is the actual matter of winning the game. UTEP is no pushover; at 11-5, the Miners have beaten Oklahoma and pushed Ole Miss to overtime in Oxford. And Memphis is not the Memphis of Calipari's reign. Too much talent left alongside its former coach, and Josh Pastner has occasionally struggled to make do with what remains. But the Tigers have held on to their precious streak. Tonight, they have the opportunity to extend it, to make it more than an anomaly or a threat to Kentucky's old-school brilliance. Tonight, Memphis has a shot at history. Don't think they don't know it.
(c) 2009 ESPN Internet Ventures.
Syracuse-WVU clash to make history
IT IS, without question, one of the biggest games in the history of West Virginia basketball.
Syracuse versus WVU. Noon, Saturday.
It will be the first time in the 40-year history of WVU's Coliseum that two Top 10 teams have met. And if you are 49 years of age, as I am, or younger, you probably weren't born the last time two Top 10 teams met in Morgantown. That last happened on Jan. 16, 1960, when No. 3 West Virginia, starring Jerry West, defeated No. 9 Villanova 89-81. It is, in fact, the only time two Top 10 teams met in Morgantown in West Virginia's long basketball history.
WVU, though, has been involved in other Top 10 showdowns. Like 14 days ago, when the Mountaineers visited Purdue.
But this is distinctive, especially to West Virginia graduate and coach Bob Huggins. Ask him about the game and, at first, he'll give you what you'd expect.
"They're all big,'' he said Thursday.
Is he fired up about the showdown?
"I haven't had time to be excited,'' he said. "I guess I will be as we get closer.''
Then he laid it on the line.
"I've kind of envisioned this pretty much everywhere I've been,'' he said, "but this is a special deal here. People here have wanted this for a long time. It's not that John [Beilein] didn't do a good job, but the special games, the [ESPN College] GameDays, all that. It's kind of neat to do it here.''
Even stoic Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim seems to be looking forward to the challenge.
"[The Coliseum] will be a great place to play,'' he said Thursday. "It always is. They have as good of fans as anywhere.''
The Coliseum will certainly house two of the finest coaches in college basketball history. Boeheim is in basketball's Hall of Fame and joined Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Calhoun as the third active coach with 800 wins this season. His record now stands at 815-289 with a 73.8 winning percentage.
Here's what many don't understand, though. While WVU's Huggins has coached 215 fewer games than Boeheim, the Mountaineer coach's winning percentage is just a tick off at 73.5 percent (653-236).
On the floor? Two teams will appear with a combined record of 30-3.
IT IS, without question, one of the biggest games in the history of West Virginia basketball.
Syracuse versus WVU. Noon, Saturday.
It will be the first time in the 40-year history of WVU's Coliseum that two Top 10 teams have met. And if you are 49 years of age, as I am, or younger, you probably weren't born the last time two Top 10 teams met in Morgantown. That last happened on Jan. 16, 1960, when No. 3 West Virginia, starring Jerry West, defeated No. 9 Villanova 89-81. It is, in fact, the only time two Top 10 teams met in Morgantown in West Virginia's long basketball history.
WVU, though, has been involved in other Top 10 showdowns. Like 14 days ago, when the Mountaineers visited Purdue.
But this is distinctive, especially to West Virginia graduate and coach Bob Huggins. Ask him about the game and, at first, he'll give you what you'd expect.
"They're all big,'' he said Thursday.
Is he fired up about the showdown?
"I haven't had time to be excited,'' he said. "I guess I will be as we get closer.''
Then he laid it on the line.
"I've kind of envisioned this pretty much everywhere I've been,'' he said, "but this is a special deal here. People here have wanted this for a long time. It's not that John [Beilein] didn't do a good job, but the special games, the [ESPN College] GameDays, all that. It's kind of neat to do it here.''
Even stoic Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim seems to be looking forward to the challenge.
"[The Coliseum] will be a great place to play,'' he said Thursday. "It always is. They have as good of fans as anywhere.''
The Coliseum will certainly house two of the finest coaches in college basketball history. Boeheim is in basketball's Hall of Fame and joined Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Calhoun as the third active coach with 800 wins this season. His record now stands at 815-289 with a 73.8 winning percentage.
Here's what many don't understand, though. While WVU's Huggins has coached 215 fewer games than Boeheim, the Mountaineer coach's winning percentage is just a tick off at 73.5 percent (653-236).
On the floor? Two teams will appear with a combined record of 30-3.
"It's going to be interesting,'' said Rutgers coach Fred Hill, whose team lost to Syracuse 81-65 Wednesday and to WVU 86-52 on Jan. 6. "Syracuse can really pound the ball inside with [Arinze] Onuaku and [Rick] Jackson. That will create some defensive problems for West Virginia.
"On the flip side, West Virginia has so many offensive threats ... [The Mountaineers] can put playmakers in [SU's 2-3 zone's] soft spots.
"West Virginia will be able to score versus the zone; Syracuse can throw the ball to the post and pound you inside.''
Forward Wesley Johnson, 6-foot-7, leads the Orange in scoring with a 17-point average. Guard Andy Rautins, 6-9 Onuaku and guard Brandon Triche all follow with 10-point averages.
"I think they're really good,'' Huggins said of the Orange. "They're a lot better than they were a year ago. Rautins is as good a shooter as you'll find in the [Big East], and no one team has two bigs as good as [Syracuse]. It's the best team Bo's had in a long time.''
WVU, meanwhile, continues to be led by Da'Sean Butler, averaging 15.9 points, and Kevin Jones, averaging 15.3. Devin Ebanks also is averaging in double figures at 12.5.
"Butler is a tremendous player,'' Boeheim said. "I saw him a lot through USA Basketball this summer. There's really nothing he can't do. He handles the ball, rebounds, defends and can score.''
The question: Are the No. 10 Mountaineers, fresh off a 69-50 victory at South Florida, banded tightly enough to defeat the No. 5 Orange? Despite WVU's lofty ranking, Huggins has mixed and matched his lineup much of the season.
"I'm trying to get the guys in there who are playing well that day,'' explained the Mountaineer coach. "[Forward John] Flowers gives us length and defense and rebounding. But when [the opposition] is packing it in, we need guys like Dalton Pepper. And if Casey [Mitchell] would come out of his shell ...''
Mitchell, the junior college transfer expected to add outside shooting, had what Huggins called a "terrific week of practice'' before playing poorly Wednesday. He jacked up an ill-advised shot, passing up an open shooter, and got yanked in the USF game.
On the other hand, guard Truck Bryant, moved, at times Wednesday, to shooting guard and had a nice 15-point outing versus USF.
"Truck,'' Huggins said, "has gotten a lot better.''
We'll see if Huggins' crew can handle Boeheim's 2-3 zone and Syracuse's inside threats. We'll see if the Orange can handle WVU's scoring trio and man-to-man defense.
Whatever happens, though, the game is set to make history.
(c) The Charleston Gazette.
College Basketball: Wisconsin Stops Purdue
The Purdue Boilermakers lost their first came of the season to a Big-10 foe, the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison, Wisconsin.
Purdue traveled to Madison to face the #20 Badgers and came away on the losing end of a 73-66. Purdue had started the year 14-0, their best start in school history, but career games by Jordan Taylor and Jason Bohannon surged the Badgers past the Boilermakers.
This was the second time that Wisconsin beat a Top-10 opponent this season and were able to improve their home record under coach Bo Ryan to 130-10 in his nine seasons.
No school in the 11 year history of the Kohl Center has won 3 games in a row against the Badgers. Today was no exception either as the Boilermakers had won two-in-a-row in Madison, and four straight in the series.
Purdue got 24 points from E'Twaun Moore and 13 from Robbie Hummel, but trailed most of the game and the entire 2nd half. The game was a 1-point game in favor of the Badgers at half-time, but that was as close as Purdue could get in the end.
Purdue is now 14-1 overall and 2-1 in Big-10 play. They will play host to Ohio State (11-4) next on Tuesday January 12th.
Wisconsin is 13-3 overall and 3-1 in Big-10 play. The Badgers next game will be against Northwestern (11-3) on Wednesday January 13th.
(c) 1998-2010 digitaljournal.
|
