Friday, November 28, 2008

Friday Roundup

The first rounds of the 76 Classic and the Old Spice Classic both took place yesterday. There was only one real upset on the afternoon, and it was a big one as Maryland knocked off Michigan State 80-62. While the game was close in the first half, Maryland was in control most of the way. After Michigan State took a 43-39 lead in the second half, the Terrapins went on a 27-6 run to put the game away. Michigan State was short-handed inside as Goran Suton sat the game out and both Delvon Roe (knee surgeries) and Raymarr Morgan (foul trouble) were forced into limited minutes. Not to take anything away from the Terps, because they played fantastic, but Michigan State just didn't show up. Outside of Travis Walton (who was 8-10 from the floor) the Spartans shot just 33% from the field and were 12-27 from the line. Maryland was just the better team last night. Greivis Vazquez had 17 and 6 assists for Maryland and Eric Hayes added 13, but the key was the Terps bench, where they got 17 from Dave Neal and 13 from Adrian Bowie (they combined to go 6-7 from deep).

The rest of the Old Spice Classic:

  • Gonzaga 83, Oklahoma State 71: Gonzaga got a balanced effort as they had six guys score between 8-17 points, led by 17 and 12 boards from Micah Downs. Oklahoma State is going to be good this year - they faded down the stretch last night, but this was not a 12 point game. Expect the Cowboys to make a lot of noise in the Big XII. Byron Eaton is so tough to keep out of the lane, Terrell Harris and James Anderson are good scorers on the wing, and Obi Muonelo is a scrappy 6'5" forward (he's averaging 10.2 rpg).
  • Georgetown 58, Wichita State 50: This game was a lot closer than it should have been as Georgetown just looked out of sync. Austin Freeman had 18 for the Hoyas, and Greg Monroe added 11, but he only took six shots. He has an amazing skill set and all the tools you could ask for, but he looked too passive at times (which was his biggest knock coming in).
  • Tennessee 78, Siena 64: The Vols just ran the Saints out of the gym, getting up by 20 at the half. Siena got nothing out of their big three, as they combined to go 10-35 from the floor for 27 points. Siena is better than they showed last night, which also probably means Tennessee is better than people predicted.
Today in the Old Spice:
  • 11:00 AM: Wichita State (2-2) vs. Siena (2-1)
  • 1:00 PM: Tennessee (4-0) vs. Georgetown (3-0)
  • 5:30 PM: Maryland (4-0) vs. Gonzaga (3-0)
  • 8:00 PM: Michigan State (2-1) vs. Oklahoma State (4-1)
Last night at the 76 Classic:
  • UTEP 75, St. Mary's 62: Patty Mills shot 5-20 from the floor and Diamon Simpson only played 23 minutes before fouling out as the Miners knocked off the Gaels. UTEP's Stefon Jackson had 17 and 10 boards and Randy Culpepper had 20. Omar Samhan led the way for St. Mary's with 20 and 14.
  • Wake Forest 75, Cal St. Fullerton 69: Jeff Teague led the way for the Demon Deacons with 24 points as WFU hung on against a scrappy Titans team. Oh yeah, and he did this:

  • Arizona State 84, Charlotte 56: James Harden never got it going, but Jeff Pendergraph had a double-double with 23 and 10 as the Sun Devils rolled.
  • Baylor 72, Providence 56: Providence was ice cold in the first half as Baylor built a 36-22 lead. The Bears hung on in the second half despite 23 turnovers for the game. Kevin Rogers led the way for Baylor with 16 points. Goeff McDermott sprained his ankle in the first half, but returned and played (but he looked like he was in pain and limped all over the court).
Today in the 76 Classic:
  • 3:30 PM: UTEP (3-1) vs. Wake Forest (4-0)
  • 6:00 PM: St. Mary's (3-1) vs. Cal St. Fullerton (2-3)
  • 10:00 PM: Charlotte (1-4) vs. Providence (3-2)
  • 12:30 AM: Baylor (5-0) vs. Arizona State (4-0)
Pre-season NIT Finals:
  • 1:00 PM: UAB (4-1) vs. Boston College (3-2): Tyrese Rice and Robert Vaden should put on a shooting show.
  • 3:30 PM: Purdue (5-0) vs. Oklahoma (5-0): I like both of these teams, but I don't see anyway that the Boilermakers will be able to compete with Oklahoma's bigs inside. I mean, can JaJuan Johnson really match-up with either Griffin brother?
Legends Classic first round:
  • 5:30 PM: Mississippi State (5-0) vs. Washington State (4-0)
  • 7:30 PM: Pitt (5-0) vs. Texas Tech (5-0)
Las Vegas Invitational first round:
  • 9:00 PM: Iowa (5-0) vs. West Virginia (3-0)
  • 12:00 AM: Kansas State (5-0) vs. Kentucky (2-2)
Other games of little to no interest for you to keep an eye on:
  • 3:00 PM: Duquense (4-0) @ Duke (6-0)
  • 6:00 PM: Kent State (3-0) vs. Illinois (4-0)
  • 7:00 PM: Virginia (3-1) @ Syracuse (5-0)
  • 8:00 PM: Coppin State (1-1) @ Kansas (3-1)
  • 8:00 PM: California (4-0) @ UNLV (5-0)
  • 8:30 PM: Towson (3-1) vs. Villanova (4-0)
  • 8:30 PM: Northern Iowa (3-1) vs. Marquette (4-0)
  • 1030 PM: Florida State (5-0) vs. Cincinnati (4-0)

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