Trizzle's Takeover: Wednesday Morning Shootaround

I got home late tonight because of an intense intramural basketball showdown after my night class. I walked away from the game with a bloody nose and a jammed finger, not to mention 6points, 8boards, and 5 huge blocks in the one point loss. I blame it on the shotty refereeing. Did I mention that I'm also extremly out of shape?

Good thing I was able to record some games and watch them with a ice-pack on my face when I got home. A pretty descent night of hoops action as I had expected. I am definitely most impressed by Penn State. Last year they showed great strides in progressing their program and this year they are putting together a handful of strong wins. Is it enough of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament? I hope.

Big Games That Happened:

• #2 Duke 73, North Carolina St. 56 - Gerald Henderson had ANOTHER huge game scoring 21pts and leading all statistical categories for the Devils. Duke was down at the half, but clamped down on D in the 2nd, and were able to hold the Wolf Pack scoreless for the last five minutes of the game. Duke Shot 50% from three-point-land while NC St. shot just 27%. A big second half from the Dukies propelled them to victory. Next up for Duke is Maryland on Saturday, then a match up with #1 Wake Forest next Wednesday.
• #24 Illinois 67, Ohio St. 49 - When Illinois C Mike Tisdale got shut down early, coach Bruce Weber replaced him with reserve Dominique Keller, who promptly sparked an Illinois run that lasted nearly then entire first half. Ohio St. did come out of the half blazing, but then Tisdale, previously benched, came back in the game and sparked another Illini run. Tisdale finished with 16 points, and Keller had 12 off the bench. Freshman Center BJ Mullens came off the bench and had 14 pts, 7boards for the OSU in the loss. He keeps progressing every game he plays. Hopefully he stays around long enough to improve. But the Buckeyes were too sloppy with turnovers, and let this thing get out of hand. A huge win for the previously-struggling Illini.
• South Florida 70, DePaul 61 - The Bulls got a huge game from G Dominique Jones who ended up with 26 and 10, not to mention going 9-11 from the line. It might be making some Bulls fans forget about the graduated Kentrell Gransburry. Dar Tucker and Mac Kohswal came off the bench for DePaul in this one, but were only two of the three Blue Demons that scored in double-digits. DePaul got dominated on the glass at both ends, being out-rebounded by 20.
• Penn St. 73, Michigan 58 - In the game that I thought would be most intriguing, Penn St. beat Michigan far worse than most people would expect. Michigan is definitely starting to show their youth and inexperience. With Belien at the helm we won't be saying the same thing in two years though. DeShawn Sims had 19 and 10, but for the most part, the Wolverines shot pretty cold. Taylor Battle is showing that he's a true leader for the Nittany Lions, as he had 15 points and had some highlight-reel assists. Did I mention how cold Michigan was? They were 5-30 from three-point-land.
• Maryland 84, Virginia 78 - Maryland led early, but squandered a 17 point lead. Although they never got behind, the game looked like it would swing in the opposite direction for the Terps. But in the last 4 minutes they pulled away and finished off the Cavs in a must win for Gary William's bunch. They get Duke this weekend, lucky them.
• Tennessee 76, Vanderbilt 63 - The Vols got production from all of their stars in this one. Wayne Chism had 16 of his 20 points in the first half. Tennessee led the whole way in this big team win. Vandy's big three - Olgilvy, Beal and Taylor went a combined 3 for 20. Tennessee is starting to put together a bit of a winning streak. Vandy continues to struggle and finds themselves treading water in a conference they were suppose to do well in.
• Boston College 80, Georgia Tech 76 OT - The Eagles blew a 14 point lead midway through the second half, but were able to right the ship late, before beating Tech in OT. Tyreese Rice was a big reason for the Eagle's resurgence late in the second. He had 24 of his 26 after the half, including six of BC's 14 overtime points. Tech finds themselves at 0-5 in the ACC. Freshman Iman Shumpert continues to shine for Tech despite the loss. He finished with 16 points. My question is, who really are the Boston College Eagles? They beat UNC, but lost to HARVARD, then had to recover in overtime to beat a suspect Georgia Tech squad.

Other Scores:

• North Dakota St. 98, Utah Valley 71 - As usual, Ben Woodside had another big game. This time he dropped 28 on Utah Valley.
• Drexel 79, Delaware 69
• Creighton 79, Evansville 57
• Ohio 70, Akron 65
• Ball St. 50, Western Michigan 44
• Northern Illinois 72, Eastern Michigan 52
• Eastern Kentucky 71, Chicago St. 68
• Liberty 61, High Point 56
• Winthrop 65, Charleston Southern 63
• Texas Tech 63, Colorado 55

If your lucky, all the Inauguration crowds will disperse from the nation's capital and Rob "The Brain" Dauster will be able to get back to his apartment and do write-ups of tomorrow's action thus freeing me from this 36-hour stretch of having anything and everything college basketball on the brain (not that I minded it). I have realized that writing for B.I.A.H takes allot more time and concentration than I expected.