The BIAH Advent Calendar: Day 2

Yup, it is December. And as the temperatures outside drop, the heat is rising on college campuses across the country as basketball season kicks into full swing. But December is also a time to reflect on the past year. This December is special, because as we draw closer to the new year, we get closer to the end of the aughts. In the spirit of the holidays, we are going to celebrate the decade past by counting down the top 25 games, players, and teams of the last 10 years with the BIAH advent calender. Each day, we will be unveiling the next on each of our lists, culminating with our gift to you on Christmas Day: the best game, the best player, and the best team of the 2000's.

Here is No. 24:


2003: UConn @ Miami FL: This was back when the Hurricanes were in the Big East and not all that good. UConn jumped out to 14 point first half lead, but Darius Rice was on fire, keeping the Canes within striking distance. UConn found themselves up 69-64 with just a minute left in the game. But the Canes kept scoring. UConn was hitting their free throws, but couldn't stop Miami. After Ben Gordon knocked down two free throws with 8.9 seconds, the Huskies took a 76-72 lead, seemingly icing the game.

Or so we thought:



Darius Rice finished with 43 points, which was the third highest total in Big East history at the time. The next season, Miami moved to the ACC.


Luke Harangody, Notre Dame: This may not be a popular pick, but you cannot deny the numbers that Gody has put up in his career at Notre Dame. Lacking god-given physical gifts, Gody has survived due to excellent footwork, a tremendous understanding of his physical limitations, and an understanding of what he needs to do to be successful. After a mediocre freshman season, Harangody exploded as a sophomore, averaging 20.4 ppg and 10.3 rpg, numbers that he improved to 23.3 ppg and 11.3 rpg in conference play, en route to being named the Big East player of the year. As a junior, he was even better, finishing the year averaging 23.3 ppg and 11.8 rpg.

Luke Harangody looks more like a cabbage patch kid than a top 25 player of the decade.
(photo credit: Sports Hernia)

If you don't think Harangody deserves to be on this list, consider these career milestones: Harangody needs just 738 in his senior season to break Austin Carr's Notre Dame career scoring record of 2,531 points. He needs 369 points to break the Big East career scoring mark of 1,403 points. If his Notre Dame teams had more success and he had won a Big East title or reached a Final Four, he would be much higher on this list.


2003 Kansas Jayhawks: This Jayhawk team was absolutely loaded. Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich, Keith Langford, Aaron Miles. You want an idea of how talented they were. Sophomore Wayne Simien, who averaged 14.8 ppg and 8.2 rpg, missed the second half of the season with a shoulder injury, and they still reached the finals of the NCAA Tournament. They went 24-6 en route to a regular season Big XII title, losing to UNC, Florida (7th), Oregon (6th), Arizona (1st), and Oklahoma (5th).

Kansas was this close to winning a title in '03.
(photo credit: Hoostvonline)

In the NCAA Tournament, the Jayhawks might have been even more impressive. They beat a Duke team with JJ Redick, Shelden Williams, Dahntay Jones, and Chris Duhon in the Sweet 16 before knocking off an Arizona squad everyone thought was far and away one of the top two teams in the country. (If you remember, this was the last year that the #1 seeds were not ranked because Arizona and Kentucky, who were thought to be the clear cut favorites to win the title, would have met in the national semifinals; neither of those teams reached the Final Four.) In the Final Four, they blew out a Marquette team coming off of D-Wade's triple-double before facing Syracuse in the title game. If it weren't for Hakim Warrick freakish wingspan, Kansas may have ended up winning a first national title for Roy Williams.

It would be the last game that Roy Williams coached at Kansas before leaving for North Carolina. Who could forget this infamous interview with Bonnie Bernstein after the game.


No. 25: Drave v. Western Kentucky, Wayne Simien, and Louisville's 2009 team.