Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Tuesday's Shootaround: ND catches fire

Kansas State 75, Texas 70: Kansas State has officially rounded themselves into postseason form as they have now won five in a row. They deserve all the credit in the would for this turnaround.

Notre Dame 93, Villanova 72: What a display of shooting ability put on by the Irish last night. Specifically, it was Tim Abromaitis and Ben Hansbrough, who both went for 30 points and shot a combined 18-29 from the floor and 16-23 from three. Hansbrough also added 10 assists. It was the culmination of a week that not only saw Abromaitis break out of his shooting slump (prior to last Wednesday, Abro had scored more than 13 points just once since January 8th) but also saw Hansbrough throw his name into the Big East player of the year race.

In the last three games, Hansbrough averaging 27.7 ppg, 5.3 apg, and 3.3 rpg. He's shot 25-40 (62.5%) from the field, 12-20 from three (60%), and 21-25 (84%) from the line. Efficiency much? Abromaitis was just as good, averaging 26.7 ppg and 5.7 rpg. He shot 27-49 (55.1%) from the floor and 17-29 (58.6%) from three.

When those two play like they have the past week, Notre Dame becomes such a tough team to beat. They are so experienced, so balanced, and play such intelligent basketball. It rare for this team makes the wrong pass or take a bad shot.

As for Villanova, I wish I had an answer. This team has now lost five of their last seven and seven of their last 11 games. Corey Fisher finally snapped out of his slump, but that was only because he hit a couple of buckets in garbage time. There just seems to be someone missing on this team (like a natural point guard).

Bethune-Cookman 73, North Carolina Central 60: Congrats on winning the MEAC!

Other Notable Scores:

  • Gonzaga 96, UC Bakersfield 49
  • Northern Colorado 77, Idaho State 74

No comments: