Saturday Roundup

The game of the night on Friday was Xavier vs. Virginia Tech. If you haven't seen it yet, watch the ending. Words cannot describe.



It was Jeff Allen (22 and 11) with the tip-in for Tech and Dante Jackson with the halfcourt buzzer beater. The importance of this shot goes well beyond advancing to the finals of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tourney. Both Tech and Xavier look like they will be squarely on the bubble this year. Let's say Xavier goes on to win the A-10 and Tech ends up fifth in the ACC. Don't you think a win over Xavier would look really good on the Tech resume? There is a very real possibility that Dante Jackson making that shot will have an effect on the NCAA tournament field.

The rest of last night's Puerto Rico tournament action, which will conclude on Monday:

• Missouri 87, Fairfield 59 - Demarre Carroll had 15, 6 and 5 and Leo Lyons had 12 and 10 to lead the Tigers.
• USC 73, Chattanooga 46 - Taj Gibson led four players in double figures with 17, 15, and 5 blocks.
• Memphis 84, Seton Hall 70 - Doneal Mack led the Tigers for the second straight game with 16 and Willie Kemp added 14 as the Tigers overcame a 32 point effort from Jeremy Hazell.

The first round of the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam took place last night as well:

• Miami 70, Southern Miss 60 - Miami got a balanced effort as Dwayne Collins had 14 and 9, Jack McClinton had 13, and Lance Hurdle, who missed the 'Canes opener with a sprained ankle, added 13 big points off the bench. Jeremy Wise had 21 for USM.
• San Diego 73, Valparaiso 66 - Gyno Pomare led the Toreros with 17 and 12.
• UConn 89, La Salle 81 - The Huskies got 23 from freshman Kemba Walker and 22 and 14 out of Jeff Adrien as they held off a scrappy La Salle team. AJ Price returned from a sprained ankle (he was also playing through a swollen jaw from an abscessed tooth) and had 12 and 4 dimes. The biggest concern for Jim Calhoun was his team's toughness, especially defensively and on the boards, because the Huskies gave up 10 offensive rebounds and allowed the Explorers to shoot 50% from the field. After two consecutive so-so showings, should Husky fans start getting worried?
• Wisconsin 60, Iona 58 OT - The Badgers barely hung on against a game Iona squad. Trevon Hughes had 21 in the win. 

The loser's bracket will take place tonight in the Virgin Islands, so Southern Miss will take on La Salle at 6:00 followed by Valpo playing Iona.

The CvC finals were played last night in MSG:

• UCLA 77, Southern Illinois 60 - The Saluki's kept it close for a while, but a 20-2 second half run by the Bruins put the game away. There was good news and bad news for Ben Howland regarding Alfred Aboya - he went for 22 and 8 and looked like he could be the inside scoring presence the Bruins so desperately need, but he injured his hand trying to take a charge late in the game. X-rays taken in NYC were inconclusive and a CT scan came back negative, but Aboya is scheduled for an MRI when he heads back west.
• Duke 71, Michigan 56 - Duke headed to the Garden early for an extra hour of preparation against the Michigan 1-3-1 and it paid off. A 8-0 early in the game pushed the Blue Devils lead to 25-15, and Michigan never really made a serious threat after that. Duke got 16 from PG Nolan Smith and 15, 8 and 4 dimes from CvC MVP Kyle Singler, but they still had 17 turnovers (although to be fair, a lot of that can be attributed to the unique Wolverine defense). With all the question marks that we have mentioned about the Dukies, they are now 5-0 and won their four games in the CvC by an average of 28.5 points. The Wolverines were led by 25 from guard Manny Harris.

Other scores of note:

• UNC 84, UC Santa Barbara 67 - Hansbrough had 13 and 7 in his first game of the year, but seemed a bit out of sync as he was just 2-8 from the floor.
• Pitt 86, Akron 67 - Sam Young had 26 for the Panthers and DeJuan Blair added 16, 13, and 5 steals. 
• Notre Dame 65, Loyola Marymount 54 - Luke Harangody had 27 and 17 in the win, but Notre Dame struggled with a middle-of-the-pack WCC team. We'll give them the benefit of the doubt as they travelled all the way to the west coast to play to prepare themselves to the Maui Invitational.
• Tennessee 76, Middle Tennessee 66 - Tyler Smith led the Vols with 18, 10 boards, and 4 assists, but UT struggled against MTSU.
• Davidson 97, Winthrop 70 - Stephen Curry continued his struggles at the point. Against the Eagles, Curry went for 30 points and 13 assists to just 3 turnovers. I know the season is just four games old, but Curry is averaging 34 ppg, 8.8 apg, and forcing more turnovers than he commits - 4.5 spg to 2.8 t/o's. 
• Utah 83, Mississippi 72 - The SEC's struggles continue. This is the same Utah team that lost to D2 Southwest Baptist.
• Syracuse 86, Oakland 66 - Syracuse jumped on Oakland with a 22-5 run to start the game, and the Golden Grizzlies never made it close. Jonny Flynn had 18 for the Orange.
• Virginia 68, Radford 66 - So their competition may not be the best, but regardless, the Cavaliers improve to 3-0 on the season. Sylven Landesberg is averaging 23.7 ppg.
• Maryland 89, Vermont 74 - Greivis Vazquez hit a three to force overtime, where the Terps went on a 17-2 run to improve to 3-0 and get Gary Williams his 400th win. Vazquez finished with 26, 9 boards and 5 assists (but 5 turnovers) while Marqus Blakely had 23, 11, 4 steals, and 4 blocks for the Catamounts. Tough start for the Cats, as they have now lost tough ones to George Mason and Maryland.

Saturday's games of interest. Six ranked teams are in action:

• 1:00 PM: Drexel @ Georgetown
• 2:00 PM: Gardner-Webb @ Oklahoma
• 4:00 PM: Indiana (PA) @ Pitt
• 5:30 PM: Morehead State @ Louisville
• 6:00 PM: Coppin State @ Purdue
• 8:00 PM: Milwaukee @ Marquette

Other games to keep an eye on:

• 12:00 PM: Delaware State @ Kentucky - Can the Wildcats get a win?
• 1:00 PM: Georgia Tech @ Mercer - Mercer has beaten Alabama and Auburn on the road, and now hosts the Yellow Jackers. The Bears are led by Daniel Emerson (15.3 ppg, 12.3 rpg) and James Florence (22.3 ppg), who may be the best player in the country you've never seen. If Mercer wins this game, they will be ranked.
• 7:00 PM: Kansas State @ Cleveland State - Kansas State is a middle of the pack Big XII team and Cleveland State is one of the favorites in a very good Horizon League. K-State better come to play.
• 7:00 PM: Cornell @ Siena - This game would be so intriguing if Cornell's back court was healthy. Maybe the two best low-major teams in the country.
• 7:00 PM: VCU @ Rhode Island - Eric Maynor and Jimmy Baron are two of the best players in the country outside of the BCS conferences.

On a side note, the internet is still out at my apartment, so a lot of my posts will be brief as I can only sit at a bar without ordering a drink for so long before the bartender gets mad. Should be back up and running normally by Monday. Apologies for the inconvenience.