It would be fair to say North Carolina have responded nicely to their MSG loss to Gonzaga, following consecutive defeats of Tennessee and the Greg Oden-less Ohio State with today’s convincing dispatch of Kentucky. Wayne Ellington (above) and Brandon Wright had 17 and 16 points respectively, in the Tar Heels’ 75-63 win at the Dean Dome.
Now is as good a time as any to recommend that you lower the volume on your computer before visiting TubbySmith.com. Damn, Tubby, some of us live with people who are trying to sleep.
Freshman Robert Dozier had 19 points in Memphis’ 77-59 beating of Manhattan, as John Calipari’s Tigers ran their record to 5-1. Memphis took their foot off the gas in the 2nd half, but outside of watching forward Joey Dorsey treat the Jaspers as shabbily as Marcus Camby once put a hurting on Calipari’s opponents, there wasn’t much drama to be had.
Speaking of which, BC visits UMass tonight at 7:30pm, and I can recall about 11, 12 years ago, that would’ve been one of the biggest dates on the calendar for both squads. Still is for the latter, I suppose.
Minnesota’s Jim Molinari is getting a little hint of why Dan Monson bailed after a mere 7 games. Minnesota are doing everything in their power to hand a game over to Arizona State this afternoon, the former in the midst of a 5:00 scoreless drought, and clinging to a 63-59 lead with less than 90 seconds to play.
Texas (5-1) is gunning for their 4th win on the trot this afternoon, as they take on Gonzaga in Phoenix. The ‘Zags have an early 20-19 lead, and Jay Bilas has insisted there’s no guarantee Greg Oden and Kevin Durant will be in the NBA Draft next June. He’s right. I mean, there’s no guarantee Mark Cuban won’t have David Stern taken out with some radioactive sushi, so maybe there won’t be a draft to argue about.
Florida State lost to No. 13 Wisconsin last Tuesday, but Seminoles PF Al Thornton is still being quizzed about the poster-worthy pairing with Badgers C Greg Stiemsma, above. From the Tallahassee Democrat’s Jack Corcoran.
“I felt sorry for the guy, Thornton said. œI knew he was in an awkward position. But I wanted to embarrass him.
Thornton took a pass in transition from Jason Rich midway through the first half and finished off one of FSU’s most remarkable plays in recent memory.
œTo a degree, I was surprised that he actually tried to dunk but not that he converted it, Rich said. œI’ve seen him do stuff a lot more ridiculous than that.”
I don’t mean to impose a low ceiling on DePaul’s Sammy Meija, but he might’ve had the game of his life against Kansas this afternoon. The Jayhawks’ terrific OT win over Florida last weekend is essentially bookended by losses to Oral Roberts and, uh, DePaul.