Onion Peels is a recap of last night's action and an unofficial Bill Raftery blog. Wake Forest 70, Duke 68
Two things stand out about Wake Forest from this game. First, Dino Gaudio has done a tremendous job turning the Deacons into a team that can actually play defense (Holloman noted this a while back, actually), and second, can this Wake team close? I know they actually won, so that seems like a silly question, but after seeing the Virginia Tech debacle and then seeing them play down the stretch against Duke, it wouldn't be fair not to question their throat-stomping ability
Duke, on the other hand, just lacks an inside presence. No offense to Brian Zoubek, who, despite being a seven-footer, managed to finish with an impressive zero points and two rebounds last night, but this is going to be a really, really big deal when they play North Carolina and anyone with a big guy in the NCAAs.
Villanova 67, Pittsburgh 57
A lack of a serious inside presence for Pittsburgh -- DeJuan Blair and Tyrell Biggs dealt with foul trouble all night -- gave Villanova ample room to attack the basket and put the Panthers from behind at the start. In a similar fashion to Pitt's loss to Louisville, the Panthers let an opponent hang around and subsequently lost. Scoring 57 points isn't exactly impressive, either.
North Carolina 80, Florida State 77
The Seminoles always play the Tar Heels tough, and last night's game was no exception. However, North Carolina usually doesn't just collapse; as Shiloh pointed out, they almost did last night. But for Ty Lawson's ability to hit a last second 3-pointer, the Heels are staring at three losses in ACC play. BUT DON"T WORRY! THEY"RE ROLLING RIGHT ALONG! No, but seriously, when your point guard leads you in rebounds, you have issues.
Gary Williams 1, Kathy Worthington 0
Sweaty Gary gone done and LOST HIS MIND. Don't believe me? Witness the best quote of the NCAA season -- in a season filled with a lot of great lines coming from College Park no less -- so far: "Kathy Worthington doesn't speak for me. She has never won a national championship. She has never done anything." Click, click, BURN. Touche, Gary. Touche.
Providence 100, Syracuse 94
The Orange continued their Top-25 shame spiral, losing their third straight (and four out of five) Big East game, despite Jonny Flynn throwing up a 35/3/6 line with four three pointers. How did they lose? Because 'Cuse likes to play zone, and Providence likes to shoot threes.
Elsewhere: Louisville stomped South Florida, setting up what should be an awesome matchup against Connecticut (who plowed through DePaul) Monday. LSU toppled Tennessee ... but WHERE ARE THE MARISSA MILLER STORIES??
