Fanhouse NCAA Basketball Blog - sec-basketball

Kentucky Runs Past East Tennessee St.

Terrance Harris — 2010-03-18T22:35:00 00:00

Filed under: Kentucky, SEC, NCAA Tournament - East Region

NEW ORLEANS -- It was far from flawless but more than enough as No. 1 seed Kentucky easily dispatched No. 16 East Tennessee State, 100-71, during Thursday night's NCAA tournament opening round game at the New Orleans Arena.

A lights-out shooting night for the Wildcats set the tone as they shot nearly 52 percent from the field for the game, which including a 59 percent showing in the opening half. Freshman point guard John Wall only attempted seven shots the entire night, but then again he didn't need to shoot more with players like freshman guard Eric Bledsoe and junior forward Patrick Patterson handling most of the scoring.

Bledsoe led the Wildcats with a career-high 29 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field, including 8-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. Patterson, facing an undersized Buccaneers team, scored 22 points and pulled down five rebounds. Wall finished with 17 points and 11 assists for his fifth double-double of the year..

The Bucs, the Atlantic Sun Conference champions, were led by guard Micah Williams' 19 points. Four players scored in double figures for ETSU, including Justin Tubbs (15) and Lukas Sollazzo had 14 points off the bench.

The Wildcats move on to the second round where they will face the winner of the Texas-Wake Forest late first-round game during Saturday's second round of the East Regional.

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NIT Becomes Festival of Groin Shots

Chas Rich — 2010-03-17T12:24:00 00:00

by Chas Rich

Filed under: Mississippi State, SEC, Video

I always assumed NIT stood for National Invitational Tournament. I'm beginning to think the "N" stands for nuts. Apparently the NIT is living down to its reputation of being below the NCAA Tournament in many different ways. Herb Pope of Seton Hall was not the only one to decide that shots to an opponent's groin was more effective than a clutching and grabbing... the jersey.

Here's Jackson State's Phillip Williams play on Dee Bost of Mississippi State. You have to wait until about the two minute mark to see the, uh, money shot.

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On-Court Obsession: Going To Be Long and Late

Chas Rich — 2010-03-12T11:16:00 00:00

by Chas Rich

Filed under: A-10, Conference USA, MWC, Pac-10, SEC, WAC, Media Watch, ACC Tournament, Big Ten Tournament

Settle in early and don't expect to go anywhere for a while. Games start at noon and heck, the last one is scheduled to tip-off at midnight (Eastern).

Let's get right into it, because there is a cornucopia of choices to plow through.

12 PM ET

Big Ten quarterfinals, Michigan-Ohio State, ESPN: The Buckeyes should roll, but it is still a rivalry game. Plus, there has to be something to watch at this hour.

Other options:

ACC quarterfinals, Virginia-Duke, ESPN2

Atlantic 10 quarterfinals, St. Bonaventure-Temple, Comcast SportsNet Northeast

2 PM ET

Big Ten quarterfinals, Illinois-Wisconsin, ESPN: Which Illinois team shows up? The team that beat Wisconsin in Madison or the team that couldn't beat Minnesota at home? The Illini probably don't need a win to make the NCAA Tournament, but getting pounded might push them more than expected.

Atlantic 10 quarterfinals, Rhode Island-St. Louis, CBS College Sports Regional (2:30 PM ET): Good luck finding this game unless you live in St. Louis or Rhode Island (great TV deal, A-10). Huge bubble game implications for both teams and several other hopefuls.

ACC quarterfinals, Miami-Virginia Tech, ESPN2: Splitting with Miami is part of what has kept VT as a bubble team. The Hokies are in now, but this would leave a mark.

3 PM ET

SEC quarterfinals, Ole Miss-Tennessee, SEC Network and ESPN FullCourt: Ole Miss' NCAA Tournament hopes ride on this game. Lose and at best they are sweating and hoping to be one of the last teams in the field. Win and they are in great shape by beating a ranked Tennessee team.

4 PM ET

Conference USA quarterfinals, Tulsa-UTEP, CBS College Sports: Huge bubble implications. UTEP is in the NCAA Tournament with the season they have had. No one else from C-USA is going unless they win the automatic bid. Tulsa is the highest seed remaining in C-USA after the upsets in the other half of the bracket.

4:45 PM ET

Patriot League Championship, Lafayette-Lehigh, ESPN2: Nerd basketball at the highest level. Good news, John Feinstein is not involved in the telecast.

6:30 PM ET

Atlantic 10 quarterfinals, Dayton-Xavier, FoxSports Ohio and FoxSports (Cincinnati) Ohio: Dayton may or may not have to win the A-10 to make the NCAA Tournament. They absolutely have to win this game to stay in the discussion. Xavier is safe.

Big Ten quarterfinals, Northwestern-Purdue, Big Ten Network: This is all about Purdue getting a two or three seed in the NCAA Tournament. Showing that the loss of Robby Hummel is not the absolute end.

7 PM ET

Big 12 semifinals, Texas A&M-Kansas, Big 12 Network, Altitude, ESPN FullCourt: No deep meaning. It should just be a really good game.

ACC quarterfinals, Georgia Tech-Maryland, ESPN2: Maryland would like to get up to a three seed in the NCAA Tournament. Georgia Tech is still a complete unknown. Maybe they are in, maybe they are out.

Big East semifinals, Georgetown-Marquette, ESPN: Just should be tight all the way. Marquette doesn't seem to have any other kind of game but close ones.

SEC quarterfinals, Florida-Mississippi State, SEC Network, ESPN FullCourt (7:30 PM ET): Pure bubble. Florida kept some doubt by struggling for good while with Auburn. Mississippi State has not failed to fail in every opportunity to make a case to play next week.

9 PM ET

Big East semifinals, Notre Dame-West Virginia, ESPN: The hottest team in the Big East against the most talented.

Big 12 semifinals, Baylor-Kansas State, Big 12 Network, Altitude, ESPN FullCourt (9:30 PM ET): The Big 12 is all chalk in the semifinals. If you like to watch good basketball, this is the place to be.

Mountain West quarterfinals, San Diego State-New Mexico, CBS College Sports: San Diego State is trying to make sure there is no doubt they should be in the NCAA Tournament. New Mexico is trying to ice a two seed.

Big Ten quarterfinals, Minnesota-Michigan State, Big Ten Network: Michigan State is still looking to show they should be a high seed.

Pac-10 semifinals, UCLA-California, Fox SportsNet: If Cal falls, the Pac-10 is almost certain to make it a two bid conference.

10 PM ET

SEC quarterfinals, Georgia-Vanderbilt, SEC Network, ESPN FullCourt: Georgia under first year coach Mark Fox has improved late in the season. They could spoil Vandy's hopes for a three or four seed.

11:30 PM ET

Mountain West quarterfinals, UNLV-BYU, CBS College Sports: More chalk in the semis. The second and third place teams in the MWC. Both should make the NCAA, but UNLV needs this game more.

Pac-10 semifinals, Stanford-Washington, Fox SportsNet: Stanford? What the hell are they doing in the semis? Washington is primed to make their case to be the second at-large if they take care of this game.

12 AM ET

WAC semifinals, New Mexico State-Nevada, ESPN2: Completely overlooked because the Mountain West has been so good, the WAC has some pretty good teams as well.

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Conference Tournaments Unlikely to Offer Many Surprises

Michelle Smith — 2010-03-03T14:15:00 00:00

by Michelle Smith

Filed under: ACC, Big 12, Big East, SEC, Women's Basketball

Four of the six major conferences are holding their postseason tournaments this weekend.

Don't expect many surprises in the Big Ten or the Big East, but the SEC has been competitive all season and the ACC's No. 1 seed lost in its last regular-season game to rival North Carolina.

Here's a look at how we expect things to play out as teams jockey for NCAA position and vie for automatic berths:

SEC
Site: Gwinnett Arena, Duluth, Georgia

The winner: Tennessee. The Lady Vols braved a tough conference schedule to come out as the clear No. 1 during a season where not much else was clear.

The dark horse: Mississippi. Ole Miss slides into the SEC tournament with five losses in six games. But this is a team that defeated LSU (twice), Georgia and Mississippi State and played within three points of Tennessee last month. Dangerous.

The matchup to watch: Georgia vs. Mississippi State in the quarterfinals. Ashley Houts' improving ankle could again make the Bulldogs a force and a team that could easily end up in the championship game.

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Kentucky Hits a Wall of a Different Kind: Tennessee

Clay Travis — 2010-02-27T18:19:00 00:00

by Clay Travis

Filed under: Kentucky, Tennessee, SEC

With less than a minute to play in the game and the Tennessee Vols inbounding the basketball while nursing a two-point lead, Bruce Pearl put his hands together to call a timeout. Then, something extraordinary happened. Senior wing J.P. Prince, the man responsible for more spectacular and more boneheaded plays than any player in the history of Vol basketball, called off Pearl on taking the timeout. Amazingly, Pearl relented. The Vols inbounded the basketball, ran the shot clock down, and kicked a pass out to sophomore shooting guard Scotty Hopson. Hopson, a native of Hopkinsville, Kentucky who picked the Vols over the Cats after a spirited recruiting battle, rose up into the air and let the ball go.

While the ball was in the air, it was still a ballgame. But by the time the ball swished through the net and sent 21,162 inside Thompson-Boling Arena into a fit of ecstasy, the game was over.

It was 70-65 and 37.1 seconds remained in the game. The Vols would go on to win 74-65, meaning the top two teams in college basketball have three losses among them, two having come in Knoxville, Tenn.

Prior to this game, Pearl said that Tennessee could have a good season if they didn't beat Kentucky, but that the Vols couldn't have a great season without beating Kentucky. Saturday's game would be the second meeting between Coach John Calipari and Bruce Pearl, the first time the two men have faced each other twice in the same year.

But the two foes have coached against each other once each of the last four seasons, when Calipari was at Memphis.

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On-Court Obsession: The Good Games

Chas Rich — 2010-02-26T17:04:00 00:00

by Chas Rich

Filed under: ACC, Big 12, Big East, MVC, MWC, Pac-10, SEC, Media Watch

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On-Court Obsession: All Bubble Talk

Chas Rich — 2010-02-26T10:44:00 00:00

by Chas Rich

Filed under: WCC, A-10, ACC, Big East, SEC, Media Watch

Saturday is the busiest day for college basketball. On any Saturday during the season, there can be well over 40 games on TV. Unfortunately, many are completely unwatchable. Every Friday, FanHouse puts together a handy guide of the best options for how to spend your Saturday on the couch watching college hoops.

It is that time of year. While the talk starts sporadically as early as January, by February every game broadcast between middling major conference teams becomes fraught with discussion of the NCAA tournament and the "bubble." Lately it seems to creep higher and lower. Teams everyone knows have no shot at the tournament somehow get worked into a discussion. I've heard Texas Tech, Providence, Arizona, North Carolina State, South Carolina, Michigan and other teams that did nothing in the non-con get discussed as "bubble" teams because they played well in one game.

At the same time, schools like Pitt, Baylor or Tennessee lose a game or even two straight and they are "sliding to the bubble." Completely ignoring the body of work before that.It makes you understand why someone like the Sporting News's Mike DeCourcy gets cranky at the subject.

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Tourney Hopes Heat Up for Florida, FSU

Jim Henry — 2010-02-24T09:54:00 00:00

by Jim Henry

Filed under: Florida, Tennessee, ACC, SEC, March Madness, University of Miami, North Carolina, Florida State

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida can see the NCAA tournament from here. Florida State can inch closer, too, as the Seminoles get their turn at struggling North Carolina. And while the Miami Hurricanes have had to adjust their postseason goals, they finally displayed some spunk.

That's the way the basketball is bouncing in the Sunshine State as February marches to a close.

The Gators, playing for the third time in six days, looked fresh as a daisy Tuesday night as they blistered visiting Tennessee, 75-62. UF used an impressive 27-6 run to build its advantage to 20 points midway in the second half and went on to beat the Volunteers for the first time in seven games.

In reaching 20 wins for the 12th straight season under head coach Billy Donovan, the Gators also improved to 3-6 against teams in the Top 50 of the RPI to help their NCAA tourney resume. A familiar face in the crowd of 11,273 included Connecticut athletic director Jeff Hathaway, a member of the NCAA tournament Selection Committee.

"To me, it's very simple, if you keep winning games, you are going to get in," said Donovan, whose team climbed to third place in the SEC East. "I don't think we made any statement other than we beat a Tennessee team that's a great team. It wasn't even about losing six in a row against them. It's a new year, a new day."

Forward Chandler Parsons and point guard Erving Walker led four Florida players in double figures with 19 points each. The Gators rallied from on early eight-point deficit (35-27) behind smart decisions on offense and muscle on defense. It certainly didn't hurt that Tennessee's star Wayne Chism was saddled with foul trouble and played only 15 minutes.

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Wall's Heroics Save 'Cats in Win Over Vandy

Clay Travis — 2010-02-20T21:54:00 00:00

by Clay Travis

Filed under: Kentucky, Vanderbilt, SEC

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- With 2.5 seconds to play and his team holding a tenuous two-point lead, 58-56, over Vanderbilt, Kentucky coach John Calipari took what he would later describe as the worst timeout of his career. Which, you know, is better than the worst non-timeout of his career in the NCAA Championship game. Ask Memphis fans.

As he addressed his team in the huddle, Calipari's message was simple, "Guys, this is the stupidest timeout I've ever taken. Please make me look good." The young Wildcats did, but not before A.J. Ogilvy's running shot in the lane bounced twice off the rim and fell harmlessly to the Memorial Gym court. Kentucky, now 11-1 in the conference, had effectively won the SEC title on a rival's floor, dropping Vanderbilt to 9-3 in conference and sweeping the season series from the Commodores.

Kentucky and Vanderbilt dueled all night in the most beautiful ugly game of the season thus far. This wasn't a fun basketball game, this was a white-knuckled and physical affair, a root canal meets basketball. How close was this contest? The score was tied 14 times and the lead changed 11 times. Ultimately it was the kind of game that led Coach Cal's cellphone to blow up with unique text messages, "I've had 25 texts already that said, 'Great football game," Coach Calipari said.

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In Duel for the Ages, Issel Outshot Pistol

Clay Travis — 2010-02-19T12:00:00 00:00

by Clay Travis

Filed under: Kentucky, LSU, SEC

As Feb. 21, 1970 dawned in Baton Rouge, La., LSU's Pistol Pete Maravich was 0-5 against Kentucky in his career. Now came this, the Pistol's final chance to beat the Wildcats in the final game of his extraordinary career. Jubilant LSU fans who'd recently finished celebrating Mardi Gras began to arrive at the 9,000-seat John Parker Memorial Coliseum in Baton Rouge. Rarely had a college basketball game been bigger. That day's regular season finale would be nationally televised, a rarity for the time. Kentucky boasted a No. 2 national ranking, an already legendary coach in Adolph Rupp, and a superstar of the Wildcats' own, senior forward Dan Issel.

Already this season Maravich and Issel had dueled once, in Kentucky's Memorial Coliseum on January 24, before a standing-room only crowd of 12,500. Maravich went for 55 points in that game, but Issel managed 35 and his Kentucky team won by 13. Now Maravich, who'd set the NCAA career scoring record in Kentucky's Memorial Coliseum in the previous month's defeat, had his final chance to beat the top team in the SEC.

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Kentucky's Cousins Target of Racist Phone Calls

Clay Travis — 2010-02-15T19:00:00 00:00

by Clay Travis

Filed under: Kentucky, Mississippi State, SEC

The Kentucky Wildcats will travel to Starkville, Miss. Tuesday for an ESPN televised game against Mississippi State. But some fans were already making DeMarcus Cousins aware of the tilt several days early.

How? With around 100 telephone calls and something approaching a thousand text messages, according to an account Cousins gave reporters Monday that was posted online at a Lexington, Ky., sports reporters' site. Unfortunately for all considered, some of the calls, presumably from Mississippi State fans according to the details provided by Cousins, have featured racial and gay slurs.

To his credit, Kentucky's freshman is handling the phone number being released with class, humor, and a great deal of maturity. In fact, unlike virtually every other athlete who has had this happen to them -- Tim Tebow at LSU most famously -- Cousins is not even turning off his cell phone.

"I'm going to change it after the game, I want to see what they have to say," Cousins said in the video posted by John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Asked what his reaction was to the phone calls, Cousins said, "It kind of made me mad in the beginning, but now I'm answering the phone having conversations with them."

Cousins, the 6-foot-11 center averaging 15.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, said that he began receiving messages with racial slurs as soon as Mississippi State became the Wildcats' next opponent.

"It started right after the [win over Tennessee Saturday night]... and I got called the N-word, some Bs," Cousins said.

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Florida Finds Itself in Familiar Hole

Jim Henry — 2010-02-15T16:35:00 00:00

by Jim Henry

Filed under: Florida, SEC, NCAA Tournament

It was the kind of defeat that could send the Florida Gators spiraling into the late-season collapse they have suffered in each of the past two years. That's not good news for a team searching to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since its back-to-back national championships.

It's not any fun being an NCAA tourney bubble.

UF couldn't overcome poor shooting and rebounding in Saturday's 76-64 home defeat to Xavier, delivering another blow to the Gators' NCAA tournament hopes and leaving coach Billy Donovan searching for answers. UF needs to refocus in a hurry as it returns to SEC play Thursday against Auburn, the first of six regular season games remaining.

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Bledsoe Breathes Life Into Kentucky

David Steele — 2010-02-14T00:53:00 00:00

by David Steele

Filed under: Kentucky, Tennessee, SEC

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The latest Kentucky freshman to gawk at was Eric Bledsoe, on Saturday night against Tennessee. Granted, it's a long line, and Bledsoe might have only himself to blame for not getting to the front of it sooner. Still, it's the last thing Kentucky opponents need to see, after an eyeful of John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins all season.

Wall and Cousins had cast huge shadows, but not on this night, with a limping and winded Tennessee team threatening to deflate everything that had been puffed up about Kentucky all day long. The Volunteers, with Wayne Chism kept out of the starting lineup because of his sprained ankle and Scotty Hopson dragging with a flu bug that had kept him out of recent practices, led third-ranked Kentucky in Rupp Arena, 52-50 with just over 10 minutes left.

Then, Bledsoe -- who likely would be one of the marquee freshman guards in the country if not for the guy starting in the Kentucky backcourt with him -- suddenly found his shooting stroke, figured out the soft spots in the 3-2 zone Tennessee had handcuffed the Wildcats with, and had his best game in a month as the Wildcats went on to a convincing 73-62 win.

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SEC Basketball Midseason Report

Clay Travis — 2010-02-12T16:28:00 00:00

by Clay Travis

Filed under: Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, SEC

As we pass the halfway point of the season, the SEC East continues to dominate the league, racking up the top four spots in our power ranking poll and making it appear increasingly likely that no team from the SEC West will receive an NCAA tournament bid unless one of those teams wins the conference tournament. I've already written that the divisional system makes no sense for basketball, but each week that becomes more clear.

Per the RPI, six of the top eight teams are in the SEC East. Only Ole Miss, at 39, is in the top 50 from the SEC West. What's more, the top five times in the East are now, wait for it, 18-1 against the West. What should we be looking for down the stretch of the SEC race? And how will each team finish?

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UK's Cousins Muscles Into Spotlight

David Steele — 2010-02-12T12:39:00 00:00

by David Steele

Filed under: Kentucky, SEC

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- It's almost impossible to imagine a freshman rolling off seven straight double-doubles, supplanting a preseason first-team all-American as the dominant frontcourt player on a Kentucky team that is ranked second in the country with only one loss ... and flying so far under the radar.

Welcome to what the locals call UK2K (in honor of the program's 2,000th victory earlier this season). At UK2K, you can have a season and an impact like DeMarcus Cousins and still be eclipsed by not only a teammate, but another freshman teammate. Still, in recent weeks, Cousins' name is being mentioned in the same breath as John Wall's, at least in terms of influence on the success of the Wildcats -- and, at most, as a candidate with Wall for Southeastern Conference Player of the Year. Amazingly, after all the highlights Wall has generated from Day 1 in the program, he leads the Wildcats in scoring over Cousins by all of 16.7 points per game to 16.4.

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Vanderbilt Routs Tennessee on Foul Night for Volunteers

Clay Travis — 2010-02-09T22:17:00 00:00

by Clay Travis

Filed under: Tennessee, Vanderbilt, SEC

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee came in from the snow falling outside Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym Tuesday night, but the Volunteers never managed to heat up. Outplayed and outworked by the Commodores, Tennessee fell behind 19-4 less than eight minutes in, and ensured that the only drama would be whether Bruce Pearl would choose to be ejected from the game or suffer through a beating on the road..

That, and whether the officials could break a record -- or a whistle -- with all the foul calls. Before all was said and done Vanderbilt would attempt 43 free throws, hitting 37, and a raucous student section would break out the following chants, "Lane Kiffin," "Tyler Smith," "JP Prince sucks," "JP Princess," and others.

As Vandy raced to a 27-point second-half lead on the way to a 90-71 victory, the top two spots of the SEC East looked set. Absent a huge upset in Lexington Saturday, Vandy and Kentucky will be dueling for the top spot in the SEC down the final seven games of the basketball season.

Dive in for observations from a night in snowy Nashville that left two Top 25 SEC teams standing at identical 18-5 overall records.

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On-Court Obsession: Beats More Super Bowl Pregame

Chas Rich — 2010-02-05T13:17:00 00:00

by Chas Rich

Filed under: WCC, A-10, ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, MWC, Pac-10, SEC, Media Watch

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In SEC Hoops, It's East and Rest

Clay Travis — 2010-02-02T12:15:00 00:00

by Clay Travis

Filed under: SEC

This much is clear about SEC basketball as a decade dawns: Never has the disparity between the SEC East and the SEC West been greater in terms of basketball coaches, team talent, and the respective status of the programs in both divisions. Why has this happened? Because football is king in the SEC, and the divisions were designed to successfully calibrate the traditional football powers. Football behemoths Auburn, Alabama, and LSU were assigned to the SEC West and the SEC East picked up Tennessee, Florida, and Georgia.

Basketball was an afterthought, a way to pass the time between football seasons. Indeed, basketball had long been a second-class sports citizen everywhere in the SEC except for Kentucky. Since that time, as dollars have poured into athletic department coffers, many programs have stepped up their competitiveness in the sport. As a result, the unequal divisional alignment has become more glaring. This season? This season has erased any semblance of equality between the divisions. In fact, the SEC has developed a talent and coaching gap between the divisions so pronounced that it threatens the competitive balance of the league.

So much so, that I've got this idea: Why not scrap the divisions when it comes to college basketball?

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On-Court Obsession: Trying for Separation

Chas Rich — 2010-01-29T14:07:00 00:00

by Chas Rich

Filed under: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Mid-Majors, Pac-10, SEC, Media Watch

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Kentucky Must Be Wall's Team to Thrive

Clay Travis — 2010-01-28T12:50:00 00:00

by Clay Travis

Filed under: Kentucky, SEC

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Los Angeles Lakers were the most talented team in basketball. And the most fractured. Why? Because of a continuing rift over who the driving force of the basketball team's personality would be, Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O'Neal. Would the Lakers pound the ball inside and allow Shaq to be the hub or would they funnel everything through Kobe's ball-handling, allowing his creativity to flourish? Ultimately, Kobe won that battle, and Shaq departed for Miami.

Now, the most talented team in college basketball has a similar problem, minus, at least for the present, any rumblings of major personal discord between the team's two best players. Is Kentucky John Wall's team or are the Wildcats Demarcus Cousins' team?

Think it doesn't matter since both players are likely to be top five NBA draft picks if they leave early?

You're wrong.

And I'll tell you why: With Cousins as the offensive focus, Kentucky is a much more beatable team. In fact, with Cousins as the offensive hub, this Kentucky team is not going to advance past the Sweet 16.

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