College Hoops III

I will start this out by saying I was unable to watch any college basketball games this weekend as I was busy. The only games I watched were Syracus/Rutgers, OK State/Oklahoma, and Illinois/Wisconsin. Well, I also watched the late game on Monday, but already forgot who played.

With respect to the OK State/Oklahoma game, I will say this; neither of these teams will be ranked this week. Both showed signs of great things to come, but I can't give Oklahoma an edge, even though they dominated early on, because the game was at home. The Sooners came out more aggressive and more pumped up than the Cowboys and jumped out to a 13-4 lead. However, senior led Oklahoma State came roaring back and was only down 5 at halftime. They withstood the great shooting of the Oklahoma front line (Kevin Bookout and Taj Gray) and were right back in the game until a run in the mid second half by Oklahoma pretty much ended the game. Coming back on the road and making it at least not a blow-out was very impressive by the slow starting Cowboys. The reason I am not ranking either of these teams is because I want to see what happens in two weeks in Stillwater.

So for me the list this week is just two teams. Don't worry, I'm done reffing on February 19th, so I will be able to witness almost every game on television. Remember early on when I told you conference road wins would be much more impressive than conference home wins? Well, I refer you to Syracuse and Illinois both overcoming deficits and winning in hostile environments. Syracuse at The Rac against Rutgers and of course last night when Illinois ended Wisconsin's 38 game home winning streak (the longest in the nation now belongs to Oklahoma State with 25 straight home wins). I wrote in the diary that I would have no problem in ranking Illinois number one. After sleeping on this decision and thinking about the game more, I decided that wasn't exactly true. I was so impressed by the way Syracuse came back in the game against the Scarlet Knights they had to be on top of the list:

2.) The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana Fighting Illini- (20-0)

The number one ranked team in the country ends the longest home winning streak in the country. For those of you who watched it you know how good of a game this was until the last 2 minutes. For those of you who didn't watch it; scroll down and read my diary.

Illinois faced its first second half deficit of the season, and it reached 8 points with 12:48 left in the game. Unfortunately for Badger fans, the Illinois defense took over for a little while and didn't allow Wisconsin to score for almost 4 minutes after that. This allowed Illinois to get right back in the game and eventually take the lead for good with under 5 minutes remaining. To see how patient and well coached this Illini team is; you need to look no further than the back-to-back dunks they had out of their base offense with under 3 minutes to play. Illinois just outworked the Badgers on these possessions and got two easy buckets to increase the lead.

Wisconsin showed some inexperience in the final minutes by not making easy shots, trying to do too much with the ball, and taking bad shots. Illinois looked poised and confident the entrie game, even when they were down 8. Bruce Weber has this team playing very well as the 20-0 record indicates. The next question is wether or not they can make it through undefeated. I don't think they will enter the tournament unbeaten. I just think a letdown game on the road is in their future. Maybe at Michigan State or at Iowa, but one will happen. If for some reason this doesn't happen, I don't see any way in which they won't be in St. Louis.

The three guards they have; Dee Brown, Deron Williams, and Luther Head showed why they are the class of the Big Ten. The trio combined for 39 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds, and went a combined 11 of 14 from the free throw line. This is exactly the kind of guard leadership which is needed to win the NCAA Tournament. Add to the terrific guards the solid post players in James Augustine and Roger Powell Jr., and it's difficult to picture this team not being in St. Louis.

Next games: Saturday vs. Minnesota; Tuesday at Michigan State- 6:00 ESPN

With the win last night; the Illini became the second team to reach 20 wins this season. Who was the first team to reach 20?...


1.) Syracuse University Orangemen- (20-1)

The Orange had to come from way behind to win their 13th game in a row on Monday night (their last loss by the way was to Oklahoma State 74-60, on a neutral court in the Jimmy V classic). Rutgers played like a team possessed in the first half and led by as much as 19 before they went into halftime up 54-36. It was at this point that Jim Boeheim may have had the halftime speech of his life as his team went out and scored the first 9 points of the second half (in the first 50 seconds) to cut the lead down to a manageable 11.

The quickness of the defense and the great hands on the press impressed me very much. I was also impressed by the way Hakim Warrick came up huge in the second half, just like seniors are supposed to. Add to his performance of 21 points and 7 rebounds, the great shooting of Gerry McNamara who also had 21 points, and what you have is a team who knows how to win. Just two years off of a National Championship, this Syracuse team is playing like they could cut down the nets again in 2005.

Rutgers used gritty performances by Ricky Shields (20 points, 11 rebounds) and freshman Ollie Bailey (18 points, 5 rebounds including 4 offensive) to come within one shot of beating the fourth ranked team in the country.

If you watched this game you know how loud it was in The Rac that night. For a team to come back, on the road, in that atmosphere takes something more than just a good team. It takes a great team, with a coach who never gives up, and players who believe they are never more than a few plays away from turning a game around. The difference with Syracuse is they have the players who can make the key plays, and they did. Boeheim and his team escaped with a win, which will help them in the tournament, and maybe more importantly, more confidence and respect.

Next games: Saturday at Pittsburgh- 6:00 ESPN