Bayl-ed Out at the Buzzer

My spellchecker seriously hates my article titles.  My Mom doesn't understand them.  Yet, despite the obstacles I still continue to strive to provide you, my loyal readers, some of the most terrible puns and forced "clever" headlines on the web. 

Baylor picked up a critical win today.

You're welcome.

It is safe to assume the Baylor Bears are feeling some gratitude as well today after keeping their at-large hopes breathing with an overtime, last-second tip-in win at Texas A&M.

For Baylor it was an absolutely critical win coming off the surprising and disappointing loss at Oklahoma. For Texas A&M, it's their fourth loss in five games since cracking the Top 10 (no need to any clever headlines to say told ya' so... because, well... yeah).   It isn't quite panic time yet in College Stattion, but coupled with Kansas State's dramatic win over Iowa State on a Jacob Pullen game winner, things are getting a little congested in the middle of the Big Twelve pack.

Up next for Baylor is MUST win visit from Nebraska and then a trip to Austin next Saturday to take on the red-hot Longhorns. Texas A&M will try to get things back on track as they enter an enormously critical five game stretch that features only one team with a shot (unlikely, but a shot) to make the Dance in Oklahoma State.  Anything less than 3-2 puts them squarely on the bubble and makes closing with back to back trips to Baylor and Kansas even more daunting.

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Michigan State is a Disappointment - But Should it be THAT Shocking?

There is no question that 13-9 and on the outside of the bubble is an unusual and disappointing predicament for Tom Izzo and his Spartans.  He, and they, afterall, are one of the premier templates for consistent excellence in college basketball.

But should their less than stellar play be as big of a shock as it is being received as?

Here is an alternative viewpoint to consider.  Last year Michigan State entered the NCAA tournament at a solid 24-8, but only a 5th seed.  To place it in a different context, that would have them somewhere between the 17th and 20th best team in the country.

State's road through the NCAA Tourney was equally precarious.  In the first round, they barely dodged a big upset, slipping past #12 seed New Mexico State 70-67.  In the second round, an even more daring escape, when a desperate buzzer-beating three by Korie Lucious found the bottom of the net.  The shot was intentional, but Lucious receiving the ball certainly wasn't - a freak deflection/pass landed his way and Korie, to his credit seized the spotlight.  The Spartans won 85-83 and survived and advanced.

If this shot doesn't fall...

Korie Lucious has since been permanently dismissed from the team for an unspecified third violation of team conduct.

The Sweet Sixteen got even sweeter for the Spartans when Northern Iowa stunned top team in the country Kansas, knocking the biggest obstacle in that half of the bracket to the wayside.  Sparty took advantage of their good fortune by beating the upstart Panthers 59-52.

The Elite Eight?  Well, maybe "elite" is too grand a term in this instance.  After the bottom half of the bracket fell apart as well with Ohio State and Evan Turner and Georgetown bowing out, suddenly the "best region ever" looked a lot less daunting.  Sixth seeded Tennessee advanced to meet Michigan State with a trip to Indy on the line.  Again, more heart-palpitating last second moments smiled the way of Sparty, as they advanced with 70-69 win.

Next stop, the Final Four. In a game that set big time college basketball back to the pre-shot clock era, the Spartans finally bowed out 52-50 to Butler.

Suppose for a second that either of those first round games broke the other way with a different last-second moment of good fortune?  Would Michigan State have entered this season in the Top 5?  Top 10 even?

This season is no doubt been a disappointment.  It's just that perhaps some of the disappointment should also be shared by those of us in the prognostication business as well...

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Thriller in the Valley - Northern Iowa Returns the Favor

Last month it was Missouri State star Kyle Weems hitting the buzzer beater to give the Bears a one-point win at Northern Iowa.  Tonight, the Panthers returned the favor with two free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining to get the one-point win down in the Ozarks.

Weems nearly had his second game-winner.

Weems nearly served up an identical result when he hit a contested 18-foot baseline jumpshot to give the Bears the one-point lead with 18.2 on the clock.  However Northern Iowa's star Jake Koch, who had himself hit the go-ahead basket thirty seconds earlier, go a clean look from three.  The shot rimmed out, and Weems did a great job checking out a bigger man underneath, but it left 6'1'' Johnny Moran free to swoop in from the baseline corner to get a tip attempt.

Weems blocked the tip attempt, but committed the foul in the process.  Moran calmly stepped to the line and knocked home two clutch free throws that dramtically altered the future possibilities for the Panther's season.

Had Missouri State won the game, they would have moved to 10-1 in the MVC, three full games ahead of Northern Iowa.  Instead the Panthers pull even with Wichita State, with both now just one game behind Missouri State for the conference lead - and a near-certain NCAA at-large bid. 

In my projections the Valley is a two bid league, but without many marquee non-conference wins, it is very unlikely a three-bid league.  That makes tonight's dramatic win absolutely enormous for Northern Iowa and their chances to have once again conjure up some March Madness magic.  Fans in the Iowa plains are thrilled; Kansas Jayhawk fans perhaps not so much...

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Cards Show Heart in Thrillilng Comeback

Rick Pitino has won hundreds of games in his career.

I'm not sure he's had many more thrilling than today's miracle home win over Marquette.  Louisville trailed by 17 with less than five minutes to play, when all of a sudden Marquette went cold, Preston Knowles caught fire, and the crowd became electric.

Knowles had a lot to celebrate in the final 4:53

The Cards finished the game on a 26-8 run over the final five minutes, punctuated with the go-ahead layup with four seconds to play, when Preston Knowles found Kyle Kuric under the bucket for the uncontested score.

Marquette had a shot at the buzzer, but when Jimmy Butler's shot caught front iron, the Cardinals miracle comeback was complete.

Not only is it a thrilling win, it is likely an important one as well.  Marquette and Louisville, along with Cincinnati, St. Johns and possibly Notre Dame, could all find themselves in a bottle neck in the middle of the BEast standings, with only one or two likely to get the tourney nod.  The Cards snatched a valuable chip at the last possible moment today.  Time will tell if it was the one they needed to get into the Dance.
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Xavier Erases Sting of the 1.2 Seconds That Weren't

Last year Butler and Gordon Hayward clipped Xavier on one of the more bizarre endings you will ever see in college basketball.  Gordon Hayward put the Bulldogs up one with seemingly 1.2 seconds remaining.  However, after referees consulted the monitors for a seven minute delay, they determined the clock had inadvertantly stopped for roughly one and half seconds during the play.

The refs retroactively corrected the timing error, counted the Hayward basket and then determined the game was over.

Muskie fans hadn't forgotten the tough-to-swallow loss and were revved up for revenge.  The Cintas center was packed in a "Whiteout" with all fans wearing white shirts for tonight's rematch, and many came equipped with signs referrencing the clock error and using words like "cheated" to describe the controversial ending.

The fans got their wish for revenge, though it certainly wasn't pretty to watch.  Xavier shot just 32% from the floor and an abysmal 11% from behind the arc.  And they still outshot Butler.  The Bulldogs shot just 31% from the floor, and were it not for 16 of 18 from the line (the only two misses coming in the final minute) the score could have been even worse than the 51-49 final.

Butler managed only 15 made baskets from the floor during the entire game, including a nearly 15 minute drought in the first half.

It wasn't pretty, but it was a win the Muskies desperately needed to keep their at-large profile afloat.

With the loss, Butler dropped to 4-4 on the season, with no ranked opponents on tap for the remainder of the season.

Tough Night for Vandy's Brad Tinsley

In a night marked by buzzer beaters in the NBA, it was the buzzer beater that wasn't that tipped the evening's most thrilling college contest.

Losing to Mizzou on the road is certainly nothing for vanderbilt to be ashamed of, but the manner they lost is one that Kevin Stalling's club is undoubtably kicking themselves over, and point guard Brad Tinsley might have some trouble sleeping after.

Vandy star Jeff Taylor did everything right on the final possession of regulation, dribbling behind his back and creating a double team to pass back to a wide open Tinsley, a good shooter, for a last second look from three.  Tinsley's shot missed badly to the left as the buzzer sounded.  In OT, the 'Dores and Tinsley had a chance for redemption, in possession of the ball in a tied game and the shot clock off.  Instead of a buzzer-beating shot attempt, Tinsley's mightmare finish snowballed.  His pass to Taylor was intercepted, leading to a fast break layup AND a Tinsley foul making the lead Tiger lead three.

The ball again found Tinsley's hand as his 35-foot prayer failed to draw iron at the buzzer and the Commodores fell by three points.

It's certainly a tough loss and a tougher day for Tinsley, but Vandy proved they are going to be a real handful in the SEC and looked like a sure-fire NCAA Tournament team.

Video footage below courtsey of YouTube.com

NBA Goes March Madness

It was a crazy night last night in the world of professional hoops, with the NBA going March Madness with three buzzer beaters last night.  My fave was the absolutely flawlessly executed inbounds alley-oop from luc Richard Mbah-Moute to Andrew Bogut to push the Deer past the Maniac's beloved Pacers.

Enjoy!

Florida's Miracle

I'm sure most of you have already seen it - I just happened to catch it on the radio while running a few errands. Absolutely bananas! Funny thing about it, if I was coaching I would have had the kid miss the second one on purpose... It is still probably the right strategy, but this game at least makes you reconsider it...

Enjoy!



NC State has been good so far this year, but seem like a bubble team to me. It would be a shame if this 70-foot prayer is the bubble burster...but it could be. Florida meanwhile gets another resume win heading into a suddenly wide-open-for-second SEC with Tennessee's Scarface II impression, and looks to be in good position to snap a two year tourney hiatus.

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The Closer

Many of our readers' obsessive basketball joneses extend beyond just college and into the NBA. If so, you have seen roughly 22,000 promos (and NO episodes) of TNT's The Closer.

I confess I have no clue what the show is about other than some non-MILFy lady they parade about the promos. Apparently they have bucked convention and cast her as the hot chick regardless of one glaring ironic shortcoming. Think Molly Ringwald in every shitty 80's movie.

If you found yourself screaming, "what about Pretty in Pink?!?" then please choke yourself. Yet I digress...

There have been some amazing games already this season. But the one thing they have lacked is a closer.

Last week Louisville escaped Villanova in a dandy. The defining moment? Two rim rattling tips that failed to roll in at the buzzer. Tonight Louisville pummeled a completely gassed Notre Dame team in overtime. However the story might have been different had Notre Dame even got a shot off to win the game in regulation. McAlarney fits the mold; quick release, unlimited range... bu they couldn't even get the ball to him (or to the rim).

There have been plenty of big stops to win games this season. But we have lacked assassins ripping hearts out with Reggie Miller-like daggers. With the exception of the Cleveland State and Xavier mid-court miracles in November, this season has been marked more by "misses" than "makes."

Defense wins championships, but as fans we live for Mario Chalmers gut-punches. So far this season has been a lot more Memphis clunk than Kansas cash... We can only hope this is not an early foretelling of March.

Maybe "mediocre" in pink?? "Semi bang-able" in Pink??

ed note: YES, I am intentionally blacking out regarding Edgar Sosa's bunk 30 footer. BTW - he was holding a clipboard come money time tonight, even Pitino knows a rabbit in a hat when he gets one...

And Another One

Cue Biggie "and another one, uh...and a another one..."

Has any man known more buzzer-beating heartbreak than Seth Greenberg? Last night he got his second dagger of the young season at the hands of Wisconsin's Trevor Hughes.

bank is open.

X-clamation (3) Point!

First 2 PP of Story courtesy of http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/recap?gid=200811210620&prov=ap

Xavier’s buzzer-beater nips Va Tech 63-62 in OT

"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)—Dante Jackson’s buzzer-beater from beyond halfcourt lifted Xavier to a 63-62 win over Virginia Tech in overtime at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip Off on Friday.

After Virginia Tech went up 62-60 on Jeff Allen’s tip-in with 3 seconds left in overtime, Jackson took the inbounds pass, dribbled a few steps and made his only field goal of game. He had missed his first eight attempts for the Musketeers (4-0). -- end.

For the second straight day the Musketeers made up a lead of 7 or more points after the final TV time-out. The wins have been tenuous, but come March, all you will see is two RPI Top 100 (maybe 50) wins and a game coming up Sunday against #12 Memphis.

I know many content early season games do not matter much in college basketball. Yet those dame pundits will obsess over seeding come tournament time. So lets put this X win in perspective: A loss to Missouri yesterday = 2 more games against sub .500 RPI teams, and returning home with no quality wins on the young season.

The win? Well, followed by a subsequent Va Tech win catapults the strength of schedule factor and adds one more "name" win to the big board come selection Sunday. In short, it is the difference between a 3 & a 6 seed; the difference between a 5 & an 8.

How big a shot?? We'll find out on Selection Sunday.

It is a big win on a BIGGER shot. Next comes a true test; how will freshman Terrell Holloway and backcourt mates CJ Anderson, BJ Raymond and Dante Jackson handle the explosive quickness and pressure of Memphis?