Epic Loss for the Dookies and LaSalle Stuns Butler
Jim Larranaga's Hurricanes blew out Duke Wednesday night 90-63.
Interesting week for the Duke Blue Devils huh? On Monday, they returned to the top spot in the college basketball top 25 following two consecutive losses by last week’s number one team Louisville. The Blue Devils had to know what was waiting for them in Coral Gables as 25th-ranked Miami lie and wait for them.
Heading into Wednesday night’s game, the Hurricanes were the only unbeaten team left in a rather weak ACC. Duke had their first loss to North Carolina State about 10 days ago. If Duke thought they were just going to go to South Florida, lay one on the Canes and return to Durham, they had another thing coming.
Miami roared to a halftime lead of 42-19 en route to a stunning 90-63 win which most likely elevate Michigan to the number one position should get through the weekend unscathed. Duke went more than eight minutes in the first half without a field goal and the Blue Devils’ Seth Curry went 0 for 10 for zero points in the contest.
What I take from the game is simple; Be excited if you’re a Miami basketball fan. It’s a huge win over one of the top programs in the history of the game. For Duke, it’s a bit humiliating, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t mean a whole lot. Now if the Canes go into Cameron Indoor in early March and beat the Devils again, then we’ve got ourselves a helluva ball club. For now though, let’s not print Final Four shirts for Miami just yet.
Galloway's game-winner stunned Butler 54-53.
Number nine Butler’s road to an Atlantic 10 regular season title hit a rather abrupt speed bump Wednesday night in Philadelphia as LaSalle shocked the Bulldogs on a last-second shot for the 54-53 win. Ramon Galloway’s shot with 2.7 seconds remaining was the difference.
Butler was playing its’ third straight game without leading scorer Rotnei Clarke who is still out with a sprained neck suffered January 12th. The victory for the Explorers was arguably their biggest in over thirty years and sent gold-clad students rushing the court afterward. LaSalle has not been to the NCAA tournament since 1992 and this win goes a long towards that as they are now 13-5 on the season.
Other Notes from the East… #8 Florida outscored Georgia 40-20 in the second half to knock off the Dawgs 64-47 in SEC play… Akron moved to 5-0 in the MAC East with a 71-56 win over Toledo… The leaders in all four major categories all reside in the East. VA Tech’s Erick Green leads the country with 24.6 points per game while Syracuses’s Michael Carter-Williams lead in assists with 9.2 per game. The nation’s top rebounder is O.D. Anosike of Siena who grabs 11.6 boards per game and the top blocks man is Chris Obekpa of St. Johns who swats almost five shots per game.
Games to Watch Heading into the Weekend
Maryland at #1 Duke – The Blue Devils will return home licking their wounds from Miami and cannot afford to look past a young, but talented Terrapins team. While I think the loss of Ryan Kelly is affecting this team more than they’ll let on, I still think they get past the Terps in a tight game.
#3 Syracuse at Villanova – The Orange need not look far into the Villanova past schedule to see that this Wildcats’ team recently dorpped then-#1 Louisville in Philly last week. Syracuse beat ‘Nova back on January 12th by 11 in the Carrier Dome and the Wildcats had lost three straight before beating the Cards so this is a strange team to pick. Therefore I’m taking the Orange.
#5 Louisville at Georgetown – The Cards have had to sit and stew since Tuesday night before finally getting a chance to get back on the court and they’ll finally do so in the nation’s capitol. The Hoyas have won three of four and have reached .500 in the Big East after starting 0-2. I think Rick Pitino will have the attention of this team and I like them to win on the road.
