This sums up 82 percent of Jim Calhoun's coaching career. (Hartford Courant photo)
—UPSET—Idaho 68, No. 25 Portland 48. Boy, this party really died, huh?
No. 1 Kansas 73, UCLA 61. Hey, the Bruins are realizing what they are. They tried to make Kansas play in second gear. It worked in spurts. There is some concern for the Jayhawks’ collective defensive ability, but I want to give it a little more time before that because a real hot-button issue. UCLA is 2-5. Can you believe that?
No. 3 Villanova 95, Maryland 86. Wanted to see how Villanova attacked Maryland. Does it make sense to you if I say the Wildcats took the easy way out here? They’re more talented, faster and have a longer life battery than Maryland. To me, it seemed the Wildcats played on a gamble. A hunch. They thought they could keep the tempo up, test their rebounding and hope a win came. Hey, it worked. Villanova shot 41 percent. Maryland shot 52 percent. This modus operandi won’t fly against a lot of teams, though.
No. 12 Washington 88, Northridge 76. Eh. Is a 12-point victory at home against a mediocre team the kind of response Huskies fans can be proud of after falling to Texas Tech?
No. 14 Connecticut 79, Harvard 73. This is the result you carry around in your pocket today. UConn had legit issues with Tommy Amaker’s Crimson. Jeremy Lin is a player you’ve probably heard about. Would love to get a feature on him here at the site. He’s the Ivy League’s best player, and he had 30 points in helping Harvard stay within striking distance. Jerome Dyson, a player I think is hindered in a few ways, was on assists away from a triple-double last night. I recognize his value and give him credit for keeping UConn from making headlines for the wrong reasons. Was this a look-ahead game for Kentucky on Wednesday?
No. 18 Clemson 72, South Carolina 61. Bball’s win won’t make up for the football team falling short in the ACC championship, but it’ll have to do. Especially against the hated Cockers. This Tigers team has matured, it seems, over the past four years. Oliver Purnell, I admit I doubted you back when.
No. 21 Florida State 82, Florida International 62. Isiah Thomas’ team falls to 3-8. What say you: Do you think he ever makes a Tournament while at the school?
Notable:
Notre Dame 90, Central Florida 72. Central Florida was 6-1 entering this. Wanted to keep an eye and see if Notre Dame handled its business. Luke Harangody had 29 and WASN’T the high scorer for his team. Well, hello, Tim Abromaitis and your 31 points. Kid’s from Connecticut. I remember hearing about him when he played at Farmington High.
Oklahoma 79, Arizona 62. Fran Fraschilla seems to love Willie Warren more than every other CBB analyst in the country. He never shuts up after he has a strong performance. Warren had 25 points. Nothing too impressive in any other category, though.
Boston College 61, Miami (FL) 60. A conference game already? You bet. Wish I could’ve seen this one. The result puts Boston College at 6-2 and drops the ‘Canes from the ranks of the unbeaten. Reggie Jackson had a big board with three seconds to go that led to a foul and him going to the line to hit two clutch freebies that gave Al Skinner a win. You may see the national writers giving this game some ink today.
Creighton 67, Nebraska 61. Intra-state rivalry goes the way of the Blue Birds. Thought Nebraska might be upticking. Maybe note. Creighton’s not that good this year.
