2011-2012 Big Ten Basketball Discussion...... - ScarletBuckeye

OSUBasketballJunkie · 11-20-2010, 11:39 PM

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College basketball notebook: Minnesota upsets No.8 North Carolina
Saturday, November 20, 2010 02:56 AM
ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Golden Gophers (3-0) mobbed one another in front of the bench and danced around in a circle to celebrate the win - and their trip to Sunday's final against West Virginia.

Beating a top-10 team in the Tar Heels (2-1) and a 2010 Final Four team in the Mountaineers could put the Gophers in a strong position to enter the various top 25 ratings and stamp themselves as a serious contender in the Big Ten.

"I liked our courage. I liked our toughness," Smith said.

Harrison Barnes, the first freshman preseason All-America pick, was a non-factor for North Carolina. He missed all 12 of his shots from the field and scored only six points.

"It's tough on a freshman when everyone's saying he's the greatest thing since sliced bread to live it up to that," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said.

OSUBasketballJunkie · 11-24-2010, 03:00 PM

espn.com

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Kemba Walker's 30 points power Huskies past second-ranked Spartans

LAHAINA, Hawaii -- Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun joked last week that he still didn't know all his players' names, much less how good they're going to be.

After knocking out a heavyweight in a championship-caliber bout, he -- and everyone else, for that matter -- should know these young Huskies are for real.

Trading blows in the first half and big shots in the second, Connecticut solidified its return to elite-program status by knocking off No. 2 Michigan State 70-67 in a physical Maui Invitational semifinal on Tuesday.

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OSUBasketballJunkie · 11-25-2010, 12:06 PM

espn.com

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Kalin Lucas seals Spartans' win with late free throws

LAHAINA, Hawaii -- It wasn't the tournament win Michigan State has been looking for going on a dozen years now. That went away with a disappointing loss in the semifinals.

Beating a good team in a tight game at least took some of the sting off.

Kalin Lucas scored 29 points and keyed a second-half rally, helping the second-ranked Spartans salvage a 76-71 win over Washington (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP) in the third place game of the Maui Invitational on Wednesday.

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OSUBasketballJunkie · 11-26-2010, 11:47 AM

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College basketball notebook: Points hard to come by in Wisconsin's win

Friday, November 26, 2010 02:54 AM
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Wisconsin got an early taste of a grinding postseason game.

Jon Leuer had 16 points and 13 rebounds, Josh Gasser scored 12 points and Wisconsin overcame a lackluster start to beat Manhattan 50-35 yesterday in the opening round of the Old Spice Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

"In order to be successful through a tournament, whether it's a preseason type tournament, a conference tournament or an NCAA Tournament, you've got to survive these kind of games," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "And then when you get to the next one, you try not to have the same thing happen twice."

Leuer had seven points during a 12-4 run that put Wisconsin up 31-16 with 15 minutes left in the game. The Badgers later scored 10 consecutive points, including a three-point play by Gasser, to put the game away.

Wisconsin (3-1), coming off a 68-65 loss at UNLV, shot just 36.2 percent (21 of 58). The Badgers averaged 83 points in their first three games.

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OSUBasketballJunkie · 11-30-2010, 07:58 PM

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College basketball notebook: Minnesota suffers first loss

Tuesday, November 30, 2010 02:51 AM
From wire reports

Minnesota rolled into Williams Arena last night with a No. 15 ranking, its highest ever under coach Tubby Smith.

Mustapha Farrakhan and Virginia took care of that in a hurry.

Farrakhan scored a career-high 23 points and Mike Scott had 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers to an 87-79 victory over the Golden Gophers.

Joe Harris scored 24 points and the Cavaliers (4-3) made 10 of 13 three-pointers to erase a 13-point first-half deficit and hand the Gophers (6-1) their first loss.

"I think everybody thought we'd come in here and get blown out of the gym," Scott said. "I think the only ones who thought we could win were our coaches. They kept stressing that this was a tough place to play, whether they're ranked or not, but they had confidence that we could win the game."

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OSUBasketballJunkie · 12-08-2010, 02:50 PM

espn.com

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Rick Jackson's 17 points, 16 rebounds boost Orange by Spartans

NEW YORK -- Rick Jackson has been a solid rebounder in his three years at Syracuse. He's going at it at a totally different pace his senior season.

Jackson matched his season-high with 17 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Syracuse (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No. 8 AP) to a 72-58 victory over Michigan State (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today, No. 7 AP) on Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.

With the 6-foot-9, 240-pound Jackson leading the way, Syracuse dominated inside finishing with a 42-24 advantage on points in the paint and outrebounding the Spartans 38-30. Michigan State led the nation the last two seasons in rebound margin.

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OSUBasketballJunkie · 12-08-2010, 02:53 PM

espn.com

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Boilermakers pull away in second half for third straight win

VALPARAISO, Ind. -- E'Twaun Moore has said he'd gladly fill Chris Kramer's old role as Purdue's lockdown perimeter defender.

For about 20 minutes on Tuesday, he appeared up to the task.

Valparaiso's Brandon Wood dominated the first half, slicing and shooting his way to 18 points as the upstart Crusaders trailed the Boilermakers (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 19 AP) by just two points at halftime. Moore responded by holding Wood without a field goal in the second half of Purdue's 76-58 win.

"We needed to slow him down," Moore said. "I'm like, 'I'll make someone else shoot it besides him.' I just stayed with him and didn't give him any open looks."

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OSUBasketballJunkie · 12-12-2010, 03:48 PM

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Big Ten roundup
Indiana can't keep up with Kentucky

Sunday, December 12, 2010 03:03 AM
Associated Press

DeAndre Liggins scored a career-high 19 points, Brandon Knight added 18, and No. 17 Kentucky bulled its way past Indiana 81-62 yesterday.

Josh Harrellson added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Wildcats (7-2), who continued their dominance in the once-heated rivalry by shutting down the Hoosiers in the second half.

Indiana (7-2) managed just one field goal in the final nine minutes as Kentucky closed with a 25-5 burst after the Hoosiers had taken a 57-56 lead.

Christian Watford led Indiana with 19 points and nine rebounds, but the Hoosiers fell to their border rivals for the 14th time in the past 17 meetings.

Indiana made the Wildcats work for it in a rugged game that featured 47 fouls, a number of which sent bodies tumbling to the ground.

Indiana looked to have a chance to win in Lexington, Ky., for the first time since 1989 when Watford made a three-pointer to give the Hoosiers a 57-56 lead with 9:42 to go.

Liggins put Kentucky back in front with a three-pointer two possessions later and then converted a difficult layup in traffic while drawing the foul. He hit the free throw to put Kentucky up 64-57, and the Wildcats slowly began pulling away as the Hoosiers unraveled.

Wisconsin 69, Marquette 64 - Jordan Taylor scored 21 points to lead Wisconsin (8-2) over Marquette (7-3).

The Golden Eagles made a late charge, cutting the lead to two on Jimmy Butler's three-pointer with 20.3 seconds left. But Taylor went 5 of 6 from the line in the final 20 seconds.

Jon Leuer added 17 points for Wisconsin, which played its familiar brand of smothering defense and deliberate offense. The Badgers outscored the Golden Eagles 21-9 on second-chance points.

No. 19 Purdue 77, North Florida 57 - JaJuan Johnson scored 25 points and E'Twaun Moore added 21, and Purdue (9-1) shot 56 percent to overcame 19 turnovers and beat North Florida (4-5).

No. 22 Minnesota 71, Eastern Kentucky 58 - Ralph Sampson III had 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists to help Minnesota (9-1) overcome a ragged start and overtake Eastern Kentucky (5-5), which didn't score in the second half until the 10-minute mark.

OSUBasketballJunkie · 12-12-2010, 03:56 PM

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No. 7 Michigan State 77 | Oakland 76
Spartans hold on thanks to Lucas
Guard has 25 points, hits key shots to seal it

Sunday, December 12, 2010 03:03 AM
By Larry Lage
Associated Press

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Kalin Lucas pushed himself as hard as he could in consecutive practices for the first time since suffering a ruptured left Achilles tendon in the NCAA Tournament.

Then he had enough energy left over to score 25 points to help No.7 Michigan State hold off Oakland (Mich.) 77-76 yesterday.

"I feel great," he said. "I hadn't gone full-go for two straight days since I had surgery, so I'm glad I was able to do that and still come out and do what I did in the game."

Lucas, who matched a career high by making 10 free throws, connected on a three-pointer and a jumper late in the game to prevent the Golden Grizzlies from getting closer than two points until Reggie Hamilton made a three-pointer with 0.4 of a second left.

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OSUBasketballJunkie · 12-23-2010, 10:25 AM

espn.com

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Mizzou pulls away in final minute, wins second straight Braggin' Rights game

ST. LOUIS -- Missouri got a chance to brag again, this time about its nine-second knockout punch.

Laurence Bowers made a four-point play with a layup and two free throws after an intentional foul with 40 seconds to go, fueling a huge final minute for the Tigers (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 11 AP) in a 75-64 victory over No. 21 Illinois on Wednesday night.

Missouri scored eight points in a nine-second span, breaking open a tie game to win the neutral-site 'Braggin Rights' matchup for the second straight year.

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