Bertie Higgins

Opening thought: Bertie Higgins's song, "Key Largo" claimed the #6 spot in the Most Awesomely Bad Love Song countdown. He should've been #1, wow, that's all I have to say.

Alright, a lot of hoops to talk about, let's get to it:

• Pittsburgh 68, Notre Dame 66. What a great game to start the day. Notre Dame today was the perfect example of "live by the 3, die by the 3." Early on, they died, falling behind 25-12. Then, they couldn't miss, coming back to take a 49-44 second half lead. In fact, they went 20 minutes without making a 2 point basket. Then the momentum went back to Pitt, which took a 5 point lead with 3 minutes to go. But it swung back to the Irish after 6 straight Chris Quinn points to take a 1 point lead. Yet Pitt regained control, only to give ND a chance at the end to tie, but Chris Thomas's shot was no good. A great basketball game in which both teams left it all out on the floor.
• Syracuse 90, Villanova 75. This was definitely not the Syracuse team I've been accustomed to seeing this year. 57% shooting and 90 points??? This can't be Syracuse. Well, it was. Hakim Warrick: 32 points, 12 rebounds, Curtis Sumpter: 13 points, 3 rebounds. Villanova only made 8/26 3s as the Orange zone became more active and used its length to its advantage. Syracuse gets its rematch with Pitt Monday night in the Dome.
• Miami 83, Clemson 77. This victory sets up a must win home game vs. Wake Tuesday night for any chance at an NCAA berth.
• Illinois 70, Wisconsin 59. The game was played at Wisconsin's pace, but Illinois was in control of the tempo throughout, pulling away after some deep balls courtesy of Dee Brown. The Illini did a great job of limiting Mike Wilkinson to just 4 shot attempts in the game (he did make them all), and of staying patient offensively, waiting for their opportunities. Luther Head may be National Player of the Year. He had a measly 26 points and 8 rebounds, taking control in the 2nd half.
• Missouri 68, Oklahoma 65 (OT). This win may help Quin Snyder keep his job for another year.
• Texas 75, Kansas St. 72 (OT). Texas is hanging on for an NCAA bid. Daniel Gibson came up big for the 'Horns in OT, scoring 14 of his 23.
• UNLV 93, San Diego St. 91 (OT). UNLV trailed by 10 with 22 seconds left in regulation, yet came back, forced overtime, and won it. Amazing.
• Indiana 71, Minnesota 56. Another head scratcher. The Hoosiers are now 6-4 in the Big 10, which puts them in 4th, a half-game ahead of the Gophers. A week after appearing on the NCAA radar screen, Minnesota has that quickly disappeared from it. You deserve to lose if Pat Ewing Jr. scores 15 on you, on 6 shot attempts, and add in the fact that Bracey Wright didn't play??? It just may be 3 teams from the Big 10 getting in for the 2nd straight year. IU was efficient on offense, shooting 50%, making 8/13 3s
• Arkansas 65, LSU 62. LSU is now just 6-4 in the weak SEC West. The SEC may only get 3 teams in as well at this rate.
• DePaul 85, Cincinnati 66. UC should've forfeited this one and saved themselves the trip because they did not come to play today. I could've scored 10 points the way UC played defense today. But, I don't want to take anything away from DePaul, they showed why they belong in the field of 65. 47% shooting, a 35-26 advantage on the glass, and only 9 turnovers translate into a very efficient offensive game for the Demons.
• Iowa St. 81, Texas Tech 68. The Red Raiders got caught looking ahead to their Monday home date with Kansas. Meanwhile, the Cyclones have quietly won 5 straight to get to 5-5 in the Big 12 and are making a late run at an NCAA berth.
• Boston U. 61, Vermont 55. Despite 37 from Taylor Coppenrath (24 straight at one point), Vermont will most likely have to win their conference tourney to assure themselves of an NCAA berth.
• Ohio 61, Miami 57. The same may be true of the Redhawks after their loss in Athens today. A win would've given the Hawks a 3 game lead over everyone in the MAC with 5 to play, but some costly missed layups by Chet Mason denied Miami their 8th straight win.
• Old Dominion 82, Virginia Commonwealth 76. The Monarchs avenged their lone conference loss on national TV, and made a strong case for an at-large berth if they don't win the Colonial tourney. What impressed me about ODU was their teamwork. 57% shooting that was buoyed by 19 assists on their 32 made field goals. That is outstanding.
• Oklahoma St. 66, Texas A&M 59. The Cowboys may be starting to peak at the right time with wins over the Sooners and the Aggies this week. Aggie leader Antoine Wright only made 4/16 from the floor in a game the Aggies had to have for their NCAA chances. Even though JamesOn Curry only scored 5, OSU is a much better team with him in the starting lineup, evidenced by John Lucas getting free to score 18.
  
• Arizona 83, UCLA 73. The Wildcats took control early in the 2nd half, led by Salim Stoudamire's 22. All 5 UA starters scored in double figures, and the Wildcats shot 50% from the floor. The Bruins need to win out and go far in the Pac10 tourney to make the NCAAs.
• Charlotte 83, St. Louis 78 (OT). A perfect example of why Charlotte drives me nuts. The lights go on, they're a Top 15 team. But in a game like this, they don't show up and play down to the level of their competition. Show some consistency, please!!!!
• Maryland 99, Duke 92 (OT). The difference in this game was Duke's foul problems that forced them to go deep into their nonexistent bench in the overtime. J.J. Redick only made 5/19 from the field, and the Terps got to the foul line early and often, making 29/39. It took Duke a half to get their legs back from Wednesday's emotional win over Carolina, but Maryland had one more spurt in them after falling behind by 9 with 9 minutes to go. Now, can Maryland build off this week, or will they regress as they did before.
• Nevada 62, UTEP 60. This pretty much gives Nevada the WAC title and forces UTEP to win their bracket buster to have any chance at an at-large bid.
  
• Pacific 64, Utah St. 63. Another incredible comeback as Pacific trailed by 8 with 27 seconds left, yet on the road, came from behind to win. Pacific is in as far as I'm concerned and if they win out could end up with as high as a 7 seed.
• Right now, the ACC, Big East, Big 12, and Conference USA should get between 5-7 teams in. The SEC will get in 4-5 at the most. The Big 10 and Pac 10 are looking at 3 each, maybe 2 for the Pac10. The "mid-major" conferences like the MVC, WAC, MAC, and WCC deserve multiple bids this year, and with the mediocrity from some of the power conferences, it may actually happen this year.
• Big games tomorrow: N.Carolina at UConn, and NC State at Georgia Tech (more for how Tech will play in B.J. Elder's 2nd game back).

4 weeks until Selection Sunday!!!!!!