Sure felt like March tonight

Opening Thoughts: I'm still not sure what I'm giving up or going to do extra for Lent. Any ideas would be welcomed. My oral presentation in micro was ok. It was going pretty well until I stumbled at the end by handing out the wrong table (I could've distributed a better one to support my presentation better), so oh well.

Now, for tonight's basketball roundup:

• Memphis 85, Louisville 68. It says something when you go into Freedom Hall and win by 17!!!! It also says something when you shoot 51% from the field on as the visiting team and hold the home team to 33% shooting. Memphis's Rodney Carney showed why he is one of the top 5 freshmen in America, scoring 24 tonight. With this win, don't count the Tigers out for the NCAAs. Sitting at 14-10, 7-3 in Conference USA, they are back on the bubble and have come together as a team after finally getting rid of troublemaker Sean Banks. A road trip to Charlotte and a home date against Louisville provide the Tigers two more chances to rack up quality wins. They also still have to play Cincinnati, but that's a home game. Unfortunately, Memphis's only quality win is tonight's at Louisville, so they need to win out to give themselves a chance. Every team has a major slipup in February, but it's how Louisville bounces back that will determine how far they will go in March. This should be the last 1/8 night of the year for Francisco Garcia.
• Miami 54, Ball St. 52. The Redhawks literally stole one tonight as Nathan Peavy's layup, although I have not personally seen it, has been heard to have been a half second after the buzzer. But since there was no TV, the play couldn't be reviewed and the basket counted. The Redhawks are now firmly the #1 team in the MAC, 2 games ahead of Kent in the East and 3 games ahead of the 4 way log jam that is 1st place in the West. Miami has to be concerned with their foul shooting. The Hawks only made 7/16 tonight.
• Michigan St. 83, Ohio St. 69. The Buckeyes will be better off when Thad Matta brings his own players in and Jim O'Brien's players leave (see Brandon Fuss-Cheatham and Tony Stockman). Against big-time opponents, they are unable to sustain 40 minutes of effort. Tonight, they played a great half, but didn't have it in the 2nd half to win. The Spartans shot 52% from the floor, only committed 10 turnovers, and outrebounded the Bucks 37-20!!!! The Spartans will not be going down in the 1st round this year, they play hard and understand what they do well and know how to play together.
• Northwestern 55, Minnesota 53. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad loss for the Gophers. To lose to a bottom-dweller on your home floor after the week you just had is devastating. Vincent Grier did his part, scoring 32 for the 2nd straight game, making 9/16 shots. The problem was the rest of his team only made a combined 6/22 and committed 23 turnovers. Against Northwestern!!!! How do you commit 23 turnovers against a team that runs the Princeton offense???? Did I mention this was a bad loss?
• TCU 63, Marquette 62. Marquette is now 4-6 in Conference USA. That's not going to get it done, especially if Memphis finishes strong. Memphis beat Marquette at the beginning of the year so they have the head-to-head edge.
• Duke 71, North Carolina 70. Duke deserved to win this game because of their ability to control the tempo and the intensity they displayed on the defensive end. Yet Carolina had a shot at the end to win, but they doomed themselves by calling timeout, which allowed Duke to set up their defense. Coaches, please listen: Don't call timeout to set up your offense at the end of games!!!! It doesn't work!!!! The defense can set up and defend, whereas if you don't call timeout, the defense can't prepare for what you're going to run. Of course, Coach K told his team what to look for, which they got. The Heels ran a play that beat UConn last year, but the Dukies had it scouted and were ready. Even though Daniel Ewing and J.J. Redick hit big shots, my MVP was DeMarcus Nelson. 16 points, including 2 big 3s and tenacious defense gave Duke the working margin they maintained for most of the 2nd half. Sean May was a beast for Carolina, scoring 23 points and 18 rebounds, almost as many as Duke had as a team. But what cost Carolina was Raymond Felton's freshman-like play. 13 points on 5/10 shooting, but 8 turnovers???? Too many times, Felton was playing too quickly or penetrating too deep into no man's land, giving the ball up carelessly. In UNC's two toughest games, at Wake, and tonight, Felton has been outplayed by his counterpart. Until tonight, I didn't think Illinois could beat Carolina if they were to meet because Carolina is deeper, bigger, more talented, and more physical. But watching Duke, not as talented as Illinois, control the tempo the way they did against Carolina, leads me to believe Illinois's fine guards can do the same against the Tar Heels. Finally, say what you want about Duke, but they play balls out every minute, every night. On paper, they should've lost this game by 10, but they fight hard and they don't take winning for granted. In my opinion, this is Coach K's best coaching job of his career, getting this team into a tie for 1st in the ACC.
  

How does every Carolina/Duke game come down to the last possession??? It's amazing how EVERY game is so close. You can't find that anywhere else.