Game of the Night (2/25)

Duke Blue Devils 78 – Maryland Terrapins 67

In one of the most physical ACC games you’ll see, Duke was able to pull away from Maryland in the final minutes to spoil another Terrapin upset bid. Maryland, which defeated No. 3 North Carolina last Saturday night, would have guaranteed itself a spot in the NCAA Tournament with a win over No. 7 Duke last night. Maryland fed off the energy from the home crowd early on and led most of the first half even though Duke kept it close. Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez, who finished with a triple double against UNC and the leading scorer for Maryland, was virtually a non-factor against Duke, playing only 22 minutes due to foul trouble. Vasquez picked up his fourth foul just two minutes into the second half and sat on the bench for ten minutes before fouling out with four minutes to go in the game. Even without Vazquez, Maryland kept it close in the second half by being physical (just ask Duke’s Nolan Smith who had to leave the game with concussion-like symptoms after a hard-screen by Dave Neal) and attacking Duke inside the paint. Without an inside presence defensively, Duke had trouble stopping Maryland’s Landon Milbourne and Adrian Bowie who combined for 33 points, scoring most of them inside or at the foul line. Luckily for Duke, however, Gerald Henderson played one his most complete games of the year, tallying 19 points, 8 boards, 4 blocks, and 3 assists. Henderson’s electrifying blocks in the second half and one spectacular dunk silenced the crowd and shifted the momentum to the Blue Devils for good. Duke finally pulled away with five minutes to go and escaped the Comcast Center with a much needed victory. Elliot Williams also had his best game of the year adding 15 points on 6-8 shooting. Williams, a freshman McDonald’s All-American guard, has started the last three games after limited playing time the rest of the year. Although juggling the lineup this late in the season could disrupt the team’s rhythm, give Coach K credit for taking this necessary risk. Before inserting Williams into the lineup against St. John’s, Duke was showing signs of another late-season collapse, losing 4 of their last 6 in ACC play. Since making Williams a starter, however, Duke is 3-0, defeating St. John’s, No. 8 Wake Forest, and now Maryland. Williams is a solid defender who will not only contribute points and rebounds but will provide a spark to the rest of the team. This unorthodox move will payoff for Duke and give them a chance to compete for the ACC title in a couple of weeks.

Although Maryland’s win last week against North Carolina greatly improved its resume for March, the Terrapins still have work to do. Maryland is eighth in the conference and 6-7 in the ACC (17-10 overall). Maryland has a solid RPI and strength of schedule and two wins over top 10 opponents (UNC and Michigan State), but Maryland will need at least two more ACC wins to guarantee itself a spot in March Madness. Maryland’s only bad loss was to Morgan State in early January, but the beat-down it suffered at home to Georgetown is looking worse and worse as the Hoyas continue to fade in the Big East. Maryland plays at NC State, Wake Forest, and at Virginia to close out the regular season before heading to the ACC Tournament.

With this win, Duke improves to 9-4 in the ACC (23-5 overall) and is alone in second place after a Clemson loss last night. Duke finishes at Virginia Tech, and at home against No. 25 Florida State and No. 5 North Carolina. If Duke runs the table and reaches at least the final in the ACC Tournament, it has an outside chance at nabbing a number one seed in March, especially if Pittsburgh and Oklahoma continue to struggle. -J.S.

Honorable Mention: (2) Connecticut 93 --(10) Marquette 82 (Jim Calhoun earns 800th victory)

Game of the Night (2/24)

Pittsburgh Panthers 73 – Providence Friars 81

After rising to the number one spot Sunday and a week after beating then-number one ranked Connecticut, Pittsburgh fell rather easily to Providence. The Friars’ balanced attack (five players scored in double figures) overwhelmed Pittsburgh, who was in foul trouble the entire night. DeJuan Blair, the reigning Big East player of the week (after dominating Uconn’s Hasheem Thabeet), picked up his fourth foul midway through the second half, greatly diminishing his presence on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Fellow Pitt stars, Sam Young and Levance Fields struggled from the field, shooting a combined 9-25. The Friars led by 18 at halftime after going on a 15-1 run to close out the first half. Pittsburgh, which never led in the game, cut the lead to five points in the final minute but never came closer than that. This was the first time in 33 years that Providence defeated a number-one ranked team and the second time overall. This win will boost the Friars’ resume and improve their Big East record to 9-7 (17-11 overall). Although Providence has a strong record in conference, its only other signature win was against Syracuse back in January. The Friars have gone 2-7 against ranked Big East opponents, racking up most of their wins against the bottom part of the conference. This win should be enough to vault Providence over Cincinnati (17-10, 7-7) and Notre Dame (15-11, 6-8) both of whom have played tougher schedules. Providence can further improve its resume for March when it plays at No. 12 Villanova March 5, four days after playing Rutgers. On the other side, Pittsburgh (25-3, 12-3) may be in jeopardy of losing its all-but-guaranteed number one seed for March Madness. This was the second time in two months that Pittsburgh rose to the top spot before quickly falling (losing at No. 20 Louisville in January after two weeks at number one). The door is open for Connecticut, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Memphis, and Louisville to gain a number one seed for March. Pittsburgh will have to quickly regroup against Seton Hall before it hosts No. 10 Marquette and No. 2 Connecticut in its final two games before the Big East Tournament. -J.S.

Honorable Mention: Texas A&M 57 -- Nebraska 55

Game of the Night (2/16)

Pittsburgh 76 - Connecticut 68

In a rough game, one play pretty much summed up the game. Early in the first half, Pitt's sophomore DeJuan Blair threw UConn's junior Hasheem Thabeet over his back, sending a message to the Huskies that Thabeet would not control this game as he has so many others. Thabeet was coming off a career game against Seton Hall in which he put up career highs 25 points and 20 rebounds. He also rejected nine shots, putting his average at 4.4 a game. However, Thabeet, who may be the best defensive player in college basketball, could not stop Blair, who put 22 points and brought down an amazing 23 rebounds. He was a big part of the reason UConn was out rebounded for the first time this season. Blair dominated Thabeet and by doing so, kept his team ahead for much of the game. However, the game was tied at 61 until Pitt's senior guard Levance Fields scored his first six points of the game on two threes. Pitt never gave up the lead again and they took away a great win. This victory marked the first time Pitt beat a number one team and the top spot is up for grabs once again.  -A.S.

Game of the Night (2/11)

UNC 101 - Duke 87

In a game that marked the 40th time these two ACC rivals met where each have been in the top 5 in standing, UNC was able to use a strong second half to seal the victory. Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green joined a small group of players that won four straight games against the Blue Devils in Durham in the Mike Krzyzewski era; the other two players are Tim Duncan (Wake Forest) and Rusty LaRue (Wake Forest). However, the big star of the game was guard Ty Lawson who put up 25 points, 21 of which was in the second half. The Tar Heels used this strong performance coupled with Hansbrough's intensity and determination to overcome the loud Duke crowd. The Tar Heels now claim the number one spot in the very tough ACC, a spot which they hope to hold for the rest of the season. This match up was a game of two halves. The first half ended with Duke ahead by eight and all the momentum. The team was playing strong defense and great offense. However, UNC coach Roy Williams fired his team up during half time and they came out firing. After a technical foul on Duke's Kyle Singler and a Hansbrough block, the energy had moved to UNC's favor. With only seven minutes to go and up by seven, UNC went on a 10-0 run to basically put the game away. The end result was a fifth game for UNC over 100 points and another win at Cameron Indoor Stadium. -A.S.

Game of the Night (2/10)

Florida Gators 65 – Kentucky Wildcats 68

This Tuesday night matchup between two of the top teams in the SEC East was a back-and-forth battle that was decided in the game’s final seconds (actually the game’s final tenths of a second). Florida, coming into the night with a 6-2 conference record, tried to strengthen its hold on the SEC East and continue to build momentum after coming off a big win against South Carolina. Kentucky, on the other hand, needed to get back on track after losing three in a row and protect its home court before playing three of their next four away. Tonight’s game featured seventeen ties or lead changes, and the largest lead of the night by either team was eight. Florida jumped out to a quick lead, led by PG Nick Calathes, who scored a game-high 33 points. Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks helped the Wildcats stay close, scoring 23 on 7-19 shooting. After Florida F Dan Werner missed a free throw with 40 seconds to go that would have given Florida a 66-65 lead, Kentucky called two timeouts before finally putting the ball in Meeks’ hands. With 4.7 seconds to go, Meeks sunk an off-balance three giving Kentucky a three point lead. The Wildcats and their fans were deafening after the basket but were quickly silenced with .6 of a second remaining when Calathes was inexplicably fouled from three-point range by Kevin Galloway. Calathes, who had been 11-12 from the line only needed to make three foul shots to send the game into overtime…but he missed all three, allowing Kentucky to escape with a much-needed victory. The two will meet again in Gainesville on March 7 to close out the regular season. -J.S.

Game of the Night (2/8)

L.A. Lakers 101 -- Cleveland Cavaliers 91

In what was supposed to be a matchup between the two best players in the NBA, forgotten man Lamar Odom made sure he would not be in the shadows again. LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, the first and third leading scorers in the league respectively, finally met after wreaking havoc on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The Lakers came in riding a five game winning streak, including a thrilling OT win against Boston, while the Cavaliers sought to extend their 23 game winning streak at home. James and Bryant guarded each other the whole night and it showed. Each played solid defensively and they only combined for 35 points (Kobe was sick with the flu). However, where James and Bryant failed offensively, Odom did not. Odom put up game and season highs with 28 points and 17 rebounds. Odom, who was recently thrust into the starting lineup due to Andrew Bynum's injury, seized his opportunity while leading the Lakers to an impressive victory. L.A.'s significantly better shooting proved to be the deciding factor, outshooting Cleveland 49% to 39%. Odom energized his team in the third quarter to pull away after a relatively close first half. The Lakers outscored the Cavs by 15 in the third in what turned out the be the crucial quarter. Odom hit 5/6 shots while James missed all four of his, including two threes. In a game between the two best teams and the two best players, Lamar Odom showed L.A's depth is the best in the NBA and should not be underestimated come playoff time. -A.S.