That this was not a vintage Jay Wright Villanova squad that visited the Yum! last evening is of little consequence, Louisville’s ten point victory was huge.
The visitors outscored U of L 40-22 in the paint. No problem.
The Wildcats also had more second chance points, and more points off turnovers. No problem.
Sparkplug Russ Smith fouled out, after making a key second half bucket, a left handed one at that. (More about that 5th foul later.) Starting to reach his potential, Chane Behanan (18/7) fouled out. No problem.
Gorgui Dieng played the last nine minutes plus with four fouls. No problem. Another double double (12/13). Plus 3 assists and a couple of swats. He hit all four of his important free throws late. Speaking of those freebies . . . Read More »
I’m not sure Ed Reid and Joe Flacco will be golfing together this week at Kaanapali Beach or anything, but the Baltimore QB, answering his teammate’s challenge, certainly did his part to get the Ravens to OT.
But kicker Billy Cundiff might draw the defensive ace’s ire. He went wide left from 32 yards for the game tying attempt with seconds to play.
Other than that, I’m not sure I’ve got much to say about that AFC title battle. I watched it. I would have liked it better if New England had lost. It was a tight, but not especially scintillating encounter. (Then again, maybe it was, and I’m simply numb. I’ve been watching futbol/ football since 8:30 this morning, and my eyes feel like they’re made of pigskin.) Read More »
For reasons too uninteresting to explain, I have become a fan of Tottenhem Hotspur, a soccer team in Britain’s Premier League. (I shall also save my reasons for becoming a soccer fan in general this late in life. I know you could care less.)
Anyway, my Hotspur — What a great nickname, a reason for part of my affection for sure! — stands third in the league, and met leader Manchester City today. The game was on Fox Soccer with an 8:25 am kickoff. Kind of Breakfast at Wimbledon, Winter Edition.
Only the few avid soccer fans who might come across this blog could care about the details. Luckily, I’m not going into many, since my knowledge of the game is most rudimentary. (I would have passed along the observations of the color announcer, but the bloke’s Scottish brogue was so thick I simply couldn’t understand him.)
I can say the first half was seriously underwhelming. It ended nil-nil. Not that a scoreless game is de facto unexciting. But this one was. Read More »
I’m not sure there is much comfort in this, but Louisville fans now understand there’s a Big East team experiencing a significantly more disappointing season than the Cardinals.
Holy cow, Panthers at the Pete, it was hard to recognize ya.
Jamie Dixon’s squad is truly woeful.
How weird is it that the Red & Black Nation is breathing somewhat easier this morning because of a workmanlike W over the league’s cellar dweller, a school that’s lost eight in a row, and hasn’t captured a league game yet?
Very weird.
Yet, a win is a win is a win. To quote someone significantly more literary than myself. Read More »
Kentucky’s 6 point W over Bama in Rupp may have been its most impressive victory of the year. It certainly smacked of — no other way to say it — maturity.
The Crimson Tide never let UK out of its sight. Kentucky was up 5 at the half, and, if memory serves, never led by more than the final margin after the break.
But Kentucky never faltered, staying within its system, and displaying patience for the entire game. More important, the Cats were 23 of 29 at the free throw line in the second half. Including 8 for 8 in the final minute.
That’s the sign of — here’s that reference again — a maturing outfit.
Alabama, coming off a disappointing L at home less that 48 hours ago, never gave up. They were relentless. And, frankly, as impressive as UK in their own right. JaMychal Green (22/12) and Trevor Releford (17 points, all in the second half) can play for my club. In fact, if we could fly ‘em up to Pittsburgh, I’d stick them both in the starting lineup right now. Even with a tough game today already under their belts. Read More »
That was the observation of color analyst Len Elmore, a man normally measured in his comments, an eloquent man disinclined to hyperbolize.
It came with seven and a half minutes to play and Louisville 7 down but without hope in its MlKJr afternoon meltdown in Milwaukee. The Cardinals were outscored 45-72 in the final 33:49 after leading 18-2. All Buzz Williams did was switch from zone to man, and the Cards were flummoxed.
Elmore again: “I’m not surprised Marquette came back. I didn’t think they’d do it so quickly.” Read More »
During a timeout with 12:33 to play in Bellarmine’s coulda woulda shoulda mighta been more definitve homecourt W over Top 10 co-inhabitant Northern Kentucky last night, coach Scotty Davenport had a play in mind when coming out of the stoppage.
Knight ace Jeremy Kendle, who is to Davenport as Billy Donovan was to Rick Pitino at Providence, had another set in mind. Davenport mulled over the suggestion throughout the timeout. When his charges were returning to the court, he gave Kendle the go ahead for his call. After the perfect execution of which, and the Knights once double digit lead increasing by the deuce to 6, Kendle ran into defensive position smiling at his coach.
Having a leaders like Kendle (and Braydon Hobbs) on the court is a good thing when you are trying to repeat as national champs.
Not that Davenport doesn’t know what he’s doing. Read More »
Anybody watching Tennessee’s battle with UK yesterday understands why schools were fighting for the services of Jarnell Scott.
Cuonzo Martin must surely be pleased that this front court playah could find in Knoxville the right major for his future field of endeavor. The student athlete can surely help resurrect a program savaged by Bruce Pearl’s duplicitous scofflaw regime.
Scott gave the Wildcat bigs a run for their money yesterday.
* * * * *
Speaking of the Coach Cal’s Cats, they had two major wins on the road this week. Tony Barbee looks to have Auburn on the uptick, making them a tough win on the plains. A visit to Big Orange Country is never a picnic in January or February. Read More »
That this was not a vintage Jay Wright Villanova squad that visited the Yum! last evening is of little consequence, Louisville’s ten point victory was huge.
