November 23, 2011
Lets shoot right into today’s NCAA Daily:
Memphis Survives Monster Maymon Performance, Win In 2OT Thriller
(Jason Smith/CommercialAppeal.com)
In one of the better games I have seen in the NCAA Basketball season thus far, the #8 Memphis Tigers outlasted the Tennessee Volunteers in a 99-97 double overtime thriller. This was the first consolation game of the day at the Maui Invitational Tournament, but it was definitely exciting and had a couple monster performances by very different prospects. The brothers Barton (Will and Antonio) both had great days for the Tigers, but the story of the game was the huge game by burly PF Jeronne Maymon.
Breaking the Maui Invitational record with 20 rebounds (9 offensive), Maymon also dropped in 32 points and was an utter force in the paint. The 6’7 and 265 Maymon is a classic college PF and he was the most crucial factor in the game heading into OT. Meanwhile, Will Barton, the slender sophomore wing, finished with career a high 25 points and 11 caroms. Antonio Barton had 21 while freshman Adonis Thomas had a solid 19 points for the winning team.
This game definitely was full of thrilling shots and big moments. Jeronne Maymon had some late game heroics in picking up a monster offensive rebound to keep the game close and than sending it to OT with a beautiful cutting lay-in through the lane. It went back and forth until the Tigers built up a 2 point lead with only seconds remaining. Will Witherspoon intercepted an inbounds pass to Trae Golden, but was called for traveling, giving the Vols the ball with 0.8 seconds left. The Vols in bounded to Maymon, but he through up an air ball as time expired. Still, this was what college basketball was all about, two great teams and some terrific performances.
Missouri Dominant in CBE Championship Win Over Cal
(Vahe Gregorian/STLToday.com)
The California Golden Bears came into the game with the higher ranking, but the Missouri Tigers left with an incredibly convincing win on the way to the CBE Championship. #21 Mizzou continued their dominating play over the early season destroying the #18 Golden Bears 92-53. The victory was Missouri’s largest win over a ranked opponent, unofficially, since 1949. The scary thing is, star guard Marcus Denmon calls Mizzou “a work in progress”.
Missouri had 6 players in double figures, with Denmon scoring 18 and Kim English putting in 19. Missouri also shot 58.8% from the field while holding Cal to 29.8% shooting on the game. They also forced the Golden Bears to commit 21 TO’s. First year coach Frank Haith (former coach of Miami (FL)), truly seems to have his team running on all cylinders.
Cal was considered to be the cream of the crop in the Pac-12 this season, and I do not think this game necessarily changes that perception. However, it definitely shows that the Big 12 may be dominated by the scrappy guard play and defense of the Missouri Tigers. Expect Missouri to move up in the rankings, and in a Big 12 with a number of rebuilding teams, it looks like Missouri may be the team to beat.
Duke Downs Michigan En Route To Maui Finals
(Joanne C. Gerstner/FoxSportsDetroit.com)
The Blue Devils were lead once again by Austin Rivers and Seth Curry, with a definite dose of help coming from their size on the interior, to beat the Wolverines 82-75. The Blue Devils shot a fantastic 56.5% on the game and caught Michigan out of position defensively on numerous occasions. Rivers scored a game high 20 while Curry put up 17, missing only one shot on the game. Michigan once again had strong performances from Tim Hardaway Jr. and freshman PG Trey Burke, finishing with 19 and 17 respectively. Duke will take on Kansas in the Maui Finale while Michigan will try to topple UCLA in the consolation game.
Reggie Bullock, Tar Heels Topple TSU Tigers
(Rob Harrington/Indyweek.com)
Sophomore wing Reggie Bullock had the performance of his young career on 8-10 FG and 6-7 from 3 while finishing with 23 points in 18 minutes. The Tar Heels won the game 102-69, getting 16 points from Harrison Barnes and John Henson, 12 from Tyler Zeller and Kendall Marshall dishing 15 assists. Very encouraging game by Bullock, who had his season last year ended by a knee injury. He was a highly regarded wing known for his long distance shooting and gives the Tar Heels an incredible amount of fire power at the 2/3 positions.
Elijah Johnson Leads Kansas To Victory Over UCLA
(Austin Meek/The Capital Journal)
Elijah Johnson scored a career high 23 points and torched the guards of UCLA to lead his #14 Jayhawks to the Maui Invitational Finals against Duke. Johnson had 4 triples on the game, his first double figure scoring game of the season and flashed the ability that has him on many peoples NBA Draft Radar. Thomas Robinson had yet another double double for Kansas, going for 15 and 10 in the 72-58 victory.
UCLA were lead by Jeremy Lamb with 15 and Lazeric Jones with 14. Joshua Smith had a pretty poor showing after dominating Chaminade in UCLA’s previous game, getting a single point and rebound while fouling out in 13 minutes. The Bruins were also out rebounded 32-21 in the loss, while being held to 36% shooting compared to the 51% by the Jayhawks.
Louisville Holds Arkansas State to 27 in Victory
(C.L. Brown/Courier Journal)
In a score that might seem more reminiscent of a football game between Louisville and Arkansas State, the #7 Cardinals eased their way to a 54-27 victory. People suffering from insomnia were urged to watch this sleeper. I mean, I honestly cannot remember a score being this low in college basketball in a long time. While Rick Pitino must have loved the defensive effort of his team, Louisville was also held to 37% shooting.
The Cardinals are still without star PG Peyton Siva and were lead by 12 from Kyle Kuric and 10 from Gorgui Dieng (who also had 7 boards and 4 blocks). Arkansas State shot an abysmal 24.4% FG and 1-10 from long distance. Seems like Louisville could have just let them shoot open shots from the charity stripe and still have not done too badly, as Arkansas State finished 6-18 from the FT line as well.
Baylor Best South Carolina St., 70-50
(Stephen Hawkins/Chron.com)
On a day full of new career highs, Anthony Jones had one of his own for Baylor with 21 points to lead the Bears to another early season victory. After going into the half with only a 5 point lead, Jones hit a couple of consecutive triples to start the second half seeing Baylor go on a 14-0 run through the first 4 minutes. The #9 Bears also had 11 points from Pierre Jackson and 9 from sophomore transfer Brady Heslip. Quincy Miller was held to single digits for the first time this season, finishing with only 5 points in the contest for the 4-0 Bears. After hosting 3-0 Texas-Arlington tonight, the Bears will finally gain the services of Perry Jones III, who along with Miller give Baylor two of the more talented players in all of college basketball. Whether the Bears become serious contenders rest largely on the shoulders of those two players to dominate their match-ups.
Badgers Bludgeon Kangaroos, 77-31
(Charles F. Gardner/Journal Sentinel)
In a game similar to Louisville, with at least a better offensive output from the victors, #11 Wisconsin destroyed the University of Missouri Kansas City, 77-31. UMKC did not have a player score more than 7 points and shot 11-53 from the field, a 20.8% clip. Yikes. Meanwhile, the Badgers shot over 50% from the field while making 13 three-point bombs. 6’10 junior Center Jared Berggren, who had a point for every minute he played on 8-9 shooting from the field and 4-4 treys, led Wisconsin. Star PG Jordan Taylor had 9 points, 6 boards and 6 dimes in the victory as well for the 4-0 Badgers.
LaSalle Keeps Another Big East Opponent Close, Falling to Pitt, 73-69
(John Grupp/PittsburghLive.com)
LaSalle is 2-2 on the year, both losses coming in tight games to Big East opponents. Their first loss was to Villanova in OT, and yesterday the Explorers lost to #16 Pittsburgh by only 4 points. Nasir Robinson lead Pitt with 17 points on 8-10 shooting from the field and Travon Woodall also had 12 points and 10 helpers for the Panthers. Star guard Ashton Gibbs had 14 points, but was only 3-15 from the field. LaSalle’s Earl Pettis scored 22 points and the Explorers got 12-point games from guard Sam Mills and F/C Devon White.
Georgetown Handles Chaminade, 88-61
(AP/Washington Post)
In a game that was definitely the least attended during yesterday’s Maui Invitational, Georgetown handled their business by beating host school Chaminade. Those who did watch witnessed a fantastic shooting day for Georgetown guard Jason Clark, who made his first 6 three-pointers and finished with 28 points. Freshman Otto Porter finished with 17 for the Hoyas as well, grabbing 7 boards as they won the rebounding battle 37-19 over the Silverswords. Waly Coulibaly definitely earned himself a spot on the tournaments “All-Name Team” and had a pretty nice shooting performance for Chaminade with 18 points on 7-9 FG.
Hope that everyone has a great day before Thanksgiving tomorrow! I will be back after Turkey Day with even more NCAA Basketball news, so stay tuned!
