Archive for December, 2011

Conference Opener Results (Tues, Wed, Thurs Games)

Published by Source on December 30th, 2011

Conference play got underway for most of the college basketball world this week. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday featured some high quality match-ups in the B1G, Big East, MAC, Horizon and Missouri Valley. Below are the results for the 3 days worth of games, plus some highlighted individual performances.

Note: Bottom team is home, bold italic indicates winner, all ranks are from the AP, any overtimes are indicated above the score.

TUESDAY:

**2OT**

72    Minnesota (12-2, 0-1 B1G) – R Sampson III: 22 pts, 9 reb, 2 blk / J Welch: 15 pts, 3 ast

81    Illinois (12-2, 3-0 B1G) - M Leonard: 20 pts, 11 reb, 5 blk / B Paul: 21 pts, 7 reb, 6 ast

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64    #11 Wisconsin (12-2, 1-0 B1G) - R Evans: 22 pts, 6 reb, 9-11 FG / J Taylor: 15 pts, 5 ast, 3 stl

40    Nebraska (8-4, 0-1 B1G) - T McCray: 16 pts, 9 reb, 2 stl / B Ubel: 8 pts, 9 reb

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59    #22 Pittsburgh (11-3, o-1 Big East) - T Zanna: 13 pts, 12 reb, 5-10 FG / A Gibbs: 12 pts, 5 ast

72    Notre Dame (9-5, 1-0 Big East) - A Dragicevich: 22 pts, 2 reb, 4-7 3pFG / J Cooley: 8 pts, 14 reb, 2 blk

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Crandall Head leaving Illinois

Published by Source on December 27th, 2011

Illinois sophomore guard Crandall Head announced Tuesday that he had withdrawn from the University and will seek a transfer. Head, the younger brother of former Illinois star and NBA guard Luther Head, told IlliniHQ’s Paul Klee that the decision came down to just needing a fresh start. “I still love the players and the coaches,” he said. “It’s just not the right place for me.”

Head is a product of Rich South High School in Richton Park, IL and came to the Illini as the #84 overall prospect in the 2010 Rivals150. Head coach Bruce Weber’s 2010 class was a good one, featuring Head, current sophomore big man Meyers Leonard (#31 overall) and former wing Jereme Richmond (#35). Richmond left after last season and went undrafted, so Head’s departure leaves Leonard as the only remaining verbal commitment from that class.

Because of the timing of his departure, Head will be eligible next season as a mid-year transfer and will be able to play at the start of the second semester. The 6’5″ guard will be going through the recruiting process a second time now, and the Windy City Source will provide any and all updates regarding his future destination.

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New look AP and Coaches Polls

Published by Source on December 12th, 2011

It’s Monday afternoon, and that means the latest editions of the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls have been released. Two B1G teams have made their poll debut this week, while the conference continues to hold strong overall.

Indiana, fresh off of a huge upset of #1 Kentucky Saturday night, enters the polls at #18 (AP) and #20 (Coaches). This marks the Hoosiers’ (9-0) first appearance in the national rankings since March of 2008, and the first week under Tom Crean. Kentucky fell to #3 in each poll after the loss, but still received 4 first-place votes in the AP.

Michigan State (8-2) is ranked for the first time this year, earning #21 from the AP and #23 from the coaches. The Spartans started the season 0-2 with losses to North Carolina and Duke, but have not lost since then and enter the rankings on an 8-game winning streak.

Ohio State (8-1) held on to the #2 ranking in both polls despite losing in Lawrence to the Kansas Jayhawks. The Buckeyes have been without their star All-American candidate Jared Sullinger for two games, and the absence of the big man clearly had an impact on Saturday’s loss to KU.

Wisconsin (8-2) holds in the middle of the pack at #14 AP / #15 Coaches. Illinois extended its undefeated season to 10-0 and stands at #19 in both. Michigan (7-2) makes it 7 ranked teams for the B1G Conference, as they are #20 AP / #18 Coaches.

Regional Big East team Marquette is also undefeated (9-0) and stands at #11 in both polls. Creighton suffered its first loss of the season (7-1) to unranked Saint Joseph’s Saturday but still held onto a #25 AP / #24 Coaches ranking.

After the jump, you can check out the full rankings:

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Posted in Illinois, Indiana, Marquette, Michigan, Michigan State, Mid Major, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin

A signature win for Indiana

Published by Source on December 10th, 2011

The Build-up

Despite being 8-0 and winning each game by more than 10 points, Indiana was not favored to win today at Assembly Hall. In fact, most people outside of Indiana did not even really think twice about Indiana’s chance to win today. The reason? The top-ranked, undefeated and uber-talented rival Kentucky Wildcats were coming to town.

John Calipari’s bunch was fresh off of a win over previously top-ranked North Carolina that vaulted them up to that number 1 spot. In addition to that, Indiana hadn’t beaten UK since 2007. But none of that matter to Tom Crean and the Indiana Hoosiers. Because of that, their program has been changed forever.

Most Hoosier fans will tell you that this year’s IU team has been playing better than the non-ranking given to them by national media. They have been receiving votes in each poll but had yet to crack the Top 25. Indiana’s first 8 wins did not exactly come against top competition, though they had won 2 true road games (Evanston and NC State) and a tough home win over Butler. There was a lot to be excited about in Bloomington and with an entire week to prepare for this game, Hoosier Nation was in heavy anticipation for their date with Number One.

Kentucky came into Saturday’s game with 8 wins of their own, coming against the likes of UNC, Kansas and St. Johns, but had yet to play a true road game. With a young team, a road trip to a wild environment like Assembly Hall is a real challenge.

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B1G Wins Third Straight Challenge over ACC

Published by Source on December 1st, 2011

After losing each of the first ten years of the Big Ten / ACC Challenge, the B1G Conference has turned the table and won it for the third straight year. In the first year of a 12-team conference (and therefore a 12-game challenge), the B1G took 8 of the games and won the annual event 8-4. Below we have the results of all 12 games, as well as some stats for each. The B1G won 4 out of 6 games in each of the two days and entered Wednesday needing 3 wins to clinch. After winning the first 3 games of the day, the conference fans could rest easy and enjoy some solid basketball in the Wednesday late games.

(home team listed on bottom, winning team in bold italic)

TUESDAY GAMES:

63    #4 Duke (7-1, 0-1 away) – A Rivers: 22 pts, 3 ast, 8-18 FG

85    #2 Ohio State (7-0, 7-0 home) - A Craft: 17 pts, 5 reb, 8 ast

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