Wednesday News and Notes

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

 

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CBB

Ohio State-North Carolina

Press Notes

Ohio State will be participating in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge for the fifth-consecutive year. Ohio State first participated in the event during the 2002-03 season against Duke in Greensboro, N.C., a 91-75 Blue Devils’ victory. Georgia Tech traveled to Ohio State in 2004 and won 73-53. The Buckeyes traveled to Clemson in 2004-05 and fell to the Tigers, 80-73. Ohio State defeated Virginia Tech in Columbus a year ago, 69-59, for its first victory in the event. The last time Ohio State was ranked No. 1 in either the coaches or media men’s basketball poll was against Cincinnati (3/24/62) in a loss to the No. 2-ranked Bearcats (71-59) in national title game in Louisville, Ky. Ohio State is 49-3 all-time as the No. 1 team (AP). Ohio State’s last four games as the No. 1 team have been played on neutral courts. The Buckeye’s last true road game as the No. 1 team was a loss at Wisconsin (3/3/62), 86-67. North Carolina enters the game ranked No. 6/7. Ohio State is 45-36 all-time when playing in a game in which both teams are ranked. The Buckeyes are 201-51 when playing with an AP Top 10 ranking. Ohio State is 300-91 when playing with an AP Top 25 ranking.

Iowa-Virginia Tech

Press Notes

Iowa (2-3) concludes a five-game road swing Wednesday, Nov. 29 at Virginia Tech (3-2) as part of the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Game time is 6:05 p.m. CT at VTU’s Cassell Coliseum (9,847). Iowa dropped a 67-64 contest at Arizona State Nov. 25 in its last outing after posting a 1-2 record in the Paradise Jam. Iowa defeated Toledo 78-65 in the first round before losing to 10^th-ranked Alabama 72-60 in the semi-finals and Villanova 89-60 in the consolation round. Virginia Tech is 3-2 on the season after dropping two of three games in the Old Spice Classic in Florida. The Hokies defeated lost to Southern Illinois 69-64 Sunday after a 77-56 win over Montana and a 71-68 loss to Western Michigan. Iowa holds a 2-3 record in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, including a 2-0 record at home, an 0-1 record on the road and an 0-2 record at neutral sites. Iowa lost to Maryland in Baltimore in 2000 before defeating Georgia Tech in Iowa City in 2001. Iowa lost to Duke at the United Center in Chicago in 2002 and lost at Florida State in 2003. The Hawkeyes defeated North Carolina State 45-42 in Iowa City a year ago. Iowa did not participate in the event in 2004 and 2005.

Miami (Oh)-Xavier

Press Notes

Xavier is off to a 4-1 start with its lone loss to Alabama, 55-63, in its final game of the Paradise Jam. In its most recent game, Xavier collected an 86-68 win against American on Saturday. Wednesday marks the 94^th meeting between Miami and Xavier with the Musketeers holding a 48-45 edge in the all-time series. When playing on Xavier’s home court, the Musketeers are 30-17 against the RedHawks. Last season, the Musketeers posted a 75-65 win at Millett Hall. The last time the teams met at the Cintas Center (Nov. 22, 2004), Miami collected a 66-54 win to snap a seven-game losing skid on Xavier’s home court. Miami University’s men’s basketball team continues a four-game road stretch when it travels to Xavier. Illinois, which entered its Nov. 24 game against the RedHawks averaging 81.2 ppg, 41.2 rpg and shooting .511 from the field, was bothered by a persistent RedHawk defense which gave up just 51 points to the Illini, out-rebounded them by six boards and held them to 37.8 percent shooting from the field. It also was the smallest margin of victory for Illinois this season, with no team getting within 20 points of the Illini in their previous five wins. Rutgers’ 44 points against Miami on Nov. 25 marked the fifth time this season the RedHawks have restricted an opponent to less than 60 points. The previous day, Miami held Illinois, which was averaging over 80 points per game, to 51 points. Over the past three seasons, Miami has confined opponents to less than 60 points 33 times, including 16 times last season.

Virginia-Purdue

Associated Press

Virginia (4-0) played each of its first four games at the John Paul Jones Arena, which opened this year. They christened the arena with a 93-90 victory over then-No. 10 Arizona on Nov. 12, and won their next three games by an average of more than 25 points. The Cavaliers entered the rankings this week for the first time since Dec. 27, 2004. However, Virginia now hits the road, where it went 2-11 last season. The Cavaliers haven’t won more than three road games in a season since going 5-6 away from home in 2000-01.Virginia has managed to win its first road game in each of the last three seasons, including 2003-04 and 2004-05, when it also opened with four home games.

Clemson-Minnesota

Scout.com

Clemson has a 5-2 record in the ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge. Only Duke (7-0) and Wake Forest (6-1) have a better record. Clemson has won its first seven games for the second straight year. The Tigers won their first 11 games last year.

Rutgers-Temple

Press Notes

The Owls lead the all-time series with the Scarlet Knights, 31-18, however, Rutgers has won five of the last six meetings including four straight. Last season, Temple got a 67-53 win at the RAC.

Kent-Cleveland State

Press Notes

The Golden Flashes (4-2) had their two-game winning streak snapped in heartbreaking fashion Saturday night, falling at Butler University 83-80 in a thrilling double-overtime classic. Cleveland State (4-3) has won three straight and is off to its best start since 1999-98 in its first season under the direction of Waters, who coached the Golden Flashes for five seasons from 1996-2001, leading KSU to its first two NCAA Tournament appearances.  Most recently the Vikings picked up a 59-53 road win at the University of Delaware  on Sunday.  Kent State leads the all-time series between the two schools, 24-18, and has won six straight against the Vikings.  The Flashes are 3-2 all-time at the Wolstein Center and won last year’s meeting in Kent by an 83-68 score (Dec. 3, 2005).