Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Here are news and notes from OffshoreInsiders.com private clipboard. They are compiled from hometown newspapers and the team’s own press releases.
CBB
Xavier-Duquesne
Post Gazette
Duquesne coach Ron Everhart opened up the court to give his players an opportunity to utilize their quickness and athletic skills to overcome their lack of height. It was a gamble that quickly has hit the jackpot for the Dukes, who wore down Dayton, 93-89, and Temple, 96-92, after a 101-87 loss at Massachusetts that would have been a lot closer had they made their free throws in the final minutes. Duquesne hadn’t scored 90 or more points in consecutive games since 1992-93 and had its highest points total against a Temple team. The Dukes had scored more than 80 points only once in 47 previous games against the Owls. Everhart’s biggest concern about Xavier is the little point guard who runs the show, 5-7 Drew Lavender, who is in his first season with the Musketeers after transferring from Oklahoma. He is a one-man press-breaker who will put Duquesne’s defense to its toughest test yet. Neither Dayton nor Temple had a true playmaker to direct traffic against Duquesne’s relentless pressure, which created a total of 53 turnovers in those two games. The Musketeers are living up to their preseason billing as the team to beat in the A-10. The Dukes, meanwhile, are inching up in the standings and find themselves in the middle of the pack rather than near the bottom as was predicted before the season.
Wisconsin-Indiana
Appleton Post Crescent
Wisconsin is the only Big Ten team without a conference loss. Wisconsin leads the Big Ten in scoring defense at 56.6 points per conference game. Overall, UW is 13th in the nation in scoring defense at 57.5 points. The Badgers are 5-0 in true road games this season. Indiana is 27-4 all-time against the Badgers at Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers have won 13 straight games at Assembly Hall.
George Washington-Dayton
Rivals
The Dayton Flyers finally return home after what seems like a 25-game road trip, when in all actuality it was just two games. Dayton dropped both road games last week, but return home to face streaking George Washington on Wednesday evening at UD Arena. While the two teams may be headed in opposite directions, the Flyers have yet to lose on their home floor all season long.
Vanderbilt-Tennessean
Tennessean
Asking if it’s tough to play at the O’Connell Center, home of the top-ranked defending national champion Florida Gators, is about like asking if it’s tough to play in The Swamp — the school’s football counterpart.“There are a lot of tough places in our league, but it’s as difficult as any,” Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings said of his team’s next destination, as the 24th-ranked Commodores Wednesday night go looking for their third straight Southeastern Conference road win against a Top 25 opponent. Riding a four-game winning streak, including victories at Kentucky and Louisiana State, the Commodores have every reason to feel good about themselves.
Stats Inc.
The Commodores started the season 1-3, but have since won 14 of 17. They are 5-0 against ranked opponents during that stretch, with wins over Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky and LSU.
Memphis-Central Florida
Stats Inc.
Since a 79-71 loss on Dec. 20 to then-No. 9 Arizona, Memphis (17-3, 7-0) has won nine in a row while building a 2 ½-game conference lead over second-place teams Central Florida (15-5, 4-2), Houston and Rice. For the third straight game, Memphis was held below 40 percent from the field and failed to record more than 10 assists.Despite his team nearly getting upset, Calipari thought the game was important for the development of his team, which starts three sophomores and a freshman. Chris Douglas-Roberts returned to the lineup Saturday after missing the two previous games because of a high ankle sprain. The sophomore guard, who leads the team with 14.8 points per game, was only 3-of-7 from the field but got to the free-throw line 12 times and made nine to finish with 15 points. Memphis has won by double digits in all three of its league games on the road after losing its only two true road games in non-conference play at Tennessee and Arizona. This will be Memphis’ first game at Central Florida, which has won 12 straight home games since a Feb. 15 loss to Houston. All four previous meetings were in Memphis and the Tigers won them all, including a 94-61 victory last season. The only other time a ranked team played at UCF Arena came on Dec. 12, 2002, and the Golden Knights upset then-No. 25 College of Charleston 82-64. Central Florida is 0-15 in all other games against ranked teams.The Golden Knights are returning home to play in front of a sellout crowd after playing six of its eight games this month, including the last two, on the road.
Minnesota-Northwestern
Press Notes
Minnesota takes to the road hoping to snap an eight-game road losing streak in Evanston, Ill. Minnesota junior center Spencer Tollackson has missed the past five games due to a broken left (non-shooting) hand. Tollackson is listed as questionable for tonight’s game. Minnesota holds a 82-56 all-time lead in the series (not including vacated games). The Wildcats lead the series in Evanston 36-33. Northwestern has won the last six meetings including a, 55-40 win in Minneapolis on January 20. The Gophers snapped their five-game losing streak Saturday with a 65-60 victory over Penn State. Northwestern had the weekend off after battling Ohio State to the final minutes before losing 59-50 in Evanston on Wednesday.
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