SB Nation - Washington Huskies

Big 12 Pac-10 Hardwood Series Tally - Game 11

Evan Pfaff — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:36:50 -0000

Big 12 Pac 10 Hardwood Series (Photo courtesy big12sports.com)

This count will be updated at the completion of each game of the Big 12 / Pac-10 Hardwood Series this weekend. Feel free to comment on any game.

Official Tally

Big 12 - 9

Pac 10 - 2

UPDATE: Big XII Wins Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series!

Game dates, times and recaps listed below the Jump

(All times Central)

Sunday, November 29

Nebraska - 51
USC - 48
Recap

Thursday's Games

Texas Tech - 99
(12) Washington - 92
OVERTIME
Recap

(2) Texas - 69
USC - 50
Recap

Baylor - 64
Arizona State - 61
Recap

Friday's Games

Oregon State - 74
Colorado - 69
Recap

Saturday's Games

Missouri - 106
Oregon - 69
Recap

Kansas St.- 86
Washington State - 69
Recap

California - 82
Iowa St. - 63
Recap

Sunday's Games

Kansas - 73
UCLA - 61
Recap

Oklahoma 79
Arizona 62
Recap

Wednesday, December 16 Games

Oklahoma St - 71
Stanford - 70
Recap

Tuesday, December 22 Games

Texas A&M at Washington - 10pm

In a Perfect World (Conference Realignment)

Evan Pfaff — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:30:13 -0000

by Tony Gutierrez - AP

Could a University of Houston QB be soon hoisting the Big 12 Championship trophy? (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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Today the Big Ten conference issued a statement that they are exploring the possibility of expanding.

Every few years we hear the same rumblings and every few years there are articles published about what realignment would look like. But not since Penn State was admitted into the Big Ten has anything official been released. With that, below is the definitive article on the topic.

And even though this is a basketball blog, I will focus on the BCS aspect of realignment to argue my points. I will discuss basketball, though, and all points held for football can loosely translate over to hoops as well.

Currently there are six BCS conferences and those 6 all get automatic BCS-bowl bids. Those conferences are Big East, SEC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10, ACC. Of those six, three of the conferences have enough football teams to have a conference championship game (the Big East would have enough if more of their charter schools had D1 football programs).

Part of the BCS issue is that you have some conferences without 12 schools, who don't currently have conference championship games. Adding conference championship games will ultimately help the BCS by crowing, on a field, a true conference champ. This will help with BCS bowl bids, and especially the BCS championship game. (Think of a rule where you have to at least win your division to get a BCS bid.

The other BCS issue is of the non-BCS schools and where they should lie. My realignment program take that into account.

Without further ado, after The Jump is the Big12Hoops.com Realignment plan.

MIZZOU MOVES TO THE BIG 10.

Why is this good for the Big 10? By admitting Mizzou into the Big 10, the Big 10 would secure a coveted TV market, namely St Louis. They would also get a share of the Kansas City TV market. By expanding westward, revenues from the Big 10 Network and apparel sales would grow. The Big 10 would also secure a 12^th team and legitimize a conference championship game. The divisions would be as follow:

Big 10 East: Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue, Penn State

Big 10 West: Mizzou, Illinois, Northwestern, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa

Under this scenario all regional rivalries remain in tact

Why is this good for Mizzou? The Big 12 seems to forget about schools not named Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas (basketball). There is no television network, so Mizzou's games are generally only regionally shown. There is Big Monday for basketball, but that is mainly reserved for Texas and KU. Under this, Mizzou's football games could be carried on the Big 10 Network and basketball games will be tied into the Big 10 ESPN deal. All this leads to a major recruiting advantage in both revenue generating sports.

Mizzou also has a rival in Illinois that would heat up instantly and the heated rivalry with Kansas will replace the Illinois basketball and football games on the schedules. Instead of St Louis, though, the KU games will be played at the Sprint Center and Arrowhead in KC.

But what about... Iowa State? The Cyclones seem to also be a natural fit and could easily add fuel to the rivalry with in-state foe Iowa Hawkeyes. The problem is that the Big 10 gains little from that arrangement. They are already pretty entrenched in the Hawkeye State and the addition of ISU wouldn't help their regional or national reputation.

THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON JOINS THE BIG XII

Why is this good for the Big 12? The University of Houston is a large campus, in a region of Texas that is currently underdeveloped with college sports. Houston is the 4^th largest city in the country, and by planting a team there, the Big 12 will get even more Texas viewership.

The big question would be on alignment, since there will now be 5 Texas schools. My proposal is for

Big 12 "North": Nebraska, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State

Big 12 "South": Texas, Houston, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Baylor, Colorado

The division names will have to be rebranded, but adding Colorado to the South is acceptable because Coloradoans joke that there are more Texans in the state than natives.

Why is this good for Houston? Historically, the Cougars have had a good football team, and have won a basketball national championship. Having a Big XII logo on their court will increase their recruiting presence in the city and state and potentially turn them into powerhouse.

But what about... TCU? TCU would be a good choice, if they were bigger. Their 8000 student just wouldn't cut it if the conference wishes to remain the BIG 12. Houston's enrollment is approximately 30,000 students. Commuter school or not, Houston would help retain the "Big" in Big 12.

BYU AND UTAH GO TO THE PAC-10

Why is this good for the Pac-10? By including Utah and BYU into the Pac-10, the conference will have the 12 schools needed for an automatic conference championship games. Both programs have historically legitimate football and basketball programs, and they will bring their rivalry with them. Geographically, they are far enough West to warrant admission into the conference.

The division would be as follows

Pac-10 North: Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, BYU, Utah

Pac-10 South: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Stanford, UCLA, USC

Why is this good for BYU and Utah? Both recruit well from the West, and inclusion into the conference will aid that. And by coming over as a pair (and as rivals) they bring legitimacy to the expansion eastward.

But what about... geography? The state of Utah doesn't border any states of current Pac-10 members, and that may cause some issues, but distance isn't really something the conference has ever regarded. Consider that Tucson, AZ to Seattle, WA is 1100 miles, or 400 miles farther than Tucson to Provo, UT.

ADD MORE TEAMS TO THE MOUNTAIN WEST

Why is this good for the Mountain West? As it stands under this scenario, the Mountain West is down to 7 members (the current 9, minus BYU and Utah). To get up with the big boys, the MWC needs to add 5 schools. The 5 that should move to the MWC should be: Boise State, Nevada, New Mexico State, Rice, SMU.

There is already talk of Boise coming over to the MWC, so that is a no brainer. The others are coming over as "rivals" to existing MWC schools. Nevada will face UNLV, New Mexico State will pair with New Mexico, Rice and SMU will pit against TCU is a three-way battle for Texas.

Having 12 schools will allow the conference to host a championship game, matching the winners of each division, which would be as follows:

MWC North: UNLV, Nevada, Air Force, Wyoming, Colorado State, Boise State

MWC South: San Diego State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, TCU, Rice, SMU

Why is this good for the 5 programs? The shift from either the C-USA or WAC will legitimize the programs (see the next point). All will also enter the new MWC with a foe. Everyone wins.

But what about... the MWC still remaining relatively minute as compared to their BCS brethren? Why would these schools shift from one conference to another, just for shits and giggles? See next point.

ADMIT THE MOUNTAIN WEST INTO THE BCS

Why is this good for the BCS? Controversy will mainly be avoided. By admitting the redesigned MWC into the BCS you are accepting the current BCS gate crashers. You are bringing in the current at-large schools causing heartache and giving yourself another conference champion that the country can latch onto.

Why is this good for the MWC? Why isn't it good for the MWC?

But what about... the C-USA and WAC? These two conferences are now in shambles. What to do? See next item.

MERGE THE C-USA AND WAC

Why is this good for the two conferences? Because of the success of some of their schools, and regional ability to move, the Conference USA and WAC are currently left in shambles (under this proposal). Essentially afterthoughts as they are, now they are left with 15 schools between them. They could either split them up 8 and 7 or combine forces and form a 15 league mega conference. In terms of basketball, as we have seen with the Big East, and their 16 school hoops conference, too many schools doesn't water down the pool.

But what about... regionality? The C-USA is currently a conglomerate of throw-ins from around the country. Under this plan, that would just increase to a truly national conference. The members of it would be: Fresno St, Hawaii, Idaho, La Tech, San Jose St, Utah St, UTEP, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, Cent Florida, ECU, Marshall, Memphis, Southern Miss

Using the scenario outlined above, 18 schools will change conferences. This sounds like a lot, but as you can see many will be moving as groups and either with or to a rival.

But what about the Big East? Well, the Big East is the one conference I am leaving alone. In their football world, they are lacking the 12 members to create a championship game. But when you include their basketball members, they are a 16-team powerhouse.

One final thought. I reserve the right to claim this entire scenario null and void if Notre Dame ever decides to join the Big 10. If that were to happen, I would still endorse some shifting, but nothing to the extent of this proposal. More on that if a Notre Dame to the Big 10 rumor starts getting some legitimate traction.

Washington’s Slim Victory is a Win for Seattle University, City-Wide Women’s Basketball

Q McCall — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:00:17 -0000

5’10" Seattle University forward Maggie McCarthy floats a bank shot over the outstretched arms of 6’3" Regina Rogers and 6’2" Mollie Williams of the University of Washington. A bigger, yet "unfocused" UW team managed to beat a scrappy SeattleU 58-53 last Wednesday. Photo gallery available via jlindstr.smugmug.com

View full size photo »

While some of the descriptions of last Wednesday’s “Battle in Seattle” game between Seattle University and the University of Washington described the environment at the Connolly Center as “hostile”, that’s not exactly how everyone would describe it.

“We had so much purple in the stands it was awesome,” said Washington guard Kristi Kingma, who ended up sealing the victory for the Huskies with three clutch threes down the stretch to take back the lead. “It almost kinda felt like a home game – as close as a road game can be. But yeah, it was great to have that atmosphere. It was almost like the Gonzaga game where it was like sold out – there weren’t as many people. But it was a good atmosphere and it really gets you pumped up as a player.”

Although Washington purple might actually have diminished SeattleU’s home court advantage in the Connolly Center, the buzz made for an exciting atmosphere that only intensified the sense of anticipation about the prospect of this really turning this annual game into a legitimate cross-town rivalry.

Everyone from staff to the dance team was dressed just a little bit more glamorous for the night as though the losing teams were playing for a championship. The capacity crowd of 1,050 speckled with Husky purple and Redhawk red created a friendly tension that made for as electric an atmosphere as there's been in the Connolly Center this year, for a men’s or women’s basketball game.

Occupying the same space as the fans were local basketball celebrities: Seattle Storm CEO Karen Bryant, Seattle University men’s basketball player and rising NBA prospect Charles Garcia, and former Storm player Sheryl Swoopes was also there apparently (though I didn’t see her).

Not only was the game the first sell out of the Seattle University women’s basketball season, but there were so many more media outlets there than usual that they had to add a set of media tables behind the visitor’s bench in addition to the standard midcourt table along the sideline just to accommodate everyone.

Although the attention was outstanding for a transitioning Division I program like SeattleU, minutes before the game I overheard one staff member at the scorers table half-jokingly, half-frantically-overwhelmed, say that it would be better for SeattleU to host the cross-town game at Key Arena next time because, as amazing as the atmosphere was, the cozy Connolly Center was overwhelmed.

The very fact that there’s enough interest in the game to even warrant consideration of a move to Key Arena in the future lends some credibility to the argument that the game meant something to Seattle beyond the standings.

As Seattle Times reporter Jayda Evans wrote, it was not only a big game for these two programs, but a big game for women’s basketball in Seattle.

Womens Hoops Blog | Game thread: Washington at Seattle University | Seattle Times Newspaper

If anything depicts the possibility of women's basketball in the city, it's tonight's game between Washington and Seattle University. True, the Huskies and Redhawks played last year at Edmundson Pavilion, but tonight is the first with both officially being Division-I schools.

SU assistant coach Joy Hollingsworth, a native, likes to tell a story about how she attended a Redhawks camp as a youth and how it impacted her game -- going on to play college hoops at Arizona. UW and SU used to play each other regularly in 1980s and when you have that, you have young women thinking about athletics as a possibility. Picking a side on the playground courts and dreaming. It only increases the already solid development on the AAU level in the area.

Add the WNBA Storm, and what the Sonics had -- that boomed into more than a dozen local men playing in the NBA -- could happen for the women.

So it seems that "hostile" is not quite the way to describe the environment of this game. “Awesome” – in the sense that the anticipation of a budding rivalry was palpable – was the way that both Kingma and SeattleU forward Ashley Brown chose to describe it at different times after the game. As cliche as Kingma and Brown's choice of words were, they probably more closely approximated the experience of being there.

The buzz of excitement in the air before the game continued during the game as the Redhawks surprised everyone but themselves by not only hanging with the bigger Huskies, but taking a one point lead on a long Ashley Brown jumper with 12:26 left in the second half. Although the entire atmosphere and flow of the game might have been a pleasant surprise to most, it is the type of environment an experienced coach like Joan Bonvicini expects.

"That’s how it’s supposed to be," said Bonvicini. "And I really think as the program continues to grow, that’s how it’s going to be all the time. I think the people who haven’t seen us play before, I think they’ll come and watch. And you know, we’re building a program and this was a good game – not necessarily the way we wanted to finish – but I think there’s gonna be a lot of good games here and good finishes here for the future."

Ultimately, that atmosphere and the step the SeattleU program took toward the future was the most compelling story of that game, regardless of the outcome.

While the pressure was on UW to flex their Pac-10 muscles against a smaller school, it was a much bigger opportunity for SeattleU to establish themselves as legitimate Division I competition, at least within Seattle's city limits. It was a major occasion for SeatleU women's basketball -- and perhaps for the school's transition to Division I as a whole -- and the team rose to the occasion against a bigger UW team.

For one night at least, it was the rapidly improving play of a loser building for a future in one of the best women's basketball cities in the nation that was the far more captivating story that managed to be more compelling than the performance of the winner.

Contrasting identities

Although Washington coach Tia Jackson has been the one preaching about the need for the Huskies to (re)claim their identity all season, the Huskies began the game unfocused, with top producers Regina Rogers and Sami Whitcomb combining to go 1-10 from the field in the first half as SeattleU keyed in on Whitcomb and doubled down on Rogers. Whether that be from underestimating SeattleU or the pressure of facing a cross-town rival, it was a source of disappointment for Jackson as well as the players.

"Like coach J said, we just weren't quite as focused, I think," said Washington senior wing Sami Whitcomb, who went 1-7 in the first half. "I don't know if it's the rivalry or- I'd hate to think we underestimated them; we know a lot of them and we know what they're capable of. I think coming into the game maybe we just got a little overconfident early on and then they got hot and we just had to pick it up."

Conversely, it was SeattleU that demonstrated a more stable sense of self and their objectives, despite obvious limitations and disadvantages.

That's not to say that the Redhawks deserved to win -- the Huskies' size inside and superior talent around the perimeter was ultimately able to carry them to victory despite a lackadaisical effort. However, SeattleU never seemed to worry about UW's obvious height advantage, instead drawing security from their ability to execute their game plan rather than worrying about the opponent.

"We’re used to it now – all 11 games we’ve been in we’ve been the undersized team," said point guard Cassidy Murillo. "And so there’s no excuse for it anymore – we just have to work through it."

While there were multiple plays that embodied SeattleU’s determined effort to win a game that most people assumed out of reach, one play stands out as the most representative case.

With a little more than 13 minutes left in the first half, SeattleU forward Maggie McCarthy got the ball on the left wing, made one of her typically fearless drives into the middle of the paint and pulled up as 6’3" Regina Rogers and 6’2" Mollie Williams jumped with outstretched arms to challenge her shot. Undeterred, McCarthy banked a short jumper high and hard off the glass to bring the Redhawks within one point, before Brown’s jumper put them ahead a minute later.

McCarthy’s shot was the beginning of a brief 6-2 run that made the possibility of an upset seem even more real, before Washington guard Kristi Kingma hit the first of three three-point shots down the stretch to give the Huskies an advantage the Redhawks were not able to overcome. However, what makes the play notable – as well as the image above – is that it is a moment that probably best represents the attitude that SeattleU brings to the court every night.

McCarthy didn’t seem to care that she was giving up 5 inches to Washington’s front line at that moment. In terms of difficulty, the shot from the middle of the key -- though short -- is a much more difficult shot than it looks, which takes a combination of accuracy, strength, touch (which is why so many youth basketball camps used the bank shot from the middle of the key as the basis of a shooting contest). All that mattered to McCarthy – and occasionally to a fault during the course of the game (she had six turnovers) – was the primary objective of putting the ball in the basket.

Plays like that McCarthy's make it hard not to root for a team like SeattleU – a team that is aware of its limited fate, but plays with a sense of unlimited possibility.

"I'm very, very proud of our team," said Bonvicini. "I thought we battled, we showed a great deal of heart, we showed a lot of mental toughness and we were there -- we had a chance to win the game."

While McCarthy's play might best embody the fighting spirit of the SeattleU women’s basketball this season, it was the all-around performance of Murillo that seemed to embody the fight and determination of the Redhawks, single-handedly letting the Huskies know that this would not be the easy victory that some assumed it would be.

At game's end, Murillo was by far the most productive player on the court for either team.

via jlindstr.smugmug.com

Murillo finished with a game high 7 assists to go along with 16 points on 6-9 shooting, including going 3-3 from the three point range. Although she ranks among the best three point shooters in SeattleU history (she started the season third in three point percentage and tied for fourth in three pointers made all-time), she started the season off target shooting 21.05% on 8-38 three point shooting prior to Wednesday's game.

While she maintained her ability to see the court and make plays for others even without her shot, finding her touch in this game was critical to her playing with an increased assertiveness and helping to will her team to the brink of one of the nation’s biggest upsets this season.

"Well I just took the open shots when they were there and luckily they finally went in," said Murillo. "So you know once I hit a couple— it just keeps building – and I was still looking for my teammates, just doing what I do: pass and shoot when I’m open."

However, beyond the boxscore, Murillo ran the team masterfully, barking out orders, calling to her teammates to shoulder the burden of handling the ball against the UW’s press, attacking the basket when she saw a hole, and patiently waiting for the right moment to whip a pinpoint pass through those fleeting creases in the defense that so many players miss. She did everything you want a coach would want a point guard to do in one of the team’s biggest games of the season.

"Well I think Cassidy was just great leadership on the floor -- smart," said Bonvicini. "I think this was probably the best game since I've coached her. [She] just ran the team. You know, she played like a senior and a senior who wanted to win."

By almost any standard of point guard performance, Murillo was by far the best point guard on the court demonstrating that she cannot only keep up with Pac-10 point guards, but that she belongs.

Yet one would never know it from her demeanor in the media room. She is confidently soft spoken while exuding an intense passion for the game as she gives one of her characteristically concise and direct descriptions of the game. That calm determination defines both her demeanor off the court and the way she plays her position at every moment of the game -- even in the final seconds of a tight game against a bigger Pac-10 team.

"At the end of a game you can’t think about being tired, ever," said Murillo, making the possibility of succumbing to pressure seem absurd. "We were out there like, 'one minute of hard defense' and it doesn’t matter the 37 minutes we already played – like, there’s one minute left."

But the fact that she plays with such determination as a senior on a team whose de jure chances at playing in the post-season are limited by the terms of the school’s transition to Division I and whose de facto chances at even establishing themselves as a tournament caliber team are limited by the reality of adjusting to the level of competition is extremely impressive.

None of this is to cast Murillo as a next level athlete or even suggest that SeattleU has the talent to compete with Pac-10 teams over the course of a season. Yet what makes Murillo impressive as the embodiment of a scrappy SeattleU team is that she plays despite the odds and expects to win every time she steps on the floor, win or lose. Not only does she expect it, but she shows it through the way she plays the game.

Murillo is the type of player that women’s basketball fans who make claims of "purity" imagine, on a rapidly cohering team that is playing for the sake of its future rather than racking up wins in the present.

A game to build on

Obviously, the primary mission of this game for SeattleU -- like any game -- was to win, not to merely play hard without results.

However, another aim for SeattleU is to improve and acclimate themselves to Division I competition. Without a doubt, they will be the underdog and it's a status they're embracing.

"I feel like we’re the underdog when we go into any game and so I think that is on our side so we can kinda surprise people because we work really hard," said Brown. "I thought they worked hard as well too, but I think we came out and showed them that we’re here."

While there is certainly value in proving oneself to others, the game also gives the team confidence in themselves, helping them get a better sense of where they stand relative to others. Whether that constitutes the beginning rivalry will bear out over time, but for now they've proven they can fight.

"We were in there," said Bonvicini. "You know, I said it’s not a rivalry until you win, but we’re going to battle here. And you know this is a game that although we lost we can take a lot of things and build on it for the remainder of the season."

With homes game against St. Mary's University tonight and Evergreen State University tomorrow, they'll have a chance to continue that building process soon.

Related Links:

Women's Hoops Outlasts Seattle University To Escape With Another Road Victory
http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/121009aab.html

UW women defeat Seattle U., 58-53
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskies/2010467931_uwom10.html

Battle in Seattle Reaction: A Win is a Win...?
http://www.swishappeal.com/2009/12/10/1194226/battle-in-seattle-reaction-a-win

Transition Points:

Freshman Carley Butcher suffered an ACL injury in the first half and is out for the season.
Kristi Kingma did not practice the day prior to the game and had ice on her ankle while giving her post-game interview. She said she was about 90%.
Interesting game stat: SeattleU had an assist to field goal ratio of 90% in the first half, making 9 assists on 10 made shots compared to Washington's 38.46%.
As mentioned above, Murillo entered the season as one of the Redhawks best three point shooters of all time. Her career three point percentage of 41.7% ranked her third all-time and her 134 three pointers made was tied for fourth all-time. With 11 three pointers made already this season, Murillo has moved into third all-time with 145 threes just behind Jessie DeLauney (1998-2002) who had 153 threes (and also holds the mark for most three pointers attempted with 527, a list on which Murillo is not in the top ten). Even with her early season struggles, Murillo has a legitimate shot to end her career as the top three point shooter in SeattleU history -- the leader, Ashley Payne (2003-2007), had 168 threes
Shout out to Jayda Evans who tried to save me a seat in my normal spot along the sideline -- another Seattle Times reporter was showing up for the first time this season.
Next up for SeattleU is a game against St. Mary's College -- a team with the third highest RPI of the teams they've faced thus far -- tonight at 7pm in the Connolly Center. Once again, the Gaels are a larger team with a strong post player. Perhaps the difference is that the Gaels' post player is a dominant defensive player, according to the report from Frisco Del Rosario.

frdelrosario: St. Mary's College 83, Boise State 72
The Gaels were led by 20 points Saturday from WCC player of the week Jontelle Smith, plus 17 points, 15 blocked shots, and nine rebounds from Louella Tomlinson of Melbourne, Australia. SMC led 36-35 at half, and 46-45 with 16:22 remaining, but their defense triggered a 6-0 run — a block and a defensive rebound by Tomlinson before a layup by Alex Carbonel, then a steal plus a layup by Ja. Smith.

Poll

Is Seattle the best women's basketball city in the nation, as Seattle University coach Joan Bonvicini said?

Look for the Illini to get back in the Top 25 on Monday

Joe Kutsunis — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:06:47 -0000

More photos » by Robin Scholz - AP

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The Illini rolled their over matched opponent today by a very large spread, taking the Illini to 8-2. More importantly the Illini have won 4 straight, including a solid win against ranked Vandy at home and great comeback against a ranked Clemson at LittleJohn. Overall I am feeling pretty good about the Illini clawing their way back into the top 25 tomorrow, because of the teams that lost recently

#19 Cincny loses to unranked Xavier

#24/Un Vanderbilt loses to the Illini, and to Western Kentucky

#23/#20 Wisconsin loses to Greenbay (But bounces back against Marquette

#17/#16 Washington loses to a ranked Georgetown.

All of these guys have at least 2 loses now, and throw in a loss for UNLV today and you just might see the Illini gain enough votes to get back in, at the very least don't be surprised if it happens.

Is the Pac10 a one-bid league?

SFBE.NF — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:48:25 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

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That was probably the talk in and around the Honda Center yesterday following the John Wooden Classic, as both Washington and UCLA put on unimpressive performances in losses to Georgetown and Mississippi State, respectively.

The Hoyas came out in the second half realizing they were taller, bigger and better then the soft Huskies, and subsequently went on a 19-0 run over an eight minute span, winning 74-66. The key? Pound the ball inside and keep it away from Isaiah Thomas' hands.

UCLA confirmed that they aren't even worthy of being bashed, they just stink. Mississippi St. was laughing by the second half, scoring at will from all parts of the court en route to a 72-54 victory. This all coming in-front of the man who turned the Bruins into one of the most glorious programs in all of college basketball. How embarrassing.

Meanwhile, since you probably weren't paying attention, Arizona showed no fight in a loss to San Diego State, Nebraska snuck by an Oregon State team hoping for a bailout from the prez, and St. Mary's comfortably held off Oregon in "The Pit."

And, after receiving a bevy of pre-season attention, Cal has gone quietly into the night, currently sitting at 6-3 with their best win coming at home over Iowa State.

The bottom line: not one team in the Pac 10 makes the rest of the country nervous. ConferenceRPI ranks them ninth overall after last night's slate of games, sitting comfortably behind the Atlantic 10, Mountain West, and Conference USA. With the regular season just a few weeks away, that's the window of opportunity to secure a "big win" you hear shutting.

More frightening numbers and statistics that better quantify the conference's lackluster play has been noted by SBNation's Chris Dobberdean.

At least Klay Thompson is still fun to watch.

The Morning After: Post Game Articles, Quotes and Pictures

Hire Esherick — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:18:03 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

5 days ago: Georgetown's Vee Sanford, left, Austin Freeman, center, and Chris Wright hold up their trophy after defeating Washington in the John R. Wooden Classic NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009, in Anaheim, Calif. Georgetown won 74-66. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Browse more photos »

Media coverage of yesterday's affair against Washington. Long week until next game against Old Dominion; Casual Awards to follow tomorrow.

Georgetown Defeats Washington in Men's Basketball - washingtonpost.com
In beating the Pacific-10's best team in the opening game of the John Wooden Classic, the Hoyas (8-0) gave legitimacy to their No. 15 ranking and proved they're capable of climbing further.

I Guess Georgetown is Really Good
As I watched this game I couldn't help but feel envious. Georgetown plays a beautiful brand of basketball. They look like an extremely smart team out there and I don't care what they call the offense, or if it's too structured, because it does the following: 1. moves the ball (involves all players, creates assists) 2. creates easy/open shots for players 3. forces teammates to think of each other (if he makes the cut, I'll get him the ball) 4. takes advantage of the opponents' laziness 5. puts up points I loved watching them move the ball. Even if I hated that UW was constantly getting beat to the hoop, I love watching good execution on the basketball court and that's exactly what we saw today. How can you not be impressed with that team?

College Hoops Saturday Recap: Time to Rank Kansas State | College Basketball by Collegehoops.net
All five starters scored in double figures for Georgetown with Julian Vaughn leading the way with eighteen points to go along with seven rebounds. But the bigger story should be the Georgetown defense that forced twenty-five turnovers while also limiting the Huskies to 4-for-18 from behind the arc. The Hoyas are versatile offensively while also boasting a much-improved defense, which should convince the skeptics that they're not going to collapse in a fashion similar to last year's trek through Big East play.

Observations from Saturday - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
Georgetown’s Greg Monroe had a super week with 25 points and 15 boards in a win over Butler and then followed that up with 15 points, eight boards and six assists in the win over the Bruins. Monroe’s mate Julian Vaughn showed he can score too with a career-high 18. The Hoyas will be a contender for the Big East title.

Washington dominated in 2nd half, falls to Georgetown
Vaunted Greg Monroe scored 15 points, but it was his low-block brethren Julian Vaughn who led Georgetown (8-0) with a career-high 18 points.

Hoyas solving chemistry issues with strong start - CBK News - FOX Sports on MSN
But after a solid win over Butler in the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday, and another one Saturday over a second straight top 25 team, Thompson III and his players can return home to Washington, D.C., knowing that they took care of business against two quality teams that many expect to be in the Big Dance come March. "I don't look at it like that," the sixth-year Georgetown coach said about the Hoyas improving their NCAA tournament résumé with the two victories. "I look at it as preparing us for league play and for us to get used to the emotional and mental ride of playing in the Big East. That's what this week was about, but we still have a long way to go."

Hoya Prospectus: Recap: Georgetown 74, Washington 66
Despite the score, this game was most certainly played at the Huskies pace - the 79 possessions played was 11 more than the Hoyas' adjusted season average, and 5 more than even Washington averages. The Huskies came into the game as the 25th fastest-paced team in the nation, and that will only go up.

Today's Picks

SFBE.NF — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:39:16 -0000

Indiana (+9) over #4 Kentucky: The Hoosiers just came off a big neutral court win over Pittsburgh and now face a Wildcat team that allows too many games to go down to the wire. IU may not win but look for Tom Crean's bunch, led by super freshmen Maurice Creek and Christian Watford, to make it close enough to raise the collective heart-rates of the Kentucky faithful.
#13 Georgetown (-2) over #16 Washington: The Hoyas travel out to Anaheim to face the Huskies in a battle of Top 25 squads. Both teams have followed different paths to get here. Georgetown is in the thick of a difficult nonconference schedule (5 T-25 teams), rolling into this game with a big victory over Butler on Tuesday. On the other hand, Lorenzo Romar's squad will have one of their biggest challenges this season tonight and then against #16 Texas A&M next week. Look for Greg Monroe to continue his recent assertiveness and lead the Hoyas to their eighth consecutive victory.
#20 Butler (-4) over #15 Ohio St.: I like Butler in this matchup against the Buckeyes at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Butler should bounce back after their loss to Georgetown, behind the charge led by Matt Howard, who played very poorly against the Hoyas. If he and Gordon Hawyard can play consistently, Ohio's State's Evan Turner -less team should fall to the "high-major."

Yesterday 2-1

Overall 17-9

Pulse of the Team :: Week 4

Seth C — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:00:32 -0000

The "Pulse of the Team" is a weekly or whenever-I-get-to-it post about the state of the team, what's going well and what isn't. The Pulse of the Team looks at the week that was, the week ahead, what's trending up, what's trending down and the current player impact, courtesy of StatSheet.

Last Week:

Thursday, December 3, 2009 : Washington Huskies: W : 99-92 : Box Score

This Week:

Tuesday, December 8, 2009 : TCU Horned Frogs : W : 80-70 : Box Score

Simply Winning: It's been a pretty exciting two weeks, despite only two games. There won't be another game until December 19th, against the Wichita St. Schockers, but for now, I would imagine that most Red Raider fans are pleased with the start. Sure, there have been bumps in the road, including a very close win against SFA, but this team has been resiliant and shown a little bit of fire. I think it's always interesting to watch how certain teams react in different situations, and we have two good examples in these two games. Against Washington, the Red Raiders had a good lead, let up on the gas, apparently won the game, but was overturned, and then turned on the gas in overtime. Against TCU, the team was down by 14, but persevered. I didn't get to watch the game, but the idea that the defense wasn't good in the first half, but picked up dramatically in the second half perhaps has at least two implications. First, perhaps Pat Knight adjusted his defense and second, perhaps the team picked up their intensity. Those are good qualities to have, and I couldn't be happier with how this team has played.

Roberts Steps Up: For those of you who have followed DTN for quite some time, I've always thought that PF D`Walyn Roberts was a Kevin Durant type of athlete. Let me explain, obviously, he doesn't have the scoring prowess, but I've always envisioned Roberts as a long athlete that can play the perimeter defensively, get steals, be a rebounding machine and generally be a true pest on the defensive side of the ball. Well, he's slowly turning into something a little different. I have no idea if Roberts' frame will be able to hold up to a big 12 season, but the game has changed and his toughest matchups this year will be against ISU Craig Brakens, UT's Damion James and KU in general (they've got more guys). Other than those teams, I think and hope that this recent trend is Roberts finally rounding into a solid, if not really good contributor for this team (again, not much time this morning, but the improvement and current tremendous streak of John Roberson deserves mention).

Still Room for Improvement: KenPom has Texas Tech ranked as the 40th best defensive team (adjusted defensive efficiency) and as far as I'm concerned, there's still room for improvement and I hope like hell the team feels the same way. Against Washington, the defense allowed the Huskies to shoot an eFG% of 53.1% (anything north of 50% isn't good) and Texas Tech probably won that game based on the tremendous offensive rebounding. The team was better against TCU, 46.6%, and I hope and think that this is partly because TCU is a feast or famine team (i.e., lots of three pointers), that the team played better defense, and Washington is a really good offensive team. The Red Raiders will face tough competition after the Christmas break with @ Wichita St., Stanford and @ New Mexico. I want this team to continue to be hungry and improve on their already impressive start.

Not much time to comment this morning, but lots of good stats, courtesy of StatSheet:

NCAA Basketball Stats

Sleeping With The Enemy: Meet The Washington Huskies

CasualHoya — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:15:09 -0000

Well, it's nearly mid-December and the Georgetown Hoyas are still an undefeated nationally ranked powerhouse. Woo-hoo! The Hoyas have won with ease in the friendly confines of Verizon (assuming the Temple game never happened), and have vanquished foes outside of the nation's capital, traveling down to New Orleans and thrashing the Green Wave, crushing the souls of the Tigers of Savannah State, and just this week returning to the World's Most Famous Arena to serve nuts on the Bulldogs of Butler. Next up on the schedule will likely be the Hoyas' toughest test yet, a date with the 17th ranked Washington Huskies in the Wooden Classic in Anaheim. We here at Casual Hoya realize that you are all likely in bed or passed out by the time the Huskies and their Pac-10 foes usually take the court, so in this version of Sleeping With The Enemy we're telling you what you need to know about our opponent to the West. Special thanks to my main man Anthony Cassino over at SBNation's own UWDawgpound for answering our penetrating questions about U-Dub. Anthony Cassino, this bud's for you.

via www.greatdogs.org

CH: What are Washington's strengths and weaknesses? Who are the best shooters? Rebounders?

Under Lorenzo Romar the Huskies have made their living on the offensive glass. For each of the last five years the team has been in the top 8 nationally, and this year we're sitting at second. Teams that let UW pound the offensive boards usually get beaten. The team's core is the two headed monster of Isaiah Thomas and Quincy Pondexter, who are both averaging over 20 points per game.

The two big weaknesses that this team has are perimeter shooting and size. Isaiah Thomas' shooting is much improved from last season, but can still be pretty inconsistent. Elston Turner is a talented sophomore guard and is probably the team's best shooter, but beyond those two guys there's not a single player I'd want shooting from deep unless there isn't a defender within 10 feet. Inside the Huskies have Matthew Bryan-Amaning and not a whole lot else. He's got talent, but gets into foul trouble frequently and usually disappears when playing a quality team. Matching up against Monroe is going to be a real test of his progress. Behind him the only true post player on the roster is Tyreese Breshers, who sat out last year with an injury and is still working himself back into shape, so he can't really be counted on for more than 15 minutes a game.

A weakness that Georgetown may exploit is that the Huskies tend to overplay on the perimeter a lot, which leaves them vulnerable to backdoor cuts. The best rebounder on the team is Quincy Pondexter who is averaging 9.6 a game. He's not the tallest guy, but he's strong, quick and athletic and has the ability to beat guys to the ball, and scores more than his share of second chance points.

CH: In the 1992 movie Singles, Steve (played casually by Campbell Scott) has a grand vision of a "supertrain" for Seattle - it will cut down on traffic and be good for the environment. He explains the idea to his friend, who nods in approval, then hesitantly replies, "But I love my car." Steve eventually gets a meeting with the mayor (played casually by Tom Skerritt), where he explains the great benefits of the supertrain. The mayor is silent for a moment, then says, "People love their cars" and the supertrain dream is dead. Question: How do you feel about a supertrain?

The supertrain is actually underway. Admittedly, I've never seen Singles, so I'm not sure what the vision was, but this past summer light rail was implemented which runs from downtown Seattle to Tukwila, near the airport. It's still in its infant stages, but the plan is to add to it until it services a large portion of the city. I guess Singles was just ahead of its time.

CH: Have you ever looked at your roster and shuddered because you have a player named Isaiah Thomas? How good is your Isaiah and what can teams do defensively to cause him problems?

I can't say I've ever shuddered, but it does get annoying how every nationally televised game they have to tell the story of how he got his name. I feel like Ive heard it about 50 times, and he's only a sophomore. Just so you know what to expect: his dad lost a bet, and his mom was ok with it because Isaiah is a biblical name.

How good is our Isaiah? Very good. Despite being listed at just 5-8, the kid knows how to attack the rim. He's one of the quickest players in college hoops, and I've really yet to see a defender who can stay in front of him. He likes to get into the lane and initiate contact to get to the free throw line, where he's improved his accuracy and is over 80% on the year.
If you had asked me last year how to stop Thomas I'd say to back off and make him beat you with his jumper, but he put in the work over the offseason and is shooting 39.5% from range this season. If it were me, I'd put a longer defender on him and make him work to shoot tough shots in the lane. He can also be a bit bullish when he's in attack mode and doesn't pass as often as he should, so a team effort of rotating a shotblocker over to help when he makes his move would probably work as well.

CH: Last year the Pac-10 sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament but this year only one team is ranked in the Top 25. Why the stark difference? Will the Pac-10 rebound or will this be the down year that was supposed to have happened last year?

Over the last three years the Pac-10 has had more lottery and first round picks than any other conference. And being the smallest of the Big-6 conferences, that's just not sustainable and the bottom had to fall out at some point. That point is this year. It also doesn't help that there's been a lot of coaching turnover; half of the conference's coaches are in their first or second year. This is absolutely the down year that many predicted, and it may even be worse than most thought it'd be with UCLA looking absolutely pathetic early on.

More fun with 'Sleeping' after The Jump:

CH: Seattle has become a prep basketball hotbed in recent years and with Cameron Dollar as a lead assistant, UW was able to string together several impressive recruits (while missing out on some big names, such as Jamal Crawford). As Dollar has moved on to be the head coach at Seattle U, how will recruiting change at UW?

It's not just Seattle, its all of Western Washington. There's only one Seattle player (Venoy Overton) on the team, but there are three Tacoma kids (Isaiah Thomas, Abdul Gaddy and Clarence Trent). ESPN's #1 high school prospect in last year's class (Avery Bradley) is from Tacoma as well. There are some kids from Kent who are big time recuits, incluing Josh Smith, one of the top players in the 2010 class.

I don't see recruiting changing all that much with the loss of Cameron Dollar. At the end of the day Washington is a school with a lot going for it: plays an uptempo style that many recruits want, located in a great city, big conference, players from the school have had success in the NBA, and the players really love Coach Romar. The man brought in to replace Dollar, Raphael Chillious, has already used his recruiting ability to help get a commitment from Enes Kanter, a member of the Turkish U-18 national team currently attending prep school in California.

CH: UW's now cancelled series with Gonzaga UW's has all the pigheadedness of Maryland refusing to play Georgetown. Back when Gonzaga was just a lowly WCC team, the series was a no-win for UW but now that they are a legitimate Top 25 fixture, why wouldn't the teams man up and agree to a home-and-home series?

Back in October, UW proposed a 3 game series with Gonzaga with all games being played at the nuetral site of Key Arena. Gonzaga shot the deal down and didn't make a counter offer. The Huskies thought it would be a good deal because both schools would make a ton of money, but Gonzaga didn't want to travel to the west side of the state three straight years.

The reason these teams won't be meeting any time soon is that Lorenzo Romar and Mark Few simply don't like each other. Back in the early portion of the decade Few tattled on Cameron Dollar for violations in recruiting, which cost UW a shot at signing both Marvin Williams and Josh Heytvelt. The blood has been bad ever since then and I wouldn't be surprised if the series remains dead as long as the two coaches hold their positions.

CH: The city of Seattle was able to enjoy former Hoya, Jeff Green, for one year before the Sonics' outlandishly greedy owners moved the team to that basketball hotbed, Oklahoma City. 2 questions: What's the best memory of Green as a Sonic and will Seattle ever get another NBA team?

I remember being really excited about that draft, getting Green and Kevin Durant. It was a fun draft day, but once the season rolled around I couldn't bring myself to watch them play. I didn't want to get attached to those young players when it was so obvious that the team was going to be taken away.

I don't see Seattle getting another NBA team. It's not financially viable at Key Arena, so someone would have to step up and build a brand new arena for an NBA team. Taxpayers won't want to help out, as they've already chipped in on Safeco Field and Quest Field, and are likely going to be hit up on a Husky Stadium renovation within a couple years. If the NBA does come back to the great state of Washington, it won't be anytime soon, and I'd be shocked to see it in my lifetime. It's a shame, because Seattle was an excellent NBA city.

CH: UW's heart and soul for the past 4 years, Jon Brockman, has now moved on and the team has moved to a more perimeter oriented attack. What can we expect from UW?

Expect the Huskies to apply lots of ball pressure to try and force some turnovers and push the ball to dictate tempo. The team is best when games are played at a faster pace, and I don't think they can play a halfcourt game and beat Georgetown. Venoy Overton is one of the best on ball defenders in the nation, and by the end of the game the Hoyas and Hoya fans will hate him. When he's on he alone can dictate the speed of the game through turnovers and forcing opposing point guards to get sloppy, so his play is going to be critical to the team's success.

Offensively, it's no secret that that the ball goes through Isaiah Thomas and Quincy Pondexter. Pondexter is the team's lone senior, and is having far and away his best season. If the Huskies go cold or need a big shot, he's the guy they get the ball to.

CH: Why the hell does Starbucks call its sizes Venti, Grande, Tall rather than Small, Medium, Large?

I have no idea. I think it's an elitist thing though. I'm the minority in that I'm a Washingtonian who doesn't drink coffee. I can't even take the smell of it. And if I did drink coffee, I'd boycott Starbucks after Howard Schultz sold the Sonics to the Oklahoma City Group.

Final score prediction:
Washington 78 Georgetown 74

via i.cdn.turner.com

Casually.

RPI WATCH: 12/09/09

BracketCat — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:00:19 -0000

More photos » by Orlin Wagner - AP

Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout! With Curtis Kelly finally on board, this team can make a run in March. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Browse more photos »

Just for fun, I'm going to try something new today.

For those of you who don't visit the official site on a regular basis, I've included quick facts and quotes from the game after the jump, in addition to the latest RPIs and game results.

Just trying to add to the service here at BOTC. We want to be your one-stop shop, so to speak, for basketball information this season.

As for our competition, there only was good news last night. Dayton earned a really nice road win against a team with some cachet, and the Flyers steadily are working their way back toward the Top 25. In other A-10 action, obviously Xavier accommodated us nicely by losing. I'm sure the heat in their hotel rooms was just too high, though.

In the other game of note, Texas Tech survived what I thought for sure was a trap game at TCU. I was wondering how the Red Raiders would handle being ranked for the first time since 2005, but they overcame a halftime deficit to notch a nice road win. It's their best start in 80 years.

That said, I'm still a little bearish on Tech, since their only good win came at home, in overtime, over an overrated (man, that's a lot of "overs" in one sentence...) Washington team, and they haven't yet left the state of Texas to play a game. It certainly does look like they'll finish better than ninth or 10th, though.

Current Kansas State Record = 8-1

Current Kansas State RPI = 11

Current Kansas State SOS = 15

Great Wins (RPI 1-50) = Loyola, Dayton

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = IUPUI, Xavier

Bad Losses (RPI 100 or greater) = none

Loyola (5-2, 1-1) | RPI = 30
Western Illinois (3-5, 0-2) | RPI = 301
Boston (3-6) | RPI = 156
Ole Miss (7-1) | RPI = 18
Dayton (6-2) | RPI = 36: Win at George Mason (56-55)
IUPUI (7-2, 2-0) | RPI = 79
FHSU (6-1)
Washington State (6-2) | RPI = 153
Xavier (5-3) | RPI = 68: Loss at Kansas State (71-56)
No. 24 UNLV (7-0) | RPI = 12
Alabama (6-2) | RPI = 82
UAPB (0-6) | RPI = 273
Cleveland State (3-6, 0-2) | RPI = 222
South Dakota (5-3) | RPI = 143
Missouri (5-2) | RPI = 92
No. 16 Texas A&M (8-1) | RPI = 21
Colorado (6-3) | RPI = 249
No. 2 Texas (7-0) | RPI = 3
Oklahoma State (7-1) | RPI = 26
Baylor (7-1) | RPI = 105
No. 1 Kansas (7-0) | RPI = 39
Nebraska (5-2) | RPI = 112
Iowa State (6-3) | RPI = 187
Oklahoma (5-3) | RPI = 240
No. 23 Texas Tech (9-0) | RPI = 18: Win at TCU (80-70)

Xavier at Kansas State: Game Notes

Kansas State moved to 3-4 all-time against Xavier, including 2-0 at home... The Wildcats moved to 8-1 on the season, marking the first time since the 2004-05 season the Wildcats started a season 8-1... The Wildcats have now won 31 of their last 32 games at Bramlage Coliseum in the month of December dating back to the 2002-03 season, including 19 consecutive home wins since December 30, 2004... Kansas State moved to 251-88 (.740) all-time in Bramlage Coliseum... The paid attendance was a sold out 12,528.
The Wildcats' starting lineup Saturday night was junior guard Jacob Pullen, senior guard Denis Clemente, junior forward Dominique Sutton, junior forward Curtis Kelly and freshman forward Wally Judge... It marks the second time this season the team has used this starting combination... Pullen has now started in 43 straight games for the Wildcats, extending his streak as the team's leader in most consecutive games played to 76.
K-State led Xavier at the half, 30-20, marking the fifth consecutive contest the Wildcats have led after the first period... The Wildcats are 8-0 this season when leading their opponent at the half... The 20 points scored by the Musketeers in the opening half were the fewest points scored in the first half by a K-State opponent this season since Western Illinois also scored 20 on November 15th... Curtis Kelly led all scorers with 10 points at the break.
The Wildcats dominated the boards Tuesday night out-rebounding the Musketeers 46-33... K-State held Xavier to just eight rebounds in the first frame while pulling down 27 of its own.
The Wildcats defense held the Musketeers to just 29.4-percent (15-for-51) shooting from the field on Tuesday night, while pressuring them into 13 turnovers... It marks the third contest this season the Wildcats have held an opponent to under 30-percent shooting.
Jacob Pullen led the Wildcats in scoring on Tuesday night with 16 points, marking the 16th time in his career he has led the team in scoring... The Wildcats moved to 12-4 all-time when Pullen leads the team in scoring... He also recorded three assists and one steal in the contest.
Curtis Kelly added 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds while shooting 6-for-9 from the field... Kelly has now scored in double figures five times in his career.
In a career-high 19 minutes played, freshman Martavious Irving set a new career-high in scoring with eight points... He also moved the ball well dishing out three assists, while committing no turnovers.

What They Said

Head Coach Chris Mack
On tonight's performance...
"The rebounding margin at halftime was 27-8, and that really set the tone. Defensively we made stops, but unfortunately we could not get the defensive rebounds to end their possessions. Offensively I give K-State credit for pushing us out, a lot like Marquette did. We have talked the last couple of days about being strong with the ball, trying to get the ball below the foul line, but we could not do it and because of that we spent a ton of time in the first half without scoring any points."

On the play of Brad Redford...
"Brad shot the ball really well, which I expected him to do. He is one of the best shooters in the country, but he turned the ball over four times. It is one of those things where you have to be good in all areas. You don't have to be great, but you have to be good. One time he stepped on the sideline and another he threw the ball away right by our bench, which really hearts when you are in a possession game. Brad is a great kid and he did a really good job tonight, but the game just was not ours."

On halftime adjustments...
"We talked a lot about getting on the defensive glass. We were doing a really good job guarding their shooters, they were 1-for-9 from the three point line in the first half, but we could not secure defensive rebounds. I think it got a little bit better in the second half, but the tone was already set. They were foaming at the mouth to start the game, and we could not answer them."

Dante Jackson, Junior, Guard
On what coach said to the team after the game...
"We just have to give those guys credit; they out rebounded us in the first half. I really don't need to say much more than that. It came down to toughness, readiness, and I think our team, we weren't ready. They were ready, and they punched us in the mouth and just kept punching and punching and we kind of took it. It's kind of cliché because it happened to us before. Marquette did the same thing. I thought we responded and we didn't. It comes down to where this team wants to go."

On Jacob Pullen...
"I think he's a really good player. Really good player, I mean he's tough. He and Clemente both. They're going to win some games because of those two. They did a great job tonight and we wish those guys the best of luck."

What We Said

Head Coach Frank Martin
On how Jake and Denis didn't score much in the first half...
"The guys want to win. They do not care about that kind of stuff. I do not know why you guys get so wrapped up with who scores over who. You line up to play to win. You do not line up to make guys happy. That is meaningless. It is nothing about who responded to what Xavier tried to take away. The difference is that we have guys we can throw it to in the post and it relieves the pressure. Those two guys played a pretty good floor game considering Xavier pressures the heck out of the basketball. We were a little sluggish, a little slow, but we were mentally into it. Nine straight days of practicing and playing and we were not as crisp as we needed to be. But mentally we understood, so we stayed the course defensively in the first half which did not allow them to score either. Once the game continued to settle down and our guys did not fall down by themselves, the ball did not hit them in the head and we started passing and moving the ball a little bit, then we started making a couple of shots and it got us that little lead at halftime. That is the challenge on this basketball team. We have other parts. I do not go into halftime talking about who is scoring and who is not. I could care less about who has how many shots. We are trying to win the game."

On his team's play...
"We were pretty good until we broke that lead and then Xavier just put their heads down and just drove the ball. We got caught standing around and not guarding and we fouled too much in the second half and that is something we have to clean up."

On his progression of the younger guys...
"It is growth. When you are two, three weeks into your season you are still trying to get everyone to understand how you are trying to play. We have different pieces to the puzzle. We have a lot of youth. We have guys who are thirstier guys playing big minutes for us. It's going to take time. "

Junior Guard Jacob Pullen
On finally getting a win against Xavier...
"Yeah we got a win. It could have been prettier. If we would have made more shots, we could have run them out of (the gym). We ended up grinding one out, but we take what we can get. It is still a win and it still feels better than losing to them two years in a row."

On finding consistency...
"I think that, in a way, we don't have to rely on one person to score, but we take what we can get each night, whether it is Curtis (Kelly), Jamar (Samuels), Denis (Clemente) or me. Jordan (Henriquez-Roberts) made some good shots tonight. That is the type of thing that makes a team talented and deep, and it helps them make a deep run into March."

On the improvements made this week in practice ...
"Practice has been consistently good. We turned it up early today and other than that, it has been pretty consistent, as far as our effort. We had a few lackadaisical plays and a few offensive rebounds we gave up, but other than that I think the reason we won was just defense and rebounding the ball."

On the fan's support tonight...
"There is a blizzard out there tonight and we expected 10 people to show up. I would not have come to the game tonight if I wasn't playing. They could have watched it on TV like a lot of people did, but they came out and gave us that home-court advantage we needed tonight."

Sophomore Forward Jamar Samuels
On the teams' rebounding edge tonight ...
"Going into the game, our coaches said they (Xavier) were going to beat us up down there and we took that has motivation. We just came out and tried to get every single rebound that came off the rim."