College Basketball Nation: Rick Barnes
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Breaking down the Friday afternoon games in the Music City:
No. 6 seed Cincinnati (24-10) vs. No. 11 Texas (20-13), 12:15 p.m. ET
What to watch: Seeing the way Cincinnati scrapped its way into the Big East Conference championship game, it’s hard not to peg the Bearcats as one of those teams in the field playing its best basketball right now. They’ve won seven of their past nine games and lead the country with seven victories over ranked teams. Texas, on the other hand, enters the tourney trying to find some consistency after losing four of its past seven games. There’s no better time to find that mojo than right now. There were a lot of people who wondered if the Longhorns would even make the tournament. Here’s their chance to prove that they belong.
Who to watch: Texas guard J'Covan Brown can score points in bunches, and when he gets it going, he’s a headache to defend. The 6-foot-1 junior has averaged 24.8 points over his past four games and has scored at least 21 in each of those four. He leads the Big 12 in scoring at 20.1 points per game, but hasn’t shot it particularly well from 3-point range coming into this game. In his past five outings, he’s just 6-of-30 from behind the arc. Brown takes 28 percent of his team’s shots.
Why to watch: The Bearcats have been one of the turnaround stories this season in college basketball, but it goes much deeper than just hoops. The ugly scenes from their fight with Xavier on Dec. 10 remain etched in a lot of people’s minds, but Cincinnati recovered from multiple player suspensions -- and showing a new resolve along the way -- and played its way into the Big East tournament final. One of the catalysts has been senior forward Yancy Gates, who was suspended six games for his role in the brawl. When he returned, the Bearcats tweaked their offense to better utilize Gates’ offensive rebounding prowess, and they took off as a team -- winning seven of their nine games against ranked foes.
What they’re saying: “We had a chance to win the Big East tournament, which nobody expected us to do, and hopefully, we’ll do the unexpected and win games here, which nobody probably expects us to do. We’ll just do what we’ve been doing and keep playing against the odds and trying to prove people wrong.” -- Cincinnati forward Yancy Gates
“I’ve told my team all year if we would work as hard on the offensive end as we do on the defensive end, we’d be a much better team. And at times where I don’t think we’ve improved or shown the improvement is with our offense.” -- Texas coach Rick Barnes
Around the rim: This is the sixth time that Texas has been a double-digit seed in the NCAA tournament. Each of the previous five times, the Longhorns won at least one game in the tournament. … The Cincinnati-Texas game will tip off at 11:15 a.m. local time in Nashville, and the Cincinnati players haven’t been crazy about playing early games this season. Nobody was complaining Thursday, though. “It’s the NCAA tournament. If you can’t get up at whatever time the game is, you shouldn’t be here,” Cincinnati guard Cashmere Wright said. … Before Cincinnati boarded the bus for Nashville, coach Mick Cronin took the players into the UC Arena and had them look up at the Bearcats’ national championship banners. “I just think you’ve got to believe that you can win it, and I think my guys need to realize that it’s possible and that it’s happened at the University of Cincinnati. We’ve got to believe that it’s going to happen again,” Cronin said.
No. 3 seed Florida State (24-9) vs. No. 14 St. Bonaventure (20-11), 2:45 p.m. ET
What to watch: Is Florida State as good as it looked last weekend in gunning down Duke and North Carolina in back-to-back days to win the ACC tournament title? Granted, Duke and North Carolina didn’t have a lot to gain in Atlanta, but it’s not the first time the Seminoles have turned Tobacco Road upside down this season. Leonard Hamilton’s club beat North Carolina 90-57 at home Jan. 14, then won at Duke 76-73 a week later. It’s the first time in 16 seasons that somebody has recorded two victories over both Duke and North Carolina in the same season. That’s some pretty heady stuff. The trick now for Florida State is playing that way in the March tournament that counts.
Who to watch: Florida State senior forward Bernard James served six years in the Air Force, including deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and Qatar. Now 27, the 6-10 James has been as valuable to his basketball team as he was to his country. An All-ACC Defensive Team selection, James ranks third in the ACC with 76 blocked shots, while averaging 10.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He will be honored at the Final Four along with Tennessee women’s coach Pat Summitt and presented with the Most Courageous Award by the United States Basketball Writers Association.
Why to watch: St. Bonaventure is back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since a scandal rocked the university during the 2002-03 season. The Bonnies played an ineligible player that season after a junior-college transfer was admitted to the university with a welding degree and no associate’s degree. The fallout included the firing of coach Jan van Breda Kolff and the resignation of the athletic director and school president. A few months later, Bill Swan, the president of the university’s board of trustees, committed suicide and left a note apologizing for the pain he caused St. Bonaventure as well as his family and friends. The next four seasons saw the Bonnies win a combined 24 games, but coach Mark Schmidt was hired in 2007 and has steadily led the program back to respectability. St. Bonaventure won its first Atlantic 10 tournament championship last Sunday.
What they’re saying: “Andrew (Nicholson) is the player of the year, so he does what players of the year do, and that’s put the team on their back and kind of sail the ship.” -- St. Bonaventure guard Matthew Wright
“We’re definitely expecting a punch right out of the gate. We’re going to throw one ourselves.” -- Florida State forward Bernard James
Around the rim: Florida State is ranked sixth nationally in field goal percentage defense (.381) and seventh in blocked shots (5.9 per game). … In the Seminoles’ past four games, they’re shooting 50 percent (34-of-68) from 3-point range and keeping their opponents to 29.2 percent (26-of-89) from behind the line. … The Bonnies received quite a send-off before leaving their campus in western New York. Schmidt said it seemed like 15,000 of the 20,000 people who live in the Allegheny community lined the roads. “They let the kids out of schools, and we had our bus go through all the little towns, by all the elementary schools, all the businesses, and it was special,” Schmidt said. … Nicholson, a senior forward and the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, has been on a tear. He averaged 25.3 points and 11.5 rebounds in his final eight conference games.
No. 6 seed Cincinnati (24-10) vs. No. 11 Texas (20-13), 12:15 p.m. ET
What to watch: Seeing the way Cincinnati scrapped its way into the Big East Conference championship game, it’s hard not to peg the Bearcats as one of those teams in the field playing its best basketball right now. They’ve won seven of their past nine games and lead the country with seven victories over ranked teams. Texas, on the other hand, enters the tourney trying to find some consistency after losing four of its past seven games. There’s no better time to find that mojo than right now. There were a lot of people who wondered if the Longhorns would even make the tournament. Here’s their chance to prove that they belong.
Who to watch: Texas guard J'Covan Brown can score points in bunches, and when he gets it going, he’s a headache to defend. The 6-foot-1 junior has averaged 24.8 points over his past four games and has scored at least 21 in each of those four. He leads the Big 12 in scoring at 20.1 points per game, but hasn’t shot it particularly well from 3-point range coming into this game. In his past five outings, he’s just 6-of-30 from behind the arc. Brown takes 28 percent of his team’s shots.
Why to watch: The Bearcats have been one of the turnaround stories this season in college basketball, but it goes much deeper than just hoops. The ugly scenes from their fight with Xavier on Dec. 10 remain etched in a lot of people’s minds, but Cincinnati recovered from multiple player suspensions -- and showing a new resolve along the way -- and played its way into the Big East tournament final. One of the catalysts has been senior forward Yancy Gates, who was suspended six games for his role in the brawl. When he returned, the Bearcats tweaked their offense to better utilize Gates’ offensive rebounding prowess, and they took off as a team -- winning seven of their nine games against ranked foes.
What they’re saying: “We had a chance to win the Big East tournament, which nobody expected us to do, and hopefully, we’ll do the unexpected and win games here, which nobody probably expects us to do. We’ll just do what we’ve been doing and keep playing against the odds and trying to prove people wrong.” -- Cincinnati forward Yancy Gates
“I’ve told my team all year if we would work as hard on the offensive end as we do on the defensive end, we’d be a much better team. And at times where I don’t think we’ve improved or shown the improvement is with our offense.” -- Texas coach Rick Barnes
Around the rim: This is the sixth time that Texas has been a double-digit seed in the NCAA tournament. Each of the previous five times, the Longhorns won at least one game in the tournament. … The Cincinnati-Texas game will tip off at 11:15 a.m. local time in Nashville, and the Cincinnati players haven’t been crazy about playing early games this season. Nobody was complaining Thursday, though. “It’s the NCAA tournament. If you can’t get up at whatever time the game is, you shouldn’t be here,” Cincinnati guard Cashmere Wright said. … Before Cincinnati boarded the bus for Nashville, coach Mick Cronin took the players into the UC Arena and had them look up at the Bearcats’ national championship banners. “I just think you’ve got to believe that you can win it, and I think my guys need to realize that it’s possible and that it’s happened at the University of Cincinnati. We’ve got to believe that it’s going to happen again,” Cronin said.
No. 3 seed Florida State (24-9) vs. No. 14 St. Bonaventure (20-11), 2:45 p.m. ET
What to watch: Is Florida State as good as it looked last weekend in gunning down Duke and North Carolina in back-to-back days to win the ACC tournament title? Granted, Duke and North Carolina didn’t have a lot to gain in Atlanta, but it’s not the first time the Seminoles have turned Tobacco Road upside down this season. Leonard Hamilton’s club beat North Carolina 90-57 at home Jan. 14, then won at Duke 76-73 a week later. It’s the first time in 16 seasons that somebody has recorded two victories over both Duke and North Carolina in the same season. That’s some pretty heady stuff. The trick now for Florida State is playing that way in the March tournament that counts.
Who to watch: Florida State senior forward Bernard James served six years in the Air Force, including deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and Qatar. Now 27, the 6-10 James has been as valuable to his basketball team as he was to his country. An All-ACC Defensive Team selection, James ranks third in the ACC with 76 blocked shots, while averaging 10.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He will be honored at the Final Four along with Tennessee women’s coach Pat Summitt and presented with the Most Courageous Award by the United States Basketball Writers Association.
Why to watch: St. Bonaventure is back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since a scandal rocked the university during the 2002-03 season. The Bonnies played an ineligible player that season after a junior-college transfer was admitted to the university with a welding degree and no associate’s degree. The fallout included the firing of coach Jan van Breda Kolff and the resignation of the athletic director and school president. A few months later, Bill Swan, the president of the university’s board of trustees, committed suicide and left a note apologizing for the pain he caused St. Bonaventure as well as his family and friends. The next four seasons saw the Bonnies win a combined 24 games, but coach Mark Schmidt was hired in 2007 and has steadily led the program back to respectability. St. Bonaventure won its first Atlantic 10 tournament championship last Sunday.
What they’re saying: “Andrew (Nicholson) is the player of the year, so he does what players of the year do, and that’s put the team on their back and kind of sail the ship.” -- St. Bonaventure guard Matthew Wright
“We’re definitely expecting a punch right out of the gate. We’re going to throw one ourselves.” -- Florida State forward Bernard James
Around the rim: Florida State is ranked sixth nationally in field goal percentage defense (.381) and seventh in blocked shots (5.9 per game). … In the Seminoles’ past four games, they’re shooting 50 percent (34-of-68) from 3-point range and keeping their opponents to 29.2 percent (26-of-89) from behind the line. … The Bonnies received quite a send-off before leaving their campus in western New York. Schmidt said it seemed like 15,000 of the 20,000 people who live in the Allegheny community lined the roads. “They let the kids out of schools, and we had our bus go through all the little towns, by all the elementary schools, all the businesses, and it was special,” Schmidt said. … Nicholson, a senior forward and the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, has been on a tear. He averaged 25.3 points and 11.5 rebounds in his final eight conference games.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Moments before a final half of basketball that may have decided the fate of Texas’ season, coach Rick Barnes stood before a dry-erase board in the Longhorns’ locker room.
On one side, Barnes scribbled three letters: “N-I-T.”
Then he took a step to his right and jotted down four more: “N-C-A-A.”
Barnes put down the marker and looked at his team.
“Who are we?” he asked the Longhorns. “Which one would you put your name under?”
By the time Texas left the Sprint Center, the question had been answered.
In a game that so many predicted they would lose, the Longhorns fought back from an 11-point deficit and defeated Iowa State 71-65 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament. Along with propelling them into Friday’s semifinal against Missouri, the victory significantly enhanced the résumé of a Texas team that entered the contest on the NCAA tournament bubble.
Now 20-12, the Horns feel much better about their chances of earning a 14th consecutive bid under Barnes, who isn’t the type to politick to the selection committee.
He shouldn’t have to.
Texas finished 9-9 in what is generally regarded as the second-best league in the country behind the Big Ten. The Longhorns’ strength of schedule is No. 20 in the country according to ESPN's InsideRPI, and they have only one defeat (at Oklahoma State) that can be viewed as a “bad loss.”
Thursday’s victory over Iowa State also should turn some heads considering the Cyclones -- who tied for third in the Big 12 standings -- entered the game touting wins in four of their previous five contests. Texas’ win Thursday came before 18,792 people, most of whom were in support of Iowa State.
“You love to walk into other gyms and quiet their fans,” UT guard J’Covan Brown said.
Texas led 65-59 with 2 minutes, 55 seconds left before Iowa State scored six consecutive points to force a tie. But rather than flounder in the face of adversity, the Longhorns flourished.
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Peter G. Aiken/US PresswireJ'Covan Brown's late-game cool helped Texas hold off Iowa State -- and strengthen its NCAA case.
Peter G. Aiken/US PresswireJ'Covan Brown's late-game cool helped Texas hold off Iowa State -- and strengthen its NCAA case.Brown scored seven of his game-high 23 points in the second half.
“A few seconds before I hit that shot, Coach was like, ‘Are you feeling it?’” said Brown, a junior. “I told him I was, and he let me go out and do my thing. It gives you a lot of confidence when your coach has your back like that.”
Brown’s performance this season -- he averages a Big 12-best 20.1 points -- is even more impressive considering he’s on a team that features five freshmen among its top seven players. Opposing defenses are geared to stop Brown, yet he still finds ways to score. His game winner Thursday came against Iowa State’s Chris Babb, who is regarded as one of the top defenders in the Big 12.
“[Brown] is a gifted offensive player,” Barnes said. “He has such great vision. On that last play he had three or four different options, and he picked the right one to get the ball where it needed to be.”
The Cyclones still had a chance after Brown’s clutch basket, but standout Royce White lost control of the ball on the perimeter, and it ended up in the hands of Texas forward Jonathan Holmes. Iowa State immediately fouled Holmes, and the freshman made both free throws to make it 70-65 with 22 seconds left.
Ballgame.
As proud as he was of Brown, Barnes was also ecstatic about the play of freshman point guard Myck Kabongo, who has been on a steady incline all season. Kabongo finished with 11 points, five assists and no turnovers -- Texas had only six turnovers as a team -- and he played excellent defense on Iowa State 3-point ace Scott Christopherson.
A senior, Christopherson entered Thursday’s game averaging 21.8 points in his previous five contests and had made 19 of 36 3-point attempts during that span. Pestered by Kabongo, he scored just 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting and missed four of his six attempts from beyond the arc.
As a team, the Cyclones made just five 3-pointers Thursday. They came in averaging nine per game.
Texas now advances to play another strong shooting team in Missouri. The Tigers are shooting 49.9 percent from the field, a mark that ranks third in the nation. Mizzou defeated Texas 84-73 in Columbia on Jan. 14 and 67-66 in Austin on Jan. 30.
“We feel good about this win,” Brown said. “But we can’t let our young guys celebrate too much. We’ve got another big one tomorrow.”
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Quick thoughts from Texas' 71-65 victory over Iowa State.
Overview: Texas' streak of 13 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances under Rick Barnes may be extended another year. Nothing is guaranteed, of course, but the Longhorns certainly have to feel much better about their chances of earning an at-large bid after defeating the No. 3-seeded Cyclones in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament at the Sprint Center. Texas, which improved to 20-12 overall, entered the game on the bubble. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi had Texas as one of his last teams in before Thursday's tipoff.
Just as he has countless times throughout his career, junior guard J'Covan Brown came through in the clutch. The conference's leading scorer broke a 65-65 tie by converting a three-point play with 36.3 seconds remaining. Iowa State turned it over on the other end, and Texas' Jonathan Holmes came up with the loose ball. Holmes was fouled and hit both free throws to make it 70-65. Iowa State had no chance after that.
Brown had a game-high 23 points for Texas while point guard Myck Kabongo added 11. Royce White had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Cyclones.
Turning point: Texas trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half before going on a 26-8 run that was capped by Kabongo's deep 3-pointer with 11:12 remaining. The scoring march provided a huge jolt of momentum for Texas. Iowa State fought back and tied the game twice but could never take the lead.
Key player: Because of Texas' up-and-down season, Brown hasn't received the attention he deserves. He is one of the best pure scorers in the nation - and the fact that he's averaging 20 points a game on a team dominated by freshmen makes his success even more impressive, because he is the focal point of opposing defenses.
Key stat: Iowa State's biggest strength is its 3-point shooting. But the Cyclones were just 5-of-18 from beyond the arc Thursday.
Miscellaneous: Texas won despite playing without senior forward Alexis Wangmene, who is out for the season after breaking his wrist in Saturday's loss at Kansas. Wangmene averages just 4.6 points and 4.7 rebounds, but his energy and post presence was invaluable for the Longhorns.
What's next: Texas advances to play No. 2 seed Missouri in Friday's semifinal. The Longhorns lost twice to the Tigers this season, including a 67-66 defeat in Austin on Jan. 30. Iowa State's season is far from over, as the Cyclones are a lock to make the NCAA tournament. Fred Hoiberg's team is 22-10 and 12-6 in Big 12 play. Iowa State was 3-13 in conference games last season.
Overview: Texas' streak of 13 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances under Rick Barnes may be extended another year. Nothing is guaranteed, of course, but the Longhorns certainly have to feel much better about their chances of earning an at-large bid after defeating the No. 3-seeded Cyclones in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament at the Sprint Center. Texas, which improved to 20-12 overall, entered the game on the bubble. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi had Texas as one of his last teams in before Thursday's tipoff.
Just as he has countless times throughout his career, junior guard J'Covan Brown came through in the clutch. The conference's leading scorer broke a 65-65 tie by converting a three-point play with 36.3 seconds remaining. Iowa State turned it over on the other end, and Texas' Jonathan Holmes came up with the loose ball. Holmes was fouled and hit both free throws to make it 70-65. Iowa State had no chance after that.
Brown had a game-high 23 points for Texas while point guard Myck Kabongo added 11. Royce White had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Cyclones.
Turning point: Texas trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half before going on a 26-8 run that was capped by Kabongo's deep 3-pointer with 11:12 remaining. The scoring march provided a huge jolt of momentum for Texas. Iowa State fought back and tied the game twice but could never take the lead.
Key player: Because of Texas' up-and-down season, Brown hasn't received the attention he deserves. He is one of the best pure scorers in the nation - and the fact that he's averaging 20 points a game on a team dominated by freshmen makes his success even more impressive, because he is the focal point of opposing defenses.
Key stat: Iowa State's biggest strength is its 3-point shooting. But the Cyclones were just 5-of-18 from beyond the arc Thursday.
Miscellaneous: Texas won despite playing without senior forward Alexis Wangmene, who is out for the season after breaking his wrist in Saturday's loss at Kansas. Wangmene averages just 4.6 points and 4.7 rebounds, but his energy and post presence was invaluable for the Longhorns.
What's next: Texas advances to play No. 2 seed Missouri in Friday's semifinal. The Longhorns lost twice to the Tigers this season, including a 67-66 defeat in Austin on Jan. 30. Iowa State's season is far from over, as the Cyclones are a lock to make the NCAA tournament. Fred Hoiberg's team is 22-10 and 12-6 in Big 12 play. Iowa State was 3-13 in conference games last season.
Video: Rick Barnes on Longhorns' big win
February, 11, 2012
Feb 11
4:48
PM ET
By ESPN.com staff | ESPN.com
Texas coach Rick Barnes discusses the Longhorns' big come-from-behind win over Kansas State on Saturday.
Here are this week’s Big 12 power rankings:
1. Missouri: The Tigers have played the two toughest teams in the league (Kansas and Baylor) and defeated them both. Guard Marcus Denmon had made just five of his previous 31 attempts from 3-point range before going 6-for-9 from beyond the arc in Saturday’s win against Kansas.
2. Kansas: The Jayhawks blew an eight-point lead with just more than 2 minutes remaining in Saturday’s loss at Missouri, but with Baylor up next on Wednesday, there’s no time to mope about the loss. Kansas is 16-2 all-time against the Bears, who it defeated by 18 points last month at Allen Fieldhouse.
3. Baylor: The Bears’ Big 12 title hopes depend largely on what happens this week. Baylor hosts Kansas on Wednesday and travels to Missouri Saturday. Baylor’s only two losses are against those two teams. The Bears' offense looked sloppy and disorganized in last week’s victories over Texas A&M (63-60) and Oklahoma State (64-60).
4. Iowa State: The Cyclones won at Oklahoma Saturday despite getting just three points from leading scorer Royce White. Fred Hoiberg's squad has won five of its past six games overall and could continue that streak this week against Texas A&M and Oklahoma State.
5. Kansas State: The Wildcats got back on the winning track by defeating Texas A&M Saturday at home. And the good times should continue when Kansas State hosts Texas Tech on Tuesday. Leading scorer Rodney McGruder has made just four of his previous 20 3-point attempts.
6. Texas: Rick Barnes’ squad hasn’t caught many breaks in conference play. Texas’ six league losses have come by an average of five points. The Longhorns had lost five of their previous six games before defeating Texas Tech on Saturday. Monday’s road game against a beat up Texas A&M squad is winnable.
7. Texas A&M: The Aggies almost defeated Baylor without Khris Middleton and Dash Harris on Wednesday, and they led Kansas State at halftime before falling 64-53 Saturday in Manhattan. Considering all of the injuries, Texas A&M deserves credit for competing as well as it has.
8. Oklahoma: The Sooners have dropped four of their previous five games heading into Monday’s contest against Missouri. All of a sudden the team that got off to a 9-1 start is 3-7 in league play. Steven Pledger and Andrew Fitzgerald are averaging a combined 31.1 points.
9. Oklahoma State: Three weeks after losing to them by 41 points, Oklahoma State nearly upset the Baylor Bears before falling 64-60 Saturday in Stillwater. Freshman Brian Williams had 23 points in the loss. On Tuesday, Oklahoma State hosts the same Iowa State squad that it lost to on a buzzer-beater Jan. 18 in Ames.
10. Texas Tech: Last week’s home game against Oklahoma State appeared to be the Red Raiders’ best chance of picking up a Big 12 win. Instead, Billy Gillispie’s team was throttled 80-63. Jordan Tolbert leads Texas Tech in scoring with 11.9 points per contest. But he’s averaging just 6.3 points in his past three games.
1. Missouri: The Tigers have played the two toughest teams in the league (Kansas and Baylor) and defeated them both. Guard Marcus Denmon had made just five of his previous 31 attempts from 3-point range before going 6-for-9 from beyond the arc in Saturday’s win against Kansas.
2. Kansas: The Jayhawks blew an eight-point lead with just more than 2 minutes remaining in Saturday’s loss at Missouri, but with Baylor up next on Wednesday, there’s no time to mope about the loss. Kansas is 16-2 all-time against the Bears, who it defeated by 18 points last month at Allen Fieldhouse.
3. Baylor: The Bears’ Big 12 title hopes depend largely on what happens this week. Baylor hosts Kansas on Wednesday and travels to Missouri Saturday. Baylor’s only two losses are against those two teams. The Bears' offense looked sloppy and disorganized in last week’s victories over Texas A&M (63-60) and Oklahoma State (64-60).
4. Iowa State: The Cyclones won at Oklahoma Saturday despite getting just three points from leading scorer Royce White. Fred Hoiberg's squad has won five of its past six games overall and could continue that streak this week against Texas A&M and Oklahoma State.
5. Kansas State: The Wildcats got back on the winning track by defeating Texas A&M Saturday at home. And the good times should continue when Kansas State hosts Texas Tech on Tuesday. Leading scorer Rodney McGruder has made just four of his previous 20 3-point attempts.
6. Texas: Rick Barnes’ squad hasn’t caught many breaks in conference play. Texas’ six league losses have come by an average of five points. The Longhorns had lost five of their previous six games before defeating Texas Tech on Saturday. Monday’s road game against a beat up Texas A&M squad is winnable.
7. Texas A&M: The Aggies almost defeated Baylor without Khris Middleton and Dash Harris on Wednesday, and they led Kansas State at halftime before falling 64-53 Saturday in Manhattan. Considering all of the injuries, Texas A&M deserves credit for competing as well as it has.
8. Oklahoma: The Sooners have dropped four of their previous five games heading into Monday’s contest against Missouri. All of a sudden the team that got off to a 9-1 start is 3-7 in league play. Steven Pledger and Andrew Fitzgerald are averaging a combined 31.1 points.
9. Oklahoma State: Three weeks after losing to them by 41 points, Oklahoma State nearly upset the Baylor Bears before falling 64-60 Saturday in Stillwater. Freshman Brian Williams had 23 points in the loss. On Tuesday, Oklahoma State hosts the same Iowa State squad that it lost to on a buzzer-beater Jan. 18 in Ames.
10. Texas Tech: Last week’s home game against Oklahoma State appeared to be the Red Raiders’ best chance of picking up a Big 12 win. Instead, Billy Gillispie’s team was throttled 80-63. Jordan Tolbert leads Texas Tech in scoring with 11.9 points per contest. But he’s averaging just 6.3 points in his past three games.
Missouri, Dixon keep composure in the end
January, 31, 2012
Jan 31
1:09
AM ET
By
Carter Strickland | ESPN.com
AUSTIN, Texas -- In all the fury, Frank Haith implored Michael Dixon to remain calm.
“There is no time to panic and no time to stress,” the Missouri coach told his guard.
Really, if ever there were a time, this would have been it. Dixon had just committed a flagrant foul by swinging his elbow above the shoulders of Julien Lewis. The ensuing foul shot and possession gave Texas a 66-65 lead. And No. 4 Missouri (20-2, 7-2) was suddenly down on the road with less than a minute to go after seemingly taking complete control just minutes earlier.
But Dixon came right back, found a lane to the basket, lifted a left-handed layup over Lewis and pushed the Tigers to a 67-66 lead and an eventual victory by that score in front of 12,203 at the Frank Erwin Center Monday night.
“In the heat of battle, things happen,” Dixon said of the flagrant call. “You got to look at the next play and that was what we did and we were able to win.”
That Missouri was able to look ahead instead of behind was important because what it had left in the rearview was a path of self-destruction. The Tigers, with the memories of a horrible road loss to Oklahoma State lingering, held a 10-point lead with less than five minutes left in this game. There was also the less-than-impressive home win over Texas Tech bouncing around between the ears.
The Tigers had to eschew the whispers and the yells coming from the home crowd.
“Coach has been stressing growth from the OSU game and kind of how we let that game slip away,” Missouri's Kim English said. “We always stayed true to that. We talked about late in games two things have to be consistent -- defensive stops and offensive execution.”
Neither were exactly flawless in the final five minutes. But in the final 40 seconds, both were. First was Dixon's score. Then came the defensive stop.
Texas has the most prolific scorer in the Big 12 in J'Covan Brown, and the junior is able to squeeze off and make shots from everywhere. With 27 seconds left, there was little doubt the ball was going to find its way into his hands.
Missouri decided to come out in a zone on the final possession and that appeared to throw the Texas offense. When the ball finally did find its way into Brown's hands, there were only 12 seconds left and he was stymied.
“I was just trying to find a gap and there wasn't nothing,” Brown said.
So Brown passed to freshman Myck Kabongo. His shot didn't clear the rim.
“He did get fouled,” complained Texas coach Rick Barnes.
Not in the eyes of the officials.
Barnes did acknowledge that, while that play mattered, it was not the one that lost the game for UT. Instead, it was the Longhorns' inability to contain Dixon, not just on the last play, but on plenty of others as well. The junior went 9-of-10 for 21 points in 27 minutes. During one stretch, Dixon rattled in three straight jumpers over Brown to give Missouri a 12-point lead early in the second half.
“I gave up basically half his points,” Brown said of his defensive effort.
“I felt like from an offensive standpoint he had nice pop and nice focus,” Haith said of Dixon. “His play allowed us to get some separation.”
Now Missouri must separate itself in a Big 12 race that has allowed for anything but. The Tigers, who already have a road win against No. 6 Baylor, get their first of two shots at No. 8 Kansas on Saturday. At 7-1, the Jayhawks, winners of the past seven conference titles, lead the conference race.
As for Texas (13-9, 3-6), the Longhorns have lost seven games by six points or less. Texas may not have enough on its résumé to make it to a 14th straight NCAA tournament without a strong run in the second half of the conference season and in the Big 12 tournament.
“There is no time to panic and no time to stress,” the Missouri coach told his guard.
Really, if ever there were a time, this would have been it. Dixon had just committed a flagrant foul by swinging his elbow above the shoulders of Julien Lewis. The ensuing foul shot and possession gave Texas a 66-65 lead. And No. 4 Missouri (20-2, 7-2) was suddenly down on the road with less than a minute to go after seemingly taking complete control just minutes earlier.
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Brendan Maloney/US PRESSWIREMichael Dixon scored 21 points for Missouri, including the game-winning layup.
Brendan Maloney/US PRESSWIREMichael Dixon scored 21 points for Missouri, including the game-winning layup.“In the heat of battle, things happen,” Dixon said of the flagrant call. “You got to look at the next play and that was what we did and we were able to win.”
That Missouri was able to look ahead instead of behind was important because what it had left in the rearview was a path of self-destruction. The Tigers, with the memories of a horrible road loss to Oklahoma State lingering, held a 10-point lead with less than five minutes left in this game. There was also the less-than-impressive home win over Texas Tech bouncing around between the ears.
The Tigers had to eschew the whispers and the yells coming from the home crowd.
“Coach has been stressing growth from the OSU game and kind of how we let that game slip away,” Missouri's Kim English said. “We always stayed true to that. We talked about late in games two things have to be consistent -- defensive stops and offensive execution.”
Neither were exactly flawless in the final five minutes. But in the final 40 seconds, both were. First was Dixon's score. Then came the defensive stop.
Texas has the most prolific scorer in the Big 12 in J'Covan Brown, and the junior is able to squeeze off and make shots from everywhere. With 27 seconds left, there was little doubt the ball was going to find its way into his hands.
Missouri decided to come out in a zone on the final possession and that appeared to throw the Texas offense. When the ball finally did find its way into Brown's hands, there were only 12 seconds left and he was stymied.
“I was just trying to find a gap and there wasn't nothing,” Brown said.
So Brown passed to freshman Myck Kabongo. His shot didn't clear the rim.
“He did get fouled,” complained Texas coach Rick Barnes.
Not in the eyes of the officials.
Barnes did acknowledge that, while that play mattered, it was not the one that lost the game for UT. Instead, it was the Longhorns' inability to contain Dixon, not just on the last play, but on plenty of others as well. The junior went 9-of-10 for 21 points in 27 minutes. During one stretch, Dixon rattled in three straight jumpers over Brown to give Missouri a 12-point lead early in the second half.
“I gave up basically half his points,” Brown said of his defensive effort.
“I felt like from an offensive standpoint he had nice pop and nice focus,” Haith said of Dixon. “His play allowed us to get some separation.”
Now Missouri must separate itself in a Big 12 race that has allowed for anything but. The Tigers, who already have a road win against No. 6 Baylor, get their first of two shots at No. 8 Kansas on Saturday. At 7-1, the Jayhawks, winners of the past seven conference titles, lead the conference race.
As for Texas (13-9, 3-6), the Longhorns have lost seven games by six points or less. Texas may not have enough on its résumé to make it to a 14th straight NCAA tournament without a strong run in the second half of the conference season and in the Big 12 tournament.
What we learned on wild Saturday afternoon
January, 21, 2012
Jan 21
7:25
PM ET
By
Eamonn Brennan | ESPN.com
This Saturday promised one of the best wall-to-wall slates of college hoops fixtures thus far this season, and the afternoon action didn't disappoint. In fact, it just about blew my mind. Let's take a comprehensive look at what we learned from said afternoon action, shall we? (Check back late tonight for a recap of the evening action.)
Florida State 76, No. 4 Duke 73
What we learned: How cool is Leonard Hamilton? Bad charge call? He just smiles. Another bad, potentially crucial, game-deciding charge call? A smile and a wink. A buzzer-beating 3 to upset No. 4 Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium -- the same 3 that sent FSU's bench into a joyous on-court scrum? A quick nod. A walk to midcourt. A handshake. No big deal, right?
Hamilton isn't the celebratory type; he's as steady a presence as there is in college hoops. But what his team did Saturday -- just a week after it blew the doors off against North Carolina at home -- was worth much more than the cucumber-cool reaction Hamilton offered. This was a massive, season-changing win for the Florida State Seminoles.
There were plenty of opportunities to fade away. Midway through the second half, Ryan Kelly hit two 3s and a fast-break dunk to extend Duke's lead to 58-50, its widest margin of the afternoon. The crowd was rocking. FSU's shots weren't falling. It appeared Duke would do what Duke does: Gather itself, extend a lead, and ride out another ho-hum ACC home victory. Instead, the Seminoles kept battling. Within a minute, they had closed the eight-point lead to just five, and by the time the game reached its crucial moments -- the final minute -- FSU pulled just ahead at 71-70.
Things stayed tight all the way through. Kelly received the benefit of the doubt on a pretty clear charge with 20 seconds left and Duke guard Austin Rivers made a great move to the rim to tie the game at 73 with just 6 seconds remaining. But FSU guard Luke Loucks, calm as his head coach, advanced the ball to guard Michael Snaer in time for Snaer's buzzer-beating, game-winning 3 just a few feet in front of the visitors bench. That's when the ecstasy, apparently shared by all but Hamilton, commenced.
So what did we learn? We learned that the Noles are indeed very real. Are they as good as their 33-point blowout over UNC? Of course not. But they're good enough -- strong enough, defensive enough, big enough, tough enough -- to present matchup problems for some of the best teams in the country, even on those teams' home floors. Before the season, we thought Florida State was the third-best team in the ACC. After losses to Harvard and Princeton and a wipeout at Clemson, that projection looked wildly optimistic. Now, it almost feels cautious. If the Seminoles play like this the rest of the way, they're definitely better than that.
No. 5 Missouri 89, No. 3 Baylor 88
What we learned: This one-point deficit was reached thanks to a meaningless last-second 3 from Baylor's Brady Heslip, and so the score line belies the real takeaway from this Tigers road win: Missouri is no illusion. No. This team is just flat good.
Can any other conclusion be reached? Consider the accomplishment here: The Tigers went on the road against the No. 3 team in the country, one with as much size and athletic interior talent as any of the nation's contenders -- a quality supposedly anathema to Mizzou's very essence -- and scored 1.24 points per possession in a win that required a first-half battle, a second-half push and a late survival of an inevitable Baylor run. The Tigers are simply relentless on the offensive end, attacking the tiniest of defensive gaps with more speed than any other backcourt in the country.
If you were wondering why Missouri forward Ricardo Ratliffe is so handily dominating competition this season -- leading the nation in field goal percentage and effective field goal percentage by a huge margin to date -- you received your answer today. Ratliffe cuts and spaces in the middle of the paint as well as any forward in the country. He's a tireless, opportunistic offensive rebounder with great hands and lightning-quick feet. And more often than not, Missouri's guards -- particularly Phil Pressey, who was brilliant in Waco -- break down the defense, ruin its rotation and find Ratliffe for easy finishes around the rim. His line Saturday, against all that long, NBA-worthy Baylor talent: 27 points on 11-of-14 from the field (see?), 8 rebounds (6 offensive) and 2 blocks. He was, per the usual, brilliant. Meanwhile, Pressey finished with 18 points and 7 assists, 6 steals and 5 rebounds. Can't understate his total impact on the game.
There are concerns for Baylor going forward. Perry Jones III continues to live up to the occasionally unfair "soft" label; when you're a 6-foot-11 lottery pick, and the opposing team had only two contributors bigger than 6-6, 8 points and 4 rebounds just doesn't cut it. The Bears, despite their clear size advantage, allowed the Tigers to rebound 48.3 percent of their misses on the offensive end; per Ken Pomeroy's rankings, Baylor is the 220th-best team in the nation on its defensive glass. When you can run a front line of Jones, Quincy Acy and Quincy Miller (who turned in a stellar scoring performance today, it should be noted), why are you getting so consistently and comprehensively outworked on the boards?
Still, let's give the Tigers a huge amount of credit. When Missouri were blown out at Kansas State, the concerns about this team's size were seemingly validated. Sure, Mizzou played well in the nonconference. Sure, the shots were falling. Sure, Ratliffe was on a tear. But could Frank Haith's team really keep it up in conference play? Weren't the Tigers, among any team with an undefeated nonconference record, the most likely to fade into Big 12 mediocrity? The answer, as we now know, is a resounding no. Small? Sure. Guard-oriented? You bet. This team is what it is. What you see is what you get. And what you get is one of the best offensive -- check, that, one of the best, period -- teams in the nation, bar none. Great win.
West Virginia 77, Cincinnati 74 (OT)
What we learned: If you haven't seen Kevin Jones play lately, you're missing the Big East Player of the Year to date -- and a legitimate national POY contender, too. Frankly, you might not recognize him. Jones, who struggled to adapt to a star role last season, has emerged as all that and more in 2011-12. This form was again on display today, especially late in regulation, when Jones hit a massive go-ahead 3 to help WVU push Cincinnati to overtime, where the Mountaineers outlasted the Bearcats for a massive home win. Jones finished with 26 points on 11-of-15 from the field, hitting both of his 3-point attempts and grabbing 13 rebounds in the process. Like I said: If that's not the Big East Player of the Year thus far, I don't know who is.
In the meantime, despite the loss -- and a truly questionable layup attempt by Dion Dixon, when the Bearcats needed a 3 to tie -- Cincinnati can come away from this game looking pretty good. Just a few days after beating UConn on the road, it faced down a star-led squad on its brutal home court and very nearly, but for a few late errors and big plays by West Virginia, came away with a win. If you thought Cincinnati was the second-best team in the league after the win over the Huskies, you might still feel that way now.
Tennessee 60, No. 11 Connecticut 57
What we learned: The Huskies can't stop the slide. Saturday's loss at Tennessee marks UConn's fourth loss in its past six games, and was again emblematic of the woes facing this team: disjointed offense, a willingness to take bad shots, lack of leadership in tough situations, interior play far below the sum of its insanely talented parts. We knew Cuonzo Martin's Tennessee squad would come out and play hard in Knoxville. Even when the Volunteers have been bad this season (which has been often: This win moves them to a mere 9-10 overall), they've played with a blue-collar, let's-work-hard spirit preached constantly by their first-year head coach. Today it paid off.
But Connecticut deserves much of the blame here, too. Andre Drummond and Alex Oriakhi should be dominating undermanned frontcourts like UT's. Instead, they combined for 11 points and were obviously outplayed by freshman Jarnell Stokes, who posted a double-double in his third career game. The same Stokes who was a 17-year-old kid in high school last month. Great win for the Vols, of course, but the postgame questions will be all about UConn. As of Jan. 21, this team -- so talented, so promising, so mystifyingly mediocre -- still has miles to go before it can be considered a Big East contender, let alone one with national title aspirations.
No. 2 Kentucky 77, Alabama 71
What we learned: There are no moral victories in college hoops. Alabama coach Anthony Grant will be eager to share that rather cliché bit of information with his team following Saturday's loss at Kentucky. And it's true -- a win is a win, a loss is a loss, and minimal nuance is allowed to color those stark W's and L's at the end of the season. Still, in the final moments of Bama's impressive Saturday road stand, against the No. 2 team in the country and a program that has won its past 47 road games, the longest active streak in Division I, the only thought that occurred to this viewer was: "Well, no matter whether they win or lose, this was a great game for Alabama."
It was. The Crimson Tide are in the midst of a three-games-in-eight-days scheduling bump, one that put them on the road at Mississippi State (loss), at home against Vanderbilt (loss, and an ugly one at that) and then, mercilessly, on the road at Kentucky. Yet Alabama never quit coming at the typically impressive Wildcats. Even when struggling forward Tony Mitchell fouled out with five minutes remaining, the Tide kept getting scores and free throws and good looks, pushing the game and preventing UK from ever finishing in comfort.
In the end, Anthony Davis' freakish interior defense saved Kentucky's day; the last of his four blocks came with 7 seconds left to preserve a four-point lead, and thus the expected result was achieved. But give Alabama credit: That was a gutsy, tough road performance. This team seemed easy to write off over much of the past two months, but if Saturday's performance was any indication, it will be a worthy competitor in the coming SEC stretch run.
Dayton 87, Xavier 72
What we learned: The Flyers have come a long way since Nov. 30. That's when this team lost 84-55 to Buffalo at home, three days after winning the Old Spice Classic title game over Minnesota. Four days later, Dayton was blown out at Murray State. At that point, first-year coach Archie Miller appeared to have a sincere rebuilding project on his hands. Nearly two months later, the Flyers are, well, flying. This 15-point home win over putative Atlantic 10 favorite Xavier puts them at 4-1 in A-10 play, another excellent addition to a résumé that includes victories over Alabama, Saint Louis and, most recently, a strong 10-point win at Temple. By now, Dayton isn't a rebuild. It isn't a neat little story. It's a legitimate A-10 contender with an easy case to make for an at-large spot in the NCAA tournament. Who saw that one coming?
In the meantime, Xavier's off-and-on struggles -- which appeared to abate with a four-game winning streak in A-10 play -- reared their ugly head again. The Musketeers were mediocre on offense and downright bad on defense, allowing 87 points in 65 possessions, or 1.33 points per trip. Sometimes it's ugly offense, sometimes it's lenient defense, but in either case, it's clear Chris Mack's team hasn't put its midseason slide entirely in the rearview.
Some other observations from Saturday afternoon's selections:
Florida State 76, No. 4 Duke 73
What we learned: How cool is Leonard Hamilton? Bad charge call? He just smiles. Another bad, potentially crucial, game-deciding charge call? A smile and a wink. A buzzer-beating 3 to upset No. 4 Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium -- the same 3 that sent FSU's bench into a joyous on-court scrum? A quick nod. A walk to midcourt. A handshake. No big deal, right?
Hamilton isn't the celebratory type; he's as steady a presence as there is in college hoops. But what his team did Saturday -- just a week after it blew the doors off against North Carolina at home -- was worth much more than the cucumber-cool reaction Hamilton offered. This was a massive, season-changing win for the Florida State Seminoles.
There were plenty of opportunities to fade away. Midway through the second half, Ryan Kelly hit two 3s and a fast-break dunk to extend Duke's lead to 58-50, its widest margin of the afternoon. The crowd was rocking. FSU's shots weren't falling. It appeared Duke would do what Duke does: Gather itself, extend a lead, and ride out another ho-hum ACC home victory. Instead, the Seminoles kept battling. Within a minute, they had closed the eight-point lead to just five, and by the time the game reached its crucial moments -- the final minute -- FSU pulled just ahead at 71-70.
Things stayed tight all the way through. Kelly received the benefit of the doubt on a pretty clear charge with 20 seconds left and Duke guard Austin Rivers made a great move to the rim to tie the game at 73 with just 6 seconds remaining. But FSU guard Luke Loucks, calm as his head coach, advanced the ball to guard Michael Snaer in time for Snaer's buzzer-beating, game-winning 3 just a few feet in front of the visitors bench. That's when the ecstasy, apparently shared by all but Hamilton, commenced.
So what did we learn? We learned that the Noles are indeed very real. Are they as good as their 33-point blowout over UNC? Of course not. But they're good enough -- strong enough, defensive enough, big enough, tough enough -- to present matchup problems for some of the best teams in the country, even on those teams' home floors. Before the season, we thought Florida State was the third-best team in the ACC. After losses to Harvard and Princeton and a wipeout at Clemson, that projection looked wildly optimistic. Now, it almost feels cautious. If the Seminoles play like this the rest of the way, they're definitely better than that.
No. 5 Missouri 89, No. 3 Baylor 88
What we learned: This one-point deficit was reached thanks to a meaningless last-second 3 from Baylor's Brady Heslip, and so the score line belies the real takeaway from this Tigers road win: Missouri is no illusion. No. This team is just flat good.
Can any other conclusion be reached? Consider the accomplishment here: The Tigers went on the road against the No. 3 team in the country, one with as much size and athletic interior talent as any of the nation's contenders -- a quality supposedly anathema to Mizzou's very essence -- and scored 1.24 points per possession in a win that required a first-half battle, a second-half push and a late survival of an inevitable Baylor run. The Tigers are simply relentless on the offensive end, attacking the tiniest of defensive gaps with more speed than any other backcourt in the country.
If you were wondering why Missouri forward Ricardo Ratliffe is so handily dominating competition this season -- leading the nation in field goal percentage and effective field goal percentage by a huge margin to date -- you received your answer today. Ratliffe cuts and spaces in the middle of the paint as well as any forward in the country. He's a tireless, opportunistic offensive rebounder with great hands and lightning-quick feet. And more often than not, Missouri's guards -- particularly Phil Pressey, who was brilliant in Waco -- break down the defense, ruin its rotation and find Ratliffe for easy finishes around the rim. His line Saturday, against all that long, NBA-worthy Baylor talent: 27 points on 11-of-14 from the field (see?), 8 rebounds (6 offensive) and 2 blocks. He was, per the usual, brilliant. Meanwhile, Pressey finished with 18 points and 7 assists, 6 steals and 5 rebounds. Can't understate his total impact on the game.
There are concerns for Baylor going forward. Perry Jones III continues to live up to the occasionally unfair "soft" label; when you're a 6-foot-11 lottery pick, and the opposing team had only two contributors bigger than 6-6, 8 points and 4 rebounds just doesn't cut it. The Bears, despite their clear size advantage, allowed the Tigers to rebound 48.3 percent of their misses on the offensive end; per Ken Pomeroy's rankings, Baylor is the 220th-best team in the nation on its defensive glass. When you can run a front line of Jones, Quincy Acy and Quincy Miller (who turned in a stellar scoring performance today, it should be noted), why are you getting so consistently and comprehensively outworked on the boards?
Still, let's give the Tigers a huge amount of credit. When Missouri were blown out at Kansas State, the concerns about this team's size were seemingly validated. Sure, Mizzou played well in the nonconference. Sure, the shots were falling. Sure, Ratliffe was on a tear. But could Frank Haith's team really keep it up in conference play? Weren't the Tigers, among any team with an undefeated nonconference record, the most likely to fade into Big 12 mediocrity? The answer, as we now know, is a resounding no. Small? Sure. Guard-oriented? You bet. This team is what it is. What you see is what you get. And what you get is one of the best offensive -- check, that, one of the best, period -- teams in the nation, bar none. Great win.
West Virginia 77, Cincinnati 74 (OT)
What we learned: If you haven't seen Kevin Jones play lately, you're missing the Big East Player of the Year to date -- and a legitimate national POY contender, too. Frankly, you might not recognize him. Jones, who struggled to adapt to a star role last season, has emerged as all that and more in 2011-12. This form was again on display today, especially late in regulation, when Jones hit a massive go-ahead 3 to help WVU push Cincinnati to overtime, where the Mountaineers outlasted the Bearcats for a massive home win. Jones finished with 26 points on 11-of-15 from the field, hitting both of his 3-point attempts and grabbing 13 rebounds in the process. Like I said: If that's not the Big East Player of the Year thus far, I don't know who is.
In the meantime, despite the loss -- and a truly questionable layup attempt by Dion Dixon, when the Bearcats needed a 3 to tie -- Cincinnati can come away from this game looking pretty good. Just a few days after beating UConn on the road, it faced down a star-led squad on its brutal home court and very nearly, but for a few late errors and big plays by West Virginia, came away with a win. If you thought Cincinnati was the second-best team in the league after the win over the Huskies, you might still feel that way now.
Tennessee 60, No. 11 Connecticut 57
What we learned: The Huskies can't stop the slide. Saturday's loss at Tennessee marks UConn's fourth loss in its past six games, and was again emblematic of the woes facing this team: disjointed offense, a willingness to take bad shots, lack of leadership in tough situations, interior play far below the sum of its insanely talented parts. We knew Cuonzo Martin's Tennessee squad would come out and play hard in Knoxville. Even when the Volunteers have been bad this season (which has been often: This win moves them to a mere 9-10 overall), they've played with a blue-collar, let's-work-hard spirit preached constantly by their first-year head coach. Today it paid off.
But Connecticut deserves much of the blame here, too. Andre Drummond and Alex Oriakhi should be dominating undermanned frontcourts like UT's. Instead, they combined for 11 points and were obviously outplayed by freshman Jarnell Stokes, who posted a double-double in his third career game. The same Stokes who was a 17-year-old kid in high school last month. Great win for the Vols, of course, but the postgame questions will be all about UConn. As of Jan. 21, this team -- so talented, so promising, so mystifyingly mediocre -- still has miles to go before it can be considered a Big East contender, let alone one with national title aspirations.
No. 2 Kentucky 77, Alabama 71
What we learned: There are no moral victories in college hoops. Alabama coach Anthony Grant will be eager to share that rather cliché bit of information with his team following Saturday's loss at Kentucky. And it's true -- a win is a win, a loss is a loss, and minimal nuance is allowed to color those stark W's and L's at the end of the season. Still, in the final moments of Bama's impressive Saturday road stand, against the No. 2 team in the country and a program that has won its past 47 road games, the longest active streak in Division I, the only thought that occurred to this viewer was: "Well, no matter whether they win or lose, this was a great game for Alabama."
It was. The Crimson Tide are in the midst of a three-games-in-eight-days scheduling bump, one that put them on the road at Mississippi State (loss), at home against Vanderbilt (loss, and an ugly one at that) and then, mercilessly, on the road at Kentucky. Yet Alabama never quit coming at the typically impressive Wildcats. Even when struggling forward Tony Mitchell fouled out with five minutes remaining, the Tide kept getting scores and free throws and good looks, pushing the game and preventing UK from ever finishing in comfort.
In the end, Anthony Davis' freakish interior defense saved Kentucky's day; the last of his four blocks came with 7 seconds left to preserve a four-point lead, and thus the expected result was achieved. But give Alabama credit: That was a gutsy, tough road performance. This team seemed easy to write off over much of the past two months, but if Saturday's performance was any indication, it will be a worthy competitor in the coming SEC stretch run.
Dayton 87, Xavier 72
What we learned: The Flyers have come a long way since Nov. 30. That's when this team lost 84-55 to Buffalo at home, three days after winning the Old Spice Classic title game over Minnesota. Four days later, Dayton was blown out at Murray State. At that point, first-year coach Archie Miller appeared to have a sincere rebuilding project on his hands. Nearly two months later, the Flyers are, well, flying. This 15-point home win over putative Atlantic 10 favorite Xavier puts them at 4-1 in A-10 play, another excellent addition to a résumé that includes victories over Alabama, Saint Louis and, most recently, a strong 10-point win at Temple. By now, Dayton isn't a rebuild. It isn't a neat little story. It's a legitimate A-10 contender with an easy case to make for an at-large spot in the NCAA tournament. Who saw that one coming?
In the meantime, Xavier's off-and-on struggles -- which appeared to abate with a four-game winning streak in A-10 play -- reared their ugly head again. The Musketeers were mediocre on offense and downright bad on defense, allowing 87 points in 65 possessions, or 1.33 points per trip. Sometimes it's ugly offense, sometimes it's lenient defense, but in either case, it's clear Chris Mack's team hasn't put its midseason slide entirely in the rearview.
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AP Photo/Eric GayTyshawn Taylor didn't have a single turnover, and 22 points, as Kansas held off Texas.
AP Photo/Eric GayTyshawn Taylor didn't have a single turnover, and 22 points, as Kansas held off Texas.- I didn't get to see all of Kansas' tough 69-66 road win at Texas, but the portions I did see lent some solid eyeball observations to my current theory on Texas: The Longhorns have plenty of holes, particularly in their frontcourt, but they're much better than most people seem to think. To wit, the Longhorns entered Saturday ranked No. 24 in Ken Pomeroy's adjusted efficiency rankings. They're solid on the offensive glass, good at getting to the free throw line, and while they don't play vintage Rick Barnes defense, they keep games close enough to give lights-out scorer J'Covan Brown chances to go win the game late. He had one such chance Saturday, and it missed, but the lesson was well-taken: Texas will give superior teams fits from here on out. Don't say you weren't warned. (And how 'bout Tyshawn Taylor's continued torrid pace with 22 points and ZERO turnovers? What a three-game stretch.)
- Playing Kentucky's brutal Davis-led defense must have a way of making other defenses feel wide open. That appeared to be the case in Fayetteville today, where the Arkansas Razorbacks -- fresh off a loss to the Wildcats this week -- made their first 11 shots and went 80 percent from the field in the first half against Michigan. Early in the second half, the score was 49-33 Arkansas, and a blowout appeared to be in the works. But the shooting slowed down, Michigan made its comeback, and the Razorbacks narrowly avoided a late loss when Wolverines guard Trey Burke's last-second 3 missed. Bad second half, but a nonetheless solid win for freshman B.J. Young and the rest of Mike Anderson's young team. And what a day for the SEC, eh?
- Purdue had the toughest task of any team in the country Saturday afternoon: The Boilermakers had to fight a Midwestern snowstorm that trapped them on their airport tarmac and prevented them from getting more than a few hours of sleep before the 12 p.m. ET tip. Predictably, Michigan State rolled. Purdue has serious issues on both ends of the floor, particularly with an offense that offers little but a barrage of outside shots. But it's hard to blame the Boilermakers too much for the lopsided 83-58 result.
- Yes, it's hard to win on the road. Yes, it's hard to win on the road in the Big East with a team comprised almost entirely of freshmen. But it's even harder to lose when your opponent shoots 3-of-24 in the first half, 12-of-41 for the game -- which ties Harvard for the season record for fewest field goals in a win -- and makes just three of its 14 3-point field goal attempts on the afternoon. And yet, that's exactly what Rutgers did Saturday, as Georgetown overcame a legendarily poor shooting performance (effective field goal percentage: 33.8) to rally for a late win. Hoyas freshman Otto Porter continued his stellar freshman campaign, scoring Georgetown's final six points and nailing the winning free throws with just 8 seconds remaining. Georgetown fans won't necessarily be pleased with this one, but when you shoot this poorly and still get a win, and thanks to a steady freshman to boot, there's encouraging stuff in there somewhere.
- Maryland will eagerly await to hear the status of freshman center Alex Len, who left the Terps' 73-60 loss to Temple at the Palestra with an ankle injury. Len has helped lead a quiet stretch of solid play from the Terps. With him, this team can compete in the ACC. Without him, well, it's not looking good.
- Poor Boston College. The Eagles showed signs of improvement in two early ACC wins over Clemson and Virginia Tech, but Steve Donahue's team returned to early-season form Saturday, which is a way of saying it got beat soundly at home by another very marginal team -- in this case, a 71-56 home loss to Wake Forest. Yeesh.
- What happened to Belmont? Everyone's favorite mid-major darling -- which returned the lion's share of personnel from last season's 30-5 campaign -- fell 79-78 at USC Upstate on Saturday, dropping to 13-7 overall and 6-2 in the Atlantic Sun to date. The other loss came at home to Lipscomb earlier this month, and all of a sudden the Bruins' expected A-Sun dominance looks entirely vulnerable. Strange times in the Volunteer State.
Mature Myck Kabongo will lead young Texas
October, 21, 2011
10/21/11
10:05
AM ET
By
Jason King | ESPN.com
KANSAS CITY -- A few days ago, Texas coach Rick Barnes turned to one of his assistants in practice and made a bold prediction about the 2011-12 season.
Well, kind of.
"We're going to be good at something -- at least one thing," Barnes told him. "I'm just not sure what it is yet."
There are indeed plenty of questions surrounding a Longhorns team that had three players -- Tristan Thompson, Jordan Hamilton and Cory Joseph -- selected in the first round of last summer's NBA draft. Six of the nine recruited scholarship players on Texas' roster are freshmen, and there appears to be a serious lack of depth in the paint.
Still, if Barnes is searching for a team strength, it may be a safe bet to look in the backcourt, where highly touted freshman point guard Myck Kabongo will team with junior J'Covan Brown, who is easily the team's top returning player.
Barnes said Kabongo has all the tools to become the next great point guard for a program that has produced standouts such as T.J. Ford and D.J. Augustin.
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Henny Ray Abrams/McDonald'sRaised in Canada and schooled at St. Benedict's, Myck Kabongo will now lead the show in Austin.
Henny Ray Abrams/McDonald'sRaised in Canada and schooled at St. Benedict's, Myck Kabongo will now lead the show in Austin.As much as he needs him to excel with the ball in his hands, Barnes is also counting on Kabongo to assume a leaderhip role for a squad that also lost senior forward Gary Johnson along with the three draft picks.
That's fine with Kabongo, who played high school ball for hard-nosed coach Dan Hurley at St. Benedict's Prep.
"He got me ready, mentally," Kabongo said of Hurley. "Some of these [freshmen] have never been at schools where coaches are going to get after them every day. That's what Coach Barnes does. I just let the young guys know, ‘You can't take it personal. It's part of the game. You've got to be coachable. You can't let what he says on the court affect you off the court.'"
Barnes couldn't say enough good things about Kabongo's attitude -- "I've never seen him in a bad mood," the coach doted -- and work ethic. Apparently some of it has rubbed off on Brown, who has battled consistency issues since arriving at UT two years ago.
Last season, for instance, Brown scored 23 points in a come-from-behind victory at Kansas, but only had three points in the Longhorns' next game against Oklahoma State.
"[Kabongo] is going to impact me big time and get my motor going," said Brown, who averaged 9.8 points last season. "I've got to be consistent every night, no matter who we're playing.
"Sometimes, when we're playing teams that aren't as competitive, I'll get lost in the shuffle. I'll tell myself, ‘I just want to be a defender today and not a scorer.' When it's a big game, I tell my teammates, ‘If you need me, just let me know.' I've got to have the mindset that it's a big game no matter who we're playing."
If Brown doesn't, it could be a tough season for Texas, which has finished no worse than fourth in the Big 12 five of the last six years. The Horns placed second last season with a league record of 13-3.
"We've always set the bar high at Texas," Barnes said. "We're not going to change that."
Texas coach Rick Barnes discusses how his team can still compete despite the loss of eight players.
Rick Barnes pitches in to help group home
September, 29, 2011
9/29/11
6:26
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By Diamond Leung | ESPN.com
Tara Hall is a group home located in Georgetown, S.C., and it's for at-risk boys who have been abused, neglected, or are troubled and hope to turn around their lives. It relies on donations of money, supplies and time to keep going after 40 years in operation.
That's where Texas coach Rick Barnes comes into the picture.
According to WBTW-TV, Barnes became a godsend to Tara Hall, which was in need of major financial assistance until Barnes' wife, Candy, read of the group home's struggle in a magazine while vacationing in the area and told Rick all about it.
Quietly, Barnes stepped up to help at a place off the beaten path that desperately needed it. He spent his time and energy, and his family members pitched in as well when no one was looking.
That's a credit to Barnes, who clearly has compassion for young men looking to better themselves, and it doesn't just end with the basketball team at Texas.
From The Sun News:
That's where Texas coach Rick Barnes comes into the picture.
According to WBTW-TV, Barnes became a godsend to Tara Hall, which was in need of major financial assistance until Barnes' wife, Candy, read of the group home's struggle in a magazine while vacationing in the area and told Rick all about it.
[Tara Hall executive director Jim] Dumm said Barnes called and within days was on-site at Tara Hall with a contractor friend and plans to re-floor, re-paint, and generally make-over the entire residence hall. It all culminated over Labor Day weekend, when Barnes and other volunteers helped move new furniture into the dorms.
"They just really are dedicated to seeing that these boys have a first-rate chance at everything," said Dumm, who still can't help but smile on Tara Hall's fortunes lately.
In a quick phone conversation Thursday morning, Barnes told News13 he didn't want any publicity for the deed, and he and his family were inspired by what Dumm and his staff are doing at Tara Hall. Barnes brought his son to help and to spend time with the youths at the home this summer, and Dumm said Candy Barnes has also come by to spend time.
The new furniture inside the residence hall includes new beds for the students and the adult staff, along with new sectional couches and high definition TVs for the lounges. Dumm said Barnes even threw in satellite TV service and separate TVs so the boys could play video games in the lounges and in the rec hall. There are also new pool tables and tables and chairs in the rec hall, new floor coverings throughout, and coats of fresh paint on walls everywhere you look.
Quietly, Barnes stepped up to help at a place off the beaten path that desperately needed it. He spent his time and energy, and his family members pitched in as well when no one was looking.
That's a credit to Barnes, who clearly has compassion for young men looking to better themselves, and it doesn't just end with the basketball team at Texas.
From The Sun News:
Dumm said new beds were the first thing he asked for when Barnes wanted to know what he could do to help. When Barnes pressed for more, Dumm had a hard time asking.
"He said 'Jim, you’re not asking for enough' and I said something about not wanting to be greedy and he said ‘Sometimes you just have to get out of the way and let God work,' said Dumm.
"That was the last peep out of me. I let Him work."
Our friends at The Mag are previewing one high-profile school per day for their Summer Buzz series. For the sake of all that is synergistic, yours truly will be attempting the same, complementing each comprehensive preview with some analytic fun. Today's subject: Texas. 
It's safe to say Texas fans did not see this offseason coming.
During the NCAA tournament, forward Tristan Thompson made a convincing case that he indeed planned on returning to school. Small forward Jordan Hamilton followed suit. Let's take a trip down memory lane:
"I'm coming back another year," Thompson said repeatedly in the Texas locker room at BOK Center, where the team was going to practice in preparation for its Sunday round-of-32 game against Arizona. "I've already signed up for summer classes."
"I'm coming back next year," Hamilton told the Austin American-Statesman. "I think we will have a great team."
Texas officials cautioned that one or both of the players could change their minds and opt to enter the draft.
Those Texas officials sure were prescient. When Thompson found himself rocketing up draft boards, he quietly reversed his decision and entered the NBA draft. When Hamilton saw that a handful of highly ranked players -- Harrison Barnes, Jared Sullinger and Perry Jones would all have been selected well ahead of the Longhorns sophomore -- decided to stay in school, Hamilton leapt at the chance to boost his draft stock.
In retrospect, these decisions weren't shocking. Players say what they say during the season, but when the NBA comes calling, you have to listen. Fair enough.
No, the true shocker came when guard Corey Joseph -- a solid but unspectacular point guard who had a solid but unspectacular freshman season -- declared his intentions to join Thompson and Hamilton in the NBA draft. Even more shocking? It worked out. (Which is to say, it worked out until the NBA lockout got so serious. Sigh.) Joseph was drafted by the best franchise in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs, and Texas coach Rick Barnes added another three first-round picks to his long résumé of Texas-borne pro talent.
(One quick fun fact: Hamilton and Joseph's selections marked the first time two Canadians had been selected in the first round of the same NBA draft.)
But happy as he surely was to see his three players achieve their lifelong dreams, Barnes couldn't celebrate for long. Hamilton was right: If everyone came back, the Longhorns would have had a great team. But everyone didn't come back. Basically, everyone left. And that has made life suddenly quite difficult for Barnes and his staff.
Of course, it's not as if the Longhorns won't be talented. Texas is a recruiting powerhouse, and the arrival of Myck Kabongo, the No. 2-ranked point guard in the class of 2011, will immediately make up for (and perhaps eclipse) the loss of Joseph to the NBA. J'Covan Brown will be an excellent scoring two-guard, and incoming freshman shooting guard Sheldon McClellan should be able to contribute minutes right away. In other words, the Longhorns' backcourt should be just fine.
The frontcourt is an entirely different story. The loss of Thompson and Hamilton was exacerbated by the graduation of forward Gary Johnson. Together, Hamilton, Thompson and Johnson were Texas' three leading scorers and rebounders; they combined for 43.2 points and 22.3 rebounds per game. Their combined length and athleticism were among the major reasons for Texas' brilliance on the defensive end, where the Longhorns allowed the third-lowest opponents' effective field goal percentage in the nation last season.
Making matters worse, there are no clear replacements -- or even a replacement -- waiting in the wings. Alex Wangmene, a 6-foot-7 senior, is the only returning forward in the Longhorns' lineup, and he averaged a mere 9.6 minutes per game in 2011. The recruiting class has a couple of promising prospects -- especially No. 10-ranked power forward Jonathan Holmes -- but no one in the class has the sort of dominating one-and-done potential it would take to fully replace Thompson, Johnson and even Hamilton.
That means Texas will almost certainly have to switch things up. The Longhorns have been heavily reliant on the post in the past two seasons; that won't work in 2011. Kabongo and Brown will have to take the majority of the scoring load while Barnes brings along Wangmene, Holmes, and the host of other movable parts that could earn time in various lineup configurations. Picking up the pace and spreading the floor couldn't hurt, either.
But this isn't just about offense. Defense was where the Longhorns truly excelled in 2011; were it not for a late-season slide, they could have gone down as one of the best defensive teams in modern hoops history. It's unclear whether this new batch of talent can come anywhere close to matching that performance. The loss of senior guard Dogus Balbay -- one of the true perimeter defensive stoppers in all of college hoops -- especially hurts.
That doesn't mean the Longhorns are in for a truly "down" season. They should remain competitive in the Big 12, and the Kabongo-Brown combination might just be enough to keep them in the hunt for a conference title.
But unless Wangmene and the rest of the untested frontcourt surprises everyone in 2011, the Longhorns are going to have some holes. Usually, Barnes' personnel challenges come from having too much talent and too few roster spots. For the first time in years, the opposite may be true.
It's safe to say Texas fans did not see this offseason coming.
During the NCAA tournament, forward Tristan Thompson made a convincing case that he indeed planned on returning to school. Small forward Jordan Hamilton followed suit. Let's take a trip down memory lane:
"I'm coming back another year," Thompson said repeatedly in the Texas locker room at BOK Center, where the team was going to practice in preparation for its Sunday round-of-32 game against Arizona. "I've already signed up for summer classes."
"I'm coming back next year," Hamilton told the Austin American-Statesman. "I think we will have a great team."
Texas officials cautioned that one or both of the players could change their minds and opt to enter the draft.
[+] Enlarge
Henny Ray Abrams/McDonald'sThe Longhorns are looking to Myck Kabong, the No. 2 point guard in the 2011 class, to help replace players who left early for the NBA.
Henny Ray Abrams/McDonald'sThe Longhorns are looking to Myck Kabong, the No. 2 point guard in the 2011 class, to help replace players who left early for the NBA.In retrospect, these decisions weren't shocking. Players say what they say during the season, but when the NBA comes calling, you have to listen. Fair enough.
No, the true shocker came when guard Corey Joseph -- a solid but unspectacular point guard who had a solid but unspectacular freshman season -- declared his intentions to join Thompson and Hamilton in the NBA draft. Even more shocking? It worked out. (Which is to say, it worked out until the NBA lockout got so serious. Sigh.) Joseph was drafted by the best franchise in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs, and Texas coach Rick Barnes added another three first-round picks to his long résumé of Texas-borne pro talent.
(One quick fun fact: Hamilton and Joseph's selections marked the first time two Canadians had been selected in the first round of the same NBA draft.)
But happy as he surely was to see his three players achieve their lifelong dreams, Barnes couldn't celebrate for long. Hamilton was right: If everyone came back, the Longhorns would have had a great team. But everyone didn't come back. Basically, everyone left. And that has made life suddenly quite difficult for Barnes and his staff.
Of course, it's not as if the Longhorns won't be talented. Texas is a recruiting powerhouse, and the arrival of Myck Kabongo, the No. 2-ranked point guard in the class of 2011, will immediately make up for (and perhaps eclipse) the loss of Joseph to the NBA. J'Covan Brown will be an excellent scoring two-guard, and incoming freshman shooting guard Sheldon McClellan should be able to contribute minutes right away. In other words, the Longhorns' backcourt should be just fine.
The frontcourt is an entirely different story. The loss of Thompson and Hamilton was exacerbated by the graduation of forward Gary Johnson. Together, Hamilton, Thompson and Johnson were Texas' three leading scorers and rebounders; they combined for 43.2 points and 22.3 rebounds per game. Their combined length and athleticism were among the major reasons for Texas' brilliance on the defensive end, where the Longhorns allowed the third-lowest opponents' effective field goal percentage in the nation last season.
Making matters worse, there are no clear replacements -- or even a replacement -- waiting in the wings. Alex Wangmene, a 6-foot-7 senior, is the only returning forward in the Longhorns' lineup, and he averaged a mere 9.6 minutes per game in 2011. The recruiting class has a couple of promising prospects -- especially No. 10-ranked power forward Jonathan Holmes -- but no one in the class has the sort of dominating one-and-done potential it would take to fully replace Thompson, Johnson and even Hamilton.
That means Texas will almost certainly have to switch things up. The Longhorns have been heavily reliant on the post in the past two seasons; that won't work in 2011. Kabongo and Brown will have to take the majority of the scoring load while Barnes brings along Wangmene, Holmes, and the host of other movable parts that could earn time in various lineup configurations. Picking up the pace and spreading the floor couldn't hurt, either.
But this isn't just about offense. Defense was where the Longhorns truly excelled in 2011; were it not for a late-season slide, they could have gone down as one of the best defensive teams in modern hoops history. It's unclear whether this new batch of talent can come anywhere close to matching that performance. The loss of senior guard Dogus Balbay -- one of the true perimeter defensive stoppers in all of college hoops -- especially hurts.
That doesn't mean the Longhorns are in for a truly "down" season. They should remain competitive in the Big 12, and the Kabongo-Brown combination might just be enough to keep them in the hunt for a conference title.
But unless Wangmene and the rest of the untested frontcourt surprises everyone in 2011, the Longhorns are going to have some holes. Usually, Barnes' personnel challenges come from having too much talent and too few roster spots. For the first time in years, the opposite may be true.
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. -- During last week's EYBL Peach Jam, ESPN.com surveyed 15 head coaches on a range of topics. Here are their responses on a topic involving their fellow coaches.
There are five seconds left in a tie game. Your opponent has the ball. What coach would you most worry about diagramming the last play?
Rick Barnes, Texas: Dean Smith. “No question. He was a great situation guy.’’
Mark Fox, Georgia: “It’s the guy with the best players. I don’t care what the play is.’’
Darrin Horn, South Carolina: “It’s about the players, not the pen. Whoever has the best players wins.’’
Ben Howland, UCLA: Tom Izzo, Jim Boeheim or Jim Calhoun. “Those three guys have been through just about every situation you can imagine.’’
Bob Huggins, West Virginia: Rick Pitino. “I think he’s a pretty good coach but I also think he inspires confidence in his players and that’s so important in those end-game situations.’’
Tom Izzo, Michigan State: Mike Krzyzewski. “He’s been doing this a long time and his track record speaks for itself. Plus he can say, ‘Eenie, meenie, miney mo and pick the guy who will beat you.’’
Kerry Keating, Santa Clara: Eric Reveno. “He went to Stanford. He has three degrees. One of them has to help him come up with a good endgame play.’’
Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph’s: The tree of Thad Matta. “Matta, Sean Miller, Chris Mack. They have so many plays that they can cover just about anything.’’
Fran McCaffery, Iowa: Tom Izzo. “He runs really good late-game stuff. You have to be concise with your switching and your trapping.’’
Josh Pastner, Memphis: John Calipari. “In those situations you have to be quick with your thinking and he really is. He grabs the board and draws up something immediately. It’s a gift, really.’’ Pastner also named Jeff Van Gundy.
Rick Pitino, Louisville: Dean Smith. “He was a great timeout guy. He lived for that. Plus he had great players. Who do you want, Jordan or Worthy to beat you?”
Mark Turgeon, Maryland: John Beilein. “He’s a terrific X's and O's guy.’’
Bruce Weber, Illinois: Kevin Stallings. “I coached with him and I know how good he is. I always say he’s an offensive genius.’’
Roy Williams, North Carolina: Dean Smith. “We practiced it every day. There was nothing we could face that he hadn’t practiced, so when it happened you were ready.’’
Jay Wright, Villanova: John Beilein. “I know he lives and dies by the 3 but he’d also have an option, a guy driving to the rim. He wouldn’t go to a player but to a play.’’
There are five seconds left in a tie game. Your opponent has the ball. What coach would you most worry about diagramming the last play?
Rick Barnes, Texas: Dean Smith. “No question. He was a great situation guy.’’
Mark Fox, Georgia: “It’s the guy with the best players. I don’t care what the play is.’’
Darrin Horn, South Carolina: “It’s about the players, not the pen. Whoever has the best players wins.’’
Ben Howland, UCLA: Tom Izzo, Jim Boeheim or Jim Calhoun. “Those three guys have been through just about every situation you can imagine.’’
Bob Huggins, West Virginia: Rick Pitino. “I think he’s a pretty good coach but I also think he inspires confidence in his players and that’s so important in those end-game situations.’’
Tom Izzo, Michigan State: Mike Krzyzewski. “He’s been doing this a long time and his track record speaks for itself. Plus he can say, ‘Eenie, meenie, miney mo and pick the guy who will beat you.’’
Kerry Keating, Santa Clara: Eric Reveno. “He went to Stanford. He has three degrees. One of them has to help him come up with a good endgame play.’’
Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph’s: The tree of Thad Matta. “Matta, Sean Miller, Chris Mack. They have so many plays that they can cover just about anything.’’
Fran McCaffery, Iowa: Tom Izzo. “He runs really good late-game stuff. You have to be concise with your switching and your trapping.’’
Josh Pastner, Memphis: John Calipari. “In those situations you have to be quick with your thinking and he really is. He grabs the board and draws up something immediately. It’s a gift, really.’’ Pastner also named Jeff Van Gundy.
Rick Pitino, Louisville: Dean Smith. “He was a great timeout guy. He lived for that. Plus he had great players. Who do you want, Jordan or Worthy to beat you?”
Mark Turgeon, Maryland: John Beilein. “He’s a terrific X's and O's guy.’’
Bruce Weber, Illinois: Kevin Stallings. “I coached with him and I know how good he is. I always say he’s an offensive genius.’’
Roy Williams, North Carolina: Dean Smith. “We practiced it every day. There was nothing we could face that he hadn’t practiced, so when it happened you were ready.’’
Jay Wright, Villanova: John Beilein. “I know he lives and dies by the 3 but he’d also have an option, a guy driving to the rim. He wouldn’t go to a player but to a play.’’
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. -- During last week's EYBL Peach Jam, ESPN.com surveyed 15 head coaches on a range of topics. Here are their responses on a topic involving their fellow coaches.
Who is the smartest coach in college basketball right now?
Rick Barnes, Texas: “I don’t know if I can name one guy.’’
Mark Fox, Georgia: Mike Krzyzewski. “He’s on a different level than everyone else. Conceptually, philosophically he’s just ahead of everyone else.’’
Darrin Horn, South Carolina: Tom Izzo. “His consistency and to do what he’s done at a place that isn’t Kansas or UCLA, with 50 years of amazing tradition, that’s just incredible.’’
Ben Howland, UCLA: Brad Stevens and Jamie Dixon. “He looks pretty darned smart to do what he’s done. And Jamie’s winning percentage at Pittsburgh is incredible.’’
Bob Huggins, West Virginia: John Calipari. “I cannot understand how he can have all these things going on and still be as good as he is. Who can do that? To be involved in all he’s involved in, that’s incredible. I don’t think anyone realizes what a great job he’s done the past two years basically starting over with a new team. And he’ll do it again this year and still be good.’’
Tom Izzo, Michigan State: Mark Fox. “I watch what he’s been able to do with his program and I’m really impressed. His demeanor, the way he runs his program and handles his players. I think he’s a really great young coach.’’
Kerry Keating, Santa Clara: Jim Calhoun. “Whoever won the last championship has to be the smartest guy because he figured it out. We are all only as good and as smart as our last game. Plus, Coach Calhoun was smart enough to recruit Kemba.’’
Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph’s: Jim Boeheim. “I don’t think people appreciate how well he knows the game. You could ask him the top freshmen right now and he could tell you. He really studies the game.’’
Fran McCaffery, Iowa: John Calipari. “He’s so innovative, off and on the court.’’
Josh Pastner, Memphis: Mike Krzyzewski. “He takes everyone’s best shot every night and he never wavers. The teams that they’re supposed to beat by a large margin, they beat by a large margin. To be up like that all the time just speaks volumes to the level of motivation he gives that team.’’
Rick Pitino, Louisville: Mike Krzyzewski. “He’s the most experienced and no matter what the situation, he never panics.’’
Mark Turgeon, Maryland: Kevin Stallings. “He’s a very intelligent guy and an excellent coach.’’
Bruce Weber, Illinois: Tom Izzo and Roy Williams. “They both run competitive programs. They recruit kids that graduate. They win championships and they have good reputations.’’
Roy Williams, North Carolina: Mike Montgomery and Mike Krzyzewski. “I think Mike Montgomery is pretty darned sharp and I have no problem saying that I think Mike Krzyzewski is, too.’’
Jay Wright, Villanova: Mike Krzyzewski. “He’s got it all. He’s a great X’s and O’s coach. He has the personality. He’s a great motivator and he develops his players.’’
Who is the smartest coach in college basketball right now?
Rick Barnes, Texas: “I don’t know if I can name one guy.’’
Mark Fox, Georgia: Mike Krzyzewski. “He’s on a different level than everyone else. Conceptually, philosophically he’s just ahead of everyone else.’’
Darrin Horn, South Carolina: Tom Izzo. “His consistency and to do what he’s done at a place that isn’t Kansas or UCLA, with 50 years of amazing tradition, that’s just incredible.’’
Ben Howland, UCLA: Brad Stevens and Jamie Dixon. “He looks pretty darned smart to do what he’s done. And Jamie’s winning percentage at Pittsburgh is incredible.’’
Bob Huggins, West Virginia: John Calipari. “I cannot understand how he can have all these things going on and still be as good as he is. Who can do that? To be involved in all he’s involved in, that’s incredible. I don’t think anyone realizes what a great job he’s done the past two years basically starting over with a new team. And he’ll do it again this year and still be good.’’
Tom Izzo, Michigan State: Mark Fox. “I watch what he’s been able to do with his program and I’m really impressed. His demeanor, the way he runs his program and handles his players. I think he’s a really great young coach.’’
Kerry Keating, Santa Clara: Jim Calhoun. “Whoever won the last championship has to be the smartest guy because he figured it out. We are all only as good and as smart as our last game. Plus, Coach Calhoun was smart enough to recruit Kemba.’’
Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph’s: Jim Boeheim. “I don’t think people appreciate how well he knows the game. You could ask him the top freshmen right now and he could tell you. He really studies the game.’’
Fran McCaffery, Iowa: John Calipari. “He’s so innovative, off and on the court.’’
Josh Pastner, Memphis: Mike Krzyzewski. “He takes everyone’s best shot every night and he never wavers. The teams that they’re supposed to beat by a large margin, they beat by a large margin. To be up like that all the time just speaks volumes to the level of motivation he gives that team.’’
Rick Pitino, Louisville: Mike Krzyzewski. “He’s the most experienced and no matter what the situation, he never panics.’’
Mark Turgeon, Maryland: Kevin Stallings. “He’s a very intelligent guy and an excellent coach.’’
Bruce Weber, Illinois: Tom Izzo and Roy Williams. “They both run competitive programs. They recruit kids that graduate. They win championships and they have good reputations.’’
Roy Williams, North Carolina: Mike Montgomery and Mike Krzyzewski. “I think Mike Montgomery is pretty darned sharp and I have no problem saying that I think Mike Krzyzewski is, too.’’
Jay Wright, Villanova: Mike Krzyzewski. “He’s got it all. He’s a great X’s and O’s coach. He has the personality. He’s a great motivator and he develops his players.’’
A few more news and notes from the EYBL Peach Jam ...
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. -- With so much time on their hands, coaches can’t help but sit around telling stories while they watch the endless march of games. Usually the tales revolve around basketball.
Unless it’s Rick Barnes.
With Barnes, the conversation inevitably turns to practical jokes. The Texas coach takes pride on pulling fast ones over other coaches, friends and even his players.
“He’ll take a guy's phone and change the language to Chinese or one time he took a phone and took it apart. Handed it back in pieces,’’ UT assistant coach Russell Springmann said.
Asking Barnes to come up with a top-five list is nearly impossible, but he does proudly recall a prank pulled on P.J. Carlesimo. The two were playing golf and Carlesimo saw a dead mouse off the green. He placed the mouse in the hole so when Barnes went to reach for his golf ball, he grabbed the mouse.
“Bad idea,’’ Springmann said. “Never try to get him.’’
“So I get the mouse,’’ Barnes explained, “empty out a sleeve of balls and put the mouse in there and carry it with me for the rest of the day. When we go to lunch, I order two bacon, lettuce and mayonnaise sandwiches. I eat one and put the mouse in the other and say, ‘Anyone want this? I ordered two but can’t eat it?’ P.J. took it. I didn’t let him bite it. I probably should have.’’
Going home, but not really: On Friday, Ben Howland is flying home. Well, sort of. The UCLA head coach is, indeed, heading back to Southern California but instead of going back to his house, Howland will head to his parents’ place in Santa Barbara.
Why? Carmageddon, as the Los Angeles Times is calling the 55-hour closure of a portion of the 405 Freeway. If you haven’t experienced L.A. traffic, consider yourself lucky. Gridlock doesn’t do it justice. It’s an unpredictable swirling mess of cars, as likely to be jammed at 5 p.m. on a Tuesday as it is at 11 a.m. on a Sunday.
And the portion that is closing runs right near Howland’s house.
“Everybody who knows better is leaving,’’ Howland said. “I think my entire neighborhood will be gone.’’
Tip-ins: Most-packed gym of the day belonged to Gym 1 for the 11:30 game between Team Takeover, the defending EYBL champ that hadn’t lost in two years, and the Georgia Stars. Fans lined the upstairs track that circles the gym and packed into the corners while the coaches grabbed every available seat a game loaded with talent: Team Takeover’s Jerami Grant (42nd in the ESPNU 100), Arnaud Moto (53rd), James Robinson (74th), and the Stars’ Tony Parker (25th) and Marcus Hunt (78th). The game didn’t disappoint. Jaron Blossomgame, a Clemson commit, hit one of two free throws to win the game for the hometown stars and hand Team Takeover its first loss. … Asked if he had the iPads favored by so many of his peers, Illinois coach Bruce Weber laughed. “I just got an iPhone and I don’t know how to work it,’’ he said. “But hey, I think Izzo still has a flip phone.’’
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. -- With so much time on their hands, coaches can’t help but sit around telling stories while they watch the endless march of games. Usually the tales revolve around basketball.
Unless it’s Rick Barnes.
With Barnes, the conversation inevitably turns to practical jokes. The Texas coach takes pride on pulling fast ones over other coaches, friends and even his players.
“He’ll take a guy's phone and change the language to Chinese or one time he took a phone and took it apart. Handed it back in pieces,’’ UT assistant coach Russell Springmann said.
Asking Barnes to come up with a top-five list is nearly impossible, but he does proudly recall a prank pulled on P.J. Carlesimo. The two were playing golf and Carlesimo saw a dead mouse off the green. He placed the mouse in the hole so when Barnes went to reach for his golf ball, he grabbed the mouse.
“Bad idea,’’ Springmann said. “Never try to get him.’’
“So I get the mouse,’’ Barnes explained, “empty out a sleeve of balls and put the mouse in there and carry it with me for the rest of the day. When we go to lunch, I order two bacon, lettuce and mayonnaise sandwiches. I eat one and put the mouse in the other and say, ‘Anyone want this? I ordered two but can’t eat it?’ P.J. took it. I didn’t let him bite it. I probably should have.’’
Going home, but not really: On Friday, Ben Howland is flying home. Well, sort of. The UCLA head coach is, indeed, heading back to Southern California but instead of going back to his house, Howland will head to his parents’ place in Santa Barbara.
Why? Carmageddon, as the Los Angeles Times is calling the 55-hour closure of a portion of the 405 Freeway. If you haven’t experienced L.A. traffic, consider yourself lucky. Gridlock doesn’t do it justice. It’s an unpredictable swirling mess of cars, as likely to be jammed at 5 p.m. on a Tuesday as it is at 11 a.m. on a Sunday.
And the portion that is closing runs right near Howland’s house.
“Everybody who knows better is leaving,’’ Howland said. “I think my entire neighborhood will be gone.’’
Tip-ins: Most-packed gym of the day belonged to Gym 1 for the 11:30 game between Team Takeover, the defending EYBL champ that hadn’t lost in two years, and the Georgia Stars. Fans lined the upstairs track that circles the gym and packed into the corners while the coaches grabbed every available seat a game loaded with talent: Team Takeover’s Jerami Grant (42nd in the ESPNU 100), Arnaud Moto (53rd), James Robinson (74th), and the Stars’ Tony Parker (25th) and Marcus Hunt (78th). The game didn’t disappoint. Jaron Blossomgame, a Clemson commit, hit one of two free throws to win the game for the hometown stars and hand Team Takeover its first loss. … Asked if he had the iPads favored by so many of his peers, Illinois coach Bruce Weber laughed. “I just got an iPhone and I don’t know how to work it,’’ he said. “But hey, I think Izzo still has a flip phone.’’
Rick Barnes has a unique challenge. Before he arrived in Austin, Tex., the Longhorns were a solid program but hardly a national one. Thirteen years later, Barnes has consistently recruited top talent and consistently competed for Big 12 titles. Texas is a national program with a large following. If the expectations for Texas fans used to be "give me something decent to watch until football comes back," it is now "win the Big 12, go the Final Four, win a national title and give me something to decent to watch until football comes back."
Indeed, the bar has been raised. Barnes keeps recruiting top talent. But that talent hasn't translated into sustained on-court success in recent seasons. The disappointments are well documented. In 2010, Texas went from the nation's No. 1 ranking to an uninspiring first-round exit in the NCAA tournament. In 2011, Texas's defense spent much of the Big 12 season flirting with historical greatness; by March, the Longhorns had bowed out in a brutal loss to Arizona in the tournament's second round.
Barnes's last Elite Eight appearance came in 2008. His last Final Four appearance came in 2003. Since then, Barnes has recruited, developed, and sent a bevy of talented players to the NBA, including the likes of Kevin Durant, LaMarcus Aldridge, D.J. Augustin, T.J. Ford, Royal Ivey and Daniel Gibson.
These facts give the impression that Barnes is a talented recruiter but a so-so coach. Or that he's more concerned with getting players to the NBA -- hardly an ignoble goal -- than winning national championships. In 2010, Barnes made a comment to that effect to a reporter from ESPN The Magazine, saying he would "love to win a national championship" but that he wasn't "obsessed with it," because "we're obsessed with these guys trying to live their NBA dream." You could see why this might make Texas fans just a little bit uncomfortable.
Barnes has occasionally attempted to clarify his comments in the time since, but perhaps the best explanation he's given for them came in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram last week. Barnes was speaking to reporter Mike Jones, whose piece pokes into the mess of expectations Barnes has created in many ways thanks to his own success, and Jones gave Barnes a chance to clarify his comments on the NBA draft picks vs. team success dynamic:
Really, the idea that Barnes didn't want to win a national championship was always a frivolous one. Of course he wants to win, right? But when you combine those old comments with his track record in recent seasons -- recruiting elite talent, watching those players leave for the NBA draft, and putting disappointing teams on the floor in the interim -- it's easy for fans to form negative impressions. Is Barnes just a good recruiter? Can he put freshmen together into a national championship contender? Why do his teams seem to fade out, rather than improve, over the course of a season?
The answers aren't quite so easy. Yes, Texas fans have big expectations. Yes, those expectations are largely of Barnes's making. Now, ironically enough, Barnes is in many ways a victim of his own success. But all of this theoretical noodling won't change many minds. Texas needs to win, but more than anything, it needs to win in March. Until that happens again, Barnes will continue to face lingering pressure -- pressure that wouldn't exist had he not succeeded in the first place.
Indeed, the bar has been raised. Barnes keeps recruiting top talent. But that talent hasn't translated into sustained on-court success in recent seasons. The disappointments are well documented. In 2010, Texas went from the nation's No. 1 ranking to an uninspiring first-round exit in the NCAA tournament. In 2011, Texas's defense spent much of the Big 12 season flirting with historical greatness; by March, the Longhorns had bowed out in a brutal loss to Arizona in the tournament's second round.
Barnes's last Elite Eight appearance came in 2008. His last Final Four appearance came in 2003. Since then, Barnes has recruited, developed, and sent a bevy of talented players to the NBA, including the likes of Kevin Durant, LaMarcus Aldridge, D.J. Augustin, T.J. Ford, Royal Ivey and Daniel Gibson.
These facts give the impression that Barnes is a talented recruiter but a so-so coach. Or that he's more concerned with getting players to the NBA -- hardly an ignoble goal -- than winning national championships. In 2010, Barnes made a comment to that effect to a reporter from ESPN The Magazine, saying he would "love to win a national championship" but that he wasn't "obsessed with it," because "we're obsessed with these guys trying to live their NBA dream." You could see why this might make Texas fans just a little bit uncomfortable.
Barnes has occasionally attempted to clarify his comments in the time since, but perhaps the best explanation he's given for them came in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram last week. Barnes was speaking to reporter Mike Jones, whose piece pokes into the mess of expectations Barnes has created in many ways thanks to his own success, and Jones gave Barnes a chance to clarify his comments on the NBA draft picks vs. team success dynamic:
"If you asked me in the end would I want us to win a bunch of championships and our players not succeed -- I wouldn't want to do that. But on the other hand, if you could guarantee that every player you coach could have a chance to live out his dream -- and I'm not just talking about basketball, but life -- and that means your guys aren't going to win a championship, what would you take?
"I'd have to say I would want our guys to have a chance to live their dreams. Does that mean I don't care? That's not what I'm saying at all. Because I'm smart enough to realize if these guys live their dream, we're going to keep putting ourselves in position and one day it is going to come together, and we're going to win it.
"We do this for a lot of reasons. But if I didn't have the desire to win it, I wouldn't do this."
Really, the idea that Barnes didn't want to win a national championship was always a frivolous one. Of course he wants to win, right? But when you combine those old comments with his track record in recent seasons -- recruiting elite talent, watching those players leave for the NBA draft, and putting disappointing teams on the floor in the interim -- it's easy for fans to form negative impressions. Is Barnes just a good recruiter? Can he put freshmen together into a national championship contender? Why do his teams seem to fade out, rather than improve, over the course of a season?
The answers aren't quite so easy. Yes, Texas fans have big expectations. Yes, those expectations are largely of Barnes's making. Now, ironically enough, Barnes is in many ways a victim of his own success. But all of this theoretical noodling won't change many minds. Texas needs to win, but more than anything, it needs to win in March. Until that happens again, Barnes will continue to face lingering pressure -- pressure that wouldn't exist had he not succeeded in the first place.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Eamonn Brennan
Brennan joined ESPN.com in 2009 after several years of blogging at Yahoo! and other places around the Internet. The Iowa native lives in Chicago with his roommates, his dog, and a crippling addiction to caffeine.
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