February 22, 2012
Seton Hall 73 Georgetown 55: Three points of emphasis
NEWARK, NJ ? Eighth ranked Georgetown was not simply upset. They were soundly defeated 73-55 by a red hot shooting Seton Hall team at the Prudential Center on Tuesday. Three points of emphasis: 1.The Hall is in a great comfort zone at home. As of late Seton Hall is shooting the lights out. A week ago [...]

February 21, 2012
Atlantic Ten: Tempo Tuesday
Coming into the stretch, Temple and St. Louis lead. Several teams are fighting for those coveted third and fourth spots. Should provide for a share of excitement and scoreboard watching over the course of the next week. Record Off. Efficiency Def. Efficiency Eff. Margin Temple 10-2 115 101 +14 St. Louis 10-3 105 [...]

February 21, 2012
Around the nation
Few teams in contention for an NCAA bid needed a win worse than Alabama did this weekend, and the Crimson Tide got one with a 62-50 win over surging Tennessee on Saturday. The news for ‘Bama fans got a little better on Monday night when coach Anthony Grant reinstated his best player, Ja’Mychal Green, to [...]

February 18, 2012
East meets West
NEW YORK CITY- St. John?s-UCLA. Just the mention brings to the mind?s eye images of tradition, the intersectional rivalry, PAC-12 versus Big East and so on. Saturday saw the two meet at Madison Square Garden with St. John?s earning a hard fought 66-63 victory. Naturally both teams were ?taking a break? from conference battles but, make no [...]

February 18, 2012
Numbers define Wichita State’s ‘shock’ and awe
Most coaches are not into numbers in a basketball game except for the final score. However, Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall couldn’t help but be awed Saturday afternoon after the Shockers’ 91-74 ESPN Bracket Busters win at Davidson. They scored 91 points, eclipsing their average of 78.1 ppg. From there, Wichita State shot an amazing [...]

February 18, 2012
Defense allowed Shockers an offensive air
While Wichita State shot 63.6% from the floor behind 30 points from guard Joe Ragland, a mid-second half defensive effort allowed the Shockers to break the game open. Clinging to a 50-48 lead with 15:42 to go, Wichita State held Davidson to 2-of-10 shooting from the floor in it’s next 12 possessions as WSU was [...]

February 15, 2012
10 Questions with UMass beat writer Matt Vautour
By: Vinny Pezzimenti, CCT Atlantic 10 Columnist College Chalk Talk recently caught up with Matt Vautour, the longtime UMass basketball beat writer for the Daily Hampshire Gazette, to chat about the surprising Minutemen and the up-for-grabs A-10. Here?s what we discovered: CCT: You?ve covered UMass men?s basketball for awhile now, even back to your days [...]

February 15, 2012
For St. John’s, a learning experience
NEWARK, NJ ? The record is 10-16 with a 4-10 mark in Big East play. The won-lost record can be misleading and unfair. Assistant coach Mike Dunlap is doing an excellent job at St. John?s. Dunlap was put in a tough situation. Head coach Steve Lavin opted off the sidelines early in the season as he [...]

February 14, 2012
Atlantic Ten: Tempo Tuesday
Temple still maintains a one game lead over St. Louis. The Owls scored a solid victory over Xavier on Saturday and judging by their play of late, will be tough to reel in. Record Off. Eff. Def. Eff. Margin Temple 8-2 114 101 +13 St. Louis 8-3 104 93 +11 UMASS 7-4 101 [...]

February 13, 2012
Around the nation
Saturday night was my first chance to see Kentucky in person when the Wildcats came to Nashville and beat Vanderbilt 69-63 in an ESPN GameDay contest. What I saw confirmed a previous suspicion: it’s probably the best UK team since Rick Pitino’s 35-2 squad that won the 1996 national title — and yes, I’m not [...]