NEWS AND NOTES
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-The Gonzaga v Washington history and storyline is amazing!! What I didn’t think would be amazing was this year’s actual game. But, it was! Top ranked Gonzaga opened up an early double digit lead and gave all signs of blowing it open, but never did. Washington defended well, kept it close, and even took a lead in the second half. Yet again Gonzaga opened up a lead and appeared to have all the momentum, but yet again Washington fight back and with less than ten seconds to go tied the game. It was a virtual last second shot (there was less than a second left) that finally won the game for the Zags. I am SOOO glad this series is back! It was put on hiatus because of a spectacular coaching and admin feud, but it is now back and it hopefully stays back. A fantastic effort for the Huskies. I know it must sting really bad to lose to a rival after playing that well, but if they play that well the rest of the way they’re going to win a lot of games.
-Temple actually had a lead on Villanova for most of the second half, and although Nova ended up winning by 10, they didn’t actually get control of the game until the final minute. It was a bit of a rock fight, but it certainly didn’t lack in excitement. Nova continues to dominate the Big Five.
-Nebraska continues to struggle on the road against anyone who is even decent. They had a lead for most of the game at Minnesota, but just fell apart at the end. The Gophers pick up a nice conference win after being blown off the floor in their previous game.
-VCU picked up a much needed road win at Texas. It’s a tale of two teams. VCU got a huge win that may play a big role in defining their season and getting them to the NCAA Tournament, and Texas just lost their second straight home game to an unranked team.
-Southern Illinois, who we were especially hard on after they were blown out by UMass, is the only Missouri Valley team that looks any good. They seem to have finally gotten into step and have won six out of their last seven, including a nice win against a pretty good Saint Louis team last night. For SLU, this is a road win that they really could have used.
-Utah State, who I had been praising all over the place, was blown off the floor by a BYU team that had pretty much looked asleep in their games leading into last night. A really nice win for the Cougars.
-Loyola Chicago lost at home. Again. This time to Ball State. They don’t look a whole lot like an NIT team right now, much less an NCAA team that was just in the Final Four.
-San Diego picked up a nice (and very feelgood) road win at San Diego State. We really like this Toreros team, and they’re now 7-2 with two true road wins. As for the Aztecs, they are in trouble. They really need to blow through the rest of their schedule to even have a chance.
HIGLIGHTED GAMES
-MARYLAND AT PURDUE (Big Ten). This is a tough road game for a pretty good Maryland team, and it comes against what appears to be a pretty good Purdue team that really needs a big win.
-IOWA STATE AT IOWA. LOVE this rivalry!! Like a lot of rivalries, it may not resonate with the entire country as being as big as Duke v North Carolina, or Louisville v Kentucky, but in the state of Iowa it is HUGE. And, it’s been a ton of fun with some great games since both teams became regular NCAA Tournament caliber teams. I’m really looking forward tot his one tonight. Iowa has had some nice wins, but is coming off two straight losses and were totally blown out in their last game. Iowa State has held serve throughout the year, but this would be their biggest win of the season up to this point.
-Kentucky Christian @ Wofford – umm, why?
-Utah Valley @ Arizona