Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

The Morning Mix

faust

Did you have a good weekend? I was in College Park, Md. on Saturday night. I went for the basketball and stayed for the riots.

Ready for another crazy week of college hoops?

Let’s hit the links.

Monday’s Top games:
7:00 p.m. - No. 21 Notre Dame @ No. 16 Pittsburgh
7:00 p.m. - Hofstra @ Drexel (NBC Sports Network) 7:00 p.m. -
7:00 p.m. - Norfolk State @ Hampton
7:00 p.m. - Bucknell @ Lehigh
9:00 p.m. - West Virginia @ No. 10 Kansas State
9:00 p.m. - Rutgers @ Villanova

Read of the Day:
John Feinstein provides some quality insight on the path being charted by the members of the Catholic-7. Georgetown President Jack DeGioia is playing a key role in the formation of the new basketball conference and schools like Detroit-Mercy could be targeted for admittance. (Washington Post)


Top Stories:
Hard work pays off for Terrapins in 83-81 victory over No. 2 Blue Devils: Maryland had five days to prepare for their biggest home game of the season. During those five days Mark Turgeon tested his team mentally and physically. It paid off on Saturday night against Duke.

Colorado State head coach Larry Eustachy dances late in Saturday’s win at Air Force:Colorado State head coach Larry Eustachy decided to show off some of his dance moves late in the Rams’ 89-86 win at Air Force, much to the chagrin of the Air Force student section.

Temple survives UMass, are tournament hopes still alive?Following an 83-82 road win over the Minutemen on Saturday, the Temple Owls keep NCAA tournaments hopes alive after doing its best to ruin them with a 84-83 home loss to Duquesne on Thursday night.

No. 3 Miami survives despite Clemson neutralizing Shane Larkin: IT wasn’t pretty, but Miami earned the victory they travelled to Clemson to obtain, defeating the Tigers 45-43.

Providence is on their way back to national relevancy: After beating No. 21 Notre Dame 71-54 on Saturday afternoon, the Providence Friars have now won four straight in the Big East, which includes a 54-50 win over then-No. 17 Cincinnati. Providence is still at least a year away, but the improvement of this team is inarguable.

Doug McDermott scores 2,000th career point, joins Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson: McDermott scored his 2,000th career point Saturday in a win over Evansville, becoming just the third player in Missouri Valley history to reach that milestone through three collegiate seasons.

Iowa creeps onto NCAA tournament bubble after win over Minnesota: Iowa has lost a handful of close games this season in Big-Ten play, but that has become the nature of the Big Ten. It is the nation’s deepest conference top to bottom, but after a dominating 72-51 win at home over Minnesota Sunday, Iowa is creeping into the conversation for the NCAA tournament.

VIDEO: John Calipari tees off on his team after 30-point loss at Tennessee: Kentucky was run out of the building by Tennessee over the weekend, losing by 30 in the Wildcats’ worst game since the season-ending injury to Nerlens Noel. Coach Cal was not pleased with his team’s effort.

P.J. Hairston, North Carolina get key win over Virginia to hold ground in ACC race: P.J. Hairston and North Carolina’s up-tempo offense were too much for Virginia in a 93-81 victory on Saturday. Hairston scored 29 points, which included 6-of-12 shooting from three-point range.


Observations & Insight:
- A lot of great content in the latest installment of the “Pick ‘n’ Roll, including the art of the the buzzer-beater. (ESPN)

- Mike DeCourcy reviews the upcoming week takes a look at the marquee matchups in front of us. (Sporting News)

- You can understand why members of Big Blue Nation may have issues with the one-and-done rule following the injury to Nerlens Noel. But then again, this what they’ve signed up for, isn’t it? (A Sea of Blue)

- Mike Krzyzewski was dismissive of the notion that Maryland is a rival of Duke, take a jab at Big-Ten move. (Sporting News)

- Arizona State got a must-win victory on Saturday, knocking off Colorado at the buzzer. Doug Haller looks back at the scene in Boulder. (AZ Central)

- Miami’s 45-43 victory at Clemson last night was the lowest-scoring ACC game in the shot clock era. (D1sCourse)

- Eric Prisbell debates the possibility of the SEC being a one-bid league. Florida is the only lock at this point and Missouri, the team’s second best team cannot win on the road. Selection Sunday could be interesting for the SEC. (USA Today)

- The Wisconsin Badgers did not look like an NCAA Tournament team back in mid-December. But like he does year in and year out, Bo Ryan has his Badgers squad flying under the radar and in position to win the Big-Ten championship. (Fox Sports Wisconsin)

- Apparently there was an altercation between a UTEP fan and a member of the Central Florida basketball team. The incident took place immediately following the Knights 73-58 loss in El Paso. (Orlando Sentinel)

- Rutgers head coach Mike Rice has had a difficult year. His program hasn’t made great strides in getting out of the Big East cellar, and his struggles this season were highlighted by his 3-game suspension for anger-related therapy. How much longer does Mike Rice have at Rutgers? (On The Banks)

- If Detroit-Mercy does join the Catholic-7 at some point, would Oakland be considered to replace them in the Horizon League? Oakland previously inquired about acceptance following Butler’s departure, but Detroit-Mercy helped to block their entry. (Oakland Press)

- Could Siena be another possible candidate for Catholic-7 expansion? (Albany Times Union)

- Clemson University is conducting a feasibility survey to determine whether a new basketball arena would be economically beneficially to the athletics program and university. (Post and Courier)


Odds & Ends:
- Marshall Henderson delivers the soundbite of the season following the Rebels’ overtime win over Georgia. This kid is awesome. (Alabama.com)

- A college coach in Canada sank a half court shot earning a student free tuition. (Yahoo Sports)

- A wrap up of the tops plays from the weekend in .GIF form. Carlos Emery’s dunk is hysterical. He dunks so frequently that this is actual now considered a jump shot. (College Hoops Journal)

- The video won’t embed properly, so click the link to watch Ryan Evan’s killer one-handed putback jam for Wisconsin on Sunday. (Bucky’s 5th Quarter)


Video of the Day:
Maryland fans dial up a tag team Harlem Shake flash mob. It was Glorious. Bonus points if you can find me on press row. (Washington Post)



Dunk of the Day:
Oh look, Ben McLemore doing something that you and I can’t even do in our dreams. (ESPN)



Do you like the new Morning Mix? Hate it? Have a suggestion or want something featured? Troy Machir will take all your praise, insults and inquiries via Twitter (@TroyMachir)