Scott, I'm a Buzz Williams fan. I first noticed him at Marquette. His teams always were scrappy, even when outmanned. I have no doubt he'll raise A&M's performance to a high level.
Watched Purdue at Illinois. Illinois is the real deal. Best game I've seen so far this season (Full disclosure: I haven't seen that many). Double overtime. Purdue won 96-88. Illinois' big man sat the bench most of the second half after getting 4 fouls in the first half, but Illinois still kept the game close with lights-out shooting. I might have seen the two best teams in the BIG. Of course, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Ohio State may have something to say about that.
Rutgers upset Iowa last night. Our game with Nebraska here Sunday has been cancelled by the Huskers due tp COVID Issues at Nebraska.
Keep your eyes on the Dayton Flyers. Very young team that got off to a 1-4 start and since then are 11-2. Big up front , 6-9, 6-10, 6-9 and very athletic. The big guys run the floor and they go deep in the bench. Big time point guard who is a true freshman. Probably a year away but they get better every game. Program has a solid pedigree.
Great game last night between IU and Purdue, won by IU 68-65. The difference was twofold: IU's defense clamped down on Purdue midway through the first half and all throughout the second half; and Robert Phinisee, who was on fire in the first half and hit the game winning 3-pointer to end a 9-game losing streak to Purdue. Phinisee is from Lafayette. He came in off the bench with Purdue ahead 16-8 and scored 13 points in 4 minutes to help put IU ahead by 9 at halftime. Purdue rallied in the 2nd half, but IU's defense would not let them break away. It looks like the intensity in the rivalry might be back, maybe not yet to the level of the Bob Knight/Gene Keady years, but certainly more so than in the past several seasons.
I caught the last few minutes of the game and it was really a shootout. Purdue kept making a run but Indiana did the same. Some very good college basketball for sure.
Michigan State manhandled Wisconsin in Madison last night and are now tied for the conference lead with Wisconsin.
Looks like I was premature in calling Purdue and Illinois possibly the two best teams in the B10. Purdue lost a close game at IU, and last night a struggling Maryland team (2-5 in B10, 10-9 overall) clocked the Illini 81-65. I'll stop prognosticating, not that anyone was paying attention.
Minnesota just defeated Rutgers with three of their best players out of action. BIG TEN is crazy now.
Texas got a hard fought win at home vs Oklahoma State. Much needed to get us above. 500 in Big 12 play. Obviously we were overrated at the start of the season, but if we can finish in the top half of the conference and get a couple of tournament wins we can make the NCAA's. That would be a reasonable goal now.
The Aggies have played hard but come up just short in the last two. Not looking good for making the tourney right now, but I'll keep the candle lit for a little while longer.
We had a woman score a record 61 points recently in a Kansas State win over OU. Now Catlin Clark, Iowa sophomore, has done something else really big. It is no fluke as she leads the nation in scoring. An unprecedented feat at the collegiate level, scoring 30 or more points while pulling down 10+ rebounds and 10+ assists in consecutive showings is rare even in the pros. Since the turn of the century — two years before Clark was born — only seven basketball players across the NBA, WNBA, and DI college basketball have achieved the feat. You may be familiar with some of the names on that exclusive list. In addition to Clark, only Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Luka Dončić, and Giannis Antetokounmpo — all multi-time NBA All-Stars — have recorded 30-10-10 stat lines in succession.
Illini defeat Michigan State at home tonight 56-55 without Cockburn. Conference race is beginning to tighten down.
I only watched the last few minutes. State had a couple of chances to tie or win, but Illinois' defense thwarted them. I was wrong when I described Purdue and Illinois as possibly the best two teams in the B10. I think it was Stu who described the B10 as a dogfight. That's an accurate description.