My Beloved 94 Bloggees (Welcome Jonah and Bob):
One of the funniest signs I have ever seen at a game was the one an Oklahoma fan in 1973 held up "Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Selmon" referring to the parents of three star defensive linemen, Lee Roy, Dewey and Lucious Selmon, playing together for the Sooners http://www.onyxmagazine.com/aspx/selmon.aspx . Well if I were in Gainesville on Saturday, I would have been toting a sign "Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Wilbekin" to the parents of one Gator defensive stalwart, Scottie Wilbekin .
For much of the Gators' 61 - 60 squeaker over Tennessee http://www.gatorzone.com/basketball/men/boxscore.php?gameid=9466, Kenny Boynton and Chandler Parsons were unsuccessful trying to stop the Vols' terrific shooting guard, Scotty Hopson, who had already scored 22 points. Then it was freshman Wilbekin's turn (according to ESPN's Jimmy Dykes, the Gators were finally "bringing two fists to the fight") and the 17-year old 2-star recruit who skipped his senior year in high school, shut out Hopson (who was a 5-star recruit) for the last 6 minutes on smothering defense. Add that to the gutty driving left-handed game-winning layup among the "trees" by 5 ' 8 Erving Walker with 14 seconds left and you get another "routine" Gator victory over an outstanding SEC East team. NEXT
Alabama bounced back from Thursday's heartbreaking loss at Vandy Thursday night, with classy Coach Anthony Grant calling the controversial officiating as "water under the bridge". The Tide's fan base was ecstatic with another sold-out win in Tuscaloosa, this time against a hot Ole Miss team 74 -64 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120006 . Freshman point guard Trevor Releford outplayed his more-heralded counterpart, Mississippi's Chris Warren, and the phrase "star quality" is being directed toward Releford around Tide Nation. I can't blame them after Trevor had 7 assists, 3 steals and 14 points while serving as the team's adept quarterback. NEXT.
Arkansas's Rotnei Clarke scored 25 points on 7 of 10 shooting, including 5 of 6 beyond the arc in the Hogs 80 - 61 victory over LSU http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120019 . It makes one appreciate more what a phenomenal job Kenny Boynton and Scottie Wilbekin did shadowing Clarke when the Gators shut him out three weeks ago. NEXT
Tony Barbee showed again why Auburn AD Jay Jacobs nailed this basketball hire, with a memorable 65 - 62 comeback victory over Mississippi State on Saturday http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201102120028 . With less than 4 minutes left, Auburn was down by 13. Then Barbee's guys went on a 17 - 0 run to seal the home victory. I predict next year at this time, Auburn fans will be feeling the same love for their basketball program as Alabama is enjoying now. Rick Stansbury might have to polish his sales skills to convince his Mississippi State bosses to treat this year as a mulligan, especially after this devastating loss. NEXT
I saw the halftime score of the Georgia at South Carolina game on Saturday with the visiting team leading 28 - 9. Yes, I was shocked when I saw it....nine points in 20 minutes! The Gamecocks fought back in the second half and it took the Dogs stud Trey Thompkins's block of a potential-tying 3-pointer by freshman sensation Bruce Ellington to preserve the 60 - 56 victory for the Athens crew http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120525 . Ellington wasn't sensational that afternoon shooting 1 for 12, 0 for 6 from the perimeter. His game has gone on the skids lately. NEXT
In an marquee matchup of heralded offensive star vs. defensive star, Vanderbilt and my guy, sharpshooting John Jenkins, hosted Kentucky and also my guy, lock-down defender DeAndre Liggins. It was similar to the Super Bowl matchup of Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers against safety Troy Polamalu...in both cases the offense won. Jenkins was ridiculous scoring 32 points on 11 for 17 shooting, 6 for 10 from you know where. Liggins picked up his 4th foul with 10 minutes left and lost the battle as did Kentucky, 81 - 77 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120615 .
Vanderbilt is 2 1/2 games behind the Gators in the SEC East, but Florida still has to play at Vandy, at Kentucky and still needs to play Alabama and Georgia at home. It is not over...not even close. NEXT
Somehow on Saturday North Carolina managed to hang on and defeat Clemson 64 - 62 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120120 . Of the nine Tar Heels who participated, four starters scored 62 of its 64 points. The remaining five Carolina players were a combined 0 - 11. They are going to need more punch from the bench to make an impact in March. Freshman point guard Kendall Marshall and his stellar play such as his 18 points against Clemson is starting to make the departed Larry Drew II just a memory.
Clemson's Jerai Grant did not make his Uncle Horace or his dad, Harvey, very proud with his zero points and one rebound in 16 minutes. NEXT
FSU had a costly 63 - 56 victory against Virginia on Saturday http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201102120213 . After its top scorer and rebounder, 6 ' 9 Chris Singleton scored 11 points in the first 10 minutes, he fractured his foot and could miss the remainder of the season. The Seminoles are hoping the wins over Baylor and Duke will convince the NCAA Committee to let them dance even if they falter the rest of their season without their fallen star. NEXT
In a previous blog, we featured Michigan's Tim Hardaway Jr. in You Make Me Feel Old. On Saturday, he had a career-high 26 points on 9 for 11 shooting including 4 for 6 deep in the Wolverine's 73 - 69 win over Indiana http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120357 . I understand Hardaway Jr. does not do the "killer crossover dribble" like his old man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0HRPIu02Xo .
By the way, Hardaway's teammate, Jon Horford, Al's brother, was scoreless in 5 minutes. NEXT
UAB's hopes for an NCAA bid were fractured a bit over the weekend when it was learned that 6 '10 Cameron Moore broke his hand during practice. It is not known how long he will be out, but it puts more pressure on Mike Davis and the Blazers who already had a depth problem. One solution is if 6' 4 senior Jamarr Sanders takes over like he did in Saturday night's 74 - 68 home victory over Rice http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120034 . Sanders lit up the Owls for 37 points on 11 for 22 shooting including 8 for 14 from the three-point line.
You know how I love greater than 90 % free throw shooting. Rice was perfect on all 15 of its free throw attempts. Connor Frizzell, whose free throw proficiency was highlighted in an earlier blog, made all 4 of his free throws boosting his percentage to 91.8 %, sixth in the country http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/player/_/stat/free-throws NEXT.
UCF and former Gator assistant, Donnie Jones, finally broke its 8-game losing streak....barely.....defeating Tulsa at home 58 - 57 when the Golden Hurricane's Scottie Haralson missed a potential game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer (that seems to be happening a lot lately in Southern games). http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201102120103 . UCF brings Michael's son, Marcus and the Jordanaires to Birmingham on Saturday for a key 5:00 matchup for UAB. NEXT
Finally, I had the pleasure to see my Sweet Sixteen sleeper pick, Old Dominion, upset 1st place VCU on the road 70 - 59 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120613 . If you enjoy relentless board work, then you need to watch Old Dirty (nickname for Old Dominion). They pound the boards constantly led by All-BB (Barry's Blog) Frank Hassell (rhymes with last name of Sam Cassell) who is an even bigger beast than he looks in the box score.
Hassell had a double-double with 18 points on 8 for 14 all within the arc and gathered 11 rebounds. ODU nearly doubled VCU in the rebounding totals, 40 - 21, primarily due to the 18 - 5 discrepancy on the offensive boards. VCU's coach Shaka Smart, a former assistant for Billy Donovan, had to have been crushed by this beating. THAT'S IT.
Enjoy....to preserve marital bliss, athletic directors across the country should not schedule games on Valentine's Day....be sure to click on this recent ill dunk by the Clippers' Blake Griffin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CJHue02GGk ,
Barry
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