Friday, December 26, 2008

Bosco's Beat: This Week In SEC Hoops, Plus News And Notes From Around The Nation

The SEC stepped it up over the weekend, showing the nation it can play with the best in basketball. Here are the highlights from those big games the rest of the week in SEC Hoops.

Games Of The Week

Biggest game of the week was a loss in the SEC, but boy was it ever big. Number 1 uconn lady huskies beat our LSU Tigers 83-76, who pulled to within two before uconn's big run to the end. Arkansas and Vandy are two big road games in the next few weeks.....They'll be talking about Saturday in Piscataway, New Jersey for some time as Number 12 Tennessee Lady Vols come back from 20 points and left for dead at the half to beat Number 14 rutgers 55-51. Six games away from her thousandth win, Coach Pat Summit says with all those comebacks, this was the most special. Tennessee never took a lead until 1:30 left in the game. A road trip to Nashville comes next Sunday.....Number 18 Tennessee made some history over on the men's side Saturday, the first ever match-up with national champs kansas, who upset the Vols 92-85 at Allen Fieldhouse. Bruce Pearl, whose boys have lost just twice in the last 31 games, says the loss will be good for the team in the long run. Before the month is out, the 11-2 Vols get Gonzaga, Kentucky and Memphis.....Another big upset, this one in Ames, Iowa as 11-2 iowa state beat Number 19 Vanderbilt Lady Commodores 55-51 on Saturday. The 'Dores went 8 minutes and change without scoring a single point, committing a season-high 27 turnovers. They'll shake it off headed into conference play this month where Tennessee and LSU come calling in the next two weeks....Neither team is ranked, but on a good day an Alabama Crimson Tide win over traditional power georgia tech on the hardwood might make some news. The Tide dominated the 88-77 win at T-Town, getting out to a 19 point halftime lead. The Jackets would rally late, but in the end had no answer to all-conference big man Ronald Steele, who scored 23 points for 'Bama. Bama could rack up some wins down the stretch, with January's biggest tests at Clemson, and home against LSU and Kentucky in the next three weeks.....The 8-and-5 Lady Gamecocks Of USC win a thriller in Raleigh, North Caroina on Sunday, 56-55 over nc state. The lead changed five times in the final minute. The Wolfpack overcame a double-digit South Carolina lead midway through the second half. A tough conference schedule includes road trips to Athens and Knoxville and home games against Vandy and LSU all by the end of the month.

Other Games Of Note

The Kentucky Wildcats rallied to a 71-71 tie with 23 seconds left, but it was not enough as the boys in blue fall to arch-rivals louisville 74-71 over the weekend. SEC Player of the Week Jodie Meeks led Kentucky with 28 points. The 'Cats head to Knoxville to take on nationally ranked Tennessee on January 13th. That game will be televised on ESPN......We would have put this one up a little higher, but its still impressive that legendary Nell Fortner and her Auburn Lady Tigers are ranked 10th in the nation, undefeated after a 79-56 win over stephen f. austin (79-56) over the weekend. Big conference games in the month ahead include Florida, Tennessee and road trips to Georgia and LSU....The Florida Gators get a good rally-win over 9-3 nc state on Saturday, 68-66 in Gainesville. The 12-2 men Gators have won six in a row headed to conference play, including CBS coverage at Vanderbilt, and nationally televised games at Tennessee and at Kentucky by early February....Nationally ranked Lady Florida Gators (#20) broke open the 74-56 win over ohio with a 9-and-0 run in the second half in Athens, Ohio Saturday night. Since a season-opening loss at Florida Gulf Coast, the Gators have won 14 in a row headed towards a trip to Auburn and home versus Georgia and Tennessee by early February.....The Ole Miss Lady Rebels are off to an 11-4 start with an impressive win over traditional power old dominion on Friday night, 79-72. The Lady Rebels travel to Mississippi State, Florida and Tennessee headed towards the end of the month.....

Elsewhere In The League


LSU beat southeastern louisiana 90-61 Saturday night in Baton Rouge. Marcus Thornton scored a season-high 33 points in the 74th consecutive home win against in-state opponents. The Tigers host Xavier on national TV in the middle of a conference run that includes road games at Alabama and Tennessee all by the end of the month.....Sticking with mens' hoops, the Arkansas Razorbacks went on a 21-2 second-half run to beat north texas 86-75 on Saturday. The 'Hogs have won nine straight headed towards conference play, including match-ups at Florida and LSU and versus Tennessee in Fayetteville.....Over on the women's side, Mississippi State beat uab 87-46, then lost to xavier 51-42 at Starkville Sunday afternoon. These lady Bulldogs are off to a great start, at 12-and-2 and are so far 4-and-0 against Conference USA opponents this season. MSU gets road trips to Florida and Kentucky and faces the Lady Vols in Starkville on January 15th.....The South Carolina Gamecocks get past wofford 78-61 Monday night before beginning SEC play against Auburn on January 10th. Road trips to LSU and Tennessee, then at Kentucky and at Florida will be real tests for these boys heading into early February......The Mississippi State men beat western kentucky 95-67 Monday night. The Bulldogs hit 14 3-pointers to tie a school record. The 'Dogs begin conference play January 10th at Auburn. A trip to Athens gets ESPN2 coverage on January 24th....The Georgia Bulldogs let a 13 point lead disappear in Tuesday night's 67-62 loss to in-state rival georgia tech. Tech outscored the Dogs 35-17 in the last 16-minutes-26 seconds of the game. Tech has taken 31 of the last 39 games the two teams have played. It won't get any easier from the Dogs, who face Tennessee, Kentucky and Florida all before the end of the month.....Sticking with the SEC Eastern Division, 11-and-3 Vanderbilt beat massachusetts 78-48 over the weekend, opening up a huge lead in the second half. The closest the game ever got was a 28-23 Vandy lead at the half. A big road trip for the 'Dores comes this weekend at Kentucky. A match-up with Tennessee (ESPN) comes on January 20th at 8 PM from Nashville.....Over on the women's side, the Kentucky Wildcats had little trouble beating miami of ohio 80-55 at Oxford, Ohio. Kentucky, playing its third game in five days, placed five players in double-figure scoring for the third consecutive time. The 10-and-5 'Cats take get a big test at Knoxville for their conference opener against the Lady Vols Thursday night....The Lady Georgia Bulldogs are headed in the opposite direction, having lost two straight to xavier (56-44) and at virginia (62-60). The 9-and-5 'Dogs hit the road at Florida, at home against Vandy and on the road to Bama in the next two weeks.....The 11-4 Lady Razorbacks of Arkansas got a road loss to texas tech 75-60 headed into conference play, opening this weekend with LSU. Road trips to up-and-coming Kentucky and Vanderbilt and at home versus Tennessee all come this month.....The Auburn Tigers men's team is off to a 10-and-4 start with a 78-53 win over tulane on Saturday. The Tigers outscored the Green Wave 28-to-10 in the final 12 minutes of the game. Auburn begins conference play at South Carolina this weekend, followed at home by a visit from the Florida Gators on January 14th.....Staying in the SEC Western Division, the Ole Miss Rebels open conference play at Florida on January 10th.

News From Around The League

Conference woman's player of the week is Kentucky's Victoria Dunlap, averaging a double-double and 15 point-5 points with 13-and-a-half rebounds as her team gets five wins in a row.....The men's SEC player of the week is Michael Washington of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Washington is averaging 29 points and 11 rebounds in victories over Oklahoma and North Texas.

News and Notes From Around The Nation

Congratulations to the new Number 1 men's basketball team in the country - the Pittsburgh Panthers, making an historic jump from third in the USA Today/ESPN coach's poll after losses by North Carolina and UCONN.....And from the world of women's college basketball, NC State coach Kay Yow will miss the rest of the season to focus on her fight against cancer, first diagnosed two decades ago. Yow, who missed the past four games, says she does not have the energy to coach her team the way she always has before. We wish her well in her recovery.


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