Thursdays Top 25 Capsules
February 27th, 2009 Posted in NCAA basketball news, NCAA college basketball(4) MEMPHIS 71, UAB 60
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama Doneal Mack scored 17 points and Antonio Anderson had 16 as fourth-ranked Memphis won its 55th straight game in Conference USA with a 71-60 victory over Alabama-Birmingham.
Robert Dozier had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Shawn Taggart had 13 and 11 for Memphis (25-3, 13-0 C-USA), which has won its last 19 contests overall. The win also gave the Tigers their fourth straight regular-season conference crown.
The Tigers were visiting the site of their last conference loss, an 80-74 setback on March 2, 2006. UAB blew a seven-point lead with under two minutes left in a 79-78 home loss to Memphis last season, and the Blazers looked primed to bring the streak to an end for much of this contest.
UAB used a 9-0 run – capped by Lawrence Kinnards fourth 3-pointer – to take a 43-42 lead with 12:49 left.
Both teams traded baskets for the next several minutes before Doziers three-point play gave Memphis a 54-50 advantage with 5:37 to play.
The Tigers held on as Anderson and Taggart each made a pair of free throws and Mack capped a 7-0 burst with a 3-pointer to give Memphis a 63-55 lead with 2:37 to play. Anderson made a 3-pointer from the left corner that scraped the side of the backboard before going in on Memphis next possession, giving the Tigers a nine-point advantage.
Kinnard finished with 25 points to lead UAB (19-9, 9-4), which literally got nothing from its leading scorer, Robert Vaden. The conferences fourth-leading scorer at 18.6 points per contest, Vaden was 0-for-17 from the floor, including 0-for-12 from the arc.
(21) WASHINGTON 73, (11) ARIZONA STATE 70 (OT)
SEATTLE Jon Brockman had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Justin Dentmon scored 16 as No. 21 Washington took control of the Pac-10 Conference with an 73-70 overtime victory over 11th-ranked Arizona State.
Freshman Isaiah Thomas scored 11 points and Quincy Pondexter added 10 and 12 rebounds for the Huskies (21-7, 12-4 Pac-10), who moved ahead of the Sun Devils (21-6, 10-5) by 1 1/2 games atop the standings. California (10-5) and UCLA (10-5) are also 1 1/2 games back with three contests remaining.
Brockman opened the overtime period with consecutive layups and the Huskies never trailed during the final five minutes.
Rihards Kuksiks floater in the lane cut the Sun Devils deficit to 68-67 with 28 seconds to go but Dentmon and Venoy Overton each made a pair of free throws to give the Huskies a five-point lead with 19 seconds left.
Derek Glasser banked in a desperation 3-pointer with four seconds remaining but, after Dentmon made one of two from the foul line, Ty Abbotts three-quarters court heave to tie the game was off the mark.
Jeff Pendergraph had 24 points and 13 rebounds and James Harden scored 19 to pace Arizona State, which had its five-game winning streak snapped.
(14) WAKE FOREST 85, NC STATE 78
WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina James Johnson posted career-highs in both points with 28 and rebounds with 18 as No. 14 Wake Forest claimed an 85-78 victory over North Carolina State.
Ishmael Smith scored 18 points and Chas McFarland added 15 and eight boards for the Demon Deacons (21-5, 8-5 ACC), who claimed their fifth straight win at home in league play.
However, it has been its play on the road in the Atlantic Coast Conference that has kept young Wake Forest in check since moving to the top of the coaches poll on January 19, losing four in a row.
One of those setbacks came at Raleigh, as the Wolfpack posted an 82-76 victory on February 11 – their only win against a ranked team.
The Demon Deacons appeared ready for some payback early, going on a 20-2 run to open up a 39-24 advantage with 4:53 before halftime. Johnson had eight of his 12 first-half points during the run.
Despite the huge deficit, North Carolina State (15-11, 5-8) did not pack it in, cutting the deficit to 43-35 at the break. It eventually got within 46-44 on Farnold Degands layup with 15:47 to play.
The Wolfpack would get within two points on four occasions, but could pull any closer in large part due to Johnson.
The sophomore forward hit two free throws to make it 48-44 and slammed home an alley-oop for a 50-46 lead with 14:56 remaining.
Wake Forest later tried to pull away with under nine minutes left, as Smith scored seven points on a 9-3 run that gave his team a 70-61 cushion with 6:14 to play.
Tracy Smith had 18 points for the Wolfpack, who dropped to 1-7 against teams in the top 25.
MICHIGAN 87, (16) PURDUE 78
ANN ARBOR, Michigan DeShawn Sims scored a career-high 29 points and Manny Harris added 27 as Michigan kept itself on the bubble with an 87-78 victory over No. 16 Purdue.
Sims led a torrid shooting effort for the Wolverines (18-11, 8-8 Big Ten), knocking down 13-of-16 shots as the team connected on 63 percent (29-of-46) of its field goal attempts, including 8-of-16 from beyond the arc.
Michigan was clinging to a 58-55 lead with 11:20 to play before Sims and Harris sparked a 19-6 run over the next seven minutes. The two combined for 15 points during the spurt – 11 by Sims – as the Wolverines connected on all eight of their shots.
Robbie Hummel scored 24 points for the Boilermakers (21-7, 10-5), who hit just 7-of-25 3-point attempts as their four-game winning streak came to an end.
(17) GONZAGA 81, SANTA CLARA 73
SANTA CLARA, California Josh Heytvelt scored a career-high 29 points on 12-of-17 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds to help 17th-ranked Gonzaga pull away from Santa Clara in an 81-73 win.
Matt Bouldin added 23 points and Austin Daye chipped in 12 for Gonzaga (22-5, 13-0 WCC), which has won five straight and 14 of 15.
The Bulldogs got a little help from the Santa Clara students section, which drew a pair of technical fouls for its team by throwing objects onto the court late in the second half.
With Gonzaga up, 62-58, and 4:36 to play, Heytvelt got his own rebound and hit a fall-away jumper while drawing a foul. Before he could get to the free-throw line, a bottle flew in from the students section, drawing the first technical.
Bouldin knocked down the technical free throws and Heytvelt hit his to complete the three-point play, giving the Bulldogs five points on the possession.
The Broncos never recovered, and with 1:55 to play a piece of foil from the students section drew another technical. Bouldin hit two more free throws and Jeremy Pargo hit a layup on the free possession, putting Gonzaga up, 74-63.
(19) UCLA 76, STANFORD 71
PALO ALTO, California Alfred Aboya hit four huge free throws in the final 15 seconds as 19th-ranked UCLA took turns being awful, excellent, mediocre and finally clutch in a 76-71 victory over Stanford in a Pac-10 clash.
UCLA (21-7, 10-5 Pac-10) trailed by 14 points in the first half, rallied to lead at the break and hung tough in a tight game before creating some space with a 6-0 run that created a 69-61 lead on a basket by Josh Shipp, who had 24 points, with 4 1/2 minutes left.
The Cardinal refused to go away, closing within 72-69 with a minute left on a dunk by Josh Owens and a pair for free throws by Landry Fields.
Aboya was then fouled and missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Stanford came down and Nikola Dragovic fouled Anthony Goods, an 80-percent free-throw shooter. Goods, who led Stanford with 18 points, was short on the first and crisp with the second to make it 72-70.
Aboya was wide-open underneath the basket after taking a feed from Darren Collison. He went up strong for the jam and hit the back of the rim. Fortunately for the Bruins, Aboya was fouled by Lawrence Hill on the play.
The native of Cameroon hit both free throws with 14 seconds left to make it 74-70. UCLA played tough defense on Stanford (15-11, 4-11) and Goods was bad from long range with time running out. Fields was fouled on the scramble for the rebound with 2.6 seconds left. He missed the first attempt from the stripe and coach Johnny Dawkins called a timeout.
Hill hit the second and Stanford fouled Aboya, who hit both foulshots to close out the Cardinal.
(20) ILLINOIS 52, MINNESOTA 41
CHAMPAIGN, Illinois In a typical Big Ten defensive battle, Mike Davis collected 14 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 20 Illinois outlast Minnesota, 52-41.
Trent Meacham added 13 points and Demetri McCamey added 10 for the Fighting Illini (23-6, 11-5 Big Ten), who clinched a first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament.
Davis gave Illinois a 40-39 lead with a layup with 10:09 left and added a jumper on the next possession to stretch it to three. Ralph Sampson III pulled Minnesota back within one with a jumper at the 6:41 mark, but McCamey and Meacham hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the game away.
The Golden Gophers (20-8, 8-8) failed to score over the final 6:20 and was held to 32 percent (19-of-60) from the field in the contest, including 1-of-13 from beyond the arc.
(22) XAVIER 68, SAINT JOSEPHS 54
PHILADELPHIA Derrick Brown scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as No. 22 Xavier put an end to its road struggles with a 68-54 victory over Saint Josephs.
B.J. Raymond also had 18 points for the Musketeers (23-5, 11-3 A-10), who snapped a three-game road losing streak in league play.
Xavier had been cruising through the Atlantic 10 Conference with an 8-0 mark before it dropped consecutive away games at Duquesne, Dayton and Charlotte to see its lead in the league drop to one-half game over Temple.
Yet, the Musketeers came out with a strong effort in this one, shooting 44 percent (25-of-57) while nearly leading throughout. Meanwhile, the Owls lost to La Salle to give Xavier some breathing room with two games remaining.
Xavier got a late layup from Kenny Frease for a 31-26 lead at the break and scored the first seven points of the second half to just about put the game away.
The Hawks (14-13, 7-6) did close within 52-44 on a dunk by Ahmad Nivins but Brown had two straight dunks to ignite an 11-2 run for the Musketeers.
Nivins finished with 24 points and eight rebounds for Saint Josephs, which absorbed its first five-game losing streak since the 1998-99 season.
(23) BUTLER 78, YOUNGSTOWN STATE 57
INDIANAPOLIS Matt Howard had 25 points and 10 rebounds and freshman Gordon Hayward scored 14 as 23rd-ranked Butler clinched a share of the Horizon League title with a 78-57 victory over Youngstown State.
Butler (24-4, 14-3 Horizon), which had lost its two previous league games, can clinch the outright crown with a win over Cleveland State on Saturday. The Bulldogs have had at least a share of the regular-season title each of the last three seasons.
The Bulldogs shot 55 percent (28-of-51) from the field as they posted their seventh straight victory against the Penguins, who trailed by double digits for the majority of the second half.
Sirlester Martin scored 15 points to pace Youngstown State (11-17, 7-10).
