College Hoops- Conference Call Weekend Review

ACC
-Duke blew out Georgia Tech on Thursday and held on for a road win on Saturday at Chestnut Hill against Boston College 66-63 behind 21 each from Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith. They barely lead the conference ahead of Maryland, who got 26 points and 11 assists from Greivis Vazquez in a 92-71 win over North Carolina, who is 2-6 in ACC play and 10th in the standings. After their loss to the Blue Devils, Georgia Tech went to 5-4 in the conference and 12-1 overall at home with a two point Saturday win over NC State. Wake Forest came out and played like an ACC contender in their OT win in Charlottesville over Virginia on Saturday, surely putting the Cavaliers down to pretender status after a strong start to the ACC season. VaTech and Florida State stayed above .500 in the conference and in good shape to make the NCAA’s after downing a disappointing Clemson team and abysmal Miami.
Big 12
-All 12 teams played on Saturday, led by top ranked and first place Kansas, who were led by Marcus Morris’ 20 and 11 in a win over Nebraska. It was their 55th consecutive win at Allen Fieldhouse. As conference play has gone by, the Texas Longhorns have become more inconsistent, and their loss to Oklahoma in Norman (with Sooner Tommy Mason-Griffin scoring 24) puts Rick Barnes’ team down to fourth in the standings. At 13-9, OU is going to have to make an enormous push, but they’ll likely contend for the NIT crown. Any road win in the conference is tough, and Denis Clemente came through with 30 as Kansas State solidified their second place record with a victory at Iowa State. Two other favorites weren’t as fortunate, as ranked Baylor fell at Texas A&M (who at 6-3 in the conference should no longer be viewed as a bubble club) and Oklahoma State took a bad loss at Texas Tech. With so much jostling for position among the middle of the road Big 12 clubs, every game is critical for a bubble team like OK State. And after Kansas had so much trouble at Colorado a few days ago, Missouri went to Boulder and won 18. Go figure. Big Monday at nine eastern features top ranked Kansas in Austin to face the Longhorns, with Texas in desperate need of a win and the Jayhawks need to worry after suffering their only loss of the season on Big Monday at K-State.
Big East
-There’s a new leader in the BE standings, and it’s Syracuse after their road win in Cincinnati behind 20 Andy Rautins points. Georgetown beat Duke at home on Saturday a week ago and then toppled Villanova at home behind 25 from Austin Freeman and a dynamite performance from Greg Monroe. The Wildcats then have to travel to Morgantown to face a hungry West Virginia team in need of a win on Big Monday. The Mountaineers got 33 points from Da’Sean Butler in a 79-60 win at St. John’s on Saturday, who need to fire head coach Norm Roberts. Ditto for Rutgers and Fred Hill after a 16 point loss for the Scarlet Knights at Louisville, who are now 6-4 in the conference, which is good for sixth. Right ahead of them is Pittsburgh, who after losing to WVU and South Florida, handled Seton Hall by 25. The Pirates usually hang tough with the best teams but the Panthers put on an overwhelming second half performance for the win. USF was red hot, having wins over G-Town and Pitt in recent games, but fell at Notre Dame 65-62 behind 19 and 15 from Luke Harangody. The Irish are now 17-7 and in good shape for a bid. Marquette‘s status is a bit more up in the air but got a big road win at Providence and UConn held on to defeat DePaul.
Big Ten
-Two road games this week and two losses for Michigan State, who fell at Illinois this time 78-73. Once regarded as an afterthought behind teams like MSU, Purdue, Wisconsin and Ohio State in the conference, the Fighting Illini are just one game behind the Spartans for first place. The Badgers are tied with Illinois in second after Jason Bohannon scored 18 in a road win over disappointing Michigan, who will be NIT or CBI bound. Evan Turner continued his fantastic season on Sunday for the Buckeyes, also tied for second place, with 32 points and seven rebounds as Ohio State beat Iowa 68-58 at Value City Arena. Minnesota stayed at .500 in the conference with a win at Penn State and Northwestern stayed on the bubble with a comfortable home win over Indiana.
Pac-10
-It was a wild and wacky Saturday of action as all 10 teams played and five of those teams are within a game of first place California, who denied UCLA first place in the conference with a 72-58 road win at Pauley Pavillion. Both Arizona teams had the opportunity to take the lead in the race but failed. Arizona dropped to 12-11 with a loss at Washington State and Washington outscored Arizona State 42-25 in the first half en route to a 79-56 domination of the Sun Devils. USC is not eligible for the postseason, but are 6-5 behind my conference Coach of the Year Kevin O’Neill after they beat Stanford. Oregon State blew out Oregon in the other game.
SEC
-All 12 teams played on Saturday, and the team to watch is the Arkansas Razorbacks, who now lead the SEC West at 5-3 after an OT win over Auburn. Arkansas star Courtney Fortson had 24 points, 10 boards and seven assists in the win. Kentucky kept LSU winless in the conference, getting 19 and 13 from DeMarcus Cousins in an 81-55 romp in Baton Rouge. Tennessee took over second place in the SEC East behind Kentucky after Wayne Chism scored 30 in a blowout over South Carolina at home and Vanderbilt got shelled by Georgia 72-58 for just their second conference win. Ole Miss is now second in the SEC West after a home win over Alabama, and Florida and Mississippi State continue to be SEC teams going in different directions after the Gators got 20 Vernon Macklin points in a win over the Bulldogs.