basketball Page 549 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Niagara Purple Eagles
1. We wear purple to stay neutral. MAAC Tournament MVP and freshman Tyrone Lewis was barred from his valedictorian speech at his High School in Levittown, Penn., because of a threat by the ever-popular Bloods. When his sister testified against the gang they shot at Tyrone's car, killing one of his f...
Old Dominion Monarchs
1. Their long-distance bill must be horrendous. Nobody has made better use of overseas players than ODU. Australian stalwart Alex Loughton graduated last year after leading the Monarchs to an NCAA berth and the final four of the NIT. This year, the team is paced by Lithuanian sharpshooter Valdas Vas...
Belmont Bruins
1. Live by the Three... Belmont upset the Atlantic Sun conference's regular-season champion East Tennessee State on its home floor in the worst way possible — with a 94-67 rout underwritten by a flurry three-pointers. Belmont made 12 in the first half alone, including a desperation shot at the buzze...
Virginia Cavaliers
1. Liz Lemon is a Total Geek. You know her now as creator and star of the funniest show on Thursday nights, "30 Rock," but Tina Fey spent her time in Charlottesville avoiding keg parties and being a nerdy drama major. It all paid off two years after graduation from UVa with her acceptance into the r...
Nevada Wolf Pack
1. The McGee Family Reunion Comes With A Shot Clock. JaVale McGee's mom Pam and Aunt Paula won the 1983 & 1984 NCAA basketball championships with USC. Although Aunt Paula (who got robbed) wasn't selected for the Olympic team, Mom won a basketball gold medal in 1984. His dad, George Montgomery, a 6-8...
Albany Great Danes
1. Jamar Wilson, Mayor of Sm-Albany. This is becoming a rite of spring. Jamar Wilson dominates an America East Final (22, 7 and 6 in the conference title game), and the Great Danes get a bid to the Big Show. Diddly posed the thought on everyone's mind (in the Capital District at least): "I think we'...
Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders
1. The house that Arrow built. TAMUCC has only been part of the Texas A&M system since 1989. In 1998, they hired South Alabama coach Ronnie Arrow to create a Division-I basketball program out of thin air. He did just that, cobbling together a pair of respectable .500 seasons before earning Independe...
Florida A&M Rattlers
1. Currently holds the record for most racially offensive prior names. Originally established as the State Normal College for Colored Students; apparently, that was deemed to not effectively differentiate it from the rest of the state-run universities. So, the name was changed to Florida Agricultura...
Duke Blue Devils
1. Duke Green. Not that the .500 record in ACC play this year was a tipoff or anything, but this is one of the youngest Duke squads in history. The only senior on this year's team is Joe Pagliuca, who's seen his minutes steadily decline from year to year: from 9 to 7 to 4 to 2. DeMarcus Nelson, the ...
Marquette Golden Eagles
1. Commies and Question Marks Everywhere. Not only did little Joey McCarthy get his law degree at Marquette, the great Matthew Lesko attended Marquette undergrad. The question is, did he find a government grant to cover his bong water recycling program?...
Virginia Commonwealth Rams
1. Like Father, Like Duke. Gerald Henderson Jr., he of the face-breaking adamantium elbows, is the son of VCU alum Gerald Henderson (fancy that!), the best NBA player to come out of the Commonwealth. We can only presume the elder Henderson acquired the How To Land Your Ulna Bone On The Bridge Of An ...
Kansas Jayhawks
1. Sharing The Wealth. Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, Darrell Arthur, Sherron Collins, Sasha Kaun, Darnell Jackson and Julian Wright have all had their turn leading the team in scoring. For the math-challenged amongst you, that's seven different players. And what does this mean for you, poor 16 seed?...
Georgetown Hoyas
1. "Their offense is unstoppable." That's a direct quote from college hoops statistical stallion Ken Pomeroy via DC Sports Bog, and it's an odd one considering Georgetown was 11th in the Big East in scoring this season. However, KenPom's analysis reveals that the Hoyas are third in the nation in off...
Wright State Raiders
1. Go Vikings...err...Coyotes...err...Raiders? Since this is only Wright State's second trip to the Big Dance, not many people know much about the school. Despite what Wright State's logo entails, their mascot is the Raider. It is not coyotes or even their circa 1993 mascot, a viking....
Creighton Blue Jays
1. The original Huggy Bear. Before Bob Huggins (and Tom Asbury and Jim Wooldridge), there was Dana Altman. In four years at K-State, Altman led the Wildcats to three postseason tournaments (including the Big Dance in 1993) and won a Big Eight Coach of the Year award. Since taking over at Creighton i...
Long Beach State 49ers
1. Nixon's The One. NCAA opponents would be wise not to overlook the 49ers in general and senior forward Aaron "Mr. Big Shot" Nixon in particular. After a 74-49 loss to Temple on December 2, Long Beach State has won 22 straight, winning the Big West championship, where Nixon was named Tournament MVP...
Arizona Wildcats
1. Stretch Marks. The 2006-2007 season has resembled that of a young Alpha Phi freshman, heading to Tucson after a long summer of working out and tanning in the sun. Sure, she looks great when college begins, but five months of drinking any possible liquid (Everclear, YUMMY!) and ordering Domino's o...
Davidson Wildcats
1. OK, let's get it straight now — Steph-en. If you pay attention to this team over the next week, you'll hear a lot about Stephen Curry, who pronounces his name as if it were spelled, "Steffen," not how most people named Stephen say their name. Not a big deal, except it touched off a (very) mini-co...
UNLV Runnin' Rebels
1. Viva Las Vegas, baby. Where else can you see pregame introductions featuring fireworks and flames shooting out of the shot clock as players come out on a red carpet? The band plays "Viva Las Vegas" leading into the infamous Reeeee-bels chant, members of the dance team make showgirls look like dog...
USC Trojans
1. This is Hollywood after all. The Trojans play on Jim Sterkel Court at the new Galen Center. Who's Jim Sterkel? Some guy who played for two seasons at 'SC in the '50s and averaged fewer than 10 points a game. So who decided to name it after him? Only the university knows: The $5-million donation f...