The final night of NBA action before the four-day All-Star break featured two old-fashioned blowouts! The Bulls beat the 76ers 117-84 for their biggest win of the year and the Suns defeated the Rockets, 109-75.
Believe it or not, that game was not as close as the final score. Phoenix led by 32 at the half (the biggest first-half lead of any team this year) and 98-53 after three quarters. The All Star game is on Sunday, with the West favored by five points and a total of 259.
My bye on Friday is Cornell over Princeton at 7:00 ET. The Bulls’ easy win (117-84) increased my current NBA streak to 13-2-1 since February 3. However, I’ve been struggling lately in college hoops, with last night’s half-point loss to Washington (a 22* play) being pretty TYPICAL of my recent LUCK, or lack thereof. I spend Friday preparing for a BIG Saturday.
Two of the top three 25 teams in action on Thursday won. No. 13 Boston College beat Miami 65-54 and No. 20 Washington beat Oregon, 75-72. However, No. 17 Georgetown lost for the second straight time (after a seven-game winning streak), 57-51 at Marquette.
The Citadel lost at home to the College of Charleston, 72-52 on Thursday. The Bulldogs (0-13 in the Southern Conference), join South Florida (0-11 in the Big East) and Texas State (0-11 in the Southland) as the only three Division I schools still winless in the conference.
ESPN’s BracketBuster games kick off tonight with three games, two televised on ESPNU. Albany visits Va Commonwealth at 7:00 ET in a game in which the Rams are favored by eight points with a total of 132 1/2.
The late game at 9:00 ET is more interesting as Akron 19-5 12-2 in the MAC visits Nevada 19-5 9-3 in the WAC. Nevada, a school that has won 25 games each of the last two years, including THREE games in the NCAA tournament, is favored by six points with a total of 133 1/2.
Penn, 7-0 in the Ivy League (and one of SIX remaining schools still undefeated in conference play), is in Columbia tonight (7:00 ET). Quakers are favored by 14 1/2 points with a total of 133 1/2.
It’s going to be a MONSTER weekend in college basketball, as along with the regular number of TV games airing on Saturdays and Sundays (nearly 20), the ESPN family of networks will air 11 BracketBuster games. The most intriguing will be No. 24 Bucknell in northern Iowa on ESPN2 at 12:00 noon ET.
Bucknell (21-3) is ranked for the first time in school history and heads into the game riding a 12-game winning streak (second to George Washington’s 13-game streak). The Bison are also one of SIX schools that remain undefeated in conference play (12-0 in the Patriot League) and while this is not a conference game, it will be the school’s biggest showcase since beating Kansas in the first last year’s round. NCAA tournament.
Northern Iowa was ranked 25th a few weeks ago (the school’s first appearance in the top 25 in its 106 history) but is riding a two-game losing streak. The Panthers have been in the NCAA tournament 21-6 in each of the last two years.
No. 2 Duke (12-0 in the ACC), No. 3 Memphis (9-0 in C-USA), No. 5 Gonzaga (10-0 in the WCC) and No. 7 George Washington (11-0 in the A-10), join Bucknell and Penn as the only schools still without a win in their respective conferences. ALL will be in action over the weekend.
No. 2 Duke hosts Miami-Florida on Sunday, No. 3 Memphis is at Tulane on Saturday, No. 5 Gonzaga is at Loyola-Marymount on Saturday and No. 7 George Washington is at Richmond on Sunday. As mentioned above, GW owns the longest current winning streak in the nation at 13-game winning streak, but both Memphis and Gonzaga join Bucknell, just one win behind at 12-game winning streak.
The Citadel is off for the weekend (a blessing), but South Florida will carry a 13-game losing streak, as well as its 0-11 Big East record, into a home game with Rutgers on Saturday. Texas State, losers of 12 straight and 0-11 in the Southland, will host Texas-San Antonio, also on Saturday.
Ness Notes is available Monday through Friday at 1:00 ET. This weekend’s “top story” will be on the 2005-06 Detroit Pistons.
