throwback

Headed to OT 77-77 IU grabbed the lead, then gave up another big run and was down 5 with 40 sec left before Yogi banked home a 3 from well behind the NBA 3-pt line and then hit a pull up 3 while straddling the NBA 3-pt line, sandwiched around 1 G-town FT. IU showed plenty of toughness fighting back after two awful stretches, but they're very lucky to be in OT. Yogi's two 3s were both almost impossible shots. Great game though!

Whew - Indiana did not handle that G-town run well. Once the pro-GTown crowd at the neutral site got going, they seemed to panic a bit. Good sign perhaps for Wednesday at PBA. 56-54 Gtown with 8 1/2 to play. Will be interesting to see if IU can fight back here.

Indiana looking good vs G-town early 2nd half on ESPN2, up 49-41 Hoosiers have some shooters this season, so they can spread the floor nicely, also good quickness and a couple of really good looking freshmen - quite a different looking team offensively than a year ago PBA will have to be cranked up Wednesday afternoon - NU going to need all of the home court advantage it can get Also Jim Calhoun is awful as an analyst. Of course, I couldn't stand him when coaching either. At least he can't cheat the NCAA rules as an analyst ... I don't think.

This was the best part of the trip in my book. His strong defensive & rebounding game vs Cincy got him started, and his offense came around in Hawaii. Very pleased with his renewed confidence. And it should only get better once we get Smith & Moses back, as he can get a little more of a break on the defensive end. The shot fake & hard dribble into the 15-ft jumper or the drive all the way to the rim was shown just enough in Hawaii to help him going forward. Even though he missed the layup vs Ohio off the drive, just showing that move on film a couple of times per game will force teams to think twice about running at him so hard out at the 3-pt line. Also liked how T Smith has shown steady improvement - NU can definitely count on him for solid minutes in B1G play. And NU's guards really did a very nice job of taking the top scoring guard out of the game both vs LMU & Ohio. #3 from Ohio hit some really tough shots early, but then didn't score the last 15+ minutes I believe. Great job defensively out on the perimeter, mainly from Parker, but quite a few guys chipped in on him. And NU did a nice job on Paine (sp?) from LMU too, even when Benny had some foul trouble.

NU 63 Ohio 57

Yeah, this thread title received my vote for the knee-jerk, lack-of-sleep-induced, over-reaction to this morning's game. Then I noticed it was posted a good 10 hours after the final buzzer and I got a little worried. We'd better get a W late tonight - I shudder to think what the thread titles will look like starting around 1 a.m. after back-to-back nights of minimal sleep. On the subject of not having Coach Smith, I'm sure that explains some of what's going on. It's natural after losing a coach as valuable as he was that the entire staff has to undergo a transformation, and the guys are still trying to feel their way into their new roles. And I don't think this is happening here, but we've certainly seen the effects of coaches struggling after losing a particular assistant. Coach Nee's tenure was never quite the same after Coach Bargen left. Coach Collier looked great at Butler with Thad Motta on his staff, but once they split and Motta got his chance to be the main guy ... well, we all know what has happened since for both coaches. Again, I'm not saying that's what's happening at NU with Smith/Miles. However after another night with no sleep, if there's another bad loss, God only knows what I might write at 1 a.m.

NU 70 LMU 52

Ugh. Way too many fouls being called in a 25-pt game. Just let them hammer each other and keep that clock moving. No blood, no foul. At this rate, we'll be likely starting at 12:30.

Whew. You better have an idea of where you're going with the basketball before you pick up your dribble against WSU. If you hesitate they'll eat you alive.

Well at least with Wichita blowing the undercard wide open, the main event might get started close to 12:15. Shouldn't have to worry about LMU fouling down the stretch so the last 17+ minutes should fly by. Sounds like quite a few WSU fans are in the building, it seems like they've gotten the loudest cheers of the day for any team thus far.

This afternoon was about a 25-min break between games. The first game only ran about 1:50, so the 2nd game started about 3:45 Central, only 15 minutes after scheduled start time. I'd guess WSU-LM could get out of hand quickly and be an under-2-hour game too without a bunch of fouls at the end.

Quite the Donnybrooke to end that one huh? I don't want to make this sound wrong, but the players from Memphis were much better at an all out brawl than the BYU kids. I am talking all the Memphis players, they were throwing bunches and kicking and stomping on BYU guys. The BYU kids with Samoian last names held their own, but the rest were getting their $h!t tossed pretty good. Yeah that was as nasty of a college football fight as I've seen in a while - BYU players may have lost most of the individual fights, but #12 got in a good cheap shot as he was leaving the field I wonder if any suspensions will be handed down that would carry over to next year's season-opening NU-BYU game? Guessing not. Probably suspend them for the spring game instead.

Colo 82, DeP 68 - final As expected, Colo & GW go into winners' bracket; DePaul & Ohio go to losers' bracket

Colo 71 DeP 54 - 6:30 to play DeP looks gassed, this one looks to be over

Colo 57 DeP 45 <1200 timeout Looks like DePaul's biggest problem in the 2H has been an inability to score to set up their press, Demons started the 2nd H 1-10 on FG attempts. The officials in both games today have called a ton of offensive fouls, giving the defender a lot of leeway in establishing position - I'd imagine there's only 2 crews in Hawaii, maybe one group doing games 1 & 3 and the other doing 2 & 4? If that's the case, Terran needs to be careful tonight about his off arm and the push he likes to use to gain space. And if you try to put your head down and lead with the shoulder to draw contact, it's going to get called nearly every time.

Colo 48, DeP 37 <1600 timeout Sorry I have no idea how Colo pulled away after halftime - been fixated on BYU-Memphis football in double OT.

I'd agree, I do like our chances on Xmas Day, regardless of who we play. GW looks like the one team that we would match up least favorably against, especially with the bruiser they have in the middle - Benny will have to be on top of his game vs Savage if that's the opponent we get Xmas Day in the title game. Gotta think positive.

Colo 36, DeP 33 - halftime If Colo doesn't make some good HT adjustments, they're in for a real dog fight in the 2nd half against what appears to be an inferior team. Purnell got the better of Boyle in the first half for sure. Worst ribbon board ad on the scorer's table is definitely the light blue Burger King ad. By about 2 a.m. that bright one is going to be seared on my retinas.

Colo 32, DeP 27 <400 DePaul bothering Colo with some full court pressure & its zone defense & has gotten back in the game

Colo 26, DeP 17 <800 Booker has 10 pts for Colo already

Colo 17 DeP 6 <1200 timeout DePaul tried a little zone & that seemed to slow the Buffs on the offensive end for this stretch. Wasn't Oliver Purnell (now DeP coach) one of the guys who was in the rumor mill as a candidate when NU hired Collier?

Colo 14 DeP 4 <1600 timeout Demons look awful. Taking a lot of really bad shots and having all kinds of problems getting in the lane vs long arms of Colo, while the Buffs are getting pretty much whatever they want offensively so far. Colo is long and lean all over the floor, no real post player like GW had, but they have a lot of size. Announcers mentioning NU off & on, but they all seem to be taking it for granted that we'll be playing Wichita tomorrow. Hope they're right but hope our players not taking Hawaii for granted.

Looks like they're taking about 25 min between games, just for reference for tonight/early tomorrow morning - Colo/DeP is now underway

GW 77, Ohio 49 - final Winners bracket: GW gets DePaul - Colo winner at 3:30-ish Central tomorrow (ESPNU) Losers bracket: Ohio gets DePaul - Colo loser at 1:30 Central tomorrow (ESPNU) Looks like Colo-DePaul will start at around 3:45 Central today on ESPNU

GW 64, Ohio 45 <800 timeout Getting away from Ohio quickly now - I forgot that N Dak St's coach Phillips moved to Ohio after last season - hopefully he & Coach Miles don't get a chance for an on-court reunion Xmas Day because Ohio's headed for the losers' bracket.