W.Virginia PG Bryant out of NCAAs with broken foot
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - West Virginia point guard Darryl "Truck" Bryant broke his right foot during practice Tuesday and will miss the rest of the NCAA tournament.
The second-seeded Mountaineers, who won the Big East tournament, play 11th-seeded Washington on Thursday night in Syracuse, N.Y., in the East Regional semifinals.
The school announced that the sophomore from New York fractured his fifth metatarsal.
"I feel sorry for Truck that this injury happened during this time of the season," coach Bob Huggins said.
Bryant has started 31 games and averages 9.3 points and is second on the team in assists (3.1) and 3-pointers (40).
He will likely be replaced in the starting lineup by junior Joe Mazzulla, who is more of a playmaker than a scorer. Mazzulla averages 2.2 points and 2.3 assists per game.
Mazzulla's last start came against Davidson on Dec. 9, 2008. He hurt his right shoulder in that game, missed the rest of the season and had surgery. His shoulder limited his shooting mobility for much of this season.
The Mountaineers have no other point guards on their roster but have used forwards Da'Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks in stretches at the position. Earlier this season, West Virginia used an all-forward starting lineup in four straight games, going 3-1.
Washington is led by point guard Isaiah Thomas, who is averaging 17.1 points and 3.1 assists.
Copyright 2010 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press.
Big 12 sets record with 7 NCAA bids
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -The Big 12's coaches spent an entire season, even some time before it, telling anyone who'd listen this was the conference's strongest year ever.
Turns out, they were right.
The Big 12 earned a conference-record seven NCAA tournament bids Sunday, including the No. 1 overall seed and two more in the top three, validating what its coaches have been saying all along.
"The more the merrier," Oklahoma coach Travis Ford said Monday. "I know our coaches are always pleased when they see people value the product that the Big 12 schools are putting out there. To get over half your teams into the NCAA tournament is a very, very nice compliment."
Football has been the calling card for the Big 12 since it formed in 1996, the perception being that Kansas and Oklahoma State were the only teams playing real basketball.
The league has gradually changed its acumen over the past few years as Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri joined the Jayhawks in making deep runs in the NCAA tournament.
Still, six NCAA berths was the best the Big 12 could do - seven times, including the past two seasons - feeding an inferiority complex, as if the basketball power conferences were a big brother who wouldn't let them win at anything.
Now that Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Missouri, Texas A&M and Texas are in, this relatively new conference has moved up to a level usually reserved for older powerhouses like the Big East and ACC.
"As far as us getting seven in this year, my response is: It's about time," Kansas State coach Frank Martin said.
Kansas, no surprise, earned the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. The Jayhawks start Thursday in Oklahoma City, against Lehigh.
A monumental mismatch? Probably. But after that, the road gets tougher.
The Midwest regional is considered the toughest in the tournament, one potential land mine after another awaiting the top-ranked Jayhawks.
Get by Lehigh and the second round, Kansas could face Michigan State or Maryland in the regional semifinals, then could face Georgetown or one of the two teams that gave the Jayhawks their two losses, Oklahoma State or Tennessee.
Even for a team that's as deep as any in the country, one that spent all but four weeks at No. 1, that's a tough gauntlet.
"I do believe this is a very, very difficult region," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "But, from my standpoint, to get to where you want to go, you should have to beat good people. I'm sure no matter who gets to Indianapolis they're going to have a tough road."
Kansas State set a school record for wins and has its highest seeding ever, No. 2 in the West. The seventh-ranked Wildcats open the NCAA tournament against North Texas in Oklahoma City on Thursday.
Baylor, No. 3 in the South and 19th in the nation, also starts on Thursday, against Sam Houston State in New Orleans. No. 23 Texas A&M gets Utah State in Spokane, Wash., as the fifth seed in the South, and Oklahoma State faces a tough first-round matchup against Georgia Tech as the seventh seed in Milwaukee. The Aggies and Cowboys both play Friday.
The other Big 12 teams in the NCAA tournament need to make quick turnarounds.
Missouri closed out the season by losing three of its final four games, including to last-place Nebraska in the conference tournament. The Tigers open Friday in Buffalo, N.Y., against Clemson in what's likely to be the fastest game of the tournament.
Then there's Texas.
The former No. 1 team in the nation, the Longhorns followed a 17-0 start with a crash, going 9-7 during the Big 12 regular season. Texas is the eighth seed in the East regional and opens against Wake Forest on Thursday in New Orleans, hoping to get one potentially momentum-changing win.
"One game, it can swing quickly," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "We see it all the time, teams come into that have been down and out, and they catch it and kind of ride the wave with it ... This time of year, one game here or there, one play here or there can really swing it."
After playing in the rugged Big 12, the Longhorns should be ready for it.
Copyright 2010 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press.
Hughes is among Cousy Award finalists
Madison --- Wisconsin senior guard Trevon Hughes remained in the running Thursday to win the prestigious Cousy Award, given annually the top male point guard in the nation.
Hughes was named one of 11 finalists as the pool was trimmed from 20.
Hughes leads UW in scoring (15.5 points per game) and steals (1.6), is second in assists (3.1) and is third in rebounds (4.8).
The other finalists are:
Matt Bouldin, Gonzaga; Sherron Collins, Kansas; Devan Downey, South Carolina; Jeremy Lin, Harvard; Kalin Lucas, Michigan State; Ronald Moore, Siena; Scottie Reynolds, Villanova; Jon Scheyer, Duke; Greivis Vasquez, Maryland; and John Wall, Kentucky.
The list of 11 finalists is to be trimmed to five players by March 1st. That list is to be presented to Cousy and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's selection committee.
The committee is made up of top college basketball personnel including Hall of Famers, head coaches, sports information directors and members of the media.
The winner of the 2010 Cousy Award is to be announced on April 5 in Indianapolis as part of the NCAA's Final Four weekend.
(c) 2010, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved.
Memphis makes case to NCAA regarding ineligible player
MEMPHIS (AP) --- The University of Memphis has made its case for leniency in the NCAA's punishment of the men's basketball team.
Now it's time to wait and see if it worked.
The NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee heard Memphis' arguments Friday in a closed hearing that ended at noon in Indianapolis. Memphis President R.C. Johnson refused to comment after the hearing. The NCAA will not comment until the report is released in four to six weeks.
Memphis argued in papers filed with the NCAA that the school is improperly being held responsible for an ineligible player despite the NCAA's clearinghouse checking his eligibility twice. At stake is the 38 wins from the 2007-08 season that ended with an overtime loss to Kansas in the national title game.
(c) 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Freshmen will be key to Virginia Tech's basketball success
BLACKSBURG, VA. -- On the Virginia Tech basketball team, the freshman players' chore is to tote gym bags during trips. Despite such a menial task away from the court, those same players could play an important role down the stretch of the Hokies' season.
Virginia Tech (14-3, 1-2 ACC) hosts Boston College (11-8, 2-3) on Saturday to begin the final six weeks of the season. As the Hokies make a push to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007, they will call on their four freshmen to step up in the increasingly unpredictable ACC.
"On any given night, for us to be relevant, we need one or two of those guys to contribute," Hokies Coach Seth Greenberg said. "And it might not be the same guy every night."
Forward Cadarian Raines is a big, athletic presence in the paint. Guard Erick Green is Virginia Tech's point guard of the future. And guard Ben Boggs and swingman Manny Atkins have each contributed minutes.
While Virginia Tech has been led by a core of players in its junior class, the Hokies' newcomers have the chance to stand out as the team moves toward March. Virginia Tech has 13 ACC regular season games remaining.
"As much as I talk about it, they have no understanding what the next six weeks will be like," Greenberg said. "Every single game is an event now, and they've never experienced anything like it."
Greenberg praised the freshmen, noting that they come to the gym during their days off and are attentive learners. But in the latter portion of the season, he said, the key will be toeing a fine line between preparing them and wearing them down.
Greenberg said he could sense that the freshmen hit a wall in early December, shortly after classes ended and other students left campus.
"The intensity and amount of time you put into it, they're thinking so much instead of reacting," Greenberg said. "The travel. Being away from home. Being the only ones on campus. The freshmen do usually hit the wall when the students are out, but there's more energy on campus now and they kind of get booted back up."
For Raines, the transition to college basketball has been complicated because he broke his left foot in practice in September and sat out six games to start the season.
At 6 feet 9 and 238 pounds, Raines has a powerful body and tremendous potential, but his inability to practice slowed his development. He has started to see more minutes and has shown an ability to challenge shots.
"From high school, sometimes you can be laid-back. In college, there's no time to be laid-back," Raines said of his adjustment. "If you're laid-back, you can be embarrassed."
Green, a long guard with a good feel for the game, has been a promising addition. Coaches and teammates have challenged him to be a more commanding presence on the court, and Green has started to play with swagger.
On Monday, Green scored 11 points in a win over North Carolina Central. He flushed an emphatic, one-handed dunk over a defender in the second half and drew a foul, driving hard to the rim in perhaps the best evidence of his growing confidence.
"He didn't realize his potential coming in, but now he's starting to see that," junior guard Malcolm Delaney said of Green. "We need him for this team to be successful. He's starting to realize that and starting to take more of that point guard role."
(c) 2010 The Washington Post Company.
Le Moyne's exhibition win over Syracuse didn't count, except to everyone tied to school
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) --- When Syracuse easily beat defending national champion North Carolina in November, Tar Heels coach Roy Williams was duly impressed.
Not only by Syracuse but also Le Moyne, which had defeated the Orange in an exhibition matchup a few weeks earlier.
"We got our tails beat by a very good basketball team," Williams said after the 16-point setback in the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden. "I would hate to play that non-Division I team on a regular basis if they are better than Syracuse."
Fast forward to late December. After guiding Syracuse to a seven-point victory over Seton Hall in the Orange's Big East opener, head coach Jim Boeheim was relieved to have survived a tough one on the road.
"The only close game we've had this year we lost," Boeheim said. "That game didn't count, either."
Welcome to the world of Le Moyne coach Steve Evans, whose Dolphins are that non-Division I team Williams was referring to and the winners of that close game Boeheim still laments.
Until Pittsburgh came to town in early January, Le Moyne was the only team to beat fifth-ranked Syracuse this season --though it was in the preseason. The feeling of elation from that November night lingers, both on the Internet -- the game box remains prominently displayed on the Le Moyne Web site -- and in the players' collective psyche.
"I think about it at least once every day," said senior forward Laurence Ekperigin, who has caught the eye of a couple of NBA scouts. "Someone always reminds me at least once a day."
The aftermath has been like no other in the 10 years Evans has been head coach. From Syracuse to Seattle to Europe, Le Moyne alumni were boasting about their alma mater.
"It was overwhelming. It didn't go away, and it hasn't," Evans said. "I just spoke at the Rotary Club, and believe me, they didn't want to know about our St. Bonaventure game (a 76-65 road loss in mid-December).
"That level that we bounced to was so high," Evans said. "We could lose five games in a row, and people say 'Congratulations' everywhere I go. Before, you lose three or four games and you just want to crawl under a rock. People in Syracuse now want to know when we're playing OCC (Onondaga Community College) to get the city championship."
That one game notwithstanding, Le Moyne, a Jesuit school founded in 1946 with an enrollment today of 2,300, toils in virtual anonymity on the other side of this Orange-crazy city in upstate New York. Syracuse regularly averages more than 20,000 fans at the Carrier Dome, many of them Le Moyne alumni, while the Dolphins were happy to attract a season-high 801 to their home opener against Southern Connecticut State.
"If you grow up in this area, you're probably a Syracuse fan," said Evans, who attends a couple of Syracuse games every year. "Chances are, even if you go to a place like Saint Joseph's down in Philly, I think you're still following Syracuse, too, and we're Division II.
"It's hard to get kids on campus to buy into their school spirit and pride when Syracuse is three miles down the road and you've always been a Syracuse fan," Evans said. "But we've gotten some great support. If people come here to see a game, I think they'll respect the level of basketball and hopefully come back."
Former coach John Beilein, now the head man at Michigan, transformed Le Moyne into a Division II power, leading the Dolphins to a 163-94 record from 1983-92. Le Moyne once was good enough to regularly beat fellow upstate Franciscan rival Siena (Le Moyne has a 39-23 record against the Saints, who moved to Division I in 1976 and are a power in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), but the teams haven't played since Beilein left and Le Moyne has remained in Division II, sort of lost in the shuffle.
Despite the considerable attention he's received, Evans can no longer bask in the glory of that fall evening when Christopher Johnson drained the decisive 3-pointer in the final seconds that sent the powerful Orange to an 82-79 defeat. While Syracuse has soared to a 16-1 record in dominant fashion, the Dolphins have struggled -- they're 9-6 overall and 5-5 in the Northeast-10 Conference in which they play.
"I understand it's nice when you lose three games in a row and no one knows you lost, but the Syracuse game was both a blessing and a curse," Evans said. "We went from being a little below that line (of respectability) to being about seven stories above it. Like anything, when you get high on anything you're going to crash, you're going to come down."
"We're not playing as good as we would have hoped," Johnson said. "When we lost to Pace, they were chanting, 'We want Syracuse!' at the end of the game."
The Orange are being touted by many as a contender for the Final Four in April. Evans will be there regardless, and he's looking forward to it because of that one special night.
"As far as the basketball community, it's helped Le Moyne College across a national level," Evans said. "I don't know if we're going to get national recruits, but it's helped us at least become somebody.
"I kind of think it's funny that the one game that we won actually didn't count. But our kids will never forget it. It will never happen again. It was a miracle."
(c) 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Vols dismiss senior star Smith after gun, drug incident
Tennessee star Tyler Smith has been dismissed from the team.
The Vols senior was one of four players arrested on New Year's Day and suspended indefinitely after being caught in a rental car with two handguns, marijuana and alcohol.
"We want to make sure we get as much information as possible before making difficult decisions,'' Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said in a statement released on Friday. "From the beginning, the student-athletes involved have been accountable, remorseful and cooperative with me. While we are not allowed to discuss specifics, we felt we had enough information at this time to dismiss Tyler Smith from the team. Melvin Goins, Cameron Tatum, and Brian Williams will remain indefinitely suspended."
It's still unclear whether Goins, Tatum and Williams will return to the team, but Pearl has said they will not play Sunday when Tennessee hosts top-ranked Kansas this weekend.
Smith is a Tennessee native who spent his freshman season at Iowa. He returned Home and received a waiver from the NCAA to play immediately because he wanted to be closer to his father, who had cancer and later died.
The athletic 6-foot-7 Smith averaged 17.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last season and tested the NBA waters before deciding to return to school.
Smith struggled this season, averaging 11.7 points and 4.7 rebounds -- both career-lows.
"I am truly sorry for my actions in the recent case that everyone is familiar with,'' Smith said in a statement. "From the beginning, I have accepted responsibility for my actions and what I have been charged with, and I am very sorry that my decisions have affected Brian, Cam and Melvin. One day soon I hope I can finish the 12 classes that I need for my degree. My recent actions do not reflect who I am and I can only hope that what I do in the future can make everyone believe in me again."
(c) 2010 Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
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