A college basketball season can turn on a dime--what I enjoy about the sport is that there are plenty of opportunities to improve without the season lasting too long (82 games-ugh)...
Saturday inside and outside the beltway there were plenty of turning points...
Georgetown 84, Notre Dame 65--Roy Hibbert has his first Monster Offensive Game of the season (21 points) while the Hoyas hold the Fighting Irish to 33% shooting and took control of the game midway through the first half on a 15-0 run. Hibbert gets plenty of help on both ends of the floor from Dejuan Summers inside and Austin Freeman on the perimeter. John Thompson III's crew looks like they're a month ahead of the rest of the Big East--a 15-3 conference mark is not unlikely.
Maryland 82, North Carolina 80--the Terrapins took another step towards salvaging their season with a huge upset on the road...proving once again you can NEVER count out a Gary Williams coached team (it's Gary Williams 7th career victory over a #1 team, most by any active coach).
The elements of upset:
A stingy defense that held Tyler Hansborough and Wayne Ellington to 12 of 31 shooting. Defensive effort and execution have been on a different level this year; the fact they were able to slow down the high-flying Tar Heels (averaging 98 points a game at home) was nothing short of staggering.
James Gist's emergence. In December coach Williams asked former Terp Johnny Rhodes to speak with the senior; since then Gist has taken charge and his 22 points and 13 rebounds against UNC was a major statement for the team's lone 4th year player.
Tar Heels have talent, but are oh so soft. I saw Maryland upset a top-five North Carolina team last February, an what amazed me was how few Terps I though could make their roster (Strawberry, Gist and Vasquez) as well as how Roy Williams's team seemed to lose focus and/or intensity for significant stretches. It didn't cost them in the ACC Tournament, but killed them in the East Regional Finals against Georgetown.
Xavier 74, George Washington 66. The Colonials came up short in their upset bid against the 20th ranked Musketeers despite staying within a few possessions for most of the game. Perimeter defense was problematic (Xavier shot 39% from three point range, more than a few coming at pivotal points), but on the positive side coach Karl Hobbs received solid efforts from Maureece Rice (22 points and 5 assists while running the offense) and Damian Hollis (12 points and 12 rebounds). At 5-8, the Colonials play three of their next four games away from the Smith Center--and they're winless on the road this year.
Elsewhere --nice wins by George Mason and American. The Patriots got 34 points from Dre Smith (including 10 for 10 from three point range) in their 96-75 win over James Madison--improving to 5-2 in the CAA; they have games against Old Dominion and Virginia Commonwealth (both tournament teams in 2007) looming in Fairfax. The Eagles shook off a tough loss at Bucknell by beating Colgate 65-57--the backcourt of Derrick Mercer and Garrison Carr continues to hum, with the duo combining for 35 points. Jeff Jones's team has a three game stretch against Army, Navy and Holy Cross (combined 2-7 in the Patriot League) before facing conference co-leader Lafayette.
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