Beltway Basketball Bonanza--seeing one's shadow...

Who doesn't love Groundhog Day? Bill Murray (with Andie Macdowell and Chris Elliot) helped turn a calendar blip into a big deal-- as the Buddy Hackett-voiced groundhog in the claymation "Jack Frost" failed to inspire (check this one out-- it's a badly done, tired "we've run out of ideas but not clay" production by Rankin Bass). Teams have six weeks to set the record straight on their destiny-- are they in the shadow of greatness... or of missed opportunities?



Maryland (14-8, 4-4) rallied against #5 Duke but couldn't get closer than five points in the second half en route to an 18 point loss. Once again the lack of a three point shooter (2-9 outside the arc) haunted a team that in the absence of a "sit up and listen" victory will have to win at least 6 of 8 remaining league games to be in the NCAA conversation. The good news is they still have tilts against Wake Forest, Miami and NC State (combined 4-18 in the ACC).



Commonwealth Commotion-- Virginia Tech (15-6, 5-3) and Virginia (12-10, 3-5) mark the beginning and end of the ACC's middle class. Thanks to Jeff Allen's 18 points and 11 rebounds against Miami, the Hokies appear five wins shy of being on the bubble as they usually are in March; the Cavaliers even after their 49-47 win over Clemson (let the record show the UVa football team also had three 40 point efforts this season) need a monster run to secure an NIT bid.



Georgetown (17-5, 6-4) enjoyed back to back three point victories over ranked teams for a nice Saturday-Monday sweep. What's impressive about the win over Louisville is that Austin Freeman was held to 13 points and 6 turnovers by the Cardinals yet the Hoyas had Chris Wright (fresh off going scoreless against Nova) pouring in 24 points. It was just the second time during conference play that Wright shot more than 50% of his shots.



Alma Mater Update-- after four straight losses, Syracuse began it's game at UConn by not scoring for the first 5:27. Somehow the Orange rallied (thank you Huskies for shooting 29% in the first half) and held on 66-58. This may not cure all that ills SU, but the team's first big road win of the winter gets things in gear for a monstrous February: twice against Georgetown plus trips to Louisville and Villanova... plus unranked but should be ranked West Virginia at the Dome.


George Mason (18-5, 10-2) has gathered major steam over the last few weeks; during their current 8 game winning streak-- 7 have come by double digits. Luke Hancock continues to make the leap from fringe player to major contributor... averaging six assists over GMU's last three games. CAA co-leader VCU looms as the Patriots play the Rams in Richmond February 15th in the only regular season meeting between the two schools.


George Washington (11-11, 4-4) straddles the Atlantic Ten midpoint...tied for 7th place in the fourteen team league that has the number ten in the title. So far they've handled the teams they should be beating and have lost to the schools that are having better seasons-- kind of like a mid-major Maryland if you will. Tony Taylor's the bright spot offensively-- he's the only Colonial averaging in double figures.

Maryland womens' moment-- the Terps (18-3, 4-2) begin February chasing down a top four spot in the ACC (and the first round bye it provides). Currently there are five teams ahead of the Terps in the standings-- and Maryland plays four of them over the next eighteen days. The rubiks cube of a roster has settled into a late-season rotation (for a big part of the winter 10 players averaged from 17 to 24 minutes a game)... and while freshman of the year candidate Alyssa Taylor is taking the headlines-- a lot of credit goes to point guard Anjale Barrett. The junior's not a natural at the point-- but is able to run the offense efficiently.

American (15-7, 5-2) after a hiccup at Navy reasserted itself in a double digit win over Lafayette. The hammer-anvil duo reveals who the bellwether is; Stephen Lumpkins (21 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks against the Leopards) has been held to single digits twice in Patriot League play-- and AU has dropped both of those games. On the horizon: trips to

Lehigh and league-leading Bucknell... the only other Patriot League schools with overall winning records. A sweep would be sweet.


Howard (4-17, 2-7) picked up a pair of wins over the weekend against Maryland-Eastern Shore and Delaware State by a combined seven points. Mike Phillips came up huge for the Bison in both games-- averaging 15 points and 9 rebounds in the sweep. Howard has another home weekend with North Carolina Central and South Carolina State coming to Burr Arena; both are winnable games.