Beltway Basketball Bonanza-- Think I'm Shakin' for Two Tickets

Once upon a time ... New York City cop Ed Mahoney turned to a life of music and gave Album Oriented Rock radio a slew of high-octane hits before doing a profitable but ill-advised duet with Ronnie Spector-- before vanishing to the B-list of hardworking musicians. His story should be the focus of the new movie "Take Me Home Tonight"-- but instead it's a romcom starring Topher Grace. Why couldn't they string together Eddie Money's hits like they did for "Mama Mia"? I mean-- "Two Tickets to Paradise"... "Shakin'"... "Think I'm in Love"-- the script practically writes itself. Would it be that much worse than the actual movie they produced? Unfortunately if this movie succeeds I now dread what will come next: "Last Christmas"--starring Owen Wilson as the architect successful at business but unable to build a romantic life... Amy Adams as the office manager with glasses and a ponytail who's perfect for him... Ed Helms as the wacky sidekick you just can't get enough of... and Jessica Biel as the ice princess who dumped Owen that fateful December 26th.

On to the Beltway-- where more than a few scripts took a beating with massive rewrites... and a few productions had location problems...:

Maryland (18-12, 7-8--#7 in the ACC with a first round game against NC State) lost a "can't lose" game in Miami... allowing the Hurricanes to shoot 55% from the field while Jordan Williams hit just 3 of 17 shots in a defeat that almost ensures the Terps need to win the ACC Tournament to make the NCAA's. And with an improving Virginia team on the horizon... Senior Day at Comcast might not be the final game in College Park for the Terrapin seniors.

Cruising the Commonwealth-- THUD! Great followup to that win over Duke, Virginia Tech (19-9, 9-6--#4 with an ACC QF game against Clemson or Wake Forest))... a 76-61 loss to bubblicious Boston College where the Hokies were HANDLED on the boards (outrebounded 38-22). Now coach Seth Greenberg's team visits Clemson in what turns out to be a game for a first round bye... and a Hokie loss coupled with a Boston College win over last place Wake Forest gives them a 6th seed. Virginia (15-4, 6-9--#9 with a first round game against Miami) stays in NIT contention... 3 wins in 4 games has the Cavaliers playing at a level far above their early season wanderings. Although this is a team that has more than a few 40-point efforts to their credit (4 in ACC play)-- with another one sure to be out there.

Georgetown (21-8, 10-7--#8 in the Big East with a second round game against the winner of #9 Connecticut-#16 DePaul) has a full week to reinvent its offense in wake of losing guard Chris Wright for the moment. Now Comcast Sportsnet's Ron Thompson facebooked that Wright is healing more quickly than expected. One would think he'd have a better idea than most. Regardless, they face a Cincinnati team that held them to 26 first half points with Wright in the lineup... and one that is surging up the standings with four wins in five games. Unlike the Hoyas firm of Freeman & Wright... the Bearcats boast more balance: five players who average between 8.5 and 11.2 points a game.

Alma Mater Update-- St John's loss to Seton Hall opened up the door for Syracuse (24-6, 11-6--#4 with a quarterfinal date against the Red Storm/Seton Hall/Rutgers) to claim the famed double bye in the Big East Tournament. All the Orange have to do is defeat DePaul (7-22, 1-16). In the Carrier Dome. Gentlemen: please cover Jeremiah Kelly and Jimmy Drew-- both are hitting 35% of their threes. Meanwhile, Sign of the Whale's Wing Basket is the preferred snack of choice during the games-- as long as you take care of things in post-op.

George Mason (25-5, 16-2) plays Georgia State Saturday in the CAA Quarterfinals; the Patriots beat the Panthers by 14 in Fairfax and by 7 in the the peach state. Cam Long was the key--12 of his 18 points came in the second half of a home win and 5 of his 19 came in the final minute of the road victory. Lurking in the shadows are the #2 and 3 seeds... Old Dominion (faded in February) and Hofstra (surged on the backstretch) both can beat the Patriots--and did: the Pride on January 5th and the Monarchs on January 8th.

George Washington (16-13, 9-6--#5 in the Atlantic Ten with a first round game against St. Joseph's) rallied from an early deficit at Rhode Island and posted its first win against a school with a winning A-10 mark-- despite hitting just 1-of-13 three pointers (it was a rough night from longrange: the Rams hit 3 of 15 from outside the arc). Tony Taylor tallied 23 points notched 4 assists plus 4 steals to lead the way... and the Colonials need a win over Dayton or a Rhode Island loss at St. Bonaventure to lock up 5th place in the conference.

Maryland Womens' Moment-- After scraping to a first round bye in the ACC Tournament, few expected an early exit from the quarterfinals--always physical Georgia Tech topped the Terps 70-64. Maryland was outrebounded 35-22 and committed 23 turnovers. Primary post presence Lynetta Kizer was held to 9 points on 1 of 6 shooting. Now the question is-- where will the Terps land in the NCAA Tournament? They were ranked 15th nationally entering the ACCs... and you'd think they would be a low #4 or high #5 seed. Regardless of seed or region, the Terps will begin their tournament run at the Comcast Center.

American (22-8) plays Lafayette in the Patriot League Semifinals Sunday after taking care of Colgate in the quarterfinals-- a 69-53 win where the hammer (Vlad Moldoveanu scored 31 points) and the anvil (Stephen Lumpkins tallied 19 points and 15 rebounds) pounded the Raiders into submission. The Leopards (12-18, 6-8) are fresh in the Eagles mind-- AU won 95-92 in double overtime on the final day of the regular season. Right now the focus for coach Jeff Jones is to convince Lumpkins about his upside; the forward averaged a double double during the season but Jones thinks the junior is just scratching the surface.

Howard (6-23, 4-12) faces Norfolk State in the MEAC Tournament first round March 9th... trying to bounce back from a regular season where they ranked 341st in scoring, 340th in shooting and 341st in assists. The Bison lost by 10 at home and by 8 on the road in the season series thanks to 21 and 23 points from Spartan swingman Rob Hampton.