Beltway Basketball Bonanza-- scoring ends at 40?

While college hoops heats up into "February Frenzy", aka "Moving Month", aka "Cliched Alliterative Phrase Here"... I've been wondering what has happened with the preponderance of 40-somethings. Now, I have more than a few friends in their forties... and I have no issue about reaching 40-- but when a Division I college basketball team from a major conference can't get to 50 points in the shot-clock era there's something wrong. I thought getting to 50 was like the SAT's-- sign your name... roll out the balls and get a half century. Maybe college basketball is converting to the ACT. Damn that test! Even the ACC isn't immune-- witness Virginia Tech's 47-45 win over Virginia a few Sunday's ago. I want to think "Doug Flutie to Gerald Phelan" when I hear 47-45, not "1 for 14 from three point range". The Big Ten had a 37-33 game recently-- and sadly with Nebraska in the league we could see more depressed scores (technically it would be a recession though).

Georgetown (18-4, 8-3) has held consecutive opponents to less than 50 points... limiting South Florida to 20% shooting in the first half (although the game began at 11am-- even the kids on HANG TIME! had issues shooting on Saturday mornings). The Hoyas have a nice 8-man rotation that features a rebounding bulldog in Otto Porter (four double digit efforts in league play)... a clutch shooter in Hollis Thompson (last second baskets his specialty) and a center who can pass (Henry Sims leads the team in assists). Lost in the shuffle may be Jason Clark- who leads the team in scoring and rebounds well for a guard. With this bunch they head to Syracuse to face the #2 team in the nation.

Alma Mater Update-- while the Orange have Fab Melo back and I answered more than a few "somebody finally weaved the basket for him" texts... many questions come about entering Wednesday's war with the hated Hoyas (not me-- I am super objective as always about everything... the exception being Ray Pruitt's singing). Can the vaunted 2-3 zone contain the Princeton Offense (I remember raining threes at Verizon a few years ago)? Will the Orange be able to run a semi-cognizant halfcourt offense (not the one featuring two passes, bad one on one moves and a last second off-balance jumper that misses)? And where will I watch the game? I've been enlisted as a helmsman in the SU Alumni Group of DC's gatherings at Sign of Whale. I even have my "Ishmael Card" for discounts (sadly, no such card actually exists. Major missing the boat there SOTW) and have tried to get the bar to put a "44 Wing Salute" on the menu. But this week a few friends (one of which has been named "Nice Guy of the Year" three times in the last decade) are organizing a gamewatching event down the street from where I live. No car. No metro. I've been asking both places to send bleu cheese dressing samples for comparison.

Maryland (13-8, 3-5) had a chance to upset then #5 North Carolina... and actually led the Tarheels by nine in the second half before foul trouble handcuffed coach Mark Turgeon's rotation... UNC started to own the offensive glass and Harrison Barnes knocked down enough long-range jumpers to bury the Terps 83-74. Lost in the loss was improved play by Nick Faust off the bench (taking the ball to the rim instead of shooting bad jumpers) as well as the fine effort from Alex Len (holding his own against fellow 7-footer Tyler Zeller) off the pine. Halfway through the ACC season, Terps fans are wondering if they can get to .500 in the conference; they can, but have little margin for error. Home games against Georgia Tech and Boston College have to be slam-dunks. They have to steal one away from Virginia (who lost at home to Va. Tech) and if they beat Clemson Tuesday night (Tigers are tied with the Terps at 3-5 in the league)... that would give them seven wins, meaning the eighth has to come from topping Duke in Cameron (stop laughing), UNC at Chapel Hill (please get back in your seat), sweeping Virginia (Kippy and Buffy aren't laughing for some reason) or topping a Miami team in College Park-- the same Hurricanes the Terps took to double overtime in the Sunshine State. But they have to begin with a Clemson team that torched #17 Florida State by 20 and was within 3 possessions in all 5 of their league losses. Maybe sweeping the Cavaliers may just be the way to go.

Cruising the Commonwealth-- Virginia lost a chance to move into the ACC's penthouse... instead the 58-55 loss at Florida State means the Cavaliers are in a three-way scrum for 4th place in the league with North Carolina State and Miami. The Seminoles defense of Mike Scott further underscored the fact that UVa needs another scorer-- Scott was held to 3 shots after halftime and every run was truncated by the fact their big gun wasn't firing. They'll need more than one gun for this Saturday's showdown with North Carolina. Virginia Tech got a season-saving win over Clemson and enters the second half with confidence that maybe they've turned the corner- but 2-6 is a tough ACC hole to climb out of.

George Mason (19-6, 11-2) bounced back from a tough loss at Delaware to defeat Old Dominion 54-50 (despite shooting 28% from the field)... moving into a tie for first place tie of the CAA. First year Patriots coach Paul Hewitt hopes February doesn't turn into a Ram... as Mason meets VCU twice over the regular season's last four games while Drexel watches from the wings.

George Washington (8-15, 3-6) are fighting for a spot in the Atlantic Ten tournament (only 12 of the 14 schools in the Atlantic 10 go-- irony aside) after a fourth straight loss... after close games that could have gone either way at Fordham and against Xavier the bottom dropped out in an 86-75 loss to UMass. And GW is done playing with bottom-feeders Fordham and Rhode Island: 5 of their 7 remaining A-10 foes have winning league records (but that have beaten Richmond and Charlotte- the two other schools).

Maryland Womens' Window-- after routing Boston College 86-44, the Terps struggled at Georgia Tech (a team they've always had trouble with)... before prevailing 64-56. The double-whammy of Tianna Hawkins (23 points and 9 rebounds) and Alyssa Thomas (23 points and 5 assists) set the tone for a team which remainder shot under 25% for the game. Terps took this one because they owned the glass-- outrebounding the Yellowjackets by 15... while holding GT to under 40% for the night. With six ACC games remaining Maryland's tied for third with North Carolina... two games behind Miami and three games behind league-leading Duke. The Terps play all three of these teams-- in College Park-- over the next three weeks. Get your popcorn.

American (15-8, 6-2) remains in the thick of the Patriot League race thanks to a Charles Hinkle three pointer with 33 seconds left that gave the Eagles a 59-58 win over Colgate. Unfortunately, Hinkle was the only AU player to score in double figures-- and while that might work against the 7th place Raiders... it might not be as effective against Bucknell and Lehigh (or even Lafayette). Good news for Eagle fans-- four of the remaining six regular season games are at Bender Arena. Bad news for Shamrock Shake fans-- my sources tell me the McDonald's next to the arena has been shut down... just before the minty green goodness makes its annual appearance near Nebraska Ave. For shame!

Howard (6-18, 3-8) after ending an eight game losing streak has all of a sudden taken two of three... the latest a 54-46 victory over Morgan State (sadly, even the MEAC isn't immune for scores in the 40's). Freshman Prince Okoroh scored 14 points for the Bison... who held the Bears to 30% shooting and held an 18 rebound advantage. With five games left, coach Kevin Nickelberry's team's already equalled last year's victory total.