Beltway Basketball Bonanza-- Shamrock Shake Season!

It's not just the NCAA Tournament that makes March magical-- it's the fact that McDonald's (participating locations only) offers up a bit of minty goodness-- aka the Shamrock Shake. Problem is, not every McD's location isn't participating... so finding a location doesn't guarantee you a shake. And a shake today doesn't mean they'll have the "green colored product" tomorrow, either.




Georgetown responded on the road against Louisville... the Hoyas' 70-60 win snapped a two game losing streak and came thanks to Mr. Second Half, Austin Freeman-- the junior scored 24 of his 29 points after intermission. Also in the win the feast or famine stretch for Chris Wright continues-- the guard has either scored in single digits or more than 20 points over his last eight games. Big East Seed: #6 with a first round battle against the 11-14 game winner... and there are four schools in the mix for #11: Notre Dame, UConn, Seton Hall and Cincinnati will hereafter be referred to as the "Bubble Bunch". 14th? Providence owns the tiebreaker with Rutgers. Next up: a Saturday showdown at noon with Bubblicious Notre Dame.



Alma Mater Update-- Syracuse clinched a bye into the Big East Quarterfinals by pulling away from Providence 99-85 at Dunkin Donuts Arena...(Butternut the flavor of choice at PP). Reason for concern? Wes Johnson struggled with a 4-for-14 performance... hopefully the junior transfer hasn't hit the wall. This weekend the Orange entertain #7 Villanova-- should be an exciting tilt at the Carrier Dome.



Maryland rallied from a fifteen point deficit to beat Clemson 88-79... Greivis Vasquez continues to make his case for ACC MVP-- (15 points and 13 rebounds against the Tigers). What makes Vasquez so key to this team is his versatility-- need a shooter? Check. Floor general? Gotcha. Somebody to crash the boards? He can do that too-- and that's allowed coach Gary Williams to manipulate his rotation better down the stretch. ACC Seed--#2 with a quarterfinal date against Georgia Tech or Miami. Next: a Saturday trip to Virginia Tech... and for whatever reason, the Terps have always had trouble against the former Big East Three (VT, Miami and Boston College).




Commonwealth Collapse? While Virginia's February fall continues with a 74-62 loss to Miami (Sylvan Landesburg's 27 points further cementing him as this year's Sean Singletary), Virginia Tech missed a chance to further secure itself standing in the at-large pool... losing 80-60 at Boston College. The Hokies have three games to give the committee something else to think about other than their 335th ranked non-conference schedule... can they bounce back against Maryland, NC State and Georgia Tech?



George Mason came up huge on the road-- defeating Delaware 61-59. Sophomore Andre Cornelius' 16 points helping end a three game losing streak (and a stretch of 5 losses in 6 games). Priority: get Cam Long back on track... the GMU's leading scorer has been held to 17 of 71 (24%) shooting in February. CAA Seed: #3 with a quarterfinal clash against Drexel or James Madison. Next: Northeastern Saturday... while second place is out of the equation, GMU needs a victory to assure itself of the third seed.


Bracket busted-- the CAA has built quite a reputation as a mid-major league... but 2010 might not be a vintage year. The conference went 3-9 in the annual cross-league competition, with the schools on the radar for at-large consideration coming up short. It appears as though the only route to the field of 65 will be as league tournament champion.



George Washington is one win or a St. Joseph's loss away from clinching a spot in the Atlantic Ten Tournament... Wednesday's 81-72 victory over LaSalle was the Colonials third in four games as Karl Hobbs' crew slides up the A-10 standings. Credit perimeter defense-- GW held the Explorers to 18% three-point shooting after halftime. Seed: 9th vs Duquesne. Next: Charlotte Saturday; the 49ers have dropped three of four.

The Washington Generals are alive and well-- following six beltway teams over the course of the season has one checking out six leagues on a regular basis... and it seems that every week somebody is playing Longwood. And usually pounding the Division I independent Lancers. Longwood lost to Virginia, Maryland and Virginia Tech this year... as well Navy, James Madison plus a smattering of Patriot League and CAA schools. The real achievement by the Lancers is posting a 12-18 record after seemingly losing every time one hears their name.

American found itself on the right side of an overtime affair-- nipping Navy 80-77 in double OT. The hammer/anvil tandem of Vlad Moldoveanu and Stephen Lumpkins combined for 40 points and 20 rebounds; although the Eagles are far from being a favorite or even a "trendy pick" in the upcoming conference tournament--these two provide hope for AU. Patriot League Seed: 5th vs Navy. Next: Saturday against second place Lafayette in the Eagles regular season finale.

Howard enjoyed a January surge; now a February slump has the Bison losing 7 of 8- the most recent a 52-44 defeat at Bethune-Cookman. MEAC seed: 10th vs Hampton. Next: Saturday against Maryland-Eastern Shore.

10TH VS HAMPTON