MBB: U-Con 73, #7 WVU 62

[moonpie23]

uconn leading leading 58-53 with 6:55 to play

trying to get their bid

[BlueintheFace]

this would be great for Duke if Purdue wins out. Ideally both Georgetown and WVU get pushed to that #4 seed line on selection Sunday so that Duke wouldn't face them early on

[moonpie23]

looks like it's gonna happen....huggie has been ejected on tech fouls and uconn is up big 73-62 with seconds left...


huggie got two t's in 5 secs...

[dukemsu]

Calhoun got away with bullying the refs. He got a T in the first few minutes. The officials then stood by and listened to the man lose his mind for the next 37 minutes of basketball, unwilling to eject him in front of his home fans.

The guys on the sideline are getting out of hand. Calhoun looked even more deranged tonight than he did at the 04 Final Four.

This really needs to be a focus going forward. It's taking away from the game, and the officials tonight allowed a raving lunatic to box them in.

dukemsu

[pfrduke]

How much of a bump will UConn get for the games that Calhoun was out? I know injured players get taken into consideration - how about absent coaches? Because the Huskies went 2-4 in his absence, so with Calhoun, they're a 15-7 team (still not world-beaters, but better than 17-11).

[YourLandlord]

How much of a bump will UConn get for the games that Calhoun was out? I know injured players get taken into consideration - how about absent coaches? Because the Huskies went 2-4 in his absence, so with Calhoun, they're a 15-7 team (still not world-beaters, but better than 17-11).
They beat the #1 team with Calhoun out, though. So would we take that away?

[moonpie23]

calhoun looks whacked out....

[YourLandlord]

calhoun looks whacked out....
He's perma-rollin' on some sweet meds.

[pfrduke]

They beat the #1 team with Calhoun out, though. So would we take that away?

Not necessarily - it's the total package of the team, and an acknowledgment that in some way, they were a different team for those 6 games. I'm not suggesting that they should be evaluated only on their Calhoun-coached results. But I wonder if their losses will get a bit of a pass in light of his absence.

Either way you look at it, though, there's probably not a bubble team with three better wins than Texas, Villanova, and West Virginia.

[BD80]

uCon's win is good for Duke, it moves WVU down relative to Duke for seeding, and it raises Duke's SOS.

I dislike any win by Calhoun and his cons, but this one is easier to tolerate that most.

Something tells me that Calhoun won't be back next year. The desperation in his sideline antics suggests a coach that doesn't mind burning bridges. Huggy really played his hand well at the end getting his ejection for FAR less than Calhoun got away with. It will be discussed in the press and by the head of officiating.

[JasonEvans]

With a SOS of #2 (according to the RPI), I think UConn is extremely close to being in the tourney... but they are not there yet. They need 2 more wins, I think, in their remaining games -- Louisville at home, at ND, or at S Fla. If they only win one of those, they likely need a win or two in the BEast tourney. They are clearly a very talented team, as some of their impressive wins suggest.

I have never heard of a team getting credit with the NCAA tourney for a coach being away and then coming back. Of course, it is a very unusual circumstance. While UConn did appear to struggle a bit with Calhoun out, it is not like they have been world beaters since he came back (a 12 point loss at home to a mediocre Cincy team is hard to explain away). I think the committee will largely judge them based on their entire season.

As for WVa. This is their 3rd loss in 5 games. They have no shot at being a #1 seed any longer. If the tourney were tomorrow, they'd be a #3. With tough games left against GTwon and at Nova, they could even fall to a #4... maybe.

--Jason "worth noting that WVa is #3 (before the loss tonight) in the Pomeroy rankings and the committee will consider KenPom this year" Evans

[HoopsFan]

Calhoun got away with bullying the refs. He got a T in the first few minutes. The officials then stood by and listened to the man lose his mind for the next 37 minutes of basketball, unwilling to eject him in front of his home fans.

The guys on the sideline are getting out of hand. Calhoun looked even more deranged tonight than he did at the 04 Final Four.

This really needs to be a focus going forward. It's taking away from the game, and the officials tonight allowed a raving lunatic to box them in.

dukemsu

Raving lunatic??? Let's not go overboard people.

[dukemsu]

Raving lunatic??? Let's not go overboard people.

He was on the offiicals from the outset, and was up on virtually every call, even after the initial T.

He looked disturbed.

dukemsu