MBB: California 60, Arizona 58 (and then there were two)

[NashvilleDevil]

From anyone about the west coast game currently going on.

[MCFinARL]

From anyone about the west coast game currently going on.

Is that an invitation or a warning? ;)

[luburch]

Then there were two.

[DesertDevil]

All of my U of A friends were freaking out today because Digger picked Cal. Yes, I will enjoy their misery.

[burnspbesq]

On a day full of great plays, Cal's Justin Cobb tops them all. Fadeaway jumper from the corner with a seven-footer right in his grill for the win.

Cuse will be number one on Monday.

[burnspbesq]

From anyone about the west coast game currently going on.

Oh, you didn't mean UCI - Cal Poly?

[NashvilleDevil]

Oh, you didn't mean UCI - Cal Poly?

That's the one. Went large on the over.

[burnspbesq]

That's the one. Went large on the over.

Irvine wins, 64-50. I'm guessing you lost.

[luburch]

Early reports are Brandon Ashley could be out for the year with a broken foot.

[NashvilleDevil]

Irvine wins, 64-50. I'm guessing you lost.

Sure did. O/U was 122

[wk2109]

Early reports are Brandon Ashley could be out for the year with a broken foot.

Losing a key player to a foot injury when undefeated and ranked #1? Been there, done that (twice).

Hopefully the guy's ok though.

[FerryFor50]

About time. All of the undefeated teams have been getting fortunate lately with some of their wins. Only a matter of time before the Cuse go down. Wichita St, however, doesn't play anyone that can beat them.

[pfrduke]

About time. All of the undefeated teams have been getting fortunate lately with some of their wins. Only a matter of time before the Cuse go down. Wichita St, however, doesn't play anyone that can beat them.

This is really the big week for Wichita State. Two road games against the 2nd and 3rd best teams in the MVC. Even for these, Wichita St is a 75% favorite. After that, they're 90+% favorites in each remaining game. Pomeroy gives them roughly a 40% chance of going unbeaten through the end of the regular season, which seems both remarkably high for a team with 8 games left to play but also about right given the road they have to travel.

[Indoor66]

This is really the big week for Wichita State. Two road games against the 2nd and 3rd best teams in the MVC. Even for these, Wichita St is a 75% favorite. After that, they're 90+% favorites in each remaining game. Pomeroy gives them roughly a 40% chance of going unbeaten through the end of the regular season, which seems both remarkably high for a team with 8 games left to play but also about right given the road they have to travel.

Wichita State reminds me of St. Josephs and Phil Martelli back in '03-'04. Long unbeaten run then lost at the end of the season and lost in the Elite Eight. We have to see what Wichita State can do with the big boys.

[FerryFor50]

Wichita State reminds me of St. Josephs and Phil Martelli back in '03-'04. Long unbeaten run then lost at the end of the season and lost in the Elite Eight. We have to see what Wichita State can do with the big boys.

I thought the same. Except I think that St Joe's team was better. I'd love it if Duke was an 8 or 9 seed with Wichita St as their 1... ;)

[weezie]

All of my U of A friends were freaking out today because Digger picked Cal. Yes, I will enjoy their misery.

Understood, but cal was the most likely to take them as your friends probably knew already. AZ needed the wakeup call in order to take the season far more seriously anyway. I wish I'd seen the game, Pac12 must have a lame tv contract over here on the right coast.

[Kedsy]

Wichita State reminds me of St. Josephs and Phil Martelli back in '03-'04. Long unbeaten run then lost at the end of the season and lost in the Elite Eight. We have to see what Wichita State can do with the big boys.

They went to the Final Four last season. Were the boys not big enough a year ago?

[Wander]

They went to the Final Four last season. Were the boys not big enough a year ago?

Or, maybe closer to home: Wichita State was tied with last year's national champion at the ~3 minute mark, and were only down by one possession with the ball with ~10 seconds left. In contrast, our Duke boys were down 20ish at those times. Perfectly fair to point out their weak schedule when comparing resumes, and they're not exactly the same team as last year, but they've proven themselves.

[Olympic Fan]

I watched the end of the Cal-Arizona game Saturday night (well, it was Sunday morning for me) and I had a problem with the ending.

Arizona has the ball with a tie score and the shot clock running out when Nick Johnson misses a floater in the lane with about 15 seconds left. Cal rebounds and pushes it down the court. Cobb hits the shot of the day (beating out Rasheed's 3 at the end of regulation -- an amazing shot ... a fallaway 15-footer over the outstretched arms of a 7-footer.

The shot goes through with 0.9 seconds left.

Now here's the part I don't like. Arizona doesn't have a timeout ... they hurry the ball inbounds and something throws up an 80-foot heave as the Cal students pour onto the court.

But, wait, the refs have stopped the game ... to check the clock and make sure it stopped when it should have.

Essentially, they are giving Arizona a free timeout to set up a play at the end. And there was no reason to -- after review, the refs left the clock at 0.9 seconds -- exactly what it was before.

Now, I can see calling for a review if a ref thinks that the clock didn't stop on time (or stopped too early), but there was no evidence of that here. The clock operator was perfect.

Luckily, it made no difference as Cal intercepted the long inbounds, but I still think they were wrong to give 'Zona a free timeout to set up the last play.

[Henderson]

Or, maybe closer to home: Wichita State was tied with last year's national champion at the ~3 minute mark, and were only down by one possession with the ball with ~10 seconds left. In contrast, our Duke boys were down 20ish at those times. Perfectly fair to point out their weak schedule when comparing resumes, and they're not exactly the same team as last year, but they've proven themselves.

Last year was last year. They played Iowa, at Tennessee, and Creighton twice. Then knocked off Gonzaga and Ohio State in the tournament. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

This year, they haven't played anyone of note. No Creighton (now in the Big East) and Tennessee at home. Otherwise, pretty meh. They might be very good, but their gaudy record isn't evidence of that.

It is impressive, though, to win all your games. That kind of consistency is tough. But no team will take them lightly this year. I look for a #2 seed and an exit before the Regional Finals.

San Diego State, on the other hand.... Not undefeated (18-1), but pretty rocking schedule, including a win at Kansas and a 9 point loss (their only) to Arizona. Plus wins against Creighton and Marquette. They've been winning kind of ugly recently (including a OT win against Utah State), so I see them getting a high seed and fading in the tourney too.

[richardjackson199]

Great last second shot. But I hate to see Arizona's first loss come with a season-ending injury to a key player. Losing Ashley and knowing it was serious had to affect their team psyche, and obviously his lost production on the floor was missed as well.

They still have a monster starting 5 with Hollis-Jefferson moving into that spot. It was interesting to hear Sean Miller say the adversity of losing Ashley will make Arizona a stronger team this year. He is an amazing coach, and they will still be a very tough out. But as we know all too well, it just doesn't work that way to have a key injury and get better - no matter how much you rally the troops. I no longer see them as a title contender this year. Ashley was a key player and good chemistry guy for them.

I really wanted to see Arizona lose, but never like that. I was curious to see how somebody would beat that team at full strength. You never want to see anybody get hurt, but in football injuries almost seem like an expected part of the game. I always despise injuries in college hoops to any team. It's amazing how they usually look like innocuous plays with minimal contact. I wish Ashley the best in a full and speedy recovery.

[jv001]

I watched the end of the Cal-Arizona game Saturday night (well, it was Sunday morning for me) and I had a problem with the ending.

Arizona has the ball with a tie score and the shot clock running out when Nick Johnson misses a floater in the lane with about 15 seconds left. Cal rebounds and pushes it down the court. Cobb hits the shot of the day (beating out Rasheed's 3 at the end of regulation -- an amazing shot ... a fallaway 15-footer over the outstretched arms of a 7-footer.

The shot goes through with 0.9 seconds left.

Now here's the part I don't like. Arizona doesn't have a timeout ... they hurry the ball inbounds and something throws up an 80-foot heave as the Cal students pour onto the court.

But, wait, the refs have stopped the game ... to check the clock and make sure it stopped when it should have.

Essentially, they are giving Arizona a free timeout to set up a play at the end. And there was no reason to -- after review, the refs left the clock at 0.9 seconds -- exactly what it was before.

Now, I can see calling for a review if a ref thinks that the clock didn't stop on time (or stopped too early), but there was no evidence of that here. The clock operator was perfect.

Luckily, it made no difference as Cal intercepted the long inbounds, but I still think they were wrong to give 'Zona a free timeout to set up the last play.

How on earth did the Duke-Syracuse refs make it to Cal to call that game. They must have their own personal jet, :cool: GoDuke!

[nocilla]

I watched the end of the Cal-Arizona game Saturday night (well, it was Sunday morning for me) and I had a problem with the ending.

Arizona has the ball with a tie score and the shot clock running out when Nick Johnson misses a floater in the lane with about 15 seconds left. Cal rebounds and pushes it down the court. Cobb hits the shot of the day (beating out Rasheed's 3 at the end of regulation -- an amazing shot ... a fallaway 15-footer over the outstretched arms of a 7-footer.

The shot goes through with 0.9 seconds left.

Now here's the part I don't like. Arizona doesn't have a timeout ... they hurry the ball inbounds and something throws up an 80-foot heave as the Cal students pour onto the court.

But, wait, the refs have stopped the game ... to check the clock and make sure it stopped when it should have.

Essentially, they are giving Arizona a free timeout to set up a play at the end. And there was no reason to -- after review, the refs left the clock at 0.9 seconds -- exactly what it was before.

Now, I can see calling for a review if a ref thinks that the clock didn't stop on time (or stopped too early), but there was no evidence of that here. The clock operator was perfect.

Luckily, it made no difference as Cal intercepted the long inbounds, but I still think they were wrong to give 'Zona a free timeout to set up the last play.

I think I saw the same thing happen in the BC-ND game. IIRC, BC was out of timeouts towards the end of regulation but the BC coach asked the ref to review the clock. The coach then immediately calls his team over to his sideline to setup a play. As soon as I saw him call his team over I thought he just got himself a free timeout. They did end up adding time to the clock but it was like a few tenths of a second. I didn't see the Arizona game but I would guess the coach may have asked for a review in that case as well.

[Indoor66]

I think I saw the same thing happen in the BC-ND game. IIRC, BC was out of timeouts towards the end of regulation but the BC coach asked the ref to review the clock. The coach then immediately calls his team over to his sideline to setup a play. As soon as I saw him call his team over I thought he just got himself a free timeout. They did end up adding time to the clock but it was like a few tenths of a second. I didn't see the Arizona game but I would guess the coach may have asked for a review in that case as well.

I think they gotta put a stop to all the clock craziness. If it continues to run, OK; if it fails to start, OK. Human reaction time to start and stop: part of the game. Quit the free time outs and .1's of a second issues.

[tommy]

While Arizona taking its first loss of the season is a big story, though hardly a surprising one, the more interesting one going forward will be the loss of Brandon Ashley for the season with a broken foot. Arizona is KenPom's #1 defensive team in the nation, and the long, mobile, and athletic Ashley was a huge part of their success on that end. They're going to have to replace him in the starting lineup with a freshman, either Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who is much smaller, still a good defensive player but won't bring nearly as much to the table offensively, or else go small and insert Gabe York as a starter. Regardless, a relatively short bench becomes shorter. They still probably have enough of a talent edge on the rest of the Pac-12 that they'll win the regular season (they don't have to play UCLA again) and probably the conference tournament as well, but big picture this is a real blow.

[burnspbesq]

How on earth did the Duke-Syracuse refs make it to Cal to call that game. They must have their own personal jet, :cool: GoDuke!

Alas, there is no shortage of bad officials in college basketball (any level, any geography, either gender).

[MChambers]

While Arizona taking its first loss of the season is a big story, though hardly a surprising one, the more interesting one going forward will be the loss of Brandon Ashley for the season with a broken foot. Arizona is KenPom's #1 defensive team in the nation, and the long, mobile, and athletic Ashley was a huge part of their success on that end. They're going to have to replace him in the starting lineup with a freshman, either Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who is much smaller, still a good defensive player but won't bring nearly as much to the table offensively, or else go small and insert Gabe York as a starter. Regardless, a relatively short bench becomes shorter. They still probably have enough of a talent edge on the rest of the Pac-12 that they'll win the regular season (they don't have to play UCLA again) and probably the conference tournament as well, but big picture this is a real blow.
I read that Ashley was Arizona's backup center, so his injury really hurts their inside depth and flexibility.