Recap 11/28

NCAA basketball recap

#12 Tennessee, Tatum down #16 Georgetow

The #12 Tennessee Volunteers used 10 three pointers and 20 forced turnovers to defeat the #16 Georgetown Hoyas in the semifinals of the Old Spice Classic Friday afternoon, 90-78.

The Vols got a game high 21 points from forward Tyler Smith and clutch down-the-stretch shooting from freshman Cameron Tatum. Tatum who connected on five of six 3-pointers and finished with 17 points rallying his team from a nine-point deficit in the last 10 minutes.

The Vols made eight of nine free throws in the final 46 seconds.

"Tyler told me on the bus over, “You'd better be ready to shoot,” said Tatum, whose one miss rimmed out. “It was one of those days.”

Four of the five Georgetown starters recorded double digit scoring in Austin Freeman (12), Greg Monroe (15), DaJuan Summers (17), and Chris Wright (18). The Hoyas lost in an uncharacteristic manner surrendering 90 points and committing 20 turnovers.

The Vols advance to the finals against #10 Gonzaga who are coming off a throttling of Maryland who were coming off an upset of #6 Michigan State.

Young leads #4 Pitt Panthers shut down high scoring Texas Tech

The Texas Tech Red Raiders made headlines a few weeks ago after scoring 162 points in a game vs. East Central Oklahoma. It’s a fair assumption that the Raiders didn’t expect to perform that way against a team that is consistently in the top 5 year in and year out for defensive field goal percentage.

The #4 Panthers got 24 points, eight assists, and four steals from senior Sam Young clamping down on the former undefeated Red Raiders 80-67. The Panthers (6-0) outrebounded the Raiders 41-26 and shot just under 47% for the game.

DeJuan Blair added to the leadership of Young recording a double-double of his own with 15 points and 11 rebounds. In just his second game back from injury, G/F Gilbert Brown was a rebound short of his first double-double on the year with 10 points and nine rebounds.

The Panthers advance to the next round of the Legends Classic taking on another undefeated team in Tony Bennett’s (5-0) Washington State Cougars.

‘Cuse overcome halftime deficit to remain unbeaten

The (6-0) Syracuse Orange remained unbeaten on the year, but had to work more than they probably wanted to downing the Cavaliers of Virginia 73-70.

Guard Andy Rautins was hot again from three point range connecting on 4-9 this game finishing with 15 points. Arinze Onuaku established himself as a low post threat with six points and 10 rebounds, while Eric Devendorf was perfect from the field on 3-3 shooting, ending with 15 points.

Point guard Johnny Flynn came off the bench with 15 points and six assists, and Rick Jackson, who started in Flynn’s place, recorded eight points, six assists, and five blocks.

Fresh from winning the CBE Classic championship in Kansas City by beating No. 17 Florida and No. 22 Kansas on consecutive nights, overcame a 13-point deficit for the second straight game. Syracuse took their only lead of the game since starting off 2-0, at the eight minute mark on the second half on a three point shot and never looked back.

They used 27-38 free throw shooting to progressively slow the game down the stretch and ultimately sealing the victory, looking ahead to hosting Colorado December 1 st.

Cincy falls in semis to Florida State in Global Sports Classic

The semifinal matchup versus the Florida State Seminoles might come back to haunt the Cincinnati Bearcats as they fall to a similar future bubble team 58-47.

The Bearcats (4-1) shot18-54 (33.3%) from the field, 3-19 (15.8%) from three point range, and 8-17 (47.1%) from the free throw line in a sub par performance toward solidifying wins for their resume come March.

Florida State on the other hand improved expectations, coming into the game as a two point underdog.

Ryan Reid led the Noles with 14 points and six rebounds, while guard Toney Douglas struggled from the field with 3-10 shooting, but did help out the fellow big man with a game-high 11 rebounds.

Florida State wasn’t much better in the statistical categories, but their strength this year has been to get to the charity stripe and that they did converting on eight more attempts.

The Noles will face the Cal Golden Bears in the finals of the Global Sports Classic, while Cincy will look to rebound as they face home-slated UNLV.

Florida State on the other hand improved expectations, coming into the game as a two point underdog.

Ryan Reid led the Noles with 14 points and six rebounds, while guard Toney Douglas struggled from the field with 3-10 shooting, but did help out the fellow big man with a game-high 11 rebounds.

Florida State wasn’t much better in the statistical categories, but their strength this year has been to get to the charity stripe and that they did converting on eight more attempts.

The Noles will face the Cal Golden Bears in the finals of the Global Sports Classic, while Cincy will look to rebound as they face home-slated UNLV.

By Al Buzzelli
BigEast-fans.com Correspondent

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