Back to College

Those college basketball player that decided the test the waters of the NBA draft, and had yet to hire an agent, where forced to make a decision by 5pm yesterday. The North Carolina Tarheels received some good news at 4:43pm in an email. The email stated that Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green would return to the Tarheel program next year. This will surely make the North Carolina Tarheels the prohibitive favorite to win the National Title next year.

The Tarheel program was not the only one that would receive good news on Monday. Chase Budinger will return to Arizona next year. Budinger averaged 17.1 points per game during the 2007-08 season. Coach Lute Olsen will return to the bench this year and he is no doubt excited that Budinger will be returning this coming season.

Jeremy Pargo will return to Gonzaga for his senior season. Pargo was the West Coast Conference player of the year. He averaged 12.1 points per game and 6.0 assists.

UNC over FSU

The North Carolina Tarheels added another win last night as they prepare for a showdown with the Duke Bluedevils on Saturday, March 8th. The Tarheels defeated Florida State last night 90-77, in the Dean E. Smith Center on Senior night. It was a special night for Senior Quentin Thomas, who has played such an important role for the Tarheels with the absence of Ty Lawson. Coming into the season, Thomas was third on the depth chart at the point guard position, and probably expecting his only start to come on senior night. But with the injury to Bobby Frasor and then the high ankle sprain of Ty Lawson, Thomas had to step in and deliver. And deliver he did. Under his guidance, the Tarheels were able to regain their No. 1 ranking. Since becoming a starter, the Tarheels are 7-1, with their only loss coming right out of the gate against Duke. Thomas has contributed with 6.6 points/game, just under 6 assists/game and barely over 3 turnovers/game as a starter.

Duke has a game tonight at Virginia, who is always tough with Senior Sean Singletary. Assuming that Duke is able to prevail tonight, a battle for the ACC regular season title and more than likely an NCAA No. 1 seed in the tournament will be settled Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The ACC, Simply Amazing

There were three Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball games that looked by the start of the second half, in each case, to be blow outs. The outcomes proved to be far from blow-outs. Saturday Duke traveled to Raleigh to face NC State. The Wolfpack had dropped six in a row and by games end, they would have dropped their seventh straight, based on conventional wisdom. But, as they say, that is why you play the game. NC State was 3 points ahead at the half. They extended that lead to 13 points with 10:22 left to play in the game, with no signs of looking back. The Bluedevils made a few stops and battled their way back. Poor free throw shooting down the stretch made made it impossible for the Pack to pull the game out. The Wolfpack missed three of their last six free throws after going 22 for their previous 23. The final score was Duke 87 and NC State 86.

Later Saturday afternoon, the UNC Tarheels traveled to Chestnut Hill, MA to take on the Boston College Screaming Eagles. It was a cold and snowy day outside, but the Tyrese Rice was on fire. He scored 34 points in the first half and 46 for the game. The second half opened with Boston College making the first two baskets of the half to extend their lead to 18 points. Shortly thereafter, Coach Roy Williams sent in the "blue team," replacing all five starters. That lit the spark that the Tarheels needed. They battled back to win the game by 10 points. Also a contributor in this game was Tywon Lawson, seeing his first action in six games.

The Duke and North Carolina comebacks were both special, but Clemson battling back from a 59 - 39 deficit with just 11:23 left was simply amazing. Both Maryland and Clemson were fighting to be the next team in the ACC, following Duke and North Carolina. They are also fighting for at large bids to the NCAA tournament. Clemson went on a tear. A 31-11 run brought the second half to a close. The game was tied at 70 coming out of a Clemson timeout. The play drawn up by coach Oliver Purnell was designed to get the ball into James Mays in the closing seconds. Unfortunately, Maryland did not cooperate and the Tigers had to settle for long three from Terrence Oglesby. The shot fell and Maryland had 2.3 seconds to get the ball in bounds and get off a three point shot of its own. Maryland had to settle for a shot from just short of the half court line, which came up well short.

This past weekend hammers home the point, at least to me, that year in and year out, the ACC has the best basketball conference in America.

Two North Carolina Programs Going In Different Directions

The University of North Carolina men's basketball team and the North Carolina State University men's basketball teams are heading in opposite directions when it seems to matter the most. Carolina picked up another win last night against Wake Forest 89-73. Wake Forest, not having played since beating Duke last Sunday night, played very well during the first half, keeping pace with North Carolina. But in the end North Carolina proved to be too strong. This is the sixth game that North Carolina has been without their starting point guard, Ty Lawson. In that stretch, UNC is 5-1. The Tarheels will not play again until March 1st when they travel to Chestnut Hill to play Boston College. The Tarheels must be looking forward to this week off, hoping to get healthy again.

The North Carolina State Wolfpack, on the other hand, are struggling. They traveled to Virginia yesterday afternoon to take on Sean Singletary and the Cavaliers. NC State could only manage 18 points in the first half, ending the period with a twenty point deficit. The 18 points was only a symptom to what ailed the Wolfpack. The real problem was ball security. The Wolfpack turned the ball over 17 times in the first half and 25 times for the game. The Wolfpack had got to find an answer at point guard.

This is the time of year when the you hope that your team is coming together, that you team is "gelling", that your team is peaking at the right time. Fortunately for Taheel fans, UNC appears to be moving in the right direction. NC State fans do not have that same luxury.

Duke Reigns Supreme in the ACC

With the absence of point guard Tywon Lawson, describing the Tarheels as "sloppy," might just be an understatement. The Duke Bluedevils went into the Dean E. Smith Center and quieted the crowd. Duke's defense was better and they were able to hit shots from behind the arc. Duke held North Carolina to under 41% from the field and only allowed 3-17 from behind the arc. In contrast, Duke shot almost 46% from the field, including 13-29 from behind the three-point line. Duke also had six players in double figures to Carolina's four. Wayne Ellington and Danny Green where pretty much absent offensively. Alot of that can be attributed to solid defense by Duke, but Ellington and Green where a combined 4-24 and 11 points. If the Tarheels are to have any hope of avenging this loss in Cameron Indoor Stadium some 30 days from now, these two guys are going to have to step up.



Here's what Jeff Goodman of Foxsports.com wrote.