NCAAB archive

This Lavietes Pavilion may be on of the best homecourt advantages in the country as Harvard was able to rip ACC rival BC by a final of 73-58. Harvard is now 9-0 at Lavietes and 31-2 in the past 3 seasons in at the storied arena. Harvard has knocked off teams like George Washington, Boston College, Saint Joseph's, Princeton, Vermont over the past 3 seasons at home. Harvard's streak is now 16 at Lavietes.

As for the game, the score didn't even indicate how much of a blowout this game was. Boston College could only muster 13 points around 17 minutes into the game and found themselves down by 14(39-25) at haltime. The Eagles held the lead once in this game when they went ahead early in the game 1-0 on a Ryan Anderson made free throw.

For Boston College(4-10), the tough season continutes as big man, Ryan Anderson, scores 17 with 9 rebounds in a losing effort. Guard, Olivier Hanlan, scored only 13 points and recording a season low 2 assists. Boston College's bench could only record 5 points and 2 rebounds but managed 5 assists.

For Harvard(12-1), pretty much evertyhing clicked, Wes Saunders put up 21 points on 8/10 shooting, grabbed 6 rebounds and recorded 4 steals. Big man Kyle Casey scored 11 and snatched 10 rebounds. Jonah Travis scored 11 off the bench to lead Harvard.

The win for the Crimson marks head coach, Tommy Amaker's, 300th career win and 124 in Cambridge. 12-1 start is the best start ever under Amaker.

This series has seemigly started to go the way of the Crimson's as they started to reach a national level. These teams batteled last year in Chesnut Hill and Harvard took that game too 79-63.

Harvard will travel to Texas to play at Rice on Jan. 4th at 8:00 PM ET.

On the Eagles side of things, they will really get into ACC play as the Clemson Tigers come to BC on Jan. 4th with a 4:00 PM ET tip.



NCAAB: Harvard rips BC 73-58; improves to 9-0 at home

Boston, MA--- The first game as a Patriot League member for the Terriers was a success as they picked up a 70-60 win over state rivals, Holy Cross.

BU, preseason favorites to win the Patriot League, showed why they are the favorites as they had the Crusaders down by 10 with 1:07 left in the second.

D.J. Irving was key for the Terriers down the stretch when he stripped the ball from Justin Burrell and hit both his free throws to put BU up 68-60.

For Boston University(8-6, 1-0), Maurice Watson Jr. scored 12 points on 4/8 shooting and recorded 6 assists. Dom Morris had 11 points and 5 rebounds. Senior Travis Robinson had a team high 8 rebounds.

For Holy Cross(6-7, 0-1), senior Dave Dudzinski had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Cullen Hamilton had a team high 16 points on 6/11 shooting.

Holy Cross will play Patriot League foe, American U, on Jan. 5th at 1:00 PM ET.

Boston University will play one of thebest Patriot League teams, Lehigh, on Jan. 5th at 1:00 PM ET.



NCAAB: BU escapes with 70-60 win over Holy Cross

Houston, TX--- Most fans from the Houston area weren't too happy with how Rice played against Harvard but former Crimson guard, Jeremy Lin, was happy he was able to come out and watch his alma-matter play in the Houston area to the tune of a 69-53 romp of Rice.

This game was closer than expected at the Crimson only found themselves up 36-30 at the half over Rice. Brandyn Curry hit a layup with 11:12 left in the second half to put the Crimson out in front by 10 51-41 but Rice wasn't going to go away easily. Harard got their lead uo to 13 put Rice ended up cutting it to 8 with about 5:00 to play. As many times as Rice cut the lead Harvard always had an answer for them in their win.

For Harvard(13-1), Wesley Saunders scored a team high 18 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. Kyle Casey scored 14 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Brandyn Curry scored a season high 16 points off the bench on 3/4 shooting and he went a perfect 8/8 from the charity line.

For Rice(5-8), Keith Washington scored 11 points to lead the Owls. Sean Obi scored 6 points and grabbed a team high 8 boards. Drew Bender added 8 points off the bench for Rice.

Harvard's next game comes on Jan. 8th at 7:00 PM ET when they travel to UConn to take on the 17th ranked



NCAAB: Harvard gets 18 from Saunders; improves to 13-1

Bethlehem, PA--- Saturday's road win for the Boston University Terriers was a very impressive one and showed why they were picked as the pre-season favorite to win the Patriot League. BU was able to go into Lehigh's gym and beat a batte tested, NCAA tournament expericned team in Lehigh by a final of 67-66.

BU's D.J. Irving made his Patriot League statemet once again as he hit 2 free thows with 2 seconds left to play to life the Terriers to a 67-66 win. Irving was tabbed as pre-season Patriot League Player of the Year.

The win was a very impressive one as it was BU's first road win in the Patriot League and beating Lehigh means they beat last years Patriot League Champion which is even more impressive.

When the Mountain Hawks Mackey McKnight hit a 3 with 8 seconds left it looked like Lehigh was going to end up edging the Terriers until Austin Price fouled Irving 2 seconds later.

For Boston University(9-6, 2-0), forward Dom Morris scored a team high 15 points and recorded 9 rebounds to lead the Terriers. D.J. Irving scored 14 points on 5/10 shooting and John Papale chipped in with 14 points as well. Sophmore Maurice Watson was quit the floor general recording 10 points and a season high 12 assists.

For Lehigh(8-7, 1-1), Mackey McKnight scored a game high 23 points to pace the Mountain Hawks. Corey Schaefer and Jessee Chuku both added 11 points each.

BU will play Patriot League contender, Navy, on Jan. 7th at 7:00 PM ET at Agganis Arena.



NCAAB: Boston University beats Lehigh 67-66; improves to 2-0 in Patriot League

Northwestern forward Aaron Liberman played 1 minute Sunday in a 74-51 loss at Michigan and didn't record a single statistic, but he still made a bit of Big Ten Conference history.

Liberman, a 6-foot-10 freshman walk-on from Valley Torah High School in Los Angeles became the first player in Big Ten history to wear a yarmulke in a game. A yarmulke is a skullcap worn by Orthodox Jews and by other Jewish men during prayer.

Liberman is believed to be the only Orthodox Jew playing major college basketball, but he is not the first player to wear a yarmulke in a Division I game. The other player to do so was former Towson guard Tamir Goodman, who played in 2000 and 2001 and was nicknamed the “Jewish Jordan.”

Liberman observes the sabbath. Part of doing so means he doesn't use electricity from sundown Friday to sundown Saturdays. So on Fridays last season he sometimes walked 8 miles to practices.

Liberman was invited to speak after a home game last month about what it's like for him to be an Orthodox Jew playing major college hoops. The school handed approximately 200 purple yarmulkes with an N printed on them to people who attended.


Y! SPORTS

Every year the three dominant football teams in the state go head-to-head, enabling an easy response when determining the premier team in Utah.

Deciding which Beehive State school owns the best college basketball team is much more complex, since only two or three of the teams are, essentially, open to scheduling meetings with one another every year.

There is lot that goes into putting together a 28-30 game schedule but with only one professional basketball team to attract the attention of the hardwood aficionados after the football season ends, an early-season tournament between the six DI basketball programs in Utah could be beneficial and profitable for everyone involved.

Rivalries run deep here. Incessant trash-talking ensues before and after every “Holy War,” and with Utah State poised to continue its recent run at national relevancy on the gridiron, the Aggies have inserted themselves into the conversation.

So why aren’t schools lacking in the football department given the chance to claim the top spot for state bragging rights?

First off, whether this idea ever becomes a reality is up to BYU and Utah.

With the largest athletic budgets in the state, both schools can afford to be selective when choosing opponents that an NCAA selection committee would deem “lesser” than say a nationally-ranked Oregon team, which, by playing UVU, BYU and Utah this year, plays more Utah-based schools than any other in this state, save Weber State.

Utah athletic director Chris Hill has spoken openly about the challenges of working out future meetings with Utah State – and even struggled to ensure the round-ball game with BYU was a lock moving forward – so the possibility of a six-team tournament may just be a pipe dream, but you can bet Southern Utah, UVU and Weber State would be more than open to beginning the season against local programs whose level they aspire to reach.

Secondly, the revenue sharing is complicated.

The first question that would arise, if agreed upon, would be the venue. The obvious answer would be Energy Solutions Arena but then you bring another party into the already crowded discussion.

However, 2013 would have provided the perfect opportunity for the round robin. The Jazz were on a four-game road trip from Nov. 5-9 and didn’t play another home game until Nov. 11, leaving the 19,911 seat arena unoccupied during the first week of the college basketball season.

If a deal were brokered with Jazz owner Gary Miller, it would be similar to the one implemented by BYU and Utah state when they met at ESA Nov. 30. Basically, the universities would share the profits made, with a slight kickback to the accommodating Jazz. Thirdly, a six-team format isn’t the easiest to manage.

To undoubtedly specify which team is the best, each would have to go head-to-head with the other participants. That means a total of at least five games for each school, which is likely too many if you factor in semifinal and championship/consolation games.

In order to combat the potential issue, a random seeding could be done by the use of chance, or it could even be set up based on the previous year’s results. The team with best RPI would be the one seed and so on.

Another possibility is to utilize the framework of the Maui Invitational – a preseason tournament between eight teams with a winner’s and loser’s bracket – with a few modifications to give teams that lose their first game a chance to still make it to the finals.

For example, if UVU and Utah squared off in the first round, even if the Wolverines lost they’d still have one more game to move into the winner’s bracket against another team that dropped its tourney opener.

The logistics can be confusing, but there could even be a system that relies on margin of victory to identify the brackets and which losers or winners played whom.

Endless possibilities exist to create a working structure, and even if the Jazz were unwilling to vacate the ESA premises for five to seven days, alternating between venues each year would do wonders for the smaller schools if given the chance to host.

UVU defeated Weber State at home and valiantly came back to lose by only 11 to Utah State in a game that the Wolverines trailed by 23 at halftime. While the first step toward achieving the status of NCAA tournament qualifier was joining the WAC, a guaranteed slate against local teams would certainly help UVU’s progression.

I’d be the first person to verify my seat to experience the action if it ever came to fruition, and I’m sure tens of thousands of passionate basketball fans around the state would not be far behind.



Proposing a Utah NCAAB tournament - UVU Review

No. 19 Massachusetts needed a spark and coach Derek Kellogg knew it was Chaz Williams' time.

Williams scored eight of his 22 points in the closing six minutes Wednesday night, leading the Minutemen to a 66-62 comeback win over Saint Joseph's in the conference openers for both teams.

''He, at times, puts us on his back and makes huge plays,'' Kellogg said. ''He did that again tonight. It wasn't surprising for me. I was like, 'These are going in.' When he misses them, I'm surprised.''

Saint Joseph's had opened a nine-point lead with 6 1/2 minutes left, but Williams nailed a pair of 3s as UMass scored eight of the next 10 points, his second one closing it to 59-56 with 4:28 left.

''Huge. Those are the plays we've become accustomed to from the guy I think is the best player in our conference,'' Kellogg said.

Williams also did an excellent job on Saint Joseph's best 3-point shooter, Langston Galloway, when the Hawks had a chance to tie it in the closing seconds.

''I love a challenge,'' 5-foot-9 point guard said, talking about facing the other team's best player.

Maxie Esho scored 12 points and Raphiael Putney had 11 for the Minutemen (13-1 overall, 1-0 Atlantic-10).

''It was a big-boy game and we weren't big enough,'' Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli said, upset by his team's 17 turnovers.

Halil Kanacevic led Saint Joseph's (9-5, 0-1) with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Galloway had 18 points and DeAndre Bembry 16 for the Hawks, who had their five-game winning streak snapped.

''He's a great player. He's great with the ball and makes everyone on the court better,'' Kanacevic said of Williams. ''I think we did a pretty good job on him in the game, honestly, but the turnovers killed us.''

UMass pulled out the win despite an off night by center and second-leading scorer Cady Lalanne, who picked up two early fouls. He finished with four points.

''The will to win in the end was nice, though,'' Kellogg said. ''If you're going to try and do something special, you've got to win some games where you get outrebounded and shoot very poor, I think, from the 3-point line.''

UMass hit only 5 of 15 from beyond the arc, with Williams going 3 of 5.

Kanacevic's basket with just over nine minutes to play broke a 48-all tie and triggered a 9-0 run over a 2:35 stretch. He also scored off a baseline jam, nailed a free three and hit a jump hook in the lane to give the Hawks a 57-48 lead with 6:27 to play.

After Williams brought them back, Saint Joseph's maintained its 3-point lead until he scored off a drive and Esho had a steal from Bembry and breakaway jam, pushing the Minutemen ahead 63-62 with 64 seconds to play.

After a jump ball gave the ball back to UMass, Trey Davis nailed two from the line to make it 65-62 with 33 seconds left.

Papa Ndao missed a 3 with 4 seconds left and Davis sealed it with a free throw.

The Minutemen, who trailed by three at halftime, scored the first seven points after intermission, taking a 35-31 edge on Putney's 3 from the right corner.

The Hawks played sloppily in the opening minutes of the second half, allowing a pair of easy drives to the basket and an alley-oop dunk off an inbounds and combined that with four missed layups on the other end. But they struck with five points in 5 seconds, taking a 42-41 lead on Wilson's breakaway layup with 12:16 to play after Kanacevic nailed a 3 from the top.

The lead then changed hands four times over the ensuing 2 1/2 minutes before Saint Joseph's went on its run.

Lalanne picked up two fouls in the opening five minutes and played just six minutes in the first half.

The Hawks controlled the tempo for the opening seven minutes, slowing it down and pulling to a 16-7 edge on Galloway's jumper from the right corner, but UMass used a full-court press to pick up the pace, forced a handful of turnovers and went on a 16-5 run over the ensuing 6 minutes.

Saint Joseph's then scored 10 of the final 15 points in the half to take a 31-28 edge into intermission.

The Hawks committed 10 turnovers in the opening half. UMass missed eight of nine 3-point attempts.


Y! SPORTS

Florida tied the school record with its 24th straight win at the O'Connell Center on Wednesday night, beating South Carolina 74-58 in the SEC opener for both.

But the Gators (12-2) lost point guard Scottie Wilbekin, who had a game-high 17 points, late in the game when he was helped off the court with an apparent right ankle sprain. He'll be reevaluated on Thursday and Gators coach Billy Donovan said he'll know more on Friday where Wilbekin's status stands.

He's already sat out the start of the season because of suspension and had a high ankle sprain earlier in the season, playing in only nine of UF's 14 games.

The Gators extended their current winning streak to six while the Gamecocks (7-6) had a four-game streak snapped. Florida is now 13-5 in SEC openers under Donovan and the seventh win the last eight meetings with USC in Gainesville.

South Carolina trailed by 13 at the half but got within 40-32 on a jumper by guard Michael Carrera with 14:46 to play.

"That's a recurring theme that when we are playing against a team we know we're better than on paper, and they don't have the best record, that we allow human nature to kick in and us have a mindset of relaxing a little bit instead of the killer instinct of keep pushing and pursuing greatness,'' center Patric Young said.

Another quick Gators run put the game out of reach as Casey Prather and Young added 13 points each for Florida and had key roles in finishing off the Gamecocks.

"Any win is a great win,'' Prather said. "We have to tighten up a couple of things, though.''

The Gamecocks shot just 31.6 percent in the first half but 54.5 in the second.

Florida didn't miss a shot in the first five-plus minutes of the game, while building a comfortable lead. Meanwhile, South Carolina missed its first seven shots and turned the ball over eight times in the opening eight-plus minutes. The Gamecocks got their first field goal of the game on a jumper by forward Mindaugas Kacinas with 10:35 remaining in the first 20 minutes.

Prather scored six straight for the Gators at one point as the lead stretched to 28-10 at the 6:04 mark. It was 34-21 at the break.

In the second half, South Carolina made things interesting early but Florida, which shot 57.8 percent for the game and forced the Gamecocks into 21 turnovers (eight over their average) was never seriously pushed.

"We didn't turn it over,'' Gamecocks coach Frank Martin said of getting things closer early in the second half. "We actually tried to run offense. We didn't just throw it and shoot shots, we took care of the ball, we passed it, we tried to attack it and we made some shots.

"Give Florida credit, they had guys jump up and make shots and we just struggled. We got (the score) to 50-42 and I told the team we had a chance and to be solid for three straight possessions and it would be a different ball game coming down the stretch.

"Instead we took shortcuts on three consecutive defensive possessions that led to two 3s and an easy two and the game goes from 50-42 to 58-42.''

Donovan also announced after the game that Damontre Harris is back at school and could work his way back on the team next season. Harris transferred to UF from South Carolina and sat out last season. He left the Gators program during the holiday break and went home then changed his mind and asked to be allowed to come back.

He will attend classes this semester but not be involved with basketball.



Scottie Wilbekin hurt as No. 11 Florida tops S. Carolina

Easton, PA--- If you're BU you have to love where you sit so far this season after beating Lafayette 89-78 Saturday afternoon on the road.

Boston University opened the game on a 5-0 run and never trailed once.

For Boston University(11-6, 4-0), big man Dom Morris scored 12 points in the win. Guard Maruice Watson Jr. paced the Terriers with 14 points, five rebounds, nine assists and two steals. John Papale added a team high 16 points in the win. Travis Robinson scored 12 off the bench in 18 minutes.

For Lafayette(4-11, 0-4), Joey Ptasinski scored 13 in a losing effort. Dan Trist scored a game high 19 points off the bench. Nick Linder added 16 points off the bench in 30 minutes. Starters Ben Freeland and Monty Boykins played 12 and 13 minutes respectively and both were held scoreless.

BU will play Patriot League foe, Colgate, on 1/15 at 7:00 PM ET.


NCAAB: BU gets by Lafayette; improves to 4-0 in Patriot League

Philadelphia, PA--- For the Northeastern Huskies the season continues to spiral down after a 20-win season last year they have really struggled this year. Saturday afternnon they looked alive but fell to the Drexel Dragons 93-88 in 2OT.

The Huskies were down by seven at halftime but were able to go on a 21-10 run and ended up taking a 50-43 lead. The Dragons took the lead by three in the final seconds until Northeastern's Demetrius Pollard hit a three from the corner and sent the game into OT.

The score was notched at 76 in the second overtime until Fouch hit two threes to give the Dragons a six point lead in which they ended up holding.

To many thins game looked very familiar to last years meeting when Quincy Ford hit a three to send that game into OT for the Huskies.

For Northeastern(4-12, 1-1), Demetrius Pollard scored a team high 19 points and grabbed five assists and four rebounds before fouling out in OT. David Walker, whom also fouled out in OT, scored eight. Scott Eatherton scored 18 and grabbed 10 rebounds to accumulate his 12th double double to lead the NCAA. Marco Banegas-Flores scored 17 in the loss.

For Drexel(9-6, 1-1), Chris Fouch scored a game high 31 in the win. Frantz Massenat scored 27, grabbed 12 rebounds and recorded eight dimes. Tavon Allen scored 18 before coming up lame in the second half and not returning.

Northeastern will play CAA newcomers, College of Charleston, on 1/13 at 7:00 PM ET.


NCAAB: Drexel escapes Northeastern 93-88 in 2OT

Boston, MA--- For Scott Eatherton most every thing you could have wanted to go right has personally as he recorded his 13th double double to lead the NCAA but the Huskies fell to the College of Charleston Monday night 58-49 at home.

The Huskies lone hightlight of the night beside Scott Eatherton was leading 21-19 at haltime but that was quickly erased as the Cougars stormed out of the gate on a 5-0 run to take the lead and they never looked back.

For Northeastern(4-13, 1-2), conference play has been no different than out of conference play as they continue to lose. Scott Eatherton led the charge with 19 points and 16 rebounds(only six in the second half). David Walker scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Zach Stahl added seven points off the bench. Starter Marco Banegas-Flores was held to 0/6 shooting and one point.

For College of Charleston(10-8, 2-1), the three point underdogs in this game and CAA newcomers looked pretty well. Anthony Thomas scored a team high 16 points to go with nine rebounds. Willis Hall scored 14 and grabbed a team high 14 rebounds to boot. Anthony Stitt chipped 10 for the Cougars.

Northeastern will play James Madison on Wed. Jan. 15th at 7:00 PM ET as they continue CAA play and look to get back on track.


NCAAB: Eatherton records NCAA leading 13th double double as Huskies fall

Chestnut Hill, MA--- The Eagles played an all out effort Monday night for their fans but their effort fell short losing to 2Syracuse Orange 69-59 at home.

The Eagles found themselves leading the undefeated Orange 69-59 with roughly 10 minutes to go in the game. The Orange started to attack the inside of the Eagles guard heavy defense and used a 16-1 run to take the lead. The burst comes at no suprise to Syracuse fans, whom are used to seeing their Orange play in bursts this season. Trevor Cooney played very well down the stretch getting a put back to go on a third offensive rebound and nailing a three from the right wing.

We dug ourselves into a little bit of a whole, but it was good to see us get out of there," It just shows us a little more about this team."

BC's offense was able to find a break in the Syracuse Orange defense hitting 9/21 three's. The thing that killed the Eagles was the fact that they shot 16/26(61.25%) from the charity strike. The Oranges defense was able to force the Eagles into 16 turnovers compared to them only committing eight.

Once Lonnie Jackson hit his sixth three pointer off a Rahon long pass it gave the Eagles a 50-44 lead. The Eagles had a serious drought not hitting a field goal in 11:12 after the Jackson triple. The drought ended with an Eddie Odio dunk in the closing minutes.

This game marked the first time the two teams played each other as ACC members.

For Boston College(5-12, 1-3), Lonnie Jackson hit six three's for 18 points in a losing effort. Big man Ryan Anderson had 14 points and only five boards. Olivier Hanlan went 0/5 shooting three's and chipped in with 13 points. BC's bench was held scoreless committing three fouls.

For 2Syracuse(17-0, 4-0), Trevor Cooney played in 35 minutes scoring 21 points. Freshman Tyler Ennis scored 12 points with five assists in the win. C.J. Fair scored 12 points with six rebounds. Off the bench, Jerami Grant was a force scoring 16 and grabbing a team high eight rebounds. Rakeem Christmas picked up his fourth foul early in the second half and was really a non-factor scoring four points and playing only 14 minutes.

BC will play at North Carolina on Saturday Jan. 18th at 12:00 PM ET as they continue ACC play.



NCAAB: Jackson nails six 3's as BC drops heart breaker to 2Syracuse 69-59

Lowell, MA--- This game didn't start as planned for the River Hawks as they didn't hold a single lead in the first half but it's not how you start its how you finish as they were able to fight back and pick up a win in OT 70-66 against Albany.

UMass Lowell didn't lead the game once in regulation but senior Antonio Bivins was able to hit a shot with 0:01 left to tie the game up at 59 and send it into OT.

UMass Lowell's first lead of the game came with about 3:40 left in OT on as Kerry Weldon hit a layup but Albany soon erased the lead. UMass Lowell used a 5-0 run to get a 68-63 lead in OT and never looked back picking up the win.

For UMass Lowell(4-11, 3-1), this is their third straight win and most importantly third straight conference win. The River Hawks are 3-0 since the return of Antonio Bivins. Akeem Williams led the way for UMass Lowell scoring 20 points, grabbing four rebounds and dishing out eight assists. Kerry Weldon scored 13 points and snatched a team high nine rebounds. Antonio Bivins scored 12 off the bench.

For Albany(8-9, 2-2), The Great Danes shot a dismal 3/18 from the three point arch Wednesday night. Starters Sam Rowley, Gary Johnson and D.J. Evans all scored 13 points each in the loss. Center John Puk scored nine points before fouling out.

UMass Lowell will play America East leaders, Stony Brook, on Jan. 18th at 7:00 PM ET as they look to climb the conference ranks.



NCAAB: UML comes alive in OT to pick up win

West Point, NY--- What a game last as Holy Cross's Malcolm Miller scored six points in the final 2:40 to give Holy Cross the lead and to extend Holy Cross's lead as they beat Army 78-75 in OT Wednesday night.

For Holy Cross(8-9, 2-3), Malcolm Miller was key scoring 17 points and grabbing six rebounds to lead the Crusaders. Big man Dave Dudzinski scored 14 and grabbed five boards. Eric Green chipped in with 11 and a team high 10 rebounds. Malachi Alexander scored 16 points off the bench in the win.

For Army(8-8, 4-1), Tanner Plomb scored a game high 29 and grabbed a team high 10 rebounds in the loss. Forward Kyle Wilson chipped with 17. Army was out rebounds 36-29 by the Crusaders. Army had a 37-32 lead at halftime but couldn't hold off the Crusaders.

Holy Cross will continue Patriot League play as they face-off with Lehigh Saturday Jan. 18th at 4:00 PM ET.


NCAAB: Miller key late as Holy Cross fends off Army 78-75 in OT

Elon, NC--- The Minutemen keep on rolling this season after defeating Elon 84-74 on the road Saturday night.

UMass was paced by their senior guard, Chaz Williams, in the second half as Chaz scored all his point then.

"My main concern is to do what we came to do, and that's to be a great team," Williams said.

For 16UMass(16-1, 3-0), this game was a little break from conference play for them. Cady Lalanne scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to pace UMass. Chaz Williams scored 20 points(all came in the second half) and chipped in four dimes. Derrick Gordon scored four points and recorded a team-high five assists. Maxie Esho scored 17 points off the bench on 7/10 shooting.

For Elon(10-9, 3-1), Lucas Troutman scored a team-high 17 points on 6/20 shooting but was 7/11 from the charity strike. Tanner Samson scored 14 points in a losing effort. Sebastian Koch scored 18 points and recorded a team-high six assists

We definitely had a chance," Troutman said. "We fought tonight. There were lapses in some places. We didn't play as good defense as we would like."

What helped us is we shot the ball pretty well early and they had to come out and that spread them out," Kellog said when referencing UMass's 51.6% shooting in the first half.

UMass will continue A10 play Jan. 22nd at Richmond, tip-off at 7:00 PM ET.



NCAAB: 16UMass holds on late to beat Elon 84-74

Stony Brook, NY--- The Seawolves continue to dominate America East play as they beat UMass Lowell 70-65 Saturday night.

The big edge the Seawolves head was the fact that they recorded 16 assists to UML's 10. The Seawolves did out-rebound the River Hawks 41-35. Neither team was very good from three, UML shot 6 of 20 and Stony Brook 5 of 22.

For UMass Lowell(4-12, 3-2), guard Antonio Bivins scored a game-high 21 points off the bench in 31 minutes. Kerry Weldon and Tyler Livingston both chiped in 12 points in a losing effort. Akeem Williams, whom averages 15.2 PPG, was a non-factor in this game scoring three points in 12 minutes before fouling out.

For Stony Brook(12-6, 4-0), Ahmad Walker scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed seven boards in the win. Carson Puriefoy scored 14 points and tallied seven assists. Jameel Warney scored 14 while chalking up a game-high 10 rebounds to pace the Seawolves.

UMass Lowell will play Hartford on Jan. 20th at 1:00 PM ET as they contiue America East play.


NCAAB: Stony Brook edges UML 70-65 despite Bivins scoring 21

Boca Raton, FL--- Harvard's strong start to their season came to a big hault Tuesday night as they dropped a game by the score of 68-53 to FAU.

The Crimson had a tough time of it committing fouls as their big man, Kyle Casey, fouled out after just 16 minutes and Brandyn Curry and Steve Moundou-Missi both ended the game with four fouls a piece.

FAU led the game 29-20 at halftime but them Harvard was able to cut the lead to five at 48-43 but FAU's Jackson Trapp hit a three-pointer with 5:08 left in the second and extended the lead to eight and Harvard was pretty well silenced the rest of the way.

Harvard at one point trailed in this game 20-5 with 9:32 left in the first and just could never get over the hump.

For Harvard(14-3, 1-0), scoring leader Wesley Saunders really struggled in his first game back since being out for two games while dealing with an injury. Wes scored 11 points on 3/14 shooting. Siyani Chambers scored 11 as well on 1/8 shooting and only had two assists. Zena Edosomwan was very good off the bench replacing Kyle Casey, as he scored 11 points and recorded a team-high nine rebounds. Harvard as a team shot just 14/61(23%).

For Florida Atlantic(7-12, 2-2), beating Harvard is a very quality win. Marquan Boley scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Owls. Starter Pablo Bertone chipped in 17 points in 33 minutes and recorded four rebounds. Justin Raffington scored seven points and grabbed a team-high nine boards in a winning effort.

Harvard will play Dartmouth on Jan. 26th at 4:00 PM ET at they get back into Ivy League play.


NCAAB: Harvard upset by FAU Tuesday night

Bangor, ME--- After a rough start to the season UMass Lowell seems to be hitting their stride as they get a good conference win against Maine 74-62 Thursday night.

Maine led this game by the score of 33-29 at halftime but a Tyler Livingston three with 14:17 left in the second half gave UML their first second half lead, in which they held onto.

The River Hawks really controlled the glass, out-rebounding the Black Bears by 12- 39 to 27.

For UMass Lowell(5-13, 4-3), guard Chad Holley bucketed 12 points and recording a game-high six assists to help the River Hawks attack. Starter Kerry Weldon scored two points on 1/7 shooting but recorded a game-high 13 rebounds. Akeem Williams struggled from the floor, shooting 3/12, 0/3 from three but hit 5/6 free throws for his 11 points. Antonio Bivins really carried the River Hawks scoring a game-high 25 points off the bench on 10/12 shooting and 5/5 from the charity strike.

For Maine(3-15, 1-5), this would have been a good game for them to win because one it's at home and two on paper UML is not too much better than them. Kilian Cato was the only starter to score in double figures with 14 points. Til Gloger scored 12 points on 5/6 shooting off the bench. Xavier Pollard scored a team-high 15 points off the bench on 7/12 shooting.

UML will play UNH on Jan. 26th at 2:00 PM ET as they continue America East play.




NCAAB: Weldons rips down 13 rebounds as UML beats Maine 74-62

Hanover, NH--- It looks like the lose to FAU didn't affect Harvard much as they were able to put on a shooting display and dismantle the Dartmouth Big Green 80-50 Sunday evening.

One of the biggest reasons Harvard was able to absolutely control this game throughout was they were able to hit 29/44 field goals, which converts to an outstanding 65.9% compared to Dartmouth's dismal 20/53(37.3%) shooting. Harvard hit 10/14(71.4%) three's from the field as Dartmouth was only able to muster 3/9 of their three's for 33.3%. Neither team took good care of the ball as Harvard actually committed 22 turnovers to Dartmouth's 17.

En route to their blowout, Harvard was able to cycle through their bench getting 17 of their players into the game to see some action. The Crimson were even able to get their big man, Kenyatta Smith(last year's leading rebounder), whom had been out with a foot injury, into action for the first time all season. Kenyatta was such a big part in the Crimson's NCAA tournament run last year and it's good to get him into action before the Crimson play host to Ivy League rival, Princeton.

For Harvard(15-3, 2-0), Laurent Rivard was sensational scoring a team-high 15 points while connecting on 4/6 three-pointers to help the Crimson beat Dartmouth. Siyani Chambers chipped in 14 points and recorded four dimes in a winning effort. Brandyn Curry added 14 points on 6/8 shooting. Wesley Saunders was quite from the floor only scoring nine points but did grab a team-high six rebounds.

For Dartmouth(7-9, 0-2), Connor Boehm and Malik Gill both scored game-highs in points with 16 in a losing effort. Gill was able to swipe a game-high six steals as well for Dartmouth. John Golden was able to rack up eight points on 3/9 shooting for the Big Green.

This was Dartmouth's first game without Gabas Maldunas, who tore his ACL in practice earlier this week. Gabas averaged a team high in points with 11.2 and rebounds at 8.5 a game.

Harvard will play the Princeton Tigers on Jan. 31st at 7:00 PM ET as they look to stay a step ahead of the feisty Tigers.


NCAAB: Harvard shoots 65.9% from the floor; defeats Dartmouth 80-50

One of the reasons top-ranked Arizona is special is because the Wildcats defend well enough to survive nights when their jump shots won't fall.

It happened against Utah in Tucson on Sunday night. And it happened against Stanford in Palo Alto three nights later.

From the point when Arizona fell behind by seven points against Stanford with just over 12 minutes left in the second half, the Wildcats surrendered only six points on two field goals and a pair of late Chasson Randle free throws. Generating stops on 16 of Stanford's final 19 possessions enabled Arizona to overcome 36 percent shooting and escape with a 60-57 win that keeps its undefeated record intact.

"Defense was why we won," Arizona coach Sean Miller told reporters in Palo Alto after the game. "If you look at the game within the game, our ability to defend at a very high level, to get defensive stop after defensive stop when the other team really needed a score, that's what we've done from Day 1. Tonight if you say 'why did we win?' Well, that was it."

Arizona's comeback ensures the Wildcats, No. 2 Syracuse and No. 4 Wichita State will each take unbeaten records into February. The last time three teams were undefeated on Feb. 1, Indiana was on its way to an unbeaten season in 1976 and UNLV and Rutgers were both also perfect through January.

That Arizona is still blemish-free is especially impressive considering the tough schedule the Wildcats have played. They've beaten five teams either ranked or receiving votes in the latest polls including fifth-ranked San Diego State and 10th-ranked Michigan on the road and 17th-ranked Duke in Madison Square Garden.

Few of Arizona's 21 victories were any more nerve-wracking than Wednesday night's close call in Palo Alto.

The Wildcats couldn't score consistently enough against the rare opponent actually able to match their size in the frontcourt. Nick Johnson and Kaleb Tarczewski battled foul trouble. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson got sped up and out of control attacking the rim. Aaron Gordon appeared to be trying to do too much playing 15 minutes from where he grew up, a big reason he went 2 of 10 from the floor and continued to struggle shooting from the perimeter.

For a while, it looked like Stanford might capitalize.

The Cardinal were out-hustling Arizona to loose balls and out-working the Wildcats on the glass for a stretch midway through the second half, but Dwight Powell's fourth foul with 12:22 remaining served as a turning point. Arizona, third-best in the nation in points per possession allowed, stifled the rest of Stanford's scorers with its size and length, using Johnson to limit Chasson Randle and protecting the rim with Tarczewski and Gordon.

Arizona blocked four shots in the final 10 minutes of the game, none bigger than Gordon and Hollis-Jefferson both swatting away Anthony Brown's layup attempts on back-to-back possessions. Johnson also contested Randle's potential game-tying 3-pointer on the final possession of the game.

Smothering as Arizona was on defense, the Wildcats still needed some clutch offense to win and it came from Johnson. The All-American candidate sank a tough floater with 2:35 to go to give Arizona its first lead since the opening minute of the second half, then buried a 3-pointer off a Tarczewski offensive rebound with 49 seconds to play to give the Wildcats the lead for good.

Johnson shook off first-half foul trouble to finish with 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal. No other Arizona player had more than 11 points.

If Arizona will leave Palo Alto celebrating a quality road win, Stanford will exit Maples Pavilion regretting the opportunity for a season-changing win it let slip away.

Victories over UConn, Oregon and Arizona might have given Stanford's profile the pop necessary to make the NCAA tournament for the first time in Johnny Dawkins' six-year tenure. Instead the junior- and senior-laden Cardinal (13-7, 4-4) probably need at least one more marquee victory to have a realistic chance of earning the NCAA bid that could save Dawkins' job at the end of the season.

For a while, Arizona appeared likely to provide that win. Only another brilliant defensive effort saved the Wildcats and enabled them to remain undefeated.



Y! SPORTS