College Basketball 2019-2020

@jumpkutz, I know James that you start this thread usually, but a couple results worth noting.

Ladies: Oregon became first college team to beat the US Women’s team since Tennessee did it back in ‘99. Sabrina Ionescu even as a senior is arguably one of the best players in the world already.

@BarryWhite The buzz in your part of Indiana has to be your Evansville Aces going into Rupp and beating #1 Kentucky. Former UK great Walter McCarty had his squad ready to go. Google their locker room celebration to see the joy of victory, awesome stuff.

 

Yeah and my boss is a UK fan

 

I was thrilled that the Purple Aces pulled off that upset. When I was a kid growing up across the Ohio, we all heard about the exploits of Hugh Ehlering, Ed Smallwood, Larry Humes, Jerry Sloan and Don Buse. Arad McCutchan was the catalyst, head coach from 1946 to 1977. He was the first college division coach to be selected to the Naismith Basketball Hall Of Fame. They won five NCAA Division II National Championships between 1959 and 1971. It didn't hurt that every final was played on their home floor, Roberts Stadium. Then came the horrible plane crash that killed the entire staff and all but one of the team on December 13, 1977. They were taking off from Dress Memorial Airport en route to Nashville for a game at Middle Tennessee State. It was their first season in Division I. They had played only four games, losing three of them. The lone survivor was a freshman walk on who had hurt his ankle and was sitting the season out. He was killed two weeks later with his 16 year old brother in a wreck near Newton, Illinois, near their hometown of Olney. I was away at college at Murray at the time, but it hit me just as hard as if I were still at home in Henderson. The roster was a microcosm of how a private, loosely United Methodist Church affiliated school of 2500 was going to try to compete in Division I. Kids from from Tell City, New Albany, Munster, Terre Haute, Indianapolis and Jeffersonville, Indiana. Two from Eldorado and one from West Frankfort, IL, both not far from Jerry Sloan's hometown, McLeansboro. The high school gyms in Eldorado and Tell City are named after three of the victims: Mike Duff and Kevin Kingston in Eldorado and Bryan Taylor in Tell City.

The program has a legacy, a deep one, albeit at a much smaller level than the Kansases, Dukes, North Carolinas and, yes, Kentuckys of the college hoops world. It's been a tough go for them since the crash and move into Division I. They dropped football in 1997. They moved into the sparkling new downtown Ford Center in 2011. It was bittersweet, however, because Roberts Stadium was the scene of many memorable moments as their home from 1956 until 2011. It was demolished in 2013. Attended many events there in my youth, mostly the annual Thanksgiving weekend Hadi Shrine Circus and numerous rock concerts, but only one UE game. Besides winning the 5 National Championships there, they beat Purdue there twice (Dec. '83 and Dec. '69. the season after they finished national runners-up), No. 10 Creighton in Jan. '03 and Walt Frazier-led Southern Illinois (March, '65), in OT, in the Div. II final, led by MOP Sloan, competing a 29-0 season. On February 18th, 1989, Ace's guard Scott Haffner, from Noblesville, IN, scored 65 points against the Dayton Flyers. Only five have ever scored more, including Pete Maravich, who scored 66 against Tulane in '69 and 69 against Alabama in '70.

It would be nice to see them return to some sort of national prominence besides the occasional upset.
Last night could be a start.

P.S. If you ever make it to Springfield, they have a decent sized Evansville exhibit at the Naismith HOF.

 

@jumpkutz I was entirely unfamiliar with the story of Evansville (besides what happened vs. Kentucky this week). Thanks for sharing that.

 

It's almost mid-January, conference play has started, and some separation is occurring, but.... Being the No. 1 team has been a real jinx this season. Or, the schools occupying said top spot were simply found out. Around here in the holy triangle, the jury's still out on Louisville and Kentucky, who've hit some dry spells since being numero uno. The Cats did, of course, beat a supposedly superior Louisville team at Rupp Arena between Christmas and New Year's. Not surprisingly, they're adjacent to each other at 13th and 14th at the moment. They've got the talent, as usual, but the annual issue for both is always about maturing (UK) and improving enough (U of L) to overcome their weaknesses enough to make a deep tournament run. Hard to figure out this season, especially since Chris Mack is only in his second season here. Cal just has to get his kids focused on team instead of whether or not they're lottery picks. Hasn't been as successful in recent seasons, but it's always possible they'll get to the last weekend. The jury's asking questions in Indiana. Almost lost at home to a worse than average Northwestern team. Archie Miller's not getting it done in Bloomington. Barring a huge turnaround, which doesn't appear imminent, the Hoosiers will be looking for yet another man to try to emerge from the giant shadow of Bobby Knight. I haven't watched as much TV hoops as I normally do this season, so I don't know what's happening elsewhere, especially out west. I DO know the Heels are struggling (awwww), so we'll find out if Roy can still "coach 'em up." Duke looks solid (shock). Maryland seems to have upgraded significantly. Florida State impressed me last season, and they still do this season. Haven't seen Gonzaga, Kansas, Auburn, Baylor or San Diego State yet, but I plan to rectify that soon. Oh, and the wheels have come off (sort of) at Evansville since the big win in Lexington. They've split 14 games, but real story involves the head coach, Walter McCarty. Two weeks ago the school put him on "administrative leave," citing possible Title IX violations. They promptly lost three straight, but have somewhat righted the ship since. It doesn't sound good for McCarty, though. He's probably gone. And that's too bad.

 

@sacffc Curious to hear your thoughts on the Ivy League cancelling the men’s & women’s hoops tournament (Yale & Princeton received the NCAA bids) due to the Coronavirus. Personally I would’ve preferred them playing in an empty gym.

EDIT: What a difference 24 hours makes.

 

Looks like the first domino now!

 

Seriously, I'm not sure how I'm going to self-isolate for the next 14-30+ days with no sports.