ACC-Big 10 Challenge matchups announced
The 13th annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods on Nov. 29-30 will be highlighted by Duke at Ohio State and Wisconsin at North Carolina – four traditional power programs expected to be highly ranked entering the 2011-12 season – and an expanded format with new Big Ten member Nebraska.
ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com will combine to broadcast all 12 games of the two-day event, one more than in the previous 12 Challenges. Read more
Medical waiver granted: Scott gets fifth season
The Atlantic Coast Conference has approved the medical hardship waiver request for Virginia men’s basketball player Mike Scott, providing Scott another year of eligibility in 2011-12.
Scott, a 6-8 forward from Chesapeake, Va., underwent two operations on his left ankle during his fourth season with the Cavaliers in 2010-11 and missed 21 games. He played in 10 games, starting nine, and averaged 15.9 points and 10.2 rebounds a game. Read more
Sweet 16: Richmond 2, Big East 2
You read that right. Our state’s capital city has all of two NCAA teams, both of which made the NCAA Tournament field of 68, and both of which fought their way into the Sweet 16 with a combined record of 5-0.
Meanwhile, the entirety of the Big East, a 16-team superconference stretching from the Northeast practically into the Southern Hemisphere, which had a record 11 teams make the tourney field, will have, like the City of Richmond, two teams still alive in the Sweet 16 later this week.
(And those came from second-round matchups featuring a pair of Big East teams of which the winner had to be from the Big East. Otherwise …)
That it’s not out of the realm of the average basketball fan’s imagination that neither of the teams from Richmond – the University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth – could have even been in the NCAAs to begin with is what makes March Madness so interesting.
UR, I thought, was a lock with its 24-win regular season in the respected Atlantic 10, but even after winning the A-10 conference tournament the Spiders earned just a #12 seed, an indication that the poo-bahs had Richmond pegged for another postseason destination without the automatic bid.
VCU, meanwhile, was not even part of the conversation heading into Selection Sunday. After limping down the stretch of the 2010-2011 season to a fourth-place finish in the CAA, the Rams seemed destined for the NIT before hearing their names called for the inaugural First Four, a set of play-in games featuring the final four at-large teams to get berths into the NCAA field.
VCU dominated Southern Cal from the Pac 10 in the first round, then beat Georgetown from the Big East on Friday night to earn a matchup with the Southwest Region’s third seed, Purdue of the Big 10. The Rams, the #11 seed, played like they were the big boys in a convincing 94-76 win that lands them in San Antonio for a 9:55 p.m. Friday tipoff.
Playing the game before them: Richmond, which upset fifth-seeded Vanderbilt on Thursday and then decimated Morehead State on Saturday.
VCU gets another Cinderella in its Sweet 16 matchup in the form of #10 seed Florida State of the ACC, which was slighted on Selection Sunday with just four bids, but has a tournament-high three teams left in the field after the first weekend.
Richmond’s test will be the toughest of the two teams from the capital city to date – top-seed Kansas.
Here’s to our Cinderellas not realizing it’s close to midnight a little while longer, and having the champion of the Southwest also be the city champs of Richmond for 2010-2011.
‘Hoos pull upset of Tech in ACC opener
A desperation Dorenzo Hudson three-pointer fell short, leaving a second-half comeback attempt by Virginia Tech short as Virginia knocked off its in-state rival 57-54 Sunday night.
Virginia (5-3, 1-0 ACC) jumped out to an early 10-2 lead and led the Hokies by as many as 14 in the first half. Tech (4-4, 0-1 ACC) closed to within two points on two occasions in the final two minutes, but Mike Scott hit a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left following a breakaway on which Hokie forward Jeff Allen was called for an intentional foul, and Mustapha Farrakhan followed with another pair to make it 57-51 UVa. with 16.8 seconds to go.
Malcolm Delaney, who led all scorers with 26 points following his dismal 2-for-18 shooting night against Purdue in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge, hit a three from NBA range to close the Hokies to within 57-54. Joe Harris and Scott both missed the front ends of one-and-ones to give Hudson a shot at sending the game into overtime, but Virginia rebounded the airball and ran out the clock.
Scott led Virginia with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and a game-high 14 rebounds. Delaney hit on 10 of his 15 field-goal attempts for Virginia Tech, which held Virginia to 21 second-half points.
Only two other players were in double figures – Tech’s Allen with 12 points and UVa.’s Harris with 10.
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
'Hoos pull upset of Tech in ACC opener
Cavs lead throughout, hold off Tech rally
A desperation Dorenzo Hudson three-pointer fell short, leaving a second-half comeback attempt by Virginia Tech short as Virginia knocked off its in-state rival 57-54 Sunday night.
Virginia (5-3, 1-0 ACC) jumped out to an early 10-2 lead and led the Hokies by as many as 14 in the first half. Tech (4-4, 0-1 ACC) closed to within two points on two occasions in the final two minutes, but Mike Scott hit a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left following a breakaway on which Hokie forward Jeff Allen was called for an intentional foul, and Mustapha Farrakhan followed with another pair to make it 57-51 UVa. with 16.8 seconds to go. Read more
Ticket giveaway encourages UVa. fan support
Virginia head men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett announced this week an essay contest to award 50 2010-11 season tickets in section 108 at John Paul Jones Arena. Coach Bennett will give away these season tickets for free to 25 fans. The winners will be a part of Tony Bennett’s Fanatic Cavalier Club.
“I thought the essay contest and fanatic fan club Mike London created leading up to football season was a great idea,” Bennett said. “Our fans really made a difference in some of our home wins last season with their vocal support. I want to help create the best home-court advantage for our team.”
To enter the contest fans must submit an essay that answers these questions: Why are you crazy about Virginia basketball, and how do you show your Cavalier spirit?
Link to the rest of the story on VaSportsOnline.com.
Bennett: Still 'a ways to go'
Posted by afp on December 6, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Three wins in their next four, including back-to-back Ws on the road at then-#13 Minnesota and Sunday night at in-state ACC rival Virginia Tech, have some in ‘Hoo Nation thinking that rebuilding might be the wrong term.
“We’re trying to get good people and good players in this program and then become as good as we can. We have a ways to go, I’m real on that,” UVa. coach Tony Bennett said Sunday night after the 57-54 Virginia win in Blacksburg over a team that had been picked in the preseason to finish as high as second in the 12-team ACC. Read more
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with acc, joe harris, mike scott, mustapha farrakhan, tony bennett, university of virginia, uva. basketball, virginia basketball, virginia tech