As we move toward the home stretch, there is much the same (Syracuse and Wichita State remain undefeated and San Diego State’s 20-game win streak carries on) and there are lots of changes, primarily due to injuries (Michigan State and Arizona), but also thanks to melt downs (Marcus Smart).
Syracuse has some tough road games on the horizon (Duke and Virginia), but the Shockers from Wichita could run the regular season table. MSU still is a Final Four candidate as they will get everyone back, but Arizona has work to do with the loss of Brandon Ashley for the season. And then there is Marcus. It’s unbelievable how so many were fooled on this kid, but trust me, it can happen. Hopefully he learns from the incident and bounces back from it.
Red Stormin’
What an amazing job Steve Lavin has done in the past few weeks. On January 16th, St. John’s lost in double overtime to Providence 84-83 and fell to 9-8 overall and 0-5 in the Big East. Sunday night his team topped Creighton and is now 15-9 and 5-6 in the conference and fighting to get on that bubble. The Red Storm are 6-1 in their last seven. A tricky road game awaits them Thursday at Seton Hall. D’Angelo Harrison is doing a great job of running the show and is averaging 18.3 points per game, while Akron’s JaKarr Sampson is averaging 12.7 points and 5.6 rebounds.
The Canadian Went Down to Tempe
How about Canada’s own Jordan Bachynski at Arizona State? The 7’2″ senior had a career-high 26 points, nine rebounds and nine blocks in the Oregon win on Saturday. Bachynski leads the nation in blocks with 107 and is now the Pac-12 career leader as well. Here is the statistic I love – he was shooting .566 from the foul line entering Pac-12 play. Since the big boy games began, he is 48-of-59 (.814) from the foul line. He is closing in on his own Pac-12 single-season block record that he set last year (see below). Who coached those other two guys at Arizona State? He must have been a defensive genius.
PAC-12 SINGLE SEASON BLOCKS
1. 120, Jordan Bachynski, ASU, 2012-13
2. 115, Mario Bennett, ASU, 1994-95
3. 113, Rodger Farrington, ASU, 1996-97
4. 107, Jordan Bachynski, ASU, 2013-14
Wild and Wonderful Bob Huggins
Remember when some thought Bob Huggins should hang it up? Not anymore, as West Virginia is on a roll, beating a very good Iowa State team 102-77. The Mountaineers are in a stretch of four straight games over ranked teams and they are now 2-1 in that span with a game at #19 Texas this Saturday. Junior Juwan Staten is shooting over 50 percent from the field and averaging over 18 points and nearly six assists. That is a rare combination. At 14-10, WVU needs to go probably 4-2 down the stretch to feel safe, but still has roadies at Iowa State and Oklahoma in addition to Texas, plus Baylor, TCU and Kansas at home. But we shouldn’t give up on them because at one point they were 11-9.
– Bill Frieder
