TOP 25
What happened to the Boilermakers?
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The Examiner rankings love Texas F Damion James. That’s pretty evident. But any affinity for Purdue, North Carolina and Connecticut is now under serious threat. What happened to the undefeated Boilermakers? It’s clear as day that neither the Tar Heels nor the Huskies have the horses to win six games in a row in late March and early April. That said, are there 25 teams in the country that could beat Jim Calhoun or Roy Williams right now? Not so sure about that.
*records through 1/18 (10 p.m.)
| No. | Team (Record) | Comment | Pvs. |
| 1 | Kentucky (18-0) | When Wall falters, Cousins cleans up | 2 |
| 2 | Texas (17-0) | Doesn’t get any easier: at UConn this week | 1 |
| 3 | Villanova (16-1) | Debate: Scottie Reynolds for player of the year? | 3 |
| 4 | Syracuse (18-1) | Shot 58 percent from the field in Morgantown | 4 |
| 5 | Kansas (16-1) | Next 4 will be fun: Baylor, @ ISU, Mizzou, @ K-State | 6 |
| 6 | Michigan St. (15-3) | Lucas shot poorly vs. Gophers (3-14), better vs. Illini (6-12) | 7 |
| 7 | Duke (15-2) | Haven’t won a game by less than nine points | 8 |
| 8 | West Virginia (13-3) | Butler & Ebanks didn’t get up enough for Syracuse | 9 |
| 9 | Georgetown (13-3) | Benimon emerging after injury slowed his start | 10 |
| 10 | Purdue (14-3) | Ranking is generous given three straight L’s | 5 |
| 11 | Tennessee (14-2) | Have won six in a row since Southern Cal debacle | 14 |
| 12 | Kansas St. (15-2) | Combined for 94 FT attempts with Colorado | 15 |
| 13 | Georgia Tech (13-4) | Google searches way up for “Iman Shumpert” | 16 |
| 14 | Temple (15-3) | Season-high 29 for Ryan Brooks in UMass win | 17 |
| 15 | Pittsburgh (15-2) | Gibbs’ 3-pt pct as dreamy as another famous Ashton | 24 |
| 16 | Wisconsin (13-3) | Really need to be much better outside of Madison | 12 |
| 17 | Texas A&M (12-5) | Aggies deserve credit for taking Horns to OT | 18 |
| 18 | North Carolina (12-6) | There will be no national title repeat this year … | 11 |
| 19 | UConn (11-6) | And no title in Storrs, either — for the men, that is | 13 |
| 20 | New Mexico (16-3) | Hardeman: career-high minutes and pts in Wyoming win | 20 |
| 21 | Ole Miss (13-4) | Still in search of a signature road win | 21 |
| 22 | BYU (18-1) | Too early to ask if Cougars can run MWC table? | 22 |
| 23 | Rhode Island (14-2) | Marquis Jones leads A-10 with 5.1 apg | 23 |
| 24 | N. Iowa (16-1) | 15 straight wins on the line tonight at 16-3 Wichita St. | 25 |
| 25 | Ohio State (13-5) | Remember Evan Turner? Yeah, that Evan Turner | NR |
HEATING UP
Clemson » True measure of whether Tigers deserve to be ranked comes Wednesday at Georgia Tech.
Also » Pittsburgh, Villanova
COOLING DOWN
Baylor » Bears fell at Colorado, and next four Big 12 games: Kansas, Kansas State, Texas, Iowa State. Ouch.
Also » Ole Miss, Wisconsin
TOP 25 GAME OF THE WEEK
Georgetown at Pittsburgh, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ( ESPNU)
After losing at Villanova, 82-77, on Sunday, Georgetown (13-3, 4-2) travels to the other side of Pennsylvania to take on the other undefeated team in the Big East. Pittsburgh (15-2, 5-0) continues to amaze in a supposed rebuilding year after losing four starters, including two to the NBA. In its last four games, Jamie Dixon’s team has taken down traditional powers Syracuse, Cincinnati, UConn and Louisville. Is Georgetown next? Key matchup — Pitt G Ashton Gibbs (17.2 ppg) vs. Georgetown G Chris Wright (14.3 ppg), who was a non-factor Sunday at Villanova.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Demetri McCamey, Illinois, guard
Going back to his days at St. Joseph’s Prep under coach Gene Pingatore (“Hoop Dreams”), motivation has often been a problem for McCamey, who leads Illinois in points (14.8 pg), assists (5.8 pg) and steals (1.7 pg). There should be no lack of fire from the 6-3 junior on Tuesday at 9 p.m. (ESPN), however, when Illinois (12-6, 4-1) hosts slumping Purdue (14-3, 2-3), which has lost three straight after a 14-0 start. McCamey will deal with Purdue’s top scorer, junior E’Twaun Moore (17.5 ppg). The 6-4 guard has been stellar during the losing streak, averaging 22.3 ppg and hitting 25 of 46 shots (54 percent).
STORY LINES
1. Southern Indiana player dies » The on-court death of Southern Indiana player Jeron Lewis on Thursday brought back memories of Hank Gathers, the Loyola Marymount All-America who collapsed during a game in 1990 and died. An autopsy revealed that Lewis had an enlarged heart, but the exact cause of death is uncertain. According to fans sitting near the court at Kentucky Wesleyan, Lewis lost his footing with four minutes left in the game and hit his head on the floor. As trainers were attending to the 6-foot-8, 260-pound senior, he began convulsing. Lewis was taken to a nearby medical center and pronounced dead on arrival. There was no evidence of head trauma. Lewis, from Fort Wayne, was averaging 12.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. The 21-year-old missed two games in December while his fiancée was giving birth to his first child.
2. Upside down ACC » Virginia is up and North Carolina is down in the topsy-turvy Atlantic Coast Conference. Under rookie coach Tony Bennett, the Cavaliers (12-4, 3-0) are the only unbeaten team left in the ACC and have won eight straight heading into Saturday’s game against Wake Forest. Virginia went 10-18 last year, but using holdovers from the Dave Leitao-regime, Bennett has thrived with a smaller, quicker, scrambling rotation. Virginia is last in the league in rebounding and blocked shots, but leads in 3-point shooting (41.2 percent) and has a legitimate star in 6-6 Sylven Landesberg (17.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg). Defending NCAA champion UNC (12-6, 1-2) is struggling in the backcourt with Larry Drew and injury-plagued Marcus Ginyard. The Tar Heels rank last in the conference in turnover ratio.
3. Later than Sooner » Damion James (Texas) and Scottie Reynolds (Villanova) were set to be teammates at Oklahoma. But that was before Kelvin Sampson lost his job as Sooners coach. Four years later, after some initial struggles at their second-choice schools, James and Reynolds are the leaders of two of the top teams in the nation. Last week James, a 6-7 swingman, led No. 1 Texas to wins over Texas A&M (26 points, 12 rebounds) and Iowa State (23 points, 14 rebounds). Against Texas A&M, James hit the game-winning 3-pointer in OT. Meanwhile, Reynolds, a 6-foot guard, scored 36 points in a win over Louisville and 27 as Villanova broke its five-game losing streak against Georgetown. Reynolds, who shot 39 percent as an overmatched freshman, hit 17 of 25 shots (68 percent) from the floor and 9 of 12 (75 percent) from 3-point range last week. Over his last nine games, Reynolds has shot 63 percent from the floor and 60 percent from the beyond the arc.
AREA INTELLIGENCE
MARYLAND
Reserves Adrian Bowie (15 points) and Cliff Tucker (14 points, 5 of 6 FGs) contributed their season highs as the Terps rolled to an uncharacteristically decisive ACC victory over Boston College, 73-57. Tuesday night Maryland (11-5) hosts Longwood (4-14) and the Lancers’ top scorer, Hylton-grad Dana Smith (16.4 ppg).
GEORGE MASON
After some early struggles, Patriot guards Cam Long and Andre Cornelius have scored a combined 71 points in the last two games, both Mason wins, hitting 23 of 37 shots from the floor (62 percent). GMU (11-7, 6-1) plays at Hofstra (9-10, 2-5) tonight. GMU beat the Pride in Fairfax, 15 days ago, 67-63.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
After a 65-64 loss last week at LaSalle, in which GW surrendered a late lead, the Colonials (11-5, 1-2) have a tough assignment Wednesday at A-10 power Dayton (13-4, 2-1). The Flyers are led by an active duo — junior F Chris Wright (13.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and sophomore G Chris Johnson (12.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg).
NAVY
The Mids had a chance to take sole possession of first place in the Patriot League, but lost Saturday to Lafayette, 90-77, despite the work of guards Chris Harris (24 points) and O.J. Avworo (10 assists). Navy (8-10, 2-1) plays at Holy Cross (4-14, 1-2) on Wednesday before hosting rival Army (11-6, 1-2) on Saturday.
AMERICAN
F Vlad Moldoveanu (16 points) finally got some help on Sunday as junior reserve Steve Luptak (18 points) scored a career high and 6-8 sophomore F Steven Lumpkins (19 points, 4 blocks) rose inside in a 73-63 win over Colgate. AU (4-14, 1-2) will try to make it two straight Wednesday at Army (11-6, 1-2).
