Hoopraker

I should reconsider my assessment of Ohio State being the best hope for the Conference in the NCAA Tourney. Wisconsin is flat out sweet and getting sweeter every game. Bo Ryan has each player understanding their role in the Wisconsin Swing Offense. They play a full forty minutes without time off for good behavior. They make the extra pass. They screen and cut with precision. It’s a team where everyone complements the whole. Who wouldn’t want to play for Hambone Ryan before a packed Kohl Center? It’s thing of beauty. (more…)

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February 3, Madison, Wis. - Northwestern traveled to the Kohl Center for their second game in the home and away match-up with the Badgers. Recall that the Cats gave the Badgers a very good scare on Jan. 13th before losing 56 to 50. On this artic cold afternoon both teams were sluggish from the start. (more…)

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What’s happened to Penn State?  A team with Gerry Claxton and Jamelle Cornley shouldn’t be this bad. In a season that started with the promise of an NCAA tourney bid, Ed DeChellis’s squad is, as the Lemonheads might say, a ship without a rudder. (more…)

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The refrain is as familiar to the national sports media as Brick House to a wedding DJ. Every year about this time the same song is sung. Always in late January or early February, usually after many of the conference’s teams have been beating up on each other, inflicting tough losses, and before the pivotal final month of conference play when the well-coached teams have fully evolved. (more…)

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With a 63-54 victory against Michigan State on Saturday night and barring an upset or a major brain freeze, the only thing standing between Ohio State and a Number One Seed is Wisconsin on February 25 in Columbus. Led by Indiana reared freshmen Mike Conley and man-child Greg Oden, the Buckeyes are loaded with scorers, they play hard and, if they apply themselves, they can defend. At this point in the season, there’s not a team in country they couldn’t play and beat. (more…)

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It’s six years too late, but in the black hole that is Northwestern’s basketball program that’s usually the time it takes for nothing to change. This is a program that in over a century of basketball has never been to the NCAA tournament and has only three NIT appearances, the most recent being in 1999. (more…)

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