Friday, January 29, 2010

New Mexico Holds Serve

New Mexico 76, #12 BYU 72
This was one of the most important games of the week, and certainly the most underrated, but it actually didn't tell us a whole lot about these two teams. New Mexico and BYU have separated themselves a little bit from the rest of the pack in the Mountain West and both look to be pretty firmly in the NCAA Tournament, and so the question is which team will win the conference. These two teams have two of the best home court advantages in the nation, and so a narrow New Mexico win here suggests a likely narrow win for BYU at the Marriott Center when these teams play again on February 27th. BYU is possibly the best shooting team in the country, rated first nationwide in free throw shooting, eighth in two-point shooting, and 12th in three-point shooting. They also are solid and don't make mistakes, generally winning the turnover battle and not giving up offensive boards. New Mexico didn't win this game by taking advantage of any particular BYU weakness, but simply by fighting to a draw and hoping to hit more clutch shots down the stretch. The two teams tied with 37 rebounds and 11 turnovers, and both hit exactly 24 of exactly 63 shots from the field. Three-point shooting was basically a draw as well (42% for BYU, 41% for New Mexico), so the difference was free throw shooting, and the fact that New Mexico got to the line more and hit more of their shots once they were there. But like I said, this doesn't tell us a lot about what will happen in the Mountain West tournament. I expect BYU to beat New Mexico in the match-up next month, although we'll learn at that game if either team finds some weakness in the other.

#7 Duke 70, Florida State 56
Florida State scored the first basket of this game, and Duke quickly came back and took a lead that they never let go of the entire game. This was a game that they were expected to win, and they took care of business. Duke struggled a bit with Florida State's athleticism defensively, and they were also beaten fairly soundly on the boards, but this game wasn't close because Florida State's offense was dreadful. They turned the ball over 22 times and hit 23 shots from the field for the game. The Seminoles are now 3-3 in the ACC with a tricky road game at Boston College tomorrow afternoon. If they can get to 8-8 in ACC play then they will likely collect an at-large bid. As for Duke, they move again into a virtual tie atop the ACC with a 5-2 record. If they can win at least a share of the regular season title (very likely) and then win the ACC tournament title (much more of an uncertainty) then Duke will be in the 1 seed discussion on Selection Sunday.

#22 Georgia Tech 79, Wake Forest 58
Staying in the ACC, Georgia Tech had maybe their best performance of the season in this annihilation of Wake Forest. Georgia Tech's strength is its frontline while Wake Forest's is its backcourt, so it was essential that the Yellow Jackets dominate the boards and the paint, which they did. Wake Forest had no answer for Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors, who combined to shoot 10-for-16 shooting from the field, 18 rebounds and six blocks. True freshman Brian Oliver also deserves a lot of credit for his second consecutive nice game off the bench (13 points with 3-for-4 shooting behind the arc, coming off a 20 point performance on six three-pointers at Florida State). This is an important win for Georgia Tech to get to 4-3 in the ACC with a road game at Duke their next conference battle, followed by several more very difficult games. As for Wake Forest, it's hard to be too negative about this loss coming off two straight quality victories. They are now 4-3 in the ACC with a relatively easy game next at home against Miami. They will get their chance for revenge at home against Georgia Tech in about three weeks.

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