Pitt Dominates Georgetown

#5 Pittsburgh 72, #19 Georgetown 57
For the first half of this game Georgetown was about as bad as I've ever seen them. They were atrocious defensively and couldn't hit a free throw. Georgetown played better in the second half, but it wasn't remotely enough to come back in this game. Meanwhile, Pitt just played with grueling efficiency, committing three turnovers the entire game. Pitt may not be a spectacular team, and they certainly don't have any All-American type stars (although Brad Wanamaker and Ashton Gibbs both deserve some attention for the All-Big East teams), but they really have no flaws. They are one of only two teams in the nation (Kansas is the other) that I see as not having a real flaw. That doesn't mean that I think Pitt and Kansas are the two best teams, just that they can play with and beat anybody, and you can't beat them if you're not playing well. Georgetown learned that latter point during this game. Pitt moves to 4-0 in the Big East, and after a home game against Seton Hall on Saturday they have a key home game against Syracuse on Monday night. They will not have to play at Syracuse this season, so they can really take a firm grip on the Big East Conference if they can win on Monday night. They do still have to play a home-and-home against Villanova. As for Georgetown, they plummet to 1-4 in Big East play, although they have a chance to bounce right back with a game at Rutgers on Saturday followed by a road game at Seton Hall and a home game against St. John's. With a bunch of big wins out-of-conference (Missouri, Memphis, Utah State, NC State) Georgetown can probably make the Tournament with an 8-10 Big East record, and should lock up a bid if they get to 9-9, but this team is too good to be worrying about potentially being on the bubble. They've got to bounce back before they dig too large of a hole for themselves.

Boston College 75, NC State 66
Reggie Jackson is the one true ACC star that Boston College has, and he was a monster here with 29 points on 9-for-13 shooting, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. BC is tough to beat when he plays like that because the rest of the team doesn't make mistakes. They had 8 turnovers, 15 assists on 27 made baskets, and hit good enough from the free throw line (71%) to hang onto their lead. NC State actually played one of their best games of the season here, but BC was just better. It's another tough loss for a Wolfpack team desperate for a nice win. NC State is 1-1 in the ACC, but that one win was a home victory over Wake Forest, which is as easy as wins will get in the ACC this season. They are 1-5 against the RPI Top 100, and that one win was over George Mason back in November. Their Sagarin ELO_CHESS is 83rd, and they're likely going to have to get to 10-6 in ACC play just to make the Tournament. They head on the road to Florida State on Saturday and then play Duke at home, which will be two chances to get back on the right path with a quality win. Boston College is in much better shape with a 3-0 ACC record and non-conference wins over Texas A&M, Maryland, Providence, California and Indiana, although they also did get swept in their season series against the Ivy League (Yale and Harvard). Their RPI is 32nd and their Sagarin ELO_CHESS is 42nd. They should aim to finish 10-6 or better in the ACC, because if they only finish 9-7 they'll likely enter the ACC tournament with work to do to lock up a Tournament bid. They next head to Miami for a game Saturday evening.

Florida 81, Tennessee 75, OT
Florida's hot shooting (8-for-16 behind the arc) helped overcome some sloppy ball handling (10 steals for Tennessee) to send Tennessee down to 0-2 in SEC play, and now with a home loss against one of their SEC East rivals. Tennessee has to re-evaluate their hopes for this season, because they're in an absolute tailspin. They're now 10-6 overall, and with losses to Oakland, Charlotte, Charleston, USC and Arkansas, those victories over Pitt and Villanova seem really far in the rearview mirror. Tennessee is a bizarre 3-1 against the RPI Top 50 and 3-2 against teams with an RPI of 101+. Their strong strength of schedule has their RPI still at 38th, but their Sagarin ELO_CHESS is 63rd, and both Sagarin and Pomeroy agree that they're only around the 55-60th best team in the nation. They need a win or two just to get back in the Field of 68, and a win won't come easy in the near future with a home game against Vanderbilt on Saturday followed by road games at Georgia and UConn. Of course, we should always expect the unexpected with Tennessee, so I certainly won't be shocked if the Vols come out and beat UConn in their own gym. As for Florida, they do look to have separated themselves as the third best team in the SEC (behind Kentucky and Vanderbilt). They are 2-0 in the SEC and have wins over Florida State, Kansas State and Xavier, with just one bad loss (Jacksonville). Florida should lock up a Tournament bid if they get to 10-6 in SEC play, and they have a chance to run up a few wins in a row now with this upcoming schedule: vs South Carolina, at Auburn, vs Arkansas.