Photo: Used Car Salesman, Rick Pitino

The Washington Post had an article on the 18-1 SMU basketball program. They were the nation’s last unbeaten team through most of December until they lost on the road at Temple. Regardless of their final record, they will not be getting an invitation to the Big Dance in March. The Mustangs are banned from postseason play for having an assistant coach take on-line exams for a high school recruit. Coach Larry Brown was caught lying, too, and the cover-up was on. Brown was suspended for the first nine games by the NCAA for a lack of institutional control. Now, they are playing, essentially, a meaningless season with a squad that could have made a run in March. Continue reading Foot Dragging Makes For Basketball Tournament Farce →

This was a game that left Pioneer hoops fans in an optimistic mood and showed why this is a young team worth watching. A good crowd (3,020), the first of the season, created an energy that inspired the Pioneers (11-11) to hang tough against a veteran program. DU, playing against the senior laden, league leading South Dakota State Jackrabbits (18-5) fought toe to toe before the game slipped away in the final few minutes.

Joe Scott went to the bigger, more athletic lineup with C.J. Bobbitt at center, Marcus Byrd at the wing, and gave Thomas Neff, Jake Holtzmann and Jake Pemberton meaningful minutes. DU’s improved length helped on defense but cold shooting and rebounding proved the difference again. Continue reading Pios Play South Dakota State Tough in 56-67 loss →

The Pioneers (11-10, 3-5 Summit), led by hot shooting freshman Thomas Neff and senior Marcus Byrd, took down the South Dakota Coyotes (10-12, 2-6 Summit) 66-52 at Magness Arena. The Pioneers overcame 19 turnovers with 31 rebounds and 50+% shooting from the field and 3-point land to polish off a cold shooting SD squad. The Pioneers led from the start with solid defense and held the lead the entire game. South Dakota employed a pesky press throughout the game forcing turnovers and shot clock violations but cold shooting and turnovers by the visitors eliminated any chance they had for a comeback. Continue reading DU Shoots Down South Dakota 66-52 →

Photo: Carl Bauer Photography

At the UNO game yesterday,  Dallas Walton a 6’10” high school recruit was spotted in attendance. He is being pursued by DU and Wyoming. In fact, a recruiting website, Verbal Commits, has shown DU has held an interest in Dallas for a number of years.

According to a recent article in SB Nation, University of Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh  planned and participated in a slumber party at a kicking recruit’s house.  Quinn Nordin is the nation’s leading high school kicker and he is a prized recruit of Penn State. “He said we can watch a movie, see how well we gel and he said he would sleep over after that,” Nordin told Scout.com. Apparently, things like commitments don’t mean much in big stakes recruiting so Harbaugh pushed the boundaries of the NCAA recruiting ‘dead period’ that ended at midnight and invited himself over for a slumber party to seal the deal.  Continue reading Sleeping Over With Recruits →

A confident UNO (13-7, 5-1 Summit) squad rolled into Denver (10 – 10, 2-5 Summit) on a 4-game road winning streak. The Mavericks, one of the highest scoring teams in the country with 85.9 points per game, were held to just 69 points but DU could only piece together 55 points of their own on a cold shooting night. The Mavs extended their road winning streak to an impressive 5 games.

Having watched IUPUI, South Dakota State, and IPFW -the league favorites, UNO has to be one of the favorites to win the regular season Summit League title. Their athleticism, inside game, and interior defense were the difference in this one. Senior forward Jake White was the star of the game for UNO with 29 points and 9 rebounds. Continue reading Double Digit Home Loss a … Positive →

Photo: A confident non-starter, Senior Kyler Erickson

A solid UNO squad (12-7, 4-1 Summit) invade Magness Arena tonight. They have played Missouri, Colorado, and Minnesota tough and were, clearly, the most underrated team in the Summit Conference heading into the season.

In today’s edition of Omaha.com, a highly confident Senior Kyler Erickson said: “Traditionally, you want to split on the road,” he said, “but I think our attitude this weekend (against Denver & Oral Roberts) is we’re going to go and get two games. We’re going to knock those two teams out. That’s who we are, and that’s what we do.” Continue reading Visitors Brimming with Confidence →

Source: IUPUI Athletics

INDIANAPOLIS – The IUPUI basketball team put together a 17-0 run spanning two halves to blast past Denver inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Saturday (Jan. 16), 76-61. The Jaguars shot a blistering 69 percent from the floor and 8-of-12 (66.7 percent) from three-point range in the victory. Senior Marcellus Barksdalepaced four Jags in double-digits with a season-high 19 points and junior Darell Combs added 16 on 5-of-6 shooting. Junior Matt O’Leary chimed in with 11 andJordan Pickett added 10 points and four assists off the bench. Continue reading JAGS RIDE BIG RUN TO ROLL PAST DENVER, 76-61 →