The No. 10 Villanova Wildcats and No. 19 Butler Bulldogs both suffered surprising losses at home over the weekend in Big East play. As a result, both will be looking to start new win streaks when they clash at Hinkle Fieldhouse. With both teams being near the top of the Big East standings, seeding for next month’s conference tournament could be greatly impacted by the outcome of this matchup.
Villanova (17-4, 7-2) had its seven-game win streak snapped in its last game, dropping a 76-61 decision to Creighton. Despite 18 points from Collin Gillespie, the Wildcats could not get things going offensively in the loss. Villanova shot just 7-for-26 from three-point range, with Creighton outperforming Jay Wright’s squad from beyond the arc throughout the game. Against a Butler team that allows under 60 points per game on average this season, Villanova will hope to avoid similar struggles against another tough Big East defense.
Butler (17-5, 5-4) also lost at home over the weekend, dropping a 65-61 game against the Providence Friars. That loss snapped a two-game win streak for the Bulldogs, whose struggles from three-point range made all the difference in that game. Butler shot 1-for-14 from three-point range, which severely limited the effectiveness of its offense. Against a dangerous Villanova team, Butler’s offense will need to be productive to avoid putting too much strain on a defense that is typically reliable.
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Think back to the end of February 2018 real quick. What were you doing?
Personally I was only a couple months into being a first-time home owner and adjusting to life as that and (finally) having a dog to call my own for the first time in my life (shoutout to Ned).
The end of February 2018 was the last time Notre Dame won two straight ACC contests, by beating Wake Forest and Pittsburgh. At last we can now say that unfortunate streak is done.
Notre Dame’s offense was again lights out Saturday, being key in an 80-72 win over Georgia Tech. Graduate senior Rex Pfluger tied his season-high 13 points with a couple of those field goals being huge down the stretch.
John Mooney did what John Mooney tends to do, putting up a double-double with 28 points and 10 rebounds while Temple Gibbs had a huge offensive showing, putting up 19 points himself.
Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner left impressed with the Fighting Irish offense after seeing it up-close for a second time this season:
“A really, really good offense” Pastner said after the game, “maybe the best offensive team in this league”.
If I only saw this team play twice and they scored 158 in those two games I would probably think similarly.
Dane Goodwin added 14 points for that Notre Dame offense while also being lock-down defensively.
Notre Dame improved to 13-8 overall and 4-6 in ACC with the victory. The Irish return to the court Wednesday to host Pitt who a win over would mean Notre Dame’s first three game ACC winning streak since the first week of 2018. Pitt will bring an identical 4-6 conference mark to Purcell Pavilion on Wednesday.
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The NCAA, as we all know, is made up of a collection of spineless ghouls whose main job is to figure out how to make sure none of the billions of dollars made by college athletes ever goes near any of the “student-athletes” and to level mind-boggling punishments if something even seems like it might help a kid or their family out.
Seriously, the sooner the NCAA goes away the better, as anyone who has even a small pocketful of common sense can agree with.
The latest idiotic move came Wednesday when the spineless ghouls suspended Memphis star basketball player James Wiseman for 12 games and, here’s the kicker, ordered him to donate $11,500 to charity.
LOL.
I mean, how rich is that by the spineless ghouls? Fining an amateur “student-athlete” just under $12 grand! Memphis is appealing this ruling but we all know how that will go.
This all happened because Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway paid for Wiseman and his family to move to Memphis in 2017. Hardaway was coaching a high school team at the time, not Memphis. Well, the NCAA decided since Hardaway donated $1 million bucks to Memphis in 2008 that he was considered a booster and this move was illegal. Because of course.
Wiseman now has to miss a bunch of games and donate all that money, which the NCAA figured covered the expenses of his move.
I obviously have nothing wrong with donating money to charity but if I’m Wiseman, I politely tell the spineless ghouls to shove their punishment you-know-where and I walk away from college basketball – because the best players don’t need this broken plan to get to the NBA.
Wiseman is expected to be one of the top picks in next summer’s NBA draft. What does one year of unpaid basketball that is ruled by people making tons of money and rule with an iron fist, have to do for his future? Absolutely nothing.
Basketball players, unlike football players, don’t need the NCAA. Football players are stuck because there’s no other way to get to the NFL.
There are more options now than ever for the best basketball players in the world to skip college and take another route. LaMelo Ball seems to be doing just fine making money and helping is draft stock while playing in ball in the NBL, a pro league in Australia and New Zealand.
Other star players have taken that route, too. Some players have taken the year off to train for the NBA draft, which makes a ton of sense.
These days a good year with a good college program doesn’t mean all that much. Everybody knows the best freshmen entering college basketball each year and their draft stock pretty much stays the same throughout the year.
Risking injury while not getting paid for a year doesn’t seem ideal. Can the college hoops experience still be a fun? Absolutely. Zion Williamson enjoyed it last year and was thankfully able to get out without a serious injury.
But the NCAA no longer deserves the best players in the world. Which they proved again with this situation in Memphis.
If I’m Wiseman, I call the NCAA and just laugh until they hang up the phone.
Wednesday’s biggest winner: Luka Doncic.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
The Mavs star continued his ridiculously good start to the season Wednesday night by scoring more points, collecting more rebounds, and handing out more assists in the first quarter than the entire Golden State Warriors team had in those opening 12 minutes. That’s just nuts. He also put up some other impressive numbers in the Mavs’ blowout win over the really sad Warriors.
Quick hits: Jerry Jones’ wild tale… Jackson and Ingram share special moment… Simmons finally hits 3… And more!
– An ump in a youth baseball game stormed off the field and left after some awful parents said some awful things. Seriously, these parents are the worst.
(Follow me on Twitter at @anezbitt. It might change your life. Just don’t tell me about your fantasy team.)
