IU 77 UConn 73

"UConn-not beat IU!" says Chris Harrell shortly after the Hoosiers pick up a great road win. That may not read as well as it sounded just minutes after IU picked up the big win. Of course, we were still giddy at that point. I still thought it was worthy as a lead-in to this posting. Had the Hoosiers lost this one, there would be plenty of things to complain about, such as the rebounding, the officiating, the 19-point swing in the first half, the excessive fouling, and the inability to stop the dribble-drive. But they got a big win on the road and that's all that matters. The FT shooting was outstanding at 20-21, including 2-2 by Calloway and 4-4 by Bassett in the final minute. Those were big free throws to step and knock down. Wilmont was unbelievable and D.J. continued to play at a high level. Let's hope there were not any long-term injuries -- Calloway was clearly gimpy and Ratliffe appeared to re-injure his wrist. Hopefully, they will both be available for the Illinois game. Overall Team Performance: A- Again, there are definitely some areas that were less than impressive (especially the rebounding), but anytime you go into UConn and come out with a win, that's always going to be an A- or higher. D.J. White: B+ You'd certainly like D.J. to battle for more than 3 rebounds in a physical game like this, but he was excellent on the offensive end. Even with a 7' 3" guy guarding him, D.J. was still commanding the double-team. I thought he did a nice job of passing out of the double-team -- either for an assist (like the nice one to Mike White for a dunk) or he would pass it back out and then quickly re-post and get the ball in even better post position. He's been looking back in form the last 5 games now. Mike White: B+ "40 Cent" was given his first chance for serious minutes and played pretty well. Again, a common theme on the negative side is that you would have liked to see him come away with more rebounds. But all in all, I thought he played pretty damn good -- a nice dunk, a nice block, a couple other buckets, and 2 very important free throws late in the game. Armon Bassett: B+ Started great and finished great, but the middle was a bit "iffy". Came out of the gate on fire by hitting 3 straight trifectas. Then, at the end of the game, stepped up and calmly hits all 4 free throws in the final few possessions of the game. Those were big-time free throws for a freshman to step up and hit. Roderick Wilmont: A Considering that I said I don't mind him shooting a lot as long as he is hitting around 45%....well, then I certainly don't have a problem with 73%. Led the team in scoring and rebounding with 8-11 FGs, 2-2 FTs, 5-8 3-PT FGs. Also added in 3 steals for good measure. Earl Calloway: B+ Back-to-back games with 8 assists. Pretty gutsy performance because he was clearly in pain and limping in the second half. A.J. Ratliffe: C+ Only 10 minutes and I fear that was because he re-injured his wrist when he got tackled. I was actually surprised the officials called that one a foul. Joey Shaw: B- A couple ugly turnovers late in the game, but overall he played pretty well. Lance Stemler: D Continues to struggle as of late. Bendeman: F Took him 12 seconds to come in and commit a turnover. Can we have that scholarship back please? Poll Questions: 13 out of 17 correctly predicted today's win. 12 votes for Top 25 worthy, 4 votes for maybe, and 1 vote for not just yet. Percentage chance at at least a share of the Big 10 title: the top vote receivers were 20% (6 votes), 30% (4 votes), 70% (2 votes), 0% (2 votes), 60% (1 vote), 40% (1 vote), 10% (1 vote).