Game 97 - Georgia Tech at Syracuse

January 30 at Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY
ESPNU

Saturday afternoon always seems like a good time for a nice, long list of basketball phrases/nonsense.

"Mid majors on steroids"
"Athleticism-wise"
"SPECimen"
"Draft boards"
"ACC bracketology"
"Effort plays" (said twice)
"Tournament resumes"
"The landscape of college basketball"
"Energy is contagious"
"He's had young legs today"
"Skill set"

And let's quickly play Thanks, Chris!

Here's commentator Chris Spato on

Post play:

"There's just a lot of meat down there...you get meat going after one another!"

His overall thoughts on basketball:

"Talent has to affect winning."

A Tech possession down two with 50 seconds left:

"This is a huge possession."

[all] Thanks, Chris!

Game 96 - Northern Kentucky at Detroit

January 29 at Calihan Hall in Detroit, MI
WADL/espn3



























Games 94 & 95 - Rockdale's improbable sweep

Rockdale HS at Newton HS
January 29 at Newton HS gymnasium in Covington, GA
girls - 94
boys - 95

The boys game provided a perfect example of how the 3-pointer can change everything in a basketball game/contest/barnburner.

Rockdale had made just one from long range through the first three quarters and was down double-digits with a quarter to play, but knocked down five 3-pointers in the fourth. That wasn't even the most memorable highlight for the Bulldogs, who after going down 50-39 with 3:42 left, hit their final three shots from behind the arc & held Newton scoreless the remainder of the game to win a 52-50 thriller.

These teams have now played twice this season with Newton winning 99-94 in overtime on January 8, and Friday, Rockdale getting a Ray Washington go-ahead, foul line jumper with 13 seconds left to pull off the come back and upset.

Newton, which should get to at least the third round of the state playoffs, if not further, had its 14-game winning streak snapped with the loss.

* I'm not even sure that was the biggest shocker of the night. The Rockdale girls had lost 66-27 to Newton in the team's first meeting in early-January, but freshman Diamond Swift scored 17 points and senior Jonai Jackson handed out six assists to go along with 13 points and the Bulldogs pulled off a 58-51 stunner.

Game 93 - Western Illinois at IUPUI

January 29 at Indiana Farmer's Coliseum in Indianapolis, IN
espn3

Game 92 - Georgia State at Arkansas State

January 28 at ASU Convocation Center in Jonesboro, AR
espn3

Well, thank goodness that finally ended.

There's nothing worse than watching your team blow a second half lead, still have a chance to win in the final seconds, not win in the final seconds & then lose in overtime.

GSU led the entire second half (and by as much as 11) until Charles Waters was inexplicably left wide open on an in-bounds play with 11 seconds left for a lay-up and a 57-56 Arkansas State lead.

Inexplicablier, Arkansas State fouled Isaiah Williams at the other end, but Williams only made the front end.

In overtime, the Red Wolves hit 5-of-7 from the field and that was all that horrible, horrible lady wrote.

The time I ran over 173,000 fire ants with a lawnmower and developed rashes over 70% of my body? Better than watching the last 13 minutes of this game.

Game 91 - Samford women at Furman

January 28 at Timmons Arena in Greenville, SC
espn3

I didn't hear the color commentator's last name, but Phil had THIS to say:

"Timmons Arena, not a strawberry festival either to try and get a win."

Phil!

Game 90 - California at Utah

January 27 at Jon Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, UT
ESPN

Game 89 - Cal Irvine at Cal State Northridge

January 27 at Matador Gymnasium in Northridge, CA
espn3

Irvine shot 52 percent from the field and moved to 6-0 in the Big West with a 73-63 victory. 

* 7-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field and scored 14 points.
* Reserve center Ioannis Dimakopoulos, who is only 7-2, blocked six shots & had 13 points, part of a 30-point night for the Irvine bench.
* Guard Luke Nelson handed out eight assists for the Anteaters, who briefly moved a half-game ahead of 5-0 Hawaii in the conference race.

It was also quite a night for Basketball Phrases.

Let's take a look at the bronze medal winner:

(Northridge 13, Irvine 12, 9:25 left in first half) "If anybody's beating Irvine lately, it's Irvine" 

Silver

"Energy plays"
"Posterization"

Gold

"He's out there trying to make a basketball play"

Games 85-88 - High school doubleheaders

87 (g), 88 (b) - Heritage HS at Loganville HS
January 27 at Loganville HS gymnasium in Loganville, GA


85 (g), 86 (b) - Cedar Shoals HS at Salem HS
January 26 at Salem HS gymnasium in Conyers, GA

Just some fabulous art work adorning the walls of the Salem High arena:
















Stories from girls game and boys game

Game 83 - Kansas at Iowa State

January 25 at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, IA
ESPN

According to some pre-game footage, several hundred ISU fans camped out in tents in cold, snowy weather for a WEEK to get into Monday's game.

A week?!

Then we saw fans climbing the steps (and some of them were hustling) to the arena and reporter Holly Rowe said:

"Tells you how special this Big 12 season is, they can't wait to get into this arena."

Now back to 200 Game Season reporter Howie Lowe:

"Tells you how people have been outside in 20 degree weather in TENTS for a week and they can't wait to get inside a warm building."

Thanks, Howie!

Game 82 - North Carolina at Virginia Tech

January 24 at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, VA
ESPN

Excellent job by Virginia Tech to not get blown out of the building when it looked like it was about to, using an 18-3, first-half-ending run to only be down 39-34 at the break.

The game was tied three times over the final 8 1/2 minutes, including at 68-68 on a couple Kerry Blackshear free throws. But Associated Press No. 2 UNC didn't allow a field goal over the final four minutes to remain unbeaten in ACC play (7-0) with a 75-70 win.

UNC overcame another tough shooting night for point guard Marcus Paige (2-for-10 FG & 5-for-35 in his last four) mainly because Brice Johnson was outstanding (19 points, 17 rebounds, three blocks, three steals).

Six of Virginia Tech's first seven conference games have been remarkably close:

N.C. State - won 73-68 in OT
Virginia - won 70-68
(lost 82-58 to Duke)
Wake Forest - won 93-91
Georgia Tech - won 78-77
Notre Dame - lost 83-81
UNC - lost 75-70

Game 81 - Jacksonville at USC-Upstate

January 23 at Hodge Center in Spartanburg, SC
espn3

Just an excellent sentence from play-by-play man Phil Cox:

"He'll get called for a foul, holding onto a Dolphin."

Game 80 - Northwestern at Indiana

January 23 at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, IN
ESPN2

This was my first time seeing Indiana and when the Hoosiers are shooting the ball like they did Saturday (52% FG, 46% 3PT) and in their last game against Illinois (Big 10 record 19 3-pointers), they look like a potential Final Four team.

The 89-57 drubbing wasn't close at any point. IU went up 10-0 early and Northwestern never recovered. This was Indiana's 12th consecutive win and it stayed unbeaten (7-0) in league play.

Newest Scoochie Smith All star, Yogi Ferrell, led the way for IU with 17 points and six assists.


1. "timeout on the floor"

Can timeouts be called anywhere else besides the court?

Do we have people trying to call a timeout from one of the concession areas?

Everything happens on the floor!

2. Color commentator Sean Harrington, you're up:

"You can't make tradition, you either have it or you don't."

Pardon?

Game 79 - Indiana Pacers at Golden State Warriors

January 22 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA
ESPN

Fantastic night for Stephen Curry, who recorded a triple-double - 39 points (8-of-15 on threes), 12 assists and 10 rebounds - as the Warriors won 122-110.

Also a great night for Myles Turner, who came off the Pacers' bench to score 31 points in 27 minutes, knocking down 12 of his 17 field goal attempts. It was just way too much Curry and Draymond Green (22 points, 10-of-15, 11 rebounds).

Golden State's incredible start continued as the Warriors improved to 40-4 and have won by an average margin of 25 1/2 points.

Game 78 - Yale at Brown

January 22 at Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, RI
Ivy League Digital Network

Scoochie Smith All Stars

Let's welcome new members Sem Kroon, a sophomore forward from Yale, and Brown freshman guard Obi Okolie.


The team

Game 77 - Saint Peter's women at Manhattan

January 21 at Draddy Gymnasium in Riverdale, NY
espn3.com

Heard a few things I have some questions about during the broadcast of this 64-47 Manhattan win.

1. "assist-maker"

No one is making assists. It's not an apple pie.

A few other options: assist accumulator, assist collector, or my current favorite: assist enthusiast.

2. "the old adage in sports - offense sells tickets, defense wins championships"

I've heard the defense part so often I openly root for defense to lose championships. The offense part I guess I've heard a few times, but the two together? It sounds more like two separate adages brought together to form a brand-new adage.

3. "you can't teach 6-4" (said twice)

But what if you could?

What if you could teach someone to stand six feet, four inches?

Then we'd inevitably have people teaching 6-5, and 6-6.

I'd want to get into coaching and start teaching 4-7.

4. "Draddy Gymnasium"

After a bit of research I learned it's named after Manhattan alumnus Vincent dePaul Draddy, but it's still a horrible name for anything.

And they really missed out on calling it Vinnie Gym.

Game 76 - Central Florida at South Florida

January 20 at Sun Dome in Tampa, FL
ESPNNEWS

I'm just going to be completely honest, it was not pleasant watching South Florida play basketball. I understand they've had some injuries and weren't very good (9-23) last year either, but it may be time to boycott USF games until they learn to shoot.

If I wanted to watch someone shoot poorly for 40 minutes and need 11 timeouts to catch their (his) breath, I would've videotaped my game last month against my brother-in-law (7-6 loss). 

Looking at the final box it looks like USF shot 32 percent from the field, though it seemed much lower. If I had to guess the Bulls' brick percentage (B%), I'd go with 86%.

Anyway, despite all of that, Central Florida still couldn't put the game away.

The Golden Knights had a 14-point lead at the 12-minute mark, but USF pulled to within 52-48 late. A.J. Davis was excellent in the second half, scoring 20 of his 22 points in the Knights' 64-54 win.

* UCF got 34 points from its bench, 12 of which came from Chance McSpadden, the newest member of the Scoochie Smith All Stars.

Games 74 & 75 - The Michael Green Show

Salem HS at Heritage HS
January 19 at Curtis Bell Gymnasium in Conyers, GA
girls - 74
boys - 75

After the Heritage girls built a lead as large as 16 points & hung on for a 40-35 victory, Michael Green took over the nightcap.

The Salem guard scored a career-high 36 points on 13-of-19 shooting and the Seminoles won a thriller, 63-62 in overtime.

Green is an unsigned senior, but he'll find a collegiate home and Tuesday he put on a show for any potential scouts in attendance. Green scored all 13 of Salem's first-quarter points and 16 of its 19 in the opening half, nailing his first four 3-pointers.

He added 17 more in the second half, then drained a huge three with 1:20 left in the extra session (he finished 7-of-8 from behind the arc) to get Salem to within 62-61. Green's back court mate, Devonate Hedgespeth, hit the eventual winning free throws with five seconds to play. It was the Seminoles' fourth consecutive win and it pulled them even with their cross town rivals at 7-3 in Region 8-AAAAA.

Since starting the year 15-1, Heritage has dropped four straight.

Games 68 & 69 - Home teams roll

Heritage HS at Brookwood HS
January 12 at Brookwood HS gymnasium in Snellville, GA

The Brookwood basketball teams had no problem picking up non-region victories over Heritage on Tuesday.

* N'dea Jones, an unsigned junior with plenty of high-Division I looks, had 28 points and 13 rebounds as the Brookwood girls won 51-29.

Jones, who I'd imagine will end up somewhere in the SEC or ACC, scored six of those points during an 11-0 run that turned a four-point deficit into a 17-10 lead early in the second quarter. The Broncos' cushion wouldn't fall below five points the rest of the night.

* Donald Parham was one of six in double figures in a 96-68 victory in the boys nightcap. It was the most points Brookwood has scored since also getting 96 in a win over Athens Christian in November, 2013.

The Gwinnett County school went just 7-19 a year ago, but thanks to excellent guard play, including Parham and Trae Higginbotham (16 points) the 12-5 Broncos' have nearly doubled their win total from last season & with a month still to go in the regular season.

* Let's also welcome newest Scoochie Smith All Star, Rawlings Aibangbee of Brookwood.

Games 65 & 66 - Newton HS at Rockdale HS

January 8 at Cleveland Stroud Gymnasium in Conyers, GA
girls - 65
boys - 66

Tonight's boys nightcap was one of the best games we've seen so far at 200 Game Season, regardless of level of competition.

That isn't easy for me to say considering about 90% of the time I'd rather have a koala bear chew off one of my toes than watch high school basketball.

Honestly, the percentage is closer to about 88%, but all it really takes to produce a good high school basketball game is great guard play, and there was plenty of that on Friday:

- Newton freshman Ashton Hagans scored a career-high 28 points, including having a hand in 10 of the Rams' 14 overtime points in a 99-94 victory. Hagans already has a collegiate offer from the University of Georgia.

Newton coach Rick Rasmussen called the 6-3 guard one of the best freshmen in the state of Georgia, and it's hard to argue with that statement after a performance like this one. Hagans needs to develop a jump shot, because right now he's a drive & shoot-or-pass player on the offensive end, but he's got 3 1/2 YEARS to do that, and he's already a very good defender. Amazing talent.

- His teammate, J.D. Notae, added 27 points. The junior was throwing up in the locker room at halftime, didn't accompany the team to the bench for the third quarter, then proceeded to score seven straight Newton points in the third.

- Rockdale's Jalen Jordan was outstanding as well, pouring in a game-high 32 points. Jordan, a senior, doesn't have any official collegiate offers, but Clayton State was in attendance for this one and there's no doubt he'll make a Division II or III school very happy.

Games 63 & 64 - Loganville HS at Heritage HS

January 5 at Curtis Bell Gymnasium in Conyers, GA
girls - 63
boys - 64

This man
















didn't stop yelling for the entire first half of the girls game. Let's take a look at what he said:

"Talk!" (said three times)
"Stop the ball!"
"Got to move!"
"In rhythm!"
"Rhythm!" (3)
"Look at the defense!"
"You gotta go up with that!"
"Bend your knees!"
"Turnover!"
"Wide open, wide open!" (4)
"Let's go now, let's play!"
"Take them out of the game!" (3)
"Get under control!" (2)
"Under control!" (4)
"Slow down!" (3)
"There it is!" (2)
"Let's go!" (5)
"Find the line!"
"Flow of the game!" (2)

Game 62 - Colorado at Stanford

January 3 at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, CA
ESPN

Colorado built a lead as large as 16 points a little over two minutes into the second half, yet had to hang on for a 56-55 win.

The Buffaloes made only three field goals over the final 10 minutes, allowing the hosts to get it to that one-point deficit. But the real story was the Colorado defense, which permitted just 31% from the field.

Great night for post player Michael Humphrey (19 points, 8-of-15 from field), but his Stanford teammates were a combined 9-for-39 (23%).

Also a big night for one of the Pac 12's finest players in Josh Scott (14 points, 14 rebounds), who led Colorado to its fifth consecutive win in the series. The last four have come by the following margins: 1, 5, 3, 2.

Game 61 - Houston at Temple

January 2 at Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, PA
ESPN

That may have been the best team performance we've seen so far at 200 Game Season. From about midway through the first half the Cougars were impressive and won 77-50.

That's two road games to start AAC play (South Florida was the other) and Houston won both.

Rob Gray Jr. was at the center of everything Houston did on Saturday, getting into the lane and finishing with 5-6 foot shots and knocking down perimeter jumpers (3-of-6 from three), to lead the way with 23 points. Gray also handed out six assists and committed just one turnover.

Houston was 54 percent (31-of-57) from the floor.

Meanwhile, Temple went the opposite way, missing 23 of 26 three-point attempts and never really got anything going.

Houston's 20-3 run towards the end of the half effectively put an end to any hope for a Temple win.