Games 654-655: Afternoon/evening doubleheader

655 - Delaware State at Ball State
December 29 at Worthen Arena in Muncie, IN
ESPN +

654 - Gardner-Webb at Wake Forest
December 29 at Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC
ACC Network

In my pre-game notes I wrote down the following in regards to color commentator Stan Lewter:

I'm expecting great things from you saying the word "basketball", Stan Lewter, DON'T LET ME DOWN.

And he did not.

I was anticipating at least a "basketball" per game minute and Lewter provided that and more, saying the word 45 times - 21 in the first half, 24 in the second (1.1/game minute) - during Gardner-Webb's 73-69 victory.

Notable

"value the basketball"
"if you're asking me, that's a basketball play" (said three times in 14 seconds during a first half replay)
"he's played phenomenal basketball"
"a guy who can score the basketball if needed"
"this has been a ragged basketball game" (2)
"that was vintage Gardner-Webb basketball"

Other nonsense

During a time out at the 13:30 mark of a 6-6 game: "don't let this game get out of hand"

"that's an energy play"
"he's been an explosion player"
"when you think of Wake Forest, you think of Arnold Palmer" (you do?)
"make Wake Forest make a passing decision"
"a mental fatigue foul"
"the Bulldogs are barking, they're up one!"

Games 625-626: Thanksgiving Eve doubleheader

626 - Xavier women at Wake Forest
November 21 at Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC
ACC Network

Play-by-play man Brian Rushing, late-second quarter:

" Xavier with a quick, 4-0 outburst."

625 - Georgia State vs. Georgia
November 21 at John Gray Gymnasium in George Town, Cayman Islands
Stadium TV

Considering they were blown out in the semi finals to eventual tournament champion Creighton, GSU's run in the Cayman Islands Classic was extremely successful.

Thanks to eight 3-pointers from 6-8 forward Malik Benlevi, the Panthers had no trouble with in-state rival Georgia, winning 91-67 to grab the third-place trophy.

It's the program's first win over an SEC team since December, 2003 (Auburn), and Benlevi was a huge reason why. The senior was 8-of-11 from behind the arc (GSU as a team was 14-of-25, 56%), and with all-tournament team performer D'Marcus Simonds adding 17 points and eight assists (he averaged 21 points in three tournament games), and Kane Williams contributing 14 points and seven assists (the sophomore point guard averaged 13.3 points & 4.6 assists in the tournament), the Panthers came up with one of their bigger regular season non-conference wins in a while.

Games 368-369: The tournament begins

369 - (11) Wake Forest vs. (11) Kansas State
368 - (16) New Orleans vs. (16) Mount St. Mary's

NCAA First Four
March 14 at University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, OH
TruTV

Mount St. Mary's started the evening with the program's first-ever NCAA win, squeaking by New Orleans 67-66. The Mountaineers, who have been Division I since 1988 and are a 20-win team for just the second time in that span, had been 0-4 previously in the tournament.

The 16-seed draws defending national champion Villanova in Thursday's opening round, and though I fully expect the Wildcats to win, the guard match up could be interesting. Mount St. Mary's has the shortest player in Division I in 5-5 Junior Robinson, and two other really good guards in sophomore Elijah Long and freshman Miles Wilson. Robinson led the way Tuesday with 23 points, and though Long struggled with just six points, Wilson was a huge factor, contributing 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Both Robinson and Wilson never came off the floor.

A big key for Robinson going up against Villanova's Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson will be limiting turnovers. Robinson had six of his team's 16 against New Orleans.

In the nightcap, Kansas State shot a ridiculous 66% (25-of-31 on twos) from the field in a 95-88 victory. Wesley Iwundu was fantastic, scoring 24 points and handing out seven assists, and Kamau Stokes made five threes on his way to 22 points. Wake's Bryant Crawford led the way with a 20-point, 10-assist night.

Kansas State matches up with No. 6 seed Cincinnati in Friday's round of 64.

Game 162 - (13) Wake Forest vs. (12) N.C. State

ACC first round
March 8 at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
ESPN

It was nice to go from Musberger/Fraschilla to real announcers just a few short hours later.

Doris Burke is one of ESPN's best analysts and Sean McDonough is a really good play-by-play man and has been for a long time.

Let's do a comparision to see which DUO comes out on top:

Category No. 1: actually are good announcers

Burke/McDonough (1-0)

2: provide information/analysis instead of old anecdotes/cliches & high school/prep school-name-dropping

Burke/McDonough (up 2-0)

3: actual sense of humor

Burke/McDonough (3-0)

4: mentions gambling and/or point spreads during broadcasts

Musberger/Fraschilla (3-1)

5: not sexist

Burke/McDonough (4-1)



"Well you know, the total was 157!"

- fake Brent Musberger quote

Game 19 - Richmond at Wake Forest

November 18 at Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC
espn3.com

You might think this was a great win (91-82) for Richmond to go and beat an ACC team on the road, but the Spiders are just better than the Demon Deacons. This was just a regular win.

Richmond led only 84-82 with about three minutes to play after Wake freshman Bryant Crawford (game-high 21 points) hit a 3-pointer. It was a miserable final three minutes for Wake, though as the hosts did this with their final five possessions:

1. turnover with 2:27 left
2. bad shot out of time out - 1:50
3. hurried 3-pointer, blocked  - :53
4. jumper, blocked - :28
5. lay up, blocked - :17

Amazingly, those were the only three shots Richmond blocked all night.

Meanwhile, the Richmond offense had a nice night - 46% from three, including 6-of-9 in the second half and 51% overall from the field, including a 17-of-30 performance over the final 20 minutes.