Role players come up big as Hoyas cruise
November 30, 2009
WASHINGTON (AP)—Julian Vaughn and Jason Clark are making plenty of noisein their supporting roles for No. 16 Georgetown.
In his customary spotlight, Greg Monroe led the Hoyas with a season-high 19points and 11 rebounds, but Vaughn added a career-high 14 points and matched hiscareer best with eight rebounds and three blocks in Georgetown’s 83-62 win overMount St. Mary’s on Monday night.
Clark, after setting career highs for points in his previous two games,added 12 points and four steals. He was a key defensive weapon for the Hoyas(5-0), who built a 20-point cushion by opening the second half with an 11-2 run.
Mount St. Mary's Kristijan… AP – Nov 30, 10:04 pm EST Georgetown's Jason Clark g… AP – Nov 30, 10:04 pm EST
Georgetown's Greg Monroe (… AP – Nov 30, 10:03 pm EST
Mount St. Mary's head coac… AP – Nov 30, 10:02 pm EST
Georgetown head coach John Tho… AP – Nov 30, 9:56 pm EST
Georgetown's Jerrelle Beni… AP – Nov 30, 9:44 pm EST
Georgetown's Chris Wright … AP – Nov 30, 9:36 pm EST
Georgetown's Julian Vaughn… AP – Nov 30, 9:32 pm EST
Georgetown's Henry Sims, r… AP – Nov 30, 8:26 pm EST
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“(Vaughn and Clark) are in their second year now,” Georgetown coach JohnThompson III said. “You see the growth, you see the development, you see theircomfort level is higher. Their teammates’ confidence in them and theirconfidence in themselves is better right now.”
Chris Wright scored a season-high 18 points for the Hoyas, who improved to21-5 against Mount St. Mary’s.
After the Mountaineers cut it to 55-44 with 9:30 left, Monroe scored sevenstraight points during a 17-5 Georgetown run to put the game away. The spurtstarted with a basket by Vaughn.
Jean Cajou scored 16 points and Tayvon Jackson added 11 for the Mountaineers(3-3), who turned the ball over five times in the first four-plus minutes of thesecond half. They struggled against the Hoyas’ size and tight perimeter defense.
“We played a very good team today,” Mountaineers coach Milan Brown said.“Their size was able to bother us sometimes on the open looks that we hadinside and they were still able to contest some of the shots that we had fromthe perimeter.”
Vaughn, a junior who transferred from Florida State before the 2008-09season, was the Hoyas’ best big man for much of the night. Thompson called him a“presence,” a phrase not often used during his first season with the team.
“(Last year) I put pressure on myself, but this year I definitely learnedto relax,” said Vaughn, who scored eight points in the second half. “I workedreally hard this summer and I think I’m just trying to make sure it pays off byrelaxing and playing hard.”
In a quickly played first half—only four combined fouls were called andone free throw was taken—the Hoyas outscored the Mountaineers 16-8 over thefinal 9:08 to lead 40-29.
Wright hit three from beyond the arc and paced the Hoyas with 11 pointswhile Monroe finished with nine points and seven rebounds. Cajou matchedWright’s point total, hitting all three of his 3-point attempts in the half, butthe Hoyas adjusted.
“For the second game in a row in the first half, we did not protect the3-point line,” Thompson said. “I think at the start of the second half ourguys did a very good job of that, covering for each other, closing out andmaking sure they didn’t get off shots.”
Georgetown concludes its three-game homestand Saturday against American,while Mount St. Mary’s continues a season-long seven-game road trip Thursday atRobert Morris.
Huskers seek upset in Big 12 title game
November 30, 2009
OMAHA, Neb. (AP)—Nebraska coach Bo Pelini has led the No. 21 Cornhuskersto a second straight nine-win season and into Saturday’s Big 12 championshipgame against No. 3 Texas.
An upset of the Longhorns at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, would putNebraska in a BCS bowl just two years after the Huskers hit bottom in BillCallahan’s final year. Some might say reaching the Big 12 title game putsPelini’s rebuilding job right on schedule.
“Well,” Pelini said Monday, “it’s behind schedule as far as I’m concernedbecause I was hoping to get there last year and it just didn’t happen.”
The Huskers tied Missouri for first place in the North Division in 2008 butlost the head-to-head meeting. This year, Nebraska (9-3, 6-2) won the North bytwo games.
Since a two-week stretch in which the Huskers suffered shocking losses athome to Texas Tech and Iowa State, they’ve rolled off five straight wins. One ofthe nation’s best defenses and strong special teams have covered for a scufflingoffense that ranks 92nd in the nation.
“Our best football is still out there to be played,” Pelini said. “Attimes we’re playing really well, other times we’re not as consistent. On anygiven day you have to be ready to do what’s necessary to win a football game,depending on the circumstances. We’ve been able to rise up and get that done,and we need to continue to do that Saturday night.”
The Huskers are two-touchdown underdogs. Regardless of the outcome, the41-year-old Pelini has done what athletic director Tom Osborne asked of him.
Osborne wanted a coach with strong defensive credentials, one who couldmotivate and inspire confidence in the players and one who understands thetradition of the program and its importance to the state.
Pelini, the defensive coordinator at Nebraska in 2003 and later at Oklahomaand LSU, has overseen the transformation of the moribund 2007 defense into aunit that this year ranked in the top 10 most of the season and was led byOutland Trophy and Lombardi Award finalist Ndamukong Suh.
Practices are much more rigorous than they were under Callahan, who gavestarters most of the work and emphasized repetition over teaching.
Pelini also has a grasp of the Nebraska tradition, which includes anNCAA-record 304 consecutive sellouts, an emphasis on winning without shortcutsand a reverence for the walk-on program developed by Bob Devaney and fostered byOsborne.
Texas coach Mack Brown said Nebraska’s glorious past made it difficult forhim to believe the Huskers would remain irrelevant for long on the nationalscene. And the coach said no one should forget that the Huskers went 9-5 in 2006and played in the Big 12 championship game.
“Nebraska is one of those programs that’s never going to be out of sightand mind long,” Brown said. “It’s one of those helmets—when you see the ‘N’or the Longhorn on it, everybody knows who they are. You don’t have to ask whois playing this weekend.”
Pelini said his job has been made easier by the quality of Nebraska’sfacilities and the administration’s support. But he still had to repair thepsychological damage from a steady diet of beatdowns in 2007—41-6 to Missouri,45-14 to Oklahoma State, 76-39 to Kansas.
The players began understanding and executing Pelini’s defensive system bythe middle of last season, and the Huskers won six of their last seven games,including an impressive win over Clemson in the Gator Bowl.
“I believe in culture and how you go about things—not necessarily whatyou do but how you do it,” Pelini said. “You have to build trust betweenplayers and coaches, build rapport and, beyond that, teach them well. We’ve beenable to do that.”
Now the Huskers are in position to win their first conference title since1999.
And not a moment too soon, according to Pelini.
“I came in here wanting to win football games and compete forchampionships,” Pelini said. “We have a chance to compete for one Saturdaynight.”
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Mike Stoops doesn’t want to face brother
November 30, 2009
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP)—Memo to the Sun Bowl: the Stoops brothers would prefer notto face each other in El Paso.
With speculation swirling about Arizona’s bowl destination, Mike Stoops saidhe hopes the Wildcats won’t have to play brother Bob Stoops’ Oklahoma Sooners inthe Sun Bowl, one of two bowls pitting the Pac-10 and Big 12.
Mike Stoops said a bowl matchup between Arizona (7-4, 5-3 Pac-10) andOklahoma (7-5, 5-3 Big 12) would be “something we would try to avoid at allcosts.
“I don’t think it would be fun for either one of us,” Mike Stoops said athis weekly campus news conference on Monday. “I think it would be veryuncomfortable for probably everyone.
“That wouldn’t be ideal for us, but obviously you’ve got to look beyondthat for the possibilities,” he said. “So we’ll cross that bridge Sunday.”
Pac-10 bowl pairings are expected to be announced on Sunday.
Speaking in Norman, Okla., Bob Stoops echoed his brother’s comments.
“We would both prefer not to,” Bob Stoops said. “That’s it. It isn’t abig deal. If we have to, we have to. It’s not a big deal. That’s not a factor inthe bowl process.”
Mike Stoops served on Bob Stoops’ staff at OU before taking over at Arizonaafter the 2003 season. They have not faced each other as college head coaches.
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Alabama RB Ingram will play vs. Florida
November 30, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP)—Mark Ingram said his bruised hip is fine and he will“most definitely” be ready for the Southeastern Conference championship gameagainst No. 1 Florida.
No. 2 Alabama’s tailback was injured in the fourth quarter against Auburn onFriday and played a limited role on the Crimson Tide’s final winning drive in a26-21 win. Coach Nick Saban said the Heisman Trophy contender would practiceMonday but might be held out of contact drills.
Ingram was held to 30 yards on 16 carries against the Tigers, easily hisroughest outing of the season.
He said Auburn defenders made it hard for him to get any space by puttingeight or nine defenders near the line of scrimmage.
Ingram had an extra day to rest after the game and says his “body feelsgreat.”
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BYU QB Hall apologizes for remarks
November 30, 2009
PROVO, Utah (AP)—BYU quarterback Max Hall is apologizing for comments hemade after the Cougars beat in-state rival Utah.
After BYU’s 26-23 overtime win on Saturday Hall called the University ofUtah and its fans classless and said the school deserved to lose. He made theremarks in the midst of complaining about the way his family was treated by Utahfans at the 2008 game at Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium. Hall said fans dumped beeron his family and did a “whole bunch of nasty things.”
Hall issued a statement Sunday saying that in the heat of the moment he madecomments about the entire university and all its fans that were really directedat the fans from last year’s game.
The Mountain West Conference issued a public reprimand for Hall on Monday.
Florida’s Strong among Broyles finalists
November 30, 2009
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP)—Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong is one offive finalists for the Broyles Award, which goes to the nation’s top assistantcoach.
None of the finalists has lost a game this season. The others are: Alabamadefensive coordinator Kirby Smart, Boise State offensive coordinator BryanHarsin, Cincinnati offensive coordinator Jeff Quinn and Texas Christiandefensive coordinator Dick Bumpas.
The winner will be announced Dec. 8 in Little Rock. The Broyles Award isnamed for former Arkansas coach Frank Broyles. More than 25 of his assistantsbecame head coaches. They include Joe Gibbs, Jimmy Johnson and Johnny Majors.
Strong and Bumpas were finalists a year ago, when Oklahoma offensivecoordinator Kevin Wilson won the award.
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Syracuse’s Marrone fires 3 assistants
November 30, 2009
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP)—Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone has fired three coaches,just two days after the Orange’s season ended in a demoralizing loss toConnecticut.
Offensive coordinator Rob Spence, wide receivers coach Jamie Elizondo anddefensive line coach Derrick Jackson will not be retained, the university saidin a two-sentence statement.
Marrone was on a recruiting trip and unavailable for comment.
In Marrone’s first year, Syracuse finished with a 4-8 overall record and was1-6 in the Big East for the third straight year after the 56-31 loss to theHuskies on Saturday.
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Bob Stoops brushes off Notre Dame rumors
November 30, 2009
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)—It didn’t take Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops long to takehimself out of the running for the Notre Dame job.
Stoops said Monday he plans to stay at Oklahoma “hopefully for a goodwhile” and won’t be interviewing for any coaching positions after his worstregular season in 11 years with the Sooners.
“What I’m saying is I’m going to be at Oklahoma next year, so I can’t be intwo places at once,” Stoops said on a conference call.
Stoops’ name surfaced weeks ago as a potential replacement for Charlie Weis,who was fired Monday following five mostly lackluster seasons at Notre Dame.Stoops responded to the earlier reports by saying “Notre Dame has a coach, andI have a great job”—a comment some believed left the door open for him toleave once Weis was fired.
Stoops left no doubt this time.
“I fully intend to be at Oklahoma, and hopefully for a good while,” hesaid. “You never know what the good Lord brings you but in the end I couldn’tbe more excited about—even through a tough year—the good, quality kids we’reworking with (and) the great people that I work with daily in ouradministration.
“I can’t help what’s said, but in the end, again, I couldn’t be moreexcited and pleased about what we’re doing here and what the future holds.”
Stoops is under contract with Oklahoma through the end of 2015 afteragreeing to a two-year extension earlier this year. That deal, loaded withincentives aimed at keeping him with the Sooners, is one of the richest incollege football and would pay him more than $30 million—or about $4.3 millionannually—if he were to stay for the full term.
Last year, he collected a $3 million bonus for remaining as the Soonerscoach for 10 years. Under the new contract, Stoops receives a $700,000 staybonus at the end of every year with an additional $800,000—for a total of $1.5million—if he is still the Sooners’ coach on Jan. 1, 2011.
The contract also includes incentives for championships, bowl games and highgraduation rates.
Stoops said he plans to stay as long as university leaders agree.
“What I am saying is I intend to be at Oklahoma. That’s the only placeright now—yes—what I’m looking to do,” Stoops said. “I will never confirmor deny whether I talk or (do) not talk to anybody. And I won’t be interviewingfor any jobs.”
Stoops is 116-29 in his time at Oklahoma, leading the Sooners to seven BCSgames and one national championship. With injuries to Heisman Trophy winner SamBradford, tight end Jermaine Gresham and numerous others, he lost five games inthe regular season for the first time as a head coach. Oklahoma is awaiting aninvitation to a bowl game.
Stoops passed on the chance to say why he preferred to coach at Oklahomaover Notre Dame.
“I’m not favoring anything over anything else,” Stoops said. “What I’msaying is I couldn’t be more happy and pleased with what we’re doing here. Andagain, I’m not confirming or denying anything about Notre Dame or any other job.My point is this is what I love doing right now.”
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Oklahoma’s Stoops brushes off ND rumors
November 30, 2009
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)—Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops says he fully intends to be atOklahoma “hopefully for a good while” amid rumors that he could be a candidatefor the Notre Dame job.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Stoops said: “I’m going to be at Oklahomanext year, so I can’t be at two places at once.”
Notre Dame fired coach Charlie Weis on Monday. Stoops is coming off theworst regular season in his 11 years with the Sooners, losing five games for thefirst time. He has led Oklahoma to seven BCS games and one nationalchampionship.
He is under contract with the Sooners through 2015.
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Cousins has 24 as No. 5 Kentucky rolls
November 30, 2009
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)—DeMarcus Cousins scored a season-high 24 points andgrabbed 10 rebounds to lead No. 5 Kentucky to an easy 94-57 win overUNC-Asheville on Monday night.
John Wall added 12 points and a school freshman-record 14 assists, whilePatrick Patterson had 17 points and nine boards as the Wildcats (7-0) cruisedduring their annual appearance at Freedom Hall.
Sean Smith led UNC-Asheville (0-6) with 19 points, but the Bulldogs werehardly more than bystanders for most of the night against the bigger, deeperWildcats.
Kentucky had little trouble getting out on the break, where Wall dazzledwith a series of alley-oop passes to his teammates while adding a couple ofhighlight-reel dunks himself.
During a dizzying 29-6 burst midway through the second half the Wildcatsconverted five straight dunks—all on alley-oop passes from Wall.
Even better for the Wildcats heading into a showdown with No. 10 NorthCarolina on Saturday may have been their crisp ball-handling.
Kentucky came in averaging 18.6 turnovers a game, a number coach JohnCalipari attributed to his team’s inexperience as it learns his“dribble-drive” offense. The Wildcats gave it away just eight times againstthe Bulldogs while handing out 28 assists on 36 field goals.
It’s the kind of unselfish play Calipari has been preaching since the seasonbegan, though it came against the overmatched Bulldogs, who lost to No. 11Tennessee by 75 points two weeks ago.
Kentucky didn’t come close to matching the Volunteers point for point, butshowed plenty of flashes of potential.
Following a series of early season scares—including an overtime escapeagainst Stanford in the Cancun Challenge finals last week—Kentucky played withthe kind of dominance Calipari said would come as soon as his young squadstarted figuring things out.
The Wildcats certainly looked like they “got it” when Wall was on thefloor. He looked for his teammates early and only tried to shoot when theopportunity was too good to pass up.
He kept feeding Cousins in the second half in an effort to help the freshmancenter shake off a somewhat lackluster performance in Mexico. Cousins had hisway with the Bulldogs in the lane as Kentucky used its size to outreboundUNC-Asheville 44-31. The Wildcats found plenty of easy looks to go around andconnected on 52 percent of their shots.
The Bulldogs at least got off to a better start than they did againstTennessee, when they made just two field goals in the first half while fallingbehind the Volunteers by 52 at the break.
UNC-Asheville had two baskets by the first media timeout, though theBulldogs were never really in danger of making it a game.
Wall did his best to provide a little entertainment for what figures to behis only game at Freedom Hall during his collegiate career.
He threw down a wicked reverse dunk on a break and followed it up momentslater with another slam after a steal. UNC-Asheville’s J.P. Primm didn’t evenbother chasing Wall down the court, trotting once Wall got behind him as theKentucky star swooped in for the jam.
Wall wasn’t perfect, however, botching an alley-oop pass from Miller, one ofthe few miscues on a night when the Wildcats hardly worked up a significantsweat while matching their best start since 2004.
