sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Near Miss Day commemorates the time when the 4581 Asclepius asteroid had a close call with hitting earth, passing by about 425,000 miles away. This may seem like a long distance, but in space distance, it is very close and missed striking the earth by about six hours. It was closest to earth between March 22 and 23, 1989, but was not discovered until March 31, by astronomers Henry E. Holt and Norman G. Thomas at the Palomar Observatory in California.
The asteroid, named after the Greek god of medicine, is about 300 meters wide and would have released energy comparable to a 600 megaton bomb—larger than any nuclear bomb ever created—if it would have hit earth. It would have left a crater many miles in diameter, and would have been capable of wiping out a large city. The probability that asteroids and meteorites will hit earth is measured by the Torino Scale and the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale. Similar near misses happen every couple years.
SU News
Orange Watch: The best of individual NCAA scoring for Syracuse basketball - The Juice Online (the juice; Bierman)
Item: It’s on to a sweet, Sweet 16 for Syracuse Saturday night facing Midwest Region No. 2 seed Houston (9:55 p.m. ET / TBS) back at Hinkle Fieldhouse. While contributions from a steady eight man rotation have spurred the Orange this postseason, the spotlighted story remains on the Boeheim family influence of head coach Jim and shooting guard Buddy.
One of the most interesting statistical gems unearthed by the Elias Sports Bureau (courtesy ESPN) concerning the postseason scoring blitz by Buddy Boeheim, is the 55 points he has tallied in the first two NCAA victories over San Diego State (30) and West Virginia (25), is the third highest scoring output among any SU player in the first two games of a particular season’s NCAA tournament appearance.
Here’s a look at the two ‘Cuse players ahead of Buddy Boeheim on that list, and more on the incredible accomplishments of the junior shooting guard who has raised his scoring average precipitously over the last three seasons:
1957-Gary Clark (60)
The NCAA Tournament debuted in 1939, but for a program of Syracuse’s status, it’s amazing to think that SU did not participate in its first tournament until 1957. After finishing 16-6 in the regular season, the sixth year that Mark Guley was the head coach, the Orangemen defeated Connecticut 82-76 at Madison Square Garden, a game in which the burley but also quick Clark, a senior starting forward, scored a game-high 26 points.
The victory sent Syracuse to the round now known as the Sweet 16, but back then was simply referred to as the regional semifinal. Facing Lafayette in what turned out to be a back-and-forth game at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Clark saved SU’s season by scoring a career-high 34 points to help hold off the Leopards 75-71. Clark was 13-for-20 from the field, hit 8-of-10 free throws, and added 13 rebounds in a player-of-the game performance.
Unfortunately, Clark’s career game to an end a day later against the region’s top seed North Carolina. Syracuse fell one victory short from its first Final Four dropping a 68-57 decision to the Tar Heels, and Clark fouled out after shooting only 5-of-13 and finishing with 11 points.
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What Went Wrong in WVU’s Loss to Syracuse? (SI; Callhan)
The first ten or so minutes of West Virginia’s 2nd round matchup with Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament was really hard to watch. It wasn’t just one particular area that hurt the Mountaineers, it was everything, most of which was self-inflicted.
Twelve turnovers in eight minutes isn’t going to win you many games and, as evident on Sunday, they created a big hole that the Mountaineers had to dig themselves out of. The 2-3 zone really bothered West Virginia in many ways. Syracuse’s length had a lot to do with that, however, just about every offensive trip up the floor seemed scripted and felt as if WVU was going through a walk thru to learn how to beat the zone. There was too much thinking and not enough communication which caused many turnovers.
If you just glanced at the stat sheet following the game and didn’t look at the score, you would probably think West Virginia won the game. The Mountaineers collected 19 offensive rebounds but were unable to cash in on second-chance points. WVU was unable to convert near the post and even allowed offensive rebounds to become turnovers.
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West Virginia the Latest Tournament Victim of Syracuse’s Zone Defense (wvsportsnow.com; Nespor)
2021 is not the first year the Syracuse men’s basketball team has gone into the NCAA tournament with a high seed and won a couple of games. The Orange made it to the Final Four in 2016 as a No. 10 seed, the Sweet Sixteen in 2018 as a No. 11 seed and they are back to the Sweet Sixteen this year, again as a No. 11 seed.
Even so, it will still be considered a major upset when Syracuse defeated No. 3 seed West Virginia 75-72 Sunday afternoon.
The narrative around SU come tournament time is usually that the quick turnaround between games in the tournament setting plays into the Orange’s hands, as teams have very little time to prepare for coach Jim Boeheim’s famous 2-3 zone defense. With only one day of preparation for the zone following their first-round win on Friday, that certainly played a factor in WVU’s loss.
“It was tough,” junior guard Sean McNeil said after the game. “These quick-turnaround games like this are difficult to figure out and adjust to. Syracuse’s zone bothered us a little bit more than we probably expected, we struggled in the first half, didn’t get a lot of good looks.”
West Virginia started out ice-cold against the zone, starting just 2 of 10 from the floor and committing 11 first-half turnovers. The Mountaineers’ play initially was to run their offense through the high post, using juniors Derek Culver and Emmitt Matthews Jr.
The problem, however, was that neither Culver or Matthews had played in the high post much this season prior to Sunday and they struggled in that role. Culver (1 for 7) and Matthews (2 for 7) shot 3 of 14 from the floor in the first half, scoring just 11 combined points.
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Here's how Houston was able to rally and beat Rutgers (houston.sportsmap.com; McCraw)
The Houston Cougars men's basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament after a hard fought battle with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Sunday.
Their tournament began with a blowout victory over Cleveland State in the opening round.
Quentin Grimes led the way with 18 points to help the Cougars beat No. the 15-seed Vikings 87-56 Friday night.
Head coach Kelvin Sampson tied John Wooden by earning his 664th career win and sits at No. 38 for all-time coaching wins.
Less than one minute into the contest, senior guard DeJon Jarreau suffered a hip injury that forced him to miss the rest of the game.
Freshman Tramon Mark played the majority of Jarreau's minutes and added 15 points. Marcus Sasser also stepped up in his absence and scored 14 points.
Jarreau would sit out the remainder of the game for precautionary reasons, and to rest him before the Cougars next game.
"DeJon has been our MVP this season," Sampson said. "Quentin has been our best player but DeJon has been our most important player and I think doing this tonight will give us some confidence going forward."
Houston's next game in the round of 32 was against the No. 10 seed Rutgers Scarlet Knights who upset the No. 7 seed Clemson Tigers.
Jarreau was cleared to play, and was ready to help his team win as he made the first two points of the game and Grimes hit an open three to give the Cougars a quick 5-0 lead.
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Roster rumblings continues to fly around UNC Basketball program - ACCSports.com (accsports.com; Geisinger)
The news of Walker Kessler entering the transfer portal may have shook the ACC basketball universe; however, this could be just the start of a busy few months for UNC basketball.
An unprecedented offseason for college basketball is about to mix with the uneven nature of North Carolina’s 2020-21 season. So far, early indication seem to forecast a shifting horizon for Roy Williams and the Tar Heels.
This started immediately after UNC lost to Wisconsin last Friday in the NCAA Tournament. Following the game, senior forward/center Garrison Brooks floated the possibility of playing at another program next season.
Currently, Brooks has a lot of options. He could return to UNC for his “super senior” season, due to the COVID-19 eligibility rules put in place by the NCAA. Brooks could transfer to another program. Or he could go pro.
(Brooks isn’t an NBA prospect, but he’s a solid player. With proper scouting, he could turn up on a good team in Europe.)
Once the news of Kessler went public, several parents of UNC basketball players took to Twitter, while offering up a handful of cryptic tweets. This started with point guard Caleb Love’s father.
Not long after those tweets went up, Armando Bacot’s father added his own thoughts: “CHANGE IS EVERYTHING.”
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Basketball Advances to Sweet 16 with 71-53 Win Over Colorado (seminoles.com)
Redshirt junior Anthony Polite scored a career-high 22 points in leading Florida State, the No. 4 seed in the East Region, to a 71-53 win over No. 5 seed Colorado in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The victory sends the Seminoles to the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive season and for the seventh time in school history.
Florida State will face Michigan, the No. 1 seed Easy Region, in the Sweet 16 round of the tournament at 5 p.m. on Sunday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Polite pulled down five rebounds, totaled a game-high four assists, and contributed a game-high four steals. Polite tied his career-high four 3-point field goals including two in the first four minutes of the game to send the Seminoles to an early lead.
The Seminoles’ defense told much of the story of this game as they held Colorado to .357 percent shooting from the field, .240 percent shooting from the 3-point line and to a 53 points – the fewest points scored by the Buffaloes since February 20, 2016. The 53 points allowed by the Seminoles ranks as the fewest points allowed by Florida State in an NCAA Tournament games. The Seminoles also had double the amount of steals as Colorado (10-5) and totaled 20 fast break points as compared to only two for Colorado.
The Seminoles have allowed only 107 points in the first two games of the NCAA Tournament – 53 by Colorado and 54 by UNC Greensboro in the first round.
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Other
Ryan McMahon: Celebrating SU kids should be vaccinated, not scolded (PS; $; Knauss)
Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon today complained about not having the authority to vaccinate Central New York college kids against Covid-19, which he thinks should be a top priority at this point.
Rather than admonishing Syracuse University students who thronged near campus Sunday evening after their teams’ victories in the NCAA basketball tournament, McMahon blamed state health officials for restricting coronavirus vaccines to people over age 50.
“I’m not going to sit here and scold these kids, thinking that’s going to be the best solution,’' McMahon said.
The situation has changed since last fall, when McMahon frequently chastised students and others who gathered for parties or holiday celebrations, sparking outbreaks of Covid-19. The growing availability of vaccine calls for a different response now, he said.
If it were up to him, McMahon said, he would use most of the roughly 8,000 does available to the county this week to vaccinate college kids who live in dorms.
“It’s an easier solution to go vaccinate them than to get 10 to 15 thousand kids during an NCAA Final Four run, potentially, to behave different than they normally behave,’' he said.
Since college kids won’t get shots before next weekend’s games, McMahon said students can help stop the spread of virus by limiting their gatherings. But he expressed doubt that that will happen.
“Should they do better? Yes, they should do better,” McMahon said. “And do we need them to do better? Yes.”
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