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 Apparently they worked as the Mustangs entered the weekend with an
unblemished 18-0 record
But head coach Larry Brown insists the team is being driven by a
deeper motor than just wins and losses.
"I never used (going undefeated as motivation)," Brown said. "I keep
hearing that and we had a 60 percent chance, an 80 percent chance to
do it, it must be this analytics stuff. Our motivation is to try to
get better and make it as special as we can for the seniors."
With the winning streak ended Sunday by Temple, the truth in that
sentiment will be measured.
It was a resurgent Temple squad who handed the Mustangs their first
loss, 89-80 in Philadelphia on Sunday in a snow-delayed game that
saw TU senior Devin Coleman drop a career-high 23 points.
Because of NCAA violations, SMU will not be in the American Athletic
Conference tournament. Likewise, there are no NCAA Tournament hopes
despite the likes of a talented senior class that includes defending
AAC Player of the Year Nic Moore (15.3 ppg, 5.1 apg) plus big men
Jordan Tolbert (12.6 ppg, 9.2 rpg) and Markus Kennedy (9.2 ppg, 5.6
rpg).
The NCAA sanctions were handed down as a result of multiple
violations involving academic misconduct and a "loss of coach
control" by Brown, with the program also losing nine scholarships
over a three-year period while on probation.
"I'm in awe of our kids, (the Temple loss) is not going to change
that at all," Brown said. "Because all we've been through, all we've
had to overcome, the fact that we have seven guys (in the rotation),
nothing is going to change how I feel about them."
Temple has developed a reputation as a giant-killer under 11th-year
head coach Fran Dunphy, picking up wins over the likes of top-10
teams such as Kansas and Duke in recent seasons.
This was more than just an upset for Temple, however. After losing
to Southern Methodist three times last year, including in the AAC
semifinals--in a year when they came one win short of making the
NCAA Tournament--revenge was certainly on the Owls' minds.
"It definitely motivated myself and my teammates," Temple senior
Quenton DeCosey said. "We lost three times to them last year and
that probably kept us out of the tournament. So it was definitely
motivation to seal the deal."
--Oklahoma holds top spot, drawing a crowd
In a top-15 Big 12 matchup, No. 1 Oklahoma picked up a much-needed
bounce-back win with an 82-72 win at No. 13 Baylor, one that kept
that atop the national rankings. It was the Sooners' second game in
a row against a ranked opponent, though they weren't able to get by
No. 19 Iowa State on Wednesday, falling 82-77.
Oklahoma's win creates a logjam atop the Big 12: OU, Kansas, West
Virginia and Baylor are all 5-2 in league play, with Iowa State and
Texas one game back. Oklahoma has a chance to create some distance
with games against sub-.500 opponents Texas Tech (Jan. 26), Texas
Christian (Feb. 2) and Kansas State (Feb. 6) as the next league
clashes on the slate.
The team lurking behind Oklahoma, No. 2 North Carolina, also
survived a close call on Saturday, winning 75-70 at Virginia Tech to
run its victory streak to 12 in a row. A big game from senior
forward Brice Johnson (19 points, 17 rebounds) propelled the Tar
Heels to a 48-33 advantage on the glass, which helped them make up
for shooting just 38 percent from the floor and 64 percent from the
foul line.
"I was not satisfied with the way we played," UNC head coach Roy
Williams said. "About as bad a game for us as it could possibly be,
but we won it."
A coach who can't say the same about the way his own team is playing
has to be Indiana's Tom Crean, whose Hoosiers won their two Big Ten
games this week by a combined 64 points; 103-69 over Illinois and
89-57 over Northwestern.
That also makes it a dozen wins in a row for the Hoosiers, who sit
tied with Iowa (7-0) atop the Big Ten standings. They're yet to play
any of the four teams below them -- Iowa, Maryland (6-2), Michigan
(5-2) and Purdue (5-3) await -- but the confidence they're building
up in the interim is invaluable
"The more simple we can be in our passing and the more active we can
be in our cutting the better that we are," Indiana coach Tom Crean
said. "In the last week we've been really good at being on time and
on target and that's so crucial. It's one thing to have a passing
mindset but it's something else to have that level of accuracy."
Iowa has put together the more impressive resume, beating Purdue
83-71 this week to add to a collection that includes one more over
the Boilermakers and two over Michigan State already, as well as a
win over Michigan. The Hawkeyes are up to No. 3 in the AP poll.
The triumph over No. 22 Purdue, their ninth in a row, came behind 22
points by senior forward Jarrod Uthoff plus a double-double by his
classmate Adam Woodbury, who had 13 and 10 rebounds.
--Nova's Big East unbeaten streak comes to a close
In the history of the Big East, no team had won more consecutive
games than Villanova. The Wildcats won 22 in a row before an
overtime loss Sunday to Providence.
Argue whatever you want about the strength of the 10-team basketball
conference and how it doesn't compare to the 16-team behemoth that
dominated the college hoops scene a decade ago, but the fact that
the Wildcats won 22 straight is not to be undersold.
Villanova's streak came to an end at the hands of Providence, which
jumped to 10th in the rankings released Monday. The Wildcats last
loss more than a full year ago - to Georgetown, Jan. 19, 2015. That
loss also ended a 34-game string of home wins, including games
played at the Wells Fargo Center and one at PPL Center in Allentown.
Coach Jay Wright, who's been at the helm of the Wildcats since
coming over from Hofstra before the 2001-02 season, had downplayed
the streak for its duration, but didn't mind reflecting once it was
over.
"I think it's a tribute to young, 18-to-22-year-olds being
disciplined enough to bring commitment every day," Wright said.
"It's hard for adults to bring commitment to our job every day over
a long period of time. It's hard. These guys at their age, it's
hard.
"And that's what the 22 wins is, it's bringing it every day.
Whatever your job is when you graduate college, if you can bring it
like that every day, you're going to be successful.
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What remains to be seen is if the one loss is enough to erode the
aura of invincibility that the Wildcats had built up over the last
12 months, a span in which they've gone 34-4, losing this year only
to top-10 programs Oklahoma and Virginia and conquering everybody
else up until this weekend.
While many of those conference wins have come by 20-or-more, lately
it had been a series of close calls for No. 6 Villanova, who
squeaked by Georgetown (55-50) and Seton Hall (72-71) before the
loss.
"Whether they have an edge or not, I don't know, I just know they're
very talented and well-coached," Providence coach Ed Cooley said
after his team's win. "I think Villanova is very, very fortunate to
have a coach that not only loves the Big East but loves Villanova,
and for him to do what he's done in the league is unparalleled, he's
done a great job."
--Pac-12 Problems
Every one of the Power 5 conferences has multiple teams ranked
inside the top 20 except for the Pac-12, with No. 18 Arizona (16-4,
4-3) the lone representative in the newest AP poll released Monday.
The other candidate, former No. 21 Southern Cal (15-5, 4-3) fell out
of the poll. The Trojans lost back-to-back games at Oregon (16-4,
5-2) and Oregon State (12-6, 3-4); Oregon joined the top 25 this
week at No. 23.
Arizona and USC are two of six teams in the league with a 4-3 mark
in conference play, a grouping that also includes Cal, Utah,
Colorado and Stanford; UCLA and Oregon State are a game behind that
pack, with ASU and WSU both 1-6.
The Ducks, who sit atop the conference along with Washington (13-6,
5-2), had a nice week in beating USC and UCLA to help them move into
the standings, but have a tough week ahead with games at Arizona and
Arizona State.
The problem with the league is that once again, it failed to pick up
enough marquee out-of-conference wins and took some bad
losses--Washington to Oakland and UC Santa Barbara, UCLA to
Monmouth, Arizona State to Sacramento State, Washington State to
Idaho.
Last year, the Pac 12 got three at-large bids to the NCAA
Tournament, down from five in 2014. The way the league is beating
itself up this year, even finding four worthy teams come March might
be a stretch.
--The Week Ahead
With under seven weeks until Selection Sunday, conference races are
beginning to heat up. Here are some of the best games in the coming
week separated by conference:
ACC -- No. 16 Louisville (5-1) is trying to keep up with North
Carolina in the ACC, and the next test for the Cardinals will be
coming on Saturday with a visit from No. 11 Virginia (4-3). The
Cavaliers have had a tough time in ACC play to start off, losing to
Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech as well as Florida State, all on the
road, while staying perfect at home, but non-con wins over West
Virginia and Villanova are proof that UVa is for real.
AAC -- Cincinnati (15-6, 5-3) and UConn (14-5, 4-2) are out of the
national rankings after brief appearances there earlier in the
season, and both are scrambling for position in an American Athletic
Conference that looks deeper and deeper thanks to the emergence of
Temple (5-2) as a legitimate threat to front-runners like SMU (7-1)
and Tulsa (5-2). Whichever team loses will have half the league to
catch up with to earn the No. 1 seed in Orlando in March.
Atlantic 10 -- VCU at Davidson on Friday should be good, as the 7-0
Rams visit a 3-3 Wildcats squad desperate for wins. But the
game-to-watch should be Saint Joseph's (17-3, 5-1) at Rhode Island
(11-8, 3-3). The Hawks beat the Rams 72-67 on Jan. 10 in Philly, and
SJU coach Phil Martelli used the word "bloodbath" when talking about
the first five minutes of the rematch; a win keeps St. Joe's on the
march towards an unlikely NCAA bid.
Big East -- There are four teams jockeying for position behind
Villanova (7-1), and two of those 5-2 squads meet on Tuesday when
Xavier visits Providence in the Musketeers and Friars' first win of
the year. Providence is riding high behind the inside-out duo of
junior guard Kris Dunn (17.0 ppg, 7.1 apg) and sophomore big Ben
Bentil (19.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg) after a win over 'Nova, while Xavier
counters with a a more balanced attack led by Trevon Bluiett (15.4
ppg) and freshman Edmond Sumner (11.3 ppg).
Big 12/SEC -- With the whole Big 12-SEC meeting on Saturday in the
third-annual Big 12/SEC Challenge, pickings for good conference
games this week in those two leagues is slim. So we'll go with the
two best matchups of that event: No. 20 Kentucky at No. 4 Kansas and
No. 14 Iowa State at No. 5 Texas A&M. Good luck picking a premier
matchup amongst that pair, but if you're looking for one intriguing
individual matchup, look for Kentucky freshman Jamal Murray (17.8
ppg) going head-to-head with Kansas junior Wayne Selden Jr. (14.7
ppg).
Big Ten -- Iowa will stake its claim as the clear front-runner in
the Big Ten if it can take down its fifth ranked team since December
with a win over Maryland on Thursday. That's maybe not fair to
Indiana, who's also 7-0, but (see above) the Hoosiers haven't proven
themselves against the rest of the best in the Big Ten like the
Hawkeyes have. A win over Maryland means Iowa would have at least
one in the pocket against them, Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue;
the first Indiana/Iowa matchup won't happen until Feb. 11 at
Indiana.
Pac-12 -- Despite being the highest-ranked team in the league, No.
18 Arizona (4-3) is looking up at No. 23 Oregon (5-2) in the Pac-12
standings. Their opportunity to pull even comes Thursday night in
Tucson. The Ducks are making the trip south to play both 'Zona and
ASU in a three-day span fresh off beating the southern California
schools (USC, UCLA) at home this past week. This league will take
some time to sort itself out, with 10 of the 12 teams currently
within two games of each other.
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