Pitt-Pocket

The Pittsburgh Panthers stole a win against undefeated Connecticut Monday night in Petersen Events Center. The sixth ranked Panthers topped fourth ranked UConn 78-63 in a Big East battle of supremacy. Both teams have been ranked in the Big East’s top two for the past decade and another chapter was added to the rivalry last night. The Panthers improved to 13-1 in beating the Huskies for the fourth consecutive time in the series between the teams. Kemba Walker stole the show for the Huskies with 31 points, but it was the Panthers who were too much for Uconn’s defense. Walker added five steals and four rebounds. Junior Ashton Gibbs led Pitt with 21 points and senior Brad Wanamaker turned in 14 as the Panthers won their third straight game. Pittsburgh held the previously unbeaten Huskies to 32 percent shooting. Connecticut is now 10-1 on the season.
The Panthers showed last night why they remain an unblemished 8-0 against top five teams since 2002. Four players scored in double digits for Jamie Dixon’s Panthers. Pitt marched to a 37-28 halftime lead as the efficient offense and transition defense finally showed up on the same night for the home team. Nasir Robinson logged 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Pitt. Panthers’ center, Gary McGhee, also contributed 11 points while snagging 11 rebounds in the victory. McGhee and Robinson recorded double-doubles as Pitt held a commanding and comfortable lead throughout the conference’s first matchup of top ten teams.
The steamrolling Panthers shot 52 percent from the field and Gibbs was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Pittsburgh never trailed during the contest and even carried a 17 point lead at one point during the second half. The Huskies attempted a late comeback but Pitt’s balance and depth were too much to overcome. Connecticut shot the ball poorly and was clearly outplayed. Walker was a one-man wrecking crew, putting up nearly half of Connecticut’s 63 points. Walker finished with a game high in buckets, but he needed 27 shots to do so. The Connecticut junior shot just 10-for-27 from the field. Connecticut has lost five of their last six conference openers. Jim Calhoun is just 1-for-5 at Pitt’s arena.

Parting Points: Jerry Jones is searching for the next Cowboys’ coach. Dallas is 4-3 under interim coach, Jason Garrett. The “boys genius” seems to make the most sense for me (unless Bill Cowher suddenly becomes available).

The Saints clipped the Falcons in a meeting between two of the NFC’s best teams.

How good is Dustin Brown? I love this Ithaca, NY native for the Los Angeles Kings. If you take anything from the plus/minus statistic, Brown is in the top three. (Personally, I don’t think that’s a great measure of individual performance)

This is post #700 and the final one of 2010! Have a Happy New Year.

Thursday Take-Twos

Kentucky basketball is back. At least for now John Calipari’s hoopsters are undefeated. Kentucky met the Connecticut Huskies Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. Freshmen point guard, John Wall, had his best game. He has lived up to his status as the number one prospect in college basketball so far. Wildcat Wall scored 12 points in the final seven and a half minutes as Kentucky cruised to a 64-61 exciting victory over UConn. Number four Kentucky prevailed in the SEC/Big East New York Invitational behind 25 Wall dishes and six steals. Wall was saddled with foul trouble earlier in the game but was the difference down the stretch with amazing quickness. The 14th ranked Huskies were lead by Jerome Dyson and Gavin Edwards. Dyson logged 17 points in this back-and-fourth affair. Edwards finished with 16 points, including a dunk with 4:24 left that moved UConn to within one point of tying the game. Kemba Walker, the speedy Connecticut guard, provided his team with their final lead on a jumper with just over one minute remaining in regulation. Walker pulled the Huskies within one on two free throws with two minutes earlier in the fourth quarter. Wall’s three point play spelled trouble for the Huskies in the final minute. The rookie gave Jim Calhoun’s club a run for their money in securing the winning buckets. Walker and Edwards had their chances for UConn after Walker drained the go-ahead shot. Walker fired from the lane unsuccessfully and Edward’s attempt from downtown with 13 seconds was off the mark as the Wildcats hung on to go 9-0. Kentucky won despite a 39.1 shooting percentage from the field. Patrick Patterson ended with 16 points for the winning team. Stanely Robinson carried the Huskies in the final quarter, scoring six straight buckets. Robinson missed a jumper in crunch time but landed nine rebounds. Credit Connecticut for making it a one-possession game throughout most of the night. The Huskies defense was superb. Kentucky opened the game on a 12-0 run before UConn sailed to a 29-23 halftime lead. The Wildcats outscored Connecticut by 11 points in an impressive second half for Wall and company. The helter-skelter offenses were actually enjoyable, and playing at the Mecca of basketball made the game that much more electric.
The Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks squared off on the ice in a battle between the top two Pacific Division teams. LA outlasted their in-state opponent 5-4 in overtime at HP Pavilion for their 19th win of the season. The Kings overhauled San Jose to prove they’re an elite threat in the division. Dustin Brown scored for the first time in over a month 1:16 into the extra session to lift LA to their fifth win in six tries. Goalie, Erik Ersberg, made 30 saves to earn his second win of the season. The Sharks have dropped three straight home games in the somewhat sloppy showdown. Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski put the Sharks on top 2-0 in the first quarter. Dan Boyle elevated San Jose to a 3-1 second quarter lead. Teddy Purcell fired the first Kings goal of the night to end his own scoring drought. Purcell had gone 26 games without a goal. LA skated to a quick 4-3 lead behind a trio of goals. The fury started with Jarret Stoll tipping Jack Johnson’s shot from the point. The puck slipped through Evgeni Nabokov’s legs to tie the game at two. Anze Kopitar, the Kings leading scorer, hit a power play goal off the perfect feed cross-ice pass from Drew Doughty to give LA their first lead. Doughty sent his eighth goal of the season into the net to finish the second period scoring barrage. The third quarter found San Jose skated back to tie the game. Manny Malhotra beat Ersberg with a wrist shot before the end of regulation. Brown won the game with a center ice slap through Nabokov’s legs again as the Kings overcame a blown third period lead. Nabokov finished with 23 saves in the losing effort. The Western Conference leaders were hurt by mental mistakes. Penalty-killers killed Jaws on Wednesday night. There were 12 penalties overall in the heated California contest.
From around the leagues:
Allen Iverson returned to the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this week. His first game back in the City of Brotherly Love was against his former team, the Denver Nuggets. That didn’t go so well for the Sixers. I wonder if AI will be on this year’s All-Star team. I hear the votes for the injured Tracy McGrady are poised to place him as a starter…
The Mets are pursuing Jason Bay, the Yankees signed Andy Pettitte and Rich Harden is headed to Texas.
Tiger Woods’ wife is sticking with him; Rex Ryan isn’t sticking with Mark Sanchez (at least this week)

Parting Points: Song of the day- “Crawl”- by Kings Of Leon
Happy Birthday to Emily Dickinson. Poem of the day- “He fumbles at your spirit”.