in NCAA B Articles

Hardcourt Longhorns are good

Saturday was anything but all right for the last undefeated teams in college basketball’s Division I. Duke, Florida and Pittsburgh all bit the dust. But only the Panthers have to make the quick turnaround and play Monday. Will they be ready?

In retrospect, Pittsburgh was up against it from the get-go Saturday night against the St. John’s Red Storm. St. John’s held a halftime ceremony at Madison Square Garden to honor 10 of the program’s most notable figures, men like Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson and Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca. The current Red Storm rode that wave of inspiration to a 55-50 victory, beating Pitt as 4-point home underdogs.

Now the Panthers have to deal with the Syracuse Orange. Pitt will be in the friendly confines of the Petersen Events Center, facing a Syracuse team that also went down to defeat Saturday, blown out in Philly by the very tough Villanova Wildcats. This year’s version of the Panthers was expected to guard-heavy like the ‘Cats, but the development of junior center Aaron Gray (13.6 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game) has given Pittsburgh the balance it needs to succeed.

Syracuse, meanwhile, saw its 12-game winning streak snapped with blowout losses against UConn and ‘Nova. The Orange were facing a depleted frontcourt as well after the departure of Hakim Warrick; stepping into the gap is junior forward Terrence Roberts (11.6 points, 8.4 boards and 1.6 blocks per game), who proved himself this summer as part of Team USA’s Under-21 champions. As a team, the Orange enjoy a plus-6.7 rebounding margin, good for 16th in the nation. But there are three Big East teams in the Top 10, and one of them is Pittsburgh at plus-9.2.

This 7:00 p.m. Eastern start is the marquee matchup of the day and the first of a doubleheader on ESPN. The nightcap sees the Oklahoma State Cowboys visit their biggest rivals on the hardcourt, the resurgent Texas Longhorns. You want some beef on the inside? Try a Texas-sized plus-10 rebounding margin. Try the devastating 1-2 punch of junior forward P.J. Tucker and super sophomore center LaMarcus Aldridge. And the scary thing for ‘Pokes supporters: guard Daniel Gibson might be even better than those two. He’s coming off Saturday’s 37-point performance against Baylor, which included 9-for-12 from downtown. Texas thumped the Bears 66-47, just missing the cover as 19 ½-point road faves, but improving to 4-0 in Big 12 play nonetheless.

The Cowboys will be a much tougher test than Baylor, but they’re also coming off a Saturday loss: 80-78 to Colorado in overtime at the Gallagher IBA Arena in Stillwater. That loss dropped the ‘Pokes to 2-2 in the Big 12; still, legendary coach our expert Sutton is doing a commendable job of rebuilding from last year’s exodus. JUCO transfers Mario Boggan and Torre Johnson have joined the lone notable holdover from last year, JamesOn Curry, to keep Oklahoma State afloat in what will likely be Sutton’s final season behind the bench. However, they’ll probably be in over their heads against a Texas team that looks and cooks like a Final Four candidate. Tip-off is at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

But wait, there’s more. The Gonzaga Bulldogs are the other ranked team in action Monday night, and they’ll be at the War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco to take on the Dons in an 11:00 p.m. Eastern start. It was smooth sailing for the ‘Zags through the West Coast Conference – until Saturday. It took a late 3-pointer from Erroll Knight for Gonzaga to down the San Diego Toreros 64-63; the Bulldogs were 4 ½-point road favorites. The result dropped Gonzaga to 8-10 ATS overall and 3-2 the WCC. The Dons, meanwhile, are 3-1 ATS in conference play after upset wins over Pepperdine and St. Mary’s. If the ‘Zags come out flat again like they did versus San Diego, look out.

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