Hoops 12/29-1/4

[Crimson's Ghost]

Pitt 9-3 #62 KenPom
Tuesday - Florida Gulf Coast Tuesday 7:30
Saturday - @ NC State Saturday 12:00

Pitt needs to take care of business on Tuesday, and then we will see what this team is all about. NC State isn't great, but they aren't bad either. They split with each other last year, but Warren is gone for them and Lamar Patterson is gone for Pitt, so totally different teams.

Penn State 12-1 #85 KenPom
Wednesday - @ Wisconsin 1:00
Saturday - @ Rutgers 7:30

Penn State will more than likely lose by double digits on the road to a good Wisconsin team. They should handle Rutgers, though. Still stranger things have happened.

Saint Francis 6-4 #143 KenPom
Tuesday - @NJIT 7:00
Saturday - Wagner 4:00

Flash in the top 150!! Doesn't happen often. They just beat Duquesne and Rutgers on the road, the game at NJIT should be a tough one, they somehow beat Michigan this year.

Duquesne 4-6 #234 KenPom
Tuesday - UT Pan American 7:00
Saturday - @ Dayton 1:00

Duquesne kind of stinks, thought they would be a little better than they are showing. They need that one Tuesday before A10 play begins.

[konjo78]

Pitt shouldn't be that high... The team is a joke. Penn state should be 60-80.

[Crimson's Ghost]

It's hard to compare the teams thus far, all we can say is, Pitt has played a more difficult schedule to this point. And I think the only common opponent is Duquesne. Pitt beat them by 14, Penn State beat them by 2 at home. So other than that, we need to see things play out before we can anoint which team is better.

[PLDragons24]

Penn State is coming in as an 18.5 point underdog. I don't expect it to be that bad but I don't expect it to be all that close either. I'll guess something like Wisconsin 73 PSU 61.

[DragonsDoExist]

I'll be pleased if PSU keeps it within 15.

Pitt beat FGCU 71-54 tonight

Young 16 pts 6 Rebs
Wright 15 pts 6 Rebs
Robinson 12 pts

[Crimson's Ghost]

That was a nice job for Pitt to hold that team down to just 54. Dunk City was the type of team that could have come in and kept it close and scored a lot of points. Pitt forced a lot of turnovers and made it hard on them. Cam Wright's return has been very noticeable on defense.

As far as the PSU-Wisconsin game....UW is one of those 4-5 teams just below Kentucky, they're insanely good. Bo Ryan is an awesome coach, and I've watched them a few times. They can really score, they share the ball very well, they can defend, and they're big. I think Penn State's guards can run with them, but at the end of the day, I don't think they have an answer for Kaminsky.

[abpk2903]

2 things need to happen in order for PSU to have a chance out on Madison.

Jordan Dickerson needs to stay out of fouls trouble and play the way he did in both OSU games last year and GW this year. He's 7' 1" and actually fairly athletic.

2 players need to compliment Newbill and score over a dozen. It could be Garner, Thorpe, Taylor, Johnson, or Jack. We know Dickerson and Travis are in there for defense and rebounding. If they can 25-30 from 2 players not named Newbill, they can score enough to keep it close.

I'm like PL on this one. I'm going to say Wisky by a dozen but I'm interested to see of it's a competitive dozen or PSU just pulls a little closer during mop up duty.

[El-Moldo]

Been almost 24 hours since the PSU/Wisconsin game started. Not ONE thing mentioned. I see we're still talking about the Pinstripe Bowl though.

[PLDragons24]

I thought they played pretty well. They were able to generate a lot of good looks and made a lot of shots against a great defense. They played okay on defense too but the score wouldn't indicate that. Wisconsin dominated in the paint but they also hit a lot of very difficult contested shots. Even Bo Ryan said it was one of those days were everything was going in. I thought Penn State played well and hung tough for most of the game, but Wisconsin played like one of the best teams in the country. I was definitely encouraged from what I saw.

[El-Moldo]

Glad you're encouraged. Saw the same typical game from PSU as we have seen over the last 5-6 years. You have your star player (Battle, Frazier, Newbill) try to take over, scoring 40% of the PSU points. Meanwhile the front court under-performs. Newbill has 29 of the teams points, and plays 38 minutes (like every game). Brandon Taylor has 2 points, Dickerson 2 points, Ross 4, Jack 4, Moore 4. That's 16 total points from the front court. Headlines on SB nation read, "Nittany Lions Valiant Effort Comes Up Short". Hmmmm. 17 points short? The Nit fans are hoping sooo much for success on the basketball court, that many are watching the games thru rose colored glasses. Many, before the game, said they would be glad if the Nits only lost by single digits. What kind of thinking is that, considering they are getting votes in the top 25. Anxious to read the game summary in the Tribune later.