Metro Atlantic: Loyola (Md.) 97, Niagara 89 (story) - Bottom beat top in the MAAC. Shane James, a member of the Canadian junior national team, went 9-for-9 to lead Loyola, who outshot the Purple Eagles 55%-39% and scored 37 of their points on 58 free throws. Despite the fact that Niagara's bruising bigs pounded Loyola on the glass by a 46-33 margin, the Greyhounds now have as many conference wins as they did all of last year. LMAO!
George Washington 101, Maryland 92 (story) - OMG, what an upset! Watching this game on TV out of the corner of my eye, I had the distinct impression that Maryland was being swarmed and engulfed by tiny dark-blue insects. GW, who also upended Michigan State on the way to the BB&T Classic "championship," simply outtempoed the Terps to death - senior guard T.J. Thompson had 27 on L33T 10-for-15 shooting, and sophomore J.R. Pinnock chipped in 22 with three steals.
Wofford 85, Auburn 78 (story) - ROFFLE! Wofford is the second-smallest D1 school in terms of enrollment (to Mount St. Mary's), but they played big to subdue guard-oriented AU. The Terriers outrebounded the Tigers 38-29, held Auburn to 4-for-24 three-point shooting, and wiped out a 15-point halftime lead.
Chattanooga 69, Tennessee 68 (story) - Despite their recent success in the SoCon, the UTC Mocs had not won a tussle with their orange-clad big brothers since 1925, and hadn't beaten an SEC team in seven years. They got the last LOL in this one, though, hitting 12 triples in the win while forcing the Vols to take bad shots. Said new Chattanooga coach John Shulman moments after his memorable first victory, "I want to hurry up and get out of here. They might change the score."
Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard, who's been overachieving so far with his Patriot League squad, discusses the art of scheduling around the school's academic schedule.
BTW, more about the unique and magical atmosphere of this past weekend's Philly Big Five Classic. Penn would like to remind everyone that the Palestra is still their home court. Phil Sheridan says that it never gets old. David Burrick of the Daily Pennsylvanian talks about the things you'll see there that you won't find anywhere else.
The Big 5 is bigger than any one person, so all must work together in order to preserve it. This is why Penn coach Fran Dunphy tells his student section to "show some class" as they are chiding La Salle -- chanting "No means no," in reference to this past summer's rape scandal. It is also the reason why Drexel students were the first to applaud their opponents after a moment of silence honoring a St. Joseph's student who suddenly died over Thanksgiving break. And it's why the announcement of Palestra janitor Dan Harrell's birthday led to a standing ovation from the entire arena.
Up the road in New York, the Daily News reports that this past summer, scandal-plagued St. John's of the Big East actually threatened Madison Square Garden - saying that they'd be taking their conference home games out to Long Island. I mean, WTF?
"It made it seem like the St. John's administration was out of touch with the basketball program," says someone familiar with the negotiations. "It was like they still envision themselves being the elite program from the mid-'80s. And it showed that these people did not understand how important the building is in recruiting."
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Having recently completed its fourth season, The Mid-Majority is a blog about the 22 smaller Division I college basketball conferences (and independents) by me, Kyle Whelliston. I write for ESPN.com and Basketball Times, and maintain the Basketball State statistics website as well.
Here's a brief note on who we talk about, and why.
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