Dribblings 1/25/2005 (Peaks and Valleys Edition)

Big South: Liberty (7-11, 5-2 BSC) inched closer to table-topper Winthrop; they're exactly 1/2-game behind after a 91-71 runaway win over Virginia Military Institute. Highly mobile sophomore forward David Dees had 23 points, and the Flames won their 14th straight home league game.

Mid-Continent: In today's episode of Kangaroo Watch, Missouri-Kansas City (9-7, 7-0 MidCon) won their ninth straight and beat winless Centenary 82-70. But could there be a MMBOW curse? Brandon Temple had a horrible shooting night (3-for-10, 10 points), and it's a good thing that large-and-in-charge Carlton Aaron (13-for-15, 31 points, 14 rebounds) was there to clean up the mess.

Mid-Eastern: If it's Monday night, it must be the MEAC. All teams save for league leaders Coppin State (6-1, 6-10 MEAC) were in action. Delaware State (5-2, 7-9 MEAC) inched back into the race by beating second-place Norfolk State, 50-47. That game was highlighted by twin 16-2 second half runs by either team, and the late-game heroics of shooting guard Jahsha Bluntt, the only Hornet to score in double figures (with 10).

Northeast: In a rematch of last year's championship game (and the January 2004 game that would motivate Central Connecticut State to turn their season around), league-leading Monmouth (6-8, 5-0 NEC) enjoyed similar results - they destroyed the Blue Devils 70-53 in a game where CCSU couldn't come back from a dreadful start. Fairleigh-Dickinson lurks behind at 6-1; the two teams meet on Saturday in Teaneck.

Southern: College Of Charleston beat North Carolina-Greensboro 79-67 with a two-Jackson attack: Six-two senior Stanley had 26 points, and 6'6" sixth-year (no typo) power forward Bernard went 19 and 10. It doesn't get any easier for UNCG - they'll tangle at the top of the SoCon North with Chattanooga (13-3, 6-1 SoCon) on Saturday. COFC (11-7, 5-2 SoCon) will use that afternoon to attempt to break Georgia Southern's six-game win streak and move into a tie for second in the South division behind undefeated Davidson.

Southwestern Athletic: Like the crack of the whip I SWAC attack, front to back, in this thing called rap*! Today's co-division leaders are the Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley State and Alabama A&M; both are 3-1 and notched home wins yesterday. Please tune in for further SWAC updates, 'cause it's gettin', it's gettin', it's gettin' kinda hectic.

Game! Of! The! Night!

How green is my (Missouri) Valley? So much so that you could probably find a G!O!T!N! every night in this conference. Tonight, it's a battle with tourney third-seed implications - if that doesn't sound enticing enough for you, consider that Big Dance possibilities exist for any team that wishes to break out of the current five-team .500 battleground and build a strong February profile. Insodoing, they'd probably become the third MVC school in, behind Wichita State and Southern Illinois. Illinois State (12-5, 5-3 MVC) would be a most unlikely and unexpected participant, what with their sickly preseason prognosis and 4-14 record last year. Evansville (10-7, 4-5 MVC) is also coming off a tough season, but they have wins over Creighton and Northern Iowa to their credit. The two most-improved MVC'ers have already met once in Evansville; the Aces took that one, 69-61. Now we're on the Redbirds' home floor. Eight o'clock Eastern tip time, free webcast here.

Rodney Billups is a senior point guard at Denver. He has a famous brother with an NBA championship ring, and fans on the road don't let him forget that. But the younger Billups has quietly led his Pioneers (10-6, 5-0 SBC) to the mile-high peak of the Sun Belt Conference's West division - simply by doing what a pointman is supposed to do. Here's an AP story about him.

OnMilwaukee.Com's Tim Gutowski looks at the recent success of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; their seven-game winning streak has taken them to the top of the Horizon League . As the Panthers know all too well, there's only one game that counts if they want to get on the Big Bracket: the conference championship game. Tournament participants in 2003, they let the Dance card slip away on their home floor to Illinois-Chicago last March. They have four returning starters, and don't intend to make the same mistake twice.

Former Holy Cross standout Gordon Hamilton was killed in a car crash on Sunday as he attempted to navigate snow-covered New Jersey roads. Hoop Time has more.