Saturday, January 19, 2002
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Enquirer staff and news services
Player of the week: Jared Jeffries. The Indiana sophomore forward was smoking this past week: 21 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and six blocks against Michigan State and a career-high 26 points against Iowa. The Hoosiers (11-5) are 4-0 in the Big Ten and have acquitted themselves well against a schedule deemed the nation's toughest by the RPI.
WHO'S HOT
Ohio State Hang on, Sloopy — the Buckeyes are tied with Indiana for the Big Ten lead at 4-0. At 13-2, they have won seven straight games entering a huge home game today against the Hoosiers. OSU is shooting 50.6 percent on the season and has four players with double-figure scoring averages.
Jason Conley The VMI freshman forward is tops in the country with a 28.9 scoring average. No freshman has ever led the nation in scoring. He has averaged 31.5 points in his last six games. Unfortunately for him, the Keydets lost all six of those games and are just 2-10 against Division I teams.
Southern Illinois Let's hear it for the Salukis. (Love that nickname!) They're 15-3 and tied for the lead in the underrated Missouri Valley Conference. They beat Indiana by 12 and lost by just three points to Illinois. Still, at No. 57 in the RPI, SIU has little margin for error.
WHO'S NOT
Bob Knight The Big Ten isn't the only league with good basketball, Coach. The General's Texas Tech team was 13-1 a week ago but got hammered by Oklahoma and lost a tight one to Texas. Up next: Oklahoma State, then Oklahoma again. By the way, Coach, Kansas and Missouri play in this league, too.
Pittsburgh The Panthers were 15-1 with their first 3-0 start in the Big East in 10 years. But in the past week they lost back-to-back games to Notre Dame and Miami (Fla.). With a trip today to Georgetown followed by games with Syracuse, Georgetown (again) and Notre Dame (again), Pitt could be in the league's second division in no time.
Louisville Yes, it was 9-1 entering that big showdown at Kentucky. Now it's 11-4, including a 10-point loss Wednesday to Eastern Carolina, which had been 2-9 against Division I teams. Rick Pitino looks ready to absorb a big ol' beating today at the hands of UC.
MUST-SEE TV
Keep an eye on these games in the upcoming week:
• Kentucky at Notre Dame, noon today (Ch. 12): The Irish (12-4) don't make for an easy break for UK from a tough SEC schedule.
• Louisville at Cincinnati, 2 p.m. today (Ch. 12): You wanted Rick Pitino. You got him. Be gentle.
• Missouri at Oklahoma, 9 p.m. Monday (ESPN): Is Kelvin Sampson worthy of your coach of the year vote? The Sooners, largely expected to finish fifth in the Big 12, are ranked fifth in the country.
• Maryland at Wake Forest, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN2): In nine days, Wake gets Virginia, Duke and Maryland. Hey Skip, that ACC schedule just doesn't let up.
• Duke at Boston College, 9 p.m. Thursday (ESPN): Troy Bell may be an All-American, but the Blue Devils have three of those: Jason Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mike Dunleavy.
TOP 5 LIST
This week's topic: Most indispensable players on teams in the top 25.
1. Troy Bell, No. 22 Boston College. The 6-1 junior averages 22.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists.
2. Dan Dickau, No. 13 Gonzaga. The 6-1 senior averages 19.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists.
3. Jason Gardner, No. 15 Arizona. The 5-10 junior averages 21.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists.
4. Casey Jacobsen, No. 19 Stanford. The 6-6 junior averages 19.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
5. Steve Logan, No. 7 Cincinnati. The 6-foot senior averages 21.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists.
Sports Stories
It's Cards, Cats and coaches
Pitino looks to trap Bearcats with press
SULLIVAN: UC-Louisville
XU makes itself at home on road
It's a pretty cool spot
Analysis: Ticket price won't keep fans away
Boone, Encarnacion ink deals
Baseball notebook
Fog Bowl foes roll into Soldier Field
Parcells rejects Buccaneers' coaching offer
A big win for the little guys
Bacon trips Alter
Brady scores 42 in Reading's OT victory
Holy Cross rolls on in All 'A'
Kentucky boys basketball roundup
Moeller gym looks like winner
Ohio boys basketball roundup
Reading star Wynn picks Florida over UC
Unbeaten NewCath torches Bellevue
Vikings rally, but can't catch Warriors
How Enquirer poll teams fared
Tristate area scores
Ohio boys basketball scores
Ohio girls basketball scores
Kentucky boys basketball scores
Kentucky girls basketball scores
Indiana boys basketball scores
Indiana girls basketball scores
Length-of-the court basket is talk of Toledo
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