Official 2005-06 Big 10/ACC Challenge Thread

Wake beats Wisconsin 91-88

I am so ****ing pissed off right now it's almost unbelievable.

<font size=""7"">91 POINTS???</font>
What the hell is wrong with you, Badgers? You just let Williams (who absolutely had his way inside, we didn't do a damn thing to stop him or even slow him down, absolutely pathetic defensive effort insided) and Gray combine for 58 ****ing points. Are you kidding me? What the hell was this game? It was like a ****ing shooting clinic. NO ONE on the Badgers played defense. Yeah, we played well in the last 2 minutes, big whoop. We didn't play a lick of defense all damn game. This is a very young team and I know they're not going to be great defensively for awhile, but Jesus Christ 91 points you've got to be joking me.

 

Nice last effort from Wisconsin they really made the announcers look stupid when they started that comeback, like Voodoo said it was pretty annoying hearing them talk about them game as if it was over. Now the game I have waited all night to see has started North Carolina and Illinois are playing a very quick paced game so far. Noel is really showing he can be a leader for a very young North Carolina ball club he has gotten off to an impressive start. Dee Brown mean while has been attacking the basket so far, and has been the only source of offense for the Illini here early. Pretty sloppy game early to both team turning the ball over like crazy.

 

Illinois beats UNC 68-64

I was watching the Bucks game so I didn't see all of this, but I clicked away when Illinois was up like 61-52, and I click back and it's 66-64 Illinois Apparently UNC got some clutch 3pt shooting down the stretch and made it the close game I was expecting. Those Carolina freshman are outstanding.

 

I'd like to point out that I have picked every game correctly so far.

 

I have too, although I said the Big Ten would win "one of" Wisconsin or Indiana, so I kind of cheated, and still can end up being wrong if Indiana loses.

One thing about this challenge is that it really tests the depth of the conferences this year. So far, it's 3-3 but the Big Ten holds a 3-1 lead in the games featuring teams that I think will be NCAA tournament teams or bubble teams.

The Big Ten is a deep conference and I take pride in that, but yes, Purdue and Penn State suck (except Geary Claxton!). And Northwestern usually does too. So we'll see how the season turns out, maybe Clemson and FSU will be good teams, and it already seems the ACC is even deeper than we are. But if it turns out to the ACC wins this challenge 6-5, and three of those wins are over PSU, Purdue and Northwestern, then even though the ACC won the challenge and was better top to bottom, the Big Ten's wins will be more meaningful and it shouldn't surprise anyone if the Big Ten will send more teams deeper come tournament time.

One last thing though, we know Purdue and Penn State are garbage. With the ACC teams, I'm at least not that sure. Maybe MSU will beat GT by 15, but if GT ends up last in the ACC, then that game will be just as meaningful as the FSU win over Purdue. Maybe the real challenge will be the Big Ten/ACC challenge, minus the PSU, Purdue, Northwestern and MSU games, plus MSU against BC.

Blah. I'm confusing myself.

 

The challenge is actually tied right now at 3-3, putting some pressure on Michigan State to win at home against Georgia Tech and Duke at Indiana to win this thing for their respective conferences.

 

Michigan State beats Georgia Tech 88-86

State had some very nice runs, but Tech always was able to match. I think MSU had a 9+ point lead probably 5 times, but Tech kept coming back. Both teams shot very well for most of the game, and it was exciting.

Maryland beats Minnesota 83-66

Minnesota surprisingly led 42-36 at the half, but Maryland simply destroyed them in the second half.

Virginia beats Northwestern 72-57

Again, the Big 10 team surprisingly led at the half (27-26 this time), but imploded in the 2nd.

 

Duke beats Indiana 75-67

JJ Redick and Sheldon Williams were big, though Williams was in foul trouble much of the game, but Marco Killingsworth dominated this game with 34 points and 9 boards. He was pretty much the only Indiana player who didn't make me want to vomit. Indiana easily could have won this game if they had taken some smart shots. It seemed like unless they were able to get it inside to Killingsworth, all they could do was take bad 3s early in the shot clock, shaky runners in the lane, or general bad shots at the end of the shot clock after being unable to get it to Killingsworth on the block. Really not a good performance by Indiana's perimeter players, they should have been so much better.

 

Iowa beats NC State 45-42

Yes, you read that right, 45-42

One of the sloppiest games I've ever seen. For two ranked teams, this was magnificently bad. Wow. Iowa shot 33% from the floor, NC State 36%. Teams combined for 38 turnovers. WTF

 

All I care about is if Duke won their game which they did. Good Job Duke.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Michigan State beats Georgia Tech 88-86

State had some very nice runs, but Tech always was able to match. I think MSU had a 9+ point lead probably 5 times, but Tech kept coming back. Both teams shot very well for most of the game, and it was exciting. </div>

If it makes any sense, I really think that Michigan State helped Georgia Tech's cause more than Tech did themselves. The Spartans have played that way most of the season (see: Gonzaga, Arizona). They shoot well, rebound well, and play great defense, yet they make stupid unforced turnovers. They're their own worst enemy at this point. It doesn't matter if they're playing Arizona or Georgia Tech. They'll keep the other team in the game by handing them over the ball possession after possession.

The final score (88-86) doesn't really tell anything about the game. Georgia Tech had a freak run where they hit four straight three-pointers in the span of a little more than a minute to bring it from a nine or ten point lead to a two point lead, but Michigan State was in control the whole ball game. The Spartans' perimeter defense was just horrible in that stretch. It's almost like they got cocky and eased up on them.

Paul Davis and Shannon Brown both had huge nights. Shannon Brown was on fire from the field, shooting 100% from the field heading into the final minutes of the game. He finished with 22 points, and a lot of his shots came on the perimeter, with a few of his shots nearly being three pointers. Brown also led Michigan State in assists with his seven. It was just a great all-around performance from him, and it could have been even better if the Spartans would just go to him more. I really like Maurice Ager, but I'd rather the Spartans go to Brown. He's a better athlete, a better shooter, a better decision maker, and just doesn't force it as much. As for Paul Davis, I'm convinced that he's the best center in the nation at this point in the season. While he only finished with seven rebounds, he had twenty-two points, including 2-2 shooting from downtown (3-3 on the year). Through the first five games, Davis is averaging 20.5 ppg and 11.5 rpg on 63% shooting. Agreeing with Lavin, I think he's a sure fire lottery pick if he keeps that up.

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Schaddy:</div><div class="quote_post">Duke beats Indiana 75-67

JJ Redick and Sheldon Williams were big, though Williams was in foul trouble much of the game, but Marco Killingsworth dominated this game with 34 points and 9 boards. He was pretty much the only Indiana player who didn't make me want to vomit. Indiana easily could have won this game if they had taken some smart shots. It seemed like unless they were able to get it inside to Killingsworth, all they could do was take bad 3s early in the shot clock, shaky runners in the lane, or general bad shots at the end of the shot clock after being unable to get it to Killingsworth on the block. Really not a good performance by Indiana's perimeter players, they should have been so much better. </div>

I agree 100%. You really have to wonder if they would have even been in danger of losing this one if Knight was still in charge of the team. I'm not worried about Indiana though. I picked them to win, but that was only out of blind Big Ten optimism. They'll still be dangerous come tournament time, because they'll be bringing D.J. White back. If they played this game with White, then they probably would have won.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> I thought the foul on SB3's breakaway layup at the end should have been a flagrant or intentional foul. The guy didn't even go after the ball, he just grabbed Brown's arm and pulled him down. Paul Davis was the man again for the Spartans. He had the inside-outside game going all night long and his draft stock has to be skyrocketing.</div>

I had almost forgotten all about that flagrant/intentional foul. Brown was seconds away from slamming it home when the guy grabbed his wrist and pulled him down. Brown was damn close to injuring himself badly. As for their foul shooting, I didn't think it was that bad. It was very uncharacteristic for a Michigan State team, but from when there was 1:37 left until the end of the game, Maurice Ager went 2-2, Shannon Brown went 7-8, and Paul Davis was the only weak link with an uncharacteristic 0-2. Aside from Davis, there wasn't really anything bad with our free throw shooting. It was just a freak series of three pointers from Georgia Tech that kept them in the game.