Today's NIT: Texas Southern vs. Colorado

CU Buffs' resiliency will be tested in NIT opener in Boulder

The prevailing feeling from coast to coast is that Colorado deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament. Well-respected Seattle Times columnist Bud Withers on bubble teams scorned: "Clearly, the team with a beef is Colorado, which was 6-7 against the top 50, usually a figure that would guarantee entry."

ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale, known for his love of all things Big East and ACC, said if this were a beauty contest, at-large selection Alabama-Birmingham would be Roseanne Barr and shunned CU would be Scarlett Johansson.

TEXAS SOUTHERN (19-12, 16-2 SWAC) vs. COLORADO (21-13, 8-8 BIG 12)
INTERNET STREAMING BROADCAST: 7 p.m., ESPN3.com
GAME NOTES: Game Notes #35: NIT 1st Round

Brooks: Buffs Working Up An Appetite For The NIT

BOULDER - In most cases, the NIT is all about appetite - that is, which teams can summon the hunger to stay competitive and keep playing in the aftermath of an overlook by the NCAA or being bounced out via an upset in a conference tournament.

Colorado is an uncomfortable fit in the first category, having been passed over by the NCAA Selection Committee, while Texas Southern falls into the second. They could commiserate Wednesday night at the Coors Events Center (7 p.m., ESPN3.com) in the first round of the NIT, but CU Coach Tad Boyle isn't expecting that from the Buffaloes.

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Murray State Racers set school record for win streak, down Morgan State

You couldn't dream much more of a senior night for a trio of Murray State basketball players. A national television audience, a record-setting victory over a tough non-conference foe and a sneak preview of the intensity of March. But Danero Thomas and the rest of the Racers weren't thinking much about it after Saturday's 75-66 victory over Morgan State at the Regional Special Events Center on ESPNU.

“When we cut down the nets in Nashville, I'll think about it then,” the senior from New Orleans said after the Racers outlasted an equally as hot Bear team in a slugfest between two of the nation's top mid-major teams. The win was a school-record 17th at home and pushed the Racer record to 26-3 overall. And it came against an opponent that owns 20 wins on their resume. Morgan State fell to 20-9 overall and is 12-1 in the MEAC.

GAME BOXSCORE Morgan State coverage GORACERS.COM

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Hornets battle MEAC champs to final buzzer

Bethune Cookman 58, Florida A&M 57

FAMU men lose MEAC opener

DAYTONA BEACH — Two minutes and 53 seconds were still on the clock when FAMU men's coach Eugene Harris dipped into his pocket for his play card. He yelled his decision across the court at the Ocean Center. Brandon Bryant delivered. Swish. A 3-pointer that tied the ballgame against Bethune-Cookman University at 55-all. The Rattlers would tie it again at 57, then seconds later find out how costly the simplest of mistakes could be. This one was as basic as calling a timeout left FAMU with a 58-57 loss. The problem was that the Rattlers didn't have one to spare with four seconds left when Larry Jackson signaled for the break with FAMU in possession of the ball. That resulted in a technical foul that sent C.J. Reed to the line, where he nailed the deciding shot for the victory in the MEAC opener for both teams.

B-CU edges FAMU

DAYTONA BEACH -- After C.J. Reed's short jumper rimmed out with four seconds left, the Bethune-Cookman sophomore heard Florida A&M's Larry Jackson call timeout. Then he looked over at the Wildcats' bench and saw the coaches standing and yelling, "They don't have any. They don't have any." FAMU indeed did not have any timeouts remaining and were called for a technical foul, which allowed the Wildcats to win the game on the foul line. Reed missed his first free throw but hit his second to lift B-CU to a 58-57 victory Saturday before 2,328 fans at the Ocean Center. "It was just one of those things," FAMU coach Eugene Harris said. "In our (previous) timeout we told them we have no more timeouts. All we had to do was hold the ball, and we'd go to overtime. It was just a mental mistake."

B-CU star Demetria Frank hits 9 of 9 from the line, and scored 14 points and had 14 rebounds in loss to Lady Rattlers.

Wildcats women fall short

DAYTONA BEACH -- Euneshia Proctor spearheaded a defense that helped Bethune-Cookman rally from a 15-point deficit with a chance to tie Florida A&M in the final seconds.
But she won't remember her three steals in the final three minutes or her team-high 15 points. What she'll picture over and over in her mind is the one missed free throw.Proctor was fouled while taking a 3-pointer with 5 seconds remaining and the Wildcats down 63-60. She missed the first of her three free throws and FAMU held on for a 65-62 victory Saturday at the Ocean Center. "I have to make them," said Proctor, who did hit the final two. "I've been struggling at the line. I just have to work harder."

Rattlers women edge past B-CU

DAYTONA BEACH — LeDawn Gibson and Vanessa Inge renewed acquaintances with a long embrace just before the tip at the Ocean Center. The respect they have for each other was clearly obvious. On the court, though, it was a different story Saturday afternoon. Inge's Bethune-Cookman Wildcats showed no love for Gibson and her FAMU Rattlers, playing stubborn before falling short at the free-throw line to give the Rattlers a 65-62 victory. The Rattlers played without leading scorer Deidra Jones who watched in street clothes. She injured her knee last week against UF, but the extent of the injury still hasn't been determined.

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Texas Southern hiring Nick Van Exel as assistant

Former NBA guard Nick Van Exel is being hired as an assistant coach for Texas Southern University, a Houston television station reported. Van Exel retired in 2006 after 14 years in the NBA. He spent his first five years with the Los Angeles Lakers and also played for Denver, Dallas, Golden State, Portland and San Antonio.

"I said I was going to retire in '06, take two years off and try to get into coaching," Van Exel told KRIV-TV. "It didn't work out as planned. "So here I am my fourth year retired, couldn't sit around in the winter this time. Coach (Tony) Harvey brought me on the staff. It's going to be something exciting."

Nickey (Nick) Maxwell Van Exel --Beyond the Glory...

Solid Free-Throw Shooting Secures UK Women's Win over N.C.A&T

Box Score

Quotes

Notes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s basketball team hit 29-of-32 free-throw attempts, including 13-of-14 in the final four minutes to lead the Wildcats to their fourth consecutive win with a 72-63 win over North Carolina A&T on Thursday night in Memorial Coliseum.

It was a sloppy game from the start as both teams seemed out of rhythm and sluggish. The teams committed a combined 24 turnovers in the opening half, 13 from the Blue and White. With the game knotted at 22 apiece with 1:43 left in the half, the Wildcats finally kicked it into gear thanks in large part to the heady play of Dunlap. The sophomore All-Southeastern Conference performer grabbed two defensive rebounds and scored the next seven consecutive points, including an old-fashioned three-point play, to give the Cats a seven-point 28-22 lead with 40 seconds to go. UK went on to lead 29-25 at the break after a three-pointer by Brittanie Taylor-James of N.C. A&T.

In the second half, the Wildcats seemed to be pulling away from the Aggies after Morrow and Edelen combined to hit two three-pointers a piece in the first eight minutes of action. Their hot shooting sparked a 16-2 run, giving the Cats a 46-30 lead en route to an eventual game-high 19-point advantage with 4:34 remaining. However, turnovers continued to plague the Cats and North Carolina A&T (6-5) took full advantage of UK’s season high-tying 26 miscues. The Aggies, led by 25 points from Taylor-James, held the Cats without a field goal for the final four minutes and pulled within seven (66-59) with 1:05 left. The Cats remained poised down the stretch, hitting 13-of-14 free-throw attempts in the final 3:36 to take the 72-63 win.

“We were very happy to get this win because North Carolina A&T has a very good team,” Mitchell said. “While we didn’t play our best tonight, I was pleased that we went on a big run in the second half to get control of the game. We didn’t finish off the game particularly well, but still a good win for us and we are happy with the win.”

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Delaware State Preview vs. #12 Ranked Notre Dame

Final exams are over and the Notre Dame student body has gone home for the holidays, but the Irish basketball team still has a couple of tests before it can head home for Christmas. Notre Dame (7-2) entertains Delaware State (2-12) at 7 p.m. tonight at the Joyce Center. Tonight’s game against the Hornets will be followed by a home date on Monday evening with Savannah State before the Irish players leave campus for break.

Notre Dame is currently ranked 12th in the Associated Press Poll and 14th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll, but have a great chance to move up in both with a strong showing on Saturday. Delaware State, of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, has played an extremely difficult non-conference schedule and has suffered losses at Ohio State, Kentucky and Maryland along with Big East defeats to West Virginia, Connecticut and Rutgers. Notre Dame head coach Brey said that he respects what Delaware State is doing with its non-conference schedule and believes that it will help them down the road.

“I understand what they’re trying to do here in the non-conference,” said Brey. “That’s a grueling thing to do, they’ve done a pretty good job of that and the one thing they’ve got is really tough kids. I know that from talking to people in their league, they’ve got tough kids and probably going through this toughens them up.” The Hornets opened the season with a victory over Division II Wilmington and won its MEAC opener against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Dec. 4, but have lost every other game. Delaware State is 0-9 on the road this season.

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DSU releases 2008/09 men's basketball schedule

DOVER, DE – Twenty-three teams from nine different conferences highlight the 2008-09 Delaware State Men’s Basketball slate as announced by Head Coach Greg Jackson, today. Featuring 10 teams which reached postseason play during the 2007-08 season, the 2008-09 schedule will pit the Hornets against three teams ranked in last season’s final Top 25 (Connecticut, Notre Dame, West Virginia) as well as three former NCAA Division I Champions (Kentucky, Connecticut, Maryland).

"Once again, Coach Jackson and his staff have put together a tremendous schedule," said DSU Director of Athletics Rick Costello. "The opportunity for our student-athletes to play some of the premier programs in the NCAA will only make our program stronger."

"This is one of our toughest schedules to date," said Jackson. "This year’s schedule is going to give our program the best shot at grabbing a fourth regular season MEAC Championship over the past five years. We are going to play some of the top programs in the nation with teams like UConn, Maryland and Kentucky – all of which have won national championships.

We’ve got an exciting home schedule with a number of tough MEAC foes and an exciting and challenging road schedule that rivals any program’s in the nation. We look forward to the challenge and I know it will be fun for our fans and players alike."

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DSU 2008/09 Men's Basketball Schedule

Nov. 14-15, Hornet Classic, (Delaware State University, Wilmington University, Cheyney University, Coppin State)
Nov. 17, at Lehigh
Nov. 19 , at Dayton
Nov. 22, at Kentucky
Nov. 25, at West Virginia
Nov. 28, vs. Oakland (in Las Vegas), 5:30 p.m.
Nov. 29. vs. Longwood/Southeast Missouri (in Las Vegas)

Dec. 1, at UConn
Dec. 4, vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore*
Dec. 6, at Richmond
Dec. 12, at Maryland
Dec. 14, at Rutgers
Dec. 20, at Notre Dame

Jan. 10, vs. South Carolina State*
Jan. 12, vs. Winston-Salem State
Jan. 17, at Norfolk State*
Jan. 19, at North Carolina A&T*
Jan. 24, vs. Bethune-Cookman*
Jan. 26, vs. Florida A&M*
Jan. 31, vs. Coppin State*

Feb. 2, vs. Morgan State*
Feb. 7, at Hampton*
Feb. 9, at Howard*
Feb. 14, vs. Norfolk State*
Feb. 16, vs. North Carolina A&T*
Feb. 21, at Bethune-Cookman*
Feb. 23, at Florida A&M*
Feb. 28, at Morgan State*

March 5, at Maryland-Eastern Shore*
March 9-14, MEAC Basketball Tournament , Winston-Salem, N.C.

* MEAC games

Delaware State gets offensive, rout Howard University

Photo: DSU senior Roy Bright had another monster game--scoring a game-high 26 points on 10-for-14 shooting from the field, with 6-of-10 on 3-pointers, 5 rebounds and 1 assist in 28 minutes of action.

Hornets score 29 straight points to rout Howard

DOVER -- Message to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Delaware State still believes it's the "top dog" in the hunt for the league's men's basketball championship. The Hornets exhibited what coach Greg Jackson said was the best offensive effort in his eight years at the school in an 81-55 victory over Howard on Monday night at Memorial Hall.

DSU, coming off a win over Hampton on Saturday, parlayed that performance into an uncharacteristic offensive explosion in the first half, shooting at a blistering 78 percent clip and reeling off a 29-0 run.

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Delaware State is now tied with Hampton University for third place in the conference standing. Norfolk State is playing the best basketball in its history and has its best conference record since moving to Division I, ten years ago. This race is too close to call at this time, but if DSU continues to shoot 78 percent from the field, very few teams will be able to stop their run for the regular season conference championship.

The Hornets will be at Norfolk State on February 16, and this game should be a barn burner with unstoppable power guard Tony Murphy (16.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.8 stl) shooting the lights out and Roy Bright (18.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg) on fire with his long distance 3's.

At stake for the Hornets is a tie for second place behind Morgan State, who is playing on the road at Florida A&M on Saturday and Bethune Cookman on Monday. Neither team (FAMU or BCU) should be able to stop the 9-1 MSU Bears and their talented guards Jamar Smith (18.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.0 stl), Reggie Holmes (13.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.3 stl) forwards Marquise Kately (12.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg), and the MEAC leading rebounder, Boubacar Coly (9.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 2.6 blk, 1.0 stl).

Delaware State run may be too late with only six games remaining in the season with four at home before the MEAC Tournament.

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Standings

TEAM, CONFERENCE RECORD, TOTAL RECORD
Morgan State 9-1, 15-8
Norfolk State 8-2, 12-10
Hampton 7-3, 13-9
Delaware State 7-3, 10-12
North Carolina A&T 6-4, 12-11
Bethune-Cookman 4-6, 10-14
Florida A&M 4-6, 8-15
South Carolina State 4-6, 8-16
Coppin State 2-8, 7-19
Howard 2-8, 5-19
Maryland-Eastern Shore 2-8, 4-21

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PVAMU Lady Panthers remain undefeated in SWAC

Photo: PVAMU #20 Sophomore 6-0 guard/forward Gaati Werema, from Orlando Christian Prep, Orlando, Florida in eariler game at North Carolina. Werema was leading Lady Panther scorer at Alabama A&M with 15 points.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala.- After running into a tie ball game at 43 all with 10:59 remaining in the second half the Prairie View A&M Lady Panthers (13-7, 8-0 SWAC) managed to pull out a 58-55 victory over the Alabama A&M Lady Bulldogs (6-11, 4-4 SWAC) clinching their tenth consecutive win.

The Lady Panthers put a total of four players in double figures with sophomore forward Gaati Werema leading the way with 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the floor. Shavonne Smith, Candice Thomas, and Chari Smith round out the list of PVAMU double digit contributors tallying 14, 13, and 10 points respectively. Prairie View A&M shot 42 percent from the field while holding AAMU to just 28 percent from the floor for the game. Junior Aminata Dieye came up big for PVAMU on the defensive end racking up six blocks and four rebounds.

Rebekkah Barnes scored 15 points while Christian Malone added 10 points and six assists for Alabama A&M.

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Short-handed NSU women surge to stunning victory

Photo: Natasha Huntley, 5-6 freshman guard from Greensboro, N.C. was instrumental in win with 14 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist.

NORFOLK, VA - It started with a 3-pointer. Then another. And another. All in the span of six seconds. A coast-to-coast layup tied it. A clutch free throw provided the lead. And, finally, one frenzied defensive stop later, Norfolk State experienced the joy of six.

"It's overwhelming," said a beaming Tashawna Higgins after her three-point play with 11.7 left propelled the Spartans - all six of them - to an improbable 62-61 victory against Winston-Salem State on Monday night at Echols Hall.

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Morgan State leads MEAC with win at Hampton

Photo: Senior forward Boubacar Coly snatched 12 rebounds over Hampton University. The 6-9 Coly is the leading rebounder in the MEAC.

HAMPTON - Morgan State's rebounding and shot blocking were strengths coming in against Hampton University, but just a little better shooting made the difference.
The Bears pulled out a 64-57 victory over Hampton in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game Monday night at HU Convocation Center. The result forced a three-way tie for first place in the loss column between the two teams and Norfolk State.

"We played against a good team tonight, a team that was hungry," HU coach Kevin Nickelberry said. "And they made the plays down the stretch to win."

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Technical costs DSU a second time

Three Florida A&M players ejected, but foul call goes against Hornets.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Delaware State saw another technical foul play a key role in a men's basketball game Monday night, and again it ended in a loss -- 70-68 to Florida A&M at rowdy Gaither Gym. The Rattlers (8-11, 4-3 MEAC) made 11-of-12 free throws in the final 2:23.

FAMU's Cassius Bell, Darryl Demps and Jon Mason were ejected with 4:38 remaining after DSU's Marcus Neal received a technical for shoving FAMU guard Jon Ballard under the basket after Neal fouled Ballard on a layup. No technical fouls were called against FAMU, despite a prolonged discussion between DSU coach Greg Jackson, FAMU coach Eugene Harris and the referees.

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