Saturday, February 26, 2011

We're getting down to our last couple of college-basketball Saturdays before the postseason starts. Several streakiness-related developments have emerged today...

MEN'S

No. 25 St. John's opened up its game with No. 14 Villanova on an 18-4 run and closed on a 16-4 spurt, to upset the Wildcats 81-68. Former UCLA coach and ESPN commentator Steve Lavin really has things moving in a positive direction with the Red Storm.

The University of Michigan hit its first 6 three-point attempts at Minnesota, but then endured a nine-minute scoreless stretch (from  5:45 remaining in the first half to 3:14 elapsed in the second half, during which the Wolverines were stuck at 35 points), before holding off the Gophers 70-63 (play-by-play sheet).

The University of Texas, trying to secure one of four regional top seeds when the NCAA tournament field is announced in a few weeks, squandered a 22-point lead and fell to Colorado, 91-89. Quoting from the linked article, the Longhorns' collapse resulted in good part from a combination of "...the Buffs ...storming back behind [Alec] Burks, who scored 24 after halftime, including 11 during a 14-0 spurt, [and] the Longhorns  ...going 1 for 17 from the field during a brutal 25-possession stretch."

Also in the Big 12, in a match-up of two struggling teams, Texas Tech put together a 15-1 run (from trailing 50-41 to leading 56-51) against Oklahoma State. It wasn't enough, however, as the Cowboys prevailed 70-68.

WOMEN'S

St. Bonaventure made 7 of its first 10 three-point attempts, and finished above .500 from long distance for the day (16-29; .552), in beating UNC-Charlotte 80-65.

***

Last night in the NBA, Minnesota's Kevin Love recorded a double-double (in this case, 11 points and 14 rebounds) for the 45th straight game, the streak being "the second-longest since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976," behind Moses Malone's "51-game run from 1979-80," according to this article. I don't know who holds the all-time NBA record, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's Wilt Chamberlain. If Love surpasses 51, articles will probably start listing whoever remains ahead of him.

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