Mixed Results for Local Teams in BB&T Classic
The BB&T Classic has been pitting local college hoops teams against each other for 12 years, sporting a name change and some changes in format over the span. The three-game event at the Verizon Center opened with consummate Cinderella team George Mason against Bucknell, followed by George Washington against hotly tipped Virginia Tech, and concluding with resurgent Maryland against Notre Dame. While those are nice matchups, you may have noticed two things missing: local bragging rights, and Georgetown.
Contests between Maryland, George Washington and George Mason would have been interesting ones for the fans. Georgetown hasn't been part of the event at all for a number of reasons, most of which seem silly. We would love to see either all the local teams in a bracketed tournament, or, even better, Philly Big Five-style round robin games where local teams play each other during the regular season. But those matchups aside, this event, which benefits the Children's Charities Foundation, is a great one for local college basketball fans, though Maryland and Mason fans hoped for better results.
A rundown of all the action, after the jump.
Bucknell 60 - George Mason 57
George Mason fell to Bucknell in the opener of the three-game jamboree. Bucknell may seem like the odd man out in this event, being arguably the least known team among area fans, but the Bison (from Lewisburg, PA) have beaten Kansas and Arkansas in the last two NCAA tournaments, plus Syracuse and DePaul last season.
Like the Terrapins would later in the day, the Patriots sleepwalked through the first 20 minutes, trailing 33-20 at the break. Coach Jim Larranaga ordered a trapping, full-court press to start the second half, and it seemed effective: Not only did the Patriots force a few turnovers, but Bucknell was forced out of the slow tempo they prefer to play. George Mason quickly lopped off more than half the deficit, and seemed poised to make a strong push for the win.
They could get no closer than six until the final minute, however, as three-point jumper after three-point jumper bounded off the rim, and Will Thomas could get nothing going inside. GMU finally pulled within five on a Dre Smith three-pointer with 30 seconds left. When Bucknell missed the front end of a one-and-one, Mason's Folarin Campbell took advantage, scoring on a drive to cut the lead to 55-52 with 17 ticks remaining. From there, however, Bucknell hit enough free throws to ice the game. Campbell led the Patriots with 20 points, hitting a meaningless three-pointer at the buzzer for the final 60-57 margin.
-Hayden Alfano
George Washington 63 - Virginia Tech 62
Fundamentals. Defense wins championships. Sometimes the cliches are right - Virginia Tech, up one with less than 20 seconds to go in the game had a chance to increase their lead to 3, but Coleman Collins' dunk clanked off the rim. GW guard Carl Elliott got the rebound and was fouled on the other end of the court - bad news for the Hokies, as Elliott is shooting 92% on the season and has made a habit of making clutch free throws (such as last year's in GW's BB&T win over Maryland). Elliott sank both free throws to give the Colonials the lead with about 7 seconds to go. Collins had a chance to make up for his missed dunk, but Elliott came up big again, swatting the ball out of his hands with about 2 seconds to go. On the ensuing inbounds pass, the GW defense held firm for the win.
After a lame "ceremonial tip-off" by the Geico gecko (which we hope doesn't become common) the Hokies built an 11 point lead in the first half, thanks to sloppy play by the Colonials and foul trouble for their big men, Dokun Akingbade and Rob Diggs. Tech was not flustered by the GW defensive press, and good ball movement in the halfcourt resulted in easy baskets for the Hokies. Quixotic forward Regis Koundjia kept GW in the game with his hustle on both ends of the court, finishing with a double-double.
In the second half, GW stopped pressing and turning it over and started getting defensive stops, resulting in a 13-0 run in the first five minutes of the half. Eventually Tech's A.D. Vassallo came alive, scoring all of his 16 points in the second, but leading scorers Zabian Dowdell and Deron Washington struggled, finishing the game with a combined 9 points on 1-12 shooting. Vassalo and Carl Elliott led all scorers with 16, and Elliott added 7 rebounds and 5 assists. GW raised its record to 5-1 while VT dropped to 4-3.
-Andrew Wiseman
Notre Dame 81 - Maryland 74
In the final game of the evening, Notre Dame stunned Maryland. It was an almost inexplicable loss for the 8-1 Terps, who had played exceptionally up until yesterday. After a sluggish start, the Terps looked to take control by taking an eight point lead early in the second half, while Notre Dame appeared incapable of doing anything on offense in front of a large but quiet crowd.
The game appeared to take a turn when Ekene Ibekwe was called for a technical foul (which he earned for taunting his victim after a particularly vicious blocked shot), and a hard foul was committed on James Gist at the other end a few minutes later. In our opinion, however, that Notre Dame's game-turning 18-3 spurt came on the heels of those events was merely coincidental. It instead hinged on Russell Carter going to the bench with his fourth foul. Carter had been forcing shots all night, and the Irish started to click almost immediately after he left the court.
Maryland's full-court defensive pressure did seem to rattle the Irish, but the Terps could not score often enough set it up during a long stretch of the second half. D.J. Strawberry led Maryland with 17 points, with nine of those coming in the final two minutes. Freshman Greivis Vasquez, the hero of the mid-week win over Illinois, went 4-for-15 and was the frequent recipient of a quick hook from coach Gary Williams. Maryland's loss dropped the host schools to 1-2 on the day.
-Hayden Alfano
Briefly Noted
The disappointing Georgetown Hoyas have so far not lived up to their preseason top 10 ranking, losing to Oregon and Old Dominion. They had a chance to justify their early rankings in a Saturday night showdown with Duke. They seemed to be righting the ship at Cameron Indoor Stadium, flummoxing the Blue Devils with backdoor cuts and good passing. Unfortunately for Hoya faithful, they scored only 18 points after halftime, shooting a dismal 6-23 from the floor, and Duke got the 61-52 win. Ranked 18th before the game, Georgetown dropped to 4-3 and may fall out of the top 25.