December 2011 | Page 25 of 28 | Zagsblog
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Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
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Thursday / December 26.
  • LEXINGTON, Ky.Brian Long may be the only member of the Kentucky basketball team who hasn’t been dunked on by Anthony Davis or Terrence Jones during practice.

    “No one has dunked on me, thank God,” the 5-foot-9, 150-pound Long told SNY.tv last week. “There’s been a few dunks on people but I haven’t been a victim yet.”

    Long is a freshman walk-on playing for the No. 1 team in the country after spending four years as a point guard at River Dell (N.J.) High School. He averaged 9.6 points and 5.0 assists as a senior.

    LEXINGTON, Ky. — Dexter Strickland sat quietly in a corner of the North Carolina locker room in Rupp Arena Saturday afternoon.

    After talking about all the “little mistakes” that led to No. 5 Carolina’s 73-72 loss to No. 1 Kentucky, Strickland said he wants the rematch.

    “Oh, absolutely,” the former Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick star told SNY.tv. “Absolutely, we gotta get them.”

    A year ago, of course, the two college basketball heavyweights met twice, with Carolina winning the regular season encounter at home and then losing the big one in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight in Newark.

    LEXINGTON, Ky. — With about nine minutes remaining in the first half of the North Carolina-Kentucky game Saturday, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist drove to the basket and felt a smack on the arm.

    After suffering from a dislocated left shoulder, he collapsed on the floor of Rupp Arena.

    Things did not look good for the former Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick star. Not at all.

    LEXINGTON, Ky. — There may never have been a college basketball game played with as many potential NBA players as No. 1 Kentucky’s thrilling 73-72 victory over No. 5 North Carolina Saturday at Rupp Arena.

    The teams feature at least six lottery picks, as many as 10 future first-round picks and possibly a couple of second-rounders.

    I spoke to ESPN’s Chad Ford after the game for a breakdown on a few key guys:

    LEXINGTON, Ky. — Sonny Boggs was born and raised here.

    He has killed and eaten bear, elk and deer in various parts of America.

    He served a 13-month stint in Iraq ending in 2003, lost his hearing as a result and now wears a hearing aid in his right ear.

    “I made it home with all my limbs,” said Boggs, a cab driver who took me to Rupp Arena Saturday before No. 1 Kentucky edged No. 5 North Carolina, 73-72, on Anthony Davis’s block of a John Henson jumper in the final seconds before more than 24,000 fans.

    “Some guys had it a lot rougher than I did so I’m not going to complain. We had four guys from our unit that was killed.”

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