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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 19.
  • NEW YORK — Count Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim among those who would love to see the ACC Tournament come to Madison Square Garden.

    “Oh, sure, it’s easy for our fans,” Boeheim told SNY.tv following his team’s 62-59 victory over future ACC rival Pittsburgh that set up a showdown with Georgetown in Friday’s Big East semifinals.

    “That’s the big thing, for our fans.”

    (Louisville coach Rick Pitino also told SNY.tv that the ACC would “benefit” from hosting their tournament at MSG. Read about that here.)

    An overwhelmingly pro-Syracuse crowd of 20,057 cheered the Orange as they fended off Pitt, thanks to Michael Carter-Williams’ late-game steal and clutch foul shots and James Southerland’s 6-for-6 shooting night from the arc. Carter-Williams finished with 11 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds and Southerland poured in 20 points.

    BY MATT SUGAM

    SPECIAL TO ZAGSBLOG

    NEW YORK – There’s no doubt in Mick Cronin’s mind that his team will hear their named called on Selection Sunday.

    “I don’t think that’s any question,” the Cincinnati coach said after his team lost to No. 1 Georgetown, 62-43, in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden. “If it is ‑‑ again, I don’t know how anybody could question that.”

    The Bearcats are expected to go dancing, but they aren’t exactly coming in strong.

    After an 18-6 start, Cincinnati has lost seven of their last 11.

    Sitting at 22-11, 9-9 in the Big East, ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi currently has Cincinnati as the No. 11 seed in the West Region taking on No. 6 Butler.

    By DAN KELLY and JOSH NEWMAN
    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    KhalifWyattNEW YORK – The Atlantic-10 Tournament will bring at least five NCAA tournament teams to Barclays Center beginning today and running through Sunday’s final. St. Louis has the best record in the league (13-3) and will be the favorite to win the tournament, but VCU and Butler are on opposite sides of the bracket and could meet in what would be a rematch of their improbable 2011 Final Four contest. La Salle and Temple are also NCAA Tournament teams who each have a puncher’s chance at the A-10 Tourney title. Then there’s UMass, led by its charismatic Brooklyn-born point guard Chaz Williams, and needing a run to the championship for an automatic bid to the field of 68.

    Here, in preparation, are your A-10 Tournament players to watch:

    Khalif Wyatt (Temple): To the surprise of no one, the senior combo-guard was named Atlantic-10 Player of the Year on Tuesday afternoon after averaging a league-best 19.9 points per game, including five games of 30 or more points for the 23-8, NCAA Tournament-bound Owls. The A-10 Player of the Week four times this season, Wyatt rose to national prominence this season when he hung a game-high 33 points on then-No. 3 Syracuse on Dec. 22 in a nationally-televised 83-79 win at Madison Square Garden. On Wyatt, the 10th player in Temple’s storied history to receive A-10 Player of the Year honors, one veteran NBA scout told SNY.tv, “He’s very good off the bounce, a combo-guard with an ability to create for himself and others. He opened some eyes with a great season for the Owls. He could be a second-round pick this year on some boards.”

    The Knicks are already without one member of their “Big Three” for the rest of the season.

    Now, the other two have joined Amar’e Stoudemire on the injured list.

    Carmelo Anthony left the Knicks’ West Coast road swing in Denver and headed back to New York to get the fluid from his right knee drained.

    Also during the team’s 117-94 loss to Melo’s old team — the Denver Nuggets — at the Pespi Center, Tyson Chandler suffered a knee contusion and is listed as probable for tonight’s game in Portland.

    “I think it was just time for me to give it time to get to the bottom of it,” Anthony, who went 3-for-12 for nine points, said, according to NBA.com. “I’m going to get it drained. At this point that’s all it is, getting it drained. I was being naïve to myself and trying to psyche myself out saying, ‘I can do it, I can do it.’ It just comes to a point you have to figure it out.” 

    http://web.sny.tv/media/video.jsp?content_id=25722481

    By MATT SUGAM

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    NEW YORK – And now they wait.

    Five weeks ago, Steve Lavin had a young and hungry St. John’s squad poised to make its second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years.

    But the Johnnies lost key players down the stretch to suspensions and lost for the seventh time in eight games, falling to Villanova, 66-53, in the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. The No. 7 Wildcats will face No. 2 Louisville tonight at 7 p.m.

    Whatever bubble dreams the Johnnies (16-15) had of making the NCAA Tournament have popped.

    Their hopes of continuing their season now hinge on an NIT bid, and the Johnnies must wait until Selection Sunday to learn their fate.

    NEW YORK — Anyone who has watched Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim for the past year or so can plainly see that the man is deeply conflicted.

    He has spent virtually his whole career coaching in the Big East Conference, and now the only thing he has known in terms of basketball is coming to an end.

    Boeheim, 68, has expressed his sadness at Syracuse’s exit from the league for the greener pastures of the ACC, and his anger that the powers-that-be let Dave Gavitt’s Big East collapse at the hands of football greed.

    He has dropped hints that he might retire, saying recently that he was “ready to go play golf.” Various Internet reports and Tweets in recent days have suggested that Boeheim is on the brink of retirement.

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