Saturday, December 02, 2006

Maryland Preview

Nice win for Gonzaga over Texas. In the other matchup of ranked teams today, Georgetown takes on Duke. That would be a very nice early win for the Big East this year. Also, D-III Lincoln University put up 201 against Ohio State-Marion.

On to the big game tomorrow against Maryland. The Terps are 8-0 coming off a win against Illinois, snapping the Illini's 51-game home winning streak. D.J. Strawberry is the leading scorer at about 15 a game. They were ranked 7th in the preseason conference poll. None of the Terrapin players made 1st or 2nd team All-Conference, but the overall talent has lead them to early rankings at #23 in the AP and #19 in the coaches' poll. A key for the Irish is to harrass Strawberry, who gave up 94 turnovers last year.

Look for more 2-3 zone as Notre Dame will try to force Maryland to win with the jump shot. 6-9 Ekene Ibekwe, who nearly went pro after last season, is a solid force down low and will be countered by a combination of Rob Kurz and Luke Harangody. If those two can control the low post, and keeps turnovers to a minimum, the Irish will have a good shot at an upset.

UCLA just beat USC on the gridiron, sparking bedlam in the Rose Bowl. Congrats to Karl Dorrell for beating the Trojans the first time in his career. It couldn't have come on a bigger stage, ending Southern Cal's title dream and making the year for either Florida or Michigan.

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