John Clay's Sidelines

Here’s a look at how the remaining NIT bracket shapes up:

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

• Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader previews tonight’s UK-Notre Dame matchup.
• Tipton also has some quotes from Billy Gillispie on Notre Dame.
• My column of random NIT notes.
• Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal writes that Cats will have hands full with Luke Harangody.
• Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune writes that healing Irish await Kentucky.
• Noie’s notes include question of how Notre Dame will slow Jodie Meeks.
• In the Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette, Michael Rothstein writes that Notre Dame seniors appreciate NIT run.
• Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger writes that Patrick Patterson is preparing for Harangody.
• Tom Leach writes that cutting turnovers has helped UK succeed in the NIT.
• On his WLAP blog, Dick Gabriel examines the UK coaching mess.
• In the Cats Pause, Darrell Bird writes about the clash of the titans. (subscription)

Continue reading ‘BBL: Bring on the Irish’

SEC links for Wednesday:

• Ian Rapoport of the Birmingham News reports that Anthony Grant can have the Alabama job if he wants it.
• News columnist Kevin Scarbinsky says Bama wants Grant to be the next Billy Donovan.
• Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun writes on Florida’s quarterfinal NIT loss to visiting Penn State.
• Josh Moon of the Montgomery Advertiser reports on Auburn’s NIT loss to Baylor.
• Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun writes on the Florida women’s loss to No. 1 UConn.
• Scott Hotard of The Advocate reports on LSU’s loss to visiting Louisville in the NCAA Wiomen’s tourney.
• Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal has more details on Louisville’s win at LSU.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Bama focuses in on Anthony Grant’

NIT second-round results and quarterfinals schedule:

Second round

Mar. 19 Thurs. Notre Dame 70, New Mexico 68 7:00 p.m., ET ESPN2
Mar. 19 Thurs. Penn St. 83, Rhode Island 72 7:00 p.m., ET

Mar. 20 Fri. Florida 74, Miami (Fla.) 60 7:00 p.m., ET ESPNU
Mar. 20 Fri. Auburn 74, Tulsa 55 8:00 p.m., ET
Mar. 20 Mon. San Diego St. 70, Kansas State 52 9:30 p.m., ET

Mar. 21 Sat. Baylor 84, Virginia Tech 66 11:00 a.m. ET ESPN

Mar. 23 Mon. Kentucky 65, Creighton 63 7:00 p.m., ET ESPN
Mar. 23 Mon. Saint Mary’s (CA) 80, Davidson 68 11:30 p.m., ET ESPN2
Quarterfinals

Mar. 24 Tues. Baylor at Auburn 7:00 p.m., ET ESPN
Mar. 24 Tues. Penn St. at Florida 9:00 p.m., ET ESPN

Mar. 25 Wed. Kentucky at Notre Dame 7:00 p.m., ET ESPN2
Mar. 25 Wed. Saint Mary’s at San Diego State 9:00 p.m., ET ESPN2

Notes from Kentucky’s 65-63 win at Creighton:

• Kentucky’s biggest lead of the night was two points. Creighton’s biggest lead was five.
• Ramon Harris is having a pretty good NIT. The junior grabbed 10 rebounds against UNLV. He had a career-high eight assists against Creighton.
• Patrick Patterson’s 20 minutes were a season-low. He sat 15 minutes in the first half with two fouls.
• Patterson had a streak of four straight double-doubles snapped. He ended up with 12 points and five rebounds on the night.
• Jodie Meeks is averaging just 14.3 points per game over his last three games.
• Perry Stevenson had 13 points and 10 boards, his first double-double since the Alabama game on Jan. 24.
• DeAndre Liggins’ 12 minute was his most playing time since 29 at South Carolina on Feb. 25.
• Josh Harrellson grabbed four rebounds in his four minutes on the floor.

Continue reading ‘Post-game notes after UK win at Creighton’

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• Jerry Tipton has game story in Herald-Leader on Kentucky’s 65-63 win over Creighton.
• Here’s my column saying UK is having too much fun to end the drama now.
• In his post-game notes, Tipton writes that Billy Gillispie says, “It’s not about me.”
• UK’s post-game audio after win at Creighton.
• H-L columnist Mark Story writes that tourney trail is revealing character and characters.
• Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal reports on Kentucky’s second-round NIT win.
• Omaha World-Herald reports on Creighton’s loss to the visiting Cats.
• World-Herald columnist Tom Shatel writes that special night becomes missed opportunity for Jays.

Continue reading ‘BBL: UK-Creighton wrap-up links’

SEC links for Tuesday:

• Charles Goldberg of the Birmingham News reports on Auburn’s stunning loss to Rutgers in the NCAA Women’s Tournament.
• Writing for the Tennessean, Glen Rosales reports on the Vandy women’s win over Kansas State.
• Writing for the Clarion-Ledger, Ken Gordon reports on Mississippi State’s loss at Ohio State.
• Scott Hotard of The Advocate previews tonight’s LSU-Louisville battle for the women’s Sweet 16.
• Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun writes on what might be in Storrs for the Florida women.
• Kevin Brockway of the Sun previews tonight’s Florida-Penn State NIT quarterfinal.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Auburn shocked in NCAA women’s tourney’

Post-game audio from Kentucky after its 65-63 win at Creighton in the NIT:

• UK coach Billy Gillispie and players Jodie Meeks and Perry Stevenson talk about the comeback win over the Blue Jays.

• In the UK locker room, Patrick Patterson talks about the effort behind the victory.

If Kentucky does part ways with Billy Gillispie, and nothing has been announced either way, the decision would have an impact on other searches in the SEC, so writes Gentry Estes for the Mobile Press-Register.

One reason is that both Alabama and Georgia are believed to be interested in VCU coach Anthony Grant. Estes speculates that if UK was in the market for a new coach, it might make another run at Florida’s Billy Donovan. If Billy D. did come to Lexington, then Grant might be more interested in Florida. Grant was almost the Florida coach two years ago when Donovan took the Orlando Magic job for a weekend.

In other words, dominoes could fall. Remember, could fall.