The Basketball Report

Robert Stephens II, Featured Writer

Stephens lays it out on college and pro ball.

March 21, 2011 - The Washington Wizards in a three way team trade with the Denver Nuggets and Loan Angeles Clippers picked up center NeNe from the Nuggets and forward Brian Cook and a number two draft choice from the Los Angeles Clippers. The Wizards sent JaVale McGee and Ronny Turiat to Denver and Nick Young to the Clippers.

The Wizards followed it by dropping hard fought 97-92 contest to the Memphis Grizzlies on the road. John Wall led the home team with 25 points. Jordan Crawford chipped in with 22 points. Kevin Seraphin scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

The Wizards record stands at 10-34 on the season.
Washington will travel to New Jersey to face the Nets on Wednesday. The Wizards are at home on Thursday to
hosts Indiana on Thursday and Atlanta on Saturday.

If the playoffs were held at this writing in the Eastern
Conference the Chicago Bulls would be the top seed. The Bulls are followed by Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, Indiana, Atlanta, Boston and the New York Knicks.

Terrance Jones of Kentucky is one of several talented players for the Wildcats (photo: University of Kentucky).

In the West Oklahoma City is the number one seed.
The Thunder is followed by San Antonio, Lakers, Clippers,
Memphis, Dallas, Denver, and Houston.

In college basketball The Hoyas of Georgetown
defeated Belmont the champion of the Atlantic Sun conference 74-59 in their second round game in the NCAA basketball tournament. Belmont was held to 38% shooting by the Hoya defense. The Hoyas countered shooting 68% from the field.

Georgetown also out rebounded their opponent 30-22.
Jason Clark led the Hoyas with 21 points. Otto Porter chipped in with 16 points. Henry Sims finished with 15 points.

The third round turned to unkind to the DC team as
G'Town was bounced from the tournament by ACC member North Carolina State In a toughly fought contest the Hoyas were out out- rebounded 41-33. The Hoyas were out rebounded 17 to 8 on the offensive boards.

State led 30-27 at the half and did not wilt to the Hoyas
defense which has been their trademark all season.

“I just want to say I don’t know that I’ve been as proud to
be associated with a group of men, with a team as much as I am with this team this year.” “It’s a group that’s given it their all.”

Hollis Thompson led the Hoyas with 23 points. Jason
Clerk chipped in with 10 points.

Georgetown finished their season with a record of 24-9.
One a final note the Hoyas exceeded all expectations
this year according to the pre season prognostications by the media and coaches in the Big East: but that doesn’t take away the agony of defeat to the coaches, players, and fans of Georgetown but the seniors are ones that feel it the most.

In the second round there were two historical upsets
according to the NCAA committee’s seeding. Norfolk State the MEAC champion stunned #2 seed Missouri 86-84 to become the 5th number fifteen seed to defeat a #2 86-84.

The Spartans shot 52% from the three point line to
defeat their opponents from the Big 12. Center Kyle O’ Quinn led Norfolk with 26 points and 14 rebounds.

D.C.'s Thomas Robinson powers Kansas University. (photo: Kansas University)

Hours later in Greensboro Lehigh stunned Duke 75-70
to become the 6th team to accomplish that feat of a #15 seed beating a # 2.

There were several other surprises according to the
NCAA seedings. Ohio University defeated Michigan 65-60.
North Carolina State beat San Diego State. St. Louis beat Memphis 61-54. VCU beat Wichita State 62-59 and Colorado beat UNLV 68-64.

In the South region Kentucky the number one overall
seed defeated Western Kentucky 81-66 in Louisville. Terrance Jones led the Wildcats with 22 points and 10 rebounds. On Saturday the Wildcats beat Iowa State 87-70 as Marquis Teague scored 24 points and dished out 10 assists.

Kentucky will face Indiana Friday in Atlanta.

The 4th seeded Indiana Hoosiers held serve in the South
defeating New Mexico State 79-66. Saturday Indiana defeated VCU in a thriller 63-61.

Baylor the 3rd seed in the South turned back South Dakota
State 68-60. In round three they defeated PAC-12 Colorado 80-63.

They’ll face Xavier.

Xavier edged Notre Dame 67-63 in their second round
match up. The Musketeers defeated Lehigh 70-58 to advance to the round of sixteen.

The South Region in Atlanta shapes as Kentucky (32-2)
versus Indiana (27-8) and Xavier (22-12) versus Baylor (29-7).

The Syracuse Orangemen the number one seed in the
East defeated UNC-Asheville 72-65. On Saturday the Cuse beat Kansas State 75-59. Dion Waiters led the Orange with 18 points.

Syracuse will face Wisconsin Thursday in Boston.

Wisconsin defeated Montana 73-66 in their NCAA
opener. In a nip and tuck affair the Badgers defeated Vanderbilt 60-57. The fourth seeded Badgers will face Syracuse Thursday in Boston.

Ohio State the number two seed defeated Loyola
Md. 78-59 in their NCAA opener. In round three they defeated Gonzaga 73-66. They’ll face Cincinnati in a battle of Ohio Thursday night.

The Bearcats the number 6 seed defeated Texas 65-59
in their NCAA opener. The Bearcats came back to beat ACC Florida State 62-56.

The East regional in Boston will feature Syracuse (31-2)
against Wisconsin (26-9) and Ohio State (29-7) against Cincinnati (26-10).

The Midwest will counter with the Tar Heels of North
Carolina who defeated Vermont 87-73 in their opener. In their third round game Carolina defeated Creighton 87-73. Point guard Kendall Marshall broke a bone in his right wrist and has had surgery. His status for this weekend is unknown.

The Wolfpack of North Carolina State the number 11
seed defeated San Diego State 79-65 and Georgetown to advance in the Midwest.

The Jayhawks of Kansas defeated Detroit 65-50 in their
NCAA opener. In the third round Kansas defeated Purdue 63-60.

Brad Beal makes Florida go. (file photo)

The Jayhawks are led by DC native Thomas Robinson. Robinson has been named the Big 12 player of the year, as well as a first team All American by the NBAC. Robinson is one of four finalist for the Naismith award as player of the year.

The Bearcats of Ohio University the highest seeded team
remaining edged Michigan 65-60 in their opener. Ohio the 13th seed in the tournament defeated Big East South Florida 62-56 in their third round match up.

The Midwest Region in St. Louis is set. Its North Carolina
(29-5) versus Ohio University (29-7) and North Carolina State (24-12) versus Kansas (29-6).

The West bracket features the Warriors of Marquette the
number three seed from the Big East. The Warriors beat BYU 88-68 in their first round match up. In their third round contest Marquette bested a feisty Murray State club 62-53.

The Florida Gators the 7th seeded team in the West is led
by freshmen Bradley Beal who averaging 14 points and 10 rebounds from the wing position. Beal at 6’3 was named ALL-SEC and first team all freshmen the first from the Florida school to accomplish that feat.

The Gators defeated Virginia 71-45 in their NCAA opener. In the third round Florida beat Norfolk State 84-50.

Top seed Michigan State defeated Long Island University
89-67 in their NCAA opener. The Spartans edged St. Louis 65-65. Louisville beat Davidson 69-62 in their opener. The
Cardinals came back and defeated New Mexico 59-56 to round out the sixteen.

The West region shapes up as Marquette (27-7) versus
Florida (25-10). and Michigan State (29-7) versus Louisville (28-9). Those games will be played in Phoenix.