Quick hits
Jan. 26, 2009
South Bend, Ind. -- Here's a couple of quick hits before I hit the road and head back home. I'll have a more complete blog entry early tomorrow.
First, Dominic James is fine. Despite falling to the court hard and clutching his right leg after Luke Harangody crashed into him on a layup late in the game, James said he had only cramped up and would miss no time because of it.
Second, the three turnovers is amazing, and could be a school record. MU's sports information department was in the midst of trying to determine that after the game, but this much is known: it's the lowest total for the Golden Eagles in nearly 13 years. The lowest total anyone could find in that time frame was five turnovers, committed against Cincinnati on March 10, 1996.
Third, the reaction of the Golden Eagles' players afterward was varied. Wesley Matthews was grinning from ear to ear during an interview, and he perhaps more than any other MU player recognizes the magnitude of what he and his teammates have achieved thus far.
"It's
exciting, everything that's going on right now," he said. "We're just living in the moment."
Jerel McNeal, meanwhile, was his usual stoic self, already moving on quickly from this victory to MU's next game Saturday against Georgetown at the Bradley Center. He also was non-plused when asked about the Golden Eagles' rise to No. 8 in the Associated Press' media poll earlier in the day.
"It means nothing at all, because we'll be falling out if we don't get a win on Saturday," he said with a laugh. "We'll probably jump from eighth to 20th. We're not worried about it."
And finally, coach Buzz Williams called Maurice Acker his MVP -- the second time he's done that after inserting the 5-foot-8 dynamo into the lineup in the second half for defensive purposes.
He helped limit Kyle McAlarney, an incredible 47.5% shooter from beyond the arc coming in, to just nine points on 3-for-12 shooting overall.
Lazar Hayward and Matthews, meanwhile, spearheaded an incredible defensive effort on Luke Harangody down the stretch, holding him to just one field goal and four points over the final 11:47 after watching him go for 25 in the previous 29:13.
Finally, Hayward finished the night at 999 points, leaving him one shy of becoming the 41st player in MU history to reach 1,000.
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