With the EA Sports Maui Invitational and the Progressive Legends Classic getting under way yesterday, some interesting story lines occurred. Whether it be the close game between Georgia and Indiana or the humongous upset of Chaminade over Texas, the day was full of enticing stories.
To begin, Rotnei Clarke of Butler buried a huge buzzer beating three to defeat the Marquette Golden Eagles in regulation. In the first game of the Maui Invitational, the fans were treated to some great entertainment. The Golden Eagles and the Bulldogs traded leads for most of the day and Marquette was up by two when the Arkansas transfer buried the game winning shot. Vander Blue led the way for Marquette with 21 points and Davante Gardner added 12 points and 7 rebounds in just 16 minutes. For Butler, guard Rotnei Clarke put up 20 points and 6 rebounds in 37 minutes of hard work. Khyle Marshall may have performed even better with 24 points and 9 rebounds in 31 minutes. Clarke and Marshall will need to keep up the good work if they want to contend in their first season in the Atlantic-10. Marquette will hope to rebound today against a god awful Mississippi State Bulldogs team that was blown out by North Carolina yesterday.
Indiana stuck with it against the Georgia Bulldogs and came away with an important victory in Brooklyn. This was the first game of the Progressive Legends Classic and showcased a struggling Georgia team against the number 1 team in the country, Indiana. Georgia put up a much larger fight than most expected led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 14 points and 7 rebounds in 32 minutes of play. Caldwell-Pope is expected to lead the Bulldogs into the SEC season. Victor Oladipo led Indiana's scoring with 15 points. Jordan Hulls and Christian Watford followed closely with 14 points. This was a significant win for the Hoosiers because it was the first game played away from home and the team didn't know what to expect coming in from their young players such as Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell.
UCLA and Georgetown capped off the night in Brooklyn and played a game that was mostly overshadowed by the arrival of Shabazz Muhammad. Instead it was another freshman, Jordan Adams, who stole the show for UCLA in their loss. He had 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 block to cap off a very strong night. In all four of UCLA's games this year he has exceeded 20 points. Georgetown is the team to talk about in this matchup, though. Otto Porter Jr. and Markel Starks looked like All-Stars out on the court and Greg Whittington played well too. Although Georgetown lost three starters from last year, coach John Thompson III looks like he will have a strong product out on the floor again. This Georgetown team could be dangerous come Big East conference season and everyone should watch out for them. If their young players can grow and gel together they will be very strong.
In other scores around the country, Division II host of the Maui Invitational, Chaminade defeated Texas 86-73. New Mexico defeated #21 Connecticut 66-60 in the final of the Paradise Jam at Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands.
No comments:
Post a Comment