Tuesday, November
28, 2006

 

CBB

Maryland-Illinois

SJ-R.com

Seven games and 13 days into the season, the Illini are undefeated heading into an early showdown
against No. 25 Maryland (7-0) at Assembly Hall on Tuesday in the ACC-Big Ten
Challenge (6 p.m., ESPN). After Illinois
beat Bradley 75-71 Saturday to win the Chicago Invitational in Hoffman
Estates, Weber appreciated the Illini’s
ability to survive the season’s first two weeks despite injuries to junior
forward Brian Randle and sophomore guard Jamar Smith
plus the suspension of guard Rich McBride. Smith isn’t 100 percent, the guard
said, and his ankle was tender after the game.A
schedule that included Austin Peay, Savannah
State and Florida A&M didn’t hurt.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

CBB

Ohio State-North Carolina

Press Notes

Ohio State
will be participating in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge for the fifth-consecutive
year. Ohio State
first participated in the event during the 2002-03 season
against Duke in Greensboro, N.C.,
a 91-75 Blue Devils’ victory. Georgia Tech traveled to Ohio
State in 2004 and won 73-53. The
Buckeyes traveled to Clemson in 2004-05 and fell to the Tigers, 80-73. Ohio
State defeated Virginia Tech in Columbus
a year ago, 69-59, for its first victory in the event. The last time Ohio State
was ranked No. 1 in either the coaches or media men’s basketball poll was
against Cincinnati (3/24/62) in a loss to the No. 2-ranked Bearcats (71-59) in
national title game in Louisville, Ky. Ohio State is 49-3 all-time as the No. 1
team (AP). Ohio State’s
last four games as the No. 1 team have been played on neutral courts. The
Buckeye’s last true road game as the No. 1 team was a loss at Wisconsin
(3/3/62), 86-67. North
Carolina enters the game ranked No. 6/7. Ohio
State is 45-36 all-time when
playing in a game in which both teams are ranked. The Buckeyes are 201-51 when
playing with an AP Top 10 ranking. Ohio
State is 300-91 when playing with
an AP Top 25 ranking.

Iowa-Virginia Tech

Press Notes

Iowa (2-3)
concludes a five-game road swing Wednesday, Nov. 29 at Virginia Tech (3-2) as
part of the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Game time is 6:05 p.m. CT at VTU’s Cassell Coliseum (9,847). Iowa
dropped a 67-64 contest at Arizona State
Nov. 25 in its last outing after posting a 1-2 record in the Paradise Jam. Iowa
defeated Toledo 78-65 in the first
round before losing to 10^th-ranked Alabama
72-60 in the semi-finals and Villanova 89-60 in the consolation round. Virginia
Tech is 3-2 on the season after dropping two of three games in the Old Spice
Classic in Florida. The Hokies
defeated lost to Southern Illinois 69-64 Sunday after a
77-56 win over Montana and a
71-68 loss to Western Michigan. Iowa
holds a 2-3 record in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, including a 2-0 record at
home, an 0-1 record on the road and an 0-2 record at
neutral sites. Iowa lost to Maryland
in Baltimore in 2000 before
defeating Georgia Tech in Iowa City
in 2001. Iowa lost to Duke at the
United Center
in Chicago in 2002 and lost at Florida
State in 2003. The Hawkeyes
defeated North Carolina State
45-42 in Iowa City a year ago. Iowa
did not participate in the event in 2004 and 2005.

Miami (Oh)-Xavier

Press Notes

Xavier is off to a 4-1 start with its lone loss to Alabama,
55-63, in its final game of the Paradise Jam. In its most recent game, Xavier
collected an 86-68 win against American on Saturday. Wednesday marks the 94^th
meeting between Miami and Xavier
with the Musketeers holding a 48-45 edge in the all-time series. When playing
on Xavier’s home court, the Musketeers are 30-17 against the RedHawks. Last season, the Musketeers posted a 75-65 win at
Millett Hall. The last time the teams met at the Cintas Center
(Nov. 22, 2004), Miami
collected a 66-54 win to snap a seven-game losing skid on Xavier’s home court. Miami
University’s men’s basketball team
continues a four-game road stretch when it travels to Xavier. Illinois,
which entered its Nov. 24 game against the RedHawks
averaging 81.2 ppg, 41.2 rpg and shooting .511 from
the field, was bothered by a persistent RedHawk
defense which gave up just 51 points to the Illini,
out-rebounded them by six boards and held them to 37.8 percent shooting from
the field. It also was the smallest margin of victory for Illinois
this season, with no team getting within 20 points of the Illini
in their previous five wins. Rutgers’ 44 points against Miami
on Nov. 25 marked the fifth time this season the RedHawks
have restricted an opponent to less than 60 points. The previous day, Miami
held Illinois, which was
averaging over 80 points per game, to 51 points. Over the past three seasons, Miami
has confined opponents to less than 60 points 33 times, including 16 times last
season.