Matthews: Wild And Crazy College Hoops!

A WILD AND CRAZY COLLEGE HOOPS DOUBLEHEADER

Tuesday night’s college basketball 1-2 punch on TV was an example of why I feel sorry for folks who aren’t sports fans.

I was munching on chicken wings and sipping a beer while watching the two classic games simultaneously at a downtown watering hole:

Game 1 – Miami 91, North Carolina 88 at Chapel Hill.

The ninth-ranked Tar Heels rallied from a 16-point deficit (59-43) with 16 minutes remaining and tied the score at 88-88 on a clutch three-point field goal by Joel Berry II with 4.1 seconds left. It turned out that he took the shot too quickly.

Miami’s Ja’Quan Newton proceeded to hit a running three-point bomb of his own from just past midcourt at the horn for the upset victory.

Miami – a recent home loser to Syracuse -- improved to 21-8 (10-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) and suddenly is thinking Big Dance.

Game 2 – St. Bonaventure 117, Davidson 113 in triple overtime in before 4,865 lucky fans at a packed Reilly Center in Olean.

The Bonnies improved to 23-6 in pursuit of a trip to the NCAA Tournament. It was their 11th straight victory.

According to the game report, for the first time in 20 years in Division I, three players on one team topped 30 points in the same game: St. Bonaventure’s Jaylen Adams (34), Matt Mobley (33) and Courtney Stockard (31).

The Bonnies rallied from a four-point deficit in the third overtime after Adams, Stockard and LaDarien Griffin fouled out.

There were 23 lead changes and 15 ties in this epic game. It ended at 12:20 a.m. and the players and the fans were worn out.

St. Bonaventure ends the regular season at Saint Louis Saturday night.

Miami, North Carolina, St. Bonaventure and Davidson all looked like NCAA Tournament-worthy teams to me.

BOTTERILL KEEPING THE AMERKS IN MIND

Some Buffalo Sabres fans are disappointed in general manager Jason Botterill because he completed only one deal before Monday’s NHL trade deadline.

But why blame Botterill because none of the NHL’s 30 other teams were lining up to take dead wood off Buffalo’s hands? The Sabres are 30th in a 31-team league for a reason. Most of the players he was trying to deal were guys no other teams wanted.

Botterill did do Rochester a favor in the trade sending Evander Kane to the NHL San Jose Sharks. The deal included Dan O’Regan to Buffalo as a throw-in.

O’Regan is undersized at 5-foot-9 and might never be a full-time player for the Sabres, but he has proved his offensive talent in the American Hockey League the last two seasons with the San Jose Barracudas:

2016-17 – 63 games...23 goals + 35 assists for 58 points. +6 plus-minus.

2017-16 – 31 games...7 goals +18 assists for 25 points. -1 plus-minus.

AHL totals – 94 games...30 goals + 53 assists for 83 points.

O’Regan was the 2018-17 AHL Rookie of the Year and figures to give the Amerks a boost down the stretch and in the playoffs.

In 22 games with the NHL Sharks the last two seasons, he had 1 goals + 4 assists.

For the record, here are the former Amerks who won AHL Rookie of the Year honors (names in italics played for the Amerks but won the Rookie of the Year before or after with other AHL teams):

Bo Elik 1956-57 with Cleveland

Billy Hicke 1958-59

Mike Walton 1965-66

Ron Ward 1968-69

Claude Verret 1983-84

Donald Audette 1989-90

Mika Noronen 1999-2000

Tyler Ennis 2009-10 with Portland

Luke Adam 2010-11 with Portland

Dan O’Regan 2016-17 with San Jose.

TWINS ADD ANOTHER BIG BAT TO A POTENT LINEUP

The Minnesota Twins had a solid lineup before Tuesday. Signing free-agent slugger Logan Morrison makes it even more formidable.

Morrison, 30, batted .246 last season for Tampa Bay, with a career-high 38 HRs, 85 RBI and a .868 OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage; 16th-best in the American League).

He’s a left-handed hitter and likely will be Minnesota’s primary designated hitter and spell Joe Mauer at first base. He could play some left field in a pinch.

He signed for a bargain $6.5 million for one season, plus incentive/performance bonuses.

The arrival of Morrison probably means switch hitters Kennys Vargas and/or Robbie Grossman will be leaving the organization. Vargas hit some mammoth home runs for Minnesota and Rochester in recent seasons. He’s out of options and certainly would be claimed off the waiver wire if the Twins can’t trade him first.

Minnesota will score plenty of runs and be fun to watch – while they’re batting. But the pitching still looks very suspect with more question marks than exclamation marks.

ONE STAR EXITS AND ANOTHER STAR EMERGES FOR THE K-HAWKS

Since purchasing the Rochester Knighthawks in 2008, owner/general manager Curt Styres has proved to be a shrewd talent evaluator, a bold trader and has established a reputation around the National Lacrosse League for the way he treats his players.

Some K-hawks fans are saying that Styres erred this week by (1) trading super popular veteran forward Dangerous Dan Dawson to the Saskatchewan Rush, and (2) getting “only” two draft picks in return (a second-rounder in 2018 and a third-rounder in 2020).

Styres very much appreciates the contributions the 36-year-old Dawson made to the K-hawks in his six seasons with the team. And he actually did the NLL’s all-time fifth-leading scorer a favor by trading him to the NLL’s best team – where he could possibly finish his distinguished career with a third Champion’s Cup. He won two with Rochester and was Championship Game MVP in 2014.

Said Styres, “With Dan ready to play and being a scratch – for all he’s done for lacrosse – he deserves to play.”

The K-hawks started 2-0 this season but then lost six straight games and appeared to be in deep trouble. The sixth loss was at home on a Saturday night. The team had to play the next afternoon at the Georgia Swarm, the defending NLL champions. Dawson, a fire fighter by trade, had to miss that game due to a rare work conflict.

The K-hawks upset Georgia that afternoon without him and coach Mike Hasen was so impressed by his team’s performance that he decided to stick with the same lineup for the next game against NLL-powerhouse Saskatchewan. Hasen contacted Dawson and the classy veteran said he perfectly understood and wanted what the coach felt was best for the team. Rochester upset Saskatchewan at home and then clobbered Buffalo last Saturday.

Dawson, a six-time First Team All-Pro, has been itching to play but had been a healthy scratch for three straight games. Styres – who has done another impressive job by keeping the K-hawks highly competitive while making the roster younger and more athletic -- swapped Dawson to Saskatchewan.

Dawson still is a skilled and heady player, but the 17-year pro has lost some speed – as has Cody Jamieson. Cody remains a clutch scorer and the heart of the team after surgeries on a torn Achilles and ACL. The young legs of second-year and rookie teammates (Kyle Jackson, Josh Currier, Austin Shanks and Eric Fennell) are a perfect complement to Rochester’s new-look and athletic offense.

And K-hawks 28-year-old veteran Joe Reseterits enters this week tied for the league scoring league with Saskatchewan’s Mark Matthews.

Resetarits took a circuitous route to Rochester. He was drafted by Calgary in 2012 with a first-round pick obtained in a trade with the K-hawks. He was traded by Calgary to Buffalo during the 2013 NLL entry draft. The native of Hamburg was good but not a star in two seasons with the Bandits (32 goals and 31 assists in 27 games). Styres obtained Resetarits from Buffalo in March 2015 for defenseman Jamie Batson and two second-round draft picks.

Resetarits was good for the K-hawks in 2016 (17 goals + 17 assists in 15 games), better in 2017 (27 goals + 39 assists in 18 games) last season and has emerged as an elite player this season.

 Resetarits had 3 goals and 11 assists in last week’s 17-10 win in Buffalo. NLL’s “Stamper’s Musings” described it as “one of the great games an NLL player has ever had.” There have been only four individual performances with at least 11 assists in a NLL game since 2005. Interestingly, the latest was by Dan Dawson (0 goals + 11 assists for Rochester, January 31, 2015, in a 17-11 home win over Buffalo).

Resetarits enters this week tied for the NLL lead in scoring with Mark Matthews (Saskatchewan). They have identical performance lines: 11 games, 23 goals + 41 assists for 64 points.

The NLL is an extremely balanced nine-team league. Saskatchewan appears to be a step above and Vancouver appears to be three steps below the seven teams in the middle.

Rochester’s strengths entering this season were goalie Matt Vinc and a solid veteran defense anchored by emerging star Graeme Hossack. Offense was the big question mark. The attack has been on a roll during the three-game winning streak (50 total goals after being held to 11-9-8-9-14-9 goals during the six-game losing streak).

Have the young forwards arrived slightly ahead of schedule to make Rochester at least a long shot to win the Champion’s Cup?

The K-hawks vs. Saskatchewan (with Dawson) would be a very interesting championship showdown.

HOW DISAPPOINTING WAS THE USA MEDAL COUNT AT THE WINTER OLYMPICS?

The Associated Press obtained a pre-Winter Olympics internal memo from the USOC (United States Olympic Committee) regarding projected medals at Pyeongchang: minimum of 25...expected target of 37...possibility of 59.

The final official USA medal count: 23 (9 gold...8 silver...6 bronze).

But maybe the projections weren’t that far off. USA athletes finished fourth, fifth or sixth 35 times.

Women won 12 of the 23 USA medals.

SHORT SHOTS

Syracuse U. (18-11 record, including 7-9 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) plays at Boston College (16-13, 6-10) Wednesday night in a “must-win” situation for the Orange and their NCAA Tournament hopes. SU will try to contain BC junior guard Jerome Robinson, who is averaging an ACC-best 25 points in conference play (.579 FG percentage). He scored 21 points (9-for-14 field goals) in SU’s 81-63 home win January 24. Surprisingly (I think), BC is favored by 1 ½ points. The over/under is a mere 136 ½ points.

Many SU sports fans figure to spend a few days in New York City November 15 through 17. The Orange men’s basketball team will play two games in the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden (possible opponents include UConn, Oregon and Iowa) and the football Orange then will “host” Notre Dame November 17 at Met Life Stadium.

LeBron James is pushing for significant expansion of the NBA’s G League to supply more options for talented young basketball players to develop. If the idea really takes off, Rochester might yet get a G League team. I continue to believe this region could not adequately support it for long.

Mike Mayock of MMQB points out that only one of the 13 wide receivers picked in the first round of the NFL Draft since 2015 – Amari Cooper – has performed like a first rounder. And he had a somewhat disappointing 2017 season.

I’d rather have the next three seasons of Tyrod Taylor (in Buffalo or anywhere else) than the next three seasons of Blake Bortles (Jacksonville in 2018 and maybe through 2020).

The decision by the Cleveland Browns not to raise ticket prices coming off a 0-16 season is that front office’s best move in a very loooooooooooooooog time.

Pizza Hut has replaced Papa John’s as the “official pizza of the NFL.” Pizza Hut is the largest pizza chain in the USA – even bigger than Salavatores. There are around 7,500 Pizza Huts in the USA, twice as many as Papa John’s.

80-year-old NASCAR legend Richard Petty will put much of his memorabilia up for sale at an auction May 12 at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. The 1974 Dodge Charger he drove to 31 wins is expected to go for $400,000 to $600,000.

If Papa John’s really is out as the “official pizza of the NFL”, I must say I won’t miss the commercials.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Wednesday, February 28

Niko Goodrum (26)...E’Twaun Moore (29)...Aroldis Chapman (30)...Josh McRoberts (31)...Tayshaun Prince (38)...Eric Lindros (45)...Noureddine Morceli (48)...Dallas Williams (60)...Mark Pavelich (60)...Adrian Dantley (63)...Brian Billick (64)...Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat (65)...former Red Wing Mark Wiley (70)...Mario Andretti (78). Trent Jackson (TJ), arguably the greatest all-around athlete in Section V history, was born on this date 75 years ago (1943) and died in 2007 at age 65.

Thursday, March 1

Tyreek Hill (24)...Michael Conforto (25)...Trevor Cahill (30)...Will Power (37)...Chris Webber (45)...Booker T (53)...Stewart Elliott (53)...Ron Francis (55)...Mike Rozier (57)...Butch Woolfolk (58)...Brian Winters (66)...Elvin Bethea (72). Justin Bieber (24), Javier Bradem (49), Ron Howard (64) and Harry Belafonte (91) are invited to the birthday party.


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