BACON'S BITS: Friday Night Hoops Highlights

Georgetown's Issac Copeland and Coach John Thompson III

By Mark Bacon

HOYAS GET IT DONE: The Georgetown Hoya’s game in the 2K Classic against Wisconsin was about as close as you could possibly get to a “must win” game. The Hoyas poor start and injury crisis has definitely impacted them. They have never started a season 0-3. A much needed 71-61 win over the Badgers, which had Georgetown leading wire to wire was the result, despite two notable and unexplained absences in sophomores Tre Campbell and Paul White.

Isaac Copeland rose to the occasion, scoring a team-high 15 points and connecting on 3-of-4 three-pointers.  Ike’s team-high eight rebounds compensated for the fact that he had zero assists to go against four turnovers. He’s beginning to look like the break through player I predicted he would be.

Three times now that Paul White has been a game time decision, but are told that he is practicing.  Is it time to start worrying about this hip injury?  The positive coming out of it is the experience being given to both Kaleb Johnson and Reggie Cameron.  Don't expect to see White until you see him.

Reggie Cameron is playing far more this season than anyone would have thought and making the most of it.  In last night's win over Wisconsin he connected on 4-of-6 shots from deep en route to a career high 14 points.  Cameron had a solid freshmen season, but made just five three-pointers all of last season; he’s indicated that he some of his problems last season were purely mental.  Cameron being a sharp shooter off the bench could be a valuable asset for JT3 and Krewe.

Like the Radford loss, G’town was on the wrong end of the offensive rebounding tally.  The Badgers held a 18-8 edge in offensive boards which resulted in 12 extra field goals.  Georgetown survived this thanks to a connecting from deep (9-of-16) and from the line (20-of-24).  Freshman Jessie Govan, who spells Bradley Hayes, picked up the slack by hitting one of his two shots from deep and going a perfect 6-of-6 from the line, resulting in 13 points.

The Hoyas play Duke in Sunday’s championship game. Nothing would be more welcome than leaving MSG, aka “Cameron East,” with a 2-2 record.

Maryland's Jake Layman in traffic against Rider

TERPS' SLOW START: Last night Maryland was supposed to roll over Rider, who opened the season with losses to Princeton and La Salle. The Terps waited until the last minute to awake from its stupor in a 65-58 win.

Maryland (3-0) trailed by 14 in the second half and didn’t gain their first lead until Duke transfer Rasheed Sulaimon hit a runner in the lane to give his team a 52-50 advantage with 5 minutes 29 seconds remaining. Sulaimon is thus far paying big dividends.

The Terrapins avoided the upset thanks to five double-figure scorers, including a huge performance from freshman center Diamond Stone (the best name in the game) in the second half. Stone finished with 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting, and transfer Robert Carter Jr. had 13 points and four rebounds. Sulaimon, sophomore Melo Trimble and senior forward Jake Layman all finished with 11. The talent is there, but some coalescing is needed. Stone learning “big boy basketball”; when it clicks with him, watch out.

SLEEPERS: LSU, Wichita State and the Louisville Cardinals are teams to watch. The latter is wholly disrespected in the polls, due to a weak preseason schedule; their competition relegates the Cards to games streamed online or not broadcast at all. I am not buying Kenny Klein’s assertion that ESPN needs U of L online to bolster their ESPN3 brand.

UK TOPS WRIGHT STATE: Tyler Ulis picks Kentucky up in 78-63 win over Wright State. Despite Coach John Calipari's hyperbole; the Cats are the team to beat in the NCAA.

Warriors roll to 14th straight victory

NBA NOTES: Call The Warriors style whatever you want, but it’s working. Playing small and thinking big led them to a win over the Chicago Bulls last night. Their win streak stands at 14 games now, one shy of tying the NBA’s record start. I hold to my prediction that they will be the NBA Champs again.

I’m not so certain Anthony Davis will be the NBA’s MVP as my crystal told me prior to the season, due to the anemic squad the Pelicans have surrounded him with. But last night, AD was a force, with help from Ish Smith and Ryan Anderson. AntDavis still impresses me as much as anyone in the NBA.

Knicks' rookie Kristaps Porzingis is for real…

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