Jackets still in the hunt

The Blue Jackets collected 3 points in two games since my last post, an overtime loss to a surging Los Angeles team, and a win Friday night in Chicago. February wraps up with two games against Nashville sandwiched around a visit from Phoenix Friday night.

In the Western Conference there are 5 teams currently tied for fifth place with 68 points. Then Chicago has 66 after today’s nationally televised shootout win over Pittsburgh, followed by Columbus with 64 points. Columbus has a game-in-hand on all the teams mentioned.

The Ohio State men lost on the road again today in West Lafayette. While still alone atop the Big Ten standings, the Bucks are only one game ahead of second-place Purdue. All four of the top-four teams in the men’s rankings lost this past week, which should make tomorrow’s polls interesting.

The Ohio State women were also in West Lafayette and trailed most of the game before pulling out a 76-74 victory on a Brittany Johnson 3-pointer with less than a second to go. While the string of 6-straight Big Ten championships is over, a first round bye in the Big Ten Tournament is a possibility for the Bucks.

The Kentucky women were in Nashville today and completed a sweep of Vanderbilt with their first win in the Music City since 1986. In the SEC, the top 4 teams in the regular season get a bye in the conference tournament, and the Cats are strong contenders for one of those spots.

The Kentucky men had home wins over Mississippi State and South Carolina since last post. The Cats are in third place in the SEC East, one game behind Vanderbilt

We had some Spring-like weather here during the latter part of last week. We’ll have a lot of rain and clouds in the near future but temperatures will be moderate.

Nice win by the ladies over LSU

The Kentucky women hadn’t beaten LSU in years, until last year in Baton Rouge. The Cats picked up their first win in Lexington over the Tigers in awhile today, 49-47. With the game tied at 47, point guard A’dia Mathies brought the ball up court and passed to Brittany Henderson who made the winning layup with 1 second to go.

I visited Memorial Coliseum on February 3rd and saw the Cats beat Auburn 69-38. Kentucky played well the following Monday but lost to perennial power Tennessee 73-67. A visit to Columbia had a similar result with South Carolina winning 66-61. The Cats broke the 2-game losing streak today.

Nobody will catch Tennessee in the league, but the Cats are only one game out of second place behind Georgia and Vanderbilt.

The Ohio State women will break their string of 6-straight Big Ten regular season championships this year. The Bucks are currently 6-6 after a win at Minnesota this afternoon.

Ohio State men finally lose

Buckeye fans knew all season that getting a win in Madison would be a tall order. Ohio State has not won there in years, and they didn’t this year.

I actually breathed a little bit when the Bucks opened up a 47-32 lead in the second half. But Wisconsin ran off 15 points in-a-row, mostly 3 pointers, to tie it, then soon built up a working lead. Final score was 71-67 Wisconsin.

Ohio State still has a two-game lead in the Big Ten over second-place Wisconsin, and a 2 1/2 game lead over third-place Purdue. One week from today the Bucks travel to West Lafayette to play the Boilers. And, another meeting with Wisconsin looms as the regular-season finale.

The Kentucky men still can’t get it done on the road. Since my last post, the Cats lost at Ole Miss 71-69, at Florida 70-68, and at Vanderbilt 81-77. Their 5-5 SEC record is now 3 1/2 games behind Florida, who eeked out a 1-point win over Tennessee yesterday.

Columbus surge

The Blue Jackets have won 5 of their last 6 games, and continue to have hope of a Western Conference playoff spot. Columbus has 61 standings points, four below Minnesota and Los Angeles who are tied for eighth with 65.

Two Friday’s ago, the Jackets went to Detroit and shutout the Wings for the first time in franchise history. The next night, Columbus fell behind the floundering Oilers 2-0 before winning 4-3. On Tuesday the 8th the CBJ traveled to Pittsburgh to play a Penguins team that had a number of key players injured. Final score 4-1 Columbus. After losing at home on Wednesday 3-2 to San Jose, the Jackets got back in gear and beat the Avs 3-1 in Columbus Friday night. The last time Colorado was in town they left with a 5-2 win. Finally, today, Columbus visited Dallas and beat the Stars 2-1.

The Jackets will finish February playing Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix and Nashville twice. All are key games in the race for playoff berths in the Western Conference.

 

Ohio State men consensus #1

The Ohio State men collected all first-place votes in both major polls released today, after surviving a scare in Evanston Saturday night.

Northwestern had an excellent strategy. They slowed the game down, running at least 20 seconds off the shot clock with each possession. The slow game meant that OSU only attempted 37 shots all night, the lowest total of the year. Fortunately, their percentage of field goals made was OK.

The Bucks had a 12-point lead in the second half. But as the Wildcats were making a 3-point shot, Dallas Lauderdale was called for an intentional foul as the players were positioning for a rebound. NW made one of two free throws, then of course got the ball again. They drained another 3 to complete a 7-point play, which got the lead down to 5.

Ohio State had the ball with the game tied late. Jared Sullinger took a shot and was fouled, and made the second of two free throws. Northwestern was unable to score in the 3.5 seconds remaining. Final score OSU 58 NW 57.

With San Diego State having lost last week, the Buckeyes are the only remaining undefeated team in men’s college basketball.

The Kentucky men played a great first half in Rupp Arena against Georgia, then held on for a 66-60 win. This avenged an earlier loss in Athens.

 

Women going in opposite directions

The UK women have won 6 conference games in a row. After a home win over Vanderbilt, the Cats took the show on the road and won at Ole Miss by 6 and at Alabama by 13. I have a ticket to Thursday’s game with Auburn and I will use it if the weather cooperates. Hopefully Kentucky will not be looking ahead to a game with Tennessee on February 7 which will be covered by ESPN2. The Cats are tied with Georgia for second place with 6-2 records, 2 1/2 games behind undefeated Tennessee.

Ohio State’s string of 6-straight Big Ten regular season championships is in jeopardy as the Buckeyes have already lost 5 conference games. The Bucks avenged an earlier loss in Iowa City by beating the Hawkeyes in Columbus. But then Michigan rolled into town and completed a sweep of OSU. On Sunday, the Buckeyes lost at Penn State by 9.