That Rain, oh that Rain

Still rough on those over/under predictions. I'll blame it on interest rates, the weather and the election year. Oh, I'm sorry, I mistook myself for the Real Estate industry.

But in games of note last night:

UNC had no problem pushing those pesky once-unbeaten Clemson Tigers further into the loss column, winning 77 to 55 on the road in a Tar Heel-defined 83 possession game. While they weren't particularly efficient (only .93 points a possession with a 27% turnover rate) they made up for it with a strong "defensive" effort, keeping the Tigers at .67 ppp on a dreadful 36.8% efg. To compare the use of possessions, UNC took 8 less shots but made 8 more field goals. We'll call that a 16 point swing!! Brandon Wright lead the charge with 17 points on only 10 shots for a 1.49 ppws to go along with his colossal 4 blocks in only 29 minutes of play.


The 'Cats of Northwestern didn't help the over on this one, as they could only muster 41 points in a 62 possession game against the Buckeyes' 73 points (1.19 ppp). It should be noted that NU's most proficient scorer, Kevin Coble was again out last night with an ankle (thank you Al Michaels!!!).
On the bright side, NU actually improved on the defensive glass, only allowing 35% of offensive rebounding chances to succeed compared to their season average of 40%.



Florida St. put a stop to Virginia Tech's hotness by holding serve at home despite getting out shot (61% efg vs. 52%) in the 69 possession game. They did limit Vtech's second chances by grabbing 82% of defensive rebounding opportunities and they held an edge in getting to the free throw line.


Syracuse did everything wrong except shoot extremely well (61.2% efg) in holding on to the one point win at home against a sub-par Bearcats squad. They coughed it up 21 times in the 73 possession game and gave up more chances on the offensive glass than they got (37% vs. 26%). But, getting to the line at the end gave them 10 extra attempts and they finished with a slight edge in offensive efficiency (1.05 vs. 1.04 ppp).


Coming this afternoon, a preview look at the Pac10 games tonight!
Morphing into a more Pac10-focused site as the days go on....