Video: Manhattan's Half-Court Game Winner Vs. Marist

Posted by CoHoops Josh Dhani
Check out this amazing buzzer-beater as Manhattan beat Marist, 60-59. Just plain awesome.

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St. John With An Impressive Resume Win Over Duke

Posted by CoHoops DeAnte Mitchell

The St. John's Red Storm (12-8, 4-5) picked up another impressive top 25 victory over the No. 3 ranked Duke Blue Devils (19-2, 6-1) 93-78.

This marked the first time the Dukies allowed 90+ points to an opponent since the then-No. 8 Demon Decons scored 91 on February 22, 2009, and the first loss against the Red Storm since the 2002-03 season.

St. John's came out aggressive early trading baskets with the defending champs, but once the lead was gained, the Red Storm continued to roll and built a 46-25 halftime lead.

St. John's continued to overpowered Duke with their athletic ability, which led to many easy buckets. As a team, St. Johns hit 32-of-54 (59%) from the field, and nailed 26-of-33 (78%) from the line.

Not to mention, throwing 18 assist on 32 made field goals.

Five Johnnies were in double-figures, including two 20-point scorers.

 Dwight Hardy has a productive first half scoring 12 points, and added 14 in the second half to end with 26 points, three rebounds, and three assist.

Justin Brownlee also ended with 20 points for St. John's and added eight rebounds, and four assist.

Sean Evans, and D.J Kennedy both had 10 apiece, while Paris Horne chipped in 15 off the bench.

After five first half points, Nolan Smith exploded in the second half to pick at the lead, but his 27 second half points wasn't enough to post a extraordinary comeback.

Smith had a game high 32 points, and added five rebounds, four assist, and three steals. Kyle Singler was the other Blue Devil in double digits with 20 points, and two rebounds.

If the media wasn't convincing enough to sell the Big East as the best conference in America, I'm sure St. John's did.

This is the third win over a ranked opponent in the Steve Lavin era. St. John's could be dancing come March despite being the 11th best team in the Big East conference.

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Jimmer Fredette Has Become a Can't Miss Player

Posted by CoHoops DeAnte Mitchell

Jimmer Fredette’s name has to be a hot topic in the player of the year conversation after his display of his scoring ability all season. Not to mention, Fredette has the BYU Cougars (20-1, 5-0) ranked inside the top 10 and looking for their first conference title in years.

Coming into this season, Yahoo Rivals listed Fredette as the most explosive player in the country. Many also regarded Fredette as a lethal scorer, but nobody really expected him to put up 40-points multiple times in one season—let alone, twice in a row.

Fredette had surpassed former scoring leader Kemba Walker after his 47-point performance against Utah. Since then, Fredette has owned the top spot in the scoring column and is now up to 27.4 per game.

Fredette has also pushed his average up to 35.7 points during conference play

Fredette has scored 20-plus points in 17 games this season, including seven 30-plus games, and three 40-point outings.

After his most recent 43-point game against rival San Diego State, Fredette received props from many formidable players, including NBA stars.

“Jimmer Fredette is the best scorer in the world,” said Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant via Twitter. “Jimmer Fredette is cold, #respect” said Washington Wizards star John Wall.

Fredette isn’t the same player that got locked down in the ’09 NCAA tournament by Jacob Pullen. He finally gets it, and has grown from last year’s disappointment, which is one of the reasons BYU is one of the top teams in the nations.

“Jimmer has a relentless mindset toward scoring the ball, which you might think everyone has, but his is unique,” said coach Rose.

The past few gams, coach Dave Rose has stuck with the same offense that plays to Fredette’s strengths.

“He’s also playing with guys that want to get the best shot possible on every possession,” said Rose. “I think you can see that when Jimmer’s got a hot hand and is rolling pretty good that his teammates really look for him.”

The last two games combined, Fredette has been hot from deep nailing 9-of-17 (52%) of his three point baskets.

Fredette will continue to grow as the Cougars travel to take on the New Mexico Lobos (14-7, 2-4) who are underachieving, but still a formidable opponent for BYU.

If Fredette were to recreate another 40-point night against the Lobos, he would solidify everyone’s notion of being the most dominant scorer in the college game.

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Kansas Hopes to Return Back to Form

Posted by CoHoops DeAnte Mitchell

The Kansas Jayhawks (18-1, 3-1), before the Texas game, were one of the hottest teams in College Basketball riding one of the most historic streaks in the game.

Kansas' struggles at home finally caught back up to the Jayhawks as their 69 game win streak was put to rest by the Texas Longhorns (16-3, 4-0).

Their 18-3 lead vanished after halftime, where Texas put on a show and scored 51-points in the second half. The Jayhawks experienced roster was counted as one of the teams biggest strengths and perhaps one of the most experienced groups in the country.

But it is still a mystery as to how an experienced team like the Jayhawks, could come on the wrong end of the losing column at home, by double-digits.

"It's one game. It's a big game, but it's just one game," said coach Bill Self. His Jayhawks were out-rebounded 40-33, as well as, shooting 11-of-18 (61%) from the free throw line.

"It was a tough loss, but it's just one game and we can't let it become two," said senior guard Tyrell Reed following his 17 point performance.

But, if you ask POY candidate Marcus Morris, the Jayhawks beat themselves. "I think we really beat ourselves this game," said Marcus Morris. "We have to move on and not dwell on this loss as a team."

"We have to stay together and be leaders and get the team's mind right and keep moving forward."

Kansas has the chance to do just that against a struggling Colorado team that has fell off the radar after defeating both Missouri, and Kansas State to open Big 12 play.

With Thomas Robinson losing his mother last week, he won't make the trip to Colorado. However, the Kansas players will surely bounce back for both losses.

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Harrison Barnes: Will He Ever Live Up to the Hype?

Posted by CoHoops DeAnte Mitchell

I've seen unusual slumps watching College Basketball but none more interesting than the one in Raleigh.

Harrison Barnes, a 6-foot-7 freshman, at the age of 18 was the only kid his age to every be dubbed an AP Preseason All-American.

He was also rated the No. 1 recruit in the 2010 recruiting class that produced players such as Kyrie Irving, Brandon Knight, Jared Sullinger, and Terrence Jones.

Many people were prepping for a Carmelo Anthony-like run, and compared Barnes to the most clutch player in the game, Kobe Bryant.

Thus far, Barnes hasn't surpassed the 20-point mark and has one double-double on the season.

Many tend to point the finger at the lack of veteran leader. Similar to football, the chances of you winning without a veteran quarterback are slim.

Early-on in the season, critics hit Barnes hard with overrated tags, and even heard the chant as he shot free-throws against Illinois.

Coach Roy Williams often defended his highly-touted freshmen saying "If you've got enough [gumption] to make somebody a big hero like that, admit that you were wrong, and stop picking on the kid," referring to ESPN's hypocritical analysis on the freshman.

"It's silly if you're going to anoint the guy and three weeks later crucify him, that's ridiculous. He didn't ask to be voted first-team pre-season All-American."

Throughout this whole process, impressively, Barnes has ignored the critics, steadily improved and could be on the road to redemption.

In the North Carolina Tar Heels (13-5, 3-1 ACC) most recent game, Barnes nailed a three to put the 'Heels up late, and also nailed the game winner to keep North Carolina a perfect 55-0 at home against Clemson.

During ACC play, Barnes has stepped up in key situations in all games. More impressively, Barnes scored 10 of his 12 points with 10-minutes left to play to help the 'Heels rally back and hand the Hokies their second loss of ACC play.

Lately, Kendall Marshall has stepped up and continues to improve. He currently averaged 5.5 assist per game during conference play in 20-minutes of action.

Not to mention, Marshall has improved his assist-to-turnover ratio to 3.23 during conference play. With Marshall taking over the starting role, I expect Barnes to be more productive on both ends of the floor.

Going back to what I said earlier, the chances of you winning without a veteran leader are slim. Barnes is a gifted player, by all means, but you can't expect him to be spectacular when the point guard doesn't play his role.

Marshall isn't a veteran leader, just yet, but he's a nice compliment to a five-star forward like Barnes.

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