Sampson's reception stuck in neutral

ESPN.com

Updated: February 14, 2008

Joe Robbins/US Presswire

Brian Butch made IU coach Kelvin Sampson's day even worse when he hit a 3 to beat the Hoosiers.

Key Shot

By Pat Forde
ESPN.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Most games, Kelvin Sampson wears his suit coat on the sideline for just a minute or two before shucking it off and handing it to a manager.

Wednesday night against Wisconsin, Sampson's black blazer remained on his back for 4 minutes and 47 seconds. That's a record according to Inside Indiana, a fan magazine that has been tracking the coach's suit coat for all 56 games of his tenure at IU.

Maybe it was the chill in the Assembly Hall air that caused him to keep it on so long.

There were light boos audible in the crowd of 17,320 when Sampson was introduced before tip-off. They mingled with subdued applause.

"I didn't notice it," Sampson said afterward, when his thoroughly rotten day ended with Badger Brian Butch banking in a 3-pointer to beat the Hoosiers 68-66.

Before introductions, when Sampson and the entire Indiana staff emerged on the court for the first time, the greeting was unnaturally neutral: no boos, almost no cheers. One fan said, "We love you, Kelvin!" and the coach responded with a wave of his right hand. And that was about it.

It wasn't hostile. But neither was it the kind of warm greeting the coach of a 20-3 team would normally receive.

That's what you get when you've landed in the icy predicament Kelvin Sampson now occupies.

For the full story, click here.

Key Notes

By Jason McCallum
ESPN Research

• Memphis beat Houston 68-59 on Wednesday to win its 24th straight game to start the season. The Tigers attempted 32 free throws in this contest, while the Cougars only took two shots from the charity stripe. The difference in attempts of 30 is the largest in a Memphis game this season. Previously, they took 27 more free throws than Eastern Carolina during the Tigers' Jan. 9 win over the Pirates.

• Drake lost 65-62 at Southern Illinois on Wednesday night, snapping the Bulldogs' school-record 21-game win streak. During the run, Drake had won three games by one possession. It would make sense that the streak ended versus the Salukis -- Drake has lost 17 of its last 18 against SIU.

• Duke's Gerald Henderson had a career-high five steals in the Blue Devils' win over Maryland. He also ripped down seven rebounds -- but the sophomore did not make a shot from the field. He is the 16th player this season to have at least five steals and zero FG in a game, but among those players, none had as many as Henderson's seven rebounds. The last player to equal these numbers was Brigham Waginger of Western Carolina on Jan. 29, 2007.

• Davidson's Stephen Curry scored a career-high 41 points and went 9-for-9 from the line in the Wildcats 83-78 win at UNC-Greensboro. The last player to score at least 41 points and attempt at least nine free throws without a miss in a road win was Florida State's Al Thornton, who had 45 points and shot 11-for-11 from the line in a win at Miami on March 3, 2007.

• Connecticut committed a season-low eight turnovers in its 84-78 win over Notre Dame on Wednesday. It is the 16th time in the last 10 seasons that the Huskies have committed eight or fewer turnovers, and they are 16-0 in those contests.

• Kansas State's Michael Beasley had 22 points and 15 rebounds for his 20th double-double of the season. That is two shy of Carmelo Anthony for the Division I record for a freshman. But he now has as many double-doubles this season as Kevin Durant did in his freshman season. Durant got his 20th in his 33rd career game -- it only took Beasley 23 games. And while Durant had seven games with at least 20 points and 15 rebounds, Beasley already has five such efforts.

• Aleks Maric of Nebraska scored 32 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in the Huskers' 86-78 home overtime loss to Missouri. It was his fourth career 30-10 game, and the Huskers are now 2-2 in those games. However, he becomes the first player in the history of the Big 12 (since 1996-97) to score at least 32 points and get at least 12 rebounds in a home loss.
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On Tap For Thursday

• NC State at Boston College, 7 ET (ESPN)
• Rutgers at West Virginia, 7 ET (ESPN2)
• Drexel at Old Dominion, 7 ET (ESPNU)
• Washington at Oregon, 8:30 ET (ESPN Full Court)
• Cal at Arizona, 8:30 ET
• Nevada at Boise State, 9 ET (ESPN Full Court)
• Stanford at Arizona State, 10:30 ET

For the full schedule, click here. All games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Full Court are also on ESPN360.com.

Top 25 Scores From Wednesday

• No. 1 Memphis 68, Houston 59
• No. 2 Duke 77, Maryland 65
• No. 4 Tennessee 93, Arkansas 71
• No. 14 Wisconsin 68, No. 12 Indiana 66
• No. 13 Xavier 62, Charlotte 60
• Southern Illinois 65, No. 15 Drake 62
• No. 17 UConn 84, No. 18 Notre Dame 78
• Texas Tech 84, No. 22 Kansas State 75

For all scores, click here.

UConn holds off Notre Dame at home

Price Is Right

By Andy Katz
ESPN.com

STORRS, Conn. -- You want to believe that Connecticut's resurgence is all because of Hasheem Thabeet.

You see him go 19 feet from the basket and swat a Ryan Ayers shot away so hard that it bounces toward the far end of the court and out of bounds. You see Notre Dame attempt to make shots over and around Thabeet, and it's easy to convince yourself that Thabeet's presence is the reason Connecticut has ripped off eight in a row -- including Wednesday's 84-78 win over Notre Dame -- to put itself at 19-5, 8-3 in the Big East and 1 1/2 games out of first place in the league.

Thabeet's highlights are certainly changing the way Connecticut is playing. But to think that his development is the lone reason the Huskies are now winning would be, according to the staff, simply be half the story.

Ask Connecticut's coaches. Ask one of Thabeet's teammates. Ask Notre Dame's Mike Brey. And they will all tell you the reason for the Huskies' return to relevance is because of guard A.J. Price.

"Price is the guy," Brey said after Price's 26 points, nine assists and one turnover on Wednesday. "Price was fabulous. We tried a box-and-one on him and used everything in the book. He's so confident and got his rhythm back."

For Katz's full column, click here.

South Florida romps over Syracuse

Path To Perfection

Memphis beat Houston 68-59 on Wednesday to remain the only unbeaten team in Division I hoops. Here is a look at Memphis' remaining regular-season schedule:

Feb. 16 at UAB
Feb. 20 at Tulane
Feb. 23 Tennessee (ESPN, 9 ET)
Feb. 27 Tulsa
March 1 at Southern Miss
March 5 at Southern Methodist
March 8 UAB

For Memphis' team page, click here.

IBM Greatest Player: No. 18 Ralph Sampson