Colleges

Double dribble's

Men's basketball

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published February 24, 2007

As well as Georgetown junior Roy Hibbert is playing this season, opponents should be forewarned:

"Roy's best ball, there's no two ways about it, is still ahead of him," Hoyas coach John Thompson III said.

The 7-foot-2 center, who leads his team today in a critical showdown for first place in the Big East against visiting Pittsburgh, is averaging 12.8 points on 70.2 percent shooting, 6.4 rebounds and 2.31 blocks.

"There's things that he's experiencing this year with all the attention on the court, not necessarily off the court but on the court, that he's getting that he's never received before," Thompson said. "He works extremely hard. He's a sponge. The more he's put in situations, the more he will learn how to handle every situation on the basketball court."

We might see today if 7-foot senior Aaron Gray is available for the Panthers. He sprained his left ankle in the waning moments against Washington last Saturday and sat out Monday's game at Seton Hall.

Seeing is believing

A few years back, then Washington State coach Dick Bennett struck upon on a novel way for his top recruiting prospects to envision how integral they would be to building a winner.

He brought guard Derrick Low, forward Daven Harmeling and centers Robbie Cowgill and Chris Henry to his unfinished home in Pullman. The foundation was complete and some of the framing was up.

"Come help finish this home," was Bennett's pitch.

Sold.

Now in their third season and playing for Bennett's kid Tony, the trio of Low (14.0 ppg), Harmeling (10.2 ppg) and Cowgill (7.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg) have led the Cougars (22-5 entering today's game at Oregon State) to their all-time best ranking of No. 9 and their best mark since the 1982-83 team went 23-7. (Henry is out injured.)

By the numbers

0-16 Big 12 record for Texas A&M in 2004.

8 Consecutive seasons Utah State has won at least 20 games; the Aggies are 20-8 entering today's game at Louisiana Tech.

11-2 Big 12 record for Texas A&M entering today's game against Baylor.

16 Consecutive seasons Kentucky has won at least 20 games; the Wildcats could extend that to 17 with a win Sunday at Vanderbilt.

24 Homecourt winning streak for Ohio State, fourth-best nationally. Up next: Wisconsin on Sunday.

28.7 Scoring average of VMI forward Reggie Williams, the nation's leader.

Quotable

"For him to come into a metropolitan area like Washington, D.C., where there's so much competition for the entertainment dollar, and turn Maryland into a hot ticket in town and in addition win games, and just do a good job, I definitely think Lefty belongs in the Hall of Fame." - Maryland coach Gary Williams on former Terrapins coach Lefty Driesell not making the list of finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class

Brian Landman can be reached at landman@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3347.

[Last modified February 24, 2007, 01:35:28]