View from my Couch - Tuesday

College Hoops

WAKE FOREST @ PURDUE

This game started out so slowly....But it has picked up of late and is tied at 18 with just under 8 to play in the first half....Wake Forest is coming off the shocking home loss to William & Mary - the Tribe is one of the early season surprises - having won four straight and is top 10 in RPI, of course its early....I'm very surprised at the ease that Wake Forest is having getting into the lane on Purdue. The Boilers will need to stop that penetration if they want to have success tonight....I'm trying to determine if Purdue is one of the most overrated teams in the country or just one of those teams that is going to win everytime out without a lot of flash and flair....Purdue is now 0-12 from behind the arc, and the last few haven't been pretty. They are in serious danger of losing their undefeated status. These are the types of things that happen in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge....Kudos to frequent commenter Ray C - for noticing that Northwestern is pretty good. The Cats getting in done on the road in Raleigh tonight....Again, I am amazed at how Wake gets into the paint off the dribble on just about every trip....All it takes to get a team fired up is some not so nice comments on the Fan Blog. Purdue has scored nine straight to take a 3-point lead at Mackey Arena....Just when you thought Purdue had seized control, the Deacs start making some jump shots. But the Boilermakers are getting easy points at the other end and down 5 Wake can't afford to trade points....Finally a three from Purdue - on their 14th attempt, this is about to get away from Wake as the lead is nine....And now Dino Gaudio, who once coached at Loyola, calls timeout after the defensive stop. Odd....This game looked for the longest time like it was going to be an upset, or at the very least go to the wire. Now Purdue ends up with an easy double digit win at the end....Whoa, all of a sudden Wake is back within seven. What happened there?....PURDUE Won The Game 69-58.

MICHIGAN STATE @ NORTH CAROLINA

Carolina playing like they've got something to prove after the beatdown at the Garden (Ok, I had to get that in there). But the Heels have started very well....Interesting to see that Loyola has a nine-point lead on Morgan State with under 10 to play....Michigan State is seizing control as Carolina is missing some shots and the Spartans aren't allowing any rebounds....Carolina ran out to a big lead against Michigan State at the end of the first half, playing the best I've seen them play yet this season....But I wondered if the Spartans had a second half run in them. Sure enough, the Spartans did. But it came way too late and Carolina was the better team on this night. A somewhat surprising result, especially the margin....NORTH CAROLINA Won The Game 89-82.