Results tagged “collegebasketball”

No pro sports last night but there was a trio of area college hoops game.

College basketball season kicks off this week, with a number of our local teams taking the court for the first time. What's in store for some of our area's most prominent programs?

Notre Dame's men's hoop team continued their winning start to the season, downing St. Francis by a 95-72 final to remain undefeated on the young year at 2-0. Luke Harangody led all scorers with 27 points and 9 rebounds. Ben Hansbrough had 18 and dished 7 assists while Tim Abromaitis scored 17 off the bench for the Irish. The Red Flash kept close to the Irish, trailing by only five in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Irish used a 13-3 run to put themselves out in front for good.

When we were young, DePaul basketball was a force. Coached by the legendary Ray Meyer, the Blue Demons were perennial NCAA tournament participants and usually made it to the Sweet 16 -- although we were too young to remember their Final Four run in '79. Even after the elder Meyer handed over the reigns to his son Joey, DePaul was among the top basketball programs and regularly signed the top area recruits.

If you're anything like us, you printed out a half dozen brackets last night after the NCAA selection committee set the field of 65 for this year's tournament as you begin to hone in on just the right mix of sure things and upsets to win bragging rights over friends and co-workers.

The Circus Trip gets longer for the Bulls, who blew a late lead as the Nuggets claimed a 114-101 win. Down by nine after the first period, the Bulls fought back to take a fourth quarter lead. With around five minutes left and up by three, the Bulls were stunned by a 13-0 Denver run that clinched the Nugget victory. Ben Gordon had 28 points for the Bulls and Drew Gooden added 21 more in the losing effort. After the game, Gordon lamented the Bulls play, saying, "We didn't make enough sharp plays to win the game. When it came to crunch time, we just didn't come with a big enough number of plays.'' The team travels to Utah tonight.

To enter, click this link to go directly to the group, or go to ESPN's Tournament Challenge, register or log in, and search for Chicagoist. The password is: chicagoist. One entry per person in the Chicagoist pool, please.