February 2013 | Page 7 of 21 | Zagsblog
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Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
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Saturday / November 23.

On the same night Miami received a notice of allegations from the NCAA, the Hurricanes fended off a pesky Virginia team, 54-50, to remain unbeaten in the ACC at 13-0.

And the way Shane Larkin sees it, there’s no reason the Hurricanes can’t remain undefeated through the remaining five games of the ACC schedule.

“It’s possible,” Larkin, who finished with 11 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds in the win, told SNY.tv by phone.

“Anybody in our league could’ve been in our same position if they got a few different breaks. We have so many talented teams in the ACC, and every single night out it’s a battle. And every single night we’re gonna go out and play as hard as we can with energy and intensity. And if we do that every single night with the talent that we have and the experience and the coaching and the game plans we come up with, it’s possible that we go undefeated the rest of the way.”


Victor Oladipo’s
stellar play this season and down the stretch of the Michigan State game is helping his stock with NBA executives and personnel.

The 6-foot-5 Indiana junior guard went for 19 points, including his 1,000th career point, 9 rebounds and 5 steals as No. 1 Indiana held off No. 4 Michigan State 72-68 Tuesday night.

Indiana (24-3, 12-2 Big Ten) broke a first-place tie in the conference. The Hoosiers had lost 17 straight — since 1991 — on the road against the Spartans.

After earlier air-balling a 3-point attempt, Oladipo crossed the 1,000-point plateau with a tip-in that put the Hoosiers up 68-67 with 47 seconds left.

He later scored on a runout dunk off a pass from Christian Watford that extended the Indiana lead to 70-67 with 10.9 seconds left.

Knicks coach Mike Woodson says his team “feels good” about beating the defending NBA champion Miami Heat in a potential matchup in the Eastern Conference Finals.

“If the Miami Heat are the team that we have to play and face, I think our guys feel good about being able to beat them in a seven-game series,” Woodson said Tuesday on ESPN 98.7 New York.

“It’s not going to be easy. I mean, they’re the best team in the league as we speak. And in terms of their play, they’re playing on a high level right now and I’m sure they’ll continue   to play that way throughout the rest of the regular season heading into the playoffs.

OwootoahKentucky assistant Orlando Antigua will not see 2013 point guard Emmanuel Owootoah tonight, but West Virginia coach Bob Huggins and Villanova assistant Raphael Chillious will.

Cordia (Ky.) head coach Rodrick Rhodes told SNY.tv he was in touch with Antigua Tuesday and the coach said, “Win tonight and we’ll be there Friday.”

Cordia plays Letcher Central in its district opener tonight, with the winner advancing to Friday.

Kentucky already has six recruits for 2013 and has not yet officially offered Owootoah but is at least monitoring his situation. Antigua was there last Thursday watching the Canadian point guard play.

GREENBURGH, N.Y.Rasheed Wallace and Marcus Camby returned to Knicks practice Tuesday, but don’t expect the aging big men to suit up anytime soon.

“We had Rasheed and Marcus go through some conditioning work today and that was kind of nice to see,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said a day before the Knicks face the Pacers in Indiana to open the second half of the season.

“But it’s just good to be back and we’ve got to get these guys re-focused and ready to put a major push the second half.”

Dwayne Morgan of Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances is one of the top small forwards in the Class of 2014. He will be contributing periodically to ZAGSBLOG during his junior season. Here’s his first entry:

For those who are unfamiliar my name is Dwayne Morgan and I’m a junior at St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, MD).

The regular season has come to an end. And our team  just accomplished two out of our our team goals.

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