The Michigan State Spartans came into this game needing to execute their game plan perfectly as underdogs despite having some what of a home-court advantage. The UConn Huskies needed to come out and do what they had been doing all tournament long and most likely they would advance to the championship game on Monday.

Well Michigan State executed their game plan to perfection and UConn’s guards decided to take the night off plus their free throw shooting finally came back to haunt them as the Spartans fought off a late UConn run to win 82-73 in front of 72,456 at Ford Field in Detroit to advance to the NCAA National Championship game against the winner of the North Carolina/Villanova game that is currently being played.

Trailing by 11 points with 3:21 to go, it looked all but over for the Huskies. But then they came together as they went on an 11-3 run cut the Michigan State lead to three at 74-71 on a Stanley Robinson dunk. Unfortunately, Kemba Walker didn’t get back on defense and Durrell Summers beat him down the floor for a layup. Walker fouled him and Summers converted the free throw and just like that the Spartans were back up 6 points with a minute to go in the game.

The Huskies would only get a basket from Craig Austrie with 30 seconds to go as Michigan State hit five free throws to clinch a spot in the finals on Monday night.

The Huskies simply didn’t get anything from their guards tonight as A.J. Price, Austrie and Walker combined to go 8-of-29 from the floor. Walker was awful at the free throw line as well as he went 3-of-9 and the Huskies finished the game 21-of-33 (63.6%).

Hasheem Thabeet led the Huskies with 17 points and added 6 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Robinson finished with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds with 2 blocks while Price also ended up with 15 points. Jeff Adrien had 13 points and 7 rebounds in the final game of his college career.

UConn really had no answer for Kalin Lucas who led the Spartans with 21 points.  They couldn’t stop Raymor Morgan either as he had 18 points and 9 rebounds while Korie Lucious added 11 points and Summers chipped in with 10.

The Huskies normally pride themselves on getting the defensive rebounds but the Spartans were able to corral 18 offensive boards and that was one factor as to why the Huskies lost. The other was there free throw shooting.

Plus Walker looked like a freshman out there as he was probably playing a little too fast for Jim Calhoun’s liking.

You have to give credit where credit is due though. Tom Izzo knew exactly what he wanted to do to beat the Huskies and his players did what he asked and now find themselves with a chance to win the NCAA title.

The Huskies will lose Price, Adrien and Austrie and will most likely lose Thabeet to the NBA. I really think UConn will have a tough time replacing the trio especially Price and most definitely Adrien.

Adrien played with his heart on his sleeve for four years and was the emotional leader of this team. You can’t replace what he brings to the table. Hopefully some of the younger Huskies have learned from him and will bring the passion that Adrien brought every day to this UConn men’s basketball program.

UConn does have some good recruits coming in and will get Jerome Dyson back next year. The rest of the team will have another year under their belts. Should we expect another UConn run to the Final Four next season? It’s too early to tell right now but anything is possible.

And oh yeah, we still have that recruiting scandal to worry about.

But all in all, a good season for the Huskies as they overcame a lot of adversity to get where they did. They have every right to be sad after a tough loss like this but I, for one, am proud of what this team accomplished this season.

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Although the New York Mets won’t officially christen their new ballpark, Citi Field, until April 13th, they did welcome the Boston Red Sox in for a couple of exhibition games tonight and tomorrow afternoon. For the Mets, it was a chance to get some time in their ballpark before the opener while for the Red Sox, it was a chance to get some work in before Monday’s season opener against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Marcus McBeth walked Alex Cora with the bases loaded in the 6th inning to give the Mets a 4-3 lead and their bullpen made it hold up in front of 37,652 rain soaked fans.

Jon Lester got the start for the Red Sox and wasn’t really that impressive. Maybe it was the cold, damp weather but he never really had any command tonight, especially with his fastball. Lester went 4 innings, allowing one run on 3 hits and 5 walks while striking out 4.

Manny Delcarmen had a tough night as he well as he gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in an inning. McBeth went an inning, giving up the one run on a hit and three walks while striking out 1 in his inning of work. Hideki Okajima was impressive tonight as he struck out the side in his inning while Jonathan Papelbon worked a perfect inning as well, striking out one along the way.

Six of the eight hits for the Red Sox were doubles. Chris Carter led the way with 2 hits, including a double and an RBI. Angel Chavez added a double and an RBI while Dusty Brown knocked in the other run for the Red Sox with a groundout in the 7th inning. Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, J.D. Drew and Gil Velazquez had the other doubles.

The Red Sox and the Mets will play again tomorrow afternoon at 1:10 PM at Citi Field. The game will be broadcast on the MLB Network and WPIX in New York. WRKO will have the radio broadcast in the Boston area. For those of you who don’t get the MLB Network or WPIX in New York, you can check out the game for free on MLB.tv.

Boston Red Sox @ New York Mets 4.3.09 exhibition game box score

Grand Slam 2009 – The Fantasy Sports Channel

Until his back injury, Mark Kotsay was expected to backup Kevin Youkilis at first and act as extra outfielder while Julio Lugo had been competing with Jed Lowrie for the starting shortstop.

But with both of them injured and not starting the season in uniform, the Boston Red Sox had some unexpected roster spots to fill. And now it appears they’ve decided on who will take their spots.

It does appear that the Red Sox are leaning towards keeping Nick Green and Chris Carter on the roster when they break camp due to the injuries. Things could change though if the Red Sox did decide to go out and pick up someone off the waiver wires as teams begin to pare down their rosters.

Green’s had a good spring for the Red Sox. He’s currently hitting .345 with a 2 home runs and 8 RBIs. Green may only stick around until Lugo returns though.

For Carter, his competition for the final spot was Brad Wilkerson and Jeff Bailey. But with Wilkerson leaving camp over the weekend, the Red Sox had to make a choice between Bailey and Carter. Carter’s had a great spring as well as he is currently hitting .359 with six homers and 10 RBIs in 64 at-bats while Bailey was hitting .356 with 1 home run and 8 RBIs in 45 at-bats.

As I said the other day, I thought the Red Sox would lean towards Carter because he provides them with a left-handed bat off the bench. He also gives them a backup to Youk at first plus he can play the outfield as well.

Signs point to Green, Carter [Extra Bases]

JERRY REMY, PRESIDENT OF RED SOX NATION, AND SINGING FANS TO STRIKE THE RIGHT NOTE FOR START OF 2009 RED SOX SEASON

Fans compete to sing their way to the ballgame as Red Sox fever reaches Terminal C

WHO:

• Jerry Remy, Red Sox Nation President, Boston Red Sox Sportscaster, and Owner of Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill
• Fans of Red Sox Nation participating in baseball singing contest
• Wally The Green Monster, the official mascot for the Boston Red Sox
• Jet Blue Airways, the “official airline” of the Boston Red Sox
• Representatives of Westfield Concessions

WHAT:
With fans belting out “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” and competing for Red Sox prizes Red Sox Nation President Jerry Remy will deliver a “State of the Red Sox Nation” address at his newly opened Logan Airport Terminal C restaurant, Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar and Grill.

The “Remdog” will give a preview of what fans can expect from the Sox this season, and then, in true presidential news conference fashion, will take questions from the crowd. Jerry will then be joined by Wally The Green Monster in judging a singing contest where several lucky performers who do the best job in belting out “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” will win exciting Red Sox prizes.

The first place winner will receive a Red Sox road game package with airfare courtesy of the “official airline” of the Boston Red Sox, Jet Blue. The contestant will get a pair of game tickets to watch the Red Sox battle the Chicago White Sox in Chicago on Labor Day Weekend. The tickets are courtesy of Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar and Grill and hotel accommodations by Westfield Concessions. The second place winner will have a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity to bring a guest and sit in the broadcast booth alongside Jerry Remy during a Red Sox home game. The third place winner will be presented with a $50 gift certificate to Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill.

Wally The Green Monster will also be taking photographs with fans and Jerry will be signing scorecards from the 2007 World Series. Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill will also debut new menu items to kick-off the season including a Green Monster Burger, and Red Sox memorabilia will be raffled off.

WHEN:

• Tuesday, April 7, 2009 Friday, April 17th, 2009
  12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

WHERE:

• Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill
  Terminal C, Logan Airport

***The event is free and open to the public. The event is located in Terminal C of Logan Airport prior to security screening.

As I said this morning, this whole recruiting scandal mess with the UConn Huskies men’s basketball program isn’t going to go away anytime soon.

Here is the latest allegation:

Josh Nochimson, the former University of Connecticut student manager turned sports agent, paid several thousand dollars for a surgery on UConn recruit Nate Miles in December 2007 in Tampa, the Tampa Tribune and Tampa’s 1010 CBS Sports Radio reported.

M. Christopher MacLaren, then with the Tampa Bay Bone and Joint Center, said he performed surgery on Miles, a recruit from Toledo, Ohio, at the Tampa Bay Surgery Center.

At the time of the surgery, Miles had already committed to UConn, but was still trying to qualify academically, according to a Hartford (Conn.) Courant report on Miles’ recruitment. MacLaren said he was unaware Nochimson was an agent.

Real nice way to help your alma mater buddy.

Tampa Surgery Linked To Investigation Of UConn Recruit [Tampa Tribune]

to The Big Lead.

Yahoo! Sports was at it again on Thursday trying to do anything it could to distract the UConn Huskies men’s basketball from the task at hand of beating the Purdue Boilermakers. Well this story nor the one from Wednesday distracted them at all as they beat Purdue to advance to the Elite Eight against the Missouri Tigers.

University of Connecticut assistant coach Andre LaFleur engaged in two lengthy phone conversations with former student manager turned pro sports agent Josh Nochimson while Nochimson shadowed a blue-chip Huskies recruit in April 2008, Yahoo! Sports has found.

Nochimson and LaFleur traded three phone calls, including conversations of 13 and 44 minutes, during the Kentucky Derby All-Star Festival in Louisville, Ky., phone records show.

Nochimson attended the tournament and, according to an ESPN.com report, was a pervasive presence around recruit Ater Majok, a touted 6-foot-10 forward.

This is getting very serious folks. This isn’t going to just be swept under the rug.  But as we saw, the Huskies were able to put these allegations to the side and focus on basketball.

Let’s hope that trend continues on Saturday.

Second UConn assistant, agent in contact [Yahoo! Sports]

Obviously all of the focus on the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team hasn’t been for the right reasons. Yes the question does remain whether the allegations are true. But tonight, it was UConn’s chance to prove that the accusations wouldn’t matter.

While they did struggle a little bit at times, the distractions proved to be a non-story as Craig Austrie scored 17 points to lead the No. 1 seed Huskies to a 72-60 win over the No. 5 seeded Purdue Boilermakers in front of 20,102 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ to advance to the Elite Eight.

The Huskies (30-4) await the winner of the Memphis/Missouri game that is currently being played right now. The young Boilermakers finish up the season at 27-10 and with most of their team back next season, they could be a force to be reckoned with in the Big 10 and on the national stage.

Hasheem Thabeet had a good game for the Huskies tonight as he picked up a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds and added four blocked shots. Despite a poor shooting night (5-for-15), A.J. Price also finished with 15 points and also had 4 rebounds and 7 assists while Stanley Robinson also had a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.

For a while the only offense the Boilermakers could muster up was from the hands of Robbie Hummel who led them with 17 points. The only other player in double-figures for Purdue was JaJuan Johnson who had 13 points and 7 rebounds while Lewis Jackson chipped in with 8.

This was a much different game than we saw out of the Huskies in the first two rounds. Purdue plays great defense and this game was definitely owned on the defensive end with both teams clamping down at different periods of each half.

The Huskies started out quickly as Robinson scored 6 of the first 10 points as they raced out to a 10-2 lead. UConn pushed the lead to 14-3 before Purdue started to chip the lead down eventually getting it to 3 points at 26-23 on a Hummel 3-pointer. The Huskies eventually took a 30-25 lead into the locker room.

As I said above, the only reason why the Boilermakers were in this game was because of the play of Hummel, who was playing with a fractured vertebrae. The Huskies really had no answer for him and fortunately enough for them they were able to keep the lead behind the play of Austrie and Thabeet.

Purdue stuck around early in the second half but the Huskies used a 8-0 run to open up an 11 point lead. But the Boilermakers wouldn’t go away, as they cut UConn’s lead down to 4 points on the strength of a 7-0 run.

The Huskies then pushed the lead back up to 8 points and got it up to a 12 point lead at 57-45. Purdue would get no closer than 8 points the rest of the way.

Jim Calhoun should be very happy that Austrie found his shooting touch tonight as Price and Jeff Adrien had off shooting nights. The foul-line jumper wasn’t falling for Adrien while Price was having trouble getting free from the grasps of Jackson and Keaton Grant.

Robinson also stepped up huge in the second half on the defensive end of the floor as he had the assignment of covering Hummel. He shut down Hummel who had just two points in the second half which was the big reason why the Boilermakers couldn’t get over the hump when they got it close in the second half.

I was impressed with the Boilermakers tonight as they are a solid defensive team. Since they are graduating only two seniors, I expect them to be contenders next year. UConn will need to play just a little better than they did tonight as Memphis or Missouri also both play good defense.

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UConn Huskies men’s basketball head coach Jim Calhoun addressed the rumors of the alleged recruiting violations of the recruitment of Nate Miles during the press conference for tonight’s matchup with the Purdue Boilermakers.

We all knew that he was going to have to address and must have gotten the go ahead from AD Jeff Hathaway before making the statement.

Here is what A.J. Price and Jeff Adrien had to say when asked about it.

Q. For both players, you guys have had distractions all year. You lost Dyson. Your coach missed a tournament game. Now there are some Internet reports about recruiting and so forth. How has this team been able to go about its business? It doesn’t seem like it affects you guys, but why does it not affect you guys when there are all these things going on?

JEFF ADRIEN: We are just mentally tough. It starts with our coach. We don’t let stuff like that bother us or whatever. We have been through a lot of ups and downs in our lives and everything. We just know how to block it off. We are mentally tough.

A.J. PRICE: Yeah, we just focus on the things we know how to do which is play basketball. We just go out there and take it one game at a time.

Everything else will eventually come out of the wash and take care of itself.

Jim Calhoun’s full press conference in words after the jump.

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