2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Rankings – Week 7 (Dec. 19)

AP & ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Polls

The NCAA men’s basketball rankings are out for the week and the UConn Huskies have moved up one spot in each poll. They come in this week at No. 8 in the AP Poll and No. 9 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll.

The Syracuse Orange are still the No. 1 team in the land and as a matter of fact, the top five teams from last week are the same in both polls. In the AP Poll, the Orange are followed by the Ohio State Buckeyes, Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals and North Carolina Tar Heels. In the Coaches’ Poll, the top four is the same as the AP Poll with Duke coming in at No. 5.

Joining the Orange, Cardinals and Huskies in the top 25 from the Big East are the Marquette Golden Eagles (10/10), Pittsburgh Panthers (15/13) and Georgetown Hoyas (16/16).

There are no Big East teams among the others receiving votes in the AP Poll and only the Seton Hall Pirates are among the others receiving votes in the Coaches’ Poll.

For a complete look at the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Rankings for Week 7 (Dec. 19), click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

AP Top 25					ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll
RK	TEAM	REC	PTS	PVS	RK	TEAM	REC	PTS	PVS
1	Syracuse (53)	11-0	1,585	1	1	Syracuse (30)	11-0	774	1
2	Ohio State (5)	10-1	1,474	2	2	Ohio State (1)	10-1	713	2
3	Kentucky (4)	9-1	1,457	3	3	Kentucky	9-1	702	3
4	Louisville (2)	10-0	1,364	4	4	Louisville	10-0	679	4
5	North Carolina	9-2	1,340	5	5	Duke	9-1	637	5
6	Baylor	9-0	1,271	6	6	North Carolina	9-2	623	6
7	Duke	9-1	1,266	7	7	Baylor	9-0	570	7
8	Connecticut	9-1	1,102	9	8	Missouri	11-0	560	8
9	Missouri	11-0	1,076	10	9	Connecticut	9-1	526	10
10	Marquette	10-0	1,021	11	10	Marquette	10-0	503	11
11	Florida	8-2	946	13	11	Kansas	7-2	471	12
12	Kansas	7-2	939	12	12	Florida	8-2	447	13
13	Wisconsin	10-2	746	14	13	Pittsburgh	10-1	386	14
14	Xavier	8-1	728	8	14	Wisconsin	10-2	361	15
15	Pittsburgh	10-1	707	15	15	Xavier	8-1	318	9
16	Georgetown	9-1	644	16	16	Georgetown	9-1	301	17
17	Indiana	10-0	601	18	17	Mississippi State	11-1	277	16
18	Mississippi State	11-1	576	17	18	Indiana	10-0	245	20
19	Michigan State	9-2	413	21	19	Michigan	9-2	221	18
20	Michigan	9-2	381	20	20	Michigan State	9-2	193	23
21	UNLV	11-2	251	NR	21	Creighton	8-1	107	24
22	Murray State	12-0	222	24	22	Murray State	12-0	100	NR
23	Creighton	8-1	130	25	23	UNLV	11-2	68	NR
24	Virginia	9-1	102	NR	24	Illinois	10-1	66	19
25	Illinois	10-1	96	19	25	Harvard	9-1	53	NR
Dropped from rankings:					Dropped from rankings:
Texas A&M 22, Alabama 23, Vanderbilt 25					Alabama 21, Texas A&M 22, Vanderbilt 25
Others receiving votes:					Others receiving votes:
Harvard 88, San Diego State 67, Stanford 61, Saint Louis 33, Gonzaga 23, Kansas State 22, Texas A&M 18, Wichita State 8, Alabama 8, Cleveland State 7, Northern Iowa 7, Vanderbilt 5, California 5, Northwestern 4, Ohio 3, Long Beach State 2, Indiana State 1					San Diego State 32, California 28, Texas A&M 25, Virginia 19, Saint Louis 13, Alabama 12, Kansas State 12, Stanford 9, Memphis 7, Saint Mary’s 5, Vanderbilt 3, Saint Joseph’s 3, Gonzaga 3, Northwestern 1, Oklahoma 1, Seton Hall 1

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Defenseman Lee Baldwin Re-joins Whale

HARTFORD, December 19, 2011: Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the parent New York Rangers have reassigned defenseman Lee Baldwin to the Whale from its ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors.

CT Whale Baldwin, who had been assigned to Greenville December 1, has skated in eight games with the Whale this year, going scoreless and +1 with eight shots on goal. In 11 ECHL outings with the Road Warriors, the 6-4, 205-pound second-year pro has scored three goals, tied for tops on the team among defensemen, has nine penalty minutes and is +5, which is tied for third-best on the Greenville squad.

Baldwin was signed as a free agent by the Rangers March 22, 2010, out of the University of Alaska-Anchorage.

The Whale return to action this Wednesday night, December 21 at the XL Center for their last game before Christmas, a 7:00 contest against the Adirondack Phantoms. That is “Ugly Holiday Sweater Night”, as fans who wear an ugly holiday sweater to the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center can get a 50% discount on upper-level seats, and lower-level end-zone seats.

Tickets to all 2011-12 Whale home games, are on sale now at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, as well as on-line at www.ctwhale.com and through TicketMaster Charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000.

Save on your tickets, and get the best seats, with a ticket plan for the Whale’s 2011-12 AHL campaign, which are on sale now. For information on season seats and mini plans, visit www.ctwhale.com, or call the CT Whale ticket office at (860) 728-3366 to talk with an account executive today.

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Paw Prints – The Daily UConn Roundup – 12/19

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Men’s Basketball links

‘He’s Going to Have Jerry West on His Jersey’ [David Borges – New Haven Register]

UConn 77, Holy Cross 40: Jim Calhoun’s Take [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

UConn 77, Holy Cross 40: Wrapping Things Up [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

UConn men 77, Holy Cross 40: the wrap [Ed Daigneault – The Republican-American]

Post-game breakdown, video: Holy Cross [Gavin Keefe – The Day]

Drummond explodes as UConn routs Holy Cross [John Nash – The Hour]

Notes/Quotes from Holy Cross: “About 100 percent. And he’s got another thousand to go.” [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

Holy Night [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Drummond, Oriakhi power UConn over Holy Cross [CT Post]

UConn men: What we learned [CT Post]

UConn Men Rout Holy Cross, 77-40 [Hartford Courant]

R.J. Evans Back in Connecticut With Holy Cross [Hartford Courant]

Andre Drummond leads Huskies in rout of Holy Cross [New Haven Register]

Huskies’ return infused with energy [The Day]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Huskies fail to deliver knock out blow [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Waco crowd gives Geno a warm reception [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

No. 1 Baylor defeats No. 2 UConn women [CT Post]

UConn Women Lose 66-61 To Baylor [Hartford Courant]

A Big Game, But Not For UConn Huskies [Hartford Courant]

Jeff Van Gundy A Big Fan Of Auriemma [Hartford Courant]

In The End, No Getting Around Griner [Hartford Courant]

Top-ranked Baylor rallies to beat Huskies [New Haven Register]

Career paths for Bria Hartley, Odyssey Sims filled with similarities [New Haven Register]

Baylor hands No. 2 UConn its first loss [Mechelle Voepel – ESPN.com]

UConn Football links

UConn Huskies give Indianapolis Colts first win of the season [John Nash – The Hour]

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Video: Highlights of UConn Women’s 66-61 Loss to Baylor

Here are the highlights of the No. 2 UConn Huskies women’s basketball team’s 66-61 loss to the No. 1 Baylor Lady Bears on Sunday night at the Ferrell Center in Waco, TX.

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The UConn women will be back in action on Wednesday night when they take on the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC at 7 p.m. The game will be televised locally in Connecticut on CPTV.

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Hernandez Was A Grand Gator As Patriots Cruise To AFC East Title

Tight end Aaron Hernandez #81 of the New England Patriots celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the second quarter against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on December 18, 2011 in Denver, Colorado.

One former University of Florida Gator got all the pregame pub this week, that was of course, Denver QB Tim Tebow. But it was another former Florida Gator, a former Tebow target in fact, New England TE Aaron Hernandez who stole the show Sunday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver CO.

Hernandez led the Patriots to a 41-23 win over the Broncos and helped New England clinch it’s third consecutive AFC East Title and 9th in the last 11 seasons with a 9 catches for 129 yards and 1 TD performance.

While the Denver defense was looking to take away Hernandez’ counterpart, TE Rob Gronkowski they, they left the Connecticut native wide open to steal the game for New England.

It didn’t start out so good though as Tebow and the Broncos offense absolutely shredded the Patriots porous defense. In the 20 minutes they racked up 133 yards on the ground alone plus another 68 yards by Tebow through the air as Denver jumped out to a 16-7 lead early in the 2nd quarter. Then Denver imploded.

Three turnovers by the Broncos led to 13 Patriots points as New England rang up 20 unanswered points to close out the 1st half and go to the locker room leading 27-16.

In the second half New England, even though the defense was shaky at times, was able to contain Tebow and the Denver running game after allowing nearly 200 yards on the ground in the first two quarters. They only allowed an additional 70 yards rushing and 73 yards in the air in the second half as they took away the game from the Broncos and made sure there was no such thing as “Tebow Time” on this Sunday afternoon.

Maybe we’ll get to see a rematch in the AFC Playoffs.

Patriots at Broncos Gamebook. This includes the box score, all the stats, play by play, drive charts and more.

Patriots at Broncos Game Recap.

To continue reading the New England Patriots @ Denver Broncos recap, hit the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

The three Denver turnovers in the second quarter directly led to 13 of the 20 points New England had in the 2nd quarter.

Offensive Player(s) of the Game

Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez had 9 catches for 129 yards and 1 TD with a long catch of 46 yards.

Defensive Player(s) of the Game

Patriots DE Mark Anderson had 3 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss, 2 QB hits, 1 forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Game Notes

Starters for the Patriots were:

On Offense:

LT Light
LG Mankins
C Wendell
RG Waters
RT Solder
TE Hernandez
TE Gronkowski
WR Welker
WR Ochocinco
QB Brady
RB Faulk

On Defense:

DE Deaderick
DT Love
DT Wilfork
DE Carter
LB Mayo
LB Fletcher
LB Ninkovich
CB McCourty
CB Arrington
S Slater
S Ihedigbo

Inactives for the Game:

Patriots

1. S Patrick Chung (foot)

2. T Sebastian Vollmer (foot)

3. LB Brandon Spikes (MCL)

4. WR Deion Branch (groin)

5. RB Shane Vereen (hamstring)

6. C Nick McDonald

7. QB Ryan Mallett

Broncos

1. S Brian Dawkins (neck)

2. S David Bruton (Achilles)

3. LB Mike Mohammed

4. G Manny Ramirez

5. T Tony Hills

6. TE Julius Thomas

7. DE Derrick Harvey

The spread (Patriots minus 7) WAS covered. The over/under (46) WAS covered. I GAVE the points (Patriots) and took the OVER. I am now 8-5-1 vs. the spread and 10 of 14 calling the under/over.

The Broncos lead the all-time series 27-17 including playoffs.

The Patriots are 9-18 as the road team in the series.

Patriots clinched the AFC East and their 13th playoff berth in the last 18 seasons with the win in Denver.

New England has won 6 consecutive games after a 2 game losing streak. It is their longest win streak of the season.

New England is 39-5 in December games since 2001. That’s the best in the NFL in that time period.

The Patriots have had 6 undefeated Decembers since 2001. They are 3-0 this month.

Since 2000 have the Patriots the best road record in the NFL at 63-33.

Bill Belichick’s 188 wins are good for 9th all-time. Chuck Knox, who coached the Rams, Redskins and Seahawks, is 8th all-time with 193.

Tom Brady is 2-6 vs. the Broncos including 0-1 in the playoffs. Both wins have come in Denver.

Denver is the only team in which Brady has a losing record against.

Brady’s 2 TD passes give him 296 TD passes in his career he is now 6th all-time. Hall of Fame QB John Elway is 5th with 300.

Brady has 122 career wins he is 6th all-time. Fran Tarkenton is 5th with 124.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 96 consecutive games including playoffs, 79 as a Patriot. The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

LB Jerod Mayo signed a five-year contract extension on Saturday. It’s reported to be worth $50 million with $27 million guaranteed.

Earlier this weekend the Patriots released CB Malcom Williams and promoted S Ross Ventrone from the practice squad.

DE Andre Carter hurt his knee in the second quarter and did not return. It didn’t look good as he was carted off. My best guess based on the field tests is a possible ACL injury that would end his spectacular season.

The Patriots were 5 of 12 on 3rd conversions (42%) and 1 of 2 on fourth down (50%) while the Broncos were 4 of 10 on 3rd down conversions (40%) and 0 for 2 on 4th down.

New England was 4 for 6 (67%) on red zone efficiency and 3 for 4 (75%) on goal to go efficiency. Denver was 2 for 3 (67%) in the red zone and 1 for 1 (100%) in goal to go situations.

New England is now plus 12 in turnover differential after recovering 3 Denver fumbles.

The Broncos had their 6 game win streak snapped and are now 7-2 since Tebow took over as the starting QB.

Denver is currently in first place in the AFC West with a one game lead over Oakland as both teams lost on Sunday.

Since 2002 Denver is 13-5 at home in December, it’s the 3rd best record in that span.

Denver head coach John Fox is now 1-3 vs. New England including 1 Super Bowl (0-1) in his career all with Carolina. This was his first game against them as the head coach in Denver.

In case you didn’t catch it in the inactives list, Denver has a player named Manny Ramirez.

Denver sacked Brady 2 times while Tebow was sacked 4 times and fumbled once.

Mike Carey was the game referee. The temp at kickoff was 63 and it was sunny.

Pro Bowl voting ends tomorrow, cast your votes for deserving players.

Game Attendance – 76,556 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High – Denver CO

The Broncos have sold out every game ever played at Sports Authority Field at Mile High which opened in 2001. They have a continuous sell out streak of all home games dating back to 1970 in Mile High Stadium.

Post Game Interviews

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots QB Tom Brady post game press conferences via patriots.com

This Week in the AFC East

Miami beat Buffalo, 30-23

Philadelphia routed the NY Jets, 45-19

AFC East Standings

Patriots 11-3/3-1

Jets 8-6/3-2

Bills 5-9/1-4

Dolphins 5-9/2-2

Next Game

The Patriots host the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA on Saturday. Kick off is at 1 p.m. on CBS.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Photo credit: Getty Images

Rangers Recall Stu Bickel from Whale

New York, December 18, 2011 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that defenseman Stu Bickel has been recalled from the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League (AHL) on an emergency basis.

CT Whale Bickel, 25, has recorded two points (one goal and one assist) and a plus-two rating in the last four games. In 27 games with Connecticut this season, he has registered one goal and three assists, along with 80 penalty minutes and a plus-four rating. His plus-four rating is tied for third on the team. Bickel recorded his first shorthanded point of the season with an assist on Friday vs. Bridgeport.

The Chanhassen, Minnesota native was acquired by the Rangers from Anaheim in exchange for Nigel Williams on November 23, 2010. He was originally signed by the Ducks as an undrafted free agent on July 2, 2008.

The Rangers’ practice schedule for tomorrow, December 19, is 11:30 a.m. at the MSG Training Center.

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Video: Highlights of UConn Men’s 77-40 Win Over Holy Cross

Here are the highlights of the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team’s 77-40 win over the Holy Cross Crusaders on Sunday afternoon at the XL Center in Hartford, CT.

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Video: UConn Postgame Interviews With Calhoun & Drummond

Here are postgame interviews with Jim Calhoun and Andre Drummond by ESPN’s Kara Lawson after the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team’s 77-40 win over the Holy Cross Crusaders on Sunday afternoon at the XL Center in Hartford, CT.

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Drummond Breaks Out In UConn’s 77-40 Win Over Holy Cross

Connecticut's Andre Drummond (12) celebrates during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Hartford, Conn., on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011.

In the first nine games of the UConn Huskies men’s basketball season, we’ve seen Andre Drummond barely scratch the surface of his potential. On Sunday afternoon, he broke through it.

Drummond led the way with a career-high 24 points to help the Huskies to a 77-40 win over the Holy Cross Crusaders in front of 13,396 at the XL Center in Hartford, CT.

The Huskies improve to 9-1 on the season while the Crusaders fall to 4-7.

Drummond’s career-high on came on 11-of-12 shooting from the floor while pulling down eight rebounds and five blcoked shots. Alex Oriakhi added 15 points and four rebounds. Despite shooting 4-of-16 from the floor, Jeremy Lamb added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Shabbaz Napier chipped in with a career-high 13 assists, many of them coming to Drummond while scoring just three points.

Norwich, CT native R.J. Evans paced the Crusaders with 15 points. Phil Beans added eight points while Dave Dudzinski led Holy Cross with seven rebounds.

With the final margin of the game being 37 points, this game was a lot closer early on UConn was a little slow out of the gates in their first game since final exams ended on Friday.

Holy Cross stayed with UConn for the first 10 minutes or so of the game. They got out to a quick 5-2 lead on a three from Beans and a layup by Evans. The Huskies battled back to take the lead on baskets by Oriakhi and Tyler Olander.

A Malcolm Miller three tied it up for Holy Cross at 10 and then Devin Brown’s three gave the Crusaders their last lead of the game at 13-12. UConn then went on a 7-0 run to open up a six point lead. Holy Cross battled back to two points at 19-17 but from there it would all UConn.

With 6:38 to go in the first half, the Huskies were holding on to a 25-21 lead. From there though, things started clicking as they went on an 18-3 run to close out the half to take a 43-24 lead.

It was more of the same in the second half as the Huskies continued to grow their lead behind Drummond and Napier.

While Lamb struggled offensively, he played great on the defensive end. But the big story of the game was Drummond.

While a good portion of his points came on dunks and/or layups, Drummond showed some post moves that we haven’t seen from him in the first nine games. As he continues to get more comfortable on the court, he can only get better.

A solid win nonetheless playing for the first time in 10 days.

Next up for the Huskies is matchup with the Fairfield Stags. For UConn’s Tyler Olander, it will be the first collegiate matchup with his brother Ryan who plays for the Stags. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the XL Center and the game will be broadcast locally on SNY.

To continue reading the Holy Cross Crusaders @ UConn Huskies recap, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Notes and musings:

Holy Cross Crusaders @ UConn Huskies 12.18.11 box score

Here are the postgame quotes from UConn head coach Jim Calhoun and Holy Cross head coach Milan Brown. Player quotes are available underneath the coach’s quotes.

The starters for the Huskies were Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb, DeAndre Daniels, Alex Oriakhi and Andre Drummond.

UConn shot 50% (34-68) from the floor for the game while the Crusaders shot 26.2% (16-61).

The Huskies had 23 assists on their 34 made baskets.

UConn was just 2-of-12 (16.7%) on threes. The Crusaders were 6-of-18 (33.3%).

The Huskies were 7-of-12 (58.3%) from the charity stripe.

UConn won the battle of the boards outrebounding Holy Cross 45-38.

The Huskies had 18 points off of 17 Crusaders turnovers. Holy Cross had eight points off seven UConn turnovers.

UConn outscored Holy Cross 58-18 in the paint and 26-4 on the fast break. UConn 12 second chance points to nine for the Crusaders.

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Photo credit: AP Photo

Paw Prints – The Daily UConn Roundup – 12/18

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they’ll host the Holy Cross Crusaders this afternoon at 1 p.m. at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. The game will be broadcast locally on SNY.

It’s also game day for the No. 2 UConn women’s basketball team as they’re in Waco, TX for matchup with No. 1 Baylor. The game is scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Blaney to Face Alma Mater … Finally! [David Borges – New Haven Register]

The Essential-O-Meter act one: the injured guy and the Germans [The UConn Blog]

UConn men’s basketball team gets back to work [CT Post]

UConn Men Finding Their Roles As Big East Play Looms [Hartford Courant]

Huskies ready to get back on court [New Haven Register]

UConn’s Blaney faces former school for first time [The Day]

UConn men’s basketball glance [The Hour]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Catching up with Moriah Jefferson [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Buck and Stokes believe they are ready [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]