DG143

The month of February is featured as we continue looking at action from the 2012-13 season in College Basketball. Let's start out West.
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In their televised first meeting on Jan. 10 I found out that both Northern Colorado and Montana State each have a player with dreads. And in their second meeting on Feb. 9 ......
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1. Freshman G Marcus Colbert goes to the basket early in 1st half, but this layup is about to be blocked by #22, F Tim Huskisson. Colbert hit 1 of 4 from the field in the game, finishing with 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.

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2. It looks like Northern Colorado G Greg Tucker is applying a claw hold to the face of C Blake Brumwell as he goes to the basket during 1st half; but if this photo was in 3-D, I think you'd see more clearly that Tucker is not guilty of illegal hands to the face, although he was called for a foul. Tucker, a 6-2, 190-pound freshman, had 4 points and 3 fouls in 17 minutes. Northern Colorado avenged that home loss on Jan. 10 with an 85-72 road win over Montana State. 
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3. Sophomore F Angelo Chol tries to make Stanford F Josh Huestis miss a shot during 1st half at Tucson on Feb. 6. After playing a total of 25 minutes in the previous 9 games, Chol all of a sudden was on the floor for a season high 24 minutes against Stanford, finishing with 6 points and a season high 8 rebounds in Arizona's 73-66 win.
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4. According to the box score, Angelo Chol didn't score any points against USC on Feb. 27. He had only 1 FG attempt and no FT attempts and had no offensive fouls. So I'm guessing that what happened here at the 13:56 mark of 1st half was that he went up for the dunk but either lost control of the ball when he bumped into F Aaron Fuller or changed his mind and tried to lay it in. Whatever happened, it got entered as "missed layup by Chol, Angelo" on the game play-by-play. Arizona lost 89-78 to drop their record to 23-5. Chol played just 3 minutes in the game and only 13 more in the Wildcats' final 7 games of the season.


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5. Less than a minute after entering the game on Feb. 14, Angelo Chol dunks against Colorado G Sabatino Chen to give Arizona a 6-5 lead. Angelo scored 8 points and had 4 rebounds in the game; but of greater importance was the fact that he was not the only player with dreads in the game ......
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6. ..... That's because Colorado freshman F Xavier Johnson decided this would be the night to debut his dreads. Johnson, a 6-6, 220-pounder from Los Angeles, after growing out his hair since even before the season started, finally converted it to baby dreads. Here he celebrates after hitting one of the two 3-pointers he made on back-to-back possessions late in 2nd half.
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7. Xavier Johnson made his first game with dreads a memorable one. He hit 7 of 9 from the field and finished with 19 points and 9 rebounds as the Buffaloes defeated Arizona 71-58, after which he celebrated with the fans, who had stormed onto the court.
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8. Two days later against Arizona State Xavier Johnson had turnovers on 3 consecutive possessions during 1st half. This looks like it be one of them, although it also looks like G Chris Colvin should have been called for a foul. Johnson scored 10 points, including a dunk with 2.5 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime, and had a season high 14 rebounds, but ASU hit a layup at the buzzer to win 63-62.
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9. Junior F Kendrick Washington of Arkansas State tries to deny MTSU F JT Sulton the ball in a Sun Belt Conference game on Feb. 7. Maybe Washington should have spent more time covering somebody else. While Sulton shot 1 for 7 from the field, the rest of the Blue Raiders were 29 for 49 (59%). Kendrick finished with 3 points and no rebounds in a 73-60 defeat, ASU's only loss from Jan. 26-Feb. 23, a span during which they went 7-1. 
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10. Faked off of his feet, Western Kentucky C Teeng Akol does whatever it takes to try to keep Kendrick Washington from scoring on Feb. 9 - including undressing him. No foul was called on this play, so hopefully KW simply waited for Akol to land before going up and making a layup. But I don't know that for sure because the caption didn't say what happened.  
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11. 6-foot-7 Kendrick Washington has another close encounter with the 6-11 Akol, and I think Akol wins this one. This looks like Akol's block of a shot by Washington at 6:18 during 1st half. Kendrick played 31 minutes (one of 6 times he played 30+ minutes this season) and had 9 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 steals. Arkansas State won at WKU for the first time in 15 years (ending an 0-11 skid), 67-49.
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12. Kendrick Washington, with his dreads folded and tucked in under a rubber band, goes to the basket against M Michael Javes as freshman G Josh Hagins looks on in a key battle between the SBC's two Arkansas schools on Feb. 14 at Jonesboro. Washington finished with 11 points, 6 rebounds, and a career high 5 assists. Hagins had 11 points also but only 1 assist. Arkansas State won the first of two meetings between the rivals, whipping UALR 86-62.
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13. Josh Hagins drives against star sophomore G Elfrid Payton of Louisiana-Lafayette on Feb. 28 at Little Rock. I'm not very hopeful that we'll see Payton with dreads when these two meet next season - because if he was planning to do dreads, he would have done it by now. Hopefully I'll be wrong. Anyway, Hagins brought his 'A' game in both meetings against Payton this season. After scoring 14 points in 19 minutes on Dec. 29, Josh finished with 14 points and a season high 7 rebounds in the rematch, which UALR won 77-68 to end a 4-game losing streak and finish February at 16-14.
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14. FAU freshman G Stefan Moody drives to the basket past UALR G Kemy Osse but misses the layup during the closing seconds of 1st half on Feb. 23. Moody poured in 17 points in the final 12:03 of the game to finish with 25 points along with 7 rebounds in a 73-59 home win. Stefan saved the best for last in his outstanding freshman season, scoring 25+ points in 4 of the Owls' last 6 games. He finished with a season high 29 points in an 81-79 loss to Troy in the 1st round of the SBC tournament on Mar. 8 as FAU ended the season at 14-17. After averaging 15.7 PPG as a freshman, Moody has a great chance to be among the nation's leading scorers in the seasons ahead. .
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15. Sophomore G Oliver Wells of Central Arkansas drives to the basket against ORU C Damen Bell-Holter on Feb. 19 at Tulsa. Wells started but played only 14 minutes, finishing with 2 points and 2 turnovers in UCA's 94-65 defeat. As was mentioned in my Dread News report, Oliver was not the only player with dreads on the team. .....
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16. ..... That's because F Jarvis Garner decided to start growing dreads (finally) during his senior season. Shown here shooting against SIU-Edwardsville G Tim Johnson on Feb. 23, the 6-7, 210-pound Garner played well enough this season to be chosen as a starter on my all-America with dreads team. I didn't include him in any of the previous three DG because I haven't been able to find photos from most of UCA's games. Jarvis had a normal game against SIU-E, with 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots in an 80-78 home win that ended the Bears' 4-game losing streak.
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While Central Arkansas and Sam Houston State did well enough in January and February to qualify for the conference tournament, the SLC's other two teams with dreads were so wretched that they didn't make it. Those two met for their second of two meeting on Feb. 7 .....
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17. ...... And a lot of fans disguised as empty chairs were on hand at American Bank Center in Corpus Christi to see Texas A&M-Corpus Christi G Johnathan Jordan try to keep the ball from going out-of-bounds near freshman G Donnell Minton of Lamar. 
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18. G Joy Williams misses a shot but is fouled by junior F Amos Wilson as F Stan Brown also defends with 15:11 to play in 1st half. Williams made both free throws to cut Lamar's lead to 10-6.
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19. Sophomore G Hameed Ali of TAMU-CC throws a pass past F Sebastian Norman that, according to the caption, ended up in the hands of  F Dale Francis for a layup, cutting Lamar's lead to 19-17 with 7:19 to play until halftime. It was 1 of 2 assists for Ali, who finished with only 4 points (2-9 FG). Minton had 4 points (2-7 FG), 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. And Wilson was the leading scorer among players with dreads with 6 points on 3 of 7 FG shooting. Lamar rallied from a 13-point deficit with 6:00 remaining in the game to pick up their 1st SLC win of the season, 67-63, snapping a 10-game losing streak. With the win Lamar "improved" to 3-20 (1-10 SLC), while the Islanders dropped to (2-18, 1-9). The Cardinals went on to lose their final 8 games of the season to finish at 3-28, 1-17. TAMU-CC got hot, going 4-5 after this loss but still finished in 9th place at 5-13 and 6-23 overall.
Ali, Wilson, and Minton all figure to be back when these two teams meet again, and we can only hope they enjoy a lot more wins in 2013-14 than they did this season. Ali started all 29 games and averaged 7.5 PPG (36.8 FG%), 1.8 RPG, 1.9 APG, and 1.4 SPG in 28 minutes - numbers that got him an honorable mention for my all-America with dreads tram. Minton, who played all 31 games (starting 19) was probably the only guard in the country who didn't make a 3-pointer all season (he was 0 for 4). Donnell averaged 5.4 PPG (42.0 FG%), 2.7 RPG, and 1.8 APG in 24 minutes to earn a spot on my freshman all-America with dreads team. Wilson barely missed making the all-America with dreads team (settling for honorable mention) after averaging 8.9 PPG (40.8 FG%), 4.7 RPG, and 1.2 SPG in 25 minutes.   
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20. Freshman G Daveon Balls handles the ball for Northern Illinois on Feb. 23, a game in which he had a triple-deuce - that's right, 2 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists in a 59-47 home loss to Eastern Illinois. NIU did even worse than Lamar during February, going 0-7 to fall to 5-21.
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21. Junior F Ervin Thomas (#15) and freshman G Cameron Dobbs of Mississippi Valley can't prevent a dunk by Alabama A&M C Justan Banks, cutting MVSU's lead to 8-4 with 14:10 remaining in 1st half on Feb. 2.
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22. Here's a good look at the sick dreads of Ervin Thomas, as he defends against G Jeremy Crutcher on Feb. 2. Thomas finished the evening with a full house of stats - 7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocked shots in a tough 65-64 road loss. Due to a deficient academic progress rating, the Delta Devils were not eligible for postseason play and finished the season at 5-23, 5-13 and ahead of only Grambling in the SWAC. Thomas was a bright spot as he became one of the team's best players by the end of the season. After becoming eligible on Dec. 19, Ervin played in all 22 games (starting 12) and averaged 4.0 PPG (33.0 FG%), 5.2 RPG, and 1.1 APG in 19 minutes. I expect those numbers to increase drastically next season.
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23. High Point freshman F John Brown goes up for a shot uncontested by Morgan State senior F DeWayne Jackson on Feb. 23 at High Point, NC. Jackson finished with 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 6 turnovers in 23 minutes. Brown hit 10 of 18 from the field and had 24 points and 5 rebounds in 24 minutes.
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24. John Brown brings the ball upcourt on Feb. 23, a game in which the Panthers blew a 57-43 lead with 9:30 to go and lost to Morgan State 75-68, ending their 7-game winning streak. Brown's spectacular freshman season would come to an end 4 days later, when he injured his foot early in the game against Radford. He started all 28 games he played, averaging 16.4 PPG (51.9 FG%) and 6.1 RPG in 26 minutes. No doubt he has a very bright future.
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25. Junior G Rafriel Guthrie tries to drive but finds his path blocked by 6-9, 245-pound F Carl Baptiste of Delaware in CAA action on Feb. 6. With Torrey Smith in the house one day after the Super Bowl parade as part of the second-largest crowd of the season at Towson Center, Guthrie contributed 6 points as the Tigers played one of their best games of the season, routing Delaware 85-65. It's a shame Towson was ineligible for postseason play (due to a low APR) because they were on fire as the regular season ended (8-1 in their final 9 games) and likely would have done some damage in the CAA tournament. Still the season was a success. The Tigers finished at 18-13 - an all-time NCAA record 17.5-game improvement in one season (from last season's 1-31 mark) - and 13-5 (2nd place) in the CAA. Guthrie played in all 31 games (all but one as a reserve) and averaged 8.1 PPG (43.7 FG%), 2.6 RPG, and 1.0 APG.
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26. Sophomore G Marcus Thornton of William & Mary picks up his only foul of the day on a drive to the basket by G Keenan Palmore with 14:37 remaining in 2nd half on Feb. 16 at Norfolk. Palmore missed both FT, keeping the W&M lead at 5. Thornton hit 7 3-pointers and scored a career 32 points as W&M defeated 74-62 to sweep both regular season games against ODU for the first time in 15 years.
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27. Marcus Thornton goes to the basket against the braids of 6-foot-10 Hofstra F Daquan Brown on Feb. 2. Marcus began February with a 16-point, 4-assist  performance in a 72-59 home win over Hofstra.
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28. A couple of starters on my all-America with dreads team clash in the first of two meetings this season on Feb. 13, as Marcus Thornton tries to score against UNC-Wilmington senior F Keith Rendleman. Rendleman had 24 points (10-14 FG), 13 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots (all 3 on attempts by Thornton). Marcus finished with 25 points (which was his season high until he surpassed it 3 days later), 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. The Tribe shot 60.9 % from the field (their best in a game in 7 years); but after taking a 73-48 lead with 11:44 to go, UNCW rallied to within 83-80 with 1:40 remaining before W&M held on for a 92-86 victory.
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29. Keith Rendleman throws down his 3rd consecutive dunk in a span of 2:05, off an alley-oop feed from G Chris Dixon and despite a less-than-friendly shove by G Jonathan Lee, giving UNCW a 13-10 lead over Northeastern during 1st half at Wilmington on Feb. 16. If you like, click here for a video of the last two of the dunks: http://vimeo.com/59879468?SPSID=11332&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=19800  ...
Rendleman finished with 23 points, including a 3-point play with 3:08 to go that put UNCW ahead to stay, and 11 rebounds as the Seahawks upset CAA-leading Northeastern 73-67. 
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30. Keith Rendleman puts up a shot over William & Mary F Tim Rusthoven on Feb. 27. Rendleman recorded his 8th straight double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds, but Rusthoven had the last say in this one. After UNCW tied the game on a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds to play, Rusthoven was fouled and hit 1 FT with 0.4 seconds remaining to win it for W&M and spoil senior night for Keith, 73-72. Keith played his final game in a UNCW uniform three days later; just like Grambling, Mississippi Valley State and Towson, UNCW was ineligible for postseason play due to insufficient academic progress.
Rendleman spent June doing pre-draft workouts for NBA teams but was not selected in the June 27 draft. Despite that, you can bet you'll be seeing him in a pro basketball arena somewhere in the world next season.
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31. Earlier we saw John Brown, now here's High Point's other player with dreads, junior G Dejuan McGaughy, looking for a teammate to pass to as he rises above Radford G R.J. Price in Big South action on Feb. 27. McGaughy had 6 points and 2 assists; but with Brown being injured in the opening 90 seconds of the game, the Panthers suffered a 63-58 home loss to Radford, dropping them to 11-4 in Big South play and ultimately costing them an NIT bid. 
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32. The sick dreads of East Tennessee State junior F Hunter Harris briefly defy gravity as he gets set to shoot after faking against Mercer F T.J. Hallice in Atlantic Sun action on Feb. 16.
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33. Hunter Harris goes down - and takes F Daniel Coursey with him - in pursuit of a rebound on Feb. 16. Harris finished with 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots, but Mercer won 71-54 to move past FGCU and into 1st place in the ASC.
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34. Liberty G Larry Taylor has his sights on a steal as he defends against junior G Jeremy Purvis of Austin Peay on Feb. 23 at Lynchburg, VA. He didn't get it, as Purvis finished with 0 turnovers and 2 assists in just 3 minutes of playing time in APSU's 79-73 loss in overtime. After the Governors went 1-12 in Purvis' 13 games in the starting lineup, the coaching staff decided to try something different, and Jeremy saw his playing time seriously diminished in February. APSU went 3-5 down the stretch but were unable to escape last place in the OVC West and ended up missing the conference tournament.  
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35. Junior G Reese Holliday of Toledo tries to prevent G Austin Richie from driving to the basket on Feb. 27 at Toledo. I don't know for sure, but this might be Holliday's foul on Richie with 1:19 remaining in 1st half. Holliday finished with 16 points (one of 4 games in which he hit his season high of 16) and 8 rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench, but Toledo lost 65-62 to fall 1 game behind Western Michigan in the MAC West.
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36. Freshman G Jeff White of Loyola defends against Wright State G Matt Vest in Horizon League action on Feb. 4 at Dayton. White finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist in 23 minutes. After losing to WSU by 1 in Chicago three weeks earlier, the Ramblers blew a 51-38 lead with 7:54 to go and lost to Wright State again, this time by 3, 62-59. 
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37. As has happened to many others, Massachusetts senior G Freddie Riley finds out first-hand that it's no fun being caught in a trap set by the VCU defense, applied here by F Jarred Guest (in foreground) and G Rob Brandenburg on Feb. 14. Riley finished the night with 12 points and only 1 turnover in 32 minutes; but UMass, trying to tie VCU in the Atlantic 10 standings, was outscored 49-26 in 2nd half as VCU rolled to an 86-68 home win. 
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38. Freddie Riley launches a shot against Temple G Khaliff Wyatt on Feb. 16. Riley led UMass with 17 points but on the final possession of the game passed up a chance to shoot and made a bad pass, allowing Temple to hang on for an 83-82 victory. The back-to-back losses dropped the Minutemen to 16-8 overall and to 6-5 and out of contention in the A-10. 
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39. Dayton freshman F Jalen Robinson got the call early on Feb. 16, entering the game against Xavier at the 18:37 mark after 2 quick fouls on starter Devin Scott. At 18:26 Robinson got his 1st rebound, and here at 18:03 he scores and is fouled by ex-dread F Travis Taylor. He added the FT to make the score 5-2 and put the Flyers ahead to stay.
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40. Jalen Robinson goes up to shoot again, this time against F Isaiah Philmore and without being fouled. Jalen finished with 9 points and 7 rebounds as Dayton got the home win over Xavier 70-59 to split this year's regular season series between the two rivals.
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41. Dayton began February with a trip to St. Louis for their only meeting with the Billikens on Feb. 2. Jalen Robinson plays some in-your-face defense on a FG attempt by F Rob Loe during 1st half. This might be when Robinson fouled Loe to pick up the 1st foul of the game at the 17:47 mark. Jalen played only 11 minutes, finishing with 2 points and 2 rebounds ......
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42. ..... The other player with dreads in the game, junior G Jordair Jett, drives to the basket against G Vee (not Fred) Sanford during 1st half. Jett finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Saint Louis jumped out to a 39-17 lead late in 1st half then had a 20-4 run in 2nd half and cruised to an 81-52 victory. 
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43. Jordair Jett takes a jump shot over G Darien Brothers on Feb. 9 at Richmond. Jordair hit 3 of 6 from the field, finishing with 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists as SLU won their 6th in a row, defeating the Spiders 56-46.
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44. Back at home on Feb. 19 Jordair Jett tries to drive past VCU G Briante Weber. After scoring 16 points three days earlier against UNC-Charlotte, Jordair scored 16 again (6-9 FG) and added 3 rebounds and 2 assists as SLU moved into 1st place in the A-10, knocking VCU out of 1st with an impressive 75-62 victory.
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45. In another A-10 showdown three days later Jordair Jett's dreads point every which way but up as he tries not to lose possession to Butler F Roosevelt Jones on Feb. 22 at Indianapolis. Jett finished with 7 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists as SLU ended a highly successful week with their 2nd win of the season over Butler and their 9th straight overall, maintaining the lead in the A-10 and improving to 21-5 with a 65-61 victory. 
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46. Senior F Carl Hall of Wichita State has some serious competition for this rebound from F Christian Kirk (left) and G Dorian Williams of Missouri State during 1st half at Wichita on Feb. 9. Hall had 9 points and 5 rebounds as the Shockers crushed MSU 79-50 to end a 3-game losing streak and improve to 20-5.
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47. In case you hadn't noticed in the previous couple DGs, Clemson sophomore G Rod Hall (no relation to Carl) prefers shooting close to the basket instead of taking outside jump shots. In two seasons with the Tigers he has attempted only 14 3-point shots. Here he takes it to the basket against 6-11 C Daniel Miller of Georgia Tech on Feb. 14 at Atlanta. Rod finished with 9 points (and would have had more if he hadn't gone 1 for 6 at the FT line) along with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals .....
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48. ..... With Clemson leading by 3 in the closing seconds, Rod Hall was guarding G Mfon Udofia as he raced upcourt after a missed FT by the Tigers, but Udofia got free when Rod ran smack-dab into a screen set by Miller. Not to worry, though, because F Milton Jennings had Rod's back, snuffing Udofia's 3-point attempt before it leaves his hand with 0.7 seconds on the clock. Clemson won just once in the final 6 weeks of the season, and this was it, 56-53 over GT.
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49. Rod Hall plays hands-on defense against G Shane Larkin as Clemson hosts ACC-leading Miami on Feb. 17 ......
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50. ..... With Miami leading by 1 in the final minute Rod Hall takes it to the basket but is called for a charging foul as he crashes into G Trey McKinney Jones with 13.3 seconds remaining.
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51. If at first you don't succeed, try again. On Clemson's final possession, now down by 2, Hall drives to the basket again, getting past G Durand Scott ......
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52. ..... and laying it up as he also gets past G Rion Brown (#15). But Rod missed with 1.3 seconds remaining. F K.J. McDaniels (#32), with nobody blocking him out, got to the rim and tried to tip in Hall's miss, but he missed too with 0.7 seconds on the clock, allowing Miami to hold on. The #3 ranked Hurricanes were ripe for the taking, but the Tigers shot 17 for 56 from the field (30.4%) and 5 for 13 from the FT line (38.5%). Hall finished with 2 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists, but Miami improved to 12-0 in ACC play, escaping with an ugly 45-43 victory.
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53. Rod Hall keeps North Carolina F J.P. Tokoto away from the ball after gaining possession during 1st half at Clemson on Feb. 28. The schedule maker spared Clemson a trip to Chapel Hill for their annual beatdown this season, so the Tar Heels had to settle for a road win over the Tigers this year. Hall finished with 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal as UNC won 68-59.
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54. The Louisiana Tech starting five, including three players with dreads, wait to be introduced before taking on UT-Arlington at home on Feb. 2:  forwards Michale Kyser, Chris Anderson, and Cordarius Johnson, and guards Raheem Appleby and Kenneth Smith. It would have really been neat if Johnson was wearing jersey #2 instead of #15. These five started all 7 games for the Bulldogs in February.





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55. Junior F Cordarius Johnson defends a shot by UTA G Cameron Catlett.
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56. Again Cordarius Johnson defends a shot, but it's not necessary because Kyser's got this one, swatting away the attempt by G Karol Gruszecki out of bounds, keeping Tech's lead at 17-7 with 11:04 remaining in 1st half. Kyser had 4 blocked shots, all in the first 10:19 of the game.
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57. Sophomore G Kenneth Smith, nicknamed "Speedy", tries to drive past G Drew Charles (#4) and C Jordan Reeves. Smith finished with 4 points and 5 rebounds; Johnson had 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 steals; and Anderson had 4 points and 4 fouls in 8 minutes. Louisiana Tech defeated Texas-Arlington 64-51 for their 11th straight win.
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58. After blocking a shot and grabbing the rebound, Kenneth Smith speeds to the basket but misses the layup against Utah State G Spencer Butterfield with 14:49 remaining in 1st half on Feb. 28. Smith finished with 2 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in 21 minutes as the Bulldogs, ranked in the top 25 for the first time since Karl Malone was on the team 28 years ago, improved to 25-3 and 15-0 in the WAC with an 84-61 blowout of Utah State. 
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59. Sophomore G Levi Randolph of Alabama looks for a teammate after faking both F Shavon Coleman and G Malik Morgan of LSU off their feet at Tuscaloosa on Feb. 9. Randolph had 10 points and 4 rebounds as the Crimson Tide improved to 5-0 in SEC home games (with all 5 wins by a margin of 4 points or less), defeating LSU 60-57.
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60. Look out, above. Levi Randolph almost goes too high for this rebound against South Carolina on Feb. 16, his dreads nearly reaching the bottom of the backboard. Levi recorded season highs of 9 rebounds and 4 steals and also scored 6 points as the Tide finally had an easy one at home, jumping to a 32-9 lead and cruising to a 68-58 win over the Gamecocks.
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61. Levi Randolph slams home an alley-oop pass from G Trevor Releford for Alabama's final points of the game against Auburn on Feb. 26. Randolph had 6 points and 4 rebounds as the Tide avenged their embarrassing loss at Auburn three weeks earlier, whipping the Tigers 61-43 to improve to 19-9 and 11-4 in the SEC.
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62. Sophomore F David Rivers of Nebraska drives to the basket against Ohio State F Sam Thompson during 2nd half at Lincoln on Feb. 2. Rivers scored a February-high 13 points (5-7 FG) and had 6 rebounds, but the Cornhuskers lost to the Buckeyes 63-56.
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63. David Rivers tries to get the handle on a loose ball before Indiana G Victor Oladipo can get to it on Feb. 13. Rivers finished the night with 6 points and 4 rebounds; but the Cornhuskers, who upset Indiana last season, were whipped by the #1 ranked Hoosiers 76-47.
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64. Michigan State F Adreian Payne fouls David Rivers as he shoots a layup on Feb. 16, but no foul was called. I'm not sure what happened here, but it's probably Rivers' missed layup with 11:49 remaining in 1st half. After playing all 40 minutes in the first meeting with the Spartans on Jan. 13 (and shooting 8 for 8 from the field), David was on the court for 38 minutes in the rematch, finishing with 7 points (3-10 FG) and 2 rebounds. Nebraska lost to #8 ranked Michigan State 73-64.
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65. David Rivers is fouled in the act of shooting on Feb. 9, and this time the foul is called, as F Sasa Borovnjak prevents an easy basket early in 2nd half. Rivers hit just 1 for 5 from the field but made 7 of 8 FT, finishing with 9 points, 6 rebounds, and a career high 5 assists as Nebraska beat Penn State for the 2nd time in 3 weeks, 67-53.
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66. After picking up 1 of his career high 3 steals against Iowa on Feb. 23, Rivers flips a pass to G Benny Parker to get a fast break started during 1st half at Lincoln. David also contributed 6 points and 4 rebounds as the Cornhuskers rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit to take the first of two meetings with the Hawkeyes 64-60 and improve to 13-14. 
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67. Despite being outnumbrered, Morehead State C Chad Posthumus grabs the rebound between senior G Tashan Fredrick and F Robert Covington during an OVC contest at Nashville on Feb. 28. Tashan played 20 minutes, scored a season high 7 points and tied his season highs with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Hope you didn't miss the ESPNU telecast because it was one of the most entertaining games of the season. Morehead State knocked off Tennessee State 101-100.
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68. Wright State sophomore F Tavares Sledge crashes to the floor as he gets (or keeps) possession of the ball against G Adam Wing on Feb. 23 at Dayton. Sledge had no points and 2 rebounds as the Raiders lost their ESPN BracketBuster game to Evansville 70-58. Tavares had a tough time of it in February, shooting 6 for 29 from the field in 7 games and finishing with more rebounds (29) than points (18).
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69. We'll finish DG143 on a disappointing note, namely Bryant Allen. As was reported in my post "The 1-2", things were looking up for a while when Allen, after having his dreads reduced all season, finally returned them to normal on Feb. 13, as here he celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer that gave Illinois State (in the throwback uniforms) a 75-56 lead over Bradley. He had 7 points and 2 assists in a 79-59 win that evened ISU's record at 7-7 in the MVC (after an 0-6 start). 
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70. Allen kept his dreads going at full blast for 4 games, the last of which was here on Feb. 23, as he commits a foul while Utah State G Spencer Butterfield makes a layup during 2nd half. The 3-point play increased USU's lead to 46-42, and the Aggies never looked back, cruising to an 80-71 win. Bryant scored 8 points and tied his season highs with 4 rebounds and 5 assists in what would be his last game with dreads. When ISU took the floor for their next game 4 days later, Bryant's dreads were all gone. Allen proceeded to make just 7 of 32 from the field in the next 4 games, and the Redbirds (18-15) did not play in any postseason tournament.
Worse yet, the disappointment didn't end when the season did. This from a couple of weeks ago: http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/isu-guard-bryant-faces-marijuana-charge-dismissed-from-team/article_54cc20c0-dd19-11e2-bdfb-001a4bcf887a.html
Dreads or no dreads, you hate to see this. Hopefully he'll be able to get himself out of this mess. But having already used his redshirt year, if he transfers to yet another school, it won't be a Division 1 school. We'll see.