Counting Victories Is Like Counting Sheep
Stanford lost its 0 when Arizona knocked the Cardinal from the ranks of the unbeaten.
That loss Thursday night left Utah the only undefeated team in the country, and the Utes put that 18-game winning streak on the line at New Mexico today.
One person not getting caught up in all the hoopla about a possible undefeated season is Utah coach Rick Majerus. When asked about breaking the school record for consecutive wins at the start of the season, set by the 1911-12 team, Majerus said: “I don’t get into that. That’s back when they had a bunch of sheepherders and it was a military base.”
Kansas went the longest last season before losing. The Jayhawks were 22-0 when they lost 96-94 to Missouri.
The last team to go unbeaten through a regular season was UNLV, which went 30-0 in 1990-91 and finished 34-1 after losing to eventual champion Duke in the national semifinals.
The last unbeaten team was Indiana, which went 32-0 in 1975-76.
Keeping the 0
The only Division I team not to win a game this season is Bethune-Cookman, which entered the weekend 0-16.
To say it’s been a rough first year on coach Horace Broadnax, who played for John Thompson at Georgetown, would be an understatement. But loss No. 14 will be one that may last a little longer than the others.
The Wildcats, a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, led Hampton 62-60 on Derricus Lockwood’s baseline jumper with 13 seconds to play.
But after Hampton inbounded the ball, Bethune-Cookman was called for a technical foul when Jalonni Galloway, a player not in the game at the time, slapped the ball away from Hampton guard Damany Smith.
Torrey Farrington made both free throws to tie it 62-62 with 9.4 seconds left, and on the ensuing possession Tarvis Williams dunked at the buzzer for Hampton.
The last team to win a game last season was Cal-Irvine, which lost its first 13.
The last team to go winless for a season was Prairie View, which went 0-28 in 1991-92.
Brotherly love
The Greer brothers finished even in their first season in the Big East.
Ricardo Greer, a freshman at Pittsburgh, had 22 points and 10 rebounds when the Panthers beat Rutgers in overtime Jan. 17.
In the rematch eight days later, Rutgers freshman Jeff Greer had 19 points and seven rebounds in the Scarlet Knights’ 22-point win.
“I thought Jeff and Ricky changed uniforms,” Pittsburgh coach Ralph Willard said. “Jeff was very confident and poised, and that will happen to you as a freshman at home.”