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Team of the Week

Siena

With less than three weeks until Selection Sunday, March 15, it's almost time for the little guys to take center stage. But that's not why we love Siena, a university of 3,000 students near Albany, N.Y. Let's count the reasons. Start with its best player, co-captain Kenny Hasbrouck, whose father Jeffrey, a disabled Vietnam War veteran, proudly watched his son drop 30 points on Vanderbilt in the NCAA tournament last year. Or what about junior Ronald Moore, who grew up playing against his brother Chuck Moore (the ex-Vanderbilt guard) and cousin John Salmons (of the Chicago Bulls). Or Alex Franklin, a 6-foot-5 junior that was featured on a local cooking show. (He made a deep-fried turkey last Thanksgiving.) These are the kinds of human-interest stories we'll hear in March - and you could be hearing about Siena more than one weekend in March. That should be ample time for CBS to scrounge up video of Brendan Bradt, the 24-year-old that swished a halfcourt shot Sunday and won $25,000. He's a Siena fan, too.

Team of the Week, II

Loyola-Marymount, 1989-90

It's a rare team that holds a place in your memory nearly two decades later. The Hank Gathers- and Bo Kimble-led Lions are one of those teams. Think about these numbers for a minute. With an offense designed to shoot in the first 10 seconds of each possession, Loyola-Marymount scored 111, 149, 62 and 101 points – in the 1990 NCAA tournament. LMU advanced to the Elite Eight and set an NCAA record by averaging 122.4 points for a season. Gathers and Kimble – teammates that actually transferred to LMU from Southern Cal - averaged over 64 points between them. (Eight teams average fewer than 64 points in Big Ten play this season.) The tragic death of Gathers was jarring. He passed at age 23 during a West Coast Conference tournament game. Kimble honored his teammate by shooting his first free throw in the four NCAA tournament games with his left hand. He made all four.

Games to Watch (Former UI opponents edition)

1. Virginia Tech at No. 12 Clemson (6:30 Wednesday, ESPN2). Way back on Dec. 2, when Clemson won 76-74 at Illinois, the Tigers and Illini were unranked. Now, Clemson is tied for second in the ACC, Illinois is third in the Big Ten, both are ranked and hoping to secure protected seeds (Nos. 1-5) in the NCAA tournament.

2. Kansas State at No. 11 Missouri (8 Wednesday, ESPNU). Let's review that Braggin' Rights game (Illinois 75, Mizzou 59). The Illini led by 24 points, got a season-high 23 points from Trent Meacham and limited the Tigers to a season-low 37-percent shooting.

3. Minnesota at No. 20 Illinois (6 Thursday, Big Ten Network). Thanks to a 59-36 rout of Illinois on Jan. 29, a Gophers coach doesn't have to answer questions about a losing streak to Illinois for the first time since the early part of this decade. "That (game) means absolutely nothing, to be honest with you, because that's been quite a few games ago," Tubby Smith said Monday. Illinois is 5-2 since then; Minnesota is 2-4.

Conference Call

LEAGUE     PVS.

1. Big East     1

2. ACC     2

3. Big Ten     3

4. Pac-10     4

5. Big 12     5

6. SEC     8

7. Atlantic 10     6

8. Mountain West     7

9. Conference USA     9

10. Missouri Valley     10

Wooden Watch (All-injury team)

1. Blake Griffin (concussion), Oklahoma. In a substandard performance against Texas, we thought the consensus National Player of the Year was simply exhausted from his pregame chat with Dickie V. But it was actually a screen set by Texas guard Dogus Balbay that concussed Griffin and sidelined him for the Kansas game Monday.

2. Stephen Curry (ankle), Davidson. As it stands, the 2009 NCAA tournament would be without the king of the 2008 NCAA tournament. Davidson must win the Southern Conference tournament to get a bid, in part due to a Curry-less loss to The Citadel.

3. Robbie Hummel (back), Purdue. Don't be surprised if Purdue gets a higher seed in the NCAA tournament than Illinois, even though Illinois swept the season series. Why? The selection committee considers injuries, and the Boilers are 3-0 since the Big Ten's preseason Player of the Year returned to the rotation. Programs submit injury reports to the selection committee, and the Purdue staff will highlight its record with Hummel.

The Ex Files

1. Frank Williams, Sioux Falls. Former Illini point guard averaging 15.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg and 3.6 apg for Skyforce. Unfortunately, the Peoria great wasn't named to the NBA Developmental League All-Star roster, though former Missouri coach Quin Snyder (Austin Toros) coached the Blue Team.

2. Shaun Pruitt, N/A. Former Illini center wrote in an e-mail he was in Latvia waiting to see if he would join a franchise there. Agent Mike Naiditch said Pruitt has an offer on the table from a team in China, so that's another option.

3. Jamar Smith, Southern Indiana. Former Illini guard on Monday was named Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Week after games of 21 and 29 points. He's made at least five threes in seven games, and USI (23-5) is the league's highest-scoring team.

Polling place

How Klee voted in this week's Associated Press poll:

TEAM (PVS.) COMMENT

1. Pittsburgh (1) - City's on a roll: No. 1 team in the NFL, No. 1 team in hoops
2. Connecticut (2) - But Huskies still on track for a No. 1 seed in NCAA tourney
3. North Carolina (4) - Despite three losses, still will be Vegas' NCAA title favorite
4. Oklahoma (3) - Blake Griffin (concussion) won't play vs. Kansas tonight
5. Memphis (5) - One of many programs to pursue UI commitment Tracy Abrams
6. Louisville (6) - What should they call Cardinals' new arena ($238 million-ish)?
7. Clemson (12) - Trailed lowly Georgia Tech (1-12 ACC) by 15 before winning
8. Michigan State (9) - Illinois the only Big Ten team more perplexing than MSU
9. Kansas (15) - Too high, but more deserving than others; Still a huge surprise
10. Marquette (8) - Buzz Williams assisted at six schools before taking over MU
11. Duke (7) - Good win vs. Wake, but we're still looking at Clemson loss (74-47)
12. Villanova (10) - Tickets still available for 'Nova's game Wednesday at DePaul
13. Wake Forest (13) - Don't be surprised if Deacons go on four-game win streak
14. Washington (21) - It's about time, U-Dub; Too much talent to play in 2008 CBI
15. Purdue (16) - How valuable is Rob Hummel? Boilers 3-0 since he returned
16. Missouri (11) - Tigers would like a first-round game in Kansas City in NCAAs
17. Arizona State (14) - ASU, Washington share the inside track on Pac-10 title
18. LSU (18) - This is the worst SEC we remember; Tigers running away with it
19. Gonzaga (17) - 2009 recruiting class could have four foreign-born standouts
20. Xavier (19) - Hoping for NCAA seed in Dayton, one of five sites to sellout
21. Florida State (23) - Despite playing in ACC, Toney Douglas underappreciated
22. Illinois (20) - Bruce Weber this morning: "You are what you are at this point"
23. Utah (NR) - In 2010, Illinois will want a first-round NCAA game in Milwaukee
24. Siena (NR) - Tuition, room, board at New York school in 2008-09 is $33,160
25. Butler (24) - Dream big, Bulldogs: 2010 Final Four is down the street in Indy

pklee@news-gazette.com