| Duke beat Maryland 76-52 and Florida handled Miss | | | | in college basketball. |
| St 75-60 on Wednesday, keeping both teams | | | | While the DePaul/Pittsburgh game leads a |
| undefeated. The nation's only other undefeated | | | | 31-game college basketball slate tonight, the NBA |
| team, the Pitt Panthers, play at home tonight | | | | features just a three-game card. However, at |
| against DePaul (ESPN at 9:00 ET). The 12-0 | | | | 8:05 ET on TNT, it's a Finals rematch from last |
| Panthers have made a habit of fast starts the | | | | year, the Pistons at the Spurs. Detroit owns the |
| last few seasons opening 10-0 last year, 18-0 in | | | | league's best overall record at 27-5 and its best |
| 2003-04 and 9-0 in 2002-03. | | | | road mark (13-3). San Antonio owns the league's |
| The school's last loss in the months of November | | | | second-best mark at 27-8, as well as its best |
| or December came on 12/31/02 to Georgia. | | | | home record (17-1). |
| DePaul (8-5), in its first year in the Big East, will be | | | | These teams met Christmas Day in Detroit with |
| playing Pitt for the first time since the 1936-37 | | | | the Pistons winning 85-70. Ginobili missed that |
| season. Pitt is favored by 12 points with a total of | | | | game for the Spurs and Detroit won on the |
| 130 1/2. | | | | strength of an 18-8 advantage in the first quarter |
| My free play for Thursday is on Middle Tenn St | | | | and a 28-17 4th-quarter advantage. San Antonio is |
| over Arkansas St in college hoops at 8:00 ET. | | | | favored by 4 1/2-points with a total of 177. |
| Tonight I feature my BIGGEST play of the | | | | The second half of TNT's doubleheader goes at |
| season in the Pac-10, my 20* Game of the Year. | | | | 10:35 ET, with the LeBron and the Cavaliers |
| Also, I have my 10* Sun Belt Game of the Month | | | | visiting Kobe and the Lakers. Kobe scored 'just' 41 |
| in college hoops plus a HUGE play (no rating!) on | | | | points last night in LA's 113-103 loss at Portland, |
| tonight's Finals Showdown Rematch in the NBA | | | | ending his streak of games with 45-plus points at |
| (Det/SA)! | | | | four. The Lakers are favored by 2 1/2-points |
| Speaking of long waits, Baylor, competing its | | | | tonight with a total of 193 1/2. |
| 100th year of basketball this season, lost its 15th | | | | Kobe leads the league averaging 34.3 PPG and |
| straight game last night. What was so unusual, | | | | LeBron ranks third at 30.8 PPG. Philadelphia's Allen |
| was that the school's 15th straight loss came 307 | | | | Iverson is second with an average of 33.7 PPG, |
| days after its 14th loss (77-57 to Iowa State in | | | | giving the league THREE 30-plus PPG scorers. The |
| last year's Big-12 tourney). As part of NCAA | | | | last time the NBA had three players average 30 |
| sanctions, the team was not allowed to play any | | | | or more PPG for an entire season was in 1981-82. |
| non-conference games this year. | | | | The players were, George Gervin, Moses Malone |
| Southern Illinois beat Evansville last night 66-38 | | | | and Adrian Dantley. |
| and the school from Carbondale, Illinois has now | | | | Friday's Ness Notes will be devoted to this |
| quietly joined Gonzaga and Illinois with 30 | | | | weekend's NFL Divisional Playoffs. |
| consecutive home wins, the longest active streak | | | | |