Breakfast of Champions 2/5: Bob Knight Edition

It appears as if Bob Knight's long, strange trip through the college basketball universe has finally come to a close. Quite possibly the most polarizing figure in all of sports, Knight decided to step down as coach of Texas Tech, handing the reigns to his son Pat. If this is truly it for Knight (I'm leaning towards yes), he'll finish with 902 wins, the all-time leader among coaches, and with three national championships while at Indiana. (I'll suggest checking out fantastic IU blog Inside the Hall for their take).

For the college basketball fan, there is really no middle ground on Bob Knight. You either love him for being a passionate hardass who can instill the proper discipline needed to build a winner on and off the court. Or you hate him for tossing chairs, disrespecting players/officials/administrators/university officials/media members/neighbors and getting a bit angry when his team loses to Purdue.

With this news occurring at the start of the so-called dead period in sports, the Knight story is going to be beaten to death in the media. So we'll try to leave the Bob Knight news to this post and focus on the things actually happening on the court. So love him or hate him (or kiss his ass, as he would suggest) you have to admit that the college basketball world will be a little less interesting without the General around.


Saint Mary's 89 Gonzaga 85 (OT)

Good lord, that was worth staying up for. The battle between Jeremy Pargo and Patty Mills was my favorite one-on-one duel of the season thus far. SMC thought they won it with the Mills +1 with :23 seconds left, but Pargo (27 points) responded to send it to OT. One of the five most entertaining games all season.
Big man: Mills 23 points, Golden 6-6 from behind the arc.


Saint Joseph's 77 Villanova 55 (from the Palestra)
Hawks use the Holy War to end Nova's Big 5 win streak and stick a fork in their tournament hopes
Big men: Rob Ferguson and Pat Calathes, 20 points


Kansas 90 Missouri 71
Some revenge from football season
Big man: Brandon Rush, 18 points


Louisville 71 Marquette 57
Cards rout in Milwaukee? Sure, why not? Like anyhitng has made sense in the Big East all season
Big man: The entire Louisville defense


Longwood 78 NJIT 68
Thought tonight was the night for the Highlanders, but instead they are off to 0-24.