LaberFred » like a glove, and the Turf is no cakewalk, eith

NEW YORK -- Northwestern came into the Legends Classic off a last-second loss to Butler.It didnt seem to bother the Wildcats as they beat No. 22 Texas 77-58 on Monday night.Im really proud of my guys tonight. We had a very tough loss Wednesday in Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler, Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. Teams can go two separate ways after a loss like that. You can go on a little bit of a tailspin or you can rally together and come out fighting. There was never a doubt in my mind that our guys were going to keep fighting. We came in confident, yet very respectful of Texas. We knew it was going to take a great effort to beat a team like that. I thought a lot of guys played well.Bryant McIntosh had 20 points and five assists in the convincing win that propelled the Wildcats (3-1) into a championship showdown against Notre Dame, which beat Colorado 89-81, on Tuesday night at Barclays Center.McIntosh turned the ball over that led to Butlers buzzer-beater.I thought right after the Butler game, I knew we wouldnt go into a tailspin just because we didnt feel sorry for ourselves, McIntosh said. We were upset that we lost a game that we thought we could win. Thats a difference with this team than on the other teams Ive been on since being here. If we lost a close game, we felt sorry for ourselves where this team were hungry. We think were good and I thought tonight we played exceptionally well.Northwestern opened the game with an 11-0 run and closed the first half on a 9-0 spurt to take a 34-26 lead.The Wildcats opened the second half on a 10-1 run to go up by 17 points and the Longhorns (3-1) were never closer than 14 points the rest of the way.Scottie Lindsey had 16 points and Dererk Pardon had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Northwestern which took advantage of an out-of-synch Texas offense for the easy win.We came in to win, Collins said. We have the utmost respect for Texas, just like we did at Butler the other night. I just think theres a mindset with these guys. I think we believe were good. I believe we can play with these teams, not only play with them but beat them.Tavin Mack scored 18 points for the Longhorns, who finished with 14 turnovers and just seven assists. Texas didnt help itself at the free throw line going 13 for 27.I thought Northwestern did a great job of starting the game with aggressiveness and got off to that big lead, Texas coach Shaka Smart said. Our guys responded really well and battled back and took the lead but obviously from there, Northwestern was just a much better team tonight.Northwestern, which shot 48.2 percent (27 for 56), led by as many as 20 points as nine of the 10 players who saw time scored.Texas, which came into the game averaging 82 points per game, shot 37.3 percent (19 for 51) and were outrebounded 40-31.I was a little bit concerned this morning because sometimes you can feel when guys get in the bright lights, you can tell theyre playing a little bit away from what really goes into it, Smart said. Its natural. I think we were a step off with a lot of things we know how to do.BIG PICTURE:Texas: The Longhorns allowed opponents to shoot 21.8 percent from 3-point range in their first three games. Northwestern was 10 of 24 (41.7 percent) from beyond the arc. ... Six Texas players were averaging double figures entering the game and only Mack reached that against the Wildcats.Northwestern: Vic Law came into the game shooting 76.8 percent (11 of 14) from 3-point range including eight in a row at one stretch. He went 1 for 2 Monday. ... Law was the Wildcats leading scorer at 20.3 points per game. He had just nine against Texas.BIRTHDAY WISH:McIntosh celebrated his birthday Sunday by heading to the famed Rucker Park with his godfather to shoot baskets.RARE MEETING:Northwestern leads the all-time series 2-1. The last time the teams met was in 1974, a 63-59 Texas victory. The first meeting was a 73-71 Northwestern victory in 1965.UP NEXT:Texas: will play Colorado for third place in the Legends Classic.Northwestern: will play Notre Dame in the championship game of the Legends Classic. Custom Authentic Baseball Jerseys . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. Fake Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. https://www.custombaseballnikejerseys.com/?tag=custom-boston-red-sox-nike-jerseys .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training. Custom Cincinnati Reds Nike Jerseys . 4 Villanova with a 96-68 drubbing on Monday. Wragge hit 9-of-14 from behind the arc, matching Kyle Korvers school record for 3-pointers in a game set in 2003, as Creighton (16-3, 6-1 Big East broke a conference record with 21 treys in the rout. Custom Baseball Jerseys . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. Pre-entries for the Breeders Cup at Santa Anita on Nov. 4 and 5 will be taken Monday, and after the oversubscribed races are dealt with on Tuesday, the pre-entries will be released to all on Wednesday.I find two aspects to the Breeders Cup pre-entry process to be especially interesting. One is the work of the Breeders Cup Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel, which determines which horses are relegated to the also-eligible list in oversubscribed races. The other is the concept of cross-entering horses in two different Breeders Cup events.The work the Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel does in overfilled races is really only discussed when people disagree with them, making their task the definition of a thankless job. In the main, however, the Panel has done good work. Anyone can disagree whether a horse should be ranked as the fourth or the sixth also-eligible, debates that indeed take place because, dont forget, the also-eligible horses in overfilled Breeders Cup events are listed in order of preference, meaning that is the order they will draw in if horses in the body of the race withdraw. But if a horse is already that far down the also-eligible list, its splitting hairs where precisely the horse is slotted.Off the top of my head, I can think of only two egregious errors by the Panel since the advent of the Breeders Cup. One was Five Star Day, who absolutely, positively got shafted when he was made an also-eligible in the 1999 Breeders Cup Sprint. And he never got into that race.But without question, at least in my view, the worst mistake the Panel ever made was excluding Quiet American from the main body of the field for the 1990 Breeders Cup Classic even though Quiet American had a victory in the San Diego Handicap and a second in the Woodward on his recent record, and a second in the Strub Stakes earlier that year.That was the Classic in which the extremely unlikely Ibn Bey finished second, beaten just one length by Unbridled for it all. There never was a defection allowing Quiet American to get into that Classic. But given the way that Classic was run (Thirty Six Red finished just one length farther back in third; nuff said) and with the way Quiet American came back to dominate the NYRA Mile (which was later renamed the Cigar Mile), he might well have won that Classic if he had the opportunity to start. He might well have won it by open lengths.As for which horses are cross-entered in this Breeders Cup, we wont know for sure until pre-entries are released. But thanks to reporting by DRF staffers, we know that the connections of a handful of horses are contemplating cross-entering on Monday.Sometimes when a horse cross-entered in two Breeders Cup races, it barely elicits a reaction. For example, there are indications that Gun Runner will enter in both the Classic and Dirt Mile. Gun Runner is a nice colt. He probably would have won the Pennsylvania Derby last time out if he didnt concede so much ground with a wide run. But even though the Dirt Mile is obviously an easier spot than the Classic, Gun Runner would be in deep in either race.dddddddddddd The choice his connections ultimately make wont move the needle that much.Other times, however, cross-entered horses make for spirited discussion. And there might be three such horses in this Breeders Cup: Limato, Mondialiste, and Curalina.There is an obvious difference of opinion amongst the connections of Limato regarding that horse targeting the Breeders Cup Mile or the Turf Sprint. Limato hasnt had success going a mile in Europe, which doesnt mean he couldnt get a mile over here, but he is a multiple Group 1 stakes-winning sprinter.Even though Europeans have yet to win a Turf Sprint, and even though horses who previously performed well over Santa Anitas downhill turf course have had disproportionate success in the Turf Sprints run at Santa Anita, Limato might still be the favorite in this wide-open Turf Sprint. He will, however, be a double-digit long shot in the much tougher Mile going a distance at which he is a question mark. That there is such apparent agonizing over this choice kind of makes you scratch your head.The English-based Mondialiste possibly cross-entering the Breeders Cup Mile and Turf is another head scratcher. Mondialiste has been tremendously productive in North America, winning the Woodbine Mile and finishing second in the Breeders Cup Mile last year, and winning the Arlington Million this year.But lets be honest. The connections of Mondialiste were very clever to recognize that the field in this years Million was decidedly sub-standard, which was a huge reason why this horse was able to successfully negotiate the 1-1/4 miles that day. There is nothing in Mondialistes other 21 career starts that suggests he can get 10 furlongs in truly top company, let alone handle the 12 furlongs of the Turf, which he has never attempted. Sure, the Mile is no picnic. But Mondialiste fits that race like a glove, and the Turf is no cakewalk, either.Curalina is to cross-enter the Breeders Cup Distaff and the Filly and Mare Sprint. Curalina is very good. She was a narrowly beaten second last time in the Personal Ensign behind Cavorting, who has since retired, and finished ahead of Forever Unbridled and Im a Chatterbox, who came back to romp in the Beldame and Spinster, respectively.Yet as good as Curalina is, and as much as she has license to contest the Distaff, she will be no better than a distant fourth choice in that race behind Songbird, Beholder, and Stellar Wind.On the other hand, even though she has spent the last 16 months competing (and almost always running well) in much longer races than the seven-furlong Filly and Mare Sprint, Curalina would be the favorite in the Filly and Mare Sprint if she goes there. Beside what would be an obvious and substantial class drop for her, Curalina won the Acorn Stakes going a one turn mile at Belmont last year, and did so after a terrible start. That proved Curalina is also highly effective in extended one-turn races. ' ' '