Tuesday's Shootaround: John Wall impresses, Lance Stephenson not so much

Kentucky 72, Miami OH 70: Kentucky dodged a major bullet last night as Miami (OH) caught fire from deep. Pushing their lead to as much as 18 in the first half, Kentucky used an 18-3 run set up by their defense to head into the break down just three. The second half of basketball between these two was as exciting as college hoops gets. As Kentucky would start to assert their dominance inside and make a little run, the Redhawks would answer by knocking down a three or converting a turnover into an easy basket.

This end of this game was incredibly exciting. Take a look:



Wall made two big plays down the stretch. The reason UK was up 69-67 when Wall stepped to the line was because Wall was able to get into the paint and find a wide open DeMarcus Cousins the possession before. And perhaps what was the most impressive about the game-winner was that he didn't hesitate. After Kenny Hayes tied the game at 70, Wall took the inbounds, got himself into a place where he could score, and buried the jumper.

That said, overall Wall had a fairly disappointing start to his career. He was forcing the issue offensively, he turned the ball over, he took ill-advised shots. You know what he looked like? He looked like any freshman would playing their first game in Rupp Arena. With all the expectations heaped on him by Kentucky fans, Wall seemed like he was trying to prove his worth on every play instead of letting the game come to him. The ironic part is that his most memorable shot - the game-winner - was one of the few times he didn't actually overpenetrate and try to do too much. Once he realizes that he is good enough to dominate doing the simple, he will.

There were a couple of other good signs for Kentucky. Darnell Dodson hit three threes, and looks like he may end up being the Cats designated shooter. Daniel Orton had another solid performance, but it was Cousins who played like a potential lottery pick. After coasting through the first half, Cousins got ripped into on the bench by both Calipari and Rod Strickland. In the second half he was grabbing offensive rebounds, blocking shots, hedging out hard on screens. He looked like a different player out there.


UConn 77, Colgate 63: UConn struggled in the first half, as Colgate was able to take a five point lead at one point and headed into the break down just one. The issue in the first half was that UConn wasn't getting stops. When Colgate, who really shot the ball well throughout the entire game, would score, that means UConn wasn't able to push the ball up the floor in transition; they weren't getting easy baskets. As we know, the Huskies are not a great offensive team in the half court, and Colgate was able to take advantage of that early.

But the second half was a different story. From the tip, UConn was hitting shots. They knocked down threes, they hit mid-range jumpers, they scored at the rim. What this meant is that UConn was able to get into their press quite often, and with guys like Kemba Walker and Jerome Dyson pestering the ball for 40 minutes, Colgate's guards started to wear down.

If UConn can get anywhere near the offensive production and efficiency they got tonight, this team is going to be good. Take away Jerome Dyson's 3-15 from the floor, and this group was 29-43 on FG's. Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edwards combined to go 15-16 from the floor. The Huskies also hit 8-19 three's. Like I said, if this team starts shooting the ball well, look out.

Kemba Walker played really well last night. He was getting into the lane at will, he was finding open men, and he was a terror defensively as he finished with 16 points, 6 assists, and 5 steals.


Cal St Fullerton 68, UCLA 65 2ot:

I am not writing about the horrific basketball game again, so if you want to read about it, go to the live-blog. Sorry, but sitting through it once was bad enough.

Other notable games:

• Villanova 103, Penn 65: Maalik Wayns had 16 points to lead six players in double figures as the Wildcats won their Big 5 opener.
• Duke 74, Coastal Carolina 49: Kyle Singler had 23 and 11 to lead the Devils, while Jon Scheyer has now played 75 minutes of basketball without a turnover.
• Minnesota 82, Stephen F. Austin 42: Lawrence Westbrook and Devoe Joseph both had 15 points to lead the Gophers, but it was Rodney Williams and his 14 points off the bench that really made the difference.
• Western Kentucky 69, Milwaukee 65: AJ Slaughter scored 30 points last night as the Hilltoppers came back from six down early in the second half.
• Florida State 87, Jacksonville 61: Solomon Alabi had 17 points to lead the Seminoles, but more important was the 14 point performace FSU got from stud freshman Michael Snaer.
  
• Rider 86, Lehigh 71: Rider kept up their hot shooting knocking down 16 threes as they started 2-0. Novar Gadson had 20 and Ryan Thompson added 19.
• South Carolina 90, Georgia Southern 66: Dominique Archie led the way for the Gamecocks with 18 points, 10 boards, 3 blocks, and 3 assists.
• Notre Dame 95, Stephen F Austin 72: Luke Harangody had 27 and 9 while Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromaitis added 18 and 17, respectively.
• South Florida 66, Virginia 49: Dominique Jones had 22 in the win.
• Cincinnati 69, Prairie View 62: Lance Stephenson reportedly was a 'nervous wreck' before the game, and finished with just seven points on 2-10 shooting. Deonta Vaughn was bench at the start of the second half, but he finished with 15 points.
• Ole Miss 90, Alabama St. 53: Terrico White had 19 to lead the Rebels.
• Vanderbilt 95, Lipscomb 73: Vandy got 20 and 7 from Jeff Taylor and 17 from Jermaine Beal.
• Missouri State 73, Auburn 62: Jermaine Mallet had 12 points, 8 boards, and 6 assists in the win.
• Indiana 69, USC Upstate 61: Christian Watford had 17 and 10 for the Hoosiers.