Wednesday's Shootaround

The Shoot-around will be fairly brief today. I don't know about you guys, but I need about a week to recover from that Tip-off marathon. For more analysis of the games, check out our live-blog from yesterday. At least we finally got some good games last night.

Kansas 57, Memphis 55: The last Memphis lead in this game was 7-6, but Kansas was never able to put the Tigers away. The Jayhawks were sloppy offensively, turning the ball over 21 times, 11 of which came from Tyshawn Taylor and Xavier Henry. For the majority of the second half, Kansas was up somewhere around six points, but after a couple late threes from Memphis cut it to 56-55 with 17 seconds left, Sherron Collins was fouled and went to the line. He made 1-2, but Elliot Williams missed a three at the end of the game.



The Jayhawks are going to be alright. Tonight, Cole Aldrich was really the only guy that got it going offensively (18 points, 11 boards, 5 blocks), but KU has too much talent for offense to be an issue. Instead, take from this game that Memphis may not fall as far as expected. Sure, they are lacking depth, shooting, and a point guard, but one thing this team will do is defend. Every possession is going to be a dogfight. Combine that with the fact that Elliot Williams is an emerging star, and maybe Memphis keeps their reign as C-USA's best.


Michigan State 75, Gonzaga 71: In what was probably the best game of the night, Michigan State pulled out a tough win against a Gonzaga team that was ready to play. For the Spartans, it was their back court that got it done. Kalin Lucas was his usual self, going to 19 points and 5 assists while leading the Spartans. But Durrell Summers was just as impressive, as he finished with 21 points (on 8-9 shooting, many of those being jumpers) and 11 boards.

But where Michigan State needs to be concerned (and Gonzaga needs to be ecstatic) is inside. The Spartans seemed to allow Robert Sacre and Elias Harris to go 1-on-1 onthe block, opting to try and slow sown MSU's excellent guard play. It worked somewhat, as Bouldin, Gray, and Goodson all struggled, going a combined 8-34 and 3-16 from deep. But the good news was that both big men had 17 points. If Harris and Sacre can become real threats offensively, there will be that much less attention on the back court.


Other notable games:

• Tennessee 124, UNC-Asheville 49: What is there to say? Tennessee was up 68-14 at the half, and started out the game on a 23-0 run. Scottie Hopson had a career-high 25 points.
  
• Duke 101, Charlotte 59: Nolan Smith had 24 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists in his first game, while Jon Scheyer had 20 points and 5 assists and played 29 more minutes without turning the ball over.
• UConn 76, Hofstra 67: The Huskies were donw 54-45 with 9:09 remaining, but Jerome Dyson tok over down the stretch. He scored 15 of his 23 points in the last 7:11, getting to the foul line at will, as UConn held off a tough Hofstra team.
• Oklahoma 72, Louisiana-Monroe 61: Willie Warren had 24 points and Tony Crocker added 13 as the Sooners, who trailed at points in the second half, pulled away late.
• Georgetown 46, Temple 45: Greg Monroe hit a driving lay-up with six seconds left to win an ugly game where the Hoyas at more turnovers and and fouls than field goals.
• Louisville 96, Arkansas 66: The Cardinals were 15-38 from three, and Reginald Delk led six players in the double figures with 20 points. Of note - Edgar Sosa had 7 assists and just 2 turnovers (although, his shooting hasn't come around yet) while Jared Swopshire, who started at the four, had a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. Rotnei Clarke was just 35 points short of matching his total in the opener.
  
• Clemson 79, Liberty 39: Booker had 12 and 12 in a rout.
• Illinois 80, Northern Illinois 61: Brandon Paul had 20 to lead the Illini after scoring 25 in their opener.
• BC 72, St. Francis NY 44: Tyler Roche had 19 points to lead four double figure scorers as the Eagles started out 2-0 despite the suspension of three players.
• LSU 71, Western Kentucky 60: Bo Spencer had 28 points, knocking down a three with 2:48 to break a 57-57 tie, as the Tigers advanced to the semifinals of the pre-season NIT.
• Xavier 101, Bowling Green 57: Jordan Crawford had a career-high 24 points.
• Missouri 83, Tennessee-Martin 68: Laurence Bowers had 16 points to lead the Tigers, who lost JT Tiller to a foot injury early in the second half.
  
• Iowa State 90, Drake 70: Lucca Staiger had 32 points and 10 threes, while Craig Brackins added 22 points and 10 boards.
• Maryland 71, Fairfield 42: Eric Hayes had 14 points to lead the Terps, but Landon Milbourne's and Sean Mosley's energy in the second half made the difference in this one.
• Marquette 86, Maryland Eastern-Shore 60: Lazar Hayward set the tone with 28 points and 8 boards.
• Creighton 78, Florida A&M 53: Creighton bounced back from a loss to Dayton with a winner over the Rattlers. Darryl Ashford had 17 points.
• Duquesne 52, Iowa 50: Bill Clark had 20 points to lead the Dukes to a big win for the A-10 (conference RPI booster anyone?).
• BYU 87, Idaho State 53: Jimmer Fredette had 22 points to lead the Cougars.
• USC 77, UC Riverside 67: USC won their opener on the strength of 22 from Dwight Lewis.
• Arizona State 52, TCU 49: Eric Boateng had 21 and 12 and Ty Abbott his a runner in the lane with 21 seconds left as the Sun Devils overcame an eight poit deficit with under four minutes left.