Wednesday's Shootaround: Texas makes its bid for #1, and a gruesome injury to Derrick Roland

Texas 79, Michigan State 68: The Longhorns have stated their case for No. 1 as they have beaten two top 10 teams in four days. The impressive part is that Texas beat the two teams playing two different styles. Against UNC, they outran and outbigged the Heels. Against the Spartans, the Longhorns used suffocating defensive pressure on the perimeter to force turnovers and keep the Spartans from getting good shots.

After a first half in which Texas struggled on the offensive end, allowing Michigan State to take control, the Horns made a run late in the second half to pull away from MSU. It wasn't so much a run as a surge - Texas just took control of the game late as it was obvious the Hons had fresher legs.

Damion James has firmly entrenched himself in the player of the year race. He had 23 and 13 last night, which comes off of a 25 and 15 performance against UNC. James was far and away the best player on the floor last night.

So in the last two games, Texas has outlasted two top ten teams, beating them at their own game; outrunning and beating UNC in the paint before suffocating the Spartans perimeter players while dominating the defensive glass. Does this mean they are the best team in the country? A lot of people are going to be convinced, but keep two things in mind: 1. Both the UNC and Michigan State games were played in Texas, with the Spartans playing in the Longhorns home arena. Might have been a different story had the games been played at the Dean Dome and Breslin Center; 2. While Cal is playing much better than they were at the start of the season, I'm still not ready to say Kansas has been tested, which isn't necessarily their fault. No one expected Cal, UCLA, and Michigan to all be out of the top 25 at this point in the season. Texas had their struggles against inferior competition early in the season (Iowa anyone?). I'm not ready to say Texas is better than Kansas yet, and I won't be until I see Kansas play a team that forces them to play a full game (they play at Temple and Tennessee in the coming weeks).

I do, however, think it is safe to say that right now, there should be no argument as to who the two best teams in the country are.

Kansas 84, Cal 69: Kansas withstood a Cal team playing much better than they were just a few weeks ago as the Jayhawks weathered a flurry of jumpers from Cal's three-headed back court to pull away late. All five starters reached double figures for the Jayhawks, led by 17 from Sherron Collins. But perhaps the most important stat line came from Tyshawn Taylor, who struggled so much early in the season he lost his starting job. Taylor scored 13 points, handed out 7 assists, and helped in holding Jerome Randle to just 3-15 shooting. Cole Aldrich, who still has yet to really assert himself on the offensive end, controlled the paint defensively to the tune of 10 boards and 5 blocks. Patrick Christopher's 21 points and Jamal Boykins 15 and 15 kept Cal in this one.

Washington 73, Texas A&M 64: Put an asterisk next to this one. This was a dogfight until early in the second half when Derrick Roland suffered a gruesome leg injury (we are going to post the video, but we urge you not to watch if you are at all squeamish - its bad):



The Aggie players were visibly shaken to the point of tears on the bench as they watched their leader get carried off the court on a stretcher. (UPDATE: According to Andy Katz, Roland's surgery was successful.) Washington would go on a 19-6 run, and you have to credit the Huskies for that.

We send our condolences to the Aggie family, and hope for a speedy recovery for Roland. The injury all but ended his college hoops career.

There were quite a few upsets last night:

• UAB 67, Butler 57: The Blazers built up a 16 point lead midway through the second half, but a furious rally by the Bulldogs cut the lead to two late in the second half. But UAB got three straight layups, the last with 44 seconds left, to hold on. Gordon Hayward had 12 points and 15 boards to lead Butler, but Matt Howard again struggled, finishing with 6 points on 3-8 shooting before fouling out. The Blazers were led by 18 points from Jamarr Sanders and held Butler to 34% shooting. It was the second straight big win for UAB, who was coming off of a win over Cincinnati.
• South Alabama 67, Florida 66: Coming off of losses to Richmond and Syracuse, Florida blew another home game to South Alabama. After regaining the lead, the Gators allowed a tip-in from DeAndre Hersey with 1.8 seconds left. Florida needs ot find consistency out of Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton, who are both shooting in the 30's.
• Nebraska 74, Tulsa 70: The Cornhuskers got 12 points from Eshaunte Jones and held on to beat the Golden Hurricanes in the Las Vegas Classic. Tulsa does have a win over Oklahoma State, but with losses to Nebraska and Missouri State, does this mean UTEP is the team to beat in C-USA?
• Loyola MD 72, Indiana 67: Indiana came all the way back from 24 points down, but Brett Harvey, who finished with 25 points and 5 assists, converted a four point play to kill the rally then knocked down two free throws, all in the final two minutes, as the Greyhounds beat the Hoosiers.
  
• Florida Gulf Coast 64, DePaul 61: FGC picked up their first ever win over a Big East schools as DePaul, who got 16 and 13 from Mac Kowshal, missed a game-tying three in the final seconds. Reggie Chambers had 20 in the win.
• Arkansas 66, Missouri State 62 OT: This game never should have gone to OT, as a defensive breakdown by the Razorbacks gave the Bears a wide open layup astime expiredin regulation. Rotnei Clarke, who had a team-high 19 points, hit a three with under a minute left in OT to give Arkansas the lead, then hit two free throws late to seal it.

Other notable scores:

• Purdue 90, SIU-Edwardsville 63: The Boilermakers overcame a sluggish start, using a run sparked by JaJuan Johnson, who finished with 16 points, to open up a 17 point halftime lead.
• Syracuse 92, Oakland 60: The Orange used a 17-4 run midway through the first half and got 27 points from freshman Brandon Triche in the win.
• UConn 71, Maine 54: The Huskies struggles continued, as they slogged their way to a 26-26 halftime tie with the Bears. But Jerome Dyson scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half as the Huskies pulled away. Ater Majok had 5 points, 4 boards, and 3 blocks in 18 minutes.
• UNC 98, Marshall 61: The Heels got 19 points and 10 boards from Ed Davis and 18 points form Tyler Zeller to bounce back from a loss to Texas.
• Ohio State 72, Cleveland State 59: David Lighty led the Buckeyes with 30 points as they pulled away in the second half from the Vikings.
• UNLV 67, SMU 53: The Rebels got 12 points from Tre'Von Willis and Anthony Marshall as they used a 22-2 first half run to put this one away.
• Georgia Tech 80, Kennessaw State 55: The Jackets got 18 points from Zach Peacock to lead four players in double figures.
• Clemson 79, Western Carolina 57: Trevor Booker had 31 points and 7 boards as th Tigers pulled away in the second half against the Catamounts using a 19-0 run to break open a 56-51 games.
• Richmond 89, UNC-Greensboro 63: The Spiders got 25 points form David Gonzalvez as they ran away from UNCG.
• BYU 110, Nevada 104: Jimmer Fredette scored 33 points after being held scoreless for the games first 9 minutes as the Cougars held on to beat Nevada and advance to the finals of the Las Vegas Classic. Jackson Emery added 27 points.
  
• St. Mary's 78, Northeastern 67: Omar Samhan had 19 points and 8 boards, and a three from Ben Allen late in the second half broke a 49-all tie as the Gaels pulled away down the stretch.
• USC 55, Western Michigan 51: Mike Gerrity scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half, once again leading the Trojans to a win. USC overcame a nine point halftime deficit, and caught a break when David Kool missed a three off of an offensive rebound of a free throw that would have tied it late.
• Florida State 95, Tennessee-Martin 68: FSU used a 23-2 run to start this game. Michael Snaer scored 18 in the win.
• Notre Dame 101, Bucknell 69: Luke Harangody had 20 points and 11 boards as the Irish jumped out to a 15-4 lead and were ahead 49-22 at the half.
• Virginia Tech 71, UMBC 34: The Hokies got 16 first half points from Malcolm Delaney as they took a 38-13 half time lead.
• Seton Hall 94, Navy 56: Seton Hall got 18 points from Jordan Theodore and 17 from Jeremy Hazell as the Pirates pulled away in the second half.
• Michigan 76, Coppin State 46: Michigan got 20 points from Stu Douglass and 18 from DeShawn Sims, but still shot just 33% from three in the win.
• Pitt 74, Ohio 49: Ashton Gibbs scored 15 points as the Panthers jumped out to an early 17 points lead and never looked back.
  
• Cincinnati 74, Winthrop 57: Yancy Gates scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half as the Bearcats went into the break up by 16.
• Iowa State 83, North Dakota 52: The Cyclones overcame a sluggish start as Marquis Gilstrap and 16 points and 13 boards.
• Maryland 98, Winston-Salem 55: Greivis Vasquez might have finally found his groove - he finished this game with 27 points, 11 assists, and 8 boards.
• Mississippi State 88, Centenary 51: Barry Stewart had 20 points and Ravern Johnson added 14 in the Bulldogs win.
• Texas Tech 100, Stanford 87: Mike Singletary scored 24 of his 28 points in a second half surge as the Red Raiders held on despite 27 points and 11 boards from Landry Fields.
• Washington State 72, LSU 70: After tying the game with 7 seconds left in regulation, Klay Thompson hit two free throws (he had 26 points on the night) to give Wazzu a 72-68 lead. But after an LSU bucket and a turnover, bo Spencer, who led the Tigers with 23 points, missed a contested three at the buzzer.
• Oregon 77, Idaho 71: Malcolm Armstead scored 23 points to help the Ducks hold off the Vandals.
• UCLA 75, Colorado State 63: The Bruins went on a 29-9 run after falling behind 54-46 in the second half for the win. Nikola Dragovic led UCLA with 17 points.
  

Tuesday's Best:

• Greivis Vasquez might finally be getting hot as he was two rebound shy of a triple double, adding 27 points and 11 assists in a win for the Terps.
• Morgan State's Kevin Thompson led the Bears to a 87-80 win over Towson with 22 points and 25 boards.
  
• Jimmer Fredette scored 33 points in the last 31 minutes of the game and added 5 assists as BYU outlasted Nevada 110-104.
• Nate Rohnert scored 34 points as Denver beat Seattle with a three at the buzzer.