Way Too Early NBA Draft Post - Who Helped and Who Hurt Their Stock This Weekend

For the sake of this post, we are going to assume that everyone is declaring for the draft. Since we are discussing draft stock, we can assume that everyone is eligible because, well, they are. I'm a firm believer that a player's hype can influence their draft position because I feel like a lot of GM's will draft someone "hot" because it will appease their fan base. Right or wrong, a good NCAA Tournament, where a player excels in front of a national audience, can give people a false impression of how good that player will be. Think Joe Alexander.

Who Hurt Themselves:

• James Harden, Arizona State: Harden can score at the collegiate level. There is no doubt about that, as he has put up some phenomenal numbers in his two years in Tempe. There have really been two knocks on Harden throughout his career as a Sun Devil. The first is that he lacks the explosiveness to be a franchise caliber scorer in the league. He does not have a great vertical, and when he does score going to the rim, it is more the result of his craftiness than the ability to dunk on people (Gerald Henderson he is not). In the two games this weekend, he did not really finish around the rim, instead drawing fouls and getting to the line (he shot 17 free throws in the two games). Against more athletic defenders, he may not be able to draw these fouls.
  
  The other issue is that he is not aggressive enough. Harden has a tendency to "let the game come to him", meaning he does not utilize his tremendous talent by attacking defenders from the tip. He did not look aggressive in either game this weekend. It was less of an issue against Temple, because both Derek Glasser and Jeff Pendergraph were really clicking offensively. But against Syracuse he looked downright passive. Yes, a lot of that had to do with amount of focus he was being given by the Syracuse defense (Rihard Kuksiks and Ty Abbott both were left open all game by Syracuse, as the Orange decided to let the Sun Devils try and shoot themselves back into the game). He did not score a point in the first half against Syracuse, and although he did start to make things happen in the second half, it was too little too late. He is being projected by most places as a top-5 pick, which is a range where teams will try to find a franchise player, or at least a go-to scorer. Will a team be willing to use a pick that high on a guy that has not shown the ability (or desire) to take over a game when the team needs him to?


• Austin Daye, Gonzaga: Daye has all the tools that you would look for in a player. He is 6'10" and long with an inside and outside game. After a good freshman campaign, a lot was expected out of Daye this year. But he has been inconsistent, especially against quality competition. He went for 22 against Arizona and 20 against Tennessee this year, but he was a non-factor in the loss to Memphis, fouled out against UConn, and did not play well in any of the three games against St. Mary's.
  
  Yes, Daye has looked a bit less athletic than he did last year, but he did deal with some knee injuries in the off-season. And the lack of strength on his frame is always going to be a question mark, but he is just 19 years old (looks like he is 15) and that should improve as he continues to fill out (toughness is an issue as well. Watch the video of the end of the WKU game, and see who Pettigrew out hustles for the tip-in that tied the game). But the biggest issue has been his attitude. Daye has a tendency to to sulk when things aren't going his way, be it because he is missing shots or not getting calls. That is what was most prevalent about his two performances this weekend. Daye seemingly whined about every call that didn't go his way. If he can't handle it at this level, what is going to happen in the NBA, where unproven young players get even fewer calls?


• Jeff Teague, James Johnson, and Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest: Two months ago, all three of these guys seemed destined for the lottery. Wake was running people off the floor, and each of these guys were shining. But ever since teams figured out how to play Wake (pack it in defensively, slow the pace, and force them to shoot jumpers and score in the half court), the Demon Deacons were nothing more than mediocre. All three of these guys are fantastic athletes and damn near unstoppable in an open court, up and down game. But it has become apparent that they all need some serious work on their basketball skills - handle, shooting, etc.
  
  Teague has probably dropped the most of the three. He was on fire for the early part of the season, but his threes did not fall down the stretch. He also was exposed as a shaky ball-handler, play maker, and decision maker down the stretch. Case in point - he committed seven turnovers and was able to take just seven shots against Cleveland State in the biggest game of his Wake career.


• Hasheem Thabeet, UConn: There is no question that Thabeet is a defensive force in the paint unlike many others. But the question is his offensive ability and his toughness inside, especially against bigger, stronger players (see his 5 point, 4 rebound performance against DeJuan Blair in their first match-up). It was more of the same for Thabeet against a big, strong Texas A&M front line. He finished with just six boards, taking only two shots from the field, and, as he has been all too often against players with NBA size and strength, was basically a non-factor on the offensive end.


• Luke Nevill, Utah: Nevill has NBA size (7'2", 260 lb), but the numbers he put up as the MWC player of the year this season came against, well, the MWC. Nevill has a decent post game offesively, and while he can't really go left yet, a team might have taken a risk on him simply because of his size. But the biggest knock on Nevill is his lack of athleticism - he is not very quick, especially laterally, and can't jump all that high. Doubters have questioned whether or not he will be able to match-up with NBA big men. He had a chance to prove them wrong against the athletic front line of Arizona, headlined by potential top 10 pick Jordan Hill, but Nevill looked completely over matched. He was in foul trouble the entire game as he could not match-up with the athletic Hill.
  

Who Helped Themselves:

• Cole Aldrich, Kansas: Aldrich has the size, strength, and skill set to be a good NBA center, and he only reinforced those notions with his performance in the first two rounds. He was unstoppable on the block against North Dakota State, which was to be expected as the Bison have a small front line. It was already known, however, that Aldrich had an excellent upside as an offensive player - he has a great touch on his jump shot, is extremely coordinated for someone his size (think about all the difficult oops he has caught this year), and while he still is not a great scorer going 1-on-1 on the block, that can come with time. Against Dayton, however, Aldrich put up as dominating of a performance on the defensive end as we have seen all year (and that is including Thabeet). While no one is in Thabeet's league when it comes to defense, Aldrich is 6'11" with a huge wingspan and phenomenal timing (and the ability to avoid foul trouble - he averages just 3.8 fouls per 40 minutes). Aldrich has the potential to be an above average defensive center, and while he is still developing offensively, he good be a more appealing prospect than Thabeet because he can contribute on both sides of the ball.


• Ben Woodside, North Dakota State: Woodside was probably not on many people's radar before his 60 point game against Stephen F. Austin, but he has had an excellent career, averaging at least 16.4 ppg and 5.1 apg in every season at NDSU. This season was by far his best, as he was top 10 nationally were averages of 23.2 ppg and 6.2 apg. The problem was that he did it against poor competition playing in the Summit League (he did average 15 ppg and 8 apg against USC and Minnesota this season). But in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, Woodside had a coming out party. He went for 37 points, going basket for basket with Sherron Collins. Woodside is not going to be a star in the league. He is small, even for a point guard, and will be a liability on the defensive end. But Woodside can be an effective player. While not all that fast, he is deceptively quick and has a knack for being able to get in the lane (he got just about any shot he wanted - be it a jumper or getting to the rim - against Sherron Collins and Tyshawn Taylor, two fine defenders). He is a deadeye shooter off the dribble or the catch and can create for his teammates as well. I'm sure that some team will take a flyer on him in the second round or through free agency, and his performance against Collins will be a huge reason why. Is this guy another Jose Juan Barea?


• Kenneth Faried, Morehead State: Faried is in a similar situation to Woodside, in that he was a virtual unknown before a good tournament performance. Faried put up some great numbers this season, averaging 13.7 ppg and 13.0 rpg. He is an extremely active, high energy guy, and a capable defender (2 steals and 2 blocks per game). While he doesn't quite have ideal NBA size (he is only 6'8"), he has some serious hops and, as I said, plays with a ton of energy. Some people are comparing him to Louis Admunson, an energy guy that not many people had heard of outside of UNLV, but who has managed to latch on with the Pheonix Suns. Offensively, he is not much more than a dunker at this point (and may never be more than a dunker), but the 14 points and 21 boards he had in the play-in game, and the 14 points and 11 boards he had against Louisville, definitely put him on the NBA's radar. He is only a sophomore, so if he can continue to develop his strength (only 215 lb), you might be looking at a future pro.


• Evan Turner, Ohio State: Turner is already considered a solid first round pick. He does so many things well. Despite the loss to Siena, Turner proved it on a national stage, as he finished the game with 25 points, 9 boards, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Turner grew an inch between his freshman and sophomore years (he now stands at 6'7", great size for an NBA wing), and he has good length for his position. What makes him such a tantalizing prospect is how smooth he is. He is one of those guys that just makes everything he does on a basketball court seem effortless. He is not the most explosive guy in the world (he runs into trouble when he has to finish at the rim) but his mid-range game and pull-up jumper is already quite developed. He is a crafty player that utilizes fakes and hesitation moves to overcome his relative lack of quickness. Turner reminds me a lot of a guy like Danny Granger - a player that will fall through the cracks in the draft because he doesn't do anything great, but because he is so versatile and does so many things well, don't be surprised if he turns into a very good player at the next level, especially if he keeps improving the range on his jump shot. Turner said he is coming back after OSU lost, but don't be surprised if he changes his mind as the draft nears
  


• Demar Derozan, USC: Derozan may have helped his draft status as much as anyone over the last two weeks of his freshman campaign. He had a disappointing freshman year prior to March. You know about his off-the-charts athleticism, but he didn't seem to have the confidence in his ability. But he carried USC through the Pac-10 tourney (averaging 21 and 9 boards) and into the dance, where he put 18 on both Michigan State and Boston College. While he is still far from an NBA player because of his under developed offense repertoire (he can't really get to the basket in a half court set just yet, and his ball handling is very poor), he showed much improved aggressiveness, especially going to the glass. He also seems like the kind of player that will develop a very good jump shot down the road. He has great form, and he gets some serious elevation on his J, which will make it very difficult to defend. While he could really use another season at USC to continue his development on the offensive end, don't be surprised if his performance in March leads him to the draft, and even into the top 10.
  

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Butler Bursts a Bubble and Woody Goes Dancing

Butler is a lock for the NCAA tournament.

I repeat, a lock.

Which is devastating news for the Florida's and the Creighton's and the St. Mary's and the Arizona's of the world.

Why?

Because Butler was beaten last night by a tough Cleveland State team 57-54 in the Horizon League final. So now, instead of there being 34 available at-large spots, the rest of the bubble will be competing for 33 spots.

Cleveland State came out on fire in the second half of this one, hitting six of their first seven threes. The Viking trailed for the majority of the first half, and found themselves down 39-31 early in the second half. Cedric Jackson, who was named tournament MVP, capped a 19-9 run with a three with exactly 10 minutes left, giving the Vikings a 50-48 lead they would never relinquish.

Cleveland State took a three point lead into the last possession, but Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack both had good looks at the rim to tie it.

Cedric Jackson finish with 19 points, 7 boards, and 8 dimes to lead the Vikings to their first NCAA tournament since 1985, where coincidentally they knocked off Bobby Knight's third-seeded Indiana Hoosiers in the first round.

The Vikings look destined be to seeded a bit higher than 14th this year, but regardless of where they end up, this is going to be a dangerous first round match-up for anyone. Just ask Syracuse, who Cleveland State beat back in November. Kansas State, Washington, and West Virginia would all probably second that motion, as the Vikings gave each of those three teams a dogfight earlier in the year.

This was also the third meeting between Cleveland State and Butler. The first two were decided by two points each - the first when Butler hit a three at the buzzer, the second with Cleveland State missed a three at the buzzer.

Two shots. That is how far away CSU was from sweeping Butler.

The Vikings are led by two seniors, J'Nathan Bullock and Cedric Jackson. Bullock is a bruising forward that can bully his way to the rim on just about anyone. At 6'5", he doesn't post up as much on the block, but is effective squaring you up from about 15-17 feet (think Paul Harris, even down to the long hair). Jackson is the Vikings best playmaker at the point, averaging over 10 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists per. Big East fans may remember the name - he transferred in from St. John's.

As a team, Cleveland State loves to get to the rim. Outside of freshman Jeremy Montgomery, they do not have all that much in terms of shooters. So remember these guys come March, especially if they are playing a team that doesn't defend well on the perimeter.


Great story about North Dakota State. After dominating the D2 ranks, the Bison decided to go D1 a few years back. When you transition from D2 to D1, there is normally a waiting period before you are eligible for the postseason. For the Bison this was five years.

That was a problem for their recruiting class five years ago, which included their two leading scorers Ben Woodside and Brett Winkelman. So the incoming freshman decided to redshirt a season, so they could have one year the play where they were eligible for the dance.

That was this year.

And they won the Summit League.

The Bison are led by Ben Woodside, who averages over 22 ppg and has hit 60 in a 3OT loss to Stephen F Austin. But don't fall into the trap thinking that this is a one man team. Winkelman also averages more than 18 ppg, while Mike Tveidt scored 21 in their league final win over Oakland.

The Bison rely pretty heavily on the three, or more specifically on Woodside getting into the lane, drawing an extra defender, and finding an open shooter. If they get hot, you better watch out.

Remember, as red shirt freshman, this group beat Wisconsin. Continue reading...

Wednesday's Madness

Seeing as championship week has officially started, we are going to be doing a new daily madness segment. Here, you can find the daily scores and schedules for every conference tournament game that day as Trizzle will once again be taking over BIAH. For a full schedule of the conference tournaments and a listing of the automatic bids, click here.

With the Big East Tournament underway, we can officially proclaim Championship Week to be in full effect. We had a mid-major game-winner, a bracket-buster upset, and an OT thriller last night.

GAME OF THE DAY: Akron 93, Toledo 92 OT

March Madness was defined for this game. Seriously. Akron was down 62-50 with 5:00 left (after not making a field goal for 15 minutes) in the game and 70-63 with 2:00 left, but the Zips used a ridiculous run to tie the game at 78 and force OT on an Anthony Hitchens three. After making just seven free throws in the previous 15 minutes, the Zips scored 28 points in the last five minutes, 13 of which came from Nate Linhart. In the OT, the two teams went back and forth, before a Hitchens turnover with 17 seconds remained gave Toledo the ball down 91-90. Clayton Sterling drove to the rim, and hit a tough scoop shot in the lane with six seconds left. But the Zips came right back, and after the ball was knocked out of bounds, they diagramed up a ridiclous play at the buzzer (there are three plays in the video - Hitchens' three, Sterling's runner, and Chris McKnight's game-winning basket):



PLAYER OF THE DAY: Ben Woodside, North Dakota State

The first time Trizzle Took Over, I got to mention NDSU's Ben Woodside, because he was in the midst of a ridiculous scoring streak of 26, 24, 28, 28, 30. I get to talk bout him again because he hit a running jumper in the lane with six seconds left to win the Summit Tournament Championship. Oakland held Woodside to five in the first half, but he broke off for 12 in the second, and led a rally in the game's last five minutes. Michael Tveidt led NDSU with 21 points, and Woodside, the Summit POY, added 17. Oakland actually got a good shot off at the buzzer but the long 3-pointer by Oakland's Johnathon Jones at the final horn bounced out. Erik Kangas and Will Hudson each had 16 points for the Grizzles. Jones added 15 and Keith Benson had 14.



They were good too: Paris Horne, St. John's - 23 pts, 5 rbs; Jonathon Amos, Toledo - 24 pts, 9 rbs, 5 stls; DeAndre Coleman, South Alabama - 27 pts, 9 rbs; Cedric Jackson, Cleveland State - 19 pts, 7 rbs, 8 asts, 3 stls

TEAM OF THE DAY: DePaul Blue Demons

Why have a 16 team Big East Tournament? The Blue Demons won no regular season games, and probably shouldn't have been playing today. Well, they did and they registered their first Big East win of the season, upsetting Cincinnati 67-57 and thus ending any chances the Bearcats had at getting an at-large bid. The "Human Youtube Video" Dar Tucker had 17 (all in the second half) and Mac Koshwal added 12 points and nine rebounds, ending the Demons 18-game losing streak. Could this be the beginning of a miraculous 5-day run for DePaul at the Big East crown? I don't think so, but its good to see them get off the schnide (ED. Note: Trizzle is a horrible speller, but somehow he managed to spell schnide correctly).

Mac Kowshal emphatically scoring two of his twelve points.
(photo credit: Frank Franklin III)

Tuesday's Results

CHAMPIONSHIPS

Horizon Final (Indianapolis, IN)
- #3 Cleveland St. 57, #1 Butler 54

Summit Final (Sioux Falls, SD)
- #1 North Dakota St. 66, #3 Oakland 64

Sun Belt Final (Hot Springs, AR)
- #1 Western Kentucky 64, #6 Southern Alabama 56

Big East First Round (New York City, NY)
- #16 DePaul 67, #9 Cincinatti 57
- #13 St. Johns 64, #12 Georgetown 49
- #10 Notre Dame 61, #15 Rutgers 50
- #11 Seton Hall 68, #14 South Florida 54

Big Sky Semis (Ogden, UT)
- #2 Portland St. 61, #4 Idaho St 53
- #6 Montana St. 70, #1 Weber St. 61

MEAC First Round (Winston-Salem, NC)
- #7 Hampton 51, #10 Delawere St. 32
- #8 Florida A&M 71, # 9 Howard 58

Western Athletic Opening Round (Reno, NV)
- #9 Fresno St. 62, #8 Hawaii 58


Wednesday's Games
Wednesday features the full day of major conference tournaments with only the Big 10 and ACC left to start their post season. Based on the level of play that has occured thus far, I'd say that we are in for a boatload of great games and exciting finishes tonight. This whole week has given fans a March Madness warm-up with many buzzer-beaters and great finishes. AND WE ARE'NT EVEN HALFWAY TO SELECTION SUNDAY!
CHAMPIONSHIPS

Big Sky Final (Ogden, UT)
= 10:00PM: #2 Portland St. vs. #6 Montana St.

Northeast Final (Campus Site)
- 8:00PM: #2 Mt. St. Marys @ #1 Robert Morris

Atlantic 10 First Round (Atlantic City, NJ)
- NOON: #8 LaSalle vs. #9 St. Louis
- 2:30PM: #5 St. Joesephs vs. #12 Charlotte
- 6:30PM: #7 Duquesne vs. #10 Massachusetts
- 9:00PM:#6 Richmond vs. #8 St. Bonaventures

Big East Second Round (New York City, NY)
- NOON: #8 Providence vs. #16 DePaul
- 2:00PM: #5 Marquette vs. #12 St. Johns
- 7:00PM: #7 West Virginia vs. #10 Notre Dame
- 9:00PM: #6 Syracuse vs. #11 Seton Hall

Big 12 First Round (Oklahoma City, OK)
- 12:30PM: #8 Nebraska vs. #9 Baylor
- 3:00PM: #5 Texas vs. #12 Colorado
- 7:00PM: #7 Oklahoma St. vs. #12 Iowa St.
- 9:30PM: #6 Texas A&M vs. #11 Texas Tech

Big West First Round (Anahiem, CA)
- 9:00PM: #5 UC-Irvine vs. #8 UC-Davis
- 11:30PM: #6 UC-Riverside vs. #7 Cal State Fullerton

Conference USA First Round (Memphis, TN)
- 1:00PM: #7 Marshall vs. #10 Rice
- 3:30PM: #6 UCF vs. #11 Southern Mississippi
- 7:00PM: #8 Tulane vs. #9 East Carolina
- 9:30PM: #5 Houston vs. #12 SMU

MEAC Quarterfinals (Winston-Salem, NC)
- 3:00PM: #6 Bethune Cookman vs. # 11 MD-Eastern Shore
- 7:00PM: #1 Morgan St. vs. #7 Hampton
- 9:30PM: #2 South Carolina St. vs. #8 Florida A&M

Mountain West First Round (Las Vegas, NV)
- 5:00PM: #8 Colorado St. vs. #9 Air Force

Pac-10 First Round (Los Angeles, CA)
- 9:00PM: #8 Oregon St. vs. #9 Stanford
- 11:30PM: #7 Washington St. vs. #10 Oregon

SWAC Quarterfinals (Birmingham, AL)
- 3:30PM: #2 Jackson St. vs. #7 Texas Southern
- 9:00PM: #1 Alabama St. vs. #8 Alabama A&M Continue reading...

College Basketball Week in Review: Is it a Good or Bad Sign that Teams Lose Focus During Finals Week?

What We Learned This Week: It was a slow week for college basketball as schools across the country held finals. The worst thing about the college basketball season is the timing. Just when the season starts getting cranked up, fans start getting excited, and the players start getting into a rhythm, all of a sudden we have this 2-3 week lapse for finals.

There is nothing you can do about it. This is college and these are student-athletes. They need to take their finals. All I am saying is that it is tough to practice sporadically, focus on taking your tests, and then travel across the country to play a good team. Case in point: Tennessee. If you watched that game, you would know they just came out flat and were not ready to play and Temple jumped all over them.

This is also why you see a lot more players ruled academically ineligible in basketball than in football or baseball. In football, if you struggle during the season in the fall semester, you can make up for that by having an excellent spring semester. In baseball, if you struggle during the season in the spring, you have the summer and fall to make up for it. For basketball players, their season starts in October and ends in March (or April if you are lucky). Think about that. School usually starts in September (disregarding summer classes) and ends in May, which means that these kids are officially in season for 5-6 months out of the school year.

Back to the point, we learned this week that regardless of the name on your jersey, you need to be ready to play when you step onto the court. Just look at some of the games from this week: Temple beat Tennessee; UMass beat Kansas; Arizona beat Gonzaga; Notre Dame, Villanova, Arizona State, Miami FL, and Texas all barely hung on in games that should have been blow outs. And all this in a week where there were fewer than 30 games involving ranked teams.

As we head into another slow week leading up to conference play, you would hope that the lesson is learned.

GAME OF THE WEEK:
Stephen F. Austin 112, North Dakota State 111 3OT
This game was a roller coaster affair. Clearly, I did not watch it (here's to hoping ESPN Classic smartens up and airs it), but from reading the game recaps, it is obvious this was a fun one to see. SFA jumped out to a 20-2 lead early in the first half, and was in serious control of this game most of the way. NDSU cut the lead down to four twice in the first half, but a three at the first half buzzer made the halftime score 35-28. SFA jumped out to another big lead in the second half, going up by as much as 19 (63-44) and taking a 75-65 lead with 3:05 left. But Ben Woodside took over. He finished the game with 60 points, and also added 8 boards and 8 dimes. What's more impressive is that with 8:51 to go in the second half, Woodside had 11. In 23:51, he rattled off 49 points.

Before I get back to the game, let's talk about that for a second. 60 points. 30-35 from the line. 49 points in 23:51. In the Bison's 7th game, Woodside moved his average from 20 ppg to 26.2 ppg. He also added 8 assists, which means he was responsible for at least 76 of NDSU's 111 points. Amazing performance by that young man.

Back to the game, Woodside hit a three and four straight free throws to help send the game to overtime tied at 78. In the first OT, NDSU's Brett Winkelman hit a three with 24 seconds left to tie it at 89 and send it to a second OT. SFA's Josh Alexander's three-point play with 15 seconds left sent the game to a third OT. It looked like the Bison were finally going to win the game after Woodside's three-point play with 18 seconds left gave them a 111-110 lead. But Walt Harris hit a jumper with seven seconds left to give the Lumberjacks the win.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Jordan Hill, Arizona
Hill averaged 23.5 ppg, 10.0 rpg, and 4.5 bpg in a huge 2-0 week for the Wildcats. Arizona is playing with a depleted roster as a result of the Lute Olson debacle, but they look like they might be ready for a tournament run this year after beating San Diego State 69-56 on Wednesday and then upsetting Gonzaga on a neutral court on Sunday night. Hill had his best game of the season against SDSU, going for 25, 14, 6 blocks, and 4 assists. Against Gonzaga, it was his play down the stretch that won the game. He hit two free throws with 1:17 on the clock to break a 62-62 tie, then 40 seconds later hit a jumper in the lane over Josh Heytvelt to all but ice the game. Hill was also influential in holding Gonzaga's leading scorer, Heyvelt, to just 6 points and 7 rebounds on 1-6 shooting. I have been saying it all season, but with Hill, Chase Budinger, and Nic Wise on their team, Arizona is good enough to reach the NCAA tournament. They proved that on Sunday, as the three combined for 57 of the team's 69 points.

TEAM OF THE WEEK:
Temple
The Owls have really struggled this year. They made the NCAA tournament last season after a great run through the A-10 Tourney, but this season they have already lost to Clemson, Buffalo, and Miami OH while struggling to beat teams like Penn State and College of Charleston. But on Saturday, everything clicked. I know Dionte Christmas had 35 points, and his 30 in the second half helped the Owls pull away, but if you watched that game (I did) then you know that Christmas was non-existent in a first half where Temple really asserted their dominance. Sergio Olmos was the best player on the floor in the first half. He scored in the post and on perimeter jump shots, he blocked and changed shots in the lane, and he played incredibly smart (for example, twice in the first half when Temple guards drove to the rim, Olmos sealed his man on his back allowing the guard to take an uncontested lay-up). Ryan Brooks also played well. Known as a jump shooter, he was aggressive off the bounce and finished with a double-double (16 and 10 boards) while only hitting one triple.

There were two telling stats in this game for Temple. The first is that they won the rebounding battle. Granted, Tennessee is not the best rebounding team in the world, but the fact that a Temple team held a much more athletic and aggressive Tennessee team to 10 offensive rebounds when they missed 40-63 shots on the game is impressive. The second stat is the turnovers. Temple only had 11 on the game, and many of those (I believe it was 7) came in the first half. Semaj Inge and Luis Guzman rendered the Tennessee press completely ineffective, especially in the second half.

And of course, you must mention the Dionte Christmas show during the second half. He just took over. Temple built their biggest lead of the game when Christmas hit a three on three straight possessions, and five in a row over the course of eight possessions.

MATCH-UPS OF THE WEEK
12/16 - Marquette vs. Tennessee: You like fast-paced basketball? You like teams shooting a lot of three's? Then be sure to tune into this one.

12/17 - Siena @ Pitt: Siena was supposed to be one of the better mid-majors in the country, but has not been all that impressive this year. Pitt has, and may be the best team in the country not named North Carolina.

Saturday is one of the best days of basketball of the entire season. Take a look at these games:

• Connecticut vs. Gonzaga in Seattle
• VCU vs. Oklahoma
• Michigan State @ Texas
• Xavier vs. Duke
• Belmont @ Tennessee
• Louisville vs. Minnesota
• Mercer @ UCLA
• Syracuse @ Memphis
• Davidson @ Purdue
• BYU @ Arizona State
• Temple @ Kansas
• Arizona @ UNLV

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