Friday's Pregame Beat

Preseason NIT: I'm just going to copy and paste what I wrote for the preview over at Rush the Court. Remember, come join our live-chat today during the games here.

Welcome back to MSG as we take in the third place game and the finals of the Preseason NIT. In the first game, tipping right at 2:30 pm today, LSU takes on Arizona State. The Tigers were run off the court against UConn, as their backcourt was unable to handle the pressure from the Huskies. The Sun Devils come out strong against Duke, but looked lost on the offensive end over the final 30 minutes of the game. A big issue for the Tigers is going to be how they match up with Arizona State defensively. The Tigers are pretty big — Storm Warren and Tasmin Mitchell are the two forwards, but neither is what you would call a “pure” small forward. ASU plays four guards (including Rihards Kuksiks), meaning that Trent Johnson is going to have to decide between dealing with the mismatch or playing zone. At the other end, ASU is going to have their hands full with Warren inside. He had 15 and 6 in limited minutes against a good Husky front line. Eric Boateng (4 points, 4 boards, 9 turnovers) will need to play much better for ASU.

The final is the game everyone will be waiting to see. There are a few certainties in life — gravity exists, turkey puts you to sleep, Dickie V loves Duke — and one of those certainties is that Duke-UConn is going to be a classic. Think back to 1990 and Christian Laettner’s heroics; or the 1999 title game and Trajan Langdan’s travels; or the 2004 national semifinal and the UConn comeback. Whenever these two teams tango, it is an event, and tonight will be no different. Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith have been playing fantastic basketball, but they have yet to face a team that has the athletes that UConn has in the backcourt. Jerome “Slicin’” Dyson (ESPN really needs to stop using that nickname, it is terrible. What’s wrong with Romey?) and Kemba Walker are as good defending on the ball as anyone in the nation, and the ability of the Duke guards to handle the 2-2-1 press (with Romey and Kemba up top) will be a huge determinant in the outcome of this game. That said, the difference between UConn last night and UConn of the first three games was their aggressiveness going to the glass. But for the first time all season, they will play a team that can match up with them size-wise. Will the Huskies still be able to rebound the basketball?

Two things to keep an eye on: 1) Who controls the tempo of this game. UConn is going to want to get this thing going up and down, as Duke does not have the athletes to run with them. But Duke is going to want slow this down, sit back in a packed-in zone, and let the Huskies try to shoot their way to the title. 2) Stanley Robinson vs. Kyle Singler. Singler is the best player on this Duke team, and is the guy they look to for big shots. But Sticks is a phenomenal athlete, and will be counted on to slow down Singler.

Is it 5 pm yet? In the immortal words of Fergie, “Let’s get it started in here."

Old Spice Classic

• 12:00 pm: Marquette vs. Michigan: Manny Harris is coming off a near triple-double as Michigan knocked off an impressive Creighton team. But Marquette not only thoroughly beat Xavier, they held Jordan Crawford to one of the worst night's I've seen a player have in a while. Jameson Fleming, who is courtside in Orlando, said that he thought Lazar Hayward and Jimmy Butler may actually be better than Da'Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks. They combined for 42 in the first game, let's see what they can muster against a unique Michigan system.
• 2:30 pm: Xavier vs. Creighton: A great mid-major match-up between the traditional powers in the A-10 and MVC. Creighton is a team that is going to press, press, press this season and try and force tempo. That said, Xavier does have some good back court players, and their size inside with Kenny Frease and Jason Love may be too much for the Bluejays. Keep an eye on Justin Carter for Creighton. He had a career high 21 yesterday.
• 5:00 pm: Florida State vs. Alabama: Anthony Grant has gone on record saying that he knows his Alabama team is going to be under-talented in most of their games this season, and thus must outwork teams to survive. If you watched Iona take FSU to wire last night, then you know that FSU could be susceptible to teams out hustling them. Best personal match-up of the day as Solomon Alabi goes up against JaMychal Green.
• 7:30 pm: Iona vs. Baylor: Baylor, in stark contrast to last season's team, is very big and very athletic across their front line. Iona isn't. While it didn't really effect the Gaels against FSU, we shall see if they can continue that play against the Bears.
  

76 Classic

• 2:30 pm: West Virginia vs. Texas A&M: Bob Huggins and Mark Turgeon. What do you think this game is going to be like? Expect a grind it out, physical affair between two of the better defensive coaches in the country. West Virginia is expected to get Devin Ebanks back today (althought technically he was "back" last night, Huggy Bear just chose not to play him). Can the Aggies keep WVU from hitting the glass?
• 5:00 pm: Clemson vs. Long Beach State: After losing like they did last night, there should be no way that LBSU is able to stay with the Tigers today. Let's see in Clemson can get that three point stroke back on track.
• 9:30 pm: Minnesota vs. Portland: If Portland wants to earn an at-large bid, they are going to have to win another game in the 76 Classic, and what better way to do it that the team that just knocked off Butler. Portland will be able to match-up with the Gophers in terms of size, but will have no where near the athleticism of Minnesota. Portland relies on their three point shot to stay in games, but the Gophers held Butler to 3-18 from deep last night. If Portland is hitting their shots, this will be a battle for Minnesota.
• 12:00 am: UCLA vs. Butler: Butler has struggled a bit in the early season, but what better way to get out of a funk than against a UCLA team that is playing very poorly. To be honest, I expect a big game out of the Bruins. They were embarrassed last night, ad at the very least I see them playing all out tonight.
  

8:00 pm: Florida vs. Michigan State: The Gators are coming off of a blowout win over Florida State earlier this week, but the Spartans are one of the few teams everyone thinks can make a Final Four. If you haven't seen freshman Kenny Boynton play for Florida, he's the real deal.

10:30 pm: Utah @ Illinois: The Utes did just lose to Seattle, but this is a Utah team with a solid back court in Carlon Brown and Luka Drca. Illinois has a young and talented back court, but their front line may end up being too much for the Utes to handle.

Other notable games:

• 4:00 pm: Mercer @ Georgia Tech
• 5:30 pm: Rutgers vs. UMass
• 5:30 pm: Siena vs. St. John's
• 6:00 pm: St. Louis vs. Iowa State
• 7:00 pm: Jacksonville @ South Carolina
• 7:00 pm: Charleston @ Tennessee
  
• 7:00 pm: Columbia @ Syracuse
• 7:30 pm: Nevada @ VCU
• 8:00 pm: Bradley @ Oklahoma State
• 8:00 pm: Virginia Tech vs. Temple
• 8:00 pm: Tennessee Tech vs. Kansas
• 8:30 pm: Northwestern vs. Notre Dame
• 8:30 pm: Old Dominion vs. Missouri
• 11:30 pm: Houston vs. San Diego
  

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Friday's Shootaround: Manny Harris, Minnesota, and Portland all shine while Oklahoma's struggles continue

Old Spice Classic

• Michigan 83, Creighton 76 OT: Manny Harris looks like he may give Evan Turner a run for his money as the most versatile players in the Big Ten. Harris went for 20 points, 11 assists, and 9 boards as he finished one rebound shy of his second triple-double of the season. This also happened to be the most exciting game of the day. A clash of styles (Creighton pressed all over the court, while Michigan played their typical 1-3-1 zone while spreading the floor offensively), a Stu Douglass three put Michigan ahead 67-65 with 1:30 left in the game. After trading free throws, the Wolverines found themselves up 69-67 with 5.7 seconds left before pg Antoine Young went coast-to-coast for a lay-up to force OT.
  
  
  Manny Harris nearly had a triple double to lead Michigan.
  (photo credit: SBNation)
  
  
  In OT, Harris took over. He had a three point play and a big dunk to help Michigan open up a 76-73 lead, and after a Wolverine stop, he found Zak Novak for a three to ice it. Creighton was very impressive, however. They are much more athletic than I thought they would be, and they pressed the Wolverines all over the court. Justin Carter had a career-high 21 in his first game back from a knee injury.

• Marquette 71, Xavier 61: Buzz Williams sure does have his kids believing they can play. The Golden Eagles of Marquette used an 11-0 run late in the second half to open a 64-55 lead as they held off Xavier in the OSC's first round. Lazar Hayward had 27 points for Marquette, including two threes in the decisive run, while Jimmy Butler added 15. Jason Love played great for Xavier, recording 21 points, 19 boards, and 5 blocks, as he made it obvious that Marquette is still suffering from a lack of size. Jordan Crawford, the kid who dunked on LeBron, looked out of shape and out of sync as he huffed and puffed his was to a 3-18 shooting night.
• Alabama 79, Baylor 76: JaMychal Green had 22 points while Mikhail Torrance added 20 and Senario Hillman 15 as the Crimson Tide got a win for Anthony Grant in his first game on national TV. The Tide looked impressive as they were able to handle a big, athletic Baylor team, opening a 10 point second half lead before some hot bears shooting made it more respectable. I was really impressed with Grant in one instance late in the second half, when he took the blame (the national TV audience could see and hear him say it) for a mistake on an in-bounds play.
• Florida State 54, Iona 49: Florida State, a much bigger and more athletic team, could not pull away from the gritty Gaels as Iona fought tooth and nail to keep this thing close. Everytime it looked like FSU was going to break this thing open, Iona would make a spurt to keep tie the game up or take the lead back. FSU opened the second half with a 10-0 run to push the lead to 35-24, but Iona came all the way back. After a 6-0 spurt to make it 45-39, the Gaels scored eight of the next ten points to tie it agai. Eventually, the Noles used a late 6-0 run to break a 47-all tie and close this game out. Derwin Kitchen had 16 to lead FSU, who have looked far from the team that some were predicting could make noise in the ACC.

76 Classic

• West Virginia 85, Long Beach State 62: Devin Ebanks dressed, but he never took the court as the Mountaineers jumped on the 49ers. Casey Mitchell hit three early threes as WVU opened up a 20-9 lead in the first 10 minutes. Mitchell finished with a career-high 18 points and Johnnie West added his over career-high of 11 as WVU his 12-24 from deep.
  
• Texas A&M 69, Clemson 60: The Tigers came out of the gates playing well, especially on the defensive end, as they were up 7-1 six minutes into the game. But all of a sudden Texas A&M woke up on both ends of the floor, as they used 12-1 and 15-2 runs during the first half to take a 33-20 lead into the break. The Tigers made a push in the second half, getting the lead down to 58-56, but the Aggies responded with a free throw and a BJ Holmes three to take push the lead back to six. Holmes led the Aggies with 20 points off the bench while reserve David Loubeau added 12 points and 9 boards. Trevor Booker scored 12 of his 18 points after the break, but the Tigers, who came into this game shooting 45.5% from three, shot just 34% from the floor and 3-18 from three.
  
• Minnesota 82, Butler 73: In the most highly anticipated game of the day, the Gophers played phenomenal defensively, holding Butler to just 33% shooting from the field and 21 turnovers. But still, in a testament to how good this Butler team in, the Bulldogs had a dog in this fight until Matt Howard, who scored 23 points, picked up his fourth foul with 14 minutes left and Butler down 39-38. Minnesota immediately responded with an 8-1 run, and Butler never got within four the rest of the way. Look, Minnesota is a good team, and more than anything Butler seemed to just have an off night. Those happen.
  
  
  Minnesota played very well defensively against Butler.
  (photo credit: AP)
  
  
  But if you are going to take anything out of this game, think about how good Minnesota truly is. Three starters went to the bench during the first half with foul trouble, but Minnesota didn't miss a beat as they put three reserves in double figures. The hero in the first half was Colton Iverson, who was everywhere, posting a first half double-double and providing Minnesota with a spark that they seemed to be lacking. Down the stretch, as Butler was trying to make a comeback, the heroes were Blake Hoffarber and Devoe Joseph, who both his two threes in the last five or six minutes of the game to help ice it. Damian Johnson led the Gophers with 18 points, 4 assists, and 4 steals. Shelvin Mack had 20 for Butler, but 7 turnovers, who Gordon Hayward had 13 and 10 boards, but was just 3-8 from the field with 6 turnovers.

• Portland 74, UCLA 47: This one was ugly. Portland never trailed, was up 36-19 at the half, and was 11-19 from deep. For more, read what I wrote here already.

Houston 100, Oklahoma 93: Kelvin Lewis had 28 points and Aubrey Coleman added 27 points and 11 boards as the Cougars used a late 19-4 run to put away Oklahoma. The Sooners, frankly, are terrible right now. They don't play any defense and are selfish offensively. Willie Warren had 25 points and 7 assists, but is he really enough of a leader to make a difference for this team?

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What is the best league on the West Coast? Not who you think...

Yesterday, was Thanksgiving. And as the tradition goes, if you are watching sports on Thanksgiving, you are probably watching football.

If you did happen to have basketball on the brain yesterday, our old friend tryptophan might have made it difficult to stay up for the fourth game of the 76 Classic out in Anaheim.

As you may or may not have heard, UCLA played Portland last night in a game that tipped at about 11:20 here on the east coast. The game, played all of 40 miles from the UCLA campus, pitted one of college basketball's blue bloods against a typical WCC also-ran.

The final score was 74-47.

If I gave you three guesses at who won, how long would it take you to say Portland?

And as the score would indicate, this one was never even close. Portland never trailed, shooting 57% from the field and 6-8 from deep in the first half to open up a 36-19 halftime lead. That hot-shooting continued in the second half, as they finished the game at 54% from the floor and 11-19 from deep. Jared Stohl led the way with 15 points on 5-5 shooting while Nik Raivio, a potential all-league performer, had 13 points and 5 assists.

It was painfully clear who the best team on the floor was tonight, and given that Portland could very well be the fourth best team in the WCC, it begs the question: is the WCC better than the Pac-10 this season?

Its much closer than you think.

For starters, the WCC is 4-2 against the Pac-10. Arizona State (104-65 over San Francisco) and the Bruins (71-52 over Pepperdine) have the lone wins. In addition to beating UCLA, Portland also owns a win over Oregon, San Diego beat Stanford in the opener for both teams, and USC lost to Loyola-Marymount.

Advantage: WCC.

Well, what about big wins?

Portland not only has beaten UCLA and Oregon, but they own a 17 point win over a good Seattle team that was won at Weber State and Utah and beaten Fresno State at home. San Diego whooped up on Oklahoma, taking a 23 point second half lead before the Sooners came back with Brandon Johnson out of the game. Gonzaga won the Maui Invitational with wins over Cinci and Wisconsin, but their most impressive performance was probably taking Michigan State to the buzzer at the Breslin Center. Even St. Mary's, who always seems to play a weak non-conference schedule, beat a good SDSU team by 22 at home.

The Pac-10? To be honest, its pretty embarrassing. As a league, they own just two wins over power conference teams - Arizona beat Colorado, the worst team in the Big XII that barely hung on the beat Chaminade, in overtime while Stanford knocked off Virginia, a team not expected to make much noise in the ACC. Their best performance of the season came in Stanford's OT loss to a Kentucky team that has been playing far from their best basketball.

Advantage: WCC.

Enough comparing of numbers.

Washington is the best team on the west coast. Even with Gonzaga's win out in Maui, Washington has to be given the edge, especially with way Quincy Pondexter is playing right now.

Having said that, is there another Pac-10 team that you think is better than any of the WCC's top four (Portland, Gonzaga, St. Mary's, San Diego)?

Maybe once Cal gets healthy, yes. But after seeing them struggle in their four CvC games, and knowing that Harper Kamp and Theo Robertson are still out of uniform, right now this does not look like a tournament team, let alone a top 25 team. Arizona State has some talented kids on their perimeter - Trent Lockett, Derek Glasser, Rihard Kuksiks - but unless Eric Boateng makes a big improvement or Victor Rudd turns into a Jeff Pendergraph or an Ike Diogu, I don't think this team has the interior play to make the dance.

Stanford? No one outside Landry Fields.

Washington State? Ditto for Klay Thompson.

Arizona? Too young.

Oregon? They lost to Montana.

UCLA, USC, Oregon State? Please.

I can legitimately see a scenario in which the Pac-10 gets just one team into the dance.

The WCC, on the other hand, has three or four teams that could play their way to an at-large bid. Gonzaga is going to be back in the top 25 after their Maui win, and deservedly so. They are tough, they are balanced inside, and they have a star in Matt Bouldin. Portland is your typical quality mid-major - senior laden team with capable-to-above average bigs and a slew of shooters. San Diego has a number of quality role players surrounding potential all-league player Brandon Johnson. St. Mary's has had the least non-conference success thus far, but they may actually be the best team in the conference - Ben Allen and Omar Samhan are both big, talented posts while Matthew Dellavadova and Mickey McConnelly are excellent shooters and creators in the back court.

The season is young, and there is still plenty of chances for the WCC kids to falter and the Pac-10 teams to turn it around. But on paper, right now, the WCC looks to be a better league, especially at the top.

And I know what you're going to say - the bottom of the WCC is much worse than the bottom of the Pac-10.

Remember this: Loyola Marymount, who is in the bottom of the WCC, has already beaten USC, who is in the bottom of the Pac-10.
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Turkey Day Round-up

This is all you are getting from us today, as we will be enjoying our turkey. Be sure to check back tomorrow, as we will have a full recap of the first round action from the 76 and Old Spice Classic's before heading back to Madison Square Garden to see the finals of the Preseason NIT.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Preseason NIT: UConn beat LSU 81-55 and Duke held on against Arizona State 64-53. See the write-ups here and here.

Maui Invitational

• Gonzaga 61, Cincinnati 59: Gonzaga always seems to be in a dogfight every game they play in the Maui. If you like tough, defensive basketball, then you were in heaven yesterday as the Zags won the Maui title over Cinci. Gonzaga fought back from a 10 point deficit midway through the 2nd half, eventually tying the game at 47. The teams traded hoops over the final few minutes before the Bulldogs found themselves down 55-53 with under 30 seconds left. But Steven Gray, who was named co-tournament MVP with Matt Bouldin, found Robert Sacre for a short jumper to tie things up. At the other end, Sacre broke up an alley-oop (on what could have been called a foul) from Lance Stephenson to Yancy Gates.
  
  In the OT, the two teams traded free throws before a Robert Sacre dunk gave Gonzaga a 59-57 lead. After two Gonzaga free throws surrounded a Yancy Gates dunk, Cashmere Wright missed a shot and Elias Harris gathered the rebound to end an exciting game. Some personnel notes: Lance Stephenson really has some impressive 1-on-1 moves, and is going to score a lot of points this season; Matt Bouldin struggled against the bigger, stronger, more athletic Cinci guards, but he still managed double digit rebounds and played some tough defense; Yancy Gates needs to realize he isn't a jump shooter and focus on hitting the glass.
• Wisconsin 78, Maryland 69: The Badgers got down 7-0 early in the game, but they responded with a 16-2 run to take a 16-9 lead they would not relinquish. Maryland got within 51-48, but a 14-5 spurt opened a a 65-53 lead, and the Terps never threatened again. Brian Bohannon had 20 points on 4-5 shooting from deep as the Badgers knocked down 10 threes on the day. Jon Leuer had 16 for Wisconsin, while Greivis Vasquez found his shooting stroke a little bit, going for 18 on 6-13 from the floor.
• Vanderbilt 84, Arizona 72: The Commodores shot 69% in the second half as they turned a five point deficit into a 12 point win. AJ Ogilvy had 20 points and 7 boards for Vandy, and Jermaine Beal added 18 and 5 dimes. Solomon Hill led Arizona with 17, while Nic Wise was held to just nine.
• Colorado 73, Chaminade 58: Colorado needed a late 13-2 run to hold off a pesky Chaminade team.

Kentucky 73, Stanford 65 OT: So apparently John Wall is clutch. Not two weeks after he buried a game-winner against Miami OH, Wall hit a 10 foot fadeaway to tie the game with 30 seconds left before knocking down two free throws with 2.4 seconds left to force OT. Wall finished with 23 points and 5 assists, but there are some serious issues with this UK team. Eric Bledsoe turns the ball over too much. DeMarcus Cousins is lazy, and will need to really improve his attitude if he is going to be as good as advertised. Darnell Dodson is in Cal's doghouse, apparently for violating team rules. But the biggest issue is that this group is not very good defensively, and that they are way too selfish on the offensive end of the floor. Until they buy into Coach Cal's system, UK fans are going to have quite a bit of stress this season.

San Diego 76, Oklahoma 64: Brandon Johnson scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half, and when he was slowed by a hammy in the second half, the rest of the Toreros picked up the slack. A 13-4 run early in the half pushed a six point halftime lead to 50-35, and the Toreros eventually extended that to as much as 23. It was the second loss in five days for Oklahoma, who played at VCU, 4,000 miles from Anchorage, on Saturday. Willie Warren has 30 for Oklahoma, but most game after the game was decided. The biggest issue for Oklahoma right now is interior play. They are bigger than San Diego, but were outrebounded by 42-31.

Kansas 89, Oakland 59: Xavier Henry had 19 points, including three thunderous alley-oops, while Marcus Morris added 19 and 11 boards as Kansas ran away with their 44th straight home win, the best streak in the country. More impressive was that Kansas beat a good Oakland team picked to win the Summit by 30 when Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins, the resident all-americans, combined for just 13 points.

Other notable scores:

• Miami 77, Florida-Gulf Coast 58: DeQuan Jones led three scorers in double figures with a career-high 16 points to lead the Canes, who are now 6-0.
• Washington State 87, Alaska Anchorage 68: 25 points from Klay Thompson led the Cougars to the win in the Great Alaska Shootout's first round.
• BU 69, Northeastern 64 OT: Corey Lowe scored 18 for the Terriers, including a jumper with 23 seconds left to force OT, where Jame O'Brien gave BU the lead for good with a jumper with 51 seconds left.
• Virginia 76, Cleveland State 65: Virginia got 20 points from Sylvan Landesberg and 18 from Will Sherrill, including 15 in the second half, as the Cavs over came a 10 point halftime deficit.
• South Florida 76, Kent State 54: Jarrid Famous and Gus Gilchrist combined for 35 points and 15 boards as the Bulls improved to 5-1.
• Pacific 71, San Diego State 63: Terrell Smith had 16 points and 5 assists as Pacific improved to 5-0 on the season.

Today's games - a lot of great tournament action today:

Old Spice Classic

• 12:00 pm: Creighton vs. Michigan
• 2:30 pm: Xavier vs. Marquette
• 6:30 pm: Alabama vs. Baylor
• 9:00 pm: Florida State vs. Iona

76 Classic

• 2:00 pm: Long Beach State vs. West Virginia
• 4:30 pm: Texas A&M vs. Clemson
• 8:30 pm: Minnesota vs. Butler
• 11:00 pm: UCLA vs. Portland

11:30 pm: Houston vs. Oklahoma in Anchorage
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The BIAH Quotables: Feast Week

This a new feature we are trying out here at BIAH this season. Throughout the week, we are going to post some notable quotes or excerpts that show up in our google reader. Stupid people say stupid things 24 hours a day, and being somehow associated with the college hoops landscape does not preclude that fact. That said, we will not limit our quotables to the simple and idiotic, as the insightful and intelligent will also be highlighted. Feel free to pass along any quotables you stumble across to contactbiah@gmail.com or @ballinisahabit.

With the number of games taking place during Feast Week, there was no shortage of candid moments or excellent analysis. Here is the best of the best

First up, a solid gold nugget of quotable provided by our very own Rob Dauster, who took some time out of his live blog to ask the tough, in-your-face question that everybody (including myself) has been wondering for a long, long time:

I've never understood why coaches like to bring the chairs from the bench onto the court during timeouts. Seems like a lot of work for something that is not a huge deal. Who has the job of carrying the chairs? is it one person per chair? Or does one guy get all five?

Jon Scheyer was embarrassed by the way he committed his first turnover of the season in Duke's win over Arizona State:

Everybody looked at me when it happened. I just wish it could have happened on a cool pass, not stepping on the line. It's something that just happened but I'm blaming everybody on the team because they started talking about the streak after last game.

Dana O'Neil provides the next quotable. This one, discussing UConn's hectic schedule:

Crummy defense, lousy rebounding, eight days without a game and Jim Calhoun.

There are worse ways to suffer in life.

Like waterboarding. Maybe.

Such was the fate of the Connecticut Huskies. An abnormal break in the early schedule gave Calhoun more than a week to, ahem, emphasize to his team what exactly their deficiencies were.

"It wasn't fun," senior forward Stanley Robinson said. "Not fun at all."

In the same article, "Sticks" discusses what it means to him to play against Duke:

I always wanted to play against Duke when I was a kid. If you couldn't go there, you wanted to play against them. One of the reasons I didn't want to go there was because their gym was so small. Nah, I'm just talking.

Coach Mark Few uses a few too many analogies when detailing how special the Maui Invitational title is to Gonzaga:

Obviously this is the pinnacle, the creme de la creme of all the preseason tournaments. I mean, this is the kingpin and any other analogy you would like to use and so that is why it is so special when you look up and you see all those great teams that have won this thing and then what they have accomplished maybe after they win this thing.

Sent via text message, Cinci coach Mick Cronin expresses his opinion on a crucial missed call that cost his team the Maui Invitational title:

It is very unfortunate that a clear foul was not called. I have great respect for officials, but that was obvious and it is a tough one to swallow for my guys.

Cronin then details the situation:

Yancy told me he got fouled. The guys on ESPN told me he got fouled, but I am too short to see that. If he got fouled it is going to make it a long flight home.

Coach Cal praised the late-game poise his back court displayed in their OT win over Stanford:

I think we've got two guys when the game is on the line they are not afraid to make plays, which bodes well for us. You saw once again that late in the game I'm not calling a timeout. I don't need to be a hero, let those guys be the hero.

In this article chronicling ESPN's takeover of the pre-season tournaments, Luke Winn describes a former tournament coordinator's extreme displeasure with the World Wide Leader's takeover:

The other 21 tournaments, unable to use TV as a lure in booking teams, fight for the scraps. Says Lee Frederick, the president of Milwaukee-based Sport Tours, which ran the San Juan Shootout from 1987 until it died in 2008.
"ESPN is the gorilla that's coming after all of us, trying to eat us all up."

Frederick is bitter -- obscenely bitter -- on the subject of ESPN's push into the tournament market. He still runs two multi-team events, the Glenn Wilkes Classic in Daytona, Fla., and the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic, but neither is on TV.

"F--- ESPN, Print that. F--- ESPN. They think history started with them. Well, they didn't create s---. They just have more money than God."

The thumping that Portland gave UCLA was so bad, even the announcers started to slack off. Here is a transcript of a discussion that took place on-air during the late second half:

Dave O'Brien: Whatever happened to the VCR?
Steve Lavin: It went the way of the 8-track. Cassette tapes, albums.
O'Brien: Albums, oh.
Lavin: Now all you need is the iPhone.

Andy Katz reported on UCLA's embarassing 27-point loss to Portland. He makes a great point about not only how bad UCLA might be, but how good the West Coast Conference could be:

But it also puts the Bruins in a light that makes you wonder not where Portland would finish in the Pac-10, but rather where would this UCLA team finish in the WCC?

Let's remember, this is a league that features Maui Invitational champ Gonzaga, a Saint Mary's team that has barely missed a beat without Patty Mills, a San Diego team that has already beaten Stanford and Oklahoma and a Portland team that has easily dispatched two Pac-10 opponents. Would those same Bruins we saw Thursday night finish any higher than fifth in the WCC? That's something few, if any, would have pondered in the preseason.

Bob Huggins provides us with yet another solid gold quotable. This one, sarcastically explaining his team's play in relation the Devin Ebanks' return:

I think we suck right now with or without Devin.

UNC coach Roy Williams sat down with Andy Katz and delivered this gem about his team's potential and possibly winning his third national championship:

Everybody is as hungry as can be. It's like that great appetizer you eat, but you can't wait till the main course. And then the main course gets there, and, God that was great, but I wonder what's going to be for dessert, and uh, I'm a big dessert guy so I'd like to go for that third course.

ASU point guard Derek Glasser liked playing in MSG but prefers west coast venues:

Our conference tournament is in the Staples Center. I think playing in that arena, and normally we plays games in US Airways where the Suns play. So I guess it is the most famous arena, but, you know, I think the Staples Center is a little nicer than Madison. That's for sure.

Tom Izzo rebuffs statements that getting his 341st victory is more important than a sound team effort:

There's no win one for Izzo. It's win for the team and that's it. This is not like Bobby Knight. Everybody was anticipating it because he was going to break a record. I'm breaking 340 wins. Big deal.

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Duke's win sets up a dream match-up in the NIT Final

For the first time this season, Duke faced a challenge.

Arizona State jumped on the Devils early. Undeterred by the name on the front of the white jerseys, the Sun Devils gave Duke their first real test of the season, jumping out to a 15-7 lead in the first five minutes. Freshman Trent Lockett scored 11 of his 13 points in the run.

"You play four games at home, and you're running and shooting and things are going easy," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the game.

"Then all of a sudden, you're in a possession by possession game against a defense that you haven't played against before."

It wasn't just on the offensive end that Duke struggled early.

With just three guards on their roster, Coach K has been forced to use a bigger line-up this season, starting Kyle Singler at the three. Against a team that plays four guards, this provided quite the mismatch.

Early in the game, Duke's four man, 6'8" Lance Thomas, was forced to match-up with Arizona State's Jamelle McMillan, a quick, 6'2" combo guard who is the son of former Sonic and current Trail Blazer's coach Nate McMillan.

As you might imagine, McMillan had a field day in the early going.

"Jamelle really played well. We couldn't keep him in front of us," Coach K said.

So Krzyzewski made an adjustment.

He brought in freshman Andre Dawkins, moving Singler to the four. Not only did Dawkins help to slow down the Sun Devils penetration, he knocked down a couple big early jumpers to get Duke into a rhythm on the offensive end.

"We were in kind of a funk as far as scoring," Coach K said. "It was big for a freshman to come in and [hit those shots]."

Duke really shut down ASU defensively after a sluggish start.
(photo credit: AP)

Once the Devils woke offensively, their defense came around as well. ASU scored 15 points in the first six minutes of play. They managed just 38 points the rest of the way, as Duke's defense held the Sun Devils to 38% shooting on the night.

The Blue Devils broke this game open midway through the second half with a 9-2 spurt.

And it was none other than Kyle Singler that sparked the run.

Mired in a cold shooting night as he missed eight of his first nine shots, Singler scored back to back buckets, the first on a 15 foot elbow jumper and the second on a tough lay-up in traffic. After Scheyer knocked down a jumper of his own, Singler buried a three to give Duke their largest lead of the game up to that point.

Guess who got the assist?

Scheyer.

Playing strictly the point this season, Scheyer, who finished the night with 16 points and 6 assists, has excelled. Not only did he come into this game averaging 16.5 ppg and 5.3 apg, but in 131 minutes of basketball, Scheyer had not committed a turnover.

That streak ended tonight at the 8:02 mark of the first half, as Scheyer stepped out of bounds catching a pass.

Scheyer laughed about it after the game.

"Everybody looked at me when it happened," he joked. "I just wish it could have happened on a cool pass, not stepping on the line. It's something that just happened but I'm blaming everybody on the team because they started talking about the streak after last game."

He finished the game with two turnovers.

It will be quite a task for Scheyer to keep his 13.5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio intact on Friday afternoon against the Huskies.

UConn's strength is their defensive pressure, as Kemba Walker and Jerome Dyson are as good defending on the ball as anyone back court tandem in the country. Scheyer and his back court mate Nolan Smith, who had 14 points against Arizona State, will have their work cut out for them.

"Jim has won a lot of games doing it the way he's doing it," Coach K quipped after Duke's win. "I'd be shocked if we didn't see a three-quarter court press, a 2-2-1."

While both Duke and UConn will head into Friday's 5PM final feeling confident, one thing that will be ingrained into the minds of both teams over the next 36 hours is that neither has faced this level of competition yet during this young season.

The starting line-up that UConn trotted out tonight went 6'9" (Stanley Robinson), 6'9" (Alex Oriakhi), and 7'0" (Charles Okwandu), with 6'8" Gavin Edwards coming off the bench.

Stanley Robinson and the UConn front line will have a challenge awaiting them on Friday.
(photo credit: ESPN)

That's bigger than the Knicks front line.

But for the first time this season, the Huskies will face a team that can match-up with their altitude. Kyle Singler and Lance Thomas are both 6'8". Ryan Kelly and Miles Plumlee are both 6'10". And Brian Zoubek is a full-fledged 7'1".

Will the energy and aggressiveness that the Huskies front line displayed against a weaker LSU team provide the same lift against the Blue Devils?

Duke will have their own match-up issues.

A huge reason for the Blue Devil's early season success has been the play of Scheyer, Dawkins, and Smith in the back court. But how well are those three going to perform when they have Kemba Walker and Jerome Dyson hounding them for 75 feet on every possession?

We find out Friday.

Every time these two programs lock horns, it seems to be a classic on a big stage. In 1990, Christian Laettner's heroics sent Duke to the Final Four. In 1999, it was Khalied El-Amin providing the clutch, late-game buckets that led to the Huskies "shocking the world." And in 2004, UConn went on a 12-0 run at the end of the game to erase an eight point deficit with just over three minutes left in the game.

While this isn't the NCAA tournament, this is Madison Square Garden.

This is ESPN.

And this is Duke-UConn.

So come Friday, find a comfortable spot on your couch, fix a plate of Thanksgiving leftovers, and enjoy the show.
Continue reading...

Ladies and Gentlemen, your '09-'10 UConn Huskies

For the first time this season, the college basketball world saw what the UConn Huskies can be this season.

After struggling through three games where they played mediocre basketball, the Huskies exploded tonight, jumping on a depleted LSU team early.

"We've been waiting since the exhibition season for us to have a breakout a little bit," Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun said after the game. "And quite frankly, it was a different kind of breakout.

"The breakout for us was playing with energy [and] getting back to rebounding."

And defending.

The Huskies this season are going to rely on the defensive pressure they can put on the ball. Playing their typical 2-2-1 press, Kemba Walker and Jerome Dyson hounded the Tiger back court, and in the process made getting the ball over the timeline a struggle.

There may not be a better on-the-ball defender in the country than Kemba Walker. He is as quick as a waterbug, hounding opposing ball handlers into taking tough shots off the dribble.

Kemba Walker set the tone for the Huskies defensively tonight.
(photo credit: SI)

See Bo Spencer as a perfect example. Coming into the game, Spencer was averaging over 20 ppg, but the Tiger point guard managed just five points tonight as Walker forced into 2-15 shooting before Spencer came out of the game with an ankle injury.

"He was really good on defense," Calhoun said. "He started putting pressure on [Chris Bass], who was penetrating in the first half, did a great job of adjusting to him."

Walker, who finished the game with 20 points and 3 assists, also was instrumental in leading the UConn break. While he can still stand to improve at running the Huskies half court offense, Walker's end-to-end speed with the ball in his hands and his vision leading the break make him the perfect point guard for Jim Calhoun.

"We love him," Calhoun said, "he has to work on making plays in the half court set. He has to identify open people, but we're not going to trade him."

But it was more than just Walker.

For the first time this season, Calhoun brought Gavin Edwards off the bench, and Edwards responded with 15 points, 7 boards, and 3 blocks, his best game of the season.

Stanley Robinson had a typical Stanley Robinson game, going for 14 points, 11 boards, and two highlight reel blocks. When "Sticks", as he is known to Husky fans, is playing with the kind of energy and aggressiveness he showed tonight, he brings a dimension to this UConn squad that few teams in the country can counter.

The star of this team, however, is Jerome Dyson.

He showed it in the second half.

After a quiet first 20 minutes in which he had just three points and struggled shooting the ball, Dyson took over in the second half, scoring 17 of his 20 points. Most of those points came as he attacked the basket in transition.

Transition basketball has been Jim Calhoun's bread and butter for years. With the athletes he has on this team, especially in the back court, that is where UConn must excel if they want to compete in the Big East.

And it is where they excelled tonight.

Calhoun agrees.

"[Tonight] was the first time that I saw Connecticut play this year."

Continue reading...

When will Devin Ebanks play?

Andy Katz is reporting that West Virginia forward Devin Ebanks, a potential all-american and lottery pick, is expected to be play tomorrow as West Virginia takes on Long Beach State in the 76 Classic out in Anaheim.

As John Flowers (13 points) and Joe Mazzulla (6 assists in 15 minutes) both returned to action in WVU's Tuesday night game against the Citadel, adding Ebanks to the line-up will mean that the Mountaineers are finally playing at full strength.

But is Ebanks really going to be playing against Long Beach State?

It looks like we will find out at tip-off when Devin Ebanks will suit up.
(photo credit: isports)

You see, Jeff Goodman tweeted that Ebanks is not expected to play tomorrow (Thursday), and will be suiting up for the first time on Saturday in West Virginia's second round game.

Regardless, the Mountaineers are not going to live up to their lofty preseason expectations without Ebanks.

Don't get me wrong, WVU has a good front line. Da'Sean Butler looks like he could be a first-team all-conference player while Kevin Jones, Wellington Smith, John Flowers, and Cam Thoroughman match-up well, in terms of size, strength, and ability, with anyone in the Big East.

But outside of Butler, who can create offensively in that group? Ebanks not only provides some shot blocking and defensive play making, he provides versatility and match-up nightmares on the offensive end. He isn't the most polished offensive player but he scores well off of cuts and can take a slower defender off the dribble when he plays the four.

West Virginia will not be a complete team until he is back in the line-up. Continue reading...

Varez Ward to miss the season

By now, I'm sure you've heard - Texas guard Varez Ward had an awkward landing during the lay-up lines in last night CBE Classic against Pittsburgh.

Well, he did more than just land funny.

He ruptured his quad and will miss the rest of the season. Surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, and he will be out 6-10 months. According to Gary Parrish (via Twitter), Ward suffered the injury on the jump, not on the landing.

Varez Ward is done for the year.
(photo credit: TSN)

Tough break for Ward, who Texas coaches had been raving about. To be fair, this won't be a huge loss for Texas simply because they are loaded. Varez Ward is a tough, strong guard that excels on the defensive end, but has the ability to play either position offensively. Sound like Justin Mason at all?

Beyond that, J'Covan Brown and Dogus Balbay combined for 22 points, 10 boards, and 10 assists last night, and Rick Barnes can also run talented freshman Avery Bradley and Jordan Hamilton out there.

If there is any team in the country that can absorb a season ending injury, it is the Longhorns. Continue reading...

Wednesday's Pregame Beat

Just a quick PB today, as I'm currently sitting on a train en route for NYC. Reminder: head over to Rush the Court tonight as BIAH will be hosting a live-chat from Press Row for the Preseason NIT games tonight.

Preseason NIT

• 7:00 pm: LSU vs. UConn: There are some really good match-ups on the perimeter in this one, as Kemba Walker and Stanley Robinson will be going up against Bo Spencer and Tasmin Mitchell. This game is going to be determined by the front court: who is going to step up?
• 9:30 pm: ASU vs. Duke: Former Dookie Eric Boateng has been playing some great basketball early this season, but he is going to have his hands full with the Blue Devils front line. Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer are playing like the best backcourt in the country right now. How long can that keep up?

Maui Invitation

• 2:00 pm: Colorado vs. Chaminade: 7th place game. Worth watching because Cory Higgins of the Buffaloes is a future pro.
• 4:30 pm: Maryland vs. Wisconsin: The Terps struggled with the physicality of the Bearcats inside, and while Wisconsin doesn't have the bigs that the Bearcats do, they are still a team that survives on their size and strength. Maryland will have to answer questions all season about whether or not they can handle a physical team inside, and it won't bode well for the Terps if they have a poor showing against the Badgers. Also of note: will Greivis Vasquez show up tonight?
• 7:00 pm: Arizona vs. Vanderbilt: Arizona's youth struggled with the defensive pressure of Wisconsin, but seemed more comfortable playing Colorado. Vandy has not played a tough brand of basketball early this year, but the Wildcats don't have an answer inside for AJ Ogilvy. The Wildcat freshman have looked solid, but if Zona is to win, it will be due to a great performance from Nic Wise.
• 9:30: Gonzaga vs. Cincinnati: Game of the night. These two teams match-up so well. Quick, penetrating point guards. Two big-time scorers on the wings. Big, strong, tough kids inside. I think Cinci pulls this one out. As enamored as I am with Elias Harris and Matt Bouldin, I just think that Yancy Gates is too much for Robert Sacre to handle.

Other notable games tonight:

• 6:00 pm: Sacred Heart @ Penn State
• 7:00 pm: High Point @ Auburn
• 7:00 pm: Virginia vs Cleveland State
• 7:00 pm: Kent State @ South Florida
• 7:30 pm: Florida-Gulf Coast @ Miami FL
• 8:00 pm: Oakland @ Kansas
• 9:30 pm: Stanford vs. Kentucky
• 11:30 pm: Washington State vs. Alaska-Anchorage in the Great Alaska Shootout
• 1:45 am: Oklahoma vs. San Diego in the Great Alaska Shootout

Continue reading...

Wednesday's Shootaround: Evan Turner posts another triple-double, while Gonzaga and Cinci advance to the Maui finals

Maui Invitational:

• Cincinnati 69, Maryland 57: The Terps just had no answer for the inside play of Cincinnati. Yancy Gates had 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Deonta Vaughn added 16 points and 5 assists, but it was a 14-0 run, turning a 14-11 deficit into a 25-14 Bearcat lead, that was the difference in this game. The Terps never recovered. Cincinnati is back to the Bearcat teams we all remember - big and physical, they have a roster full of guys that are going to defend all over the court (Maryland shot 31.7% from the floor, Vasquez was just 5-17) and crash the boards hard (won the rebounding battle 47-32, had 15 offensive). Once Deonta Vaughn and Lance Stephenson really get going offensively, this is going to be a tough Cinci team to beat.

• Gonzaga 74, Wisconsin 61: The Zags had a much easier go of it offensively against the Badgers than Arizona did the night before. Wisconsin out-physicaled the Wildcats, forcing them out of the comfort zone offensively. But Gonzaga, in stark contrast to last year's group, is not going to be pushed around this season. The experienced Zags were able to run their sets and routinely get good looks at the rim. Matt Bouldin led four players in double figures with 18 points and 5 assists. One player to keep an eye on this season is Elias Harris. He is strong, athletic, and a tough rebounder, but the 20 year old freshman has also showed some ability to play on the perimeter. He could end up being a pro.
  
• Arizona 91, Colorado 87 OT: Nic Wise scored 30 points for the Wildcats, including eight straight at the end of regulation to put Zona up 80-72 with 52 seconds left. But Cory Higgins assisted on a three, and after getting a stop he buried his own three. The Buffaloes then forced a quick turnover, and Solomon Hill fouled Higgins, who hit both free throws to tie the game. But Wise was too much in OT, as he scored on back-to-back possessions to erase an 85-82 lead and give Zona a lead they would never relinquish. Higgins has really lived up to the hype he had coming into the season, as he went for 28 points. Jamelle Horne added 17 points, 8 boards, and 7 blocks while Brendan Lavender and Derrick Williams added 16 and 11, respectively.
• Vanderbilt 68, Chaminade 41: Vandy used a 24-0 run to break open a close game against DII Chaminade. John Jenkins led the Commodores with 14 points.
  

CBE Classic

• Texas 78, Pitt 62: Texas looked like they were in trouble for a while, as Pitt used an 11-0 run to take a 34-32 lead at the half. After playing back and forth basketball for the first 10 minutes of the second half, Texas finally pulled away with a 14-3 run late in the second half. In the end, Texas was just too talented offensively for the Panthers, who had not given up more than 60 points this season. The big spark during the run was freshman Jordan Hamilton, who can clearly score from the perimeter, but may need to be a bit more judicious in his shot selection. Damion James had 20 points and 9 boards to lead the Horns. The win was costly for Texas, however, as starting guard Varez Ward landed in a heap during warm-ups and was carted off the floor.
• Wichita State 74, Iowa 57: How bad are the Hawkeyes? They are now 1-4 on the season after getting run off the court by Wichita State. Garrett Stutz and Toure Murry both had 18 to lead the Shockers.
  

Cancun Challenge

• Kentucky 73, Cleveland State 49: The Wildcats got 15 points and 6 assists from John Wall, but like Texas, this could be a costly win for the Wildcats a Patrick Patterson went out early in the second half with an ankle injury. No word yet on its severity.
  
• Stanford 57, Virginia 52: Landry Fields had 25 points and 13 boards as the Cardinal knocked off the Cavs for the right to play UK in the finals.
  

Ohio State 84, Lipscomb 64: Evan Turner got off to a slow start, at one point having no points, four turnovers, and just two assists in the first half. But as the Buckeyes heated up, so did Turner, who finished the game with 16 points, 10 boards, and 11 assists for his second triple-double of the season (he also had a game in NYC where he had a triple-double with 10 turnovers). David Lighty also added a career-high 22 points for OSU, who are now 4-1 on the season. Up just 28-27 near the end of the first half, the Buckeyes used a 12-0 run spanning both halves to break the game open.

Syracuse 88, Cornell 73: Cornell used some hot three-point shooting in the first half to hang around (9-19, Chris Wroblewski was 5-6), but a 17-5 spurt to open the second half, combined with an improved focus on the defensive end (Cornell was just 4-18 from deep in the second half), helped Syracuse run away with this one. Brandon Triche scored a career-high 21 points, including six in the decisive run, while Rautins added 18 points and Wes Johnson chipped in with 15 and 10. While this wasn't as impressive a win as the Orange had against Cal or UNC in NYC, Cornell is an experienced team that has played in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.

West Virginia 69, Citadel 50: The Mountaineers got up double digits early in the first seven minutes, but some hot shooting by the Citadel combined with smart use of the shot clock offensively kept this from becoming a blow out. John Flowers, who missed most of the Mountaineer's first game with a foot injury, came off the bench to score 13 points while Joe Mazzulla, who sat out the first game while still dealing with a shoulder issue, played 15 minutes off the bench, notching six assists. Devin Ebanks did not play, however, and WVU struggled a bit offensively as a result. He will be traveling with WVU to Anaheim for the 76 Classic, but there is no word yet on whether he will actually play. Da'Sean Butler was held to just nine points on the night.

Morgan State 97, Arkansas 94: Morgan State is not a bad team, that said, Arkansas is an SEC that had visions of making the NCAA tournament this season. They absolutely should not be losing a game like this, especially when they have Rotnei Clarke and Michael Washington in uniform. Yes, I know this team is dealing with suspensions and off the court issues, but can that really ban excuse? Don't you think that's a sign that there is something fundamentally flawed with John Pelphrey's program? Reggie Holmes had 34 points in the win.

Seattle 77, Utah 74: Cameron Dollar has something pretty impressive going in Seattle. After beating Weber State and Fresno State, he took the Redhawks into Utah and came out with a win. Charles Garcia had 24 and 8 in the win. Oh yeah, this is Seattle's first season in DI.

Other notable scores:

• Illinois 78, Wofford 64: After beating Georgia and barely losing to Pitt, Wofford gave the Illini all they could handle in the Las Vegas Invitational (isn't that an AAU tournament?). Demetri McCamey's 21 and 4 dimes combined with an 8-0 run to break a 50-50 tie was the difference.
• Cal 79, Jacksonville 47: Patrick Christopher broke out of his shooting slump to go for 23 points, including 4-6 from deep, as the Bears rebounded from a poor performance in NYC.
• Florida 68, Florida State 52: The Gators jumped out to a 20 point first half lead, and while the Noles were able to get it all the way back down to five midway through the second half, they just ran out of gas. Florida responded with a 12-0 run to put the game away.
• Providence 106, Vermont 64: Sometimes there are scores you simply cannot explain. After beating Rutgers, UVM loses by 42 to a Providence team picked at the bottom of the Big East? The Friars had 15 threes, which might have aided in the blowout.

Continue reading...

Wednesday Morning Dump

Its going to be a slow day around these parts as we are headed to MSG today to cover the Pre-season NIT semifinals. Be sure to stop by and join the live-chat.

- Great read on ESPN's coverage of pre-season tournaments

- Kasey Cunningham tore his acl and his medial meniscus, meaning USC will now have a five man rotation. Yikes

- Ohio State back-up guard Walter Offutt will be transferring out of Columbus

- A race to 2,000 victories?

- Yes, we are aware, the Pac-10 is struggling

- Isiah Thomas has hope for FIU

- Big East players get hit on nearly 14 times a week at school, now that's a stat

- This might be a bit old, but a great read nonetheless

- Texas guard injured during warm up, leaves on stretcher

- Reggie Holmes score 34 as Morgan State upsets Arkansas

- UNC coach Roy Williams to undergo shoulder surgery

- Rutgers is leading the recruiting race for a Lithuanian power forward

After the jump, amazing basketball shots.



Continue reading...

The Cancun Challenge: Ballroom ... ballin'?

Did anyone get a chance to watch any of the games from the Cancun Challenge?

If the games happened to be televised in your area, did you happen to notice anything weird about the "gym" they were in?

Like, that it wasn't actually a gym?

Take a look at these pictures, courtesy of Kentucky Sports Radio:





Yea, that's a ballroom.

The Cancun Challenge is being played in a ballroom, complete with chandeliers and tacky wallpaper. As you could imagine, the floor, which was floor in from the Boston Garden, is not in quite the same shape. Just ask Patrick Patterson and John Calipari:

"It's a floor, at least," Patrick Patterson said. "There are cracks in the floor, spacing missing, parts in the floor where it dips in and makes a 'V' shape all the way down the floor. We were dribbling the other day and balls were going left and right. John (Wall) lost a couple balls. A couple teammates tripped on the court cause of the cracks. The court is in pretty bad shape, but it's still a basketball court."

"It doesn't make sense," Patterson said. "We walked in there were chandeliers on the ceiling. Someone said, 'Make sure you don’t shoot the ball so high.' I was like, 'That's so crazy.'"

"[The locker room is] just a small ballroom," he said. "I figured we would have a basketball court and a real lockerroom but this is what the resort does for us."

"There is a little seam," he said. "Balls are gonna fly. . . . There is a gap in front of our bench you could sprain your ankle. There is a gap about three inches,and I said you could lose your foot down there. So, there are some dead spots in the floor.

"It's a ballroom. You're playing in a ballroom. We go from 24,000 to playing in a ballroom. Which is fine. The good news is the other team is playing on in a ballroom on the same floor too."

This is a major college basketball tournament.

There isn't any other gym in the vicinity of Cancun that can be used and is, you know, an actual gym? A real basketball court that doesn't have to, you know be imported?

Let's just hope it didn't play a factor in Patrick Patterson's ankle injury.
Continue reading...

The BIAH Quotables

This a new feature we are trying out here at BIAH this season. Throughout the week, we are going to post some notable quotes or excerpts that show up in our google reader. Stupid people say stupid things 24 hours a day, and being somehow associated with the college hoops landscape does not preclude that fact. That said, we will not limit our quotables to the simple and idiotic, as the insightful and intelligent will also be highlighted. Feel free to pass along any quotables you stumble across to contactbiah@gmail.com or @ballinisahabit.

UNC coach Roy Williams discussing player production, or lack thereof:

I did tell the guys in the huddle one time that we're getting close to that point that I'm not going to play everybody just because I like their smile, that you've got to produce when you get out there.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few thinks his team is pretty tough this year:

We're built to hit, I'll tell you that. I noticed that in practice. I think we've got some different avenues we could go. We can play off our brawn. Last year, we just had to play off our skill, and we were really skilled.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo agrees:

That Harris kid, if he keeps improving, is going to take them from good to great. He can do a variety of things. He can run the floor, shoot the three. He can pass. He goes every time to the offensive boards – relentlessly.

Doug Gottlieb is a polarizing figure in college hoops circles. Some love him, some hate him, but you cannot argue he always seems to be spot-on at making team assesments and providing analysis:

So does this impressive MSG performance mean Syracuse is the new Big East favorite? Well, UConn struggles to shoot and has no big men at the level of the Orange. Nova still seems to be searching for what it lost in Dante Cunningham. Georgetown has three good players, but unless the Hoyas bore opponents to death, they are not winning the Big East. Louisville was really impressive against an undermanned Arkansas team, but no one can trust Edgar Sosa to be consistent yet. Pitt is missing its top two guards and the Panthers are down anyway. WVU has two great wings, but without Alex Ruoff, can the Mountaineers shoot? And how good is their point guard play?

The New York Times had a great article about the "youthfulness" of Memphis coach Boy Wonder aka Josh Pastner:

Pastner, the new Memphis coach, says he has never sipped alcohol, smoked a cigarette, tried caffeine or drunk a soda. He is no goody two-shoes; he is just the coaching equivalent of a gym rat.

Former Arizona head coach Lute Olsen, the man who recruited Pastner as a player, had good things to say:

Basketball was something that he was so passionate about, you knew it was going to be something that was going to be critical to him in his life, and he was noted for being a guy that was a 24-hour-a-day guy. He just always was available to call or talk about anybody that was a prospect, and there wasn’t anybody he didn't know about.

A lot of good quotables from the Tennessee/Purdue tilt. First up, UT guard Bobby Maize, defending his teammate Wayne Chism, who had been criticized for taking an ill-advised 3-pointer at the end of the game:

I turned the corner and saw two guys there, so who else would I rather have shooting that shot than Wayne. Wayne has been making them, and that's a shot we'll take every time.

We're gonna disagree with you there Bobby. Down one with under 10 seconds left, that's probably not your ideal shot. Chism says he didn't get off a good-enough shot:

I didn't like the catch, but with time winding down I knew I had to shoot it.The shot didn't come off good, and I tried to chase it down, but they beat me to the ball.

Bruce Pearl says that the play was set up for Maze, not Chism:

We were trying to run a high ball screen for Bobby. He had been getting into the lane effectively. They did a good job of jamming him, and Bobby made an excellent decision to kick it out to Wayne, who was there all by himself.

More from coach Pearl, who believes his team could have won:

It was a physical game, but it would have been even more physical if both teams weren't a little fatigued from playing [Sunday] night. I thought both teams played very well, and I thought we played well enough to win.

A great quotable from Yancy Gates of Cincinnati, who helped the Bearcats beat #24-ranked Vanderbilt:

I think this was a statement game for us. We were actually watching it this morning, me and my roommate. We watched it and we saw they were No. 24 and that kind of gave me some incentive. We feel we needed to get the win and after breakfast some of the guys were texting about it.

Apparently, things got better after breakfast:

We were really focused at breakfast this morning. There wasn't a lot of running around. I felt ready to go from the tipoff. The players were asking me, 'Are you ready?' My game plan was to be ready to go on the glass. I was able to get out ahead and get some easy buckets. That really got me going.

Continue reading...

Tuesday's Pregame Beat

Maui Invitational

• 1:30 pm: Vanderbilt vs. Chaminade: Every once in a while, the Silver Swords pull off an upset in this tournament. Is today the day?
• 4:00 pm: Colorado vs. Arizona: Both the Buffaloes and the Wildcats lost tough first round games. It will be interesting to see if the young Wildcats will be disciplined enough to handle playing against a princeton style offense. Good guard match-up in this one as well - Nic Wise against Cory Higgins.
• 7:00 pm: Maryland vs. Cincinnati: The first real test for the Terps. Greivis Vasquez has not been playing well in the season's first four games, and Maryland is going to need him to show up against the Bearcats. The biggest issue Maryland is going to have is on the glass. Will they be able to keep Cinci from getting second chance oppotunities?
• 9:30 pm: Wisconsin vs. Gonzaga: Interesting match-up here. Gonzaga is a good offensive team this season as they are getting balanced production throughout their line-up. But Wisconsin is always one of the best defensive teams in the country. Will the Zags young guys be able to handle the defensive pressure?
  

CBE Classic

• 7:30 pm: Iowa vs. Wichita State: If anyone has ever needed a win, it is Iowa. But a Wichita State upset would look good for the MVC as it is a win over a power conference team.
  
• 10:00 pm: Texas vs. Pitt: As we mentioned, Texas is one of the biggest teams in the country. After losing so much talent last season, Pitt doesn't have the horses inside to battle with the Longhorns. If the Panthers want to pull off the upset, they are going to need to pressure the inexperienced Texas back court and force turnovers.

Cancun Challenge

• 4:30 pm: Cleveland State vs. Kentucky: Cleveland State lost quite a bit off talent off of their second round tournament team, and while they might have enough talent to compete in the Horizon League, they shouldn't have the horses to compete with Kentucky. That said, Kentucky has struggled with some lesser opponents this year. Will the freshman be distracted by being in Cancun?
• 7:00 pm: Virginia vs. Stanford: The bottom of the ACC vs. the bottom of the Pac-10. The Pac-10 really needs this win. This one is worth it to watch because of Landry Fields of Stanford and Sylvan Landesberg of Virginia.
  

Other notable games

• 7:00 pm: Citadel @ West Virginia: Will Devin Ebanks and Joe Mazzulla play?
• 7:00 pm: Florida State @ Florida
• 7:00 pm: St. Francis @ Georgia
• 7:00 pm: Vermont @ Providence
• 7:00 pm: Delaware @ Siena
  
• 7:00 pm: Cornell @ Syracuse
• 7:00 pm: Lipscomb @ Ohio State
• 7:30 pm: Kennesaw State @ Notre Dame
• 7:30 pm: Winston-Salem @ Wake Forest
• 7:30 pm: Ball State @ Temple
• 8:00 pm: Morgan State @ Arkansas
• 8:00 pm: Tennessee State @ Iowa State
• 8:00 pm: Indiana State @ Western Kentucky
• 8:00 pm: Chattanooga @ Missouri
• 8:00 pm: Prairie View @ Oklahoma State
• 8:00 pm: Loyola Marymount @ Tulsa
• 8:00 pm: South Dakota @ Marquette
• 8:00 pm: Central Arkansas @ Memphis
• 9:00 pm: Southern @ BYU
• 9:00 pm: Seattle @ Utah
  
• 9:45 pm: Wofford @ Illinois
• 10:30 pm: Jacksonville @ Cal
  

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Tuesday's Shootaround: Purdue wins a dogfight, Cinci knocks off Vandy, and the Pac-10 struggles some more

Purdue 73, Tennessee 72: The Boilermakers won a great game in the finals of the Paradise Jam as Wayne Chism, who had 24 points and 6 boards, missed a wide-open three from the top of the key as time expired. E'Twuan Moore had 22 to lead the Boilermakers. A back-and-forth game throughout, Purdue used a 8-0 sparked by Moore to take a 64-59 lead, eventually pushing it to 72-66 with 2:13 left. But Tennessee would get back into it by getting a couple stops, a couple easy baskets, and catching a break as Purdue missed three of four free throws, setting up the final possession.

Tennessee's final shot was a bit questionable. Sure, Chism can knock down a three, but is that really the shot you want when you are down one point on the final possession? And why doesn't Tyler Smith touch the ball on the final possession? This poor decision making is just one example of why people don't have a ton of faith in this Tennessee team.

E'Twuan Moore scored 22 points to lead Purdue.
(photo credit: AP/Brennan Linsley)

As I said, this was a dogfight between two teams that rely on their defense. Where the Vols use a full court press to try and force turnovers, the Boilermakers play an extended man-to-man defense in the half court. It really was a pleasure watching the contrast of styles, as both teams left everything they had on the floor.

Purdue really battled foul trouble in the first half, which resulted in Robbie Hummell having to play some time at the five spot. It also forced a lot of minutes to be played by Barlow, who was helping to fill in for the injured Lewis Jackson. Barlow, who is not a point guard, played a valiant 16 minutes, with a couple of really pretty assists while playing excellent defense on Bobby Maze and Melvin Goins.


Maui Invitational:

• Gonzaga 76, Colorado 72: The Zags found themselves down 36-21 midway through the first half of this one as the Buffaloes caught fire from beyond the arc in the first half, hitting seven of their first nine from deep. But the second half was a different story as Matt Bouldin and Steven Gray, who combined for 48 points, took this game over. Gray had 27 points on the night but it was Bouldin who took this thing over. He finished with 21 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists, but down the stretch he made so many big baskets and free throws while protecting the ball and setting up teammates. He proved last night why I think he is one of the best guards in the country. Cory Higgins had 19 points for Colorado.
• Cincinnati 67, Vanderbilt 58: Well, at least you saw what this Cinci team is going to be. They are not the most talented team, and far from the prettiest. What the Bearcats are going to do is wear you out with tough, physical defense while crashing the glass on the offensive end (they had three tip dunks yesterday). And with talents like Deonta Vaughn, Lance Stephenson, and Cashmere Wright on the perimeter, Cincinnati is going to be able to score enough to win quite a few games. Vandy looked unimpressive. Jeff Taylor is still not much more than an athlete, AJ Ogilvy is soft and gets pushed around by more physical big men, and the Commodores just looked lost offensively. They were just 14-51 from the field (27.5%) and had only five assists. John Jenkins, their freshman shooter, looks like he will be a star, however, once Vandy figures out how to use him more effectively.
• Maryland 79, Chaminade 51: Greivis Vasquez struggled once again, finishing with just 6 points on 2-7 shooting, but Sean Mosley and Eric Hayes picked up the slack. Mosley had 19 points and 8 boards, while Hayes aded 12 and 5 assists. The Terps advance to face Cinci.
• Wisconsin 65, Arizona 61: Trevon Hughes led the Badgers with 24 points, 7 boards, 5 steals, and 3 assists as the Badgers held on against a young Arizona team. Wisconsin was up 31-23 at the half, but the Cats were able to battle back and tie the game at 55. After two Hughes free throws with 2 minutes left, Keaton Nankivil had two dunks sandwiched around a Jamelle Horne three pointer. Arizona would come away empty on their next possession, and the Badgers made four of six free throws down the stretch to ice it. Nic Wise had 13 points, but was just 3-12 from the field. Freshman Derrick Williams scored 25 points, but could have had more as he was just 13-21 from the line.
  

Paradise Jam

• Northern Iowa 81, Boston College 69: Kwadzo Ahlegbe scored 20 of his 32 points in the second half as the Panthers outscored the Eagles 43-28 after halftime. On the night, the Panthers were 35-54 from the floor, shooting 65%. Ahlegbe was 14-17.
  
• DePaul 58, St. Joe's 51: The Blue Demons played without big man Mac Kowshal, their leading scorer and rebounder, but still managed to beat St. Joe's while holding their fourth straight opponent under 60 points. Will Walker had 25 points and 7 boards.
  

CBE Classic

• Texas 85, Iowa 60: The Hawkeyes scored the first basket of the second half, taking a 41-38 lead, but managed just 19 points the rest of the way. The Longhorns would go on a 16-0 run and never look back. Freshman Jordan Hamilton had 16 points to lead five players in double figures.
• Pitt 68, Wichita State 55: Travon Woodall had 19 points, 6 boards,and 5 assists as the Panthers held the Shockers to 37% shooting while forcing 24 turnovers.
  

Other notable games

• Louisville 80, Appalachian State 53: Up 39-30 at halftime, Louisville used a 17-7 run to open up a 68-44 lead midway through the second half. Samardo Samuels led the Cardinals with 16 points as they won their third game in ust over 48 hours.
• North Carolina 93, Gardner-Webb 72: Deon Thompson led the Heels with 22 points and 10 boards while Ed Davis added 15 and 13. Roy Williams spent much of the game experimenting with different line-ups, trying out Dexter Strickland and Larry Drew in the back court together.
• Clemson 102, Winthrop 66: Trevor Booker had 15 and 11 to lead six Tigers in double figures as Clemson own their 30th straight November game.
  
• Virginia Tech 71, Campbell 60: Malcolm Delaney had 15 points and 5 assists shaking off a poor shooting night while JT Thompson added 17 as Tech pulled away down the stretch.
• VCU 63, Hampton 52: Bradford Burgess had 18 and 10 to lead the Rams to a win in their first game since the Oklahoma upset.
• Western Kentucky 68, Cal St Northridge 67: Anthony Sally hit 1-2 free throws with 4.7 seconds left as WKU didn't take their first lead in the second half until there was a minute left.
• St. Mary's 92, Cal Poly 67: Omar Samhan had 33 points and 12 boards to lead the Gaels to another big win.
• Montana 68, Oregon 55: For the second time this week, Oregon lost to a mid-major as the Grizzlies dominated the second half. The only time it was close was after a 9-1 run by the Ducks, but Montana responded by scoring the next eight points.
  
• UCLA 71, Pepperdine 52: Drew Gordon had 18 points and 9 boards, Michael Roll added 17, and Malcolm Lee scored 13 points as the Bruins used a 16-4 second half run to beat the Waves.
  

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Tuesday Morning Dump

- Syracuse made third-best jump-in in poll history

- Andy Katz provides our daily Renardo Sidney update

- More bad news for USC - Kasey Cunningham is done for the year with a torn knee ligament. USC is now going to have a five man rotation

- A battle for upstate New York

- Ten things Doug Gottlieb learned at the CvC

- All the news & notes from the National Prep Showcase

- Coach Cal and Pitino are closer than we thought

- Villanova's game revolves around their defense; Taylor King will be a factor this year

- A real marathon madness

- UCLA's Dragovic to plead not guilty

- Iona nabs power forward recruit

- Turkish power forward commits to Washington

- What we need to know, by Gary Parrish

After the jump, Rashad Bishop of Cincinnati with a nice tip-dunk.



Great hustle play from Chris Kramer



Cully Payne hits a 3/4 court shot at the end of the first half.



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Dominique Archie out indefinitely

According to Jeff Goodman at FOXSports, Darrin Horn has said that Dominique Archie is out indefinitely.

Good news for the Gamecocks.

Why?

Because Horn also said that Archie only sprained his knee. Anyone that saw his landing after a dunk last night knows that is a lucky break for Archie.

You have to feel for Archie here. He tested the waters in last year's NBA Draft, but eventually decided to return to join Devan Downey and make a run at a SEC title, hopefully boosting his NBA Draft status in the process. Instead, he will be spending a good part of his senior campaign on crutches.

Hopefully, he makes a full recovery.

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The craziest stat you will see today

Derrick Nix is not a bad basketball player. Just a freshman, the nimble, 6'8", 260 lb center is averaging 4.3 ppg and 6.3 rpg in his first four games as a Spartan. More importantly, Nix is averaging 3.8 offensive boards while shooting a respectable 50% from the field.

The issue for Nix isn't rebounding the ball. It isn't his back-to-the-basket game or his passing ability. It isn't necessarily on the defensive end, either.

Nix's issue comes at the free throw line. Through four games, Nix has made just one free throw.

In 16 attempts.

You heard that right.

Derrick Nix is 1-16 from the foul line. That's 6.25%. I could shoot better than that left-handed. You could pull the drunkest freshman out of the Breslin Center's student section, and on any given night I bet that kid can shoot better than 1-16.

Arinze Onuaku is the worst free throw shooter I have ever seen, and he flutters around 30%. By comparison, going 5-16 from the line would make you a 31.3% shooter.

So what's the problem?

It has to be a mental issue. I refuse to believe that someone that has played basketball their entire life can possibly be that poor of a shooter. Regardless of the reason, Nix better figure it out soon. Tom Izzo isn't going to like that many missed free throws.
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The BIAH Top 25's

We are now two weeks into the college hoops season, and as we have had a chance to see most of these teams play at least one game, it is time to unveil the BIAH top 25's.


Troy's

1. Kansas, 3-0 - Cole Aldrich looked like a monster against Memphis and Xavier Henry has been better than advertised, which I didn't think was possible. Now, if Elliot Williams hits that 3-pointer everything would be different. But he didn't and Kansas hung on for the victory. With the depth, talent and scoring potential this team has, Kansas is the most skilled team in the country at this point.

2. Michigan State, 4-0 - After the first half against Gonzaga, Michigan State did not look like a team deserving of the #2 ranking in the country. Not even a top ten ranking. But the way they fought back: forcing bad shots, executing fast breaks and hitting big shots shows that this team is for real. The big game experience the Spartans take out of that game against Gonzaga is huge. Many teams won't be in that type of a ball game until January and Michigan State showed very early that they can handle and overcome adversity.

3. Villanova, 5-0 - I have been more than impressed by Villanova's performance thus far. It seems like everything we said about this team in the preseason (key returners, good recruiting, depth) is playing out perfectly. Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher have been stellar, Taylor King has provided exactly what was asked of him, and when Jay Wright needs somebody to make a big shot, there are clearly allot of options for him to choose from - Isiah Armwood has only 2 points all year, and they were the game-winning points against George Mason.

4. Texas, 2-0 - Texas won't see fierce competition for a while, but thus far they have been taking care of business. Damion James is playing terrific basketball and they have more than a handful of players who can be affective scorers. They have a ton of size inside and I think they can easily be undefeated going into their December 19th match up with North Carolina.

5. Duke, 4-0 - I really like what I have seen from Duke thus far. Brian Zoubek has been dominating in the paint, and Singler and Scheyer have the ability to take over ball games. It will be interesting to see what happens when they struggle inside and are forced to play on the perimeter. But so far, so good. The Dukies round out the top five.

6. Kentucky, 4-0 - John Wall didn't get any first game jitters sinking that big shot, and Patrick Patterson is playing terrific basketball. This looks like the wildcat team that everybody in big blue nation was hoping for.

7. Syracuse, 4-0 - The hottest team in the country as of now. Wesley Johnson has officially made his presence known.

8. Purdue, 3-0 - They have allowed at least 60 points in each of their first three games and that doesn't bode well for their upcoming tilt with Tennessee. But so far they have showed that they can score points, and that is always a good thing.

9. Butler, 3-0 - Not as impressive as I would have hoped but Butler will have plenty of opportunities to show how good they really are. Their first test comes this week in the form of #18 Minnesota.

10. Tennessee, 4-0 - The scare against DePaul is confusing. But if anything, it showed that this team can grind out a close win as well as put up triple digits.

11. Washington, 4-0 - Quincy Pondexter and Isiah Thomas have been phenomenal so far, but what happens if they are struggling? Who is going to be able to step up?

12. Connecticut, 3-0 - As the Huskies get more experienced they will get much much better. I think this team can easily be in the Top 5 by the end of the season.

13. West Virginia, 1-0 - If Ebanks stays off the court for longer than expected, WVU could become very vulnerable. I'm not sold on them yet.

14. North Carolina, 4-1 - The loss to Syracuse itself isn't that bad. But I think the differential was. When the young Tar Heels start to click, I think we will see a much better ball club.

15. Louisville, 3-0 - A lot of teams have played sloppy basketball in the first week. None of them nearly as sloppy as Louisville. Foul trouble and poor defense has plagued the Cardinals thus far, but they have shown flashes of dominance throughout their early victories.

16. Michigan, 2-0
17. Minnesota, 3-0
18. Clemson, 3-0
19. Ohio State, 3-1
20. Illinois, 3-0
21. Vanderbilt, 2-0
22. Maryland, 3-0
23. Georgetown, 3-0
24. Georgia Tech, 3-1
25. Wake Forest, 3-0


Rob's

1.Kansas - True, Kansas struggled a bit against a better-than-expected Memphis team, but have the Jayhawks done anything to warrant a drop from the top? Cole Aldrich has played like a beast, Xavier Henry looks like he may challenge John Wall for the title of best freshman in the country, and Sherron Collins is still Sherron Collins. Combine that with a deep bench, and Bill Self's group is still the cream of the crop.

2. Michigan State - Michigan State is 4-0 this season, but they still have quite a few question marks. Despite back-to-back double-doubles, Delvon Roe is still far from the player that he was before his micro-fracture surgery. Raymar Morgan is battling an ankle injury. Derrick Nix has a bad case of free-throw-itis. Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers, and the rest of the Spartan back court has been good enough early in the season to keep the Spartans undefeated, but MSU needs their front line to come around.

3. Texas - The Longhorns haven't played anyone in the early going, but I'm keeping them at third for one reason and one reason only - this is where they were in the pre-season. Sure, teams like Villanova and Purdue and Butler have some nice wins, but the Longhorns have done nothing but assure me that my thoughts on them from the pre-season were correct. They are scary big inside, and once someone steps up as a leader at the point (looks like J'Covan Brown is the early favorite), this team will give Kansas a run for their money in the Big XII.

4. Villanova - The Wildcats won a tough Puerto Rico Tip-off Tournament, beating the likes of George Mason, Dayton, and Ole Miss. The best part? They did it without Reggie Redding or Mouphtaou Yarou, and with Scottie Reynolds playing below his lofty expectations. The best sign for Nova early in the season is that Antonio Pena has been playing like a man possessed. Through five games, he is averaging 12.2 ppg and 11 rpg and has three double-doubles.

5. Kentucky - The Wildcats probably will be the best or second best team in the country by season's end, but right now they still have some problems to fix. Can DeMarcus Cousins play with focus for an entire game? Can Daniel Orton stay out of foul trouble? Will the Wildcats ever figure out how to play defense? Who is going to be the team's shooter? The one question that has been answered is if John Wall is for real: yes.

6. Syracuse - Yea, this bump is drastic, but I love what I have seen from Syracuse this season. They have been turning defense into offense as well as anyone in the country, and their the point guard spot has been played admirably by Jardine and Triche.

7. Purdue - The Boilermakers beat up on St. Joe's, but we will know a lot more about this team when we see them play Tennessee.

8. Tennessee - The Vols press is working this season, and with the athletes on that roster ... that's a scary thought. Ask UNC-Asheville.

9. Butler - The Bulldogs are 3-0 with three unimpressive wins. But two of those unimpressive wins are unimpressive road wins.

10. Duke - The Devils are 4-0 against inferior competition, but Jon Scheyer (four games, zero turnovers) and Nolan Smith have looked good.

11. West Virginia - The Mountaineers have played just one game, but there are questions as to when Devin Ebanks and Joe Mazzulla will finally suit up.

12. Washington - Quincy Pondexter has been fantastic through Washington's first four games, averaging 24.0 ppg and 12.0 rpg.

13. Minnesota - The Gophers have looked good in their three wins early on, but will finally get a real test on Thursday against Butler. Freshman Rodney Williams has made Gopher fans forget about Mbakwe and White.

14. Clemson - The Tigers have been steam-rolling opponents by 40. The scary part? The Tigers are shooting 45% from three.

15. UConn - Jerome Dyson has looked like a superstar at times, but the Huskies have been inconsistent this season.

16. North Carolina
17. Louisville
18. Michigan
19. Maryland
20. Illinois
21. Gonzaga
22. Georgetown
23. Vanderbilt
24. Ole Miss
25. Miami FL
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