Wednesday's Shootaround: Tennessee and Kansas State fall again

UNLV 63, No. 11 Kansas State 59: We've already hit on the issues facing Kansas State after this loss, but I wanted to talk a little about UNLV as well. You see, the Running Rebels are supposed to be a team with MWC title and NCAA Tournament aspirations. But this loss illustrated the issues their team is facing. UNLV got a grand total of 34 minutes out of their three big men -- Quintrell Thomas, Brice Massamba, and Carlos Lopez. Those three combined for 10 points, 4 boards, and 11 fouls in those 34 minutes. Its a major part of the reason the Rebels got smacked on the glass by a bigger Kansas State team.

Offense has been an issue for UNLV for the last couple of weeks. The key to beating UNLV -- throw a zone at them. They don't move the ball as well, their penetration becomes limited, and they've stopped hitting threes. The only reason UNLV was able to beat a Kansas State team missing their two best players was the free throw discrepancy (19-24 for UNLV, 14-26 for K-State) and the 23 turnovers the Rebels forced. If they played a team with any kind of offensive firepower, UNLV loses that game.

USC 65, No. 18 Tennessee 64: For the second straight season, the midseason addition of a point guard may have turned around USC's season. Last year, it was the addition of Mike Gerritty that sent the Trojans on a long winning streak, which included a 22 point whooping of Tennessee at the Galen Center. This season, Jio Fontan joined the mix. And after losing to Kansas by two points thanks to the incredible debut of Josh Selby, USC knocked off Tennessee last night 65-64. Throw in the Trojan's 73-56 win against Texas, and it looks like USC might actually end up being a competitor in the Pac-10 conference this season.

USC forced Tennessee into 18 turnovers and 38% shooting from the field while hitting 9-21 from three and picking up 18 assists on just 25 field goals. Maurice Jones led the Trojans with 15, but Fontan and Alex Stephenson both added 13 points. Perhaps more impressive was that USC was able to earn the win despite getting essentially nothing out of Nikola Vucevic -- four points, one board, 24 minutes.

St. John's 85, Northwestern 69: The Johnnies beat Northwestern on the strength of what could very well have been the single best half of basketball played all season long. St. John's dominated the Wildcats in the paint, shooting a ridiculous 16-20 (80%) from the floor in the second half while holding Northwestern to just 11-37 (29%) from the field. Dwight Hardy led the way with 24 points, while Justin Brownlee added 21. This is St. John's second solid win (they also beat Arizona State in the Great Alaska Shootout) to go along with two embarrassing losses (St. Bonaventure, Fordham).

No. 7 San Diego State 62, San Francisco 56: The Aztecs struggled against the Dons, as they were unable to open a lead of more than one possession until there were four minutes left in the second half. Turnovers, missed defensive assignments, and poor execution offensively will do that. Kawhi Leonard had 23 points and 14 boards to save the day. Interesting stat -- take away the UCSB game (SDSU went up 28 in the first half and won by 26) and the Aztecs have outscored opponents by 45 in the first half of games. The second half? They've outscored opponents by 134.

No. 23 BYU 72, Weber State 66: I understand that in-state games in Utah are always a rivalry, but it has to be a bit disconcerting for BYU fans that after getting pretty solidly beaten by UCLA over the weekend, the Cougars struggled to put away Weber State and blew a 16 points second half lead despite the Wildcats missing their leading scorer Damian Lillard.

Cincinnati 64, Miami OH 48: The Bearcats may not be the best undefeated team left in the country, but they are still undefeated after going on the road and overcoming an early deficit to knock off the Redhawks.

UAB 68, VCU 65: The Rams were up by as many as 19 points in the second half and had a 65-53 lead with 5:08 remaining, but Jamarr Sanders scored 12 of his 29 points during a 15-0 run by the Blazers to close the game.

Valpo 103, Oakland 102: Ridiculous box score of the night. Valpo had two guys go for 30, one of whom made 12-13 from the field. Oakland scored 102 points, and only got 5 points and 1 boards from Keith Benson.

Austin Peay 86, Morehead State 85 OT: Austin Peay moved to 4-0 in the OVC, two games ahead of favorite Morehead State and one in front of the other favorite Murray State, on a layup from Josh Terry at the end of overtime. This result could cost the Eagles the OVC regular season title.

Other Notable Scores:

• No. 2 Ohio State 96, UNC-Asheville 49
• No. 13 Purdue 77, IPFW 52
• No. 24 Texas A&M 86, Wagner 51
• Maine 74, Penn State 64
• Miami FL 69, Oral Roberts 56
• Georgia 85, High Point 38
• Arizona State 72, Long Beach State 55
• North Carolina 85, William & Mary 60
• Marquette 102, MVSU 77
• Oklahoma State 79, Stanford 68
• Vanderbilt 72, Middle Tennessee 53
• Utah State 71, Idaho State 48
• UCLA 75, Montana State 59