Wednesday's Shootaround: Wisconsin kicks off Big Ten play with a win over Minnesota

This post can also be found at Beyond the Arc.

(A quick programming note: the BIAH morning shootarounds will now also be posted on BTA every morning. Instead of writing the same thing twice about some of the bigger games of the night, we will be linking to any individual post done on those games. Saves us some time. And yes, our time is that valuable. Bloons Tower Defense 4 isn't going to beat itself.)

Wisconsin 68, Minnesota 60: See here.

Purdue 80, Michigan 57: See here.

Syracuse 81, Providence 74: For the second straight game, Kris Joseph set a career-high, dropping 27 points on the Friars (he had 25 against Drexel) as Syracuse remained undefeated. Once again, Rick Jackson was a monster on the glass, collecting 17 rebounds. James Southerland, a sophomore that is finally getting some consistent minutes with CJ Fair's injury, continued to play well, scoring eight points and knocking down a couple of threes. He's another lanky, athletic forward for the Orange, and his ability to knock down threes at the four spot could help create some space inside and as well as answering some of the questions regarding Syracuse's perimeter shooting woes.

Providence, on the other hand, seems to be one of the more overlooked teams in the Big East. Not much was expected of this team, as they lost some valuable pieces in the offseason and have 11 freshmen on the roster, but this is a scrappy group that will be a tough out all season long. Marshon Brooks broke the 25 point barrier for the eighth straight game, while Vincent Council (10 points, 8 boards, 7 assists), Bilal Dixon (11 points, 9 boards) and Gerard Coleman (12 points) all played well, especially in the second half.

Cincinnati 76, DePaul 60: The Bearcats got 20 points out of Dion Dixon has they remained undefeated in their Big East opener.

Xavier 88, Albany 64: Mark Lyons and Tu Holloway should get stuck in snowstorms before every game. Lyons, who rode with Albany from Albany to the game, had 18 points and 5 assists, including five first half threes, while Holloway added 11 points and 9 dimes.

St. Bonaventure 82, Siena 79: Andrew Nicholson had 26 points and 7 boards to lead the Bonnies to another solid win.

Other Notable Games

• No. 12 Kentucky 91, Coppin State 61
• NC State 82, Alabama A&M 51
• Georgia 70, CSU 55
• Morehead State 76, Kent State 59
• Seton Hall 64, South Florida 55
• UNC 78, Rutgers 55
• Alabama 83, Pepperdine 60
• Stanford 60, Yale 44
• Colorado State 69, San Francisco 61
• Cal 74, Hartford 56