Raphielle Johnson's Blog

This is the time of year when college basketball takes a step back in terms of nationally televised games in favor of college football, but there are some intriguing games on the schedule. Kentucky, who's been lights out offensively but hasn't defended at the level that John Calipari desires, hosts a dangerous Rider team licking its wounds following a 79-46 beating at the hands of Virginia. Duke hosts the defending Big South champions in Radford and big men Artsiom Parakhouski and Joey Lynch-Flohr will look to hang with the deep Blue Devil frontcourt.

For the first half, the championship game of the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament between North Carolina and Syracuse was a competitive affair that promised to go down to the wire. That's when Syracuse flipped a switch, going on a 22-1 run that removed any doubt in regards to the result and ultimately winning 87-71 in front of a pro-Syracuse crowd at Madison Square Garden. Wesley Johnson scored twenty-five points and added eight rebounds while Andy Rautins posted one of the better overall stat lines of his career with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 7 steals.

It's a busier Friday than usual due to a few in-season tournaments taking place this weekend. Tournaments in Puerto Rico and Charleston are into the semifinals while the championship and third-place games will take place in the Coaches vs. Cancer event in New York. Villanova/Dayton kicks things off at 3 PM on ESPNU while both games from Madison Square Garden can be seen on ESPN2 at 5 and 7 PM. But for as good as Syracuse/North Carolina and the opening semi in San Juan look there are also intriguing games not on national television.

Syracuse went into their game with California as the favorite in the eyes of many for two reasons. One: the school has a large alumni base in the New York metropolitan area and that means a good crowd at the World's Most Famous Arena. Two: the Golden Bears were without Theo Robertson (stress reaction in his foot) and they lack depth in the frontcourt with Harper Kamp (knee) also out. But to cite these things without giving notice to what happened on the floor would be unfair to the Orange, who outclassed the Bears 95-73.

While the Coaches vs. Cancer event moves onto the semifinal round at Madison Square Garden tournament play begins in Puerto Rico and Charleston with some intriguing matchups on the radar. Ohio State/North Carolina and Syracuse/California will get the lion's share of the attention and with good reason; all four will encounter their first true test of the season following routine beatings in the opening rounds of the event.

Wednesday offered Utah and UNLV the opportunity to knock off in-state rivals (Utah State and Nevada) who will enter their respective conference seasons expected to compete for league titles, and neither disappointed. The Utes were able to capitalize on seventeen Utah State turnovers and a hot-shooting Carlon Brown (sorry for referring to you as Carlton yesterday) to pull out the 68-67 win over the Aggies.

Tuesday was a day for sleep deprivation as it marked ESPN's 24-hour college basketball marathon. Unfortunately for the network the early hours served up a trio of yawners with Saint Peter's, Niagara and Clemson all pulling off comfortable victories. But the games involving Kansas and Michigan State didn't disappoint with the top two teams being tested by Memphis and Gonzaga respectively. It's good to see that there are teams willing to challenge themselves so early in the season, giving themselves the opportunity to evaluate themselves against credible competition.

Wednesday sets up to be a light day in regards to games of national interest but there are two games out west that you should pay attention to. Nevada makes the trek from Reno to Las Vegas, taking on in-state rival UNLV in arguably the game of the night while Utah State visits Utah. A pair of Top 10 teams are in action as well with Texas hosting Western Carolina while Butler visits Northwestern in Evanston.

Thankfully Monday was a busy night on the schedule even before ESPN's 24-hour marathon (even if you had fantasy football interests Ravens/Browns should not have been an option) and it didn't disappoint either. John Wall made his regular season debut for Kentucky and to say the least the phenom showed why people are touting him as a National POY possibility. And there were other key results on Monday/early Tuesday that could have a long-lasting impact on this season as well.

Three Key Happenings

ESPN's 24-hour college basketball marathon takes precedent on Tuesday with some intriguing contests throughout the day. Ten ranked teams will be in action including three of the Top 10 squads. The nation will get its first look at Josh Pastner's Memphis Tigers as they take on top-ranked Kansas in St. Louis, national runner-up Michigan State hosts Gonzaga and the lunchtime matinee between Northeastern and Siena looks quite appealing.