Oregon St

Wednesday Predictions: Big Sky, NEC, Patriot Finals & More

Greg Mengelt — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 11:16:27 -0500

Our g ame prediction guru Greg Mengelt has been on fire this year. He'll be picking (just about) every conference tournament game over the next week, including tonight's three key championship games. Games listed in order with later rounds on top and earlier rounds at the bottom. Read more about Championship Week at CollegeHoops.net.

BIG SKY CHAMPIONSHIP: AT MONTANA

(2) Weber State (24-5, 14-2) at (1) Montana (24-6, 15-1)

Tipoff: 9 p.m. TV: ESPN2. Regular-season meetings: Jan. 14 – Weber State 80-64; Feb. 28 – Montana 66-51. RPI: Montana 82, Weber State 69. Analysis: The Grizzlies are simply the better team. With the homecourt advantage, it should be a comfortable win for Montana. Pick: Montana 71, Weber State 61.

NORTHEAST CHAMPIONSHIP: AT LIU

(3) Robert Morris (24-9, 13-5) at (1) Long Island (24-8, 16-2)

Tipoff: 7 p.m. TV: ESPN2. Regular-season meetings: Jan. 26 – Robert Morris 75-66. RPI: Long Island 91, Robert Morris 109. Analysis: Velton Jones is one of the hottest players in the country and should help the Colonials punch their ticket. Line: Long Island -1. Pick: Robert Morris 69, Long Island 65.

PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP: AT BUCKNELL

(2) Lehigh (25-7) at (1) Bucknell (11-3)

Tipoff: 7 p.m. TV: CBS Sports Network. Regular-season meetings: Jan. 18 – Bucknell 68-61*; Feb. 16 – Lehigh 56-53*. RPI: Bucknell 89, Lehigh 113. Analysis: Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum is a superstar, but beating the Bison on the road twice may be too much to ask. Line: Bucknell -5. Pick: Bucknell 66, Lehigh 59.

BIG EAST SECOND ROUND: AT NEW YORK CITY

(8) West Virginia (19-12, 9-9) vs. (9) Connecticut (19-12, 8-10)

Tipoff: Noon. TV: ESPN. Regular-season meetings: Jan. 9 – Connecticut 64-57. RPI: Connecticut 33, West Virginia 42. Analysis: Two good performances in a row may be too much to ask of this UConn team. Line: UConn -2. Pick: West Virginia 68, Connecticut 62.

(5) Georgetown (22-7, 12-6) vs. (13) Pittsburgh (17-15, 5-13)

Tipoff: 2 p.m. TV: ESPN. Regular-season meetings: Jan. 28 – Pitt 72-60. RPI: Georgetown 9, Pittsburgh 90. Analysis: Pitt may not win the game, but the Panthers should cover in a low-scoring game. Line: Georgetown -6. Pick: Georgetown 57, Pittsburgh 53.

(7) Louisville (22-9, 10-8) vs. (10) Seton Hall (20-11, 8-10)

Tipoff: 7 p.m. TV: ESPN. Regular-season meetings: Jan. 28 – Louisville 60-51*. RPI: Louisville 28, Seton Hall 60. Analysis: Great matchup for Louisville. The Cardinals defense will lead them to a big win. Pick: Louisville 59, Seton Hall 47.

(6) South Florida (19-12, 12-6) vs. (14) Villanova (13-18, 5-13)

Tipoff: 9 p.m. TV: ESPN. Regular-season meetings: Jan. 5 – South Florida 74-57*; Feb. 15 – South Florida 65-51. RPI: South Florida 43, Villanova 105. Analysis: Love the Wildcats for the upset. Pick: Villanova 55, South Florida 52.

PAC-12 FIRST ROUND: AT LOS ANGELES

(8) Washington State (15-15, 7-11) vs. (9) Oregon State (17-13, 7-11)

Tipoff: 3:10 p.m. TV: FSN. Regular-season meetings: Dec. 31 – Washington State 81-76; Feb. 9 – Washington State 83-73. RPI: Washington State 170, Oregon State 151. Analysis: Close game. The Beavers will at least cover. Line: Oregon State -3½. Pick: Oregon State 78, Washington State 76.

(5) UCLA (18-13, 11-7) vs. (12) USC (6-25, 1-17)

Tipoff: 5:40 p.m. TV: FSN. Regular-season meetings: Jan. 15 – UCLA 66-47*; Feb. 15 – UCLA 64-54. RPI: UCLA 103, USC 259. Analysis: UCLA is playing its best basketball, rallying around Coach Ben Howland. The Bruins may make a run in this tourney. Line: UCLA -12½. Pick: UCLA 73, USC 51.

(7) Stanford (20-10, 10-8) vs. (10) Arizona State (10-20, 6-12)

Tipoff: 9:10 p.m. TV: FSN. Regular-season meetings: Feb. 2 – Stanford 68-44. RPI: Stanford 96, Arizona State 248. Analysis: The Cardinal will blow out Arizona State for the second time this season. Line: Stanford -10. Pick: Stanford 71, Arizona State 54.

(6) Colorado (19-11, 11-7) vs. (11) Utah (6-24, 3-15)

Tipoff: 11:40 p.m. TV: FSN. Regular-season meetings: Dec. 31 – Colorado 73-33; Feb. 18 – Colorado 55-48. RPI: Colorado 81, Utah 265. Analysis: The Buffaloes are really pretty good, and Utah … isn’t. Line: Colorado -11½. Pick: Colorado 66, Utah 51.

*Road win

Greg Against the Spread This Season: 137-103-3

Thursday Recap: Virginia Falls Short at Duke

Raphielle Johnson — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:04:00 -0500

Thursday was a big night for the Virginia Cavaliers as they were looking for their first win at Duke since 1995, and a victory over the sixth-ranked Blue Devils would raise their ceiling even higher.

Despite shooting 0-for-11 from three in the second half Tony Bennett's team still had two chances to send the game into overtime, but neither fell and the Blue Devils hung on to win 61-58. On a night that Duke shot 5-for-20 from three against the ACC's best when it comes to defending the bonus shot the Blue Devils needed a group effort to move their home win streak to 44 games.

Mason Plumlee scored 12 points to lead four players in double figures, and he could have scored more if not for a 2-for-10 outing at the foul line. Duke finished the game with a field goal percentage of 52.2%, as making 73.0% of their two-point attempts made up for the poor perimeter shooting. With their outside shots not falling Duke needed to clamp down on defense, and they did just that as two Virginia starters (Jontel Evans and Sammy Zeglinski) failed to score a single point.

"I also thought it was by far the best defensive game that Andre Dawkins has ever played," said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski of his junior guard's defensive contribution. "Everyone talks about his shooting, but he really played well defensively. And we did a good job against Zeglinski and Harris...we were able to at least limit Harris and we were fortunate we shut down Zeglinski."

The one player Duke didn't have an answer for was forward Mike Scott, who scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a losing effort. Virginia had the pace they preferred, playing a 59-possession game on the road against an opponent that averages 70 possessions/game, and they did a good job of limiting the open looks for Duke's prolific shooters.

That's definitely something the Cavaliers can build on in the days leading up to their game at Georgia Tech next Thursday. Coach Bennett and his team certainly shouldn't be in the business of claiming moral victories but if anything Virginia showed that, in addition to their own growth as a program, there's a sizeable gap between the top three and the rest of the ACC.

"Tonight, it could have been the same situation, and I thought they got a little tougher and stingier defensively," said Bennett when asked to compare this season's meeting to last year's (76-60 Duke win). "That got us back on track. Then we made some baskets. That is why we at least had some chances at the end to send it into overtime."

Other Notable Happenings

1. Wisconsin jumps out to a big lead and picks up a much-needed win at Purdue.
Slow starts had been a problem in recent games for Bo Ryan's team leading up to their game in West Lafayette, and with a 1-3 record in Big Ten play Wisconsin needed to figure out a solution. Instead of the usual methodical pace the Badgers found (and made) quick looks from beyond the arc in their swing offense to take control of the game, scoring 22 of the first 26 points before holding on in the second half to win 67-62. Five players reached double figures for the Badgers but the biggest surprise had to be senior Mike Bruesewitz, a glue guy who knocked down all four of this three-point attempts and scored 12 points.

Terone Johnson led Purdue with 16 points off the bench and Robbie Hummel added 13, but with Lewis Jackson not 100% physically and other options struggling from the field the Boilermakers didn't have enough to overcome the hole they dug for themselves early. As a team Purdue made just 35.1% of their two-point shots, a far cry from their mark for the season (49.4%), and that's a testament to Wisconsin's defense and not just Purdue's inability to make shots. In order to get back on track Wisconsin looked for scoring opportunities earlier in their sets to start the game, and that proved to be the difference.

"We gave them respect and talked about not giving them 'rhythm shots' and I think they got too many 'rhythm shots' and got their head up early," remarked Purdue head coach Matt Painter after the game.

2. Saint Mary's whips Gonzaga to go 2-0 against the other WCC contenders at home.
Saint Mary's early WCC schedule can be summed up by using the title of Jay-Z's "Blueprint 2" album. "The Gift" was getting to host both BYU and Gonzaga early in league play. The key for Randy Bennett's team is to make sure that having to play both teams on the road in the second half of the season season doesn't turn out to be "The Curse". The Gaels controlled the Bulldogs in the second half on Thursday night, pushing their lead out to as many as 24 after leading 37-32 just over a minute into the half. Saint Mary's won 83-62 despite forward Rob Jones not scoring until 1:39 remaining in the game, but he made up for the lack of scoring by grabbing 11 rebounds and racking up eight assists.

A big reason why Saint Mary's was able to pull away in spite of Jones' lack of scoring was the play of forward Brad Waldow, who posted his first career double-double with 17 points and ten rebounds. And with Gonzaga's Robert Sacre making just one of seven shots and scoring four points, the visitors from Spokane couldn't take advantage. Matthew Dellavedova, who like Seton Hall's Jordan Theodore continues to make the Cousy Award selection committee look siily for leaving him off the finalists list, scored a game-high 26 points and dished out six assists while Stephen Holt added 15 and six assists. But essentially the Gaels held serve in the three-team race for the WCC crown with the two home wins. Whether or not Saint Mary's can take this show on the road will determine whether or not they end up on top at the end of the season.

3. Drexel ends George Mason's 18-game regular season conference win streak.
After wins over Old Dominion and Georgia State, Paul Hewitt's Patriots entered Thursday's matchup with Drexel full of confidence and rightfully so as George Mason had won 18 straight regular season CAA games. But thanks in large part to a freshman who had made five of his last fifteen field goals, the Dragons snapped Mason's streak and forced a three-way tie for first place in the CAA. Damion Lee made eight of his fourteen shots and scored a game-high 21 points (16 in the second half), picking up the slack for Drexel as fellow starters Frantz Massenat (4-18 FG, 12 points) and Derrick Thomas (2-9 FG, eight points) struggled from the field.

What also helped Drexel was their effort on the defensive end, as they harassed Ryan Pearson and Vertail Vaughns into a combined 2-for-16 night from the field. What also didn't help George Mason were their turnovers, more specifically Drexel's ability to take advantage of the Patriots' miscues. George Mason turned the ball over just ten times (Drexel finished with nine turnovers), but the Dragons scored 16 points off of those turnovers compared to six for the visitors. Drexel also won the battle on the boards (41-30), grabbing 18 offensive rebounds and while they didn't cash those in at a great clip (11 second-chance points) those extra shots can make the difference when shooting just 36.2%. Lee's second half will stick out however and rightfully so, as his outburst not only tightened things up at the top of the CAA but kept Drexel in the discussion.

Quick Hitters

1. Virginia wasn't the only team to show well on the road in defeat. Colorado did the same, and their 57-50 loss at California was closer than the final margin would indicate. Tad Boyle's team leads the Pac-12 in scoring defense, and Carlon Brown has done a much better job of picking his spots over the last month. And in forward Andre Roberson, who leads the conference in rebounding and accounted for 11 points and 14 rebounds on Thursday, Colorado's got one of the nation's most underrated players.

2. Minnesota picked up their first Big Ten win of the season at Indiana of all places, beating the Hoosiers 77-74. Austin Hollins led the Golden Gophers with 18 points, and they did just enough late to hold off an Indiana team that refused to quit. Indiana's problem: they made just four of eighteen shots from three on the night, a far cry from their percentage for the season (45.9%).

3. Saturday's showdown in the Big Sky will feature teams undefeated in league play as Montana (4-0) and Weber State (5-0) took care of business against Northern Arizona and Montana State respectively. Scott Bamforth scored 20 points in Weber State's 63-49 win over Montana State while Kareem Jamar led three Montana starters in double figures with 15 points (and seven rebounds) in the Grizzlies' 78-53 win at NAU.

4. It was a struggle but Oral Roberts found a way to remain undefeated in Summit League play, moving to 7-0 with a 71-70 double overtime win at Western Illinois. Dominique Morrison played all 50 minutes and scored a game-high 27 points and Steven Roundtree added 12 off the bench for the Golden Eagles.

5. UNC Asheville came back from a 12-point halftime deficit at Campbell to beat the Camels 89-82 and move to 6-0 in the Big South. Jeremy Atkinson was the catalyst as he scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half. Matt Dickey chipped in with 19 points and ten rebounds, J.P. Primm scored 18 and sixth man Jaron Lane added 13 off the bench.

6. The comeback of the day, and possibly of the season to date, happened in New Rochelle as Manhattan stormed back from 17 down with less than eight minutes remaining to beat rival Iona 75-72. Emmy Andujar's turnaround three as time expired was the difference, but don't discount the effort of Rhamel Brown (17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks) either. Steve Masiello's surprising Jaspers are now just a game out of first place in the MAAC, and this result also makes Friday's game between Loyola (MD) and Fairfield even more important.

7. Quinnipiac picked up a much-needed win as they beat Robert Morris in Moon Township 78-76 to move to 2-3 in the NEC. With just the top eight teams qualifying for the conference tournament Tom Moore's team needed a win, and thanks to 22 points from James Johnson and 18 from Dave Johnson (no relation) the mission was accomplished.

8. Yes things got heated during overtime in Arizona's 91-83 win over Oregon State, with OSU's Joe Burton and Arizona's Kyryl Natyazhko being ejected for leaving their respective bench areas. But no punches were thrown during an interaction that featured more jawing than anything else thanks to quick-acting coaches and officials. Instead the focus should be on the fact that Craig Robinson's team dropped to 1-4 in conference play, and anything less than a split of the weekend (they visit Arizona State on Saturday) would be the end of the Beavers' title hopes despite the wide-open nature of the conference.

Three Notable Performances

1. G Phil Martin (UC Riverside)
Long Beach State has sole possession of first place in the Big West and Martin's a big reason why. Martin scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the Highlanders' 79-70 overtime win over UCSB.

2. C Vander Joaquim (Hawaii)
23 points (9-11 FG), 16 rebounds and three blocked shots in the Warriors' 74-68 overtime win at Fresno State.

3. C John Fraley (Austin Peay)
25 points (10-12 FG) and 12 rebounds in the Governors' 80-65 win over Eastern Kentucky.

#6 Duke vs. #17 Virginia: Thursday's Preview

Raphielle Johnson — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:08:39 -0500

The ACC has been assumed by many to be a conference that goes three-deep at the top with an unpredictable group beneath. But how close is the third team, #16 Virginia (14-1, 1-0), to the generally accepted top two of North Carolina and #8 Duke (13-2, 1-0)? That question will be answered tonight as the Cavaliers look for their first win at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1995, and they've also lost the last seven games in the series. But armed with arguably the ACC's most versatile player in Mike Scott and their tough pack-line defense, the Cavaliers are capable of doing so.

Scott (16.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg) has a vast array of skills on the offensive end of the floor, shooting 59.5% from the field and a respectable 37.5% from three. His ability to score either inside or out makes him a tough matchup for many front court players, but there's also Joe Harris to take into consideration. Harris (12.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg) leads the team in minutes and also shoots well from the field, making nearly 46% of his field goal attempts. It will also be interesting to see who Harris matches up with defensively as Duke goes with a three-guard lineup.

Duke possesses an impressive amount of depth on the perimeter, with Austin Rivers, Seth Curry and Tyler Thornton being the starters. Rivers (14.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.1 apg) leads the team in scoring, and he's become more comfortable with experience. Thornton's insertion into the lineup was done in hopes of improving Duke's perimeter defense, which can be exploited by teams with the ability to break guys down off the dribble. Temple was able to get that done last week, but it may not be as easy for Virginia to do the same.

Point guard Jontel Evans (6.0 ppg, 3.5 apg) will be critical in this regard, as his job is to find the likes of Harris and Scott for quality looks. Senior guard Sammy Zeglinski (9.9 ppg, 2.7 apg) has dealt with injuries for much of his time in Charlottesville but when healthy he's one of the better shooters on the team. And freshman Malcolm Brogdon has been a solid addition to the rotation, and his role as sixth man has become more important due to the mid-year transfer of K.T. Harrell.

Duke has the Plumlee brothers, Mason and Miles, in addition to Ryan Kelly to rely on inside, with the Plumlees providing the muscle while Kelly is more of a face-up "4" who is more comfortable on the perimeter than inside. Mason's averaging 11.7 points and a team-best 9.8 rebounds while also blocking nearly two shots per contest. Miles has worked out better as a reserve in his senior campaign, and this group could prove problematic for Assane Sene and company.

But Virginia is one of the best rebounding teams in the ACC, boasting a margin of plus-8.9. A big difference between the two teams is tempo, with Duke averaging nine more possessions per game. Far more likely to get out and run, the Blue Devils will look to speed things up and if they're knocking down three-pointers early things could get away from the Cavaliers.

However, Virginia has the best three-point percentage defense in the ACC, allowing teams to shoot just 27.7% so that will be an area to watch with Duke shooting 41.7% from distance. Virginia can make quite the statement in Durham tonight, and for the first time in years they've got the ability to take advantage of the opportunity.

Out west, Gonzaga visits Saint Mary's in a matchup of the top two teams in the WCC. The Gaels, who have already beaten BYU in Moraga, have an outstanding point guard in Matthew Dellavedova and forward Rob Jones has been outstanding this season as well. Kevin Pangos hit the ground running for Gonzaga, and he's continued to improve and has to be the early favorite for WCC Rookie of the Year. Up front the Bulldogs can call on Elias Harris, Robert Sacre and Sam Dower, so it will be interesting to see who steps up to help out Jones inside for SMC.

In the Big Ten, Wisconsin visits Purdue in a game both teams need albeit for far different reasons. The Boilermakers are currently 3-1 in conference play and a win over the Badgers would keep them in the thick of the Big Ten race. Wisconsin on the other hand is 1-3, and a loss in West Lafayette would do some serious damage to their hopes of at least getting back into the top half of the Big Ten standings. Wisconsin will need more from Ryan Evans and Jared Berggren if they're to do so, and that goes for the remainder of the season as well.

There's also a big game in the CAA as Drexel, who beat VCU on Sunday night, hosts first-place George Mason. The Mason point guard play has improved in recent games but they're going to encounter a serious test in dealing with Drexel's Frantz Massenat. Massenat was outstanding against VCU, scoring 24 points in the 64-58 win.

Look for this battle, which also features the likes of Mike Morrison and Ryan Pearson for Mason and Samme Givens for Drexel, to be a rugged contest with the winning team likely being the one that better navigates foul difficulties. And Colorado visits California and Oregon State is in Tucson to take on Arizona in Pac-12 play, with the Buffaloes currently leading the conference with a 3-0 league mark.

Top 25 Games
9:00 PM (17) Virginia at (6) Duke (ESPN)
8:00 PM Minnesota at (8) Indiana (BTN)
8:00 PM Jacksonville State at (14) Murray State
9:00 PM Tennessee at (20) Mississippi State (ESPN2)
11:00 PM (23) Gonzaga at Saint Mary's(ESPN2)

NCAA Division I Games
6:00 PM James Madison at VCU (ESPNU)
7:00 PM Southern Utah at IUPUI
7:00 PM Clemson at Boston College (ESPN2)
7:00 PM Central Connecticut State at Mount St. Mary's
7:00 PM Wofford at Chattanooga
7:00 PM Binghamton at Vermont
7:00 PM Samford at Georgia Southern
7:00 PM Manhattan at Iona
7:00 PM Gardner-Webb at Coastal Carolina
7:00 PM Furman at Appalachian State (ESPN3)
7:00 PM UNC-Asheville at Campbell
7:00 PM Western Carolina at Davidson
7:00 PM UNC Wilmington at Georgia State
7:00 PM Winthrop at High Point
7:00 PM Radford at Liberty (ESPN3)
7:00 PM Fairleigh Dickinson at LIU Brooklyn
7:00 PM Idaho at Louisiana Tech (ESPN3)
7:00 PM Wisconsin at Purdue (ESPN)
7:00 PM Quinnipiac at Robert Morris
7:00 PM Rider at Siena (ESPN3)
7:00 PM Monmouth at St. Francis (NY)
7:00 PM Sacred Heart at Saint Francis (PA)
7:00 PM Bryant at Wagner
7:05 PM Elon at Citadel
7:30 PM Presbyterian at Charleston Southern
8:00 PM UNC Greensboro at Charleston (ESPN3)
8:00 PM Western Kentucky at North Texas
8:00 PM Wright State at Milwaukee (ESPN3)
8:00 PM Eastern Kentucky at Austin Peay
8:00 PM George Mason at Drexel (ESPNU)
8:00 PM Tennessee-Martin at Eastern Illinois
8:00 PM Middle Tennessee at Florida International
8:00 PM UMKC at North Dakota State
8:00 PM SIU-Edwardsville at Southeast Missouri State
8:00 PM South Dakota at South Dakota State
8:00 PM Oral Roberts at Western Illinois
8:00 PM Detroit at Green Bay
8:05 PM South Alabama at Louisiana-Lafayette
8:05 PM Crowley's Ridge College at Houston Baptist
8:30 PM Oregon State at Arizona (FSN)
8:35 PM Montana at Northern Arizona
9:00 PM Arkansas-Little Rock at Louisiana-Monroe
9:00 PM Montana State at Weber State
9:05 PM Utah State at New Mexico State (ESPN3)
9:05 PM Portland State at Northern Colorado
9:30 PM Valley City State at North Dakota
10:00 PM Utah at Stanford
10:00 PM UC Santa Barbara at UC Riverside
10:00 PM Hawaii at Fresno State
10:00 PM Cal Poly at UC Irvine
10:00 PM San Jose State at Nevada
10:00 PM Loyola Marymount at Pepperdine (ESPNU)
10:00 PM Portland at San Francisco
10:00 PM San Diego at Santa Clara
10:05 PM Eastern Washington at Sacramento State
10:05 PM UC Davis at Long Beach State
10:05 PM Pacific at Cal State Northridge
10:30 PM Oregon at Arizona State (FSN)
11:00 PM Colorado at California (CSN CA)

Saturday Recap: Five Ranked Teams Fall to Unranked Opponents

Raphielle Johnson — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 04:27:34 -0500

The first Saturday of the new year proved to be far more exciting than anticipated, much to the detriment of ranked teams who took their show on the road. Removing #7 Missouri and #20 Marquette, who both lost on the road to ranked opponents (more on both of those games below), five ranked teams lost to unranked opponents with four of the losses coming on the road. The Big East provided the most intrigue, with #8 Connecticut and #9 Georgetown falling on the road while #10 Louisville lost in double overtime at home. So which of the three defeats is most concerning? That's likely a toss-up between the Huskies and Cardinals.

Connecticut lost at Rutgers, who already owned a win at The RAC over then-#10 Florida, 67-60 with Eli Carter leading the Scarlet Knights with 19 points. It was a Saturday night to forget for Jeremy Lamb, who scored just eight points before fouling out. With the preseason All-America dealing with foul trouble for much of the night, Rutgers head coach Mike Rice was able to go with a zone defense to take advantage of the Huskies' issues in dealing with zones.

While UConn's 36.5% shooting from deep on the season isn't a great number it's definitely better than the 4-for-19 performance they put up against Rutgers. But of more concern than the lack of perimeter shooting is the lack of leadership and toughness for this group, something that was lost with the departure of Kemba Walker. And it's a sore subject for head coach Jim Calhoun, who returned to the bench after missing the last three games due to an NCAA suspension.

"There's not a lack of leadership, there's none," said Calhoun. Short, and to the point.

As for Louisville, their issues of running a half-court offense with cohesion has been well documented, and for that reason it's reasonable to say that Rick Pitino's team was given too much credit earlier in the season. Eric Atkins' shot with 17 seconds remaining gave the Fighting Irish a 65-63 lead and his two free throws in the final seconds of the second overtime sealed the 67-65 victory, giving Notre Dame their first win in the Commonwealth of Kentucky until 1980.

Louisville shot much better from the field, making 42.3% of their shots compared to 31.7% for Notre Dame. But when you hand the ball over 18 times, allowing Notre Dame to score 16 points off of turnovers, there's a good chance that the outcome won't be a positive one. The Cardinals now already have two home conference losses, and that's definitely not a good spot to be in if they're to contend for a Big East title.

"Hard fought game, but if you break it down, they made their free throws and we didn't," said Pitino. "To lose two home games in the Big East with the type of schedule we have is very destructive to say the least."

The other two losses to unranked opponents came in the SEC, with Florida kicking off the crazy day with a 67-56 loss to Tennessee (more on that below) and #15 Mississippi State getting lit up at Arkansas 98-88. The Bulldogs weren't much more than a sieve defensively, allowing the Razorbacks to shoot 56.5% from the field for the game. Rick Stansbury's team seemed to be in solid shape at the half, trailing by just six (43-37) despite turning the ball over eleven times to just two for Arkansas.

But that optimism was misguided as the Bulldogs allowed 55 points in the final 20 minutes with the Hogs making 67.9% of their shots. Julysses Nobles and B.J. Young scored 24 points apiece to lead Arkansas, who finished with five players in double figures, and they were also aided by the fact that three players scored 63 of Mississippi State's 88 points. Arnett Moultrie scored just nine but did grab ten rebounds before fouling out with over six minutes remaining, but his fifth foul essentially signaled the end of the game for Mississippi State. The lesson the Bulldogs learned was similar to that learned by the other ranked teams to fall: anyone can fall on any given day.

Other Notable Happenings

1. Kansas State takes advantage of #7 Missouri's lack of interior depth and hands the Tigers their first loss.
There were certainly concerns about how Frank Haith's team would deal with bigger teams as the season wore on, as Missouri has just seven scholarship players and two true frontcourt players. And at the "Octagon of Doom" the Tigers got their first glimpse of how difficult things could be, especially if their perimeter scorers aren't as productive as expected. Missouri shot just 32.7% from the field and were out-rebounded 39-25 by #23 Kansas State in the Wildcats' 75-59 victory, suffering their first loss of the season.

It didn't help matters that starting forward Ricardo Ratliffe played just 14 foul-riddled minutes, scoring two points and grabbing one rebounds. The Tigers can't afford that level of production when their guards are on, much less when Phil Pressey misses all six of his shots from the field and the team shoots 7-for-24 from three. Rodney McGruder led K-State with 20 points and as a team the Wildcats assisted on 18 of their 28 field goals, resulting in an efficiency (111.9) 21 points higher than what Missouri opponents averaged on the season.

2. Syracuse runs out to a big lead and hangs on to beat Marquette in the Carrier Dome.
Thanks to a 23-1 run in the first half to turn a 12-11 lead into a seemingly insurmountable 35-12 edge, top-ranked Syracuse seemed to be well on their way to an emphatic victory over #20 Marquette. But Jim Boeheim's team apparently left their intensity in the locker room, as they came out of halftime flat while Buzz Williams' team displayed the fight expected of his program. Marquette would eventually pull to within two points (59-57) but could get no closer as the Orange would eventually win 73-66, moving to 17-0 and by the end of the night sitting alone atop the Big East standings.

Marquette could hit nothing in the first half, shooting 30% from the field and going 1-for-7 from beyond the arc. But led by Darius Johnson-Odom (19 points), Jae Crowder (15 points, seven rebounds) and Junior Cadougan (10 points, five assists) the Golden Eagles attacked the inside of the Syracuse zone, resulting in quality looks that were few and far between in the first half. But with Kris Joseph scoring 17 points and reserves C.J. Fair and Dion Waiters combining to score 25 points Syracuse was able to sew things up late, and while they weren't as efficient as usual the Orange did assists on 19 of 24 made baskets. While the landscape beneath them is too muddled to make sense of, it's pretty clear that the Orange are the class of the Big East.

3. Florida has some things to work on defensively if they're to be a factor come March.
The first thing that will stick out in#13 Florida's 67-56 loss at Tennessee is likely the fact that they scored just 56 points, shooting 35.7% from the field in doing so. But what should really be taken out of the defeat is their play on the defensive end of the floor, because despite the struggles offensively Billy Donovan's team won't lack for scoring options. Simply put, can Florida get the stops needed when the possessions become even bigger in March? If they're going to do so some things will need to change, with one being the lack of ball pressure on the perimeter. The issue against Tennessee wasn't about what the Volunteers could do off the dribble but rather the lack of pressure on entry passes.

On multiple occasions the lack of pressure on passers allowed a Jeronne Maymon (12 points, seven rebounds) or Kenny Hall (13 points, five rebounds) the time to walk their man up the lane and out of prime defensive position. If Florida couldn't get away with this against Tennessee, what are they going to do in their two meetings with Kentucky? And it's not out of the realm of possibility that a team like Alabama (or even Mississippi State) that has multiple big men could give them a hard time inside. The Vols entered Saturday's game scoring 33% of their points from three, but they didn't have to do that as the paint was open for business. Florida can't allow that to happen if they're to reach their full potential, prolific offense or not.

4. George Mason beats Georgia State to take over sole possession of first place in the CAA.
In prior seasons the three-game stretch for Georgia State of Drexel/VCU/George Mason would elicit bets of what the Panthers' combined margin of defeat would be. To say the least things have changed under Ron Hunter, as they'd won the first two games of that stretch going into Saturday's showdown with the Patriots for sole possession of first place in the CAA. But despite Ryan Pearson failing to make a single field goal it was George Mason who was able to make the key baskets late on their way to the 61-56 win. Neither team shot well from the field and George Mason turned the ball over 19 times, but the deciding factor was the charity stripe.

George Mason, who shot 67.3% from the line on the season, made 18 of 21 on Saturday night and outscored the Panthers by eight in that department. Vertail Vaughns (17 points) and Mike Morrison (14 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks) more than made up for Pearson's 0-for-4 night, while the Georgia State combo of Josh Micheaux and Devonta White shot a combined 3-for-15 (they entered the game averaging a combined 20.2 points/game). Jihad Ali led Georgia State with 19 points, and while they didn't win the Panthers have the look of a team that could hang around the race throughout the season. But they didn't have enough down the stretch, allowing the Patriots to take control of the driver's seat a quarter of the way through CAA play.

5. Oral Roberts blows out South Dakota State and moves to 6-0 in the Summit League.
The matchup between the Golden Eagles and Jackrabbits was anticipated by some due to not only the matchup of early Summit League POY frontrunners Dominique Morrison (ORU) and Nate Wolters (SDSU) (Oakland's Reggie Hamilton will also figure in the discussion). But they game didn't live up to that, much to the detriment of the Jackrabbits, who fell 97-75 in Tulsa. Morrison was outstanding as he finished with 38 points and seven rebounds, but he had plenty of help as Steven Roundtree scored 17 off the bench and Michael Craion and Warren Niles scored 15 apiece.

Wolters led five SDSU players in double figures with 22 points to go along with six assists, but the Jackrabbits' biggest problem was they they couldn't stop the Golden Eagles. ORU shot 60.7% from the field on the night and 67.5% from two while also making ten of twenty-one from beyond the arc, and when ORU's got it rolling like that they're extremely difficult to beat at the Mabee Center. Oral Roberts finished the game with an offensive efficiency of 154.0, scoring 1.5 points/possession on the night. To say the least South Dakota State will do their best to make sure that doesn't happen in the rematch on February 2nd.

Quick Hitters

1. Saturday marked the first step towards another March in which Virginia Tech is once again discussed as a bubble team, with the Hokies losing at Wake Forest 58-55. Erick Green was solid for the Hokies, finishing with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists, but more is needed from Dorenzo Hudson (4-13, eight points) if they're to be a tournament team.

2. Entering the week with an 0-2 league record, UCLA couldn't afford anything less than a split with the Arizona schools if they wanted to be a contender in the Pac-12 race. Ben Howland's squad did better than that, wrapping up a sweep with a 75-58 win over Arizona State. Travis Wear scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Joshua Smith added 18 off the bench.

3. Few people gave Colorado a shot at being in first place in the Pac-12 at this point in the season, but there they sit after sweeping the Washington schools this weekend. A big reason why: defense. In their 71-60 win over Washington State, Colorado limited the Cougars to 36.5% shooting and none of their three league opponents have shot over 40% from the field. Also in forward Andre Roberson, Tad Boyle's got one of the most underrated players in the country.

4. Of the four teams tied for first place in the MVC the most surprising has to be Illinois State, who beat Evansville 75-73 on a miraculous shot by Jackie Carmichael. Carmichael, who finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, banked in his first career three-pointer as time expired to win the game. We'll find out how much staying power the Redbirds have immediately too, as they visit Wichita State and host Creighton in their next two games.

5. In a matchup of teams undefeated in SoCon play Davidson shot 60% from the field and made 11 three-pointers in their 96-74 win over Georgia Southern. Jake Cohen (29 points) and De'Mon Brooks (24 points) combined to score 53 points with Cohen also grabbing 12 rebounds in the victory.

6. There was also a matchup of undefeated teams in the NEC, and that game wasn't particularly close either. Ken Horton scored 21 points and grabbed ten rebounds while Robbie Ptacek scored 24 points and Kyle Vinales 18 in Central Connecticut State's 68-53 win over Robert Morris. Robert Morris shot just 30.3% from the field and turned the ball over 15 times in defeat.

7. Back in the ACC, Florida State laid a serious egg in their ACC opener as they fell 79-59 at Clemson. Not only did the Seminoles struggle offensively, shooting 35.5% and turning the ball over 15 times, but they also allowed the Tigers to shoot 60% from two and 49% overall. Leonard Hamilton's team can ill-afford the defensive breakdowns they had on Saturday if they're going to be a tournament team.

8. Both Temple and Saint Joseph's dropped conference games at home on Saturday, with Dayton pulling away late to be at the Owls 87-77 and Charlotte shocking the Hawks 57-52. Archie Miller's Flyers picked up a key resume-building win, and Charlotte's victory was a good step for Alan Major as he looks to rebuild that program.

9. Bowling Green also provided a surprise in their MAC opener as they beat Ohio 67-57. Jordon Crawford led the way, scoring 16 points to go along with five assists, four rebounds and two steals. BGSU turned the ball over 20 times (Crawford: six turnovers) but the Bobcats shot 4-for-20 from three, alliowing the home team to lock up the victory.

10. And in terms of a possible changing of the guard Nevada may have struck the biggest blow, handing Utah State their first conference home loss since 2007 by the final score of 78-71. Deonte Burton, who finished with 25 points and five assists, provided the dagger in the form of a four-point play with 37 seconds remaining while Dario Hunt scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Five (plus one) Notable Performances

1. F Doug McDermott (Creighton)
44 points (18-23 FG), eight rebounds and two assists in the Bluejays' 92-83 win at Bradley.

2. F Dominique Morrison (Oral Roberts)
38 points (11-15 FG), seven rebounds and two assists in the Golden Eagles' 97-75 win over South Dakota State.

3. G Damian Lillard (Weber State)
38 points (8-14 3PT), five rebounds and five assists in the Wildcats' 88-81 win at Portland State.

4. G Isaiah Canaan (Murray State)
35 points (7-8 3PT), five assists and two rebounds in the Racers' 87-75 win at Austin Peay.

5. F Kevin Jones (West Virginia)
22 points (8-12 FG) and 16 rebounds in the Mountaineers' 74-62 win over #9 Georgetown.

Plus One: F Royce White (Iowa State)
18 rebounds, ten points and ten assists in the Cyclones' 74-50 demolition of Texas A&M in College Station.

Game of the Day: Stanford 103, Oregon State 101 (4 OT)
If you missed this one late that's too bad, because the Cardinal and Beavers combined to play an instant classic. The game didn't truly take off until the final moments of regulation, as Stanford's game-winning basket was ruled to have come after time expired. Stanford would eventually win as Roberto Nelson's three-point attempt as time expired missed the mark. Chasson Randle led six Stanford players in double figures with 24 points off the bench while Nelson and Jared Cunningham led six Oregon State players in double figures with 19 apiece.

Thursday Recap: Rutgers Beats #10 Florida

Raphielle Johnson — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:50:22 -0500

The matchup between #10 Florida and Rutgers on Thursday night was hyped up due to the return of Mike Rosario, who transferred from the New Jersey school following two seasons in New Brunswick. But his return was a subplot in what turned out to be one of the best games of the calendar year, with the focus by the end being Mike Rice's young guards. Eli Carter led the way with 31 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while Myles Mack knocked down some big shots late in regulation and during the overtime periods to lead Rutgers to the 85-83 double overtime victory.

Jerome Seagears added 13 points and junior forward Dane Miller was his usual versatile self with 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Kenny Boynton led four Florida players in double figures with 26 points, but the Gators seemed to bog down offensively down the stretch, once again not getting the ball inside enough to Patric Young. Young finished with 11 points but took just eight shots in 41 minutes of play, and there was even a possession where Florida failed to get him the ball despite being guarded by the 6'3" Carter. Florida's guards had the experience advantage, but it was Rutgers that made that one extra big play to win the game.

"Would I have liked them to get into our sets a little quicker? Sure," said Rice after the game. "But there was such a poise, such a confidence. They responded at the end. I always take it back because they practice like that ...hopefully this is [what's] to come."

For all their youth Rutgers turned the ball over just 11 times compared to 18 Florida turnovers, and their assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.64 was nearly double their season average (0.86). Also critical for the Scarlet Knights was their play on the boards, as they were out-rebounded by just one (37-36) on the night with Derrick Randall supplying eight rebounds in 17 minutes of play. The Rutgers reserves, led by Mack (14 points), outscored Florida's bench 22-8 with Rosario scoring five points for the Gators. The Scarlet Knights are young and there will be bumps in the road in Big East play, but as Coach Rice said after the game the future is bright.

"This is what happens when you don't think impossible is impossible," said Rice. "This is what happens when young men are determined to follow the formula and play for one another."

Other Notable Happenings

1. Vanderbilt jumps Marquette from the start and picks up a much-needed resume builder.
Much of the country didn't get to see the beginning of Vanderbilt/Marquette due to the length of Rutgers' win over Florida, and by the time ESPN2 switched over the game was essentially finished. Kevin Stallings' Commodores jumped out to a 19-4 lead and didn't look back, leading by as many as 25 points in the first half (31-6) on their way to a 74-57 victory. Marquette couldn't hit the broad side of a barn in the first half as they shot 21.2% from the field and finished the game making 32.2% of their shots.

Jeffery Taylor led four Commodores in double figures with 19 points while Lance Goulbourne added 13 to go along with 16 rebounds, and Marquette's inability to make shots allowed the visitors to get away with 17 turnovers. Jae Crowder (16 points) and Darius Johnson-Odom (12 points) reached double figures but with fellow starters Junior Cadougan and Vander Blue combining to make two of ten shots from the field the Golden Eagles weren't able to get back into the game. Vanderbilt needed a win like this to re-establish some national credibility after an 8-4 start, and this will help as they go into SEC play.

2. Saint Mary's welcomes BYU to the WCC with 98 points in Moraga.
BYU and Saint Mary's went into Thursday's game familiar with each other since they met last season, even with some of the key figures in that meeting no longer in school. But confernce play can be an entirely different animal, as the Cougars found out in the second half of the Gaels' 98-82 victory. Randy Bennett's team made 55.4% of their shots and assisted on 23 of 31 made baskets, and individually both Matthew Dellavedova and Rob Jones posted double-doubles. Dellavedova ran the show for Saint Mary's, finishing with 18 points and 12 assists, while Jones was a matchup nightmare for BYU with 24 points and 15 rebounds.

Brandon Davies was outstanding for BYU in scoring 28 points and grabbing seven rebounds, but there wasn't enough offensive help for Davies when considering the fact that four SMC starters finished in double figures. Stephen Holt made eight of his ten shots in scoring 21 points and Jorden Page added 13 and five assists. On a night filled with offense, BYU simply could not get stops when they needed them the most. Of the three contenders for the WCC title (Gonzaga) the Gaels have the weakest non-conference resume, so that regular season crown may be most important for them when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. Thursday night was a good first step in that direction.

3. Cashmere Wright takes matters into his own hands late to lead Cincinnati past Oklahoma.
One question regarding Cincinnati's smaller lineup in light of the suspensions of Yancy Gates and Cheikh Mbodj was how the Bearcats would deal with bigger teams, something that wasn't an issue in wins over lesser competition. Oklahoma provided that challenge, and while it wasn't pretty Cincinnati found a way to win 56-55. That way: give Cashmere Wright the chance to make plays late. The junior point guard scored just eight points on the night (3-14 FG), but he made two huge baskets in the final minute including the game-winner with 8.8 seconds to go. Cincinnati turned the ball over just eight times on the night compared to 17 for the Sooners (UC: 16 points off turnovers), and while they were a minus-9 in rebounding margin the Bearcats grabbed 13 offensive boards and scored ten second-chance points (OU finished with 11). Cincinnati's taken full advantage of what could have been a crippling turn of events, becoming a better basketball team as a result.

Quick Hitters

1. It was a bad night for ACC bottom-feeders on Thursday, with Boston College losing to #24 Harvard for the fourth consecutive time (67-46) and Georgia Tech losing at Fordham (72-66). To say the least these results don't do much to maintain the league's computer numbers, and it could be a long conference season for both the Eagles and Yellow Jackets. And it should also be noted that Wake Forest nearly lost to Yale after leading by 19, ultimately hanging on to beat the Bulldogs 72-71.

2. Freshman guard Jamal Branch has left the Texas A&M program and will transfer according to multiple media outlets. Branch averaged just 4.2 points and 2.5 assists per game, but his departure leaves the Aggies one option short on a perimeter that hasn't played at a championship level this season.

3. Two teams that took hits to their chances of an at-large bid on Thursday are Marshall and Iona, with both falling on the road. Iona couldn't recover from 19 first half turnovers in an 83-75 loss at Hofstra while the Thundering Herd lost 79-74 to a Belmont team they beat just ten days ago. The Herd may have a better shot at earning an at-large given their conference affiliation (Conference USA), but the climb for both teams became a lot tougher.

4. Shaka Smart's VCU Rams won their seventh straight game on Thursday, winning 76-75 in overtime at Akron. Bradford Burgess led four Rams in double figures with 19 points (and seven rebounds) and VCU forced 20 Akron turnovers on the night.

5. Getting to conference play wasn't the catalyst for Austin Peay that some thought it would be as the Governors lost 67-65 at Eastern Kentucky. Dave Loos' team dropped to 3-11 on the season (0-1 OVC) while the Colonels are now 2-0 in league play.

6. In the "inexplicable loss" category are the defeats suffered by American and James Madison, who in losing to Mount St. Mary's and Rhode Island respectively lost to teams that entered Thursday with a combined 2-21 record.

7. Even though they were the home team it's likely that few people expected Illinois State to beat Northern Illinois in the MVC opener for both teams. But that's exactly what happened as the Redbirds, led by Jackie Carmichael (19 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks), beat the Panthers 65-61.

8. The opening night of Pac-12 play didn't lack excitement either, with Stanford hanging on to beat UCLA 60-59. UCLA took 13 shots in the second half that would have given them the lead if converted...and missed them all. And in Seattle, Tony Wroten led Washington to a 95-80 win over Oregon State with 26 points, nine rebounds and four assists. If the freshman continues to learn how to use his talents to make his teammates better, look out.

Three Notable Performances

1. G Eli Carter (Rutgers)
31 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the Scarlet Knights' 85-83 double overtime win over #10 Florida.

2. F Will Barton (Memphis)
27 points, 13 rebounds and three assists in the Tigers' 64-47 win over Robert Morris.

3. F Chris Gaston (Fordham)
23 points and 17 rebounds in the Rams' 72-66 win over Georgia Tech.

Thursday Preview: BYU at Saint Mary's

Raphielle Johnson — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 03:31:23 -0500

It can be argued that Vanderbilt's trip to #13 Marquette is the big game of the day on Thursday, especially when considering a Commodore resume that could use some added bulk. But there's also the first-ever conference game as a member of the West Coast Conference for BYU (11-3), and they're jumping directly into the fire thanks to the league schedule-makers. Dave Rose's Cougars visit Saint Mary's (11-2) in the league opener for both teams, and there are some very good individual battles to keep track of in Moraga. The Gaels are 9-0 at home on the season thanks to both a tough environment for visitors at McKeon Pavilion and the talented players at Randy Bennett's disposal. The one who "stirs the drink": junior point guard Matthew Dellavedova.

Dellavedova (13.9 ppg, 6.3 apg), who was inexplicably left off of the first Cousy Award candidate list, is called upon to score as well as set up the Gaels' other options. The Australian shoots at a good clip from both the floor (44.3%) and from three (36.5%), with Steven Holt (8.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.5 apg) and Jorden Page (7.7 ppg) also factoring into things on the perimeter. Senior forward Clint Steindl (9.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg) is shooting 44.9% from beyond the arc, and he can be a matchup problem for teams given his comfort on the perimeter. Thanks in large part to this perimeter rotation the Gaels average 17.0 assists and 11.5 turnovers per game, and their efficiency (114.1) is tops in the WCC.

BYU ranks third in the conference in offensive efficiency (111.3), and the addition of UCLA transfer Matt Carlino at the end of the fall semester has paid dividend for the Cougars. Carlino (17.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg), who some have envisioned as possibly become a southpaw guard in the mold of Jimmer Fredette, has hit the ground running in shooting 54.5% from both the field and from three. Wings Charles Abouo (11.9 ppg, 7.0 ppg) and Brock Zylstra (9.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg) were BYU's best perimeter scorers before Carlino became eligible, and they're both clearly going to remain key options offensively. But what Carlino's arrival has done is make opponents account for the point guard spot supplying credible scoring, something that wasn't happening when he wasn't available.

The play inside will be where BYU may have to take control of the game, and they're more than capable of doing so with one of the top frontcourts on the west coast. Obviously Abouo's going to help on the glass given the fact that he's the Cougars' second-leading rebounder, but BYU can call on the experienced Noah Hartsock (17.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg) and Brandon Davies (11.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg) for scoring and muscle inside. Hartsock is shooting 59.1% from the field on the season, which is quite the achievement when considering that he's taken the most shots on the team (159). Davies is a very good athlete who does the majority of his work in the paint, and while his field goal percentage is down from his first two seasons in Provo that's got more to do with Davies' larger role.

As for Saint Mary's their best frontcourt player is senior Rob Jones (14.0 ppg, 10.6 rpg), who leads the team in both scoring and rebounding while also ranking third on the team in assists. If Saint Mary's isn't calling upon Dellavedova to make something happen more likely than not it's Jones who shoulders that responsibility. The other interior players are called upon more for defense and rebounding than scoring, with the experienced Kenton Walker and Mitchell Young combining with freshman Brad Waldow and sophomore Beau Levesque in a four-man platoon (seven-footer Kyle Rowley also plays 6.2 mpg). This group has to help out Jones on the boards against a BYU team that's the better rebounding squad of the two.

The Cougars out-rebound their opponents by an average of 5.1 rebounds per game while the Gaels are almost breaking even (plus-0.3) in rebounding margin. With these being the top two defensive teams in the WCC from an efficiency (and field goal percentage) standpoint, rebounding and second-chance points could make the difference. If Davies, Hartsock and the rest of the Cougars can attack the offensive glass successfully they've got a shot at leaving Moraga with the win. But they're also going to need either Anson Winder or Craig Cusick to step up and take advantage of whatever opportunities come their way on the perimeter. With Gonzaga also factoring into the WCC race, one of these two teams will get a much-appreciated jump on the competition with a win.

Vanderbilt, to their credit, has played a tough schedule to this point in the season but at 8-4 there's no doubt that the Commodores could use another quality win before the start of SEC play. Thursday night's game at #13 Marquette offers the perfect opportunity to pick one up, but John Jenkins and Jeffery Taylor are going to have their hands full on the perimeter. In addition to Darius Johnson-Odom there's also point guard Junior Cadougan, Vander Blue and reserve Todd Mayo to account for. And in an inside/out role Jae Crowder is one of the top forwards in the Big East. Whether or not Vanderbilt can leave Milwaukee with the win could depend on what they get from Brad Tinsley and Festus Ezeli.

Pac-12 plays also gets underway, and while the much-maligned conference doesn't have a single ranked team that doesn't mean that the action will lack suspense. Oregon State visits Washington with a chance to prove that they're ready to be an actual factor in the title race as opposed to a spolier, and with Jared Cunningham leading the way it's definitely possible. Washington needs to find a way to mesh the talents of Abdul Gaddy and Tony Wroten on the perimeter while also getting the ball to C.J. Wilcox and Terrence Ross on the wings. If one were to combine the raw talent of Wroten with the savvy of Gaddy the end result would be the perfect point guard for Lorenzo Romar's system, but obviously that isn't possible.

UCLA's trip to Stanford is another matchup of interest as the Bruins have won five straight games. One big reason why is that they're defending better, and the improved execution on the offensive end hasn't hurt either. Stanford counters with forward Josh Owens and freshman guard Chaisson Allen, who is going to be a star in the Pac-12 and possibly sooner rather than later. Harvard will likely be expected to win at Boston College and Mike Rosario returns to Rutgers in a pair of games in the northeast that the visitors are expected to win, and Memphis had better be careful to not underestimate Andy Toole's Robert Morris Colonials.

Top 25 Games
7:00 PM Elon at (6) North Carolina (ESPNU)
7:00 PM (10) Florida at Rutgers (ESPN2)
9:00 PM Vanderbilt at (13) Marquette (ESPN2)
7:30 PM Penn State at (16) Michigan (BTN)
8:00 PM Howard at (18) Kansas (ESPN3)
7:00 PM (23) Harvard at Boston College (ESPN3)

NCAA Division I Games
2:00 PM Brown at St. Francis (NY)
4:00 PM American University at Mount St. Mary's
4:30 PM Utah Valley vs. Hampton*
6:00 PM Spring Hill at Louisiana Tech
7:00 PM Grambling State at LSU (CST)
7:00 PM North Carolina Central at East Carolina
7:00 PM Campbell at NC State
7:00 PM Yale at Wake Forest
7:00 PM Sacred Heart at New Hampshire
7:00 PM William & Mary at Miami (OH)
7:00 PM Robert Morris at Memphis
7:00 PM Longwood at Chattanooga
7:00 PM VCU at Akron
7:00 PM Green Bay at Butler (ESPN3)
7:00 PM Stetson at UCF
7:00 PM Pennsylvania at Davidson
7:00 PM Austin Peay at Eastern Kentucky
7:00 PM Iona at Hofstra (FiOS 1)
7:00 PM Boston University at La Salle
7:00 PM Citadel at Tennessee (ESPN3)
7:00 PM Arkansas-Pine Bluff at UTEP
7:05 PM Maine at Florida Gulf Coast
8:00 PM Detroit at Illinois-Chicago (HLN)
8:00 PM Arkansas Tech at Texas A&M
8:00 PM Arkansas-Little Rock at North Texas
8:00 PM Texas-Arlington at Texas-Pan American
8:00 PM Southern Illinois at Evansville (ESPN3)
8:00 PM Marshall at Belmont
8:00 PM Georgia Tech at Fordham (CBSSN)
8:00 PM Wright State at Loyola (IL) (HLN)
8:00 PM FIU at Middle Tennessee
8:00 PM Tennessee Tech at SIU-Edwardsville
8:00 PM Alcorn State at Southern Miss
8:00 PM Milwaukee at Valparaiso
8:05 PM Northern Iowa at Illinois State
8:30 PM Western Kentucky at Louisiana-Monroe
8:30 PM Tennessee-Martin at Tennessee State
8:35 PM Kent State at Arkansas State
8:35 PM Sacramento State at Northern Arizona
9:00 PM Coppin State vs. San Jose State*
9:00 PM USC at California (CSN CA)
9:00 PM Jacksonville State vs. Colorado State*
9:00 PM Oregon State at Washington (ROOT)
9:00 PM Oregon at Washington State (CSN NW)
9:00 PM Jacksonville at Alabama (ESPN3)
9:00 PM Wagner vs. Air Force*
9:00 PM Oklahoma at Cincinnati (ESPNU)
9:00 PM Troy at Denver
9:00 PM Idaho State at Weber State
9:30 PM James Madison vs. Rhode Island*
10:00 PM Hope International at Cal Poly
10:00 PM UC Irvine at Cal State Northridge
10:00 PM San Francisco at Pepperdine
10:05 PM UC Davis at Cal State Fullerton
10:30 PM Fresno State at Pacific
11:00 PM UCLA at Stanford (FSN)
11:00 PM Brigham Young at Saint Mary's (ESPN2)
11:15 PM Eastern Michigan at Santa Clara
11:15 PM Nebraska-Omaha at Seattle
1:00 AM South Carolina State at Hawaii

College Hoops Sunday Recap: Shockers Put On a Show

Raphielle Johnson — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:32:25 -0500

Going into Sunday's game at Wichita State, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels were on the tail end of an eight-day stretch that began with a win over then-#1 North Carolina followed by a double-overtime win at UCSB. To say the least this wasn't the easiest way to end that stretch, and Joe Ragland and the Shockers made sure that was the case. Ragland made eight of nine from beyond the arc in scoring a game-high 31 points, and as a team Wichita State shot 12-for-23 from distance in the 89-70 win. Ragland had issues early on the defensive end of the floor, but that changed and as a result the visitors found themselves having a hard time slowing the senior guard down.

"I didn't expect that type of game from Joe Ragland but honestly, I've expected some game similar to that," said Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall. "He's just a dynamite performer...he took it upon himself to bounce back from those missed defensive assignments that cost us a couple baskets early, and when he got back in there he was on a mission."

UNLV didn't play terribly in the first half but they still trailed 47-32 at the break due to a 24-3 Wichita State advantage in points scored from beyond the arc. Ragland made all five of his shots while David Kyles added two and Garrett Stutz, while UNLV made just one of nine shots from deep. The Shockers also did a good job of sharing the basketball as they assisted on ten of seventeen field goals. That was another difference between the two teams as UNLV assisted on just four of ten first-half field goals.

UNLV played better in the second half offensively, making 50% of their shots and assisting on more than half of their baskets (season assist percentage: 67.6%), but they simply could not stop Ragland or the rest of the Shockers. For the game Wichita State finished with an efficiency of 150.8. To put that number in perspective UNLV's opponents average an efficiency of 90.1 with a high of 106.0 (UCSB) according to the website statsheet.com.

Wichita State didn't have the best trip to Puerto Rico as they lost two of three games to finish fourth in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, but the Shockers have improved in the three games since. There should be no doubt that they're going to be right there fighting for the Missouri Valley crown.

Other Notable Happenings

1. San Diego State hangs on to beat California at home by a point.
California was without the services of forward Richard Solomon on Sunday afternoon as he'd been suspended by head coach Mike Montgomery, meaning that they went small with a three-guard lineup. The insertion of Justin Cobbs was a good one as the Minnesota transfer scored 17 points, but with Jorge Gutierrez struggling (3-12 FG, six points) the Golden Bears had their issues on the offensive end against San Diego State. Chase Tapley was SDSU's lone double-figure scorer (25 points) but a key 14-3 run to end the first half gave Steve Fisher's team the breathing room they needed in what would end up being a 64-63 victory. Cal would pull even in the second half but could only gain the lead once (51-50 with 6:33 remaining) despite the play of Cobbs and Allen Crabbe (23 points, nine rebounds). With their loss to Creighton on Wednesday night, San Diego State needed this win to avoid an 0-2 week and thanks in large part to Tapley they got it.

2. Keep an eye on American, who has now won seven straight, in the Patriot League.
Bucknell is the defending league champion and Lehigh has one of the nation's most prolific guards in C.J. McCollum, but don't expect the Patriot League to simply be a two-team race. Jeff Jones' American Eagles won their seventh straight game on Sunday as Charles Hinkle scored a game-high 32 points in a 66-60 win over Saint Joseph's. The Eagles led 38-28 at the half thanks to both Hinkle (17 points) and the defensive effort against SJU guards Langston Galloway and Carl Jones, who combined to score just two points. Jones scored 11 points in the second half but it wasn't enough to overcome a 3-for-17 night from beyond the arc at Bender Arena. If there's a concern for American in the aftermath of Sunday's win it would have to be their play in the paint, with C.J. Aiken and Halil Kanacevic leading the way in a 34-16 SJU scoring edge. if the Eagles can improve in that area leading into league play next month, they'll be better equipped to take on the likes of Bucknell's Mike Muscala in league play.

3. Baylor's zone defense proves to be too much for Northwestern.
For all the press sent Kentucky's way the Wildcats may not have the most distracting front line in the country. Baylor could make a very good case for that distinction however, and their qualifications were on full display in a 69-41 win at Northwestern. Anthony Jones, Perry Jones III, Quincy Acy and Quincy Miller are four big reasons why, as their wingspan and activity within Scott Drew's matchup zone can eliminate both good looks and lanes to the basket. Northwestern could get little going offensively, shooting 24.1% from the field and shooting 4-for-26 from beyond the arc.

Even worse for the Wildcats was that once they got inside of the zone they made just 31% of their two-point shots, a difference of 19 percent from their season average. Also of note for Baylor was the play of point guard Pierre Jackson, who finished with 16 points and three assists. As he goes so will the Bears come March because even with the mid-season addition of Cal transfer Gary Franklin, Jackson could still be their best option at the point. At the very least, few teams will be looking forward to playing Baylor because of the defensive prowess of their big men.

Quick Hitters

1. While debating the merits of 9-0 Tulane it needs to be pointed out that Murray State is also undefeated, and they handled Dayton 75-58 on Sunday afternoon. Isaiah Canaan scored 21 points and dished out five assists to lead the way, and the Racers forced 17 Dayton turnovers while also limiting them to 3-for-14 from three.

2. Alasdair Frasier scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead three starters in double figures as Maine beat Rhode Island 76-74 in overtime in Kingston. The effort was better for the Rams but that doesn't change the fact that Jim Baron's team has lost seven of their first eight.

3. The process of rebuilding Manhattan is nowhere near complete for first-year head coach Steve Masiello, but the Jaspers are 2-0 in MAAC play following their 68-42 win over Saint Peter's. George Beamon led the way with 22 points (7-9 FG), four rebounds and four steals, but the defense stood out as Saint Peter's shot just 32.6% and turned the ball over 17 times.

4. Alex Abreu returned from a two-game suspension but it wasn't enough to prevent Akron from getting whipped 77-53 at Middle Tennessee. The Zips, who have lost four of their last five after a 2-0 start, shot 28.6% from both the field and from three on Sunday.

5. Stanford made the plays needed late to move to 8-1, beating NC State 76-72 in Palo Alto. Josh Owens led the way with 19 points and seven rebounds and Anthony Brown added 12 off the bench. Johnny Dawkins' team could be one to watch in the Pac-12.

6. Kansas State passed their first test of the season as they won at Virginia Tech 69-61. Jamar Samuels impressed with 17 points and 14 rebounds and Shane Southwell added 11 off the bench.

7. Oregon State posted an impressive win to close the day, beating expected Big Sky contender Montana 71-46. Ahmad Starks led four Beavers in double figures with 17 points, and Craig Robinson's team looked very good in a game that prior Oregon State teams would either struggle with or lose.

Three Notable Performances

1. G Joe Ragland (Wichita State)
31 points (8-9 3PT), five rebounds and three assists in the Shockers' 89-70 win over UNLV.

2. G Terrell Stoglin (Maryland)
31 points (11-20 FG), five rebounds and two assists in the Terrapins' 78-71 win over Notre Dame.

3. F Jamar Samuels (Kansas State)
17 points (7-8 FG) and 14 rebounds in the Wildcats' 69-61 win at Virginia Tech.

College Hoops Monday Recap: Disciplined Wolverines Outclass Memphis

Raphielle Johnson — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 02:16:59 -0500

One of the keys in playing against Michigan is to remain composed and execute your game plan. Getting away from what you do well in attempts to get the Wolverines to play a style other than their own more times than not results in a loss. That was the lesson for the Memphis Tigers, who in spite of their athletic talents have some maturing to do before referring to themselves as sure-fire national title contenders. Tim Hardaway Jr. led Michigan with 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists and freshman guard Trey Burke added 14 points and four assists in the Wolverines' 73-61 victory, and they'll take on Duke in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.

The problems for the Tigers came on both ends of the floor. Offensively Josh Pastner's team struggled to create good looks for themselves, instead settling for contested shots as they became more perplexed by the Michigan defense. Memphis shot 33% for the game and just 31% in the second half, and their efficiency numbers were a far cry from the marks reached in their season-opening win over Belmont. Memphis also had trouble defensively as Michigan shot 54% from the field, a number bolstered by making 70% of their two-point shots.

That more than made up for the Wolverines shooting 30% from beyond the arc, and for some reason the two teams took the same number of three-pointers (20) despite the fact that Memphis would have better served to attack the basket. Charles Carmouche led the Tigers with 14 points (their lone player in double figures), and he seemed to be the only player with any kind of idea as to what Michigan was trying to do defensively. Will Barton made just three of his twelve shots, and he was a little too wild for his (or the Tigers') good on that end of the floor. Memphis' running game was neutralized, limiting their offense for much of the game.

"I think that was one of the key things we did is communicate really well to stop the ball coming down the fast break," said Hardaway, Jr. "And just pointing out to your man who you [have], and I think communication is the whole key to having a successful defensive team on transition."

Michigan closed the first half on a 10-0 run sparked by their changing defenses, incorporating man-to-man and 2-3 zone looks as they frustrated the Tigers. There was brief "conference" at mid-court as the teams left the floor at the break, but that would change little for Memphis as the Wolverines continued to build on their lead in the second half. As a result Michigan gets a shot at the team that ended their season, and Memphis has the chance to use this tough lesson in a constructive manner.

"They hit some big shots in the second half, and it's just one of those things where we're playing a very good Michigan team, and we're a very good team," said Pastner. "That's why we're playing these type of games to see what adjustments we need to make. It's very early in the year, and this will give us a barometer of things we need to get better at."

Other Notable Happenings

1. J'Covan Brown's an impressive player, but his error in judgment sparked an NC State comeback.
Even with Brown picking up his fourth foul with 8:25 remaining the Longhorns seemed to be in good shape as they held a 65-52 lead in the third place game of the Ticket City Legends Classic. But Brown uttered one of those "magic words", and the resulting technical foul was also his fifth personal foul. From that point forward Mark Gottfried's Wolfpack took full advantage, continuing what would become a 19-1 run on their way to the 77-74 victory.

C.J. Leslie led the way with 17 points and the return of Scott Wood (16 points) also played a role in the comeback from 18 points down, but while this is definitely a boost for the Wolfpack the outcome highlighted how important Brown is to Texas. Myck Kabongo has a way to go before he's truly ready to run the show in crunch time, meaning that Brown has to remain on the floor. Silly mistakes like his technical foul will do the Longhorns no favors if allowed to become a trend.

2. Missouri and California put together impressive performances at the CBE Classic and will meet tomorrow night.
Notre Dame received a boost as Tim Abromaitis returned to the lineup, scoring 22 points and grabbing eight rebounds on the night. But the Irish were no match for Frank Haith's Missouri Tigers, who shot 63% from the field in the first half and scored 53 points on their way to an 87-58 win. The Tigers' guards, led by Marcus Denmon (26 points) and Phil Pressey (17 points), were simply too quick for Notre Dame in a dominant performance. And the team that many were concerned about due to the loss of Laurence Bowers out-rebounded Notre Dame 38-24, and while that disparity was affected by the disparity in shooting percentages (Mizzou 58%, Notre Dame 37%) the Tigers more than held their own.

They'll likley encounter a tougher challenge on Tuesday night as they take on the Cal Golden Bears, who snapped out of a slow start to beat Georgia 70-46. Cal gained their separation with a 14-0 run to end the first half and things only got worse after the break. Cal head coach Mike Montgomery credited the fact that the Bulldogs run a lot of sets that are similar to his own (Georgia head coach Mark Fox was an assistant of Trent Johnson's at Nevada, and Johnson was an assitant of Montgomery's at Stanford), and adding the Bears' experience to that made it nearly impossible for the Bulldogs to prevent things from getting out of hand. Harper Kamp led three Cal players in double figures with 16 points and defensively the Golden Bears limited Georgia to 32.8% shooting from the field. Tuesday's title game should be entertaining, but at the very least it will be a challenge for both.

3. Brad Tinsley's shot in the final seconds gives Vanderbilt the Legends Classic title.
Kevin Stallings' Commodores were locked in a tough battle with Oregon State at the Izod Center, never leading by more than nine points (45-36) and going back and forth with the Beavers in crunch time. It took a jumper from the right elbow from senior guard Brad Tinsley with 4.5 seconds remaining to give Vanderbilt the 64-62 win in a game that both teams can take positives from. One key for Vandy was the defense of Jeffery Taylor, who drew the assignment of guarding Jared Cunningham. Cunningham scored just nine points on the night, but OSU was able to hang around thanks to Devon Collier (19 points) and Ahmad Starks (16 points).

Another key contributor for Oregon State was Eric Moreland, who chipped in eight points and eight rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench. While it's still extremely early in the season Craig Robinson's group does not feel like previous Oregon State teams, ones that seemed to be locks to plummet to the bottom of the (then) Pac-10. As for Vanderbilt, these are the kinds of games that people have had questions about in March: are they tough enough to make the plays needed to win tight games? John Jenkins scored 14 points with Cunningham working hard to make his night difficult, and Lance Goulbourne made some key plays to supplement the efforts of Jenkins and Taylor. The game wasn't pretty, as Vandy turned the ball over 22 times, but winning an ugly game at this stage could pay dividends down the road.

Quick Hitters

1. While many will choose to focus on the 18 points scored by freshman Austin Rivers, the 17 points scored by Ryan Kelly in their 77-67 win over Tennessee could prove to be a more important development for Duke down the line. The Plumlee brothers struggled offensively, but if Kelly can build on this performance the front line becomes that much more formidable.

2. The stunning aspect of UMass' 82-46 win over Boston College wasn't the fact that the Minutemen won so much as the margin. For the Eagles to lose at home by 36 points underlines just how far Steve Donahue's team has to go, and their youth won't help matters in the ACC either.

3. Just one week after losing to Marquette by 30 points in Milwaukee, Norfolk State fought until the end and had a shot to win the title game of the Paradise Jam. But while the Golden Eagles survived 59-57, look for the Spartans to contend for the MEAC title. One thing that the Spartans can call on is their matchup zone, which pestered Marquette throughout.

4. Reeves Nelson sat out the first half of UCLA's win over Chaminade after missing the team flight out to Maui. The second half was more about the entire team finally bringing the level of effort needed to be a successful team than the return of Nelson, and it will be interesting to see if the Bruins can bring it against Kansas.

5. The three-point shooting struggles of last season are a thing of the past for Florida, who made ten threes in their 78-65 win over Wright State. Billy Donovan's team has made ten or more three-pointers in each of their games this season, and Bradley Beal and Kenny Boynton both scored 22 points on Monday night.

6. Another surprising margin of victory: George Washington beating Detroit 86-73, and the Colonials led by as many as 26 points in the second half. Tony Taylor led the way with 22 points and six assists and Lasan Kromah added 17 in the most impressive win of first-year head coach Mike Lonergan's short tenure.

7. This win won't make headlines nationwide, but Manhattan's 85-83 win over Fresno State is a good result for first-year head coach Steve Masiello. Donovan Kates and Mike Alvarado scored 14 points apiece to lead five Jaspers in double figures as they moved to 3-1 on the season.

Three Notable Performances

1. F Jared Sullinger (Ohio State)
27 points, 13 rebounds and three steals in the Buckeyes' 85-50 win over North Florida.

2. G/F Jason Guerrier (Albany)
28 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in 28 minutes off the bench in the Great Danes' 85-49 win over Monmouth.

3. F Thomas Robinson (Kansas)
20 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks in the Jayhawks' 67-63 win over Georgetown.

College Hoops Weekend Recap: Alabama Wins Puerto Rico Tipoff

Raphielle Johnson — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:41:53 -0500

In-season tournaments can be tricky to analyze when the dust settles. Sometimes the winning team can build on the experience and move on to bigger and better things, with last year's Connecticut team (Maui Invitational champs) being a prime example. Others, like Minnesota (last year's Puerto Rico Tip-Off champs) can temporarily hide flaws that get exposed later in the season. Essentially these early season results should be taken with a grain of salt, because while we see flashes of teams in reality it's a small sample size.

But in the case of Anthony Grant's Alabama Crimson Tide, what they showed off in San Juan was the ability to overpower opponents with one of the more talented frontcourts in the country along with a perimeter rotation that's rounding into form. Trevor Releford led the team with 20 points and five rebounds in Alabama's 65-56 win over Purdue, but just as important was the play on the defensive end of the floor.

As a team Purdue shot just 35% from the field, and while Robbie Hummel scored 17 points the fifth-year senior needed fifteen shots (making five) to do so. JaMychal Green and Tony Mitchell, who nearly tore the rim down on multiple occasions this weekend, made life tough around the rim for all three opponents faced and will continue to do so as the season wears on. To compare Purdue's offensive numbers over their three games in Puerto Rico would display the difference in the level of defenders.

Here are Purdue's offensive efficiency and effective field goal percentage numbers in their three Puerto Rico Tip-Off games (courtesy of statsheet.com):

Iona: 113.8, 52.6%
Temple: 121.4, 52.7%
Alabama: 90.3, 39.5%

To say the least, things were a lot more difficult for Matt Painter's team offensively against the Crimson Tide. Offense can come and go by the game, but defense is something that is largely controlled by effort. Alabama used that to their advantage on Sunday night, and there really isn't a reason in their control as to why they can't continue to do so. While many will fawn over Kentucky, respect Florida and consider Vanderbilt with their offensive weapons, don't ignore Alabama in the SEC.

Other Notable Happenings

1. Xavier and Temple are the favorites in the Atlantic 10, but Saint Louis could be the league's third NCAA Tournament option.
While this game was expected to be a homecoming for the injured Scott Suggs and a return to his first head coaching job for Lorenzo Romar, it was also a dangerous one for the Washington Huskies. And it became more than dangerous from the start as Rick Majerus' Saint Louis Billikens sprinted out of the gates to 50 first half points, ultimately winning 77-64 in a game that wasn't as close as the final margin would indicate.

Brian Conklin scored 25 points and Kwamain Mitchell added 18 as the Billikens shot 53% from the field, and SLU led by as many as 29 in the second half. Washington may have won the rebounding battle 40-26 but that had more to do with the fact that they shot just 42% from the field, and their effective field goal percentage was nearly eight percentage points below their average. People within the conference have been high on the Billikens, and on Sunday the nation saw exactly why.

2. Weak non-conference schedules don't leave much room for error, a lesson Cincinnati learned on Saturday.
The key for the Bearcats now is to make sure their loss to Presbyterian doesn't rear its ugly head on Selection Sunday, but given the caliber of Mick Cronin's team they should be alright. The bigger concern is what happened in the second half of that game, which ended on a 24-7 run by the Blue Hose. Khalid Mutakabbir scored 25 points to lead the victors while the vanquished Bearcats seemed to forget the fact that in Yancy Gates they have one of the top interior players in the Big East.

Gates attempted just three shots in the second half, and the fact that UC finished the game with just a two-point edge in points in the paint (26-24) is inexcusable. Presbyterian deserves all the credit for mounting a rally capped by Mutakabbir's three with 8.6 seconds remaining, but this could have been avoided had the Cincinnati guards remembered where the team's bread is buttered. Look for the Bearcats to apply these lessons as they work towards a December 10th date with city rival Xavier.

3. Drew Crawford and John Shurna help lead Northwestern to the Charleston Classic title.
Just as it was noted earlier it's tough to forecast what teams are definitely going to do based on in-season tournament performance, but this was a good weekend for the Northwestern Wildcats. Drew Crawford scored 27 points and John Shurna 19 as the Wildcats beat Seton Hall 80-73 in the title game on Sunday night to win the Charleston Classic. But don't bother asking anyone associated with the program if this can be turned into the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance because it's far to early for that.

The Wildcats executed well on offense all weekend, and defensively their 1-3-1 trapping zone made a difference. Seton Hall did a better job than either LSU or Tulsa at attacking it, but down the stretch Crawford, Shurna and the rest of the squad did enough to regain the lead with 2:28 remaining. How many games the Wildcats win remains to be seen, but at the very least Bill Carmody's team will be a tough out in the Big Ten.

4. Creighton blasts Iowa in a neutral site meeting in Des Moines.
Many knew that the Creighton Bluejays were one of the better teams in a BCS non-AQ conference before the season began. But if there were any fans in need of evidence in favor of this, check out the Bluejays' 82-59 win over Iowa, led by Doug McDermott's 25 points and nine rebounds and Gregory Echenique's 15 points and nine rebounds. Avery Dingman scored 14 points off the bench in a game that turned late in the first half. The Bluejays led by as many as 19 points in the first half before an Iowa three just before the half cut the lead to 45-29.

But there wasn't much that Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery could game plan during the break: Creighton was that much better. Iowa shot 36.2% from the field and was out-rebounded 43-27, and forward Melsahn Basabe (two points, three rebounds) practically disappeared when his team needed an outstanding performance. But the credit should go to Creighton, who seems to have an answer at just about any position on the floor.

5. Ever think that you'd see a game in which Oregon State scored 100 points?
The two semifinal games of the Ticket City Legends Classic didn't feature much in the way of defense, but the surprise of the night was the 100 points put up by Oregon State in their 100-95 overtime win over Texas. Jared Cunningham led the way with 37 points and nine rebounds, 20 of his points coming at the foul line, and Oregon State took advantage of their furious rally late in regulation with 19 points in the extra session. Ultimately the difference was turnover margin, with the young Longhorns turning the ball over 23 times to Oregon State's 15.

The win earned Oregon State a matchup with Vanderbilt on Monday night in the title game, and given the way in which the Beavers have played on offense (no fewer than 82 points in any of their four games to date) it isn't far-fetched to think that they could do the same against the Commodores. With Oregon losing Jabari Brown (head coach Dana Altman did leave the door open to a return) does Oregon State become the trendy sleeper in the Pac-12? Maybe so.

Quick Hitters

1. Someone decided that Clemson was a 13-point favorite over College of Charleston on Saturday night, and this proved to be incorrect as the Cougars won 72-69. And while Adjehi Baru has a ways to go offensively, his weakside block late to preserve the win showed his value on the defensive end of the floor right now.

2. One day after scoring 19 points in Kentucky's blowout win over Penn State, freshman forward Kyle Wiltjer scored three points and grabbed five rebounds in 11 minutes in their 62-52 win over Old Dominion. Why? The physicality of the game. It remains to be seen if John Calipari is confident enough in Wiltjer's rebounding and defense to call on him in a game of this style at this point in the year, but Wiltjer will be needed as the season wears on.

3. There aren't too many names to be called on a list of the nation's top point guards before reaching Iona senior Scott Machado. Machado established a Puerto Rico Tip-Off record for assists in the tournament with 41 in three games (six turnovers), and he dished out 15 in the Gaels' 89-63 win over Maryland on Sunday. Machado's ability to set the table for Iona's many scorers is one big reason why they're the preseason favorite in the MAAC.

4. Louisville may have provided the most impressive result of the weekend as they beat Butler 69-53 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Point guard Peyton Siva (ankle) didn't play but the Cardinals got the job done by limiting the Bulldogs to 39% shooting. Kyle Kuric and Chris Smith combined to score 32 for Louisville.

5. On the night that news came out that UCLA forward Reeves Nelson missed the team's flight to Hawaii, UNLV forward (and UCLA transfer Mike Moser) continued his personal demolition of the Rebels' non-conference slate. Moser finished with 23 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and five steals in UNLV's 92-55 win over Morgan State.

Seven Notable Performances

1. F Mike Moser (UNLV)
23 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and five steals in UNLV's 92-55 win over Morgan State.

2. G Shabazz Napier (Connecticut)
22 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds (9th triple-double in school history) in the Huskies' 87-70 win over Coppin State.

3. F Tarvin Gaines (Jacksonville State)
30 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench in the Gamecocks' 78-65 win over Alabama State.

4. F Herb Pope (Seton Hall)
32 points and nine rebounds in the Pirates' 80-73 loss to Northwestern.

5. G Jared Cunningham (Oregon State)
37 points, nine rebounds and three assists in the Beavers' 100-95 overtime win over Texas.

6. G C.J. McCollum (Lehigh)
32 points (10-16 FG), five rebounds, three assists and two steals in the Mountain Hawks' 90-80 win at Liberty.

7. G Scott Machado (Iona)
15 points, 15 assists, four rebounds, three steals and no turnovers in the Gaels' 89-63 win over Maryland.

College Hoops Wednesday Recap: Long Beach State Wins at Pittsburgh

Raphielle Johnson — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:37:53 -0500

Much has been made of Long Beach State playing five non-conference opponents who were ranked in the Top 15 of the major preseason polls. Many wondered how Dan Monson's team would navigate such a slate in spite of the fact that this experienced group went through a similar schedule last season. If Wednesday night showed anything about the 49ers it's that they're ready for the challenge, as they handed Pittsburgh its' first loss in November or December at the Petersen Events Center in the history of the arena.

Casper Ware scored a career-high 28 points and James Ennis led three other starters in double figures with 19 points as Long Beach State won 86-76. Ashton Gibbs led four Pittsburgh starters in double figures with 20 points, but it wasn't enough on a night that saw Long Beach State shoot 58% from the field and the Pitt reserves manage to score just three points. Things were bad enough that the Panthers, known for years for their tough man-to-man defense, went zone in hopes of slowing down the 49ers. No such luck on this night.

"We did not plan to play zone that much, we hoped we defended better," said Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon. "The man didn't work that well and zone didn't work very well either. Bottom line, it was the transition baskets that were killing us."

Long Beach State was able to get out on the break (25 fast-break points) on many occasions, and they were unselfish as well. Twenty-four of Long Beach State's 32 field goals were of the assisted variety, with Larry Anderson (seven assists), Ennis (six) and Ware (six) accounting for at least six assists each. As a result The Beach made 69.4% of their two-point shots while Pitt made 43.7% of theirs.

To use the word "upset" in labeling this performance could result in not realizing what happened in Pittsburgh. There was no luck or gimmicks on display. Long Beach State simply was the better basketball team, and they left with the ultimate reward as a result. But don't expect the 49ers to rest on this victory, because you're only as good as your last result. Wednesday's win is just one small step in the direction of their most important goal, one they didn't accomplish a season ago despite winning the Big West regular season title by a comfortable margin.

"We're going to enjoy this, and it's great for a mid-major because we'll be recognized a little bit," said Monson. "This group hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament yet and I think we would trade this for that. That goal at the end of the year is not attained in one game. We have a lot of work ahead of us."

Other Notable Happenings

1. Indiana picks up the second true road win of the Tom Crean era with a comfortable win at Evansville.
The cynic will ask what the big deal about a 94-73 win at Evansville is, but those who have followed the Indiana program in recent years know full well how important the outcome is. Verdell Jones III led five Hoosiers in double figures with 17 points (and seven assists) and the Hoosiers assisted on 24 of their 33 field goals while shooting 55.9% from the field. The Hoosiers held a 40-20 advantage in points in the paint and they led by as many as 33 points in the second half in their best all-around performance in quite some time. There are steps that need to be taken in the rebuilding of a program, especially when said program has fallen to the depths that Indiana's plummeted to in the aftermath of the Kelvin Sampson era. With the influx of young talent (Cody Zeller and company this year, a highly-touted 2012 class on the way) combined with veterans who took the bumps at the start of the Crean tenure Indiana looks to be on their way.

2. Creighton snaps UAB's 38-game non-conference home win streak.
UAB waited a bit longer than most teams in the country to play their first game of the season, and one has to wonder if in hindsight they wish their game with Creighton came later in the schedule. The Bluejays held the Blazers without a field goal over the final 11:21 of the first half to take a 32-25 lead into the intermission, and Doug McDermott's 27 points led the way in a 70-60 win in Birmingham. Antoine Young scored 13 points and Grant Gibbs added seven rebounds and seven assists (no turnovers) for Creighton, who moves to 3-0 in advance of their game against Iowa on Saturday. Creighton scored 20 points off of 18 UAB turnovers, and despite a career-high seven blocks by Cameron Moore the Blazers were still outscored 40-22 in the paint. The Bluejays did this with Jahenns Manigat missing all eight of his shots from the field, and McDermott and Gregory Echenique finished the game with five turnovers apiece. And they're going to get better as the season wears on, which is good news for Creighton fans.

3. New Mexico State lands the first blow in the two-part series with rival New Mexico.
The rivalry between New Mexico and New Mexico State is an interesting one, not only because of them sharing a state but more importantly because they play a home-and-home every year. Marvin Menzies' team landed the first punch on Wednesday night, beating the preseason Mountain West favorites 62-53 in front of a packed house at The Pit. The problem for New Mexico: leading scorers Drew Gordon and Kendall Williams combined to shoot a putrid 0-for-13 from the field, and as a team New Mexico shot 19% from the field in the second half. Wendell McKines led the Aggies with 14 points and nine rebounds and Bandja Sy added 12 off the bench, and New Mexico State's size proved to be problematic for the Lobos in the final 20 minutes (16-0 NMSU points in the paint). The rematch is on December 28th in Las Cruces, and given how physical the first round was (52 combined fouls) look for Round Two to offer more of the same.

Quick Hitters

1. Saturday will deliver a matchup of two of the hotter scorers in the country as Texas (J'Covan Brown) takes on Oregon State (Jared Cunningham). Cunningham led the Beavers to an 82-72 win over Hofstra with 35 points, and center Joe Burton dropped an assists (11)/rebounds (10) double-double.

2. Don't bother attempting to hold a vigorous debate over who's the worst team in a BCS AQ league. The answer is Utah, who went to Boise State and ended up on the receiving end of an 80-59 beating. It's going to be a long season for first-year head coach Larry Krystowiak.

3. No Eric Atkins (sick) or Tim Abromaitis (NCAA suspension) for Notre Dame but it didn't matter much in their 74-41 win over Sam Houston State. Freshman Pat Connaughton led the way with 24 points off the bench while Jerian Grant was all over the box score with 17 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals.

4. NAIA school Philander Smith scored a big victory, knocking off Central Arkansas 97-90 in Conway. What's the bigger concern for Central Arkansas head coach Corliss Williamson: the mere fact that the Bears lost, or the fact that they allowed 97 points and turned the ball over 23 times?

5. Freshman guard Cezar Guerrero saved Oklahoma State, scoring six of his 29 points in a five-second span to tie their game with UTSA in regulation, and the Cowboys went on to win 90-85 in overtime. Guerrero made eight three-pointers while Le'Bryan Nash added 18 and nine rebounds, and Travis Ford will call on these freshmen quite often this season.

Three Notable Performances

1. G Jared Cunningham (Oregon State)
35 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in the Beavers' 82-72 win over Hofstra.

2. G Tim Frazier (Penn State)
26 points, 10 assists and five rebounds in the Nittany Lions' 77-68 win over Long Island.

3. G Casper Ware (Long Beach State)
28 points and six assists in the 49ers' 86-76 win at #9 Pittsburgh.