Rush The Court

Maui Invitational. Texas vs. Notre Dame could be the best game of the first month of the new season.  UNC vs. Oregon could be interesting, but won’t be.

• Texas 68, St. Joseph’s 50.  The Texas defense has been absolutely superb so far this season, holding its three opponents to an average of 46.3 ppg and 29% from the field.  St. Joe’s was no different, struggling to find open looks against the long arms and quick feet of the Longhorns.  Damion James and AJ Abrams combined for 31/8 for the Horns, who will hook up with Notre Dame tomorrow in a blockbuster contrast of styles (ND is averaging 82.3 ppg).
• Notre Dame 88, Indiana 50. This was a complete mismatch from start to finish, as the experienced Golden Domers meticulously picked apart the green Hoosiers in nearly every way possible.  Notre Dame shot 51% as it brought back to the fore that Indiana simply isn’t going to be very good this season.  Tory Jackson had 21/5/6 assts and Kyle McAlarney contributed 18 (all threes) for the Irish.
• UNC 115, Chaminade 70. UNC rode a 67-pt second half to the second-worst loss that host Chaminade has ever suffered in this tournament.  Roy Williams kept Tyler Hansbrough on the bench throughout, figuring it best to keep him fresh for what will be a much tougher next two days of games.  Danny Green had a career-high 26 pts, while Ty Lawson added 19/6 assts.  UNC will play a revived Oregon next, but we guarantee that the Heels will put up more of a fight defensively than Bama did.
• Oregon 92, Alabama 69.  At times during this game, Alabama appeared to be the least prepared and worst coached team in America.  And they were playing a team in Oregon that often appears that way themselves, which should really tell you something.  If we had a coconut for every time Bill Raftery or Jay Bilas said the word “terrible,” our living room would smell like Maui right about now.  UO hit a blistering 54% from the floor while holding Bama to 36%.  In a sidenote, Ronald Steele shot 3-11 from the field and just doesn’t look like the same player he was two years ago (before all of his knee injuries).

CBE Classic. It’ll be Syracuse vs. Kansas in KC tomorrow night for the championship.

• Syracuse 89, Florida 83. Florida’s ‘improved’ defense got exposed exploited, giving up 89 points and 52% shooting to the more athletic Orange in an entertaining up-and-down game that featured several nice performances on both sides.  Paul Harris contributed 18/11 for the Orange, while Alex Tyus chipped in 24/4 for the Gators.
• Kansas 73, Washington 54. KU’s Cole Aldrich dominated the more ballyhooed Jon Brockman by dropping 16/9/6 blks (vs. Brockman’s 7/18 on 2-9 shooting) in the Jayhawks’ blowout victory in the semis of the CBE Classic.  The Kansas defense held the Huskies to 29% shooting for the game, and frankly, Washington largely looked out of sorts for much of this game.

Paradise Jammation.

• Miami (FL) 80, San Diego 54. The Hurricanes used a 20-0 run from the 18-minute mark of the second half to completely overwhelm San Diego, and their star Jack McClinton didn’t even have a good game (9 pts).  We thought this one would be a little closer, but SD came out of this tourney with RPI-booster games against an ACC team and a Big 10 team (Wisconsin), and even though they lost both, it will help their overall resume come March.
• Connecticut 76, Wisconsin 57. With 13 minutes to go, UConn was up only two points.  The next thing we knew, Wisconsin seemingly turned the ball over about a dozen times in a row (actually, 20 times), and UConn was suddenly ahead by fifteen points.  Game over – championship to the Huskies. UConn shot 53% while holding Wisconsin to a mere 37%, led by Jerome Dyson’s 21/4.   Tournament MVP Hasheem Thabeet had his moments defensively, altering shots and blocking several others (incl. one utterly ridiculous foul call), but a few of his post moves still looked like a serious work in progress.  We’re just not sure that he’s dependable in there yet.

The Stephen Curry Show. Davidson 76, Florida Atlantic 60. Games like this where it was clear Davidson wasn’t completely tuned in are probably going to happen more often as they play an increasing amount of big-time games followed by their “normal” games.  FAU hung around for most of this game based on Davidson’s poor shooting (37%), but SuperSteph once again saved the day by drilling nearly everything he put up (13-21 for 39 pts).  His tag team partner, Andrew Lovedale, contributed 13/15.  We could really be in for a season-long treat in the NPOY race between Psycho-T, Blake Griffin and Stephen Curry.

Upset of the Night. Jacksonville St. 75, UMass 74. Simply an unconscionable loss for Derek Kellogg’s Minutemen.  A team like Jacksonville St. who was picked dead last in the OVC by various pundits shouldn’t be able to go into a high mid like UMass and take down the opponent in its home debut.  But they did tonight.  UMass used a late 15-3 run to take the lead after trailing for much of the game, but JSU’s Jonathan Toles hit a runner with eight seconds remaining to put his team up for good.

Other Games of Little to No Interest.

• Arizona 86, Mississippi Valley St. 52. Chase Budinger had 24 and Jordan Hill 19 as Arizona got back on track after last week’s disaster.
• Miami (OH) 55, Wright St. 37. Wright St. had three separate 5+ minute scoring droughts in this game.
• Wake Forest 62, Winston-Salem St. 31. Can the Deacs guard?  Probably not, but they did hold an opponent to its lowest total in 60 years tonight.
• Vanderbilt 65, Middle Tennessee St. 57. Vandy held MTSU to only 30% shooting, as AJ Ogilvy led the way with 19/11.
  
• Ohio St. 61, Bowling Green 57. BJ Mullens only had 2/1 in 11 mins of action.
• Baylor 76, Jacksonville 68. Baylor struggled a little bit in this one, allowing 52% shooting from Jax.  Lacedarius Dunn had 23 pts in the win.
• Yale 53, Oregon St. 52. Poor Craig Robinson.  Yale beating a Pac-10 team on the west coast is no longer considered an upset.
• Towson 61, NJIT 48. Thirty-six Ls in a row now.

On Tap Tuesday (all times EST):

• Indiana v. St. Joseph’s (ESPNU) – 1:30pm (Maui Invtl.)
• Arizona v. Santa Clara – 5:45pm
  
• Texas v. Notre Dame (ESPN) – 7pm (Maui Invtl.)
• Pittsburgh v. Belmont – 7pm
• Penn St. (-3.5) @ Penn – 7:30pm
• Villanova v. Monmouth – 7:30pm
• Florida v. Washington (ESPNU) – 7:45pm (CBE Classic)
• Nebraska (-10) v. St. Louis (ESPN FC & 360) – 8pm
• Marquette v. Texas Southern (ESPN FC & 360) – 8pm
• Davidson v. Loyola (MD) – 8pm
• Kansas St. v. Oakland (ESPN FC & 360) – 8pm
• UNC v. Oregon (ESPN) – 9:30pm  (Maui Invtl.)
• Kansas v. Syracuse (ESPN2) – 10pm  (CBE Classic)