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Top 25 Games
- #3 Kansas 78, Cal 63: “Kansas won the Pac10 grabbed their first true road victory of the season with a win over the Cal Bears. The late tipoff Wednesday night seemed to fit the Jayhawk play at times as a Kansas team that clearly looked like the more talented team, once again couldn’t manage to stay out of their own way during portions of the game.” (Rock Chalk Talk: Recap and Statistical Analysis)
- #4 Syracuse 93, Drexel 65: “That was the scary Drexel team we’ve been hearing about? The one that beat Louisville in the YUM? The one that’s apparently having their best season ever? Either they’re not quite as good as advertised or the Orange just about put together their best performance of the season in a 93-65 demolition job.” (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)
- #8 Villanova 76, Monmouth 36: “What can anyone say about a 76-36 win? I guess the coach summed it up nicely with ‘I like where we are right now.'” (Villanova by the Numbers)
- #10 Missouri 75, #21 Illinois 64: Taking a look at the game from the winning side and the losing side of the “Braggin’ Rights” game.
- #25 Texas 67, #12 Michigan State 55: “Tonight, with a 67-55 victory over the Spartans, Texas once again pulled off the impressive feat of beating North Carolina and Michigan State in the span of a few days. Even more impressively, they won both games on the road. In fact, tonight’s victory ended Michigan State’s much-publicized streak of 52 consecutive home victories against non-conference opponents. Essentially, Texas was the first non-con team to win a game in East Lansing in the last 7 years. This was exactly the type of game–against a good team and hostile crowd–that young teams can be expected to lose. But we didnt. Tonight was a virtuoso win, even if wasn’t exactly a virtuoso performance. Texas did enough to win, but, unlike last year, I doubt this will be their best performance of the season. To put it more simply, the win tonight feels bigger and more important than our actual performance, which was really-good-but-not-great.” (Burnt Orange Nation)
- #15 Kentucky 89, Winthrop 52: “My first impression of this game was, “Wow. What a game by Doron Lamb,” and upon reflection, that impression still stands. Setting the freshman scoring record by shooting 92% on 11-12 field goal attempts is simply staggering. That record has stood for nearly 20 years, and the guy who set it has a jersey hanging in the rafters. That’s the magnitude of the accomplishment by the young Brooklynite. It also seems somehow fitting that he bested another New Yorker, even though he was out of the Bronx.” (A Sea of Blue)
Other Games of Interest
- Maryland 89, NJIT 50: “After a game that one-sided, there’s only so much you can say, as well as only so much that can be learned. Maryland defeated NJIT 89-50 in the Comcast Center, with the 39-point margin of victory the Terrapins’ second-largest all season. On the way, they dominated every statistical category: they forced 22 turnovers, shot 60% from three, limited the Highlanders to 32% shooting from the field, and generally controlled play entirely from tip-to-tip. NJIT is awful, granted, and the stats should be enough to tell you that. But hey, you take any type of blowout when you can get it.” (Testudo Times)
- Louisville 114, Western Kentucky 82: “Louisville went on the road for the first time and gave perhaps their best performance of the season, burying 16 three-pointers on their way to a 114-82 rout of in-state host Western Kentucky.” (Card Chronicle)
- Northern Iowa 67, Indiana 61: “Defense, experience and execution. UNI, a Sweet 16 team last season, brought all three to the table tonight, and it was all just a little too much for the Hoosiers to handle.” (Inside the Hall: Part 1 and Part 2)
- Gonzaga 64, Xavier 54: “Against Baylor, Gonzaga showed they could win a game facing tremendous adversity. Tonight against Xavier, the Zags faced similar adversity but they did so at the friendly confines of the McCarthey Athletic Center.” (The Slipper Still Fits)
Pre-Game Analysis
- Minnesota Gophers vs. South Dakota State Jackrabbits: A look at the game and some news on Al Nolen. (From the Barn)
- Tennessee vs Belmont – Round Two: “We need this one, and it won’t be easy. But it’s also fitting for the Vols to get another chance to end this streak against a good team – we lost to Charlotte, so assume nothing, but Tennessee-Martin is next, and they’re 4-8. Even on our losing streak, we may be able to show up and out-talent them. That won’t work against Belmont though. If we win, we’ll earn it. And that’s exactly what this team needs.” (Rocky Top Talk)
- Preview: Oakland at #2 Ohio State: Previewing another extremely difficult game for Oakland. They have to have the #1 SOS, right?(Eleven Warriors)
- Final Pre-Conference Road Test – #10/9 Georgetown Hoyas (10-1) vs. #16/17 Memphis Tigers (9-1): Breaking down one of the better early season non-conference match-ups. (Casual Hoya)
- UCLA v. UCI Preview: A Tale of Three Tylers: Breaking down the intrastate match-up by looking at Tyler Honeycutt, Tyler Lamb, and Tyler Trapani. (Bruins Nation)
- Game 12: Bryant at Michigan Preview: “Bryant will be the seventh opponent that Michigan has played outside of Ken Pomeroy’s top 100. It will also be the last. Bryant has the same number of wins (1) as Michigan’s next opponent, Purdue, has losses. In short, this is the last tune up before a grueling conference schedule that will start fast and never really slow down. The average Pomeroy ranking of Michigan’s next 19 opponents is 40, a mark that only one of Michigan’s first 12 opponents surpassed.” (UM Hoops)
News/Analysis
- December Roundtable: Team Expectations: Taking to Big East bloggers about how their team has performed so far. (East Coast Bias)
- Negus Webster-Chan commits to Louisville: The Cardinals received a commitment from the 6’7″ guard/forward who is ranked 45th in the class of 2012. (Card Chronicle)
- Perimeter Defense: “Defense is the primary reason that Michigan has exceeded expectations through the first eleven games this season. The Wolverines have demonstrated a newfound tenacity on the defensive end – they currently rank 16th in Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency rankings. It’s tough to measure individual defensive performance with statistics, but early returns point to significant improvement from one position group more than others: the guards.” (UM Hoops)
- Comparing This Year’s Start to Last Year’s: Taking a look at how this year’s UNC team compares to last year’s team. (Carolina March)
- Scotty Hopson, Alpha Dog?: Questioning whether Hopson is ready to lead the Volunteers. (Rocky Top Talk)
- Live by the jump shot, die by the jump shot?: Looking back at UF’s loss to Jacksonville and how much the Gators rely on their outside shooting. (Alligator Army)
- The Holiday Festival Finals: “St. John’s celebrated the holiday season with their second tournament championship this year. The Red Storm defeated Northwestern in the championship to capture the MSG Holiday Festival at Madison square Garden.” (Villanova by the Numbers)