Rush The Court

Chris Johnson is an RTC columnist. He can be reached @ChrisDJohnsonn. 

The Weekend’s Lede. The Holidays Are Here. The Holiday season closes the curtain on the nonconference portion of the college basketball season. At the turn of the New Year, most teams will have played their final out of league games. Some will have commenced conference play. Between now and January 1, players and coaches will enjoy breaks of various duration, but every team will set aside part of its hectic five-month schedule for some family bonding and holiday cheer. We will miss the hardwood action that made our weeknights bearable and our weekends excitable. Not to worry: the end of the winter festivities brings a new chapter of the season. Conference play is a significant turning point, a temporal marker, but most of all, it heralds a new level of competitiveness and intensity. Why am I talking about this so far in advance? Well, why not? League play is much more fun than the low-cut mix of competition observed in November and December. It’s non-stop high-stakes competition. Anyway, endure the next few hoop-less days as joyfully as possible and take your favorite teams’ scheduling gap as a cue to follow suit and spend time with those closest to you. In short, enjoy the Holiday Season! I’ll be back with more nightly recaps before you know it.

Your Watercooler Moment. An Ode To One Of College Hoops’ Great Lost Rivalries. 

Arguably the biggest realignment-related hoops casualty was the Border War, a decades-old feud between Missouri and Kansas played with venomous spite, healthy antagonism and competitive fire unlike any other game in the sport. Last year’s renditions were nothing short of excellent, with the Tigers taking the first meeting and the Jayhawks exacting revenge three weeks later. Losing that game is a huge blow to the sport’s traditional appeal, and make no mistake, it would have hurt at any point in the rivalry’s historical progression. That it finally came to expire this season, when both teams feature national contending outfits, is doubly painful. Saturday gave us yet another reason to lament the loss of the old Big 12 rivalry. Both Kansas and Missouri knocked off top-10 opponents (Missouri beat Illinois; Kansas beat Ohio State), each stating its claim for conference superiority. With Florida falling to Kansas State, and Kansas looking far and away like the class of the Big 12, it is no huge stretch to crown Missouri and Kansas temporary lordship of their respective leagues. Kansas’ grip on the Big 12 probably has more staying power, if only because the top of the Big 12 has yet to produce an equal competitor. The SEC, meanwhile, has two teams – Florida and Kentucky – who, provided they round into form over the course of conference play, may well test Missouri’s top-dog stature. Plus, Kansas is Kansas. Conference championships are nothing new for the Jayhawks. This is foreign territory for the Tigers; not only because it’s their first year in a new league. It’s also the first time in years where they’ve truly separated themselves amongst from other conference challengers – aside from Florida, no one’s touching the Tigers; at least not now – and certainly the first time they’ve done as much under second-year coach Frank Haith. 

Weekend Quick Hits…

• Temple Gets Quality Nonleague Result It Needed. Two weeks ago, Temple took on Duke at the IZOD center. The Blue Devils destroyed Fran Dunphy’s team. But, hey, that was Duke, the undisputed king of November and December. When the Owls lost to Temple, all bets were off. This team had major issues to sort out. Which is why Saturday’s upset of No. 3 Syracuse, previous owners of a 52-game nonconference winning streak, was so very unexpected. Temple cracked open the unrelenting puzzle that is Jim Boeheim’s trademark 2-3 zone, primarily thanks to Khalif Wyatt’s 33 points and Anthony Lee’s 21, both career-highs. Butler and VCU have proven themselves more than capable of handling the jump to a more prominent league. In fact, one can make the argument that Stevens and Smart’s squads have been the A-10’s most impressive squads to date. Temple proved Saturday it won’t cede conference bragging rights to the newcomers without putting up a real fight.
• Excellent Championship Showdown In Diamond Head Classic. The bulk of specialized exempted Tournament had come and gone during the first few months of the season. The Diamond Head Classic is An annual rite of Christmas Cheer, held in late December each and every year. After Arizona\’s Monday morning romp over Miami — whom many had crowned the ACC\’s second best team after recent wins over Michigan State, Charlotte, UCF and UMass — an excellent championship tilt between the Wildcats and San Diego State (who topped Indiana State en route to the final) has come into clear view. Want some high-quality hoop to light up your Christmas Night?  Tuesday\’s Final can\’t come soon enough.
• Good Win For Kansas State? Or Bad Loss For Florida? For the second time this season, Florida went into hostile territory (you can bet the Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO, was pro-Wildcat) and couldn’t muster its best effort. Only this time, unlike last week’s loss at Arizona, the outcome was never really in doubt. Kansas State lead the entire second half. The Gators’ biggest problem was perimeter shooting. Mike Rosario and Kenny Boynton went a combined 5-for-20 from the floor, including 2-for-9 from three. Even on nights when Patric Young gives you 19 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, Florida needs a reliable scoring compliment in the backcourt. The Arizona loss was no earth-shattering outcome. The Wildcats are a legit top-five team. Kansas State (a variant strain of Wildcat) is a borderline top-25 squad in its own right. That said, Florida was once being hailed as a top-three team. The Gators could return to that perch, but first they’ll need to prove themselves on the road against a quality opponent (Florida State is not, as of this writing, a quality opponent).
• A Nice Tune-up Before Big Ten Play For Michigan State. Since losing at Miami on November 28, Michigan State has fattened up on mid-major also-rans while trying to stay sharp for the inevitable uptick in competition in the Big Ten. Texas, with or without Myck Kabongo, gave the Spartans exactly what they needed in their last nonconference opponent before conference play. If the Longhorns do anything well, it’s defense. They are young, inexperienced in key spots and, without Kabongo, rudderless. They are also an extremely athletic group devoted to rim protection and ball pressure. Michigan State needed that challenge after weeks of forgiving competition. A New Years’s Eve matchup at Minnesota will be a tougher challenge, but the Spartans – barring they don’t lose their edge over the Holidays – should be prepared.
• Marquette’s Consistency. When you lose two players as centrally important as Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom, expectations are naturally lowered. Losses are forgiven. Scoring deficiencies and defensive breakdowns are chalked up to natural graduation-induced regression. Marquette has no reason to believe those common forces will hinder its almost night-and-day predictability. Under Buzz Williams, Marquette has made the NCAA Tournament in four consecutive seasons. And after the Golden Eagles bounced back from Wednesday night’s loss at Green Bay with a win over SEC upstart LSU, I’m ready to predict a Tournament return for this year’s group. Marquette isn’t nearly as talented as last year’s bunch – Crowder and DJO were program-changing guys – but that doesn’t mean they can’t make a run at a top-half Big East finish and glide into another tourney appearance.
• Don’t Call Him Jimmer; Nate Wolters Is His Own Thing. The comparison is too easy: skin color? Check. Mid-major team? Check. Mountain time zone? Check. It all fits..only Nate Wolters is nothing like Jimmer Fredette. As direct an analog as it may seem for the mainstream hoops consciousness, Wolters’ game is worlds removed from the scoring proficiency that defined Fredette. Wolters is a pure point with an old school game composed of running floaters, crafty fadeaways and almost magnetically proficient ballhandling. He is not – as Fredette was often labeled – a shooter; Wolters is a point guard who scores. He belongs on the ball. All of which is a prelude to mentioning South Dakota State’s stunning takedown of undefeated New Mexico at the Pit, in which Wolters poured in 28 points to go along with seven assists. Let the geeky-cultish (I’m having a hard time resisting that classification myself) following dedicated to all things Wolters rejoice at the Jackrabbits’ triumph. 

…and Misses.

• Referees: Clean Blocks Are Not Fouls. I’ve grown numb to the inconsistencies in referees’ foul standards across different leagues and levels of competition. For the most part, I accept phantom whistles, block-charge confusion and other zebra miscalls as facts of college hoops life. Only when I see a call as egregious as this Isaiah Austin “foul”, I can’t resist raising issue with what may well go down as one of the worst five or ten whistle-blows all season. Austin literally makes zero contact with the shooter, BYU’s Brandon Davies. I totally understand the pressures of making split-second decisions on bang-bang calls, but there’s nothing about this play that makes the right call (no call at all) a difficult choice. A clean block is a clean block; it really is that simple.
• Big Ten Or Bust. Losing senior Drew Crawford to season-ending shoulder surgery likely doomed Northwestern’s faint Tournament aspirations. That fate feels almost inevitable now that the Wildcats missed on another prime nonconference opportunity at home, this time dropping a brutally close two-point decision to Stanford. Aside from a road win at Baylor – which may or may not stand up as a hugely beneficial resume chip come Selection Sunday – the Wildcats squandered their chances out of league, which means they have a huge mountain to climb in Big Ten play. Unless Northwestern can take down one (or more) of the league’s elite – Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan (and to a lesser extent Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan State) – the Wildcats streak of Tournament ignominy is here to stay, at least for one more season.
• Nothing New On Utah. Two recent wins over Boise State and BYU caused many to reconsider the Utes’ season prospectus. They took a huge step back Friday night by losing, at home, to Cal St. Northridge. There’s little doubt the top of the Pac-12 is vastly improved over last season. Arizona is a credible Final Four threat, Oregon looks like a top-five tourney seed and Colorado is rounding into form. In its totality, the league doesn’t appear to have changed all that much; top to bottom, the Pac-12 remains remarkably weak. Until I see some signs of life from the Washingtons, Oregon States, Washington States, Arizona States and USCs of the world, I’ll have a hard time relenting on the notion that the Mountain West is and will remain the better league overall.
• The SEC Is Bad. No Really. Few rational observers can legitimately dispute Missouri’s Elite-Eight-and-beyond potential, nor is the general consensus questioning Florida’s status as a top-20 team (even after Saturday night’s loss at Kansas State). Both teams – and I’m willing to at least kick around the idea of Kentucky joining the discussion – are national contenders stuffed to the gills with talent at every position. They form a rarefied group at the top of the SEC. What lies below them, with a few exceptions – Tennessee and LSU and Arkansas are just OK – is a vast expanse of nothingness. Saturday revealed the league’s middle and lower tiers for what they truly are: a narrow spectrum that ranges from average to awful. Texas A&M, Auburn, Alabama and Ole Miss all went down Saturday, each losing to lesser opposition. Of the four, the Rebels’ loss – an 87-85 overtime defeat to Indiana State – feels the most discouraging, if only because Andy Kennedy’s team has been brutally close to breaking through the bubble barrier in recent seasons and the Rebels had shown so much promise early on. A loss like this could be a killer come selection Sunday.
• Youth Prone To Variance. It is hard to quantify the difficulty of what John Calipari accomplished his freshmen-led Wildcats last season. We may never appreciate the totality of his ego-grooming, strategically-enhancing, ego-mending touch. Young teams, no matter how talented, just don’t respond to adverse conditions and high-pressure situations in road environments the way last year’s UK team did. As an illustration, look at St. John’s, whose roster owns a composite average of 0.60 years of experience, good for 344^th nationwide. Steve Lavin has him some real talent in the Big Apple’s prime hoops destination – from rangy off-guard D’Angelo Harrison to shot-swatting savant Chris Obekpa to senior forward God’sgift Achiuwa. And yet, in the last three weeks, the Red Storm have managed to lose games at San Francisco and against UNC-Asheville. These sorts of results only underscore the idea that raw talent does not automatically translate to wins. It also helps to discredit the camp of dissenters who minimized Kentucky’s championship run last season due to the wealth of NBA talent Calipari had on board.
• A Puzzling Loss For Virginia. For reasons fair and not, two of the ACC’s most impressive teams to date have been shoved from the national spotlight: Virginia and Maryland. The Terrapins remain alive and well. Virginia? Not so much. That’s what happens when face 2-10 Old Dominion on an open court, allow the Monarchs to score 63 points on the nation’s No. 15 per-possession defense, but manage only 61 points against (prepare yourself) Old Dominion’s 275^th-ranked per-possession defense. That is not good defense. The Cavaliers’ winning formula is rooted in stopping people, in guarding like crazy and packing the lane and making the opposition work for every bucket, and in that regard, the Cavaliers were not entirely awful. Allowing 63 points is not the end of the world. But when you put up just 61 points against a team that allows an average of 104.4 points per 100 possessions (by comparison, Virginia allows 87.1), your offensive aptitude deserves a fair measure of scorn and serious reevaluation.

More Notes From Around The Nation. 

• Bulls Need Triple-OT To Finish Off Bowling Green. If you look at the score line from Friday night’s South Florida-Bowling Green, you might be shocked by the Bulls’ 87-point output. After all, Stan Heath’s team plays one of the slowest brand of hoop across the country (the Bulls rank 340^th in adjusted tempo), and it isn’t particularly adept on the offensive end in any capacity. Then you realize the Bulls needed THREE OVERTIMES take care of Bowling Green (5-6) at home.
• Five In Double Figures As Bears Prepare For Zags. Since beating Kentucky at Rupp Arena more than three weeks ago, Baylor has lost to Northwestern and gobbled up two guarantee home wins. The Bears handled a solid BYU team at home Friday, saw all five starters reach double figures, and now have the benefit of going into a seven-day holiday break feeling good about themselves before the Dec. 28 trip to Gonzaga.
• Sun Belt Race Coming Into Focus. It is far too early to hand out conference championship trophies and make lasting conclusions about where teams stand amongst one another in certain leagues, but can you blame me for making a bold, though totally reasonable, prediction about this year’s Sun Belt race? Middle Tennessee inhabits its own competitive upper-echelon; Friday night’s win over Vanderbilt, on top of wins over Ole Miss and UCF, cemented their status atop the league hierarchy.
• The Mountain West Isn\’t Just Good. It\’s Really, Really Deep. With the Big Ten and Big East holding down the two top spots, slotting the Mountain West as the nation\’s third best conference is not as far-fetched as it may sound. Colorado State, who punctuated its national relevance with Monday morning\’s Virginia Tech drubbing, is just one of a deep group of Tournament aspirants that includes UNLV, Boise State, Wyoming, San Diego State and New Mexico.
• So Much For SMU’s Good Start. One of the more fascinating early-season storylines has swiftly and, probably expectedly, made a turn for the worse. After an 8-1 start, SMU has lost its last three games, including Friday night’s ten-point defeat to Wagner. Not even Larry Brown’s sideline wizardry can offset a talent deficiency as glaring as SMU’s.
• Florida State Shows Signs Of Life. One of the biggest disappointments in the early part of the season, Florida State, will take any win it can get. If that happens to be on a neutral court against one of the A-10’s more formidable teams (Charlotte), well, so be it. Positive steps, however small, are important.
• Mixed Signals From the A-10. Just when Temple scores a signature nonconference win for the A-10, Xavier – still smarting from Wednesday’s Crosstown Classic defeat – is upended at home by 6-6 Wofford. I’ve long learned the perils of doubting the Musketeers, but losing to Wofford, at home, when bouncing back from an emotional rivalry loss is priority No. 1? That’s concerning. And if that wasn’t enough of a drag on the Owls’ big win, city rival and conference cohabitant St. Joe’s lost to Fairfield in its own building.
• Conference USA Flashes Another Contender. For all of Memphis’ early season hiccups, most were willing to give Josh Pastner and the Tigers the benefit of the doubt in regards to their status as C-USA favorites. Utep – after falling off the map thanks to a four-game November skid – has won five of six, including victories over New Mexico State, Oregon and, on Sunday, Nebraska. The one loss during that span: a two-point defeat at the hands of UNLV. Memphis is the class of C-USA, but Temple is giving the Tigers reason to think twice about their presumed cakewalk through league play.
• Ivy Tigers Rise Up. Lest the toast of the Patriot League (Bucknell) garner too much national attention, a traditional Ivy League power, Princeton, made sure to remind college hoops nation of its historic relevance. Bucknell remains a viable threat to Lehigh in the conference race, but it is not – as Tigers’ forwards Ian Hummer and Denton Koon, who scored 17 points apiece in the win, proved – worlds ahead of the rest of the low-major kingdom.
• Nice win, but Georgia’s Not Going Anywhere. Not that beating USC elevates Georgia above the SEC’s morass of mediocrity, but the Bulldogs needed something, anything to hang their hat on before league play. As long as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope keeps scoring, the Bulldogs have a chance to maintain some level of respectability.
• Dayton Rebounds. After a brutal one-point defeat at home to Illinois State Wednesday, the Flyers could ill-afford to waste another chance against a quality nonleague opponent. Warrior-type effort from senior guard Kevin Dillard, who fought through back spasms to score 18 points and collect 10 boards in helping sink Isaiah Canaan and the Racers.
• Snowing On Saint Mary\’s Parade. Inclement weather postponed Saint Mary’s scheduled matchup at Northern Iowa. When they suited up Sunday, one day after the intended tip time, UNI snapped a two-game losing streak to close the nonconference season before a week-long sojourn.
• UIC’s Hot Start Falling Flat. You hear that? That is the sound of cold, hard regression to the mean. After a 9-1 start that included wins over Northwestern and Colorado State, we were lead to believe UIC had turned the corner under third-year coach Howard Moore. In the words of one Lee Corso: Not so fast my friend. The Flames have now dropped consecutive games to Western Illinois and Miami (OH), raising the possibility that the great UIC revival has reached a dead end. 
• Friars’ New Pieces Apparently Haven’t Jelled. Optimism abounded following Tuesday’s roster additions, forward Sidiki Johnson and guard Kris Dunn, both of whom combined to give the Friars a massive influx of young talent. The new parts did not take well to Silvio. O Conte Forum, where Boston College brought an end to Providence’s newfound positivity by delivering Ed Cooley’s team its third loss of the season.
• Resilient Billikens. I continue to be amazed by the unwavering toughness and perseverance shown by Saint Louis and head coach Jim Crews. The Billikens beat Loyola Marymount Saturday night to preserve the unbeaten streak that began December 2 against Valparaiso, one day following the passing of former coach Rick Majerus.
• Erick Green Is Unstoppable. It’s probably not the most encouraging development to have your team need overtime to beat Bradley at home. But it would’ve been a real shame to deprive the world of Virginia Tech guard Erick Green’s epic 31-point, eight-rebound effort, which included the game-winning layup with 21 seconds remaining in OT. Nor am I willing to brush aside Green\’s prolific scoring, which continued Sunday with a 26-point night against Colorodo State, despite his team\’s getting throttled by the MWC contender, 88-52.
• Louisville, UK feast on Mid Majors Before Annual Showdown. The Commonwealth’s two biggest programs faced equally stiff challenges Saturday from middling mid-majors. Neither squad – Kentucky faced Marshall while Louisville entertained Western Kentucky – flinched. Seven days until that game everyone gets really excited for.
• Time To Reconsider Davidson? Aside from an early November hiccup at Milwaukee, none of Davidson’s losses are  particularly concerning. New Mexico, Gonzaga, Charlotte and Drexel are all capable opponents. The Drexel loss, which came about Saturday night, feels a tad more alarming than the rest. And still, something seems amiss with Bob McKillop’s team. My doubts will vanish if the Wildcats can get a win at Richmond later this week.

This Weekend’s All Americans.

First Team 

• Khalif Wyatt, Temple (NPOY) – Upsetting the No. 3 Orange would have been impossible without Wyatt’s 33 points, which included a sterling 15-for-15 mark from the free throw line.
• Laurence Bowers, Missouri – The ACL tear that robbed Bowers of participating in Missouri’s resurgence under Frank Haith last season might have been a blessing in disguise. He helped the Tigers win their fourth consecutive Braggin\’ Rights game with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
• Jack Cooley, Notre Dame – The Big East POY Award is Cooley’s to lose, provided he continues to put up 24-point, 15 rebound performances. No pressure.
• Kyle Anderson, UCLA – I’ve long believed Anderson was the creative key to UCLA’s national title aspirations this season. When he goes out and puts up these numbers – 20 points, 17 rebounds, seven assists – I can’t help but feel good about my premise.
• C.J. Leslie, NC State – If Leslie plays to his lottery-pick potential, the Wolfpack are a real threat to at least scare Duke in ACC play. The 6’9’’ forward finished with a season-high 33 points to go along with eights rebounds in a win over St. Bonaventure.

Second Team 

• Ben McLemore, Kansas – I tried to squeeze McLemore on the first team, but I just couldn’t dislodge any of the above names. His 22 points and six rebounds were a huge part of why Kansas was able to sink Ohio State in Columbus.
• Derrick Nix, Michigan State – There were questions early on about Michigan State’s frontcourt rotation, notably whether Nix and Adreian Payne could coexist on the court. Note to Tom Izzo: when Derrick Nix scores 25 points and 11 rebounds, your team is more likely to win.
• Garlon Green, TCU – No one’s going crazy over a two-point win at Rice, but Green’s 31 points are worth noting.
• Erick Green, Virginia Tech — Even the second team is typically immune to losing performances. Even so, when you somehow manage 57 points in a two-game span, though the second game saw his team blown out on national television, you\’re  getting my All America nod of recognition.
• Murphy Holloway, Ole Miss – If Holloway had his druthers, he would have saved that 23-point, 13-rebound double-double for Saturday’s Diamond Head Classic opener – not the consolation match that came about as a result.

Tweet Of The Weekend. That is high praise from a man who knows more Jayhawks basketball than most of us could ever hope to learn. McLemore is a special player, and his development (along with his budding FPOY candidacy) will be one of the most intriguing storylines of the season.