Nick Fasulo is an RTC correspondent who writes the column College Basketball By the Tweets, a look at the world of college hoops through the prism of everyone’s favorite social media platform. You can find him on Twitter @nickfasuloSBN.

Mr. Buffett may lose points for looking like a fair weather fan, counting his money in Omaha and only coming out to play when the Bluejays are on the verge of making a deep NCAA Tournament run, but any billionaire willing to be photographed with stickers on his face is cool in my book.

It's @WarrenBuffett supporting Creighton today! pic.twitter.com/LprnkeLFUJ

— Rob Anderson (@_robanderson) March 8, 2014

Joel Embiid Out For Big 12 Tournament

Like Syracuse in 2012 (Fab Melo) and Cincinnati in 2000 (Kenyon Martin), Final Four contender Kansas has lost an important big man at the worst possible time. Joel Embiid, ruled out of the Big 12 Tournament with his NCAA Tournament status unknown because of a stress fracture in his back, has offered up a handful of angles as to what it all means for Kansas. To the hot sports takes!

“@GoodmanESPN: Kansas says Joel Embiid out for Big 12 tourney, "longshot" for first weekend of NCAA tourney.” pic.twitter.com/sxZ3JaRkXb

— Calvin McDermott (@calmcd1697) March 11, 2014

This news will deter people from picking Kansas, makes bracket pools harder. KU wasn't winning the title with or without Embiid

— Brian Otskey (@botskey) March 11, 2014

Maybe Joel Embiid's value will plummet to a late first rounder!?!?!!? A man can dream, right?

— Spurs Talk. (@SpursTalk1) March 11, 2014

Kansas isn't Final Four team without Embiid. Jayhawks in trouble without him. Need him to return but why would a likely top-3 pick risk it?

— Myron Medcalf (@MedcalfByESPN) March 11, 2014

To state the obvious: College basketball being robbed of a fledgling, amazing talent like Joel Embiid during its biggest month is awful.

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 11, 2014

NBA Scout on Embiid: "He is top 3 if he doesn't play."

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 11, 2014

#cheerfortheears Reaches Its Appropriate Climax

Read the rest of this entry »

Nick Fasulo is an RTC correspondent who writes the column College Basketball By the Tweets, a look at the world of college hoops through the prism of everyone’s favorite social media platform. You can find him on Twitter @nickfasuloSBN.

Congratulations, everyone, we’ve made it to the month of March, which some people are unofficially just straight up calling “Izzo.”

It's March. @MSU_Basketball pic.twitter.com/UaYM5BCsuO

— Kevin Pauga (@KevinPauga) March 1, 2014

I guess if you’ve reached the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 16 years, including six Final Four appearances as the head coach of one team, you can pretty much do whatever you want.

Marcus Paige

There’s perhaps no non-freshman player in the country who has improved as much as Marcus Paige since November. The slender point guard is the clear-cut leader of this year’s Tar Heels, and his play against Triangle rival NC State last week proved as much.

How do you give Paige his left hand?

— Michael DeCourcy (@tsnmike) February 27, 2014

Had to be the single most important item on scouting report. Paige is a stud.

— Michael DeCourcy (@tsnmike) February 27, 2014

Marcus Paige went to the rim in a down one situation! Look at that! Finally some smart basketball.

— Brian Otskey (@botskey) February 27, 2014

That game will go down in history as the least ability shown by two coaches to get the ball out of the ONLY scorers' hands for each team.

— Chris Littmann (@chrislittmann) February 27, 2014

Um …. .Did N.C. State realize that the dude who'd dropped 30 in the second half was probably going to take the last shot?

— Myron Medcalf (@MedcalfByESPN) February 27, 2014

And then a few nights later, Paige sealed a victory for UNC on the defensive end.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nick Fasulo is an RTC correspondent who writes the column College Basketball By the Tweets, a look at the world of college hoops through the prism of everyone’s favorite social media platform. You can find him on Twitter @nickfasuloSBN.

There are Internet trolls who are too afraid to show their face, and human trolls who do this, with a man purse, and a big, fat smile on their face.

Yes, that is a guy with an FGCU sweatshirt on who was at the Hoya game today. And yes, that's his purse. @CasualHoya pic.twitter.com/neeb9dTMER

— Joe Hartigan (@joehartigan23) February 22, 2014

Nerd City, Kid

Prior to Stanford’s game against UCLA, ESPN announcers Miles Simon and Dave Flemming (a Stanford alum) got into the spirit of The Farm by sporting the famous nerd glasses that have come to define many of the school’s athletic programs.

"@SeanFarnham: Embracing "Nerd Nation" as @FlemmingDave & I are awaiting @UCLAMBB at @stanfordbball pic.twitter.com/cUynpkTRh5" <= Lookin good!

— Chiney Ogwumike (@Chiney321) February 22, 2014

Boeheim Sign Stolen

This kid had dreams of being the funniest guy in Cameron Indoor on Saturday, only to be “arrested” by the no-fun police. Read the rest of this entry »

Nick Fasulo is an RTC correspondent who writes the column College Basketball By the Tweets, a look at the world of college hoops through the prism of everyone’s favorite social media platform. You can find him on Twitter @nickfasuloSBN.

Big/Fat Heads are all the rage in college basketball student sections these days. Personally, I believe that deviating from mainstream, easy-to-identify faces with more obscure mugs deserve bonus points. A tip of the cap, Seminole fans:

Who is this pic.twitter.com/RI2FBs655X

— SB Nation CBB (@SBNationCBB) February 18, 2014

Brad Stevens is Probably a Great Person

By all accounts, The former Butler head coach is an incredible individual. Here he is visiting former player Andrew Smith after he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Yes, that means Stevens made an impromptu trip from Boston to Indy last week to check in on a friend.

Once a @butleru Bulldog, always a Bulldog. Thanks for flying in, @BCCoachStevens! pic.twitter.com/ttdWGvlDMM

— Samantha Smith (@Samantha44Smith) February 11, 2014

Brad Stevens-great coach, better person.

— John Cimasko (@jersey_johnny) February 11, 2014

“We're building a #culture of #accountability, #trust, and togetherness. Entitlement will not be tolerated." Brad Stevens #TLIM #leadership

— Chad Smith (@chad_d_smith) February 9, 2014

Words cannot express how awesome Brad Stevens is for flying in for Andrew Smith's first round of chemo. #ClassyMan

— kalie (@kaliehoover) February 12, 2014

Bayloring

Read the rest of this entry »

Nick Fasulo is an RTC correspondent who writes the column College Basketball By the Tweets, a look at the world of college hoops through the prism of everyone’s favorite social media platform. You can find him on Twitter @nickfasuloSBN.

Our latest College Basketball by the Tweets piece opens up again in Lincoln, Nebraska, where a young Cornhuskers fan is really excited to receive a headband from sophomore forward Terran Petteway following the team’s win over Indiana.

How great is the look on this kid's face? Part of what makes sports so great, right here – pic.twitter.com/bJjGtEMoDi (via @hilary_winter)

— Brent Yarina (@BTNBrentYarina) January 31, 2014

As the #BBN Turns

The so-called perfect recruiting class John Calipari brought to Lexington this season has been exposed to have a handful of imperfections. To make it worse, some of those issues may be that of the intangible kind (i.e., lack of effort, team chemistry) than pure talent. Following a rather ugly road loss to LSU last week, the #BBN whine train was chugging along quite nicely.

The Harrison Twins aren't even sweating…#BBN I am not emotionally attached to this team at all.

— Anissa K. Sturgill (@AKSturg) January 29, 2014

From what I've seen, #Kentucky could get about as much out of Benjamin and William Henry as the other Harrisons tonight. #UK #BBN

— Tim Sullivan (@TimSullivan714) January 29, 2014

Well this is frustrating… Getting dominated by Dave Chappelle's character from Nutty Professor step it up #BBN pic.twitter.com/SVq5tyhpPQ

— John F. Cox (@CoxTalks) January 29, 2014

Dakari Johnson's back in because Willie Cauley-Stein has been largely worthless all night.

— Chandler Rome (@Rome_TDR) January 29, 2014

Cauley stein went from lottery pick to pumping my gas

— shawn (@Treestandasasin) January 29, 2014

And then the ultimate jab from the in-state rival:

Not even a year later. #BBN pic.twitter.com/3B5O7hitPV

— Teddy Fridgewater (@UofLMemes) January 29, 2014

The ‘Cats did right the ship a bit over the weekend with a nice road win over Missouri, but signs point to continued road inconsistency for the rest of the regular season.

A Sea Of Yellow As No. 1 Goes Down

Read the rest of this entry »

Nick Fasulo is an RTC correspondent who writes the column College Basketball By the Tweets, a look at the world of college hoops through the prism of everyone’s favorite social media platform. You can find him on Twitter @nickfasuloSBN.

Welcome back to College Basketball by the Tweets. We promise that we’re in tune with the latest social media trends and best practices, and are happy to share such sage advice to the Nebraska Cornhuskers basketball announcers, who are still in the beginning stages of understanding hashtags.

Pretty sure that’s too many hashtags… #GBR @KentPavelka! "RT @KentPavelka: 68-62!!! ###########Huskers######## pic.twitter.com/oqfMKom4L3"

— Nebraska Huskers (@Huskers) January 21, 2014

White Kid With A Flat Top Alert

This is Utah State’s Sean Harris. He’s living proof that the flat top, which has made a profound comeback since it was popular back in the 1980s, can transcend both hair and skin color.

The best hair in college hoops belongs to Utah State's Sean Harris: http://t.co/I21VjaZzse Pic via @sportsnation pic.twitter.com/z3o0hwe8LW

— SB Nation (@sbnation) January 28, 2014

Our only wish right now is that we could go back and time and tell former Wisconsin forward Mike Bruesewitz to pioneer this movement.

Ethan Wragge Shoots, Does Not Dribble

It was a night were you could say with complete certainty that Creighton would have defeated any college basketball team in America, and perhaps even the Milwaukee Bucks. Against the unbeaten and then No. 4 ranked Villanova Wildcats, the Bluejays nailed 21 three pointers, nine coming from forward Ethan Wragge, who needed only six minutes to knock down his first seven.

Wragge an inspiration to annoying chuckers at the Ys everywhere. Steer clear of pickup games for the next week.

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) January 21, 2014

Even more eye-popping was Wragge’s made-three-pointers-to-dribbles ratio, which isn’t even remotely close to a real statistic but something that was easy to track for the reasons noted below. Read the rest of this entry »

With Saturday marking the first weekend where college football didn’t dominate the sports schedule, college basketball took full advantage, with some pivotal non-conference games on the docket, a few featuring Top 25 teams and some others that made an argument to be ranked.

If you’re starting with Top 25 teams, you have to begin with No. 18 Kentucky at No. 11 North Carolina on Saturday, where the Tar Heels kept their head-scratching narrative going with an 82-77 victory in the Dean Dome. Marcus Paige dropped 23 points, including a 10-of-10 performance from the free throw line. After losing to Belmont at home and UAB in Birmingham, UNC has now notched victories over several of the top teams in the nation, beating the AP’s top three preseason teams in America. As you’ll see, you can attribute their elevated play to hot shooting against elite defensive teams, but it’s pretty impressive that Roy Williams’ bunch is doing all this without P.J. Hairston in the lineup (more on him at the bottom).

Marcus Paige has been terrific in the second half. UNC again rising to the occasion. Another inspiring performance by the Tarheels.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) December 15, 2013

Wow. North Carolina shot a combined 55.1 percent in the second halves of wins against Louisville, Michigan State and Kentucky.

— Brett Dawson (@BDawsonRivals) December 15, 2013

From last night … It's hard to watch North Carolina without thinking about the Hairston/McDonald NCAA debacle. http://t.co/M2Za7px4NX

— Ryan Fagan (@ryanfagan) December 15, 2013

Soooo the Tarheels have beat the #1 #3 and #11 without their #1 scorer and #3 best player? #dope. Can't wait for conference play. Ya dig.

— • (@iVoryBabyBaby) December 17, 2013

Another game that really caught the public eye on Saturday was No. 1 Arizona heading to the Crisler Center to take on Michigan. The Wildcats came back late and held on to win to preserve their spot at the top of the polls. While Brandon Ashley led the Cats with a team-high 18 points, Aaron Gordon put up his own nice performance of 14 points, five rebounds and two assists, but saved his best for what he did defensively in the second half against a red-hot Glenn Robinson III.  Read the rest of this entry »

“Quality over quantity” might be the best way to describe Tuesday night in college basketball. A majority of schools are in finals week, and as a result, players need their study time. So that means rest. Or easy opponents. Or both. But that wasn’t the case with No. 13 Kansas and No. 19 Florida yesterday. It’s safe to assume that these two schools aren’t in finals prep this week, so they took the opportunity to play each other in Gainesville. Jayhawks coach Bill Self went with four freshmen in the starting lineup. It perhaps wasn’t the greatest of ideas against the Gators’ dual point guard system, but it was the Gators’ zone that stifled Joel Embiid, Perry Ellis and most of the rest of the Jayhawks, leading to a 67-61 win. This prompted a short debate about KU’s offense versus the zone.

If Indiana played Kansas and each zoned the other, would anyone score?

— Dana O'Neil (@ESPNDanaOneil) December 11, 2013

Part of the situation with Self seemed weird. Why start four freshmen? It almost seemed like a move that Chuck Daly would make, a la the 1992 Dream Team’s scrimmage against that college all-star team (although I’d be willing to bet Self wouldn’t throw the game.) Maybe it was a move to prepare the Jayhawks’ youth for the conference season, when trips to Manhattan, Stillwater, Ames and Norman await.

Kansas' Bill Self gives Joel Embiid his first career start. Jayhawks will start four freshmen against Gators tonight.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) December 11, 2013

That youth showed early for Kansas, who allowed the Gators to go on an blistering 21-0 run. Andrew Wiggins keyed a near comeback, bringing his team back to within range before Florida held them off. For the most part, Kansas was sloppy with the ball, couldn’t shoot and was horrible defensively.

Pretty amazing 21-0 run by Florida. And that's with four missed fts during the run.

— Pat Dooley (@pat_dooley) December 11, 2013

Another Andrew Wiggins three gets Kansas within six of Florida. Only 1:20 to go. ESPN.

— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) December 11, 2013

That was the 24th turnover for Kansas. Yes, 24. Seriously.

— Myron Medcalf (@MedcalfByESPN) December 11, 2013

It all added up to a 67-61 loss. Read the rest of this entry »

So can anyone figure North Carolina out? Seriously, that’s a question. In the past four games, the Tar Heels have done what can only be deciphered as playing up (or down) to their competition, losing to Belmont at home before beating defending national champion Louisville, then losing to UAB before taking down the No. 1 team in the nation, Michigan State, on Wednesday night. So please, someone explain what makes this team act the way it acts. The Tar Heels’ tussle with the Spartans highlighted the two-day Big Ten/ACC Challenge, with the two conferences tying at 6-6 for the second consecutive year. When it was all over, the national focus was less on the tie and more on the fact that the Tar Heels have two wins over top five teams and two losses to unranked bubble teams.

UNC 79, MSU 65: EAST LANSING, Mich. – J.P. Tokoto had 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds to help Nor… http://t.co/E7syrFbOug #unc

— InsideCarolina (@InsideCarolina) December 5, 2013

@UNC_Basketball is the first team to beat #1 AND the defending champ in non-conference games during the regular season since 1986-87 UCLA.

— Jason McCallum (@ESPNJMac) December 5, 2013

First time since 00-01 season, Doherty's first, that #UNC has beaten two top-5 opponents. Should have more chances in ACC play to add to it.

— Andrew Carter (@_andrewcarter) December 5, 2013

So are we in agreement that UNC will likely lose to UNCG on Sat and then knock off Kentucky next weekend?

— InsideCarolina (@InsideCarolina) December 5, 2013

Speaking of disappointing Michigan State performances, does anyone remember that Garrick Sherman spent the beginning of his career with the Spartans? Well, he’s at Notre Dame now, which everyone probably knows after the five-overtime thriller against Louisville last year, of which he didn’t play a minute of until the first overtime and still finished with 17 points. He’s proven a capable scorer as a fifth-year senior, putting up an event-high 29 points in a 98-93 Irish loss at Iowa. Read the rest of this entry »

The word of the weekend is upset: U-P-S-E-T. That pretty much sums up the last few days in college basketball, where there seemed to be a lesser-team (at least on paper) beating a seemingly better team (again, at least on paper) in every time slot. If your team had a ranking next to it, chances are they were threatened at one point or another in their latest game or two. Along with those upsets came titles. This weekend marked the unofficial end of the early-season tournaments until a handful of Christmas tourneys come around, with winners being crowned in the Old Spice Classic, the Wooden Legacy and the Battle 4 Atlantis. Even when there wasn’t a trophy up for grabs, the games were just as compelling. Just ask North Carolina (making “upset Sunday” a regularity) or Creighton (which lost in a third-place game). Their losses weren’t softened by knowing that hardware wasn’t on the line.

First, it was Villanova having arguably the best time anyone had in the Caribbean. Initially, the Wildcats pulled off an upset of #2 Kansas 63-59 in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Friday night. The Jayhawks shot just 18.9 percent from three-point range.

Congrats to Villanova – super W over Kansas – pls get rid of ALTERNATE Possession rule – penalizes a good D effort !

— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) November 30, 2013

That’s good, but how do you validate it? Go out and beat no. 23 Iowa in the finals, winning the whole thing on Saturday, 88-83 in overtime. James Bell had 20 in the win.

Villanova vs. Iowa recap: Wildcats down Hawkeyes in OT, take Battle 4 Atlantis crown! http://t.co/qiopUD2N77 pic.twitter.com/9BxnEzXNoD

— VUhoops.com (@VUhoops) December 1, 2013

Jay Wright may submit his application for consideration of a team’s best weekend in college basketball at any time.

On Sunday, the first eye-opener came when pupil beat student as Jarod Haase and UAB welcomed Roy Williams and North Carolina, and sent them packing with a 63-59 loss. Chad Frazier might be the best junior college newcomer in all of college basketball, finishing with 26 points in the win and averaging 18.4 points in his first eight games on campus. Read the rest of this entry »