Today’s ATB2 is relatively light because it was a quiet night of hoops as most campuses across the country were fixated on a sport that decides championships on supercomputers and in boardrooms instead of on the field/court. If you are interested in participating in this feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Top 25 Games

• #6 Villanova 86, Lafayette 41: “A 45 Point Winning Margin…It Was Not That Close. . .I guess your team has arrived when none of the five blogs created to cover the team, posts a story about the biggest blowout in three seasons (Rider, in December 2007).” (Villanova by the Numbers)

Analysis

• Sleeping With The Enemy: The Wolfpack Of N.C. State: Taking a look at the Wolfpack before they play Georgetown in the finals of the Charleston Classic. (Casual Hoya)
• Kentucky Basketball: Where We Are: “First, I’m going to reject the notion that Kentucky is ‘less talented’ this year than last.  Yes, we do have less prime-time, NBA-ready talent that is more a function of obscene athleticism or unusual size than last year.  This Kentucky team does not have NBA size at most positions like it did last year, and John Wall made last year’s team more athletic all by himself. But Kentucky has some badly-missed pieces that it did not have in 2009-10, namely consistent shooters from the perimeter, and good ball handlers.” (A Sea of Blue)

If you are interested in participating in this feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Top 25 Games

• #5 Pittsburgh 68, Texas 66: “If there was a disappointment with the trip to Madison Square Garden, it was the reinforcement of how thin this year’s team is. Pittsburgh is an excellent, well coached and balanced club and defeating the Panthers on any night was going to be tough. But beating Pitt after playing an overtime game less than 24 hours before and rolling with just nine scholarship players, that was highly, highly unlikely. Again, I repeat that I love this team already. Thompson is my new favorite Longhorn and Hamilton is right on his heels. If Texas can get a consistent third scorer (either Brown or Joseph), and can continue to progress with their new offense, then the Longhorns will be just fine this year and much better than I expected.” (Burnt Orange Nation)
• #7 Kansas 93, North Texas 60: “Another solid win early in the season.  Another win where the Jayhawks handle an inferior opponent in the way a top 10 team is expected to.  Right now the Jayhawks look good, they have a chance to be VERY good and they still haven’t played a minute with a player that is widely considered a top 10 pick in the NBA draft next year.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
• #13 Kentucky , Portland : “I don’t want to minimize the great game that UK played. It was, unquestionably, one of the best early-season games that any Kentucky team has played in many years. Despite the lopsided outcome, Portland is a very good basketball team that just ran up against a UK team that did everything right — from sticky, almost impermeable defense on the perimeter, to an impressive victory on the glass.” (A Sea of Blue)
• #16 Illinois 80, Maryland 76: “Maryland played fine for the most part, but just like the Pittsburgh game, had one giant flaw that gave the game away: the three-point differential. Maryland gave up a glut of open looks beyond the arc, and everyone on Illinois – from point guard Demetri McCamey to backup power forward Tyler Griffey – capitalized. The Illini were 10-21 from three and even went twelve game minutes scoring nothing except three-pointers and a couple free throws. They were big momentum shifts and limited Maryland’s ability to get on a run in the middle of the game. The Terrapins got plenty of open looks of their own, but whereas Illinois knocked theirs down, Maryland was just 5-18 from deep. Cliff Tucker, who was expected to be the sharpshooter, was 2-5 and was sitting on the bench during Maryland’s late comeback (more in a second). Maryland had three open and potentially game-changing attempts in the final four minutes, but missed all of them. The 3-point differential was pretty clearly the decider in this game.” (Testudo Times: Part 1 and Part 2)
• Minnesota 72, #17 UNC 67: “Tubby Smith’s Golden Gophers shut down the most hyped freshman in the country, led throughout the entire second half and upset the 8th ranked Tar Heels 72-67 Friday night in Puerto Rico.” (Daily Gopher)
• #18 Georgetown 74, Wofford 59: “It appeared that the Hoyas would cruise to victory, but the inevitable three point barrage by the Terriers to begin the second half made things interesting, as a 13-6 run cut the Hoyas lead to 6. Georgetown was stagnant on the offensive end and a tad too generous defensively as the Terriers managed to hang in the game and cut to lead to just 5 with nine minutes to go. However, Georgetown responded with a spurt of aggressive play led by Henry Sims (yes, that Henry Sims), whose impressive play underneath seemed to inspire his teammates as Georgetown’s extended the lead back to double figures and that was that.” (Casual Hoya)

Other Games of Interest

• NC State 78, George Mason 65: “It wasn’t always pretty, and ESPNU didn’t waste an HD camera on this one — what is this, 2006? — and introduced Lorenzo “Browd” at the beginning of the game, but Ryan Harrow led all scorers with 14 points off the bench, combined with Richard Howell’s double-double — 13 points, 11 rebounds — to pull away late.” (State Fans Nation)

News

• NCAA Clears Josh Selby: “It’s been a process and one that Kansas fans have kept a close eye on.  With Selby now cleared, Bill Self and the Jayhawks turn their attention to the goal of a 7th consecutive Big 12 Conference Championship and as is always the case at Kansas, the primary goal of a National Championship.” (Rock Chalk Talk)

Analysis

• Bruce Pearl and Tennessee, sittin’ in a tree…: “Every day for the last two months, I feel like we’ve been waiting for something like this. When the story initially broke on September 10, we were told that Bruce Pearl was guilty of inappropriate contact with recruits, and that he misled the NCAA when asked about it. The nature of the self-imposed penalties, however, suggested there was more to this story” (Rocky Top Talk)
• NIT Season Tip-Off – A Post Pod Look: Taking a look at how the Preseason NIT has played out so far and what to look forward to in the final rounds. (Villanova by the Numbers)

Most of the nation had its eyes fixated on Madison Square Garden even though the people of New York City did not feel like actually going to the games, but there was also some action outside of the Manhattan area. Once again, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Top 25 Games

• #5 Pittsburgh 79, Maryland 70: “Maryland might not’ve won, but the Terrapins went toe-to-toe with the #4 team in the country with the score just two possessions apart in the final two minutes. In the end, Maryland missed more and more free throws and gave up more and more rebounds to let Pitt pull away, stretching the lead to the final margin of 79-70. In the end, it’s still the most encouraging loss I’ve seen in a very long time.” (Testudo Time: Part 1 and Part 2)
• Texas 90, #16 Illinois 84 (OT): “The Texas Longhorns (3-0) rode Tristan Thompson’s breakout party to hold on for a 90-84 win over the Illinois Fighting Illini (3-1). Behind Thompson’s 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 blocks, along with 25 points from rejuvenated sophomore Jordan Hamilton, Texas won the most entertaining and well-played basketball game of the young 2010 college basketball season.” (Burnt Orange Nation)
• #17 UNC 107, Hofstra 63: “I’ve tried very hard to tamp down my expectations for this team, and I really don’t want to draw conclusions from games against Lipscomb and Hofstra. (Especially since the Lipscomb game wasn’t very good.) But for the first time since the championship team, watching a Carolina game was fun. There was no pit in my stomach, no anticipation of disaster. Here’s to more games like this moving forward.” (Carolina March)
• #18 Georgetown 80, Coastal Carolina 61: “Georgetown went down to Charleston and absolutely destroyed the Coastal Carolina Chicklets or whatever they are called. 80-61 is the right final score for a game that was never in question. The Hoyas made 32 field goals on 25 assists and were led by the three guards who are making an early season case for the best backcourt in the country.” (Casual Hoya)

Other Games of Interest

• Minnesota 95, Western Kentucky 77: The Gophers knocked off the Hilltoppers, but their next opponent (UNC) and uber-freshman Harrison Barnes should provide a more formidable challenge. (Gopher Nation)
• Providence 77, Morgan State 55: “After three games of great intensity and great results on defense, is it too early to say they are showing amazing improvement? Sure, the offense has some issues, and the Friars will be lucky to win another game shooting SIX POINT THREE PERCENT from downtown. As the competition increases, PC will surely start letting up more points and higher shooting percentages. For now, I don’t want to worry about that just yet. The most important takeaway is that the effort is there and the team is improving. Incredibly refreshing if you ask me.” (Friar Blog)

Read the rest of this entry »

After a frenetic 24 Hours of Hoops, we returned to a much more mundane night of college basketball. If you are interested in participating in this feature, e-mail us at rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Top 25 Games

• #6 Villanova 82, Boston University 66: “The Wildcats punched their ticket to NIT Tip-Off semi-finals in New York City with an 82-66 win over the Terriers of Boston University. The victory however, added the bitter to the sweet. While Villanova secured their spot in the NIT Tip-Off Final Four and in the process ran their Pavilion winning streak to 38 consecutive games, the win came against former Associate Head Coach Patrick Chambers who left the Main Line in the 2009 off season to take up the first chair at BU.” (Villanova by the Numbers)
• #9 Purdue 103, Alcorn State 48: “Purdue not only handled their business, they did it in, as mentioned, historic fashion. The starters were really only in for the first half and even then none of them played a full 20 minutes of action. The game was 59-17 at the half. Chew on that for a second. Up forty-two points at halftime.” (Boiled Sports)

Other Games of Interest

• UConn 89, Vermont 73: “Tonight’s 89-73 victory over Vermont answers a longstanding question of mine: could Kemba Walker win the America East Conference by himself? Yes. Yes he could.” (The UConn Blog)
• Tennessee 60, Missouri State 56: “We’re still learning with this team, and so far so good on the most important stat: the Vols are 3-0 and made it to the Garden. The tests will keep getting more difficult – I know Wake is down, but VCU beat them by 21 on their home floor, to go with a 13 point win over Winthrop and a 15 point win over UNC-Greensboro. And Villanova is a National Championship contender. If we’d like to be one too, we need to keep growing, and keep winning. This visit to New York will be an educational field trip.” (Rocky Talk Top)
• Marquette 89, UW-Green Bay 69: “Marquette stomped in-state rival UW-Green Bay last night at the Bradley Center, 89-69. The Warriors’ depth continues to impress in these early non-conference tilts.” (Cracked Sidewalks)

Analysis

• Texas Basketball Finally Has An Offensive Identity: “After having complained for years about Barnes not having an offensive philosophy, it seems almost too good to be true that he has finally adopted an offensive system. As a result, as long as Barnes can avoid the same mistakes he made last season — and his willingness to look long and hard at himself and the program over the last few months bodes well in that respect — then the Longhorns may be able to make the leap to an absolutely elite program capable of consistency challenging for national championships over the next few seasons.” (Burnt Orange Nation)

It was a crazy 24 Hours of Hoops and the Blogosphere is still buzzing about it. I’ve heard from quite a few blogs that have expressed interest in being part of this, but we always have room for more, so if you’re interested in participating in this feature, e-mail us at rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Top 25 Games

• #3 Ohio State 93, Florida 75: “It was the week of halftime speeches for Ohio State athletics. First was football coach Jim Tressel’s fiery number on Saturday against Penn State. Thad Matta took the stage Tuesday night. And boy did he deliver.” (Eleven Warriors) or “The takeaway from tonight’s loss is that Ohio State is really good, and Florida might just be good. The Buckeyes have NBA prospects, while UF has guys who were told not to go pro. If anything, you should be pleased Florida stayed with Ohio State for 30 minutes. The true value of this game won’t be realized until late in the season, when the experience of playing a very athletic team in game two helps Florida clinch an NCAA bid.” (Alligator Army)
• #3 Kansas State 73, #21 Virginia Tech: “K-State didn’t waste any time jumping into the meat of its schedule with today’s game against Virginia Tech.  With Curtis Kelly out and Jacob Pullen limited due to foul trouble, Wildcat fans had reason to worry about the outcome.  But K-State, behind impressive performances from Will Spradling (solid minutes spelling Pullen), Jordan Henriquez-Roberts (10 points, eight rebounds) and Rodney McGruder (13 points, nine rebounds), dropped the No. 24 Hokies, 73-57.” (Bring On The Cats)
• #6 Villanova 88, Marist 47: “Villanova, designated the “North Region Pod Site” for the 2010 NIT Tip-Off hosted the Red Foxes of Marist University in first round action Tuesday night at the Pavilion on the Mainline campus. They were not very good hosts as they crushed the Red Foxes 84-47 and ran their Pavilion winning streak to 37 consecutive games. For Marist, a team that logged a 1-29 record last season, this was no way to open their 2011 campaign.
  The Wildcats took a 3-0 lead two minutes in on a Corey Stokes three pointer, and the two teams “played tag” for the next four minutes. Villanova retook the lead for good on a Maalik Wayns three point jumper at the 13 minute mark of the first period. Fueled by a 16-1 run in the middle of the first period, the ‘Cats stretched the lead to 15 points, 24-9, before the Red Foxes broke back with a 10-4 run to trim Nova’s lead to eight points. The ‘Cats broke back with a 8-2 run before Marist guard Anell Alexis hit a three pointer to close out the half, leaving Villanova with an 11 point lead, 36-25 going into the locker room. Villanova used the first 10 minutes of the second half to take a 19-10 run and pad their lead out to 20. Marist offered resistance, but steadily surrendered points as Villanova spent the last 10 minutes padding the lead. Marist failed to score at all in the last five minutes as the ‘Cats tallied the last 16 points of the game and bringing the total to 88-47.” (Villanova by the Numbers)
• Louisville 88, #12 Butler 73: “Honestly, that game was such crap.  Howard had like 3 fouls in the first part of the second half that weren’t called, each of which would have been his 4th and totally changed that game.  He also got the NBA treatment at our end, and Butler clearly made “getting to the basket and getting fouled” their offensive strategy in the second half.  Meanwhile, we let our foot off the gas a bit, Butler kept it in the half-court, which is clearly our weak spot this season, and who is going to step up and take the big shots? Honestly, I turned it off when Howard had two free throws to cut it to 9. I assume we lost.
  [Checking internet]
  Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!” (Card Chronicle)

Other Games of Interest

• Tennessee 85, Belmont 76: “Referees are human beings, which is what people say when they’re feeling especially kind after a bad call.  But I’ve never seen their humanity on display the way it was tonight [. . .] The good news is, the Vols picked the right night to prove they’ve learned how to shoot free throws after all.” (Rocky Top Talk)
• Indiana 71, Mississippi Valley State 54: “It’s not always perfect. It’s not always pretty. There will be tougher tests ahead, especially when Big Ten play rolls around. But it’s taking care of business when business should be taken care of — something this team in Crean’s third year is proving we should come to expect, not see as a pleasant surprise.” (Inside the Hall)

Analysis

• Breakdown: Offense in Minnesota: “Was the offense good when it slowed down? What can the Saints learn from Monday’s loss in Minneapolis? Siena Saints Blog breaks down whether or not the Saints should play more high-tempo offense or slow it down coming off a 24-turnover night.” (Siena Saints Blog)

It was a relatively quiet night before ESPN’s 24 Hours of Hoops Marathon, which you can follow on the original live blog of the event, so we do not have a ton of games to recap from tonight, but there were a few notable games and notable news to pass along. As always, if you’re interested in participating in this feature, e-mail us at rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Games

• #7 Kansas 79, Valparaiso 44: “Now many will point to an early season nonconference game as something that should be taken with a grain of salt. Maybe that’s true, but right now the Jayhawks look like a team that could have a higher ceiling than the group a year ago. For those counting, that’s the group a year ago that had two lottery picks and the winningest Jayhawk in history who also happens to be playing in the NBA.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
• #18 Georgetown 69, Tulane 53: “A solid early season victory for the Georgetown Hoyas, who won their fifth consecutive home opener in the John Thompson III era, soundly defeating Tulane 69-53. Austin Freeman led the Hoyas with 23 points on 9-15 shooting. Jason Clark had Georgetown’s most complete performance again, notching 17 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double double. Vee Sanford came off the bench and scored 10 points in his first action of the season.” (Casual Hoya)

News/Analysis

• Big East Power Rankings Week 1: There seems to be a consensus at the top of the conference, but after that the voting gets a little less clear. (The UConn Blog)
• Golden Gopher Basketball 2010-11 – The Schedule: A detailed breakdown of Minnesota‘s schedule including analysis of both the non-conference and conference games. (The Daily Gopher)
• Golden Gopher Basketball 2010-11 – The Players: A look at the line-up for the Gophers who lost nearly 40% of their scoring and 30% of their rebounding with the graduation of three seniors. (The Daily Gopher)

Even though the season technically started earlier on November 8th we all know that Friday night was the real start of the college basketball season and the Internet is buzzing about weekend’s action. We scoured the Internet to find the best local voices to give you an inside look at what happened in the night’s biggest games. If you’re confused by the rankings, that is because they are from the official RTC Top 25.  If you are interested in participating in this feature, e-mail us at rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Friday Night

• #2 Michigan State 96, Eastern Michigan 66: “Season openers generally aren’t going to be works of tremendous beauty, so they might as well be entertaining. And this one was (other than the constant stream of guys going to the free throw line, I guess). This team promises to be as entertaining as any Tom Izzo has coached–and that’s saying something. Becoming a truly efficient operation will take a little longer.” (The Only Colors)
• #3 Ohio State 102, North Carolina A&T 61: “Hype. Rarely do teams, players and coaches ever live up to it. In No. 4 Ohio State’s season opener, the freshman class showed their addition to four returning starters is the perfect recipe to end a 51-year national championship drought in Columbus and, in the process, live up to their enormous hype.” (Eleven Warriors)
• #6 Villanova 68, Bucknell 52: “Villanova fans who hoped for an early blowout were surely disappointed by some poor shooting and sloppy play in the early going.  Both teams played to a draw until Villanova took the lead for good with 12:38 remaining in the first half.  From that point, their lead would grow to as many as 16 points before the Bison clawed their way back to cut it to 5 points halfway through the second half when Maalik Wayns and Corey Fisher took control.” (VU Hoops)
• #7 Kansas 113, Longwood 75: “Kansas won it’s 60th game in a row in Allen Fieldhouse, and while it was just Longwood, there was a healthy dose of positives to take from the game. First, some roster things to clear up: Josh Selby sat again, and Self said there was no new news on that front. Elijah Johnson also had the night off in street clothes. Self said that he would address the situation after the game, but some shots of him on the bench showed him smiling and laughing, so it can’t be too serious. And Royce Woolridge played, so he is obviously not redshirting.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
• #11 Syracuse 68, Northern Iowa 46: “All in all, it ended up looking a lot more solid at the end than it did in the beginning. The good news is, its early and while Northern Iowa isn’t as good as they were last year, they’re a decent opponent. They’ll get better and this win will look good in a few months. The freshmen can play (when they’re not fouling willy-nilly). The bench is deep. Kris Joseph has that takeover mentality we were hoping for. Rick Jackson looks dependable.  All we need to do is work out what’s going on at the guard spots and figure out the pecking order and we’ll be in good shape.” (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)
• #14 Kentucky 88, East Tennessee State 55: “I must say that it is hard to judge teams when they shoot the ball as well as UK did. The old axiom is that good shooting makes up for a bunch of mistakes, and that proved to be the case more often than not tonight. It isn’t that the Wildcats played poorly — to the contrary, as a team they played very well, arguably their best game of the season so far. But that does not mean that they played flawlessly.” (A Sea of Blue)
  

  Terrence Jones: 1st freshman to debut with a double-double since Jules Camara (Credit: Kentucky.com / M. Cornelison)

• #15 Gonzaga 117, Southern 72: “The man who paced the Zags was without a doubt Steven Gray.  The senior leader was simply phenomenal tonight.  His outside shot resembled his freshman season and he would have easily secured a triple-double if he could have finished out the game.  Unofficially, Gray finished with 25 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, and three steals.  That’s about as good as it gets in the college game.  Gray has always been a guy that can do everything and tonight was a prime example.” (The Slipper Still Fits)
• #18 Georgetown 62, Old Dominion 59: “Well that wasn’t fun at all.  Georgetown survived one of the ugliest basketball games since James Naismith invented it in 1891.  Down by eight with less than 10 minutes to go, it looked like Georgetown’s offense wouldn’t score another point.  Then, in a flash, Chris Wright and Austin Freeman score 13 points on four shots, and all was forgiven.” (Casual Hoya)
• #24 Temple 62, Seton Hall 56: “Coach Fran Dunphy’s Owls got the 2010 college basketball season off on the right foot after defeating Seton Hall on Friday night. The Owls were able to hold off a late surge by the Pirates to earn their first win of what hopes to be a very long season. Temple struggled a bit in the first half of play, but eventually managed to build up a 10-point lead over Seton Hall. The momentum carried into the second half and was able to hold on through the final buzzer.” (The Owl’s Nest)

Read the rest of this entry »

We are still early in the season, but things are starting to kick into gear with our first huge shot of the (regular) season. Like we stated after opening night, if you are interested in participating in this feature and getting your site linked to contact us at rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Game of the Night

• Maryland 75, College of Charleston 74: “For 39 and a half minutes, there was no shortage of things I could’ve said about Maryland’s game against College of Charleston: the missed free throws, the turnovers, the sensational Andrew Goudelock, the fact that Maryland lost to College of Charleston in their second game, and so on. And then Pe’Shon Howard happened. And then I was left speechless.” (Testudo Times: Part 1 and Part 2)

Top 25

• #4 Pittsburgh 97, Illinois-Chicago 54: “Pitt played nearly perfectly in every facet of the game. The team shot about 60% from the field, rebounded extremely well, and only turned the ball over six times. When the Panthers play that well, they will be nearly impossible to beat.” (SB Nation: Pittsburgh)
• #16 Illinois 84, Toledo 45: “This was more like it. Illinois played its first complete game of the season on Wednesday with a 84-45 blowout of Toledo at Assembly Hall. All 11 Illini players that saw playing time scored, including walk-on Kevin Berardini.” (Chicago Breaking Sports)
• #25 Texas 89, Louisiana Tech 58: “Through two games, this Texas team has looked as solid as anyone could have imagined. They are playing as a team, moving the ball, crisply on offense, and not settling for jump shot. On the other end, they’ve been able to win the rebounding battle in both games and held both opponents to under 40% from the floor. J’Covan [Brown] and [Jordan] Hamilton look like different players; [Tristan] Thompson and [Cory] Joseph have already been impactful; and [Gary] Johnson and Dogus [Balbay] are leading by example. Heck, even Jai Lucas and [Matt] Hill have provided some quality minutes. The competition takes a giant step up next week, but, again, through two games, I’m impressed.” (Burnt Orange Nation)

With the season officially getting underway last night we are unveiling a new feature. Along with our usual After The Buzzer where we break down the night’s action we are also reaching out across the Internet to find the best team-specific analyses of the games to give you more of a local flavor of the action. We have already reached out to several sites who have agreed to participate, which you will see once we get more than four games in a night, but if you are interested in participating in this feature and getting your site linked to contact us at rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Top 25 Games

• #4 Pittsburgh 83, Rhode Island 75: Jamie Dixon and the Panthers overcame a difficult opening night challenge from a solid URI team behind 24 points from Brad Wanamaker and 22 points from Ashton Gibbs. (Panther Digest)
• #16 Illinois 79, UC-Irvine 65: The Illini were not as impressive as their fans hoped for, but they were buoyed by Brandon Paul, who added 18 points off the bench. (Hail to the Orange)
• Indianapolis 79, #20 Tennessee 65: After an ugly exhibition loss Bruce Pearl has a lot of questions to answer before the season officially begins for his team. (Rocky Top Talk)*
• #25 Texas 83, Navy 52: The Longhorns looked impressive in their debut, but Rick Barnes still has plenty of questions after the season-opener. (Burnt Orange Nation)

Other Notable Games

• Maryland 105, Seattle 76: After struggling for 15 minutes, the Terrapins won fairly easily thanks to some solid defense and a strong effort from Jordan Williams, who had 17 points and 15 rebounds. (Testudo Times)
• Indiana 78, Ferris State 65 (OT): On a night where the Volunteers were embarrassed, the Hoosiers required a 4-point play by a freshman and the officials waiving off a shot at buzzer before pulling away in overtime. (Inside the Hall)*

* Denotes exhibition games