Brendon Mulvihill is an RTC contributor. You can find him @themulv on Twitter.  See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

Tu Holloway is back from suspension to face Casper Ware and Long Beach State

There are too many three and four star games tonight to count, so in the interest of analyzing a few teams we have not touched on before, we picked three neutral court games that should be great.  Let’s get to the action.

Missouri vs. Illinois – 9:00PM EST on ESPN2 HD (****)

• There are two reasons Missouri is flat-out destroying opponents this season — they shoot lights out and they protect the ball. The Tigers are first in the country in eFG% at 60% and first in the country in offensive turnover rate at 13.6%.  It is very difficult to beat a team that hits a majority of its shots and does not have empty possessions.  The Mizzou offense will be matched up against a solid Illinois defense. The Illini gets on the defensive boards and blocks shots.  Unfortunately, Bruce Weber’s guys are a little soft on their perimeter defense giving up 35.5% from three. Tiger guard Kim English, who shoots a ridiculous 53.2% (33-62) from beyond the arc, could have a field day tonight if not checked.
• Illinois cannot try to outshoot Missouri tonight.  They will get blown off the court if they do.  They must focus on defense if they are to have a chance.  Keep an eye on 7’1” Illini center Meyers Leonard and what impact he has on the game against a small-ish Tigers team.  The tallest Mizzou starter is the 6’8” Ratliffe, who will have to check Meyers.  However, there is still a significant size difference.  Meyers will need to have a career game to lead Illinois to a victory.
• Missouri’s shooting will dictate who wins this game.  If the Tigers shoot their average, they should take the victory.  Expect them to shoot a few more threes than normal against a weak Illini perimeter defense.  If Illinois is to keep this game close, Meyers will have to find a way to dominate on both ends of the floor.  Illinois needs to slow the game down and D.J. Richardson needs to continue to protect the ball against the Tiger press for the guys in orange to have a fighting chance.

Baylor vs. St. Mary’s – 10:30PM EST on ESPN3 (****)

• In Baylor’s last game against a West Coast Conference team, it barely escaped 86-83 at BYU.  Despite being outshot by Baylor by a significant margin, the Cougars kept the game close by dominating the offensive boards.  St. Mary’s is a better offensive rebounding team than BYU, so keep an eye on how many offensive boards the Gaels grab in this game.  With Baylor blocking so many shots and creating steals on 13% of opponents possessions, their long and athletic front line makes scoring on them very difficult. Speaking of front lines, keep an eye on the Bears’ forwards Perry Jones, Quincy Miller, and Quincy Acy on offense as well.  St. Mary’s does not have the same level of athletes to match-up with the trio.
• Baylor is by far the toughest test of the season for Randy Bennett’s team.  Keep an eye on how the Gaels handle the initial Baylor onslaught.  In order for the Gaels to stay in this game, they need to own the boards on both ends.  They are currently one of the top defensive rebounding teams in the country and solid on the offensive boards as well. St. Mary’s guard Matthew Dellavedova is going to have to shoulder the offensive load.  Keep an eye on how he responds to the pressure.
• St. Mary’s appears to be outmanned in this game, so hustle will be the key for them.  The size of the Baylor frontcourt could be too much for the Gaels.  Rebounding will be the key factor.  Baylor shoots the ball very well, but SMC can keep in close if they hit the boards.  Baylor needs to hang on to the ball and take advantage of their athleticism and length to win.

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1. Andre Drummond‘s arrival at Connecticut was met with quite a bit of fanfare, but there was also an element of unhappiness with how it was handled after the school took away a scholarship from another player (Michael Bradley, who literally spent time as a child in an orphanage) and gave it to Drummond citing a NCAA restriction against a recruited player coming in as a walk-on. It turns out that the school misinterpreted the rule and Drummond has been a walk-on since early November as the rule was actually that a player could walk-on as long as any financial aid was non-institutional. Drummond’s status as a walk-on only became public when Drummond mentioned that he was walk-on to the media. One other mildly interesting tidbit from the report is Drummond reportedly telling Bradley, “I’ll pay my way and take a scholarship next year.” We are not ready to buy into the hype that Connecticut fans are giving it as a sign that Drummond is coming back next year, but it is still amusing.
2. Federal prosecutors have set up a phone and an e-mail hotline (both listed in the link) in an attempt to gather more information to build their case against former Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine. We don’t think this says anything about the state of the investigation despite claims by quite a few Syracuse fans (not the majority) that this move reeks of desperation. We have obviously seen this work on countless movies and TV shows, but we are not familiar with any data on its utility in real-life situations. Obviously, doing so allows for anonymous people to come forward with legitimate information that they might not otherwise report, but it also allows for anonymous people to come forward with false information that they might not otherwise report.
3. Shabazz Muhammad, the #1 recruit in the class of 2012, has narrowed his list down to six schools: Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, UCLA, Arizona, and UNLV. In the video interview, Muhammad briefly discusses John Calipari being in the stands at a recent game, Sean Miller going to a practice, support from rabid UNLV fans, UCLA’s losses, and how he would fit into Duke’s system. As former Kentucky legend Rex Chapman notes, this announcement might be a little deceptive in its nature. We still have no idea when Muhammad intends on announcing his top choice, but with that list of schools we are certain that our little corner of the Internet universe will explode when he does announce.
4. Jabari Bird, one of the top recruits in the class of 2013, has also narrowed his list and is reportedly considering just three schools: Arizona, California, and Washington. The latter two schools have apparently been very aggressive in their pursuit of Bird recently. While Bird isn’t quite the caliber of recruit that Muhammad is a commitment from Bird might be a bigger deal at the schools he is considering with the exception of Arizona than a commitment from Muhammad would mean for any of the schools that he is considering. Like Muhammad, Bird has not announced a date so theoretically this could drag on for more than a year before we know where Bird is headed.
5. If there is one team that has been asking Santa for a win as a Christmas gift this holiday season it has to be Towson, who is on the verge of going a full calendar year without winning a game. The Tigers last won a game on December 29, 2010 when they beat La Salle 93-90 in overtime. Since that time they have lost 30 straight games and while they had a few close calls last year they have only had a shot at winning one game this season (a four-point loss to UMBC). To be fair, they did open up this season against an absolutely brutal schedule. At this point they have two games standing between them and 0-for-2011. On Friday, they play at home against Vermont and then the following Friday they head to Virginia for what would be their last shot at a win this season. Unfortunately, we don’t see them winning either of those games. In fact, according to Ken Pomeroy, who ranks the Tigers #343 out of 345 Division I schools, they won’t be favored in any of their remaining games (their best chance is January 11, 2012 at home against William & Mary) and have a 19.4% chance of a winless record this season. If it is any consolation, they are still a long way off New Jersey Institute of Techonology’s magical run, which ended at 51 games. However, if they were to lose all of their remaining games (including one conference tournament game), they would end the year with a 50-game losing streak, which would mean their 2012-13 season opener could be to tie the Division I record for futility.

Evan Jacoby is an RTC columnist and contributor. You can find him @evanjacoby on Twitter. Night Line will run on weeknights during the season, highlighting a major storyline development from that day’s slate of games.

For the past five seasons, perhaps no Big East team has underachieved as much as Seton Hall. The Pirates haven’t given fans much to be excited about since their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2006, despite having several talented players come through the program. The Hall haven’t won 20 games since 2003-04, and have been a mainstay in the NIT ever since. This year was expected to be much of the same, as Kevin Willard inherited the challenge of leading a team that lost its two leading scorers from last year’s 13-18 campaign. But after a strong road win over Dayton on Wednesday night, the 10-1 Pirates are on their way to a potentially NCAA Tournament-bound year, thanks to two veteran Big East leaders and an improving group of young players. After many disappointments, Seton Hall is finally overachieving and bringing some hope to its loyal fans.

Herb Pope Has Been a Dominant Force This Season for Seton Hall (AP/B. Kostroun)

These are certainly not your Pirates of old. Gone are last year’s leading scorers Jeff Robinson and Jeremy Hazell, and so is the sloppy offense that ran through the volume shooting guard. Last year, Seton Hall scored just 0.98 points per possession, ranking in the bottom 100 teams nationally. They really didn’t do anything well offensively, and the game plan often focused on getting Hazell going from the perimeter. The senior chucked nearly eight threes per game, and he never quite found his groove before suffering a season-ending injury. This year, the Pirates run a more balanced offense leading to 1.08 points per possession, an improvement to #65 in the country. They move the ball well and boast a 1.26 assist-to-turnover ratio that ranks in the top 30 nationally. Seton Hall is no longer running a one-man offensive show, and it’s producing much better results.

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Evan Jacoby is an RTC columnist and contributor. You can find him @evanjacoby on Twitter. See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

After several consecutive slow weeknights, Wednesday night offers some very good games. All eyes should be tuned in, especially, to the ESPN2 early game.

Texas at #4 North Carolina – 7:00 PM EST on ESPN2 (****)

UNC Will Attack Texas With Their Forwards, Tonite on ESPN2 (Getty Images/P. Williams)

• Since their collapse against NC State on November 21, Texas has won seven straight games by double digits, including some nice wins over Temple and at UCLA. Their talented guard combo of J’Covan Brown and Myck Kabongo is starting to click, with Brown’s numbers up to 19.3 points and 4.3 assists per game and Kabongo at 10.8 points and 6.0 assists per contest. Four of the Longhorns’ five leading scorers are freshmen, including Kabongo and exciting reserve guard Sheldon McClennan. The Longhorns are ranked seventh nationally with 1.18 points per possession and eighth in overall offensive efficiency (117.5). For Texas to hang in this game, they’ll need their young guards to keep scoring at a high rate, and hope to contain UNC’s massive frontcourt from dominating the offensive boards.
• North Carolina has a massive size, experience, home court, and overall talent advantage in this game, which is why they’re 10-point favorites. Look for the Tar Heels to feature Tyler Zeller and John Henson inside to feast on Texas’s smaller front line. The bigs should be able to control this game on the boards, where UNC ranks 16^th nationally in offensive rebounds per game, and number one overall on the defensive glass. Even if Texas’s guards can score effectively, Carolina can counter with its wing scorers of Harrison Barnes, Dexter Strickland, and Reggie Bullock, lead by the nation’s top assist man in Kendall Marshall (10.2 APG).
• Texas has won four straight games against Carolina since 1995. The Longhorns are playing well and will certainly be ready for this game. But it’s hard to envision UNC losing this one at home given their huge advantage in the paint and with just as many talented guards. Expect a super exciting, high scoring affair between two of the top programs in the country, with Roy Williams’ team coming out on top.

Seton Hall at Dayton – 7:00 PM EST, no TV (***)

• This is a huge road test for 9-1 Seton Hall, whose only loss came in the finals of the Charleston Classic against Northwestern. Senior Herb Pope has been an absolute stud all year and he leads the Big East in scoring (22.1 PPG) AND rebounding (11.9 RPG). His fellow senior leader, point guard Jordan Theodore, leads the conference in assists with 7.1 per game. Sophomore guard Fuquan Edwin leads the Big East in steals per game with 3.4 per contest. He and Theodore each average about 14 points per game, as well. This dangerous trio will look to lead coach Kevin Willard’s team to a big road win and legitimize their strong start to the season.
• Dayton is a talented but very inconsistent team. They have strong wins over Alabama, Wake Forest, and Minnesota on their resume, but they also have a shocking home loss to Buffalo by 29 (!) points. They lost road games to Miami (Ohio) and Murray State, as well. First year coach Archie Miller’s team has five players that average nine or more points per game, lead by junior lead guard Kevin Dillard. A transfer from Southern Illinois, Dillard leads the team in scoring (11.9 PPG), assists (5.1 APG), and steals (2.3 SPG).
• This game is not televised nationally or on ESPN3.com, but be sure to follow along, or even watch if it’s being shown locally. Dayton is a four-point home favorite in this one, but this is anyone’s game. The Flyers have several big home wins and another awful home loss. Seton Hall will look to control the game with the dominant Pope inside, who will be a load to handle for Dayton’s short interior players. I’d take Seton Hall and their experienced leaders to come out with the road win, but this one could go either way.

Middle Tennessee State at Mississippi – 9:00 PM EST on ESPN3.com (***)

• Middle Tennessee is coming off a big home win over Belmont to push its record to 10-2. They are the class of the Sun Belt Conference, and are only two-point underdogs in this game. When you factor in the three-point cushion given to home teams in Vegas lines, that means MTSU is considered the slightly better team. This is a fair assessment, as the Raiders have an impressive trio of upperclassmen in guard Marcos Knight and forwards LaRon Dendy and J.T. Sulton who all average at least 12 points and 6 rebounds per game. These three all shoot at least 53.6% from the field, as well, which powers the nation’s best field goal shooting team (53.2% as a team for the year).
• Ole Miss also comes into this game with just two losses, the most recent of which came on Saturday at a pretty good Southern Miss team. Ole Miss features five players that average nine points or more, lead by junior Murphy Holloway’s 10.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Not included in their five leading scorers is new addition Jelan Kendrick, who is now eligible for Mississippi after transferring from Memphis when he was kicked off the team at the beginning of this year. Kendrick is a very talented freshman who could start to make his mark tonight. Andy Kennedy’s team will have the athleticism advantage in this game, such as their 6.2 blocks per game which ranks 13^th in the country.
• This game might be the best of the 9:00PM EST slate, so be sure to have ESPN3 ready on your computer even if you’re tuned in to the television for another game. We expect Ole Miss to take care of business at home, but MTSU will offer a great challenge and could come out with another impressive victory.

Oklahoma State at Alabama – 9:00 PM EST on ESPN2 (***)

• Oklahoma State comes into this game at 6-4 having lost two straight games. The Cowboys have a collection of talented players but have not found the best way to utilize their pieces; nine different players have been in the starting lineup in the first 10 games. LeBryan Nash, the McDonald’s All-American freshman, is starting to play better of late, seeing his minutes increase in the past three games. He’s now up to 12.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game for the season. Markel Brown is a talented sophomore guard (9.7 PPG) and Cezar Guerrero is a freshman with a quick trigger that can fill it up in a hurry (7.7 PPG), though takes plenty of questionable shots per game. Upperclassmen Jean-Paul Olekemi (9.7 PPG) and, especially, Keiton Page (12.7 PPG) are the leaders of the team that will look to ignite the upset in this one.
• Alabama was ranked in the top 15 to begin this month, but the Crimson Tide have suffered three disappointing losses in the past three weeks, albeit to some good teams. Anthony Grant’s team lost at home to Georgetown on a game-winning three from the Hoyas, and they followed that one with two road losses to Dayton and Kansas State. Bama has had trouble scoring in those games. They aren’t a very effective offensive team, with a 104.8 efficiency that ranks 120^th nationally. The Tide get it done on the defensive end where they allow an eFG% of 40.6 that is seventh best in the country. Jamychal Green, Tony Mitchell, and Trevor Releford are big time athletes who all average double figure scoring and can lock down defensively.
• This game is technically not a home game for Alabama, since it is being played in Birmingham as part of the 2011 Legacy Credit Union Holiday Classic. But for all intents and purposes, consider the Crimson Tide the home team as they will draw the much larger crowd in their home state. Bama has fallen victim to a few upsets this season, as they were the favored team in all three of their losses. But don’t expect a repeat in this one, as Oklahoma State is still a work in progress and the solid defense of Alabama should lead them to a victory.

***** – quit your job and divorce your wife if that’s what it takes to watch this game live
**** – best watched live, but if you must, tivo and watch it tonight as soon as you get home
*** – set your tivo but make sure you watch it later
** – set your tivo but we’ll forgive you if it stays in the queue until 201
* – don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game

Charlie Parks is an RTC correspondent. He filed this report after the Creighton vs. Tulsa game on Monday night.

If you don’t know about Doug McDermott yet, then get ready, because you are about to. I didn’t know much about McDermott myself before the game Monday night. I knew the 6’7″ sophomore from Ames, Iowa, was second in the nation in scoring with 25.2 points per game, and that his play has put Creighton in the Top 25 and positioned him as the early favorite for Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. What I didn’t expect (but quickly found out) was that McDermott just might already be one of the best players in the country. He has a different type of game than last season’s mid-major darling from BYU but he’s equally effective, even more efficient, and still has two-and-a-half more seasons of eligibility in front of him.

Get to Know Him Now... (AP)

McDermott not only dropped a career high 35 points in 34 minutes on the road against Tulsa, but he put together one of the most complete and fundamentally sound basketball games I have ever seen.  He finished the night shooting 16-of-23 from the field (.695 FG%) with seven boards (four offensive), and he was automatic within ten feet of the hoop. But what was the most impressive about McDermott’s game was the way in which he put up those numbers.

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Who’s Got Next? is a weekly column by Josh Paunil, the RTC recruiting guru. We encourage you to check out his website dedicated solely to college basketball recruiting, National Recruiting Spotlight, for more detailed recruiting information. Once a week he will bring you an overview of what’s going on in the complex world of recruiting, from who is signing where among the seniors to who the hot prospects are at the lower levels of the sport. If you have any suggestions as to areas we’re missing or different things you’d like to see, please let us know at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.

Lead Story: Elite Class of 2013 Shooting Guard Selects Kansas

Bill Self Must Have Dazzled Brannen Greene On the Junior's Unofficial Visit (Jeffrey Greene)

Brannen Greene Not Satisfied, Recruiting Others To Join Him. Class of 2013 shooting guard Brannen Greene announced his commitment to the Kansas Jayhawks this week which makes him the third highest rated recruit to come off the board. The 6’6″, 180-pound Georgia-native joins shooting guard Conner Frankamp as head coach Bill Self‘s two commitments in the junior class and will see playing time at both guard positions and small forward. Greene is a guy who has good athleticism and versatility and shoots the ball very well from the perimeter. He’s also a very intelligent player who has great character and is supremely coachable. The good news for Kansas fans is that he has already started recruiting guys to come join him. A trio of top-10 juniors is currently at the top of his wish list which includes shooting guard Allerik Freeman and power forwards Chris Walker and Julius Randle. The Jayhawks are also very close to getting a commitment from Class of 2013 point guard Isaiah Lewis who could verbal Monday (see more below). In addition to Lewis, Kansas looks to be in the lead to land Walker’s services and could get Freeman as well. Perhaps the only recruiting trouble Bill Self could run into in the Class of 2013 is if he will have enough scholarships available.

What They’re Saying

• Senior Shabazz Muhammad on who’s standing out to him: “UNLV stands out, Kentucky, Duke and UCLA, all really stand out to me from a player’s standpoint. Kansas also really has a great program too, and I’m excited to take my official [visit] up there and see [head] coach [Bill] Self and his staff.”

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1. As we mentioned yesterday the big news in the college basketball world (or at least the media world) was the first-person column by Todd O’Brien describing how St. Joseph’s and Phil Martelli have denied his attempt to use a graduate school exemption to transfer to UAB. Yesterday, the media got a chance to chime in with columns of their own. Outside of the expected “Martelli is a symbol of all things wrong with college sports” there were a few interesting posts. One of them comes from Gregg Doyel who urged the public to wait for St. Joseph’s side of the story to come out while Andy Staples took a bigger picture view at the landscape of the NCAA to point out its uneven approach in dealing with movement of coaches and players. We are sure that there will be several other interesting columns about this topic particularly if (when?) St. Joseph’s decides to tell its side of the story.
2. Drew Cannon of Basketball Prospectus provides us with something he calls “Grand Unified Point Guard Theory” (in reference to particle physics theories that are way too complex to discuss here) using Kendall Marshall, Aaron Craft, Jordan Taylor, and Seth Curry as examples. Basically what Cannon argues is that a point guard’s impact is more about fit than the particular skills they have (at least in these four examples). While we do agree at some level that a point guard’s value can be greatly increased or decreased by the pieces around him, we tend to think that Cannon’s GUPGT is way too simplistic and undervalues a lot of what some of these players bring to a team. Perhaps it is because point guards may be doing things that even the most advanced basketball sabermetricians have not figured out a way to quantify. Of course, we could be wrong here (and John Gasaway, who works with Drew, agrees with GUPGT) and will admit that like everybody we may fall into a trap of overvaluing some qualities in players. One thing we can agree on is that the phrase “true point guard” is vastly overrated and would prefer to use something along the lines of “facilitator” that allows for inclusion of a player like Henry Sims, who manages to do many traditional point guard things despite not fitting the mold.
3. It didn’t take long for the decision by DeQuan Jones to hire a lawyer to pay off as he was reinstated by Miami yesterday. We already discussed in detail the impact that the reinstatement of Jones would have on the Hurricanes. We don’t have more much to add here that wasn’t stated in yesterday’s post other than to reiterate our stance that Miami’s original decision to suspend Jones was ridiculous particularly since all of the coaches and administrators were allowed to continue to have jobs as well as Charles Robinson’s point that this decision does not indicate any change in the NCAA’s investigation and probably reflects more on Miami’s preference not to get sued.
4. It has been a rough season so far for St. John’s, but help may be on the way in the form of Amir Garrett. After losing several recruits who failed to meet NCAA Clearinghouse standards and another freshman who transferred earlier this month, Garrett’s arrival could be a huge boost to a team that is just 5-5 as we approach Christmas. Garrett was one of the three incoming recruits who failed to meet the NCAA Clearinghouse requirements, but he is the only one who appears to be staying with St. John’s as the other two are exploring other options. There is a possibility that Garrett could play as early as tonight against Texas Pan-American. While the Broncs are by far the easiest remaining opponent on St. John’s schedule (the Broncs are #329 out of 345 in Division I according to Ken Pomeroy) we will be interested to see what impact if any Garrett has on the team.
5. We missed this news from late Monday night due to the late hour and the fact that we don’t have our RSS feed set to find the latest news on Big Sky teams that started the season 2-8, but we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the mid-season resignation of Idaho State coach Joe O’Brien. O’Brien, who did not offer a public reason for stepping down, is the third coach to resign in recent weeks with the others also not providing a direct answer for their decision to leave. O’Brien’s record was a horrific 56-105 at Idaho State, but he was much more successful at the junior college level where he is one of only three coaches to win three national championships. Unfortunately, his time at Idaho State may be remembered most for his brutal scheduling according to school’s official biography of him (hello guarantee game!). Assistant coach Deane Martin will act as the interim coach with his first game tomorrow night against Wyoming.

Evan Jacoby is an RTC columnist. You can find him @evanjacoby on Twitter. Night Line will run on weeknights during the season, highlighting a major storyline development from that day’s slate of games.

After another impressive road victory, it’s time to get Ohio University on the national radar. The Bobcats of the MAC improved to 10-1 with Tuesday’s night’s impressive win over Northern Iowa, another one-loss team coming into tonight’s game. Ohio entered the contest as six-point underdogs and left with a 17-point victory. They have now won road contests over Oakland, Marshall, and UNI, and they had a five-point lead at Louisville with under three minutes to play before poor execution down the stretch lead to a late loss. That near-upset remains the Bobcats’ only loss of the season. Ohio has passed all of its major non-conference tests with flying colors, and they certainly look the part of an NCAA Tournament team. Barring a stunning loss in one of their next three home games against weaker opponents, star point guard D.J. Cooper and his team will head into MAC conference play as the league favorite and with a good resume worthy of at-large bid consideration.

DJ Cooper and Ohio Are 10-1 and Nearly Got By Louisville (AP)

Ohio is led by the junior guard Cooper who simply does it all. The 5’11”, 165-pounder doesn’t have the physical make-up of a high major player, but he’s been as productive as any guard in the country. His playmaking skills on both ends of the floor have been remarkable. Cooper led the entire country in total steals as a freshman, not to mention finishing the season with a 13/5/6 APG average that season. As a sophomore, Cooper accumulated the second-most assists in the nation, dishing out 7.5 per game. He’s back at the task this year, contributing across the board with 14.6 points, 6.4 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game. His one struggle is shooting the ball from deep, where he’s made just 30% of his career three-point shots despite attempting over five per game. If he were ever to cut down on his volume of deep shots, then we’d be looking at an even more dangerous player.

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Brendon Mulvihill is an RTC contributor. You can find him @themulv on Twitter.  See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

As college hoops finishes up the non-conference season, we get to watch two teams that have transcended their mid-major status, as well as upstart mid-majors battle against the nations blue bloods. With all the holiday shopping going on this time of year, it becomes even more important to Set Your TiVo’s. Let’s get to the action.

Brad Stevens takes Butler into Spokane to face Gonzaga (Indy Star/R. Scheer)

College of Charleston at #11 Louisville – 9:00PM EST on ESPNU HD (***)

• College of Charleston is off to a 9-1 and is poised to make a run through the Southern Conference. Louisville is a very difficult road test for the Cougars, but it could help them come NCAA Tournament time. Charleston is a very good two-point shooting team, hitting 54.6% from inside the arc. However, Bobby Cremins has his squad taking 40% of its shots from three. That’s a big number for a team that is only shooting 35.8% from downtown. Considering Antwaine Wiggins and Andrew Lawrence are hitting 61.3% and 55% from two, respectively, it will be important for both players to get good shots inside the arc. However, they run into a Louisville defense that is stout against the two-point shot. The Cougars are simply going to have to hit more threes to beat Louisville. Keep an eye on their makes and misses from deep. If they are not hitting early, the Cardinals could get too far out in front for Charleston to catch.
• With the exception of Ohio and Vanderbilt, Louisville has been mowing opponents down with stellar defense. They rank 4th in the country in defensive efficiency and have only allowed one opponent (Vanderbilt) to shoot over 50% eFG in 10 games. Charleston is one of the better two-point shooting teams in the country, so it will be a good test for the Cardinals. Expect Rick Pitino’s club to own the boards on both ends, as well as create a bunch of turnovers. Keep an eye on how Charleston handles the Louisville defensive pressure. If they look tentative when bringing the ball up court, this one could get out of hand.
• The game hinges on Charleston’s ability to handle the Louisville defense. The Cardinals will pressure the Cougar ball handlers and try to create baskets off of turnovers. If Charleston can move the ball past the pressure and hit open threes early, they can stay in the game. However, that is a very difficult task against one of the top five defenses in the country.

1. If you want to get upset with a coach and a school for abusing its control over a player, check out Todd O’Brien‘s first-person account of his attempt to try to play for UAB as part of a graduate school transfer, but being thwarted by Phil Martelli and St. Joseph’s. O’Brien chronicles his attempts to gain his release from the school and the denials by what appears to be an increasingly petty Martelli. Obviously, we are only getting one side of the story here, but St. Joseph’s appears to have been offered a chance at offering an appropriate rebuttal and issued what amounts to a non-denial denial. This story won’t get as much attention as all the reports about players behaving badly or being offered extra benefits and it is a very rare occurrence (this is the first time it has happened in NCAA history), but it should not get swept under the rug.
2. The latest Hoop Thoughts column by Seth Davis touches on a variety of topics including Khem Birch and other prominent freshmen who have left school after one semester or less. One of the interesting points that Davis makes is a reference to a piece by Luke Winn this summer that showed that players who switched high schools were more likely to decommit. Obviously, leaving a school after you have already enrolled there is a big step from switching commitments as a high school player, but it does suggest a certain lack of loyalty and stability. As our previous point noted, this issue can get more complicated if a school is unwilling to accept a young adult’s change of heart. If you caught Seth’s Twitter rant last night, you can be sure his Hoops Thoughts column may have looked very different if it were released today.
3. One of the aforementioned freshmen who left school early (and attended multiple high schools) is Jabari Brown, the five-star recruit who left Oregon after less than a semester. Brown left Eugene under unclear circumstances and was soon followed be fellow freshman Bruce Barron. Reports yesterday indicate that Brown is headed to Missouri and cited his mother as saying that her son had a “good fit” with the system and Frank Haith. If Brown enrolls at Missouri, he could become eligible as early as next December and would be a big addition to a team that will lose quite a bit to graduation.
4. Speaking of Oregon, the school was a victim of a cyber attack in the wake of its 67-54 loss to Virginia. The school’s website had a fake quote sheet for Oregon’s Dana Altman in which he was critical of the team’s pregame spaghetti and said he “wasn’t that impressed” with Virginia’s Mike Scott. The page has been scrubbed from the Internet although if you play around with Google Cache you can easily find it (ESPN’s Eamonn Brennan got a screen cap of it before it was taken down). We are sure that the people at Oregon were not amused by the stunt, but the fake quotes were fairly benign (other than the Mike Scott one) so while we don’t condone hacking this was pretty humorous (unless it happens to us).
5. We usually try not to question the medical/personnel decisions of coaches and teams here, but the decision by Thad Matta to play Jared Sullinger today against Lamar is a strange one. As the interview session continued, Matta appeared to back off his assessment that Sullinger would play today and moved towards something more akin to probably play. Ohio State would be wise to remember that it was just this past Saturday when Sullinger, who was already battling back spasm, had to get x-rays on what appeared to be broken foot that turned out to be negative. If Matta has any doubt in his mind about Sullinger’s health, he should rest him for both Sullinger’s future and for that of this Buckeye team. The Buckeyes could probably play without Sullinger and any starter not named Aaron Craft and easily beat Lamar in Columbus.