Fresh off a lesson in efficiency from the Michigan Wolverines, a young and confident West Virginia Mountaineer couldn’t help but offer his two cents on Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway, Jr.

https://twitter.com/Carvelli3/status/280163185355538433

Eron Harris, to his credit, had a respectable night, finishing with 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting. But his team was shallacked 81-66 on national television, while the duo of Burke and Hardaway at the Barclays Center confirmed to many that they may be the most dangerous backcourt in the country. Defining “amazing” in this instance is certainly open to interpretation, but John Beilein has a special tandem to work with, while Bob Huggins has a team in need of a reality check. Oh, to be a freshman in college once again.

Catholic Seven Speak Up

All of a sudden, the infrequently used sports chant “We’ve Got God” has taken on a whole new meaning. The seven Catholic-affiliated schools from the Big East, more commonly known as the seven Big East schools that don’t have a Division I football program, finally used the one bit of leverage they had — a connection with a higher power —  as a way out of a decaying conference.

https://twitter.com/BonnieBernstein/status/279383453437407232

https://twitter.com/AdamZagoria/status/279382035297079296

The Catholic Seven will likely add a few more programs that are aligned both religiously and academically, effectively bringing to an end one of the great leagues a basketball hoophead has ever seen. As someone who literally grew up on the Big East, this certainly evokes emotion. Not really the thought of a future with no Big East, but the pause this news gives to remember all those nights you stayed up watching Big East basketball.

https://twitter.com/sharrowsDC/status/279376312668401664

And, yea, bro, sucks to be stuck with that…

https://twitter.com/MDuMont11/status/279411191695159297

Down Goes Indiana

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Brian Otskey is an RTC columnist. Every Tuesday during the regular season he’ll be giving his 10 thoughts on the previous week’s action. You can find him on Twitter @botskey

1. After enduring the dreaded finals week, we college basketball fans were given a treat on Saturday afternoon courtesy of two teams who call basketball heaven, otherwise known as the state of Indiana, home. In what was the game of the year to date, the Butler Bulldogs overcame a second half deficit and tons of foul trouble and knocked off the top-ranked Indiana Hoosiers. While an unranked team beating #1 is always an amazing accomplishment, nobody should be surprised by this result. Butler has done this time and time again over the last few seasons with a variety of different players (although this was the program’s first victory over a #1-ranked team) who embrace the same unselfishness and winning culture. The Butler Way, as it has been deemed, is the reason why Brad Stevens is considered among the top coaches in the college game. This meteoric rise for the 36-year-old Stevens, in only his sixth year as a head coach, doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. Butler won the game by torching Indiana from deep and dominating inside, consequently exposing preseason All-American Cody Zeller’s deficiencies. Roosevelt Jones and Andrew Smith took it to Zeller all game and made him look like a very average center in the process, one who struggled to rebound and had difficulty scoring against the physical Butler defense. Zeller’s stat line may look alright (18 points, five rebounds), but 10 of his points were scored at the foul line. He wasn’t a major factor on either end of the floor, a credit to Stevens and his preparation as well as Butler’s personnel. This is a blueprint for future opponents with the proper personnel on how to attack Zeller and Indiana. The Hoosier defense, which up until Saturday’s game had looked much improved, did not look all that impressive on this day. Aside from Victor Oladipo (who is quickly becoming Indiana’s most important player), the Hoosiers didn’t defend the way they needed to against Butler’s deliberate offensive sets. Indiana has plenty of time to fix the problems and remains a legitimate national title contender but Saturday’s result was a good reality check. There is no truly dominant team in college basketball this season and we will see more results like this as the year progresses.
   

   Alex Barlow’s Game-Winner Knocked Off Indiana

2. Another fantastic game broke out later Saturday night in Tucson where Arizona overcame a six point deficit in the final minute to shock Florida and remain undefeated. In a 40-minute game, the Wildcats led for only a stunning one minute and 24 seconds, out-played in their own building for the vast majority of the game. What did I draw from this game? Not much except that it was fun to watch and both teams are legitimate top ten outfits. Who is the better team? I’m sticking with Florida. The Gators went into the McKale Center and methodically dismantled Arizona for 37 of the 40 minutes played. The problem for Florida was meltdowns at the end of both halves which proved fatal. The Gators held an 11-point lead with under two minutes remaining in the first half but two turnovers and a blown defensive assignment on Nick Johnson allowed Arizona to cut the lead to three at the half. Florida weathered the storm and slowly built up a comfortable lead in the second half before Arizona charged back. A Scottie Wibekin triple with 2:44 remaining seemed to be the dagger but Florida would not score again. In a final minute disaster, the Gators committed three turnovers and 90% free throw shooter Kenny Boynton missed the front end of a one-and-one. Mark Lyons still had to hit a tough shot off the glass to give Arizona the win but this was a total giveaway by Florida, a team that had no business losing this game given the way it played out. What did I like about the Gators? A lot, from Patric Young’s smooth touch and suffocating defense to Mike Rosario’s newfound self-control and poise. Billy Donovan’s team does a great job in zone defense and I thought they should have played some more possessions in it. After a made basket, I really liked Florida throwing on some light full court pressure before settling back into the 2-3 zone. It served them well by confusing Arizona for the better part of the game. Offensively, Florida has nice balance and utilizes Erik Murphy in the perfect way with pick-and-pops as well as a series of staggered screens that really confused Arizona’s defense. Rosario and Boynton play more under control this year and don’t chuck as often as in the past. This is a team that should win the SEC and contend for a national championship. As for Arizona, this is a very good team but not one I’m sure can contend for a national title. Sean Miller’s club must cut down on its turnovers (which it did against Florida) and improve its three point defense. I mentioned Arizona’s poor opponents three point percentage in a previous edition of this column and the Wildcats failed to stop Florida’s shooters on Saturday. That has to get better in the long run if Arizona wants to go deep in March. Kaleb Tarczewski is a tremendously talented young center but he was exposed by Young. Tarczewski will keep getting better but any team with a skilled big should be able to handle Arizona inside. Don’t get me wrong, Arizona will likely win the Pac-12 and advance deep in the NCAA Tournament but this team is flawed, as are many. This was a great resume-building win for Arizona but I’m not so sure the Wildcats would have beat Florida if the game wasn’t in Tucson. Read the rest of this entry »

Jesse Baumgartner is an RTC columnist. His Love/Hate column will publish each week throughout the season. In this piece he’ll review the five things he loved and hated about the previous seven days of college basketball.

Five Things I Loved This Week

I LOVED…. the magic of an intrastate rivalry in a basketball crazy state with Butler/Indiana. There are some games that seem like they’re just meant to take place in March, with all of those final consequences, and this sure seemed like one of those contests. What a treat of a game this early in the year, with all the back-and-forth and late dramatics that you could ask for. It makes sense that the Cinderella-prone Bulldogs and the upstart Hoosiers would be primed to start up a testy rivalry, but this barnburner might have just sped up that process by a couple of years. And you have to love the recruiting implications, too.

I LOVED… Sean Miller’s Wildcats taking out Florida in an early-season battle of potential March heavyweights. This one made me smile for two reasons – one, I feel like Miller is still on track with molding UA back into the perennial power that it was just a few years ago (and with that campus to recruit to, as it always should be…). But the other reason is that we need a couple of schools in the West to step up after a rough couple of years, just to restore some geographic balance to the college landscape. This Wildcats team looks like they could do their part this season.

I LOVED…. how content Tubby Smith is. He’s got another sneaky good team at Minnesota this season, as the Golden Gophers have only lost to #1 Duke and taken down Memphis and San Diego State, among others. You have to think that a guy with Tubby’s resume (read: national title) has turned down some offers at more marquee programs the past few seasons, but he’s remained committed to what most people would consider a rather moderate-profile university in a quality conference. It’s not flashy, and neither is Tubby, but it’s refreshing to see a good coach stay the course and keep building.

Tubby Smith Appears to Have His Best Minnesota Team

I LOVED…. Indiana losing a game at this point in the year. Though I’ve questioned their No. 1 ranking from the start, I really do like this team and think they very well could cut down the nets at the end of the year. But they needed some adversity, and getting it now rather than in late January or February will be a positive development, in my opinion. And getting it from a team that isn’t at their talent level should give Tom Crean even more material to work with in practice.

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With semester exams rudely disrupting the slate of games for the better part of last week, college hoops fans across the country eagerly waited for Saturday to roll around as 88 Division I games tipped off. There was one game, however, that dominated the rest. You may have heard that Butler knocked off previously unbeaten Indiana and shocked the country in the process—yet again. The Bulldogs enter the Top 25 for the first time all season, while Indiana falls from #2 to #5. Later that day, Arizona stormed back to beat Florida in dramatic fashion, but the Wildcats’ win certainly was overshadowed by Butler, and rightfully so.

This week’s QnD after the jump…

Quick ‘n Dirty Analysis.

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1. The writing was on the wall long before the announcement was made but Saturday marked the end of the Big East conference as we all knew it. As expected, the league’s seven catholic schools — Villanova, Marquette, Georgetown, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall, and DePaul — announced they were leaving the conference together with the assumed departure date tentatively set as June 30, 2015. Although the announcement should sadden any Big East basketball fan now staring at a shell of the conference, the move makes perfect sense for the seven considering none of the group fields a FBS football program and football is the sport that has dictated all of the money-grabbing and maneuvering. Once it became clear that the conference cared less about its basketball pedigree and more about salvaging its standing in the football community, the Catholic Seven were all but gone. There is still much to be played out, however, as many wonder whether the seven will form their own conference and try to recruit other basketball schools like Xavier and Butler, or whether they will try to latch on with another conference. Needless to say, this is huge news in our corner of the blogosphere and rest assured we will have plenty more analysis, memories, and news to share as the weeks progress.
2. One Big East player who was probably happy to see the conference realignment news take center stage was Syracuse‘s sophomore point guard Michael Carter-Williams, as he got to watch news of his shoplifting incident slip into the background amidst all the conference realignment chaos. Rumors of the incident spread last week as photos of what appeared to be Carter-Williams being led down a mall escalator in handcuffs circulated around Twitter, and the Syracuse Post-Standard did the rest of the legwork. The gist of it is that Carter-Williams was caught trying to shoplift a bathrobe and gloves from a Lord & Taylor outlet at the mall. He was caught, worked everything out with the store, and the police did not have to get involved. I have seen some rip into Carter-Williams for this and while there is no denying his judgment (as well as his thieving ability) were poor, I am tempted to give him a break here. By all accounts he acknowledged his error, cooperated with the store, and reimbursed them and then some from what he was trying to steal. That sounds like the actions of a kid who knows he did a dumb thing and accepted his punishment. Given all the other sorts of mishaps that college players make news for, I will refrain from calling Carter-Williams a criminal who needs to be suspended and just say this was a kid who made a dumb decision and is still paying for it.
3. The news surrounding Syracuse basketball isn’t all negative, however, as legendary coach and quote Jim Boeheim is set to win his 900th career game tonight, assuming his Orange can handle a middling Detroit team. If he wins, he will join Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight as the only coaches in Division I history to reach that plateau. The fact that a coach can win 900 games in a career is impressive in and of itself, but its his longevity and loyalty that make this feat so remarkable. Unlike Krzyzewski and Knight, all of Boeheim’s wins have come at his alma mater, as he hasn’t coached at any other school in his long and storied career. We are also talking about a coach who, since taking over the program in 1976, has failed to reach 20 wins in a season just twice and has never won fewer than 16 games in a single year. You can scour the Internet on your own if you are looking for more in-depth celebrations of Boeheim’s achievement, but Boeheim has cemented his legacy as one of the greatest collegiate coaches in any sport, as if there was ever any doubt.
4. The move out of the Big East could pay additional dividends for Providence coach Ed Cooley as the university’s president, Rev. Brian J. Shanley O.P., indicated that the school would be looking into extending Cooley’s contract to ensure he is at the helm for the foreseeable future. Cooley’s recruiting prowess is well-documented, but his ability to produce winning teams at Providence is not.  That is not to say he can’t do it, it is just to say that he has barely gotten his feet wet at the school, and so handing him an extension at this juncture may be dangerous if the team fails to live up to expectations over the course of the next three or four years. That said, Providence doesn’t have the luxury of being an elite job and the current conference instability doesn’t make it any more appealing. In order to ensure Cooley doesn’t jump ship if things go wrong, the university is willing to extend him now. It is a risky move but the right one as the Friars search for stability and a new home to continue their rebuilding efforts.
5. Tim Sullivan, a columnist for the Louisville Courier-Journal, hit the nail on the head when he called the Louisville basketball team a “roller derby”. Saturday’s gritty win against Memphis was all the evidence that Sullivan needed as the Cardinals let the Tigers jump out to a huge early lead only to claw back into the game in the second half and eventually emerge victorious. The offense and even the defense for stretches was not a pretty sight, but Rick Pitino’s bunch forced 24 turnovers and drew 33 free throws, scratching out a quality win any way they could against the high-flying athletes of Memphis. The game was so intense that even Pitino couldn’t resist a last-minute jab at a heckler after the Cardinals had won the game. It doesn’t take a basketball expert to see this is going to be a theme for the Cardinals all season long. Some teams have smooth offensive players and tons of NBA talent; the Cardinals have some streaky shooters, a penetrating point guard, a formidable frontcourt, and nearly unmatched competitiveness. That is how they are going to win games this season and I bet if you asked Pitino, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

1. The fields and arenas of play were more reserved than usual this weekend as Americans’ hearts remained heavy in the aftermath of the inexplicable and incomprehensible massacre that took place in Newtown, Connecticut, Friday morning. Moments of silence were observed at games from coast to coast for the fallen children, teachers and administrators whose lives where brutally taken from them much too early. Here at RTC, we generally try to stay above the partisan bickering that passes for national political discourse these days, but enough is enough — whatever we’re doing with respect to national firearm policy isn’t working. We don’t claim to have a reasoned and fair solution to this problem, but our leaders who presumably work for we, the people, need to figure out something better, and now.
2. The good people of the state of Connecticut of course are feeling more pain and heartache than anywhere else during this tragedy, and Kevin Ollie‘s Huskies will return to the court tonight with that burden in tow (with videos). It’s a bit more than an hour’s drive southwest from Storrs to Newtown, and many of the UConn players expressed their grief in terms of the connection to their own family members and loved ones: Tyler Olander’s mother is a sixth-grade teacher; Kevin Ollie has a school-age daughter; Shabazz Napier has a two-year old niece whom he adores. The school plans on wearing some sort of commemorative patch on its uniforms honoring the victims — perhaps as soon as in tonight’s game against Maryland-Eastern Shore — and the team will travel to Newtown soon to lend some additional support for the townspeople. As the most high-profile team in the Nutmeg State, these are necessary moves by the Husky program.
3. Sigh… on to the rest of the weekend’s news. In a completely expected announcement Saturday, the so-called Catholic 7 Big East schools voted unanimously to leave the conference and set out on its own course as a basketball-centric league. Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Providence and DePaul have decided that the race to the bottom that its football-playing peers have forced them into during all this conference realignment madness is no longer palatable. Apparently, the RPI anchor that schools like Tulane and East Carolina represented was the final straw. Now, the details on the when and how the exit of these seven universities will happen needs to be settled, but the other major elephant in the room is which schools the New Big East will target to fill out its roster — early reports suggest that Xavier, Dayton, Creighton, Butler and Gonzaga — all or some of them — are on the wish list. Regardless of who this new conference grabs, it’s nice to finally see proud basketball schools pushing back against the football behemoth.
4. While on the subject of Butler, Brad Stevens’ plucky squad knocked off the nation’s top-ranked team (per the AP/Coaches, not RTC) on Saturday afternoon at the Crossroads Classic, engendering another round of breathlessness (ourselves included) at just how excellent a head coach the 36-year old wunderkind already is. In a game that was must-watch television throughout, the final outcome hinged on a floater from a sophomore walk-on named Alex Barlow who had made a grand total of six buckets all season. The player who became a Bulldog so that he could apprentice under Stevens with a goal of becoming a head coach, added himself to the lore of a giant-killing school that has already scalped hoops titans North Carolina and Indiana this year. The overtime victory was Butler’s first ever win over a #1 team, and as the Indy Star‘s David Woods writes, it represents just another chapter in a program’s history where reality is better than fiction. Seriously.
5. The Syracuse Post-Standard is reporting additional details regarding star guard Michael Carter-Williams’ odd situation last Sunday where people tweeted pictures of him appearing to be under arrest at a local mall. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, MCW was detained and fined after a shoplifting incident at a Lord & Taylor store where he allegedly placed a Polo Ralph Lauren bathrobe and pair of gloves valued at around $120 into his backpack and walked out of the store. He was stopped by loss prevention staff and offered a deal where he could avoid arrest by paying a “civil demand,” wherein he could pay five times the value of the merchandise up to $500 and walk away. One source stated that Carter-Williams paid the fine with his credit card and left the scene freely. After Saturday night’s game versus Canisius (where MCW went for 12/14 assts), Jim Boeheim had little else to say about the matter other than to say that everyone “is satisfied with the result.”

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

This Weekend’s Lede. College Hoops Arrives In A Big Way. It is only fitting that the driest week on the college basketball calendar preceded a weekend of riveting hardwood action. It began, naturally, with Butler being Butler, and by that I mean knocking off a team that, from a talent standpoint, the Bulldogs had no business challenging. After years of watching Brad Stevens build his team on hard work, discipline and hard-nosed defense, the Bulldogs’ giant-killing tendencies are no revelation. Even by Butler’s standards, taking out the No. 1 team in the country with a Hoosier-dominated crowd taking in the scene, is remarkable. The drama escalated later that night with Florida’s come-from-ahead loss at Arizona, an excellent road win squandered away thanks to poor late-game management and a flurry of untimely mistakes. And let it be known, Mark Lyons (the inefficient, turnover-prone, shot-chucking, pass-averse Lyons) converted a high-difficulty running layup with 7.1 seconds remaining to complete the Wildcats’ home court defense. Those two games far outstrip any other contests that took place over the weekend, but there were plenty of fixtures of note, most of which we’ll delve into in the space below.

Your Watercooler Moment. Don’t Try To Explain Butler. Just Appreciate It.

Indiana entered the Crossroads Classic with a No. 1 ranking. Now they can’t claim that title within state borders (photo credit: AP Photo).

If the Catholic 7 are still going back and forth on potential additions to complete the new league, Butler is as sure a thing as any team – from Gonzaga to Xavier to Saint Louis – it may consider. Over the past four seasons, the Bulldogs have showed uncanny poise and pluck on the grandest stage – the NCAA Tournament. Saturday’s coup proved the Bulldogs’ Tourney magic is not merely a postseason phenomenon; they’re just as capable of rattling and tripping up high-major heavyweights in the regular season too. With state bragging rights on the line, and a Bankers Life Field House rife with Hoosiers’ anticipation, the Bulldogs spoiled Indiana’s chance to cement its state supremacy and national No. 1 ranking. What’s more impressive than the result itself – which, as I’ve reiterated, is yet another testament to what Stevens has built this program into over the past five years – is the way Butler got there. Just over a week ago, sitting in the press conference after Butler’s win at Northwestern, a reporter asked Stevens about why he may have missed on Wildcats’ walk-on and Fort Wayne, Indiana native (and leading scorer) Reggie Hearn. He responded by noting that, similarly, no one had recruited Alex Barlow, and Stevens gushed on about the sophomore’s will and dedication and hard work. Naïve and conditioned to jaded coachspeak as I am, I interpreted Stephens’ praise as a savvy way to deflect a potential recruiting miss (Hearn) and channel it into something positive – Barlow’s development. Doubting Stevens was a bad choice, because Barlow, as you now well know, went from nondescript walk-on to hoops folk legend thanks to a game-winning floater in overtime to KO the Hoosiers once and for all. It was a fantastic culmination for a player whose background is, well, exactly the type of storybook tale you might expect.

Also Worth Chatting About. Nothing New On Florida; Big Win For Arizona.

Framing Arizona’s victory in the context of Florida’s mistakes is a disservice to what the Wildcats accomplished in the final minutes Saturday night. There’s no doubt the Gators could and probably should have left Tucson with another impressive victory, but this game says less about Florida than it does Arizona. The Gators turned it over 14 times, many of them coming in crucial stretches in the second half, and that’s something Billy Donovan’s team needs to remedy going forward. It’s also completely understandable. This was the first time all season Florida really needed to bear down, run its sets, and execute – almost all of its other wins came by way of blowout, the final result decided well before the final whistle. On Saturday, the Gators tightened up (few teams go an entire season without experiencing this), and Arizona took advantage. This is nothing we haven’t seen before. The Wildcats’ talent was never in question, nor was their frontcourt depth or scoring aptitude. What remained something of a mystery was their mettle and resolve, their ability to tough out dicey situations. Arizona needed all the moxie and fight it could muster against Florida, who controlled the game for large stretches but could never quite create enough distance to put the Wildcats away for good. Arizona hung around, bade its time, and with the game on the line, got the bucket it needed from arguably its most commonly-raised flaw all season: point guard Mark Lyons. It’s a statement for Arizona, but it does nothing to qualify the Gators stand-alone status atop the SEC.

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Walker Carey is an RTC correspondent. He filed some quick thoughts from this afternoon’s showdown between Indiana and Butler…

Three Key Takeaways.

1. It Is Very Possible That Brad Stevens Is The Best Coach In The Country. How many other coaches could have led their team to victory against the number one team in the country with three players fouled out? If any others, the answer to that question is a very small number. Butler entered the overtime period against Indiana with swingman Roosevelt Jones and center Andrew Smith already disqualified due to fouls; then, early in the extra time, forward Erik Fromm picked up his fifth foul. With these three relegated to spectator status, Butler used a much smaller lineup consisting of Alex Barlow, Rotnei Clarke, Kellen Dunham, Chase Stigall, and Khyle Marshall. This lineup proved to be very effective for Butler, as the Bulldogs made five of their seven shots in the extra period. Reserve Stigall and rarely-used Barlow, who only recorded one field goal during the entire 2011-12 season, made the two biggest shots of the game for the Bulldogs. Well-coached teams are squads that never step down in the face of adversity and that is what Butler did this afternoon. You also have to credit the coaching staff for having players like Barlow and Stigall ready to contribute in the late minutes.
2. Butler Is A Very Balanced Team. While Rotnei Clarke deservedly draws most of the national praise, this Butler team can hurt you in a variety of ways. Before fouling out, Andrew Smith more than held his own against Cody Zeller, who is without question one of the best players in the country. Smith finished the afternoon with a very workmanlike 12 points and nine rebounds. Roosevelt Jones had a huge afternoon for the Bulldogs too, as he finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists. Khyle Marshall and Erik Fromm were also double-figure scorers for Butler, finishing with 12 and 10, respectively. Alex Barlow, Kellen Dunham, and Chase Stigall all contributed to the scoring column down the stretch with huge field goals that helped contribute to a truly “team” victory. Butler’s balance this afternoon had to have been a great sign for Brad Stevens, as he now knows he can rely on other guys if and when Clarke has an off night.
3. Indiana Certainly Did Not Play Like The Best Team In The Country. This might be a little obvious considering the fact that the Hoosiers lost the game, but they did not play a very good game. Standout sophomore Cody Zeller was stymied inside all afternoon by Butler’s interior defense and only managed nine field goal attempts. It is usually not a good sign when your National Player of the Year candidate only takes nine shots. Senior forward Christian Watford was a non-factor for most of the afternoon, as he was saddled with early foul trouble. Watford finished the game with 10 points, but did so while only converting one field goal. Senior guard Jordan Hulls had a rough day shooting the ball, as he converted just four of his 11 field goal attempts and did not make a single three-pointer. Freshman point guard Yogi Ferrell and junior swingman Victor Oladipo each made terrific plays down the stretch in regulation to force overtime, but both players battled turnover issues all game long – each finishing with six. If Indiana wants to be in the top team discussion this season, it is going to need more efforts where it plays like a great team consistently throughout the game.

Butler Deserves to Celebrate Another Huge Win

Star of the Game. Roosevelt Jones, Butler. A case could be made for Rotnei Clarke or Andrew Smith, but I just have to go with Jones. The scrappy sophomore filled up the stat sheet for the Bulldogs by finishing with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists. Throughout many stretches of the game, Jones was the best player on the court for either team. Jones’ strong play in the first half kept Butler very much in a game that Indiana could have ran away with early.

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Brendon Mulvihill is the head curator for @SportsGawker and an RTC contributor. You can find him @TheMulv on Twitter. See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

It’s been a slow week in college basketball with students hitting the books and getting through finals week. However, things pick up quite a bit this weekend with some great non-conference action led by a marquee match-up in the desert. Let’s get to the breakdowns.

Game of the Weekend 

#5 Florida at #9 Arizona – 10:00 PM EST, Saturday on ESPN (*****)

Will Patric Young Dominate the Wildcats Again This Season? (Getty)

• Florida won the match-up last season with Arizona in a tough overtime battle. The Gators’ Patric Young dominated the game with a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds on 12-of-15 shooting. Coach Billy Donovan was disappointed the Gator guards did not get Young the ball more often. It will be interesting to see how Arizona responds this season to defending Young. The addition of 7’0″ freshman center Kaleb Tarczewski to the Wildcats line-up should make a significant difference for coach Sean Miller. His size will at least create problems at the basket for the 6’10” Young. Keep a close eye on Florida’s ability to create turnovers as well. It helped them win last season in Gainesville and will be a big factor again. Finally, three-point shooting will play a key role in the outcome of the game. Approximately 40% of Florida’s field goal attempts are from downtown and U of A gives up more treys than two-thirds of the teams in college hoops. You will want to keep an eye on Gator forward Erik Murphy from beyond the arc. He presents a tough match-up with his 6’10” frame and his ability to stroke the three. If Murphy is hitting from downtown, the Wildcats are in deep trouble.
• Arizona and Florida are both in the top 10 in offensive rebounding percentage. We mentioned Tarczewski’s defense before, but his biggest contribution to this game may be on the offensive boards. He needs to clean up the glass on missed shots to give Arizona as many looks as possible. Miller’s squad got excellent production last year from it’s backcourt against the Gators and need the same from guards Nick Johnson and Mark Lyons this season. Lyon’s needs to be careful of turnovers as he has a sub-one assist-to-turnover ratio. If he isn’t protecting the ball, Arizona will have trouble again this year.
• Arizona’s size will allow them to compete all game long with a very talented and good shooting Florida squad. Their ability to go big at guard with Kevin Parrom could be the difference in the game. While the jury is still out on the Wildcats, a home game against Florida will be a great barometer for what we can expect in the future. The team that wins the offensive rebounding battle will take this one.

More Great Hoops

#6 Louisville at Memphis – 2:30 PM EST, Saturday on Fox College Sports (****)

• Louisville won this match-up last season in a close eight-point ballgame. This season however they are without star center Gorgui Dieng due to his wrist injury. Dieng went for 14/14 last year and always makes a major impact on defense. Without Dieng manning the middle, Louisville actually lacks size. Duke took advantage of this size deficiency and was able to beat the Cardinals a few weeks ago as a result. Look for Memphis to try to do the same thing at home this Saturday. Memphis is tall on the inside and a good offensive rebounding team. They are not as good at getting to the free throw line, however, which is also how the Blue Devils beat the Cardinals. Memphis ranks #307 nationally in free throw rate. Guard play from the Tigers will be a key factor in this contest. They need to get to the line and not turn the ball over. In their blowout win against an Ohio team known for turning teams over, the Tigers only committed miscues on over 16% of their possessions. A lot has to go right for the Tigers to pull an upset here, but with Dieng out, this is their best opportunity.

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Joe Dzuback is the RTC correspondent for the Atlantic 10 Conference. You can also find his musings online at Villanova by the Numbers or on Twitter @vtbnblog.

Looking Back

• And Then There Was One – Charlotte and Temple entered their Saturday games undefeated, and the 49ers beat Central Michigan by 12 to run their string to nine while Temple, facing consensus #2 Duke on a neutral court, could not keep up, losing by 23 to drop to 6-1. Charlotte is one of 14 unbeaten Division I teams remaining, and the 49ers have thrived through senior Chris Braswell’s dominant play. Coming off of a season-beginning suspension, the 6’9” senior forward/center has been on a tear, leading the team by averaging 14.3 points with 7.0 rebounds per game. Two freshmen wings, Willie Clayton and Darion Clark, have stepped up with strong board play while providing solid scoring support. Their biggest test is coming on Saturday, as they travel to Miami to face the Hurricanes of the ACC. Stay tuned.

Temple’s One-Two Punch of Khalif Wyatt (above) and Scootie Randall Went Cold Against Duke. (AP)

• Fall Semester Finals – The fall semester is winding down as most Division I schools head into final examinations last week and this week. And so it is with the Atlantic-10’s non-conference schedule. With a body of work already in place, a number of teams around the conference are facing their biggest challenges of their non-conference schedules. Temple fell to Duke last Saturday, and while the loss surprised only the delusional, the margin – 23 points on a neutral court – was shocking. Butler traveled to Evanston, Illinois, and beat Northwestern of the Big Ten, but an even bigger test looms ahead as #1 Indiana has a play date with the Bulldogs next Saturday. The Musketeers stubbed their toes in Cintas Center, dropping a two-point decision to the Commodores of the SEC, but they have no time to dwell on the lost opportunity as the Crosstown Classic (the name changed from the historic “Crosstown Shootout” no doubt due to unpleasant memories of last season’s game-ending brawl) is set for Wednesday, December 19. Undefeated Charlotte travels to Miami to face the Hurricanes. Virginia Commonwealth has already seen a ranked team or two, but Alabama comes to town Saturday to give the Rams yet another opportunity to spruce up their resume.
• The (Really) Big A-10? – ESPN’s Andy Katz and Dana O’Neil reported that the seven Catholic (basketball-only) members of the Big East met with Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco Sunday to express their growing concerns about the current state of the conference and the diminishing status and quality of the conference’s basketball product.As the Big East continues to show signs of stress with conference realignment, sources within the Atlantic 10 have shared with Katz and O’Neil that A-10 conference members are open to the opportunities and challenges a 20- or 21-member conference would create. These sources are looking at the possibility that as many as seven of the Big East’s basketball members may opt to leave the Big East or persuade another two-to-four members to join their bloc and vote to dissolve the conference and split the proceeds; or, in the extreme, decide to leave the conference and investigate membership opportunities elsewhere (like the A-10). The sources believe that the A-10, bolstered by the additions of VCU and Butler, would be an attractive destination for those Catholic schools. A major stumbling block, however, is the revenue gap. Big East basketball schools currently realize between $1 and $1.5 million in basketball-derived TV revenues. The A-10 members anticipate a $350,000 annual payout from the league’s recently concluded TV contract.

Reader’s Take

Power Rankings

Butler and Temple swap places, as do Saint Joseph’s and Virginia Commonwealth. Fordham, Rhode Island and George Washington continue to struggle while Charlotte and Dayton continue to win and place some good wins on their resumes. The conference always has a few teams that take a long time to find their spot in the pecking order. Who really belongs at this point? A number of squads are putting in their bids.

1. Butler (6-2) – The resume shows two double-digit losses and a big win over a Division II opponent, but with a win over North Carolina and a road win over Northwestern, boosted the Bulldog over the Owls this week. Two games last week (IUPUI and Northwestern) saw freshman guard Kellen Dunham show again he has the potential to develop into that second reliable outside shooter behind Rotnei Clarke. A consistent outside threat should loosen up the inside for Roosevelt Jones and Khyle Marshall. Freshman center Andrew Smith’s efforts against IUPUI and a double-double versus Northwestern drew a nod from the conference, but he will probably not get those opportunities in every game. Here and there, however, his should be effective.
   

   Rotnei Clarke and Butler have a huge contest against Indiana on the horizon (AP)

2. Temple (6-1) –The margin of Temple’s loss to Duke Saturday, 23 points, was a surprise. Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly exploited a younger and less polished front court rotation (mainly forward/center Anthony Lee and Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson) on defense, causing Lee to sit with two fouls early in the first half, which forced Fran Dunphy to commit more bodies to post defense. And then Duke’s guards exploded. Dunphy needed a well-managed game from his senior guards Scootie Randall and (especially) Khalif Wyatt, but they did not deliver. Wyatt launched 10 field goal attempts in the first half, many shots were hurried and out of the offensive flow. Dunphy brought out the starting five to start the second half, but sat Wyatt just under the 14 minute mark (about six minutes into the half) and did not bring him back as he worked the deeper parts of his bench. The front court will be a problem going forward, but the back court must learn how to mask that weakness or Temple will continue to slide. Read the rest of this entry »