Rob Dauster of Ballin is a Habit is spending the week as the RTC correspondent at the Big East Tournament.  In addition to live-blogging select games throughout the tournament, he will post a nightly diary with his thoughts on each day’s action. Here is his submission for the late quarterfinal games.

Georgetown 91, Syracuse 84

• This performance from Georgetown shouldn’t surprise you. Remember, when healthy early in the season, this team was in the top ten nationally, and for good reason. Austin Freeman‘s health situation affected this team more than people realize  – Thompson said that was long as the Hoyas “keep Freeman’s levels fine he will be able to perform” – and they are just now hitting their stride again.
• You know about Georgetown’s big three, but don’t underestimate Jason Clark. Jeff Goodman called him the “ultimate glue guy” earlier today, and while I agree with him to a point – Clark is a great defender, he can go and get you an offensive rebound, and he racks up some assists – I think by definition a glue guy isn’t a scorer. Clark can be. He hasn’t put up the numbers simply because he doesn’t get a ton of shots, but he is a nightmare to stay in front of and a lights out shooter. Jason Clark isn’t a glue guy, he is a very good basketball player.
• The only way Syracuse doesn’t deserve a one seed is if both Duke and Ohio State win their conference tournaments. Otherwise, Syracuse is ok, although they may be headed out west.
• JTIII on the Orange: “That team is still one of the best, if not the best team in the country in spite of today’s outcome. Do I expect them to be a dangerous team in the tournament? Absolutely?” Very true, but today may have exposed a flaw in this team -  a stopper. Not on the defensive end, but a guy that can get you a basket when things aren’t going well. Can Wes Johnson be that guy? Right now, he is a jump shooter and an athlete.

Marquette 80, Villanova 76

• The Golden Eagles shot 65% in the second half. The were 6/6 from three in the second half and 11/18 overall. They had 17 assists and just 8 turnovers. I think it is safe to say Villanova hasn’t solved their defensive issues.
• There may not be two more underrated players in the Big East than Corey Fisher and Darius Johnson-Odom. Both were on full display this afternoon. Fisher was impossible to keep out of the lane, finishing with 16 points and 6 assists, while DJO had 24 points, 5 assists, and hit five threes.
• Marquette is going to make it out of the first weekend. Put that on the record. This team is so difficult to defend. Hayward and Butler are match-up nightmares for opposing bigs. Their guards can all shoot it, they can all get into the lane, and they all can kick the ball out to an open shooter. Most importantly, everyone on the team understands that they are at their best when they move the ball offensively.
• Buzz Williams on Jay Wright: “I think he will be in the Hall of Fame long before his career is over”

Notre Dame 50, Pittsburgh 45

• I am now a firm believer in Notre Dame’s defensive ability. The second half of this game was as physical of a defensive battle as you are going to come across at this level. Did you ever think we would a) be talking about Notre Dame being involved in that kind of game and b) Notre Dame coming out with a win? I sure didn’t.
• The Big East has done a lot of things right for this tournament. One thing they did wrong? With two exciting, emotional games in the afternoon today, they decided to serve turkey and stuffing for dinner between sessions. Tryptophan fail. It was only made worse by a couple of semi-exciting slugfests to close out the day. The coffee jug was emptied pretty quickly.
• Pitt had two chances to tie this thing at the end. Twice they drove to the rim. Twice Notre Dame’s defense held.

West Virginia 54, Cincinnati 51

• All Da’Sean Butler does is hit big shots. Tonight was the 5th game-winner he has hit this year.
• What is overshadowed by Butler’s shot is the performance Lance Stephenson had down the stretch to bring his team back. Stephenson was phenomenal, aggressively attacking the basket and hitting the floor for loose balls. His three with 42 seconds left tied the game.
• Does Devin Ebanks understand clock management? For the second straight game, he utterly botched a game-ending situation.
• According to Lance Stephenson, who was guarding him, Da’Sean Butler called bank after he took the shot.

The article mentions that Freeman is doing better and has now rejoined his team for practices, but Hoya head coach John Thompson III was reluctant to rule Freeman either in or out for Georgetown’s final regular season game on Saturday against Cincinnati, or even for the Big East Tournament.

Diabetes is pretty common, affecting about 3% of the world’s population.  It’s characterized by having high amounts of glucose (sugar) in one’s bloodstream.  This is a problem because if you go for a long time like this, you can do permanent damage to your eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart, and pretty much any part of your body.  Usually, the pancreas counters high amounts of sugar in the blood by automatically producing insulin, a substance that makes the sugar move out of your bloodstream and into your muscles.  This makes the level in the blood normal again.

There are two types of diabetics, creatively titled Type I and Type II.  Type I diabetics are usually quite young when the diagnosis is made, and they never produce insulin because their pancreas lacks the ability to do so.  Type II diabetics (usually obese and diagnosed much later in life) still make insulin, but they don’t make enough of it, or their body sort of forgets how to handle it properly.  Type IIs can sometimes use diet and exercise to treat their condition, and there are several types of pills out there that can help their bodies either make more insulin, or use it correctly.  Sometimes Type IIs have to eventually do insulin injections if they get too far out of control.  Because Type I diabetics don’t make insulin, they have to do insulin injections pretty much from the word go, or use a small insulin pump.

The good news is that both types of diabetics can lead otherwise completely normal lives if they monitor their blood sugar, take the medicine(s) that they need to take, and be careful with their diet.  There are even professional athletes with diabetes, like former Gonzaga Bulldog and now L.A. Laker Adam Morrison, and Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler.  Both of those guys are Type I.

It isn’t yet known which type of diabetes Freeman has, but according to the Washington Post article, the process of finding that out is underway.  There’s one incredibly important point that the article makes, though, and it’s worth noting here.  In the interview that Freeman did to disclose the illness, he was flanked by his physician, his father, and his coach.  Coach Thompson even makes it a point to state that Freeman has his family, friends, teammates, doctors,  and assistant coaches standing behind him in this.  Why is this all important?  When someone is diagnosed with diabetes, they often feel overwhelmed, because  it isn’t easy news to hear.  It’s usually a “rest-of-your-life” type of diagnosis, and the patient is given stacks of pamphlets and booklets to read, lists of diabetes classes to take, websites, nutritional information, and so on.  Many people say “Screw this,” and don’t do any of it, and this can have pretty grave results.  The better support network that a person newly diagnosed with diabetes has, the better they usually do.  And it’s obvious that Freeman, just 20 years old, has an outstanding support network around him.  We hope for the best for him, and we predict that he’ll do just fine.

#8 West Virginia 81, #20 Georgetown 68. Georgetown’s margin for error is just not very large against good teams, especially top ten teams on the road.  It showed tonight as the Hoyas clearly missed the third primary scoring option that Austin Freeman, out with the stomach flu, typically provides. WVU’s Da’Sean Butler, playing in front of the home fans for the last time, dropped 22/6/6 assts in a well-balanced Mountaineer effort that jumped on top of Georgetown early and never relented.  With this win, West Virginia clinched a double-bye in next week’s Big East Tournament and still has a chance at the overall #2 seed with some luck and a weekend win over Villanova.  Georgetown has now lost four of five games, and two of those losses (Notre Dame and Rutgers) were inexcusable for a team with their talent.  It could be that the heavy minutes are wearing down JT3′s team, as four starters average over 33 MPG and the Hoya defense has been considerably less potent recently than it was when beating top-10 teams like Duke and Villanova.  One thing is for certain, though.  For Georgetown to make any noise whatsoever in the Big East Tournament or NCAA Tournament this year, they have to get production from all four of Freeman, Greg Monroe, Chris Wright and and Jason Clark/Julian Vaughn at the same time.  With one more loss on Saturday against Cincinnati, the Hoyas will drop to 9-9 and jeopardize their chances at an all-important first round bye in the Big East Tournament next week.

WVU Towered Over Georgetown Tonight (AP/David Smith)

#25 Texas 87, Oklahoma 76. For a while it appeared that the Longhorn meltdown was imminent, as visiting Oklahoma took an 11-point lead five minutes into the second half as Cade Davis and Tony Crocker repeatedly lit up the Texas defense.  An 11-2 run got Rick Barnes’ team back into the game, and with Damion James (24/8) and Jordan Hamilton (12/11) finding their way to the hole for layups, UT avoided the unthinkable tonight in a game that should bolster their confidence.  It was just six short weeks ago that Texas was the #1 team in the land, but the shutdown defense that got the Horns to that lofty spot has been largely missing since, and tonight we only saw it in spurts as the Sooners shot 48% and hit ten threes.  Additionally, the J’Covan Brown experiment as a starter appears to have been nixed, as Justin Mason got the nod (3/3 in 21 minutes) and Brown easily outdid his last two performances (15/5  in 33 minutes) off the pine.  Texas is safely in the NCAA Tournament, but right now they appear to be a directionless team who, if they’re not careful, will be walking into a lion’s den at Baylor next weekend.

This week’s Scribbles column will look ahead to a couple months down the road in Indianapolis, where 65 deserving teams will be whittled down to just four, and to that blissful Monday night in April when one lucky group will be dancing at mid-court to the tune of One Shining Moment. In my estimation, there are ten squads with a promising-to-slight chance of hoisting a 2010 National Champions banner during their home opener next season. I’m here to tell you those ten teams, why they have hopes of winning a national title, what’s holding them back, and the most realistic scenario as I see it come late March or beginning of April. These teams are ranked in reverse order from 10-1 with the #1 school holding the best cards in their deck.

10. Duke

Why they can win it all: Their floor leader and senior stalwart Jon Scheyer is the steadiest distributor in all of college basketball, evident from his incredibly stellar 3.28 A/T ratio and a 5.6 APG mark that ranks third in the ACC and 23d in the nation. Scheyer is also a deadly shooter coming off screens when he has time to square his body to the basket, nailing a career-high 39% from deep to go along with 44% from the floor overall. Duke is also a tremendous free-throw shooting team as a whole and Coach K has the ability to play a group of Scheyer-Kyle Singler-Nolan Smith-Mason Plumlee-Lance Thomas that doesn’t feature one player under 70% from the charity stripe. Duke also features a ton more size in the paint than during previous flameouts in the NCAA Tournament. When Singler plays small forward, Coach K can rotate Miles and Mason Plumlee, the glue guy Thomas, rebounding force Brian Zoubek and even Ryan Kelly at two positions with no player under 6’8. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more efficient backcourt in the nation than Scheyer and Smith. And it’s widely known that exceptional guard play is the ultimate key to winning in March.

What Makes Duke 2010 Different than Duke 2006-09?

Why they won’t win it all: Depth could certainly be an issue for the Blue Devils’ chances of raising their first banner since 2001. Andre Dawkins has fallen almost entirely out of the rotation and Coach K has started to limit Mason Plumlee’s minutes during important games. Also, Brian Zoubek’s tendency to immediately step into foul trouble limits his availability. It wouldn’t shock me to see Duke play Scheyer, Smith and Singler 40 minutes per game during their time in the NCAA Tournament. That could cause those key players, who rely primarily on their jump shot, to lose their legs and start throwing up bricks. Kyle Singler isn’t quite the superstar he was last season, either. Singler’s numbers are down across the board — scoring, rebounding, FG%, 3pt% — and he’s been dealing with a nagging wrist injury that may not improve in the weeks and months ahead. Duke also lacks the athleticism of teams like Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse and Texas. They could struggle with quicker guards like John Wall and athletic rebounders of the Damion James mold.

Likely scenario: I see Duke reaching the Sweet 16 as a #2 seed where they fall to a more athletic, quick group of guards that can explode to the rim and draw fouls. Duke may have height, but most of that height just isn’t a threat offensively by any stretch of the imagination. Eventually getting into a jump shooting contest could be the Blue Devils’ downfall if two of Smith, Scheyer and Singler go cold.

9. West Virginia

Why they can win it all: Da’Sean Butler is one of the best players in the nation when the chips are on the table. If the Mountaineers need a big shot to keep their season alive, Butler will demand the basketball and more than likely deliver. He’s downed Marquette and Louisville on game-deciding jumpers and led the second half charge against Ohio State. West Virginia is also supremely athletic and Bob Huggins’ teams always crash the boards with a tremendous ferocity. No contender can match the height across the board that West Virginia touts other than Kentucky. Huggins has experimented with lineups in which all of his players are 6’6 or taller, including 6’9 Devin Ebanks acting as a point-forward and 6’7 Da’Sean Butler capable of posting up smaller two-guards. Sophomore Kevin Jones is an incredible talent and a rebounding machine (7.7 RPG) that hits 55% of his shots from the floor and 44% from deep. West Virginia has the luxury of any of their forwards being able to step out and drain a mid-range jumper, from Ebanks to Jones to Wellington Smith to John Flowers every once in a full moon.

Ebanks is the X-factor for West Virginia

Why they won’t win it all: Let’s face it: Bob Huggins doesn’t have exactly the best track record when it comes to NCAA Tournament success. Huggins hasn’t reached the Elite 8 since 1995-96 with Cincinnati and only one Sweet 16 in the last ten years. In 2000 and 2002, his Bearcats lost just four games all season and yet didn’t reach the second weekend of March both times. Most also question whether the Mountaineers can hit outside shots on a consistent basis. They’ve struggled mightily in the first half of Big East games and can’t afford to fall behind against elite competition in March like they did against Dayton last season. Point guard play is a prudent question for West Virginia, as well. Joe Mazzulla is a quality perimeter defender and a capable distributor, but he’ll never be the offensive threat he was two seasons ago due to that shoulder injury. Darryl Bryant can certainly catch a hot streak shooting-wise, but in all honestly he’s more suited as an undersized two-guard. Bryant is averaging just 3.6 APG in 25+ MPG of action.

Likely scenario: I’m still fairly high on this team. I love Butler at the end of games and Ebanks can do anything for Huggins — from score to rebound to run the point — and Kevin Jones is one of the most underappreciated players in the Big East. In the end, I see a clankfest from outside ultimately costing West Virginia their season. And for all their rebounding history, the Mountaineers are in the mid-60s in the nation. The Elite Eight seems like a proper place for their season to conclude.

8. Texas

Why they can win it all: No team boasts better perimeter defenders than Texas. Anyone that watched Dogus Balbay completely shut down James Anderson in the second half Monday night knows he’s the best perimeter defender in the nation, even stronger than Purdue’s Chris Kramer. Avery Bradley came in with the reputation as an elite defender and he’s certainly lived up to that billing. Even J’Covan Brown off the bench is a capable defensive player and Justin Mason is a plus defender. When Dexter Pittman stays out of foul trouble, Texas boasts a legitimate shot-blocking presence that can negate quick guards on the rare occasion they slip past Balbay or Bradley. Texas is also the deepest team in the nation and Rick Barnes has the capability of playing 10 or 11 men on any night if he feels the need. The preserved minutes could pay dividends in the form of fresh players come March. Damion James should also be on a mission come March as a senior. He’s never reached a Final Four during his Longhorns career and came back for a fourth year in Austin to accomplish that very feat.

Why they won’t win it all: The most glaring weakness for Texas is free-throw shooting. Anyone who scoffs at the importance of free-throw shooting has never watched basketball before. The Longhorns shoot an abominable 62% as a team from the line and that number has only plummeted during Big 12 play. Their starting backcourt of Avery Bradley (48%) and Dogus Balbay (51%) are an absolute disgrace from the charity stripe. Imagine what their percentage would be if J’Covan Brown wasn’t a 93% shooter. Balbay can also be a problem offensively because his jump shot is about as effective as mine. Through all of Damion James’ fanfare, he can mold into a disinterested defensive player, and Dexter Pittman’s immaturity has resulted in constant foul trouble. Many have also argued that Texas has too much depth- that nobody knows their roles and when they should expect to play. This could lead to collective frustration. The perfect example is Jordan Hamilton, who played two minutes in the loss to Baylor then 19 minutes Monday against Oklahoma State.

Bottom line: Texas has the talent to reach the Final Four. I still love their starting five and that type of perimeter defense is invaluable in March when Texas runs into elite scoring guards. Jordan Hamilton is also progressing as a legitimate shooting option and Jai Lucas can also hit from downtown. This team has Final Four potential, but a disastrous free throw shooting performance and inconsistent outside shooting could be their downfall in an Elite Eight nail-biter.

7. Georgetown

Why they can win it all: Anyone who watched Georgetown methodically annihilate Duke on Saturday knows they have some serious weapons. John Thompson’s Princeton offense tends to limit turnovers and has resulted in the 14th most efficient offense in the nation. The Hoyas shoot over 50% as a team from the field and the development of Chris Wright as a steady and capable point guard has been fun to watch. Georgetown has three capable scoring options on any single possession that average over 15 PPG and can play inside or outside. Greg Monroe is the best passing big man in the nation and averages nearly a double-double. Monroe can post up smaller defenders and utilizes a variety of tricky post moves that result in layups or brings bulkier defenders to the free throw line-extended to sink mid-range jumpers. Austin Freeman has turned into a deadly long-range shooter at 48% from deep. Defend him too closely to the perimeter and Freeman has the sneaky quickness to blow by a defender and convert at the rim. Georgetown isn’t quite the defensive team that Thompson believes the Hoyas can be come March, but the 32d-most efficient defense in the country is nothing to scoff at.

Why they won’t win it all: Thompson keeps shooting this down, but depth could be an issue for the Hoyas. Freeman, Wright, Monroe and Jason Clark all play over 32 MPG and Thompson really only feels comfortable going six-deep in important games with Jerrelle Benimon getting the occasional run as the seventh guy. If Monroe gets pushed around and into foul trouble, the Hoyas could be sunk because Julian Vaughn isn’t a scoring threat in the low post. Georgetown doesn’t get to the free throw line very often (Freeman has only taken 56 free throws all season, a very low number for a shooting guard) and they’re fairly pedestrian when they do, although Clark, Wright and Freeman are all over 77% and that’s all you really need. Georgetown also turns the ball over quite often at 15 per game, mostly because post-mates Monroe and Vaughn can be sloppy with the basketball.

Likely scenario: Georgetown is right on the fringe of being a Final Four favorite. Chris Wright has truly elevated his game running the Hoya offense. When he’s scoring the basketball and providing Georgetown another threat from outside to compliment Freeman, they can beat anyone in the nation. I worry about trusting the same group that collapsed down the stretch and flamed out in the NIT last season, but this is a matured team with a totally different mindset. Their comeback over Connecticut and obliteration of Duke has convinced me the Hoyas may remind their fans of the 80s glory days this March.

6. Michigan State

Why they can win it all: Tom Izzo has reached an unbelievable five Final Fours since 1998-99 so the Spartans obviously have a coach that knows how to guide his team through the rough terrain of March basketball. Point guard play is infinitely important down the stretch and Kalin Lucas has grown out of a mid-season funk to re-establish himself as one of the top three floor leaders in the sport. Michigan State is also tremendously athletic from Lucas to high-flying Raymar Morgan to the dunking capabilities of Durrell Summers and Chris Allen. The Spartans are also quite balanced on both ends of the floor, ranking in the top 30 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. Draymond Green really emerged during Michigan State’s memorable run to the National Championship and is having another stellar year as a double-digit scorer, underrated rebounder (8.0 RPG in just over 25 MPG) and elite passer for a big body. Tom Izzo’s teams always rebound and this year is no different.

(Ed. note: The severity of Kalin Lucas’ ankle injury suffered Tuesday night changes everything for this team’s future.)

Why they won’t win it all: Michigan State’s isn’t especially tall as far as their forwards and centers are concerned. While strong rebounding from wings like Allen and Summers and pure effort from Green and Morgan can offset this weakness, the fact is Michigan State doesn’t have a player over 6’8 in their regular rotation. Garrick Sherman, Derrick Nix and Tom Herzog are simply not talented enough to play on any sort of regular basis when the games start to really matter. The loss of Goran Suton could really emerge on the rebounding front come March. Another point of concern of State is three-point shooting. Durrell Summers is the single greatest objector at 27% despite taking 60 three-point shots this season to date, while neither Lucas or Allen are dead-eye or especially trustworthy outside bombers.

Hey Durrell, could you start making threes? Please?

Likely scenario: I feel as though this team doesn’t quite have the arsenal to reach Tom Izzo’s sixth Final Four, but that could certainly change in the coming weeks if Summers catches fire from outside and/or Kalin Lucas keeps improving as the season wears on. I felt last year that the Spartans weren’t quite good enough across the board to reach Detroit and they managed to find a way. This seems to be a recurring theme during Izzo’s tenure as Michigan State head coach.

5. Villanova

Why they can win it all: Another season, another batch of electric guards for Jay Wright and Villanova. Their unblemished mark in the Big East may largely be as a result of a softer schedule, but it’s not like this Villanova team can’t make the Final Four or further. For all of the fuss over their “lackluster” frontcourt, the Wildcats rank 15th in the nation in team rebounding and they’re still trying to incorporate a late-starting Reggie Redding and Mouphtaou Yarou into their rotation. Both Antonio Pena and Taylor King have taken enormous strides to become more than one-dimensional players for Jay Wright. Quite frankly, there’s no point guard I’d rather have leading my team into the NCAA Tournament than Scottie Reynolds. The senior floor leader is having his most efficient and clutch season to date. Reynolds has an innate ability to penetrate and draw fouls and can also nail a variety of jumpers with a high degree of difficulty. Backcourt mates Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes are also capable three-point shooters. Villanova has the third most efficient offense in the nation and they score over 85 PPG while shooting 47%. Get into a jump shooting or free throw shooting contest with this team and you’re probably going home unhappy.

Why they won’t win it all: Defense is an issue for Villanova. They rank 68th in defensive efficiency and surrendered 84 points to Louisville, 75 to Temple, 89 points to St. Joe’s and 86 points to Maryland. To be fair, three of those four games were played without the services of their best defender, Reggie Redding. Still, the loss of Dwayne Anderson and Dante Cunningham has been felt on the defensive end. They’re not especially adept at forcing turnovers or stopping dribble penetration. While King, Pena and others have made strides, I’m sure Villanova fans aren’t completely comfortable going into the tournament with this group of forwards and centers hitting the glass. They could face the likes of Damion James, DeMarcus Cousins, JaJuan Johnson or Cole Aldrich in what would be a glaring mismatch.

Likely scenario: Villanova reached the Final Four a season ago with largely the same team (at least in the backcourt), so they certainly have that capability this year. Jay Wright is an outstanding coach and the senior version of Scottie Reynolds is the perfect point guard to lead a team into April play. I’m still a bit hesitant to jump on the bandwagon of a team with their frontcourt personnel, though. I’d be shocked if this team didn’t reach at least the Elite Eight.

4. Purdue

Why they can win it all: Cohesiveness and halfcourt defense are the two biggest reasons why Purdue can treat their fans to a close Final Four road trip similar to Michigan State a season ago. The tight group of Robbie Hummel, JaJuan Johnson, Keaton Grant, Chris Kramer and E’Twaun Moore have logged thousands of minutes together over the past three seasons. Unlike teams such as Kentucky or Syracuse that have dealt with turnover and are still learning each other’s tendencies, Purdue’s players will possess that extra sense of knowing where their teammates will be on the floor at all times. Purdue will also receive a huge boost when sophomore point guard Lewis Jackson returns full-time from a foot injury as floor general. The Boilermakers once again rank favorably in PPG allowed and defensive efficiency, a number bolstered by the exceptional perimeter defense of senior Chris Kramer. Moore gives coach Matt Painter an elite slashing and mid-range shooting option on offense while Johnson, when motivated, can be a scoring threat inside.

Why they won’t win it all: Purdue is brutal shooting the ball from three at just 32% as a team. Keaton Grant has completely tapered off as any type of offensive weapon while Hummel and Moore haven’t quite found consistent strokes. Kramer can be an offensive liability while Johnson has drawn the ire of Painter for a lack of aggressiveness and general interest. Also, who really knows if Jackson will be the contributor he was as a freshman if the Boilermakers rushed him back too early.

Likely scenario: I have a feeling I’ll be penciling in Purdue in the Final Four when the brackets are released. They have a top-25 efficient offense and defense, have played together for three years and will be pushed by the goal of playing in front of a partisan crowd in Indianapolis. We saw Hummel’s capability scoring in bunches against Ohio State, so I’m not overly concerned about three-point shooting. This team can certainly reach the Final Four and beyond.

3. Kentucky

Why they can win it all: Kentucky has more raw talent than any team in the nation. Nobody can match their backcourt and frontcourt tandems of John Wall and Eric Bledsoe along with Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins when it comes to pure talent, potential, explosiveness and ability. Wall can take over a game late hitting mid-range shots or using his unmatchable speed to penetrate and draw fouls, while Bledsoe is more than capable of scoring in bunches and using his strength to reach the charity stripe. Cousins is the most efficient rebounder in the country, a double-double machine that has emerged as quite possibly the best freshman in the nation, while Patrick Patterson is efficient, steady and reliable, capable of exploding at any moment with superb strength in the paint and an effective mid-range jump shot. Darnell Dodson and Darius Miller (whoever isn’t starting of the two) can come off the pine and stretch the defense given their capabilities from three. Free throws could be a problem for John Calipari once again (only 68% as a team), but no single player is glaringly horrific while Wall, Dodson and Bledsoe are all over 70%.

Why they won’t win it all: Kentucky winning the national title would squash the theory that experience matters in March as the Wildcats rank 333d in experience according to kenpom.com. Another point of concern is that John Wall is hitting the proverbial freshman wall (pun intended). The star point guard hasn’t scored more than 20 points in SEC play and has 18 assists to go with 13 turnovers in his last three contests. Patrick Patterson also seems all too comfortable with being a role player when he has lottery talent and needs to play with the same ferocity he displayed as a freshman and sophomore.

John Wall is dealing with some adversity for the first time

Likely scenario: Folks are souring a tad on Kentucky because of the South Carolina loss and Wall’s struggles as of late, but this team can certainly win a national championship. As I said before, nobody matches the Wildcats’ talent level and John Calipari is a master instructor and motivator. I’d be shocked if they’re not one of the four teams playing in Indianapolis in early April.

2. Syracuse

Why they can win it all: Jim Boeheim seems to have the perfect team for that 2-3 zone defense — long, athletic, disruptive and strong in transition once they force turnovers. Wesley Johnson has surpassed any expectations as a first-year Big East performer. Johnson can leap out of the building, hit mid-range jumpers and utilizes his God-given length to be the perfect disrupter at the back end of the zone. Point guard play was a question mark in November for Syracuse but the two-headed tandem of Brandon Triche and Scoop Jardine seems more than capable. Andy Rautins has turned into much more than a mediocre outside shooter. He’s a dead-eye three point popper, a tremendous defensive player that creates steals and transition opportunities and also happens to be one of the best passers in the business. They also have three forces down low that hit the glass with rage. This is as complete a basketball team as there is in the nation.

Why they won’t win it all: Syracuse has the same woes from the free throw line as Texas, although they have been slowly improving. Boeheim cannot play Arinze Onuaku late in games because of his woes from the free throw line, meaning Syracuse lacks his rebounding capabilities late in games. Rick Jackson and point guard Brandon Triche are also poor FT shooters. They also turn the ball over 16 times a game and it’s never prudent to give elite opponents unnecessary possessions. A sophomore and freshman leading the way at point guard is another point of slight concern for Boeheim. Other than that, it’s hard to find much that suggests Syracuse can’t win the whole damn thing.

Likely scenario: Syracuse is undoubtedly the biggest surprise in the nation this season, a team predicted borderline top-25 that lost to Le Moyne preseason transforming into a favorite to raise another national championship banner. They have athleticism, steady point guard play, outside shooting, rebounding, shot blocking and a legend on the sidelines. Orange diehards expect a Final Four from this ultra-talented bunch.

1. Kansas

Why they can win it all: Their memorable road win at Kansas State boosts the Jayhawks back to #1 in the polls and #1 in these rankings as the re-established favorite to hoist their second banner in three seasons. Kansas ranks in the top five in both offensive and defensive efficiency, a mark of a team that’s destined to reach the Final Four if recent history is any indicator. The Jayhawks are first in the nation in effective FG% defense and rank in the top-15 in both two-point and three-point FG%. Sherron Collins playing through painful leg cramps to make the game-deciding layup on Saturday night is a glimpse of why he can lead a team to their ultimate goal. Cole Aldrich seems to have gotten past his early-season inconsistency to pose the scoring and rebounding post threat he was a season ago. Wings Tyshawn Taylor and Xavier Henry can attack the basket or make the occasional three-point jumper while Marcus Morris has emerged as a perfect frontcourt complement to Aldrich. Kansas can run their offense around the shooting of Collins, Brady Morningstar or Tyrel Reed or the low-post scoring capabilities of Aldrich and Morris. Bill Self has so much depth and scoring options, it’s simply not fair.

KU is still the favorite because of these two fellas

Why they won’t win it all: Sometimes Kansas can get into the habit of standing around and watching Sherron Collins shoot too much. Sometimes Marcus Morris can commit dumb fouls and Self has to sit him on the bench and replace Marcus with his less-talented twin brother. Sometimes Cole Aldrich becomes too passive and doesn’t demand the basketball in big spots. Sometimes Tyshawn Taylor plays scared and doesn’t incorporate himself into the offense. Sometimes Xavier Henry can disappear, evident by single-digit scoring totals in four of his last six games. There’s some concern for Self in terms of dependable production from his individual pieces.

Likely scenario: I’d say it’s likely Kansas is your 2010 National Champion. I see this group coming together down the stretch and playing unstoppable basketball behind the toughness of Collins and the domination of Aldrich in the post. Kansas can’t be stopped when they’re on a rhythm offensively and truly don’t deserve the credit they should for being an elite defensive team. They’d be my pick to win the national title if the season ended today.

Game of the Weekend. #2 Kansas 81, #13 Kansas State 79 (OT). First, props to the K-State fans for stepping up on Gameday.  They created an environment for this one that was as electric as any place we’ve seen this season.  There’s no doubt their players felt the love, too.  They needed to.  If you think these teams thought this was just another game, think again.  Sherron Collins was so amped up that he was dehydrated BEFORE the game started.  Jacob Pullen was seen on two different occasions dry-heaving into a trash can at the KSU bench.  If Kansas could manage a win in such surroundings, they’d be the presumptive #1 on Monday and would certainly deserve it.  The first narrative hook came early when Bill Self yanked Cole Aldrich (18/11/3 blks) and evidently reminded him on how to use his size to eat up space on the inside, because he began to hit layup after layup and pull rebound after rebound.  KSU stayed close even with Aldrich’s elevated play, but as the Wildcats’ shot selection began to fail them, KU built a five-point lead.  This was quickly erased as Jacob Pullen began to get more touches, and KU’s halftime lead was a mere point.  The Jayhawks managed to build it back to eight early in the second half, but KSU remedied that by settling for layups instead of bad looks from three, and by hitting the offensive glass HARD.  After regulation time couldn’t decide it, and a neck-and-neck overtime, it’s only fitting that this game should be effectively decided by an incredible play by a big time player.  With KU up by a point and thirteen seconds left, Sherron Collins — battling dehydration and muscle spasms the entire night — drove to the hole knowing he was going to take contact, knowing there was little chance he was going to land in any way except on his back, and banked in a lay-up for a three-point play.  The Wildcats’ body language told the story.  He couldn’t convert the free throw, but after a Cole Aldrich offensive board and two Brady Morningstar free throws (which proved to be vital, after Jacob Pullen drilled a long three at the buzzer), it was done.  There were a few moments of celebration by the Jayhawks, but soon after, what you saw was more solemn pride and relief.  True, there isn’t much difference between the one-loss teams at the top of the polls.  But you can’t really have a three-way tie for #1, and the way the wins and losses have fallen — and after seeing what Kansas went through to win in Manhattan — the Jayhawks deserve the top position for now.

Collins and KU Will be Back at #1 (KC Star/Rich Sugg)

Finally, No Obama Jinx. #11 Georgetown 89, #7 Duke 77.  Well, at least Duke shot 84.6% from the free throw line. And that’s because you can’t guard free throws.  If you look at the numbers on this one, you might simply assume that the Hoyas “out-defended” the Blue Devils, since they held Duke to a 37% shooting day, including 31% (9-29) from three-point range.  All due respect to the Hoyas, because that statement is formally true — in this case, though, it’s not profound.  This wasn’t the Duke defense to which we’ve grown accustomed.  If you were looking for that in this game, you saw it on maybe one of every five Georgetown possessions.  Even more importantly, John Thompson III instructed his squad to be as selective with their shots as the admissions committees are with applicants at these schools.  As a result, Georgetown took 16 fewer shots in this game than the Devils — but hit 72% of them (33-46), an unfathomable number against anyone, let alone Duke.  All but maybe two of Georgetown’s attempts from behind the three-point arc were good looks, and they hit six of them (46%).  What was it that forced Duke out of their usual game plan?  Was it just Georgetown’s economical approach?  The excellence of Greg Monroe (21/5/5)?  The presence of Barack Obama and Joe Biden on the front row?  RTC Live in the building?  Hard to say.  Maybe it was the fact that this wasn’t Cameron Indoor, since Duke has dropped four of the five true road games it’s played this year.

Obama Giving the Zebra Tips on Dipomacy (AP)

Upset of the Year? San Francisco 81, #8 Gonzaga 77 (OT). Considering the relative circumstances of both of these teams, we’re saying yes.  USF was rated in the mid-200s in all of the computer rankings, and Gonzaga was as high as #8 in the Coaches Poll last week.  The best win the home Dons had enjoyed this season was against middling San Jose State, and with blowout losses to Colorado, BYU, South Florida and Washington already in the books, there wasn’t much reason to believe that Saturday night’s game against a team they hadn’t beaten in nine tries and several coaches would end any differently.  Senior guard Dior Lowhorn (22/9) had other ideas, however.  After suffering through a frustrating and foul-plagued 14-point performance up to that point, Lowhorn found himself as wide open as you can be in the halfcourt with sixteen seconds remaining on the clock and his team down three.  Accustomed to being The Man, he fired away on the three, but like so many of his attempts from deep this season (17%), the shot was just inches off, bouncing off the rim and going into the left baseline corner.  Then, in a bit of good fortune that Lowhorn later described as miraculous (pointing upward), Gonzaga saved the ball right back into his hands as he stood in exactly the same position behind the three-point line.  He fired again, and this time the shot was pure as USF tied the game and after a Gonzaga miss, sent the game to overtime.  In the overtime period, Lowhorn was clearly feeling it, as he drilled two more threes (5-7 on the night) and sent the Zags to their first WCC conference loss in 22 games.  The biggest win for the USF Dons in five years resulted in apoplectic fans rushing the court, and RTC Live was there to take it all in.  What does this mean in terms of the WCC race?  Well, with St. Mary’s and Gonzaga now each with one loss, the February 11 game in Spokane suddenly takes on a LOT more meaning.

The Zags Go Down in the Upset of the Year

Pulling a Stan Holt.  Oregon 67, USC 57. Normally a pedestrian Pac-10 game between two teams going nowhere wouldn’t make this space, but it’s not typically the case where a graduate student manager gets T’d up and costs his team the game.  Or at least a reasonable chance to win the game.  Oregon was leading 49-47 with 4:35 left in the game when, according to Kevin O’Neill, third-year student manager Stan Holt was given a technical foul for “screaming obscenities” at the referee.  Oregon used the call to go on a 13-3 run and effectively put the game away after that point.  O’Neill originally said that Holt was “gone,” but he backed off that post-game comment afterward.  Today it was confirmed that Holt was indeed given the ziggy and will no longer be a manager with the Trojan program.  Immediately after the incident on Saturday night, the Oregon student section started chanting “you’re fired” and it turns out they were right.

Conference Wraps.

• ACC.  This league is a real mess right now, with all twelve teams having between two and five losses.  The biggest surprise of the weekend continues to be UNC’s serious struggles, especially at home.  Against Virginia tonight, the Heels shot 36% from the field, hit only half of their free throw attempts, blocked a mere ONE shot with all their size, and allowed the Hoos to shoot 52% in the DES Center.  Not only was it a loss, it was a blowout loss!  UNC is now 2-4 in the ACC with trips to Blacksburg and College Park this upcoming week followed by a home date with Duke.  In other words, it’s do-or-die time for Roy Williams’ club, and 1-2 won’t get it done.  Virginia with that win, and Maryland along with Duke, lead the league with two losses due to the Terps’ loss at Clemson this afternoon.  Maryland depends so much on Greivis Vasquez’s production, and when he has a poor outing as he did today (10/3 with 9 turnovers), they just can’t score enough points against good defenses.  FSU remains interesting, now at 4-3 after winning at BC yesterday — these are the type of games they would have lost in previous years — and just when we thought Virginia Tech was coming on strong, they played a terrible game at one-win Miami (FL) today.  As we said, the league is just a mess — call it a better version of the Pac-10 this year.  There are no great teams (Duke is the best), and instead there are about 7-8 teams that we’d rank in the #20-#50 range — good enough to win one game against just about anybody, but equally likely to flake out in the next game against a lesser opponent.
• Big East.  Saturday’s games in the Big East were marked by even play, as the five league games were decided by a total of twelve points.  The biggest game was probably the WVU-Louisville matchup, and Rick Pitino’s Cards continue to be the team of almost this year.  The Cards clearly got jobbed on the final play that gave WVU the winning margin and inspired Pitino to later say that he is “tired” of the officiating, but the fact of the matter is that Louisville held a 12-point lead with seven minutes left and were unable to maintain it.  They keep finding new and interesting ways to lose leads, but Da’Sean Butler (27/3/3 assts) was a big part of their losing the lead (and game).  UConn continues to put themselves in a precarious bubble situation, losing another game even though the Huskies were +23 on the boards and +9 on blocks (the difference-maker: also, +14 on turnovers).  Marquette’s Jimmy Butler hit a driving shot with 2.4 seconds remaining to give the Golden Eagles their first road win of the year.  On other hand, Syracuse didn’t show up against a motivated DePaul team on Saturday, but they did what great teams do, which is find a way to win when things weren’t going their way.  Down eighteen at one point, the Orange used a late 16-2 run to take control and put down the pesky Blue Demons.  Despite Villanova’s unblemished record, Syracuse is the best team in this conference.  Two other surprises were Notre Dame giving Rutgers its first conference win on Saturday, and South Florida’s win over Pitt on Sunday.  USF’s Dominique Jones went for 37 again today, his fifth game in his last seven with at least 28+ points, as he seems intent on leading the Bulls into the conference bubble picture along with the likes of Louisville, Notre Dame and Marquette.  Pitt has come back down to earth commensurate with their talent level this year, losing three of four.  The Panthers are still a good, NCAA-worthy team, but they were never going to realistically be a top ten team this year.
• Big 12.  The big game of the weekend was already mentioned above, but there were a few other results of note over the weekend.  First, Texas dropped the third of its last four games at Baylor on Saturday, and although the previous two were understandable (@ K-State, @ UConn), this loss was in Austin.  Rick Barnes has to be concerned about the way his team is playing; despite so much talent on his squad, he’s having trouble finding consistent offense after seniors Damion James and Dexter Pittman.  It’s not panic time yet, but we’d like to see UT get big road wins at the Oklahoma schools this week to put us a little more at ease.  Next, Missouri ripped the hot Cowboys of Oklahoma State behind a bombardment of three-pointers (17) and the Tigers’ usual forcing of lots of turnovers (22).  Mizzou put five players into double-figures (including three off the bench), but more impressively, the Tiger defense was able to shut down everyone but OSU’s James Anderson (31/8) and Matt Pilgrim (21/9).  The other interesting result was zero-win Nebraska embarrassing Jeff Capel’s Oklahoma team by 17 points in Lincoln.  Preseason wunderkind Willie Warren put up a 4/2/2 assts performance, which seems almost impossible considering his god-given abilities.  Is it safe to say that Oklahoma, at 12-9 (3-4) with zero road wins in conference is almost finished this year?  Something is seriously off with that team.
• Big Ten.  The most exciting part of the weekend with respect to Big Ten hoops was the ending of the Illinois-Indiana game in Champaign on Saturday, as Demetri McCamey nailed a driving floater at the buzzer to push the Illini into second place in the league (as a four-way tie with Purdue, Wisconsin and Ohio State).  Michigan State is running away with this league, now at 9-0 after beating the hard-luck Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday as well.  The conference is looking more and more like a five-bid league, as Minnesota got blitzed today in Columbus with Evan Turner giving his team another great all-around performance (19/3/8 assts/4 stls) and proving that his mere presence on the court makes his teammates play better (William Buford had 26/5/5 assts and Jon Diebler 19/6).  For our money, Purdue and Ohio State are the clear second tier teams of this league behind MSU, and we’re not entirely convinced that MSU is really that far ahead of either one of them (although the Spartans’ record certainly indicates otherwise).
• Pac-10.  What can you say about this league other than nothing is predictable.  Well, one thing is predictable, at least from our viewpoint, and that is that Arizona is the best team in the league right now.  After dispatching Cal today in Tucson behind Nic Wise’s 30/3 stls, both teams are tied at 6-3 after one rotation through league play.  The difference is that it seems to us that Arizona is adapting to Sean Miller’s principles and is improving, while Cal appears to be much the same team we thought they were.  There should be no doubt that these two will be fighting it out the rest of the way, though, for the conference’s likely single bid to the NCAAs.  There are seven other teams bunched at 5-4 and 4-5, with Washington proving that they’re pretty good at home (4-1) and downright awful on the road (0-4) after beating Wazzu in Seattle on Saturday.  And if anyone out there can figure out the teams once known as UCLA (5-4), Arizona State (5-4), Oregon (4-5) or Stanford (4-5), let us know.
• SEC.  The big battle between lame-duck #1 Kentucky and the rising Vanderbilt Commodores turned out to generally be a bust, as UK ran all over the visitors early and often, getting a double-digit lead and coasting the rest of the way.  DeMarcus Cousins could be supplanting John Wall as the top frosh on the young Wildcats, as the big man they call “Boogie” went for 21/10 and his twelfth dub-dub of the season.  Wall struggled shooting (4-12 FGs) and committed seven turnovers to go with nine assists on the day.  SEC West contenders Mississippi State and Ole Miss had different weekends, with the Bulldogs easily handling LSU to move to 4-2 in league play, while the Rebels fell to the suddenly-surging Arkansas Razorbacks (second straight comeback win) to also move to 4-2.  In one other game of interest, South Carolina avoided the big letdown by coming back from nine points down in the last ten minutes to get a one-point win over Georgia behind Devan Downey’s 33/3 on 12-20 FGs.  Tennessee also got a 20-footer from Scotty Hopson to beat Florida 61-60 in another down-to-the-wire thriller between these two old rivals.  The Pac-10 is getting the brunt of the heat this year for its dearth of good teams, but the more we think about this league, although five teams may make it into the Dance, we really only see one team — Kentucky — capable of making it to the second weekend.
• Others. In the A10, there appears to be a clear separation between the top tier and the rest, with Temple, Xavier, Charlotte, Dayton, Richmond and Rhode Island all getting wins this weekend.  In the CAA, it’s George Mason who has risen to the top of the league with Northeastern knocking off ODU on Saturday to drop the Monarchs to a tie for second place at 9-2.  In Conference USA, three teams are now at 6-1 after UTEP used double-overtime to knock off UAB in Birmingham behind Derrick Caracter’s 20/13, and Tulsa got a road win at UCF.  The biggest surprise was Memphis losing its second CUSA game of the year, this time at SMU — yes, Matt Doherty briefly makes it back into the national consciousness.  In the Horizon, Butler is now 11-0 – that is all.  In the Ivy, the most anticipated game in some time resulted in Cornell laying waste to visiting Harvard 86-50, with all five Big Red starters reaching double figures.  In the Valley, Wichita State kept pace two games behind Northern Iowa as the rest of the conference remains a muddled mess.  The Mountain West saw BYU knocking off its rival Utah, New Mexico winning easily, and SDSU keeping UNM and UNLV within its sights with a win over Colorado State.  Over in the WAC, there’s now a three-way tie at first place (6-2) with Louisiana Tech losing to New Mexico State and Utah State keeping pace.

RTC Live. We had three RTC Lives this weekend but two of them have already been covered — the Duke vs. Georgetown game as well as the Gonzaga at San Francisco game.

• Portland 74, Santa Clara 52.  Portland finished the first half of the WCC season in strong fashion Saturday night, throttling Santa Clara throughout. Portland ends up at 5-2 at the halfway point, a game behind co-leaders Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s at 6-1. Jared Stohl hit 4-7 three-point shots to lead Portland with 16, followed by Luke Sikma’s 15 and T.J. Campbell’s 13. Robert Smith had 17 to lead Santa Clara, which is now in last place at 1-6.

***** - 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 2012
* - don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game

#7 Duke @ #11 Georgetown  1:00 CBS (****)

Duke Will Have Its Hands Full in DC

Although John Thompson III has said he does not want to be playing in this out of conference matchup right now, fans have been looking forward to this game for quite some time.  In addition to the possibility of President Obama attending the game, this is a matchup between a current #2 seed in the tournament and a #3 or #4 seed in Georgetown.  When Duke’s 82.2 ppg offense goes against Georgetown’s 62.0 defensive average, something is going to have to budge.  Despite Duke’s top ranking in offensive efficiency, they will certainly not be able to run over the Hoyas.  GU held Pitt to 66 points on the road, and held Syracuse, UConn, and Marquette below their season average.  Although Duke outscores the Hoyas by over 10 points per contest on average, they also hold opponents to fewer points per game rank higher in defensive efficiency.  Nevertheless, the Blue Devils lost their first three road games of the year to Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, and Clemson, none of whom are as dangerous as the Hoyas.  GU blew a golden opportunity at the Carrier Dome last week, so look for them to take out some frustration on the Blue Devils. Austin Freeman scored 23 points against the Orange, and the Hoyas will likely depend on him to give Georgetown the win.

Oklahoma St @ Missouri 2:00 ESPN (***)

As George W. Bush once attempted to say, “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”  Oklahoma State made me look foolish when they beat Texas A&M last week, and Missouri embarrassed me with their performance in Lawrence when they kept up with the Jayhawks for the first five minutes and called it a day.  The Cowboys have now won three Big 12 games in a row, while Mizzou has now lost two of their last three contests.  OSU showed they could win without a strong performance from James Anderson, who didn’t score the first 18 minutes of the Aggie game.  The Aggies do have a couple things going for them as well.  They will be playing at home, where they are 12-0 this year, and still rank #12 in the country according to Ken Pomeroy with their sixth ranked defense.  Their D didn’t look so impressive last week when they gave up 50 first half points to Kansas, as they let the Jayhawks shoot over 49 percent from the floor and 47 percent from beyond the arc.  Senior Obi Muonelo is hot for Oklahoma State right now, and look for him to lead the Cowboys to a fourth consecutive Big 12 win.

#23 Vanderbilt @ #1 Kentucky 4:00 ESPN (*****)

Last week RTC said that Vanderbilt was the most underrated team in the country, and they made us look pretty smart with a 85-76 road win against Tennessee.  Their current test will be even more difficult, as they have to face an angry Kentucky team in Lexington right now.  Barring a complete disaster, if Vanderbilt splits their games with Kentucky this year they could be looking at a #4 seed at the very worst.   Depending on how Vanderbilt and their seventh ranked offense perform the rest of the year, they could be looking at potential #2 seed.  Kentucky may still be the top team to many, but Ken Pomeroy ranks them at #11 and their RPI has them at #8.  With another loss, could Kentucky suddenly be looking at a three seed?  It seems unlikely, especially given their resume for the whole year, but they are going to have to prove doubters wrong.   In order to beat Vanderbilt, Kentucky will have to avoid another 5-point, 0-assist effort from Patrick Patterson.  The Wildcats shot 39 percent in the game, and with the Commodores playing hot right now (10 consecutive wins and they have scored 80 or more points in four of their last five games) they will have to also light up the scoreboard.  If VU, led by A.J. Ogilvy and Jeffery Taylor (both have scored double digits in their last six games), is able to contain the Wildcats at all they have an excellent chance to win this game.

Baylor @ #6 Texas 4:00 ESPN 360 (***)

Baylor has fallen out of the Top 25, but that does not mean they aren’t capable of beating solid teams.  Just as much as it is hard to see Kentucky lose consecutive games, it seems difficult to think that a Texas team that started 17-0 could then go 1-3.  Baylor took Kansas State right to the wire last game, losing in the final minute, but with the loss their NCAA tournament chances took a slight hit.  This bubble team is now eighth in the Big 12, which will not get it done come selection time.  You don’t always know what you are going to get out of Texas, as UT’s leading scorer in the January 18 Kansas State game had 11 points. In order for Texas to get out of their slump, Texas will need a bigger contribution from Dexter Pittman, who in a five game stretch before Wednesday’s contest had scored a total of 25 points.  The Longhorns have not lost at home this year, but will have their hands full this afternoon.  The intriguing matchup is Baylor’s 13^th ranked offense against Texas’ 13^th ranked defense.  Baylor’s LaceDarius Dunn was held to nine points in their last game, and he will need to score at least 15 points for Baylor to pull a big upset.

#2 Kansas @ #13 Kansas State 7:00 ESPN (****)

If there was any question if Jayhawks fans were just as pumped up for this matchup as the home crowd, one needs to look no further than the fact KU is busing in their students for College Gameday’s appearance in Manhattan.  Kansas head coach Bill Self has mentioned his excitement about the level of play in the conference recently, but we will see how happy he is if he loses in front of the Wildcat fans.  When looking at this game on paper, it would seem highly unlikely for KSU to win this game.  Kansas ranks second in the country if both offensive and defensive efficiency, but fans also thought that before KSU faced an undefeated Texas team.  With the influx of RTCs lately, will Kansas State once again show the sophistication of their student section?  When Kansas State defeated Texas, they won despite shoot ingeight percent from three point range and committing 18 turnovers.  How?  They held Texas to an equally abysmal shooting percentage at 37 percent, something they would like to repeat against Kansas’ 84.9 ppg average and 49.6 percent shooting.  Jacob Pullen, KSU’s leading scorer at 19.2 points per game on the year, lit Baylor up for 25 on Tuesday, and look for the Wildcats to go to him as they attempt to pull the biggest upset another huge upset this year.

Big Monday, Not So Much.  And this is why they play the games.  On paper, the two ESPN games tonight looked like tremendous matchups with the potential of both going down to the wire.  Didn’t really work out that way, though.  Perhaps better luck tomorrow night…

It had an 80s Feel at the Dome Tonight (The Post-Standard/Gloria Wright)

• #4 Syracuse 73, #7 Georgetown 56.  It may not have been a classic, but the first matchup between the Cuse and Georgetown in twenty years with both teams residing in the top ten was certainly interesting.  The Hoyas denigrated the Syracuse zone from the tip, jumping out to a 14-0 lead behind four threes and a layup that had the 25,000+ upstaters wondering when Jim Boeheim’s team was going to show up.  The answer wasn’t long in coming, as Syracuse shook off the early doldrums and put together a 30-15 run of their own to take the lead before the half ended.  From that point it was all downhill for JT3′s team, as the well with which the Hoyas had hit early jumpers ran dry throughout the rest of the game.  The biggest problem for the Hoyas was that two of their primary scoring options — their star point guard, Chris Wright, and center, Greg Monroe — were completely ineffective tonight on the offensive end, scoring only fifteen points on 7-17 shooting (0-6 from three).  Considering that Georgetown gets so much of its scoring from its starters (92%), they simply cannot afford off nights from these players (note: the Hoya bench contributed zero points tonight).  As for Syracuse, their offense is incredibly efficient — in 15 of the Orange’s 21 games this year, they’ve shot over 50% from the field, and tonight was no exception (53%).  They know what they’re good at and they force other teams to deal with it — most cannot, which means they better hope they’re having a strong shooting night against the confounding SU zone.  Good luck with that.  In terms of the Big East race, does this mean that Syracuse and Villanova are clearly the teams to beat?  Hard to say because VU has had a very weak conference schedule to date, but we can state without equivocation that Syracuse is in the top tier of contenders.
• #2 Kansas 84, Missouri 65.  When Kansas plays team defense like they did tonight against rival Missouri, there is nobody in America who can beat them.  Not Kentucky, not Texas, not Villanova, not Duke, not Syracuse.  It’s a testament to just how dominant their D was tonight that the Jayhawks could turn the ball over twenty-three times (vs. four for Missouri) and still have absolutely no trouble with the Tigers, whom they held to 28% shooting.  Imagine what it would have looked like if they’d been more careful with the ball.  The KU defense of course starts and ends with Cole Aldrich inside, and he was spectacular, nearly earning a trip-dub with 12/16/7 blks.  Marcus Morris continues to come on strong with a 17/9 night in his fifth straight game of double figures as well.  Mike Anderson’s Tigers never got into any kind of offensive groove after an opening 8-3 run, as there was often a sense that Kansas had a sixth defender on the floor to get out on the Missouri shooters.  Since the loss at Tennessee three weekends ago, the Jayhawks have yet to play another tough road game, but they’ll have their hands full with Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente on Saturday night in the Little Apple.  It says here that the brief issues of focus that KU had, in part because of Aldrich’s family matters, are put behind them and will be tough to beat more than once the rest of the year.

Other Games of National Interest.

• Western Carolina 100, Charleston 90.  A wild offensive-minded game in the SoCon tonight, with Western Carolina giving Charleston its first loss in league play.  Both teams put five players each in double figures, with the Catamounts hitting eleven threes and shooting 59% from the field while Charleston nailed a scorching nineteen treys on 57% shooting.  The SoCon is more than likely a one-bid league this year, but with WCU possessing the scalps of Louisville and Charleston holding UNC’s, keep an eye on one of these two as a possible first-round darkhorse in March.

7:02 pm ET: JStev here at RTC’s Southern Compound, and we’re starting off with Wake at UNC, but we’ve got quite a selection already.  So I guess this game is one of those announcer-trade things.  ESPN’s NBA announcers are calling this one.  I don’t know if I’m liking this.  We might get to Pitt/G’town earlier than expected…

7:16: …AND, we’re there.  Faster pace, two ranked teams, and fewer people get the U so this will actually help more folks tuning in.  See?  We’re all about helping people at RTC.  Boy, Georgetown looks comfortable early.  That last move by Greg Monroe was quite tasty.  NBA quality drop step and lay-in, wow.  Up six early.

7:24: Just flashed over to Wake/UNC and L.D. Williams just THREW DOWN an alley-oop, following a three and a previous dunk by Al-Farouq Aminu.  I know it’s mid-first half, but has UNC lost their mystique?  Teams just look more confident against them this year, steadier.  Back on G’town/Pitt, Gilbert Brown was going out of bounds and threw the ball off of Jerelle Benimon, and hit him right in the misters.  Looks OK, though.

7:33: No sooner do I type how G’town looks comfortable than Pitt shows up to play, with two Ashton Gibbs treys and two straight dunks for Gary McGhee and his hair.  Wake is up by seven AT CAROLINA.  I’ve also got Cincinnati up on South Florida by three with John Saunders on the call on ESPN2.  Seriously, someone tell me why I don’t have five TVs lined up here like the SportsNation videowall?  I don’t know where to go…my eyes…

7:44: Halftime at Pittsburgh and they’re tied with Georgetown, 31-31.  GU is 5-7 from three (71.4%), but  Pitt’s mini-comeback was keyed by good shot selection and making the extra pass.  They have 11 assists on 12 field goals.  At UNC, it’s Wake up by three.  Similarly, Wake has their lead by taking good shots, nothing crazy; 20 of their 25 FG attempts have been twos and most of them pretty close, which is why they’re shooting over 50%.  Ish Smith already has 10/3/4 asst on 5-7 shooting and hasn’t tried a three.  Heady player.  Very impressed.

7:54: Wait a minute…is that a bit of a faux-hawk on Jimmy Dykes?  Is he going to Gary Parrish’s barber?!?  I actually really like Dykes either as a studio guy or doing color — in fact I think he’s one of the best.  Over on the U, Lowell Galindo has grown on me throughout the year as far as how he runs the studio.  I was a little down on him after that anemic midnight madness show he had to pilot, but that’s not his fault.  But MAN, that is one big Windsor knot.  That’s a mega-Windsor.  But hey, whatever works.  Anyway, back to hoops…

8:02: Gilbert Brown has hit a three and three straight shots for Pitt, and Georgetown has busted a two and a three to start the half.  This is exactly how the first half began — both teams on fire, then the defense was cranked up on both sides.  Enjoyable game…and as I type that, the sides trade old-fashioned three point plays.  You need to turn this on if you have the U.  But of course don’t turn your computer off, heh heh.

8:16: Well, hello, CBS College Sports!  Stepping up with Memphis vs UTEP!  By the way — and no, we’re not affiliated at all — the new Seth Davis show called Courtside that airs Monday nights on CBS-CS is now required college hoops viewing.  GREAT round-table segment that’s more than just the usual timed platitudes; you get actual real analysis.  You’re welcome.  I thought of that since I had switched to that channel.  If you have it, Arnett Moultrie is a fine forward for UTEP whose name you need to know.  He’ll play at the next level.  This Derek Caracter story is always interesting, and of course Memphis has won 435 straight conference games.  So this game is fairly compelling.  Honestly, though…five TVs.  How I need you.

8:24: Wake has hit a three and a two and the lead is ten in Chapel Hill.  That question I asked earlier about mystique will be answered starting at about the 8-minute mark.  This is the time when, in the past, when UNC (or Duke) was down, the other team would just start making unforced errors on top of their forced ones, and UNC would salvage a win on their home court.  As I’m typing, they’ve already taken two points off the lead, so we’ll see.  At Pitt, it’s a one-point game and Gilbert Brown just threw down a HUGE two-handed jam.

8:34: C.J. Harris with a three for Wake.  Up to 12.  Then another.  Up to 15.  And Carolina is 3-18 (16.7) from three point range.  Pitt tied with Georgetown at 56.  We’re past the under-8 TVTO in both.  On ESPN2 Cincinnati’s lead is six with four minutes to play against South Florida.  Memphis only up five against UTEP on CBS-CS.

8:42: Going  up the floor, a referee had to tell Roy Williams to calm down and stop complaining.  I don’t know what he’s got to complain about in this one, because his team’s just getting beaten.  I’ve seen no gross officiating deficiencies.  An Ish Smith three for Wake, and it’s an 18-POINT LEAD for Wake.  Did I mention…this is at UNC?  Wake Forest’s defense has been excellent.  And they’ve played so intelligently this evening.  Roy Williams is on the verge of losing this team for this season.

8:49: ESPN-U color guy Tim Welsh — who’s VERY good tonight, by the way — just beat me to it…Greg Monroe shows you why he’s the best passing big man in the game.  EXCELLENT pass to Julian Vaughn for an old-fashioned three, and G’town is up six AT PITTSBURGH.

8:53: It’s hovering around 14-16 at Wake/UNC and under two minutes.  Assuming UNC drops it, that’ll be three losses in a row, and four of their last five games.  1-3 in the ACC.  Hands up, who predicted that early in the year?  Yeah, same people who predicted Pittsburgh doing so well….though right now, they’re down eight on their home floor to Georgetown with 31 seconds left.  Quite a win for JT3 and his boys, this.

9:00: There is a chant of “Wake! Forest!” happening as we strike the top of the hour, and UNC/Wake goes final…82-69.  Georgetown has beaten Pitt, 74-66, to give them their first Big East loss this season.  You know what helps you beat excellent opponents on their own floor?  GOING 7-10 FROM THREE, like G’town did.  Cincinnati will take out South Florida, 78-70.  Memphis-UTEP is a 34-33 game early in the second half on CBS-CS.

9:09: Now that rtmsf’s done with his five-hour lunch break, I’m handing off to him.  Enjoy the second flight of games, folks, and thanks for joining! Certainly been fun so far…

9:22: Ok, taking over here, and I’m trying to decide what games I’m going to keep an eye on in this second half of the night.  Obviously, Kansas-Baylor (KU currently up three) is on one tv…  I’ve also got Duke/NCSU on the 360 viewer, and am keeping my eye on a few others, including WVU vs. Marshall and Memphis-UTEP.

9:25: Speaking of those games, WVU is up two early on the 15-2 Marshall Thundering Herd, who is having a great season with Hassan Whiteside as an impact player (seven points already).  Memphis leads UTEP by one point with 12 minutes to go in the second half, and according to one of our sources, UTEP’s Jeremy Williams is making the airspace above the rim his personal dunking zone.

9:30: Not sure what the hell Quincy Acy was thinking on that one, speaking of dunks.  LaceDarius Dunn’s floater was probably going to drop, but Acy grabbed it and threw it home like playing on the eight-foot rims back home.  Guess he got a little too excited with being that open underneath.

9:32: Dunn has a set shot, but it’s awfully pure (41% on the year).  Some other ranked teams are playing right now as well, with Villanova taking a dookie on Rutgers, BYU handling Wyoming, and Ole Miss up 13 early on South Carolina.  And remember, over on RTC Live, we have the Michigan-Wisconsin game, with the Wolverines hanging onto a 2-point lead early in the second half.

9:38: Just looked in on the Duke-NCSU game in time to see State hit a big three to go up 26-19.  Upset night on Tobacco Road?  I’m not counting on that, but it’s definitely worth continuing to check in on.

9:40: NC State’s Horner just hit another three, and the Pack is now up 29-19 in Raleigh.  NC State is hitting 61% so far.  That is unlikely to continue.

9:42: Back on the KU-Baylor game and the Bears just tied it on a putback off the break.  From what I’ve seen, Baylor is every bit as athletic as Kansas.  Bill Self doesn’t look very happy.

9:48: Score check.  UTEP still up six at Memphis, Michigan up five at Wisconsin and WVU up three at Marshall.  After Wake and Georgetown’s wins on the road, is this the night of the visiting team?

9:51: Jason don’t call me Jay Williams and Ron Franklin are chuckling about a non-call on a travel by a Baylor player just a minute ago.  Not sure who it was, but the player basically bobbled the ball for 25 feet down the sideline before catching it cleanly.  The ref said no travel because he didn’t have control of the ball.  I’ve always wondered about that, though — isn’t it therefore possible for a player to keep tipping/bobbling the ball all the way downcourt so long as he made it look unintentional?

9:55: KU’s Markieff Morris with a huge putback dunk on a Sherron Collins’ foray to the lane to tie the game at 30-all going into the half.  Over in Raleigh, Nolan Smith just hit a ridiculous three with 1.0 second remaining by catching and shooting in the same motion from behind the 3-pt line.  What could have been a six-point lead is three now.  Great momentum builder for Duke going into the half.

10:00: CUSA is interesting tonight.  We mentioned Marshall playing WVU, but Tulsa is in a crosstown battle with Oral Roberts and UTEP is up only three on Memphis now.

10:05: Over on RTC Live and the BTN, Wisconsin is on the verge of tying the game going into the final few minutes in Madison.  UTEP has a three-point lead with five seconds remaining in Memphis, and Tulsa held on against ORU.

10:09: The streak has ended!  Memphis’ 64-game CUSA winning streak will not reach 65, as the UTEP Miners rode Jeremy Williams for 18/12 and Christian Polk added 17 off the bench to get the big win at the FedEx Forum.  We all knew this was likely to happen this year, right, but not sure that we saw it coming in a home game.

10:14: Moving into the second half of our two primary games now, both Baylor and NC State have come out strong again, with Baylor 4-0 and NCSU 9-3 to start the half.

10:17: Tracy Smith for NC State is murdering the Blue Devil defense inside.  He’s 9-10 for 18 pts so far, and Duke is playing the matador just about every time he takes it to the hole.  Smith is a really effective player when he gets it going, and tonight he’s got it going!

10:21: Wisconsin is about to put Michigan away in Madison.  That’s what they do — they keep it close enough and then they just own the last five minutes there.  Baylor-KU continue to go back and forth.  The way I figure it, Baylor only has a realistic shot to win this game if they can take an 8-10 point lead in the last eight minutes.  Jay Williams just called out Xavier Henry for his lack of aggressiveness.  Could he be thinking League already?

10:24: Duke’s Brian Zoubek looks like he’s trying out the Jacob Pullen beard with his facial hair situation.  As for the rest of the Devils, their defense is allowing NC State to hit a ridiculous 65% of their shots so far in this game.

10:30: NC State is just doing everythig right, up fourteen now, 63-49.  Scott Wood just dropped a three from the right wing that looked like it may have been Kobe shooting it, that’s how confident he seemed upon the release.  The phenomenon of bad/average teams getting “up” to compete with really good teams like Duke never fails to amaze me.

10:36: NC State is now up SEVENTEEN points on Duke.  They just can’t miss.  Still at 64% for the game.  Duke is getting production from their guards, but almost nothing tonight from the corps of big men.

10:43: So if UNC and Duke both lose tonight, it’s the first time since 2003, and UNC was darn near losing to just about anyone with a pair of sneaks in those days, so that’s not too surprising.

10:47: Some life in Duke with an 8-1 run to cut it back to ten points.  There’s enough time for Duke to pull this off (6 mins) and it’s not like we haven’t seen this before.  On BOTH sides, actually, with Duke coming back and NC State finding ways to blow it.

10:53: Duke is down to eight now, and there’s plenty of time.  If you’re wondering why I haven’t mentioned Kansas-Baylor, it’s because KU went on a run, but now that I’m concentrating on it again, Baylor is back!  Tied 65-all with just over three minutes left.  And look at Marshall making the comeback on WVU, down only three late themselves.

11:00: NC State is up nine, but KU is only up two with 1:31 left, so I’m focusing on it for now.  Make that five after Sherron Collins nailed a huge three.  That might do it after Baylor misses the retort.  Collins is just a big-shot dude.

11:04: A 6-0 run here by Kansas pretty much seals this one.  Remember what I was saying earlier about Baylor building and holding a lead?  That’s why, haha.  And now the Rock Chalk Jayhawk chant has started, although stranger things have happened…

11:06: I really like this KU team as a national title contender, but I don’t love them.  At least not yet.  I loved that 08 team, on the other hand.

11:08: From the what does it take department…  Baylor hits 53%, drops ten threes, and outrebounds KU in Lawrence, and still can’t win there.  Turnovers are the big difference – 20 for the Bears, only 8 for Kansas.

11:10: On the other game, Duke is finished.  Prep for an NC State RTC here…  And there will be no debate about this one.  NC State is a prime candidate for an RTC with this win tonight.

11:12: And there it is!  NC State finishes off the Devils for Sidney’s Lowe’s marquee win of the year, and the students RTC (a little early for a few of them).  Tracy Smith and Dennis Horner were awesome, both with 20 or more, and the Pack shreds the Duke defense for 58% from the field tonight.  The ACC is a little nutty this year – just call it the Pac-10 East (ok, not that nutty).

11:16: Closing up shop here… WVU finished off Marshall late, 68-60, but they got all they wanted from the Herd tonight.  That’s a pretty good team they’ve got down there in H-town.  BYU, Villanova and Ole Miss all won comfortably, and we’ll cover the rest of the night’s games on tonight’s ATB.

11:18: Thanks for stopping by on another edition of Boom Goes the Dynamite, weeknight style, and we hope to see you back here on Saturday as we navigate our way through another action-packed day of games (around 140, I believe).

]]> http://rushthecourt.net/2010/01/20/boom-goes-the-dynamite-01-20-10-edition/feed/ 0 http://rushthecourt.net/2010/01/16/rtc-live-georgetown-villanova/ http://rushthecourt.net/2010/01/16/rtc-live-georgetown-villanova/#comments Sun, 17 Jan 2010 03:48:50 +0000 rtmsf http://rushthecourt.net/?p=15763

Whether it is for home court advantage (Georgetown is 4-3 on Villanova’s home court; Villanova is 5-1 at the Verizon Center), a Big East Championship (1982) or a National Championship (1985), the games are almost always close and always hard fought. Coach John Thompson, III, brings his Georgetown Hoyas into the Center in downtown Philadelphia on Sunday January 17 at noon to play the Villanova Wildcats. Between them, the teams have 28 wins against only 3 losses, and each brings a John Wooden Award nominee to the tilt. The Hoyas’ Greg Monroe of Georgetown will anchor their front court, while Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds leads the Wildcat backcourt. Georgetown has swept the last five games, winning four by five points or less. Join us on RTC Live for the 67^th meeting of these two Big East powers, in what should be another great one.

With college football crowning another faux-national champion Thursday night in Pasadena, the college sports scene can officially shift its axis to basketball. While a number of college basketball diehards such as yours truly were knee-deep in mid-major box scores and enthralling non-conference tournaments since the season tipped off in mid-November, it’s perfectly understandable for our college football-fan brethren out there to have been entranced in the gridiron scene during this time. For many folks out there, college basketball truly begins when a football champion is crowned and conference play heats up, when Rece and the gang show up on our TVs every Saturday morning at 11 AM and the bubble begins to take its early shape. For those people, you sure missed plenty of exciting hoops action. To get you caught up in what has gone down thus far on the hardwood, here’s a summary for your enjoyment, divvied up into the six major conferences and all the rest:

ACC

What we’ve learned: There was much back-and-forth debate entering this season whether Duke or North Carolina represented the class of this conference. After two solid months of play, it’s fairly evident Duke has separated themselves from their bitter rival as the class of the ACC. While the Tar Heels may top Duke skill-wise up front, Carolina simply does not boast the backcourt to even contend with the Dukies’ tandem of Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith. The primary knock on Duke heading into this season was point guard play with Elliot Williams transferring to Memphis. As a true sharp-shooting 2-guard who creates his shots coming off screens in Redick-like fashion, could Scheyer handle the responsibility of running the Duke offense? The answer has been resounding in the affirmative: 19.7 PPG, 46% FG, 92% FT, 43% 3pt and an otherworldly 4.8 A/TO ratio that currently leads the nation. Another key to Duke’s early season success has been Coach K’s willingness to adjust his defense to fit his roster. Rather than employing the normal Duke on-ball pressure attack, Krzyzewski is utilizing more of a sagging defense that plays into the frontcourt depth Duke enjoys with six players that receive time at 6’8 or taller.

Scheyer Has His Devils Looking Great This Season

What’s still to be determined: After Duke and Carolina (and let’s not go overboard following the Heels loss to Charleston, they’re still clearly the second best team in this conference), who will emerge as the third contender behind the top two dogs? An ever-shifting proposition, the current edge probably goes to Florida State despite their utter lack of point guard play. The Seminoles are one of the tallest teams in the nation and have a few capable long-range shooters that get open looks when defenses collapse on Solomon Alabi and Chris Singleton. Plus, they’re off to a head start with a December win at ACC foe Georgia Tech. Plenty of folks think Clemson could be that team behind powerful big man Trevor Booker, but they lack a second scoring option and I can’t stop thinking back to their collapse at home to an inexperienced Illinois squad. It would be unwise to count out Gary Williams, and the jury’s still out on Virginia Tech and Miami due to their soft schedules, so I’ll give the current edge to Wake Forest as that third team. The road win at Gonzaga’s on-campus arena stands out, Ish Smith has turned into a fine point guard and Al-Farouq Aminu has as much pure talent as anyone in this conference.

NCAA Locks: Duke, North Carolina.

Likely bids: Clemson, Florida State, Wake Forest.

Bubble teams: Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami (FL), Virginia Tech.

Make other plans for March: Boston College, North Carolina State, Virginia.

Big East

What we’ve learned: The NCAA picture is shaping up quite similarly to last season when Louisville (regular season champion), Pittsburgh and Connecticut all received #1 seeds. There will be much back-and-forth debate about whether the top three teams this season — Syracuse, West Virginia and Villanova -- holds the edge in this conference, but does it really matter? Right now you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t think Kansas, Texas, Kentucky and Purdue are the likely #1 seeds (of course plenty could change, we have two months of games left), while those top contenders in the Big East are likely all on the second seed line. Even of greater importance though is the obvious revelation that Jamie Dixon can coach basketball. You wouldn’t be alone if you counted out Pittsburgh following a near-loss to Wofford, a 47-point output at home vs. New Hampshire and a second half butt-kicking at the hands of Indiana, but those losses came without their most athletic player, Gilbert Brown, and their best defender, Jermaine Dixon. Those two have returned to action with the most improved Big East player Ashton Gibbs (who recently broke the all-time Pitt record for consecutive free throws made) as a fearsome trio that has carried the Panthers to road wins over previously-undefeated Syracuse and fringe-top 25 Cincinnati. If Dixon is able to coax his Panthers into a NCAA Tournament team after losing such enormous production and leadership in Sam Young, DeJuan Blair and Levance Fields, there is little debate on his merits as National Coach of the Year.

An Early Candidate for National COY

What’s still to be determined: Anyone else not convinced Georgetown is a good team yet? They’ll make the NCAA Tournament, sure, but keep in mind this is the same roster that finished 16-15 last season and dropped their first-round NIT contest against Baylor. Their non-conference wins turned out to be less impressive than originally imagined with Butler and Washington both falling out of the polls and playing well under preseason expectations. They were also fortunate to play Temple in mid-November on their worst shooting night of the season, so their Saturday game with Connecticut will show us plenty. Also concerning me down the stretch is the Hoyas’ total lack of depth. In a game with any semblance of importance, John Thompson III won’t go any deeper than seven players and four of his starters — Chris Wright, Greg Monroe, Austin Freeman and Jason Clark -- all play over 33 MPG with the true grind of the Big East yet to get underway. With three of their last five contests against Syracuse and road trips to Louisville and West Virginia, I fear the Hoyas will wear down as a unit. I’m nowhere near ready to place them in the same class with the aforementioned top three teams and even Connecticut and Pittsburgh just yet. They have plenty to prove in my eyes.

NCAA Locks: Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia.

Likely bids: Connecticut, Georgetown, Pittsburgh.

Bubble teams: Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Seton Hall.

Make other plans for March: DePaul, Providence, Rutgers, South Florida, St. John’s.

Big 12

What we’ve learned: This is the best conference in the nation, hands down. There isn’t a single “easy” out as bottom-feeders Nebraska is at 12-3 and Colorado, who took Gonzaga down to the wire at Maui and feature a stud in Cory Higgins, could challenge even the three top-ten teams in their home gyms. Eight of the 12 teams (and I’m not even including pesky Iowa State) have a legitimate shot to make the Tournament. The Big 12 also boasts the top two teams in the land in Kansas and Texas, two teams on a collision course for February 8 in Austin and quite possibly early April in Indianapolis. Both the Longhorns and Jayhawks are top-three teams in defensive efficiency, are extremely deep and have the offensive weapons to score 90 points on any given night, evident by Kansas torching Temple’s stingy defense last Saturday in Philly. The Big 12 also features the biggest surprise team in America outside of Syracuse in Kansas State. Their backcourt of Jacob Pullen (20.1 PPG, 46% 3pt) and Denis Clemente (14.1 PPG, 2.8 A/T) ranks right up there with Villanova, Duke, Kansas and Ole Miss at the top of the charts. To go into Columbia and knock off the fast-paced Missouri Tigers on Saturday would show that the oft-doubted Frank Martin and his Wildcats have staying power.

All Eyes Are on Kansas vs. Texas on February 8

What’s still to be determined: After Kansas, Texas and Kansas State, teams #4-8 in this conference are fairly muddled with Baylor, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Texas Tech and Texas A&M all able to make arguments for being the top club of the bunch. Baylor may be the most purely athletic team of the pack with LaceDarius Dunn’s shooting ability, Ekpe Udoh as a force blocking shots and rebounding in the paint and one of the best passing point guards in the nation in Tweety Carter (6.6 APG). It would be quite surprising if Baylor made the field during a season with barely any expectations after folding last year as a highly ranked preseason team. If the Bears continue to show a marked improvement on the defensive end (60.8 points allowed per game), they could shock some folks. Oklahoma State is a bit of an enigma as well. There’s no better scorer in the Big 12 than James Anderson, but will Obi Muonelo and Keiton Page be able to take some of the scoring pressure away from Anderson on a consistent basis (I vote no). Missouri is extremely young and should continue to improve as Big 12 play progresses. With an electric homecourt atmosphere and a constant full-court press, Mike Anderson’s team can never be counted out. Defense is an issue for Texas Tech and the jury’s still out on whether A&M can rebound from the hideous Derrick Roland injury to pose a threat.

NCAA Locks: Kansas, Kansas State, Texas.

Likely bids: Texas A&M.

Bubble teams: Baylor, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech.

Make other plans for March: Colorado, Iowa State, Nebraska, Oklahoma.

Big 10

What we’ve learned: For the last few years, the Big 10 has been severely underrated. Fans and analysts fail to give this conference their due credit mainly because of the slower pace and defensive mindset. Entering 2009-10, due to a truckload of talented sophomores and juniors, the Big 10 was finally receiving the respect they deserved on a national platform. Unfortunately, the conference has grossly underachieved relative to the expectations that the Midwest would possess the best conference in the nation this season. The Big 10 ranks fifth in conference RPI headed into Saturday (although that does come with the second highest SOS of any conference) with teams like Michigan, Illinois and Ohio State (they have an excuse) disappointing in the early going. Michigan compiled a grand total of zero quality wins in November and December but could find themselves at 4-1 in the Big 10 with home wins over Northwestern and Indiana. Illinois is playing with two freshmen in their backcourt (and neither is a true point guard) while Demetri McCamey has not exploded into stardom like I expected. But with Evan Turner returning to Ohio State, overachieving teams like Northwestern and Wisconsin, and two of the top ten teams in the land in Purdue and Michigan State, the conference is still respectable as a whole.

Sick Talent + Magical Healing Abilities

What’s yet to be determined: I’m not sold on Purdue winning this conference. And that’s not necessarily a knock on how the Boilermakers have played — nobody defends with such ferocity and no single unit has as much experience on the floor together as Matt Painter’s club. I’ve watched Tom Izzo-coached Michigan State teams far too long improve and improve as the season wears on to label Purdue the Big 10 favorite just yet. With a focused Kalin Lucas running the point, swingman Chris Allen starting to find his stroke from three-point range and Raymar Morgan at 100 percent, the defending Big 10 champion Spartans are still the team to beat in the league. If you asked Matt Painter, I think he’d agree.

NCAA Locks: Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin.

Likely bids: Ohio State.

Bubble teams: Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern.

Make other plans for March: Indiana, Iowa, Penn State.

Pac-10

What we’ve learned: This conference is historically bad. Pretty much every single team has underachieved through the first two months of the season other than maybe Oregon and USC, and those two teams are a less-than-inspiring 20-9 combined. Just when it appeared the preseason favorites, Washington and California, would take off and separate themselves from the foul odor the rest of the pack releases, the Huskies were punched in the face by Oregon at home and California is stunned by a UCLA team that has already lost eight games. And when it appeared USC might surprise everyone and earn a bid on the back of transfers Mike Gerrity and Alex Stepheson, the O.J. Mayo-Tim Floyd fiasco prompted the AD to prevent his basketball team from participating in any postseason play as punishment. I still believe Washington and California will rise to the top, but the fact we’re even discussing an Oregon team that lost to Montana, Portland and Missouri by 37 as a contender for the conference crown just about sums it up.

What’s yet to be determined: I hate to continue to rag on the Pac-10, but it’s incredibly deserved in similar fashion to the harassment a pathetic SEC obtained last season. The question is: How many non-BCS conferences will receive more NCAA bids than the Pac-10? The Mountain West and Atlantic-10 are the prime candidates and currently rank higher in conference RPI than the Pac-10. The MWC could garner as many as four bids depending on how San Diego State performs in conference play while Temple, Rhode Island, Xavier, Dayton and Richmond all have legitimate shots out of the A-10 (I expect three in and another as one of the last teams out). If the Pac-10’s worst nightmare comes to fruition- Washington and California blow away the competition to the top of the standings leaving a cluster of 10-8 and 9-9 teams in the middle and the Pac-10 only receives two bids- they could be matched by the Missouri Valley (Northern Iowa and Wichita State?), WCC (Gonzaga and St. Mary’s?), Conference USA (four candidates) and even the Ivy League (Cornell and Harvard). Now that would be embarrassing.

NCAA Locks: None.

Likely bids: California, Washington.

Bubble teams: Arizona State, Oregon, Washington State.

Make other plans for March: Arizona, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC.

SEC

What we’ve learned: Nobody will challenge Kentucky for the SEC crown. With Tennessee dismissing Tyler Smith today, Mississippi simply lacking any type of post presence, Mississippi State still mired in inconsistency and Florida fading, the Wildcats are clearly the class of the SEC. This doesn’t mean Kentucky won’t slip up in conference play. As talented as their roster happens to be, four of their top five scorers are still freshmen or junior college transfers and any roster that young and inexperienced will discover some hardships on the road in any halfway decent conference. Still, there isn’t a more gifted player in the nation than John Wall. Kentucky might have the two strongest rebounders in the entire country with DeMarcus Cousins (#1 in college basketball in offensive rebounding percentage) and Patrick Patterson crashing the boards. The Wildcats are shooting 42% from three and can go a legitimate 10-deep if DeAndre Liggins ever finds his way off the pine. Again, expect some slip-ups for Kentucky in raucous atmospheres like Gainesville, Nashville or Starkville with a target on their backs about as enormous as John Wall’s potential, but no single team in the nation has the capacity to continue to improve as the season wears on as much as Kentucky.

These Guys Have More Upside Than Any Other Team

What’s yet to be determined: How will Tennessee respond to the New Year’s Day arrest that led to their leading scorer and playmaker Tyler Smith being booted from the team? It’s hard to describe just how devastating losing Smith is to Bruce Pearl’s squad. The 6’7 point-forward may have been struggling early developing a groove offensively, but with Bobby Maze unable to provide adequate point guard play, Smith often acted as the team’s crunch-time distributor and setup man. With backup point Melvin Goins’ status also in serious jeopardy, the Volunteer offense will live and die with the play of Maze. This team still has enough talent to make the NCAA Tournament even if Smith, Goins, Cameron Tatum and Brian Williams never step foot on the floor in orange ever again. Scotty Hopson is an emerging sophomore that will extend opposing defenses. Senior Wayne Chism is the team’s best rebounder and J.P. Prince is a slashing guard with scoring ability. Often times, a team can emerge from tough times like these stronger and hungrier to prove the doubters wrong.

NCAA Locks: Kentucky.

Likely bids: Mississippi, Tennessee.

Bubble teams: Florida, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt.

Make other plans for March: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, South Carolina.

Non-BCS conferences

What we’ve learned: There’s more than enough quality basketball around the nation this season outside of the top six conferences. The Atlantic 10 is on their way to their most NCAA bids in a long while with Temple and Rhode Island surprising. The Mountain West is annually underappreciated and has three teams at the top that have the talent to make a run at the Sweet 16 in BYU, New Mexico and UNLV. The Missouri Valley was down slightly the last two years but Northern Iowa has emerged as the class of a strong league. And the usual suspects — Butler, Gonzaga, VCU, Memphis, Western Kentucky -- are formidable as always. It’s a shame these schools don’t receive the same national TV respect (i.e., contracts with ESPN and CBS rather than Versus and MTN).

What’s yet to be determined: How much respect will the committee give these teams in comparison to other BCS conference teams? The committee always touts that they judge each team on a case-by-case basis without factoring in how many teams receive bids from each individual conference. If so, we could see a record number of non-BCS schools littering our brackets come March, especially considering the plight of the Pac-10, disappointment of the Big-10 and question marks surrounding the SEC.

NCAA Locks: BYU, Gonzaga, New Mexico, Temple.

Likely bids: Butler, Dayton, Northern Iowa, UNLV, Xavier.

Bubble teams: Cornell, Memphis, Missouri State, Richmond, Rhode Island, San Diego State, St. Mary’s, UAB, UTEP, Wichita State, William & Mary.

The Marquette Golden Eagles will enjoy the honor of facing their third consecutive top-15 team when they invite the Georgetown Hoyas into the Bradley Center Wednesday night. A young Marquette squad and their energetic coach Buzz Williams have certainly experienced their fair share of heartbreak in the early going, falling to 0-2 in the Big East in two losses to West Virginia and Villanova by a combined three points. Despite losing four senior starters, the Golden Eagles are as dangerous as they come behind the inside-outside game of Lazar Hayward and the emergence of guard Dwight Buycks and forward Jimmy Butler. They’ve experienced tremendous success playing on their home floor in recent years, a bit of knowledge all too fresh in the mind of Georgetown coach John Thompson III. The Golden Eagles put up 94 points on 52% shooting and made 34 free throws in last year’s clash in Milwaukee and Marquette even went on the defeat the Hoyas in DC during the Georgetown tailspin that led to an NIT berth. This year Thompson hopes their good start can be sustained well into conference play. The Hoyas have only fallen to Old Dominion and have wins notched against Temple, Butler and Washington. Everything revolves around star sophomore forward Greg Monroe and the outside shooting of Austin Freeman for Georgetown. Make sure to join RTC Live at the Bradley Center for this much-anticipated Big East clash.

Dave Zeitlin is the RTC correspondent for the Ivy League.

There hasn’t been much action on the floor recently as the Ivy League geniuses are in the middle of final exams — but there was one huge move off the floor when Penn fired head coach Glen Miller after an 0-7 start.  The firing has generated rare attention to the league from the national media, and most of it has been negative.  Believe me, I understand why people are saying that the Ivy League should hold itself to higher standards.  But after following the team closely for the last few years, I must say that I firmly believe Penn made the right decision.  A program that wins six conference championships this decade should never get to a point where it has the third lowest RPI in the entire country.  The Palestra, college basketball’s most historic gym, should never be silent and half-empty.  It wasn’t just the wins that disappeared; it was the spirit of Penn basketball.  And only a move like this — rash as it may seem to outsiders — can restore the program’s tradition, which has been glorious for many, many years.  I talk more about the firing in my new blog that just launched for all things Penn sports.

On to the (unofficial) power rankings….

• Cornell (7-2): Big Red has deservedly been getting some votes in the AP Top 25 poll.
• Harvard (7-2):  Knocking off big-conference schools has almost become a staple under Tommy Amaker.
• Princeton (5-4): After losing four straight, Tigers have reeled off three consecutive wins.
• Columbia (5-4): Sophomore guard Noruwa Agho continues to dominate for the Lions, sharing league player of the week honors with Harvard’s Jeremy Lin after averaging 26.5 points per game in a pair of road wins.
• Brown (4-7): Bears lost four straight heading into a three-week layoff but their schedule has been difficult.
• Yale (4-6): Bulldogs are getting healthier heading into the new year.
• Dartmouth (2-7): Big Green earned its second win of the season with a 29-point thrashing of Division III Lyndon State.
• Penn (0-7): The Quakers are probably not the worst team in the league … but it’s hard to put them anywhere else since they haven’t won a game and have the third worst RPI in Division I.

B.C. CAN’T BEAT HARVARD:  If not for the Miller firing, the biggest story in the past two weeks would be Harvard’s win over Boston College — for the second straight year. And this came only three days after the Crimson narrowly lost to Connecticut. Senior Jeremy Lin may be the best player in the league, and is even getting a little NBA buzz. But before anyone thinks of that, the Crimson go up against another Big East opponent when they face Georgetown (and former Ivy League coach John Thompson III) on Dec. 23. Could another upset be in the works? Don’t rule it out.

THE HAWK DIES AGAINST CORNELL:  Cornell used a crippling 25-4 run in its most recent win, a 78-66 victory over St. Joe’s, to go into its break with a very impressive 7-2 record — considering its only two losses came against Big East teams. Still, the team hasn’t always clicked on all cylinders — which is why the 25-4 run was so nice to see for Big Red fans .

HITTING THE CENTURY MARK:  In its 102-91 win over Wagner last week, Columbia put up the most points against a Division I opponent since the 1976-77 season — also against Wagner.  At Penn, fans get free cheesesteaks if the team scores over 100 points. Unfortunately, they haven’t been giving out half of a cheesesteak in the rare cases Penn scores over 50 this season.

VINTAGE PRINCETON:  The Tigers beat Monmouth, 46-42, on Wednesday, despite shooting 30.4 percent for the game. The last time Princeton won with a field goal percentage as low was in 2004.

BATTLE OF PROVIDENCE:  Despite 12 points from each of the Sullivan brothers (Matt and Peter), Brown fell to Providence, 78-62, in the annual showdown for Rhode Island’s capital. Rhode Island — neither a road nor an island. Discuss.

BULLDOGS IN COLORADO:  Yale will spends its New Year’s Eve in the Rocky Mountain State, taking on Colorado on Dec. 29 and Colorado State on Dec. 31.

WELCOME, JEROME ALLEN:  Penn’s interim coach Jerome Allen, a terrific player in the 90s, will lead the Quakers into Davidson on Dec. 28 for his first game as a head coach. Penn then stays in North Carolina to face Duke on Dec. 31. Allen’s first home game in charge? That’s against Temple and his old coach, Fran Dunphy. Welcome to coaching, sir.

FEARLESS PREDICTION OF THE WEEK:  I have a feeling Harvard makes it two terrific wins in a row after it meets Georgetown. And if Penn beats Duke on New Year’s Eve, I will drink about nine extra bottles of champagne in celebration.

Happy Holidays, everyone. Last year, I told everyone to pray to God Shammgod.  This year, I recommend you pray to Boubacar Aw — who doesn’t have a religious name…just an awesome one.

1. We didn’t talk about this in the ATB, but it’s also worth mentioning here.  UTEP got the services of the much-maligned and well-traveled Derrick Caracter over the weekend for the first time, and the previously unbeaten Miners immediately dropped their next game, 87-80 to New Mexico State.  Caracter only played 12 minutes, and he contributed 2 pts, 2 rebs and 2 assts in his time on the court, but head coach Tony Barbee will work him into the lineup slowly over the next few weeks.
2. Mike DeCourcy takes a look ahead at test games later this week for #1 Kansas and #2 Texas, neither of whom have really been tested yet.
3. Here’s several good reasons why we should all proceed with caution on anointing Georgetown a top contender in the Big East just yet.  It’s all true, but our contention is that Georgetown’s primary two issues were poor team chemistry and acceptance of losing in a loaded conference last year.  The snowball effect, if you will.  The primary issue the Hoyas appear to face this year will be depth, as JT3 is only playing seven guys so far this season.  One injury among the starters could devastate this team.
4. “The Players Rushed the Fans!” There will be much more written on this game in the next 24 hours — you can count on it — but here’s Pat Forde’s take on the inimitable Crosstown Shootout from last night.  Good to have him back from football.
5. We mentioned this over on the weekend ATB, but it’s too bizarre not to discuss here as well.  If you haven’t heard, Roy Williams had a Presbyterian fan thrown out of the Dean Dome on Saturday night for heckling one of his players.  So what was the out-of-control foul-mouthed POS guilty of saying?  Um, according to a published report, something to the effect of “You’re going to miss it, Deon [Thompson]!“  They say that suppression of dissent is one of the first steps toward totalitarianism, and in a showing of power drunkenness that would make even Dick Cheney blush, Roy has taken his standing to show up someone with whom he merely disagrees to an entirely new level.  As he put it in the postgame comments, he doesn’t believe that “anybody should yell negative things toward our players (when) you come in on our tickets to watch our game.”  EXCUSE ME??  The last time we checked, Roy, a Presbyterian fan has just as much right to purchase a ducat to ‘his’ team’s game as a UNC fan does.  And that fan can yell for his players or against the UNC players as much as he likes (standard decency and decorum implied).  So we wonder – does the Roy Doctrine now mean that UNC fans are excused from yelling much, much worse at opposing players who visit the Dome just because it’s ‘their’ game?  Is he serious with this nonsense?  Roy couldn’t have whiffed any harder on this one, and if he has any shred of decency, he’ll reach out to this fan, apologize for his completely ludicrous overreaction and invite the fan back to the Dean Dome to sit in his personal seats.  And you know what — it’s perfectly fine if he yells at Deon Thompson to miss a free throw, even then.

Dave Zeitlin is the RTC correspondent for the Ivy League.

OFFICIALLY UNOFFICIAL POWER RANKINGS

1. Cornell (2-0) – Convincing road wins over Alabama and UMass to start the season not only secures the Big Red’s place as the clear best team in the Ivies; it also establishes them as one of the nation’s premier mid-majors.
2. Princeton (2-0) – Tigers take care of a good Central Michigan team on the road, before following that with a victory over Manhattan.
3. Columbia (0-1) – DePaul may be one of the worst teams in the Big East, but the Lions’ near-win against them is still impressive.
4. Harvard (2-0) – The Crimson’s best player, Jeremy Lin, is the man. More on this later.
5. Penn (0-2) – It’s hard to get a good read on the Quakers, who lost to the reigning NIT champion (Penn State) and reigning NCAA semifinalist (Villanova). But early indications are not good.
6. Yale (1-2) – Bulldogs edged by Hofstra in preseason NIT opener, but respond with 10-point with over Colgate.
7. Brown (1-2) – Losing to Virginia Tech and Rhode Island is nothing to be ashamed about.
8. Dartmouth (0-2) – Like most other teams in the league, Big Green starts season with two tough games, falling to Boston College and George Mason.

A LOOK BACK

LIN IS KING: We’ve got to start with Harvard and their super senior Jeremy Lin, who may just be the best player in the league. Check out his game-winning buzzer-beater in triple overtime against William & Mary. Harvard has had some good non-conference moments under head coach Tommy Amaker, and this could be the year they make a run at the Ivy Title … only problem is Cornell, which is far, far better.

BIG-CONFERENCE TEAMS SEEING RED: It might be too early for this, but in my opinion there’s no reason to think Cornell can’t warrant Top 25 consideration at some point this season. After spoiling Anthony Grant’s debut at Alabama, the senior-laden Big Red easily handled UMass. And now they’ve also got the whole we’ve-got-no-respect thing going for them due to some poor tournament scheduling.

’NOVA FEELS BAD FOR PENN: Hey, look, Penn has a new fan! It’s Villanova coach Jay Wright – even if he likes Penn the same way someone might like a three-legged pregnant kitten with worms. “There was nothing they could do,” Wright said after Villanova’s rout over Penn earlier this week. “I actually felt for them.” Oh, by the way, Wright never called a timeout during his team’s 103-65 win, which was the worst loss Penn has ever had to Villanova. Yeah, Villanova is one of the best teams in the country and Penn, well, isn’t. But the frustrating part for Penn fans is that it wasn’t that long ago when the Quakers were better than the Wildcats. Seven seasons to be exact.

FOR OPENERS, DAVIS IS GOOD: Princeton guard Douglas Davis has now scored over 40 points combined in the Tigers’ last two season-openers, both against Central Michigan. It’s looking like Davis could be the man to return Princeton to its glory years.

A NON-IVY IVY LEAGUE GAME: Anyone that knows the coaches of Georgetown and Temple shouldn’t have been surprised by the final score of their game this week: a 46-45 Hoyas win. That’s because the coaches are John Thompson III of Georgetown (formerly of Princeton) and Fran Dunphy of Temple (formerly of Penn). Thompson and Dunphy engaged in plenty of deliberate, run-the-shot-cluck-down-to-the-final seconds, and yes, exciting games in their Ivy League days. This game was kind of like that, though back in the day Dunphy used to usually get the better of Thompson.

An After the Buzzer recap for your liking as you catch up on some much-needed sleep…

What We Learned.  It’s very simple.  Often we get all jazzed over those little numbers we put in front of each team’s name, but the line between top-ranked teams like Kansas/Michigan State and Memphis/Gonzaga is finer than any of us would like to admit.  Teams are good; teams have players; and teams can perform.  There’s no dominant team in college basketball, and we shouldn’t be surprised if we see a steady rotation of #1s throughout the year, just like last season.

Game of the Marathon. #2 Michigan State 75, Gonzaga 71. You rarely see such intensity, tenaciousness and pure effort this early in the season, but the battle between Michigan State and Gonzaga surely provided all three and more. Tom Izzo has to be pleased after his team showed toughness and poise coming back from double digits in the second half against a Gonzaga squad that should be ranked in the Top 25 next Monday. Durrell Summers and Kalin Lucas were the stars – Summers going for 21/11 on 8-9 shooting (plenty of foot-on-the-line long shots) and hitting the biggest three of the game to give the Spartans the lead with just over three minutes to play, and Lucas displaying his usual leadership throughout the second half, finishing with 19 points and five assists in a solid all-around effort. Raymar Morgan sunk 10-11 from the stripe and appeared to come back at 100% later in the game after rolling his right ankle and writhing in pain on the floor. Concern for Tom Izzo: the success in the paint for Gonzaga forwards Robert Sacre and Elias Harris. Lack of post production both offensively and defensively (Delvon Roe was a no-show last night) could be their downfall. Even in defeat, Mark Few has to be thrilled. Sacre (17 pts, 7-12 FG) looks incredibly improved, Elias Harris (17/9 on 6-16 FG) is a future star with a great inside/outside game and they nearly knocked off the #2 team in the nation on the road in November with plenty of overhaul on the roster and their starting point guard, Demetri Goodson, laying an egg. This was a thrilling game to watch from start to finish.

RTC Live (or Co-Game of the Marathon).

• #1 Kansas 57, Memphis 55. ESPN got a perfect prime-time matchup to crescendo its 24 hours of hoops coverage tonight.  Although Kansas never trailed after Memphis led 7-6 in the early moments of the game, the Jayhawks could never quite put the Tigers away either.  After literally scratching and clawing and biting its way back to within one possession in the waning minutes, Memphis caught a break when the usually-reliable Sherron Collins (80% last year) missed one of two at the line to leave the door open with a 2-pt KU lead.  Josh Pastner told his team to go for the win, and the Duke transfer/soon-to-be star of Memphis Elliot Williams (21/6) took a contested three on the wing that looked pretty good in the air but ultimately missed, meaning that there would be no Elliot Miracle as a slight payback for Kansas’ heartbreaker in 2008.  In the media interviews afterwards, Bill Self was clearly not happy with his team’s performance, especially on the offensive end, where it seemed the only play they ran was to try to throw the ball into Cole Aldrich (18/11/5 blks) and let him go to work.  Twenty-one turnovers, many of the careless variety, seemed to really chafe Self’s craw.  Josh Pastner, on the other hand, seemed happy with his team’s performance, and why not?  Memphis took the nation’s #1 team to the wire on a night where they didn’t shoot the ball well (35% FG, 24% 3FG) and in the process, probably gave his team more confidence than a string of wins over UALR and the like ever would.  Our final thought on this game is that Elliot Williams is a lot better than anyone seems to have known – he didn’t shoot lights-out tonight (6-18 FG, 3-11 3FG), but he seemed comfortable with the role of becoming the Tiger go-to guy, and several of his shots and finishes were nothing short of spectacular.

• #22 Louisville 96, Arkansas 66. This game was a game of runs; it’s just that Louisville seemed to be the team that had all of them.  That’s not completely true, of course, but depending on who you ask, this was an expected result.  Rick Pitino said that Arkansas’ suspensions have left them shorthanded (true), and that they wore down in the second half because they simply didn’t  have enough bodies (questionable).  John Pelphrey said that his team simply didn’t compete at a high enough level that you must do so to beat a team like Louisville (possibly).  Here’s what we saw.  We saw an Arkansas team that competed in the first half.  The Cards got hot from three in the last several minutes of the half to run out to a 48-31 lead, but Arkansas then countered after the half with significant energy and movement to go on a 13-0 run of their own to cut the lead down to six.  Then Louisville got hot again (especially Reginald Delk, who had 20/5), drained a bunch more threes (15 for the game) and Arkansas began to noticeably lose its motivation.  By the last five minutes of the game, we actually wondered where all this “compete” stuff that we kept hearing about was coming from.  Because we weren’t seeing it.  The Cards placed six players in double figures, and Peyton Siva looked like a keeper with some of his defensive intensity and drives to the hole.  Arkansas was led by Rotnei Clarke, who cooled off from 51 to only 16 this time around.

Bruce Pearl’s 100th win at UT unforgettable. #11 Tennessee 124, UNC-Asheville 49. Where do I start recapping this otherworldly performance for the Volunteers against a Division-I opponent? Tennessee set a school record for points (124), held Asheville to two field goals in the first half (2-26 FG, 7.7%) and 16:50 without a field goal, scored 49 points off 29 Asheville turnovers, started the game on a 20-0 run and finished with a 66-14 one and led at one point, 119-39. I’m not a math major, but I believe that’s an 80-point Tennessee lead! The Vols shot 60% as a team with sophomore Scotty Hopson notching his most impressive game in orange with 25/4/5 on 8-11 FG and 6-7 3pt. Someone hose down Rocky Top.

Big East Powers Narrowly Avoid Upsets.

• #13 Connecticut 76, Hofstra 67. At the nine-minute mark in the second half, Connecticut found themselves down nine points to Hofstra after lackluster home wins against William & Mary and Colgate. Even though pesky Hofstra would cut the Husky lead to one with under two minutes to play, the will of Jerome Dyson late allowed UConn to escape yet another upset bid and advance to the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off in NYC next week. Dyson hit 14-15 from the charity stripe to finish with 23 points in a balanced scoring effort that saw Stanley Robinson, Kemba Walker and Gavin Edwards all notch double-figure scoring efforts. Potential CAA POY Charles Jenkins scored 21 points in the 2nd half to lead the Pride rally.
• #20 Georgetown 46, Temple 45. A completely and utterly painful game to watch in DC. Georgetown has talent. Yet the Hoyas team I watched today looked like a carbon copy of the collapsing unit of the last three months of the previous campaign and JT3 cannot be happy with his team’s effort today. Not a single player shone for Georgetown. The Hoyas are lucky Temple was abysmal making open shots or they’d be in the early upset column. Instead, a clutch scoring drive by the largely invisible Greg Monroe with 6.5 seconds was the difference. The teams combined to shoot 6-41 from long range in this brick-fest that saw the Hoyas get two points from their thin bench.

Other Games of National Interest.

• #8 Duke 101, Charlotte 59. The Blue Devils dominated the bottom-feeder 49ers at Cameron from start to finish to advance to the  PNIT semifinals in NYC along with UConn, LSU and Arizona State. The only Charlotte player that notched more than six points was BC transfer Shamari Spears (20 points, 6-16 FG, 7-8 FT), looking like Bobby Lutz’s entire offense this season. Nolan Smith returned from his brief suspension to help out Duke’s backcourt depth with 24 points on 9-15 FG and Jon Scheyer rebounded from a rough shooting night with 20/6/5 on 4-7 from deep. Miles Plumlee (15/11) also chipped in with a double-double.
• #17 Oklahoma 72, UL-Monroe 61. The Sooners struggled initially in this one, leading by just three at the break. But they pulled away in the second half at home behind Willie Warren’s effort (6-12 FG, 11-13 FT, 24 points, 4 assists), playing the role of scorer after distributing in Oklahoma’s season opener. Doing both exceptionally well should aid his campaign towards First Team All-American and help Oklahoma contend in the Big 12.
• #23 Clemson 79, Liberty 39. The 10 AM tip-off was no issue for that program that usually peaks before New Year’s Eve. Clemson jumped out to a 17-1 lead, pulled out to 32-13 and finished the opening frame up 42-19 to quiet the red-clad folks in Lynchburg. The Tigers needed someone to step up on the perimeter this season and it may be David Potter (17 points, 5-6 3pt).
• #25 Illinois 80, Northern Illinois 61. Watch out for Bruce Weber’s squad this season. Along with the twin towers of Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale, the Illini have quite a freshman guard duo with D.J. Richardson and Brandon Paul. Paul was the star tonight for the Illini, notching 20 first-half points on four treys. Illinois forced 19 NIU turnovers and Davis grabbed 17 boards in the contest.
• Siena 59, Northeastern 53. A defensive struggle in Albany between two solid mid-majors. Northeastern led this one 20-6 early before going on a long scoring drought that saw Siena slowly chip away at the NU lead capped by an 18-3 run to start the second half. Edwin Ubiles scored 26 points in the march towards a Top 25 ranking for the Saints, although they weren’t that impressive today on a national stage.
• Boston College 72, Saint Francis (NY) 44. In the absence of Rakim Sanders and Corey Raji in their first two games, lone Eagles senior Tyler Roche has hit 17-2X4 FG including 9-11 from deep for 49 points and 9 rebounds in the two contests.
• Pittsburgh 71, Binghamton 46. With Blair, Fields and Young gone and Brown and Dixon sidelined, it must be Ashton Gibbs that steps up if the Panthers want to surprise in the Big East. He did the job last night 22 points on 6-10 from three.
• St. John’s 69, St. Bonaventure 68. Plenty prognosticators believe the Johnnies can surprise in the Big East. Losing to St. Bonaventure would have been an unfortunate start. They dodged said bullet with two Paris Horne free throws with 6.2 seconds left. Horne and D.J. Kennedy (18 points) must contribute in the early absence of Anthony Mason Jr.
• Wofford 60, Georgia 57. Auburn falls to Missouri State, Mississippi State loses to Rider, Cornell downs Alabama…and now Georgia is toppled at home by Wofford (who almost beat Pitt in their first game) to complete another rocky start for the SEC.  Just think if Miami (OH) had beaten Kentucky!
• LSU 71, Western Kentucky 60. Solid win for Trent Johnson’ s club after a dud against Indiana State. Bo Spencer totaled a career-high 28 points and hit a decisive three with 2:48 left to break a late tie. Spencer also sunk big free throws, grabbed seven boards and dished out four assists in the win that moves LSU to the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
• Xavier 101, Bowling Green 57. Utter domination for the Musketeers shooting 64.8% from the field led by Jordan Crawford’s 24 points.
• Maryland 71, Fairfield 42. Another struggle for Greivis Vasquez scoring-wise (3-11 FG, 7 points) but he dished out six assists and led the balanced scoring attack that saw Sean Mosley, Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne all total double figures.  Check the RTC Live blog here.
• Marquette 86, Maryland Eastern-Shore 60. The most underrated player in the nation this season could be Lazar Hayward. A collegiate-high 28 points with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals on 12-20 FG for the point forward.
• Duquesne 52, Iowa 50. Will Todd Lickliter last the rest of the season? Bill Clark’s three with 11.7 left won it for the Dukes, who are a chic pick to surprise in the A10 this season.
• USC 77, UC Riverside 67. The Trojans put four starters in double figures behind Dwight Lewis’ 22/5.  Kevin O’Neill just has no depth – six players played all but eight of those minutes.
• Arizona State 52, TCU 49. ASU outlasted the Horned Frogs to earn a trip to MSG for the Preseason NIT semifinals next week.  Eric Boateng stepped up with a big 21/12 night for the Sun Devils, who will face his old school Duke in the semis.

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