So we think we owe you a bonus one today since yesterday was a wash…

1. Depaul monster in the paint Mac Koshwal will miss 3-4 more weeks with a foot injury that he suffered against Tennessee in the Paradise Jam two Saturdays ago.  He is averaging 15/13 in three games so far this season.  Even without the services of Koshwal, the Blue Demons have been marginally better so far this year, playing the Vols tough in the game mentioned above, and coming out of Puerto Rico with two wins against Northern Iowa and St. Joseph’s.
2. Minnesota super-recruit Royce White pled guilty yesterday to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct and petty theft for an incident in October where he allegedly stole $100 worth of clothing and then shoved a Mall of America security guard when questioned about it.  If he keeps his nose clean for a year, the disorderly conduct conviction will be dropped from his record, but now the burden of what to do with him rests with Tubby Smith.  After a 4-0 start this season, the Gophers have now lost three in a row and could definitely use the powerful forward in the low post for some additional scoring punch.
3. Mike DeCourcy has been knocking it outta the park lately, but there’s one thing in his latest column we have to disagree with.  With respect to UNC’s Larry Drew II as the maestro of the Carolina attack, MD points out that many teams won titles without great point guards, and plenty of great point guards never won national titles.  Both true.  The issue is that he’s looking at it the wrong way, because we’re not talking about any random team.  We’re talking about Roy Williams teams, and his best teams need an elite point guard (Jacque Vaughn, Ray Felton, Ty Lawson) to push his offense into overdrive.  Whether Drew can become that kind of a guard is open for debate, but we’re not seeing it here.
4. Luke Winn gives us some efficiency data on why Michigan State might be a good bit overrated at this point in the season.  The Spartan defense is ranked #112 at KenPom, allowing a very un-Izzo-like 46% from two and not forcing very many turnovers (12.7 per game).
5. Ballin is a Habit has a cool post up today about some of the most interesting/bizarre/exciting pregame jumbotron videos at college arenas.  Our favorite, by far: the 2001 Space Odyssey music with Josh Pastner’s head rising over a basketball followed by his players sitting and walking and dribbling through various Memphis landmarks.  Awesome.
6. Kentucky and North Carolina fans are getting a little chippy over a post at Kentucky Sports Radio making fun of the state of NC’s, um, unique culture, in preparation for Saturday’s game at Rupp Arena.  UNC fans have been striking back, both on that site as well as on a Charlotte Observer blog called Above the Rim.  There are some hilarious comments on both of those sites — check it out.