If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Top 25 Games

• #18 Purdue 58, Virginia Tech 55 (OT): “Purdue relied on JaJuan Johnson to score 50% of their points as the otherwise icy-cold shooting Boilermakers clawed out an OT win in Blacksburg. The win clinched the Big Ten/ACC Challenge for the Big Ten for the second straight year.” (Boiled Sports)
• #20 Texas 76, Lamar 55: “Texas’ 76-55 win over Lamar didn’t exactly go according to script, but the Longhorns were good enough in spurts to pull away for the comfortable final margin. Texas enjoyed a pair of 9-point runs in the first half to take a 9 point lead at intermission, then opened up the second half on a 14-4 run to put the game out of reach.” (Burnt Orange Nation)
• #21 BYU 77, Creighton 65: “It is foolish to think that we just sort of zombie through the non-conference season and expect to be able to hit the reboot button once conference season comes around.  These early games are where you define your teams.  They were what defined the Bluejays last season. With the disasterous non-conference performance, that bled into conference season.  Nothing really changed.   Don’t think that adding one player will erase all of that.” (White & Blue Review)

Read the rest of this entry »

The Lede.  Big Ten Goes Back-to-Back.  Maybe the plan is for the Big Ten to win eight more ACC/Big Ten Challenges in a row so as to tie up the all-time record (now 10-2 ACC), but thanks to a strong Tuesday performance where the league went 4-1 against the ACC, the Big Ten did just enough tonight (2-3) to once again crow about basketball dominance for the next 363 days.  Well, sorta.  As much as we enjoy the concept behind these conference challenges (and this one is clearly the best one), they don’t truly mean much in terms of assessing the relative strength of the conferences.  As we mentioned last night, the Big Ten is much stronger than the ACC in its top half, and that’s the half that truly matters when discussing this game we call college basketball.  We’re not sure if anyone outside of Iowa City or Winston-Salem cares much if Wake Forest is marginally better than Iowa, but most of the nation cares whether Duke is better than Michigan State  (they are) or Virginia Tech is better than Purdue (they’re not).  If we were ranking the top ten teams by combining both leagues, it would go something like this:  1) Duke; 2) Ohio State; 3) Michigan State; 4) Illinois; 5) Minnesota; 6) Purdue; 7) Wisconsin; 8) Virginia Tech; 9) Northwestern; 10) Maryland/FSU (?).  At the level where the checks are signed, the Big Ten is by far the better league and we’ll stand by that assertion throughout the season.

Irving's Skills Belie His Youth (credit: Herald-Sun)

Your Watercooler Moment.  Just How Good Is Kyrie Irving? A common refrain during and after tonight’s Duke victory over Michigan State, 84-79, was that Blue Devil point guard Kyrie Irving was not only the best player on the floor — with 31 pts, 6 rebs, 4 assts, 2 stls and 2 blks — but he might just be the freshman who should have been chosen as preseason first-team All-American and NPOY candidate (instead of the popular pick eight miles down the road, Harrison Barnes).  It’s hard to argue with that assessment right now.  In two games matched up against elite senior All-America point guards (Kansas State’s Jacob Pullen and Michigan State’s Kalin Lucas), Irving has out-everythinged his more experienced peers.  During parts of the game tonight, he simply made his defenders look like they were standing in quicksand as he hesitated and stepped-through the lane for numerous clever finishes.  When the MSU defense laid off of him, he calmly sank a couple of threes.  When they double-teamed him, he consistently made the right pass to the open man.  And this isn’t just one game, either.  On the season, he’s averaging 17/4/6 assts , carries a 2.5:1 assist/turnover ratio and he’s in the spectacular 50/40/80+ zone as a matter of shooting percentages (52%/44%/88%).  Oh, and he appears to be the best player on the #1 team in America — there’s that too.  It’s early, and there’s a point guard named Kemba and a couple of other freshmen named Terrence and Jared who we think are playing just as well or better as the Dookie getting all the love tonight, but without question Irving makes Duke a fantastically dangerous team in ways that they never were with Jon Scheyer running things last year.  If the Devils can figure out the big man situation and defend a little better (allowing 49%/53% against MSU is a little disconcerting), they have a chance to become an epic team (but not good enough to run the table, see below).

Read the rest of this entry »

***** – 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 2013
* – don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game

Brian Otskey is an RTC contributor.

It’s going to be hard to top the game of the year to date, Georgetown’s thrilling overtime win over Missouri last night, but we have some good matchups on the schedule tonight as we head into the second month of the season. All rankings from RTC and all times eastern.

#25 Richmond @ Old Dominion – 7 pm on WSKY4 Hampton Roads, VA (****)

Richmond is coming off a huge win for their program, a 65-54 win over Purdue to take the Chicago Invitational crown. The Spiders star player, Kevin Anderson, led the way with 28 points and Richmond’s defense held the Boilermakers to 30% shooting. Old Dominion is coming off a tournament victory of their own as they defeated Xavier to win the Paradise Jam last week. Richmond is a solid offensive team, eighth in the country in effective field goal percentage. That will be the story of the game as they go up against an Old Dominion defense ranked #16 in efficiency. The one weakness for the Monarchs defensively is their three point defense, #193 in the country. Richmond is an outstanding three point shooting team averaging almost 43% on the season behind Anderson and quite a few other shooters such as Darien Brothers (64% from deep). Richmond is going to get points from the outside so Old Dominion must try to lock them up inside through physical play, rebounding and blocked shots. Key to that effort will be Frank Hassell who averages 13/10 and blocks almost two shots per game. He’ll have to stop 6’10 Justin Harper who has a height advantage on Hassell. However, Hassell outweighs Harper by 20 pounds so he should be able to get position and be physical with the Richmond big man. These are arguably the two best teams in the state of Virginia going at it, although we’re sure Seth Greenberg and the folks from Blacksburg may have something to say about that. If Richmond gets off to a hot start they should win this game as ODU lacks offensive punch and would rather win the game in the 50’s. Expect a hard fought, close game with the winner holding the edge on the glass and in the paint.

#18 Purdue @ Virginia Tech – 7:30 pm on ESPN (****)

Coming off the aforementioned loss to Richmond, Purdue faces a tough road game in the hostile environment of Cassell Coliseum. If there’s any good news for the Boilermakers it’s that Virginia Tech is struggling a bit itself when considering injuries and on-court performance. The Hokies escaped Oklahoma State but lost to UNLV in the 76 Classic, their second loss of the season. Malcolm Delaney has been doing it all offensively for Seth Greenberg but he’s not getting much help elsewhere. Jeff Allen and Dorenzo Hudson are Virginia Tech’s other main scoring threats but Allen has a hard time staying on the floor with foul trouble and Hudson is nursing an injured finger on his shooting hand. After that, Greenberg is having a hard time figuring out a rotation. The Hokies are thin up front and that’s something Purdue’s JaJuan Johnson should exploit this evening. Purdue’s star big man is averaging 17/9 and three blocks but is just 11-29 (38%) shooting in his last two games. He’ll go up against Victor Davila in this game and should be able to break out against the thin Hokie front court. With Allen coming over to help, foul trouble could become a concern yet again for the Virginia Tech forward. Johnson and Purdue do have to get to the line more often, ranking #241 in free throw attempts per field goal attempts. The Boilers don’t shoot it very well from there, either. This should be a low scoring game as both teams are strong defensively and force turnovers. Extra possessions and rebounds will be something to watch as Virginia Tech averages only 34 RPG, giving Purdue second chance opportunities and leading to foul trouble for the Hokies. Virginia Tech is not a strong outside shooting team other than Delaney so they’ll have to get a lot of their scoring inside against a tough Purdue defense that will get in the passing lanes and really disrupt their half court offense. Virginia Tech definitely can win this game but more has to go right for them than for Purdue. Matt Painter’s team has more options plus the matchup advantages are in their favor for the most part. However, playing on the road is always difficult, especially in a nationally televised game such as this. Expect this game to come down to the very end with free throws possibly deciding the outcome.

#6 Michigan State @ #1 Duke – 9:30 pm on ESPN (*****)

Read the rest of this entry »

Zach Hayes is an editor, contributor and bracketologist at Rush the Court.

Monday night proved one thing for sure: anything can happen in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Who had a Virginia team that was humiliated by Washington in Maui last week leaving the Barn against undefeated Minnesota with a triumphant victory? Hot shooting from Joe Harris and the entire Cavalier lot (10-13 from downtown) paved the way for Tony Bennett’s biggest win since moving cross country to Charlottesville and gave the ACC an unexpected boost to kick off the Challenge. With five other marquee games on the docket the next two nights, now is a better time than ever to introduce my second installment of Ball Reversal, dissecting what each team needs to do to pick up a portfolio-building win in late November. Without further ado:

Jared Sullinger/Cleveland.com

Tuesday- Ohio State at Florida State, 7:30 PM (ESPN)

How Ohio State wins: Match defense with defense. There’s one thing Florida State does incredibly well and that’s defend the heck out of you. They finished first in the nation in defensive efficiency last season, second in two-point field goal defense and fourth in block percentage. Through six games this season, the Seminoles are on pace to rival those impressive totals: fourth in defensive efficiency, seventh in two-point percentage defense and second in block percentage. Florida head coach Billy Donovan’s game plan against the Seminoles was to match FSU’s lockdown defense with a 2-3 zone to force FSU to go away from their strengths and take outside jumpers. Florida then won the contest on the free throw line, scored just enough on the offensive end and marched out of Tallahassee with an impressive road win. It would be prudent for Thad Matta to trot out his best defensive lineup down the stretch against a Florida State team that has ranked in the lower portion in most offensive categories the last two seasons. If the Buckeyes get enough stops, their incredible talent level and scoring ability should provide enough ammo for a key road win.

How Florida State wins: Keep the Buckeyes out of the paint. Ohio State’s statement victory at Florida a few weeks ago looked like a layup drill for a good portion of the game, a combination of an effective pass break and halfcourt teamwork resulting in easy opportunities for Jared Sullinger and other Buckeyes for the entire second half. Ohio State has been tremendous inside the arc all year along, ranking seventh in two-point percentage. Where they’re slightly suspect–although one would anticipate William Buford’s 27% mark from deep to increase sooner than later–is behind the three-point line where they’re 96^th in the nation in marksmanship. Along with stellar defense, Leonard Hamilton’s teams are perennially very tall and very long. Chris Singleton, Bernard Young and Xavier Gibson do the honors on this year’s squad. FSU should try to frustrate Sullinger as much as possible with this trio’s length and take chances with Jon Diebler, David Lighty and William Buford shooting contested threes. If successful, the Noles have an outside chance to pull off an upset and avoid two straight home losses against ranked teams.

Tuesday- North Carolina at Illinois, 9:30 PM (ESPN)

How North Carolina wins: More production from their preseason All-American. This one is fairly obvious and doesn’t take any efficiency stats to calculate: the Heels need a coming out party by Harrison Barnes (and the first half against Hofstra doesn’t qualify). Unfair expectations or not, Barnes came into this season as the far-and-away #1 freshman prospect, projected number one overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, a preseason All-American and savior of the Tar Heels program. So far, Barnes hasn’t totally figured it out at the collegiate level. Through six games, he’s averaging 12/6/2 on 35% FG and 33% from three, respectable totals for a really good freshman but clearly below expectations. Barnes is UNC’s best player and to avoid picking up their third loss in seven contests he needs to perform admirably on this considerable stage, utilizing his versatility, smooth jumper, rebounding prowess, passing ability and that all-around repertoire that has wowed so many basketball evaluators over the last couple of years. This Illinois game and the meeting with Kentucky on Saturday are crucial: with every defeat, the pressure in Chapel Hill only mounts.

How Illinois wins: Take advantage of UNC’s perimeter-oriented bigs. As talented as North Carolina may be, this is really an ideal matchup for the Fighting Illini. Illinois is vulnerable when their lanky forwards Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis have to spend too much time in the paint defending bulky, strong, powerful big men. Tisdale and Davis are more suited playing more of a perimeter, face-up game than getting dirty in the post. Luckily for them, Carolina’s bigs are very similar. John Henson, Tyler Zeller and Harrison Barnes are incredibly skilled and talented, but none of them are known as bruisers down low. Tisdale and Davis should be able to spend a lot more time in their comfort zone excelling in the mid-range game and knocking down jumpers and are much less likely to fall into foul trouble. Tisdale, specifically, hasn’t been able to stay on the floor at much as he’d like this season. He fouled out in a combined 38 minutes in the two 2K Sports Classic games against Pittsburgh’s plethora of bigs and Maryland’s Jordan Williams, two matchup nightmares. The style in which the Carolina forwards operate does not pose the same problem.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Top 25 Games

• Virginia 87, #12 Minnesota 79: “Minnesota wasn’t dominated by Virginia for much of the game, but for a seven minute stretch in which the Gophers couldn’t score and the Cavs couldn’t miss, the game quickly got out of hand and never really bounced back the other way.” (From the Barn or The Daily Gopher)

Other Games of Interest

• Seton Hall 69, St. Peter’s 49: ‘The two teams entered the Monday night game at the Prudential Center with personnel issues. Seton Hall was able to get through theirs en route to a 69-49 win over St.Peter’s.” (Villanova by the Numbers)

Pre-Game Analysis

• Preview: #18 Purdue (5-1) @ Virginia Tech (4-2): Breaking down the Boilermakers match-up with the Hokies. (Tech Hoops)
• A Brief Look at Illinois: “It’s a strange ACC/Big Ten Challenge this year. The Big Ten, fresh off their first victory in eleven tries, is the favorite to repeat. And the UNC game isn’t even expected to be close, with 6-1 Illinois an overwhelming favorite. How did the Illini, a team that needed a miracle comeback to beat Clemson a year ago, come in a heavy favorite?” (Carolina March)
• Know Thy Opponent: Boston College Eagles: “Wednesday’s game, as Ryan wrote in The Minute After on Friday, will be the first true test for a team that made relatively easy work of it’s first six home games. While the game is certainly winnable, it’s not one the Hoosiers will be favored in by those making the odds.” (Inside the Hall)

News/Analysis

• Big East Basketball Power Rankings Week 3 (The UConn Blog)
• 2013 Intro: Steve Haney Jr. (UM Hoops)
• Texas Basketball Off To Fast Start (Burnt Orange Nation)

John Templon of Chicago College Basketball is the RTC correspondent for the Big Ten conference.

A Look Back

• Ken’s Favorites: The Big Ten boasts five schools checking into Ken Pomeroy’s top 20, more than any other conference in the nation. The upcoming ACC/Big Ten challenge should heighten the non-conference strength of schedule.
• Player of the Week: Kalin Lucas, G, Michigan State: Lucas struggled in the Spartans’ loss to Connecticut, shooting 4-12 from the field, committing five turnovers and scoring ten points, but he rebounded to drop a career-high 29 points on just 13 shots in the victory over Washington. That was followed up with a 15-point effort against Tennessee Tech. Lucas will have to be on for Michigan State to take down Duke in its challenge game.  An honorable mention here goes to John Shurna. Northwestern only played one game, but he scored 23 points, grabbed six boards and dished out four assists in the Wildcats’ 65-52 victory over Creighton.
• Newcomer of the Week: Jereme Richmond, F, Illinois: You could give this award to Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger every week, but to avoid that, let’s recognize the efforts of Richmond. He’s starting to work his way into Bruce Weber’s regular rotation and is playing well. He scored 12 points and grabbed five boards at Western Michigan in a 78-63 victory.

Power Rankings – subject to a lot of early season fluctuation

1. Ohio State (5-0) – The Buckeyes’ ranking is purely based on their victory over Florida earlier in the season because Morehead State and Miami (OH) proved to be nuisances, but also 19- and 21-point victories. Ohio State’s defense appears to be in midseason form.
2. Minnesota (6-0) – The Golden Gophers are still undefeated after an easy victory over North Dakota State. Minnesota won’t get much of a test playing at home against Virginia to start the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. In fact, no real big non-conference games exist before Tubby Smith’s team opens Big Ten play against Wisconsin on December 28.
3. Illinois (6-1) – The Illini are about to start a tough stretch of non-conference games with home games against North Carolina and Oakland plus a road trip to Spokane to play Gonzaga for their next three. Demetri McCamey is still the leader, but four other players averaging double figures in scoring have emerged to give him help early.
4. Michigan State (5-1) – The Spartans still might be the best team in the Big Ten, but slide them down a bit after their upset against Connecticut at the Maui Invitational. Still, rebounding to take out Washington is always a good start towards redemption. In the periphery, Derrick Nix returned to the team after staying in East Lansing while his team went to Maui.
5. Northwestern (4-0) – A victory over Creighton gave Northwestern its best start in 17 years. That probably says more about the Wildcats’ basketball history than their record. Northwestern hasn’t lost in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge since 2008 and the Wildcats desperately need a victory over Georgia Tech, especially since it’s at home, as part of their NCAA Tournament profile.
6. Purdue (5-1) – The Boilermakers dropped this far because of their loss to Richmond in the finals of the Chicago Invitational Challenge. The game against the Spiders showed some cracks in the offense. Whether it is something systemic or just an off night is what will determine Purdue’s future spots in this ranking.
7. Wisconsin (4-2) – The Badgers played very good defense at the Old Spice Classic, but they also didn’t play much offense. The offense was effective in spurts against Notre Dame, but it wasn’t enough for Wisconsin to pull out the victory. Still, the win over Boston College might prove useful later in the season.
8. Indiana (6-0) – The Hoosiers’ game against Boston College on Wednesday will be their first real test of the season. Indiana doesn’t need to win, but Tom Crean needs something to build on before his young team plays Kentucky on December 11.
9. Penn State (5-1) – The Nittany Lions played at Ole Miss and lost a shootout 84-71 in 60 possessions. They rebounded for a victory over Furman, but the game against Maryland is a really big one if Penn State wants to be taken seriously as an NCAA Tournament at-large candidate.
10. Michigan (3-2) – Two losses might not look pretty, but considering they were against Syracuse and UTEP, it’s not the end of the world. The defense is playing well and keeping the Wolverines in games, but the offense is going to have to fix itself in order to beat Clemson or maybe even Harvard when former coach Tommy Amaker’s returns to Ann Arbor on Saturday.
11. Iowa (3-3) – The Hawkeyes can score a lot of points against bad teams – like the 111 they put up on SIU-Edwardsville on Friday, but it’s been a real struggle against even mediocre competition.

A Look Ahead

The ACC/Big Ten Challenge starts this week and the predictions are rolling in that the Big Ten will take the title for the second straight season. While it could happen, it’s likely going to be very close and come down to an upset or two. The Big Ten isn’t coming off the best of weeks either, as Wisconsin, Purdue and Michigan State are all looking to recover from losses. What’s Coming Up? (all times EST)

• 11/30 – Ohio State at Florida State – 7:30 p.m., ESPN
• 11/30 – Illinois vs. North Carolina – 9:30 p.m., ESPN
• 11/30 – Northwestern vs. Georgia Tech – 7:00 p.m., ESPN2
• 12/1 – Michigan State vs. Duke – 9:30 p.m., ESPN
• 12/1 – Wisconsin vs. North Carolina State – 7:15 p.m., ESPN2
• 12/1 – Purdue at Virginia Tech – 7:30 p.m., ESPN
• 12/1 – Penn State at Maryland – 9:15 p.m., ESPN2
• 12/1 – Indiana at Boston College – 7:15 p.m., ESPNU
• 12/4 – Illinois at Gonzaga – 5:15 p.m., ESPN
• 12/4 – Purdue at Alabama – 3:30 p.m., ESPN2
• 12/4 – Penn State vs. Duquesne
• 12/4 – Michigan vs. Harvard

Fun With Efficiency Margin

At the moment, Ohio State appears to be the class of the Big Ten and one of the top teams in the nation along with Kansas and Duke. I’m sure a lot of college basketball fans are ruing the day that the ACC/Big Ten Challenge was scheduled and pitted Michigan State against the Blue Devils instead of the Buckeyes.

It was a very active Thanksgiving week with a lot of teams in the Top 25 playing good opponents.  Here’s Week 3 of the RTC Top 25.  The usual quick n’ dirty analysis follows the jump.

QnD Analysis.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Top 25 Games

• Richmond 65, #8 Purdue 54: “Perhaps my rage from the loss this afternoon played into this or maybe I was having flashbacks to the Minny game last spring in the BT tourney…Whatever the case is, I haven’t been this angry while watching Purdue sports in a few years. LewJack, Smooge and Barlow combined defensively to make Richmond’s Anderson look like Allen Iverson…back in 2000. At the same time, JJ, Bade, Byrd and Carroll made Justin Harper look like Dwight Howard.” (Boiled Sports)
• #11 Georgetown 87, UNC-Asheville 72: “Breaking news. Austin Freeman is fantastic. He scored 32 points on 11-15 shooting, tying a Georgetown record with 7 made three pointers. The Hoyas defeated UNC Asheville 87-72, avoiding a Thanksgiving hangover in Washington, DC on Saturday.” (Casual Hoya)
• #17 Texas 62, Rice 59: “For the second straight year, dispatching of the Rice Owls didn’t come easily to Texas. Last year, the Texas Longhorns pulled away late for a comfortable double-digit victory in Houston. Today, only a clanked three-pointer prevented the match-up from heading to overtime.” (Burnt Orange Nation)

Other Games of Interest

• UTEP 65, Michigan 56: “Michigan had played surprisingly well in their first four games but they finally hit the wall. Playing in their second game in as many days, the Wolverines were beaten in almost every phase of the game. After the Syracuse loss I wrote that Michigan would probably have a handful of plays they wanted back, today they probably only have a handful of plays that they wanted to keep.” (UM Hoops)

Read the rest of this entry »

If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Top 25 Games

• Tennessee 78, #6 Villanova 68: “I was going to use the word “upset” in the headline, but I’m not sure that this was. We could also talk about how this team didn’t allow distractions to get in their way, but that’s nothing new with our basketball program. The story here is that the Vols are once again a team to be reckoned with – not later in the year once we’ve matured, but right here, right now.” (Rocky Top Talk)
• #8 Purdue 79, Southern Illinois 60: “Unusually-frigid 30 degree temperatures (pssst- that’s sarcasm), and fantastic Black Friday sale prices kept the Purdue alums in Chicago away from the Sears Center this evening…but poor attendance and a small-time feel of the Chicago Invitational didn’t stop Matty’s boys from opening a can…at least for a half. And those who did brave the barely-freezing temps to see their Boilers play, got to see Smooge get silly.” (Boiled Sports)
• #12 Syracuse 53, Michigan 50: “The good news is that the Orange are now 5-0 and played for the Legends Classic championship. They’ll be lining up against Georgia Tech (4-1) on Sunday. GT topped UTEP 71-61 in the semis. The Jackets also feature the progeny of a former NBA star (Glen Rice, Jr.). For the Orange, they might keep winning but sooner or later this act is going to catch up with them. Georgia Tech might not be a great team but they’re good enough to catch Syracuse napping if they come in with another performance like tonight.” (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)

Other Games of Interest

• Virginia Tech 56, Oklahoma State 51: Taking a look at the Hokies close victory over the Cowboys. (Tech Hoops)
• Maryland 76, Elon 57: “Adrian Bowie won’t get enough talk, but he had an amazing statline: 14 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, no turnovers. He made the couple of boneheaded plays he usually makes – like lowering his head and barreling into a forced layup – but they weren’t as bad as normal and he was very, very good outside of those couple of plays.” (Testudo Times)
• VCU 89, UCLA 85: “After UCLA showed some positive signs in Wednesday’s loss to #7 Villanova, the Bruins took a step backwards in their execution this afternoon. Despite sloppy play and a surplus of turnovers, the Bruins displayed a measure of resolve and the ability to keep themselves in a game despite many flaws.” (Bruins Nation)
• Indiana 100, Northwestern State 66: “Whatever the future holds, this team’s near past has shown sizable signs of improvement on both sides of the ball. There’s reason for optimism, regardless of the opponents’ skill level. Yes folks, it’s true: There’s not only optimism from Crean’s recent/stellar in-state recruiting run, but optimism also because of how IU has taken care of business on the court in the early goings of 2010-11. Just know better competition lies ahead.” (Inside the Hall)

News/Analysis

• If you will allow me to retort: UConn is one of the best teams in the country: “If you want a team that mirrors this year’s Michigan team, the answer isn’t UConn, the answer is any one of Fasulo’s four examples, because they, like Michigan, played no one before getting exposed. In the course of three days, UConn collected more high-quality wins than those four teams did combined. This is a long season, and I’m the Huskies will lose games during it. However, UConn showed in Maui that they are the real deal. Through five games the Huskies have played as tough a schedule as anyone and looked better in each successive game. This team is the real deal, write them off at your own peril.” (The UConn Blog)
• Kentucky Basketball: Post-Thanksgiving Review Of The Connecticut Game: “In the end, this provides a “teachable moment” to the Wildcats, which I expect Coach Cal to use to its fullest advantage.  A loss is a loss, but you have to try to make the most of them and hope you don’t have to do it too often.  I am not a believer in the “good loss” theory, so you’ll forgive me if I reject that outright.  A loss is always bad, period.  Don’t bother to argue, because this is my story and I’m sticking to it.  Save it for those who are persuadable.” (A Sea of Blue)
• Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: NIT Tip-Off Tennessee Post Game: “For the second straight year the Big East finished in a runner-up position int the Pre-Season NIT at Madison Square Garden. Tennessee defeated Villanova 78-68, in what was, a very defensive oriented contest.” (Villanova by the Numbers)

***** – 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 2013
* – don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game

Brian Otskey is an RTC contributor.

A great week of hoops rolls on with some championship game action and an interesting battle in Vegas. Rankings as per the latest RTC Top 25. All times eastern.

Chicago Invitational Challenge Championship: #8 Purdue vs. Richmond – 7:30 pm on Big Ten Network (***)

This is a nice matchup between two teams expected to finish near the top of their respective conferences. Richmond has struggled a bit though, losing to Iona and having a tough time with Wright State yesterday before pulling away. There have been no such struggles for the talented Boilermakers, led by the dynamic senior duo of E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson who combine for 39/15 a game on 51% shooting. Purdue holds opponents to 56 PPG and ranks #7 in defensive efficiency. Richmond has its own senior duo back this year with Justin Harper and Kevin Anderson leading the team in scoring as a great inside-outside combination, similar to the Purdue seniors. Richmond shoots it well as a team, averaging over 50% shooting per game. The statistical profiles of each team are really similar. The one weakness each shares is they don’t get to the line enough and when they do get there, they don’t shoot well. Each team is in the bottom 50 in all of D1 in free throw shooting. Matt Painter’s team is more talented and has been through the wars in the Big Ten so they should have the advantage over Chris Mooney’s somewhat less talented version of Purdue. Each coach loves to get after it defensively but Purdue has done a better job there so far this season. Expect the Boilermakers to separate themselves from Richmond with rebounding, especially offensive, and by forcing turnovers. Purdue forced 25 turnovers yesterday while Richmond was minus five in turnover margin against Wright State. In order to win, Richmond has to hold Purdue under 40% shooting, take care of the ball and rebound better. Still, Purdue is a better version of the Spiders and should win this game with points to spare.

South Padre Invitational Championship: BYU vs. St. Mary’s – 8 pm on Fox College Sports (****)

BYU had an unexpectedly tough time with South Florida yesterday, needing two overtimes to dispatch the Bulls. The Cougars shot only 32% and allowed USF to hit 44% of their shots. BYU was bad from the free throw line as well, getting there 34 times but only converting half. Cougar star Jimmer Fredette led the way with 32 points, four assists and five steals. St. Mary’s had no problem with Texas Tech, beating the Red Raiders 88-68 behind 20/10 from forward Tim Williams. The Gaels are a high scoring club with five players averaging double figures, Williams included. The stories of this game will be defense and who hits more three’s. Each team averages over 25 three point attempts a game, though BYU has struggled quite a bit outside of Fredette. Jimmer is 17-40 (42.5%) on the year from deep but the rest of the team is just 25-91 (27.5%). St. Mary’s does a nice job defending the three as well so that could become an issue if the Cougars struggle again offensively. BYU is ranked #9 in defensive efficiency but did not play well on that side of the ball against USF, either. St. Mary’s shot a scalding hot 59% against Texas Tech and crushed the Red Raiders on the boards. In addition to his great guards, Randy Bennett has a bunch of quality forwards on his roster who should do well rebounding the basketball. BYU has done a nice job on the boards overall but they were severely out-rebounded by a bigger Bulls front court last night. The guard matchups, Fredette and Jackson Emery for BYU against Mickey McConnell and Matthew Dellavedova, make this game worth the price of admission. Expect a close one for most of the game and don’t be surprised if St. Mary’s comes out on top.

Read the rest of this entry »