Drew Murawa is an RTC correspondent. He filed this report from tonight’s Minnesota-USC game in Los Angeles.

Three Key Takeaways.

1. 500 Wins. Tonight’s win was Tubby Smith’s 500^th victory in his career and he becomes the 19^th active head coach to reach that mark. Despite a national title, a National Coach of the Year award, and numerous other accomplishments under his belt, Smith gets overlooked regularly since he left Kentucky, but despite some offseason distractions, he looks like he has put together his best team at his current stop. After the game, he paused to reflect briefly and typically understated his accomplishment: “I have been in good situations and on programs who have been committed to basketball. Not everyone has that opportunity.”
2. Golden Gophers For Real. Balanced scoring, superb athleticism up front, talented and savvy guards, depth and great coaching. Yup, that’s a pretty good recipe for a Top 25 team. Eight players saw seven minutes or more for Smith and seven of those guys scored at least six points. In the early moments of the game, it was clear that one of these teams was ready to go from the opening tip and one was not — Minnesota looked crisp, moving the ball around quickly and getting enough open looks to send USC looking for cover in a 2-3 zone. As it is now, Minnesota has a 10-1 record with wins over Memphis, Stanford, Florida State, and USC, and a loss to #1 Duke the only blemish. We knew teams like Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State were going to be a load, but coupled with Illinois’ big win at Gonzaga on Saturday, it looks like we can throw another pair on the Big Ten pile.
3. Working Things Out. We’re a month into the season and Kevin O’Neill has no idea what he has here. His rotation seems to be little more than subbing guys in and out based on a whim. Eleven guys played in the first half, and while O’Neill tightened up his rotation to great effect in the second half, it just isn’t feasible to generate a brand new rotation every night out. Guys need to know their roles in order to give the coaching staff what they want. Start with the players you absolutely need to have on the floor (e.g., Byron Wesley, Jio Fontan, and Omar Oraby) and build an eight or nine-man rotation from there. There is enough talent here for the Trojans to make some noise in conference play, but O’Neill’s got to cobble together some type of coherent plan for that to happen. He certainly knows that, as he discussed after the game trimming his rotation based on effort.

Tubby Smith Earned His 500th Win Saturday Night With What Appears To Be His Best Minnesota Team

Star of the Game. Omar Oraby. You hate to name a player on the losing team the star of the game, but in the second half at least, Oraby was the best player on the floor. He scored 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, the Trojan offense ran smoothly through him in the post, he crashed the boards and challenged many shots at the rim, including a dunk attempt by Trevor Mbakwe on a breakaway that wound up with both players crashing to the floor. The whistle went against Oraby, but he maintained his innocence, even after the game. Oraby got 14 minutes in the second half and O’Neill sang his praises (except for his woeful free throw shooting) after the game, noting, “he’s gonna have to get a ton of time.”

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Three Key Takeaways.

1. Neither team played very well. Saint Louis won despite turning the ball over 16 times. The Billikens had an assist/turnover ratio of 7 to 16. Brian Conklin, the team’s leading scorer, turned the ball over a total of eight times. Memphis only shot 38.9% from the field for the game, turned the ball over 11 times and only had four assists. There were many times during the game were both teams possessed zero offensive rhythm.
2. Rick Majerus can still really coach. Saint Louis was overmatched physically and athletically, but the Billikens found a way to get the victory. Leading scorer Brian Conklin struggled throughout most of the game, so Majerus went away from Conklin and ran the offense through Kwamain Mitchell, who ended up with 22 points. It was quite obvious that Majerus made some adjustments that Memphis head coach Josh Pastner could not.
3. Memphis still has a ways to go before it is an elite team. The Tigers have way too many guys that play as individuals. Never once during the second half did Memphis look like a cohesive unit. Also, when Saint Louis grabbed the lead in the second half, it seemed like Memphis lost complete confidence in itself and its body language was subpar.

Star of the Game. Kwamain Mitchell, Saint Louis. The junior guard took over the game for the majority of the second half. He finished with 22 points, while hitting 4-7 from long range. Mitchell’s performance was crucial for the Billikens due to the fact that leading scorer Brian Conklin did not turn in his best performance.

Quotable. “The open guy is the go-to guy and we obviously went away from that.” – Memphis head coach Josh Pastner.

Sights & Sounds. Very impressive showing from the Saint Louis faithful. They remained loud and proud even when the Billikens were struggling. Memphis had a decent size contingent, which spent a majority of the second half yelling at referee Ted Valentine.

Wild Card. It has to be Rick Majerus’ wardrobe selection. The navy blue Saint Louis sweater and dark khaki pants were a welcome departure from the serious suit and tie look that most coaches utilize.

What’s Next. Saint Louis will meet the winner of Michigan State and LIU Brooklyn on Sunday. You have to figure it will be Michigan State, which would provide the Billikens with a tough and physical test, but with how today’s games have gone, you cannot really assume anything.