Just looking at the way the schedule set up, one way or the other, Colorado was going to have problems with Arizona State on Sunday. Even in some alternate universe where the Buffaloes remained strong down the stretch on Thursday night, took care of the ball and hit some free throws on their way to a double-figure win over Arizona, you just knew they were going to have a tough time with the back end of their Arizona road trip after looking ahead to that conference opener since the schedule was announced.

And yet, at the under-12 media timeout, the Buffaloes were up 17-4 and cruising. But, here’s where the insidious hangover effect kicked in. Rather than take out all their pent-up frustration over Thursday night’s controversial loss to Arizona, CU eased up just slightly, Arizona State got a couple of easy baskets, and the momentum for the rest of the evening shifted, never to return. After hitting eight of their first 14 attempts from the field, the Buffaloes hit less than 30% of their shots the rest of the night, including just 1-of-17 from beyond the arc. Even worse, while their opponent started 2-of-12 from the field with five turnovers in their first 15 possessions, they had just five turnovers in their last 48 possessions and hit better than 50% of their field goals the rest of the way — in part because Colorado’s defensive intensity left for an early flight back to Boulder. As Spencer Dinwiddie put it, “As a group, we stopped playing defense and stopped rebounding.” And so the Buffaloes return home from a weekend in Arizona with nothing to show for their efforts.

Despite An 0-2 Start In Conference Play, All Is Not Lost For Colorado (Daily Camera)

Where to go from here? Well, the good news is they’ll be back in the friendly confines of Coors Event Center next week, as they host the Los Angeles schools, and they’ve won 41 of their last 45 games there; that stat alone indicates that nothing will heal up this Buffs team like some good old-fashioned home cooking. But, there are some deeper, long-term concerns for this team. First if not foremost is that pesky free-throw shooting thing. Back in November, the Buffaloes did their best to give away the title game of the Charleston Classic to Baylor, missing five of their last six free throws (and 15-of-19 on the day) and displaying plenty of iffy decisions in the final couple of minutes before eventually holding on for the good win. But that situation, and the fact that the team as a whole is shooting just 65.9% from the charity stripe on the year (good for 252nd in the nation) indicated that there would be problems in the future. With key figures like Andre Roberson and Xavier Johnson flirting with the 50% mark from the stripe, and with secondary ball-handler Askia Booker not much better at 64%, this doesn’t seem like a problem that is going to go away any time soon.

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With non-conference play all but wrapped up, we start to turn our attention to conference play this week. But, before we do we want to take a look back and see what we talked about prior to the season.

“We made a lot of predictions and bold statements prior to the season. Which prognostication did you nail and which did you completely whiff on?”

Adam Butler: I wish I’d had the stones to say things like “Jordan Adams will be UCLA’s best player” or “Josh Smith will leave the Bruins” or “USC will utterly flop.” No, on each of those insights I was sightless. I was the cool kid picking USC to overachieve and who was gobbling up Shabazz hyperbole like flavored vodka at a sorority house. I went out on the limb to say Arizona and Colorado would be good. I have said Spencer Dinwiddie would be All-Conference and, to date, he’s held up his side of that bargain, and I still love his game when he shows up (although, zero points vs. Fresno?). The one thing I’ve nailed but I don’t think it’s been terribly bold has been that Mark Lyons, no matter what he did numbers-wise, was going to have an overwhelming effect on this Wildcats team. I think it’s safe to say that he’s been a lightning rod of attention and criticism and handled it all in stride, strides that have taken him straight to winning buckets against Florida and SDSU. Lyons brings a dynamic to Tucson that was sorely needed and he has not let them down. As for whiffs? I figured Washington would be better and that Oregon would be worse. I thought Jio Fontan would hover around conference POY talk and that Dewayne Dedmon would be a big surprise: fails. There’s still time to play out but it’s hard to say that any of those thoughts will right themselves in my predictive favor. And in that remaining time, I’m excited to see just what UCLA will do and how Arizona’s freshmen bigs will develop within the routine of Pac-12 play. Moving forward, a few additional thoughts: Can Herb’s team keep up their pace? No. Is Solomon Hill going to win the conference POY award? No (but he may be the MVP). Can Colorado be the second best team in the Pac? Yes. Will Stanford be better then their 8-4 record? Yes. Alas, predictions are meaningless but oh-so-fun.

Jio Fontan In The Player Of The Year Race? Not So Much. (AP Photo)

Connor Pelton: Looking back on it, I made some interesting (to say the least) picks back in October. But I did nail a few of those, starting with the pick of Arsalan Kazemi as an All-Pac-12 performer. I was the only one to include the Rice transfer on my 15-player ballot, and he has answered by averaging 9.2 PPG, 10.4 RPG, and 3.1 SPG so far. In fact, if he had not had been so tentative shooting the ball at the beginning of the season, it is not a stretch to say he would not only be leading the team in rebounds but points as well. Another pick I am liking was that of Jonathan Gilling as an all-conference three-point shooter. Kevin and I were the only ones to include the sophomore on our lists, and he has proved us right by knocking down 30 triples, second highest in the conference. But the pick I am most proud of is selecting USC at 10th in the conference, while everyone else here had the Trojans sixth or seventh. The thing that made me so skeptical about USC at the beginning of the season was the question, “Where do the points come from behind Jio Fontan?” Some said senior forward Aaron Fuller, who’s averaging a stellar 2.9 PPG. Case closed.

Now, onto the whiffs. While Chasson Randle hasn’t had a great season, there is no question he should be second team All-Pac-12 right now. I did not even include him on my list of 15, opting instead for guys like Ricky Kreklow and Kaleb Tarczewski. Whoops. It is easy to look bad when projecting an all-newcomer team, and boy have I done that. I did not include Mark Lyons on my team, or Jahii Carson, or Josh Scott. Those guys are averaging 13.4, 17.9, and 12.5 PPG, respectively. As we move into conference play, the picks that are on the fence of good and bad will begin to clear up. Are the Buffaloes an NCAA Tournament team? I said yes in October, and I still think they are now. Can Washington rebound from an awful start and make the NIT? No. Can California win a big game? It has to happen eventually, right?

Time will answer everything, and before we know it, we will be filling out brackets and talking about surprises and snubs on Selection Sunday.

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

With a month to go in the non-conference season, we are starting to sort out the contenders from the pretenders. This weekend provides some additional match-ups that will give us a better indication of which teams we should watch out for come March. Let’s get to the breakdowns.

Colorado at #10 Kansas – 2:00 PM EST, Saturday on ESPN2 (***)

This Weekend Colorado Tries to Beat Kansas for the First Time Since 2003

• You might call this game a renewal of a Big 12 rivalry but the reality is that it has been far from a “rivalry.” Kansas has not lost to Colorado since the 2002-03 season. While this will be the first time that CU plays Kansas as a member of the Pac-12, coach Tad Boyle is 0-3 against the Jayhawks since taking the helm in Boulder two seasons ago. The big question for the Buffaloes will be how they handle KU center Jeff Withey. A few weeks ago, CU was able to slow down another seven-footer in Isaiah Austin when they defeated Baylor. However, Withey is not a freshmen trying to fit himself into “The Pierre Jackson Show.” He’s a senior who has proven to be a dominant force on defense and a capable offensive threat. Withey also cleans up on the glass, particularly on the defensive end. Colorado needs to figure out how to grab some of those misses lest it become a long night. Keep an eye on the three-point shooting of Colorado guards Askia Booker and Spencer Dinwiddie. Both are threats from deep and both need to be on target to have a chance to win this one.

Temple vs. #1 Duke – 3:15 PM EST, Saturday on ESPN (****)

• Last season, Temple beat Duke in Philadelphia on the backs of Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson and Khalif Wyatt. Hollis-Jefferson and Wyatt combined to go 15-22 from the field in a somewhat surprising upset of the Blue Devils. The Owls also did it without this season’s leading scorer, Scootie Penn. However, when you compare this Duke team to last season’s team, they are more balanced and more patient without Austin Rivers dominating the ball. The Blue Devils have scoring threats all over the floor and point guard Quinn Cook is proving to be an excellent distributor. Additionally, Mason Plumlee has been superb. The key for the Owls will be figuring out a way to stop Plumlee in the paint. Unfortunately for Temple, scoring can come from anywhere when playing the Blue Devils. They are too balanced and too battle tested at this point to drop one to the Owls this year.

No beating around the bush on this one, we’re going to get right to the point as we discuss who the league’s best floor general is.

Who is the best point guard in the Pac-12?

Adam Butler: This is an interesting question in and of itself. When it was first proposed to me, I responded with, “What makes a good point guard?” Traditionally we say assists defines a guard and to that point you might argue Larry Drew II. Well that’s not how I’m defining my best point guard. I’m taking Chasson Randle. I love his game as I can watch him do things the other kids can’t. He gets to the rim with an ease few possess. And look, I’m going to struggle to statistically make this argument. He’s ninth in the conference in assist rate (good) and top 15 in the conference in ORtg for players with a usage greater than 24%. To boot, he’s grabbing a handful of boards (3.2) and steals (1.8) per game while playing 30 minutes a night. He gets to the free throw line, too; shooting about six per contest. Maybe I’ve gotten ahead of myself calling him the league’s best PG a month deep, but he’s my guy when push comes to shove. Just you wait and see. I like how the team goes as he goes, to me dictating leadership and that he’s indeed the facilitator of this squad. Every team needs a tone setter and I appreciate that Stanford’s has the ball in his hands more often than not.

The Statistics May Not Show It, But Chasson Randle’s Skills May His Whole Team Better

Andrew Murawa: It’s early in the year, and early in his career, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Jahii Carson is already the best point guard in the conference, for quite a few reasons. First and foremost, he has been put in a position to succeed by Arizona State head coach Herb Sendek. While there is some talent on this team, Sendek realized last year while Carson was sitting out as a partial qualifier that he needed to put the ball in Carson’s hands from day one. He is the one guy on this team who can not only create scoring opportunities for himself, but also get good looks for his teammates. With Carson putting pressure on the defense either in transition or as a threat off the bounce in the halfcourt or even knocking down jumpers from beyond the arc (though his jumper isn’t always a work of art, he’s hitting better than 40% of his attempts from deep), guys like Carrick Felix and Jordan Bachynski are having their best offensive seasons in part because Carson gets them the rock in position to make plays, and in part because the opposing defense needs to keep one eye on Carson when those guys have the ball. And, while he’s struggled plenty with turnovers in the early going (he’s turning it over on nearly a quarter of all used possessions), he’s bought into his role. After exploding for 30 (while still handing out seven assists) against Creighton’s dubious defense, Carson laid off looking for his own shot against teams like Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Sacramento State in an effort to get Evan Gordon going and to keep Felix going. While he’s still got plenty of room for improvement (you can bet Sendek is encouraging him to take better care of the ball), Carson is my pick for best point in the conference as well as the most valuable individual player to his team.

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1. In recent days, we’ve seen a lot of talk about how Mark Lyons at Arizona has struggled a bit in his transition to playing the point, all this despite lights-out shooting and an undefeated record. But Tuesday night at the McKale Center, Lyons’ shot betrayed him in the midst of his first unquestionably bad game with the Wildcats and, as Greg Hansen reports, some in the crowd lost patience with their new senior in the midst of his oh-fer night. But, as Hansen notes, it isn’t as if Lyons’ lone role as the team’s point guard is to make spectacular passes to teammates for easy looks. Lyons ability to be a scoring threat earned open looks for his teammates. For example, Nick Johnson took advantage of the attention paid to Lyons by the defense to score 23 points, then afterwards he had Lyons’ back, praising his defense and leadership. Still, this was a good win over a halfway decent Southern Miss team, but the 27 turnovers that the ‘Cats endured (certainly not all Lyons’ fault – he had just three turnovers in 29 minutes) are not exactly a great sign as UA’s competition jumps up a notch.
2. UCLA had a somewhat random exhibition game on Tuesday night against Cal State San Marcos as a result of wanting to open the new Pauley Pavilion with a game that would actually count in the standings, but it turned out to be a pretty well-placed game. It gave the Bruins a chance to work on their newly unveiled zone def… err, what’s that? They played man-to-man defense the whole game? You’re kidding me. What’s more, head coach Ben Howland asked the opposing coach to play man defense against them the whole game, and CSSM’s head coach Jim Saia complied. Now, I’ll certainly admit that the Bruins could use some work on their man defense, but I would guess that all of these current Bruins have played plenty of man defense in their lives, but not a ton of zone. And given that UCLA has shown a drastic inability to guard opponents in a man-on-man setting, I just sort of assumed that the Bruins would be working on that zone that they probably have to play a lot of in the future. And, while UCLA certainly hasn’t been excellent offensively against man defense, they’ve been downright awful against the zone, but for some reason Howland wanted to work on their man offense. And, to make matters worse, by all accounts UCLA didn’t even look that good playing against CSSM. They turned the ball over offensively, they couldn’t stop CSSM players from getting in the lane, and they beat an overmatched team by only 23 points in a game that was closer than the final score.
3. Last year, Arizona State earned its seventh win of the season on January 28. Last night they got to 7-1 on December 5 with a win over Hartford. And, as the Hoops Report writes, Herb Sendek and his team have put themselves on track to return to the postseason for the first time since 2010. But, while wins over the likes of Central Arkansas, Cornell and Arkansas-Pine Bluff are certainly better than losses to those teams, the sole “good” win in their non-conference slate will be their Thanksgiving week win over Arkansas, a team currently with a sub-100 RPI. And, the best remaining game on their non-conference slate is DePaul, so if ASU has any hopes of getting to the Big Dance, rather than one of those little ones, they’ll need to make a major splash in conference play, something they’ve failed to do recently to the tune of a 10-26 conference record over the past two seasons.
4. On Tuesday, Spencer Dinwiddie took a little shot at Colorado’s Wednesday-night opponent, referring to Colorado State as “little brother” and expressing some irritation over CSU’s rushing of the court following last year’s win. Last night, Dinwiddie backed up his talk by showing “little brother” he meant business. The sophomore guard scored a career-high 29 points in front of an overflow crowd at the Coors Event Center in Boulder. Dinwiddie backtracked a bit from his comments following the game, saying that he “didn’t mean it in a disrespectful way,” but he also took joy in being able to “back up the comment with a win.” More importantly, come March 17 (aka Selection Sunday), expect CU’s win over their in-state rival to be a solid notch in their bedpost.
5. Washington has a bit of a break this week, taking a breather from competition in advance of its Saturday game with Nevada, but sophomore Desmond Simmons has earned the praise of his head coach. Lorenzo Romar described Simmons’ performance on Sunday against Cal State Fullerton as “Brockman-esque,” referring to former Husky great and all-time rebounding leader, Jon Brockman. Simmons posted career highs in points and rebounds (14/18, respectively) in that game, and in the process became the only Husky aside from Brockman to grab that many rebounds in Romar’s time in Seattle. Given that UW’s frontcourt, other than center Aziz N’Diaye, has struggled to control the glass, Simmons’ explosion was well-timed. While Simmons is still coming off the bench for Romar, the head coach made it clear following the CSUF game that it isn’t because of anything that Simmons is doing wrong, but rather a result of him bringing great energy off of the bench. With Shawn Kemp Jr. nearing a return from his knee injury, it is possible that the UW big men, which had been considered a weakness as recently as a week ago, could turn into a strength by the time conference play rolls around.

Jonathan Reed is an RTC Correspondent. He can be reached found on Big Sky Basketball or on twitter @bigskybball. He filed this report after last night’s Colorado-Colorado State game in Boulder.

When Spencer Dinwiddie called Colorado State the “little brother” earlier in the week, he knew he would have to back up those comments on the court. He sure did that last night in Boulder. Dinwiddie finished with a career high 29 points on 8-10 shooting, and at times he was the Colorado offense, particularly in the second half when they got bogged down. Dinwiddie said after the game that his comment was, “an analogy used… I didn’t mean it in a disrespectful manner.” Still, Tad Boyle followed that up with, “I gotta talk to Spencer a little bit about that… [We] have to be a little smarter about how we talk to the media.” [He did say it with a smile on his face].  Whatever extra motivation that Dinwiddie’s comment might have given Colorado State, it was more than balanced out by the great crowd and atmosphere.

Spencer Dinwiddie Backed Up His Commentary Last Night (Daily Camera)

With both teams now relevant in college basketball — each went to the NCAA Tournament last season and is likely to return this year — the rivalry brought out even more passion and intensity than normal. The crowd was a record for the Coors Event Center, with an announced attendance of 11,708 people (capacity is supposedly 11,064), and they were outstanding all evening long. They brought energy for 40 minutes, even breaking out a “Little Brother” chant in the first half. Everything that makes college basketball great in a live environment was on display.

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

1. As someone who doesn’t watch one minute of college football but loves college basketball to no end, conference realignment frustrates me to no end as you might imagine. It’s actually quite depressing and I hate talking/writing about it. However, it’s a relevant story and must be discussed because of the far-reaching impacts it will have on the sport I love. I realize this is all about “stability,” TV markets and football. It bothers me like nothing else but I accept it. I’m in the minority when it comes to this and the minority holds very little influence in our country. The consequences (both intended and unintended) of realignment for basketball are distressing. The Big East conference, the pre-eminent college basketball league for the last 25 to 30 years, is on life support. The conference I grew up watching, with the best conference tournament of them all, is all but gone. Yes, Connecticut and Louisville are still in the league, but make no mistake, they’ll bolt at the first opportunity they get as we saw this week with Rutgers going to the Big Ten. Once everything shakes out, I find it hard to believe any Big East football program will remain in the league. It simply makes no sense to do so at this point and they’re looking out for themselves in doing so. I don’t blame them. I blame the greedy conference leadership concerned about how many eyeballs the Big Ten Network can draw in New York and New Jersey, the schools who set this in motion (Syracuse and Pittsburgh), and the Big East as a whole for turning down a massive TV deal that could have given the conference a great deal of security. Once the football schools leave, the Big East will be down to seven Catholic basketball-only schools: DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Villanova. As an alumnus and fan of one of those seven schools, this pains me greatly. I could live with Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Notre Dame leaving the league. The real punch to the gut was Syracuse, a Big East founding member, saying it could find long-term stability in the ACC. The final, fatal blow will be Connecticut and/or Louisville bolting, likely in short order. The basketball-only schools have no leverage and must wait and see as everything crashes around them. Hopefully they get together, keep the Big East name and pick up a few other schools like Butler, St. Joe’s and Xavier. That wouldn’t be a bad league and it would get back to the roots of the Big East, basketball and basketball only.
   

   The Big East Needs to Find Its Roots in Basketball

2. How does realignment affect other schools and conferences?  For one, the bottom teams in the ACC may stay there for a very long time. With Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame coming in (and possibly Connecticut/Louisville), how will schools like Wake Forest and Boston College compete? There will be a good five or six programs ahead of them each and every year, plus they have to battle it out with the likes of Clemson, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech just to make it into the middle of the pack. It’s a vicious cycle that will keep programs like these as the bottom of their respective conference for many years to come. They always said it was tough to climb up the Big East ladder but now the ACC is effectively the Big East (six of the ACC’s 14 future members, not including Maryland, will be former Big East schools). It’s going to be extraordinarily tough for schools like Boston College to compete in the revamped ACC. Only the strong shall survive in conference realignment, it seems. As for the Big Ten, the impact isn’t as significant. Penn State, Nebraska and Northwestern will always be among the worst programs in the league but the climb to respectability isn’t as difficult. Look at Northwestern. The Wildcats have never made the NCAA Tournament despite knocking on the door in the last few seasons, showing how it isn’t impossible to climb the conference ladder. Now though, the addition of a similarly starved program at Rutgers and a strong program at Maryland makes it more difficult for Northwestern to make a move. It’s uncertain what Rutgers is getting itself into. The Scarlet Knights haven’t made the NCAA Tournament in 22 seasons but have shown signs of progress under Mike Rice. You have to think it can go either way for Rutgers. The new recruiting avenues can help but the school is already situated in the middle of the talent-rich New York City area. That said, road trips to Wisconsin and Michigan State aren’t as simple as heading over to St. John’s or up to Providence. I’d lean towards Rutgers struggling in the Big Ten. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a look at the power rankings that Drew, Parker, Adam, and I have compiled after the first week of Pac-12 games:

1. Colorado, 4-0 (Delta – N/A): After an opening night victory against Wofford, Colorado went to Charleston and got three great wins over the weekend. The Buffaloes dismantled a solid Dayton squad on Thursday before getting the signature win of the classic against Baylor on Friday. After a day off on Saturday, Spencer Dinwiddie and Josh Scott led the Buffs to a championship win over Murray State on Sunday night. Out of the seven remaining undefeated teams in the Pac-12, Colorado’s the only one to win four games in the first 10 days of play. Tad Boyle’s squad is now off until Sunday, when it’ll face 4-0 Air Force in Boulder. Up Next: 11/25 vs. Air Force

2. Arizona, 2-0 (Delta – N/A): Arizona successfully navigated two of its first three tests to start the season last week. Charleston Southern proved to be the toughest of the two, competing hard with the Wildcats for all 40 minutes. A 12-4 run from the 4:35 to 2:00 mark proved to be the dagger for the Buccaneers, who fell 82-73. The Cats didn’t take advantage of their height in the CSU game, but it wouldn’t be a problem in their second match-up of the year against UTEP. UA pulled down 20 more rebounds in their 72-51 trouncing of the Miners than they did against the Bucs. Xavier transfer Mark Lyons was definitely the player of the week for Zona, averaging 17 PPG and 3.5 APG in the two victories. Up Next: 11/19 vs. Long Beach State

Mark Lyons May Lead The Team In Scoring, But Heralded Freshmen Brandon Ashley Has Carried Arizona On The Glass (credit: Chris Coduto)

3. UCLA, 3-0 (Delta – N/A): After starting the season ranked in the Top 15, UCLA finds itself at the three spot after 10 days of play. They did escape the opening week unscathed, but their one point overtime win against UC Irvine (a game in which the Anteaters had plenty of chances to win), did enough for Adam and I to drop them from number one. The most impressive victory of the week was way back on November 9, when the Bruins dominated a solid Indiana State team in the second half for a 86-59 victory. Freshman Jordan Adams was undoubtedly the newcomer of the week, both on the team and in the Pac-12, by averaging 24 PPG and 3.6 RPG. Up Next: 11/19 vs. Georgetown in New York City

4. California, 3-0 (Delta – N/A): You rarely see Pac-12 teams play road games against WAC opponents, but after starting 2-0 against in-state rivals the Golden Bears went into Denver and downed the Pioneers for an 11-point win last Friday. And while Denver may not be competing for any large things in March, road wins are good wins, no matter who it’s against. The Golden Bears will continue to be tested in the coming weeks as games with Drake, Wisconsin, and UNLV are all on the schedule. They also have possible match-ups with Georgia Tech and Saint Mary’s this Thanksgiving weekend as part of the DirectTV Classic. The goal going forward for Cal will be to get more production on the offensive end from its frontcourt. Guards Allen Crabbe and Justin Cobbs both average in the 20s, but no other player is even in double digits. Up Next: 11/22 vs. Drake in Anaheim

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It was a game Colorado really should have wanted to win. But, my god, it really didn’t look like it, did it? After scoring a big opening round win yesterday in the Charleston Classic and earning their way into the winner’s side of the bracket and a chance at revenge against a Baylor team that ended their year last season, the Buffaloes did plenty of good things Friday afternoon, but struggled to slam the door on the Bears. In the last two minutes of the game, they missed five of their six free throw attempts and generally displayed some shaky decision making, allowing Baylor a decent look at tying the game as time expired, only to see an Isaiah Austin jumper go awry. It was all part of a nightmarish 4-for-19 day from the line for CU, but in the end, they were good enough on the defensive end, holding Baylor to 0.85 points per possession, to escape with a win and advance to the championship game of the tournament.

Spencer Dinwiddie And Colorado Finally Closed Out Baylor, Earning a Pair Of Key Wins (Daily Camera)

The good news for the Buffs is that it is only going to get better from here for a young team. While CU likely isn’t on track to be a great free throw shooting team, today’s low was an aberration. For instance, sophomore point guard Spencer Dinwiddie shot better than 81% from the line last year, but today was just one-for-five. More importantly, while Dinwiddie and classmate Askia Booker got plenty of experience last year, they’re still just sophomores tasked with running an NCAA Tournament-caliber team that is trying to fold in a pair of talented frontcourt freshmen to a solid returning core. There were hiccups today, as there were yesterday, but to see this team struggle like this and still come away with a win against a very good opponent provides plenty of hope for just how good this team can be come March. For instance, freshman big man Josh Scott got his first big taste of big NBA-ready frontcourt talent today and, while foul trouble limited his minutes and he turned in season lows in points and rebounds, he showed he could hold his own against guys like Austin and Cory Jefferson. And, he’ll get better by leaps and bounds as the season progresses. Fellow frosh Xavier Johnson impressed in his first two games, but looked very much like the rookie he is today, turning the ball over five times. But, give him credit for trying to fit in with the rest of his new squad by missing three of four free throws – a team-building exercise, right?

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

The second weekend in the college hoops season cools off a bit and settles into some of the preseason tournaments. While the different tourneys play out over the weekend, there are several games you should keep an eye on as we head into Feast Week. Let’s get to the breakdowns.

Game of the Weekend

#22 Notre Dame vs. Saint Joseph’s – 9:30 PM EST, Friday on TruTV HD (****)

Notre Dame needs guard Eric Atkins to pick up his scoring against Saint Joseph’s

• After a 2-0 start, Notre Dame faces its toughest challenge of the young season in a Saint Joseph’s team returning 99% of its minutes from last season. Thus far, the Irish is not getting the production they have come to expect from their two starting guards Eric Atkins and Jerian Grant. Only Grant has reached double figures once in the two games they have played. Both players averaged 12 points per game last season and coach Mike Brey needs every bit of those 12 points for his Irish team to meet expectations. Since St. Joe’s will still be without suspended guard Carl Jones, look to see if the Irish guards are able to take advantage. It’s critical that they do, because Notre Dame forward Jack Cooley and center Garrick Sherman will face a tough test against the Hawks front line. It will be interesting to see how Cooley and Sherman respond to the much more athletic forwards than they have seen thus far in 2012.
• While Saint Joseph’s blew out Yale in its first game of the season, Phil Martelli needs to be a little concerned with his team’s offensive performance. The Hawks averaged less than a point per possession, shot a 45.9% eFG, and were only 3-14 from three in that game. Obviously, missing leading scorer Jones is a major factor, but they can ill afford to have another poor offensive showing against the Irish. Look to see if guard Chris Wilson can improve on his three points in 36 minutes and provide St. Joe’s with some backcourt scoring. Guard Langston Galloway was able to drop 20 points against Yale, so keep an eye on his ability to maintain that level of scoring against a much tougher opponent.
• This should be a close battle between two experienced teams. If St. Joe’s is going to beat Notre Dame, it’ll need to do it on defense.  The key will be the ability of St. Joe’s forwards Halil Kanacevic, Ronald Roberts, and C.J. Aiken to neutralize Cooley and Sherman down low and grab defensive boards. If Notre Dame gets its  typical scoring production from Atkins and Grant, it should win this game. If not, Martelli and the Hawks will come away with a nice win for the Atlantic 10 against its rival Big East.

More Great Hoops

Florida State vs. BYU – 7:00 PM EST, Friday on TruTV HD (****)

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