If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.

Top 25 Games

• #19 Syracuse 66, #5 UConn 58: “There will be no five-game losing streak. There will be no talk of scandals. Tomorrow, the only thing worth talking about will be the fact that Syracuse basketball won a game and they did so when they needed to most. For more than one reason, Wednesday’s 66-58 win over UConn helped change the conversation and get a program back on track.” (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician: Recap and Photos)
• #6 Duke 80, Maryland 62: “Well, I was wrong: it wasn’t a close game after all. Duke got 22 and 21 points out of Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith, respectively, to overcome a Jordan Williams double-double and defeat Maryland in the Comcast Center, 80-62. In truth, the game was much closer, as Maryland had the lead as small as five more than midway through the second half, but the result is the only thing that matters. Maryland is now dropped to 14-8 overall and 4-4 in the ACC. The Terrapins will likely need a deep run in the ACC tournament or 11 ACC wins (or both) to sneak into the NCAA tournament, the latter of which would require a 7-1 finish to conference play.” (Testudo Times)
• Indiana 60, #20 Minnesota 57: “Indiana ran circles around the Gophers for three quarters of the game before Minnesota actually showed life. However, the deficit and ineptitude at the free throw line proved insurmountable and ultimately doomed Minnesota’s comeback chances. The Hoosiers walked away with a 70-67 victory and yet another win over a ranked team at home” (From the Barn: Recap or Inside the Hall: Recap and Interviews)

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If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.

Top 25 Games

• #3 Kansas 86, Texas Tech 66: “So much for Bill Self not being able to win in Lubbock, huh? The Jayhawks came out and immediately went to work inside, feeding Marcus Morris for the first three baskets of the game. Once the lead reached 10-2 after the first four minutes of the game, the outcome was never in doubt. Texas Tech couldn’t find a shot on the offensive end and they showed no inclination of making it difficult for anyone in blue get to the basket on the defensive end. The final score was 88-66 and it wasn’t anywhere near that close.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
• Ole Miss 71, #10 Kentucky 69: “Well, this was a game that the Mississippi Rebels needed very badly, and they won the game on a near-last second 3-point shot by senior point guard Chris Warren.  It was an exciting game, but Kentucky comes up on the short end, I think deservedly. I was very impressed with how aggressive and how physical the Ole Miss Rebels were in this game.  They took it to Kentucky in every way you can, and they played with a heart and intensity that, if they had played like this all year, might have them in contention for an NCAA bid instead of trying to salvage a season that started with four league losses in six games.  But this game, this time, the Rebels were very, very good, and they sent Kentucky home with their third SEC road loss in four tries.  I can’t say enough about how tough and determined the Rebels were.  They won this game the old-fashioned way — they earned it.” (A Sea of Blue: Part 1 and Part 2)
• #16 Wisconsin 66, #13 Purdue 59: “Purdue went into another difficult Big Ten venue — perhaps the most difficult — and could have come away with a win. In fact, they likely should have, but they did not, losing 66-59. The Boilers — especially these seniors — are not afraid of the Kohl Center. Closing out a win tonight would have made JJ and Smooge 3-1 at Wisconsin in their careers, a fun stat that would have been awesome to lord over obnoxious Badger fans. However, it was not to be…and while officiating was again atrocious, that was once again not why the Boilers lost.” (Boiled Sports)
• #24 UNC 106, Boston College 74: “I’m not sure if I can express how good a game this was to people who didn’t see it. Looking at the score, sure you may be excited that UNC cracked the century mark, but you’ll probably just chalk it up to Boston College not being very good. And their defense is indeed pretty bad. But they’re a decent team at home, and Carolina just beat them worse than Duke managed in Cameron. This was the best complete game I’ve seen from the Tar Heels all season; from the moment they took their first lead – off of not coincidentally a Reggie Bullock three pointer – they didn’t let up, putting over 100 points on the Eagles in regulation for the first time since 1996.” (Carolina March)
• #24 Illinois 68, Penn State 51: “I cannot overstate how important this game was for the Illini. Having lost four of the last five games, including one to this very same Penn State team, the Illini slumped to 4-4 in the Big Ten, and 14-7 overall, and with a loss to Indiana fell to the brink of the tournament field. Talor Battle, as you all well know, has been a total thorn against the Illini and has single handedly stolen victories against Illinois.” (Hail to the Orange)

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Sorry for the delay in publishing our ATB2, but we had some scheduling issues that prevented us from publishing at our regular time so today you our longest version of ATB2 to date. One quick thing to point out is that we used the team rankings from the time that the games happened when listing the results so teams that played on Saturday and Monday could have a different ranking for the two games. If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.

Top 25 Games

• #1 Ohio State 58, Northwestern 57: “No Shurna, no problem. Almost. Facing an uphill battle, albeit at home, without their 19 ppg scorer, Northwestern gave Ohio State all they could handle before a Jared Sullinger free throw with 3.5 seconds left gave the Buckeyes a 58-57 victory moving them 22-0 overall and 9-0 in conference play. Sullinger’s 21 points and eight rips paced the good guys and Aaron Craft was also a beast adding 13 points while William Buford chipped in 11.” (Eleven Warriors)
• #2 Texas 69, #15 Texas A&M 49: “Looking to snap a six-game losing streak in College Station, the Texas Longhorns (19-3, 7-0) blew out Texas A&M (17-4, 4-3) early in the game, opening up a 25-point halftime lead before coasting comfortably to a 69-49 win. In building a commanding 45-20 halftime lead, the Longhorns nearly scored as many points in the first half as the Aggies did in the entire game. Though the Longhorns were absolutely brilliant offensively in the first half, the big story continues to be the unbelievably dominant performance by this Longhorns squad on the defensive end. Following Texas A&M’s 17-55 shooting night, through seven conference games Texas’ Big 12 opponents are now shooting just 36% from the floor. And counting the Aggies’ woeful 1-for-12 performance from downtown tonight, Big 12 opponents have now connected on just 19 of 100 three pointers attempted. Like I said on Saturday night, if this holds we’re not just talking about Rick Barnes’ best defensive team, but one of the best defensive performances in college basketball across the past decade.” (Burnt Orange Nation)
• #5 Kansas 90, Kansas State 66: “With Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale looking on, ESPN aired 2+ hours of great KU advertising as the Jayhawks destroyed Kansas State by 24 in a scoreline that probably flatters the Wildcats a bit. The Wildcats were under 20% from the floor for much of the game (and finished with just a 39% eFG), and it’s hard to believe that at one point the game was tied at 9. Oh wait, that was Markieff Morris 9, K State 9. My bad. The Morris twins were as advertised tonight, combining for 30 points and 18 rebounds. K State’s defense isn’t bad (33rd nationally according to KenPom) and Kansas absolutely destroyed them. After some of our recent struggles, especially last week against Texas, it was nice to see the offense get back on track tonight.” (Rock Chalk Talk: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3)
• #6 Texas 71, #11 Missouri 58: “The Longhorns started the game on a quick 10-0 run and really, never looked back. The lead was as big as 18 points in the first half, but the ‘Horns let Missouri cut the advantage to just 11 points after a final minute three by Phil Pressey. Missouri played better in the second half and was the beneficiaries of horrific free throw shooting by multiple Longhorns. The Tigers got the lead to eight points, but Texas pulled away late with buckets by Jordan Hamilton and Cory Joseph, solid work on the glass by Tristan Thompson and Hamilton, and better free throw shooting by J’Covan Brown.” (Burnt Orange Nation: Part 1 and Part 2; or Rock M Nation)
• Louisville 79, #8 UConn 78 (2 OT): Breaking down the most exciting game of the weekend through 18 thoughts. (Card Chronicle)
• Marquette 76, #10 Syracuse 70: “Late in the game Saturday, Syracuse has a chance to steal a win from Marquette and get off the schnide. All they seemed to need was one Eagle possession that ended with a score. If they could get that and then make something happen on their end of the floor, they stood a chance. In those two key possessions, Marquette’s Jimmy Butler hit three-pointers. One was a shot-clock beater and the other was a circus shot from far beyond the arc. Marquette won 76-70. That sums up what’s going on with Syracuse basketball. Not to absolve them of blame, but the Basketball God simply do not want SU to win basketball games right now. Opponents are hitting three-pointers at absurd levels and at any given crucial moment, way beyond what’s explainable by bad defense. We have lost the favor of the Gods. I’m not entirely sure why and I don’t know how to fix it. But we better figure it out ASAP cause the season is starting to slip away.” (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician or Cracked Sidewalks)
• #12 Purdue 73, #19 Minnesota 61: Purdue showed signs of turning things around with a huge win at home over the Gophers. (Boiled Sports or The Daily Gopher)
• #14 Kentucky 66, Georgia 60: “Well, that was just lots of fun, wasn’t it? For a half, anyway. Outstanding effort by the Georgia Bulldogs. This was always going to be a tough game for them, especially under the difficult circumstances of their last game against the Florida Gators. But that, as they say, is life in the SEC. The ‘Dawgs came in and laid an egg in the first half. They came back and played well in the second and watched Kentucky lay an egg. In the end, both fan bases got one half of good basketball, and one half of crappy basketball. Kentucky won in the end. Good for us, bad for them.” (A Sea of Blue)
• #17 Georgetown 62, #14 Louisville 59: “Look out world, Georgetown is a force again. The Hoyas completed an impressive Saturday-Monday stretch, beating Louisville 62-59 in Washington, DC Monday night. This victory came on the heels of a thrilling road victory over Villanova in Philadelphia on Saturday. Georgetown continues to feed off of its senior leaders, with Austin Freeman and Chris Wright setting the tone for this team.  Tonight Wright, the fiery point guard, carried Georgetown. He scored 24 points on 15 shots, while limiting reigning Big East Player of the Week Peyton Siva to 5 points on 5 shots.” (Casual Hoya or Card Chronicle)
• #21 Georgetown 69, #6 Villanova 66: “The Hoyas are now 5-4 in the Big East, on a four game winning streak with Louisville coming to Washington, DC on Monday night. The eight day layoff between the games against Seton Hall and St. John’s have proven to be crucial for the Hoyas. John Thompson III’s shakeup of the starting lineup has paid huge dividends on the defensive end. The Hoyas of two weeks ago in no way resemble the outfit we saw Wednesday night and today.” (Casual Hoya)
• #23 Michigan State 84, Indiana 83 (OT): “This was a fun, tightly-contested, up-and-down game from start to finish — even if both teams got a little tired in the waning minutes of regulation and into overtime. And even though it ended in a loss for Indiana, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that it was an encouraging performance, as a lot of the good things Indiana brought against the Illini — heart, execution, intensity and effort — were more than apparent in the Breslin Center tonight. Indiana just ran out of gas in overtime. The Hoosiers went 2-of-10 in the extra frame, and couldn’t get anything going on the offensive end at all. Still, it was there for the taking, as Michigan State didn’t do anything to blow this one open in OT, either.” (Inside the Hall)

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If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.

Top 25 Games

• #1 Ohio State 87, #12 Purdue 64: “Well, I guess that takes care of any questions as to which team is truly the cream of the crop in the B1G – and the country – for that matter. Featuring a balanced attack that saw six Buckeyes reach double figures, Ohio State simply outmanned and out hustled the Purdue Boilermakers on the way to an uber-convincing 87-64 blowout victory in front of a national TV audience.” (Eleven Warriors or Boiled Sports)
• #5 Kansas 82, Colorado 78: “In the last Big 12 meeting in Boulder for the Jayhawks and Buffaloes, Kansas heads home after winning 82-78. This was just an amazing game to watch as a fan all the way down to the end.  Great plays for the good guys and a couple of outstanding performances from Alec Burks and Cory Higgins for Colorado. This was like watching a baseball game at pre-humidor Coors field. We knew Colorado could score at home and they did just that, scoring 1.24 points per possession on the night. Luckily Kansas was even better with five guys scoring 9 or more points.  The balance that had been missing in the early part of the conference schedule showed up with Brady Morningstar and Josh Selby having very good offensive nights. Selby led the team with 17 points followed by Marcus Morris with 15 points.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
• Seton Hall 90, #10 Syracuse 68: Syracuse fans can’t even begin to describe how shocked they were by this so instead they turned to old movie clips to describe the sensation. (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)

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If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.

Top 25 Games

• #1 Ohio State 73, #18 Illinois 68: “In a game of runs, Ohio State saved their best for last answering a 12-4 Illini run creating a 50-42 deficit with 12:53 to play with a 22-6 blitz of their own to take a 64-56 lead with 4:22 left before holding on for a 73-68 victory this afternoon against Illinois in Assembly Hall.” (Eleven Warriors or Hail to the Orange)
• #10 Texas 74, #2 Kansas 63: “The University of Texas Longhorns fell down 18-3 in the first four minutes of the game and trailed by 12 at half before roaring back to blow out Kansas in the second half. J’Covan Brown’s offense, combined with an exceptional team effort on defense (and huge second half rebounding from Matt Hill), fueled the Texas comeback, with the Horns outscoring the Jayhawks 51-28 in the second half. The win was the first by a visiting opponent at Kansas since February, 2007, snapping a 69-game home winning streak for the Jayhawks.  And for Rick Barnes’ squad, it was a stunningly poised performance after a disastrous start, showing the heart of this team.  One of the most impressive, exciting regular season wins in school history.” (Burnt Orange Nation: Part 1 and Part 2; Rock Chalk Talk: Part 1 and Part 2)
• #7 Villanova 83, #3 Syracuse 72: “Both Villanova and Syracuse entered the game eager to break the streak each had begun with their last outing. A streak of the losing kind. For both the number stood at one and neither wanted to see it go to two. Villanova played to their offensive and defensive numbers in the first half, establishing an 11 point (40-29) lead going into the intermission. The last 20 minutes, an offensive festival for both (or a clinic on how to deconstruct the other team’s defense?), saw the two Top 10 teams match point-for-point to the end of the game, ended at 83-72, with Villanova’s 11 point first half cushion intact.” (Villanova by the Numbers and Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician: Recap and Videos)
• #8 UConn 72, Tennessee 61: “Kemba Walker had, statisically, his least productive game of the season. The Huskies still won. These truly are heady times, my friends.” (The UConn Blog and Rocky Top Talk)
• #11 Kentucky 67, South Carolina 58: “Well, except for the last 3 minutes, that game was outstanding. But in a mere 180 seconds, the Kentucky Wildcats went from having one of their better games to fighting off a wild comeback by the South Carolina Gamecocks. In the end, Kentucky won more or less convincingly, but I’d feel a lot better about it if the ‘Cats had finished better.” (A Sea of Blue: Part 1 and Part 2)
• #13 Missouri 87, Iowa State 54: “It was almost a bit jarring seeing a team actively not trying to slow Mizzou down last night.  Before the game, the announcers made it sound as if Fred Hoiberg wanted his team to slow down the pace, but with a team (and coach) so inexperienced against this style, Iowa State ran and ran despite their best intentions, and … You. Do. Not. Run. With. Missouri.” (Rock M Nation)
• #14 Purdue 86, #19 Michigan State 76: “We knew it would happen. We knew Smooge would return to his old form. He showed a bit of it v. PSU on Wednesday, but he showed it all versus MSU tonight. He created his own shot, knocked down the long ball and *gasp* even shot a free throw or two!! It was good to see Moore back at it. But, he wasn’t the story tonight in God’s Country. The win was a team effort.” (Boiled Sports)
• #17 Minnesota 69, Michigan 64: “Different game, same story. This team’s inability to play defense in the Big Ten becomes more evident with every game. This time it was Minnesota that dismantled the Michigan defense with an overwhelming number of easy looks around the basket and offensive rebounds. Michigan appeared to have a chance to make the game interesting down the stretch but was unable to the two or three stops in a row necessary to have a chance.” (UM Hoops: Recap, Player Reaction, and John Beilein Reaction; The Daily Gopher)

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If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.

Top 25 Games

• #15 Wisconsin 69, Indiana 60: “When you head up to the Kohl Center, a place Bo Ryan’s Badgers were a staggeringly good 146-11 and had won 31 of 32 heading into this one, you best bring your A game.And you know what? Indiana did just about that this evening.” (Inside the Hall)

Other Games of Interest

• Virginia Tech 74, Maryland 57: “Virginia Tech blitzed the Maryland Terrapins in the opening minutes of Thursday night’s game in College Park to the tune of a 12-0 lead and never looked back, en route to a 74-57 win.” (Tech Hoops or Testudo Times: Part 1 and Part 2)
• UCLA 86, Cal 84: “Bruins win 86-84 on a Reeves Nelson (24 points) putback tip of a TH miss by blowing by Allen Crabbe, who had just tied the game on a 3. Maybe if he wasn’t too busy celebrating after his shot, he would have boxed out. The end.” (Bruins Nation: Part 1 and Part 2)
• UF 45, Auburn 40: “Making 15 of 53 shots was enough for the Gators on Thursday night as Florida defeated Auburn 45-40. The Gators (14-4, 3-1) never controlled the game against the Tigers (7-11, 0-4) until the final minutes. Instead, Florida spent the game shooting jumpers in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock and hoping that their talent would beat Auburn’s total lack of talent. Auburn helped the Gators cause by shooting 18-48 (37.5 percent) and only attempting eight free throws and missing seven. That made Florida’s 10-14 performance at the line an outstanding performance.” (Alligator Army)
• Santa Clara 85, Gonzaga 71: “I’ve been scratching my head for a good half hour now after Gonzaga’s loss to Santa Clara this evening at the Leavey Center.  I’m truly left in wonderment about how that loss just happened.  Santa Clara was on a pretty steep downswing.  They’ve had some abysmal losses, some routs, and a coach that many think will be out soon.  Gonzaga entered winners of nine in a row, had garnered some quality victories and seemed to have a recipe for success all lined up to serve to the Broncos.” (The Slipper Still Fits)
• Xavier 79, St. Bonaventure 55: “For twenty minutes, the St. Bonaventure faithful had reason to believe. But hope can prove itself to be a fleeting object. Tu Holloway tallied 22 second-half points as the Atlantic 10-leading Xavier Musketeers rallied for a convincing 79-65 victory over the St. Bonaventure Bonnies at the Reilly Center, Wednesday night.” (Pickin Splinters)

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A few weeks ago we reintroduced out BCS rankings that tried to figure out what college basketball would look like if it adopted a system similar to what college football presently has. We also listened to our readers and incorporated many of their suggestions for potential computer rankings to reconfigure our rankings. We now have five computer polls included and were able to throw out the highest and lowest computer rankings for each team. We wanted to go to six computer polls to mirror the BCS, but neither Colley nor the Bradley-Terry rankings were out by noon and frankly by the time they were updated another set of games would probably have been played. The human polls are all from Monday and the computer polls are all from today. For the human polls were used the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls. For the computer polls we used the following polls:

• KenPom.com
• Sagarin ratings (ELO CHESS version)
• RPI
• LRMC (no margin of victory version)
• Massey Ratings

We used the same basic rules as we had listed in our reintroduction post with the exception of adding more computers allowing us to drop the highest and lowest scores.

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If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.

Top 25 Games

• #2 Kansas 85, Baylor 65: “Things finally seemed to click and the Jayhawks looked like a team playing as close to their ceiling as they have all year.  In a game watched live by 35 NBA scouts and 10 NBA General Managers, the Morris twins led Kansas from the outset and completely dominated the first half of basketball in Waco.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
• #5 Pittsburgh 74, #3 Syracuse 66: “When you start a football game down 19-0, things are off to a bad start, but at least you’re holding them out of the endzone. When you start a basketball game down 19-0, you’re not doing anything right. Such was the case tonight when the Orange found themselves in a 19-point hole early. It’s the kind of demoralizing start to a game that makes you want to throw in the towel.” (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)
• #8 UConn 61, #7 Villanova 59: “I’ll admit it: I had my doubts about this team. Oh, I thought they were very, very good, or at least had the potential to be, but that doesn’t mean I thought they deserved a top-10 ranking. On paper they had earned it, but when I turned on the TV, I didn’t see a top-10 team staring back at me. Even after the huge win at Texas  last week I felt the Huskies were more lucky than good. If Rick Barnes could coach his way out of a paper bag then we would have spent the last week blasting Roscoe Smith and wondering what might have been. But that was all before today’s game, because now, the doubts are gone: UConn deserves to be mentioned with the big boys. This is a top-10 team.” (The UConn Blog)

Other Games of Interest

• Siena 73, Canisius 69: “Gaby Belardo had a career-high performance, but it was not enough. Ryan Rossiter registered his 45th career double-double as the Siena Saints avenged an earlier defeat with a 73-69 victory over Canisius Golden Griffins in Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference action at the Times-Union Center.” (Pickin Splinters)

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If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.

Top 25 Games

• Marquette 79, Notre Dame 57:  “Tonight, with Hayward in the house, YOUR Golden Eagles exacted their revenge and then some, riding a well-balanced scoring attack and a reinvigorated (or perhaps just “invigorated,” since it hasn’t looked this good all year) defense to a 79-57 thumping of the Fighting Irish.” (Anonymous Eagle); “All of that offense is fine but the real difference last night was defense. MU played with an edge defensively and it showed. MU held the sweet-shooting Irish to a paltry eFG% of 42%. Notre Dame came in with a national top 15 offense — averaging over 1.15 points per possession (ppp) — and the Warriors held them to 0.90 ppp, the Irish’s third worst offensive performance of the season. This was easily MU’s finest defensive performance against a quality opponent this year.”  (Cracked Sidewalks)

Pre-Game Analysis

• Maryland-Wake Forest: “Here’s an unusual phenomenon, at least in conference play: after playing arguably the best team in the country on Sunday, Maryland will turn around and play arguably the worst high-major team in the country. Ah, the joys of Wake Forest.” (Testudo Times)

News/Analysis

• Kentucky Basketball: Fairness “Made In America” For Enes Kanter: “Not anybody can be happy with the NCAA ruling in the Enes Kanter Case.  Not a soul.” (A Sea of Blue)
• Four Things We Learned from the Terps’ Loss to Duke: Reflecting on nearly knocking off the #1 team int the country. (Testudo Times)
• Who Is The Biggest Big 12 Threat To Kansas?: With the rest of the Big 12 struggling so far the question is who can challenge the Jayhawks. (Rock Chalk Talk)
• Mario Little Cleared To Play By Bill Self: “This afternoon Bill Self announced that Mario Little would once again be eligible to play for the Kansas Jayhawk basketball team.  Little, as most will recall, has been suspended since December 16th following a misdemeanor arrest in Lawrence.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
• Does Purdue’s Ranking Matter?: “I saw on Twitter this morning that one of the many fools media types (Gary Parrish) put up his top 25 and he had Purdue at 13th. And that’s fine. It’s worse than their actual ranking will be, but honestly, who cares? Gary Parrish has probably not watched a complete half of Purdue basketball this season, so really, his opinion is nothing. The problem, of course, is that his opinion — and those of other fools like him — actually gets traction simply because of the size of their megaphone (platform). And then other people who haven’t watched 5 minutes of Purdue take their opinions as fact. But does it matter?” (Boiled Sports)
• UConn getting by, but Walker needs even more help from his friends: “Walker got the most support he’s had from his backing band offensively against a quality opponent since Maui, with three non-Kemba players (Shabazz Napier, Alex Oriakhi, Roscoe Smith) breaking into double-digits, and two more (Donnell Beverly, Charles Okwandu) hitting season-highs. And yet, perhaps the Huskies’ most meaningful win of the season, one that head coach Jim Calhoun labeled “Our best win of the year,” basically came down to a little luck; not only did Walker’s miracle Taliek Brown-esque heave somehow find the bottom of the net, but the Longhorns also opened overtime by missing three free throws.” (The UConn Blog)
• UCLA Hoops Roundup: Confidence and Conditioning: Recapping where the Bruins stand at this point in the season. (Bruins Nation)

If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.

Top 25 Games

• #1 Duke 71, Maryland 64: “I’m not sure how to view Maryland’s loss to Duke. They played hard. They played well. They never gave up and were in it until the final minute. For a team so inexperienced against supposedly the best team in the country in supposedly the hardest place to play in the country – both lies, but whatever – it’s difficult to be disappointed with a game so close.” (Testudo Times)
• #2 Ohio State 67, #23 Minnesota 64: “Minnesota nearly pulled off a miraculous 18-point comeback against #2 Ohio State on Sunday after a furious final eight minutes before falling to the Buckeyes 67-64 in Columbus, coming up just an Austin Hollins three-point attempt short of sending the game to overtime.” (From the Barn, The Daily Gopher, or Eleven Warriors)
• #3 Kansas 67, Michigan 60: “The Jayhawk again struggled to put away a team that they had overmatched and as happens when you do that, Michigan gained confidence and they elevated their play down the stretch.  In that same time, Kansas looked tight and a little pressured. Overall the Jayhawks shot poorly, turned the ball over and just didn’t look crisp in a game that didn’t have a lot of flow to it period.  This one can certainly be used as a learning experience as Kansas will face opponents and games that will have a similar feel in the Big 12.” (Rock Chalk Talk or UM Hoops: Recap, John Beilein Interview, Player Interviews)
• #8 Villanova 72, Cincinnati 61: “The Nova Nation watched the second game between two nationally ranked teams in Villanov’s on campus arena today. They got their money’s worth in both of those games.” (Villanova by the Numbers)
• #9 Purdue 75, Iowa 52: “Purdue’s opponent looked sloppy, out of control, confused and out-manned in the opening minutes on Keady Court. It’s something Purdue fans have become accustomed to, especially in the last few seasons. But, if I was to tell you that JJ and Smooge would be quiet offensively during that period, you’d probably think Purdue might be leading 18-16 at the half…but that wasn’t the case.” (Boiled Sports)

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