Notable Results From Saturday, December 17

Syracuse 88, North Carolina State 72
Just a few hours after I had tepidly endorsed Ohio State as the best team in America, the top-ranked Orange made me reconsider that position by ripping off a 23-0 run in Raleigh near the end of the first half. The Wolfpack climbed all the way back into it a the start of the second, but Syracuse won going away. Jim Boeheim's club has a half-dozen guys who can create their own shot, plenty of three-point shooting, and their famous 2-3 zone seems to be creating more turnovers than usual. Scratch what I said earlier -- these guys are my pick.

Butler 67, Purdue 65
Andrew Smith's tip-in with one second left capped a big second-half rally for the Bulldogs, who had struggled with a difficult schedule in the early part of the season. The Boilers went ice-cold from the floor and the free throw line in the second half in blowing their second big second-half lead of the season (they lost to Xavier earlier in the year.)

Baylor 86, BYU 83
Perry Jones III shook off a bruised knee to provide the game-icing putback, the final two of his career-high 28 points. The sixth-ranked Bears trailed by double-digits before pulling out this road win.

Florida 84, Texas A&M 64
The Gators scored 18 of the first 20 points and never looked back, leading by 25 at halftime. Even with Khris Middleton back, the Aggies look no better than the fourth-best team in the Big XII.

Gonzaga 71, Arizona 60
The Bulldogs jumped all over the Wildcats in Seattle, then withstood a late charge. Elias Harris led the Zags with 25.

Louisville 95, Memphis 87
I wish I could have seen this one, but I had Gonzaga-Arizona instead (and ended up watching the Indiana-Notre Dame snoozefest). All seven Cardinals who scored hit double figures, led by Russ Smith's 25. Will Barton led Memphis with 28 points and 16 boards. I suspect that the Tigers, who have been up and down in the early-going, won't be too upset with this performance on the road.

UNLV 64, Illinois 48
The Rebels, who upset then-No. 1 North Carolina with a barrage of three-point shooting, took a different path to victory on Saturday in Chicago, holding the Illini to 25.4 percent shooting and forcing 16 turnovers. Sophomore forward Mike Moser posted his seventh double-double of the year -- he's failed to reach double-figures in rebounds just three times in 13 games this season. Illinois, which jumped into the top 25 by virtue of a win over Gonzaga two weeks ago, lost for the first time this year.

Indiana State 61, Vanderbilt 55
The Sycamores pulled off the day's biggest upset, going on the road to win at Vandy. Now at full strength, this is a disappointing loss for the 6-4 Commodores, who I expected to challenge for the SEC crown.

Georgetown 81, American 55
The Eagles stuck with the Hoyas for a half, which seems to happen every time they play Georgetown.

Iona 73, Vermont 72
UVM scored the first 11 points of the game, but Iona came back behind Michael Glover and Momo Jones. Prior to the tip, UVM retired #45 in honor of Trevor Gaines, a former standout who died in the summer of 2010 while playing a pick-up game in Las Vegas.

Ohio State 74, South Carolina 66

[recap] [box score]

By this time, I usually like to have my national champion picked. Some years, I have a strong feeling about one team; others, I'm more or less guessing by picking one of two or three options.

I'm not doing it this year, though, because there are just too many possibilities and not enough meaningful ways to differentiate among them. I think there are close to ten teams with a legitimate chance to win the title.

But if you forced me to pick one right now, I'd pick Ohio State.

On Today: 12/17/2011

Ohio State at South Carolina (ESPN, noon Eastern)
"The Buckeyes rode Jared Sullinger's 30 points and 19 rebounds to a 79-57 rout of South Carolina last season. Senior forward Malik Cooke fuels coach Darrin Horn's Gamecocks."

Butler vs. Purdue (CBS, 2 p.m. Eastern)
"A rebuilding Butler squad needs big numbers from guard Chrishawn Hopkins, while Purdue counts on the scoring of forward Robbie Hummel. These teams last met in 2006."
(This game is being played at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as part of the Crossroads Classic.)

Temple at Texas (ESPN2, 2:30 p.m. Eastern)
"Owls senior guards Juan Fernandez and Ramone Moore tussle with Texas freshmen Myck Kabongo and Sheldon McClellan. Temple squared the series at 2-2 with a win in the 2001 NCAA tournament."

Arizona vs. Gonzaga (CBS, 4 p.m. Eastern)
"Big men Solomon Hill and Jesse Perry lead the Wildcats against center Robert Sacre and the Zags. These last met in 2008. Arizona leads he series 3-0."
(This one is being played in Seattle. It's also the West Coast game that's part of CBS' regional coverage. Many markets will see Memphis at Louisville.)

Indiana vs. Notre Dame (ESPN2, 4:30 p.m. Eastern)
"Christian Watford and Cody Zeller of the unbeaten Hoosiers collide with forward Jack Cooley of Notre Dame, which bids for its third-straight win in the series after prevailing in 2004 and 2008."
(This game is being played at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as part of the Crossroads Classic.)

Appalachian State at North Carolina (ESPNU, 6 p.m. Eastern)
"UConn transfer Omar Carter leads ASU against John Henson and the rangy Tar Heels."

Syracuse at North Carolina State (ESPN2, 6:30 p.m. Eastern)
"Seniors Kris Joseph and Scoop Jardine fuel the Orange against sophomores C.J. Leslie and Lorenzo Brown of State. Syracuse joins the Wolfpack in the ACC next season."

Houston vs. Oklahoma (ESPNU, 8 p.m. Eastern)
"Sophomore forwards Alandise Harris and Tyler Neal are players to watch."
(This game is being played at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City as part of the All-College Basketball Classic.)

Alabama vs. Kansas State (ESPNU, 10 p.m. Eastern)
Tide senior JaMychal Green takes on K-State freshman Thomas Gipson at power forward."
(This game is being played in Kansas City.)

New Mexico vs. Oklahoma State (ESPN2, 10:30 p.m. Eastern)
"Drew Gordon and LeBryan Nash are forwards in this Mountain West-Big 12 matchup."
(This game is being played at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City as part of the All-College Basketball Classic.)

Notable Results From Wednesday, December 14

Iona 88, Richmond 79
The Gaels added to a nice little non-conference resume by beating the Spiders in Richmond. Iona is averaging nearly 88 points per game, in large part thanks to Scott Machado, who many think is the best pure point guard in the country. Machado had 15 assists in this one, bringing his average to 10.9 through the first ten games, a remarkable number in the college game.

Cincinnati 78, Wright State 58
The Bearcats took the first step toward putting last weekend's ugliness behind them by going in to Dayton and hammering the Raiders. Cincy showed no ill effects from being down two starters, jumping out 17-2 on Wright State and never putting the outcome in doubt.

Maryland 65, Florida International 61
Isiah Thomas' Panthers gave Maryland all it could handle in the Comcast Center, but went cold down the stretch and came up just short in their upset bid.

College of Charleston 71, Tennessee 65
The Vols coughed up a 13-point lead on the road.

Ohio State 82, South Carolina-Upstate 58
Throwing this one in here because Jared Sullinger came off the bench to register 12 points and 10 boards in 25 minutes. Sullinger ha missed the last two gamse with back spasms.

On Tonight: 12/14/2011

Cincinnati at Wright State (ESPN2, 7 p.m. Eastern)
"The Bearcats clawed WSU 77-69 last season behind Sean Kilpatrick's season-high 26 points."

Florida International at Maryland (ESPN, 7:30 p.m. Eastern)
"Senior guard DeJaun Wright leads Isiah Thomas' Golden Panthers into College Park. Sophomore Terrell Stoglin is the go-to scorer for the host Terrapins."

Tennessee at College of Charleston (ESPN2, 9 p.m. Eastern)
"Marquette transfer Jeronne Maymon is an inside force for the Vols. Senior Antwaine Wiggins heads a balanced attack for the Cougars."

Notable Results From Tuesday, December 13

Light day. Light week, actually, with final exams and stuff.

Middle Tennessee State 65, Belmont 62
The Bruins beat the Blue Raiders in double overtime on their home floor on November 20. In the return date, MTSU held Belmont scoreless for the final two minutes, enabling them to win the game despite blowing a 13-point lead in the second half.

Wisconsin 60, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 54
The Badgers had a 17-point lead with 15:17 to go, but got everything they could handle from the Panthers the rest of the way.

South Carolina 66, Presbyterian 58
The Blue Hose led by six at halftime, before the Gamecocks exploded for 47 points in the second half.

Metal Monday: Year-End Lists

With the end of the year nearly upon us, the various and sundry metal blogs out there are compiling their annual "best of" lists. I'm not doing one, because I'm not a music critic and don't listen to hundreds upon hundreds of metal albums every year. Maybe next year.

What I am doing, though, is compiling as many of these lists as I can, and posting them there. Everyone seems to be doing at least a top ten, so I'll list the top ten from each and then give you a link to go view the rest.

I haven't heard most of this stuff, so I can't vouch for it. I will be listening to as much of it as I can on Spotify over the next several days, and I'll post on Twitter anything that I think is really good.

Remember, it's not too late to add your favorites to your Christmas list -- or to give the gift of metal to your loved ones this holiday season.

Notable Results from the Weekend

Kansas 78, Ohio State 67
Kentucky wasn't the only top team to lose on Saturday: the second-ranked Buckeyes fell at Allen Fieldhouse. Ohio State had an excuse, though, with Jared Sullinger missing his second straight game due to back spasms.

Syracuse 85, George Washington 50
With losses by Kentucky and Ohio State, the undefeated Orange are likely to be the number one team in the nation when rankings are released on Monday. After Saturday's game in Raleigh against North Carolina State, the Cuse probably won't be tested until Marquette visits the Carrier Dome on January 7.

Michigan State 74, Gonzaga 67
Not too many teams go into Spokane and win. After season-opening losses to Duke and Carolina, the Spartans have ripped off eight wins in a row against a reasonably difficult schedule.

Austin Peay 74, Tennessee 70
The Governors scored the last eight points on the road to get their second win of the season.

St. Joseph's 80, Creighton 71
Nice non-conference win for St. Joe's against a ranked, good, Creighton team.

Duke 86, Washington 80
Washington fought gamely in the second half, but the Devils won this one fairly easily.

Wisconsin 62, UNLV 51
Since hammering then-No. 1 North Carolina on Thanksgiving weekend, the Runnin' Rebels are 2-2, having won at UCSB (in double overtime) and losing at Wichita State and now Wisconsin. That's a tough schedule UNLV is playing.

Northern Iowa 67, Milwaukee 51
The top of the Missouri Valley scores a big win over the top of the Horizon.

Georgia State 96, Rhode Island 64
The Panthers usually aren't a factor in the Colonial, but have now won seven in a row under first-year coach Ron Hunter. This blowout of Rhodey is probably the most impressive win, but it's also their second straight 32-point win: They held William & Mary to just 34 points to open conference play last weekend.

Cleveland State 69, Akron 66
Horizon over MAC.

Ball State 58, Butler 55
MAC over Horizon.

Pittsburgh 74, Oklahoma State 68
The lone blemish on the Panthers' record remains that early loss to Long Beach State, and they've won the last three without Travon Woodall. My sense is that this team isn't as good as its record, but I guess we'll have to wait until Big East play starts to find out.

Temple 78, Villanova 67
Ramone Moore dropped 32 in this Big Five win for the Owls.

St Francis (PA) 66, American 61
The Eagles raced out to a 14-point halftime lead, but couldn't hang on for a ninth straight win. It's a tough loss to take, with Villanova and Georgetown next up before Christmas.

New Mexico 44, USC 41
Scores like this are why I didn't go to many Trojan games when I was in grad school there. It's just not a fun product to watch.

North Carolina 84, Long Beach State 78
The Beach led by five at halftime, but couldn't contain John Henson. The 49ers still have one more opportunity to make a splash out of conference, with a game on the 22nd at Xavier (though X won't have Mark Lyons or Dezmine Wells for that one).

Wichita State 83, Utah State 76
These two teams always seem to be fighting for an at-large bid if they don't win their conference, and so this is a nice home win for the Shockers.

Marshall 82, Iona 63
The Thundering Herd snapped the Gaels' seven game-winning streak behind Damier Pitts and DeAndre Kane.

Murray State 76, Memphis 72
The Racers, now 10-0, get their fifth road win against Division I competition by upsetting the 21st-ranked Tigers.

Indiana 73, Kentucky 72

[box score] [recap]

It looks like the rebuilding process in Bloomington is complete.

When Tom Crean arrived from Marquette to clean up the mess left by Kevin Sampson, he was given a long leash in terms of on-court results. His skills as a recruiter and as a tactician were secondary in importance to his ability to motivate players and his reputation for running a clean ship. Indiana was willing to put up with a lot of losing to get its hoops program back on track long-term.

During Crean's tenure at the school, the Hoosiers have done plenty of losing. In 2008-09, Crean's first, they went 6-21, following that up with 10-21 and 12-20 campaigns. Despite that lack of success in the win column, however, you could always count on Indiana to show up and play hard. In that regard, then, over the last three seasons, Indiana had plenty of "moral victories," if not traditional ones.

Ranking the Villains in the Xavier-Cincy Fight

If you haven't heard, the Crosstown Shootout -- the rivalry game between Xavier and Cincinnati that is annually one of the most intense basketball games of the season -- ended 9.4 seconds early. That's how much time was left when the officials called the game due to a fight that broke out between several players from both schools.

I generally can't help but roll my eyes at all the hand-wringing that follows the rare fights that do occur in college basketball, the same way I tend to roll my eyes at hand-wringing in general. This wasn't a black eye on the game of college basketball: It was a bunch of people, some of them kids, making a bunch of poor decisions in an emotionally charged environment. We're all prone to these types of errors in judgment.

With that said, a lot of dumb people did some dumb stuff, and it's going to cost them and their teams. Here's the order in which I blame the major players, ranked from most culpable to least:

On Today: 12/10/11

Just an incredible slate of games today. No previews necessary -- most of these matchups speak for themselves.

Washington vs. Duke (CBS, Noon Eastern)
Cincinnati at Xavier (ESPN2, 12:30 p.m. Eastern)
Oklahoma State vs. Pittsburgh (ESPN2, 2:30 p.m. Eastern)
Ohio State at Kansas (ESPN, 3:15 p.m. Eastern)
Villanova at Temple (ESPN2, 5 p.m. Eastern)
Kentucky at Indiana (ESPN, 5:15 p.m. Eastern)
Miami (FL) at West Virginia (ESPN2, 7 p.m. Eastern)
Michigan State at Gonzaga (ESPN2, 9 p.m. Eastern)

On Tonight: 12/9/2011

Just one game tonight as we gear up for a Saturday that is jam-packed with good games.

Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth (ESPN2, 8 p.m. Eastern)
"Guards Cedrick Lindsay and Bradford Burgess head the returnees from squads that combined for seven NCAA tourney wins last March."
(Five of those wins, of course, belong to VCU, which emerged from the play-in round to be a surprise Final Four team. This game is for local bragging rights; VCU is located in Richmond.)

On Tonight: 12/8/2011

Harvard at Connecticut (ESPN2, 7 p.m. Eastern)
"Forward Keith Wright powers Tommy Amaker's Ivy contenders against guards Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier of NCAA-champion UConn. Wright had 18 points and seven rebounds in last season's 81-52 loss."

West Virginia at Kansas State (ESPN2, 9 p.m. Eastern)
"Former K-State coach Bob Huggins faces his old squad as the Mountaineers battle Wildcats guards Rodney McGruder and Will Spradling."

Notable Results From Wednesday, December 7

Florida 78, Arizona 72 (Overtime)
Score one for the "don't foul up three with just a few seconds left" crowd, esoteric as their views might be. Up three with five seconds left, Florida's Casey Prather tried to foul Solomon Hill on the inbounds pass. Hill threw his arms up in the air, the official bought that he was shooting, and Hill calmly drained all three freebies to send it to the extra frame. Fortunately for Prather and Billy Donovan, the Gators prevailed.

Vanderbilt 87, Davidson 83
Festus Ezeli made his season debut with 15 points, six boards, and two blocks in 21 minutes. Jeffery Taylor dropped 30 to key the win.

Dayton 74, Alabama 62
The Flyers jumped out on the Crimson Tide early, then withstood a second-half rally to pull off the upset. Coming off of consecutive blowout losses to Buffalo and Murray State, a win over a ranked opponent is certainly something of a surprise.

American 74, Hampton 72
My alma mater wins its eighth straight, which is the longest win streak I can remember them going on in some time. Vanderbilt transfer Charles Hinkle has won Patriot League player of the week honors twice already this season, and is gunning for a third award this week with 24 points (including 5-of-9 from deep) against Hampton. The next lamb: St. Francis of Pennsylvania, which is supposed to the the worse of the St. Francis'. Though it should be noted that St. Francis of New York lost by 40 on Saturday at Wagner.

Nebraska 51, Florida Gulf Coast 50
The Huskers needed a late jumper from Dylan Talley to dispatch the 3-6 Eagles. Could be a long first "Big Ten" campaign in Lincoln.

Lafayette 61, Penn State 57
Circle January 11 on your calendars. That's when the Nittany Lions travel to Lincoln to play the Cornhuskers. Both squads are likely to be looking for their first conference win, and it could be a while (say, February 11, the return date at State College) before either squad gets another.

Princeton 59, Rutgers 57
The Tigers won on a layup by Ian Hummer with three seconds left. Doesn't sound like it was a backdoor play, though.

Wichita State 77, Tulsa 67
The Shockers follow up a thrashing of UNLV with an impressive road win over the Golden Hurricane.

Xavier 73, Butler 61
It seems like every time I watch Xavier, they fall asleep during some part of the game. Usually it's the beginning. At Hinkle Fieldhouse, they jumped out big, then let Butler back into it in the second half.

Iona 80, Denver 78 (Overtime)
Randy Dezouvre, averaging just 4.6 ppg this year, hit the game-winning jumper for the Gaels on the road.

And a couple random mid-major scores that I think are worth noting but have nothing to say about:

Ohio 84, Oakland 82

IPFW 85, Valparaiso 76

Previewing Missouri-Kansas, With the Help of Long Beach State

Tuesday night was a real treat for me, as my two pet teams of this season, Missouri and Long Beach State, each played nationally-televised games in opposing time slots. Missouri cruised to a relatively easy win over Villanova at Madison Square Garden, while the Beach got into a big hole early against Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse and couldn't quite climb out of it.

Watching the two games, I couldn't help but notice the similarities between the Tigers and the 49ers. Both teams start four perimeter players, both like to get up and down the court, and both are only about seven players deep. And since Missouri and Kansas are likely to challenge for the Big 12 crown and meet twice this year in the regular season, I thought that we might be able to learn something about Missouri's probability of success against Kansas by seeing how the Beach played the Jayhawks.

On Tonight: 12/7/2011

Arizona at Florida (ESPN, 7 p.m. Eastern)
"Senior guards Kyle Fogg and Erving Walker are key holdovers from squads that made the NCAA Elite Eight last season."
(Walker's got a lot more by way of reinforcements than Fogg.)

Colorado State at Duke (ESPN2, 7 p.m. Eastern)
"The Rams of the Mountain West visit Cameron Indoor Stadium, where Duke has won its last 89 non-conference games. Junior guards Wes Eikmeier (sic?) and Seth Curry square off."
(No clue what this game is doing on TV.)

Central Connecticut State vs. Michigan State (ESPNU, 7:00 p.m. Eastern)
"Michigan native Kyle Vinales heads a high-scoring trio for CCSU. Senior forward Draymond Green keys Tom Izzo's Spartans."
(I was skeptical, but it turns out that CCSU indeed has a "high-scoring trio," with three players who each average better than 20 points per game. Unfortunately, this also means they have a "low-scoring rest of team" -- the other eight Blue Devils who have seen action this year average just 16 points combined. I'm not sure in what capacity Vinales "heads" this group (he averages fewer points than both Ken Horton and Robby Ptacek). but I guess the fact that he's a Michigander -- yep, that's what they're called -- is the hook here.)

Xavier at Butler (ESPN, 9 p.m. Eastern)
"Xavier edged the Bulldogs 51-49 last season on late free throws by Mark Lyons. The teams shot a woeful 5-for-36 from beyond the arc."
(Way to sell this one!)

St. Bonaventure at Illinois (ESPN2, 9 p.m. Eastern)
"Senior Andrew Nicholson mans the middle for the Bonnies against Illinois junior guards D.J. Richardson and Brandon Paul."
(If Xavier-Butler gets out of hand -- and it should, unless X spends the first 30 minutes screwing around, like they usually do -- this could be a good game to switch to. The Bonnies are supposed to have a decent team this year, and Illinois is a surprising 8-0 and climbed into the Top 25 with wins at Maryland and over Gonzaga last week.)

Oklahoma State at Missouri State (ESPNU, 9 p.m. Eastern)
"Freshman LeBryan Nash and the Cowboys battle Missouri State seniors Caleb Patterson and Kyle Weems, whose 20 points led the Bears in last season's 84-70 loss."
(The Missouri Valley already has 16 wins -- against just 11 losses -- this season over teams that are above the red line. I think another here is more likely than not.)

Notable Results From Tuesday, December 6

Missouri 81, Villanova 71
Mizzou opened the Jimmy V Classic with an uneven performance against a game but overmatched Villanova squad.

Marquette 79, Washington 77
Missed the nightcap of the Jimmy V because I was watching LBSU-Kansas, but it looked like a good one. Glad I have it waiting for me on my DVR.

Kansas 88, Long Beach State 80
The Beach fell behind early in Allen Fieldhouse and couldn't recover. blog content preview: I'll have more about this game Wednesday afternoon, in a post that covers both of these teams and Missouri. But I need to re-watch this game first.

Syracuse 62, Marshall 56
The Orange remain undefeated through a tough test at the Carrier Dome. Many think the Thundering Herd, which already won at Cincinnati this season, can challenge Memphis for the Conference USA championship.

Northern Iowa 80, Iowa 60
The Panthers establish Hawkeye State supremacy with a resounding win over -- well, over the Hawkeyes. I hope they still do the Interlude Dance during home games in Cedar Falls.

Columbia 46, Holy Cross 45
Nothing says Ivy-Patriot quite like a 91-point game in which the winning team shot just 24.6 percent. Holy Cross scorched the nets, relatively speaking, by shooting 38.3 percent, but had three times as many turnovers (18) as Columbia did (in the spirit of an Ivy-Patriot matchup, I'll leave it to you to figure out how many turnovers the Lions had). Columbia's Marc Cisco -- the only player from either team to score in double figures -- spared the crowd of 539 the pain of overtime by hitting one of two from the line with two seconds left.

Louisiana Tech 94, Northwestern State 93 (Double Overtime)
Both the Bulldogs and Demons scored more points than Columbia and Holy Cross combined for, though they needed an extra ten minutes to do it. This game is what I love about college basketball, by the way. On a Tuesday night, you can walk into a gym in Ruston, Louisiana (should you be so unlucky as to find yourself there) and watch a freshman bank in a running 24-footer at the double overtime buzzer to win it.

On Tonight: 12/6/2011

Missouri vs. Villanova (ESPN, 7 p.m. Eastern)
"Tigers seniors Marcus Denmon and Kim English tackle an experienced 'Nova squad led by point guard Maalik Wayns."
(This is the first game of the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. I'm telling you -- do not miss an opportunity to see Missouri.

Evansville at North Carolina (ESPNU, 7 p.m. Eastern)
"Big guard Colt Ryan leads the Purple Aces into Chapel Hill, looking to avenge last season's 76-49 loss to the Tar Heels. Indiana native Tyler Zeller's 18 points led UNC."
(As I said above, you don't want to miss the chance to see Missouri -- especially to watch this mismatch. North Carolina, losers of two of their last three, will get right against Evansville.)

Marquette vs. Washington (ESPN, 9 p.m. Eastern)
"Darius Johnson-Odom and Terrence Ross are backcourt forces. Both teams lost to North Carolina in last season's NCAA tourney."
(This is the second game of the Jimmy V. Don't forget, though -- Jim Valvano's hair-raising speech from the 1993 ESPY awards will be televised, as is traditional, during the break between games.)

Memphis at Miami (ESPN2, 9 p.m. Eastern)
"A matchup of top backcourts led by Will Barton and Malcolm Grant. The Tigers edged Miami 72-68 last season despite Grant's 18 points and seven rebounds."
(Watching Memphis makes my head hurt. I'm only watching this one if the other games become blowouts.)

Long Beach State at Kansas (ESPNU, 9 p.m. Eastern)
"Dan Monson's 49ers continue a challenging non-conference slate at Allen Fieldhouse, where junior forward Thomas Robinson stars for Kansas."
(I never miss the Valvano ESPY speech -- never. But if I were going to miss it, another chance to see Casper Ware and the rest of the Long Beach State 49ers go against another of college basketball's royalty would be a compelling reason.)

Notable Results From December 5, 2011

Detroit 69, St. John's 63
The Titans, missing four contributors due to injuries and suspensions, knock off the Red Storm, who were without their head coach. (Steve Lavin's recovery from prostate cancer has dictated that he take occasional games off.) Detroit is now 1-0 on the newly-christened Dick Vitale Court at Calihan Hall. Vitale went 78-30 in four seasons as Detroit's head coach.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee 87, DePaul 76
Like Detroit over St. John's, this game marked a victory for the Horizon over the Big East, with this one coming on the road. Even with two-time reigning national runner-up Butler struggling to start the season, the Horizon is looking mighty tough.

Austin Peay 86, Arkansas State 82 (Overtime)
The Governors, picked by most to win the Ohio Valley, get their first win of the season -- barely -- in ten tries over a fairly mediocre Arkansas State club. Mediocre may be generous -- the Red Wolves scored just 27 points in a loss to Louisville earlier this season.

Metal Monday: New Lamb of God Track

Despite their massive popularity, I've never really gotten into Lamb of God. I've never been one of those people who is constantly searching for new music -- I am just a tad too old to have taken full advantage of Napster, and I'm more likely to use streaming radio for background music while I do something else, so I'm not sitting there tweaking my stations and feverishly tracking new music to listen to. I'm starting to do that a bit more, for the purposes of this column and for my own personal enjoyment, but throughout most of my life, I've basically been satisfied listening to the same bands year after year after year.

Anyway, when I first heard Lamb of God, it was at a time when I was strongly adverse to the throaty growls that characterize the vocals of so many sub-genres of heavy metal. I really couldn't stand them, and so any band that employed them really have a chance with me.

For whatever reason, my taste has changed, and I don't mind them as much. While I think I'll always prefer the more "normal" singing of most thrash and speed, I listen to my fair share of death and black metal and have come to a certain peace with this vocal style.

I'm glad I have, too, because Lamb of God has some great stuff going on behind the vocals. After checking out the free stream of a new track, "Ghost Walking" (a/s Metalsucks.net), I spent some time this morning listening to Lamb of God's catalog on Spotify -- and came away with plenty of stuff to put into the rotation. I'm now eagerly awaiting the January 24 release of Resolution, the album on which "Ghost Walking" appears.

On Tonight: 12/1/2011

I haven't been able to watch much due to being busy with some life stuff, so no recaps for the last couple days. I'm not sure what I'll be able to get to towards the end of the week, but we're moving from the Big Ten/ACC Challenge to the Big East/SEC version.

Providence at South Carolina (ESPNU, 7 p.m. Eastern)
"Juniors Vincent Council and Lakeem Jackson key these squads."
(I have no idea which teams these guys play for.)

St. John's at Kentucky (ESPN2, 7:30 p.m. Eastern)
"Newcomers litter both lineups, including forwards God'sgift Achiuwa and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Rupp Arena was the site of St. John's last Final Four appearance, in 1985."
(The last thing you want is a lineup littered with newcomers. Unless you're Kentucky, the #1 team in the land.)

Mississippi at DePaul (ESPNU, 9 p.m. Eastern)
"Terrance Henry and Cleveland Melvin are standout forwards."
(I'm sure they are. I know this one, though! Melvin plays for DePaul, so Henry must suit up for Ole Miss.)

Georgetown at Alabama (ESPN2, 9:30 p.m. Eastern)
"Forwards Hollis Thompson and JaMychal Green spark this Big East/SEC Challenge matchup."
(This is really the only interesting game on the docket.)

On Tonight: 11/30/2011

4-2, Big Ten, in the first night of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. I went 4-2 in my picks, missing on Michigan (they lost at Virginia) and Maryland (which lost at home to Illinois), but hitting on Northwestern (winners at Georgia Tech), Purdue (winners over Miami), Clemson (easy winners at Iowa) and Ohio State (huge winners over Duke at the Nuthouse).

Here's tonight's slate of games, with my picks in parentheses.

Indiana at North Carolina State (ESPN2, 7:15 p.m. Eastern)
"Christian Watford and C.J. Leslie are top forwards for squads on three-game losing streaks in [the Challenge]."
(Indiana)

Penn State at Boston College (ESPNU, 7:15 p.m. Eastern)
"Former BU coach Patrick Chambers takes over the Nittany Lions, while BC looks to continue its perfect record (5-0) in this event."
(BC in what could be a real stinker. You know a game isn't interesting when the "hook" is that one coach used to coach at another school in the same city as the opponent.)

Florida State at Michigan State (ESPN, 7:30 p.m. Eastern)
"Big guards Michael Snaer and Branden Dawson key squads that are both riding three game losing streaks in [the Challenge]."
(Michigan State)

Virginia Tech at Minnesota (ESPN2, 9:15 p.m. Eastern)
"Dorian Finney-Smith is a Tech freshman to watch, while fellow forward Trevor Mbakwe stars for the Golden Gophers, who are on a 1-7 slide in [the Challenge]."
(Virginia Tech. Sadly, Mbakwe won't be starring for anyone for a while: He tore his ACL in Orlando during the Old Spice Classic and is out for the year. Without him, the Gophers are in trouble.)

Wake Forest at Nebraska (ESPNU, 9:15 p.m. Eastern)
Travis McKie and Jorge Brian Diaz key the frontourts as the Demon Deacons (9-2 in [the Challenge]) visit the Big Ten's newcomers."
(Nebraska)

Wisconsin at North Carolina (ESPN, 9 p.m. Eastern)
"Badgers senior Jordan Taylor and UNC sophomore Kendall Marshall square off at point guard in the finale of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Big Ten had the edge the [last] two years, snapping a 10-year reign by the ACC."
(North Carolina, but only if Harrison Barnes plays.)

Notre Dame at Gonzaga (ESPN2, 11:15 p.m. Eastern)
"Forwards Tim Abromaitis and Elias Harris collide in a Big East-WCC matchup in Spokane. Both teams were bounced in the round-of-32 in last season's NCAAs."
(Not a Big Ten/ACC Challenge game, but I'm rolling here, and it's easy to pick: Gonzaga in a laugher. Notre Dame sucked even before Abromaitis, like Mbakwe, was lost to a torn ACL last week. The Irish beat Bryant by 25 in their first game without their best player, but the Zags in Spokane is a tougher test by orders of magnitude.)

On Tonight: 11/29/11

Got the Big Ten/ACC Challenge this week, so plenty of good viewing mid-week leading up to some real treats on the weekend.

Tuesday's Big Ten/ACC slate below, complete with Time Warner previews. And, what the heck, I'll predict the winners, too.

Michigan at Virginia (7 p.m. Eastern, ESPN2)
"Tim Hardaway Jr. and Joe Harris are stellar sophomore guards for these squads. The Big Ten has taken [the Challenge] 6-5 the last two seasons."
(Prediction: Michigan)

Northwestern at Georgia Tech (7:15 p.m. Eastern, ESPNU)
"Bill Carmody's Wildcats have won three in a row in [the Challenge], while Brian Gregory takes over a Tech squad that's on a three-game skid."
(Prediction: Northwestern)

Illinois at Maryland (7:30 p.m. Eastern, ESPN)
"Mark Turgeon takes over the Terrapins, whose six-game win streak in [the Challenge] includes two victories over Illinois. Junior guards D.J. Richardson and Brandon Paul spark the Illini."
(Prediction: Maryland)

Miami at Purdue (9 p.m. Eastern, ESPN2)
"New coach Jim Larranaga's Hurricanes blow into West Lafayette to tackle Boilermaker seniors Robbie Hummel and Lewis Jackson."
(Prediction: Purdue)

Clemson at Iowa (9:15 p.m. Eastern, ESPNU)
"Reigning Big Ten assists leader Bryce Cartwright and Clemson senior Andre Young head the backcourts."
(Prediction: Clemson)

Duke at Ohio State (9:30 p.m. Eastern, ESPN)
"Jared Sullinger rubs elbows with the Plumlee brothers in a matchup of top performers from each conference in this 13th-year event. Duke is 11-1 while the Buckeyes are 5-5."
(Prediction: Ohio State)

Louisville 79, Long Beach State 66

[recap] [box score]

So much of this game was decided by fouls.

In the first half, T.J. Robinson picked up a quick two. The 49ers are not deep, and when one of their four perimeter/wing players goes out, their first sub off the bench is freshman point guard Mike Caffey. Caffey has had an okay first few college games as a role player, but he was not ready for the speed and pressure of the Louisville defense. His entrance into the lineup also requires that Casper Ware -- the team's best scorer, ballhandler, and playmaker -- play off the ball more, because Caffey can't.

Caffey's struggles and the ball being out of Ware's hands allowed Louisville to build a double-digit first-half lead, even as their point guard, Peyton Siva, sat on the bench with two fouls. The Cardinals are a lot deeper than the 49ers and can handle foul trouble to one of their players, even with some of the injuries they've suffered.

In the second half, though, Louisville found itself with foul problems of its own.

Xavier 82, Vanderbilt 70 (Overtime)

[recap] [box score]

I was pretty high on Vanderbilt's chances to win the SEC heading into this season. I love their experience compared to Kentucky's youth, and as talented as Florida's guards are, I'm not enamored of their decision-making and think it will be the Gators' ultimate undoing.

When Festus Ezeli went down with a knee injury that would keep him on the shelf until mid-December, I expected some early-season struggles from the Commodores (though not necessarily the loss to Cleveland State). After watching them lose a ten-point second half lead in this one, though, my confidence in their ability to win the SEC is shaken.

Not because they're missing Ezeli. He'll back in time for conference play. No, it's because of their point guard.

Metal Monday: Taking the Easy Way Out

I've got a ton of stuff to do today and no time to post substantively. So I'll take the easy way out. For what I assume is a limited time, you can stream Cormorant's Dwellings in its entirety, thanks to our friends at National Public Radio. I had a listen this morning, and it's good.

(a/s MetalSucks.net)

On Tonight; 11/28/2011

Back after a bit of a holiday hiatus. I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving.

Long Beach State at Louisville (ESPNU, 7 p.m. Eastern)

Xavier at Vanderbilt (ESPN2, 7 p.m. Eastern)

Tennessee at Oakland (ESPNU, 9 p.m. Eastern)

Harvard 59, Central Florida 49

[recap] [box score]

Last week, a Northwestern team that has never been to the NCAA Tournament put the nation on notice by winning the Charleston Classic. This week, a Harvard team that also has never been to the NCAA Tournament put the nation on notice by winning the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas.

Harvard blew out a terrible Utah team in the first round, stunned Florida State in a brick-fest in the semis, then beat UCF rather easily in Saturday's final.

In many ways, Harvard is a stereotypical Ivy team. They don't have a standout player; they slow the tempo down; they shoot well; they move the ball extremely well; and they play smart.

Connecticut 78, Florida State 76 (Overtime)

[recap] [box score]

When a team is depends heavily on one player -- as Connecticut indisputably depended on Kemba Walker last season -- and that player leaves, it's natural to expect a bit of a decline in the following season. So I looked upon UConn's lofty preseason ranking with a bit of skepticism. I wasn't all that impressed when I saw them in their season-opener against Columbia, and I took Friday's collapse against Central Florida as justification of that skepticism.

After watching them beat Florida State in the consolation game of the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, however, I'm starting to believe that they can defend their title.

On Today: 11/24/11

Thanksgiving for most people is about family, food, and football -- in varying order, depending on the person. But there's always a ton of college basketball on, too, and that means two feasts for me on Thanksgiving Day: One at the dinner table, and one in front of the TV.

Three preseason holiday tournaments tip-off tomorrow: The Old Spice Classic, in Orlando; the 76 Classic, in Anaheim; and the Battle 4 Atlantis, in the Bahamas. All four quarterfinals of the Old Spice and the 76 are being televised on the ESPN family of networks. The first two quarterfinals in the Bahamas are being televised on Versus, and the second two -- Connecticut vs. UNC-Asheville and Harvard vs. Utah -- are on HDNet (I haven't included these latter two because I'm unfamiliar with HDNet).

At any rate, the fields aren't super-strong this year, but I'll definitely be getting up early after a midnight showing of the new Muppets movie to check out Indiana State, a contender in the Missouri Valley. I'll probably watch Saint Louis vs. Boston College in the second slot -- the Billikens should win easily, but I'd like a chance to see them. Nothing else really stands out, but you know me: I'll watch as much as I can.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Indiana State vs. Texas Tech (ESPN2, noon Eastern)
Old Spice Classic

DePaul vs. Minnesota (ESPN2, 2 p.m. Eastern)
Old Spice Classic

Boston College vs. Saint Louis (ESPNU, 2 p.m. Eastern)
76 Classic

Central Florida vs. College of Charleston (Versus, 2 p.m. Eastern)
Battle 4 Atlantis

UC-Riverside vs. Villanova (ESPN2, 4:30 p.m. Eastern)
76 Classic

Florida State vs. Massachusetts (Versus, 4:30 p.m. Eastern)
Battle 4 Atlantis

Dayton vs. Wake Forest (ESPN2, 7 p.m. Eastern)
Old Spice Classic

Arizona State vs. Fairfield (ESPN2, 9 p.m. Eastern)
Old Spice Classic

New Mexico vs. Santa Clara (ESPNU, 9 p.m. Eastern)
76 Classic

Oklahoma vs. Washington State (ESPN2, 11:30 p.m. Eastern)
76 Classic

Notable Results From Wednesday, November 23

San Diego State 61, Arizona 57
The Aztecs follow a home win over Long Beach State with a defeat of Arizona at the McKale Center. The Pac 12 is really struggling so far this year.

Syracuse 69, Virginia Tech 58
The Orange took a while to get going, but pulled away from the Hokies in the Preseason NIT semis at Madison Square Garden.

Stanford 82, Oklahoma State 67
This one was not as close as the score indicates. The Cardinal move on to play the Orange in a battle of colors on Friday in the Preseason NIT championship game.

Iona 104, St. Joseph's 99 2OT
The Gaels continue their early success with this victory over St. Joe's out of the Atlantic 10. Scott Machado registered double-figure assists for the fourth time in four games and, oh yeah, scored 33 points -- good for second on his own team (behind Michael Glover's 34.)

Denver 70, St. Mary's 58
It wasn't until compiling these results that I realized that there were (at least) two college basketball teams with the Gael mascot. Anyway, these Gaels -- the St. Mary's Gaels -- didn't do their NCAA Tournament resume any favors, should it need it, by losing this one on the road. Denver isn't going to be battling for an at-large berth come March, but St. Mary's might be, and this one will probably count as a "bad loss."

Detroit 94, Austin Peay 93
The Governors are still winless. The OVC looks more and more open by the day.

Oregon 83, Nebraska 76
The Ducks win their second in a row following the departure of highly-touted freshman Jabari Brown. There's no causal relationship here; just using this as an excuse to deliver the Brown news. Apparently, the door is open for him to come back, so we'll see if this is permanent, or just a temporary sabbatical.

Vermont 65, Old Dominion 63 OT
A very nice road win for the Catamounts and first-year head coach John Becker.

South Alabama 79, LSU 75 OT
Lots of overtime games today. Let's throw 'em all in.

North Dakota 88, Montana 81 OT
See above. I find it amusing that these two teams play each other pretty much every season, as though it is some sort of regionally convenient matchup. Grand Forks and Missoula are more than 1,000 miles away from each other. I suppose they do it out of some sort of mutual obligation -- neither of these programs are able to schedule many
home games, so they scratch each other's backs. Meanwhile, Syracuse won't leave the state of New York until December 17 -- which seems early for them, to be honest.

Colorado 76, Air Force 73 OT

Loyola Marymount 79, Idaho State 76 OT

Postcard From Maui

Someone send me one.

Rather than write a bunch of recaps, I thought I'd write a few sentences about each of the Division I teams that played in the Maui Invitational this week, and what they will take away from the island as they play the rest of their non-conference schedule.

On Today: 11/23/2011

Chaminade vs. Tennessee (ESPNU, 2:30 p.m. Eastern)
The nice thing (okay, one of the nice things) about going to the Maui over the other preseason tournaments is that you are all but guaranteed to come away with at least one win: Lose the first two and you still get DIII Chaminade, the tournament host, in the seventh-place game. If the Vols manage to lose this one, they'll undo all the good work they did in playing Duke and Memphis tough.

Memphis vs. Georgetown (ESPN2, 5 p.m. Eastern)
The Maui fifth-place game. There are some similarities between Georgetown's offense and the one that Michigan used to beat Memphis in the first round of this tournament.

Oklahoma State vs. Stanford (ESPN2, 7 p.m. Eastern)
This is the first semifinal of the preseason NIT.

Siena at Georgia Tech (ESPNU, 7 p.m. Eastern)
"Guards Kyle Downey and Mfon Udofia are floor leaders in a MAAC-ACC matchup."
(Because when the MAA and ACC get together, you can throw out the record books. Why anyone would watch this game given the other options is beyond me.)

Michigan vs. UCLA (ESPN, 7:30 p.m. Eastern)
The third-place game of the Maui Invitational.

Syracuse vs. Virginia Tech (ESPN2, 9 p.m. Eastern)
The second preseason NIT semi will probably tip closer to 9:30 Eastern.

Duke vs. Kansas (ESPN, 10 p.m. Eastern)
The championship game of the Maui Invitational. Duke's a heavy favorite to run their all-time record in the Maui to 15-0 and collect their fifth tournament title.

Notable Results From Tuesday, November 22

Missouri 92, California 53
The CBE Classic final ended up being such a big mismatch that I gave up my plans to write any sort of recap. I still have Cal as my favorite to win the Pac 12, but this was a forgettable performance. As for Missouri, with Steve Moore turning in a breakout performance to give the Tigers a solid seven-man rotation, well, I think Frank Haith's got something special brewing in Columbia.

Kansas 72, UCLA 56
The Bruins finally showed a pulse, erasing most of a big deficit in the second half before faltering in the final four minutes in the Maui semis.

Memphis 99, Tennessee 97 (2OT)
Basketball does not have to be pretty to be entertaining. Memphis had a big first-half lead and lost it due to poor shot selection; after coming all the way back, Tennessee had the lead in overtime but lost it due to poor shot selection. The rematch -- January 4 at the Fedex Forum in Memphis -- should be fun.

George Washington 54, Austin Peay 52
They've played a tough schedule, but I don't think there were too many people who thought the Governors, preseason favorites in the Ohio Valley, would start the season 0-5. It doesn't get much easier for them, either; Detroit's up on Wednesday, then a rematch with Middle Tennessee State on Saturday.

Coastal Carolina 60, Clemson 59
Coastal got a tip-in at the buzzer from Chris Gradnigo to pull of the upset. The 5-0 Chanticleers have played only two games against DI opponents, but they've now beaten both Clemson and LSU.

Illinois State 76, Rutgers 70
The Redbirds are not considered a good Missouri Valley team. This is an embarrassing loss for Rutgers at the Cancun Challenge.

Louisville 54, Arkansas State 27
Twenty-seven points in 40 minutes while hitting less than a quarter of your shots is disgraceful for any Division I basketball team.

USC 65, Morgan State 62
The Trojans had to claw back in the final minutes to avoid a fourth straight loss.

Cleveland State 57, Kent State 53
Vanderbilt ... St. Bonaventure ... now Kent State. The Vikings are an impressive 4-0.

Bowling Green 65, Detroit 57
The Falcons are hosting a CBE Classic subregional and follow up a win over Austin Peay with one over Detroit. Next up: GW.

American 74, Quinnipiac 73
Three in a row now for Doc Slam's alma mater. Charles Hinkle led the way with 31 points. Blake Jolivette provided the winning points with a late free throw, one of 34 makes (on 48 attempts) for the Eagles.

Duke 82, Michigan 75

[recap] [box score]

Duke won this one because they shot well for two halves, and Michigan only shot well for one (the second). The Wolverines played all sorts of defenses, and played them well, but the Devils hit a bunch of pretty tough threes. All the junk defenses in the world won't matter if your opponent hits half its threes and better than 56 percent of its shots for the game.

On Today: 11/22/2011

Memphis vs. Tennessee (ESPN2, 2 p.m. Eastern)
A consolation bracket game in the Maui Invitational.

Chaminade vs. Georgetown (ESPN2, 4:30 p.m. Eastern)
Another consolation bracket game in the Maui Invitational.

Michigan vs. Duke (ESPN, 7 p.m. Eastern)
The first Maui semifinal is a rematch from last year's NCAA Tournament. I would not be at all surprised if the Wolverines pick up their second big win in as many days by beating the Devils.

Notre Dame vs. Georgia (ESPNU, 7:45 p.m. Eastern)
Both of this teams looked terrible in the semifinals of the CBE Classic, though to be fair, they both played good teams. Both should be hungry for redemption.

Missouri vs. California (ESPN2, 10 p.m. Eastern)
I previewed this championship game of the CBE Classic in my recap of the California-Georgia semi.

UCLA vs. GKansas (ESPN, 9:30 p.m. Eastern)
The Bruins led by just two at half against Division III Chaminade before running away in their opening round Maui Invitational game. A win here would go a long way towards righting their horrific start.

Notable Results From Monday, November 21

Kansas 67, Georgetown 63
This was a good game; I just didn't the juice to do a full write-up when the final horn sounded a bit after 11 p.m. Pacific. Both teams defended well, both are still looking for a consistent third offensive option. Ultimately, I think the #14 ranking for Kansas is a bit high, but the Hoyas played at their level all night.

Vanderbilt 64, Oregon State 62
Brad Tinsley hit a 15-footer with 4.5 seconds left to give the Commodores the Legends Classic championship over the resilient Beavers. Jeffery Taylor held Jared Cunningham to just nine points after Cunningham had scored 35 and 37 points in his last two outings. Vanderbilt looked ready to break open a tied game at halftime, going on 10-1 run to start the second, but even without Cunningham hitting, Oregon State hung tough.

North Carolina State 77, Texas 74
The Longhorns led by 13 with 8:25 to go, when J'Covan Brown picked up his fourth foul, then got hit with a tech for arguing for his fifth. The Wolfpack outscored Texas 25-9 the rest of the way to take third place in the Legends Classic.

Marquette 59, Norfolk State 57
The Golden Eagles squeak by in the Paradise Jam championship game. With wins over Drexel and TCU and then this narrow loss, the Spartans leave the Virgin Islands a seeming contender in the MEAC.

George Washington 86, Detroit 73
Detroit hasn't proven itself yet, but they're expected to challenge for the Horizon title. That makes this a nice win for a GW team that hasn't been too relevant lately.

Massachusetts 82, Boston College 46
Looks like BC really sucks this year. Coming off an 18-point loss at Holy Cross, the Eagles get blown out at home by a UMass team that was picked to finish 12th out of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 in the preseason coaches/media poll.

California 70, Georgia 46

[recap] [box score]

I'm afraid I don't have much to say about Georgia, other than that they hung with Cal for most of the first half. But the Golden Bears got the last 14 points of the first 20 minutes, and extended the run to 29-4 to put the game away. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the first McDonald's All-America to play at Georgia in like two decades, has a good-looking three-point shot. Gets off the floor quick, nice release. That's all I've got.

I've got plenty on Cal, though, and I'm really looking forward to seeing them tangle with Missouri Tuesday night.

Missouri 87, Notre Dame 58

[recap] [box score]

It could be that Missouri is just a bad matchup for Notre Dame. The Tigers, who start four guards, had a big speed and quickness advantage over the Irish on the perimeter. Of course, that means that Notre Dame had a corresponding size advantage on the interior. Unfortunately for ND, their biggest starter, Jack Cooley, isn't the kind of player you can throw the ball to in the post and have him be an offensive threat. And while Tim Abromaitis had his way shooting mid-range jumpers over the smaller guys trying to guard him, the Notre Dame guards proved to be completely incapable of getting the Irish good looks against the quick Missouri ball pressure. In order to take advantage of size mismatches, you have to have guards capable of initiating the offense. Eric Atkins has battled some health problems in the early going, and so I won't come down too hard on him, but despite the fact that Mizzou is under-sized, you're going to need solid guard play to beat them.

It could also be that Notre Dame just isn't very good.

Duke 77, Tennessee 67

[recap] [box score]

New Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin apparently has some of policy that if his guys play hard on defense and on the boards, they'll can more or less do what they want offensively. He might want to re-consider that policy; some of his guys -- most notably Cameron Tatum and Jordan McRae -- really take advantage of that long leash when it comes to shot selection.

Other than that, though, Martin is off to a good start in place of disgraced former coach Bruce Pearl. He's got a bunch of interchangeable parts -- ten Vols scored in the first half against Duke -- who play hard and don't back down. The Vols stuck with Duke for most of the game despite the fact that their best player, Trae Golden, played just a few minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, and the fact that they didn't make a three-pointer in a game for the first time since 1997. And the game would have been even closer had they converted some easy looks underneath. Jeronne Maymon had a particularly tough night in that regard; he led the team with 14 points and 12 rebounds, but made just five of 14 shots.

Michigan 73, Memphis 61

[recap] [box score]

My first impression of Trey Burke, Michigan's freshman point guard, was not a particularly good one. He gave up an early bucket to Joe Jackson, and I thought he could be in for a long afternoon against the talented Memphis sophomore.

Burke caught my attention, though, by working around Jackson for a short jumper on the other end. From that point forward, it was hard to find something about Burke's play to criticize.

There are not many freshmen playing in their fourth college game who would handle the frenetic pressure of a team as long and athletic as Memphis better than Burke did. He safely transported the ball across mid-court and took the early offense when it was there, pulling the ball out and setting up the halfcourt sets more often than not. He looked for his own shot often enough to qualify as a real scoring threat, but never forced it.

Metal Monday: Speedwolf

If you like Motorhead, you'll like Speedwolf. (If you don't like Motorhead, get the f -- well, you know.)

These guys have been around for a few years, but their first full-length album, Ride With Death, came out two weeks ago. A couple of tracks were streaming for free a few weeks ago, and having heard them, I have to agree with one review I read, which said (and I'm paraphrasing here) "Speedwolf doesn't do anything groundbreaking, but that doesn't mean that they still aren't really good."

The band isn't popular enough, or the album hasn't been out long enough, for the whole album to have shown up on YouTube yet. (Either that, or Speedwolf fans are more respectful of intellectual property than most.) For some reason, the player on the band's Myspace page isn't working on my computer -- it may on yours, though, so check it out. (They've got six tracks there.) You can also hear a couple of tracks on their Facebook page.

Finally, you can go here, a metal merch site that has some Speedwolf stuff. They've got three tracks -- "I am the Demon," "Denver 666," and "Speedwolf" streaming there. The music starts on its own as soon as you get there, so make sure your volume is up.

On Today: 11/21/2011

Memphis vs. Michigan (ESPN2, 3 p.m. Eastern)
The first Maui quarterfinal is a tasty morsel to kick off Feast Week. Michigan likes to play a 1-3-1 zone, which requires patience and poise to attack -- something that Memphis generally lacks. It's also vulnerable inside. Memphis' bigs end up in foul trouble more often than not, but Beilein's three-heavy offensive system doesn't draw a lot of fouls.

Duke vs. Tennessee (ESPN2, 5:30 p.m. Eastern)
The Maui field is chock full of high-profile programs, but a few of them, like Tennessee, are in a bit of down cycle. Other than Memphis/Michigan, the real fireworks might not start until the semifinals. Tennessee will play hard, but beating the Devils is probably beyond the pale.

Missouri vs. Notre Dame (ESPN2, 7:30 p.m. Eastern)
The Irish get Tim Abromaitis back from a four-game suspension due to, seriously, playing in two exhibition games before his sophomore season. It's a little more complicated than that, and I suppose we should applaud the NCAA for being somewhat reasonable and docking him only four games instead of taking his entire year of eligibility away, but man, some of these rules are archaic.

California vs. Georgia (ESPN2, 9:30 p.m. Eastern)
I liked Cal to win the Pac 12 before the season, and with the way UCLA and Arizona have played to start the year, I like them even more now. This and the Mizzou-ND game are the semifinals of the CBE Classic in Kansas City.

Chaminade vs. UCLA (ESPNU, 9:30 p.m. Eastern)
The Bruins have started the season disastrously, but a loss to the Divsion III Silverswords would still raise some eyebrows.

Georgetown vs. Kansas (ESPN2, midnight Eastern)
This has the potential to be the second-most interesting Maui quarterfinal. Kansas has a bunch of guys you've never heard of, but they hung with Kentucky for a half in Madison Square Garden last week. Georgetown is being described by many as sort of an unknown quantity this season. Jason Clark surprised me by taking a big step forward in his junior season; he'll need to take another one this year if Georgetown is going to compete in the Big East.

Notable Results From Sunday, November 20

Alabama 65, Purdue 56
The Crimson Tide played some great defense in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic championship game, but the Boilermakers were complicit. Purdue runs a lot of screens off the ball, but they don't really have the shooters to make this offense work. The three-pointers that were falling (45-for-101 from deep in their first four games) weren't against Alabama (5-for-22).

Northwestern 80, Seton Hall 73
I tuned in for the final seven minutes or so of this one, just in time to see Drew Crawford (27 points) and John Shurna (19) pull away from Herb Pope (32) and the Pirates. Northwestern is the only BCS school never to play in the NCAAs, and with Shurna returning and Crawford apparently stepping up, they've got a real shot at it in a less-tough-than-usual Big Ten. The three teams the Wildcats beat on their way to the Charleston Classic championship -- LSU, Tulsa, and the Hall -- are likely bubble teams, at best, but these three wins could go a long way for Northwestern.

Connecticut 87, Coppin State 70
22/12/13: Shabazz Napier messed around and got a triple double on Sunday, sparking UConn after the Huskies trailed by 13 early. Here's a little secret: I have a tendency to shout "Shabby Napes!" every time I watch UConn and Napier does something good.

Kentucky 62, Old Dominion 52
The youthful Wildcats struggled against the experienced Monarchs, but raw talent goes a long way in college basketball.

Temple 78, Wichita State 74 (OT)
I watched this one, but didn't have enough to say for a full write up. Wichita State's interior defense is strong, both in the post and helping on penetration, but the perimeter defense needs improvement.

Saint Louis 77, Washington 64
This is the year that Rick Majerus' Billikens should make a splash, and this is a good start.

St. Joseph's 79, Tulsa 75
This is a good win for the Atlantic 10 over Conference USA. The Golden Hurricane can't be happy with a 1-2 record out of three games in Charleston.

Iona 89, Maryland 63
If you can't score against the Gaels, you can't score against anyone. If their performance in Puerto Rico is any indication, the Terps will struggle in the halfcourt again this season, which seems like a recurring theme with them year after year. Meanwhile, Scott Machado dished out 15 assists for the second straight game, and finished the three-game tournament with 41 dimes. Doug Gottlieb think he's the best point guard in the nation.

Belmont 87, Middle Tennessee State 84 (2OT)
Look, double overtime games are always going to be notable.

Long Island 80, Vermont 75

On Today: 11/20/11

Old Dominion vs. Kentucky (ESPNU, noon Eastern)
Part of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament from the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.

Iona vs. Maryland (ESPNU, 2 p.m. Eastern)
The fifth-place game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

Temple vs. Wichita State (ESPN2, 5:30 p.m. Eastern)
The third-place game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

Tulsa vs. St. Joseph's (ESPNU, 6 p.m. Eastern)
The third-place game of the Charleston Classic.

Purdue vs. Alabama (ESPN2, 7:30 p.m. Eastern)
The championship of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

Northwestern vs. Seton Hall (ESPNU, 8 p.m. Eastern)
The championship game of the Charleston Classic.

Notable Results From Saturday, November 19

Presbyterian 56, Cincinnati 54
Whoa. I mean -- whoa. There have been some head-turning upsets in college basketball already this season, but this one is probably the most surprising. Presbyterian is in just its fifth year of Division I competition and is not, I don't believe, eligible for the NCAA Tournament. The Bearcats led by 15 before pissing this one away. I'd love to see the look on Mick Cronin's face when he realizes he just lost to a team called the Blue Hose.

San Diego State 77, Long Beach State 73 (OT)
I'm glad I waited a few days after LBSU's big win at Pittsburgh before I made public the big prediction I had for them (which likely won't see the light of day now). Not that losing at SDSU is anything to be ashamed of.

Vanderbilt 86, North Carolina State 79
C.J. Leslie returned from suspension to score 20 points in his season debut, but John Jenkins dropped 28 to lead Vandy.

Oregon State 100, Texas 95 (OT)
The Beavers are off to a 4-0 start behind Jared Cunningham, who followed up a 35-point performance against Hofstra with 37 against the Longhorns.

College of Charleston 72, Clemson 69
With its home gym in use for the Charleston Classic, the Cougars hit the road and upset the Tigers out of the ACC. To no one's surprise, Bobby Cremins is building a nice little program there at C of C.

Harvard 77, Loyola Marymount 67
This is supposed to be the year the Crimson Tide win the Ivy and make the NCAA Tournament. They've even picked up a few votes for the top 25 in the AP poll. This is a good road win for them -- LMU opened the season by beating UCLA, remember.

Cal Poly 42, USC 36
The USC football team scored more points (38) on the road in its big upset of Oregon Saturday than the hoops team did at home against a pretty unspectacular opponent.

Virginia 49, Drexel 35
Bruiser Flint's Dragons turn in a second straight lackluster performance at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. This didn't look like a particularly strong performance from the Cavs, either, who had also struggled in the first round of the tournament (in a loss to TCU).

SMU 65, Florida Gulf Coast 64
The Mustangs came back from a 17-point second-half deficit to win on a Ryan Manuel steal and layup.

Old Dominion 68, South Florida 66 (OT)
I was wrong: Kent Bazemore has been playing this season, though his PT has been limited because of his foot injury. The Monarchs got 23 points in 32 minutes from Bazemore in this game, and needed every one of 'em.

Belmont 87, Towson 41
Having opened the season against Duke and Memphis, the Bruins get a respite with a much easier opponent. Twelve Belmont players scored, led by J.J. Mann's 13 points. Two other Belmont players scored in double figures, and no Towson player did. Three players in double figures seems like not very many for a game in which one team scored 87 points.

American 66, Columbia 58
Two straight for the Eagles!

Vermont 84, Marist 75
Groovy Uvie gets its second win of the season, in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off at the Mohegan Sun.

Florida Atlantic 80, George Mason 75 (OT)
Sun Belt over CAA in a battle between two teams expected to contend for their conference titles.

Oral Roberts 71, Austin Peay 59
The Governors are still winless amdist a sneaky-difficult schedule.

Louisville 69, Butler 53

[recap] [box score]

This game told us a lot more about Butler than it told us about Louisville.

The Cardinals were without four key players: Peyton Siva, Rakeem Buckles, Wayne Blackshear, and Mike Marra. They're going to have to get used to playing without Blackshear and Marra: Blackshear is out at least a couple of months after undergoing pre-season surgery to repair a torn labrum, and Marra was lost for the season after tearing his ACL in the season's second game. Buckles is recovering from an ACL tear suffered in late February, so presumably he'll be back sooner rather than later.

Siva's injury is the least serious, a severe ankle sprain suffered in practice this week. But it's also the most important. Siva is the point guard, the team's emotional leader, its best perimeter defender and probably its most dynamic offensive player, too. (If you can't tell, I'm pretty high on Siva.)

So this win, a convincing one at Hinkle Fieldhouse against the two-time national runners-up, looks impressive. But this Butler team is far from the one that came an inch against Duke and a lid on the basket against UConn from winning back-to-back titles.

Notable Results From Friday, November 18

Mississippi State 67, Arizona 57
After an early loss to Akron, the Bulldogs take two at Madison Square Garden to be the surprise winners of the 2K Sports Classic.

Northwestern 69, Tulsa 65
This is a very good win for the Wildcats in the Charleston Classic semis. Last year was supposed to be the year for them. Could this be it? They have to find a way to replace Juice Thompson. Drew Crawford -- son of NBA official Danny -- had 28 points in this one and stepped as the primary candidate to do so.

Alabama 70, Wichita State 60
Next up for Northwestern is the Tide, which got 26 points and eight rebounds from Tony Mitchell in this one.

New Mexico 76, Arizona State 71
The Lobos rebound from a loss to New Mexico State earlier in the week.

Houston 87, Arkansas 78
The loss may be the least of Mike Anderson's worries -- the Razorbacks played without Marshawn Powell, their leading scorer and rebounder and main post presence, who suffered a "severe knee injury" in practice on Thursday.

Kennesaw State 65, Chattanooga 59
A home loss for the Mocs, the popular choice to win the Southern Conference's North division. KSU's Markeith Cummings, an Atlantic Sun player of the year candidate, scored 21 points in his return from a one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team.

Cleveland State 67, St. Bonaventure 64
The Bonnies have a good team this year, and so Trevon Harmon's game-winning three with three seconds left gives Cleveland State its second eye-catching win of the season. The Vikings upset Vanderbilt in their season opener.

Maryland 78, Colorado 71
Against Alabama in the first round of the Puerto-Rico Tip-Off Classic, Maryland scored just 42 points. Terrell Stoglin got 32 himself in this consolation bracket win.

Norfolk State 61, Drexel 56
A surprising loss in the Paradise Jam for a the preseason CAA favorites.

Duke 82, Davidson 69
The Blue Devils actually trailed by one at halftime before blowing this one open with a 25-4 run early in the second half.

Georgia Tech 73, VCU 60
The Jackets rally from 13 down for a Charleston Classic consolation win behind 19 points from Glen Rice Jr., back from a three-game suspension.

Holy Cross 86, Boston College 64
This, apparently, is why everyone has BC at the bottom of the ACC this year.

Iona 94, Western Michigan 88
Scott Machado had 17 points and 15 assists in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic consolation round.

Valparaiso 62, Akron 59
Valpo scored the game's final eight points to knock off the Zips, who had made headlines earlier with their victory over Mississippi State.

Texas A&M 58, St. John's 57

[recap] [box score]

I'm beginning to see why Steve Lavin has been so insistent on playing that aggressive 1-1-3 trapping zone.

After being shredded by Arizona's three-point shooting last night and giving up a three triples in the first eight minutes or so against Texas A&M, Lavin finally put his team into a man-to-man defense, and he switched back and forth throughout the game. Almost immediately, the Aggies shifted their focus from the perimeter to the interior.

The Red Storm only go seven deep, and of that group, only God'sgift Achiuwa is a post player. And at 6'8", 236, he's actually undersized against the front-line players of most power-conference teams. The matchup problems continue at the power forward position: Moe Harkless is 6'8", but weighs only 190 pounds, and is clearly more accustomed to playing on the wing than he is banging underneath with power forwards.

Purdue 85, Temple 77

[recap] [box score]

Two stories to this one: Lewis Jackson and some really poor officiating that left Temple without 40 percent of its starting lineup for the closing minutes. I'll start with Jackson, because I want to think positive thoughts today.

The Boilers' diminutive point guard is a great assist man (trailing only Wisconsin's Jordan Taylor among active Big Ten players), but he's never been a big scorer. But with Temple focusing its second half defensive effort on Robbie Hummel and Ryne Smith, Jackson did what you want your point guard to do in that situation: take on some of the scoring load himself.

It started rather simply midway through the second half. Jackson hit a couple of open jumpers when the Owls went under high screens, the way they had all game. But as Jackson showed both a willingness to shoot and an ability to make those shots, the defense intensified, and the degree of difficulty on Jackson's field goal attempts increased.

Arizona 81, St. John's 72

[recap] [box score]

I've decided to severely limit anything I write about St. John's until they stop playing that zone, or start playing it better or something. Otherwise, I'm just going to end up pointing out the same thing over and over again. Arizona hit 14-of-29 three-pointers in this one. If you want a difference in this game, you don't have to look any further than the Wildcats' 33-point advantage in that category.

Nurideen Lindsey, quickly gaining recognition as one of the best one-on-one and transition players in the college game, nearly won this game on his own, thrilling the Madison Square Garden with his spectacular moves and keeping his team in front for most of the second half. He picked up his fourth foul with maybe six or seven minutes left and St. John's clinging to a lead, and Arizona quickly went on top. Steve Lavin had no choice to bring him back, and Lindsey then made a mistake that is probably attributable to his inexperience -- he immediately committed his fifth and disqualifying foul on the offensive end, pushing off as he tried to create a lane to the basket.

Without Lindsey, it was all over but for the celebrating.

Notable Results From Thursday, November 17

Connecticut 80, Maine 60
The defending national champs open the second half with a 23-2 run, holding the Black Bears without a field goal for more than ten minutes, to save a rather lackluster performance.

Campbell 94, North Carolina A&T 66
You expect a big second half run when a team like UConn is up against a mid-major opponent: The talent disparity is just too great. Campbell's 51-24 second half in this one is a bit more surprising.

Michigan 59, Western Illinois 55
The revitalized Wolverines, headed to Maui on Monday, get a scare.

Northwestern 88, LSU 82
John Shurna gets a career-high 37 in a comeback win in the Charleston Classic. I watched a few minutes of this one. LSU has a couple of freshman -- Anthony Hickey and Johnny O'Bryant -- worth keeping an eye on.

Oregon 73, Eastern Washington 65
The Ducks had to rally late against a Big Sky foe.

Penn 78, Rider 72 (OT)
The Quakers continue the Ivy League's impressive early performance with an overtime victory on the road against a MAAC contender.

San Diego State 56, USC 54
Xavier Thames' layup with 1.8 seconds left sinks my law school. Hopefully my bar results (revealed this evening) go better.

West Virginia 97, Alcorn State 62
Kevin Jones scores a career-high 29 points on the night he sets the school's career offensive rebounding record.

Northwestern State 67, Alabama State 60
An early barometer of the relative strength of less-heralded conferences. Alabama State is the reigning SWAC champion with four starters back, and Northwestern State is expected to challenge for the top of the Southland's East division.

On Today: 11/18/2011

Lots of incomplete game descriptions in this one due to all the preseason tournaments, where the late-round matchups aren't set until after the first round.

Temple vs. Purdue (ESPNU, 1 p.m. Eastern)
The first semifinal of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic.

Tulsa vs. Northwestern (ESPNU, 3:30 p.m. Eastern)
The first semifinal of the Charleston Classic.

Texas A&M vs. St. John's (ESPN2, 4:30 p.m. Eastern)
This is the third place game of the 2K Sports Classic to Benefit Coaches vs. Cancer.

Davidson at Duke (ESPNU, 6 p.m. Eastern)
"The Blue Devils put their 88-game non-conference home winning streak on the line against intrastate rival Davidson. De'Mon Brooks and Ryan Kelly are key forwards."
(I'll buy that De'Mon Brooks is a key forward, but Ryan Kelly is not. All that talent on the Devils, and the focus is on the sixth man -- but not in that role. With the other possibilities here, including stuff like Seth Curry facing his brother's old school, this is one of the worst teasers on the young season.)

Mississippi State vs. Arizona (ESPN2, 6:30 p.m. Eastern)
The 2K Sports Classic championship, likely to tip closer to 7 p.m. Eastern.

Alabama vs. Wichita State (ESPN2, 9 p.m. Eastern)
The second semifinal of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic.

Mississippi State 69, Texas A&M 60

[recap] [box score]

Rarely does a team win a college basketball game in the first eight minutes, but that's basically what Mississippi State did tonight.

In that time, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 24-9 lead, hitting their first five three-pointers. And Texas A&M's Ray Turner -- who had scored 20 points in each of the Aggies' first two games -- picked up two quick fouls. A&M was already without its best player, Khris Middleton, who will be on the shelf for a few weeks after he tore his meniscus in the season-opening win over Liberty. With Middleton in street clothes and Turner riding the pine because of the foul trouble, Texas A&M had nowhere to turn for offense, and having dug themselves into such a deep hole, they really couldn't get out.

Purdue 91, Iona 90

[recap] [box score]

I'm certainly not used to seeing a Purdue team give up 90 points -- or score 91, for that matter. And head coach Matt Painter can't be happy about his team's shot selection, its defensive lapses, or its free throw shooting.

But he can be happy with a win over an under-rated opponent. And he can be happy with what he's seen so far in the return to the court of senior Robbie Hummel.

Hummel, of course, wasn't supposed to be in a Purdue uniform this season. He was a classmate of JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore, the group that was supposed to lead Purdue to the Final Four. The Boilers have been fantastic the last several seasons, but fell short of that goal -- in part due to Hummel's two ACL tears.

Notable Results From Wednesday, November 16

Vermont 65, Dartmouth 53
The only D1 program in Doc Slam's home state evens it record at 1-1. Expect to see UVM Catamount results in this space all season.

Savannah State 73, Jacksonville 70 (OT)
Savannah State survives a last-second jumper by Arnold Louis to prevail at home in overtime.

UNC-Asheville 126, Mars Hill 75
After season-opening losses to ACC powers NC State and North Carolina, the Big South favorites post a gaudy win over a Division II opponent.

American 62, Florida Atlantic 56
After two road losses to start the year, Doc Slam's alma mater gets its first win of the season, in historic Bender Arena. AU is another team that will make a regular appearance here.

Oklahoma State 90, Texas-San Antonio 85 (OT)
Cezar Guerrero scored six points in 3.4 seconds at the end of regulation to help the Cowboys reach the semis of the preseason NIT. Guerrero hit eight threes on his way to 29 points, setting the freshman scoring record at Oklahoma State.

Arkansas 91, Oakland 68
The Mike Anderson Era -- 40 Minutes of Hell, v. 2.0 -- is off to a strong start. The Razorbacks raced out to a 55-27 lead against Oakland, a formidable opponent that gave Texas all it could handle in last year's NCAAs and is expected to contend in the Summit.

Bradley 66, Southeast Missouri State 65
Taylor Brown converted a three-point play with four seconds left to give the home team the win.

Creighton 70, UAB 60
A very nice resume win for the Bluejays against a first division Conference USA team.

Indiana 94, Evansville 73
The rebuilding (rebuilt?) Hoosiers win on an opponent's home floor for just the second time in three-plus years with Tom Crean at the helm.