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.

On Today: 11/17/11

Lots of games today as the first of the holiday tourneys, the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic, um, tips off. I've discovered, however, that the cable system my girlfriend uses doesn't have the fun little blurbs, and I'm writing this post from her couch. So just the schedule today, and a pledge to write these posts from my place from now on. Tip times are approximate; these tournaments tend to run over the allotted time, so DVR accordingly.

Temple vs. Western Michigan (ESPNU, 10:30 a.m. Eastern)
Iona vs. Purdue (ESPNU, 12:30 p.m. Eastern)
LSU vs. Northwestern (ESPNU, 3 p.m. Eastern)
Alabama vs. Maryland (ESPN2, 5 p.m. Eastern)
Seton Hall vs. Virginia Commonwealth (ESPNU, 5 p.m. Eastern)
Mississippi State vs. Texas A&M (ESPNU, 7 p.m. Eastern)
Colorado vs. Wichita State (ESPNU, 7:30 p.m. Eastern)
Arizona at St. John's (ESPN2, 9 p.m. Eastern)

Long Beach State 86, Pittsburgh 76

[recap] [box score]

The college basketball season's not yet two weeks old, but I guarantee that you won't see a more impressive non-conference win all season than Long Beach State's victory at Pittsburgh.

A bigger upset? Sure. A few have already happened. But a more impressive one? No chance.

How can I be so sure? Because I can't point to a game remaining on any schedule which would be more impressive.

Sure, Maine could go into the XL Center Thursday night and beat the defending national champions. There are a huge number of games over the course of the season where that could happen. But they would be flukes, one-offs, the product of the favorite not taking the underdog seriously.

Pittsburgh was plenty aware of Long Beach State. The 49ers have received a few votes for the top 25. They went 14-2 in the Big West last season, before getting upset by UC-Santa Barbara in the conference championship and having to settle for an NIT bid.

Yes, Pitt knew all about Long Beach. And yet Dan Monson's crew went into the Petersen Events Center -- the same building in which Pitt had lost to exactly one non-conference opponent since it opened in 2002 -- and kicked their asses. The Pitt team that returned three starters from the team that earned a No. 1 seed in last year's NCAA Tournament. Kicked. Their. Asses.

North Carolina State 60, Princeton 58

[recap] [box score]

It's a little difficult to get a read on North Carolina State after this one. They were without forward C.J. Leslie, their best player, who was sitting out the final game of a three-game NCAA suspension. Scott Wood started at two-guard, then sprained his ankle inside a couple of minutes and didn't return. And it's always tricky to evaluate a team against Princeton's unique style.

But amid that muddled picture, one player shone through: point guard Lorenzo Brown.

Brown is a scorer by nature who is playing point guard, partly out of necessity, and partly, presumably, because he's actually pretty good at it. Brown is terrific off the dribble, both going to the bucket and with the midrange jumper. He's an excellent defender, too -- he had five steals against the Tigers. But what impressed me most was his passing ability, and even more importantly, his willingness to give up the rock.

On Tonight: 11/16/11

ESPN's 24-hour college basketball marathon (which I extended to 29 hours, actually, by catching Manhattan-Syracuse, Detroit-Notre Dame, and half of Fresno State-Stanford before the thing officially began) really took it out of me. I know I hardly blogged during it, but I really lacked the energy and the games weren't at all noteworthy -- not really deserving of a recap, really, except to say that Kentucky and Ohio State are both pretty good. I'm not going to do any hoops stuff until tonight, when I'll sink my teeth into the following offerings:

Princeton at North Carolina State (ESPNU, 7 p.m. Eastern)
"Mitch Henderson and Mark Gottfried take over these Ivy and ACC squads."
(Way to sell it! In all honesty, though, there's not much interesting about either team.)

Long Beach State at Pittsburgh. (ESPNU, 9 p.m. Eastern)
"Senior Guards Casper Ware and Ashton Gibbs run the show in a clash of Big West and Big East powers at Petersen Events Center."
(This is a classic example of why I find these little blurbs so entertaining. First, you've got the random capitalization of "Guards." Next, in typical fashion, it picks up on something totally meaningless -- the conferences the two schools belong to -- due to the East/West symmetry, as though there's some sort of basketball civil war going on in this country. And finally, while it at least correctly identifies the two teams' best players, it totally ignores the real storyline of the game, which is that LBSU is really good and could actually win.)

Memphis 97, Belmont 81

[recap] [box score]

I was looking forward to this matchup, because the two teams are similar in so many ways -- preferred pace, length of bench, frequency of substitution. The problem for Belmont is that Memphis is just a bit longer, a bit quicker, a bit more athletic than the Bruins. And when, for the second straight game, they couldn't hit their outside shots with any consistency, they really didn't have any chance to knock off a Tiger team that was hitting on more or less all cylinders.

Memphis notes: The Tigers under Josh Pastner always seem to me to be like an AAU team that has just recently had its first practice. They don't always place cohesively and it often seems like a bunch of talented individuals doing their own thing ... Still, when they get it going, "their own thing" can be very effective. Wesley Witherspoon was torrid from deep in the first half; Will Barton came alive in the second; and Joe Jackson was dynamic in the open floor all night. They don't really have all the pieces that we consider necessary for college basketball these days (they're missing a spot-up shooter and a true go-to guy) but they're awfull dangerous every time they step on the floor.

Belmont notes: J.J. Mann was a bright spot throughout. He scored much more consistently than he did against Duke ... Belmont needs more from its bigs -- specifically, Mick Hedgepeth and Scott Saunders. The way the Bruins play is admittedly tough on bigs, but they need to be tougher and they need to convert the relatively easy opportunities they've been missing to start the season.

Kent State 70, West Virginia 60

[recap] [box score]

I watched Drexel's win at Rider and College of Charleston's defeat of Morehead State, but not closely enough to write about (I was barely awake, and once I had my eggnog latte, I had a little work to do). I watched Kent State's "upset" of West Virginia and came away impressed with another MAC team.

One thing I found particularly interesting was that Kent State double-teamed both Deniz Kilicli and Kevin Jones in the post. Neither Kilicli nor Jones is so dangerous in the pivot as to command a double team, and so the scouting report must have been that those guys struggle to handle the double team -- or that they were never faced with it, and so it would surprise them. Maybe I'm just used to watching a lot of pro ball, but it had been a while since I had seen a team double a post player with the intention of forcing a turnover, not just getting the ball out of his hands.

It worked; Kilicli and Jones had trouble finding open teammates, and when they did, Kent State's rotations were outstanding. (Much better than WVU's when they doubled.) And so after a first half in which they were killed on the glass, the Golden Flashes dug in in the second half and won fairly easily on the road.

For the Mountaineers' part, they are going to need to find some offense. Kilicli is a good option (and he's one of the rare guys on his team who can consistently knock down free throws), but other than that, none of the returning options are great. Jones has an inconsistent jumper, and Truck Bryant can get out of control at times. Freshman Jabari Hinds has some real shake-and-bake to his game, but he needs to make better decisions before he can be considered a real option.

Hawai'i 86, Cal State-Northridge 67

[recap] [box score]

Hawai'i notes: I just assumed, in the early moments of this game, that Zane Johnson was kind of a chucker, so I appreciated his unselfishness ... Freshman point guard Shaquille Stokes had a good second half after a sluggish start. He needs some lessons on game management, however, as he made some questionable decisions down the stretch as the 'bows coughed up a chunk of their lead. Overall, he probably thinks "shoot" just a touch too much ... Vander Joaquim was in first half foul trouble, then came out in the second half as though he was bored, forcing a tough shot on an early touch, following it up with a technical foul for hanging on the rim, then dribbling two thirds of the way up court in transition before giving it up to a guard. Selfish play from someone who is supposed to be a leader ... Trevor Wiseman was phenomenal on the glass -- he really has a nose for the ball. He created a ton of offense by grabbing the ball and immediately taking off upcourt to exploit numbers-up situations. Future Hawai'i opponents should jump Wiseman whenever he gets a defensive rebound to slow down the secondary break.

Cal State-Northridge notes: Don't have much to say about these guys. To inexperienced to hang with a veteran team on the road, but they did continue to fight, even when the game got out of hand.

Saint Mary's 57, Northern Iowa 41

[recap] [box score]

Saint Mary's notes: I never really liked Matthew Dellavedova as a shooting guard, and so I didn't expect to like him any better as a point. I was pleasantly surprised, then, to see him handling the primary ballhandling/playmaking duties as well as he did. He made a couple of flashy no-look passes, but was most effective finding shooters on the weak side on the pick and roll, passing back behind the play.

Northern Iowa notes: Brutal night for the Panthers offensively. They like to slow it down and dig in on defense, so the pace of the game and the low point total suited them just fine. The problem is that sometimes teams that focus so much on making life difficult for the opposition tend to play offense that way, too. (Of course, it could be that teams who have a tough time scoring are more likely to focus on defense to compensate for those deficiencies.) ... Anthony James took plenty of bad shots, but he also got plenty of good looks for himself; he just couldn't knock them down (1-for-15) ... Jimmy Moran and Chip Rank drilled a few three-pointers late to prevent this from being an all-out embarrassment.

Gonzaga 89, Washington State 81

[recap] [box score]

Hello from the third hour of the marathon. I'm going to try and write about each game within the window of halftime of the following game, so quick-hit thoughts only:

Gonzaga notes: This was Kevin Pangos' coming out party, as the freshman tied a school record with nine three-pointers on his way to 33 points. Just as impressive, however, was his poise handling WSU's half-court pressure. He also showed maturity, playing within himself despite being white-hot from the field ... Robert Sacre's ability to convert at the free throw line is huge. He made just one of three field goal attempts, but made all 13 of his freebies ... Another freshman, Gary Bell Jr., scored 14 points but wasted a number of late possessions with bad shots and turnovers.

Washington State notes: Reggie Moore came up with some big plays late as the Cougars scrambled back from a double-digit deficit, but he's an experienced point guard who should bear the bulk of the responsibility for WSU looking direction-less for most of the game on offense ... DaVonte Lacy hit a couple of big threes during the rally, and it should be noted that Ken Bone called Lacy's number down four late. The shot went in and out ... Brock Motum looks like a legitimate offensive threat, both inside and out, but he needs to do a better job on the glass -- as does the rest of the team ... I thought Faisal Aden forced things offensively, especially in the first half.

Syracuse 92, Manhattan 56

[recap] [box score]

Something sort of unique about the college basketball non-conference schedule is that it has its share of mismatches. Monday night in the Carrier Dome was one such game.

When faced with the daunting task of playing a heavily favored team, the coach of the underdog has a choice of which strategy to employ. He can craft a game plan carefully calculated to give his team the best possible chance it has to slay Goliath. Or he can treat the game like a practice or preseason scrimmage, having his charges play the same way they would against a lesser opponent.

Manhattan coach Steve Masiello chose the second option. His team pushed the tempo on offense and pressed on defense. They also got run out of the gym by the much more talented Orange.

ESPN's College Basketball Marathon

For what I think is the fourth consecutive season, ESPN is kicking off its college hoops coverage with a 24-hour tipoff marathon. Wall-to-wall college basketball, for 24 hours straight, beginning at midnight Eastern tonight.

Despite loving college basketball and being something of a night owl, I've never actually attempted to watch the whole thing. I always had class or something that I had to go to.

Not this year. This year, I'm going to take advantage of being unemployed, and I'm going to watch the whole thing.

Because the next 24 hours is going to be consumed by college basketball, and because this site will be bursting with content, I'm not going to do any usual posts today. No Metal Monday, no Notable Results, no clever Time Warner Cable previews (though these may end up on Twitter). I'm not even going to go through my Google Reader or DVR to see how Vanderbilt lost to Cleveland State yesterday. The next few hours are devoted solely to preparing myself for the marathon.

Having never done this before, however, I needed some help.

Notable Results From Saturday, November 12

Mississippi State 80, South Alabama 65
The Bulldogs bounced back from Wednesday's loss to Akron -- without Renardo Sydney, who missed the game with a groin injury.

Providence 72, Fairleigh Dickinson 61
Notable only because I had as many points as the FDU bench on Saturday.

Evansville 80, Butler 77 (OT)
The Purple Aces take down the national runners-up for the second year in a row -- this time with a controversial finish.

Duke 96, Presbyterian 55
Coach K ties his mentor, Bobby Knight, atop the career wins list with 902.

South Florida 61, Vermont 59
A rough start for Doctor Slam's home state allegiance, as the Catamounts drop a heartbreaker to a Big East foe.

Northern Iowa 63, Old Dominion 46
With a pretty tough non-conference schedule, you can expect some surprising results for the Monarchs until the get Kent Bazemore back. Losing to UNI isn't anything to be ashamed of, but no way they get blown out at home with Bazemore.

Ohio Dominican 64, Southern Illinois 63
Remember when the Salukis were the class of the Missouri Valley and Chris Lowery was the hottest young coach around? It's been a rapid decline, and Saturday's home loss to a D2 opponent may be a new low. (It was not, however, the first loss to a non-D1 opponent by a D1 team this year; that honor goes to UMKC, which lost to Northwest Missouri State on Friday night.

Air Force 75, VMI 65
AFA wins the inaugural All-Military Classic championship game. In the consolation, The Citadel came from 20 down to beat Army. (Not sure where Navy fits in to this whole thing.)

On Today: 11/13/11

For some reason, Time Warner doesn't have any blurbs up for tomorrow's game, so you just get a boring list. Plus a list of what's on ESPN3.com, which may or may not be available to you, depending on your cable provider.

Cleveland State at Vanderbilt (ESPNU, 2 p.m. Eastern)

North Carolina at UNC-Asheville (ESPNU, 4 p.m. Eastern)

Bowling Green at Georgia (ESPNU, 6 p.m. Eastern)

George Washington at California (ESPNU, 9:30 p.m. Eastern)

ESPN3
South Carolina State at Virginia (2 p.m. Eastern)
UMBC at St. John's (2 p.m. Eastern)
Rider at Pittsburgh (6 p.m. Eastern)
Morehead State at North Carolina State (6 p.m. Eastern)

Notable Results From Friday, November 11

I thought I'd try this feature out -- a quick list of the most important games from the night before, with maybe a comment or two from me. Games which I've already written about will not appear on the list.

>Northeastern 82, Boston 74 (OT)
I love a good cross-town game. These teams were conference rivals until Northeastern left for the CAA. Tough start to the season for an America East contender.

George Mason 92, Rhode Island 90 (OT)
Former Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt's debut with the Patriots was a thriller. URI got 38 from Jamal Wilson.

Hofstra 89, Long Island 71
This game is a good early barometer of relative conference strength. Hofstra is a lower-half CAA team; LIU is considered the class of the NEC.

Indiana 96, Stony Brook 66
Cody Zeller, considered by many to be the savior of Hoosier basketball, had a double-double (16 points, 10 boards) in his collegiate debut.

Kentucky 108, Marist 58
Freshmen Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Marquis Teague combined for 54 points in their first game as collegians.

Missouri State 68, Nevada 46
Favored by many to win the WAC, the Wolf Pack shot 26 percent at home while getting blown out by the Bears.

Richmond 66, American 56
Doctor Slam's alma mater goes down against a tough road opponent in the season opener.

Loyola Marymount 69, UCLA 58
The second big upset of the season, UCLA going down here is probably more noteworthy than Mississippi State losing, because LMU -- unlike Akron, a top MAC team -- is considered just a middle-of-the-pack team in the MWC this season.

Utah State 69, BYU 62
This is a great way for the top two teams in the Beehive State to open the season. Another great way to open the season: Winning Team, Losing Team.

Vanderbilt 78, Oregon 64
Kudos to both of these programs for playing a power conference opponent to start the season. Looks like the Commodores did just fine without the injured Festus Ezeli, grabbing 15 offensive rebounds in a comfortable home win.

West Virginia 78, Oral Roberts 71
Depending on how well WVU fares in this year's Big East, this could count as a "good loss" on ORU's at-large resume, should they need it.

Duke 77, Belmont 76

[recap] [box score]

Give a lot of credit to Belmont. There aren't many teams who go into Cameron Indoor stadium, get down 16, and then nearly come back and win.

Duke has now won 87 consecutive home games against non-conference opponents, their last loss in such a game coming eleven years ago. College basketball scheduling being what it is, a large number of those wins have come against mid-majors like Belmont; teams who don't have a lot of blue-chip recruits and All-America candidates. Often those less talented teams lose more or less before they take the court, having psyched themselves out.

Duke, of course, helps that progress along, playing pressure man-to-man defense, pushing the tempo, looking for the three-point dagger. With their crowd and their style, things can get out of control quickly.

Connecticut 70, Columbia 57

[recap] [box score]

The defending national champions are on the short list of contenders for the title this year. But those high expectations count heavily on replacing Kemba Walker's leadership and production with a pair of sophomores. Shabazz Napier, who had a solid season backing up Walker at point guard as a freshman, will need to step into the lead guard role. Jeremy Lamb will need to prove that he can be as effective offensively as a number one option as he was when the opposing defense was focused primarily on Walker.

So far, so good, in those regards. Lamb had 30 points, including a dunk over the unfortunate Mark Cisco that drew the first "Send it in!" of the season from Bill Raftery. Lamb has NBA range and can spot up or shoot it off the dribble. He's very smooth off the dribble and has a good midrange game, and looked, for a night at least, like an elite offensive player.

Napier looked very comfortable running the offense, pushing the pace to one faster that I seem to remember UConn ever playing at in past seasons. He was the only Husky other than Lamb to score in double figures (he had 21). He hit a trio of early-offense three-pointers, pulling up off the dribble. I'm interested to see if Jim Calhoun approves of those types of shots, but he didn't seem to mind Friday. Napier is a good setup man who looked for his shot quite a bit against Columbia, and UConn would certainly benefit from another consistent offensive threat.

North Carolina 67, Michigan State 55

[recap] [box score]

There's a difference between having a great frontcourt and being great inside.

With Harrison Barnes, John Henson, and Tyler Zeller, North Carolina certainly has a great frontcourt -- probably the best in the country. But the Tar Heels aren't necessarily great inside.

Sure, they get their share of points in the paint. Henson's a very long 6'11", and Zeller's a seven-footer, and both are talented to score over players several inches shorter. Most teams don't have two guys in the starting lineup who can come close to matching up with those two, size-wise. For the same reason, North Carolina's rebounding numbers will usually look pretty good -- though Michigan State killed Carolina on the offensive glass on Friday night. And Henson is arguably the best shotblocker in the country.

So yeah, on the stat sheet, they look pretty good inside.

On Today: 11/12/11

My father was in town last night, and so I'm just now getting to the action from last night on my DVR.

But there's a game on today, and so we need to turn to Time Warner Cable to figure out what to look for:

Presbyterian at Duke (ESPNU, 4:30 p.m. Eastern)
"Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils host the Blue Hose of the Big South Conference as 'Coach K' closes in on Bob Knight's Division I-record 902 wins."

On Tonight: 11/11/11

So you don't have to check the TV listings yourself, every morning I'm going to tell you what basketball games are on national TV -- and thus, what games I will be watching.

But wait, there's more. As anyone with digital cable knows, the digital TV guide features a little paragraph, a sentence or two, on each piece of programming. Ignoring for a moment how awesome it would be to be the guy who writes this stuff, these blurbs are rarely insightful, sometimes amusingly so.

At the same time, I don't have time to write a thoughtful preview of every game I'm going to watch. And, hey, you might want a little preview of the night's action, something to zero in on if the teams are unfamiliar. So without further ado, Friday night's basketball preview, brought to you by Time Warner Cable:

Michigan State vs. North Carolina (ESPN, 7 p.m. Eastern)
"President Obama is expected for this Veterans Day event aboard the USS Carl Vinson. Forwards Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes star on the temporary court on the flight deck, with seating for over 7000."

(I think it would be funny if they described the court in this much detail for every game. But no, we only get a venue preview when the game is on an aircraft carrier.)

Columbia at Connecticut (ESPNU, 7 p.m. Eastern)
"The national-champion Huskies add center Andre Drummond to a lineup featuring Alex Oriakhi, Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier."

(Columbia: "How do you think this makes us feel, Time Warner? Maybe we just won't show up. That'll show you. Have fun broadcasting UConn's intrasquad scrimmage.")

Beltmon at Duke (ESPNU, 9 p.m. Eastern)
"Freshman Austin Rivers joins Seth Curry in the Duke backcourt as coach Mike Krzyzewski bids for career win No. 901. The visiting Bruins fell to Wisconsin in last season's NCAAs."

(Belmont gets slightly better treatment than Columbia did, but they are a veteran team expected to win the Atlantic Sun, and considered a legitimate threat to beat a Duke squad that has to adjust to life without Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, and Kyri -- oh, wait.)

St. John's 78, Lehigh 73

[recap] [box score]

I didn't get a chance to watch this game last night, but was eager to get to it this morning on my DVR. I had watched St. John's in their season-opening win over William & Mary on Monday, and had written a bit about some of the problems I saw with their aggressive take on the matchup zone. I was not a little delighted, then, when Lehigh opened up the game by hitting their first five three-pointers. Part of the reason I feel compelled to write about basketball, you see, is to keep a scoreboard of the dialogue I have with myself about basketball, to keep track of things so I can remind myself how smart I am.

I began ticking off all the things that were wrong with the St. John's defense, preparing for this post. Slow rotations, poor fundamentals, too much aggressiveness. On a hunch, I went over to HoopSpeakU to see if, by some chance, Sebastian Pruiti had done the work for me and pointed out the flaws in the defense. He had, with visual aids, and far more descriptively than I ever could. So go read that.

That torch having been so aptly carried, and knowing the outcome of the game, I shifted my focus away from the St. John's defense and instead tried to figure out just how Lehigh lost this game.

Arizona 67, Duquesne 59

[recap] [box score]

Tuning in during the middle of a basketball game is always a little bit disorienting to me. So much of the rest of the game is dictated by those early moments; we learn what pace the teams want to play at, what matchups they're looking to exploit, what defensive strategies they plan on using. A great deal of the scouting report shows up in those first few minutes.

Because Lehigh at St. John's ran late, I missed almost eight minutes of the beginning of this game, which is a lot to miss -- especially early in the season, with a team I was completely unfamiliar with. It didn't help that Duquesne's leading returning scorer, senior B.J. Monteiro, picked up two fouls in the first four minutes and a third immediately upon re-entering the game seven minutes later. I never really got a feel for the flow of this game, other than to (again) be impressed with Arizona's defense and less than unimpressed with both teams' offense.

Akron 68, Mississippi State 58

[recap] [box score]

Technically, this game was part of the 2k Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. I'm not counting it, though. Why? Because despite winning this game, Akron will not be advancing to the semifinals on November 17. It was pre-ordained that no matter what happened in these early "rounds," Arizona, Mississippi State, St. John's, and Texas A&M would make the trip to Madison Square Garden.

There are plenty of potential good reasons for this, and I'll give the organizers the benefit of the doubt. It's a tournament for charity, after all, and so if rigging the final four is what it takes to get more money for a great cause, then so be it.

But I'm not considering these early games part of the tournament. The 2k Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer, for me, starts next Thursday. This was just an early-season road win for a very good Akron team against a projected top-half SEC club.

Arizona 73, Valparaiso 64

[recap] [box score]

It's only been one game, but based on Monday night's win against Valparaiso, I think 60 percent of Arizona's starting lineup could turn over at some point or another.

The "safe" players are seniors Jesse Perry and Kyle Fogg. Both did their damage off the dribble; Fogg as a slasher, Perry powering his way to the bucket.

Josiah Turner, Solomon Hill, and Kyryl Natyazhko, on the other hand, were all outplayed by their backups.

St. John's 74, William & Mary 59

[recap] [box score]

The first game of the college season brought an interesting contrast of styles.

Both Tony Shaver's Tribe and Steve Lavin's Red Storm (led on an interim basis by Mike Dunlap as Lavin recovers from surgery for prostate cancer) played 2-3 zones. But the two defenses were similar in name only.

W&M played a more traditional version of the 2-3, sitting back on its heels and inviting St. John's to beat them with the three-pointer. St. John's, on the other hand, matched up with William & Mary in the backcourt, extending its 2-3 and 1-1-3 sets into half-court traps.

For the first half, at least, both things worked in William & Mary's favor.

Offensively, the inexperienced Johnnies spent the first 20 minutes forcing early jumpers or swinging the ball aimlessly around the perimeter. Defensively, it was more of a mixed bag, as the pressure did force a number of turnovers against the ballhandling-challenged Tribe. But the Red Storm's reckless closeouts made it easier for the Tribe to penetrate the zone's gaps with the dribble, and their rotations were poor, giving W&M plenty of open looks from deep.

William & Mary led 33-26 at the break. The second half, however, was a different story.

Metal Monday: Megadeth's Th1rt3en

Despite their (rightful) place among thrash's Big Four, Dave Mustaine and Megadeth have always struck me as outsiders. Obviously, simply liking or playing metal makes one an outsider in most cultures, but even within that relatively small circle, Mustaine has always appeared to me to not quite fit in.

Maybe it's because so many of Mustaine's song and album titles seem like bad jokes -- Killing Is My Business ... And Business Is Good, Peace Sells ... But Who's Buying? My caricature of Mustaine has always been of the unpopular kid who, in an attempt to impress the cool kids, comes up with an elaborate joke for the sole purpose of unveiling an underwhelming punchline -- then immediately breaks into an explanation of the joke to the nonplussed audience. For this reason, I've internally referred to Megadeth as "nerd" metal. I don't have a better explanation for it than that -- in my mind, it just fits.

All of this is to say that I had to roll my eyes a little bit when I saw that the stylized title of the band's latest release included a couple characters of Leet-speak.

The thing is, as we've learned from fairy tales and countless forgettable cookie-cutter movies, you can't judge a book by its cover. And behind some of the groan-inducing album titles, songs, and lyrics over the last two and a half decades, Megadeth has consistently put out some of the best, most blistering thrash metal available.