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.

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.

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.