Ballin' is a Habit

#BIAHRoadTrip The Diary Part XV - Final Destination

2012-01-28T02:27:00.001-05:00

4:45PM Day 22
Somewhere on I-80
Somewhere in Nebraska
Total Miles; 4,781

Road Trip Part-I
Road Trip Part-II
Road Trip Part-III
Road Trip Part-IV
Road Trip Part-V
Road Trip Part-VI
Road Trip Part-VII
Road Trip Part-VIII
Road Trip Part-IX
Road Trip Part-X
Road Trip Part-XI
Road Trip Part-XII
Road Trip Part-XIII
Road Trip Part-XIV

There's a reason we didn't end our road trip in Lawrence, KS. There's a reason we didn't call it quits after 2,500 miles, 20 days and 12 games.

The Utah State student section.

That's what was the driving force behind the creation of this trip. We'd watch late-night WAC games on ESPN and see these stark-raving mad students, all chanting in unison, heckling the refs and opponents. We just had to get in on the action, just once.

After 20 grueling days and 2,500 miles, we finally made it to Logan, UT.

And I can honestly say that the entire experience met and exceeded every single expectation I had.

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After a treacherous 11-hour drive from Denver, which featured some of the most beautiful landscape I've ever seen, we arrived in Logan, UT, a tiny mountain town in the most northeastern part of state, about two hours north east of Salt Lake City.

After getting caught up with work on Thursday morning, we set out to find ourselves some lunch. We stumbled upon "Logan's Heroes", a tiny, nondescript deli located at the corner of Main Street and 1st Street.

Listen, Rob is from the NYC-metro area and I'm from the DC-metro area, so we know a good deli when we see it. This didn't look like a good deli. But after 15 minutes, some good chatter with the owner, who told us what to get, we were sold.

By the time I was done eating, I was thoroughly convinced that if I lived in Logan, this would be my go-to spot for lunch every day.

Next to the Yellow Sub in Lawrence, KS this was the best sandwich I've had all trip. Friendly people, and fantastic food in a quaint environment. Check, check and check.

After getting more work done, we met up with our host-for-the-day, Kraig Williams of the Deseret Times, at "Mo' Bettah Steaks", a Hawaiian steakhouse. Yeah, I know, Hawaiian food in Utah probably doesn't sound too appetizing, but the Steak-n-Pork combo was off-the-charts good.

Rob can attest to this. "I feel like I could drink an entire bottle of the terayaki sauce."

We hadn't even stepped foot on Utah State's campus, and already the food had exceeded our expectations.

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If you know anything about Utah State and their student section, then you know about "Wild" Bill Sproat. He's the larger-than-life super-fan who ESPN has gone ga-ga over because of his innovative costumes and creative free-throw distractions.

We figured that by the end of the night, maybe we'd say hello to him and take a picture with him. That's it, that's all.

But when we walked through the front door to the D. Glenn Smith Spectrum, I bet you can guess who the first person we ran into was.

Donning his custom No.22 "Wild Bill" Utah State jersey, Sproat greeted us and talked to us for a good 20 minutes about his background, Utah State, and well, just about everything in between.

Rob profiled Sproat, so I'll let him go into detail about it, but let me just tell you that even Bill exceeded my expectations. He's just an all-around awesome guy. He's one helluva story-teller, hilarious as all get out, and is as friendly and as welcoming as anybody we've encountered.

But Sproat warned us that the turnout may not be great. Utah State is in a "down year", having graduated six seniors after last season, and the students have just come back from Winter Break. He wasn't sure we'd be viewing the best atmosphere.

But if you've watched a Utah State game on TV, then you know that even a marginal effort by the student section is bigger and louder than most full capacity BCS-conference student sections.

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Sure, the arena wasn't packed to the brim. There were a decent amount of seats, colored in 70s-themed orange and yellow, that were still empty. The student section, which can fill up to about 4,000 students, was only about 80% filled.

Regardless, it was pandemonium. There was a buzz circulating throughout the Spectrum prior to tip-off. The students piled in, sprinting in order to get the best seats behind the basket.

While we took in the scene, we were met by numerous different students and staff members who had heard about our trip and were surprised to see we were making a stop in Logan. We told them, much to their surprise, that we were there to see them.

"This is why we decided to make the road trip. We are here to see you guys in action."

I talked to the head of The Hurd, the organization that handles all the student section planning and preparations. I talked to him about their coordination, planning new chants, and the reputation of their student section.

I have to say, I was sorta taken back at everybody's, well, hesitation to admit that they had the best student section in the country. Because well, it's a well-known fact amongst us media-type that no school does it quite like Utah State.

"The casual fan thinks Duke or Kansas has the best students. But any knowledgeable hoops-head should know that you guys do it the best" I said.

I was met with a half-puzzled, half-pleased reaction.

Maybe they weren't aware that ESPN broadcasts to states outside of Utah, or maybe they just didn't realize that most colleges don't have a student section nearly as passionate, coordinated and rowdy as them. After all, you wouldn't expect it from a tiny WAC school in northeast Utah.
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Before we settled in to our seats on press row, we made sure to get involved in the "I Believe We Will Win" chant. It's legendary. Sure, a lot of different schools do it, but theirs is the best. it's so good in fact, it was sampled for a hip-hop music video.

"Wild Bill" pulled Rob into the front row, and well, we were off. This was why we drove 2,500 miles. Why we left our jobs and families for 22 days.

The game was riddled with fouls, but featured the ebbs and flows that cause a student section to erupt several times.

That's one of my favorite parts of the college game. That momentum-swinging three-pointer, followed by a timeout. There aren't many moments in hoops that are better than that. The whole place goes crazy, and at Utah State they don't go crazy, they go bonkers, berserk, and border on clinical insanity.

I need to once again point out how stunned I was with the quality of the dance team/cheerleaders. At this point, we'd been to Kentucky, Missouri and Kansas. Schools with big student bodies and extremely-attractive co-eds.

My expectations for the USU cheerleaders were not very high.

I mean, come on, what should I have expected? It's a well-known fact that the cheerleading squads at smaller/private/religious schools just aren't at the same level of say, Pac-12 or SEC squads.

I can firmly say that they exceeded expectations. And for what seems like the bajillionth time on this trip, I cursed myself for attending a small liberal arts college on the East Coast.

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When the game finished up, we tried to get from press row to the locker room in order to interview some players. But to our amazement, we were greeted by several different waves of students, thanking us for making the trip to Logan and apologizing about the quality of game and student support.

"Are you kidding me?" I said to one fan. "If this was a 'down game', I don't know if my ear-drums could handle a game against BYU or Utah. You guys are the best."

It seemed like wave after wave of fans came over to greet us. It was amazing. I legitimately felt like a celebrity. But it didn't end with the students. Other writers and reporters knew who we were.

"Oh, you must be the travelling bloggers." said one writer. "Are you one of the guys doing the road trip? I recognized you from the videos. Great stuff." Said another. Again, my expectations were not only met but completely exceeded.

But once again, it didn't end there.
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Right before we were about to head up the ramp into the locker room, we ran in to "Wild" Bill again, who invited us to attend a post-game meal at "Angie's Diner: Where The Locals Eat". He said that most of the players and fans meet up there to get some grub following a home game.

I was sold.

I didn't want any of this to end.

Angie's is your standard-issue college-town diner. Lots of booths, lots of fatty foods.

When we walked in, the place was packed. I saw a booth-full of fans turn and look to see who was entering. One of of them turned to their friends and said "Those are the guys from Ballin' is a Habit" right when we walked in.

If you know anything about me, you know I have, or at least pretend to have a fairly large ego. I played goalie in high school and college, the only individual position in a team sport. I don't like sharing fame or attention. I don't want to be one of seven midfielders. I want to be one of one goalies. I am the youngest of three in my family. I want all eyes on me.

But as much as I want it, it rarely ever happens. So for four hours on a Thursday night in January, I felt like a rock-star.

When we joined Sproat and his crew of eight guys at the back table, we were welcomed with open-arms. For 45 minutes we heard stories, told stories, ate triple cheese-burgers, drank artery-clogging milkshakes, and watched Sproat interact with everybody that walked past us.

When a group of girls walked by, Sproat stopped them and tried to introduce them to us, but apparently they already knew who we were.

"You are the guys from Ballin' is a Habit, right? the road trip guys right?"

And there I am, once again dumbfounded that these people know who I am, starring at a pack of college girls like I'm a 18-year-old freshman.....with vanilla milkshake dribbling down my lip.

Nice, Troy. Nice.

After we finished our food, and discussed including "Wild" Bill in Season-II of the #BIAHRoadTrip, along with Drew Franklin of Kentucky Sports Radio (We are going to make this happen), we said our goodbyes and went back to our hotel.

But not before Sproat filled us in on the two new costumes he is going to unveil later in the season. I've been sworn to secrecy, but honestly, it's better if you just wait.

It's going to border on legendary-status.

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So that's it. That's why we traveled damn-near across the country.

Was it worth it?

Well let's see.

I don't know how I'm going to pay rent next month. I haven't talked to my boss in 20 days, haven't done laundry in 15 days, don't know if my apartment is still standing. My family might think I'm dead, I'm not sure if anybody has fed my dog in three weeks and I will probably have to replace my car in the near future.

So, what it worth it?

Absolutely. 1000% I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

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A few news and notes:

- "Wild" Bill need your help. See, he's ran into a bit of a social networking problem. He had a solid Twitter account, but forgot what his password was. Unfortunately, he also forgot what the password was for the email account connected to the Twitter. He needs the help of somebody with the computer skills to hack in to Twitter and get him access.

Contact us at ContactBIAH@gmail.com so we can help him out.

- This isn't our last Diary entry. We are grinding out a 34-hour drive back to Washington, D.C. and will update you on our long road home. We already have one EPIC early morning story to recant to you.

So stay tuned.

Logan's Hero: Meeting "Wild Bill"

2012-01-27T15:33:00.000-05:00

LOGAN, UT - Jenn Sterger isn't the only college fan sports fan that has used skimpy outfits to parlay face time on ESPN into fame.

Utah State superfan "Wild Bill" Sproat is easily recognizable. He's the big-bellied Aggie fan that has become a cult icon for his costumes, which range from a teapot to a hula dancer. Since Utah State plays in the WAC, Wild Bill's prominent spot directly behind the basket earned him plenty of TV time and, given the uniqueness of his appearance and his outfits, plenty of attention. He left the 2010 WAC Tournament early to fly to ESPNU studios in Charlotte, flying back out to Spokane for USU's NCAA Tournament appearance. After that trip, he immediately joined up with MTV's show "Thrill Billies", traveling around the country with Travis Pastrana and his crew.

Unfortunately, Wild Bill's body was failing him, and the stress of all that travel was doing him no favors. It got so bad that he was admitted to the hospital, spending a week in a coma and coming very close to dying. He pulled through -- as the story goes, when he first awoke from the coma, the first thing he said to the nurses was "There better not be any BYU fans in here or I'm going to die" -- but life is different now.

He's no longer a nightly presence on the baseline at The Spectrum. Its not because he doesn't go to the games -- he does -- but he's in a different seat. You see, Wild Bill works for the Logan River Academy, a school for kids between the ages of 12-18 that have emotional issues, problems at home and autism. He works Saturday through Wednesday, so when Utah State has home games on those nights, he's sitting up in the stands with as many as 20 of his students.

That's not necessarily a contractual obligation, either.

"I didn't have the best child hood growing up," he said, "so I like trying to make life better for them."

That's just the kind of guy he is.

The first to extend a hand, quick to share a laugh. We got to The Spectrum a good hour and a half before Utah State's game against Hawaii and he first person we see when we walked in the door was Wild Bill. Our Logan chauffeur, Kraig Williams, who writes for the Deseret News, knew him and immediately introduced us. Wild Bill welcomed us with open arms, giving us all the background we could handle on the basketball team, the town of Logan and himself.

Calling him the King of Logan would be a fair statement, and that's a compliment. Wild Bill's personality is just so inviting and he's so outgoing, its hard not to feel like old friends from the moment you meet him. That's probably why he knows everyone.

Literally. Everyone.

We told Bill where we went to eat -- Mo' Betta Steaks -- and he explained how he was related to the people that own the restaurant. We mentioned the hotel we were staying at, and he told us we should ahve gotten in touch with him because he friend works at a hotel across town. While we were standing in the lobby of The Spectrum talking, four members of the Utah State team walked by. They all said hello to Bill. The President of the University walked in next, and he stopped to greet Bill.

Perhaps most surprising, we watched the Hawaii team walk in. As soon as they did, Bill walked over to head coach Gib Arnold, giving him a hug and catching up for a few minutes. It was incredible.

We were lucky. We happened to come to town for a Thursday night game, meaning that we would be able to see Bill and his crew in action. During the game, Bill wandered wherever he wanted to go. He came down and sat on press row with us. He walked along the baseline of the court during timeouts. He said hello to ushers, writers and hundreds of fans. I was half-expecting him to wander over to the bench and provide a couple words of encouragement.

Wild Bill acts as an ambassador for this Utah State program.

Think about it. How many of us would know as much as we do about Utah State hoops if he didn't show up on ESPN? How often would they get national coverage? Part of the reason that he gets as much access as he does is because of the amount of attention that he brings the school. The rest of it is simply his innate ability to put people at ease. He's just an all-around good guy. The President of the school may not have the same wardrobe, but he can trust that Bill isn't going to cross that line between funny and inappropriate. The school's SID can know that while Bill may wander along the sideline, he's not going to be running out on the court during the timeouts.

That's not him.

Hell, he's not even a basketball fan.

"I actually hate basketball," he said. "I only started going to the games because my friend (Tai Wesley, who started at center last season) played."

Wild Bill has toned it back a bit at the games. His health, while better, is not strong enough for him to be going all out at every home game.

But he will be at the two ESPN home games Utah State has. And he will be in costume.

Wild Bill told me what those costumes are. I've been sworn to secrecy, but I can tell you this much: one of them may top the teapot costume he wore last season. Seriously.

You'll just have to tune in and see for yourself.

You know you will.

Previewing your college hoops weekend

2012-01-27T13:17:00.002-05:00

Game of the Weekend: Sat. 1:30 pm: No. 16 Mississippi State @ No. 13 Florida

At the end of the day, the SEC is Kentucky and every body else. That's not an insult directed at the rest of the league, the Wildcats are just that good. The battle for second place is where the intrigue is going to come into play and, at times, there have been four teams that have looked like they deserved that title. Mississippi State are two of them.

This is an interesting game for a couple of reasons. On the one hand, Florida is at their best when they play inside-out, getting Patric Young touches and allowing him to create opportunities for his talented perimeter players by drawing attention from the defense. But Young is playing on a bad ankle, one that has forced him to come off of the bench, and Mississippi State has one of the best front lines in the country. Arnett Moultrie has a legitimate shot to win SEC player of the year and Wendell Lewis and Renardo Sidney are both capable of posting double-doubles.

But the Gators will have the advantage in the back court. If they go four guards, they should be able to neutralize that size advantage by forcing MSU's bigs -- who aren't the best defenders to begin with -- to come out of defend on the perimeter. Dee Bost has been terrific defensively this year, but can Rodney Hood stay in front of a Mike Rosario or a Kenny Boynton?

I think that Florida pulls this game out. Mississippi State is inconsistent and will be playing on the road and I just think the mismatches end up benefitting Florida more than they do the Bulldogs.

Sat. 1:00 pm: West Virginia @ No. 4 Syracuse: I'm not sure anyone knows who the second best team in the Big East is. Some days, it looks like Georgetown. Others, it looks like UConn or Cincinnati. At one point, the Mountaineers looked like they were that team. And, at times, they probably still can be. But right now, the only place they are getting consistency from is Kevin Jones, who is probably the Big East's player of the year at this point. Truck Bryant alternates between great and bad, Deniz Kilicli looks like he has the basketball IQ of a river otter and the rest of that team are freshmen. Which 'Eers team shows up? Perhaps the bigger question, however, is whether or not Fab Melo plays.

Sat. 1:00 pm: Texas @ No. 7 Baylor: Baylor headed into last week with an undefeated record and a chance to solidify themselves, but that backfired. They got drilled by Kansas in the Phog and lost to Missouri at home. Texas is in the midst of that stretch right now, as they have Baylor and Missouri back to back. The Longhorns have dug themselves a bit of a hole, as they have lost four of their first seven Big 12 games. This is the kind of game they have to get if they want a shot at making the NCAA Tournament come Selection Sunday.

Sat. 2:00 pm: Middle Tennessee State @ Vanderbilt: There may not be a team in the country flying as far under the radar as Middle Tennessee State is right now. They are currently sitting at 20-2 overall with wins over Ole Miss, Belmont and UCLA. The Blue Raiders can play. But Vanderbilt has slowly turned into the team that they have the potential to be. The biggest change? On the defensive end, where the addition of Festus Ezeli has and completely changed the complexion of this group. But if they overlook MTSU, they will get upset.

Sat. 7:00 pm: Washington @ Arizona: Washington is starting to look like a team that could take control of the Pac-12. They certainly have the talent to. The issue with Washington has been consistency this season, especially on the road. Will they show up for this game? You'd think with the way that these two programs have performed over the last decade or so would make this into a bit of a rivalry game, one that the Huskies will be motivated for.

Sat. 8:00 pm: No. 21 Virginia @ North Carolina State: Florida State may have struggled early in the season, but after a blowout win over North Carolina and a win at Duke, its pretty safe to say that they are the third best team in the ACC. After that? The answer may like in the winner of this game. NC State, who currently sits at 4-2 in the league, got embarrassed by UNC on Thursday night and could really use a win. But UVA could as well. They needed a late run at home to knock off BC and bounce back from a loss at Virginia Tech.

Sat. 9:00 pm: No. 20 St. Mary's @ BYU: St. Mary's looks like they are ready to take control of the WCC regular season race. They are now more than halfway through league play and own a 9-0 record, winning the first matchup with both Gonzaga and BYU. But both of those games took place in Moraga, and while they were fairly dominating victories, its tough to put too much stock in them until the Gaels prove their ability on the road. They made a bit of a statement on Thursday night at Loyola, but the nation will take notice with a win over BYU.

Sat. 9:00 pm: Marshall @ Memphis: Memphis caught a break on Thursday. During an incident in the Tiger's win over Rice on Wednesday, both Will Barton and Tarik Black left the bench and were subsequently tossed from the game. There was some speculation that they would get suspended for this game, but Marshall had no such luck. They also didn't have any luck this week, as they lost at home to UAB and followed that up by booting Justin Coleman, a former top 50 recruit, off of the team. The Thundering Herd are currently sitting at 4-2 in the league, a game behind Memphis. Falling two games off the pace would be a tough thing to recover from.

Sun. 1:00 pm: No. 22 Michigan @ No. 3 Ohio State: This is the second best game of the weekend, and it also happens to be the most interesting matchup. For starters, the Wolverines are going to have to figure out a way to deal with Jared Sullinger. As good as Michigan is, they aren't exactly loaded in their front court, particularly if Jon Horford doesn't play. That's not the only interesting matchup, however. Trey Burke has been arguably the biggest surprise freshman in the country, but he will be going up against one of the best on-ball defenders in the country in Aaron Craft. Throw in Michigan's complicated and unique offensive attack and the quality of Ohio State's defense (the best in the country), and this has all the making of a classic. Or a blowout.

Sun. 8:30 pm: Stanford @ Cal: The top of the Pac-12 is a disaster. Four teams are tied for first place at 6-2, including Cal, who many believe is the favorite to win the league. Stanford is currently sitting tied for second place at 5-3, but they've lost two in a row, both of which came on the road. With the way that the Pac-12 is starting to stack up, every game is going to matter if these teams end up wanting a shot at a league title or an at-large bid.

Who's getting upset?: Sat. 2:00 pm: No. 5 Kansas @ Iowa State

Call me crazy. Go ahead. Do it. You might be right. Thomas Robinson is the best player in the country. Tyshawn Taylor is in the midst of one of those stretches that make Kansas fans believe he can be one of the best point guards in the country. Jeff Withey is blocking everything in sight. And in the process, the Jayhawks have not only climbed to the top of the Big 12 (a two game lead over both Baylor and Missouri), but to the top five of the national rankings. They are rightfully considered one of the best teams in the country.

But Iowa State has plenty of talent on their roster. As much of a matchup problem as Robinson is going to be for the Cyclones, Royce White is going to cause just as many problems for the Jayhawks. At 6'8", 270 lb, he leads Fred Hoiberg's team in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocks and can play power forward and the point. The key, however, isn't going to be White. Its going to be Chris Babb, Chris Allen and Scott Christopherson. If they are hitting their threes, the Cyclones have a real chance.

Sat. 12:00 pm: No. 18 Marquette @ Villanova: The struggles of the Wildcats have been well documented, but they have been playing much better of late. They hung tough at Cincinnati and at Louisville. They knocked off Seton Hall and St. John's as well. Over the last four games, Maalik Wayns has turned into exactly the kind of player we expected him to be when he enrolled. The Golden Eagles have gotten back on track after a rough patch in the middle of the season, but they also have a tendency to get off to slow starts. We all know how tough it is to win on the road in league play.

Sat. 4:00 pm: No. 1 Kentucky @ LSU: Yeah, I know. This is a stretch. But Kentucky has a habit of starting slow on the road. LSU, on the other hand, is a tough team to beat at home. They knocked off Marquette. They beat Ole Miss by 26. They beat Auburn (I know) in overtime (trust me, I know). The Tigers are a tough, gritty defensive team with a talented big man in Justin Hamilton. If the Wildcats come out half asleep again, the Tigers might be able to steal one.

Sat. 4:00 pm: No. 10 Georgetown @ Pitt: Pitt has had a very, very bad start to Big East play. That's not a secret. But what also isn't a secret is that they had been playing without Tray Woodall. Well, guess who is back? After struggling in his first game back against Louisville, Woodall had 17 points, nine assists, went 4-4 from three and committed just one turnover in Pitt's first win in the league against Providence. Is that what the Panthers needed to jump start their season?

Sat. 4:00 pm: No. 12 San Diego State @ Colorado State: San Diego State is the best team in the Mountain West. They have a loaded perimeter attack and enough interior presence to hold their own. But Colorado State is a tough team. Where the Rams struggle, however, is on the road. At home, they have been tough. With the amount of travel that the Aztecs have logged this week, might those tired legs and hotel stays be catching up to them?

Mid-major matchup of the Weekend: Fri. 9:00 pm: Boston U. @ Stony Brook

The America East may be way on the national radar, but that doesn't mean that a game between the two teams tied for first place is irrelevant. After dropping their opener to Vermont, BU has won seven straight games, including a 61-55 win over the Seawolves at home two weeks ago. The loss to BU is the only one that Stony Brook has suffered in league play, however. Keep an eye on Darryl Partin, who is averaging 19.8 ppg.

Fri. 7:00 pm: Fairfield @ Iona: Coming into the season, Fairfield and Iona were the two overwhelming favorites in the MAAC, but their seasons have gone in completely different directions. After a disappointing non-conference schedule, the Stags lost three straight games to start out league play. Iona? If they were capable of protecting an 18 point lead, they would be sitting at 9-0 in the conference with a two game lead on the pack. The truth of the matter is that these two teams have the most talent in the conference, which means that this should be quite an entertaining game.

Fri. 7:00 pm: No. 23 Harvard @ Yale: This game features one of the most intriguing matchups of the weekend. Yale big man Greg Mangano has NBA aspirations and put up 26 points and 15 boards against Patric Young of Florida. But Harvard may have the best front line in the Ivy League with Keith Wright and Kyle Casey. Yale came into this season with a chip on their shoulder with everyone talking about Harvard and Princeton. Now is a chance to prove the doubters wrong.

Sat. 11:00 am: Ohio @ Ball State: If anyone can figure out what is going on in the MAC, feel free to share it with me. After starting the season out on fire, Ohio lost three of four in the middle of the year. They've bounced back with three straight wins, but still sit a game behind Akron in the eastern division. They happen to have the same record as Ball State, who is tied for first in the west.

Sat. 2:00 pm: Valparaiso @ Milwaukee: There are four teams sitting within a game at the top of the Horizon League, and these are two of them. The Panthers are at the end of the toughest portion of their schedule, going 1-2 against Youngstown State, Cleveland State and Butler. Valpo, on the other hand, lost their last game at Green Bay, dropping them a game off the pace. Depending on what happens in the Cleveland State game, the loser of this game could end up two games behind first place in the league standings.

Sat. 4:00 pm: VCU @ Georgia State: Georgia State started off league play strong, but they have trailed off of late, losing three of their last four games. VCU came into the season as one of the league favorites, and they have performed that way, sitting at 8-2 in conference play and just one game of the pace set by George Mason. One of those losses came to Georgia State in Richmond. Revenge?

Sat. 4:30 pm: Campbell @ UNC-Asheville: If you haven't had a chance to see UNC-Asheville play, its worth it. With JP Primm and Matt Dickey, they have one of the most dynamic back courts at the mid-major level. Those two have carried the Bulldogs to first place in the Big South, but Campbell is in the mix. They are led by 6'4" guard Darren White, a James Madison transfer that is averaging 18.6 ppg, but the guy you have to tune in to see is Eric Griffin, a high-flying, 6'8" forward capable of some spectacular things on a basketball court.

Sat. 7:05 pm: Cleveland State @ Youngstown State: The Horizon is as muddled as any league in the country. How muddled? Cleveland State is currently sitting in first place in the league. Youngstown State is a game behind them and all alone in fourth place. The Vikings, who are my pick to win the league, won the first matchup between these two at Youngstown State. Will the Penguins get their revenge?

Sat. 8:00 pm: Denver @ Arkansas-Little Rock: Middle Tennessee State has a stranglehold on the eastern division of the Sun Belt, but the western division is wide open. Four of the six teams are within a game of first place. And who is in first place? Denver and UALR. The Pioneers had a strong non-conference schedule, including a win over St. Mary's, while the Trojans struggled through the early part of the season. That all can be erased, however, with a strong showing in league play.

Friday's Shootaround: Wisconsin picks up a big win, at home?

2012-01-27T05:44:00.001-05:00

No. 25 Wisconsin 57, No. 17 Indiana 50: Its really unfair to judge Indiana too heavily on what happened in the Kohl Center on Thursday night. You don't win on the road in the Big Ten this season, and while the Badgers have struggled early on in the season in their own building, this is still Wisconsin. The final difference ended up being seven points, but this was a one possession game until the final minute. That, frankly, is not a bad performance by any stretch and it shouldn't really change any opinion that you currently have of Indiana.

What this win should tell you is that the Badgers may actually be closer to the team that we thought they were early in the season. This is a different group that last year, when the Badgers couldn't stop anyone and flourished thanks to an offense that was as potent as anyone in the country. Without Jon Leuer and Keaton Nankivil, Bo Ryan's club simply isn't the same team on that end of the floor. What they are is a group that can absolutely lock down defensively. They don't need to score to win. Case in point -- the Badgers shot 39.6% from the floor and 4-17 from three in this one.

No. 20 St. Mary's 71, Loyola Marymount 64: The Gaels us a 12-0 run near the end of the first half and a 10-0 run to start the second half as they improved to 9-0 in WCC play. The Gaels needed to get this win. While they have a bit of a cushion in the league, they haven't done the work on the road yet; their wins over BYU and Gonzaga both came in Moraga. The Lions might have had some struggles earlier in the year, but they are healthy now and are fresh off of a win at BYU. Many, including myself, thought that the Lions had a chance to actually win this game.

And while the Gaels picked up the win on the road, the most impressive part is how they did it. Rob Jones went 5-14 from the floor. Matthew Dellavedova took just four shots and turned the ball over five times. But this isn't just a two man operation. Stephen Holt went for 19 points to carry the St. Mary's.

No. 13 Florida 64, Ole Miss 60: The Gators found themselves in a 20-4 hole against the Rebels, and it set twitter ablaze crowing about how the Gators were overrated. You've heard the arguments by now -- Florida is too reliant on their perimeter, they have no impressive wins beyond Florida State when Florida State was struggling and they've done absolutely nothing on the road.

But something strange happened: the Gators came back. And they won. Patric Young led the way with 15 points off the bench (he's still battling ankle issues) and the duo of Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker combined for 22 points and 11 assists with just a single turnover. A win over Ole Miss by four points, in a vacuum, is not all that impressive. Coming back from 16 down on the road against a good defensive team is. The Gators need to have more consistency and a slow start like this will bury them against a better team, but escaping Oxford with a win is a good thing.

No. 8 North Carolina 74, North Carolina State 55: NC State came into this game in a tie for first place in the ACC, but Wolfpack fans were brought back to earth as the Heels jumped all over Mark Gottfried's team. The Heels got 21 points and 17 boards out of Tyler Zeller as they got up by as much as 31 in the second half. The highlight of the game, however, came from Lorenzo Brown:

No. 21 Virginia 66, Boston College 49: Mike Scott had 18 points, but Virginia needed a late 22-3 run to get complete control of the game. Akil Mitchell and Jontel Evans both added 10 points.

Nevada 68, New Mexico State 60: Deonte Burton had 17 points and Dario Hunt went for 15 as the Wolf Pack went into Las Cruces and picked up a key win. Nevada, who is one of the least talked about good teams in the country, is now 6-0 in league play, a full two games ahead of NMSU.

Pac-12:

- Washington 60, Arizona State 54
- Arizona 85, Washington State 61
- UCLA 76, Utah 49
- Colorado 74, USC 50

Davidson 64, Chattanooga 63: JP Kuhlman scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, but it was a Nik Cochran free throw with one second left on the clock that saved the Wildcats from blowing a seven point lead with just 1:22 left in the game. Davidson still has an outside chance of earning an at-large bid.

Oakland 92, South Dakota State 87: Nate Wolters outplayed Reggie Hamilton, going for 21 points, 12 assists and eight boards, but the Jackrabbits still lost to the Grizzlies and fell two games behind Oral Roberts in the Summit League standings. Why? Travis Bader went 10-14 from three and scored 37 points.

UNC-Greensboro 77, Appalachian State 73 OT: Wes Miller took over UNCG in the middle of the season. They had two wins at the time and were mired in a massive losing streak. They won their first game of the season at College of Charleston and haven't lost since, winning five in a row. And now, they are tied for second in the SoCon's north division. Who saw that coming?

Robert Morris 75, LIU 66: Robert Morris did the rest of the NEC a favor by knocking off the Blackbirds on the strength of 23 points, seven assists and six boards from Velton Jones. RMU was up by as much as 15 in the second half. Wagner, RMU and St. Francis (NY) are now tied for second in the league at 7-2, a game behind LIU.

Other notable results:

- UNC-Asheville 90, High Point 70
- Gardner-Webb 78, Campbell 72
- Nebraska 79, Iowa 73
- Coastal Carolina 52, Prebyterian 49
- Milwaukee 53, Butler 42
- Middle Tennessee State 71, Troy 58
- Oral Roberts 97, South Dakota 64
- Green Bay 75, Valpo 60
- LBSU 77, UC Riverside 70 OT
- Weber State 75, Sacramento State 60

POSTERIZED: Murder He Wrote(n)

2012-01-27T02:53:00.004-05:00

Did. He. Just. Do. That?

Yup.

He did.

Washington's Tony Wroten Jr. is still working out the freshman kinks, but there is no denying that this kid is going to be a star.

In some professions, they call this "Sweet Chin Music"

UW Men's Basketball on WhoSay

What he did to that poor Arizona State defender is just mean. It's bad enough that the Sun Devils are down-right atrocious. Now they have to go out and get humiliated.

But was it as good as these?

Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Dayton, 1/25
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Missouri, 1/25
Larry Nance Jr., Wyoming vs. San Diego State, 1/24
Dion Dixon, Cincinnati vs. Syracuse, 1/23
Victor Rudd Jr., South Florida vs. St. John's, 1/17 (DotY Candidate)
C.J. Fair, Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh, 1/16
TrayVonn Wright, North Dakota State vs. South Dakota, 1/14
Bandja Sy, New Mexico State vs. Utah State, 1/12
Kenny Hall, Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, 1/12
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Duquesne, 1/11
Kadeem Batts, Providence vs. Louisville, 1/10
Karam Mashour, UNLV vs. CS-Bakersfield, 1/6
Tony Snell, New Mexico vs. Houston Baptist, 1/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgia Tech, 1/3
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro vs. Miami, 1/2
Orion Outerbridge, Rhode Island vs. Boston College, 1/2
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Indiana, 12/31
DeShon Minnis, Texas Tech vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 12/30
Keith Gabriel, VMI vs. Old Dominion, 12/22
Eric Etherly, Loyola (Md.) vs. Kentucky, 12/22
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. Texas-Arlington, 12/21
P.J. Hairston, North Carolina vs. Texas, 12/21
Robbie Hummel, Purdue vs. IPFW, 12/20
Robert Brown, Virginia Tech vs. North Florida, 12/19
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Kansas State, 12/17
Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi vs. Ole Miss, 12/17
Quincy Diggs, Akron vs. Florida A&M, 12/17
Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Chattanooga, 12/17
Langston Galloway/C.J. Aiken/Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Villanova, 12/17
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. UC-Santa Barbara, 12/16
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Howard, 12/15
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech vs. McNeese State, 12/14
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Detroit, 12/12
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay, 12/11
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26

18-4, 11 straight wins, five all-leagues players: why is no one talking about Oral Roberts?

2012-01-26T17:25:00.001-05:00

You can find the rest of the features from the #BIAHRoadTrip here

TULSA, OK - On Saturday night, I had the chance to see one of the nation's best-kept secrets play as Dominique Morrison scored 22 points in a 93-86 win over Summit League rival Oakland. Morrison is a four-year starter at Oral Roberts and a guy that has been all over the all-Summit teams throughout his career. And this season, he's playing the best basketball of his career. While his per-game averages aren't all that much better than what he posted as a junior, in league play he's averaging a league-best 23.5 ppg while shooting 56.3% from beyond the arc.

Should I mention that ORU is currently 10-0 in the Summit League, on an 11 game win streak and currently own a 22 point win over the only team in the conference within striking distance, South Dakota State?

But there is more. ORU isn't a one man show. In fact, they had five players named to either first- or second-team all-Summit in the preseason, including Michael Craion, the team's third-leading scorer and leading rebounder who missed last season with an injury. Craion's return has meant that Steven Rountree and Damion Bell-Holter, who both started last season, have split time coming off the bench this season.

I think its fair to say that it's a luxury to rotate two preseason all-conference players as a fifth starter. And for what its worth, Roderick Pearson, ORU's point guard, is the only starter that didn't receive preseason honors and he's third in the conference in assists and second in assist:to:turnover ratio.

"I think we have probably a better cast around [Morrison]," ORU head coach Scott Sutton said when I asked him what set his team apart from the rest of the Summit League. "And not to say those other teams don't, but we have Craion and Rountree and Bell-Holter and [Warren] Niles, and all of those guys could lead us in scoring any given night. If Dominique went out, last year he did for a few weeks with a knee injury, obviously we missed him but we have other guys that can pick up the slack."

It begs the question: when are people going to start talking about ORU?

This group is experienced, with a starting lineup made up entirely of juniors and seniors. They are balanced, as six different players have led them in scoring this season, all of whom are averaging at least 7.3 ppg. They have a core group of six players that see the majority of the minutes, but they are capable of going eight deep with a couple of young shooters coming off the bench.

But most importantly, this is a team that is currently playing their best basketball of the season. During this 11 game winning streak, Morrison has played as well as anyone in the country, averaging 24.7 ppg and 4.5 rpg while shooting 58.2% from the floor, 60.2% (35-58) from three and 88.2% from the line. Prior to that stretch, he was averaging 15.1 ppg while shooting a career-low 41.4% from the floor and 23.5% from beyond the arc.

Its not just Morrison, though. Warren Niles, who averaged 14.2 ppg as a sophomore but has struggled to find his stroke this season, has led the team in scoring in two of the past three games, including a 27 point performance against Oakland.

"I kind of went back to myself and told myself that I need to be more aggressive," Niles said. "I've been trying to do other things -- defense, rebounding, get assists -- but I've been wanting to be more aggressive on the offense end."

"We just got a lot of good players, and people don't realize that," Morrison said.

And while that may cause some trouble for a potential first-round opponent, the issue for ORU is going to be getting to the tournament. At this point, it looks fairly unlikely that they are going to be able to get an at-large bid. They whiffed on opportunities to notch marquee victories with competitive losses at West Virginia, Gonzaga and Oklahoma. Their best win is against a Xavier team that was playing their first game after the brawl -- without Tu Holloway, Mark Lyons and Dez Wells -- and has looked thoroughly mediocre the past month and a half.

The bigger issue, however, is a loss to UT-San Antonio in the second game of the season. Granted, ORU was a different team at that point -- Craion was still working his way back into rhythm while Morrison was struggling to shoot the ball -- but since their entire team was available, the selection committee probably won't look at it that way.

Andy Glockner, the man in charge of the Bubble Watch at SI.com, wrote that ORU is a "good team, maybe with not enough juice for an at-large. That galling loss to UTSA in the first-round of the preseason NIT, when vulnerable Oklahoma State was on tap for a trip to NYC, is a killer."

There may be a chance if they win out -- which would include a road win at South Dakota State, who is 66th in the RPI -- and lose to SDSU in the Summit finals, but that is a risk that Sutton probably isn't going to want to take.

Why?

Because the Summit League is one of the best conferences that no one talks about, from both a team and individual perspective.

South Dakota State went into Seattle and knocked of Washington 92-73 and won at Atlantic Sun leader Mercer. Oakland owns a win over Tennessee at home, at Houston and at Horizon leader Valpo. There are 15 players across the country that are currently averaging more than 20 ppg and five of them -- Reggie Hamilton of Oakland, Nate Wolters of SDSU, Alex Young of IUPUI, Frank Gaines of IPFW and Morrison -- are in the Summit League. A sixth, Taylor Braun of North Dakota State, has averaged 20.8 ppg in Summit League play.

All it takes is one of those guys to get hot on a night where ORU isn't shooting the ball well, and there goes the dreams of playing in the NCAA Tournament.

"We have players in this league that can play all over the country," Hamilton said. "Wolters, Morrison, Young. Those are good players. Given the opportunity, they can shine on any other team."

Should ORU make a run to the tournament, their solid RPI -- 49th as of Thursday morning, according to ESPN -- should get them a pretty good seed to the dance. Sutton is hoping for a 12 seed. Glockner currently has them as a 14 seed in his latest bracket, but that number is likely a bit low considering that, somewhere along the line, there are going to be upsets in the tournaments of the one-bid leagues.

For ORU to be able to make a run this season, they are going to have to get a favorable matchup. The Golden Eagles aren't the biggest team in the country -- Craion is listed at 6'5" -- and they struggle defensively -- Kenpom has them at 164st in the country in efficiency -- mostly because they struggle to put pressure on the ball; when you don't force turnovers and allow teams with good shooters open looks at the rim, you are going to struggle.

But ORU can score. So if they match up with a team like, say, Indiana -- someone without a ton of size inside or penetrators on the perimeter -- they'll have a chance. The Hoosiers are currently sitting at a four seed, so a matchup with ORU is quite possible.

Niles, to his credit, isn't worried about the matchups.

"If we make it, I think we can [make a run]," he said.

"I want the Sweet 16."

Wednesday's Shootaround: No. 2 goes down

2012-01-26T03:48:00.002-05:00

Oklahoma State 79, No. 2 Missouri 72: In the most surprising result of the night, Missouri went into Gallagher-Iba Arena and got dropped by the struggling Pokes, who were able to fight back from a deficit midway through the second half despite having starter Markel Brown tossed for his celebration of two thunderous dunks.

Missouri didn't play their best game, and that is far from a secret. Outside of Ricardo Ratliffe, who had 25 points and 12 boards on 10-17 shooting, the Tigers shot 33.3% from the floor. They were just 4-19 from three. The biggest culprit was Marcus Denmon, Missouri's all-american guard, who was just 4-16 from the floor. Perhaps the biggest issue that the Tigers had was that they weren't getting any shots created off of the penetration of their guards. When the Tigers have just eight assists as a team and aren't hitting (or are settling for) threes, they are susceptible.

But in the same vein, the credit for this win has to go to Oklahoma State, a team that has struggled this season despite fairly high expectations coming into the year. For the first time all season long, we got a taste of why LeBryan Nash was such a highly regarded recruit. An immense talent, Nash has had issues with consistency, not only in his performance but in his effort level as well. He told ESPN.com's Jason King that "I’ve needed to be more consistent as far as playing hard." After scoring a total of just 10 points in losses to Baylor and Kansas State, Nash exploded for 27 points against the Tigers. He had 13 in a 17-4 run that changed the game in the second half, hitting three threes in the run.

Oklahoma State may have already cost themselves a chance at earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but with how weak the field is around the bubble, all it would take is getting hot at the right time -- like, for example, right now -- for them to be able to make a run and get into contention. Playing in the Big 12, they will have the opportunities to get the wins. If they -- and is Nash -- decide to show up for those games, we now know what this team is capable of doing on the right day.

No. 12 UNLV 77, Boise State 72 OT: The Rebels got a bit lucky here. They shot a season-low 34.2% from the field and fired up a season-high 34 threes, which is a bad thing to do when you aren't hitting them. Throw in the fact that a young-but-talented Boise State team was gaining confidence, and it shouldn't be a surprise that the Broncos were able to erase an early 12 point deficit. Mike Moser led the way with 18 points and 21 boards.

This win should be a good sign for UNLV fans. The Rebels didn't play their best game by any stretch and were on the road against a team playing well. They blew a lead, but were able to hold it together enough to force overtime. In the extra frame, Oscar Bellfield stepped up and hit a big three with two minutes remaining to put them up five.

St. John's 78, West Virginia 62: For the first time since 1927, St. John's started five freshmen. Maybe they should keep doing it. Despite 26 points and 15 boards from Kevin Jones, the Johnnies were able to hold on after jumping out to a 21-6 lead. Moe Harkless led the way with 23 points and 13 boards. I guess no one wants to hold the title of the second best team in the Big East. UConn lost to Cincinnati, who lost to West Virginia. Does that title fall on Georgetown now?

This loss is also notable because WVU is far from a guarantee to make the NCAA Tournament. If the Mountaineers can't put it all together for the rest of the season, this loss may end up being noteworthy in six weeks.

Notre Dame 55, Seton Hall 42: The Irish successfully took any and all flow out of the game, getting 13 points and 11 boards from the suddenly-dominant Jack Cooley and 29 points combined from Eric Atkins and Jerian Grant. Don't look now, but the Abro-less Irish are now sitting at 5-3 in league play. Seton Hall has now lost three straight games to teams that shouldn't finish in the top half of the league. Is our love affair with the Pirates officially over now?

No. 6 Duke 74, Maryland 61: Mason Plumlee went for 23 points, 12 boards and four assists -- and, more importantly, hit all five of his free throws -- as the Blue Devils took Maryland's best punch on the night that the court at the Comcast Center was named after Gary Williams and hung on to win. Plumlee sparked a second half surge after Maryland was able to stay within three at the half.

South Carolina 76, Alabama 74: Bruce Ellington scored on a driving bucket with 1.4 seconds left as the Gamecocks notched their first win in the SEC this season. The bigger concern, however, is Alabama, who is putting themselves in another hole when it comes to bubble contention. They are now 2-4 in the SEC, having lost four straight, and 13-7 overall. Its a good thing they had a good start in non-conference play.

BYU 70, Virginia Tech 68: In a late non-conference game that may end up having some bubble implications, the Cougars were able to go into Blackburg and knock off the Hokies behind 22 points from Noah Hartsock. Brandon Davies added 17, but it was Brock Zylstra's three with 26 seconds left that broke open a 66-all game.

Atlantic 10: The A-10 is a mess right now. As of Thursday morning, there are five teams tied for first at 4-2 with six more teams sitting within a game of first place. Wednesday night's games only served to muddle the conference standings even more:

- St. Louis 73, Xavier 68: Brian Conklin scored 10 of his 19 points in a decisive 12-3 run that broke a second half tie as the Billikens ended Xavier's 43 game home court winning streak. Mark Lyons came off the bench in this one, scoring 24 points while Tu Holloway went for 22. The problem was that Xavier's front line, which cannot seem to figure out a way to consistently dominate despite their size, struggled again.

Here's the question I have for you: is Xavier a team that has fallen on hard times, or are they a group that we overrated early in the season. The Muskies struggled with some inferior opponents early in the season, and if it wasn't for the two comebacks that were capped by a flurry of Holloway threes early in the year, I don't think we ever would have had this team anywhere near the top ten. Could it just be that this is, in fact, the real Xavier team?

- St. Joe's 77, Dayton 63: Ronald Roberts came off the bench to lead four scorers in double figures with 27 points as the Hawks ran through the Flyers, who came into this game leading the conference. St. Joe's is one of the six teams sitting a game out of first place.

- La Salle 78, George Washington 63: Ramon Galloway scored 21 of his career-high 28 points to lead a hot-shooting explorer team over the Colonials. Galloway was 11-12 from the floor and 6-7 from three while La Salle, as a team, shot 21-29 from the floor en route to 51 first half points. La Salle is tied for first in the league.

- St. Bonaventure 72, Rhode Island 66 OT: The Bonnies overcame a slow start, using a 19-6 run to open the second half to take a three point lead, but couldn't pull away. It may have been ugly, but a win is a win, and this win puts them in a tie for first.

- Richmond 102, Fordham 58
- Temple 79, Charlotte 57

Conference USA: If you've been paying attention, than you know that the Conference USA race is going to be one of the most intriguing to follow this season, and Wednesday night didn't disappoint.

- UAB 56, Marshall 49: Most of the pundits agree that the winner of CUSA is going to be the team in the top four (Marshall, Memphis, UCF and Southern Miss) that does the best in their home-and-home round robin and avoids having bad losses. This qualifies as a very bad loss for Marshall. Forget, for a second, the fact that this game was played in Huntington, UAB is just 7-12 on the season. They are a young team that is getting better -- their six CUSA games have now been decided by a total of 24 points -- but this is still a team that Marshall has to be able to handle at home. They had no answer inside for Cameron Moore, who went for 21 points, and shot just 35.2% from the field.

- Tulsa 66, UCF 61: I said it last week -- with their weaker CUSA schedule (their football team is in the west division, which means they only have to play the top four teams once instead of twice), Tulsa has a chance to sneak up on some people if they can steal a couple of wins. They did exactly that tonight, as Scottie Haralson led the way with 18 points. Marcus Jordan, who struggled in this one, got called for a charge and picked up a technical in the final seconds. That tech was followed up by a technical on Keith Clanton.

- Memphis 73, Rice 51: The result isn't what is notable here. What happened late in the second half is. After Tamir Jackson put a hard foul on Joe Jackson, the two went nose-to-nose and a brawl nearly erupted. During the confusion, both Will Barton and Tarik Black jumped off of the Memphis bench. That's not allowed, and they were both ejected from the game. Its unclear whether or not they will be suspended for a game, but if they are, that will be a huge hit for the Tigers, who get Marshall next.

- Southern Miss 72, East Carolina 60: With the win, USM is now tied with Memphis at 5-1 in the league, with UCF and Tulsa sitting at 5-2 and Marshall at 4-2.

The rest of the top 25:

- No. 3 Ohio State 78, Penn State 54: Jared Sullinger went for 20 points and 13 boards as the Buckeyes knocked off the Nittany Lions handily at home.

- No. 11 Michigan State 78, Minnesota 62: Draymond Green had 22 points, 14 boards and six assists as the Spartans ended the Gophers three-game winning streak and gave Tom Izzo his 400th win as a head coach.

- No. 14 Creighton 77, Drake 69: Doug McDermott overcame the constant double teams to score 30 points and grab nine boards as the Bluejays kept pace with Wichita State at the top of the Missouri Valley standings.

- No. 16 Mississippi State 76, LSU 71: Arnett Moultrie had 28 points and 12 boards as he continued his push for SEC player of the year, scoring 19 in the second half to carry the Bulldogs. Dee Bost, who did had 10 assists, and Renardo Sidney both struggled for Rick Stansbury's team, which begs the question: how good can this team be when they put it all together, and is that ever going to happen?

- No. 24 Kansas State 69, Texas Tech 47: Martavious Irving and Rodney McGruder combined to go for 29 points as the Wildcats pushed their winning streak to three games in league play. This group looks like the third best team in the Big 12, a title that no one seems to be able to hold onto for very long.

- No. 25 Louisville 84, Villanova 74: On Saturday, it was Kyle Kuric and Chane Behanan breaking out offensively. On Wednesday, it was Peyton Siva, who had 16 points and made a number of key plays down the stretch as Louisville held on to beat Villanova. Gorgui Dieng added 12 points and 13 boards. Louisville may not be as good as their ranking indicated early in the season, but they also aren't as bad as they have been playing. Have these last two games been the sign that they are breaking out of their slump.

Other notable scores:

- VCU 67, Towson 42
- ODU 53, UNCW 48
- George Mason 55, Hofstra 50
- Drexel 68, Georgia State 46
- Pitt 86, Providence 74
- Florida State 75, Wake Forest 52
- Ohio 56, Western Michigan 51
- Bucknell 67, American 61
- Illinois State 76, Missouri State 69 OT
- Arkansas 56, Auburn 53
- New Mexico 85, Colorado State 52

POSTERIZED: Ronald Roberts dunks on Dayton

2012-01-26T00:46:00.002-05:00

Oklahoma State's Markel Brown tole the show on Wednesday night with his two monstrous dunks against Missouri, even drawing a technical on the second slam.

But Ronald Roberts of St. Joe's threw down a dandy of his own.

It's not often that you see somebody get #POSTERIZED off of a windmill jam, but well, if you've watched St. Joe's at all this year, then you know Roberts is capable of doing what ever he wants when he takes flight.

I love windmill dunks. Even if they are made in the open-floor. But when you add a foolish defender into the equation, you have something truly special.

Roberts continues to climb up the "Dunker of the Year" charts with his leaping abillity and creativity.

I would love to see Roberts go against Xavier's Dez Wells in an Atlantic-10 Dunk-Off.

But was it as good as these?

Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Missouri, 1/25
Larry Nance Jr., Wyoming vs. San Diego State, 1/24
Dion Dixon, Cincinnati vs. Syracuse, 1/23
Victor Rudd Jr., South Florida vs. St. John's, 1/17 (DotY Candidate)
C.J. Fair, Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh, 1/16
TrayVonn Wright, North Dakota State vs. South Dakota, 1/14
Bandja Sy, New Mexico State vs. Utah State, 1/12
Kenny Hall, Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, 1/12
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Duquesne, 1/11
Kadeem Batts, Providence vs. Louisville, 1/10
Karam Mashour, UNLV vs. CS-Bakersfield, 1/6
Tony Snell, New Mexico vs. Houston Baptist, 1/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgia Tech, 1/3
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro vs. Miami, 1/2
Orion Outerbridge, Rhode Island vs. Boston College, 1/2
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Indiana, 12/31
DeShon Minnis, Texas Tech vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 12/30
Keith Gabriel, VMI vs. Old Dominion, 12/22
Eric Etherly, Loyola (Md.) vs. Kentucky, 12/22
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. Texas-Arlington, 12/21
P.J. Hairston, North Carolina vs. Texas, 12/21
Robbie Hummel, Purdue vs. IPFW, 12/20
Robert Brown, Virginia Tech vs. North Florida, 12/19
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Kansas State, 12/17
Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi vs. Ole Miss, 12/17
Quincy Diggs, Akron vs. Florida A&M, 12/17
Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Chattanooga, 12/17
Langston Galloway/C.J. Aiken/Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Villanova, 12/17
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. UC-Santa Barbara, 12/16
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Howard, 12/15
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech vs. McNeese State, 12/14
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Detroit, 12/12
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay, 12/11
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26

POSTERIZED: Markel "Bad News" Brown

2012-01-26T00:26:00.001-05:00

What is there to say about Oklahoma State's Markel Brown? The dude can fly. This is his #POSTERIZED series, and frankly, his most impressive.

The 'Pokes got a stunning 79-72 win against No.2 Missouri at the Gallagher-Iba Arena on Wednesday night. While it was LeBryan Nash who had the best performance of the night, Brown provided the highlight of the night.

In fact, he had two SPECTACU-LARGE slams ~~(Still tyring to get footage of the first one)~~, and the second one could very well end up being Dunk of the Year.

No joke.

But why on Earth does Brown get T'd up? This was one of the worst calls I've seen in a while. I didn't realize that looking at people was illegal.

In a sense, this was the oh-so-rare "walk-off" slam-dunk. Sure, it wasn't a game-winning dunk, but since it was his second technical foul, he literally "walked off" the court right after the dunk.

But was it as good as these?

Larry Nance Jr., Wyoming vs. San Diego State, 1/24
Dion Dixon, Cincinnati vs. Syracuse, 1/23
Victor Rudd Jr., South Florida vs. St. John's, 1/17 (DotY Candidate)
C.J. Fair, Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh, 1/16
TrayVonn Wright, North Dakota State vs. South Dakota, 1/14
Bandja Sy, New Mexico State vs. Utah State, 1/12
Kenny Hall, Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, 1/12
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Duquesne, 1/11
Kadeem Batts, Providence vs. Louisville, 1/10
Karam Mashour, UNLV vs. CS-Bakersfield, 1/6
Tony Snell, New Mexico vs. Houston Baptist, 1/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgia Tech, 1/3
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro vs. Miami, 1/2
Orion Outerbridge, Rhode Island vs. Boston College, 1/2
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Indiana, 12/31
DeShon Minnis, Texas Tech vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 12/30
Keith Gabriel, VMI vs. Old Dominion, 12/22
Eric Etherly, Loyola (Md.) vs. Kentucky, 12/22
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. Texas-Arlington, 12/21
P.J. Hairston, North Carolina vs. Texas, 12/21
Robbie Hummel, Purdue vs. IPFW, 12/20
Robert Brown, Virginia Tech vs. North Florida, 12/19
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Kansas State, 12/17
Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi vs. Ole Miss, 12/17
Quincy Diggs, Akron vs. Florida A&M, 12/17
Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Chattanooga, 12/17
Langston Galloway/C.J. Aiken/Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Villanova, 12/17
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. UC-Santa Barbara, 12/16
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Howard, 12/15
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech vs. McNeese State, 12/14
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Detroit, 12/12
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay, 12/11
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26

#BIAHRoadTrip The Diary Part XIV: The Laramie Controversy and Casino Royale

2012-01-25T19:17:00.007-05:00

1:45 PM Day 20
Somewhere on I-70
The Rocky Mountains, CO
Total Miles: 3629

Road Trip Part-I
Road Trip Part-II
Road Trip Part-III
Road Trip Part-IV
Road Trip Part-V
Road Trip Part-VI
Road Trip Part-VII
Road Trip Part-VIII
Road Trip Part-IX
Road Trip Part-X
Road Trip Part-XI
Road Trip Part-XII
Road Trip Part-XIII

We've been on the road for the past two days, making our final push towards Utah State, so we apologize for the lack of content.

But that doesn't mean things haven't been interesting.

---------------------------------------------------------------
When we last left you, we were headed to Lawrence, KS to visit Allen Field House and watch the Kansas Jayhawks play the Texas A&M Aggies.

Before the game, we went to The West Coast Saloon to grab a burger, and the place was packed to capacity with Jayhawk fans. We must have been the only guys in there not wearing blue and red. The burgers were legit, but we were running late (Thanks to Rob, as usual) so we had to inhale them and head over to The Phog.

Allen Field House is absolutely incredible. Everything about it is spectacular: the physical structure, the arena itself, the concourse area, the atmosphere, the fans, everything. Every single fan in the arena was wearing blue or red. Now, we didn't see a lot of costumes, but there wasn't a single person in there that wasn't wearing Jayhawk apparel.

(Name that "Morri")

At the majority of the BCS-conference games we've been to, our media seats have been in the upper deck, away from the floor. But surprisingly enough, we were seated right underneath the basket closest to the Aggies bench.

The one problem was that we were right behind the Kansas cheerleaders.

I'm not complaining about having to look at cheerleaders for 40 minutes, but they stood up like RIGHT IN FRONT OF US for the majority of the game, so while my view was nice, my view of the game was rather obstructed.

The experience at The Phog was incredible, just incredible. I want to go back there, like, now.

After the game we went back to our hotel to get some work done before we set off on our treacherous voyage through the Rockies towards Logan, UT.

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But before we even got to the road, controversy struck.

At roughly 3:00AM CST, I referenced the travel problems SDSU was having in getting to Laramie, WY, where we would be driving through within the next 48 hours.

. Rob ecstatically stated that we should wake up at 6:00AM and drive 11 hours directly to Laramie, WY to cover the game. I explained to him why this wouldn't work: We didn't have credentials, we needed sleep, the game was at 6:00PM, which would mean we may not even make it to the arena by tip-off. Reasons also included my inability to trust Rob driving my car in mountainous terrain, and well, my general trust in Rob. And from here, Rob began to throw a tantrum.

But before I was done, he had taken his idea to Twitter.

Within moments, I was a villain, and tyrannical leader hellbent on ruining all his fun.

I brushed off his continued efforts to convince me to do it, and I went to sleep.

At roughly 8:11AM, I was woken up to numerous pillow-shots to the head, followed by screams of "TROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY". Rob looked at me and said "Are we doing this?"

"No Dice". I said, and went back to sleep.

When we finally departed Lawrence, Rob was like a child spurned by his parents at the toy store.

The drive from Lawrence was brutal. It's long, flat, barren and straight.

Rob spent the majority of the trip reminding me that I ruined the trip and that I'm a "Debbie Downer". Rob did an interview with 1450 AM Sports Buzz Louisville and spent a majority of the call explaining to people in Louisville why I'm the worst friend ever.

However, it would not be too long before Rob had completely forgotten about the SDSU/Wyoming game completely.

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We drove for what seemed like days. We finally stopped in Denver, CO to spend the night with Kyle Dickmann, a former standout Kentucky High School basketball player and co-benchwarmer with Rob at Vasser College.

We were planning on grabbing some local food and beverage, getting some work done, and calling it a night. But Kyle had other plans. Within 30 minutes of arriving, it was decided that we would be heading up to Blackhawk, CO to visit the Ameristar Casino. The decision was unanimous.

But here's the thing. I'm a horrific gambler. I'm a terrible poker player. I am way too shrewed to wager money on anything. Plus, I've never been to a casino. Oh, and did I mention that I'm close to exhausting all my funds and will struggle to pay rent next month?

Nonetheless, I was all in.

When we arrived, we were briefed on how to play craps, which of all the casino games, gives you the best odds at winning money.

Right from the start, it was apparent to everyone that I was a novice. I put two hands on the dice (a no-no), I placed a $7 bet multiple times (a no-no), I placed a bet late and swatted the dice out of the air ( A huge no-no). On my first toss, I threw both dice off the table. On my second toss, the dice didn't even make it to the far wall.

It was brutal.

Craps is a game of severe peaks and valleys. You get up big, and you get down even bigger. I was down to my last chip on numerous occasions. Rob went to the ATM twice, we got up and we got down, but we were able to sustain most of the momentum swings.

Then Mr. Miagi stepped up to the table.

In the span of ten short minutes, a tiny Asian man with a solid mustache rolled some of the hottest dice I've ever seen. He was hitting everything. Hardway-10s, doubles, the field, the pass line, everything. If you had chips on the table, you were winning. This guy was flat-out feeling it.

By the time he finally rolled the dreaded 7, Kyle was up $150, I was up $90, Rob was leading the way with $300.

At that point, it was obvious that we had to leave. I was grinning ear-to-ear. I don't win money. Ever. Yet here I am, a novice craps player, walking out of my first casino with $75.

This doesn't happen. This isn't suppose to happen. But it did, and the next few days of the #BIAHroadtrip are on the house.

Literally.

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Like I said in the beginning of the post, we are currently in the Rocky Mountains, right near the border of Colorado and Utah. It is one of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen.

For the past 14 days, we've been driving across the most boring section of the entire country. But it was totally worth it considering what's right outside our car window.

#POSTERIZED: Larry Nance Jr. does the "Jumpman"

2012-01-25T14:45:00.002-05:00

In case you haven't been following along with the #BIAHroadtrip, we briefly debated trekking from Lawrence, KS to Laramie, WY in order to cover the SDSU vs. Wyoming game. The only problem was Rob started pushing for this idea at 3:00AM and Laramie, WY is 11 hours away from Lawrence, KS.

There will be more on this controversy in the near future, but for now let's discuss the "highlight-reel dunk of the year" candidate that Wyoming's Larry Nance Jr. threw down last night.

You've probably seen the dunk, but if not, here it is:

I'll be honest. I'm not too terribly impressed with this dunk. Sure, it probably got the crowd rockin', but it just kinda doesn't fancy me too much.

Yes, it's true, this dunk is a great silhouette of the Michael Jordan "Jumpman" logo. But Nance didn't jump nearly as high of the ground as Jordan did, so the dunk just ends up looking goofy.

That being said, it's still kinda impressive.

But was it as good as these?

Dion Dixon, Cincinnati vs. Syracuse, 1/23
Victor Rudd Jr., South Florida vs. St. John's, 1/17 (DotY Candidate)
C.J. Fair, Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh, 1/16
TrayVonn Wright, North Dakota State vs. South Dakota, 1/14
Bandja Sy, New Mexico State vs. Utah State, 1/12
Kenny Hall, Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, 1/12
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Duquesne, 1/11
Kadeem Batts, Providence vs. Louisville, 1/10
Karam Mashour, UNLV vs. CS-Bakersfield, 1/6
Tony Snell, New Mexico vs. Houston Baptist, 1/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgia Tech, 1/3
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro vs. Miami, 1/2
Orion Outerbridge, Rhode Island vs. Boston College, 1/2
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Indiana, 12/31
DeShon Minnis, Texas Tech vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 12/30
Keith Gabriel, VMI vs. Old Dominion, 12/22
Eric Etherly, Loyola (Md.) vs. Kentucky, 12/22
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. Texas-Arlington, 12/21
P.J. Hairston, North Carolina vs. Texas, 12/21
Robbie Hummel, Purdue vs. IPFW, 12/20
Robert Brown, Virginia Tech vs. North Florida, 12/19
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Kansas State, 12/17
Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi vs. Ole Miss, 12/17
Quincy Diggs, Akron vs. Florida A&M, 12/17
Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Chattanooga, 12/17
Langston Galloway/C.J. Aiken/Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Villanova, 12/17
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. UC-Santa Barbara, 12/16
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Howard, 12/15
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech vs. McNeese State, 12/14
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Detroit, 12/12
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay, 12/11
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26

Wednesday's Shootaround: Big road win for Michigan

2012-01-25T04:56:00.002-05:00

No. 22 Michigan 66, Purdue 64: The Wolverines picked up a huge win on the road against the Boilermakers, hanging on for the win after Purdue missed two good looks from three in the final minute. One of those looks came off the hands of Robbie Hummel with 12 seconds left in the game. Making this win all the more impressive is that the Wolverines did it despite getting just a mediocre performance out of Trey Burke. Tim Hardaway, Jr., didn't exactly snap out of his shooting slump, but he did score 19 points to pace the Wolverines.

The enormity of this win cannot be understated for Michigan. Believe it or not, while this boosts them to 6-2 in Big Ten play and all alone in first place, it is also their first win on the road on the season. And while Purdue may not be the kind of powerhouse that they have been the past two seasons, this is still a tough team to beat in their arena. More than anything, Michigan needed this confidence heading into the stretch run. They have ten games left on their schedule. Six of them are away from Ann Arbor.

That said, confidence alone isn't going to help them at Ohio State with first place on the line.

No. 12 San Diego State 52, Wyoming 42: SDSU further proved their merit in the MWC by going into Laramie and knocking off Wyoming. The win itself is pretty impressive considering how improved the Cowboys are this season. But once you factor in that the Aztecs were stranded in an airport in Utah for 20 hours because of snow, it become just that much more noteworthy. Jamaal Franklin and Chase Tapley had 12 points each.

Texas 62, Iowa State 55: At this point, any win that Texas can get is a big win. Coming off of three straight losses -- to Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri -- and with J'Covan Brown mired in a slump (he was 3-16 on Tuesday night), Texas couldn't afford to drop this game to Iowa State, a fellow bubble-dweller. Myck Kabongo led the way with 13 points, but it was defense that won this game. ISU shot just 33.3% from the floor. Of note: Royce White is really, really good. He finished this game with 15 points, 15 boards and five assists.

Vanderbilt 65, Tennessee 47: It wasn't pretty, especially in the second half, but Vanderbilt got a win they were supposed to get in the way that they were supposed to get it. Jeff Taylor had 15 of his team-high 23 points in the first half as the 'Dores jumped out to a 30-10 lead. Tennessee never really made it interesting. It is noteworthy, however, that Vandy didn't back down when Tennessee tried to turn this game into a slugfest. That's a good sign for a team that isn't exactly known for their toughness. Vandy is now 5-1 in the SEC with a two-game lead in the win column over Florida while sitting one game behind Kentucky.

No. 1 Kentucky 57, Georgia 44: I continue to have concerns about Kentucky's inability to put together a complete game. There isn't much doubt, in my mind, who the most talented team in the country is. And if I were forced to put everything that I own on one team winning the national title, odds are good that I'd have my money on the Wildcats. But the fact that they were only able to manage 57 points against Georgia -- and only 19 in the second half -- is a concern, one that we've come across before. Maybe I am being too demanding, but before I can get to a point where I am truly excited about what this team is capable of, I need to see it.

No. 7 Baylor 77, Oklahoma 65: I think all you need to know about the issues involving Baylor are this: after struggling against Missouri at home, Perry Jones III finally showed up, going for 21 points and 12 boards at Oklahoma. Take that as you will.

Marquette 67, South Florida 47: You want to know how wacky the Big East is this season? The winner of this game moved into a tie with Georgetown for second place in the league. With the loss, USF is tied for fifth with Cincinnati. That's not a typo, either. None of it is.

Miami 64, Georgia Tech 49: After a 21 points, eight rebounds performance against the Yellow Jackets, Kenny Kadji has now scored in double figures in 10 of the last 11 games. He has four double-doubles in that span. Want to hear a weird stat? In the seven games that he hasn't recorded a double-double, only twice has he gotten more than three rebounds. All or nothing.

The MAC: There were a couple of key games tonight among contenders in both divisions. Akron improved to 5-1 in league play with a 70-58 win over Ball State, dropping the Cardinals to 4-2. Buffalo knocked off Eastern Michigan 65-47, which further muddled the top of the league as both teams are now 4-2 in the conference. As it stands now, Akron is all alone in first place in the east with Buffalo a game behind them and Ohio lurking at 3-2 in the conference. In the west, Ball State and Eastern Michigan are both 4-2 with Western Michigan sitting just a game back in the win column.

Conner Teahan is living his dream, but would trade it all back. Why?

2012-01-24T15:27:00.001-05:00

You can find the rest of the features from the #BIAHRoadTrip here

LAWRENCE, KS - Conner Teahan is living the dream.

He grew up a mere 30 minutes from the University of Kansas in Leewood, KS, and, like most people that grow up a mere 30 minutes from Lawrence, he's been a lifelong, diehard Jayhawk fan.

"There aren't going to be many bigger KU fans than I was. I'd be crying when they lost," Teahan said with a laugh after scoring five points in a 64-54 win over Texas A&M at Phog Allen Fieldhouse on Monday night. "Whenever I thought about what I wanted to do in college, the number one priority was play basketball at KU. That's all I wanted to do and I got the opportunity to."

Every kid grows up with a dream like that.

Whether its playing centerfield for the Yankees, starting at quarterback for the Packers or tending goal for the Canadiens, we all go to sleep at night with visions of stardom in our head. For Teahan, that vision was stepping foot on James Naismith Court and raining threes while 16,000 fans clad in red and blue belted out the legendary "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" chant.

But unlike most of us, Teahan was able to see that dream become a reality. After playing mostly mop-up minutes in his first three years as a walk-on in Bill Self's program and redshirting last season, Teahan has finally gotten his chance. He's the sixth-man for Kansas this year, the first guard off the bench and a sharp-shooter brought in to help spread the floor and keep defenses from collapsing on the leading candidate for national player of the year. He's averaging 7.1 ppg and 20.8 mpg this season. And despite a shooting slump of late, hitting just five of his last 23 attempts from beyond the arc, he's still knocking down threes at a 37.3% clip.

Its tough to imagine life being better for Teahan, who has already completed his finance degree and is currently working on a degree in accounting.

So why does he wish he was still riding the bench?

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Conner Teahan had options. He didn't have to walk-on at Kansas. He was a decorated high school athlete, a two-sport star that was good enough to hold scholarship offers in both basketball and football, where he was a 6'5" quarterback.

"I had scholarship offers. I was pretty much Missouri Valley," Teahan said. "I was going to go to Wichita State when Mark Turgeon was there. I was going to also play football. I was thinking about maybe going to K-State or Missouri, but I couldn't do it. I just like KU too much."

Teahan isn't a typical walk-on, either. He's what's known as a preferred walk-on. When he decided to go to Kansas, his spot on the team was already guaranteed. He didn't have to tryout in the fall like the other guys that lead the cheers and wave the towels at the end of the bench. The only difference between Teahan and the myriad of top 50 recruits that Self brings in every season is that Teahan wasn't going to be getting his education paid for.

But Teahan also knew that being a preferred walk-on wasn't exactly a guarantee of playing time. Preferred walk-ons are commonplace in college hoops, but preferred walk-ons are still walk-ons. They are rarely part of the rotation of a powerhouse program without having some kind of back story. Jarvis Varnado, who was an all-conference center at Mississippi State, gave up his scholarship so that Rick Stansbury could bring in Renardo Sidney. Taylor Rochestie, who played at Washington State, and Nick Sidorakis, who played at Oklahoma State, both gave up their scholarships as seniors to avoid having a player that was recruited have to walk-on or transfer. Louisville's Kyle Kuric and Chris Smith are both walk-ons and starters.

And, of course, there's Andre Drummond. Drummond was the nation's top recruit. Teahan was going to Wichita State.

"He's never had the chance to play," Self said. "He's been a good player, but he's been just good enough not to play because we've had so many good players."

Its kind of overwhelming when you look at the amount of talent that has gone through Lawrence during Teahan's time as a Jayhawk. Ten players have gone on to play in the NBA, and that doesn't include Thomas Robinson, Tyshawn Taylor or Jeff Withey, who all have a chance to make the league when they are done with their college eligibility.

It puts Teahan in a bit of an awkward situation. Here he is, the elder statesmen on the roster at 23 years old, but how much of a leader can he be when his goals are so different than that of so many of his teammates.

"Not too many of these guys are doing what I'm doing," Teahan said. "When I try to motivate and lead or if one of my teammates is down, I try to cheer them back up by saying 'man, we gotta get it right because time flies by so fast'. I just tell them about my experience, how fast five years have gone by. You don't ever know when you're going to be done with basketball."

"I'm going to be done with basketball as soon as the season's over. I won't ever be playing basketball again. I just made up my mind on that. I'm not going to try and go with the overseas route or anything like that. You gotta get it your all every single day, I try to set that example in the locker room."

So why do it?

"This is something that I always wanted to do," he explained. "I'm just happy that I got the opportunity to play right now."

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Generally speaking, when a player redshirts in college, they do it as a freshmen.

Maybe they aren't quite ready to contribute at the college level or maybe the depth on the roster means that he wouldn't see time in the rotation. Instead of wasting a year of eligibility, he gets stashed on the bench, spending a year developing whatever aspect of his game is holding him back.

Teahan did things differently. He was eligible his first three seasons, but in what would have been his senior year, he realized that he wasn't going to be getting any playing time. Instead of toiling away his final year of college buried on the bench, Teahan opted to take his redshirt and see if things would be better this season.

"That was our plan," Self said. "We talked about it and he was like 'Coach, if I can't be in the rotation, let me sit out and then I could hopefully be in the rotation next year'. That's been our plan with him."

He wasn't alone, either. Three of the starters on this year's team are redshirts.

"We've had so much depth that Withey and Releford and Teahan are all redshirts. That's been good for us," Self said.

That decision ended up being a blessing for the Jayhawks when the NCAA's ruling on Ben McLemore, Jamari Traylor and Braedon Anderson came down. (McLemore and Traylor have remained with the Kansas program, but Anderson is now sitting out at Fresno State.) Without those three in the fold, Kansas lost their safety net. The depth that has defined this Kansas program for so long was suddenly gone, thrusting Teahan into the spotlight.

Teahan was finally going to play. He was finally going to be a key member of this team, playing important minutes for one of the best teams in the country.

But if Teahan could have his way, he would be back on the bench.

"To be honest with you, if Ben McLemore was able to play, I probably wouldn't be playing right now," Teahan said. "That's just how it is. I feel absolutely terrible with what's happened to Ben and he would make our team better. So I'm sitting here like I want him to be able to play. I want to be in a position where I have to beat him or Travis out. Its very unfortunate what's happened to them, because Ben and Jamari would be a great addition to our team."

"But I'm reaping the benefits a little bit and I'm now able to do something that I've dreamed about doing. Then again, they would have helped our team out a lot."

That's how much Teahan cares about this Kansas program.

He's living out a dream he's had since he knew what basketball was but he would trade it all to make his team better.

If that doesn't define what a team player should be, than I don't know what does.

#POSTERIZED: Dion Dixon is Dynamite

2012-01-24T14:00:00.000-05:00

It seems like the we haven't seen a #POSTERIZED dunk in quite some time. I for one can't stand it. The average D-I game features at least four dunks per 40min, so you have to figure that there would be at least one #POSTERIZED-worthy dunk per day. Either team defense has been ratcheted up, or people are slacking on their responsibilities of notifying me.

Luckily Dion Dixon has my back.

Sure, the Cincinnati Bearcats weren't able to hand Syracuse their second-straight loss, but notching a SportCenter "Top Play" in the process ain't too shabby either.

Like I've stated before, a good #POSTERIZED dunk doesn't necessarily need a defender getting blown up. As Dixon shows us, all you need is some speed, and some explosive hops.

But was it as good as these?

Victor Rudd Jr., South Florida vs. St. John's, 1/17 (DotY Candidate)
C.J. Fair, Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh, 1/16
TrayVonn Wright, North Dakota State vs. South Dakota, 1/14
Bandja Sy, New Mexico State vs. Utah State, 1/12
Kenny Hall, Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, 1/12
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Duquesne, 1/11
Kadeem Batts, Providence vs. Louisville, 1/10
Karam Mashour, UNLV vs. CS-Bakersfield, 1/6
Tony Snell, New Mexico vs. Houston Baptist, 1/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgia Tech, 1/3
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro vs. Miami, 1/2
Orion Outerbridge, Rhode Island vs. Boston College, 1/2
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Indiana, 12/31
DeShon Minnis, Texas Tech vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 12/30
Keith Gabriel, VMI vs. Old Dominion, 12/22
Eric Etherly, Loyola (Md.) vs. Kentucky, 12/22
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. Texas-Arlington, 12/21
P.J. Hairston, North Carolina vs. Texas, 12/21
Robbie Hummel, Purdue vs. IPFW, 12/20
Robert Brown, Virginia Tech vs. North Florida, 12/19
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Kansas State, 12/17
Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi vs. Ole Miss, 12/17
Quincy Diggs, Akron vs. Florida A&M, 12/17
Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Chattanooga, 12/17
Langston Galloway/C.J. Aiken/Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Villanova, 12/17
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. UC-Santa Barbara, 12/16
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Howard, 12/15
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech vs. McNeese State, 12/14
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Detroit, 12/12
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay, 12/11
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26

Tuesday Morning Dump

2012-01-24T08:07:00.001-05:00

- We were at the game and saw this sign in action. Everyone on press row laughed. Well played Kansas students, well played.

- Today's must-read comes from the New York Times: Living in fear of the N.C.A.A (or "Why Ryan Boatright is ineligible....again")

- It's obvious to tell that Syracuse is not the same team without Fab Melo. But despite the big-man's absence, the Orange remain the best team in the Big East. But the Orange could benefit from a tighter rotation

- Who's hot and who's not: ACC Edition

- Should the Wichita State Shockers be ranked in the top-25?

- Bo Ryan has some issues with the same transfer rules that allowed his school's football team to get Russell Wilson

- Murray State forward Ivan Aska has been cleared to play following a hand injury that kept him out of the last six games

- Arkansas forward Marvell Waithe will miss tonight's game against Auburn due to a lingering calf injury. Speaking of Arkansas, former-Sooner Fred Gulley has enrolled in Fayettesville

- Siena upset Iona in the stunner of the night. Gaels guard Scott Machado had only three assists, a season-low

- Georgia freshman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is the type of player who a school like Georgia gets only "once every 20 year"

- Navy will join the Big East in 2015. DePaul is still pushing to get the Midshipmen approved for basketball......

Tyshawn Taylor is the most important player on Kansas

2012-01-24T03:28:00.001-05:00

You can find the rest of the features from the #BIAHRoadTrip here

LAWRENCE, KS - There's no question who the best player on the Kansas basketball team is.

He also happens to be the guy that most pundits will tell you is the best player in the country.

That's Thomas Robinson. At 6'9", 240 lb of muscle, Robinson has come into his own as a monster this season, the latest in a line of terrific front court players that Bill Self has churned out in his time in Lawrence. At this point, Robinson's story is no longer a secret. He lost his mother only a couple of weeks after both of his maternal grandparents passed away. Since then, he's entire life has focused on a singular goal: make it to the NBA so that he can provide for his eight year old sister, Jayla.

The hard work has paid off. Robinson, a relentless force on the glass, is averaging 17.7 ppg and 12.1 rpg as the focal point for a team that has overcome mediocre expectations to become the favorite to win the Big 12 and a legitimate top five team in the country.

The problem?

I'm not the only one to notice it.

"Every team is going to try and take me out of the game," Robinson said after a 64-54 win over Texas A&M on Monday night. "I am more used to it now, but I realize the deeper we get into conference play the harder the teams are going to defend me."

That is why Robinson is not the most important player on this Kansas roster. Tyshawn Taylor is.

Part of the reason that the Jayhawks had such limited expectations coming into the season is that the supporting cast around Robinson is limited talent-wise. With the exception of Taylor, the rest of the Jayhawk starting lineup is filled with guys that were career back-ups prior to this season -- Elijah Johnson, Jeff Withey and Travis Releford.

Throw in the fact that three members of Self's touted four-man recruiting class were deemed ineligible by the NCAA, and its no wonder that the Jayhawk's depth has been depleted. Conner Teahan, a fifth-year senior, spent three seasons as a walk-on before redshirting last year. Kevin Young averaged 10.7 ppg and 5.3 rpg at Loyola Marymount before transferring into KU. Justin Wesley averaged 9.9 mpg at Lamar as a freshman before he enrolled at Kansas. Naadir Tharpe is a freshman point guard that is still learning what it takes to play at this level.

Again, this isn't a secret. Every coach in the country knows that Kansas is, more or less, a two-man show. And while Robinson is a modicum of consistency, the only thing that Tyshawn Taylor has proven during his career in Lawrence is that he is consistently inconsistent. One night, he looks like the all-american that he has the potential to be. The next night, he's committing 11 turnovers, as he did in a loss to Duke earlier this year. And all this has happened while Taylor has been forced to miss time due to three separate suspensions during his career.

But over the past four games, Taylor has been playing some of the best basketball of his life. He went for a career-high 28 points, six assists and four steals in a win over Iowa State and followed that up with another 28 point performance, while adding six assists and five rebounds, in a blowout win over then-undefeated Baylor. Taylor also hit a couple of big shots down the stretch in a comeback win at Texas, finishing with 22 points and four assists (and no turnovers), before scoring 17 points against Texas A&M.

"I'm trying not to think about it. I just want to play. That's it," Taylor said when asked why he has been playing so well of late. "I feel like if I think about it, I'll start messing up. I'm just playing. My teammates are putting me in positions to be effective. My coaches are, too. I think we're just playing good basketball and I'm making shots. That helps. I'm taking good shots -- not that many -- and I'm making them."

Taylor's importance to this team was as evident as it will ever be on Monday night.

Kansas jumped out to an 11-0 lead against Texas A&M, with seven of the points -- five off of his own field goals, two off of an assist leading to a bucket by Robinson -- we produced by Taylor. He'd go on to hit two more jumpers in the first 12 minutes, scoring 10 of the first 18 Jayhawk points, but he picked up his second foul with 8:45 left in the half. Self sat him for the rest of the half, and without a secondary scoring option on the floor, the Aggies were able to double- and triple-team Robinson every time he touched the ball.

Without Taylor on the floor, Kansas didn't have that second scorer. They didn't have that second option, the guy that makes defenses pay for centering their focus on the big man in the middle. Throw in the fact that Robinson played poorly -- Self said of Robinson after the game "that was the worst game he has played in a while" -- and its not hard to figure out why the Jayhawk offense ground to a halt at the end of the first half.

Robinson is the best player on this team, but he is also a workhorse, a guy that can still get 18 points and 10 boards in "the worst game he has played in a while".

That's why Taylor is the most important player on this team.

He's the x-factor.

When he's right, the majority of the time Kansas is going to have the best player on the floor at the two most important spots in basketball -- at the point and in the paint. When he's right, this team is every bit the Final Four contender we expect Kansas to be on an annual basis.

Bill Self gets advice from the most unlikely of sources

2012-01-24T03:22:00.000-05:00

LAWRENCE, KS - Kansas head coach Bill Self wasn't too thrilled with his team's performance in their 64-54 win over Texas A&M on Monday night.

He thought they lacked effort and made numerous mental gaffes.

But Tommy Lasorda, yes, that Tommy Lasorda, the eccentric, Slim Fast-promoting former-Dodgers manager, the same guy who went to Twitter just hours before the game to ask "what Rock Chalk Jayhawk" meant, had some sage advice for Bill Self after the game.

“He said, ‘Hey, you looked great.’ I said we didn’t look good at all,” Self said with a smile on his face in the media room following the the Jayhawk's 64-54 win over Texas A&M.

Self has always been a baseball fan, and noted that he has tried his best to stay up to date with all the advanced statistics. He's even used baseball fiction to help motivate his team in the past.

Lasorda was in town for a fundraising event, and was at the game with his niece and her husband, a KU alum.

As Self tells it, "[Lasorda] said, 'You don't understand. Stats don't matter.' I said, 'If your starting pitcher gives up five runs in six innings and you just hang on to win, you're happy?' He said, 'I'm happy. I'm happy.' He said, 'You’ve got to enjoy the wins.' He's right. We do. I just didn’t think tonight we were very good, but A&M had a lot to do with it, too."

Self is right, too.

The Aggies were the first team to hold the Jayhawks to under 65-points at Allen Field House this season. Kansas shot a dismal 20% (4-2) from behind the arc and did not score in the final 3:26 of the first half.

You don't go to Allen Field House in late-January and expect to hear a baseball anecdote, let alone see a Hall of Fame manager. But on a night where the Jayhawks looked less than stellar against an inferior opponent, expect the unexpected.

Tuesday's Shootaround: Syracuse and Kansas win, Iona blows another lead

2012-01-24T02:20:00.001-05:00

No. 4 Syracuse 60, Cincinnati 53: Coming off of an embarrassing, 76-67 loss to Notre Dame -- a loss that was no where near as close as the final score indicates -- Syracuse was looking to make a statement on Monday night. People have begun to speculate that the Bearcats may actually be the second best team in the Big East, and while that may end up proving to be true in the long run, the Orange made a statement on Monday night as they went into Fifth Third Arena and left with a win.

There were a few things to take note of in this game. For starters, it was nice to see Kris Joseph go into take over mode for a while. I'm not one of those people that harps on the fact that they don't have a go-to player (I think they do, but that's another post for another time), but I do believe that if they are going to make a run to the Final Four, they need Joseph to be more assertive offensively. His combination of size, athleticism and slashing ability makes him a difficult cover for anyone, and he showed that tonight as he finished with 17 points on 8-11 shooting from the floor. Scoop Jardine also deserves credit as he finished with 13 points and six assists without turning the ball over.

The other good sign was the play of Rakeem Christmas. After a pitiful showing against Notre Dame, he finished with nine boards (four offensive), three blocks and simply was a presence in the paint. True, Yancy Gates finishes with 16 points and 10 boards, but they didn't come easy and, frankly, Gates should be putting up double-doubles against a freshman.

With or without Melo, Syracuse is head and shoulders above the rest of the teams in this conference, regardless of what happened in South Bend.

No. 5 Kansas 64, Texas A&M 54: I'll have a lot more coming from this game, but there are a couple of things that are worth mentioning that I probably won't get to in the writeups.

For starters, has there been a more surprising performance from anyone in the country this season than the play of Jeff Withey? He went from a question mark heading into the season to a defensive centerpiece. He's arguably the best shot blocker in the country, and that includes that lanky freshman from Lexington. Perhaps his most valuable attribute is that Bill Self can use him to defend an opposing team's best low-post scorer, which allows Thomas Robinson to save his legs for the glass and the offensive end of the floor.

I was also impressed with Dash Harris. I've been as critical of Harris as anyone in the country, and based on what this Texas A&M team has on their roster right now, I think it's a fair assessment. Look, Harris can wreak havoc defensively. He can break down a defense off the dribble and create for his teammates. He does some good things on a basketball court. The problem is that, with the team that Billy Kennedy currently fields, he just doesn't fit. There are not enough offensive weapons on the floor, particularly with Kourtney Roberson and Khris Middleton injured. The Aggies need a guy that can score when the offense breaks down. That ain't Dash.

Siena 65, Iona 62: For the second time in the span of 11 days, the Gaels blew a big lead and ended up losing to a league foe. In this game, Iona jumped out to a 20-2 lead just four minutes into the game, but the Saints locked down defensively. The high-powered Gael offense managed just 42 points the rest of the way. With nine minutes left, they still held on to a 57-46 lead, but Kyle Downey capped a 12-0 with a three at the fine minute mark to give Siena their first lead. After trading baskets for four minutes, Downey hit another jumper with 51 seconds left to give the Saints their final lead.

Iona is now in a three-way tie for first in the MAAC with Manhattan and Loyola (MD). If they could hold on to double-digit leads, however, they would own a two-game lead. Of note: Scott Machado had as many turnovers (three) as he did assists.

Of more note: Siena's OD Anosike has a double-double in 15 straight games. He's had one game this season where he didn't get double figure rebounds, and that was when he went for 13 points and nine boards in the fourth game of the year. What makes this stretch all the more remarkable is that in the first three games of the season, he scored a total of nine points. That's just ... wow.

Loyola Marymount 74, Santa Clara 62: The Lions kept themselves relevant in the WCC by going into Santa Clara and beating the Broncs. At 5-2 in the league with a win over BYU and no bad losses, this is a group to keep an eye on since they are finally healthy. They host St. Mary's on Thursday in a game that will allow us to gauge just how much of a menace this team can be.

The CAA: There was quite a bit of notable action in the CAA last night. Ryan Pearson went for 20 points and 12 boards as George Mason survived an ugly start to improve to 8-1 in the league with a 67-61 win over UNC-Wilmington. The Patriots now own a one game lead over VCU, who beat Hofstra 61-49, and Drexel, who won 64-48 against William & Mary. Georgia State is two games back, bouncing back from consecutive losses to knock off James Madison.

The Atlantic Sun: There is still a tie atop the conference as Belmont beat East Tennessee State handily and Mercer knocked off Jacksonville.

College Hoops Week in Review: Kansas and Missouri headline, but the MWC, Maalik Wayns and Florida State show up

2012-01-23T16:27:00.000-05:00

Player of the Week: TyShawn Taylor and Thomas Robinson, Kansas

We all already know about what TyShawn Taylor and Thomas Robinson did against Baylor. Taylor had 28 points, six boards and five assists while T-Rob demoralized the Baylor interior for 27 points and 14 boards as the Jayhawks steamrolled Baylor 92-74. Coming into the game, Baylor was undefeated and the third ranked team in the country. They were the squad that everyone was picking to end the Jayhawk's streak of Big 12 regular season titles. I think Taylor and Robinson put an end to that.

More impressive, however, was the way that Kansas knocked off Texas on Saturday afternoon. Kansas jumped out to a big lead on the road, but Texas made their run late in the second half. After a J'Covan Brown three with three minutes left, the Longhorns had a four point lead and all the momentum. But Kansas had an answer, using a 9-2 run to close the game and pick up a solid road win against a better-than-you-think Texas team.

More than anything, however, the most important thing to take out of the win over Texas was something that TyShawn Taylor didn't. Its no secret that turnovers are the issue with him, but against Texas, Taylor had 22 points, five boards, four assists and not a single turnover. The scouting report on Taylor has always been that he has the talent to be an all-american but he's as consistently inconsistent as any player in the country. He's been sensational the past three games. Can it last?

The All-They-Were-Good-Too-Team:

- G: Anthony Marshall, UNLV: The Runnin' Rebels lost at San Diego State last week, which put them in a bit of a whole to start out Mountain West play especially when you consider that the Aztecs also knocked off New Mexico on the road. If anything, UNLV proved that the MWC may end up being just a two team race as they knocked off TCU on Wednesday before running the Lobos out of the gym in an 80-63 win on Saturday. Marshall was the catalyst, finishing with 40 points, 18 assists, 11 boards and six steals in the two games.

- G: Maalik Wayns, Villanova: The knock on Villanova this season is that they didn't have a player capable of taking control and leading this team. Early in the season, that looked to be the case as both Wayns and Mouph Yarou were inconsistent. But over the past three games, Wayns has been unbelievable. He went for 39 points, 13 boards and six assists in a loss to Cincinnati last Saturday, but rebounded with 53 points, 10 assists and seven boards in wins over St. John's and Seton Hall.

- F: Khalif Wyatt and Ramone Moore, Temple: The Owls finally have Michael Eric back, but the biggest reason they are still in the race for the Atlantic 10 has been the play of Moore and Wyatt. They are the two leading scorers in the conference and lead the Owls to a 2-0 week, combining for 69 points, 17 boards and 16 assists in wins over La Salle and Maryland.

- F: Kevin Jones, West Virginia: I've said it before and I'll say it again: there are not three players in the country as underrated as KJ is. He's averaging 20.7 ppg and 1.5 rpg for a team that may just be the second best in the Big East after their 77-74 win over Cincinnati in overtime. West Virginia also knocked off Marshall this week. Jones, in the two games, averaged 25.5 ppg, 10.0 rpg and 2.5 apg.

- C: Matt Kavanaugh, Dayton: The Flyers looked like they were going to be left out of the Atlantic 10 race last month when it was announced that Josh Benson, their starting center, was out of the season with a knee injury. But as of today, the Flyers are currently sitting all alone in first place in the conference at 4-1, and Kavanaugh is one of the biggest reasons why. After going for 23 points and nine boards in last Saturday's win over La Salle, Kavanauh had 20 points and nine boards in a 15 point win over league favorite Xavier.

Team of the Week: Missouri

Of all the teams that we can consider elite this season, I am not sure if there is any that has had their credibility questioned more than Missouri this season. Are they big enough? Can they rebound? Are they going to be able to shoot this well against "real competition"? Can they win on the road?

I think its safe to say they have answered those questions. After handling Texas A&M fairly easily at home on Monday, the Tigers went into Waco and smacked Baylor in the second half, leaving with a win that was much more impressive than the 89-88 final would indicate. There were two things that Missouri really showed on Saturday afternoon. For starters, they aren't just a three-point shooting team. Ricardo Ratliffe looked like an all-american thanks to the penetration ability of Phil Pressey, Mike Dixon and Marcus Denmon. Missouri shot 31 free throws and dominated the much-bigger Bears on the glass.

The other thing that Missouri proved is that they aren't just a team that wins at home. That was a question a lot of folks had after they got handled at Kansas State earlier in league play, but they followed that up with a convincing win over Iowa State in Ames and, or course, the win at Baylor. The beauty of this Missouri team is that every player has had their ability maximized in the system that Frank Haith is running. This group is the epitome of the saying "the whole is the sum of the parts."

Five teams that deserve a shout out:

Cleveland State: The Vikings went 2-0 this week and moved into a tie for first place in a balanced and competitive Horizon League. They started out their weekend with a 10 point win over Green Bay, following that up with an 83-57 win over Milwaukee, who was leading the conference as of Thursday. The Vikings, who has been my pick to win the league since the beginning of the season, are now in the driver's seat for the conference title. The team they are tied with -- Valpo -- still has to play at Cleveland State.

Washington State: No one is out of the Pac-12 race this season. No one. That's why Wazzu's 2-0 week, knocking off both Stanford and Cal at home, is so important. For the first time all season, Faisal Aden is playing well. He went for 33 points against Stanford and followed that up with 24 against Cal. With Reggie Moore joining Aden in the back court and Brock Motum playing well this season, who knows?

Florida State: Believe it or not, the Seminoles actually have an real chance to win the ACC this season. After knocking off Maryland at home and Duke on the road this week, FSU is currently died for first place in the conference. The better news? They don't play North Carolina again this season, they only host Duke while the two Tobacco Road rivals still have to play each other twice. I wrote about it in more detail on Saturday, but during this three game winning streak, FSU has turned into one a powerhouse offensively. No one should be expecting them to continue shoot at that clip, but if they get more consistent offensively, this group is big enough and tough enough defensively that they are going to have a real chance to make some noise in March.

San Diego State: The Aztecs followed up their two point win over UNLV from last weekend with an impressive victory over New Mexico at the Pit and a win over Air Force. Xavier Thames had 22 points and four assists in the win over the Lobos. The Aztecs have to get put into the driver's seat in the MWC race. Not only do they have a game lead on UNLV and a two game lead on New Mexico, but they own a victory over both teams already and still host UNM.

Central Florida: The Golden Eagles moved into sole possession of first place in the Conference USA race by going 2-0 this week. On Wednesday, they knocked off Memphis and followed that up with a 48-41 grind-it-out win at UAB.

Five Thoughts:

- Tulsa's easy road: Conference USA doesn't have divisions on the basketball side, but the way that the conference schedule breaks down is that the teams in the "eastern division" all play each other twice while playing the teams from the "western division" just once, and vice versa. Tulsa is in the west. Memphis, UCF, Southern Miss and Marshall are all in the east. That means that Tulsa plays the top four in the league four times while the top four all play each other six times.

Depending on how it plays out, those two games could end up playing a huge role. While it will be difficult for Tulsa to win the conference outright -- they already have two bad losses to teams at the bottom of the league -- if they can turn things around there is a chance that the Golden Hurricane can steal one of the byes in the CUSA Tournament from one of the top four teams.

- Big 12 is the best conference: At this point, it has to be considered as much. Why? Because every other league in the country is a mess. Outside of Syracuse, it looks like no one in the Big East is better than "pretty good", and the Orange lost their first game of the season on Saturday when Fab Melo didn't play. The Big Ten has turned into a Royal Rumble. Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin all look like they were overrated earlier this year. Michigan State has struggled on the road. Ohio State still looks like the favorite, but with the way William Buford has played of late, the Buckeyes look "vincible". Florida State, who lost to Princeton, Harvard and Clemson by 20, has beaten UNC by 33 and Duke in Cameron. Beyond Kentucky, the next four teams in the SEC are a toss-up. The Pac-12 is a mid-major league.

At least in the Big 12, the top three teams are playing like the top three teams. Up until this week, we thought Baylor was the favorite. And now, after they got worked by both Missouri and Kansas, the Border War is going to be the coin-flip we need to determine who is the best team in this conference. Its refreshing to have question marks about a league because the teams are surpassing expectations.

- Is Oregon actually a contender in the Pac-12?: They may be. After sweeping the LA schools at home, the Ducks are now 6-2 in the Pac-12 and tied with Cal for first in the conference. They've won four straight games and have three legitimate scoring threats on their perimeter in Devoe Joseph, Eli Singler and Garrett Sim. Who would have thought this was possible after Oregon lost Jabari Brown? And what does this say about the Pac-12?

- Let's just enjoy Murray State's run, ok?: Yes, we all know that this team plays a weaker schedule than the rest of the country. Yes, we all know they are a mid-major. Yes, we all know they may not be as good as some of their high-major counterparts. But the bottom-line is this -- the Racers are still undefeated, and they are the only team without a blemish on their record. Instead of criticizing them for what they aren't, can we all please just sit back and enjoy what they are?

Murray State plays a fun style. They shoot a lot of threes, they get up and down the floor and they score a lot of points. They have a superstar that will be loved by both the efficiency gurus and the guys that study box scores with a name that is perfect for a sharp shooter (Isaiah Canaan, pronounced the same way as "cannon"). How often does a team actually have a legitimate chance to go undefeated in the regular season? Not often. So kick back, grab a brew and have fun with it.

- Can Loyola Marymount throw a wrench in the WCC race?: For most of the season, the thought has been that the round-robin between St. Mary's, Gonzaga and BYU is going to be what determines the WCC conference race. But LMU is proving to be a thorn in the side of the big boys. After losing by just four at Gonzaga last Saturday, the Lions went into BYU and handled the Cougars pretty solidly. The difference is that they now have Drew Viney healthy. He had 21 points against a very good BYU front line and Anthony Ireland went for 27 points, five assists and five steals.

The win avenged an earlier loss to BYU, meaning that the Lions haven't lost to anyone that isn't a part of the "big three". They are only two games off the pace right now with two games left against the leader St. Mary's. If they can beat the Gaels at home next week, it may be time that we start considering this team as a sleeper.

#BIAHRoadTrip The Diary Part-XIII: The Tulsa Double-Header

2012-01-23T14:05:00.003-05:00

1:45 PM Day 18
Somewhere on US-169 East
Oklahoma/Kansas Border
Total Miles: 2638

Road Trip Part-I
Road Trip Part-II
Road Trip Part-III
Road Trip Part-IV
Road Trip Part-V
Road Trip Part-VI
Road Trip Part-VII
Road Trip Part-VIII
Road Trip Part-IX
Road Trip Part-X
Road Trip Part-XI
Road Trip Part-XII

This post is brought to you by the Hilton Garden Inn Tulsa South in Tulsa, OK.

(Troy Speaking)

Rob has already gone in to detail about our experience in Joplin, MO but I have to share my thoughts on this experience as well.

I've been fortunate enough in my life that I haven't had to deal with much tragedy. A loss in the family here or there, but other than that, I've been pretty lucky. I'm sure that many of you are in the same boat.

But what we witnessed in Joplin, was one of the most surreal things I've ever seen.

Anytime you think your life sucks, or if you have a bad day, have a look at this video, and tell me that you have it bad.

You don't.

Again, I'll let Rob paint the picture, but here's a recap from my perspective.

While we were in town, we helped three construction workers build the foundation and flooring for a house in town that had been purchased by the local church community.

Two of the guys had their houses destroyed in the tornadoes, but you wouldn't have been able to tell through conversation. Matt McGee, the Joplin Habitat for Humanity team leader, was honestly one of the nicest, funniest guys I've met on this entire trip. His positive energy exemplified the type of people that make up the Joplin community.

My construction experience is thin. I've done a bunch of landscaping, but the carpentry gene in my family is non-existent. I was asked to leave a woodworking class at camp once because my carpentry skills were so poor.

Therefore, I stayed away from operating any of the heavy machinery during the day, but Rob, who had boasted his vast construction experience before hand, tried his hand at the circular saw.

It got stuck on the first try.

If that wasn't enough, he struggled to operate the rather simple caulk-gun. The others were handing it with ease, but Rob could not seem to get the caulk out of the tube and lay it down on the floor beams in a straight line.

I wouldn't trust this guy to build a LEGO house, let alone a real one.

For lunch, per the recommendation of one of the guys, we went to Hackett Hot Wings, which was voted "Best Wings" in 417 Magazine.

It certainly lived up the hype.

Overall, this was one of the most uplifting experiences of my entire life. I wanted to stay longer. I wanted to do more. And if you know anything about me at all, you know I'm not usually like this.

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We left Joplin in the mid-afternoon and headed directly to Tulsa, OK.

I was interested to see what Tulsa was like because surprisingly enough, I almost moved there in January of 2010. Seven months after I graduated from college, I was offered a video production internship for the Tulsa Drillers (Rockies AAA-affiliate) for the entire season.

If I had taken that job, I am certain we would not be where we are right now. Rob would still be writing about basketball, but I'm not sure in what capacity. Don't get me wrong, he's a phenomenal writer, one of the best in the industry. But, well, I'm the one who steers the ship. (I think.)

Luckily for B.I.A.H., the recession struck and the organization told me a week before I was suppose to leave that they could not afford to provide the housing and stipend they promised me. As a recent college grad, I didn't have the funds to move across country, pay rent and work for crackers.

In hindsight, I still should have taken the job.The Drillers are a top-tier Triple-A organization with state-of-the-art facilities.

Listen, I'm so proud of what Rob and I have been able to accomplish, but, well, here we are, 24 months later, and we still struggle to get past the "blogger" label.

But well, here's to hoping that "everything happens for a reason".

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When we got to Tulsa, we rolled up to our destination, the Hilton Garden Inn South which was no more than ten minutes from downtown Tulsa. Of all the hotels that we've stayed at, the beds at the Hilton Garden Inn were by far the most comfortable. Once Rob hit the mattress, I don't think he ever got up again.

Another perk was the plethora of power outlets available in the room. This might not be a big deal for a lot of people, but for us media-types, it was HUGE. For one reason or another, hotel rooms usually have only one or two power outlets in the whole room. But not the Hilton Garden Inn. This made the process of charging our devices much easier. It's just one of those "little things" that can make a difference to some people.

Did I mention that each room had a refrigerator (first one of the trip) and and a kitchenette?

We grabbed burgers from the restaurant in the lobby, and they were pretty damn good, and not just for "hotel standards" either. We've had our fair share of burgers on this trip, and these were some of the best.

Oh, and in the morning, the hotel has an omelet bar. Trust me, it's as cool as it sounds.

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The first game of our Saturday double-header was Oklahoma State vs. Kansas State in Stillwater, OK. As mentioned, we were staying in Tulsa, so we had to drive 80 miles due west for the 1:00PM game.

The drive was actually kinda cool. Rob was buried in his laptop the entire drive, so it was essentially just me and the open (and we're talking OPEN) road. Central Oklahoma is remarkably pretty, which is surprising, considering I spent my entire life in a Atlantic coast metropolis.

But there was one part of the drive that wasn't pretty.

The tolls.

Tolls have been kicking our ass on the trip. Every toll we've encountered has been totally different than the tolls we are used to.

These tolls were actually the standard "giant bucket" tolls both of us are used to. The only problem was that neither of us had any coins, and none of the tolls were human-operated.

Well, that's false. We did have coins, but we had to use them all at the first toll.

That right there is four dollars worth of nickels and dimes. Does anyone else find it odd that a toll would require drivers to pay four dollars in COINS? These tolls asked for large dollar amounts, coins only, and did not provide credit card machines (Like Chicago did) or toll-people.

Nonetheless, I'll be receiving at least two tickets from the Oklahoma highway authority in the near future.

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The Oklahoma State vs. K-State game was what we expected. A sloppy, mostly one-sided affair. The officiating was some of the worst we've ever seen, and the fans spent much of the game going after the referees.

Gallagher-Iba Arena is a great place, and I can't imagine what it was like back in 2007 when the 'Pokes went to 3OT with Kevin Durant and the Longhorns. But Cowboys are just not very good now.

The arena was probably 70% full, and Rob projected that 30% of the crowd was made up of K-State fans.

I would like to spend a quick second to mention how inhospitable the parking/ticket/security people were at Oklahoma State.

They were down-right hostile. Maybe they do things different in the Midwest, but well, this wasn't our first rodeo. When we drove up to the parking lot, hoping to ask for directions to the media direction, we could see the disgruntled worker mouth "What the **** do these ******** want?" right at us.

The lady at the arena entrance was just as rude. Rob went to point out his name on the sign-in sheet, and she tried to brush his hand back while giving him a stern glare.

Yeeesh. I guess we're not wanted around these parts.

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I was expecting a good atmosphere for the nightcap of our doubleheader. After all, Oakland and Oral Roberts have been the two most dominate Summit League teams for the past decade.

But I'd be lying if I said I expected to see a game that had a post-season feel to it. But that's exactly what happened.

I've been to many sporting events, some big, some small, some important, some irrelevant. But this game was arguably the most well-executed event I've ever been to.

From the student section to the media timeouts; from the on-court performance to the band. Anything and everything in between. It was well-executed by the players, fans and Oral Roberts staff.

It wasn't the loudest arena we've been to, nor was there a moment of unbridled madness. But from start to finish, it was electric.

The student section was on-point the entire game. They were loud, creative, and cohesive. The band opened with Alice in Chains "Man in the Box", and even threw in some Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

Even the media timeouts were electric. After the first three media timeouts, I felt like I was on an episode of "Double Dare". There was a "rubber chicken toss" a "big pants race", and even "giant crowd volleyball".

There was absolutely nothing "mid-major" about the game production at the Mabee Center. Even Oral Roberts head coach Scott Sutton was impressed. he remarked that Saturday night's game against Oakland was the loudest, intense crowd he's seen at the Mabee Center in 15 years. Coach Sutton wasn't the only one felt that way. The reporters in the press conference couldn't stop talking about the game atmosphere. The media Relations office felt the same way. I knew that we were in for a treat, but I had no idea that we were going to be in the house for a "best ever".

Oh, and Dominique Morrison signed a poster for me. #Swag.

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We are now on our way to Lawrence, KS to experience the Phog Allen Field House. On Monday night, we will be in the house to see the Kansas Jayhawks take on the Texas A&M. The Aggies are the only team we will see twice on this trip. When we scheduled this trip, that seemed like a good idea. Not anymore.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK baby.

Its time to stop overlooking Dominique Morrison

2012-01-23T12:59:00.001-05:00

This post is brought to you by the Hilton Garden Inn Tulsa South in Tulsa, OK.

You can find the rest of the features from the #BIAHRoadTrip here

TULSA - The Summit League is one of the most underrated conferences in the country. They are rarely mentioned when the conversation of the best mid-major league comes up, yet they sit 12th in the league RPI standings and can claim five of the nation's top 15 scorers. And to get an idea of just how good Oral Roberts was expected to be this season, think about this: not only were the Golden Eagles the overwhelming favorite to win the league, getting 27 of the 32 first place votes, all five of their starters made preseason first or second team all-Summit.

Yet ORU didn't exactly kick off their season the way many would have liked. They lost to West Virginia in their opener and followed that up with a loss to UT-San Antonio, one that ended any chance they would play in Madison Square Garden in the Preseason NIT.

Something clicked in mid-December, however, and to the outside observer, Oral Roberts can thank the Crosstown Shootout for the turnaround.

The Golden Eagles had lost two out of three heading into that game on December 18th, succumbing to Oklahoma and Gonzaga while needing what may end up being the shot of the year to knock off Arkansas-Little Rock. And they still had to head to the Cintas Center to take on Xavier and host Texas Tech of the Big 12 before kicking off Summit League play with three road games. Throw in the fact that Dominique Morrison, their star forward, was struggling to find his rhythm early on, and the situation was far from ideal.

But ORU smoked the Musketeers, winning 64-42 -- a final that didn't even accurately represent their dominance -- against a Xavier team playing without Tu Holloway, Mark Lyons and Dez Wells, following that up with a 16 point win over Texas Tech before jumping out to a 10-0 start in league play.

Head coach Scott Sutton, however, places the credit elsewhere.

"It started with the UALR game," Sutton said after a 92-83 win over Oakland in front of a raucous Mabee Center. "We didn't play well in the first half and came back and hit the shot. For that shot to get the attention it did was big. Then we went up to Gonzaga and played well in a loss and beat Xavier."

"We carried that momentum into the first weekend of conference play."

With all due respect to Coach Sutton, my money says the spark that changed the Golden Eagle's season was the change in Morrison.

Over the past month, Morrison has been as good as anyone in the country. In his last 11 games, Morrison is averaging 24.7 ppg and 4.5 rpg while shooting 58.2% from the floor, 60.2% (35-58) from three and 88.2% from the line. Oral Roberts is 11-0 in that stretch. Prior to that stretch, he was averaging 15.1 ppg while shooting a career-low 41.4% from the floor and 23.5% from beyond the arc.

That's quite a swing.

What changed?

"We had a meeting. Coach told me he didn't think I was playing up to my abilities," Morrison said, and it was something that he took to heart. "I had to look my self in the eye and say 'you aren't playing up to your abilities.' I just went to work even harder. I was in the gym even more and was even more dedicated. I was already dedicated but I had to do even more because I knew was letting myself down. ... I didn't want to let my coaching staff down or my team, either."

Oral Roberts hasn't lost since.

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Dominique Morrison has made a career out of getting overlooked, and that started well before he enrolled at ORU, a Interdenominational Christian school with an enrollment of less than 4,000 students.

Think about this: Morrison is a guy that is on pace to score more than 2,000 points in his collegiate career, yet he was the fourth -- yes, the fourth -- option on his AAU team. Normally, this wouldn't exactly be a glowing compliment for anyone, but Morrison played for Kansas City Pump-n-Run, one of the best AAU programs in the country. Missouri's Marcus Denmon and Steve Moore and Kansas forward Travis Releford joined Morrison in that team's starting lineup.

That was a blessing for Sutton, who took advantage of the fact that recruiters from the high-major programs looked past Morrison.

"I think Dominique was a late-bloomer, number one," Sutton said. "He played on a team like that where he was the fourth option, and I think sometimes kids like that get overlooked."

There was more to it than simply not getting enough touches. Morrison simply doesn't look like he's going to be great athlete. Standing 6'6", Morrison is long and lanky with big feet and an awkward gait. He's not really a guard and he's not really a forward, either, which pigeonholed him in that dreaded "tweener" category. Throw in the dreadlocks that are now hanging down to his shoulders, and its actually not all that difficult to see why the bigger schools in the area passed initially.

Looks can be deceiving, however. So Sutton swooped in, but as it turned out, he didn't really need to do all that much recruiting.

"The funny thing is, we came down here for the Mullen's Tournament," said Morrison, whose accent can hardly be considered a drawl given how fast he can talk. "I was walking around and I was like 'this place is cool, I can see myself here.' And my AAU coach was like 'you know they're recruiting you?'"

He didn't.

"Coach came to watch me play when I was here, and coach kept watching me and watching me. Then I came down here on a visit, and I fell in love. But I also saw them play when I was a junior and senior in high school and I saw Caleb Greene play for two years. That attracted me a lot too. But when I came down here, I fell in love."

Morrison isn't exaggerating when he says he fell in love, either.

He signed with ORU prior to his senior year in high school and proceeded to have a sensational final season. He averaged 25.6 ppg and 6.0 rpg, leading Raytown HS to a season-long No. 1 ranking in the state of Missouri and an undefeated regular season; they eventually were knocked off in the state playoffs.

In the process, he caught the eye of a couple of programs that realized they whiffed on a talent in their backyard.

"After we signed him early in that period, he went on and had just an outstanding senior year," Sutton said. "I think a lot of folks, Big 12 folks included, were like 'man, we may have made a mistake. He's a heck of a player.'"

Sutton thought right.

"When I had already signed, Missouri started showing me interest," Morrison said, "but it was too late. My mother was like 'No, you're going to Oral Roberts', so I didn't even think about it. I didn't second guess anyway."

"Missouri was my dream school but I fell in love with Oral Roberts. Dreams go away, but love stays."

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The main reason that Morrison is such a dangerous player is his efficiency.

Simply put, he doesn't take bad shots. Its incredible when you watch him play. He doesn't force the issue at all. Everything that he gets comes in the flow of the Oral Roberts' offense. Whether he's being isolated on the block of running off of a double-screen, Morrison doesn't need to dribble the ball 15 times and dominate possession in order to manufacture a good shot.

Defining Morrison as a "tweener" is probably accurate, but it would be unfair to associate him with the negative connotations that go along with that word. Morrison can step out and hit a three and he can also be effective when he catches the ball with his back to the basket. But where he thrives is in the mid-range. He is pull-up jumper is lethal. He's got a soft touch and his length, athleticism and high-release point allows him to get the shot off regardless of the defense that is being played on him. He's also dangerous when he's allowed to curl off of a down-screen.

His game is reminiscent of Texas A&M's Khris Middleton, only Morrison is a touch more athletic and has a head of hair that would make the Marleys jealous.

Heading into Saturday's game, Morrison was second in the country in efficiency rating for players considered major contributors (those that use at least 24% of their team's possessions), behind only Weber State's Damian Lillard and ahead of tempo-free favorites Mike Scott and Doug McDermott. But after scoring 24 points on 14 shots against Oakland, Morrison was no longer second on that list.

Why?

Because his usage rate dropped too far. Morrison may be the best player on ORU's team, but he's too efficienct and unselfish to actually be considered a "major contributor" to the stat-heads.

"He doesn't force shots," Sutton said. "He played IUPUI and he only had 12 points. He wasn't going out there and tried to out duel Alex Young, who he was guarding. He scored a bunch of points, but he worked for every bucket he got."

The game that Sutton is referring too happened last Saturday. Alex Young is a star guard for IUPUI and one of the five players that is averaging more than 20 ppg. Morrison, in the midst of this month-long hot streak, spent all 34 of the minutes that he was on the court guarding Young. Young went for 27 points, although it took his 27 shots to get there.

Morrison?

He had only 12 points, allowing his teammates to do the damage when defenses focused on him instead of worrying about getting drawn into a one-on-one shootout with the conference's Preseason Player of the Year.

"Its all about taking good shots," he said. "The coaches get mad when we take bad shots. I don't look to force shots. If its there, its there, but if not, I'll pass the ball."

That's part of why Oral Roberts is able to thrive. Morrison doesn't need to have the ball in his hands on every possession for this group to win, and he understands that. In the game we saw, Warren Niles snapped out of his season-long shooting funk to get for 27 points and hit 7-12 from long range. Michael Craion, Steven Rountree and Damen Bell-Holter are all capable of going for 20 and 10 on a given night. Roderick Pearson has a knack for making big plays for this team.

There is plenty of talent on the ORU roster, and Morrison knows that. He embraces the fact that, at times, he's the most valuable playing the role of decoy.

"He's a great team guy, he's a guy that its not all about him," Sutton said. "I think he's developed into a very good leader. The best thing I can say about him is he's just a winner. He's one of the biggest competitors I've ever coached. Whether its playing Oakland or playing a pickup game, he just wants to win."

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Despite the season that he is having, I'd be willing to bet that there are a very limited number of fans outside of Tulsa that know who Dominique Morrison is. The number of experts that would be able to break down his skill-set probably isn't all that much higher.

That's part of the problem with playing in the Summit League. The games aren't on national TV. The game we went to was broadcast on tape delay on a local Fox Sports channel. That's part of the reason that, despite the way he has been playing over the last month, no one seems to mention his name.

Not even the efficiency gurus seem to have embraced Morrison, even though he is precisely the kind of player that they would love.

"He's played as well as anybody in the country the last month," Sutton said. "You look at his stats over the last three or four weeks, and its pretty amazing."

After the game, reporters had to wait a good 45 minutes to get a chance to interview Morrison.

This had nothing to do with Morrison's ego, mind you. This wasn't the result of a player getting a big head. He wasn't hurt. He wasn't even showering.

He had actually spent the entire time up in the Mabee Center's main concourse, signing autographs and taking pictures in a school-sponsored event. After signing around 250-300 posters that were given out at the game -- and countless other pieces of memorabilia, including one kid's hand -- Morrison finally made his way down to the press room.

"Everybody loves me," Morrison said with a smile that didn't off as sheepish as much as it did a kid that's living in the moment. When you play at Oral Roberts, its not every day that you get showered with adulation. What kind of person wouldn't eat up that moment and that attention? "They started clapping when I walked up."

"I'm not trying to put myself on a pedestal, but when I was walking around up there everyone was saying they're going to miss me. I am going to miss being here. I love being here. It was a different thing, it was a culture shock how nice people are. I've never been a part of this, people just opening up doors for you and always speaking. It changed me as a man, it helped me grow up."

The kid that always gets overlooked was finally getting the attention he deserves.

Now its time to wait for the rest of the nation to catchup.

Pics/Vids: Game 11: Oral Roberts vs. Oakland

2012-01-23T10:05:00.005-05:00

Saturday, January 21st
Mabee Center, Oral Roberts University
Oral Roberts 93, Oakland 86

Game 10 - Oklahoma State vs. Kansas State
Game 9 - Missouri State vs. Creighton
Game 8 - Missouri vs. Texas A&M
Game 7 - Wisconsin vs. Nebraska
Game 6 - Marquette vs. Pittsburgh
Game 5 - Butler vs. Cleveland State
Game 4 - Indiana vs. Minnesota
Game 3 - Xavier vs. Duquesne
Game 2 - Kentucky vs. South Carolina
Game 1 - Belmont vs. Lipscomb

(Our third indoor-blimp sighting of the trip.)

(The production of this game from start to finish was flawless. The execution of the student section, band, promotions, operations and sports information departments was excellent. Oh and the game itself wasn't bad either.)

(The Golden Grizzlies get in some stretching and foul shots before the game.)

(The Golden Eagles go thru layup lines before the game.)

(Dominique "DoMo" Morrison takes a jumper during warmups. The senior forward is one of the most unheralded players in the country and is a candidate for Summit league Player of the Year.)

(The Golden Eagles get loose during warm-ups. The team shot 56% from the field and four players scored in double-digits.)

(Laval Lucas-Perry spent a season at Arizona and Michigan before landing at Oakland. He's one of the only fifth-year senior sto have played at three different schools.)

(The ORU band was absolutely rockin'. They played heavy-metal, ska, and classic stadium beats. They brought it all game.)

(Any band that plays "Man in the Box" is a friend of mine. Greatest rock song of the 90's. #TommyDreamer)

(Our first inflatable mascot of the trip. Sure, they seem cool, but they're just so damn unnecessary.)

(The ORU student section huddled up before tip-off to make sure they were all on the same page. They had pregame rituals and everything. It was extremely fun to watch.)

(I wish more more student sections did this.)

(Best student section costume ever? Definitely a contender.)

(The ORU dance team strikes a pose.)

(The Oakland Golden Grizzlies wait for Reggie Hamilton's introduction.)

(The scene after one of the many 3-pointers went through. Both temas shot over 50% from behind the arc.)

(It's astonishing how much Greg Kampe looks like Frank Caliendo.)

(Players on the Oakland bench pay attention to the team huddle during a first half timeout.)

(The tiniest court-storming ever.)

(Dominique Morrison guards Laval Lucas-Perry.)

(Oh, it's just some crowd volleyball. Nothing out of the ordinary at all......)

(Nearly every member of the student section was covered in white paint.)

(I have no clue who Tianna is. Hopefully, it's his girlfriend.)

(The leader of the ORU student section.)

(That's awe-diddly-awesome.)

(I'm not going to lie, this is an awesome picture.)

(Confirmation of the first 30-point scorer of the #BIAHroadtrip. Reggie Hamilton led all scorers with 30.)

(This chant never gets old.)

(The Mabee Center after everyone had gone home.)

(Dominique Morrison spent 45 minutes after the game signing autographs. He even signed one for me after the presser. What a swell guy.)

#BIAHRoadTrip The Diary: Our time in Joplin

2012-01-23T09:30:00.000-05:00

This post is brought to you by the Hilton Garden Inn Tulsa South, located at 8202 South 100th East Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

"The sun was still yellowish during the storm."

That's how Will Worthington, a Fairfax, VA, native that has been living in Joplin for almost three years now, described what he saw from his garage as a tornado was tearing up downtown.

"I was standing in my garage taking pictures, just like 'Wow, look at the lightening'," Worthington said. "On my computer, there are five or six little clips I made and one of them, you hear this 'hey, hey, hey'. I turned around and my wife was life 'Eric just lost his roof'. I was like 'oh, crap', so I ran out and grabbed some tarps and she was like 'you're not leaving now!' Then she came back in two minutes later and she said 'Eric's in-laws ... their house is gone.'"

"I was like, its not even raining here."

The Worthingtons live less than three miles from where the tornado hit.

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Hackett's Hot Wings sits, as they term it, "In the Heart of Joplin".

And that's a fair statement. Located between fifth and sixth streets on South Main Street, Hackett's has been voted as the best wings in Missouri by two different outlets in the past year, and while my experience with wings in Missouri is quite limited, I can tell you that I cannot remember having better wings. Ever. I guess that's what happens when you import "The Pride of Memphis".

Its business as usual at Hackett's.

You order your meal at the counter and then wait until one of the tables or boothes opens up. You better get there early, though. At 12:05 pm, the line at the counter gets 15 or 20 deep, the wait for a table not much shorter than trying to find a seat at a bar in New York's financial district during Happy Hour on a Friday.

There's no pushing and shoving for seats, either. The people at Hackett's are quite friendly. Its 'please' and 'thank you' and 'do you mind if I sit here?' You'd never guess that only 15 blocks away, a three minute drive even when you hit four red lights, a swath of Joplin almost a mile wide was completely destroyed.

"I didn't like it before," Worthington said of Joplin. "I'm from Northern Virginia, we have good restaurants and museums and clubs, and I had a hard time liking it. But, it is different. I think people are more friendly. A lot of that comes from outside, there's been tons of people volunteering."

"But I do [think its changed]. I feel like I have some sort of sense of ownership. I like it. ... I connect with it."

Matt McGee is a construction manager for the Habitat for Humanity. A Missouri native, he grew up in a small town just south of St. Louis and has spent the last eight years living in Springfield. After spending two years working at the Springfield Habitat, McGee made the move to the Joplin affiliate full-time about six months ago, but he's been helping in Joplin from the beginning. The tornado struck on a Sunday evening. He was in Joplin at 7am Monday morning.

"I was here the day after at seven o'clock in the morning. That was really cool, though, because it shows how resilient the people in Joplin were," McGee said. "Everyone in Joplin owns a chainsaw. After a week, if there was a piece of wood, it was cut, chopped, stacked out on the road. Don't get me wrong, it was still a mess, there were still power lines down and everything."

Initially, McGee didn't want to come back. The devastation, both structurally and to the families that lost loved ones, was just too much. No one could blame him, either. Being in the teeth of a disaster of that magnitude, finding yourself stuck in a place where the cleanup has started at the same that the rescue operations are being conducted to try and find the missing (17 people were pulled out of the rubble alive), is far from pleasant.

But Joplin, eventually, grew on McGee, so much so that he looked forward to getting back.

"I went [home] for Christmas, and I couldn't wait to get back down here," McGee said. "I couldn't wait to just get back down here to good people. There's trade-offs. We're missing places to eat and whatnot. There's just good people here."

"The hobos are polite and the rich people wear blue jeans."

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Worthington was lucky. His house didn't sit in the path of the tornado, but Eric Polley's did.

"I'm from Kentucky, and we have tornadoes, but nothing like that," Polley said. He'd heard tornado sirens go off before, it wasn't a new phenomenon. Anyone that lives in Joplin during the spring hears them; they rarely go more than two or three months without hearing a siren go off. Hell, there was a tornado warning in the area four days before we got to Joplin. That familiarity is why Polley didn't initially react when he heard the siren going off the first time.

"I was the type that, you know, the first time the siren went off, I was like 'that's just another tornado siren'. After the second one went off, my wife and kids went in the house, but we was outside. I was like 'its just a tornado siren'. As I was out there, she went in the house and turned the TV on, and the power went out. And then my neighbor started screaming at me ,'Its behind your house!' By the time we got in the house, it was ..."

Its was right there?

"Yeah. It was pretty crazy. It seemed like we was in the bathtub for eight to ten minutes."

Polley's house may have been in the path of the tornado, but he and his family still made it through comparatively unscathed. They "only" had the roof ripped of the upper level of their house and their windows get blown out. More importantly, everyone was able to walk out of the house.

Rebuilding is that much easier when you are trying to get a roof over your wife and kid's heads, and it didn't take long for Polley to rebuild. The bigger issue was, simply, their "stuff". The day after the tornado, another storm rolled through Joplin, and while no tornadoes touched down, eight inches of rain were dumped on the town.

(At this point, these three gentlemen got rolling. I'm just going to put up the entire transcript. Its sobering.)

EP: "Everything inside the house was gone. We completely gutted it and started over."

WW: "It scared everybody to death. That was awful."

MM: "There were floods everywhere. The state troopers did a pretty good job shutting the area down."

WW: "The area of 20th to Connecticut, they had gates and fences up. There was a 9pm curfew for two weeks."

MM: "Driving down 26th street, I'll never forget, there were just 15 or 20 foot mounds of debris on the street. They brought heavy equipment in there. It was like a tunnel almost, it was insane. Everything was dirty. Insulation everywhere."

WW: "Attic insulation as far as you could see. In everything. Styrofoam. If your house got hurt, first people lost their windows. The next step was the roof was gone or there was a big hole in the roof. Almost single house lost a part of the roof. And everything in that goes. Christmas ornaments, Santa Clauses, christmas trees. Everything that was in everybody's attic was everywhere."

MM: "The trees, what was left of them, there was just trash in all of them."

WW: "Mattresses. Tons of mattresses in the trees."

MM: "You look at trees and this house would be three feet off its foundation, half the house is completely gone and there are still magnets on the refrigerator or clothes in the closets upstairs. Right there on Kentucky street, there was this guy named Dan, and we helped him get out and the guy next door, their stuff was still in the closets."

WW: "Danny Powell's house, the guy I was working for at the time, his house was amazing. There were three or four in the house, and they just stood in a little hallway and the whole house was gone. There was nothing left of it. In fact my work van was in his garage. It had been parked on the street and was picked up and slammed into the garage. The whole house was gone. I went there two days after they had picked through everything and I found two dry cleaned shirts that were still in the plastic hanging in the closet."

MM: "Over on 20th street, there's a curb and a log had pierced the concrete curb. Then there was a tin can top, I don't know where it came from, but it was stuck into a tree. And it wasn't bent or anything."

EP: "I had the end of an antenna stuck in a tree in my front yard."

MM: "The winds up on top of the hospital were over 400 mph. The hospital, I guess, there's one floor in there that used to be an insane asylum with heavy protected glass in the walls, and the hospital was destroyed except for this one section of the floor where everything was still on the desk. It was like a twilight zone. Nothing was touched in it. It was the weirdest thing ever."

Me: "What was it like trying to figure out where everybody was?"

MM: "It sucked. I came down that Monday night ... I didn't want to come back."

WW: "Cell phone service was super spotty. It took me almost an hour to get to Eric's house, and we live two and a half miles away."

EP: "It was just the debris, you couldn't get down the street."

WW: "Everyone was just walking around the streets in a daze. Shirtless, bleeding from the head. Zombies. Just walking in the street. Walking. No cars moving."

MM: "Two apartment complexes over, where Harmony Heights was, a younger couple, they weren't much older than us, the second level had been taken off. The girl was in the parking lot and she had a walmart bag, and the guy was up there sifting through stuff and she was like 'How much more stuff is there?' and he was like "I think that's about it". It was like holy crap, they had a walmart bag full of stuff. That's it."

"It changed me."

WW: "The people, we just rebuilt their house, their house just blew right over the top of them. They just crawled underneath and rode it out."

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What struck me, more than anything about our time in Joplin, was the resiliency of the people in that town.

This disaster didn't break them. If anything, it brought them closer together. There are some strong-minded folks in that town. They had a running joke that they referred to as Joplin humor, the kind of jokes that, when made by them, were laughed off. But if they were made by outsiders like us would have been perceived as disrespectful. Worthington told me a story of how a friend of his had been woken up from a nap he was taking on a brown leather couch in his house. He then showed me a picture of the couch, which had a wooden pole sticking through it.

"Good thing he's not a deep sleeper."

They also told a story about the dents in the side of the utility trailer that Habitat uses to store their tools. The trailer was parked in Polley's yard next to a tree that was partially blown over. The tree's roots, when lifted out of the ground, picked the trailer up a good three feet off the ground. We all shared a laugh about how McGee's boss couldn't be mad about the damage to the trailer and the reaction to a phone call saying "Hey, do you think you can get a trailer out of a tree?"

These aren't folks that are going to ask for your help. They appreciate everything that is provided by outsider's -- even something as minor as a day's work and $268 from some guys that like college basketball too much -- and showed that appreciation by steering us in the direction of their town's best restaurant and watering hole.

They believe they can get through this and rebuild their town on their own. They don't think they need our help.

But they do.

There is so much work left to be done and so many people still living in dire situations. Families stuck in dilapidated houses that aren't big enough for the number of people living there. More than half of the people who lost their homes have left town. 46% of the 8,000 units (houses and apartments) that were destroyed were uninsured.

The beauty of what Habitat for Humanity is doing down there is that they aren't just giving people houses. These people still have to buy them, although for a greatly reduced price. They still have to pay a mortgage on the house, although it is interest free. They also have to put in 250 "sweat equity" hours, meaning that in order to be eligible for receiving help, they have to take part in building not only their own house, but the houses of other people that lost their homes in the storm. They also have to take 40 hours of life management classes, which teaches these people -- many of whom are first time home owners -- things like how to fix up the little things that go wrong in a house and how to manage their money so that they can afford to pay the $450 a month mortgage.

The way that Habitat prevents people from purchasing the house at a reduced price and flipping it for a profit is that their mortgages include a soft second mortgage, which ends up being the difference between the appraised value of the house and what they pay for it. That second mortgage is reduced by 10% every year, meaning that it will be gone when they live in the house for ten years.

Donating doesn't mean that you will be helping get houses built.

It means that you will be helping people get a home.

Here is the facebook page and the home page for Joplin's Habitat affiliate. You can donate here. If you can, you should.

Monday Morning Dump

2012-01-23T08:37:00.001-05:00

Welcome aboard all you non-Patriots/Giants fans. The #BIAHroadtrip is in it's final week of operation. We will be in Lawrence, KS tonight for Kansas vs. Texas A&M. Then we will make the treacherous drive to Logan, UT to see Utah State vs. Hawaii on Thursday night. After that, we will drive back to Washington, D.C. To get caught up to speed on the #BIAHroadtrip, click here.

- A must-follow Twitter list for the Big Sky Conference

- In case you missed it, Purdue head coach Matt Painter got into it with some student in the Michigan State "IZZOne". He also go into it with Branden Dawson

- Murray State is the last remaining unbeaten team in the country. But recent history shows it's not necessarily a good thing to be the last remaining unbeaten

- Myron Medcalf provides his five observations from the past week

- Doug Gottlieb takes a look at the best 3-point shooters in the country (Insiders Only)

- Mike DeCourcy previews the upcoming week of college hoops

- I was wrong about the Florida State Seminoles. This team isn't a fluke

- After a brutal start to the season, the Vanderbilt Commodores rounding in to shape

- A great "where are they now" piece on former-Temple head coach John Chaney

- The attorney for UConn point guard Ryan Boatright is hoping for a quick resolution

- Don't look now, but the Golden Gophers have won three straight games are in the thick of the Big-Ten race

- Cal-Poly set the NCAA record for most consecutive 3-pointers this weekend

- The 10 games to watch for this week

- An early look at the front-runners for Player of the Year in the Horizon League

- Jay Bilas provides his index of the top-68 teams in the country (Insiders Only)

- My experience at Rupp Arena was very similar to Arron Torres'.

- Ex-New Mexico State forward Christian Kabongo is transferring to Southern Mississippi

Pics/Vids: Game 10 - Oklahoma State vs. Kansas State

2012-01-22T20:00:00.001-05:00

Saturday, January 21st
Gallagher-Iba Arena, Oklahoma State University
Kansas State 66, Oklahoma State 58

Game 9 - Missouri State vs. Creighton
Game 8 - Missouri vs. Texas A&M
Game 7 - Wisconsin vs. Nebraska
Game 6 - Marquette vs. Pittsburgh
Game 5 - Butler vs. Cleveland State
Game 4 - Indiana vs. Minnesota
Game 3 - Xavier vs. Duquesne
Game 2 - Kentucky vs. South Carolina
Game 1 - Belmont vs. Lipscomb

I apologize for the lack of content in this post. We ran into a technical difficulty upon our arrival in Stillwater. But nonetheless, we got some good shots of the game and environment.

(The Oklahoma State Athletics Department shoot a promotional video before shootaround begins.)

(Gallagher-Iba Arena was empty up until 30 minutes prior to gametime.)

(The Oklahoma State Hall of Fame exhibit honoring the Cowboys Final-Four appearance in 2004. #DefeatingUndefeated)

(The exhibit honoring the Cowboys Final-Four appearance in 1995. #BigCountryReeves)

(A quick diary-entry from B.I.A.H before the game tips-off)

(The scene from above at Gallagher-Iba Arena before the game.)

(The Cowboys have a DJ to pump out the warm-up beats. He likes to fist-pump. A lot.)

(The Oklahoma State Cowboys are introduced before the game)

(Some diehard fans support the cause. #BIAHroadtrip. +100 for the foam cowboy hat. I love those things.)

(The student section takes a breather at halftime. The game was close for 30 minutes, but the wildcats pulled away late.)

(Kansas State huddles up during a TV-timeout. Not seen: Frank Martin screaming at Will Spradling.)

(Oklahoma State fans do their best to make Angel Rodriguez miss a foul-shot.)

(These guys were as rowdy as anybody in the arena. They were loud and proud. If I was a 'Pokes fan, I would not have tolerated them.)

(That's Butler guard Rotnei Clarke next to his girlfriend. Clarke is an Oklahoma-native, and when he transferred from Arkansas last season, selected Butler over both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.)

(The scene at the press conference. it was kinda cool being in the same room that Mike Gundy dropped his infamous "I'm a man, I'm 40!" rant.)

(Frank Martin's son didn't seem to have much patience for the media. Surprisingly enough, Frank was very polite during the presser. His son must have a soothing effect on him.)

(Jamar Samuels answers questions after the press conference. The forward finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.)

Saturday Recap

2012-01-22T03:03:00.002-05:00

This post is brought to you by the Hilton Garden Inn Tulsa South, located at 8202 South 100th East Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

We spent the day trekking around the state of Oklahoma, hitting the Oklahoma State-Kansas State game this afternoon before heading to Oral Roberts-Oakland at night. But today was far too wild for us not to comment on the happenings across the country. Consider this your must-read recap.

The 4:00 pm games: On paper, it didn't seem like this Saturday's game were going to be incredibly interesting after the top five battle that took place in Waco, TX, but those people (me included) ate their words after three games involving teams ranked in the top 11 came down to the final possession in the span of no more than two minutes.

The biggest game was obviously Florida State's 76-73 upset of Duke. The Seminoles withstood a second half surge by the Blue Devils, one that saw Duke open up a 58-50 lead, but Florida State used a 26-15 surge to close the game that was capped by Michael Snaer's three-point buzzer-beater that answered a game-tying runner from Austin Rivers with 4.9 seconds left:

I don't think that we can say that the Seminoles are the favorite to win the ACC right now. Frankly, I'm not convinced that they are a better basketball team that either Duke or UNC. That's what happens with you lose by 20 to Clemson and drop two games to the Ivy League (Harvard and Princeton). That said, Florida State is in an ideal position to make a run at the league title. They don't have to play the Tar Heels again, they get Duke at home and those two teams still have to play two games against each other.

Its going to come down to offense for the 'Noles. They are 117th in the country nationally, scoring 1.039 PPP. The past three games (wins over UNC, Maryland and Duke), however, FSU is scoring 1.196 PPP. The biggest difference? They shoot 32.0% from three on the season, but the past three games they are knocking them down at a 46.3% clip. Can it last?

At the same time, UConn was in the midst of a furious comeback at Tennessee. The Huskies dug themselves a ten point hole with three minutes left, but Shabazz Napier and Jeremy Lamb hit a flurry of threes late which was aided by a few missed free throws from the Vols. Napier missed a half court prayer at the buzzer that would have forced overtime, but instead lost 60-57 in Knoxville. There are two problems with UConn right now. The biggest issue is that their offense is absolutely atrocious. Regardless of what Jim Calhoun tries to run (if anything), it devolves into Napier or Lamb trying to go 1-on-1. Tennessee was playing tough defense, which meant that the Huskies were forced into taking contested jumper.

The other issue is the play of their big men. After getting embarrassed by Yancy Gates on Wednesday, freshman Jarnell Stokes -- who was playing his third game after finishing high school in December and enrolling at UT early -- gave Andre Drummond and Alex Oriakhi 16 points and 12 boards while fouling out Oriakhi. Much of the blame for the performance of those two has to fall on their shoulders as they continue to play without toughness or desire, but UConn also does not look to get them touches in the post.

The final game of that trio was No. 7 Kansas surviving a furious comeback from the Longhorns to win 69-66 in Austin. The Jayhawks were up big for much of the first half and early in the second half, but Texas made a run late in the game. They finally took the lead with five minutes left, erasing what had been a 15 point deficit, before eventually pushing the lead to four points with three minutes remaining. But Kansas had an answer, taking their final lead on a layup by Jeff Withey.

If you are going to take anything out of this game, its the performance of TyShawn Taylor. His continued his hot streak, finishing with 22 points, five boards and four assists, but his most important stat was a zero in the box score. Turnovers have been Taylor's issue all season -- he's averaged more than four per game -- but he didn't turn it over a single time against UT.

The top five battle: There are two reasons that people knock Missouri: they can't win on the road and they are too small to handle bigger teams. We can throw that "on the road" thing out the window now. Coming off of a road win over an improved Iowa State team, the Tigers went into Waco and handled Baylor, beating them much more soundly than the 89-88 final score will make you believe.

I'm not ready to say that they can handle a bigger team, however, because everyone on Baylor's front court plays like they're 6'6". Frankly, I think Missouri's performance against Kansas State's front court is much more telling And while Ricardo Ratliffe's line was unreal -- 27 points and eight boards (six offensive) on 11-14 shooting -- the majority of his shot opportunities are simply catch-and-dunk situations. He thrives because he doesn't miss around the rim, and playing with guys like Phil Pressey and Mike Dixon means that he will forever be getting open opportunities.

I still think Baylor is a national title contender, but there are serious issues with this team that need to be addressed. Scott Drew needs to find some way to get his team tougher. Perry Jones III disappears far too often for someone with his ability, and that is a microcosm of the fact that the Bears cannot handle getting "punched in the mouth". If I'm Scott Drew, I take a page out of Eddie Sutton's book and start practicing with football pads on.

No. 1 goes down: Playing without Fab Melo (academic issues, he will miss Monday's game at Cincinnati as well), Syracuse went into South Bend and got absolutely crushed by the Irish, losing 67-58 because the Orange made a run late in the game when the outcome was all but decided. We shouldn't overreact to this loss. Based on tweets that went out last night and earlier today, the team -- and Melo -- had no idea that Melo wasn't going to be traveling with them until the 11th hour.

That distraction -- plus the fact that Notre Dame is always a tough place to play -- can easily be blamed for this hiccup. That said, don't underrate what Melo's absence meant. He's an anchor in the middle of that zone. He blocks shots, he takes charges and he just makes things difficult for opponents. Most expect Melo to rejoin the team at some point, which is obviously a good thing for Syracuse. But this loss should show you the importance of Melo staying out of foul trouble on the court.

But No. 10 survived: Murray State got 21 points from Isaiah Canaan as they knocked off SIU-Edwardsville to remain undefeated, the last team in the country without a loss. I sincerely hope that, for the remainder of the season, we can all enjoy the run that Murray State is on. Its no secret they've played an easier schedule than quite a few teams; they are an Ohio Valley team after all. Let's save the talk about their seeding for Selection Sunday and just enjoy one of the best storylines of the season, mmk?

So who is the second best team in the SEC?: Add the SEC into the leagues that make absolutely no sense. With Festus Ezeli back in the fold and coming off of a dominating win at Alabama, it looked like the Commodores had staked a claim as the most likely team to challenge Kentucky.

Not so fast. Mississippi State got a layup from Dee Bost with 57 seconds left for a 78-77 win in overtime, surviving fairly open looks for the Dores at the end of regulation and overtime. Arnett Moultrie and Renardo Sidney combined for 45 points and 19 boards, outplaying Ezeli, who finished with 12 points, 14 boards and five blocks.

Alabama made a statement of their own on Saturday. They lost to Kentucky 77-71, but the Crimson Tide, who tend to struggle on the road, gave the Wildcats all they could handle, keeping the game within three or four points for most of the second half. JaMychal Green finished with 22 points and 12 boards despite going up against the best defender in the country in Anthony Davis.

The team everyone is forgetting about? Florida. The Gators, playing with a limited Patric Young (tendinitis in his ankle) knocked off LSU 76-64, getting a team-high 15 points out of Erik Murphy. It also should be noted that the most exciting game of the day in the SEC was the 66-64 upset that Arkansas pulled off against Michigan. The Razorbacks opened up a 20 point lead in the first half, but Michigan slowly chipped away. They never got the game tied, but Trey Burke got a decent look at a step-back three at the buzzer that rimmed out.

What do we make of UNLV and New Mexico?: The Runnin' Rebels absolutely put the smackdown on New Mexico, beating them by 17 points in Vegas. It was a win that UNLV really needed, considering that after they lost to San Diego State in the MWC opener they couldn't afford to fall two games behind the Aztes in the standings. UNLV's ability to force turnovers and get out in transition was impressive, but it also lent worry to the Lobos. For the second time this week, UNM looked completely outclassed in league play, having gotten dropped at home by SDSU on Wednesday. Maybe its just as simple as New Mexico is not a good as we thought they were; they are sitting two games behind SDSU and there is a fairly large gap between them and the MWC's top two teams.

The Pac-12 stays weird, which makes it all the more awesome: There is simply no way to predict what is going to happen in the wide-open Pac-12 conference. As of today, there are four teams tied atop the conference with two losses. There are another two that sit just a game back in the loss column. None of those six teams go by the name UCLA or Oregon State.

There are some things that seem normal -- like Cal being tied for first or Washington sitting a game in the win column behind them -- and some things that would get you called crazy if they were brought up in November -- like Oregon being tied for first or Colorado being tied with Washington.

So what happened on Saturday?:

- Washington State beat Cal 77-75 behind 24 points from Faisal Aden. Cal had a chance to tie late, but Jorge Gutierrez missed a shot at the buzzer.

- Carlon Brown scored 19 points to lead the Buffs, but Arizona's Kevin Parrom missed a three at the buzzer as Colorado held on to win at home 64-63.

- Washington finally put it all together, getting 39 combined points out of Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten as they used a 20-3 run in the second half to put away Stanford.

- EJ Singler had 26 points and Garrett Sim added 16 as Oregon improved to 2-0 on the weekend as they overcame a 13 point halftime deficit in a 75-68 win over UCLA.

Tempers flare in East Lansing: Michigan State won 83-58 and Robbie Hummel went 0-11 from the field, the first 0-fer of his collegiate career, but that's not what anyone was talking about after the game. Matt Painter got into it with a fan in the Izzone, MSU's student section, for yelling at Robbie Hummel "I hope you tear your acl again". That wasn't it for Painter, either. He had an exchange with Brandon Dawsen, a player he recruited out of Indiana, after Dawsen said something after hitting a three in front of the Purdue bench.

Cincinnati's road streak comes to a close: The Bearcats had their streak of seven straight road wins in the Big East -- the last two of which came against Georgetown and UConn -- in a 77-74 loss in overtime at West Virginia. Kevin Jones led the way with 26 points and freshman Gary Browne hit a three that forced the overtime period.

Louisville, Marquette and Georgetown win: Louisville took a step in the right direction with a 73-62 win over Pitt at Pitt. Kyle Kuric, who was questionable to even play in this game, had 22 points. Georgetown survived Rutgers 52-50 despite hitting just 12 shots from the field as Otto Porter hit two free throws with 8.5 seconds left. And Marquette overcame a feisty Providence team 79-72 on the road.

I guess we don't know who the best team in the A-10 is: Xavier is the most talented team in the Atlantic 10, but after going into Dayton and losing, the flyers now own sole possession of first place in the conference. It wasn't just the fact that they lost, because that rivalry is one of the more heated in the A-10, its the fact that Dayton scored 87 points and dominated the game after the first 10 minutes. Matt Kavanaugh, starting because Josh Benson is done for the year, finished with 20 points and nine boards.

Ditto for Conference USA: Marshall went into Hattiesburg, MS, and lost to Southern Miss 67-63. Neil Watson had 18 points and five assists and hit a big three with 18.5 seconds left on the clock. With Memphis and Central Florida also winning, there is now a four-way tie between the four teams at the top of the league. All four have one loss.

Notes:

- LIU knocked off Wagner 73-66 to improve to 8-0 in the NEC and take a two game lead on Wagner.

- South Dakota State got 28 points in a 91-88 OT win over North Dakota State as they stayed within a game of Oral Roberts in league play. ORU is 10-0 in the league after Warren Niles scored 27 points in a 92-83 win over Oakland.

- With a 72-60 win over Towson, George Mason took sole possession of first place in the CAA at 7-1 thanks to VCU's 61-48 win over ODU. VCU and ODU are both 6-2 in league play

- St. Joe's lost to Penn 84-80, their third straight loss and fifth in seven games.

- Tony Mitchell had 30 points and 17 boards, including a buzzer-beating tip-in, to beat Denver 75-74 in overtime. They moved into a three-way tie with UALR at 5-2 in the Sun Belt's Western Division.

- USC-Upstate overcame a 16 point halftime deficit to knock off Belmont 79-78 on a tip-in at the buzzer.

#BIAHRoadTrip The Diary Part XII: I get lost in an arena, hot breakfast buffets and why we missed shootaround

2012-01-21T01:56:00.003-05:00

5:15 pm Day 16
Somewhere on the highway
Oklahoma?
Total Miles: 2554

Road Trip Part-I
Road Trip Part-II
Road Trip Part-III
Road Trip Part-IV
Road Trip Part-V
Road Trip Part-VI
Road Trip Part-VII
Road Trip Part-VIII
Road Trip Part-IX
Road Trip Part-X
Road Trip Part-XI

This post is brought to you by the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, MO.

On Wednesday morning, we were scheduled to go to the Creighton shootaround.

It was at 11 am. We were in Columbia, MO, which is a good three hours from Springfield. And if you read The Diary Part XI, than you can probably figure out why we were in no shape to be getting up at 7:30 am. This, unfortunately, means I didn't get the chance to redeem myself for ~~Troy's terrific editing job~~ my poor shooting performance the last time you saw us play.

You see, Creighton's Grant Gibbs -- who I have to be a fan because he was rockin' the same 49ers hat that I got for Christmas -- thinks that he can beat me in a three-point shooting contest. I'm pretty sure I'm the best three-point shooter that he's ever seen. But since I succumbed to Troy's persuasive peer pressuring powers and took that last shot of Jameson even though I knew it was a terrible idea, I guess we'll never know who's right.

Consider yourself lucky, Grant. Next time I'll tell Troy to take that second shot himself.

(Troy's Interjection)

False. Totally false. First, it wasn't Jameson, it was Knobbs Creek. And second, Rob was the one to bring whiskey into play in the first place. I was fine drinking ale the entire night.
Clearly Rob likes to start things that he can't finish.

(Ahh, who am I kidding? Grant Gibbs would kick my ass in a three-point shooting contest. [And I would probably never pass up a free shot, either.])

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You want to know what my favorite part about covering mid-major basketball games is?

The parking.

Seriously.

For the first time in the history of the #BIAHRoadTrip, we didn't get lost trying to find a place to park. Missouri State literally used a street right next to JQH Arena as media parking. All we had to do was get out of our car and we were there. It was glorious.

You want to know what was even more glorious? The media entrance was literally right next to where we parked. And the media room in JQH Arena was literally right next to the media entrance. And the meal they served the media was wings.

Glorious!!!

But that didn't mean we didn't get lost.

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Before I get into the difficulties we had in the bowels of JQH Arena, let's talk about the game. It was awesome. Everything about it.

The game itself was the typical barnburner that you have to come to expect out of a Valley league game. After a flurry of offense in the first couple of minutes, both teams really settled in defensively, trading haymakers -- and the lead -- for the entirety of the second half. The excitement was heightened in the final seconds as Missouri State had two chances at the end of the game to take the lead, but Kyle Weems and Anthony Downing both missed jumpers and Creighton escaped.

Literally. Escaped.

But it was more than the action on the court. The crowd was into it the entire game. The student section was packed before we even showed up, and we got there an hour before tip-off. Three-year old JQH Arena -- which is as nice as any venue that I've been in -- had the lower sections packed to gills and filled about 80% of the upper deck. My guess would be that there were at least 15 times where everyone in the arena stood and cheered to urge on their team, even the old folks sitting in the section in front of it. It was awesome.

My favorite part about the student section was the guy with a big, plastic bucket that he named "Boom-Boom-Clap". Right before the start of both halves, he was allowed to get on the back of the basket support and help stir the students into a frenzy.

Missouri State also had a bunch of guys dressed up as what I can only assume were highway construction workers. MSU fans, feel free to chime in and let me know what, exactly, that's all about. Because I loved it.

One day, when someone decides to pay me a lot of money for it, I'm going to turn the #BIAHRoadTrip into a Missouri Valley tour and write a book about the fans, the history of the programs and the conferences and about everything else that makes the Valley what it is.

If you are a college hoops fan, get yourself to a game in the Valley. I promise its worth it.

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Three guesses what Troy is taking pictures of?

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Gameday schedule:

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Before I get into what happened after the game, let me explain to you what the hallways underneath JQH look like: gray walls that are all identical.

Seriously.

Its an elaborate series of corridors that aren't actually all that elaborate but get incredibly confusing because there are multiple entrances to the media room and interview room, which both happen to sit in the middle of these corridors.

So we manage to make it to the press conferences just fine, and after Creighton spent ten minutes addressing the crowd of reporters, I said hello to Grant and told him I'd catch up with him after he finished showering. Since I was also working on a story on Kyle Weems, I set out to try and find the Missouri state locker room to catch him because he didn't come out to the press conference.

This is where I got into trouble.

I ended up wandering around in circles for about 10 minutes, twice getting myself even more confused when I asked for directions (which would have ended up being right if I had just listened to them ... ugh), before I finally ran into Kyle as he was talking with a couple fans and/or friends. I went up and introduced myself to him and asked him for an interview, and he granted it.

After chatting with Kyle (and being completely blown away by him, he's really just a terrific individual), I set out on a quest to try and find the visitor's locker room before the Bluejays hopped on their bus and get the hell out of Springfield.

And once again, I wandered around under the arena without a clue as to where I was going. Eventually, I ran back into Kyle and pleaded with him to point me in the right direction, which ended up being all of "See that door that you walked by 20 times? Walk through it." So I did.

Yes, I'm dumb. I don't need to be reminded.

Anyway, I got a chance to chat with a couple of the Creighton players -- and, quite a bit less importantly, got the interviews I needed. But it was touch-and-go for a while there.

Am I the only one that needs a GPS in an arena?

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We woke up the next morning that the University Plaza Hotel which, in addition to being a 10 minute walk from the arena (perfect for all you visiting fans, although Jeff, my new friend at the front desk, might not take to kindly to the Wichita State faithful showing up en masse), has a hot breakfast buffet. Seriously. On Thursday morning, I had eggs, biscuits and gravy, french toast and sausages. It doesn't get better than that.

I wish I had awesome stories about what we did on Thursday during the day, but I don't.

We wrote. And wrote. And caught up on some sleep. And wrote some more.

Eventually, we finished up our work and headed out to a restaurant called Ebbett's Field, which was pretty damn cool. In addition to having some awesome craft beers on draft (I went with Boulevard's IPA, Troy went with their wheat beer) they were also voted as having the best burgers in Missouri.

We both got burgers.

The voters weren't lying to you.

Why did Kyle Weems, a native Kansan, turn down a chance to play for Kansas?

2012-01-20T18:01:00.000-05:00

This post is brought to you by the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, MO.

You can find the rest of the features from the #BIAHRoadTrip here

SPRINGFIELD, MO - No one would have blamed Kyle Weems if he had decided to leave Missouri State after last season.

Weems redshirted as a freshman, meaning that he finished his undergraduate degree this summer with a year of eligibility left in his back pocket. The new trend for high-major programs looking for a one-year stop gap is to recruit players like Weems. Thanks to an NCAA rule that allows a player to apply for a waiver to avoid sitting out a season if he transfers to a school to pursue a graduate degree that isn't offered at his previous school, Illinois found their point guard in Bradley's Sam Maniscalco and Michigan State found a shooting guard in Valparaiso's Brandon Wood.

The recruiters came after Weems as well.

"A lot of big time schools came -- Kansas, Kansas State, Oregon," Weems told me after Missouri State's 66-65 loss to Creighton on Wednesday night. "My cousin runs Nike Mo-Kan Elite, so obviously he knows a bunch of people. Cal even got in contact with my uncle Chris Williams who played at Stanford, and he's on the Golden State Warriors staff right now. No one ever contacted me directly, but they talked to my family and got in contact with my high school coach in Kansas."

Think about that for a second. Weems, who is the reigning Missouri Valley Player of the Year, is a Kansas native, growing up in Topeka. He was essentially given the opportunity to play basketball for Kansas or Kansas State without having to sit out a season. Fill out some paperwork, and he would be suiting up in the home locker room of Phog Allen Fieldhouse or the Octagon of Doom. That alone would probably be enough to convince most native Kansans to make a move.

And that's not even considering the amount of turnover on the Missouri State roster.

The Bears went, essentially, seven deep on a good day last season, with the starters logging the heavy majority of those minutes. But Weems was the only non-senior in the starting lineup, which, when combined with former head coach Cuonzo Martin's decision to take the Tennessee job, should give you an idea of just how little continuity there was going to be in the program.

Would you really blame someone for leaving that situation for a chance to play on a legitimate Final Four contender? If you were Kyle Weems, would you have passed on the opportunity to play on national TV every night to stay in the Valley, a conference where fans watch games on grainy streams from websites that more than likely helped inspire SOPA and PIPA?

Because that's precisely the decision Weems made. And the way he tells it, there was hardly any consideration.

"With everything I've been through here with the redshirt year and this being my third coach, I felt I owed it to myself and to my family to at least look at it," Weems said. "But it just felt like home here, and then when Coach Lusk got the job here, there was pretty much no doubt that I was going to stay."

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Springfield isn't exactly smalltown America. The third-largest city in the state, Springfield is home to just under 160,000 people. Known as the Queen City of the Ozarks, Springfield has been called the birthplace of Route 66. And while it may pain Nat King Cole to hear it, Springfield's claim to fame may actually be that it hosted a shootout between Wild Bill Hickok and Davis Tutt back in 1865.

But Springfield is hardly an urban metropolis. The city is somewhat isolated, with national forests bordering to the east and the south and a whole lot of nothing on it's northern and western edges. We may as well call Springfield the "city that's three hours from everywhere", as it sits more or less smack in the middle of Kansas City, St. Louis, Memphis and Tulsa.

That isolation fosters a sense of community, one that rabidly supports their Missouri State Bears. Its why their basketball team is able to pack the three-year old JQH Arena despite playing host to a team that's barely over .500 this season. And its also a major reason why Weems feels so comfortable in Springfield.

He's a star here, a big fish in a little pond. And that's perfectly fine with him.

"These fans, they're awesome here," Weems said. "You can be an athlete and be at Walmart and they treat you with the utmost respect and they treat you like you're a star. Its just an awesome thing to be a part of and it just felt right to stay."

"They just do a good job of welcoming their players. Regardless of whether you're from junior college or a redshirt. I've had the opportunity to be here for four and a half years now, and I've enjoyed every minute of it."

The mutual respect between Weems and the community at large is part of the reason that first-year head coach Paul Lusk never really felt the need to try and recruit his star senior to return for his final year of eligibility. He knew Weems wasn't going anywhere.

"You want all your guys to stay and certainly a kid of Kyle's caliber," Lusk said over the phone. "But I really was never that concerned about it. I just felt that this was the best situation for him. He's so well-respected here. And why go somewhere and not finish it out? He's had a lot of positive experiences in this place."

That's the kind of values that were instilled in him as a child.

Kim Weems, Kyle's mother, has worked for 35 years at the same office as a dental assistant. His father, Kevin, has spent almost the same amount of time working in the Topeka school district, surviving with a new job title despite recent layoffs.

"That's dedication," Weems told Yahoo! Sports back in July. "If they can work a 9-to-5 job like that, then I feel I can be loyal to a university, which has done nothing but great things for me."

These are the same parents that make the seven hour round trip drive from Topeka for the Missouri State home games, making it to work at 7:30 am the morning after seeing their only child play. Is it any wonder that their son would value loyalty above all else?

"The thing that I was always confident about is that he has great people around him," Lusk said. "His mom and dad are terrific people, he has great values. He's got a lot of substance."

"In the end we're very fortunate that he's here."

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Starting over is never easy, and that is precisely what Missouri State had to do this season.

They lost more than 60% of their scoring. The four starters they lost played more than 60% of the available minutes last season. When you're playing in a league as balanced and competitive as the Valley, that's an overwhelming number to try and overcome.

"To lose four starters who played most of the minutes and are very, very good players," Lusk said. "Weems is the lone returning starter. We were picked in the bottom half of the league. A lot of people could have bailed out and said I'm not going through that. He stuck."

But it hasn't been easy. Missouri State is 11-9 on the season. After losing their rematch with Creighton, the Bears are now 4-4 in the league, a full three games behind Wichita State and Creighton. Barring a miracle finish to the season, Missouri State is going to have to leave Arch Madness victorious if they don't want their season to end in the NIT, CIT or CBI.

He's had to make an adjustment on the individual level as well. Its not exactly a secret that he was the league's best player a year ago, and in a conference as well-coached as the MVC is from top-to-bottom, you better believe that defensive schemes have been geared towards him each and every night he takes the floor.

"Each and every game I've gotten more attention," Weems said.

"I think that's been an adjustment for Kyle because of all the new faces and everyone trying to get everyone else figured out," Lusk said.

Neither Lusk nor Weems is using the new-look roster as a crutch, because the Bears are as competitive as they've ever been. Of their nine losses, only two -- to New Mexico and St. Mary's -- have been by double figures. They lost by five to Oral Roberts and Oklahoma State and took West Virginia to overtime. The three game losing streak they are on subsists of two one point losses and a game they dropped in overtime.

"We're 11-9 right now, but we're close. We've lost some heartbreakers here down the stretch," Lusk said.

That change and those losses have undoubtedly been difficult to deal with, but its no guarantee that he would have been any better off had he chosen to jump ship. At Kansas, the 6'7" Weems would be sharing a front court with Player of the Year candidate Thomas Robinson and the suddenly-dominant Jeff Withey. At Kansas State, he would be splitting time with Jordan Henriquez, Thomas Gibson and Jamar Samuels. He may have played more minutes at Cal or Oregon, but neither of those schools are guaranteed to be destined for the NCAA Tournament. A valid argument could be made that the Valley is a better conference as a whole than the Pac-12 as well.

"He can play anywhere," Lusk said. "But what's his role going to be? He's going to have to fit in and adjust and get acclimated to a new system and new friends."

"Sometimes the grass isn't always greener."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Kyle Weems is everything that is great about college basketball.

He's a star in a place outside of the bright lights of a major conference. He embraces the ideal of being a student-athlete, living as a member of the community and not as a rental deity spending one year feigning interest in an education as a launching point towards a professional career.

The seedy underbelly of the sport -- the agents, the runners, the Ricky Roe duffel bags stuffed with cold, hard booster cash -- can and has reached its tentacles into the mid-major ranks.

And for all the attention that Weems received during the offseason -- as Lusk put it "I think there were some things going on" -- his commitment to Missouri State never wavered.

"This is my second home," Weems said.

What does that say about the program Lusk inherited? What does it mean that a school is southwest Missouri that plays a long way from the bright lights of ESPN was able to retain the services of a player that was coveted by the big boys?

Nothing, according to Lusk.

"I think it says a lot about Kyle and him wanting to stay and wanting to finish his career here."

"He's just a good person."

Weekend Preview: Baylor-Missouri headlines a weekend with some good hoops

2012-01-20T10:10:00.002-05:00

This post is brought to you by the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, MO.

Game of the Weekend: Sat. 2:00 pm: No. 5 Missouri @ No. 3 Baylor

To know how important this game is, all you need to do is look at the numbers next to the names of these two teams. How often do two top five teams lock horns, especially when the loser of that game drops to two games out of the conference race? Hint: not that often.

But there is more to this matchup than simply have two of the best teams in the country going head to head. The contrast of styles in this game is simply fascinating. There may not be a team in the country with more length and athleticism in the country than Baylor. 6'11" Perry Jones III lines up at the four while either 6'9" Quincy Miller or 6'10" Anthony Jones plays the three. Missouri, on the other hand, is one of the smallest teams in the country. It should be interesting to see how 6'6" two-guard Kim English can match up with PJ3 or 6'3" Marcus Demon handles Jones and/or Miller.

There are a couple of keys to this game. For Baylor, Pierre Jackson is going to be the deciding factor. A dynamic playmaker that has the ability to do some truly amazing things on a basketball court, Jackson has a tendency to try and take games over. He can do it, at times, but Baylor is much better when he embraces the role of being a playmaker. Against Missouri, with the kind of size advantage the Bears are going to have, Baylor is going to need Jackson to ignore the desire to try and out-gun Phil Pressey and Mike Dixon and, instead, focus on pounding the ball inside, allowing Baylor to take advantage of their size advantage.

Its quite obvious that Missouri is going to be firing up plenty of three pointers. The key, however, is going to be what kind of threes this group takes. Baylor plays a lot of zone, which means that the Tigers are going to have plenty of looks from the perimeter. But that zone is also going to open up lanes for penetration. If Missouri is willing to penetrate and kick -- taking threes off of the catch instead off of the dribble -- the Tigers should get plenty of open looks. If they settle for contested pull-up jumpers early in the shot clock, they could be in trouble.

I know the Tigers are on the road, but I'm buying into this team. I think that Phil Pressey is going to be impossible to keep out of the paint, and I believe both Denmon and English are due for big games.

Seven more games to watch:

Sat. 12:00 pm: Alabama @ No. 2 Kentucky: I saw Kentucky struggle to knock off Old Dominion at Mohegan Sun earlier this season, and I immediately made a mental note to circle this game on the calender. You see, the Monarchs pushed around the Wildcats in the paint, getting to the offensive glass and out-toughing a Kentucky team that looked like they wanted no part of the physical nature of the paint. Since that time, however, Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist have come a long way while the Crimson Tide have, more or less, fallen off the face of the earth. One thing to keep an eye on: JaMychal Green went out with what looked like a head injury midway through the second half as Vandy smoked Alabama on Thursday night. Will he be ready to go?

Sat. 12:00 pm: Purdue @ No. 9 Michigan State: Want to hear a wild stat? There are currently five teams tied atop the Big Ten with two losses. One of those teams is Michigan State. Another one is Purdue. There may not be a conference race that ends up being as wild as the Big Ten's, if for no reason other than the fact that its near impossible to win on the road in that league. Michigan State has struggled of late, losing at Northwestern and at Michigan in their last two games. It should be fun to see Robbie Hummel and Draymond Green, two of the nation's best seniors, go head-to-head.

Sat. 3:00 pm: Cincinnati @ West Virginia: Cincinnati has done two things this season: they've established themselves as the second best team in the Big East and they appear to have staked a claim on being the best road team in the country. They have won their past seven road games in Big East play, including their last two, which consists win at Georgetown and at UConn. It doesn't get any easier for the Bearcats on Saturday as they head to Morgantown to take on the Mountaineers.

Sat. 4:00 pm: Florida State @ No. 4 Duke: This is going to be an interesting matchup for the Blue Devils because Florida State's strength counteracts Duke's weaknesses. The 'Noles are as big and physical in the paint as anyone in the country -- just ask North Carolina -- and they have a tough defense that doesn't allow penetration. Duke's big men are not as big of an issue as many make them out to be, but the Blue Devils definitely have issues when they struggles to get penetration.

Sat. 6:00 pm: Marshall @ Southern Miss: Conference USA has become a four team race, with Marshall, USM, UCF and Memphis breaking away from the pack. You cannot lose your home games against the other top teams in the league if you want to win the conference.

Sat. 6:00 pm: Stanford @ Washington: This matchup was much more intriguing when I was going through the schedule on Thursday night before both of these teams lost. At the time, they were tied with Cal for first in the Pac-12 standings. Now? They're tied for second. The Pac-12 is going to have a tough time convincing people that the conference deserves at-large bids. Both Stanford and Washington need to win games like this to try and separate themselves from the rest of the league.

Sat. 10:00 pm: New Mexico @ No. 20 UNLV: This may end up being the most important game of the weekend behind the Baylor-Missouri game. San Diego State has already knocked off both of these teams, meaning that the loser of this game is going to drop to two games behind the Aztecs in the Mountain West race. That two game lead becomes an even bigger issue when you consider that BYU's departure means there are only 14, and not 16, league games this season.

Who's getting upset?: Sat. 7:00 pm: No. 15 Mississippi State @ Vanderbilt

If anyone can give me any kind of read on either of these two teams, I'd love it. Because I got nothing. Mississippi State may just be the second most talented team in the conference behind Kentucky, but for whatever reason -- Renardo Sidney's inability to dominate, Dee Bost's inconsistency, the youth on the roster, Rick Stansbury -- the Bulldogs just have not been able to figure it out in league play. They lost fairly handily at Arkansas. They lost at Ole Miss, who is playing without Dundrecous Nelson. And now they travel to Vanderbilt.

Vandy is just as confusing. Without Festus Ezeli, the Commodores looked downright bad. They were losing to teams like Indiana State and Cleveland State and dropped all the way out of the top 25 despite having three first round picks on their roster. But with Ezeli, they are winning games and doing it in impressive fashion, blowing out both Alabama and Marquette on the road. Can they defend their home court against a good team in the league? Does this even qualify as an upset?

Three more teams on upset watch:

Sat. 2:00 pm: No. 19 Michigan @ Arkansas: I don't know if Arkansas is going to win this game, but I do know this: there isn't going to be a more intriguing matchup stylistically this season. Michigan likes to control pace, running complicated Princeton-esque sets and settling into a 1-3-1 zone at times. Arkansas? They have Mike Anderson as a head coach, meaning the Wolverines are going to be getting 40 Minutes of Hell.

Sat. 4:00 pm: No. 7 Kansas @ Texas: Winning on the road in league play is never an easy thing to do, and with the performance that the Jayhawks are coming off of against Baylor, its almost impossible to think that they won't have a letdown during this game. This has been a pretty good rivalry ever since TJ Ford wore burnt orange, so you know the 'Horns will be ready to play.

Sun. 2:00 pm: Wisconsin @ No. 25 Illinois: Winning on the road in the Big Ten has been a very difficult thing to do this season, but I'm just not ready to fully buy into Illinois yet. And that was before their loss at Penn State on Thursday. The only reason that they knocked off Ohio State was because Brandon Paul played one of the more ridiculous games I've ever seen. They lost to Penn State despite getting 35 points from Paul and Meyers Leonard. Not buying it.

Mid Major matchup of the weekend: Sat. 1:00 Xavier @ Dayton

Spare me, Xavier fans. I know you're program isn't a mid-major. But I like balance, and by putting this game down here, I can do eight, four and eight. Its pretty. Its balanced. It makes sense. Right? Right.

Anyway, this is a huge game in the Atlantic 10 race. The Musketeers have now won four straight games and look like they have finally refound whatever it was they lost in the brawl with Cincinnati. But Dayton is one of the best teams in this conference as well and play in one of the tougher venues to steal a win. They also have a talented back court star of their own in Kevin Dillard.

The key to this game is going to be Xavier's ability to get the ball into the paint. The Muskies have the biggest front line in the conference and Dayton lost their best big man in Josh Benson. If they pound the ball inside and avoid getting into a shootout with Dillard, they should win this game.

Seven more games to keep an eye on:

Sat. 7:00 pm: St. Joe's @ Penn: Big 5 games are always going to be fun, but the matchups in this game make it all the more interesting. Zack Rosen, Penn's point guard, is one of the most underrated in the country, but the Hawks have a talented back court of their own with Carl Jones and Langston Galloway. That will be fun.

Sat. 8:00 pm: Old Dominion @ VCU: VCU managed to hang on against William & Mary meaning they are still right in the thick of a crowded CAA race. Old Dominion is leading the conference right now. VCU is a game behind. As an added bonus, Kent Bazemore and Brad Burgess may be the two best players in the conference.

Sat. 8:00 pm: South Dakota State @ North Dakota State: This is a huge game for SDSU. NDSU is 6-2 in Summit League play, sitting a game behind the Jackrabbits. But the Jackrabbits are sitting a game behind undefeated Oral Roberts. Losing this game would put them in a big hole in the Summit race.

Sat. 8:30 pm: Denver @ North Texas: Tony Mitchell getting eligible has changed the Mean Green's team, but Denver runs a difficult system to prepare and has been as impressive as anyone in that conference. A loss for UNT drops them two back from the Sun Belt West pace.

Sat. 11:00 pm: LBSU @ UCSB: What isn't there to like about this matchup? The two best teams in the Big West. The two best players in the Big West in Casper Ware and Orlando Johnson. I'd be willing to be there will be a large contingent of NBA scouts in attendance for this game.

Sun. 2:00 pm: Milwaukee @ Cleveland State: These are the two best teams in the Horizon. Cleveland State is my pick to win the league, mainly because I think their athleticism and pressure will end up being too much for the rest of the league to overcome. But the Panthers are a tough defensive team that really make it difficult for opponents to score.

Friday Morning Dump

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

By the time you read this, the #BIAHroadtrip will have left Springfield, MO and will be en route to Joplin, MO. We are going to spend the day helping Habitat for Humanity rebuild homes that were destroyed in the May tornados.

This post is brought to you by the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, MO.

- Pittsburgh guard Tray Woodall is hoping to play this weekend after being sidelined for nearly a month due to an abdominal strain

- Jeff Eisenberg continues his anti-grey tirade (I have mixed feelings on grey jerseys. Some of them are awesome. Others need to be burnt.)

- Morgan State head coach Todd Bozeman has been reinstated after his indefinite suspension for an in-game altercation with a player

- Kentucky State (DII) player Patrick Dawson was wounded in a shooting that took place early Wednesday morning

- Kansas State big-man Jordan Henriquez has been indefinitely suspended for conduct detrimental to the team

- Davidson demolished Charleston last night, indicating that maybe their win over Kansas wasn't totally a fluke

- Todd O'Brien won't be playing basketball this season for UAB

- I totally forgot Mark Titus was writing for Grantland. Maybe that should tell you something about Grantland

- A look at the Missouri Valley Conference halfway through the season.

- Is the Louisville administration trying to prevent the amount of Kentucky gear worn on campus

Just another reason why we should all root for Peyton Siva

The throwback "Texas Western" uniforms are fresh. So is the dunk.

Friday's Shootaround: UNC bounces back and Illinois falls back

2012-01-20T02:20:00.002-05:00

This post is brought to you by the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, MO.

No. 8 North Carolina 82, Virginia Tech 68: There was a lot of good and a lot of bad to take out of the Tar Heel's 14 point win over Virginia Tech on Thursday night.

The good? After allowing the Hokies to hang around for far to long in the first 24 minutes or so, UNC turned it on in a big way. They used a 19-0 run that they extended into a 31-5 surge to turn a 44-36 deficit into a 67-49 lead. After their debacle at Florida State last weekend, the Heels needed to make a statement in this game. Virginia Tech borders on awful this season, and while Seth Greenberg's teams are always tough at home, UNC needed to come out and show the country that they are not the team that was beaten into submission -- both literally and figuratively -- in Tallahassee.

And while it took them a half to wake up (I would pay a good amount of money to see Roy Williams' halftime speech to his team), when they finally did, the Heels put on a show. Harrison Barnes looked like the guy that is at the top of every NBA Draft board. John Henson and Tyler Zeller were dominant in the paint. As a team, the Tar Heels looked every bit the offensive juggernaut that they were supposed to be all season long, and they were playing some defense, too.

The bad? Dexter Strickland injured his knee. There has been no diagnosis yet, but the way that his knee buckled when he planted ... it looked bad. Strickland is UNC's best perimeter defender, and with Leslie McDonald already out of action with a torn acl, UNC's perimeter depth is at a premium. If Strickland is gone for an extended period of time, it could be a huge blow to UNC.

Penn State 54, No. 25 Illinois 52: After their win over Ohio State last week, I said that the key to the Illini's season was whether or not they would be able to find a consistent way to get production out of Brandon Paul and Meyers Leonard. On Thursday night, Illinois got 20 points out of Paul and 15 points out of Leonard on a combined 23 shots. And they still lost. That's what will happen when your supporting cast goes 6-26 from the field and scores all of 17 points.

A couple of things worth noting: Tim Frazier is one of the best point guards in the country you've never seen play. He had 12 points and nine assists, including the game-winner. Also, Brandon Paul hit a pair of tough threes down the stretch, including another ridiculous three off of a curl with a hand in his face. Color me impressed.

Vanderbilt 69, Alabama 59: The Commodores were incredibly impressive in their win at Alabama on Thursday night. They were down by 17-11 midway through the first half when they completely took the game over. They outscored the Crimson Tide 15-2 to end the first half and began the second half with a 15-5 surge. But as good as Vandy looked, I can't help but wonder whether this loss says more about Alabama. I love that team, but they haven't done anything with anything close to a modicum of consistency this season. Is it possible that their offensive woes are a bigger issue than we thought?

No. 4 Duke 91, Wake Forest 73: The story of this game wasn't the 18 point win we all expected and it wasn't the seven threes that Andre Dawkins hit in the first half. It was that Austin Rivers, Coach K's star freshman guard, was benched at the start of the game. He was told on Monday, after a four point performance against Clemson, and Rivers was not happy about it. After the game, he said:

The past three days I haven't slept. I've been thinking. I was so angry. You have no idea how angry I was. … But I realize that I need to mature. That's what (Krzyzewski's) intention was. I mean, he's a genius. He knows what he's doing. He's going to make me better and this team is going to make me better.

Admittedly, I didn't like Rivers body language on the bench. But Coach K's tactics worked. Rivers had 20 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Rivers has the talent to be something special. Whether or not he's able to accept the fact that, the higher the level of basketball he reaches, the fewer the number of shots he is going to get is a different story.

Loyola Marymount 82, BYU 68: There was quite a bit of speculation this season that the six game round robin between Gonzaga, St. Mary's and BYU would determine the winner of the WCC this season, and while that still may end up being true, the fact that the Cougars dropped this game to LMU -- at home, none the less -- is a major blow to BYU's chances of winning the league outright. To be fair, the Lions are finally healthy this season. Anthony Ireland was terrific as usual, finishing with 27 points, five assists and five steals, but Drew Viney showed up with 21 points in this one.

Pac-12:

- Cal 69, Washington 66: The Bears are starting to look like the best team in the Pac-12. Allen Crabbe had 16 points and 10 boards and Justin Cobbs went for 14, but the most important player in this game was Robert Thurman. Filling in for the ineligible Richard Solomon, Thurman, a walk-on, went for 16 points and seven boards. Can he keep up that kind of production? I'm not terribly concerned about Washington just yet, but this is a worrisome outcome.

- Washington State 81, Stanford 69: This is a bad loss for Stanford. The Cardinal came into this game tied for first place in the conference with Cal and jumped out to a ten point lead in the first half. But Stanford simply had no answer for Faisal Aden, who finally woke up by coming off the bunch for 33 points.

- Oregon 65, USC 62: What do we make of Oregon? They continued their solid start in Pac-12 play, but struggling with USC at home isn't exactly a ringing endorsement for Dana Altman's team. Garret Sim and Devoe Joseph combined for 36 points.

- Oregon State 87, UCLA 84: Maybe I am expecting too much out of the Beavers this season, but I wasn't surprised by this win over UCLA as much as I was surprised by OSU's 1-5 start in league play. Jared Cunningham has 21 points in the win, but more importantly Devon collier had 20 and got 12 shots from the floor.

- Colorado 69, Arizona State 54
- Arizona 77, Utah 51

Other notable scores:

- No. 17 Virginia 70, Georgia Tech 38
- No. 23 St. Mary's 61, Pepperdine 47
- Davidson 87, Charleston 69
- Charleston Southern 93, UNC-Asheville 88
- NC State 76, Boston College 62
- VCU 69, William & Mary 68 OT
- Butler 57, UIC 49
- Denver 63, Louisiana-Monroe 48
- Weber State 81, Northern Arizona 67
- Gonzaga 74, San Francisco 63

Pics/Vids: Game 9: Missouri State vs. Creighton

2012-01-19T18:40:00.002-05:00

Wednesday, January 18th
JQH Arena, Missouri State University
Creighton 66, Missouri State 65

Game 8 - Missouri vs. Texas A&M
Game 7 - Wisconsin vs. Nebraska
Game 6 - Marquette vs. Pittsburgh
Game 5 - Butler vs. Cleveland State
Game 4 - Indiana vs. Minnesota
Game 3 - Xavier vs. Duquesne
Game 2 - Kentucky vs. South Carolina
Game 1 - Belmont vs. Lipscomb

This post is brought to you by the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, MO.

(A Missouri State player takes in the scene prior to their Wednesday night game against Creighton. The Bears handed the Bluejays their first and only conference loss a month ago in Omaha.)

(Ahh, the indoor blimp, such a lost art. We have only seen two blimps thus far, and both of them have been at mid-major schools.)

(Missouri State players get a good stretch in before the game.)

(Missouri State players go through pregame layup lines.)

(The Bear's student section was rockin' out the entire game. Wait, is that Jeff Borzello on the bottom left? Dude, why didn't you tell us you were going to be in Springfield?!?)

(Even "the green man" made an appearance at the game.)

(The Missouri State mascot visits with the student section.)

(Creighton's Gregory Echenique was rocking some bright pink Nikes for the game.)

(This family got the best seat in the house.)

(Grant Gibbs takes a jump shot during warm-ups. Gibbs had a big game, especially in the second half. He was 4-6 from the field and chipped in with three rebounds and two assists.)

(Jahenns Manigat gets a good stretch in before the game.)

(Oh crap, I've been spotted.)

(The Bears huddle up for the final time before introductions.)

(The scene at the JQH Arena right before tip-off.)

(The Bluejays huddle up for the final time before tip-off.)

(A mixture of crowd shots from throughout the game. The environment at the JQH Arena was terrific. Every Missouri Valley Conference game is important, and the fans provide a high level of intensity.)

(Rutgers-transfer Gregory Echenique sets a pick for Doug McDermott in the first half. Echenique led all scorers with 16 points.)

(Missouri State attempts a first half foul shot.)

(Grant Gibbs watches the play develop after passing the ball to Echenique on the low block.)

(Coach McDermott gets ready for a media-timeout.)

(Missouri State has two mascots. In fact, all the mid-major schools we've visited (Missouri State, Xavier and Belmont) had two mascots. I don't get it.)

(Jamar Gulley had to be helped off the floor after injuring his right ankle. He would eventually return, but was not the same.)

(The Missouri State "danceleaders". I think they were called "The Sugar Bears".)

(As if Echenique didn't already standout enough, his pink shoes certainly helped.)

(Missouri State head coach Paul Lusk directs his team from the sidelines.)

(Anthony Downing battles Gregory Echenique for a rebound. Downing is 5-foot-11 and weights 180-lbs. Echenique stands 6-foot-7 and weights 270-lbs. Just s slight mismatch.)

(After a double-foul was called in the second half, Coach Lusk had some questions for the referee. They went unanswered.)

(Grant Gibbs had some questions for the referee as well.)

(Echenique takes a foul shot. The big man finished a perfect 6-for-6 from the line.)

(Creighton had possession and a one point lead before turning the ball over. The Bears had 21.8 seconds to get a shot. Kyle Weems had a good look but it was off the mark. Doug McDermott grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 6.2 second left. He missed the front-end of a 1-and-1, and the Bears had one more chance to win the game.

(The Missouri State student section was on their feet for a majority of the second half.)

(Guard Anthony Downing waits on the perimeter to receive the ball. He finished with 14 points.)

(Missouri State sets up to defend a Creighton in-bounds play.)

(The entire arena was on their feet for the final few possessions.)

Pics/Vids: Game 8: Missouri vs. Texas A&M

2012-01-19T14:25:00.000-05:00

Monday, January 16th
Mizzou Arena, University of Missouri
Missouri 70, Texas A&M 51

Game 7 - Wisconsin vs. Nebraska
Game 6 - Marquette vs. Pittsburgh
Game 5 - Butler vs. Cleveland State
Game 4 - Indiana vs. Minnesota
Game 3 - Xavier vs. Duquesne
Game 2 - Kentucky vs. South Carolina
Game 1 - Belmont vs. Lipscomb

(The view of Mizzou Arena from the outside.)

(The fans at Mizzou Arena were coordinated through the game. Watching the fans was as fun as watching the game.)

(The 4:00PM start time on Monday meant the fans were late to arrive.)

(Senior guard Matt Pressey, the older brother of sophomore guard Phil, participates in pregame warmups.)

(The Aggies prepare for the game. Texas A&M was picked as the co-favorites to win the Big-XII this year, but due to an injury to Khris Middleton, and head coach Billy Kennedy's battle with Parkinson's, the team has struggled. The Aggies sit at 1-4 in the conference and are 10-7 overall.)

(The Mizzou Crew gets ready to support their team.)

(Rob "Tubby" Dauster chows down on some nachos. Missouri has been the only school thus far to not have any food in the media room. For shame, Mizzou. For Shame.)

(We were given press credentials, but we were not given seats in the press area. instead, we got spectator seats. It is hard to write about a game if you cannot use your laptop or access the internet.)

(Senior forward David Lobeau attempts a foul shot. He was a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe on Monday night.)

(Frank Haith directs his team during a timeout. Forward Laurence Bowers, who tore his ACl before the season, was dressed to the nines in a grey and gold 3-piece suit.)

(The view from above. The endline seats get vertical very quickly.)

(Another view from above. Other than the seats we were sitting in, there wasn't a bad seat in the house.)

(This is what awaited Texas A&M players when they went to the foul line.)

(Another Missouri huddle during a timeout.)

(A view from the middle of the student section.)

(Another view from the student section.)

(The Missouri dance team. I love the midwest.)

(The referee checks out the Mizzou dance team during a timeout.)

(The Mizzou Crew is one of the more colorful student sections I have come in contact with.)

(I told you they were colorful.)

(Why is he wearing blue? I was unaware that blue was one of Missouri's colors.)

(Missouri coach Frank Haith finishes up his post-game radio show.)

(Isn't family unity the best?)

(This was the final game of our brutal 6-games-in-6-days stretch of our trip. As you can tell, I'm a bit exhausted.)

Creighton isn’t great defensively, but they only need to be “clutch”

2012-01-19T13:48:00.001-05:00

This post is brought to you by the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, MO.

You can find the rest of the features from the #BIAHRoadTrip here

SPRINGFIELD, MO - After Wednesday night's 66-65 win over Missouri State, the No. 18 Creighton Bluejays have taken control of the Missouri Valley race. They are tied with Wichita State at 7-1 in the league with a three game lead on everyone in the conference other than Drake and they have already won on the Shocker's home court, something that is not an easy thing to do.

Ask UNLV.

Creighton has done plenty of damage outside of the league as well. They beat Iowa by 23, knocked off Nebraska by 10 and beat Northwestern. They went into Viejas Arena and knocked off San Diego State despite trailing by 17 in the first half. Again, that's not an easy thing to do.

Ask UNLV.

I don't mean to pick on the Rebels, but the point is that UNLV is a very good basketball team, one that climbed as high as 12th in the polls last week. And they couldn't win at Wichita State or at San Diego State. That should give you a sense of just what Creighton is capable of doing this season. Throw in the fact that they have a National Player of the Year candidate in their front court, two high-profile transfers in their starting lineup and what seems like nine different guys capable of knocking down a three or scoring 15 points on a given night, and its no wonder the Bluejays are having such a successful season.

They can score as well as anyone in the country.

But that doesn't mean that Creighton isn't a flawed team. In fact, their biggest issue is quite obvious and well-known: this is not a very good defensive basketball team. Kenpom has them at 144th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency, and its not difficult to figure out why. Creighton does not have many defensive playmakers. They are 328th in the country in turnover percentage, they are 303rd in the country in block percentage and they are 297th nationally is steal percentage.

Its not all bad -- they are an excellent defensive rebounding team and they don't allow their opponents to get to the foul line -- but being very average when it comes to forcing tough shots magnifies the fact that they aren't manufacturing the end of possessions with turnovers.

"Getting stops is one of the most important things," center Gregory Echinique said on Wednesday. "We're a team that can score a lot, we've been trying to make our defense our strength."

Creighton has lost just two games on the season, but in both of those games they allowed their opponent's best player to get in a rhythm. In an 80-71 loss at St. Joseph's, Carl Jones, the Hawks leading scorer, went off for 20 of his 29 points in the second half, providing the spark that Phil Martelli's team needed to score 45 second half points and cruise relatively unchallenged to a nine point win. In the first game of MVC play at home against Missouri State, Kyle Weems, the reigning Valley player of the year, scored 25 of his career-high 31 points in the second half and Anthony Downing went off for 26 points and five assists in a 77-65 win.

If you cannot slow down a good team's best player in crunch time, you aren't going to be winning too many basketball games.

And that is why Wednesday's game was so promising.

Playing on the road against a Bear team that has had their number the last two seasons, Creighton overcame an eight point deficit in the second half, and they did it with their defense. Creighton switched from their typical man-to-man defense to a zone, a change that threw off Missouri State's offensive rhythm.

"We went zone and took away penetration. If they were going to beat us, they were going to beat us with a jump shot," Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said after the game. "We don't play a lot of zone. As I told the guys in the time out, we practice it plenty and we don't use it very much and its for times like this that we practice it."

It was more than just a switch in defenses, however. Creighton never let Weems get going.

McDermott spent most of the game matched up with Weems, but every time he touched the ball, the Bluejay defense shifted their focus. They doubled him in the post and when he put the ball on the floor, they had plenty of help side defense to cut off driving lanes. It was a team effort, one that kept Weems from getting many open looks. After going 11-22 from the field and 3-4 from three in their first meeting, Weems had just 13 points on 5-16 shooting, hitting only one of the five threes he took.

Down one in the final 20 seconds, Weems was isolated on the wing. He drove right and went to take a pull-up jumper from about 12 feet. But Josh Jones made a good play on the ball, cutting off Weems and nearly stripping him while forcing an airball on an off-balance shot.

"Our guys have some pride and competitive spirit," the elder McDermott said. "They scored 40 or 45 on us in the second half at our place. You look forward to that opportunity to play again if you're a competitor. I thought that our team defense was better on them. Kyle's tough to guard one-on-one because of his ability to do things off the dribble. I thought we at least made him take challenged shots."

This isn't the first time we've seen Creighton buckle-down defensively like this, either.

In the win over Wichita State, Creighton found themselves in a 44-35 hole early in the first half. The Shockers, playing in front of a rocking home crowd on New Year's Eve, looked like they were on the verge of turning the game into a blow out. But Creighton buckled down, holding WSU to just 17 points over the final 15 minutes, including one 10 minute stretch where the Shockers managed just seven points while hitting just 3-14 from the field.

Creighton did the same against San Diego State. After a Tim Shelton jumper put the Aztecs up 62-57 with 8:38 left, Creighton forced misses on seven of SDSU's next nine shots, using a 21-10 surge over that stretch to open up a six point lead with two minutes left. If it wasn't for a flurry of tough threes from Jamaal Franklin down the stretch, Creighton would have won the game going away.

"We've worked on it in practice," Echinique said, "and tonight we were able to do that. We still gotta get better, it shows that we're improving in that area."

The bottom line is that Creighton is never going to be a great defensive team. Its not for a lack of effort or a lack of coaching, they just don't have the kind of physicality or athleticism that can overwhelm an opponent.

But they don't necessarily need to be a great defensive team. They have enough offensive weapons that they are never going to be out of a game. The question is going to be whether or not they can string together enough stops in key moments to win a game. They did against Wichita State, San Diego State and Missouri State and they won all three games on the road. They didn't against St. Joseph's and Missouri State at home, and they lost.

Its as simple as that.

Tu Holloway is not a great offensive player. He's not overly quick, he's not a great shooter and he's limited vertically. There is a reason that his name is shooting up NBA Draft boards right now. But Holloway is clutch. He hit two huge threes in overtime to help Xavier beat Vanderbilt and followed that up with three bigger threes as the Musketeers came back from 19 down against Purdue.

Holloway is at his best in the biggest moments, and its won Xavier two games already this season.

If Creighton can be at their best defensively down the stretch -- if they can get the "clutch" stops, so to speak -- they are going to win a lot of basketball games.

Thursday's Shootaround

2012-01-19T10:31:00.000-05:00

This post is brought to you by the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, MO.

No. 16 San Diego State 75, New Mexico 70: The Aztecs have done some impressive things this season -- there is a reason that they are ranked in the top 20 right now -- but going into The Pit and getting a win is unquestionably the most impressive thing they've done this year. And its more than just the win, its how they did it. Down 48-44 midway through the second half, SDSU used a 15-0 run to open up an 11 point lead that New Mexico was never able to overcome. Throw in the fact that the Aztecs dug themselves a 10-0 hole and were playing in one of the toughest environments in the country, and you should understand why Steve Fisher's club was so impressive.

What makes this win all the more important is that SDSU now as a one game lead on both UNLV, who they knocked off on Saturday, and UNM. Those two teams face off this Saturday, meaning that as long as SDSU can handle Air Force, they'll be heading into next week with a two game lead on one of the other two challengers in the conference. Xavier Thames, who had been out with a knee injury, finally looked healthy on Wednesday night, going for 22 points and four assists. Jamaal Franklin and Chase Tapley added 12 each.

At this point in the season, Steve Fisher has to be considered a strong favorite to win Coach of the Year. Think about this: his team lost four starters, including their entire front line that counted a lottery pick as a member, and were all but written off this season. But instead of rolling over and dying, Fisher has coached this team into a well-deserved top 20 ranking. Based on who else has lost already this week, its pretty safe to say that SDSU will slide up into the top 15 come Monday.

Fisher has built that into a hell of a program. Its a shame that they are heading to the Big West.

New Mexico didn't play terribly on Wednesday, but they were horrible for a five minute stretch during the second half when SDSU went on their run. Drew Gordon had 15 points, eight boards and five assists and Phillip McDonald went for 20 points off the bench, which more than made up for the no-show Tony Snell posted.

Cincinnati 70, No. 11 UConn 67: This game had a thrilling finish. After UConn erased a seven point lead in the final minute, capped by Shabazz Napier burying a tough and contested three, Sean Kilpatrick came down at the other end of the floor and drilled a deep three with two hands in his face with 2.5 seconds left on the clock. On the ensuing in bounds, Neils Giffey had a 3/4 court shot bounced off the back board and the rim.

The win was a big one for the Bearcats. Its the seventh straight they have won on the road in league play, dating back to last season, and the second straight they've won on the road vs. a ranked team this year (they knocked off Georgetown in DC 10 days ago). Its hard not to consider Cincinnati the second best team in the Big East right now, particularly with Ryan Boatright out.

UConn has a lot of work left to do. Andre Drummond took a step back against the Bearcats, as did Alex Oriakhi. They combined for six points and 12 boards on 3-16 shooting. Jeremy Lamb was not aggressive enough and while Napier played great -- especially leading UConn's comeback -- he's not ideal as a leader and a point guard.

Nebraska 70, No. 13 Indiana 69: The Hoosiers were up by as much as 13 in the second half of this game and blew the lead, losing their third consecutive game. Indiana has their issues as a team, but I did not think that this group was going to fall off a cliff the way that they have.

Simply put, winning is a skill. Knowing how to play as the favorite, as the team with a target on your back, is a tough thing to do. Indiana has never had to do that before. These guys were 2-29 under Tom Crean on the road. They've been stuck at the bottom of the Big Ten standings for the entirety of their careers. This group certainly has the ability to compete with the best in the conference, they have to learn how to approach those games mentally. Myron Medcalf did a really good job breaking this down for ESPN.com.

Missouri Valley:

No. 18 Creighton 66, Missouri State 65: Doug McDermott was slowed as Missouri State send two and three defenders at him on every touch, but Gregory Echinique stepped up, finishing with 16 points and seven boards as the Bluejays managed to hold off the Bears to move to 7-1 in league play. A back and forth game, MSU's Kyle Weems missed a tough jumper with six seconds left, and after McDermott missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Anthony Downing missed a 15 foot pull-up from the foul line. It was a good look, it just didn't go down. Its the Bear's third straight loss in league play.

Wichita State 71, Northern Iowa 68: Toure Murry had 24 points, including a layup with 1:21 left in the game to give the Shockers the lead and a jumper with 12 seconds left to push that lead to three. Marc Sonnen missed a three at the buzzer that would have forced overtime. WSU is now tied with Creighton at 7-1 in the league. Drake is the only other team with less than four losses. Unless something drastic changes over the next month and a half, the MVC looks like its going to be a two-bid league.

Atlantic 10:

Xavier 68, St. Joe's 55: Playing without Carl Jones, St. Joe's simply had no answer for Xavier's back court. Mark Lyons went for 17 points and Tu Holloway added 12 assists as the Musketeers improved to 4-1 in league play. They haven't lost an Atlantic 10 game in the Cintas Center since 2006.

Temple 76, La Salle 70: Rahlir Hollis-Jefferon led the Owls with 19 points and Ramone Moore had 17 points to pace Temple, as they knocked off their Philly rivals and improved to 2-2 in the league. The owls led by as many as 10 points in the second half, but La Salle was able to get that lead down to one point on four different occassions. The Explorers, who have gotten off to a terrific start to the season, dropped to 2-2 in the league as well.

Duquesne 80, UMass 69: BJ Monteiro had 23 points, Sean Johnson went for 20 and 10 boards and TJ McConnell added 15 points and six assists as the Dukes knocked off UMass on the strength of forcing 29 turnovers. Both teams are now 3-2 in the league and sitting a game behind Xavier in the standings.

Ole Miss 75, No. 15 Mississippi State 68: Reginald Buckner went for 19 points, 15 boards and three blocks, out playing Renardo Sidney and Arnett Moultrie to lead the Rebels to their first win over their in-state rivals in six tries. Ole Miss had control for all of the second half, as they never trailed and only allowed the Bulldogs to get within three once, a 63-60 with about two minutes left.

South Florida 64, St. John's 49: Its time that we start taking USF seriously. After this win, the Bulls are now 4-2 in Big East play, the four wins being the most that they have ever won in the Big East. Victor Rudd led the way with 24 points, including one of the nastiest dunks you are going to see this season.

Villanova 84, Seton Hall 76: So much for the Pirates being a contender. They've now lost back-to-back games after getting put into the top 25 last week. I know the name on the jersey might allow you to justify the loss, but the Wildcats are not the same team that we expect them to be. Maalik Wayns has been outstanding the last two games, finishing with 39 points, 13 boards and six assists in a loss at Cincinnati and 25 points and seven assists last night.

West Virginia 78, Marshall 62: Kevin Jones scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half as the Mountaineers pulled away from a scrappy Marshall team in the second half. The Thundering Herd were giving WVU everything they could handle in the first half, but the 'Eers looked outstanding in the final 20 minutes. Truck Bryant added 22 points.

Central Florida 68, Memphis 67: Joe Jackson his a three with 42 seconds left to give Memphis a 67-65 lead, but they couldn't hold on to it as Keith Clanton scored on an and-one, hitting the free throw, with four seconds left for the win. Clanton had 23 points and Marcus Jordan added 20.

Kansas State 84, Texas 80: If Anthony Marshall isn't the hottest player in the country, than Rodney McGruder is. The junior guard with for 33 points to carry K-State to a four point win on Wednesday night and is now averaging 22.7 ppg in the last seven games. Both teams are sitting at 2-3 in league play.

Iowa State 71, Oklahoma State 68: This happened:

The rest of the top 25:

No. 10 Murray State 66, Morehead State 60: The Racers knocked off their heated rivals despite trailing for much of the game, moving to 19-0 on the season. Isaiah Canaan finished with 20 points, including the go-ahead three with 3:57 left.

No. 20 UNLV 101, TCU 78: The Rebels have really shown the ability to get out and score some points this season. Mike Moser had 16 points and 15 boards for UNLV, but it was Anthony Marshall's 27 points, nine assists, five boards, three blocks and two steals that really set the tone. The 27 points are a career-high, besting the 26 he scored on Saturday against SDSU. There are not many guards in the country playing as well as he is right now.

Other notable scores:

- Wisconsin 77, Northwestern 57
- Northeastern 60, Georgia State 57
- Ohio 87, Kent State 65
- Buffalo 82, Akron 70
- Miami 76, Clemson 73
- Bucknell 4-0, Lehigh 2-2
- Georgia 57, Tennessee 53 OT
- Wyoming 64, Air Force 53

Thursday Morning Dump

2012-01-19T08:07:00.003-05:00

This post is brought to you by the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, MO.

I greatly apologize for the lack of dumpage the last two days. You have no idea how exhausting it is to literally walk Rob through every stage of this trip. He is as unreliable as the Postal Service and doesn't bring anything to the table other than his typing skills.

Anyways, I got some links for you to peruse. You better do it.

- Use this page to find all the #BIAHroadtrip content

- Sorry Goodman, but you didn't go on a "road trip". We are on a "road trip". You took airplanes. That doesn't count. Plus, the college basketball road trip industry isn't big enough for anybody other than my ego.

- Jeff Pearlman went in on Kentucky fans, and well, it wasn't received too well

- Myron Medcalf nails it. Winning is a skill, and Indiana is still learning how to do it

- Cincinnati got a huge road-victory last night against UConn, and may end up being the team's signature win of the season. But are the Bearcats really the second best team in the Big East?

- Jay Bilas provides a great list of 14 non-BCS power schools (Insiders Only)

- Sorry, but John Jenkins is not even close to being considered Player of the Year

- Former-St. John's freshman Nurideen Lindsay will attend Rider instead of Arkansas

- All Matt Christopherson does is hits buzzer-beaters

- The top-5 student sections in the Big-XII. Sorry, but with all due respect to Kansas, K-State should be No.1. Allen Fieldhouse is a better venue, but EMAW and the Octagon of Doom are tops in the conference.

- Let the popularity contest begin

- Steve Prohm, the head coach at Murray State, has the perfect demeanor for his team. The Racers remain unbeaten after a close win against Morehead State

- I'm still not sure how these referees still have jobs

- Two court-stormings took place last night