– Wisconsin escaped Iona by 2 in overtime. The Badgers managed only 7 assists compared to 19 turnovers.

–Duke put Michigan in their place with a 71-56 win in the Finals of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. Kyle Singler had 15 points and 10 boards.

–Xavier’s Dante Jackson hits half court shot with time expiring to beat the Virginia Tech Hokies. Jackson was 1-9 from the field.

–The Rollins College Tars (DII) disposed of Wisconsin-Green Bay by 17.

–Tyler Hansbrough returned from injury and scored 13 in a UNC victory @ Cal-Santa Barbara. Tyler struggled from the field going 2-10. Tar Heel Fan Blog has it all covered.

STAT of the DAY

UConn freshman guard Kemba Walker netted his second straight 20 plus point performance with 23 in a 8 point win over La Salle. Matt has all the goods in his post game wrap up.

Post from: EveryJoe

Friday November 21st Scores

Yeah I said it, DOMINATE.

– 17 UCLA turnovers mostly caused by Michigan’s feisty 1-3-1 zone defense

– DeShawn Sims abused the UCLA bigs all game long (by the way, keep Sims coming off the bench Beilein, it’s working)

– 8th grader Stu Douglass had his coming out party with 10 points and 5 feeds

– Darren Collison and Josh Shipp combined for 10 turnovers and only 1 three pointer

– Nikola Dragovic felt compelled to launch shots quite frequently. Nikola has a nice shot, but he’s no Memo Okur

– Manny Harris was 5-13 from the field, turned the ball over 4 times

Ok, maybe DOMINATE was too strong of a description.

Statement game might suffice.

That Michigan-Duke preview Kevin said I had in store for you…

Duke’s experience will propel them to a double digit victory. They played with a lot of energy against the Southern Illinois Salukis. The team is starting to gel and that Nolan Smith character will not allow the 3 guard rotation of David Merritt, C.J. Lee and Kelvin Grady to stifle Duke like they did UCLA.

As for Greg Paulus, eh, he might turn the ball over some, but he’ll probably hit some threes to make up for his dudness.

Nolan Smith going vertical

DeShawn Sims should be able to have his way again. But Manny Harris must explode for 25 plus points because Duke will certainly drain their share of triples and get their share of calls.

Duke is probably a much more disciplined defensive team than the Bruins. That alone should give them a decided edge over the young Wolverines, who, at times, got some easy baskets inside off of back door feeds and such against UCLA.

But honestly, UCLA should not have been rated #4. By the time February rolls around…? Well see.

By the way, Michigan hosts Duke on December 6th.

Note- Kevin mentioned it before, but what went on against Texas Tech and East Central is stupid.

STAT of the DAY

Texas Tech lets DII East Central put 116 on the board.

It’s so wild and insane that not even a single Mississippi Valley State joke is worthy enough to follow it.

Post from: EveryJoe

First of 2 Michigan vs. Duke Tilts (Today, 7pm)

The fourth ranked Bruins were shown up by the Michigan Wolverines 55-52 in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at Madison Square Garden in New York City a few minutes ago.

Junior forward DeShawn Sims led all scorers with 18 points for Michigan and teammate Manny Harris was held to just 15.

Darren Collison and freshman Jrue Holiday had 13 points each for UCLA. Collison missed a three-pointer with five seconds to go that sealed the win for the Wolverines.

Michigan will play Duke for the championship game tomorrow night. UCLA faces Southern Illinois, an 83-58 loser to Duke in the other semifinal, in the third place game.

That means Ryan Pravato gets to write the preview for those games. I’m going to bed.

Post from: EveryJoe

We Now Have Our Second Upset Of The Season

But parents can rest easy now and I’ll have to look for another form of college basketball coaching entertainment.

According to the Associated Press and of course ESPN.com, Knight signed a deal today to be be a permanent analyst and commentator for College GameDay, SportsCenter and ESPN Radio.

Knight will even call some games starting with a semifinal in the 2K Sports Classic next Thursday, as well as a game every Thursday night with Brent Musberger beginning Jan. 15.

That along may provide me with all the entertainment I need. Especially if a game gets heated and Knight and Musberger or God forbid the referees fail to agree over something like a Tyler Hansbrough foul.

And lets see if the fine folks at ESPN have the gaul to let Knight call at game at Indiana. Call out the National Guard for that one.

Post from: EveryJoe

Bobby Knight to Stay on at ESPN

Now down to business.

GAME 1 of 2K Sports Classic

Georgia Southern vs. Houston @ Cameron Indoor (4pm)

ABOUT HOUSTON

The Cougars return eight lettermen but only one starter (junior guard Kelvin Lewis) from last season’s team which finished with a 24-10 record and advanced to the semifinals of the inaugural 2008 College Basketball Invitational.

ABOUT GEORGIA SOUTHERN

Georgia Southern finished with a 20-12 overall record (13-7 in Southern Conference) in 2007-08. Sophomore guard Willie Powers enters the year as the team’s leading returning scorer with 11.5 points per game and was named to the league’s All-Freshmen Team.

GAME 2 of 2K Sports Classic

Presbyterian Blue Hose vs. Duke Blue Devils @ Cameron Indoor (7pm)

Jeff Mezydlo of AOL Sports

This will be Duke’s first meeting with Presbyterian, a small South Carolina school which is coming off a 5-25 first season in Division I.

The Blue Hose, who have never defeated a Division I school on the road, will play as a member of the Big South Conference for the first time this season.

Al’Lonzo Coleman, a 6-foot-7 sophomore center who led the Blue Hose with 11.2 points and 10.0 rebounds per game last season, returns for a team picked to finish last in the Big South’s preseason poll.

Barring an upset, Duke will face either Georgia Southern or Houston in the tournament’s regional championship Tuesday in Durham. That winner of that contest advances to the semifinals of the Classic at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 20.

Could be a rough 40 minutes for the Blue Hose.

Presbyterian lost to DII Augusta State last thursday. Moral victories fellas, remember the moral victories.

Ok, my breaking down of the games is over. The originality fountain is now dry.

BTW, the 2K tournament bracket is here.

It’s on!

Post from: EveryJoe

Season begins TODAY!!