– Boston College guard Tyrese Rice scored 24 on 7-9 shooting (5-5 from downtown) in a 6 point win over UAB.

– Wake Forest super sophomore James Johnson scored 18 on 8-13 shooting in a victory against UTEP. Star guard from UTEP, Stefon Jackson, scored 31 and pulled down 9 boards in the loss.

– Tennessee forward Tyler Smith shot 50% from the field and 90% from the line en route to a 21 point effort in a win over Georgetown.

– Syracuse shifty sophomore guard Jonny Flynn scored 15 to go along with 6 feeds in a 3 point in over Virginia.

– Pittsburgh big man DeJuan Blair notched his 4th double-double of the season with 15 and 11 in a 13 point beat down of Texas Tech. Forward Sam Young scored 24, but it he took 25 shots in doing so.

– Michigan State foward Raymar Morgan scored 29 points on 9-11 from the floor and 11-13 from the charity stripe in a 15 point victory over Oklahoma State.

– Oklahoma brute Blake Griffin did not have a compelling performance from the field (5-13) but he did have 21 rebounds and 3 blocks in an overtime win over Purdue. Although Blake’s brother Taylor was not a Wooden Preseason Top 50 player, he scored 19 on 8-11 shooting.

Mind-boggling STAT of the DAY

Oklahoma shot 46 free throws compared to only 5 for Purdue. Oklahoma connected on 4 three pointers compared to 12 three pointers for Purdue.

The difference…

Sooners had 7 more offensive rebounds and 7 more steals than the Boilermakers, plus 5 less turnovers.

Post from: EveryJoe

Friday’s solid performances

In no particular order and in no particular feeling of confidence either:

**** Scoff at it, just get mad at it UofA fans. Your team will lay an egg this year but totally get hot and win the NIT.

^ Addition by subtraction in Texas—ludicrous to say maybe, but D.J. and A.J. were beguiling wonders on the court that irrevocably held back the Longhorns from placing more impactful punches against stronger fighters.

$ The Spartans will further cement themselves as the college version of the 21st century Detroit Pistons. Each has won one championship, yet both fan bases are becoming impatient with the standstill success. So much talent yet so little to show for it.

#!#@ Calling Conference USA a power conference was a little wishful. That statement, although made while sober, still feels dirty, but it could end up alright. Just hoping Vaden or some other power conference guy can make a run at the scoring title.

? Calling Northwestern a NIT team was an undemonstrative springboard to tomfoolery, as this season I will probably be glued to all news NW basketball, akin to the energy I gave them during the Jitim Young and Tavaras Hardy days.

(Preview of Big Ten season)—Probably the most accurate prediction of the Big Ten season as you will find, minus the Michigan placement. No Big Ten quality pg will be available to suit up for the Wolvies until the second semester.—-

% Hasheem Thabeet is ready for a monster year and a long run into the tourney. It would not be surprising to see the Huskies stay in the top 5 for the entire season, especially if Thabeet can average 14.5ppg, 9 reb and more than 4 blk. Just think about the terror an offensively skilled Thabeet would be.

高人 Speaking of impact big men, one should keep an eye out for UNC-Asheville’s Kenny George. When fresh, he’s really not much different than your rudimentary 7 foot center, except for the fact George can regularly hit free throws and, while this might not seem feasible, still surprises many guards with his length. After awhile you’d think they would find new ways to attack a 7’7 dude, but often they make the same mistake over and over. However the time to attack George is when he’s sucking major air. Not exactly an original idea, yet, for huge guy, the opportunities present themselves much more frequently.

It’s almost as of George has decent enough foot speed to move laterally and react, but it’s the body that often takes awhile to catch up. If the coach can really substitute him frequently and wisely, UNC-Asheville will be the best in the Big South.

The next two are direct matchup predictions.

$$$ The Big Ten will once again fall to the superior ACC and it will, as it has always been, be because of the significant back of the conference weakness’s of the Big Ten. Need I go further?

\&/ The Fighting Irish will beat the Tar Heels in the finals of the Maui Invitational.

So with that out of the way,

#1

My pick to win the whole enchilada.

Discuss.

photo credit: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Ahhh Finally