It's the weekend! That means college basketball time. As for Friday, no major upsets, but a couple of close calls and some important preseason tournament games. Let's start with the one final... Coaches v. Cancer. Duke won the tournament, beating Michigan 71-56. Michigan had a similar game plan vs Duke as they did when they upset UCLA... slow the game down, keep it close, and maybe steal one late. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, it was simply too much talent for Duke. Duke still had plenty of turnovers (17) and a so-so game from Henderson and Scheyer but Singler and Nolan Smith stepped up to take the scoring load. Meanwhile, Duke shut down the Michigan offense, allowing only 35% from the field and keeping DeShawn Sims in check for the most part (5-13 shooting, 10 points). Manny Harris went off for 25 but I would imagine Michigan will be more successful when guys like Sims are scoring and not when Harris is putting up 30 a game. In the consolation game, UCLA beat SIU 77-60 behind a monster game from Aboya (22 points, 6-8 shooting, 10-13 from the line) and Darren Collison (17 points). SIU had 23 turnovers and never looked in sync offensively.
The two other big tournaments going on this weekend are the Puerto Rico Tip-Off and the Paradise Jam. Both had preliminary games on Friday. The Puerto Rico semis featured Memphis, who jumped up early and big on Seton Hall and held on for the win 84-70. Memphis only shot 40% from the floor but still put up 84 points, which gives you an idea how fast this team plays and how often they get to the line (47 free throw attempts). They don't shoot well at all but all of them are athletic and can drive to the bucket. Memphis will take on Xavier in the finals, who drained a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to beat Virginia Tech 63-62. In a consolation game USC recovered from the loss to Seton Hall on Thursday and pounded Chattanooga 73-46. Taj Gibson had 17 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks, and Dwight Lewis added 16.
In the Paradise Jam, a couple of first round games saw Miami (FL) winning over Southern Miss 70-60, Wisconsin needing OT to beat Iona 60-58, and UConn getting key performances from Jeff Adrien (22 points, 14 rebounds) and Kemba Walker (23 points) to beat La Salle 89-81. This sets up semifinal matchups on Sunday between Miami (FL) and UConn (6 PM) and Wisconsin and San Diego (8:30 PM). In other top 25 news, Hansbrough made his debut and scored 13 points in UNC's win over UC-Santa Barbera 84-67. Pitt and Davidson won big in their matchups on Friday, while ND and Tennessee had semi-close calls vs. Loyola Marymount and Middle Tennessee St. respectively.
Saturday, there's a few Top 25 teams playing but no real great matchups. Watch for Sunday to be a good day for college b-ball, including the Puerto Rico final and the Paradise Jam semi-finals.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
College Basketball Recap - Nov 20th
Not a good day for the Pac-10. Two days after Arizona State had a pretty awful looking win over San Diego St., top 20 teams UCLA and USC go down to unranked opponents. USC blew a 15 point halftime lead vs. Seton Hall, shooting just over 21 percent in the 2nd half. The Trojans got good production from Taj Gibson (8-13 shooting, 19 points) but didn't get much from anyone else offensively, including freshman DeMar DeRozan (3 points in 20 minutes). Meanwhile, Seton Hall's defense stepped up and the Pirates got an important non-conference win. These are the kind of wins those lower tier Big East teams are going to have to get if the conference wants to get 10 teams in.
As for UCLA... they fell to Michigan 55-52 in the Coaches v. Cancer semis. UCLA has played this methodical, slow-paced style for a few years now, and it's worked well, but if they can't get consistent offensive performance, they're not going to be able to do this successfully. Josh Shipp (2-9 shooting) and Alfred Aboya (5 points) will have to contribute more down the stretch if UCLA is going to want to be a Final Four team. I think they're missing not just Kevin Love but guys like Mbah a Moute who provided a consistent scoring option in the post. That's something these Bruins lack. At least Holiday played well. As for the Wolverines, look out. This team may not be a tournament team, but they are much improved from last year and got big performances from DeShawn Sims (18 points) and Stu Douglass (10 points, 5 assists). We all know Manny Harris will be good, but if Sims can step up and be that 2nd viable scoring option, Michigan will not fall into as many offensive ruts as they did last year, particularly in the 2nd half.
As for the other Coaches v. Cancer semifinal, Duke and SIU played a fairly tight game but SIU never really made a charge and Duke pulled away late 83-58. The Salukis played the Blue Devils physical and tough but it ended up costing them in the end as they were in constant foul trouble throughout most of the 2nd half and had 47 free throws which amounted to almost half their points. 4 Duke players scored in double figures, including Brian Zoubek (10 pts, 68 from the line) who could be huge for Duke in the post later this season. As for SIU, this team is well coached for the most part and they are disciplined but not experienced and were somewhat undermanned vs. Duke.
In other top 25 news, Florida escaped some horrible 3 pt shooting woes to beat Southern Utah 64-50, and Memphis took down Chattanooga 83-71. They'll face Seton Hall tonight in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, while Chattanooga and USC will face off before them. Also remember tonight... Duke v. Michigan and UCLA v. SIU. Should be a good night of college basketball!
As for UCLA... they fell to Michigan 55-52 in the Coaches v. Cancer semis. UCLA has played this methodical, slow-paced style for a few years now, and it's worked well, but if they can't get consistent offensive performance, they're not going to be able to do this successfully. Josh Shipp (2-9 shooting) and Alfred Aboya (5 points) will have to contribute more down the stretch if UCLA is going to want to be a Final Four team. I think they're missing not just Kevin Love but guys like Mbah a Moute who provided a consistent scoring option in the post. That's something these Bruins lack. At least Holiday played well. As for the Wolverines, look out. This team may not be a tournament team, but they are much improved from last year and got big performances from DeShawn Sims (18 points) and Stu Douglass (10 points, 5 assists). We all know Manny Harris will be good, but if Sims can step up and be that 2nd viable scoring option, Michigan will not fall into as many offensive ruts as they did last year, particularly in the 2nd half.
As for the other Coaches v. Cancer semifinal, Duke and SIU played a fairly tight game but SIU never really made a charge and Duke pulled away late 83-58. The Salukis played the Blue Devils physical and tough but it ended up costing them in the end as they were in constant foul trouble throughout most of the 2nd half and had 47 free throws which amounted to almost half their points. 4 Duke players scored in double figures, including Brian Zoubek (10 pts, 68 from the line) who could be huge for Duke in the post later this season. As for SIU, this team is well coached for the most part and they are disciplined but not experienced and were somewhat undermanned vs. Duke.
In other top 25 news, Florida escaped some horrible 3 pt shooting woes to beat Southern Utah 64-50, and Memphis took down Chattanooga 83-71. They'll face Seton Hall tonight in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, while Chattanooga and USC will face off before them. Also remember tonight... Duke v. Michigan and UCLA v. SIU. Should be a good night of college basketball!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
College Basketball Recap, Nov 19th
Not a ton of exciting games yesterday. The best one was probably Michigan St., who played a road game (what?) at IPFW. The Spartans actually fell behind early in the 2nd half before a 13-0 run put them in control, and they finished off IPFW 70-59. Raymar Morgan finished with 22 and Kalin Lucas added 17. IPFW was able to slow the pace of the game down for a while, which definitely isn't Michigan St.'s strength, and they were able to keep it close for a while. But too much talent for the Spartans.
Elsewhere, Villanova beat Niagara 77-62. Four players in double figures for Nova. They're sharing the ball very well this year, which is a good sign. This set of guards could probably compete with any in the Big East, but size will become a factor when they play some more difficult opponents (like @ Texas on Dec. 9th). Wake Forest blew out UNC-Wilmington 120-88, shooting almost 57% from the floor. And in non-top 25 land, I'm going to give a shout out to my dad's alma mater, the University of Illinois-Chicago, who beat Northern Iowa on national television 84-77. Well, it was ESPN 360.com, but close enough, right?
Hey, remember tonight the Coaches v. Cancer semifinals are on ESPN2... it starts at 7 PM with SIU v. Duke and then UCLA v. Michigan at 9 PM.
Elsewhere, Villanova beat Niagara 77-62. Four players in double figures for Nova. They're sharing the ball very well this year, which is a good sign. This set of guards could probably compete with any in the Big East, but size will become a factor when they play some more difficult opponents (like @ Texas on Dec. 9th). Wake Forest blew out UNC-Wilmington 120-88, shooting almost 57% from the floor. And in non-top 25 land, I'm going to give a shout out to my dad's alma mater, the University of Illinois-Chicago, who beat Northern Iowa on national television 84-77. Well, it was ESPN 360.com, but close enough, right?
Hey, remember tonight the Coaches v. Cancer semifinals are on ESPN2... it starts at 7 PM with SIU v. Duke and then UCLA v. Michigan at 9 PM.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
College Basketball Recap - Nov 18th
I don't have a ton of time this week but there's always time for college basketball! Here's what happened yesterday:
UNC beat Kentucky 77-58. The recap makes it sound like this game was a blowout, and it was to an extent, but Kentucky didn't play as bad as it seemed. For one, UNC shot 41% from the field and held them to 77 points, which is pretty solid defensively. They hung with UNC for the entire 2nd half. Bottom line... this Kentucky team has some good individual players but they turn it over way too much (28 vs. UNC, 25 vs. VMI) and could really use an experienced PG running that offense. Meanwhile, UNC recieved some bad news as it looks like Tyler Zeller will be done for the year with a broken wrist. More injuries for UNC means the Tar Heels come back to the rest of the nation even more, but they have so many weapons this team's still a Final Four favorite.
Oklahoma beat Davidson 82-78. The good for the Wildcats? Stephen Curry (44 points). The bad? Everyone else (34 points). Davidson's not going deep in the tournament with Curry scoring that large of a percentage of his team's points. Lovedale needs to step up and contribute offensively. Plus Davidson had no answer for Blake Griffin (25 points, 21 rebounds) and while few teams do, this team still lacks size and the guards need to step up and shut down the perimeter
Meanwhile, Purdue rolled for the 2nd straight night, Boston College went on a big 2nd half run to put away St. John's, and UAB squeaked one out vs. Arizona after almost blowing a 9 point lead with 4 and a half minutes to play. So this is what the NIT Season Tip-Off semis will look like next week:
Purdue v. B. C.
Oklahoma v. UAB
Meanwhile, Arizona St. pulled away late to beat San Diego St., and pretty much everyone else in the Top 25 won their games easily.
UNC beat Kentucky 77-58. The recap makes it sound like this game was a blowout, and it was to an extent, but Kentucky didn't play as bad as it seemed. For one, UNC shot 41% from the field and held them to 77 points, which is pretty solid defensively. They hung with UNC for the entire 2nd half. Bottom line... this Kentucky team has some good individual players but they turn it over way too much (28 vs. UNC, 25 vs. VMI) and could really use an experienced PG running that offense. Meanwhile, UNC recieved some bad news as it looks like Tyler Zeller will be done for the year with a broken wrist. More injuries for UNC means the Tar Heels come back to the rest of the nation even more, but they have so many weapons this team's still a Final Four favorite.
Oklahoma beat Davidson 82-78. The good for the Wildcats? Stephen Curry (44 points). The bad? Everyone else (34 points). Davidson's not going deep in the tournament with Curry scoring that large of a percentage of his team's points. Lovedale needs to step up and contribute offensively. Plus Davidson had no answer for Blake Griffin (25 points, 21 rebounds) and while few teams do, this team still lacks size and the guards need to step up and shut down the perimeter
Meanwhile, Purdue rolled for the 2nd straight night, Boston College went on a big 2nd half run to put away St. John's, and UAB squeaked one out vs. Arizona after almost blowing a 9 point lead with 4 and a half minutes to play. So this is what the NIT Season Tip-Off semis will look like next week:
Purdue v. B. C.
Oklahoma v. UAB
Meanwhile, Arizona St. pulled away late to beat San Diego St., and pretty much everyone else in the Top 25 won their games easily.
Monday, November 17, 2008
College Basketball Recap - Nov 17th
NIT Season Tip-Off began today. The biggest upset was Loyola (IL) beating Georgia. The 2nd round matchups look like this:
Purdue v. Loyola (IL)
Boston College v. St. John's
Davidson v. Oklahoma (First Top 25 matchup of the year!)
Arizona v. UAB
other than those games, Marquette and Villanova both rolled in their games. UConn-Hartford was close at the half but UConn took off at the end and won easily. Georgetown toyed with Jacksonville for a while before finally putting them away. Missouri and Oklahoma State both won big, while Virginia Tech won a close one over Mt. St. Mary's. And Memphis-UMass is currently going on, although it's not much of a game so far (both teams shot under 33% in the first half!). St. Mary's plays tomorrow morning at 2 AM
Purdue v. Loyola (IL)
Boston College v. St. John's
Davidson v. Oklahoma (First Top 25 matchup of the year!)
Arizona v. UAB
other than those games, Marquette and Villanova both rolled in their games. UConn-Hartford was close at the half but UConn took off at the end and won easily. Georgetown toyed with Jacksonville for a while before finally putting them away. Missouri and Oklahoma State both won big, while Virginia Tech won a close one over Mt. St. Mary's. And Memphis-UMass is currently going on, although it's not much of a game so far (both teams shot under 33% in the first half!). St. Mary's plays tomorrow morning at 2 AM
Games to Watch - Week of Nov 17
Preseason Tournaments:
NIT Season Tip-Off (Nov. 17-18, 26, 28)
Teams to Watch: Arizona, Davidson, Oklahoma, Purdue, UAB
Other than the teams listed here, there are others like Boston College and Georgia that I'd love to get a look at. Overall, there's lots of good teams here with a variety of styles of play and strengths, so there should be some good early season match-ups.
My Pick: Purdue. As I've stated before, Purdue's going to be in trouble vs. a team more athletic than them, but there isn't anyone in this tournament that's going to overwhelm them. Blake Griffin and OU will give the Boilers some problems, but solid shooting and defense will lead Purdue to victory.
Paradise Jam (Nov. 21-24)
Teams to Watch: Miami, San Diego, UConn, Wisconsin
A pretty strong field for an 8 team tournament. Not as strong as the Maui Invitational or the Old Spice Classic, but there should be some VERY interesting matchups later on in this tourney.
My Pick: UConn. Can't really go against the #2 team in the nation, although I think Miami could give them a run for their money if they meet in the semis. Neither San Diego nor Wisconsin have the firepower to keep up though (and yes, I am aware San Diego beat UConn in the tourney last year. Ten bucks says A. J. Price gets 2 or more points and Thabeet gets more than 14 points and 6 rebounds in 37 minutes in their next meeting)
Mon, Nov 17th
Purdue v. Eastern Michigan (7 PM, ESPN2) - Finally... some college basketball on a station I have! Oh wait... I'm going to be at that game. Never mind
Florida Atlantic v. Arizona (11PM, ESPNU) - It's been a very tumultuous off-season for Arizona. I thought the Kevin O' Neill situation was handled somewhat poorly, and then Brandon Jennings leaving for Europe, and then Lute Olson's resignation... this Wildcats team has plenty of distractions right now but they're in the NIT Tip-Off, which means there's some quality non-conference wins out there for the taking. And they're still returning some decent players. Don't count out Arizona just yet.
UAB v. Santa Clara - I've been very high on this UAB team. In fact, I'm calling it right here, right now, for everyone... UAB will beat Memphis at least once this season. That's how much I like this team. Robert Vaden is one of the best guards in the country, and the Blazers return most of their backcourt. Watch for lots of 4 guard lineups
Davidson v. James Madison - The Stephen Curry show is back... with Jason Richards, the NCAA's leading assist man. But then again, how difficult is it to get assists when you hand the ball to Curry and let him work?
UMass v. Memphis (Midnight, ESPN) - A good early season test for a young Memphis team.
Miami (OH) v. Pitt, Fordham v. Villanova, Chicago St. v. Marquette - A trio of opening games for three Big East schools. All tournament teams last year, all returning most of their key contributors. If you thought the Big East was good last year...
Tues, Nov 18th
NIT Season Tip-Off Second Round (Likely Matchups: Davidson v. Oklahoma, UAB v. Arizona, Purdue v. Georgia)
Lots of quality early season matchups here. Davidson will try to make an early season statement vs. a quality non-conference opponent, something they couldn't do last year. UAB and Arizona appear to be two programs going in opposite directions but at this point, they're around the same level. And is Georgia the team from last year's SEC tournament, or the team from the entire regular season leading up to that point?
Kentucky v. UNC (9 PM, ESPN) - I was going to mention something here about how maybe UNC is banged up right now, and this is a new, young, hungry Wildcats team, and make it sound like this is going to be a competitive game, but screw it... if you can't slow down VMI, how are you going to stop all the weapons the Tar Heels have? Not happening
Arizona St. v. San Diego St. - One of the prime candidates to take down UCLA at the top of the Pac-10 this year. All five starters are back from last year's team, and with the three teams above them (other than UCLA) in the Pac-10 last year all likely getting worse, Arizona St. becomes the clear #2 in the conference. Will they steal one from UCLA, though?
New Mexico St v. USC - Losing O. J. Mayo hurts. Gaining high school All-American Demar DeRozan... that helps a little. He adds to a solid nucleus of Taj Gibson, Daniel Hackett, and Dwight Lewis to likely make USC a tournament team again.
Plus there's games going on ESPN all day, including Syracuse, Baylor, and a few good small conference teams like UNC-Asheville. Might be worth your while to check some out
Wed, Nov. 19th
UNC-Wilmington v. Wake Forest - Much is expected of this young Demon Deacon team and their outstanding freshman class. Early on I think they could struggle vs. more experienced teams but they will be a serious ACC threat later this season
South Dakota St. v. VCU - Last year's Colonial favorites fell in the conference tourney semis and failed to make the tournament. They look to avenge that loss this time in an even more crowded Colonial conference with lots of teams returning plenty of starters. This game is in the Cancun Challenge, a smaller tournament that includes Vanderbilt, New Mexico, and Drake, last year's Valley champs. It should be decent competition.
Thurs, Nov. 20th
Coaches v. Cancer Semi-Finals:
Duke v. SIU (7 PM, ESPN2) - Tempo, tempo, tempo. On the one hand you have Duke with their plethora of guards and wingmen trying to run the floor and push the pace, and on the other hand you have SIU who is traditionally one of the slowest paced teams in college basketball. Obviously if this game turns into a slugfest Duke will run away with it, but if SIU can slow down the tempo, they may have an advantage. Duke was somewhat sloppy and turnover prone during their first game, and if they come out sluggish again, SIU can control the pace, limit turnovers, and make some threes, this one could go down to the wire. One similarity between the two teams? A variety of scorers. Both have their leaders (Singler for Duke, Fey for SIU) but both also have plenty of guys who are a threat offensively.
UCLA v. Michigan (9 PM, ESPN2) - If Manny Harris goes off big time (and I mean, like, 40 points) then maybe the Wolverines have a shot. But I don't see it. UCLA is too good defensively to allow one guy to beat them like that. And if Manny isn't scoring, Michigan has few other options offensively. Michigan may keep it close early, but look for UCLA to pull away in the 2nd half.
Chattanooga v. Memphis (4:30 PM, ESPN2) - If you missed your chance at seeing Memphis at midnight on Monday, here's your opportunity to see them at a more reasonable time... except for college students, midnight might be a more reasonable time than 4:30 in the afternoon when we have classes/homework to get done
Fairfield v. Virginia Tech, Stetson v. Florida State - The top 4 of the ACC appears pretty solid (UNC, Duke, Miami, Wake Forest). After that, it's a logjam of teams including Clemson, Maryland, Georgia Tech, and these two schools. Last year the middle of the ACC beat up on each other so much a 5th ACC team wasn't able to emerge from the pack and the conference only got 4 in. Will a 5th ACC team emerge this year as a viable tournament contender?
Fri, Nov. 21st
**Coaches v. Cancer Championship** - Preview coming Thursday night! (Hopefully)
Winthrop v. Davidson - Winthrop's absolutely dominated the Big South recently, but if anyone's going to dethrone the Eagles, now's the time to do it. They lost four of their top five scorers and conference runners-up UNC Asheville and newcomers Gardner-Webb appear to be the best options for a new Big South rep in the tourney. AND Winthrop just got pounded by South Carolina on Sunday... and the Gamecocks are a borderline NCAA Tournament team at best. We may see a new Big South champ this year.
Notre Dame v. Loyola Marymount - Luke Harangody and Kyle McAlarney return from last year's very good Irish squad. But in the Big East, there's little margin for error. If these guys aren't scoring consistently every night, who will step up and hit shots?
Southern Miss v. Miami (FL) - Hey, Miami's ranked. No surprise... wait... this isn't football? What?? But yea, this Miami team's good. I remember watching a Miami game last year, and I saw Jack McClinton and I was like, "Woah. This guy's pretty good." Even better... the Hurricanes return four starters from last year's team that gave Texas all they could handle in the 2nd round. Could they compete for an ACC title?
Sat, Nov. 22
Mainly just some Top 25 teams beating up (hopefully) on mediocre schools and a bunch of small preseason tournament games. Nothing really on TV... November Saturdays are still football saturdays. Maybe I'll blog about college football that day...
Sun, Nov. 23
Paradise Jam Semi-Finals (likely matchups: Miami v. UConn, San Diego v. Wisconsin)
Miami and UConn will be a lot of fun to watch. San Diego and Wisconsin should be close, but will probably be a very slow game. Both should be competitive, although the Miami - UConn game really should be for the championship.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Weekend Quick Hitters, pt. 2
Saturday's games:
UNC - Beat Penn 86-71. Remove Hansbrough, insert Tyler Zeller and Ed Davis. 18 for Zeller and a double-double for Davis... yea, this is like replacing Shaq in his prime with Hakeem at center. Deon Thompson added 17 for the Tar Heels. It will be interesting to see how the Kentucky guards, particularly Jodie Meeks, do against a banged up Tar Heels backcourt without their best perimeter defender (Ginyard). But the Tar Heels should be able to score enough that it won't be a problem.
Gonzaga - Beat Mt. St. Billings 83-52. 15 points apiece for Austin Gaye and Josh Heytvelt. If Heytvelt can be the guy he was freshman year, the Zags are going to be VERY tough to beat. Daye also showed no signs of his injury over the summer (partially torn knee ligament). Together, they give Gonzaga one of the best frontcourts in the country.
Memphis - Beat Fairfield 90-63. Freshman Tyreke Evans scored 19 in his college debut, and four other Tigers scored in double figures. They struggledc with Fairfield's zone early but Taggart started taking control of the game inside and the Tigers never looked back. Memphis did give up 50% shooting, including 44% from 3, which could be a problem.
Tennessee - Beat Chattanooga 114-75. 32 assists for the Vols on Saturday, a team record. Tyler Smith led with 21 points. Junior Guard Bobby Maze had 12 points and 10 assists, and Tennessee shot almost 59% from the floor.
Miami - Beat Florida Southern 96-60. Lots of production from the usual suspects - McClinton, Dwayne Collins - but newcomers Cyrus McGowan and DeQuan Jones also had good starts, which will be huge for the Hurricanes because, well, this team was pretty good last year when they didn't have these guys.
USC - Beat UC Irvine 78-55. This game was actually close for a while. USC was clinging to a 1 point lead with a minute left in the first half. But a 23-7 run after halftime put it away. DeMar DeRozan had a pretty solid debut with 14 points in 28 minutes. Guard Dwight Lewis added 18 and Taj Gibson added 17 to lead the Trojans.
In non Top 25 news... Florida State barely beat Jacksonville 59-57. Cleveland State won a close game vs. Oakland 58-55 and they get an important non-conference game coming up on Tuesday (@ Washington). Lipscomb put up 121 on Oakland City in their win. And Washington St. held Miss Valley St. to only 26 points in a win. Something tells me they'll be competitive in the Pac 10 this year despite all the seniors they lost.
UNC - Beat Penn 86-71. Remove Hansbrough, insert Tyler Zeller and Ed Davis. 18 for Zeller and a double-double for Davis... yea, this is like replacing Shaq in his prime with Hakeem at center. Deon Thompson added 17 for the Tar Heels. It will be interesting to see how the Kentucky guards, particularly Jodie Meeks, do against a banged up Tar Heels backcourt without their best perimeter defender (Ginyard). But the Tar Heels should be able to score enough that it won't be a problem.
Gonzaga - Beat Mt. St. Billings 83-52. 15 points apiece for Austin Gaye and Josh Heytvelt. If Heytvelt can be the guy he was freshman year, the Zags are going to be VERY tough to beat. Daye also showed no signs of his injury over the summer (partially torn knee ligament). Together, they give Gonzaga one of the best frontcourts in the country.
Memphis - Beat Fairfield 90-63. Freshman Tyreke Evans scored 19 in his college debut, and four other Tigers scored in double figures. They struggledc with Fairfield's zone early but Taggart started taking control of the game inside and the Tigers never looked back. Memphis did give up 50% shooting, including 44% from 3, which could be a problem.
Tennessee - Beat Chattanooga 114-75. 32 assists for the Vols on Saturday, a team record. Tyler Smith led with 21 points. Junior Guard Bobby Maze had 12 points and 10 assists, and Tennessee shot almost 59% from the floor.
Miami - Beat Florida Southern 96-60. Lots of production from the usual suspects - McClinton, Dwayne Collins - but newcomers Cyrus McGowan and DeQuan Jones also had good starts, which will be huge for the Hurricanes because, well, this team was pretty good last year when they didn't have these guys.
USC - Beat UC Irvine 78-55. This game was actually close for a while. USC was clinging to a 1 point lead with a minute left in the first half. But a 23-7 run after halftime put it away. DeMar DeRozan had a pretty solid debut with 14 points in 28 minutes. Guard Dwight Lewis added 18 and Taj Gibson added 17 to lead the Trojans.
In non Top 25 news... Florida State barely beat Jacksonville 59-57. Cleveland State won a close game vs. Oakland 58-55 and they get an important non-conference game coming up on Tuesday (@ Washington). Lipscomb put up 121 on Oakland City in their win. And Washington St. held Miss Valley St. to only 26 points in a win. Something tells me they'll be competitive in the Pac 10 this year despite all the seniors they lost.
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