ESPN Men's Basketball

Gonzaga guard Steven Gray is primed for a big season on the court, but before the first game is played, he'll be counted on to deliver command performances on the theater stage.

Gray is a member of the school theater arts program's production of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" and has been cast as Romeo's rival, Tybalt. Opening night is Oct. 22 -- one week after basketball practice kicks off with a Midnight Madness event.

It's not only role-playing, but getting the part involves some swordplay as well. Fortunately for Gray, taking center stage isn't an unfamiliar place. Making his theater debut last November, he played the lead role of a gay baseball player in "Take Me Out."

This year, he'll even apparently have some company with a teammate getting in on the act. According to The Spokesman-Review, sophomore forward Kelly Olynyk is also in the production.

Not that Gray, who has played in the same backcourt as Matt Bouldin in recent years, hasn't been used to sharing the spotlight. But with Bouldin gone, Gray is now the Zags' lone senior and second-leading returning scorer, averaging 13.6 points per game.

So for coach Mark Few's sake, and just in case, go easy on those calls for Gray to break a leg.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The first time she saw her son’s Gonzaga team take the court, Matt Bouldin’s mother, Dana, tagged the Bulldogs the Bad News Bears.

“We were scrimmaging Texas and they’re there, all business, dunking and running and we’re just this group of guys, most of us foreigners, just running around doing our thing,’’ Bouldin said.

Robert Sacre prefers "pack of goofballs," for his merry band of misfits, a roster made up of one German, four Canadians, the “single most laid-back guy in the world" in Steven Gray and the mop-topped Bouldin.

“Oh my God, I have no idea how the coaches recruited this team,’’ Sacre said. “What were they thinking? We must be the most random team in America.’’

The most random team in American may also be the most relaxed. Fitting their West Coast granola-crunching, Earth-loving zip code, the Bulldogs’ vibe is decidedly chill.

They spent their time on the interview dais cracking jokes and busting each other up, acting like they were readying for a CYO scrimmage rather than an NCAA Tournament second-round game against top-seeded Syracuse.

“I don’t see a reason to get all worked up about things,’’ said Gray, of whom Mark Few said he needs to check for a pulse sometimes. “I don’t really get too worried or too excited about things. That just takes a lot of energy. I think we’re all kind of like that.’’

It’s an attitude that will serve them well in Buffalo where the laid-back Zags will find a charged-up atmosphere. With just 120 miles separating campus and the HSBC Arena, Syracuse might as well be stepping onto the Carrier Dome floor. Save for the tiny pocket of Gonzaga fans that trekked 3,000 miles to see their team, the arena will be practically painted in orange.

It would be enough to frazzle most teams but Gonzaga’s goofy crew has been well tested.

The Zags played a schedule only John Chaney would love -- at Michigan State and in Hawaii in November; in New York against Duke, home against Oklahoma and then at Illinois two days later in December, and hey just for fun, a February date at Memphis.

Nothing is close to Spokane but the Bulldogs go out of their way to rack up frequent-flyer miles.

“Whether it’s flying to Maui or flying to Memphis or flying to Madison Square Garden, we try to play in a lot of these games,’’ Few said. “The reason I do it is to help us prepare for the NCAA Tournament.’’

It has, as most people know, worked pretty well. Gonzaga has gone from Cinderella to program to be reckoned with thanks to a four Sweet 16 berths in the past 10 years.

For this team the brutal schedule has been particularly helpful. Gonzaga has just two seniors and one junior on its roster, the rest made up of freshmen and sophomores getting their first real playing experience.

Mix in the United Nations representation -- Sacre is from Vancouver by way of Louisiana, Mangisto Arop from Ontario, Bol Kong and Kelly Olynyk from British Columbia and star rookie Elias Harris from Germany -- and the trips are even more critical.

“This is the most fun I’ve ever had,’’ said Bouldin, one of the two seniors. “We just really like each other. I mean, you’re sort of forced to get along when you’re on the road as much as we are, but this is a really good group of guys.’’

Don’t let the fun fool you, though. The Zags might like to play loose and free-spirited on offense and push the tempo, but they are all business when the whistle blows.

Gray scored a very unlaid-back 15 points against Florida State and Sacre withstood the bumping and pushing of the Seminoles big man to come up with 13 points and nine boards.

“We definitely know how to flip the switch,’’ Gray said. “We like to play with a sense of relaxed calm on offense, but high energy on defense. We know when to be serious.’’

BUFFALO -- Robert Sacre, Canadian native, knew exactly what to expect when Gonzaga took the floor against the big bodies of Florida State.

“I knew coming to Buffalo it was going to be a Sabres game, basically,’’ Sacre said.

The Zags almost let one slip through the five hole.

Gonzaga surrendered all but the last bits of an 18-point lead before finally staving off Florida State, 67-60.

Gonzaga won by doing what no one else has been able to do against the Seminoles –- shoot the ball. The Bulldgos sliced and diced the Seminoles for 50 percent shooting for the game, ending a run of 67 consecutive opponents held under 50 by FSU.

And they did it by making the easy buckets. Sacre and Elias Harris combined for 26 points (13 apiece) as the Zags scored 24 of their points in the paint and just nine from the arc.

“Anytime you get easy buckets and shoot high-percentage shots, it’s a lot easier,’’ Matt Bouldin.

Still the comeback or near choke (depending on your team colors) was slightly alarming. Sharpshooting Deividas Dulkys nearly single-handedly brought the Seminoles back, scoring 11 in the final five minutes, including a 3-pointer that kissed off the glass.

“I thought, ‘He didn’t. … he didn’t just bank that in?'’’ Steven Gray said.

The Seminoles inability to hit free throws in an endgame clank fest and the late rally ended up being their undoing but not before the Zags were forced to get their act back together.

Gonzaga travels the country in the regular season just to prepare for the rigors of March and while Mark Few praised his team’s poise, the end game should raise a few red flags considering what could be next -– No. 1 seed Syracuse in essentially a home game.

“It was a little combination of things," said Gray, who finished with 15 points. “We had a little drought there and I think we also got a little panicked and rushed. We forced some things that we shouldn’t have."

BUFFALO -- Here’s a quick look ahead to the first-round games here at the HSBC Arena:

Morgan State-West Virginia

Key to the game: Morgan State is hoping to avoid the 28-point beatdown Oklahoma put on the Bears in last year’s NCAA tournament first round. In that game, Morgan State had the MEAC player of the year and defensive player of the year. Could be a tall order against an angry (wanted the No. 1 seed) West Virginia team.

Player to watch: Da’Sean Butler. Seriously, if you have to ask you missed New York. The buzzer-beating king is a one-man highlight reel. Gritty and tough, he’s worked his way into a star.

Who has the edge: Gonna go out on a ledge and give the advantage to the Big East Tournament champions.

Clemson-Missouri

Key to the game: Both teams play the same sort of pressing style, but the Missouri Tigers do it more efficiently. Mizzou is second in the nation in turnover margin at plus-6.7. Clemson, in the meantime, coughs it up nearly 15 times per game.

Player to watch: Trevor Booker. How productive Clemson’s big man is will determine the winner. Missouri is without Justin Safford (ACL) and Laurence Bowers is playing with a balky wrist, which limits the Mizzou Tigers’ frontcourt considerably.

Who has the edge: Mike Anderson has continually overachieved in his career. Oliver Purnell has never won an NCAA tournament game in his career. Edge, Tigers. Missouri Tigers.

Gonzaga-Florida State

Key to the game: Pace. The Seminoles are one of the best in the country defensively, holding teams to just 37 percent shooting from the floor and 60.2 points per game. Gonzaga likes to go, shooting 49 percent from the floor and averaging 77 points per game. Who’s style wins?

Player to watch: Matt Bouldin. If the Bulldogs’ scoring machine -- he’s seventh on the all-time list -- can get hot, the Seminoles could be in trouble.

Who has the edge: Tough commute for Gonzaga and a tough matchup for a team that likes to score.

Syracuse-Vermont

Key to the game: Vermont’s basketball moment came against Syracuse. To repeat the magic, the Catamounts are going to have to stay in it from the beginning, especially against an undermanned Syracuse team. An early hole in the first 10 minutes? Over.

Player to watch: Wes Johnson. The player of the year candidate finally looked like himself again in the Big East Tournament. Saddled for much of February with a hand injury, he couldn’t even pick up his laptop at one point. If Johnson is on, the Orange are too.

Who has the edge: Even without Arinze Onuaku, this is a mighty tall order for Vermont. I’d argue that the Catamounts are a pretty good 16 seed, but not good enough for the ultimate Cinderella moment.

It hasn't even been 24 hours since we saw the selection committee's 2010 tournament bracket, and already the complaints have codified into consensus. Complaining about the bracket -- about the bubble, especially -- is a yearly tradition in the days after Selection Sunday. Frankly, it gets a little tired.

This year feels different. Because the bubble was so unusually soft this season, the usual gripes about first few teams left out of the tournament are non-starters. Instead, complaints about the makeup of the bracket, from imbalanced regions to mis-seeded teams, are this year's major concerns. Whining about the bubble is so last year. Whining about seeding? Hot and getting hotter!

So, in the spirit of Silky Johnston and the great diabolical haters of our time, here's a list of the five things to most disdain about this NCAA tournament. Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate!

1. The South. You too, Duke. Kentucky, Syracuse, and Kansas -- especially Kansas -- can kick off this year's hate-fest for us. All three supposed No. 1 seeds were given more difficult regions than Duke, which should have been the fourth No. 1 seed. Heck, I still think West Virginia deserved that fourth No. 1 after winning the Big East tournament. Instead, No. 1 overall seed Kansas was stuck in a brutal landmine of tourney-proven coaches and elite guard talent. Kentucky got the toughest No. 2 seed in its bracket in West Virginia. Syracuse will likely have to beat a startlingly low-seeded No. 8 Gonzaga team as soon as this weekend. Duke's No. 8 seed, meanwhile, is Cal, a drastically overseeded bunch. Duke's No. 2 is Villanova, an undersized, defensively weak squad that faded down the stretch in the Big East season. The No. 4 seed in Duke's bracket is Purdue, which without Robbie Hummel might not survive its matchup with sexy No. 13 pick Siena.

This is a horrifically imbalanced region, one that makes you wonder if the committee took a moment before finalizing the bracket to step back, look at the big picture, and scratch their heads one final time. Really? You want to make marginal No. 1 Duke's road that easy? Seeding the bracket is tough, but come on. The South reeks of a committee that lost the forest for the trees, and Kentucky, Syracuse and Kansas -- especially Kansas -- will suffer. So much for being the overall No. 1. If we can't reward Kansas for its excellence with something better than this, then the anti-expansion folks' main point is officially moot. The regular season doesn't matter.

2. The greatest 8/9 matchup ever. And by "greatest" I mean "greatest opportunity for a two-hour nap." OK, so 8/9 games aren't exactly the tournament's bread and butter. They usually feature two very average big-six teams. I get that. But No. 8 Texas vs. No. 9 Wake Forest might be the most uninspiring 8/9 game in recent memory. Neither team has beaten anyone worthwhile for months. After going 17-0 and rising to No. 1 overall in the polls, Texas lost nine of its last 16, fell all the way out of the Top 25, and saw its head coach reveal that he really doesn't care all that much about winning national championships. Texas is an inordinately talented team that has managed to do nothing with that talent for the past two months. It's depressing.

Then there's Wake Forest, which lost five of its last six -- including games to NC State, North Carolina and Miami -- and is limping into the tournament as badly as any team in the country. Again: depressing.

Put these two teams together, and you'll get two things. The first: lots of potential NBA players on the court at the same time. The second: some truly uninspired basketball. Thanks, but I'll pass.

3. Splitting sevens and 10s. Last night there was some brief discussion about the selection committee pairing too many non-BCS schools against one another in the first round. I don't think this was a strategy so much as an unlucky consequence of a hastily assembled bracket, but there are at least two games where it seems a fair criticism. Those games: No. 7 Richmond vs. N0. 10 St. Mary's in the South and No. 7 Oklahoma State vs. No 10 Georgia Tech in the Midwest. Why not switch the No. 10s there, sending Georgia Tech to Providence and St. Mary's to Milwaukee? This swap would prevent a non-BCS matchup in the first round and cut down on travel for the Gaels without accentuating anyone else's frequent flier miles. Why pit two major conference teams like Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State in the first round when you have two quality non-BCS schools to split between them? Why force non-BCS teams to eliminate one another? I can understand not wanting to swap seeds to fulfill an unofficial tournament consideration like the vague little guy vs. big buy thing, but if the solution is right there in front of you, with the seeds all the same and travel a non-issue ... well, why not?

4. Oh, and those No. 8 seeds. This is partially covered in note No. 1 about the South, but look at these No. 8 seeds: California, Texas, UNLV and ... Gonzaga? One of these things is not like the other. Hint: It's Gonzaga. Sure, the Bulldogs were badly beaten in their conference title game, thus making them an at-large bid at the committee's mercy. Sure, as with the bubble teams left out of the tournament, it's hard to feel too bad for any team that didn't handle its business in the closing stretches of the season. But Gonzaga, with an RPI of 36 and a nonconference record of 12-3 seems insanely underseeded here. That feeling is accentuated when you look at its peers on the No. 8 line. What makes the seeding even worse is that because the committee thought Duke deserved a higher No. 1 seed than Syracuse, the Dukies drew Cal, by far the most overseeded of the No. 8s, while the Cuse will play a talented, deep, athletic Bulldogs team led by an experienced tournament guard in Matt Bouldin. (Not to mention that Kansas might get UNLV and Kentucky could play a lifeless but undeniably talented Texas team.) Ouch.

5. Villanova as a No. 2. I promise, I set out to write this without harping on the South too much -- but I give in. It's impossible. Villanova as a No. 2 seed is questionable, but given the team's entire body of work, not to mention the eye test-friendly nature of any NCAA tournament team led by Scottie Reynolds, I can dig it. What I can't dig on is Villanova being the No. 2 seed in Duke's bracket, while Ohio State and West Virginia were sent to the same region as the top two teams in the committee's bracket, Kansas and Kentucky, respectively.

If the committee wants to argue that Duke is better than Syracuse, fine. Whatever. I disagree, and I think West Virginia deserved Duke's No. 1 seed, but if Jim Boeheim isn't worried about it, I can let it go. But what's mystifying is how you would possibly rank Ohio State and West Virginia -- two candidates for a top seed, both of whom won their conference tournaments to close the season -- lower than Villanova, which can boast neither. The imbalance here is stark. If seeds hold, the two best No. 1 seeds will play the two best No. 2 seeds in the Elite Eight. This is remarkably unfair to Kansas, Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio State, all of whom won their conference championships and had their very impressive seasons rewarded with brutal paths to the Final Four.

In short, I hate the way the committee seeded the South, and I hate the way those seedings threw the rest of the bracket out of whack. You know, in case that wasn't clear. Yeesh.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few has been named the West Coast Conference's coach of the year, guard Matt Bouldin is the player of the year and forward Elias Harris is the newcomer of the year.

Bouldin, Harris and guard Steven Gray were named to the all-conference first team.

Saint Mary's center Omar Samhan was selected for the first team and also named defensive player of the year.

The other first-team players are Portland's T.J. Campbell and Robin Smeulders, Loyola Marymount's Vernon Teel and Drew Viney, San Francisco's Dior Lowhorn and Saint Mary's Mickey McConnell.

The Atlanta Tipoff Club, which awards the Naismith each year, has narrowed its preseason list of 50 "watch" players down to the much more manageable 30 -- what it calls its midseason candidates list, even if, on Feb. 24, the whole "midseason" thing is a bit of a misnomer. But that's beside the point. The point is that we have 30 players to mull over now. True, most of the list won't even crack consideration for the final player of the year award, which is almost certainly going to go to Ohio State's Evan Turner or Kentucky's John Wall. But the tally is fun to look at anyway.

One minor quibble: The list of 30 manages to include six ACC players -- just one behind the Big East's leading seven -- without including Virginia Tech guard Malcolm Delaney, who happens to be leading the conference in scoring with 20.2 points per game for a 21-5 Tech team that's overcome its horrid nonconference schedule to (probably) play its way into the NCAA tournament. Nothing against Al-Farouq Aminu or Gani Lawal or Sylven Landesberg or Trevor Booker but it's hard to see how you could include those four and leave Delaney off the sheet.

Anyway, the full list is after the jump. Other quibbles? Let's hear 'em in the comments.

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• As you can imagine, the Purdue fans at Hammer And Rails are ecstatic over their win in Columbus last night: "Winning in Bloomington... Check! Winning in East Lansing... Check! Winning in Columbus... Check! Who knew that we would win at those places, but we would lose in Evanston this year? This was a statement win in a season full of statement wins. This team continues to go in and get wins in places that have been very hard for us to play in lately, all while playing together as a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. Now add to that the fact we won all three of those in a four game stretch. I think that means we have earned Saturday's home game against Illinois." (Their Ohio State counterparts, meanwhile, have at least temporarily gone back to discussing football.)
• A Chicago-based sports management agency briefly listed Ed Davis as one of its clients early Thursday morning. The founder insists no one has made a deal with Davis, despite the Internet error, and that his contact has been limited to sporadic contact with the family and a few UNC games here and there. OK then?
• Keepin' The Bench Warm has some advice for Big Ten basketball coaches looking to recruit well: Win your own states. It's really that easy.
• Could Texas play themselves out of the bracket? It's unlikely, but not impossible.
• The NCAA tournament expands ... to 4,096 teams! This is totally going to water down the regular season.
• You do it to yourselves, it's true, and that's why it really hurts: Here's Gasaway on Villanova's prodigious fouling woes.
• I'll have more on this in Saddle Up, to be sure, but tonight is a big night for the Big East. Prepare thyself.
• Mike DeCourcy frets over the exclusion of Malcolm Delaney and Matt Bouldin from the voting for the Oscar Roberston Award, but I'm with RTC -- it's hard to see who you would move off the list in order to make room for either.
• Here's an early model for an NCAA tournament bracket simulation; get your sheets ready.
• Oklahoma is a mess. Count the ways.

As always, follow me on Twitter to send me links and tips.

Harvard's Jeremy Lin is currently in second place with 27 percent of the fan voting for the Bob Cousy Award, which is given to the nation's top point guard. That trails only John Wall's 36.8 percent.

The month-long voting process began Friday, with the point guard who receives the most fan votes getting one vote toward the final committee vote.

Besides Wall and Lin, there nine other finalists:

Matt Bouldin -- Gonzaga
Sherron Collins -- Kansas
Devan Downey -- South Carolina
Trevon Hughes – Wisconsin
Kalin Lucas -- Michigan State
Ronald Moore -- Siena
Scottie Reynolds -- Villanova
Jon Scheyer -- Duke
Greivis Vasquez -- Maryland

Who you got?

It's Monday, the Cats are the new No. 1 team in the country, and we're all just living in their shadow. Don't try to fight it. Do, however, send me links and posts via Twitter. Now, on with the links:

• As the last unbeaten team in the nation, today Kentucky officially ascends to the No. 1 spot atop both the AP and Coaches Polls. This has inspired several questions, not least of which is, "Is Kentucky actually this good?" and "When will Kentucky lose, if ever?" The first question is being pondered by the Cats fans over at A Sea Of Blue, which reasonably concludes that Syracuse, Texas, Kansas and Duke are all teams Kentucky would rightfully be an underdog to, while there are 10-to-15 teams capable of upsetting the talented Cats. Probably all true. Given that Kentucky's Pomeroy, Sagarin and Basketball State rankings all have Kentucky as either the No. 6 or No. 9 team in the country is reason enough for this distinction. Meanwhile the second question -- When will Kentucky lose? -- gets a treatment at The Dagger, where Matt Norlander outlines Kentucky's next major challenges on the road to its possible SEC title and NCAA tournament run.
• Wondering where Jim Calhoun was during Saturday's UConn win? Where else: Calhoun was at home watching the game. Calhoun thought about taking a mental break in Hilton Head, S.C., but instead decided to stay in Connecticut and rest at his house. I wonder how much resting went on after UConn beat the the No. 1 team in the country at home. Probably not very much. Meanwhile, Calhoun's return is still up in the air, a phrase I will never again be able to use without thinking of George Clooney talking to the mustachioed cowboy from The Big Lebowski on an airplane.
• Adam Zagoria zooms in on Villanova frosh Dominic Cheek, who is emerging during conference play as the McDonald's All-American star most recruiters thought he'd be.
• Bruce Weber is refusing to let his Illini players talk to the media. "Until they start talking and taking leadership, they're not talking to anyone else," Weber said. "I don't know when it will end. I hope it ends soon. Somebody's got to take this team and go with it, but right now, it's not happening." Losing by five at Northwestern wouldn't seem worthy of this sort of response -- that's not the worst loss ever, you know -- but Weber has been unhappy with his team's leadership for weeks, and he doesn't appear to have changed his mind.
• Former Fab Fiver Jimmy King says he can relate to Manny Harris' issues at Michigan, where Harris was suspended before UM's loss to Purdue on Saturday. King's quote on the matter: "In those situations, player to coach, you got to understand that the coach is the man and ultimately you’re the player so you can’t go against the coach regardless if you feel you’re right," he said. Vague? Yes. Disconcerting? Slightly. Meanwhile, UM Hoops says that Harris has played well in the wake of disciplinary action before.
• This is good news: Samford coach Jimmy Tillette, who suffered a seizure and a collapse during his team's 70-67 win over North Carolina-Greensboro on Saturday, is in stable condition.
• Last week, Luke Winn caught up with Virginia's Sylven Landesburg, who, much like his team, has been quietly succeeding under the tutelage of first-year coach Tony Bennett. The Cavaliers are 3-1 in the ACC after a loss at Wake Forest on Saturday.
• Finally, be sure to check out today's Weekly Watch, which wraps up this weekend's action with awards for UConn and Gonzaga's Matt Bouldin.

Five things to know from Thursday's games:

1. Adrian Oliver had a career-high 39 points as San Jose State upset Louisiana Tech 87-76. The loss snapped a 10-game win streak for Louisiana Tech, which came in 5-0 in the WAC and 17-2 overall. Oliver, a former Washington Husky, was 12-for-12 from the free throw line for the second time in three games. He’s scored at least 20 points in 10 of the Spartans' last 11 games. Now leading the WAC in scoring, Oliver is averaging 30.7 ppg over the last three games.

2. Matt Bouldin’s career-high 32 points led three Gonzaga players with at least 20 points in a 91-84 win over Pepperdine. Despite a loss, the best performance of the night came from Pepperdine’s Keion Bell. At halftime, Bell was 1-for-4 with 3 points. Then he exploded, scoring 22 points in the first eight and a half minutes of the second half. In all, he was 13-for-17 with 34 points in the second half on his way to a career-high 37. No Waves player has scored more in a game since Brandon Armstrong’s 40 in 2001. At 20.1 ppg, Bell is the fourth-highest scoring sophomore in the nation.

3. It’s to the point that any statistical achievement that occurs against VMI requires an asterisk. That said, Radford’s entire frontline posted double-doubles on Thursday. Artsiom Parakhouski (30 points, 11 rebounds), Lazar Trifunovic (career-high 27 points, 14 rebounds) and Joey Lynch-Flohr (17 points, 10 rebounds) combined for 74 points and 35 rebounds. Of the 114 teams that played on Thursday, the Radford frontline outscored 84 of them and outrebounded 59 of them. Amazingly, this is the second straight time that three Radford players recorded double-doubles against VMI.

4. Wagner snapped an eight-game losing streak and picked up its third win of the season. The Seahawks held Long Island to 28.6 percent shooting in a 65-59 OT win. Long Island’s leading scorer Jaytornah Wisseh was 3-of-21 from the field, the worst shooting performance for a player with 20 attempts this season. Even worse, he was just 1-of-17 from 2-point range, an astoundingly low 5.7 percent.

5. Oregon State only managed 35 points in Thursday’s loss to Stanford. That is the fewest points by a power six conference team this season, and the fewest by a Pac-10 team since Oregon State scored 35 against UCLA in 2007. Stanford held a 31-13 scoring edge in the second half. The Beavers committed 19 turnovers while dishing out only 3 assists. The last time Stanford held a team to so few points was in December 2005, when the Cardinal beat Princeton 58-34.

The Morning After is our semi-daily recap post. Try not to make it awkward.

Seton Hall 80, Louisville 77: Wednesday was a night of streaks. Memphis lost its conference win streak; DePaul broke its conference losing streak; Pitt ceded its Big East home game streak, and so on. Louisville might as well have played on Wednesday night, as the Cardinals lost for the third time in a row for the first time since 2005-06. If that seems confusing, it's not just the awkward phrase. That's how good Louisville has been in the Big East for the past three years, and in 2009-10, for whatever reason, the Cardinals are managing to post efficient statistics and numbers and still look utterly mediocre in the win column. That's what's most confusing: Why isn't this Louisville team better? Or, more precisely, why isn't this Louisville team, which appears on paper to be one of the best four or five teams in the Big East, so apparently unable to turn that efficient profile into wins?

No. 20 Butler 48, Loyola (IL) 47: Perhaps the most important thing for Butler is they survived, and won, a game in which they made .08 points per trip, posted a 38.4 FG percentage, went to the free throw line on a mere 17 percent of their possessions, and were out-rebounded on the offensive end almost 2-to-1. Still, though, that is an ugly performance. Even against mediocre Horizon League teams like Loyola, Butler won't be able to play this badly and expect to make it through the conference slate unbeaten, which is pretty much what they have to do to secure an at-large bid and not worry about the pressures of the conference tournament come March. If you wanted to over-analyze the game, you could say that surviving and winning on the road on such a bad night was a good thing, that it proved Butler's mettle, or something. Or you could just call it what it is: a bad game that Butler can't afford to replicate all that often.

Indiana 67, Penn State 61: Indiana fans have had a weird relationship with this year's IU team. Most went into the season with some cautious optimism, only to have that optimism simultaneously piqued and dashed week in and week out. Tom Crean's team is capable of beating Pitt in Madison Square Garden, only to lose Loyola (MD) at home a week later. This is the kind of up-and-down, tweener season Crean is having right now: His team can play inspired, coherent basketball and challenge and even topple superior teams ... and then a night later can toss in horrid, ugly performances that have some of the more strident IU fans already questioning the length of Crean's contract. (Kentucky fans get a bad rap for being too hard on coaches, but IU fans deserve a shout-out: That some are already nibbling at the edges of his popularity is kind of shocking. What did you expect? Things were screwed up before, and Crean is trying to make them less screwed up, and you're going to blame him when the process takes longer than you hoped? Note that you could, were you so inclined, substitute Barack Obama's name in for Tom Crean's ... but let's not go down that road.)

Anyway, the point is that Thursday night was one of IU's Dr. Jekyll nights. Penn State is a bad team, but Big Ten road wins were an absolute impossibility last season. Crean has his team at .500 after 18 games. Given the circumstances he inherited, that's worthy of some measure of respect.

No. 10 Gonzaga 91, Pepperdine 84: Today's AP wrap makes note of the history of Pepperdine-Gonzaga, when both teams used to contend for the WCC every year, when both teams used to make it to the NCAA tournament, when both teams were mid-major darlings (even if Gonzaga hogged most of the press). Those days are basically over: Gonzaga has emerged the victor, becoming a national power a ubiquitous national profile and Nike shorts in every sports good store in the country. Pepperdine has receded in WCC mediocrity. But last night, the two teams had one of their trademark duels, the kind that harkened back to the glory days of the late 1990s, and Gonzaga needed a career-high 32 points from Matt Bouldin and a 20-and-13 from freshman Elias Harris to get past the Waves at home. One more note on Harris: Most reading this blog will already know this, but Elias Harris should be in contention for every freshman award there is. It's not that he'll win all of them -- John Wall, John Wall, John Wall -- but Harris' performance deserves national attention. He's special.

Everywhere else: Florida notched a big SEC road win over Arkansas, 71-66 ... Utah State cruised in Fresno ... Siena stayed unbeaten in the MAAC with a six-point win over Loyola (MD) ... Isiah Thomas' FIU team dropped to 6-16 overall with a 15-point loss to Arkansas State at home ... Cal utterly destroyed Oregon in Berkeley ... Oregon State scored 35 points in a 60-possession game and promptly lost to Stanford; more on this later ... Washington State beat a lifeless USC team in L.A. ... and UCLA caused its fans to rush the court with a home win over Washington. More on this later, too. In the meantime be sure to check out Diamond's live coverage of the game from Pauley Pavilion.

MORAGA, Calif. -- The Gonzaga Bulldogs beamed as they filed out of the locker room, and coming out the door with them was old friend Ronny Turiaf.

There's a legacy with this program after 11 straight NCAA tournament appearances, and with that comes not only celebrity guest appearances for big games, but also one large target on your back.

Saint Mary's took its best shot at home on national television on Thursday night and still fell short, with the Zags winning 89-82 to extend their conference winning streak to 18, including 25 of their last 26.

Gonzaga drew the short stick this year, starting out WCC play facing their two top challengers, Portland and Saint Mary's, on the road.

No matter. The Bulldogs survived against Portland when a shot at the buzzer rimmed out. They never trailed against Saint Mary's. Long live the king.

Elias Harris scored a career-high 31 points and had 13 rebounds, with coach Mark Few calling the freshman sensation's performance that included numerous highlight-reel dunks "unbelievable."

Matt Bouldin had 22 points of his own, and Steven Gray added 14 points and six assists.

Their efforts helped the Bulldogs survive a 25-point second half from Saint Mary's center Omar Samhan, who finished with 31.

"We didn't guard him good in the second half," Few said. "All we did was out-score 'em."

But a win is a win is a win, and Gonzaga knows that.

The Bulldogs could have easily claimed they were rebuilding had things gone less than stellar thus far, but sure enough, they're 13-3, ranked again, and will be dancing again for the 12th straight year.

Saddle Up is a quick preview of the basketball your TV wants you to watch tonight. Here is Thursday night's rundown.

Not to be a bummer, but after Wednesday night's furious torrent of college basketball goodness, Thursday night feels a little ... meh. But it's still college basketball, and if there's one thing I've learned in a couple of years writing about college basketball, it's to embrace even the "meh" nights. Before we know it, it'll be June, and we'll be stuck in a temporal desert with nary a game to quench our basketball thirst. Or, to be more precise: the offseason sucks. Let's enjoy this while it lasts, eh?

No. 14 Gonzaga at Saint Mary's, 11 p.m. ET, ESPN2: Let's go ahead and call this the game of the night, because it is. Gonzaga has proven itself worthy of a top-15 ranking; newcomer Elias Harris has added a versatile scoring threat to the Zags' already-dangerous inside-out combo of Matt Bouldin and Robert Sacre. But if it wants to handle business in their own league, Gonzaga has to beat St. Mary's in Moraga. This is easier said than done, as the Gaels, while objectively less talented than Gonzaga (especially after the loss of frequently injured, frequently brilliant guard Patty Mills to the fringes of the NBA draft) have proven a tough out throughout the season thus far. The Gaels have won at Oregon and Utah State, lost by two to Vanderbilt early in the year, and sit comfortably inside Ken Pom's top 30. They're tough. Maybe tougher than usual. We'll find out tonight.

Seton Hall at No. 12 Georgetown, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN: Bobby Gonzalez says his team is "in the mix": "Last year we won 17 games, the year before we won 17 games, but we didn't know that in every single game, we could win," Pirates coach Bobby Gonzalez said a day before his team left to travel to Thursday night's Big East meeting with Georgetown. "But we know this year that every single game, we have a chance. We're fighters, we're in the mix. Not that we're being cocky or anything, but now there are no games where we just walk into the building and say, holy (cow), we have no chance." This is a step forward. It's never good to assume you have no chance before you win; blind faith is better than sheer terror, even in the face of certain defeat. (I'm pretty sure Jake Sully said that once.) But in the mix or not, getting a win at Georgetown is going to be very, very difficult, no matter how dedicated or frisky you are.

Auburn at No. 10 Tennessee, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2: The product on the floor might be a little lagging here, but this game is interesting for purely psychological reasons: How will Tennessee react? Do they ride high off Sunday's win over then-No. 1 Kansas and storm an inferior Auburn team? Do they come back down to Earth and put up a stinker? Is this all armchair mumbo-jumbo that has very little to do with actual basketball? Maybe. But admit it. You're interested to see how Tennessee does in their post-Kansas world, both tonight and in the near future. Whatever happens, it'll be worth the watch.

Everywhere else: A maddeningly inconsistent Indiana team will visit a maddeningly inconsistent Michigan team in Ann Arbor tonight; expect a lot of missed threes and a lot of Diet Coke consumed by one Mr. Tom Crean ... Arkansas will attempt to stand up to Jarvis Varnado and Mississippi State in Starkville ... Same goes for Cleveland State at Butler, as the Bulldogs continue to roll through the Horizon League with relative ease ... Arizona State will visit Oregon, Arizona will visit Oregon State, Cal will take on Washington State, and Stanford will play at Washington in a series of Pac-10 games that make me mad at the Pac-10 for being so bad. This could have been a great night. Now, I'm more likely to watch Radford play Coastal Carolina. You think I'm joking. I'm not.

CHICAGO -- Considering where Illinois and Gonzaga started this game, the Illini might thank their lucky stars -- and their crowd of 20,000-plus orange-covered referee critiques extraordinaires -- that they're only down 43-35 at the half.

It was much worse than that for most of Saturday's first period. Gonzaga opened a 10-0 lead. Then 13-2. Then 19-4. At one point, the Zags led by as many as 20 points, and for good reason: The Bulldogs were making everything, getting easy shots from Robert Sacre on the interior, and pushing the pace to break Illinois' half-court defense. Illinois, on the other hand, barely looked capable, throwing up one ugly shot after another while struggling to get inside Gonzaga's high-pressure man-to-man defense.

But Illinois fought back. They turned in a competent stretch toward the end of the half, erasing the deficit to eight, which is well within striking distance. Gonzaga scored 41 points in the first half, much of it from hot shooting and easy looks early but scored only two points in the last four minutes; it seems doubtful the Bulldogs will put together another 16 minutes of basketball quite so peerless as that.

Meanwhile, as is usually the case at the United Center, the Illinois fans are the stars of the show. Frankly, these people are crazy -- in a good way. And funny, too: At one point during Illinois' first half malaise, a fan behind me complained that "this was like a Bulls game." That this was not meant as a compliment -- and that everyone in the section recognized this fact -- is proof enough for me. Oh, and they're all wearing bright orange and yelling really loudly. That's noticeable too, I guess.