ESPN Men's Basketball

A scan of the college basketball box scores each night guarantees all kinds of statistical oddities and standout performances. Here are some we found from Saturday.

Indiana State 78, Southern Illinois 68
Indiana State made all 12 of its 3-point attempts Saturday, the most 3-pointers without a miss in a single game in NCAA history. The previous record for most 3s without a miss was nine, done by Minnesota against Penn State on Jan. 11, 2009.

Lipscomb 99, Stetson 91 (OT)
Lipscomb scored 25 points in the extra session, one shy of the NCAA Division I record for points in an overtime period. The record of 26 was done by Vermont on Jan. 24, 1998, against Hartford.

Duke 73, Maryland 55
Duke’s Miles Plumlee had 22 rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench, the most rebounds by a bench player since Sean May had 24 against Duke on March 6, 2005 (May did not start that game because it was North Carolina’s Senior Day). Plumlee is the first player this season with at least 20 rebounds in fewer than 30 minutes of playing time.

Michigan State 58, Ohio State 48
Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger had 17 points, 16 rebounds and 10 turnovers in the Buckeyes’ loss Saturday. It’s the first "triple-double" using points, rebounds and turnovers in Division I this season. Jerrell Williams of La Salle had the last one on Jan. 19, 2011, against Duquesne.

Kansas 81, Oklahoma State 66
The Jayhawks’ Jeff Withey had 18 points, 20 rebounds and seven blocks in the win. He’s the first player to reach all three of those levels in the same game since VCU’s Larry Sanders put up the exact same line on March 9, 2009, in the CAA championship game against George Mason.

Texas 75, Kansas State 64
Texas attempted 48 free throws to Kansas State’s 12. That free throw differential of 36 is the largest in a game involving a Big Six team this season and the third-largest overall. Texas’ 48 free throw attempts are the second most by a Big Six team on the season (Washington attempted 59 on Jan. 10 against Seattle).

Texas Tech 65, Oklahoma 47
Oklahoma scored just six points in the paint, the fewest points in the paint in a game by a Big Six team this season.

St. Bonaventure 69, Duquesne 48
Florida Atlantic 86, North Texas 81 (2OT)
St. Bonaventure’s Andrew Nicholson scored 21 points and grabbed 23 rebounds in the Bonnies’ win, and North Texas’ Tony Mitchell scored 22 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in the Mean Green’s double-overtime loss. They became just the sixth and seventh players this season to record a 20-20 game. Nicholson’s 23 rebounds are the second most in a game this season, trailing only UAB's Cameron Moore, who had 24 on Dec. 28.

Seattle 100, Longwood 99 (OT)
Seattle’s Chad Rasmussen was 6-for-17 from the field in the Redhawks’ win, with all of his attempts coming from 3-point range. That is the most 3-pointers attempted in a game without attempting a 2-point field goal.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff 64, Southern 58
Trillion of the Night: Jamar Harris of Arkansas-Pine Bluff played 12 minutes without accumulating a single stat in his team’s 64-58 win over Southern.

Winners from Saturday

Notre Dame: The Irish gave the selection committee another reason to put them in the dance with yet another road win, this time with Luke Harangody and at Marquette -- a team in the tournament field. The Irish are earning their way into the field.

Duke: The Blue Devils likely earned the fourth No. 1 seed with a hammering of North Carolina on Saturday night. Duke also clinched a share of the ACC regular-season title. The Blue Devils passed the eye test of a team that could get to Indy.

Saint Louis: The Billikens won at Dayton, completing a season sweep of the Flyers and finishing in fourth place in the Atlantic 10. Rick Majerus has done an outstanding job with a club that is void of upperclassmen. The Billikens could be a sleeper to win the A-10 in Atlantic City next week.

Baylor: If you’re looking for a sleeper in the Big 12 tournament, it could be Baylor. The Bears ran away from Texas and looked like a team ready to get busy in the postseason.

Kansas: The Jayhawks may have locked up the No. 1 overall seed after winning at Missouri on Saturday. Kansas got inspired play from its key contributors and once again heads into the conference tournament on a high.

Louisville: The Cardinals had to win two of there games this week and did. Louisville beat Connecticut, then lost at Marquette before beating Syracuse on Saturday. That gave the Cardinals a sweep of Syracuse and a likely bid to the Dance in the final game at Freedom Hall.

Tennessee: The Vols did something Lane Kiffin couldn’t do, taking a 17-0 lead on the road in the SEC. Tennessee lit up Mississippi State and had the look of a team that could be a major factor in an SEC tournament that they'll play in their home state just a few hours away in Nashville.

Virginia Tech: The Hokies didn’t have their second-leading scorer in Dorenzo Hudson, survived a nasty moving screen by Gani Lawal on Malcolm Delaney and gutted out a win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The Hokies dismissed any doubt about their candidacy with a win.

Washington: The Huskies kept alive their chances of an at-large berth by winning at Oregon State. That win doesn’t get them in the dance, but a loss would have been crushing.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils are in Joe Lunardi’s bracket and they had to beat UCLA to stay in the field. They did, sweeping the L.A. schools this week. But here’s the deal: ASU and Washington are heading for a showdown in the semifinals of the Pac-10 tourney. Loser is out, winner has a pulse.

Memphis: The Tigers had a great week, winning at UAB and crushing Tulsa at home. The Tigers get the sweep of the Blazers. If you’re looking for a second C-USA team to go along with league champ UTEP, it could be the Tigers. They may get a third shot at UAB in the semifinals.

Maryland: The Terps won at Virginia. Yes, UVA was playing without Sylven Landesberg, who has been suspended for the season due to academics, but the Terps still won a road game. That means Maryland gets a share of the ACC title. That’s an outstanding accomplishment for this squad.

Pitt: The Panthers lost to Indiana early in the year without Jermaine Dixon and Gilbert Brown. Pitt could have lost to Providence at home, but when it mattered most the Panthers have come up huge. They beat Rutgers as expected Saturday but that meant Pitt got the No. 2 seed after beating West Virginia and Villanova at home in February. Jamie Dixon has done a phenomenal job with the Panthers. There is no reason Pitt should be No. 2 in the Big East with what it lost.

Losers from Saturday

Rhode Island: Had a shot to convince the selection committee that it was worthy, but lost at UMass a week after losing at St. Bonaventure. The Rams didn’t beat the top three teams in the A-10 (Xavier, Temple or Richmond). URI must win the conference tournament.

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs started a must-win game down 17-0. Mississippi State has blown two chances to win a key home game – to Kentucky and now Tennessee. The Bulldogs didn’t do anything Saturday to convince the selection committee.

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets may still get into the field. But they gave the selection committee a reason to pause after losing at home to Virginia Tech, sans Dorenzo Hudson, who was hurt. The Yellow Jackets finished seventh in the ACC and had only one conference road win.

Connecticut: The Huskies had an awful week, losing at Notre Dame and then losing at South Florida on Saturday. The Huskies now probably have to get to the Big East semifinals to crawl back into the conversation.

Dayton: The Flyers were teetering on the bubble before the Billikens bulldozed the Flyers late and stole a win. Dayton now probably has to win the A-10 tournament to get a bid.

Villanova: The ‘Cats may have played themselves out of a No. 2 seed by losing at home to West Virginia. Villanova also fell to the No. 4 seed in the Big East tournament. ‘Nova can still make a magnificent run, but it made the journey more difficult.

Kansas State: The Wildcats lost their third home game in the Big 12 by falling to lower-level Iowa State (also lost to Kansas and Oklahoma State). The Wildcats blew a No. 2 seed with the home loss Saturday.

LaSalle: The Explorers were supposed to be a sleeper in the A-10. They won’t even make the tournament in Atlantic City. The Explorers will join winless Fordham in sitting out the conference tourney.

Oklahoma: The disaster season came to a conclusion with a sad effort against Texas A&M. The atmosphere was awful and the Sooners sunk.

North Carolina: The Tar Heels were handed the second-worst loss under Roy Williams. The Tar Heels were embarrassed by Duke and limp into the ACC tournament. It was just awful.

UAB: The Blazers had a huge week with games against UTEP and Memphis. They lost them both and pushed themselves onto the wrong side of the bubble.

Tulsa: The Golden Hurricane got hammered by Memphis and limp into hosting the conference tournament next week. Tulsa was the preseason favorite to win Conference USA.

A few nuggets:

• Georgetown coach John Thompson III said late Saturday night that Austin Freeman felt fine after the game, his first since being diagnosed with diabetes. Freeman scored 24 points in the win over Cincinnati. Freeman missed the West Virginia game last Monday. Thompson told me that the Hoyas will continue to monitor Freeman’s blood-sugar level and don’t anticipate any problems going forward this season.

• Notre Dame got Luke Harangody back for the win at Marquette. Harangody played 11 minutes off the bench. Irish coach Mike Brey told me late Saturday night that Harangody will continue to come off the bench this season. He said ‘Gody told him to use him however he wants to ensure the team wins. Brey said the Irish have become mentally tougher in the past few weeks. The Irish were 4-2 without Harangody, beating Pitt and Connecticut at home and winning at Georgetown.

• KVAL-TV reported that Oregon coach Ernie Kent has been fired and that he was told on Feb. 22 by Oregon athletic director Mike Bellotti. No one will be surprised if this does occur, but Kent told me in a text late Saturday night that this is the same story he has heard the past four years. Meanwhile, Bellottti sent this statement out late Saturday night after Oregon’s win over Washington State: "Ernie and I have talked, and we will continue to talk through the Pac-10 Tournament."

The Morning After is our semi-daily recap of the night's best basketball action. Try not to make it awkward.

No. 8 West Virginia 81, No. 20 Georgetown 68: A few things either learned or observed while watching last night's relatively easy West Virginia win over Georgetown:

1. Da'Sean Butler is a Mountaineer through and through. It's not like this is a revelation. But in a sport that requires us to nibble at the edges of teams' personalities so often, that requires us to keep half an eye on everyone and never a full eye on anyone, hearing Da'Sean Butler's fully emotional, front-and-center response to his final home game in Morgantown was borderline revelatory:

"I definitely wanted to win on my Senior Night against a good team like them," Butler said, his voice cracking. "When I was taken out at the end of the game, it just kind of hit me, like I'm not playing here anymore and it just took off from there. I thought about everything and I had every emotion possible. Happy, sad, scared -- just getting ready to grow up. You never know what's out there."

Any graduate who hasn't been overwhelmed with that feeling -- that sinking "What am I going to do now?" thing that ruthlessly invades your gut during your final months at school -- didn't like college all that much in the first place. Heck, we've all felt that before. We can capital-I Identify. Not to get all syrupy here, but that's a little taste of what makes sports so very awesome sometimes. It was cool. (Oh, and it didn't hurt that Butler finished his storied Morgantown career -- he ended up third in scoring all-time behind Jerry West and Hot Rod Hundley and holds the school record with 100-plus double-figure scoring games -- with a tidy 22 points, six rebounds and six assists.)

2. Austin Freeman is very important to Georgetown's ability to handle the ball on the perimeter, score on the perimeter, penetrate from the perimeter -- Austin Freeman is pretty much the best thing about Georgetown's perimeter, and when he's out of the game, his team suffers. Duh, right?

3. West Virginia doesn't always have to outrebound you to win. The nation's top offensive rebounding team by efficiency didn't outwork its opponents on the offensive glass Monday night. What the Mountaineers did do was rarely turn the ball over and get to the free throw line at a high rate. Georgetown played even with WVU ... except in those two categories. It was more than enough.

4. There was one somewhat important bit of postseason seeding on the line here (besides Georgetown's potentially plummeting NCAA tournament seed, of course): Big East tourney seeding. With the win, the Mountaineers sealed a direct double-bye into the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. Skipping those early conference tournament games means fewer opportunities to lapse and have a bad upset. This is, obviously, a good thing.

No. 25 Texas 87, Oklahoma 76: Oklahoma led by three with just under 10 minutes remaining. This is all you need to know about the relative ugliness of Texas' first half -- and the relative ugliness of the past month and a half of Texas' season. The Longhorns have suffered some bad losses in that time. A home loss to a sub-.500 Sooners team -- one with its own dire share of personnel and chemistry issues -- would have been the worst.

Instead, Texas fans can breathe a sigh of relief. Damion James got 24 points a win on Senior Night, and freshman J'Covan Brown, who suffered a neck injury and was carted off the floor at Texas A&M Saturday, returned to score 15 points and notch five assists in relief duty.

Everywhere else: Pretty quiet night last night. Get the full download here.

Saddle Up is our daily preview of the hoops your TV wants you to watch. Here's Monday night's briefer-than-usual rundown.

No. 20 Georgetown at No. 8 West Virginia, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN: There's no mystery as to why Georgetown fell off a cliff in this week's coaches' poll; the Hoyas have lost three of their last four, including a loss at Rutgers and Saturday's blowout at home to a desperate, bubble-riding Notre Dame team. This is the mark of the Hoya in 2010: inconsistency. Georgetown has the talent to play with anyone, and can blow out very good teams on its best nights -- see the Jan. 30 Duke rout, easily Georgetown's best win of the season -- but the Hoyas are prone to frequent letdowns against lesser squads. A win at West Virginia would right the ship, so to speak. Georgetown has no hope of a Big East title now. But ending the season with a win over a top 10 team at a place like Morgantown is the sort of boost any psychologically inclined Georgetown fan would love to see. It couldn't hurt the Hoyas' tournament seeding, either.

The Mountaineers have the chance to close their season on a similarly uplifting note. Tonight's game is big enough; Saturday's at Villanova is even bigger. Win both of them and Bob Huggins' team could put itself in position to snag a No. 2 seed on Selection Sunday. The Mountaineers are miles ahead of Georgetown on tempo-free paper, and are still doing what they've been doing all season long: rebounding an insane number of their misses on the offensive end and creating second possessions at a higher rate than anyone in the country. Against Georgetown's mediocre defense -- the Hoyas are just No. 132 in opposing offensive rebound percentage -- it's safe to expect more of the same.

Oklahoma at No. 25 Texas, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN: This is another in a long list of combined Oklahoma and Texas games that looked pretty awesome before the season started. Then Willie Warren and the Sooners had an inexplicably disastrous year, rendering them a non-entity in the Big 12. Warren has been sidelined with mono and will miss tonight's game thanks to an ankle injury as the Sooners look to avoid their first seven-game losing streak in -- get this -- 41 years. Meanwhile, Texas is Texas, and you already know this story. Rick Barnes can't decide on a rotation, the Longhorns on the floor can't seem to figure out their roles, and a team that began the year by winning its first 17 games and rising to No. 1 overall is now a fringe top 25 team entirely gone from the Final Four picture. If North Carolina and UCLA showed up in Austin, Tex., tonight, we could hold a star-studded convention of the year's most disappointing teams.

Everywhere else: Morgan State and Utah State will both try to avoid upsets tonight; other than that, Monday's offerings won't do much for you. (Unless you're trying to do some deep scouting for minor conference tournament predictions, in which case, can I look at your notes?)

• 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.

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

No. 6 Purdue 76, No. 10 Michigan State 64: Well, now we've got a Big Ten race. As recently as eight days ago, it seemed an undefeated Michigan State team was primed to run away with the Big Ten. No more. Kalin Lucas sprained his ankle. The Spartans were blown out in Madison and then edged at Illinois. And Tuesday night, with a clearly laboring Lucas in the lineup, the Spartans couldn't stop a balanced, thorough, complete Purdue team. That leaves us with a logjam at the top of the Big Ten, one that should provide plenty of entertainment as the season winds down, and one that ought to leave Tom Izzo and company less than thrilled.

Then again, it was probably only a matter of time before Michigan State came down to Earth a bit, right? That's not even the best way to phrase it, I guess, because a loss to Purdue doesn't constitute some sort of statistical correction. The Boilermakers are just good. Robbie Hummel can score and direct from distance. E'Twaun Moore has what Steve Lavin might call a "complete toolbox, the hammer, the screwdriver, the bandsaw." (I just made that phrase up, but it sounds like something Lavin would say, only less awesome.) Chris Kramer is one of the best perimeter defenders in the country. And, perhaps most importantly, JaJuan Johnson is becoming a dominant force in the paint.

Johnson has been good in the past, but he hasn't always gotten the touches his high level of efficiency should demand. He hasn't needed to; Hummel and Moore and even Kramer can handle the scoring load just fine, thanks. But Johnson is a uniquely effective weapon for the Boilers. He can score in the paint, stretch defenses with outside jumpers and, on the defensive end, disrupt any interior shots with his freakishly long arms. (I hope that's not mean to say. Those arms are freakish.) Purdue has its own flaws. It's not a perfect team. But the Boilermakers are solidly balanced enough to play with anyone anywhere.

Oh, and Michigan State fans? Don't freak out. Your team is banged up and in the middle of the toughest part of their Big Ten season. There are worse places to be than 9-3. You'll be all right. Probably.

Illinois 63, No. 13 Wisconsin 56: Don't look now, but Illinois is 9-3 in the Big Ten. And don't look now, but the way Illinois has put themselves in the thick of the Big Ten race after a shaky start is worthy of serious respect. Beating a Kalin Lucas-less Michigan State team at home is one thing. Going to Wisconsin and handing the Badgers their sixth loss (and their first-ever to an unranked team) at the Kohl Center under Bo Ryan is entirely another. Demetri McCamey deserves much of the credit -- McCamey scored 27 points on an efficient 11-for-17 shooting Tuesday night, adding seven assists (though he did have five turnovers, which I suppose we can let slide). Forward Mike Tisdale was likewise efficient, scoring 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting. The Illini have plenty of flaws, and there's no question they caught Wisconsin on a particularly bad shooting night -- the Illini aren't a great defensive team this year, at least not yet -- but when Illinois is shooting this well, it's hard to blame their opponents for their success. They deserve the credit, and with the aforementioned Michigan State loss, they deserve to be in the thick of the Big Ten race. Now all Bruce Weber's team has to do is play this well the rest of the season. Easy, right?

No. 24 Vanderbilt 90, No. 12 Tennessee 71: 43. 43! That's the number of free throws the Vanderbilt Commodores shot in their 90-71 win over Tennessee in Nashville last night. There's a reason the Dores scored 90 points -- the Volunteers fouled 29 times in 40 minutes. Vanderbilt's free throw rate -- a ratio of free throws to field goal attempts -- was a mind-boggling 84.3 percent. Of course, Vanderbilt actually had to make these free throws. They did, hitting 37 of those 43. (Exclamation points are also applicable here. Thirty-seven made free throws!) And that's almost all you need to know: Vanderbilt built a big lead early, protected the ball, got good looks, and got to the line so often my head is literally spinning even as I type this.

In any case, it's a great win for Vanderbilt -- both for the team's tournament chances and for its in-state bragging rights. Bruce Pearl has done an admirable job keeping Tennessee tourney-bound in the wake of the Tyler Smith New Year's Day fiasco. Tuesday night -- a chippy, ugly affair, punctuated by the constant clang of Tennessee's misses -- was not in that vein.

Everywhere else: Kentucky kept Alabama at bay for a relatively easy win at Rupp Arena; John Wall got his first double-double and DeMarcus Cousins got his seventh in his past seven games ... Providence had a legit chance to upset Georgetown Tuesday, leading 47-40 with 15 minutes remaining, but Georgetown rallied in time to take a nine point win in Rhode Island ... Texas couldn't win in Norman, but Texas Tech (barely) could ... Vermont and Boston played a barnburner, which Vermont won on a layup in the final 10 seconds ... Wichita State took another step back in the Missouri Valley, losing at the previously 0-13 Evansville ... and Wake Forest handled Boston College in Winston-Salem.

Saddle Up is our nightly look at the hoops your TV wants you to watch. Here's Tuesday night's rundown. (In lieu of a video preview for tonight's game, which I had planned to do until a cold made me sound like Tom Waits on Saturday morning, here's an extra-beefy edition of Saddle Up).

No. 6 Purdue at No. 10 Michigan State, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN: Kalin Lucas picked a bad time to be injured.

OK, obviously Lucas didn't decide to be injured. Obviously, he'd prefer to be on the floor at all times. But say the Ghost of Ankle Injuries Future visited Lucas in his sleep one night in October (hey, it could happen -- haven't you ever seen "A Muppet Christmas Carol"?) and told him he would have one ankle sprain this year, and that he could point to the Spartans' schedule and decide when it would be, I'm betting he wouldn't have picked this stretch of the Big Ten season.

A Lucas-less Michigan State team was forced to into an orange-colored cauldron on Saturday. Now the Spartans are staring down a crucial matchup with Big Ten rival Purdue. They're also looking at a potential three-game losing streak and a loss of their solo hold on the Big Ten's top spot.

It's not that Michigan State can't beat Purdue without Lucas, whose status will be a game-time decision. The Spartans are at home, which is always nice; heck, Indiana almost beat Purdue on the Hoosiers' home floor last week. And Michigan State showed some things without Lucas in their loss to the Illini -- namely, that they can still score, that they have decent, untapped depth and that Draymond Green is more versatile than you think. And Purdue doesn't exactly wow you with its guard play, at least not at the point guard spot, the one major hole in the Boilermakers' lineup.

But it will be tough if he's not able to play. The Spartans committed 20 turnovers at Illinois on Saturday, and it was obvious why: Kalin Lucas wasn't on the floor. Without him, the Spartans still got out in transition, but in the half court they frequently looked lost, settling on long jump shots from guards Chris Allen and Durrell Summers. When he's on the floor, Lucas gets a majority of the Spartans' possessions, and he's efficient with them. When he's not there, the Spartans are left to score by committee.

It won't help that the Boilermakers, after a three-game losing streak toward the beginning of the conference season, are beginning to hit their stride. Purdue has rattled off five straight wins -- including a win at Illinois and a tight home victory over Wisconsin -- and have looked impressive in doing so.

Purdue isn't a statistical powerhouse. Their defense is stalwart but not elite, and their offense overwhelms you with its efficiency. They're just sort of good at everything. They're smart shot selectors. They never turn the ball over. They force opponents into bad looks. They clean up their defensive boards. It's pretty simple stuff.

With or without Lucas, the Spartans have a chance to win if they force Purdue into outside shots. Again: It's simple, but true. The Boilermakers are not a good 3-point shooting team -- at 31.6 percent, they rank in the high 200's in the country in 3-point percentage -- nor is their offensive rebounding particularly impressive.

This is key. If Izzo can get his defenders to sink in a zone, make Purdue launch a few more 3s than Matt Painter would like, the Spartans should be able to turn long rebounds into transition layups. On the other hand, if Purdue is scoring in the paint, it's doubtful the Spartans will be able to hold onto the ball long enough against Purdue's frantic, turnover-inducing, man defense to stay afloat.

Bonus Saddle Up Purdue-MSU linkage!:

• BoilerT at Hammer And Rails writes that after a lifetime of beating opponents in the Big Ten, tonight's game is a chance to reach out and grab some national glory. It also wouldn't hurt Purdue's tournament chances, which took a hit from those early Big Ten losses.
• For a Michigan State fan's perspective, here's The Only Colors' long and hearty preview. The word "anxiety" is used quite frequently.
• Lucas' status is still up in the air, and thanks to Tom Izzo's subtle obfuscation, no one seems to have a very good read on whether the star guard will play tonight.
• Speaking of Izzo, he returned from Wisconsin and Illinois impressed with the fan support, and would like MSU fans to forget about the snow that is pummeling their windows and "get jacked" for tonight's game. Somehow I doubt that will be a problem. It certainly won't be an issue on my couch. Lucas or not, this game ought to be awesome.

No. 12 Tennessee at No. 24 Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN: Sure, this matchup isn't quite as sexy as the Big Ten battle above, but it is still well worth your time.

On New Year's Day, it looked like Tennessee's hopes of a successful season were over. But look at the Vols now: 18-4 overall (with a win over Kansas to boot), 6-2 in the SEC and, barring a catastrophic collapse, a lock to make the NCAA tournament.

Meanwhile, Kevin Stallings' team has been quietly handling its SEC business. Saturday's loss at Georgia was a low point, sure, and Vandy is just barely above the tempo-free water mark, but they've shown themselves capable of handling the Volunteers before -- Vanderbilt beat Tennessee in Knoxville on Jan. 27. If that hot-shooting team shows up at Memorial Gym tonight, the Vols will have plenty to reckon with.

Everywhere else: Alabama will visit Kentucky and face the wrath of emerging monster DeMarcus Cousins ... Georgetown heads to Providence, apparently avoiding the countrywide snow fiasco, and will look to avoid a South Florida-esque letdown on the road ... The Illini head to the Kohl Center, where they're likely to find a stark departure from Saturday's jubilant festivities in Champaign ... VCU takes on George Mason; with a win, the Rams could get a share of first place in the CAA ... and two middling Big 12 teams will attempt to write their respective ships, as Texas Tech goes to Norman to face the Longhorn-killing Sooners.

Saddle Up is our nightly look at the hoops your TV wants you to watch. Here's Tuesday night's rundown:

No. 5 Michigan State at No. 16 Wisconsin, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN: Michigan State is good on the road. Wisconsin is good at home. Immovable object, unstoppable force, you get the idea: Something's got to give in Madison tonight, and I have no idea what it will be.

Someone has to win, though, and if the tempo-free numbers have anything to say about it, that someone should be Wisconsin. The Badgers are No. 5 in the country in adjusted efficiency while the Spartans are No. 18, a difference that largely comes down to the Badgers' defense. Wisconsin doesn't force many turnovers, but they prevent teams from hot shooting nights and they rebound on the defensive end better than any team in the country. Michigan State has been getting better and better lately, so their numbers might not be a true reflection of their current state, but it's hard to look at Michigan State's strength -- offensive rebounding -- and think the Badgers don't have a serious advantage when it comes to the boards.

Of course, the numbers aren't the end-all. Still, this is Michigan State's biggest conference test of the season, and it comes as the Spartans just so happen to be playing their best basketball -- both at home and on the road -- of the year. This game is going to be slow, methodical, physical, defensive and awesome. Who else is excited?

Mississippi at No. 3 Kentucky, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN: OK class, quiz time. Who knows what everyone is going to be talking about before, during, and after Kentucky's home matchup with Ole Miss tonight? Yes, that's right: CalWallGate 2010. (I just made up that name. Pretty terrible, right?) Is John Wall still mad at John Calipari? Have the two reconciled their differences? Is this really a "teaching moment?" Expect this to be a topic of conversation, to say the least.

The more pertinent question is whether Wall can rebound from his string of merely human performances -- or whether he needs to. Kentucky is so talented, and so many of its possessions end up in DeMarcus Cousins' hands, that Wall doesn't have to take games over on the offensive end to get the Wildcats a win. He merely needs to control the game, keep his turnovers in check, find Eric Bledsoe for open looks on the perimeter, and get the ball inside to Cousins, and somewhat-overlooked forward Patrick Patterson, and the Cats should handle fringe top 25 opponents like Ole Miss with relative ease.

John Wall doesn't have do it all. He just has to do some of everything, and efficiently so. If he does, UK will be just fine.

Everywhere else: Villanova is on fire these days. Seton Hall will try to do what so few Nova opponents have been able to -- put out the flames. (Or at least toss a little water on them. Anything to quell the burning. OK, I'll stop now.) ... Meanwhile, the second of two Big East games featuring marginal road teams at vicious home foes -- this one would be Providence at Syracuse -- will be tipping off. ... Kansas State goes to Nebraska, which got its first Big 12 win of the year in Saturday's 17-point win over Oklahoma. ... BYU will continue its roll through the Mountain West when TCU comes to Provo. ... Northwestern is still a potential tourney team! Repeat: Northwestern is still a potential tourney team. Games like tonight's -- a possible home victory over Michigan; nothing flashy, but necessary for the committee's ease of mind -- are key to that cause. At 3-6 in the Big Ten, the Wildcats can't afford another bad one.

Something I didn’t think I would see: Providence ahead of Connecticut in the Big East standings. PC is 4-4, UConn is 3-4.

How about this quote from PC coach Keno Davis: “We can beat anybody in the country. We have enough talent, but we have to play extremely hard.’’ I’m not sure I’m buying that proclamation, but it’s good to know Davis has that much confidence in his crew.

UConn’s win over Texas was as impressive a W as we’ve seen this season. But I knew if Connecticut was an elite team the Huskies had to win a game on the road that they’re supposed to -- and they didn’t. It’s odd looking at the Big East standings and seeing UConn ranked No. 19 yet in 11th place in the league.

• Not sure there was as impressive a road performance in the SEC (save Kentucky winning at Florida) as Vanderbilt’s win at Tennessee. The Commodores got spirited production out of Jermaine Beal (25 points) and held the Vols to 6-of-20 on 3s. Vandy goes into Kentucky on Saturday with a chance to actually build a two-game lead on the Cats. Huh?

• No one should fault BYU for losing at New Mexico, 76-72. The Pit is and will be one of the toughest places in the country to play, and I can tell you from years covering the Lobos that there is no opponent that gets the place as amped as the Cougars. BYU remains the MWC favorite even with the loss to the Lobos. But UNM desperately needed the win to stay in the race.

• Memphis coach Josh Pastner picked up a quality road W by winning at Marshall to keep the Tigers in the C-USA league race.

• Villanova’s 18-1 record and 8-0 mark in the Big East after beating Notre Dame is as impressive as any in the country. But the Wildcats' schedule is back-loaded with road games at Syracuse, Georgetown and West Virginia that will be tough to tackle.

• In a 95-83 win over Texas Tech, Texas coach Rick Barnes did shorten his bench as promised. Barnes went with primarily eight players with Alexis Wangmene and Jai Lucas only getting a few minutes. The primary bench players were Gary Johnson, Jordan Hamilton and J’Covan Brown. It helped that Dogus Balbay wasn’t in foul trouble.

• Duke won again at Cameron. I just don’t see the Blue Devils losing at home. So that’s eight ACC wins right there. The Devils have already won at Clemson. So that’s nine. Pick up at least two road wins out of BC, Miami or Virginia (don’t see UNC or Maryland) and the Blue Devils will likely win the league with 11 wins. That’s unless Maryland decides to string together a bunch of road wins.

• It’s hard to call out must-wins, but Illinois desperately needed to beat Penn State on the road to move to 5-3 in the league. The Illini are in the soft portion of the schedule that they must dominate.

• Florida is winning the games it should at home now with a 79-63 win over Georgia to move to 4-2 and move closer to an NCAA berth after two NIT years.

• Drexel snuffed out Northeastern’s win streak at 11 (which was the third-longest in the country) with an impressive 61-48 win on the road.

• Hard to generate buzz for William & Mary now after the Tribe lost to James Madison by a deuce to fall to 6-4 in the CAA.

• Hard not to cheer for Oklahoma State to beat Texas A&M on Wednesday, the ninth anniversary of the tragic plane crash that killed 10 people associated with the program. OSU beat the Aggies to move ahead of them in the standings at 4-2 (A&M is 3-3).

• Impressive that Oklahoma beat Iowa State with Willie Warren and Tony Crocker sitting out due to sprained right ankles. What a night for freshman Tommy Mason-Griffin, who had 38 points and 6 assists. Iowa State’s NCAA season is over with a 1-4 mark in the Big 12. Too much ground to make up at this juncture.

• What has happened to LSU’s offense? The Tigers led Alabama at the break, but scored just 13 points in the second half. Tasmin Mitchell and Bo Spencer were a combined 4-of-18 in the 57-38 loss at Alabama. The defending SEC champs are now 0-6 in league play.

• Believe it or not, Hofstra’s Charles Jenkins had an eight-point play in the Pride's 93-54 win over UNC Wilmington. He scored on a layup and was fouled. But it was ruled an intentional foul and then Wilmington’s Benny Moss got a technical for arguing. Jenkins hit all four free throws (two for the intentional and two for the technical) and then Hofstra got the ball because of the intentional foul and Jenkins scored off the inbound pass with a floater. In five seconds, the score went from 26-9 to 34-9. Wow.

Saddle Up is our preview of the hoops your TV wants you to watch tonight. Yes, your inanimate TV has totally real, humanoid feelings about your viewing habits. Here's Wednesday night's rundown:

No. 10 BYU at New Mexico, 10 p.m. ET: BYU has had a hard time earning respect. This is probably fair. Last year's Cougars put together an impressive resumé and had the tempo-free chops to go along with it, and as soon as they got to the tournament (and as soon as yours truly picked them to finish in the Sweet 16), the Cougars lost by 13 to a so-so Texas A&M team, bowing out of the NCAAs after 40 minutes. So it's probably fair if this year's BYU Cougars -- a 20-1 team currently ranked fourth in Pomeroy's adjusted efficiency ratings -- are met with a degree of skepticism from the national media. For example, Monday Digger Phelps told his ESPN studio mates that BYU was too high in the polls at No. 10, which was met with understandable agreement. BYU hasn't played anybody. But in regards to their poll placement, the numbers seem to disagree; BYU might actually deserve to be higher.

The lesson here? They have to prove it. Tonight -- an away game versus a New Mexico team that launched itself into the top 25 early in the season, beating Texas Tech and Cal on the way there -- is a chance to do just that. It's also a chance to see Jimmer Fredette, BYU's point guard and leading scorer, match up with New Mexico guard Dairese Gary. It's as good a look as the Cougars going to get for a while. They ought to make the most of it.

Notre Dame at No. 3 Villanova, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN: Does Villanova want a No. 1 ranking? If so, it'll have to handle its business tonight against a pesky but not-quite-there Notre Dame team. The Irish gave Syracuse a few fits with its zone last week, but ultimately fell short because their own defense was so bad. This is a trend under Mike Brey, and it's just the way things will go for this ND team. They might win a few games, but they'll need a surge if they want to make Luke Harangody's final year anything but another stopover to the next level, wherever Harangody might end up. (Maybe the NBA, maybe not.) A quick aside here: That's sort of sad. Watching Luke Harangody is a joy. He's one of the weirdest, most effective players we've seen in decades, and he's arguably best Notre Dame player of all-time. That he has toiled away his last two years of eligibility on decidedly mediocre teams feels like a waste.

Florida State at No. 7 Duke: Duke has had its occasional issues this season, but from a tempo-free standpoint, they still look awfully good. That's good news, because Florida State doesn't fear Cameron Indoor Stadium; the Seminoles are one of only four visiting teams to have won at Cameron in the past four years. Florida State won seven in a row before back-to-back losses at Maryland and against N.C. State at home, and that last loss is not the stuff quality NCAA tournament teams are made of, even if N.C. State has been a slight surprise this season. But maybe, just maybe, if Florida state can manage to somehow keep its turnover bug at bay, its defense will be stingy enough to keep things close in Cameron. The court may look flat, but an uphill battle awaits.

Everywhere else: It's not on the main network, but if you have ESPNU you can watch the newly minted top 25 Vanderbilt Commodores go to Knoxville to take on in-state rivals Tennessee ... Temple faces another roadblock in its path to a potential A-10 title in 14-5 Charlotte ... Ohio State goes to Iowa to see what happens when Evan Turner looks around, sees lots of 5-foot-8 guys guarding him, stops being polite, and starts getting real ... Iowa State will visit Oklahoma in a match up of two Big 12 teams with singular talents who have managed to completely disappoint their fans ... Illinois State goes to Wichita State ... Georgia will see if it can keep its reputation for playing ostensibly superior teams tough on the road as it heads south to Gainsville ... Connecticut goes to Providence; the Huskies are still without Jim Calhoun.

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

No. 2 Kentucky at Florida, ESPN, 9 p.m. ET: ESPN resident bracketologist Joe Lunardi (perhaps you've heard of him?) sees big implications in Tuesday night's pair of ESPN games. Can you blame him? We'll get to Ohio State-Purdue in a minute, but Florida has a major opportunity. It gets the Kentucky Wildcats, unbeaten and riding high, in Gainesville. For Kentucky, there would be no shame in losing to a motivated Florida team on the road tonight; if Tennessee's weekend upset over Kansas tells us anything, it's that elite teams can and will often lose on the road to merely good teams. That would be the case tonight ... if a "merely good" Florida team shows up. The Gators have the potential to beat Kentucky in Gainesville -- they topped Michigan State on a neutral court earlier this year. Florida has also lost to Richmond and South Alabama. This is why tonight's opportunity is such a major one. Playing the Wildcats at home is Florida's chance to steal a win that most of us will recognize as the difficulty of a road contest, but that the selection committee will see first and foremost as a quality résumé win. And a big performance against John Wall's crew might just make Florida's own highly touted freshman, Kenny Boynton, a household name, too.

Ohio State at No. 6 Purdue, ESPN, 7 p.m. ET: If Florida's date with the Wildcats is an uphill battle, Ohio State's trip to Mackey Arena to face a brutally tough Purdue team is more like trying to play laser tag on Mt. Everest. But, much like Florida, this is the Buckeyes' chance to change their entire season, to prove they're fully recovered from losing uber-versatile Wooden Award candidate Evan Turner to a busted back, to show that with Turner in the lineup, they're just as good as anyone in the Big Ten. There's a bit of immovable-object-meets-unstoppable-force stuff going on here; is Turner good enough to shed Purdue's smothering defense? It's a tall order, but if anyone can do it, Evan can.

Texas A&M at No. 12 Kansas State, ESPN 2, 7 p.m. ET: If you knew nothing about either team, and merely glanced at their records, you'd be forgiven for thinking Texas A&M (12-3, 1-0 Big 12) was Kansas State's (13-2, 0-1 Big 12) relative equal, at least in terms of perception. But Kansas State's last loss, a 74-68 loss at Missouri, was its first since Nov. 20; in the meantime, Frank Martin's team has shot up the polls and gained a measure of respect most K-State hoops fans will find foreign. A&M, on the other hand, has yet to achieve the same level of national respect, despite an impressive record and three OK losses (West Virginia, New Mexico, at Washington). Tonight, A&M gets a shot to prove its worth, while simultaneously making an argument for Big 12 as the deepest conference in the land.

Everywhere else: Baylor will look to build off its blowout win over Oklahoma as it travels to Colorado ... Florida State should handle N.C. State, probably the ACC's worst team, at home ... Maryland will travel to Wake Forest in the much-anticipated "Battle Of Teams That Seem Like They Should Be Better Than They Are Based On Star Power" ... and Northern Iowa, or as we Iowans call it, "UNI," will look to extend its winning streak another game against Bradley in Cedar Falls.

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

Villanova 92, Louisville 84: Rick Pitino had his white suit and his full-court press, but he didn't have Scottie Reynolds, and that's really all you need to know about Villanova's win in Louisville Monday night. Pitino's Cardinals jumped out to an early lead thanks to Pitino's trademark press defense; if you thought it would be impossible to effectively press a team like Villanova with a guard like Reynolds, you were wrong ... sort of. After Louisville built a 17-point lead on the strength of Villanova's turnovers, it was only a matter of time until Reynolds calmed the Wildcats down and got them back on track, and that's exactly what he did. Reynolds scored 16 points in the final six minutes, shot 9-for-10 from the field (including 5-of-5 from beyond the arc) and made 13 of his 17 free throws as Nova climbed back into the game and sealed a tough road victory against a good team late. If you wanted to, you could make the argument that Villanova is not quite as good as last year's Final Four team. You could not make the same argument about Reynolds.

Oklahoma 62, Oklahoma St. 57: There were a few good reasons to tune in for Oklahoma-Oklahoma State. For one, it's a great rivalry, and great rivalries tend to be great whether the teams on offer follow suit. Second, those of you who, like me, were confused about Oklahoma's brutal first 15 games -- 9-6 with losses to VCU, San Diego, Houston, UTEP and Gonzaga even with a projected lottery pick in Willie Warren running the frontcourt -- got a chance to tune in and see just what's wrong with the Sooners. And I think I figured it out: They're enormously disorganized. That could go for the Cowboys, too; Oklahoma State got in its offense well last night but failed to make smart plays in several key situations down the stretch. But Oklahoma especially showed signs of discombobulation. Late in the game and in overtime, Warren would receive an inbounds pass and have plenty of time to get a good shot, and instead would chuck up a short-clock 3. Trying to close out the game in regulation, the Sooners completely failed to switch on a high screen and gave Oklahoma State a wide-open 3, which the Cowboys made. (After this play, as Warren turned and yelled in confusion at his teammates, I yelled: "Come on! Coach 'em up, Jeff!" I have nothing invested in the Sooners. I didn't care if they won. That was just how I felt. Lord knows what it must be like to be a hoops fan in Norman this winter.)

Oklahoma built its lead after the Big 12's leading scorer, James Anderson, was knocked out of the game in the second half. After watching Oklahoma for 40-plus minutes, neither this, nor its season to date, seems all that surprising.

Everywhere else: Last night was a quiet night for big the conferences, but below the Red Line, things were busy. Get the full download here.

As if losses to VCU, San Diego, Houston, UTEP and Gonzaga weren't bad enough.

Most expected Oklahoma to take a step back after world-destroying All-American Blake Griffin left to become the No. 1 NBA pick last spring; that was obvious. But with budding star Willie Warren eschewing the NBA lottery to stay in Norman for another year, no one had any right to expect this: The Sooners are now 9-6, and their latest loss might be their worst.

Yes, Oklahoma surrendered 91 points to Baylor in a 31-point loss Saturday night. It's good news for Baylor -- at 13-1, LaceDarius Dunn and company have taken a serious step toward national prominence -- and really bad news for the Sooners, who are officially in shambles.

The bright side, at least for Warren, is that he appears to have figured out whatever was keeping him in coach Jeff Capel's doghouse earlier this season, when Capel said he was "tired of trying to figure him out." At least Warren's draft stock won't completely combust in 2010. But other than that, it's all bad, and barring some sort of Tennessee Titans-esque second-half winning streak -- we're talking 10 or 11 games in a row or something -- the Sooners' season is basically over. Blech.

Ever wonder why broken backboards don't happen much anymore? Me too. I assumed it had something to do with the ongoing march of ever-sturdier basketball technology, but I know nothing about basketball hoop engineering. Just why are basketball hoops stronger, anyway? And how come Tiny Gallon was able to break a modern hoop when so few others can?

Turns out, Gallon's hoop wasn't a modern hoop. The Oklahoman dug into Gallon's broken backboard and found that the Spokane, Wash. arena where Gallon busted his hoop was using outdated equipment. The explanation:

The 180 Degree rim breaks away to the side and front, but original breakaway rims only do so at the front. The older rims are attached to the glass using a four-corner mount, which uses four bolts attached to the four exterior corners of the rim’s frame. Since the arena in Spokane only hosts a handful of basketball games each year, it did not have an updated, sturdier direct-mount system, which attaches to the goal with two bolts on the top two corners, as well as a large metal beam that’s driven through the glass.

On a direct-mount, any stress from a dunk is distributed through the beam onto the rest of the system. On a four-corner mount, the glass still bears some stress from a dunker. When that stress becomes too severe, it becomes a must-see clip like Gallon produced last week against Gonzaga.

And now you know.

Does anyone else find this information mildly depressing? Gallon's broken backboard could have ushered in a new era -- a brave new world in which athletes had yet again surpassed the strength of modern plexiglass design, a peaceful Pax Backboarda with entertainment and shattered glass for every girl and boy. Instead, Gallon merely found an antique and took advantage when he could; no one can break new backboards, apparently. The shattered backboard is a dying animal, and that makes me sad.

Thursday night, while you were ringing in the new year with a little Walkmen and some "Auld Lang Syne," Oklahoma dunker Keith "Tiny" Gallon was being slightly more destructive. Unless you're one of those people who breaks things at parties. Don't be that guy.

Gallon's destruction is slightly more welcome, even if his ability to shatter an entire backboard delayed Oklahoma's 83-69 loss to Gonzaga on New Year's Eve. Because it is awesome.

If you ask me, broken backboards are all too uncommon anymore. Our technology (I assume there have been advances in technology that make basketball hoops more stable, because I highly doubt players are getting systemically weaker) is making it more and more difficult. Frankly, I could stand to see a few more. Who's with me?