1. How convinced are you that Tom Crean will return Indiana to national prominence in the next few seasons.

Mitch Light: The Hoosiers have been a disappointment this season, especially of late, but I’m still on the Tom Crean bandwagon. His track record at Marquette is too good — a Final Four in 2003 as a member of C-USA and three straight 10-win seasons in the Big East (’06-08) — for him not to enjoy success at a school like Indiana. Up until this past year, his recruiting at Indiana was good — but not great. That changed in November, when Cody Zeller (No. 20 by Rivals.com) signed with IU, and it will continue next fall when two more top 20 players (forward Hanner Perea and guard Kevin Ferrell) make their commitments official. It might have taken longer than most Hoosier faithful would have liked, but the talent level is getting better in Bloomington.

Braden Gall: “National Prominence” is an interesting term since they have not won a national championship in over 20 years. Yet, they did play in the big game not even 10 years ago, and the entire state of Indiana is basketball crazed. They won’t be national championship good any time soon, but the well-dressed IU coach will be just fine. There is talent on that roster as we speak, so its only a matter of developing it properly. The 10-win total of last season should improve greatly (they are at nine already) from last season and potential tourney berths should be right around the corner.

Nathan Rush: Indiana’s basketball program under Tom Crean will return to national prominence. The question is when? I would ask Marquette’s top Crean recruit Dwyane Wade, who knows how to get to the Final Four by hitting bit-shot after big-shot (against Kentucky). I’ll say the “next few seasons” is a fair expectation. Right, D-Wade?

2. Who is the most important player in the SEC? Not necessarily the best player, but a guy whose team really needs him to play well.

Mitch Light: I’ll go with Vanderbilt point guard Brad Tinsley. The Commodores need Tinsley to play well to compete for an SEC title. He has struggled at times (in an overtime loss at Missouri), but he was very good in Wednesday night’s win over Marquette (15 points, eight assists, one turnover). If he can play that well on a consistent basis, there is no reason Vanderbilt can’t compete for the SEC East crown.

Braden: Braden: You could make an easy case for guys like Tobias Harris of Tennessee, Ravern Johnson of Mississippi State or any of the Vandy big four of Brad Tinsley, Jeff Taylor, John Jenkins or Festus Ezeli. But Chris Warren of Ole Miss is clearly the most important player in the league. He leads his team in minutes at almost 34 per game. He is easily the top scoring option and leads the team in assists as well. The Rebels have okay wins over Murray State and Penn State but need to do most of their work in-conference. Without Warren, they have no chance to make the tourney.

Nathan: Kentucky frosh Doron Lamb is crucial to the Wildcats’ season. He’s already as polished as any player in the conference, having played for Oak Hill (Va.) Academy as a high schooler and the NYC Gauchos as an AAU player before signing with John Calipari at Kentucky. Lamb is basketball royalty — his 32-point, 11-of-12 shooting, 7-of-8 from downtown night is proof enough. Still, all anyone can talk about is Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones or Enes Kanter.

3. What would you place the over-under on the number of ACC wins for North Carolina?

Mitch: I’d say 10.5 wins. My guess is that the Tar Heels will keep improving and take advantage of a down year in the ACC and finish in second place behind Duke with an 11–5 record. UNC has won five of its past six games, with the only loss coming to a very good Texas team in the final seconds.

Braden: Road trips to BC, Florida State and Duke are losses and trips to Clemson and Miami will be tough tests as well. Also, having only one game apiece with Wake Forest and Georgia Tech is unlucky. I think 10 wins would be the high-water mark for this UNC squad. An 8-8 mark will be my pick — and that might be good enough to get into the Big Dance. All four Heels’ non-con losses have been to quality opponents, and the win over Kentucky was huge for the tourney resume.

Nathan: UNC should go 14–2 with two losses to Duke. I’ll go 11–5, with four losses on the slate. A team with as much hand-picked talent as Carolina should not have to worry about any finish other than an ACC title (or national title). But Roy Williams likes to hand-pick soft “Kansas-type” players. So, Dean Smith will have to hide his eyes when he watches. Dean had Rasheed Wallace for two years; Roy’s “problem child” has been whoever his latest strike-zone swing-and-miss McDonald’s All-American is. Not the same tax bracket. … Look away, Dean.

4. It's early, but what seed will UConn be in the NCAA Tournament?

Mitch: I believe the Huskies will settle into the 4-5 range when it’s time to seed the Field of 68. Following the Huskies’ 78–63 loss at Pittsburgh Monday night, many college basketball observers were quick to point out that UConn clearly was not a top-5 team despite its lofty ranking. That might be true, but I would still argue that this team deserved its ranking, even though the roster might be that impressive. You can’t dismiss wins over Wichita State, Michigan State and Kentucky on a neutral court. Back to the question: I think UConn will enjoy a solid season in the Big East, but this team is too young and too challenged on the offensive end (other than Kemba Walker) to remain in the top 10 throughout the year.

Braden: A 6-seed. Some great early wins and the National Player of the Year (at this point) counts for a lot. But this is a very young team with basically two great, dependable players. The Big East has already proven that it will once again be brutal night-in and night-out. UConn was controlled quite easily by Jamie Dixon’s Pitt bunch on Big Monday. Until those pups grow-up and experience the best conference ever assembled for themselves, UConn will lose many of those close, road tests that count so much in seeding.

Nathan: The Connecticut Huskies will be a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Don’t pick against coach Jim Calhoun’s team, however, because he is 15–1 all-time in the first round of the Big Dance — with a one-point, last-second shot loss to No. 12-seed San Diego as a “dreaded” No. 4 seed in Tampa in the first round in 2008.

5. Notre Dame, fresh off its big win over Georgetown, heads to Syracuse this weekend for a huge Big East battle. Who wins?

Mitch: Notre Dame in the upset. The Irish are far more battle-tested, with wins over Georgia, Cal and Wisconsin on a neutral court and Gonzaga and Georgetown at home. Notre Dame isn’t very deep — Mike Brey played only seven guys vs. Georgetown — but the Irish have a ton of experience, and they have been playing well on the defensive end.

Braden: This is a long, athletic, well-coached Irish squad. Tim Abromaitis and Carlton Scott can do everything on the court and are nightmare matchups for most teams. That being said, Syracuse big man Rick Jackson has played great basketball and is battling for second place behind Kemba Walker for Big East POY honors. Athletic wing Kris Joseph has started to hit his stride (he has topped the 21-point mark in three of his last four), and the Orange’s guards will be too much for the Tory Jackson-less ND backcourt. Cuse by 8.

Nathan: Syracuse is better than Jim Boeheim wants us to think. Then again, Notre Dame’s basketball team is better than their football team. What? Who says? Let Tyler Hansbrough’s little brother quarterback the football team and see what happens. The Cuse lets basketball players (or guys from Duke) take consistent snaps, right? At least the Irish’s Ben Hansbrough has Southeastern Conference experience and is tougher than most signal-callers at ND. Seriously, the Orange have every edge and should win easily against the Fighting Irish.
 

By Ken Davis

Hard to believe, but it’s time to begin conference play. At the start of today, we have eight undefeated teams remaining. That’s impressive. Here’s a quick look at the teams that have achieved perfection to this point – and when we think their luck might run out.

Connecticut (10-0)
Impressive victories: Wichita State, 83-79; Michigan State, 70-67, Kentucky, 84-67.
Comment: The Maui Invitational seems like a long time ago now. It was definitely a wake-up call, one that sent the Huskies soaring into the top 10 and higher. Kemba Walker has established himself as the leader for National Player of the Year honors. Coach Jim Calhoun has found the proper touch with this young team. The lack of experience in the Big East is still a concern, as is depth and production from the front line. There are struggles ahead, but the Huskies are not the 10th-place team in the Big East everyone thought they were in October. They will contend. Too bad the game against Pitt comes so early.
Projected first loss: Dec. 27 at Pittsburgh

Cincinnati (12-0)
Impressive victories: Dayton, 68-34; Oklahoma, 66-56.
Comment: It’s a stretch to say those two wins were impressive. Dayton is 10-3 and the Bearcats won big. Oklahoma is a big-time program from the Big 12, but the Sooners (6-6) are way, way down this season. The truth is the Bearcats have played one of the worst schedules in the country. Give Cincinnati credit for taking care of business and remaining undefeated to this point. But the chili won’t stay hot for the Bearcats much longer.
Projected first loss: Jan. 6 vs. Xavier. (If not then, certainly Jan 9 at Villanova).

UCF (11-0)
Impressive victories: Florida, 57-54; Miami 84-78
Comment: When you think of Conference-USA, you obviously think of Memphis. But it UCF that is crawling into the national consciousness — and the rankings — with some surprising victories and a kid named M. Jordan. That’s Marcus. (Former) Memphis Commercial-Appeal columnist Dan Wolken tweeted earlier this month that “if UCF ends up 9-7 in the league I won’t be surprised. That’s not a great roster.” We will see, won’t we?
Projected first loss: Jan. 15 at Southern Miss.

Syracuse (13-0)
Impressive victories: Michigan State, 72-58; Drexel, 93-65.
Comment: The Orange has taken care of business, despite the fact coach Jim Boeheim still isn’t pleased with the offensive execution of his players. Syracuse always plays tough defense and Big East teams have to adjust to Boeheim’s zone philosophy. That’s never easy. Kris Joseph and Rick Jackson are the steady performers here. When Boeheim’s freshmen start picking up their offensive production, Syracuse could become a dominant squad in the Big East. This could be a very dangerous team come March.
Projected first loss: Jan. 17 at Pittsburgh.

Kansas (11-0)
Impressive victories: Arizona, 87-79; UCLA, 77-76; Memphis, 81-68.
Comment: Coach Bill Self says Josh Selby is ready to start. That must have been a tough decision. The Jayhawks will be a better team with the skilled freshman on the floor. He can play with the ball in his hands or off the ball and that makes the KU backcourt very dangerous. Marcus Morris has to play smart and be a better leader. He didn’t do that at Cal, but the Jayhawks still pulled away and won on the road. The key to the Jayhawks is their continued unselfish play. Kansas doesn’t start Big 12 play until Jan. 12, but the Jayhawks are the best team in their conference again.
Projected first loss: Jan. 17 at Baylor.

Ohio State (12-0)
Impressive victories: Florida, 93-75; Florida State, 58-44, Oakland, 92-63.
Comment: Jared Sullinger has taken the Buckeyes to another level. As long as Sullinger and David Lighty stay healthy, Ohio State will be the team to beat in the Big Ten. Not many thought that would be the case when the season started, but the Buckeyes have been solid and Michigan State has struggled — against a tougher schedule. Tom Izzo’s team cannot be written off and the Big Ten remains strong. But Ohio State looks like a Final Four team right now.
Projected first loss: Jan. 22 at Illinois.

San Diego State (14-0)
Impressive victories: Gonzaga, 79-76; Wichita State 83-69; Cal 77-57.
Comment: Steve Fisher’s team isn’t a huge surprise. There were questions about depth, but not talent. The biggest problem for the Aztecs is timing because the Mountain West is so impressive this season, with BYU, UNLV, New Mexico and Colorado State off to very good starts. There will be nightly dogfights in this conference and multiple bids to the NCAA tournament. The Aztecs are good but they can’t escape the Mountain West undefeated.
Projected first loss: Jan. 26 at BYU.

Duke (11-0)
Impressive victories: Kansas State, 82-68; Michigan State, 84-79; Butler, 82-70.
Comment: The Blue Devils are a better team than last year when they won the national championship. They are more balanced and have more depth. That has shown even more as Duke has rolled along undefeated even after freshman sensation Kyrie Irving was injured. The ACC isn’t as strong as usual. Duke will be challenged, but it’s possible the Blue Devils will remain undefeated deep into the season. A poor shooting night on the road could spell trouble for Coach K’s team. Somebody will catch them. But who?
Projected first loss: Feb. 2 at Maryland

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The date had been marked on the calendars of NBA scouts for weeks. They came to Odgen, Utah, on Dec. 21 to see Jimmer Fredette of BYU and Damian Lillard of Weber State. Unfortunately, Lillard is injured and out for the season. But Fredette didn’t disappoint. The preseason AP All-American scored 20 of his 28 points in the second half as BYU defeated Weber State 72-66 in a bounce back game after the Cougars lost to UCLA. Fredette followed that up with 25 points in an 89-68 victory over UTEP on Dec. 23. The senior guard hit 18-of-41 shots and was 9-of-20 from 3-point range. He had 1l rebounds and 13 assists to round out his Player of the Week performance.

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Freshman guard Doron Lamb had a remarkable game against Winthrop, but Kentucky coach John Calipari had to go and embellish the numbers. “It was a big-time game,” Calipari said. “He didn’t miss any shots.” Well, that’s not exactly true. Lamb was 11-of-12 from the field and 7-of-8 from 3-point range, good enough to break Kentucky’s freshman record with 32 points in an 89-52 victory. Jamal Mashburn held the previous record with 31 points on Feb. 3, 1991 against Georgia. Lamb, who was 3-of-3 from the free throw line, accomplished all this in 29 minutes — off the bench.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Monday, Dec. 27

Connecticut at Pittsburgh
Not much time to enjoy the holidays for these two teams with the Big East opener coming two days after Christmas. This has developed into one of great rivalries in the nation. Can UConn’s young frontline stand up to the physical Panthers? We’re about to find out.

Tuesday, Dec. 28

Providence at Syracuse
The Friars are 11-2. Syracuse is 13-0. Fun fact: Providence ranks fifth in the nation in rebounds per game; Syracuse ranks 30th in the same category.

Wednesday, Dec. 29

Georgetown at Notre Dame
Two 11-1 teams that figure to be heavily involved in the Big East race get it going early. The Hoyas have been quietly going about business but nationally rank second in field goal percentage and eighth in assists per game. That’s the sign of a mature team.

Marquette at Vanderbilt
Amid all the bowl games and conference openers, this game might be overlooked. But there’s a lot of potential here. Marquette’s only losses have been to Duke, Gonzaga and rival Wisconsin. Vanderbilt has fallen to West Virginia and Missouri in OT (both by 3-point margins) and beat North Carolina in Puerto Rico.

Thursday, Dec. 30

Temple at Villanova
Philly’s top two teams get together to settle the issue of pride in the Big Five.

Old Dominion at Missouri
Missouri has played a terrific nonconference schedule, but so have the Monarchs. Old Dominion has lost to Georgetown and Delaware but has victories over Clemson, Xavier, Richmond and Dayton.

Friday, Dec. 31

Kentucky at Louisville
Coach Cal vs. Slick Rick … now that’s a New Year’s Eve party.

Minnesota at Michigan State
Who knew the Gophers would enter this game with a better record than the Spartans?

Charleston at Tennessee
The Vols snapped out of that three-game losing streak but somehow it seems Tennessee might be in trouble against the Cougars.

Saturday, Jan. 1

Notre Dame at Syracuse
Another big game comes early in the Big East. Keep an eye on Syracuse senior Rick Jackson, who has been playing terrific ball all season.

West Virginia at Marquette
The Mountaineers have lost twice but that doesn’t mean you can rule West Virginia out of the Big East race.

Sunday, Jan. 2

Rutgers at Villanova
Rutgers is 9-2. Villanova is 10-1. Count on the Big East wars to produce some more separation between these two teams.

Wisconsin at Illinois
Don’t forget about either of these teams when it comes to the Big Ten race. One will get a chance to make an early statement.

THEY SAID IT:

“We’re not about losing here. We’re not about playing hard and coming up close and moral victories. That’s not what we built our program about. We lost, so it wasn’t good enough.” — Kansas State coach Frank Martin after the Wildcats lost to UNLV 63-59 without suspended starters Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly.

“I really can’t tell them anything . . . words can’t explain what’s going to happen. They have to be mentally tough, that’s it, and go through it.” — Connecticut guard Kemba Walker, when asked how he could help prepare his younger teammates for the upcoming Big East regular season.

“We played on our heels. We were 8-1 coming in, and it wasn't like we hadn't been in an atmosphere like that. We just weren't ready to compete. We stargazed a little bit. I told those guys, ‘We ain’t sneaking up on them. Yo, dude, these guys are going to be ready.’” — Drexel coach Bruiser Flint, after a 93-65 loss at Syracuse that dropped the Dragons to 8-2.

“I’m not paying attention to it. We’ve been in many arenas where it’s been crazy with people yelling at you, saying inappropriate things. It’s just part of the game. It’s fun after a while.” — Georgetown guard Chris Wright after Georgetown silenced a Memphis crowd with an 89-69 road victory.

“Instead of panicking, we made plays.” – Missouri coach Mike Anderson, after the Tigers finished the game with a 14-2 run to beat Illinois 75-64 in the Braggin Rights matchup.

“We have to regroup.” — Michigan State guard Durrell Summers, after the Spartans fell to 8-4 overall with a 67-55 home loss to Texas.

NOTES

When Ben Howland left Pittsburgh for UCLA in 2003, many doubters thought Pitt might fall off college basketball’s main map again. Those people didn’t know much about Howland’s assistant, Jamie Dixon. Last Wednesday, Pitt defeated American 61-46 for the 200th victory under Dixon. He reached that milestone in 255 games, faster than all but 11 coaches in NCAA history. Dixon, always the humble one, said he appreciated the kind words from his players, who presented him with the game ball. “They talked about the hard work and dedication but, of course, I corrected them and told them it was good players that was most important,” Dixon said. American coach Jeff Jones gave a lot more credit to Dixon. “Look at the consistency. That says a lot about the job he’s done,” Jones said “It’s not as if Pitt has the tradition of a Kansas or a Duke, but the last 8-9 seasons, they’re right there.”

Despite losing the Diamond Head Classic championship game to Butler on Christmas Day, the Washington State Cougars must have turned some heads with victories over Mississippi State and Baylor. Coach Ken Bone has a solid team. And even though the Cougars are young, they look ready to take a run at the Pac-10 title. Conference play begins this week and road games against UCLA and USC should tell the Cougars exactly where they are. The only other loss for Washington State came to Kansas State on Dec. 3. If junior guard Klay Thompson (22.3 ppg) played on the East Coast, he’d be a frontrunner for National Player of the Year honors.

It seems highly unlikely now that Seton Hall senior guard Jeremy Hazell will be back in uniform this season. Hazell’s latest setback occurred Christmas night when he was shot and wounded by someone who tried to rob him. Hazell’s season began with a wrist injury in November. He had surgery for that Dec. 2. If not for the injury, Hazell would have been with his team, which lost to Richmond Sunday. A Seton Hall spokesman said Hazell’s injuries from the shooting weren’t considered life threatening. Hazell was away from the team because he had been allowed to spend the holiday with his family. With Hazell, the Pirates had a chance to make serious improvement in the Big East this season. Now first-year coach Kevin Willard has to address the idea of red-shirting Hazell or considering his professional options. It seems the Seton Hall program simply can’t catch a break. There have been reports in the last week that sophomore forward Ferrakohn Hall will transfer out of Willard’s program and head to Memphis.

Ken Davis is the author of Basketball Vault books covering the history of the University of Kansas and the University of Connecticut. Both are available through the publisher
(http://www.whitmanvaultbooks.com/) and autographed copies are available at Ken's web page (http://kendavis55.wordpress.com/).

By Ken Davis

Things get a little slow in college basketball at this time of year. The holidays are upon us and semester exams are wrapping up for most of the “student-athletes” — to borrow a popular term used by the NCAA during March Madness.

So, this seemed like a good time for a little studying and reviewing of our own. What have we learned at this point in the season? We bring you five main topic points. Feel free to discuss or write a short essay answer of your own.

1. The Big East is better than we thought. After so many talented players left for the NBA, it appeared the Big East would not be able to stage the exciting regular season that the conference featured the past couple of seasons. Wrong. Syracuse, Connecticut and Cincinnati remain undefeated. Pittsburgh and Georgetown have shown flashes of Final Four potential and have lost just once. Notre Dame, Louisville and Villanova are in the one-loss category as well. Providence, Rutgers and West Virginia are right behind with only two defeats. DePaul, at 5-6, is the only team below .500. UConn won the Maui Invitational, and no one expected that. Kemba Walker seemed a sure bet to be an All-Big East selection but the UConn point guard wasn’t the preseason pick as Big East Player of the Year. Now everyone seems to be in agreement that Walker is the early leader for National Player of the Year honors. The question ahead is whether Walker and his UConn teammates can maintain their torrid pace.

2. Three teams have separated themselves as legitimate Final Four contenders. That would be Duke, Ohio State and Kansas. Will the fourth come from a group of teams that includes UConn, Syracuse, Kansas State, Tennessee and Pittsburgh? Or is there another Butler out there to surprise us? Freshman forward Jared Sullinger has been the key for Ohio State. Josh Selby debuted with Kansas Saturday and added another dimension to the Jayhawks. Duke is no surprise. But the question ahead is whether Kyrie Irving’s injury will destroy the chemistry for the Blue Devils.

3. Kansas State is not the best team in the Big 12. Too much of the preseason hype was built on the Wildcats of last season. And this year’s edition simply isn’t as good. K-State is 9-2 with losses to Duke and Florida. The Wildcats shot 27 percent from the floor and scored only 44 points against Florida. That has to be a concern for coach Frank Martin. The Wildcats are shooting 54.5 percent from the free throw line — and that will sting them time after time. K-State is strong up front and can control the boards, but that’s not enough to win a conference. The road to the Big 12 title still goes through Lawrence. Kansas, Missouri, Baylor, Texas, and Texas A&M may all be better than K-State right now.

4. San Diego State is the best team on the West Coast. The Aztecs are 10-0 with victories over Gonzaga, Wichita State, and Cal. The Mountain West race with BYU, UNLV and New Mexico should be very interesting. The Aztecs shoot 50.4 percent from the floor (sixth in the nation). If you don’t know sophomore forward Kawhi Leonard yet, you had better study up. He averages 16 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.5 rebounds. He is 6-7 and 225 pounds and he is a double-double machine. He’ll likely be in the NBA next season. But coach Steve Fisher will still be around working his magic. The Aztecs have plenty of scoring options.

5. UCF may be the best team in Florida. The Knights are 10-0 with victories over Florida (57-54) and Miami (84-78). UCF is third in the nation in field goal percentage (51.8) and 26th in points scored (79.9). Keith Clanton leads the Knights in points (16.7) and rebounds (8.8), but fans really come out to see M. Jordan. No, not Michael. It’s Michael’s son, Marcus (16.0 ppg). Keep an eye on the Knights. They could be coming to a Top 25 near you.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Time to break one of our own rules. Under ordinary circumstances, a freshman would not be eligible for POW honors. That’s why we have a Freshman of the Week. But Josh Selby did not make his debut with the Kansas Jayhawks under ordinary circumstances. The anticipation and the hype surrounding Selby was the lead topic of last week’s notebook. After missing the first nine games of the season under NCAA suspension, the 6-2 guard from Baltimore proved he was worth the wait by scoring a game-high 21 points and hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer with 26 left. Kansas beat USC 70-68 to extend its home winning streak to 65 games. Only Xavier Henry, with 27 points against Hofstra, ever scored more as a Jayhawk freshman in his first game. Wilt Chamberlain debuted at Kansas with 52 points – but he was a sophomore.

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
We will stay in the Big 12 and name Cory Joseph as the runner-up to Selby. Joseph, another freshman who has been trying to live up to his hype, hit a turnaround jump shot with 1.4 seconds left Saturday to earn his horns. The Longhorns defeated North Carolina, 78-76, in Greensboro, N.C., thanks to the big basket by Joseph, who had a season-high 21 points as Texas won its third consecutive game. Look for much more to come from the Texas freshman.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Tuesday, Dec. 21
UNLV vs. Kansas State
Lon Kruger was one of coach Jack Hartman’s best players at Kansas State and was Big Eight player of the year in 1973 and 1974. Now Kruger brings his defensive-minded UNLV team into the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., for a homecoming (of sorts) against his alma mater. Should be a good one.

Wednesday, Dec. 22
Texas at Michigan State
Freshman Cory Joseph grew up a whole lot with his clutch jump shot that defeated North Carolina on Saturday. It was a big win for the Longhorns, who now continue their rugged schedule in Sparty Nation. Michigan State will be trying to avoid its fourth loss of the season.

Missouri vs. Illinois
Missouri has won five straight since that OT loss to Georgetown in Kansas City. Now the Tigers travel to St. Louis to take on their rivals from Illinois. The Illini figure to be a bit angry after losing to Illinois-Chicago 57-54 on Saturday.

Kansas at Cal
The Jayhawks are 10-0 and can improve to 4-0 against Pac-10 teams with a win against the Bears. Josh Selby gets to wear the Kansas road uniform for the first time.

Thursday, Dec. 23
Georgetown at Memphis
Georgetown is 10-1 with a loss to Temple. Memphis is 8-1 with a loss to Kansas in the Jimmy V Classic. Hoyas begin Big East play Dec. 29 at Notre Dame.

Sunday, Dec. 26
Richmond at Seton Hall
Seton Hall’s final tune-up before Big East play comes against a Richmond team that just lost to Georgia Tech.

THEY SAID IT

“We did a lot of things to hurt ourselves. We missed a lot of easy shots. Defensively we were getting lost. We didn’t stick to our game plan. Toward the end of the game we fell apart with it.” — Kansas State guard Jacob Pullen, after the Wildcats shot 27 percent and lost to Florida 57-44.

“I still don’t think we’re as good as our ranking. I really don’t, but I think we could get there.” — Villanova coach Jay Wright, after the No. 10 Wildcats defeated Delaware 78-59.

“That’s his prerogative. I coach the game. He has a whistle. If he wants to throw me out of a game, that’s what is in his mind.” —– Kentucky coach John Calipari, after referee Mike Stuart called two quick technical fouls and ejected Calipari with 6:26 left in an 85-60 victory over Mississippi Valley State.

“UCLA was physical and strong. We really didn’t have an answer for their size. That’s as physical as we’ve been guarded with size all year.” – BYU coach Dave Rose, after an 86-79 loss to UCLA

“We’re not scared of anybody. We weren’t intimidated by the No. 7 team in the country because we had just played Michigan State, and we should have won that game. We had just played Illinois, and we could have won that game. I think those are big and can help us.” — Oakland coach Greg Kampe after his team’s 89-82 victory over No. 7 Tennessee.

NOTES

Weber State has a big game Tuesday against nationally ranked BYU and All-American candidate Jimmer Fredette. But the Wildcats will be without guard Damian Lillard, their leading scorer and the reigning MVP in the Big Sky Conference. Lillard will have season-ending surgery to repair a fracture of the fifth metatarsal of his right foot. The injury was suffered in an overtime loss at Tulsa on Thursday. Lillard will need 10 to 12 weeks to allow the bone to heal after surgery on Dec. 26. Lillard averaged 21.5 points a game and ranked 20th in the nation in scoring.

Like so many rules that end up in the NCAA manual, the one that led to a one-game suspension for Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was well intentioned but possibly ill-conceived. It turns out Michigan State employed someone associated with a potential recruit. The person was paid $475 for five days working with middle school students. The NCAA reportedly viewed the incident as secondary and Izzo missed Saturday’s game against Prairie View A&M. Izzo, of course, handled the situation with class, accepted his penalty and moved on. MSU athletic director Mark Hollis said the only way to ensure a violation of the same sort could not happen again was to eliminate summer camps. The sad part is Izzo’s good name getting dragged through the mud. This clearly was an inadvertent act, without connection to agents or runners. A private warning to Izzo and Michigan State would have been enough. The NCAA needs to understand that young players today have a lot of “business” relationships these days. The difference between right and wrong often requires better definition in the rules book. Special attention should be focused on the intent of a rule.

The big question in Lawrence, Kan., last week focused on who would be the odd man out when Josh Selby made his debut. Guard Mario Little might have answered that when he was arrested on charges of battery, criminal damage and criminal trespassing — and then was suspended indefinitely by coach Bill Self. Reportedly, Little was nowhere near Allen Fieldhouse Saturday when the Jayhawks defeated USC. This falls under the category of “stay tuned.”

Who had the worst week? Oregon State, with a 71-66 loss at Montana (Big Sky) and an 87-79 home loss to George Washington? Or Auburn, with a 61-49 loss at South Florida and a 62-59 home loss to Presbyterian (Big South)? That’s a tough one.

Note to John Wooden, the late, great UCLA coach: Your record-breaking win streak is safe with me. Records from the men’s game and records from the women’s game should be kept separate. This has nothing to do with gender bias. It has everything to do with the fact they are different sports that just happen to share the name of basketball. The streak by the UConn women is impressive in its own right, but never, ever should have been compared to anything else.

Ken Davis is the author of Basketball Vault books covering the history of the University of Kansas and the University of Connecticut. Both are available through the publisher
(http://www.whitmanvaultbooks.com/) and autographed copies are available at Ken’s web page (http://kendavis55.wordpress.com/).