Washington Pounds Cal; Rules the PAC-10

College Hoops Player of the Day for Sunday, January 16, 2011

Isaiah Thomas led all scorers with a season-high 27 points and distributed the ball with 13 assists - a career high - as the Washington Huskies cruised to a 92-71 win at Cal.

The chief beneficiaries of Thomas' largesse were Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Justin Holiday, who scored 22 and 23 points, respectively. The 13-4 Huskies raced out to a 48-33 lead at the half, holding the Golden Bears at bay for the win. In five conference wins, the Huskies have soundly defeated their opponents, with three of the wins coming on the road - at USC, UCLA and Cal - winning by an average margin of 17.4 points. Their lone loss was a 58-56 setback at Stanford last week.

The Huskies lead the PAC-10 race by 1/2 game over Arizona (4-1), whom they face on Thursday, Jan. 20.

NOTABLE: West Virginia continues to prove one of the toughest unranked teams from the Big East. On Sunday, they held sway at home, topping #8 Purdue, 68-64, improving to 12-4, while giving the Boilermakers their 3rd loss against 15 wins.

The Big East was also the stage for the upset du jour, where the upstart St. John's Red storm sent Notre Dame back to Indiana with a 72-54 thumping. St. John's improved to 4-2 in the conference and 11-5 overall.

For the celebration of Martin Luther King Day, ESPN will be airing a quartet of exceptional match-ups. The festivities get underway at 3:30 pm with #7 Villanova at #10 UConn, followed by #21 Kansas State at #15 Missouri at 5:30 pm. At 7:30, the highlight of the day, as the 5th-ranked Pitt Panthers host undefeated #4 Syracuse. The hoops-junkie delight finishes up with #3 Kansas at Baylor at 9:30 pm. All times are Eastern.

Varnado Needs Support; Thomas, Henry Stand Out

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, November 13, 2009

It's a shame that Jarvis Varnado doesn't have much of a supporting cast at #18 Mississippi State, because h's got the kind of talent that can make an impact come tournament time. In their season opener, the Bulldogs relied too heavily on Varnado, their 6'9" senior forward, an came up short against little-known Rider College from New Jersey, losing, 88-74.

It wasn't for lack of effort from Varnado, who hit all 8 of his shots from the floor, knocked down 6 of 8 free throws, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked 7 shots. His 22 points led all scorers, but his teammates shot a losing 18-54 from the field, a 33.3% performance that isn't going to get the job done in the SEC or any other conference, for that matter. Keep an eye on Jarvis, though, as he'll likely be heading to the pros next season.

Notable: Sophomore Isaiah Thomas poured in 30 points for the #14 Huskies as Washington topped pesky Wright State, 74-69 to open their 2009-10 campaign. Thomas, no relation to the former Detroit Piston star by the same name (different spelling: Isiah), led the Huskies in scoring in 08-09 and is off to a smart start, hitting 7 of 14 from the field, including 2 of 7 from 3-point range and 14 of 18 freebies.

#1 Kansas wasted no time in establishing themselves as the team to beat in the Big 12, with a 101-65 thumping of tiny Hofstra. The Jayhawks showed off their top recruit, freshman guard Xavier Henry, who led the scoring parade with 27 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including 5-of-8 from outside the arc and 6-6 from the charity stripe. The sharpshooting guard did all his damage in a mere 24 minutes of floor time.