Cougars Slash Aztecs; Buckeyes Stand Alone

College Hoops Player of the Day for Wednesday, January 26, 2011

BYU, the 9th-ranked team in the nation, mauled #4 San Diego State, 71-58, as Jimmer Fredette pumped in 43 points - a point more than he had in his last game and his second-highest single-game point total of the season - leaving the Ohio State Buckeyes as the only undefeated team in college basketball.

The Cougars, facing San Diego State for the first time this season, took advantage of home court with the nation's top scorer (27.4 ppg), busting the game open late in the second half. Fredette had one of his best performances of the season, hitting 14-of-24 from the field, with five three-pointers. He also nailed 10-of-11 from the foul line. The 43 points was surpassed only by the 47 he put up at Utah on January 11.

BYU (20-1, 6-0) has won 10 straight, and 14 in a row at home, extending back into last season. San Diego State dropped to 20-1, and 5-1 in the Mountain West, where they now trail the Cougars by a game. The rematch comes February 26 at San Diego State.

NOTABLE: The Big East keeps surprising everybody with its depth as upsets continue to pour in this week. Notre Dame knocked off Pitt on Monday; Seton Hall dumped Syracuse, Tuesday, so it was fitting the Providence took the measure of #8 Villanova, 83-68, Wednesday night. The Friars, just 2-6 in conference games, sent the Wildcats to their second conference loss and a 5-2 record, tied with Louisville and UConn for second place in the Big East, behind 7-1 Pittsburgh.

Buckeyes Pound Purdue; Buford Leads with 19 Points

College Hoops Player of the Day for Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Although the game was billed as a Top 25 match-up with intriguing conference implications, Purdue's visit to #1 Ohio State quickly turned from a contest to a rout, with the Buckeyes cementing their hold on the top spot in the polls and the Big Ten with a one-sided, 87-64 victory that was a done deal within the first fifteen minutes.

Ohio State used an 11-0 run to establish a 20-point half time lead which ballooned to as many as 31 in the second frame. Though JaJuan Johnson led all scorers with 22 points, Will Buford was the best of six double-figure scorers for the Buckeyes, with 19 points on deadeye shooting. The Ohio State junior was 6-for-8 from the field, including 5-for-6 on three-point shots.

The top-ranked Buckeyes improved to 21-0 and 8-0 in the Big Ten. Purdue, their closest pursuer, is 6-2. Yhe Buckeyes, along with #4 San Diego State, are the only unbeaten teams in the nation.

NOTABLE: While Ohio State looks to make a shambles of the Big Ten, the Big East gets more interesting and contentious by the day. After Notre Dame knocked off Pitt on Monday, Seton Hall went into the Carrier Dome and absolutely decimated Syracuse, 90-68, sending the Orange to their third straight loss following an 18-0 start to their season. Jeremy Hazell, back from a wrist injury that sidelined him for 13 games, led the scoring parade with 28 points.

Hansbrough, Irish Burn #2 Pitt

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, January 24, 2011

On a day in which the Pitt Panthers rose to the #2 team in the national polls, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame invaded the Peterson Events Center and spoiled the fun with a slowdown offense and a big night from senior guard Ben Hansbrough.

What Notre Dame did with its aptly-named Burn offense - which relates to "burning the clock" - was to slow down the pace and use up 25 of the 35 seconds on the shot clock before going into their offense. The tactic worked well enough to keep the Irish within five points (28-23) at the half, after which they turned loose their point guard.

Hansbrough scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half, as Notre Dame assumed the lead and kept the Panthers at bay. He scored 13 of the last 18 points for the Irish, mostly on drives to the hoop from the top of the key. The slowdown offense and Hansbrough's deft ball-handling resulted in a huge, 56-51, road win for the 16th-ranked Irish and the end of a 20-game home winning streak for Pitt.

Leuer, Gasser Lead #18 Badgers over Northwestern

College Hoops Player of the Day for Sunday, January 23, 2011

When Jon Leuer is hitting his shots, the Wisconsin Badgers are tough to beat. That became evident early on in Sunday's tilt at Northwestern. Leuer hit eight of his ten shots, including a 2-for-2 effort from 3-point land, for a game-high 19 points in just 21 minutes of floor time. The Badgers stormed to a 45-26 lead at the half and cruised to a 78-46 victory as freshman Josh Gasser recorded the first triple-double in school history with 10 points, 10 assists and 12 rebounds.

The Badgers improved to 15-4 overall and 5-2 in the Big Ten, good for third place in the conference standings, behind 7-0 Ohio State and 6-1 Purdue. The Boilermakers play at Ohio state this Tuesday night.

Brown Scores 23 as Longhorns Cut Down Kansas

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, January 22, 2011

Led by sophomore J'Covan Brown's 23 points, the Texas Longhorns stormed Phog Allen Fieldhouse and snapped the nation's longest home winning streak, knocking off #2 Kansas, 74-63.

The streak had gone 69 games, since a 69-64 loss to Texas Tech on February 3, 2007, but the Longhorns didn't look like the team to break it in the early going. Kansas opened the game on a 10-0 run and led 35-23 as the teams left the court after one half.

The second half was all Texas, as the #10 Longhorns outscored the Jayhawks, 51-28, completely turning the game around. Brown hit a pair of three-pointers on consecutive trips to give Texas the lead and Jordan Hamilton, who had 17 points and 9 rebounds, helped the Longhorns build and maintain their advantage down the stretch.

Coming off the bench, Brown hit 6-of-10 shots, including 3-of-6 threes. He was 8-of-10 from the foul line. His game-high scoring burst was also his season high.

The loss by Kansas was their first of the year, after 18 straight wins, leaving just #1 Ohio State and #6 San Diego State - both 20-0 - as the only unbeaten teams in the country. Texas (16-3) now supplants the Jayhawks in first place in the Big 12, at 4-0.

NOTABLE: The Syracuse loyal jammed the Carrier Dome with the largest crowd this season to see a college basketball game (33,736), but #7 Villanova hit their three-pointers and handed the #3 Orange their second straight loss, 83-72. Winning in the dome seems to be becoming a habit for the Wildcats. No Big East team has more wins in the building than they do.

Elsewhere, #1 Ohio State won a nick-and-tuck road contest over the 20th-ranked Fighting Illini, 73-68. The Buckeyes look like a sure bet to remained ranked at the top for the second consecutive week.

#8 Connecticut handled Tennessee, 72-61 and #5 Pitt easily outdistanced DePaul, 80-50, and #4 Duke won, 83-59 at Wake Forest.

On the losing end, Vanderbilt got the measure of #22 St. Mary's, 89-70, hitting 52% from the filed and 50% (11-of-22) from three-point range. In Providence, the Friars upended Louisville, 72-67.

Matt Howard Turns in another Strong Performance for Butler

College Hoops Player of the Day for DAY, Month, 2011

Butler's senior leader, Matt Howard - who was the Horizon League's Player of the Year as a sophomore - is making a bid for the same honor this season.

Through Friday night's 81-75 win over Wisconsin-Green Bay, Howard led the Bulldogs in scoring, rebounding, steals and blocks, and, conference-wide, was second in both scoring and rebounding.

Howard aided his cause, and that of the Bulldog's quest for their fifth straight Horizon League regular season title, with 29 points and 16 boards, leading Butler to their 14th win against 6 losses. Tied with Cleveland State and Wright State (who beat Butler, 69-64, this past Sunday) in second place at 6-2 in the Horizon, the trio is chasing 7-1 Valparaiso for the league's top spot.

The Friday night effort by Howard was his fifth double-double of the season. He's scored in double figures in 18 of Butler's 20 games this season.

Butler defeated Valparaiso, 76-59, back on January 1st, and the two teams will meet in a rematch - at Valparaiso - on January 29, the first of three straight road games for the Bulldogs.

Badgers Take Down Hoosiers behind Taylor's 28

College Hoops Player of the Day for Thursday, January 20, 2011

One of just two Top 25 teams in action on Thursday - the other was #20 Washington, which dispatched Arizona, 85-68, and retained the PAC-10 lead - the Wisconsin Badgers got a bit of a test from Indiana, but in the end managed to prevail at home, 69-60.

Led by their signature defense, the Badgers turned around a 34-30 deficit at the half with ball pressure and timely scoring, getting a career high 28 points from junior guard Jordan Taylor, who hit 9-of-15 shots from the field, including three treys and went 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.

Taylor also handled eight rebounds and dished four assists.

The Badgers improved to 14-4 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten. They are currently tied for third place with Michigan State and Illinois behind 6-0 Ohio State and 5-1 Purdue. They've won 14 straight games at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Longhorns Bust Up Aggies on Jordan Hamilton's 27

College Hoops Player of the Day for Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Jordan Hamilton had 27 points and 8 rebounds and the #10 Texas Longhorns prevailed in their showdown with #11 Texas A&M, bruising the Aggies, 81-60.

The Longhorns opened with a flurry, while the Aggies couldn't get the ball in the bucket, opening a 20-5 lead at the start of the contest. From there. A&M tried to rein in the Texas shooters, and got to within five points, but could not get much closer than their 39-27 half time deficit after the Longhorns went on another scoring spurt.

Hamilton, Texas' leading scorer, hit 10-of-14 shots from the field, including three 3-pointers. He was part of a Longhorn front court assault aided by 18 points from freshman Tristan Thompson and 14 by senior Gary Johnson.

Texas shot 58% for the game and also canned 19-of-22 free throws. The Longhorns outrebounded the Aggies, 33-25 and produced 16 assists to the Aggies' 7.

The result left Texas tied with Kansas for the Big 12 lead at 3-0. A&M and Colorado sit 1/2 game behind, at 3-1. The win broke a 13-game Aggie win streak and boosted the Texas record to 15-3 overall. The A&M loss was just their second of the season, leaving them at 16-2. They were last beaten by Boston College, 67-65.

Kentucky Stumped by Alabama, 68-66; Green Leads with Double-Double

College Hoops Player of the Day for Tuesday, January 18, 2011

One look at the SEC standings is not enough to understand what's going on in this topsy-turvy conference. The only ranked team, #12 Kentucky, is a mere 2-2, having lost both of their road games - to Georgia on January 8, and Tuesday night at Alabama, 68-66.

The Wildcats, a team that usually has its way against less-basketball-minded SEC opponents, is very good, but also very youthful, depending largely on three freshmen to carry the scoring load.

Facing the Crimson Tide on Tuesday, the three kids - Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb and Brandon Knight - got their points (17, 16 and 14, respectively), but came up a field goal short against Alabama, the team that appears to be their chief rival in the conference.

Leading the wave for the Tide was junior JaMychal Green, the 6'8" forward who was unstoppable in the paint for much of the evening's festivities. Green led all scorers with 18 points and had 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. The Tide led by as many as 20 points in the second half and had to hold on for dear life as the Wildcats unleashed a furious comeback, ending with Jones launching a shot from 45 feet as the buzzer sounded.

The shot wasn't close and Alabama survived what may have been a "must win" kind of game for them, improving to 11-7 after early-season losses to Seton Hall, Iowa, Purdue and Providence, among others.

But that's what the roster of SEC teams looks like. Lots of 4, 5 , 6 and 7-loss records, spread evenly throughout the league. If Kentucky continues to flail about on the road, expect others, notably Arkansas, Florida and Mississippi State to pick up the slack and find their ways into the national rankings.

While the SEC may send only three to five teams to the NCAA tourney in March, those who do arrive will have been well-seasoned and through the grinder of one of the more overlooked, but most contentious conferences in the country.

Robinson Leads Panthers Past Orange, 74-66

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, January 17, 2011

The greatly-anticipated Big East showdown between #3 Syracuse and #5 Pitt turned into a circus when Pitt scored the first 19 points of the game and then Syrcuse returned the favor by scoring 17 straight. When it was all sorted out in the second half, the superior rebounding ability of the Panthers - who outrebounded the Orange 44-30 - and the exceptional interior play of Nasir Robinson, resulted in a 74-66 home victory for the Panthers and the first loss of the season for the Orange.

Robinson scored a season-high 21 points to lead all scorers, hitting on 8-of-12 shots from the field, mostly within three feet of the hoop. He also added 7 rebounds as the Panthers took control of the Big East standings. They now lead the conference at 6-0, while the Orange drop to 5-1. Both teams are 18-1 overall.

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.

Aggies Down Missouri in OT for 13th Straight Win

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, January 15, 2011

It was #15 at #14 when the Missouri Tigers met the Texas A&M Aggies at College Station on Saturday, and for a while it looked as though the lower-ranked Tigers were going to have their way, but the Aggies surged late to tie the game at 77 and win it, 91-89, in overtime.

Sophomore forward Khris Middleton scored 11 of his team's 14 point in the extra session, finishing with a game-high 28 points for the Aggies' 13th straight win, a 3-0 record in the Big 12 and a share of first place.

Middleton hit 9-of-16 shots, including a pair of threes, plus canned 8-of-10 from the foul line. He also had seven rebounds and four assists. The Aggies haven't lost a game since a 67-65 loss to Boston College on November 25. Middleton has scored in double figures in all but three A&M contests. The Aggies are 16-1

Gaels' Glover hits for 25 with 17 Boards in OT Win at Rider

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, January 14, 2011

with the major conferences idle Friday nights, it provides CBD a peek at some of the better teams from small conference, like the Metro Atlantic, the eventual champion of which will receive an automatic NCAA Tournament invitation.

At the top are Fairfield, which suffered its initial loss in the conference on Friday, losing a heartbreaker, 66-65, at Loyola which snapped an 11-game winning streak. The Stags are 5-1 in the conference, 12-4 overall and tied with Iona for the Metro lead.

Iona was pushed to the limit at Rider College, finally escaping with a 100-96 win in overtime. Topping both scoring and rebounding stat columns for the game was Michael Glover, the Gaels' 6'7" forward who dropped in 25 points and ripped down 17 boards in the win.

Averaging a double-double (21.5, 10.5), Glover accomplished the feat for the 11th time this season and equalled his career best in rebounding. While the Gaels improved to 5-1, Rider dropped to 4-2 in the Metro, so there's more drama to come from this mostly Northeast urban conference.

The Gaels play at Fairfield on February 4 and finish their regular season at home with a visit from the Stags on February 27. Those two games are likely to go a long way toward providing a regular season champion unless Rider rises and continues to compete.