College Men's Basketball Capsules: Kansas still No. 1 in AP poll; Syracuse No. 10
Syracuse was so impressive in the 2K Sports Classic that it made one of the best entrances ever into The Associated Press' college basketball poll.
The Orange, who beat California and North Carolina by an average of 19 points in winning the tournament at Madison Square Garden, went from unranked to No. 10 on Monday, the third-best jump-in in poll history.
Kansas was still the runaway No. 1 and Michigan State and Texas held on to second and third in the second poll of the regular season, but that's where the changes started after a week that saw six ranked teams lose, including California and Dayton, which both lost twice and dropped out.
Notre Dame (4-0) and Vanderbilt (2-0) moved into the rankings this week at No. 23 and 24, respectively, while Georgia Tech also fell out.
Kansas (3-0) received 56 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel, while Michigan State (4-0) had seven and Texas (2-0) got one. Syracuse received the other vote for No. 1.
Villanova, which won the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, and Kentucky, which wasn't impressive in wins over Miami of Ohio, Sam Houston State and Rider, switched places at fourth and fifth. Purdue moved up one spot to sixth and Duke moved up two to seventh.
West Virginia held eighth and Tennessee moved up one place to ninth.
Then came the Orange, who beat then-No. 13 California 95-73 and then-No. 6 North Carolina 87-71 in the tournament that benefits Coaches vs. Cancer.
"I just watched the tape of the second half of the Carolina game and it was unbelievable," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said Monday of the half that started with a 22-1 run.
The Orange didn't look anything like the team that lost an exhibition game to Division II LeMoyne earlier in the month.
"I just wanted to find out if we could play some man-to-man this year. LeMoyne executed well and they have a nice team. We played man-to-man and realized we can't. We tried to play 10 guys and realized we can't," Boeheim said of the exhibition loss. "We learned from that, went back to working on the zone and intensified it a bit and came right out against Albany and Robert Morris and played really good defense. The defense is better than the past few years. The offense could be, but the defense is better and that's what has been the difference."
The most impressive move from unranked to ranked was Kansas' jump in to No. 4 in 1989 after beating No. 2 LSU, No. 1 UNLV and No. 25 St. John's in the Preseason NIT.
Second on the list was Arizona coming in at No. 8 in 2001 following wins over No. 2 Maryland and No. 7 Florida in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and a victory over No. 23 Texas.
North Carolina, which has one starter back from last season's national championship team, dropped to 11th and was followed by Butler, Connecticut, Washington, Michigan, Louisville, Ohio State, Georgetown, Clemson and Illinois.
Maryland was No. 21, followed by Minnesota, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma.
California (2-2) dropped out from 13th after the semifinal loss to Syracuse and a 76-70 loss to Ohio State in the third-place game.
Dayton (2-2) beat Georgia Tech 63-59 in the opening round of the tournament in Puerto Rico then lost 71-65 to Villanova and 83-75 to Kansas State 83-75 and fell out from 18th.
Even though Georgia Tech rallied from the loss to Dayton with wins over George Mason and Boston University, the Yellow Jackets dropped out from 21st.
The other ranked teams to lose last week were Ohio State to North Carolina in the 2K Sports Classic semifinals and Oklahoma, which lost at Virginia Commonwealth.
Syracuse and Notre Dame join Villanova, West Virginia, Connecticut, Louisville and Georgetown to give the Big East seven teams in the Top 25, two off the record the 16-team conference set in the Jan. 5, 2009 poll.
The AP Top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 22, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:
| Record | Pts | Pvs | |
| 1. Kansas (56) | 3-0 | 1,613 | 1 |
| 2. Michigan St. (7) | 4-0 | 1,538 | 2 |
| 3. Texas (1) | 2-0 | 1,439 | 3 |
| 4. Villanova | 5-0 | 1,397 | 5 |
| 5. Kentucky | 4-0 | 1,333 | 4 |
| 6. Purdue | 3-0 | 1,314 | 7 |
| 7. Duke | 4-0 | 1,163 | 9 |
| 8. West Virginia | 1-0 | 1,133 | 8 |
| 9. Tennessee | 4-0 | 1,040 | 10 |
| 10. Syracuse (1) | 4-0 | 1,013 | — |
| 11. North Carolina | 4-1 | 914 | 6 |
| 12. Butler | 3-0 | 872 | 11 |
| 13. Connecticut | 3-0 | 850 | 12 |
| 14. Washington | 4-0 | 844 | 14 |
| 15. Michigan | 2-0 | 672 | 15 |
| 16. Louisville | 3-0 | 486 | 20 |
| 17. Ohio St. | 3-1 | 466 | 15 |
| 18. Georgetown | 3-0 | 418 | 19 |
| 19. Clemson | 3-0 | 408 | 22 |
| 20. Illinois | 3-0 | 366 | 23 |
| 21. Maryland | 3-0 | 296 | 25 |
| 22. Minnesota | 3-0 | 292 | 24 |
| 23. Notre Dame | 4-0 | 117 | — |
| 24. Vanderbilt | 2-0 | 108 | — |
| 25. Oklahoma | 2-1 | 107 | 17 |
Others receiving votes: Gonzaga 90, Florida St. 84, Georgia Tech 76, California 72, Mississippi 67, Xavier 67, Oklahoma St. 59, Memphis 56, Florida 52, Kansas St. 49, Wake Forest 49, Dayton 48, BYU 42, Tulsa 31, Miami 24, Texas A&M 10, Missouri 8, Mississippi St. 7, Old Dominion 7, Pittsburgh 6, UNLV 5, South Carolina 4, Temple 4, Baylor 3, Arizona St. 1, Cal St.-Fullerton 1, Harvard 1, New Mexico 1, Siena 1, Va. Commonwealth 1.
USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Poll
The top 25 teams in the USA Today-ESPN men's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 22, points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:
| Record | Pts | Pvs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Kansas (28) | 3-0 | 772 | 1 |
| 2. Michigan State (2) | 4-0 | 734 | 2 |
| 3. Texas | 2-0 | 698 | 3 |
| 4. Villanova | 5-0 | 655 | 6 |
| 5. Kentucky | 4-0 | 642 | 5 |
| 6. Purdue | 3-0 | 588 | 7 |
| 7. Duke (1) | 4-0 | 587 | 8 |
| 8. West Virginia | 1-0 | 532 | 9 |
| 9. Syracuse | 4-0 | 481 | 24 |
| 10. Butler | 3-0 | 475 | 10 |
| 11. Tennessee | 4-0 | 464 | 11 |
| 12. North Carolina | 4-1 | 447 | 4 |
| 13. Connecticut | 3-0 | 405 | 13 |
| 14. Washington | 4-0 | 383 | 14 |
| 15. Michigan | 2-0 | 339 | 16 |
| 16. Minnesota | 3-0 | 233 | 18 |
| 16. Louisville | 3-0 | 233 | 22 |
| 18. Ohio State | 3-1 | 219 | 15 |
| 19. Clemson | 3-0 | 205 | 23 |
| 19. Georgetown | 3-0 | 205 | 20 |
| 21. Illinois | 3-0 | 131 | 25 |
| 22. Maryland | 3-0 | 99 | — |
| 23. California | 2-2 | 71 | 12 |
| 24. Vanderbilt | 2-0 | 67 | — |
| 25. Georgia Tech | 3-1 | 56 | 19 |
Others receiving votes: Oklahoma 53, Wake Forest 40, Gonzaga 26, Oklahoma State 24, Brigham Young 23, Florida State 20, Dayton 18, Notre Dame 18, UNLV 18, Miami 16, LSU 15, Pittsburgh 12, Tulsa 12, Xavier 12, Memphis 11, Mississippi 10, Kansas State 8, Texas A&M 8, Florida 3, Missouri 3, Saint Mary's 2, New Mexico 1, Siena 1.
Monday's Top 25 Games
Moore leads No. 6 Purdue over No. 9 Tennessee
ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands — Purdue coach Matt Painter said he thought the team with the ball last would win the game.
Technically, he was right: Kelsey Barlow of the sixth-ranked Boilermakers chased down Wayne Chism's miss from the top of the key with 2 seconds left to secure a 73-72 victory over No. 9 Tennessee on Monday night in the title game of the Paradise Jam.
"That was a great college basketball game right there," Painter said moments after the Boilermakers (4-0) stormed the court to celebrate before the capacity crowd at the University of Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center. "We were very fortunate to pull that out."
Barlow missed two free throws with 17.6 seconds remaining to give the Volunteers (4-1) an opportunity to set up the possible game-winning shot.
Tennessee point guard Bobby Maze, who had 13 points, looked to penetrate. Painter had anticipated as much, and Purdue turned Maze away, forcing a kick-out pass to Chism at the top of the key, beyond the 3-point arc.
"That's a shot we'll take every time," Maze said.
The 6-foot-9 Chism scored 24 points, hitting 8 of 13 shots from the field and going 7 of 7 from the free throw line.
The Boilermakers led 42-41 after a tightly contested first half and appeared to took charge just past the midway point of the second half.
E'Twaun Moore, who scored 22 points and was named the tournament MVP, had a steal and layup that gave Purdue a 59-58 lead with 9:06 remaining. He capped the 8-0 run with a jumper that put Purdue up 64-59 with 6:16 left.
"E'Twaun got into a nice rhythm early," Painter said. "He made a couple of big shots, and he stayed really aggressive."
Robbie Hummel scored 20 points for the Boilermakers, and JaJuan Johnson added 11 despite playing 18 minutes before fouling out.
"It was a physical game, but it would have been even more physical if both teams weren't a little fatigued from playing (Sunday) night," Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said. "I thought both teams played very well, and I thought we played well enough to win."
Joining Moore on the all-tournament team were Hummel, Chism, Tyler Smith of Tennessee, DePaul's Will Walker and Northern Iowa's Kwadzo Ahelegbe.
No. 11 UNC beats Gardner-Webb 93-72
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Roy Williams admits he's thrown a lot at his young North Carolina players to get them ready for the season. It sounds like he's about to demand a little more from them.
Deon Thompson matched his career high with 22 points to help the 11th-ranked Tar Heels beat Gardner-Webb 93-72 on Monday night, bouncing back from their first loss of the season with a relatively easy win against an overmatched nonconference opponent.
Tyler Zeller added 16 points off the bench for the Tar Heels (5-1), who led by double digits most of the way and had little trouble with the instate Big South Conference program. It was the 599th victory for Williams, now in his seventh year at his alma mater following 15 seasons in Kansas.
Williams was pleased with his team's effort against the Runnin' Bulldogs (3-1) — even though the Tar Heels watched Grayson Flittner put on a 3-point shooting display that matched a Smith Center record — and said his team might have been a little tight early by trying to do everything perfectly after last week's loss to Syracuse.
But he also was frustrated with the Tar Heels' shaky free-throw shooting and 11 second-half turnovers.
"These kids, they're good kids, they care about what's going on," Williams said. "They're always concerned about what happened last game so I expected some of that.
"I did tell the guys in the huddle one time that we're getting close to that point that I'm not going to play everybody just because I like their smile, that you've got to produce when you get out there."
North Carolina was ranked sixth last week before falling to Syracuse 87-71 in the final of the 2K Sports Classic on Friday night in New York. The Tar Heels led by two at halftime of that game before watching the Orange open the second half with a 22-1 run to take control before finishing the game shooting 54 percent.
It reminded everyone that despite the fact the Tar Heels are more talented than the last time they had to reload following a national championship run, they are still young in key positions and still learning how to blend numerous skilled players into a cohesive unit.
For example, Williams experimented for the first time with playing sophomore point guard Larry Drew II and his backup, freshman Dexter Strickland, together for stretches.
"He's definitely trying to see who plays well together and who meshes well together," said Thompson, who had 10 rebounds. "Coach is still trying to find out what this team is about."
The Tar Heels' frontcourt production hasn't been much of a question mark, at least. Thompson, who scored his 1,000th point late in the first half, hit 9 of 11 shots while Ed Davis had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Zeller hit 6 of 8 shots and played through getting a small cut over his right eye early in the second half that required two stitches.
Behind that trio, North Carolina got 58 points in the paint and took just four 3-pointers for the entire game.
"When we're playing a team that their starting 4 (man) is 6-3, we're going to try to get the ball into the post," Davis said.
Flittner scored 32 points and hit nine 3-pointers to match the Smith Center record for any player. The Runnin' Bulldogs shot 38 percent, but hung around by hitting 15 of 36 3-point attempts.
"I thought our kids played hard, but obviously we were overmatched," Gardner-Webb coach Rick Scruggs said. "I mean, North Carolina is so big, long and athletic and it's hard as heck to play against those guys."
North Carolina led by 15 points at halftime and 21 points early in the second half. It shot 56 percent and took a 50-32 rebounding advantage against its undersized opponents, but made only 18 of 33 foul shots — the kind of performance that won't be good enough come Atlantic Coast Conference time.
Flittner hit six 3s in the first half, but the Tar Heels used a 12-0 run midway through the first half to build a 35-17 lead on a dunk by Davis off a turnover with 8:05 left. Zeller scored on a rebound just before halftime to make it 53-38.
The Tar Heels scored on three straight possessions to open the second half, pushing the margin to 59-38 on a stickback dunk by Davis with 18½ minutes left.
-- Aaron Beard
No. 16 Louisville surges by Appalchian State 80-53
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Rick Pitino wasn't looking for perfection during Louisville's run through the Hall of Fame Showcase.
Good thing, because he didn't get it. Not that he particularly cared after the 16th-ranked Cardinals completed a three-game sweep in the round-robin event with an 80-53 win over Appalachian State on Monday night.
For a team still searching for an identity after the departure of stars Earl Clark and Terrence Williams, winning convincingly while playing its third game in barely 48 hours will do.
"I think we had to get three wins, which we did," Pitino said after the Cardinals improved to 4-0. "This was a good basketball team we played, I think we just wore them down."
Samardo Samuels led a balanced attack with 16 points and Edgar Sosa and Preston Knowles added 11 points each for the Cardinals, who can complete their second undefeated November in Pitino's nine seasons with a win over UNLV on Saturday.
"It was a confidence booster for a lot of guys," Samuels said. "A lot of guys got to play and they can take a lot from that and mature. Every one that came in was a contributor. That's going to be big for us."
Freshman Rakeem Buckles added six points and 10 rebounds for the Cardinals, who pulled away in the second half.
"We've got so many weapons, it's really hard for teams to play against us," Louisville guard Peyton Siva said. "Out of the three games, we found out a lot about our weaknesses."
The Mountaineers exposed one of them in the first half, knocking down several 3-pointers early, forcing Pitino to abandon the 2-3 zone defense that was a staple of last year's Big East championship team.
Donald Sims led Appalachian State (2-3) with 19 points and Jeremi Booth had 14, but the Mountaineers couldn't keep pace when the Cardinals turned up the defensive pressure after halftime.
"They were just too much for us," Appalachian State coach Buzz Peterson said.
Louisville led 39-30 at halftime but slowly pulled away thanks to major contributions from role players like Buckles and Reggie Delk, who made two 3-pointers during a 17-7 run that put the Cardinals up 68-44 midway through the half.
The Cardinals used their distinct size advantage and superior depth to get off to their best start since 2005-06, when they opened 6-0.
That team was rebuilding coming off a Final Four appearance, and the Cardinals quickly faded as the season wore on and missed the NCAA tournament.
Pitino has decidedly higher expectations this year, but will need more of selfless play the Cardinals showcased in the second half.
Siva hit a 3-pointer to get Louisville going, Samuels added a hook shot and Sosa rolled in a layup as part of a 10-2 run to put the Cardinals up 49-32. Appalachian State managed to get it back to 12 points but couldn't withstand the constant wave of players Pitino sent onto the court.
All 14 Louisville players entered the game and 11 of them scored.
"I don't think these guys worry about who the stars will be," Pitino said. "One night it will be Samardo and then another night somebody else. It doesn't matter to them."
Delk, the nephew of former Kentucky star Tony Delk, continued his strong start to the season with eight points. Buckles, considered a project of sorts, helped Louisville outrebound the Mountaineers 37-26 and outscore them 30-6 in the paint.
By the time Kyle Kuric stepped in front of a pass and swooped in for a dunk, the Cardinals led 68-44 for their most decisive victory of the weekend.
Pitino had criticized his team for somewhat lethargic play in wins over East Tennessee State and Morgan State, but the Cardinals were crisp during the final 20 minutes of their three-day run.
Louisville held the Mountaineers to 32 percent shooting in the second half while forcing 11 turnovers.
"Our defense and our intensity picked up," Siva said. "You could see it in the crowd, they got restless and then we picked it up."
-- Will Graves
No. 19 Clemson takes care of Winthrop
CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson coach Oliver Purnell thinks his 19th-ranked Tigers can continue their November success, no matter the opponent.
The Tigers (4-0) won their 30th straight November game since 2005 with a 102-66 victory over Winthrop on Monday night. Next up, though, is the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif., featuring three other teams ranked in the Top 25.
Does Purnell think the Tigers can match up with the increased competition?
"Yeah, I do," he said. "Having said that, I haven't seen any of the teams. It might the Lakers waiting for us out there."
Right now, the Tigers feel they would even have something for Kobe Bryant and his teammates.
Trevor Booker had 15 points and 11 rebounds and five other Tigers scored in double figures in the team's fourth straight blowout victory. Their closest margin came in last Friday night's 89-67 win at UNC Greensboro.
Clemson starts the tournament Thursday against Texas A&M, then will take on either No. 8 West Virginia or Long Beach State on Friday.
"We're excited," Tigers forward Tanner Smith said. "We're ready, though. There are some good teams that are really going to give us challenges."
Clemson hasn't often been tested in college basketball's opening month. It's last November loss came in 2004 to future Atlantic Coast Conference member Boston College, 79-70.
Winthrop (2-2) tried to give the Tigers a game, but eventually got run out of Littlejohn Coliseum.
Booker, Clemson's 6-foot-7 senior, had a three-point play and fadeaway jumper as the Tigers broke on top 12-4 less than 4 minutes in. He really cranked it up to start the second half with six points in a 15-0 run that turned Clemson's comfortable margin into a blowout.
Booker had his second double-double this season and the 24th of his career.
After a first half slowed by a total of 30 fouls, the Tigers showed their flash to start the final 20 minutes.
Booker and Smith had baskets and David Potter hit a 3. Smith stole the ball on Winthrop's next possession, feeding a wide-open Booker for a left-handed jam that brought down the house.
Booker closed the spurt with a driving scoop shot that put the Tigers up 65-32. Purnell applauded his team when the Eagles called a timeout to try and cool off the run.
Purnell said the Tigers paid attention to taking care of the basketball and converting easy baskets during their run, something they didn't do earlier in the game.
"Plus we got to establish Book," Purnell said of his senior.
Potter, Noel Johnson and Andre Young had 12 points each, while Jerai Grant had 11 and Smith 10.
The Eagles' frustration showed. George Valentine was called for a first-half technical for an elbow to the face of Smith that left a bright, red mark. Winthrop coach Randy Peele later drew a technical as he complained to an official.
The Eagles won in their last visit to Littlejohn Coliseum in 2001. That's when Winthrop was flying high as a Big South Conference power with eight NCAA tournament appearances between 1999 and 2008.
These Eagles went 11-19 in 2008-09 — their first losing season since 1997-98.
Peele spent several minutes reminding his players of Winthrop's past and the legacy they must uphold.
"I didn't come to Clemson to get beat by 36 points," Peele said. "I'm disturbed by it."
The only drama down the stretch was if Clemson would top the 100-point mark for the first time since Dec. 23, 2006, when it beat Western Carolina 103-60.
Walk-on Jonah Baize hit a 3-pointer to give the Tigers 99 points with 1:06 left, then followed with another long-distance shot from the right corner with 11.5 seconds to go.
Justin Burton had 13 points for the Eagles, who committed 26 turnovers.
Grant, the 6-8 son of former Oklahoma standout Harvey and nephew of Tiger great Horace, took control of the inside with two dunks and two blocks.
Grant had a rebound dunk of a missed jumper by Demontez Stitt to put Clemson ahead 42-27.
Soon after the game, Clemson's players boarded a bus for Atlanta. They will fly to the West Coast on Tuesday morning.
Purnell's eager to see how they'll manage the three days.
"I think we've got a pretty good team," he said.
-- Peten Iacobelli
Mosley leads No. 21 Maryland over Chaminade
LAHAINA, Hawaii — Even though the game was played on a neutral court Maryland definitely felt like the unwelcome visitor.
Sean Mosley scored 19 points and the 21st-ranked Terrapins weathered a slow start and a raucous local crowd to beat Chaminade 79-51 on Monday night in the first round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
The Terrapins (4-0) advanced to a semifinal meeting on Tuesday with Cincinnati, which beat No. 24 Vanderbilt 67-58 in the first round.
"That first game is always tough in any tournament but especially in this situation," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "I thought Chaminade did a great job of creating an atmosphere out there. That was like playing a road game. And that was good for us because we've played three home games.
"It's easier to play at home, there's no doubt about it."
Chaminade, the Division II hosts of the tournament, dropped to 6-59 over 26 years.
The school, which is in Honolulu on Ohau, had perhaps college basketball's greatest upset on Dec. 23, 1982 when the then-NAIA Silverswords beat No. 1 Virginia and Ralph Sampson, 77-72 in Honolulu.
Shane Hanson had 14 points and Steven Bennett added 12 for the Silverswords (0-1).
Eric Hayes scored 12 points and Landon Milbourne had 10 for the Terrapins, who will have their hands full against Cincinnati, according to Williams.
"They're as good athletically as we'll play all year," Williams said of the Bearcats. "They work hard. They play with a pretty good deal of intensity."
So do the Silverswords. Chaminade forced turnovers on four of Maryland's first seven possessions, three by Greivis Vasquez, and Shane Hanson drained consecutive 3-pointers as the Silverswords went blow for blow with Maryland to a 14-all tie with 8:10 to play in the first half.
"That first half we were right there with them, a couple errors toward the end of the half and I think it could have been a little tighter," Chaminade coach Matt Mahar said. "They're big and they're strong and they shoot real well and they executed."
An acrobatic layup by Cliff Tucker with 7 minutes to go gave the Terrapins a two-point lead, one they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the way.
"I was worried. I'm always worried. Any game I've ever coached since JV high school," Williams said. "We're trying to get better at this time of year. Whoever the best team in November is doesn't really matter come March. You want to win in November, obviously, but you also want to continue to get better. I'm going to coach for 40 minutes and try to make us better."
Mosley scored seven points in Maryland's 22-12 run that gave it a 36-24 halftime lead.
The Terrapins came out strong in the second half, stringing together a 9-2 run fueled by four points from Mosley. Chaminade wasn't about to break, though, getting a three-point play from Matt Cousins and a transition layup by Steven Bennett to be within 48-35 with 14:06 to play.
Mosley continued dominating the boards, pulling down one of his eight rebounds and putting it back to extend the lead back to 14 before it quickly ballooned to as many as 30 with just under 4 minutes to play.
"I think the first half we were rushing a lot of shots, settling for a lot of jumpers," Mosley said. "The second half we came out and started attacking the basket more."
Vasquez, a preseason all-Atlantic Coast Conference selection, finished with six points on 2 of 6 shooting and had three turnovers and six assists.
Gates leads Cincinnati over No. 24 Vanderbilt
LAHAINA, Hawaii — Yancy Gates was ready to go as soon as breakfast was over.
The 6-foot-9, 260-pound forward scored 12 points in an 18-2 first-half run that set the tone for Cincinnati's 67-58 victory over No. 24 Vanderbilt on Monday in the first round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
"We were really focused at breakfast this morning," Gates said of the game that started at 12:30 p.m. "There wasn't a lot of running around. I felt ready to go from the tipoff. The players were asking me, 'Are you ready?' My game plan was to be ready to go on the glass. I was able to get out ahead and get some easy buckets. That really got me going."
Cincinnati will face No. 21 Maryland, which beat Division II Chaminade 79-51, in the semifinals on Tuesday.
"I think this is a statement game for us," Gates said. "We were actually watching it this morning, me and my roommate. We watched it and we saw they were No. 24 and that kind of gave me some incentive. We feel we needed to get the win and after breakfast some of the guys were texting about it."
Ranked for the first time since March 17, 2008, the Commodores (2-1) didn't come out like a team that broke into the Top 25 earlier Monday.
"The right team won. They were much more aggressive, much more physical," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. "We certainly congratulate them. They did the things to us we wanted to do to them."
Behind Gates, the Bearcats (3-0) broke from a 4-4 tie to take a 22-6 lead midway through the first half. Gates finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while reserve Dion Dixon added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
"I thought our players came out with tremendous effort today," Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. "That was the best defensive effort of the year. We finally played defense like we have in practice. Our rebounding was the best I have had as head coach here and our defensive rebounding carried us."
Jarmaine Beal had 16 points for Vanderbilt, which was 14 of 51 (27.5 percent) from the field.
The Bearcats outrebounded the Commodores 53-32.
Stallings, who got a technical foul in the second half, said it wasn't just Gates who dominated.
"We make all-stars out of everybody. We are just kind of used to that at this point it wasn't just him," Stallings said. "At halftime he had almost as many offensive rebounds as my team had defensive rebounds, so that is kind of embarrassing."
Cronin said his team was able to overcome its own poor shooting. The Bearcats were 27 of 68 (39.7 percent) for the game, including 3 of 15 from 3-point range.
"We were able to overcome a poor shooting effort and we are better shooting team than that," Cronin said. "It is encouraging to beat a Top 25 team when you shoot like that."
Elsewhere
Calipari encouraged by quickly maturing freshmen
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The gesture was a simple one, a nod of respect from one teammate to another.
It meant a whole lot more than that to Kentucky coach John Calipari.
After watching freshman reserve center Daniel Orton shine when starter DeMarcus Cousins ran into early foul trouble during a 92-63 win over Rider last Saturday, Calipari gave Cousins a choice.
"I was going to start DeMarcus and I said, 'You know what (assistant) coach (John) Robic, ask him if he wants to come off the bench or start," Calipari said.
The surprising answer left Calipari a bit stunned.
"He said 'Let Daniel start, he played well and I'll come off the bench,'" Calipari said.
Cousins hardly pouted, responding with 16 second-half points when he did come in as the fifth-ranked Kentucky improved to 4-0 heading into Tuesday's game against Cleveland State (3-1) in the Cancun Challenge. The winner will face Virginia or Stanford on Wednesday.
"Big step for our program," Calipari said of Cousins' unselfish act, stretching out the word "big" for emphasis. "Big step. That means they're starting to care about one another. That means they're starting to recognize when another guy plays well, 'Leave him alone, I'm not worried about me.'"
The show of maturity from Cousins gives Calipari hope that his talented freshman class is growing up ahead of schedule.
"I have a whole team of 18-year-olds," Calipari said. "It is a learning process for us all."
The players aren't the only ones getting an education. Calipari experimented against Rider, playing Orton and Cousins on the floor alongside junior forward Patrick Patterson.
The trio worked so well together — combining for 51 points on 20 of 30 shooting and using their size to dominate the overmatched Broncs — Calipari expects to use the lineup again this week.
"I'm going to play those guys because Daniel Orton deserves minutes and if DeMarcus Cousins is playing like he was, he deserves minutes," Calipari said. "And obviously Patrick has to play, so there's only one other way of playing them: playing them together and I have no problem doing that."
Neither does Patterson, who returned for his junior year rather than enter the NBA Draft so he could work on expanding his game in Calipari's "dribble-drive" offense. Patterson spent the first two years of his college career working relentlessly in the low block but has developed into a 3-point threat.
Patterson entered the season with exactly zero career 3-pointers. He has already knocked down three in four games and admits to texting former roommate and Kentucky sharpshooter Jodie Meeks about his improved marksmanship.
A consistent jump shot isn't the only thing Patterson is working on. He has shown a willingness to share the ball and he and Orton combined for two of the prettiest plays during the romp over Rider.
Patterson received the ball in the post the Broncs double-teamed him. Patterson quickly turned and lobbed a pass to a streaking Orton for a dunk. Several minutes later Orton returned the favor, passing out of a double-team to Patterson for a slam.
"That's going to be something you're going to see a lot throughout the year," Orton said. "Us being so big you have to go inside and destroy teams, and in doing that it's going to open up the outside for the guards to get open shots."
Yet for all the hype surrounding freshman star John Wall, Calipari stresses the Wildcats will only go as far as their big men will take them. In the 6-foot-9 Patterson, 6-foot-10 Orton and 6-foot-11 Cousins, there are few teams that can match up with Kentucky when all three are on the floor.
"We know when all three of us are out there, we can do something special," Patterson said. "We just have to focus on not being selfish and I'm trying to lead by example."
-- Will Graves
Foul! Study says hoop refs try to even the score
They don't all need glasses. But if you always suspected basketball referees are biased — well, you're right, according to a couple of professors who've studied the matter.
Refs favor the home team, the academics say. They're big on "make-up" calls. They make more calls against teams in the lead, and the discrepancy grows if the game is on national TV.
The professors studied 365 college games during the 2004-05 season and found that refs had a terrific knack for keeping the foul count even, regardless of which team was more aggressive.
Exhibit A: The 2005 Final Four meeting between Illinois and Louisville. The Illini, known for being more aggressive defensively, got whistled for the first seven fouls. By the end of the game, the foul count was Louisville 13, Illinois 12. The Illini won 72-57.
Results like this were the norm across all the games the professors studied from that season — from the Big East to the ACC to the Big Ten and all 63 NCAA tournament games. The take-home message for coaches: The more aggressive your teams the better because, in the end, the foul count is going to be about even no matter what.
It helps explain, the professors say, why college basketball has gotten increasingly physical over the past 25 years.
"Part of the reason for the study came from something my coach used to tell me," said study co-author Kyle Anderson, a visiting professor at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, who played at Division III Knox College. "He said a team can come in and push and shove and grab and hold, and by the end of the game, or end of the half, they've only got one or two more fouls because officials kind of get tired of calling it."
Among the key findings, which were published The Journal of Sports Sciences earlier this year:
—The probability of a foul being called on the visiting team was 7 percent higher than on the home team.
—When the home team is leading, the probability of the next foul being called on them was about 6.3 percentage points higher than when the home team was trailing. The professors also cited an earlier study that concluded there were more calls against teams ahead in games on national TV versus those ahead in locally televised games. Calling fouls against the leading team tends to keep games closer, the studies said.
—The bigger the difference in fouls between the two teams playing, the more likely it was that the next call would come against the team with fewer fouls. When the home team had five or more fouls than the visiting team, there was a 69 percent chance the visiting team would be whistled for the next foul.
As part of their 365-game sample, the professors looked at 93 games played on neutral courts, and the numbers remained largely the same when it came to leveling the foul count.
"There's something to it," said Irv Brown, a former official who worked six Final Fours and was supervisor of officials for the Western Athletic and Big Sky conferences. "If you're looking at the board and one team has a lot more fouls, you probably look a little harder to do something, subconsciously."
Brown said he used to experiment and try not to look at the scoreboard, but human nature dictates that referees will. Same for home-court advantage. Try as they might, there's no way a referee can completely block out thousands of fans yelling at him from close range.
"As an official, you get the reputation that you're tough on the road, and that's what you want," Brown said in a telephone interview last week. "But it takes a lot of years. You have to get established. Some guys who aren't established, you'll see them out there, trying to take some of the heat off, trying to take care of the home crowd."
Anderson said he talked to a number of referees as part of the research and the majority said "you're crazy. We don't do this."
"But a few others said, 'Yeah, I try to make it even out,'" Anderson said.
The NCAA asked for a copy of the study, and Anderson said he hasn't received any negative feedback — at least not yet.
The professors looked only at first halves because teams committing intentional fouls while in catch-up mode at the end of games skewed the second-half results.
Anderson and his co-author, David Pierce of Ball State, made it clear in the study that referees aren't intentionally trying to influence foul counts.
"We'd like them to have no memory and strictly call what's going on on the court," Anderson said. "But part of this is, if I'm a ref, I want everyone to think I'm fair and if I call 10 fouls on one team and two on the other, people are going to think something's going on here. It's sort of subconscious. And it points out one of the biggest problems with basketball is that it's a very hard game to officiate."
-- Eddie Pells
Knee injury likely ends USC F Cunningham's season
LOS ANGELES — Southern California forward Kasey Cunningham is expected to miss the rest of the season after tearing a ligament in his left knee.
The junior starter also tore the meniscus in his knee while grabbing a rebound in Saturday's loss to Loyola Marymount. He underwent an MRI on Monday at USC Hospital.
Cunningham's latest major injury is another blow for the Trojans' rebuilding program under coach Kevin O'Neill, who took over in June after Tim Floyd abruptly resigned.
Cunningham already has undergone three surgeries on his left knee, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament at least twice before. His 2007-08 season ended after nine games with a ligament injury, and he played just four games last season before tearing the same ligament.
Gators expect Tyus, Parsons to play against FSU
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida forward Alex Tyus is practicing again and ready to play after spraining his ankle last week against Troy. Chandler Parsons is still waiting to get back on the court.
Coach Billy Donovan says Tyus will play Tuesday night against Florida State. He believes Parsons will, too. But he's not sure what to expect after the 6-foot-9 forward missed two practices following a strained hip flexor against the Trojans.
Tyus injured his ankle late in Friday's 80-58 victory. He practiced Sunday without contact, but was cleared to go through contact Monday. Donovan says "he's going to be fine."
Tyus is averaging 8.3 points and 7.3 rebounds this season. Parsons, also hurt against Troy, is averaging 14.7 points and 8.3 boards.
SCarolina F Archie out indefinitely with hurt knee
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina forward Dominique Archie is out indefinitely with a sprained right knee. The senior hurt the knee in the first half of Sunday night's 85-70 loss to Miami.
Archie is second on the team in scoring at 14.4 points a game and leads the Gamecocks with six rebounds a game. Archie decided to return to South Carolina for his senior season after declaring for the NBA draft. Coach Darrin Horn says doctors will re-evaluate Archie later.
Marquette center Otule likely out for year
MILWAUKEE — Marquette University men's basketball coach Buzz Williams says sophomore center Chris Otule has fractured his right foot and will likely miss the remainder of the 2009-10 season.
Williams says Otule injured his foot during practice on Monday.
Otule appeared in all three of Marquette's games this season, and earned his first career start in a victory over Grambling State. Otule, of Richmond, Texas, was averaging 3.7 points and 2 rebounds per game. Otule missed the first 10 games of the 2008-09 season and played in just nine games overall after breaking a bone in his left foot.
Marquette had already lost freshman guard Junior Cadougan for the season to injury.
Duke's Smith, Georgia Tech's Favors honored by ACC
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Nolan Smith of Duke and Derrick Favors of Georgia Tech have captured the weekly honors in Atlantic Coast Conference basketball.
Smith was named player of the week after averaging averaging 22 points, six assists and four rebounds as the seventh-ranked Blue Devils took victories over Charlotte and Radford.
On the week, Smith shot 56 percent from the field, including 60 percent from three-point range.
Favors earned the rookie of the week award. The 6-foot-10 freshman forward averaged 14 points and seven rebounds while shooting 81 percent to lead the Yellow Jackets to wins in two of three games in last week's tournament in Puerto Rico.
Nevada's Joey Shaw WAC bkb player of week
RENO, Nev. — Nevada's Joey Shaw has been named the Western Athletic Conference men's basketball player of the week after averaging more than 20 points and nine rebounds in a pair of games last week.
The senior swing man who played a season in the Big Ten at Indiana had a career-high 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting in a 112-99 victory over Houston Saturday night. Earlier in the week, he had 15 points in the Wolf Pack's 88-75 loss at rival UNLV.
For the week, he shot 62 percent from the field, made half of his six attempts from 3-point range and missed only one of 13 from the free-throw line. He also had five assists over the two games.
The Wolf Pack (2-1) play next Friday at Virginia Commonwealth in Richmond, Va.
Providence signs 5-year extension for Dunk
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Providence College men's basketball team will play at the Dunkin' Donuts Center through at least the 2014 season. The school announced Monday a new five-year contract with the arena, which has been the Friars' home court since it opened in 1972.
Providence Athletic Director Bob Driscoll says the basketball team and the arena are part of the state's history and tradition. An $80 million renovation of the facility was completed in September 2008, with a new lobby, concourse and locker rooms and 20 luxury suites.The Dunk seats more than 12,000 fans.
