College Men's Basketball Capsules: No. 4 Villanova gets past No. 5 West Virginia
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Scottie Reynolds didn't have any memorable games against West Virginia — until he got hot against the Mountaineers in the second half Monday night.
The senior guard scored 19 of his 21 points in the final 13 minutes and No. 4 Villanova held off No. 5 West Virginia 82-75.
In the season's first matchup of teams ranked in the top five, the Wildcats (21-2, 10-1) rebounded from a blowout loss at No. 7 Georgetown on Saturday to pull into a first-place tie with No. 2 Syracuse in the Big East.
"You have guys asking where the toughest place to play is, and hands down for me, it's West Virginia," said Reynolds, who had averaged nine points in three previous games against the Mountaineers, including two losses in Morgantown.
"I remember a lot of years here," he said. "It feels good to get one under our belt. It feels good and to do it the way we did it, it feels even better."
Villanova shot 57 percent (29 of 51) from the field and its guard-oriented lineup outrebounded the Mountaineers 38-30.
Leading scorer Da'Sean Butler had his worst performance in three weeks and that haunted West Virginia (19-4, 8-3), which couldn't overcome an 11-point halftime deficit and saw its six-game winning streak snapped. The Mountaineers will have to wait until Friday night at No. 25 Pittsburgh to try for their sixth straight 20-win season.
"You can't expect Da' to get 30 points every game and carry us," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "Our other guys are going to have to do things."
Butler had scored a season-high 33-points as West Virginia rallied from 16 points down in the second half to beat St. John's 79-60 on Saturday. Last season he torched Villanova for a career-high 43 points at home, but the Wildcats' Reggie Redding limited him to 13 points on 2-of-12 shooting Monday night.
"We were really concerned about him," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "In the St. John's game they were down the same way and he just got it going and once he got it going, it was over. Reggie Redding did a really good job on him."
Butler didn't get his first points until a 3-pointer with 8:40 left in the first half and was held without a field goal in the second half.
"We didn't really compete as well as we should've, especially considering the situation and how much the game meant for us," Butler said. "Overall we weren't focused as far as taking advantage of easy shots. It would've been a different situation if we did."
This was West Virginia's first home game since fans threw objects onto the court last Wednesday, one of which struck Pittsburgh assistant coach Tom Herrion under his right eye. WVU President Jim Clements apologized to the University of Pittsburgh and declared that "boorish and unruly behavior by our fans will not be tolerated."
Students behaved themselves this time. They scrapped a derogatory chant typically done during opponent introductions. Extra security workers surrounded the yellow-shirted student section and fans were asked to report hooligans by text message just in case.
Corey Fisher added 17 points and Antonio Pena had 10 for Villanova
Darryl Bryant led five Mountaineers in double figures with 15 points. Devin Ebanks had 13 points, Mitchell finished with 12 and Kevin Jones added 11.
West Virginia couldn't feed off the capacity crowd, leading only in the game's opening minutes. The Mountaineers picked up their defensive intensity after halftime, holding Villanova without a field goal for the first 6 minutes. But West Virginia did little on offense to get going.
Villanova held West Virginia under 50 percent shooting from the field for the 11th straight game. West Virginia was just 7 of 27 from 3-point range and shot poorly from the free-throw line, finishing 18 of 32.
"We really played as a unit defensively," Wright said. "We really covered for each other and played unselfishly. When we had to switch, we switched. We got down against Georgetown and lost our composure and started scrambling. Tonight, we really kept good composure defensively."
Every time West Virginia was poised to make a run, the 6-foot-2 Reynolds was there to answer against a West Virginia lineup that at times averaged 6-7.
"There were times when I was the smallest guy on the floor," he said.
Reynolds didn't get a specific pep talk or instructions from Wright about taking over. The opportunities just came to him.
"He wanted everyone to continue to be aggressive," Reynolds said. "All five guys needed to be aggressive so they couldn't play on one person or two."
Limited to two points in the first half, Reynolds hit a 3-pointer and converted two three-point plays over a 3-minute span to push Villanova's lead to 58-47 with 10:28 remaining.
Casey Mitchell gave West Virginia a flicker of hope with a long 3-pointer and free throw with 2 minutes left to bring the Mountaineers within 74-69, but Villanova converted six of eight free throws in the final minute and made 19 of 22 overall.
Howard leads No. 18 Butler over Loyola
INDIANAPOLIS — Matt Howard doesn't expect any letdowns from No. 18 Butler, even with at least a share of the Bulldogs' fourth straight Horizon League regular season title secured.
Howard scored 20 points to lead the Bulldogs past Loyola of Chicago 62-47 on Monday night for their 13th straight win. Butler (21-4, 14-0) can clinch the conference title outright with a victory at Youngstown State on Thursday night.
The Bulldogs are tied for the second-longest winning streak in the nation with Murray State. Siena has won 15 straight.
"This team is looking for more," Howard said. "If we're going to keep progressing, it's got to be 40 minutes of basketball to get to where we want to be."
Willie Veasley had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs, who matched the second-longest winning streak in school history.
"We haven't won it yet in our eyes," Butler coach Brad Stevens said of the Horizon League title. "You always like to win it outright, but to be there on the doorstep and have a chance to do that, I'm proud of our guys."
Walt Gibler and Geoff McCammon each scored nine points for the Ramblers (13-11, 4-10), who have lost six of their past seven games against Butler.
Despite shooting 22 percent from the field in the first half, the Bulldogs trailed only 26-24 at halftime. Butler started the game shooting 2 of 18 as the Ramblers took a 15-6 lead 9 minutes in.
"In the first half, we were really pleased with the defensive effort and we were really hoping we'd be up a little more," Loyola coach Jim Whitesell said. "Our big thing was that we didn't get a big enough lead there."
The Bulldogs didn't get to double figures until Chase Stigall's 3-pointer with 7 minutes left in the first half cut Loyola's lead to 15-10.
"Biggest shot of the night was Chase hitting that 3 in the corner because it got us going," Stevens said. "We were stuck on six and seven forever."
Veasley's five straight points early in the second half broke a 29-29 tie and gave the Bulldogs their first lead since they scored the first two points of the game. Butler used a 15-8 run over the next 8 minutes to open a 49-37 lead. Shelvin Mack's 3-pointer capped the spurt.
Butler finished at 36 percent from the field one game after shooting nearly 68 percent in Saturday's victory over Wright State.
"I didn't know if we'd ever get to 20," Stevens said. "Sometimes your mind wants to do one thing and your body doesn't let you, but our guys fought through that. It wasn't pretty, but it was definitely a win that I'm proud of our guys."
No. 25 Pittsburgh beats Robert Morris 77-53
PITTSBURGH — Maybe, just maybe, Robert Morris coach Mike Rice thought late in the first half, this game against Pittsburgh would be different.
It wasn't. It's difficult to be perfect in NCAA Division I basketball, but Pitt is exactly that against its city rival.
Ashton Gibbs and Jermaine Dixon led a mid-game surge as No. 25 Pittsburgh broke out of a tie late in the first half by scoring 27 of the next 32 points, and remained unbeaten against Robert Morris with a 77-53 victory Monday night.
The Panthers are 28-0 in the series, all on their home court, winning each time by at least eight points. Since 1999, the Panthers' average winning margin is nearly 24 points.
Gibbs scored 20 points, only the second time in 10 games he's reached the 20-point mark, and Dixon had 18 points and six rebounds while holding Colonials leading scorer Karon Abraham to two points over the final 24½ minutes.
Brad Wanamaker added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Panthers (18-6), who were 10 of 22 from 3-point range. Gibbs was 4 of 10 beyond the arc and Dixon was 3 of 6 as Pitt matched its season high in 3s achieved twice previously.
"We always try to go inside but the way the offense was running, we got some outside shots," said Dixon, who was 8 of 35 from 3-point range coming in. "I've been knocking them down better in practice and I've got some confidence with my outside shot."
Pitt won its second game in three days after losing four of five and ended a nine-game winning streak by Robert Morris (16-9) for the second straight season.
The Panthers, tuning up for a Friday rematch against No. 5 West Virginia, took control by breaking out of a 32-all tie with 2:38 left in the first half to lead 59-37 with 12:18 remaining.
"We were on our heels," said Rice, a former Pitt assistant. "They kept punching and we kept backing up."
Still, for most of the first half, this was a rarity in the all-Pittsburgh matchup: a close game.
The Colonials — an NCAA tournament team out of the Northeast Conference last season — took advantage of Abraham's fast start to go ahead 19-13. The 5-foot-9 freshman had 14 points when Pitt led only 30-29 late in the half, but he wasn't a factor offensively the rest of the game and finished with 16, failing to get a field goal over the final 24½ minutes.
"He didn't let me have the ball at all," Abraham said of Dixon.
Once Abraham stopped scoring, the Colonials did, too, as Pitt scored seven of the final eight points in the first half to take a 39-33 lead. Gilbert Brown's tip-in with 2:18 remaining — his first basket of the game — made it 34-32 and preceded Dixon's 3-pointer and Brown's own baseline drive. Brown ended with six points after scoring 23 during an 83-58 win over Seton Hall on Saturday.
Gary McGhee didn't score in the first half, but dunked for the first two baskets of the second half as Pitt scored the first eight points after halftime to extend its run to 15-1. Robert Morris managed only a free throw by Rob Robinson over a span of 5:24, and had only three baskets during a stretch lasting 13½ minutes.
"They've got smaller guards like you don't see in the Big East, and often times they surprise you with their quickness," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "But we stayed with it in the second half and we wore them down."
Russell Johnson scored 11 points and Velton Jones and Mezie Nwigwe had 10 each for the Colonials, who were outrebounded 43-28.
"You've got to keep playing (Pitt) for 40 minutes," Jones said. "You can't play for 7 minutes and let up for 5. Maybe we can do that sometimes in the NEC, but you've got to go for the whole 40 minutes."
Pitt won its 47th consecutive home game against a non-conference opponent and is 75-1 against non-Big East teams in the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers are 68-0 against Northeast Conference opponents.
-- Alan Robinson
Polls
Kansas still No. 1; Mountain West has 3 in Top 25
The Mountain West Conference is doing some serious climbing.
A league that has always had to fight for respect as it tries to join the ranks of the power conferences, the 11-year-old Mountain West had three teams in The Associated Press' Top 25 on Monday, one more than the Atlantic Coast Conference and three more than the Pac-10.
Kansas (22-1) remained the runaway No. 1, receiving 55 first-place votes from the national media panel. Syracuse (23-1), which received eight first-place votes, moved up one spot to become the fourth No. 2 in as many weeks. The ranking is the highest for the Orange since a six-week stretch at No. 1 in 1989-90.
Kentucky (22-1), which was No. 1 on two ballots, moved up one place to No. 3, while Villanova and West Virginia, which met Monday night, were fourth and fifth.
New Mexico, BYU and UNLV, which are in a three-way tie for first place in the Mountain West, give the league three teams in the Top 25 for the first time.
"BYU, New Mexico and UNLV are reaping the benefits of unprecedented national television exposure and enhanced non-conference scheduling," Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said in a statement. "All three teams have really extended their schedules and some very quality wins are now being reflected. It is a real tribute to the coaches to see Top 25 matchups each week in Conference play as well."
No. 15 New Mexico (21-3) is ranked for the third straight week and seventh overall. BYU (22-3) dropped five places to 17th following its 88-74 loss to UNLV, the game that forged the three-way tie for first and moved the Rebels (19-4) back into the poll at No. 23.
BYU has been ranked for six straight weeks, while UNLV jumps back in after being out the last eight weeks. The Mountain West has sent more than one team to the NCAA tournament in nine of the last 10 years.
"It's been a push of our league the last several years," New Mexico coach Steve Alford said. "We already felt our league has been at that point for a while now. It's good to start getting some national respect. I think we've got some really good players and some really good teams."
The ACC has Duke and No. 20 Georgia Tech in this week's poll, while the Pac-10 is without a team in the Top 25 for the fifth straight week since Washington dropped out.
Purdue moved up two places to No. 6 followed by Georgetown, Duke, Kansas State and Michigan State, which dropped five spots after losing to Wisconsin and Illinois last week.
The Big East has the most teams in the rankings with five and four of those — Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia and Georgetown — are in the top seven.
The Big 12 and Big Ten have four teams each in the poll, while the Southeastern Conference has three.
Wisconsin led the second ten followed by Tennessee, Ohio State, Texas, New Mexico, Gonzaga, BYU, Butler, Northern Iowa and Georgia Tech.
The last teams were Temple, Vanderbilt, UNLV, Baylor and Pittsburgh.
Mississippi (17-6) dropped out from No. 25 after losing 85-75 to Kentucky before beating Alabama 74-67. The Rebels were ranked for the last nine weeks, reaching as high as No. 14.
The Villanova-West Virginia game is one two games between teams in the Top Ten with Purdue at Michigan State on Tuesday the other.
One game being played this week has often been a matchup of Top Ten teams, Duke at North Carolina. The eighth-ranked Blue Devils held up their end of the matchup, but the defending national champion Tar Heels (13-10) fell out of the rankings three weeks ago after starting the season at No. 6.
Including Wednesday's game, Duke and North Carolina have met with both being ranked in the Top Ten 41 times, including 30 of the last 60. Since the AP poll began in the 1948-49 season, one of the teams has been ranked when they met 147 of a possible 163 times, including 128 consecutive games since Feb. 27, 1960. One of the teams has been in the Top Ten in 115 of those games.
-- Jim O'Connell
Wisconsin moves up 5 spots in poll
MADISON, Wis. — On the strength of two wins last week, Wisconsin moved up five spots to No. 11 in The Associated Press rankings released Monday.
The Badgers (18-5, 8-3 Big Ten) play host to Illinois (16-8, 8-3) on Tuesday. Both teams are tied with Ohio State for second in the Big Ten.
Coach Bo Ryan said Monday that he wasn't surprised to see so many teams vying for the conference title. Michigan State, despite getting beaten by both Wisconsin and Illinois last week, remains at the top with a 9-2 conference record. Purdue is fifth at 7-3.
"It's tough," Ryan said. "It's hard to win in any league, especially the Big Ten."
While the win against Michigan State, coupled with a victory over Michigan, catapulted Wisconsin in the rankings this week, Illinois remains unranked.
The Illini have three more losses than the Badgers and don't have as many wins against big-name teams. Wisconsin has knocked off three top 10 teams this season: Michigan State, No. 4 Purdue and No. 6 Duke.
All of those wins came at home, where the Badgers have won 18 in a row dating to last season. Of its 18 wins this year, 13 have come at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin is 5-5 on the road.
Wisconsin has also had to make due without leading scorer Jon Leuer who broke his wrist on Jan. 9. Since then the Badgers have posted a 5-2 record. While Ryan has said he hopes to have Leuer back this season, there was no update Monday on his prognosis.
-- Scott Bauer
The AP Top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 7, 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 (55) | 22-1 | 1,613 | 1 |
| 2. Syracuse (8) | 23-1 | 1,553 | 3 |
| 3. Kentucky (2) | 22-1 | 1,514 | 4 |
| 4. Villanova | 20-2 | 1,366 | 2 |
| 5. West Virginia | 19-3 | 1,361 | 6 |
| 6. Purdue | 19-3 | 1,301 | 8 |
| 7. Georgetown | 17-5 | 1,211 | 7 |
| 8. Duke | 19-4 | 1,142 | 10 |
| 9. Kansas St. | 19-4 | 1,139 | 10 |
| 10. Michigan St. | 19-5 | 968 | 5 |
| 11. Wisconsin | 18-5 | 871 | 16 |
| 12. Tennessee | 18-4 | 850 | 14 |
| 13. Ohio St. | 18-6 | 845 | 13 |
| 14. Texas | 19-4 | 789 | 9 |
| 15. New Mexico | 21-3 | 725 | 15 |
| 16. Gonzaga | 19-4 | 693 | 17 |
| 17. BYU | 22-3 | 532 | 12 |
| 18. Butler | 20-4 | 422 | 23 |
| 19. N. Iowa | 21-2 | 298 | 24 |
| 20. Georgia Tech | 17-6 | 269 | 21 |
| 21. Temple | 19-5 | 223 | 19 |
| 22. Vanderbilt | 17-5 | 222 | 18 |
| 23. UNLV | 19-4 | 209 | — |
| 24. Baylor | 17-5 | 202 | 20 |
| 25. Pittsburgh | 17-6 | 149 | 22 |
Others receiving votes: Texas A&M 115, Cornell 114, Wake Forest 109, Maryland 69, Charlotte 48, UTEP 33, Mississippi 30, Rhode Island 30, Saint Mary's, Calif. 18, Siena 18, Illinois 16, Florida St. 15, Virginia Tech 11, Marquette 10, UAB 7, Richmond 5, Wichita St. 5, Missouri 3, South Florida 2.
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 Feb. 7, 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 (29) | 22-1 | 773 | 1 |
| 2. Kentucky (1) | 22-1 | 731 | 3 |
| 3. Syracuse (1) | 23-1 | 728 | 4 |
| 4. West Virginia | 19-3 | 657 | 6 |
| 5. Villanova | 20-2 | 639 | 2 |
| 6. Purdue | 19-3 | 599 | 7 |
| 7. Duke | 19-4 | 574 | 9 |
| 8. Georgetown | 17-5 | 560 | 8 |
| 9. Kansas State | 19-4 | 506 | 11 |
| 10. Michigan State | 19-5 | 455 | 5 |
| 11. Gonzaga | 19-4 | 427 | 13 |
| 12. Tennessee | 18-4 | 417 | 14 |
| 13. Wisconsin | 18-5 | 401 | 16 |
| 14. Texas | 19-4 | 361 | 10 |
| 15. Butler | 20-4 | 326 | 15 |
| 16. Ohio State | 18-6 | 302 | 18 |
| 17. BYU | 22-3 | 298 | 12 |
| 18. Northern Iowa | 21-2 | 221 | 22 |
| 19. New Mexico | 21-3 | 211 | 23 |
| 20. Georgia Tech | 17-6 | 150 | 19 |
| 21. Temple | 19-5 | 131 | 17 |
| 22. Cornell | 20-3 | 112 | 25 |
| 23. Pittsburgh | 17-6 | 89 | 21 |
| 24. Vanderbilt | 17-5 | 76 | 20 |
| 25. UNLV | 19-4 | 55 | — |
Others receiving votes: Baylor 44, Texas A&M 37, Saint Mary's 29, Rhode Island 28, Siena 28, Missouri 25, Maryland 18, Mississippi 16, Virginia Tech 10, Florida State 8, UAB 7, Wake Forest 7, Notre Dame 6, Clemson 4, Tulsa 4, Dayton 2, Connecticut 1, Louisiana Tech 1, Xavier 1.
News & Notes
Calipari pleased with No. 3 Kentucky's progress
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky doesn't need John Wall to win games.
The No. 3 Wildcats are just as deadly without their star point guard playing to his potential.
In his worst appearance of the season, Wall scored six points in Kentucky's 81-55 romp against LSU on Saturday. Despite a poor night for the freshman, who ranks among the Southeastern Conference's top 10 in five statistical categories, the Wildcats still managed a 22-0 first-half run and kept LSU to just 27 percent shooting after leading by as many as 33.
With fellow freshman Demarcus Cousins notching his sixth-straight double-double against the Tigers, Wall learned that he doesn't have to carry the Wildcats.
"He is finally understanding that he doesn't have to play up to the hype" Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "Now he's running our team the way it needs to be run."
Against North Carolina earlier in the year, the Wildcats lost a 19-point first-half lead while Wall was in the locker room 20 minutes being treated for dehydration. Kentucky barely won after Wall hit critical free throws down the stretch. At that point in the season, it looked like Wall was the key to Kentucky's success.
But the Wildcats no longer need their point guard to carry them now that's he's learning to support them. As Wall's scoring output drops, he's getting more assists, and he now ranks second nationally in that category.
"We do need everybody on this team to win a game, and people forget that," said freshman center Daniel Orton. "(Wall) didn't show up in the point category (against LSU), but he always shows up everywhere else. He puts you in a position to score."
Placing the team first and his scoring second has also put Kentucky (22-1, 7-1 SEC) on track to vie for a top seed in the NCAA tournament come March. The rest of the team has also improved with Wall no longer focusing on trying to score.
"Now you got Patrick (Patterson) playing better, you got Darnel (Dodson) playing better, you got the entire bench playing better," Calipari said.
Alabama coach Anthony Grant said he's preparing for the whole Kentucky package when the Crimson Tide visits the Wildcats on Tuesday night.
"For us it's never going to be about an individual," Grant said. "Kentucky is a very talented team. We're going to approach it in terms of a team game and try to put ourselves in a position to have success."
Even so, Alabama will have to try to contain Cousins. The Alabama native has emerged as the Wildcats' biggest weapon, averaging 16.4 points and 10 rebounds. Calipari said the freshman just keeps getting better.
"I've not had a guy come together that fast," he said.
Then there's the rest of the Wildcats. Against LSU, Kentucky's reserves combined for 22 points.
"We're all coming along our own ways and everyone is coming together," Orton said. "We're all just getting into our grooves and understanding how to play at a high level."
All of this comes at a bad time for Alabama (13-10, 3-6), which has lost three straight in league play. Grant is trying to steady his team for the final stretch of conference action.
"I think (Kentucky is) playing extremely well, so for us it's just a matter of going in and controlling the things that we can control — how hard we play, how well we compete and the attention to the details. ... " he said. "I think right now it's more about us than it is about anything else."
And he shouldn't expect the Wildcats to look past the Crimson Tide.
"It's another dangerous game," Calipari said. "This will be another good test for us."
No. 8 Blue Devils riding Scheyer, Smith, Singler
DURHAM, N.C. — Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler really couldn't ask for much more.
The Duke trio has found the setup that every college basketball player dreams of: plenty of shots, lots of points and abundant minutes. The formula has carried No. 8 Duke to the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference heading into Wednesday's trip to rival North Carolina, and the Blue Devils' hopes of making a strong push in March could hinge on how well their "Big Three" holds up under that burden the rest of the year.
"We ideally would like to have balanced scoring, but it's not really how it is," Singler said Monday. "The responsibility that Jon, Nolan and myself has, we don't necessarily look at it as pressure because we have each other to help each other out."
So far, Scheyer, Smith and Singler are each averaging better than 16 points per game and entered Saturday's win at Boston College as the nation's top scoring trio. All three are ranked among the ACC scoring leaders — Scheyer and Smith rank second and third, respectively — while they account for about two-thirds of the Blue Devils' scoring output, shot attempts and made free throws.
Scheyer, a senior, leads Duke (19-4, 7-2 ACC) at just under 19 points per game and leads the league by shooting 91 percent at the foul line. Smith is averaging about 18 points, while fellow junior Singler is averaging about 17 points as an inside-out threat. No other Blue Devils player averages more than seven points.
They could be in line for a big performance against the defending national champion Tar Heels (13-10, 2-6), who have struggled to defend the perimeter all season and are limping through their worst stretch under coach Roy Williams.
"All three of us work on scoring off each other and getting great looks," Smith said. "Scoring for us just comes because we're all veterans and we've played in a lot of games. Now we're at the point where we're so comfortable out there that scoring sometimes comes easily."
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has been content to rely on the trio to lead the offense, saying there's a significant gap between the "Big Three" and the rest of the team in experience and scoring ability.
"If only two of them were scoring, I'd be disappointed," Krzyzewski joked. "The way we have set up our team, those three guys have to be put in prominent positions to score and they've come through pretty well in doing that. That's the nature of our team. If we had a fourth really big scorer, then I'd try to figure that out."
The biggest concern, however, might be the amount of mileage each player is picking up while hoisting all those shots. Scheyer leads the ACC at more than 36 minutes played per game, while Singler is third and Smith is fourth at 35 minutes each.
Singler — who seemed to wear down late in his freshman year — has logged 40 minutes in five games, while Scheyer and Smith have done it three times each. In Saturday's 66-63 win at BC, Scheyer and Smith played 40 minutes and Singler played 39.
Yet Krzyzewski said he's not worried about them wearing down, saying he is careful with limiting their workload in practices and that players want to stay on the court in games.
Scheyer isn't complaining, either.
"This is it for me," the senior said. "I'm taking care of my body every day. I feel great. I can't remember I felt tired in a game in terms of being winded where I needed to come out.
"In terms of minutes, I know even though I might play a lot of minutes, I owe it to the team to give it everything I had for those minutes," he added. "If it got to a point where I was pacing myself or not playing defense like I could, then I'd say there's something wrong with this. But that's not the case."
-- Aaron Beard
Michigan St.'s Lucas uncertain for Purdue game
EAST LANSING, Mich. — It's still not clear when injured Michigan State point guard Kalin Lucas will re-enter a suddenly wide open Big Ten race.
Lucas could play when No. 10 Michigan State hosts No. 6 Purdue on Tuesday, Spartans coach Tom Izzo says. But Izzo worries how a still-sprained ankle might limit the jet-quick guard.
"It is completely up in the air, still," Izzo said Monday. "I think he feels more like he's going to be able to play some. ... He's getting treatments almost all day long in between classes. It's improving."
But Izzo is uncertain about Lucas's status in large part because speed is a key part of his game. If a tender ankle makes it difficult for Lucas to cut or get up and down the court, it may not be worth the risk of aggravating the injury at this point in the season.
Michigan State (19-5, 9-2 Big Ten) has a one-game lead in the conference over Wisconsin, Ohio State and Illinois. Purdue (19-3, 7-3) — entering the showdown on a five-game winning streak — is close behind.
The Spartans have lost back-to-back games at Wisconsin and Illinois after starting the Big Ten season with nine straight wins.
Lucas was injured during the loss to Wisconsin and missed the Illinois game. He leads the team in scoring at nearly 16 points per game and is the team's most reliable player in clutch, late-game situations.
"We're hoping Kalin is back," forward Draymond Green said. "We're pretty confident he will be. Kalin is a warrior."
If Lucas does play, he might also help the Spartans cut down on turnovers. Michigan State committed 18 turnovers in their 78-73 loss to the Illini on Saturday.
"To be a championship team, we can't turn the ball over like that," Green said. "We know that."
Izzo is looking for Raymar Morgan and Durrell Summers to be more consistent scorers, especially if Lucas is going to be out of the lineup. Morgan and Summers, who each average nearly 11 points per game, combined for 19 points against Illinois.
Purdue has been rolling since losing three straight in mid-January. The Boilermakers' winning streak includes victories at Illinois and Indiana, and unlike Michigan State, Purdue has limited its turnovers. The Boilermakers commit five fewer turnovers a game than their opponents, one of the better margins in the nation.
The Boilermakers average 75 points per contest, led by E'Twaun Moore at 17 points per game. Robbie Hummel and JaJuan Johnson also average scoring in double figures.
-- Tim Martin
Vols G Cameron Tatum getting treatment for sprain
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee guard Cameron Tatum has a sprained right ankle after rolling it when the Volunteers hosted South Carolina.
Tatum wasn't expected to travel with the 12th-ranked Vols to Nashville on Monday night but might still join them on Tuesday before they face 22nd-ranked Vanderbilt.
Coach Bruce Pearl says the redshirt sophomore had some additional swelling in his foot and planned to get an MRI and more treatment.
Tennessee (18-4, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) faces its toughest road stretch this week with a trip to third-ranked Kentucky on Saturday following the Nashville trip.
Pearl joked on Monday that one of his concerns was getting the orange blazer he wears when facing Vanderbilt and Kentucky dry cleaned while on the road.
Tulsa to retire number of former player Biles
TULSA, Okla. — The University of Tulsa will retire the number 12 worn by former basketball player Willie Biles.
TU will retire the number at halftime of the Tulsa-Memphis Conference USA game on Feb. 13.
Biles is a native of Memphis.
Biles was a two-time All-American and two-time first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference. he scored more than 40 points eight times during his career from 1970 to 1974 and twice scored a school record 48 points in a game.
He was inducted into the TU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994.
Vasquez, Favors win weekly honors in ACC hoops
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Maryland's Greivis Vasquez and Georgia Tech's Derrick Favors have won the weekly player honors in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Vasquez, who was named player of the week, averaged 24.5 points, nine assists and six rebounds as the Terrapins moved into sole possession of second place in the ACC with a pair of conference wins over Florida State and North Carolina.
In earning the rookie of the week, Favors averaged 12 points and 7.5 rebounds as the Yellow Jackets lost at Duke and defeated North Carolina State.
EMU's Dailey suspended indefinitely
YPSILANTI, Mich. — Eastern Michigan coach Charles Ramsey has indefinitely suspended guard Quintin Dailey for an unspecified violation of team rules.
The school says in a statement that the 6-foot-3 sophomore will not travel with the team when the Eagles play Mid-American Conference rival Buffalo on Wednesday.
Dailey is playing in his first season for Eastern Michigan after transferring from Sheridan (Wyo.) Community College. He's played in all 22 games this season and started in 14, averaging 3.9 points and 2.0 rebounds.
