College Top 25 Men's Basketball Capsules: Fisher leads No. 5 Villanova past Dayton 71-65
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Corey Fisher claims he never got nervous after No. 5 Villanova nearly gave up an 18-point lead to Dayton in the second half.
It showed at the free-throw line.
Fisher scored 18 points and was perfect in four trips to the foul line in the final minutes to help the Wildcats hold on for a 71-65 victory over the No. 18 Flyers on Friday in the second round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
"That's basketball," Fisher said. "We knew they were going to make a run. We just had to play Villanova basketball."
The Wildcats (4-0) will play Mississippi, an 86-74 winner over Kansas State on Friday night, for the tournament title Sunday.
After trailing by 18 early in the second half, the Flyers (2-1) trimmed the lead to 62-60 with 2:23 left when London Warren converted two free throws after he was fouled on a breakaway.
Villanova, which finished 22 of 29 from the line, scored the rest of its points at the foul line, including four from Fisher in the waning moments.
Taylor King added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats, who defeated George Mason 69-68 in the first round Thursday. Antonio Pena added 13 points.
Villanova coach Jay Wright praised the aggressiveness that helped the Flyers climb back into the game.
"It was our night tonight but they're as good as anyone in the country," he said. "They do as good a job as anybody we play against at driving against the shooter."
Villanova led 37-29 at halftime and went up 51-34 on a dunk by Antonio Pena, who was left alone inside the key. A 3-pointer by King gave the Wildcats their biggest lead of the game at 54-36 with 14 minutes to play.
The Flyers climbed back into the game by shooting 7 for 16 from behind the 3-point line in the second half.
Luke Fabrizius led the rally for Dayton, scoring nine of his 16 points in the second half along with his nine rebounds. Chris Wright added 15 points and Chris Johnson had 13.
"This early in the season I don't think we handled the pressure that well," Wright said.
The Wildcats held on by converting 9 of 10 free-throw attempts in the final 2:12 of the game. Fisher shot 10 for 12 from line.
Villanova outrebounded Dayton 43-35 and scored 13 points off Dayton's 17 turnovers.
"We were sloppy. Sloppy offensively," Dayton coach Brian Gregory said. "Give them credit. They did a lot of things that threw us out of sorts."
No. 2 Michigan State rolls past Toledo, 75-62
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Even though No. 2 Michigan State wasn't at its best, it found a way to win easily at home.
Draymond Green had 15 points to lead a balanced attack and the Spartans kept up their home court mastery with a 75-62 victory over Toledo on Friday night.
The game was a regional matchup in the Legends Classic. The Spartans (3-0) will host Valparaiso on Sunday before heading to Atlantic City, N.J., for a date next Friday with Florida in the tournament semifinals.
The Spartans won their 42nd straight home game against a nonconference opponent, extending a streak that started after a loss to Duke on Dec. 3, 2003. Coach Tom Izzo improved to 37-0 at home in November and reached 339th victories in 15 seasons at Michigan State.
Izzo is one win shy of his mentor Jud Heathcote for the most in school history. But he wasn't happy with how his team, especially some of its big men, played against Toledo.
"It looks to me a little bit fat and sassy," said Izzo, who felt that some of his players got content and selfish rather than staying focused and disciplined against Toledo. "We've just got a lot of work to do."
Izzo was irritated with shooting, defense and rebounding. Michigan State — usually a dominant team on the boards — had only a 44-40 rebounding edge over Toledo.
Chris Allen had 14 points for Michigan State while Kalin Lucas scored 12. Delvon Roe had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Durrell Summers added 10 points.
"In a big game or a not-so-big game, you've got to emphasis the same stuff, really," Summers said. "It's going to help down the road, in the (NCAA) tournament. You can't really let up on any team. And I think we kind of let up a little bit today."
Stephen Albrecht scored 20 points for Toledo (0-3), which trailed by as many as 20 in the second half.
"It's a very tough place to play," Toledo coach Gene Cross said of the Breslin Center. "And they're a hard-nosed team."
Toledo is one of the few non-Big Ten teams to beat Michigan State at Breslin Center on Izzo's watch. The Rockets defeated the Spartans 81-76 in 2002 — their last trip to East Lansing.
But the talent gap was much bigger Friday night. The quicker, bigger and more athletic Spartans opened the game with a thunderous dunk by Summers off a pass from Lucas, setting the tone for a long evening for the Rockets.
Justin Anyijong gave Toledo an 8-5 lead on a 3-pointer with 16:32 remaining in the first half. The Spartans answered with a 13-0 run, including 3-pointers from Allen and Korie Lucious.
Michigan State went deep into its bench in the first half, while the frustrated Rockets resorted to launching 3s when they couldn't crack the Spartans' aggressive defense.
Michigan State led by as many as 17 in the first half before Toledo used a 10-0 run to make it 37-30 at intermission.
The Spartans started the second half with a 8-0 run, capped by Allen's dunk, to take a 45-30 lead. Michigan State led by as many as 20 points in the second half.
Raymar Morgan, battling foot and ankle injuries, did not play but could have been available in an emergency. Morgan played through the injuries in Tuesday's win over Gonzaga but wasn't needed against the Rockets.
"We're not that good without him," Izzo said. "We need to get him back."
-- Tim Martin
Syracuse runs away from No. 6 North Carolina
NEW YORK — Jim Boeheim has always made a point of telling the media not to get too caught up in runs because basketball, especially on the college level, is a game of runs.
He could only smile as he was asked about Syracuse's 22-1 run to open the second half of an 87-71 victory over No. 6 North Carolina on Friday night in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic.
"That's about as good as it gets," he said, "and it was against North Carolina and it was here."
The Orange (4-0) were the only unranked team in the semifinals of the tournament that benefits Coaches vs. Cancer but they left Madison Square Garden with blowout wins over No. 13 California and the Tar Heels (4-1).
North Carolina had a 39-37 halftime lead but that was gone in a hurry as Brandon Triche and Arinze Onuaku had field goals in the first 40 seconds. By the time the run ended 8 minutes into the second half Syracuse had a 59-40 lead.
"We had to get rebounds and get out and push and they wanted me and Arinze to be more aggressive," Triche said of the start to the second half. "We definitely responded and Wes played a tremendous game."
Tournament MVP Wesley Johnson had 25 points for the Orange, who beat California 95-73 in the semifinals. Onuaku finished with 15 points and Triche had 11.
Johnson, a 6-foot-7 junior transfer from Iowa State, was 10 of 17 from the field, including making half of eight 3-point attempts, and had eight rebounds.
He was proudly wearing an orange — what else? — T-shirt that said "Shut It Down."
"It's all about energy," he said. "We let up at the end of the first half. 'Shut It Down,' that's the motto. We knew they would make a run and we had to counteract it and we did."
Ed Davis had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Marcus Ginyard added 15 points for the Tar Heels, who lost almost all of a 19-point second-half lead before beating No. 15 Ohio State 77-73 to reach the title game.
North Carolina missed its first 13 shots of the second half and turned the ball over six times as the Orange just didn't miss. Syracuse started the half by making 10 of its first 14 shots and the baskets were coming down low from Onuaku and from the perimeter including a 3 by Johnson that made it 57-40.
"Two air balls on our first two shots and then two turnovers. Our first four possessions of the second half we don't even hit the rim," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "We didn't have an answer for guarding Wes and it was the snowball effect from there. It's frustrating no question about that. We've got to play better and they're good."
The Tar Heels closed to 68-60 on a 3 by David Wear with 7:04 left, but Onuaku had the first and last baskets of a 6-0 run that ended any thoughts of a comeback for the ages.
"We made two really good plays right in a row and got it right back up because they're going to keep coming at you," said Boeheim, who earlier this month became the eighth Division I coach to reach 800 wins.
The first half had the crowd, which was split almost evenly between Carolina Blue and Syracuse Orange, on a ride of runs that kept Madison Square Garden in a constant roar more accustomed to late in the season than late November.
Syracuse scored the first eight points of the game and was up 11-2 when Andy Rautins hit a 3.
It didn't take long for North Carolina to get right back in it as the Tar Heels scored 11 straight points, including two 3s by Will Graves.
There were four lead changes and four ties the rest of the half, which ended with the Tar Heels leading 39-37. It wasn't a perfect half as both teams had 10 turnovers.
Syracuse lost 82-79 to Division II LeMoyne in an exhibition game earlier this month. The Orange fell off the national radar after that and were even an afterthought when the best teams in the Big East were listed. Not anymore.
"I'd hate to play that non-Division I team that beat them," Williams said.
Ohio State beat California 76-70 in the third-place game.
-- Jim O'Connell
Moore helps Purdue beat South Dakota State
ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands — Purdue coach Matt Painter said his seventh-ranked Boilermakers were outplayed and out-toughed by South Dakota State.
However, the Boilermakers weren't outscored.
E'Twaun Moore scored 22 points and beat South Dakota State 74-63 on Friday night in the first round of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam.
"The key was the flow of the game, and I thought they were tougher than us and quicker than us," Painter said. "We talked at halftime about staying tight with them and carrying out our assignments."
Robbie Hummel added 14 points despite missing much of the action because of foul trouble, and JaJuan Johnson had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Boilermakers (2-0). Purdue will play St. Joseph's on Sunday night in second round.
Clint Sargent led the Jackrabbits (2-1) with 16 points, and Garrett Callahan scored all 13 of his points in the first half.
"We were where we wanted to be," Sargent said. "We knew if we could tighten it up on offense we had a shot at this. We just stubbed our toes too many times, and in the end it cost us."
The Jackrabbits committed 18 turnovers, 12 in the second half.
"Defensively, we played good enough to win the game," South Dakota State coach Scott Nagy said. "I was displeased with the number of turnovers in the second half, but some of that was Purdue turned it up. You don't see a lot of teams that defend like they do with their physicality."
The Jackrabbits took advantage of Purdue's overaggressive defense early, making 13 of 15 free throw attempts in the first half.
Purdue led 39-37 at the half, and South Dakota State was still hanging close at the 16:08 mark on Kai Williams' basket that cut it to 41-39.
But the Boilermakers heated up. Ryne Smith's jumper ignited a 9-0 run that he capped with a 3-pointer that gave Purdue a 50-39 lead with 13:12 remaining.
"Any time you have close games, and any time somebody can outplay you and out-tough you, and you still win, those are good games," Painter said. "We have to be patient and play a lot smarter."
Hopson leads No. 10 Vols to 105-66 rout of ECU
ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands — Scott Hopson is making himself right at home outside the 3-point arc. Tennessee is making itself at home in the Virgin Islands.
Hopson hit four 3-pointers and scored 25 points Friday, and the No. 10 Volunteers rolled to a 105-66 rout of East Carolina in the opening round of the Paradise Jam at the University of Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center.
"I believe every shot is going in, and that confidence helps me," said Hopson, who has made 14 of 18 attempts from beyond the arc this season. "I believe when I start hitting the shots it really helps in getting the team going."
Pirates coach Mack McCarthy could only shake his head.
"At 6-foot-7, it's hard to contest him," McCarthy said. "What is he, 14 of 18 this season? There are guys that aren't shooting that from the free throw line."
Hopson played only 23 minutes, the most of any Vols player. Bobby Maze scored 15 points, Cameron Tatum had 14, Tyler Smith 13 and Melvin Goins added 10 points and five assists. Seven different Vols hit 3-pointers, with the team collectively making 13 of 24.
Tennessee (3-0) plays DePaul (2-0) in second round Sunday. The Blue Demons upset NCAA tournament participant Northern Iowa 60-52 earlier in the day.
Tennessee's defense created many of the scoring opportunities, smothering the Pirates with its self-styled "controlled chaos" press. Tennessee forced 35 turnovers, most in Bruce Pearl's five years as the head coach.
"Obviously when the tempo got up it was in our favor," Pearl said. "We played with passion and intensity."
East Carolina (1-3) was competitive early, using an 8-0 run to take a 17-13 lead on Brock Young's steal and layup at the 12:01 mark of the first half.
That's when Hopson heated up. He hit a 3-pointer coming out of a timeout, then made a putback as the Vols answered with a 9-0 run of their own to reclaim the lead for good.
East Carolina, led by Young's 15 points and four assists, managed just one field goal over the final 12:01 of the first half and trailed 43-27 at intermission.
"They certainly wore us down," McCarthy said. "They don't lose much when they go to the bench. But 35 turnovers? I don't think I've ever seen that."
Turner leads No. 15 Ohio State over No. 13 Cal
NEW YORK — Ohio State's two-game visit to Madison Square Garden was inconsistent to say the least. The Buckeyes' best player, however, has been consistent all season.
Evan Turner had 26 points and 14 rebounds, his fourth double-double in as many games, and No. 15 Ohio State beat No. 13 California 76-70 on Friday night in the third-place game of the 2K Sports Classic.
The Buckeyes (3-1) went through an opposite experience from their 77-73 loss to No. 6 North Carolina in the semifinals of the tournament that benefits Coaches vs. Cancer.
Ohio State trailed by 19 points in the second half against the Tar Heels and was able to finally start hitting from long range and get within two in the final seconds.
Against the Golden Bears (2-2), the Buckeyes used a 21-3 run spanning halftime to take a 52-28 lead with 15:40 to play. California answered right away with a 17-4 run — two of Ohio State's points came on a technical foul against Cal coach Mike Montgomery — to get within single digits with 11:28 to go.
The Bears took advantage of Ohio State suddenly having trouble taking care of the ball to get within 63-57 with 5:09 left. But Turner, who had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 turnovers against North Carolina, scored eight of the Buckeyes' next 10 points.
"He is a guy we have to lean on at times to kind of carry us through," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "I was very pleased with the way he was finishing for us down the stretch."
Turner became the first Ohio State player to have four straight double-doubles since Terence Dials had five in a row in February 2006 on his way to being Big Ten player of the year.
Turner doesn't want to hear about anything other than winning.
"It was a great win for the team and a great win for the program and it gives us good momentum," he said. "It has been a good stretch of games. I am just trying to play hard.
"It turned into a game. Basketball is a game of runs. Fortunately we are mature enough to keep a lead. We handled what we had to handle and we took care of business."
Jon Diebler added 14 points for Ohio State and Dallas Lauderdale, who is coming off an injury to his right hand, had eight points and seven blocked shots.
"Dallas has been inching his way back in," Matta said of the 6-8, 255-pound center. "This has been good having two games here. He gives us a different look both offensively and defensively."
Jerome Randle had 26 points for California, one more than he had in the 95-73 loss to Syracuse in the semifinals. He was 6 of 12 from 3-point range.
"We have to step up," Randle said. "They just came out and attacked us. I think our effort this game was way better than last game so I am happy about that."
Turner, who opened the season with a triple-double against Alcorn State, had six assists and four turnovers.
The Buckeyes led 38-25 at halftime behind a long-range shooting performance that was a world away from the first half against North Carolina.
Against the Tar Heels, the Buckeyes missed their first nine 3-point attempts and North Carolina took advantage to build a 14-point halftime lead. Ohio State finally started hitting from the outside late before running out of time.
Against the Golden Bears, Ohio State made five of 11 3-point attempts and was able to close the half with a 7-0 run — started with a 3 by William Buford — for the 13-point lead.
Randle hit a 3 to open the second half, but the Buckeyes went on a 14-0 run as the Bears missed eight straight shots.
"They made a run, they knocked us on our heels," Matta said. "They would not go away. They turned the pressure up a little bit. All of a sudden we lost our composure in a lot of different ways especially on the defensive end and that let them in the game."
Montgomery was able to find some positives in the trip.
"We definitely played harder in the second half instead of letting them do onto us," he said. "When that happens you are going to give yourself chances, at least to compete, which I thought we did."
-- Jim O’Connell
Booker leads No. 22 Clemson past UNCG, 89-67
GREENSBORO, N.C. — If this is what passes for a tight game for No. 22 Clemson, the Tigers will take it.
For the first time, a team kept it closer than 40 points against them — but it still wasn't enough to test them for 40 minutes.
As a result, Clemson routed North Carolina-Greensboro 89-67 on Friday night behind a season-high 17 points from Trevor Booker.
Milton Jennings added 14 points for the Tigers (3-0), Andre Young had 13 and David Potter finished with 11. Clemson shot 54.5 percent, forced 23 turnovers, broke it open by closing the first half with a huge run and extended its school-record winning streak in non-conference road games to 11.
Clemson won its 29th straight game in November since 2005. Their previous two have come by 43 points against Presbyterian and 40 at Liberty.
"It just says that we've got a lot of talent. Defensively, we're there. We've got to keep working," Potter said. "We've just got to learn not to let up in the second half, when we know we've got the game (in hand). We've got to have that killer instinct. ... Once we start to develop more as a team and understanding more what coach wants on the defensive end, I think we're going to be great."
Brandon Evans had a season-high 17 points and Ben Stywall added 13 to lead UNC Greensboro (0-3). All of the Spartans' losses have come against ACC schools, and they fell to 1-29 against the conference. Their ambitious schedule includes half of the ACC's 12 teams.
"This ACC business, they're good teams," UNC Greensboro coach Mike Dement said. "The fact of the matter is, I'm pretty proud of the way we battled these last three games. I'm not sure an ACC team would be ready to play three ACC games in a row, but we've done it, and I think we learned a lot from it and gained a lot from it."
For Clemson, it was an early season chance to get comfortable in a building they'll visit again in a few months — when the stakes will be considerably higher.
The Tigers were one of four ACC teams playing at the Greensboro Coliseum, the site of this season's conference tournament. None of the current players had been here before; Clemson hadn't appeared in Greensboro since the 2006 ACC tournament.
"Hopefully, we will have a good feeling about this building the next time we come in here," Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said.
After a slow start — well, by their standards, anyway — the Tigers made themselves right at home.
They closed the first half with a 17-2 run in which they hit three 3s and stretched their lead into double figures for good. Young had six points during the spurt, knocking down a 3 with a hand in his face moments before converting a three-point play, and Booker capped the run with a free throw that made it 42-24 with 42.1 seconds left.
Clemson came away with points on 10 of its last 13 possessions of the first half while holding UNC Greensboro to one field goal during the final 5 minutes.
Before that, the Spartans kept things tight mainly because foul-prone Clemson kept sending them to the line. UNC Greensboro missed 10 of its first 11 attempts and shot 22 percent in the first half, but hit 10 of 14 free throws.
"We played well for the last 32, 35 minutes of the game," Purnell said. "I thought we came out just a hair sluggish, but the work that we put in the last couple of days ... We got after our guys a little bit, and it kind of came to the surface."
Demontez Stitt made it a 20-point game with a layup with 18:44 to play, and Booker pushed it into the 30s with a three-point play with 7:49 remaining.
"We have a lot of potential (but) right now, we need to stay focused," Clemson guard Tanner Smith said. "Sometimes, these early games, you can come out and not be as intense as you need to be. We did a good job."
-- Joedy McCreary
No. 25 Maryland breezes past New Hampshire, 82-55
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — A convincing win over New Hampshire put No. 25 Maryland in the proper frame of mind for a business trip to Hawaii.
Landon Milbourne scored a career-high 24 points, and the Terrapins cruised to an 82-55 victory Friday night in their final tuneup for the Maui Invitational.
Sophomore guard Sean Mosley had 13 points and a personal-best 10 assists for his first career double-double, and Eric Hayes scored 15 for Maryland (3-0). After three straight blowouts at home, the Terrapins head to Hawaii to play three games in three days, beginning Tuesday.
"We've been playing really well on the defensive end for the most part and the offense is getting better, so these three (home) games definitely got us ready," said Hayes, who went 4 for 5 from the field and made all four of his free throws.
Freshman Jordan Williams, who had eight points and seven rebounds, appreciated opening his career with three games in a familiar arena before taking his first trip to Hawaii.
"It took me a while to get used the atmosphere and speed of the game, but I'm comfortable now," he said.
Led by Milbourne, Maryland never trailed against New Hampshire (1-1). The 6-foot-7 senior forward dunked, drove the lane, scored off his only steal and went 2 for 2 beyond the arc.
"He can score inside, he can score outside," coach Gary Williams said. "He's just a good player."
The Terrapins scored the first nine points, led by 18 at halftime and turned the game into a blowout with a 16-0 run that made it 67-32 with 10:45 left.
"We're a work in progress," Gary Williams said. "We're getting to be a good basketball team, but there's still a lot of work to be done. Where we are right now, it's hard to say. But we'll find out pretty quick."
Colbey Santos led the Wildcats with 14 points. New Hampshire finished with 21 turnovers compared to 18 baskets.
"Our game plan coming in was, we had to take care of the basketball and not turn it over," coach Bill Herrion said. "But they're so good in transition and they're so quick from defense to offense."
The Terrapins led 42-25 early in the second half before Milbourne scored five straight points and Greivis Vasquez added a jumper in the lane to boost the margin to 24.
Minutes later, Jordan Williams made a layup to spark Maryland's 16-point spree.
"They've got good veterans, they've got great leadership, their perimeter is very, very good," Herrion said of the Terps. "They're going to have a good year."
The Terrapins got 13 points from Milbourne, forced 13 turnovers and limited the Wildcats to 26 percent shooting in taking a 40-22 halftime lead.
New Hampshire had five turnovers and three missed shots in its opening eight possessions while Hayes and Milbourne teamed to score the game's first nine points. It was 24-12 before Vasquez scored on a drive, Mosley converted a three-point play and Hayes sank a 3-pointer to put the Terps up by 20.
Maryland played without forward Dino Gregory, who has been suspended until Dec. 12 for violating team policy, and center Steve Goins, who served a one-day suspension for not adhering to the class attendance policy.
-- David Ginsburg
Features
Pitino keeping it simple for No. 20 Louisville
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Rick Pitino is arguably one of the most meticulous strategists in college basketball, bombarding his Louisville players with offensive sets.
It could overwhelm even the most experienced of teams, but Pitino believed it was a necessary process to prepare the Cardinals for Big East play. But it also led to some pretty ugly basketball, particularly in November.
"My teams are very tough to watch the first few games of the season," Pitino admitted.
So are the results.
The Cardinals (1-0) have stubbed their toes in November in seven of Pitino’s eight seasons on the sideline.
Last year, Louisville was ranked No. 3 when Western Kentucky dominated the Cardinals in Nashville. Two years ago, they fell to BYU in Las Vegas. Three years ago, Dayton knocked them off the day after Thanksgiving.
The only time Louisville, under Pitino, escaped November unscathed was 2005, when the Cardinals played only one game before the calendar flipped to December.
With a team searching for a new identity after stars Earl Clark and Terrence Williams left for the NBA, this November looked to be perhaps even tougher than usual until Pitino had an epiphany of sorts over the summer.
Maybe, he figured, less is more when you’re coaching a team filled with eight freshmen and sophomores.
So instead of inundating the Cardinals with detailed plays from the day practice started, he asked them to push the ball instead. Rather than put together a dozen offensive sets he expected to be executed flawlessly from the get-go, he has kept the playbook basic.
"I just tried to evaluate why we’re not good early on, and I think I put too much in," he said.
Keeping it simple paid off in a remarkably easy 30-point win over short-handed Arkansas on Tuesday.
The Cardinals knocked down 15 3-pointers, took only a handful of challenged shots — one of Pitino’s biggest sticking points — and responded immediately when Arkansas closed within two points early in the second half.
"It’s the best we’ve looked in an opening game since I’ve been here," he said.
By limiting the playbook to five basic sets, he’s been able to spend more time in practice going through the options of each play instead of hustling from one scheme to the next.
"I think it’s just the result of us putting very few things in and getting better at what we put in earlier in the year," Pitino said.
Besides, if the Cardinals are going to defend their Big East championship, Pitino knows the fewer plays they call the better. He’d prefer it if Louisville is too busy getting points in transition to worry too much about where the ball needs to go in the halfcourt.
So would his players.
"He wants us to get out and push it and not slow it down because we’re so deep and we’ve got a lot of guys that can play," Kuric said.
The Cardinals used that depth to wear down the Razorbacks, and they’ll need it this weekend when they play East Tennessee State, Morgan State and Appalachian State as part of the Hall of Fame Showcase at Freedom Hall.
Playing three games in three days isn’t Pitino preference as the short turnarounds don’t allow for much gameplanning.
That might not necessarily be a bad thing. At least for now.
Kuric admitted being overwhelmed as a freshman by the various interpretations of a given play.
"It’s hard to realize when they call out a play you have to know exactly what to do, you can’t sit there and think about it," Kuric said. "So you just have to kind of go on reaction and do it that way."
The playbook will get more detailed as the season wears on, but Pitino is encouraged by what he’s seen.
There will still be mistakes — Pitino is still waiting for sophomore center Samardo Samuels to start asserting himself in the paint — but Pitino can live with them if the Cardinals make shots and play with the kind of intensity that marked their second-half surge by the Razorbacks.
-- Will Graves
