All Quiet on the NCAA Front

It wasn’t the most eventful weekend of basketball with very few matchups amongst Top 25 teams. There’s always good knowledge to be absorbed, however, so here’s what was brought to the table:

• When West Virginia beats someone on the road, call me.
• UCLA can’t play well offensively against a zone defense. Their newly upgraded offense looked pedestrian on the Arizona trip over the weekend. Sure they jobbed by the refs in the Arizona State, but the Arizona game was embarrassing.
• Syracuse will have issues in close games, but maybe that’s too obvious of a statement. Their foul shooting is piss-poor and Onuaku can’t even be on the floor late in games because his percentage is less than 25%. Blowing a 16-point lead at home with less than five minutes to go, despite winning, is rather disgraceful.
• Wisconsin is slowly building a tournament resume as they work their way through the system. They still lack a dynamic offense, so don’t get too excited about their prospects.
• Penn State’s guard could finally be coming out of their offensive funk. Minnesota’s known for their defense in the backcourt, and although it was a road game, I expected them to contain Battle and Pringle. Penn State’s success going forward rests on the shoulders of their two guards.
• Clemson looked rather lost in the last few minutes of regulation and in overtime. They need some leadership from the backcourt and didn’t get it while falling flat on their face at Virginia.
• Duke needs to stop letting teams shoot above 50% from the field. Things, however, may never be on the up and up without a shot blocker in the middle.
• Michigan’s Manny Harris is an exciting young player. It’s probably a year too early if Michigan makes it to the dance, but beware of upset city, courtesy of Manny Harris.