CBB Splinters | December 8, 2009

By Paul Gotham

Taking care of the ball

Wisconsin’s 73-69 victory over Duke might have surprised some, but it should not have. Bo Ryan’s club values possession of the ball. Against the Blue Devils, Wisconsin turned the ball over just four times. No small task considering Duke averaged 8.4 steals per game a year ago. This is an early trend for the Badgers. Wisconsin turned the ball over just seven times in a 65-61 win against Arizona and 9 turnovers in a 74-61 loss to Gonzaga.  Jordan Taylor leads the way for Wisconsin. The sophomore has an assist to turnover ratio of 3.8 to 1. Trevon Hughes leads three Badgers averaging double digits early in the season. Hughes goes for 16.7 per night while while Jon Leuer chips in 13.9, and Jason Bohannon adds 11 points per game.

Pssst…what’s up with the Pac-10?

Members of the Pac 10 have to be looking forward to conference play; that might be the only way they will get wins against a major conference. That is if one can still consider the Pac 10 a major conference this year.

Early returns from the Big 12 / Pac-10 Hardwood indicate a notable disparity: Big 12 8 wins and the Pac-10 2 wins. That has to hurt. Especially when you consider that the two wins are Oregon State over Colorado, 74-69 and California over Iowa State, 82-63. The Buffaloes of Colorado haven’t exactly been setting the basketball world on fire. In fact, the last time Colorado saw action in a post-season tournament was 2006. They lost in the first round of the NIT to Old Dominion, 79-61.

For a rundown of all games and recaps click here.

The Pac-10’s troubles don’t stop there. UCLA is 2-5 with losses to Cal-State Fullerton, Portland, and Long Beach State. Ben Howland should be thankful he is not the coach of Notre Dame football as the alums might get a sudden case of amnesia and forget his recent trips to the Final Four.  Oregon is 4-3 falling also to Portland and Montana. Is Ernie Kent’s seat feeling a little warm? With an off-season shakeup in the rear view mirror, USC expected to struggle. The Trojans stand at 2-4. Besides dropping tilts to Syracuse and Ohio State, California also fell to New Mexico.

If this keeps up, mid-major wins over the Pac-10 might not be considered an upset.

The battle of the arc

Syracuse and Villanova have established themselves as threats from long range.  The Orange have hit 42% behind the arc. Andy Rautins and Wesley Johnson have both dropped over 50% of their trifecta attempts. Mookie Jones has hit 47%. With opposing defenses worrying about the inside threats of Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson, the perimeter is open and the Orange guards have been taking advantage.  The undefeated Orange square off with the undefeated Florida Gators Thursday night in the Big East – SEC Challenge.

Villanova set a school record with 39 3-pt. attempts in a victory over Maryland, 95-86.  Corey Stokes hit five, Corey Fisher finished four, with Scottie Reynolds and Taylor King chipping in three a piece as the Wildcats fell one short of the school record with 16 3 balls for the game.

On the other hand, Wake Forest has made hitting the three difficult. The Demon Deacons limited Purdue to just 1 of 15 shooting from long range. Didn’t matter. The Boilermakers downed the Deacs, 69-58. Wake Forest rebounded nicely from the loss, went on the road and beat Gonzaga, 77-75. Gonzaga’s Elias Harris (12ppg, 7.5rpg) was ejected in the first half. Wake Forest took advantage and picked up a valuable road win.

Don’t ever give up.

It’s Jimmy V week. Enjoy the hoops and if you can, make a contribution.

Plenty of Big East – SEC action. Xavier plays Kansas State tonight.

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