College Hoops Notes

College Hoops Notes Today’s Starting 5 looks back at Wednesday night and ahead to Thursday night hoops. 1. Louisville and Villanova played a hideous “when will this ever end?” Big Monday game on ESPN that had as little flow as a game between two talented teams could possibly have. Anything resembling physical contact was called, with a resulting 67 fouls and 94 free throws!! Informed speculation among basketball people was that the conference felt that early conference play was too rugged and told the officials to call fouls more liberally. The “Freedom Hall Whistlefest” may have been seen as sending the proper message, as none of Wednesday night’s 4 conference games went over the total. The games went under by 20, 9, and 28 with the Syracuse-Rutgers game falling right on the closing number (you could have won both an over bet and an under bet depending on when and where you bet it). If a message was sent on Big Monday, it looks like it was received, and we can carry on with Big East handicapping without considering the officials. 2. Tennessee, down to 6 scholarship players (but 6 extraordinarily talented players) has thrived since the dismissal of all-SEC forward Tyler Smith, who faced the more serious charges than the 3 teammates who were with him. Smith’s production was down this season, averaging only 11.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, down from 17.4 points and 5.8 rebounds last season. They had a lot of energy against Charlotte and then played like their hair was on fire in a spotlight upset of Kansas last weekend. Will be interesting to see if the shorthanded Vols can maintain the energy in a natural letdown situation tonight at home against a weak Auburn team. Nevada and online sportsbooks have the Vols as a 16-point favorite as this is written. 3. Every respectable newspaper between Tucson and Seattle has run an article lamenting the poor quality of the Pac Ten this year. Examples here, here, here, and here. One way to use the weakness of this league is to make sure you’re absolutely on to something strong before playing a Pac Ten favorite. Does anyone really deserve to be favored over anyone else in this loop this season? Underdogs are 12-5-1 to the pointspread in conference play thus far. 4. If you like the “play the team with the new coach” angle, you have a chance with the home dog Depaul Blue Demons tonight. Despite the respect he commands in basketball circles, Jerry Wainwright simply could never get things going at Depaul, and suffered a terrible leg injury in a sideline accident last week. Depaul let him go three days later and the interim coach is Tracy Webster, elevated from his assistantship. Depaul’s best player is big man Mac Koshwal, who missed a long stretch with injury. The Blue Demons are 0-4 since Koshwal returned. Providence guard Marshon Brooks (16 PPG) has a bum ankle that’s kept him from practicing the past couple of days and he’s iffy tonight. PC is the better team, particularly offensively, and I have the Friars more than 4 points (the line at Vegas and online sportsbooks as I write this) superior to a Blue Demon club that enjoys little home court advantage. The Providence Journal’s savvy Kevin McNamara points out what a dire situation Depaul is in, big picture. But tonight’s intangibles would seem to favor a Depaul team that’s had a full week to adjust to their new head coach. As bad as they are, if they’re ever going to play a good game, it would likely be as a rested, energized team tonight. 5. Spectacular individual efforts in the Big Ten the past couple of nights. Wisconsin’s Trevon Hughes single-handedly willed the Badgers to victory, scoring 14 points in 4 minutes to bring the Badgers back from a deficit and then break open a game that saw the Wildcats wilt down the stretch, shooting 7 for 21 down the stretch and not chasing down numerous long rebounds during Hughes’ torrid shooting streak. Speaking of 14 points in 4 minutes, Evan Turner, recently back from injury for Ohio State, scorched the nets with 14 points in the final 3:47 in a stirring comeback win for Ohio State in West Lafayette. Purdue earned a 41-29 halftime advantage when Robbie Hummel lit up the Buckeyes with 29 points on 9 for 11 shooting, including 8 3-pointers. So the first half saw Hummel score just as much as the Ohio State team, yet the Buckeyes came back to win.