Game of the night: Kansas at Texas

Sure, the contest may have lost some of its luster with Texas' recent swoon (The Horns have lost four of their last six.), but tonight's Texas-Kansas clash has been the most anticipated game of the season.

Right now, Kansas is the best team in college hoops. It's ranked No. 1 in both polls and has won eight straight. But Kansas has not faced a team with big men like Texas' all year long. Damion James is averaging 18 points and 11 boards per game, while Dexter Pittman and Gary Johnson have helped Texas control games on the glass.

But the Horns are struggling and are still reeling after a loss to rival Oklahoma in Norman on Saturday. It'll be a tough turnaround made even tougher by Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich and Xavier Henry.

Prediction: Kansas 71, Texas 60

Player to watch: Scottie Reynolds, Villanova

How could it be anyone else?

Reynolds and the Wildcats are coming off a loss at Georgetown and head into one of the most hostile environments in the country in Morgantown. He will be the one looked at to control the game.

Reynolds is averaging 19 points, three boards and four assists per game for a young Nova squad. The Cats have yet to face adversity this season and another loss tonight would certainly bring some. But with perhaps the most seasoned Big East veteran manning the offense, don't expect Scottie and the Cats to go down so easily.

These two games may be the two best of the entire regular season, and they are in one night. Enjoy.

-AJC

Here are the Collegian's assessment of each player's performance from Saturday's 66-64 loss to Minnesota:

Junior guard Talor Battle: B

Battle played like his usual self, but his 3-for-7 total from the free throw line brings his grade down. If he makes three out of his four misses, then the Lions win the game. Battle hit some big shots at crucial moments, but the free throw percentage was disappointing. Also, he was pretty quiet on the offensive end in the first half.

Sophomore guard Chris Babb: B-

The Arlington, Tx., native can still convert on more of his open shot attempts. He'll hit about half of those attempts, but he has the potential to be one of the most successful jump shooters in Lions history. He should be hitting all of the big shots. He never got going in the first half, but some huge shots in the second half earn her a B- grade.

Junior forward D.J. Jackson: A

D.J. hit some big time shots in one of his best games of the year. He finished second to only Battle in points (18) and played strong in the first half. Jackson got to the line early and often and converted on all his attempts, hitting all eight. He played the way the Lions need him to play to be successful.

Junior forward Jeff Brooks: B-

Brooks started but only scored three points in 19 minutes played. His crucial pass to Battle in the game's final minutes is the one play that stands out. He somehow corralled the loose ball and earned the assist on Battle's final play. Still, the Lions would like for Brooks to score than three points as a starter and crunch-time contributor.

Junior forward Drew Jones: C

Jones fouled out with 4:33 remaining and was a virtual non-factor all game. It seems like Jones gets whistled for an over-the-back foul each game and it's a pretty glaring habit. As Jones looked like he was about to get back on track, he came out and played poorly Saturday. With that performance, he may have forfeited his starting spot back to Andrew Ott.

Junior forward Andrew Ott: C+

Combine Ott's points, rebounds, assists and steals and you don't even add up to his personal foul total. Ott was whistled for four fouls in 14 minutes and finished with zero points so you can't really award him too high of a grade. Despite a lingering shoulder injury that kept him out of the Ohio State game Wednesday, Ott played some big-time minutes for the Lions. It will be interesting to see if he or Jones starts on Saturday against Michigan State.

Freshman guard: Tim Frazier: A-

Frazier looked as comfortable as he has in the last 10 games. The freshman controlled the ball for the majority of the end of the game and made some great moves with the ball. Coach DeChellis' assessment of Frazier's play: "I thought Tim Frazier made a couple nice drives to the basket. Defensively, No. 5 (Devoe Joseph) got him on a couple things but he had a better second half defensively. As a freshman out there, he did a good job. He was a little more comfortable I thought, he did fine."

Freshman swingman Bill Edwards did not play at all on Saturday. Coach DeChellis said he was nowhere near ready to play.

"No. He couldn't jump, couldn't cut. He couldn't go."

It's the end of the week. Per the usual, here are the bracket projections.

Midwest Region (St. Louis)
1. Kansas
2. Georgetown
3. Wisconsin
4. Vanderbilt
5. Gonzaga
6. BYU
7. Wake Forest
8. Virginia Tech
9. UTEP
10. Rhode Island
11. Cornell
12. Marquette
13. Akron
14. Vermont
15. Morgan St.
16. Prairie View A&M/Arkansas St.

Kansas remains the tournament overall No. 1, and Georgetown remains a two seed despite a mid-week loss courtesy of its blowout of Villanova on Saturday.

The rest of the bracket appears relatively weak. The 12-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles nearly knocked off the third-seeded Badgers early in the season. Just a barometer of the college basketball landscape: a few elite teams and a whole lot of mediocrity.

South Region (Houston)
1. Kentucky
2. West Virginia
3. Michigan St.
4. Pittsburgh]
5. Georgia Tech
6. Temple
7. Baylor
8. UAB
9. Texas A&M
10. Florida
11. Clemson
12. Illinois
13. Murray St.
14. Weber St.
15. Robert Morris
16. Jacksonville

With their win over Michigan State in primetime on Saturday, the Illinois Fighting Illini eked their way into the tournament as the last team in. It gives the Big Ten five teams (with the other four teams all in the top-16 overall seeds). The Spartans are the other Big Ten team in the region. After they appeared destined for a one-seed, they dropped to a three because of two losses this week.

West Region (Salt Lake City)
1. Syracuse
2. Duke
3. Texas
4. Ohio St.
5. Ole Miss
6. New Mexico
7. Northern Iowa
8. Siena
9. Missouri
10. Louisville
11. Mississippi St.
12. Richmond
13. Old Dominion
14. Stephen F. Austin
15. Coastal Carolina
16. Oakland

The Orange remained one of the hottest teams in hoops this week with a pair of impressive victories over Cincinnati and Providence. Duke makes a return to the top-eight overall seeds because so many highly ranked teams lost this week. This bracket could see some upsets, too, with mid-majors New Mexico, Northern Iowa and Siena all in the top-eight seeds.

East Region (Syracuse)
1. Villanova
2. Purdue
3. Kansas St.
4. Tennessee
5. Maryland
6. Butler
7. UNLV
8. Florida St.
9. Charlotte
10. St. Mary's
11. Notre Dame
12. Washington
13. Louisiana Tech
14. Charleston
15. Pacific
16. Lehigh

The Lehigh-Villanova first-round game would mean a matchup of my mom's alma mater (Lehigh) and my sister's current school (Nova). That would be a fun day in the Cassavell household, but, as Nova should do with a bracket like this, the Cats will cruise. Purdue, Kansas St. and Tennessee have all looked shaky at points this season. Washington also represents the only Pac-10 team in my bracket.

Where Penn State fits in: Like last week, and the week before, and the week before (you get the point), the Lions don't fit.

Postseason prediction: None

Final Four prediction: Kansas, West Virginia, Syracuse, Villanova

Champion: Kansas

-AJC

Saturday's Penn State-Minnesota basketball game featured the Nittany Lions wearing throwback uniforms. Here is a look from gopsusports at the jersey.

But the Lions didn't don the jerseys solely to look good. The game was a part of Coaches vs. Cancer and the Lions auctioned the jerseys after the for two dollars per ticket. Basketball sports information director Brian Siegrist said about 5,000 tickets were sold.

Head coach Ed DeChellis said he was initially disappointed because the blizzard drove away some of the paid attendance of 10,291.

"Well, we just kind of with our luck and then the sense that we didn't have much of a crowd today because of the storm, but I hope it went well," DeChellis said. "The uniforms looked good out there. We were trying to raise money for Coaches vs. Cancer and hopefully we sold enough of those tickets to do that but if we had a big crowd, I think it would have been more successful. I appreciate everybody who came today and weathered the storm. To be honest with you, I was surprised there were that many people there tonight considering the storm that we had."

-AJC

Lawrence Westbrook hits a 3-pointer as time expires over Chris Babb to steal a win at the BJC. The Gophers storm the court. Wow. More to come after the press conference.

Final score: 67-64 Minnesota

***

64-62 Minnesota leads, 37 seconds left

Talor Battle found himself open behind the line and nailed a deep 3-pointer. He's tied with Jackson with 18 points. He calmly clenched his fist after hitting the shot.

They're trading 3-pointers for two free throws. Can they keep up the hot shooting?

***

62-59 Minnesota leads, 1:13 to go

Westbrook hit two free throws after a questionable foul by Tim Frazier on Minnesota's inbounds opportunity.

But coming back on offense, Talor Battle found Jackson open for a 3-pointer on the wing. He connected. I'm beginning to think that DJ might be the guy to go to down the stretch here. He's been on point all game.

The Lions need a defensive stop right here.

***

60-56 Minnesota leads, 1:23 to go

No scoring, but some good chances to.

Lawrence Westbrook missed a layup opportunity as he came off a screen following a Smith timeout. But Battle missed a layup of his own on the other end.

***

60-56 Minnesota leads, 2:26 to go

Tubby Smith earned a technical foul for his team after going ballastic that a Tim Frazier wasn't called before a 35-second shot clock violation was whistled. Frazier reached in and one official whistled for a foul, but another zebra overruled him.

DJ Jackson hit two free throws to bring the Gopher lead to 54-52, and the Lions have been hanging around ever since.

The Gophers are really not executing at all on the offensive end. They're still shooting 46.5 percent from the floor but not getting very good looks in the last three minutes or so.

Drew Jones fouled out with about five minutes left...another sloppy game for him. Just as he had put together three solid games (Illinois, Purdue and Ohio State), he comes out and wastes an opportunity to get back on track. We'll see if Ott or Jones earns the start against Michigan State on Saturday.

We've got a close one here. Jackson and Battle have 15 points each and Babb has 12. They've got to make sure they don't leave Hoffarber open for a 3-pointer because he's been on point. I'd let anyone else on the Minnesota squad shoot over him.

It's another close game for the Lions down the stretch. Can they finally break through and win a game down the stretch? We shall see.

***

53-49 Minnesota leads, 7:52 to go

Penn State has stolen some momentum in the last minute. Chris Babb nailed a 3-pointer, his fourth of the game, after Tim Frazier created nicely off the dribble. He beat Westbrook to his right, then spun off a screen to find Babb in the corner.

Then Battle drove nicely to the hole, put it up on the reverse glass to trim the lead to four points.

The Lions have to keep up the intensity on both sides of the court. Keep the ball in the hands of Gopher guard Devoe Joseph. He's a defensive stopper who, for some reason, is being trusted to run the point for the most part. I'm surprised Minnesota hasn't given the ball down low more.

Gophers at the line now. Ott picked up his third foul.

***

47-42 Minnesota leads, 12:05 to go

Rodney Williams and Sampson III ran a really nice pick-and-roll, with piss-poor defense on the part of Andrew Jones. Jones did not hedge the screen and chased after Williams as Sampson III ran by himself to the hoop for a dunk.

Battle is really struggling from the free-throw line -- he just missed the front end of a 1-and-1. He's now 1-of-5 from the line. He's got nine points. He stole the ball from Williams, who basically handed the ball to him and ran for a layup.

Also, check out our Twitter (http://twitter.com/hardwoodhits). Robinson is doing some nice, sarcastic tweeting from the BJC. Seriously though, check it out.
***

44-38 Minnesota leads, 15:02 to go

The biggest spectacle here is always the Papa John's pizza giveaway here. I don't understand it...people must come to this arena starving because it's always the loudest the crowd gets for the entire game.

But I digress..

Chris Babb hit two 3-pointers to up his scoring total to nine points. If he gets going, the Lions will stay in the game. Jackson has looked solid for the Lions, taking his man off the dribble a couple times. He's got 11 points to lead the Lions.

Hoffarber hit another 3. He leads all scorers with 12 points on 4-of-6 from the 3-point line.

Battle has been quiet with only seven points on 2-of-9 shooting.

***

36-30 Minnesota leads at halftime

Talor Battle nailed a 3-pointer out of the timeout and that was the only scoring for the remainder of the half. Battle had a real nice steal from Gopher guard Devoe Joseph (not sure why he was handling the ball), but the Lions couldn't score before the half.

D.J. Jackson and Blake Hoffarber are tied at the half with nine points each. Battle has seven points, followed by Tim Frazier and Drew Jones with four points.

Ralph Sampson III and Damian Johnson added six and five points, respectively.

The team numbers for the Gophers and Lions are very, very similar. Minnesota out-rebounded Penn State by one, Penn State has one more turnover (7 to Minnesota's 6), and the Lions are shooting 41 percent from the field, while Minnesota is shooting 44 percent. Both squads have four 3-pointers and nobody has scored in double digits.

Despite all the even numbers, the Gophers own a six-point lead. Expect Minnesota to come out and establish the low-post.

Sampson III, Johnson and Iverson scored pretty much at will when they had the ball in the post.

***

36-27 Minnesota leads, 1:12 left in the first half

Ed DeChellis calls a 20-second timeout here before the half, trying to prevent his team from falling too far behind before the half. The Gophers have went on a 7-0 run in the last three minutes to open up the game a little bit.

Battle launched up one 3-pointer that would have been a couple feet behind the NBA line. Andrew Ott grabbed the offensive rebound but then put up a terrible attempt at a shot.

***

31-27 Minnesota leads, 3:46 left in the first half

Penn State tied the game up on a Chris Babb 3-pointer to make the score 24-24, but Ralph Sampson III put the Gophers back on top, hitting two free throws, even though he blatantly traveled before getting fouled.

Jeff Brooks has three points in the last two minutes.

There's a lot of scoring thus far in the game. If Penn State wants to keep up with the Gophers, they'll need Brooks and Babb to continue scoring. This game looks like it's headed for the 70's.

***

24-19 Minnesota leads, 7:05 left in the first half

Tim Frazier is on track thus far with four points. He corralled a rebound off a Gopher miss and drove it the length of the floor, attacking Lawrence Westbrook and laying it in. Then Frazier drove the baseline and had a nice layup over the Gophers big men.

Hoffarber added another 3-pointer, so he leads all scorers with nine points.

Battle had a nice steal off a Ralph Sampson III turnover and hit a 3-pointer in traffic. That's his only basket, though. He's 1-of-5 shooting. He made a nice pass to Andrew Ott in the lane, but Ott put the ball on the floor, getting it stolen as soon as he dribbled it. Ott has to go right up with that pass.

But Ott did play for about thre minutes -- good to see that his shoulder injury didn't prevent him from playing.

No sign of Bill Edwards yet, though.

***

14-12 Minnesota leads, 11:06 left in the first half

D.J. Jackson scored seven consecutive points for the Lions. Strong start for the Farrell, Pa. native. He leads all scorers with seven points.

Blake Hoffarber added another 3-pointer to lead Minnesota with six points.

Tubby Smith, former NCAA Champion coach for the Kentucky Wildcats, put in a line change for the Gophers, taking out all five of his starters to put in his five remaining players on the bench. They played well too. Colton Iverson is a heck of a bench player.

***

7-5 Minnesota leads, 15:49 left in the first half

Drew Jones and Jeff Brooks got starts today, first time both of them have started together since Michigan on Jan. 7.

D.J. Jackson is looking great thus far. He caught a pass at the top of the key from Jeff Brooks and nailed a 3-pointer in rhythm. Then he posted up and created space for Chris Babb to dump a nice lob pass to D.J. Those are the five Lions points thus far.

Lawrence Westbrook grabbed an offensive rebound over Drew Jones and ran along the baseline to hit a jumper. Blake Hoffarber hit a 3-pointer in transition, pretty much unguarded. And Ralph Sampson III created space against Jones and scored easily on a layup.

Penn State's throwback uniforms are pretty awesome.. wish they would wear them every game.

***

We're moments away from the tip-off of today's game. Here are the starting lineups:

Minnesota:

#20 G Lawrence Westbrook, 6-foot-0
#5 G Devoe Joseph, 6-foot-3
#24 G Blake Hoffarber, 6-foot-4
#34 F Damian Johnson, 6-foot-7
#50 F/C Ralph Sampson III, 6-foot-11

Penn State:

#12 G Talor Battle, 6-foot-0
#10 G Chris Babb, 6-foot-5
#15 F D.J. Jackson, 6-foot-7
#25 F Jeff Brooks, 6-foot-8
#22 F Drew Jones, 6-foot-10

***

Welcome to the live blog of this afternoon's Penn State vs. Minnesota game. The Nittany Lions are still looking for their first victory in this calendar year. They're taking on a Golden Gophers team that they lost to back on Dec. 29. Back then, the Lions were 8-4 and had a lead with eight minutes left in the Minnesota game. Oh, how things can change.

BMX star Jamie Bestwick was on the floor a couple minutes ago, jumping over the Nittany Lion in his trick bike.

We'll be back in a few minutes to give you the starting lineups of today's game.

Game of the night: Georgia Tech at Duke

Even with the constant shuffling of the ACC, these two teams appear to have set themselves apart as the class of the conference. They square off at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

It should be an interesting clash, given the Blue Devils' strength this season has been great guard play, while the Yellow Jackets look to Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal in the post for most of their points. The Jackets made a name for themselves with a 71-67 win over Duke earlier in the season. The Blue Devils will be out for revenge in front of what will likely be one of their better crowds of the season.

Prediction: Georgia Tech 66, Duke 64

Player to watch: Luke Harangody

It's a recurring theme for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish: not living up to their potential in a tough Big East. In the last few seasons the Irish have suffered some crippling losses down the stretch that have seriously hurt their tournament chances. This season, after starting 14-3, the Irish have lost four of five (one of those losses coming to a Rutgers squad that had been winless in conference play) and appear headed for a similar fate.

Enter Luke Harangody. In his final season in South Bend, Harangody, who is averaging 24 points and 10 rebounds per game, has to put his foot down on another late-season swoon. That starts tonight against fellow bubble team, Cincinnati. A win and a strong performance by Harangody could send a very clear message to the rest of the Big East that this season's Irish will be different.

-AJC

The Big Ten network's "Hoops on Campus" comes to Penn State tonight at the Bryce Jordan Center, and the show -- centered around the team and its fans -- will air on Friday.

According to a press release, tonight's festivities will be taped for the show and shown on the Big Ten Network at 10 p.m. Friday.

Instead of focusing solely, on basketball, the show is designed to show the entire university's spirit around athletics and around the team. In addition to athletes from other sports such as football and volleyball competing in contests like a 3-point shootout and a dunk contest, the Blue Band, cheerleaders and Lionettes will all be a part of the festivities that begin at 6 p.m.

The show will air a day before the Lions return home from a rough road trip to host Minnesota at 2 on Saturday afternoon.

-AJC

The Lions head to Columbus tonight for an early start against the Buckeyes. Here are our keys to the game.

1. Contain Evan Turner without help defense

Turner may be in contention for national player of the year, but that isn't solely because he can score. If the Lions are forced to use two or three players on Turner he will make them pay. To go with his 18.4 points per game, he also averages 5.7 assists. D.J. Jackson or Chris Babb will likely draw the assignment.

2. "Make your luck"

It's something head coach Ed DeChellis has stressed all season long, and it may never be truer than tonight. The Lions need to make plays at every possible moment, because in all likelihood they won't be getting calls or fan support in a raucous environment in Columbus. In Sunday's game against Purdue, the Boilermakers used an early second half run to put the Lions away. Penn State can't afford a similar run tonight.

3. Forget

Sunday's loss to Purdue was arguably the Lions' ugliest performance of the year. But despite their 0-9 conference record, they haven't always looked as bad as they did against the Boilermakers. Every player not named Bill Edwards would do well to forget what happened Sunday.

-AJC

Game of the night: Pittsburgh at West Virginia

After an incredible start to the Big East season, the Panthers have come back down to earth with losses in three of their last four games. They look to get back on track tonight with a win in Morgantown against West Virginia.

Mountaineer fans have come under some scrutiny recently for profane language during the games, but WVU students aren't planning on easing up.

"Pitt is our rival so we'll probably be using a lot of colorful words against them," a West Virginia student told the AP.

Rival may be an understatement. These two teams do not like each other and neither do the fans. Keep an eye on the Da'Sean Butler-Gilbert Brown matchup. That could be the deciding factor tonight.

Prediction: West Virginia 71, Pitt 64

Player to watch: Dominique Jones, South Florida

Scottie Reynolds, Wesley Johnson, Luke Harangody and Greg Monroe are four obvious choices for an all-Big East starting five. The fifth? Right now it's South Florida's Dominique Jones.

Jones has the Bulls in contention for a very rare NCAA tournament bid, averaging 37 points in their last three games - all impressive wins. He is the hottest player in the nation's best conference, scoring 22 points per game, and he is also one of college hoops' best scoring-passing threats.

Tonight the Bulls head to Georgetown and if the Hoyas don't contain Jones, they'll be on upset alert. After an 0-4 start to conference play, South Florida is 4-1 in the Big East and in contention for the tournament, mostly because of Jones.

-AJC

Minnesota point guard Al Nolen has played his last game for the Golden Gophers this season after his appeal for reinstatement was denied by the NCAA.

Reported Tuesday on ESPN's Web site, Nolen was ruled academically ineligible two weeks ago. The junior guard appealed to a special NCAA committee, but with the denial is done for the year.

Though Nolen can still travel and practice with his team, he won't be able to take the floor when Minnesota takes on the Nittany Lions Saturday. For a team seeking its first Big Ten win, the Lions could benefit from the loss of Nolen.

In the Gophers 75-70 win over Penn State on December 29, Nolen had six points, five rebounds and six assists and was leading the Gophers in assists and steals before his suspension.

Nolen has been replaced by DeVoe Joseph, who had four points in 12 minutes during the last meeting between the two teams.