It officially feels like college basketball season -- watching games at Madison Square Garden will do that for you. Penn State lost for the first time since making its magical NIT run last year. The Lions fell 90-79 to a hot-shooting UNC-Wilmington team, so the Lions will take on Tulane at 12:30 today in the loser's bracket of the Charleston Classic.

Here's a look at some of yesterday's best games.

No. 4 North Carolina 77 - No. 15 Ohio State 73

North Carolina and Ohio State played in an early season game we won't forget come March, ending in a four-point Tar Heel victory. They led the Buckeyes by a comfortable margin for most of the game and dominated the first half. But Ohio State made it interesting down the stretch, as David Lighty and Jon Diebler made clutch three-pointers.

Even though the Tar Heels escaped with the victory, the Buckeyes came back from a 16-point deficit to make it a close game. That's a sign of a good team. It's early in the year, but the comeback was a nice sign for Buckeye fans. A bad sign for Buckeye fans, though, is Evan Turner turning the ball over 10 times. Even though North Carolina's defense was very good, he finished with a triple-double: 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 TO's.

No. 6 Villanova 69 - George Mason 68

With proven shooters Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes on the floor for the Wildcats, no one would have expected, nor wanted, freshman Isaiah Armwood to put up a shot with the game on the line.

Armwood's first collegiate score of his career was the game-winner for Villanova, propelling them over George Mason. With a win, George Mason could have improved its record to 3-1 in its last four games against top 10 teams. But Villanova avoided the early-season loss.

Fisher was only 1-for-14 from the field in the nail-biting win, so Jay Wright probably did not want the ball in his hands. Reynolds finished with 18 points, but only two assists.

No. 24 Syracuse 95 - No. 12 Cal 73

Syracuse returned to the MSG floor with a bang, the same court where it pulled off the legendary six-overtime win over UCONN in last year's Big East quarterfinals.

Even though Jonny Flynn wasn't on hand, Scoop Jardine and Wesley Johnson paced the 'Cuse with 22 and 17, respectively. Johnson took advantage of Cal's lack of frontline players and had a nice double-double with 17 pts and 11 rebounds.

We'll see how the Orange fares against North Carolina tonight.

--Hen

Game of the night: North Carolina vs. Ohio State

Evan Turner has breezed through Alcorn State and James Madison, posting a triple double in his first game and 24 points in the next. It's tough to make an argument against Turner as the best player so far this season. But tonight he will get his first chance to prove himself on a national stage against the Tarheels in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

In three games this season, UNC has four players averaging double figures in points, and the Tar Heels have won each game by at least ten as well. Senior forward Deon Thompson leads the Heels with 17.7 points per game despite only averaging 24 minutes.

As with any Roy Williams-coached team, the Heels are a team that can spread the scoring around. The question tonight is: can they make the Buckeyes do the same? Ohio State doesn't have much else after Turner.

That task, however, is easier said than done.

Prediction: Ohio State 71, North Carolina 67

Player to watch: Jerome Randle, Cal

The Golden Bears take on Syracuse in the other semifinal matchup of the CVC Classic. Our player to watch: another early-season star looking to prove himself on a national stage.

Jerome Randle is averaging 20 points per game for the Bears, and has already exhibited his senior leadership. The 5-foot-10 Randle has seen an increase in scoring by six points per game in each season at Cal. That would put him on pace for 24 points per game this season. Don't be shocked if he accomplishes it in an offense-first conference.

Expect Randle to use his quickness to penetrate Jim Boeheim's zone, and his shooting ability to stretch it out. If the Bears, who have the highest expectations the program has seen in over a decade, pull off the win, Randle will likely be the reason why.

-AJC

When the Nittany Lions tip off the Charleston Classic, they'll have to contend with a challenge of the round, orange variety.

Though the NCAA does not have a required ball, many teams use the Nike 4005 Official Tournament ball, including Penn State, and the Lions have grown accostumed to using it.
In Charleston, Chris Babb and his fellow shooters will have to deal with THE ROCK. No, not the Sean Connery movie, a different make of ball.

"It's a little different," Babb said of the ball. "But as long as I get enough shots up with it, I'll be fine."

Babb was the first player out to shoot Tuesday at practice, working his way around the arc and draining most of his shots. Freshman guard Tim Frazier said THE ROCK is similar to an outdoor play he uses at home and adjusting to it is just another challenge on the trip.

Lions coach Ed DeChellis said the ball is a little bit harder, but it's nothing that will change the team's game plan. Point guard Talor Battle, who will spend the most time with THE ROCK in his hands, said practicing with the new ball is important, just to feel how it bounces and if he has to change the way he passes, but in the end, "a basketball's just a basketball."

Daily quick hits: November 18, 2009

Game of the night: Butler at Northwestern

Playing in the Horizon League, the Butler Bulldogs know they have to get quality wins early in the season. Despite their reputation as a team worthy of tournament consideration, the Bulldogs' success continues to hinge on their nonconference schedule. That begins tonight with a game in Evanston against Northwestern.

The Wildcats are without last season's leading scorer Kevin Coble -- a huge blow to a team that had tournament aspirations at the beginning of the season. They face their first test tonight as well in the No. 11 Bulldogs. Northwestern also lost senior small forward Jeff Ryan to an ACL tear on Friday, which ended his season.

The Cats are going through the loss of two of their biggest offensive weapons. Although they are playing at home, expect Butler -- a team that fully understands the importance of this game in the scheme of their season -- to try and jump on Northwestern early.

Prediction: Butler 69, Northwestern 60 --AJ

Player to watch: Harouna Mutombo

The name is all you need to know. Yes, he is related to Dikembe Mutumbo. But no, he's not a menacing, gigantic, finger-wagging center. Harouna Mutumbo is a 6-foot 4, 195-pound guard for Western Carolina. He's the nephew of Dikembe, the former NBA star who played in eight All-Star games and won the Defensive Player of the Year award four times.

Harouna's about to make a name for himself, too. He was named to the Southern Conference's All-Freshman team last season after a stellar end to his season. He put up three consecutive 20-point performances -- 28 points against Appalachian State, 25 points against the College of Charleston and 20 against Elon.

He begins his sophomore season with a lot of expectation. Playing against No. 3-ranked Texas tonight at 9 p.m., is a chance for him to be discussed in the college basketball community.

Game of the Night: Kansas vs. Memphis

How can this not be the game of the night? The Calipari-less Tigers face the number one team in the country at 10 p.m. to conclude ESPN's ridiculous 24 hours of college basketball. There are two watchable games in this whole marathon: this one and the 4 p.m. meeting between Georgetown and Temple.

Talented backcourt mates Sherron Collins and freshman phenom Xavier Henry lead the Jayhawks as Memphis travels to Conseco Fieldhouse for a rematch to the 2008 NCAA Championship game. For Henry, the game will be especially interesting. Initially signed to Memphis, Henry was released from his committment and travelled to Kansas.

With Preseason All-American candidate Cole Aldrich anchoring the frontcourt for Kansas, Tigers coach Josh Pastner faces a daunting task in his second game.

Player of the Night: George Monroe, C, Georgetown
The Hoyas best player last year, Monroe decided not to try the NBA and return for his second season. The move should prove a wise one, as Georgetown is a much better team than the one that struggled through the Big East last year.

Monroe's sophomore campaign should help both parties, as the Hoyas will need his size and skills in the paint and the center needs a good season to improve his draft stock. With what looks like a guard-heavy NBA Draft, a strong showing by Monroe coudl allow him to move up the draft board to a team in need of some size.

-A-Rob

Here's our take on how each Penn State player played in Monday's 80-61 victory over Robert Morris at the BJC.

Report Card:

Coach Ed DeChellis: B

DeChellis made a nice move bringing in Tim Frazier early in the game at the 14:35 mark. Robert Morris was pushing the tempo early and Frazier's style of play was a perfect suit for the flow of the game. He also got Talor Battle more rest than he ever gave him last season. Battle's 28 minutes was lower than any minute total he posted in a game last year. That will likely be a benefit when Penn State hits the road to play three games in the Charleston Classic this weekend.

Talor Battle: C+

Battle's 8 point was his lowest total output since failing to score against No. 20 Purdue last year. Robert Morris did a nice job on him defensively, taking away his driving capabilities. At the half, he was 0-for-4 from 3-point range, 1-for-7 overall. He finished 2-for-9 from the field, but did add seven assists and six rebounds to his stat line. He had a nice steal and dunk in transition to culminate a 13-2 run for the Lions out of the gate at half.

Jeff Brooks: B+

DeChellis wanted Brooks to increase his rebounding production and he did so. He put up five rebounds after only grabbing one in the first game. He posted his second straight double digit scoring night, too, with 12 points. He was limited in the first half, however, picking up his second foul and only playing nine of the first 20 minutes. Brooks played better all-around than the Penn game.

Drew Jones: B+

Still would like to see more output from the 6-foot 10 forward, but he looked more confident with the ball and on the glass against Robert Morris. He finished with six points and eight rebounds and went 3-for-4 from the floor. He only had two fouls, too, after fouling out against Penn.

Chris Babb: A-

Babb's early foul trouble prevents him from getting a solid A. He stole the show in the first five minutes of the second half, hitting four 3's. Babb has stepped up and shot with confidence in each game this year. His 15 points all came off 3-pointers.

D.J. Jackson: B

Jackson did what he was asked to: made sound passes, collected seven rebounds, drew an offensive foul. He's a role player and he played his role, finishing with eight points and a nice 3-pointer.

Cammeron Woodyard: C+

Woodyard hit a 3-pointer in the second half and played a solid eight minutes in the first half. He saw a lot of minutes once again with Babb's foul trouble.

Andrew Ott: C+

Didn't see any time in the second half, but played solidly in the first half, collecting two boards and making a hustle play on the sideline.

Adam Highberger: B+

Highberger entered the game in the first half once again and hit a crucial 3-pointer with 1:26 left to tie the game at 31.

Sasa Borovnjak: A-

Sasa has been solid all season long off the bench. He finished with six points and hit the deck to pick up a couple loose balls off the ground.

Billy Oliver and Steve Kirkpatrick: B-

Can't really assess them on much. Nice that they got in the game. Oliver played four minutes and Kirkpatrick played three minutes, each finishing with no points.

Team Grade: B

The Lions played really lackluster in the first half but came out in the second half with a desire to win the game. They posted a 29-6 run to start the half to shutup the Colonials. All in all, it was a nice sign of resiliency to come out with such fire after struggling in the first half. Still, the sluggish start is a concern.

3:38 to go, Penn State 76-52

THings look to be comfortably in hand for the Lions, as they've brought in Billy Oliver and Adam Highberger to wrap things up. Battle hasn't played in the last six or seven minutes -- finally getting a break. DeChellis has talked about wanting to give him more breathers during the offseason. He played 39 minutes out of 40 in the Penn game, but he's getting his breaks tonight.

Tim Frazier is looking really comfortable at point guard -- he just drew the fourth foul on Robert Morris' Velton Jones -- arguably the best player for them. He's got 19 points and he's on the line right now.

And an update on UPSET alert -- Kentucky edged it out over Miami (OH) by two. John Wall led the Wildcats with 19 and hit a jump shot with one second left to lift the Wildcats over upset city.

We're heading down to the media room. Thanks for tuning in!

***

7:39 to go, Penn State 67-45

The Lions have retained their momentum of the game and are still dominating. Jeff Brooks had a nice dunk off a smart pass from D.J. Jackson in the paint.

There's now three Lions in double digits: Chris Babb with 15, Tim Frazier with 15 and Jeff Brooks with 12.

Battle has eight, 13 away from the 1,000-point mark.

Sasa Borovnjak has made his way into the game as well. He's yet to get on the stat sheet, though.

***

14:39 to go, Penn State 54-37

A 20-4 run out of halftime has lit a fire under this Penn State team. The Lions are shooting the ball extremely better, defending great and looking like a new team.

Chris Babb is shooting the lights out. He has four 3-pointers in a little under five minutes.
After each three, he's held his hand in the air and turned to the crowd. He just caught the ball and was double-teammed, but the crowd groaned when he didn't hoist up another jumper. He's got 15 points now.

The Lions are quickly running away with it and I'm currently loving this song as it's blaring over the speakers.

***

18:10 to go, Penn State 42-35

The Lions have taken their biggest lead of the game thanks to two quick 3-pointers from Chris Babb, who missed most of the first half with foul trouble. Babb now ties Frazier for the team lead with nine points.

Brooks also had a really nice take from the foul line and drove to the hole for a layup.

***

Halftime - Penn State 34-33

Talor Battle's first field goal came at a great time.

He caught a pass from Adam Highberger in transition and layed it up and in to give the Lions the lead at half, 34-33. Battle finishes the half with five points, four rebounds and three assists.

Tim Frazier has led the offense, taking the ball up the court and running the point. He leads the team with nine points.

Penn State really hasn't gotten anything going offensively, settling for 13 3-point attempts out of 27 total shots. Not many points have come from the paint. Penn State also had first-half seven turnovers. Against Penn, the Lions only had 10 in the entire game.

Here's the leading scorers at the half:

PSU - Tim Frazier 9 pts
PSU - Jeff Brooks 6 pts
PSU - DJ Jackson 6 pts
RMU - Dallas Green 6 pts
PSU - Talor Battle 5 pts
RMU - Russell Johnson 5 pts

UPSET ALERT: Kentucky trails Miami (OH) 50-48 with 11:13 to go in the game.
***

3:43 to go in 1st half, 28-26 Robert Morris

Penn State can't hang onto a lead.

Robert Morris has scored numerous 3-pointers in transition and caught up with the Lions with 3:43. Battle has one point, coming off a free throw.

Tim Frazier is doing his best Battle impression -- scoring eight points so far.

Now, our favorite part of the game -- the Hershey Kiss cam. As usual, there was a lot of comedy.

***

7:12 to go in 1st half, 21-20 Robert Morris

A quick bucket in transition for Robert Morris' Dallas Green gives them the lead back.

Score updates: Miami (OH) 39 - Kentucky 36 at half
Villanova 56 - Penn 25 at half

***

8:48 to go in 1st half, 20-19 Penn State

Tim Frazier has woken the crowd up a little bit.

His 3-pointer has given Penn State its first lead of the night. Chris Babb and Jeff Brooks have found foul trouble and are currently sitting on the bench. Andrew Ott has played a significant amount of minutes and grabbed two rebounds.

Battle still hasn't gotten on the scoreboard -- hope I didn't jinx him.

***

11:48 to go in 1st, 13-11 Robert Morris

Talor Battle is still scoreless.

Robert Morris has done a good job holding him to only 3-pointers, and he's 0-for-2 from there. He's now 2-for-11 from 3-point range on the season -- that's 18.1 percent.

D.J. Jackson has 6 points to pace the Nits so far.

***

Not exactly the start Penn State probably envisioned. The Nittany Lions trail Robert Morris 6-5 with 15:47 remaining in the first half.

D.J. Jackson hit a three pointer to get the Lion scoring going and Jeff Brooks had a nice jumper from about 15 feet out, but other than that there's not much cooking for the Lions on offense.

Robert Morris has four of its six points in transition after a steal and a rebound. Drew Jones has looked good defensively, albeit only four minutes in the game. He has two blocks and played Rob Robinson nice on two possessions.

More to come at the next timeout.

***

The national anthem has come and passed, and now the starting lineups are being announced. No surprises for Penn State -- same lineup as it has put on the floor for the season opener.

Lineups:

Robert Morris:

Mezie Ngwigwe, 6-foot 4, #2
Gary Wallace, 6-foot 3, #14
Dallas Green, 6-foot 8, #24
Rob Robinson, 6-foot 8, #1
Velton Jones, 6-foot 0, #3 (awesome name)

Penn State:

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

***

Hey everybody, we're coming to you live from the Byrce Jordan Center for tonight's matchup between Penn State and Robert Morris. I'm Steve Hennessey, joined by A.J. and Andrew on press row. There's about five minutes to tip-off and the crowd is still pretty small.

The big storyline behind tonight's game is Talor Battle's impending arrival at 1,000 career points. The junior guard starts the game 21 points away from the milestone, which would make him the 29th Nittany Lion to eclipse the plateau.

Make sure to stay with us for live updates on his pursuit of the point total, in addition to updates from the rest of the action.

Game of the Night: San Jose St. vs. William Jessup, 10 p.m. EST

The beginning of college basketball season brings many perks along with it, but one of my favorite parts of this time of the year is the obscure teams that some programs schedule.

Example: William Jessup.

Have you heard of this small school in Northern California? Well this time of the year is a great chance to learn about these schools that you otherwise wouldn't realize exist.

William Jessup has about 352 undergraduates enrolled (the size of my high school class) and the average age of an undergrad is 22. The university also has 163 students enrolled in its School of Professional Studies program, where the average age for a student is 39.

Tonight, though, those numbers don't matter. It's about the five basketball players who will suit up and take the floor against San Jose State.

I spoke with Head Coach Aaron Muhic on the phone and he's excited for the opportunity to play San Jose State. He said his team will play three Division I teams this year, the first time in the basketball program's history.

"It's just a great opportunity for our guys to play in a big-time venue," Muhic said. "A lot of basketball players dream of playing at that level. It's a time for us to have fun and compete a little bit."

Muhic said his squad will throw everything it has at San Jose State. But with only a couple days to prepare for the big school -- as Muhic noted, "every school we play is bigger than us" -- it might limit the scope of things William Jessup could do.

Last season, William Jessup took Morgan State to the wire. After being down by 17, Morgan State needed a buzzer beater to fight off the pesky Warriors.

"If I was in their shoes I probably wouldn't want to play a smaller school like us," Muhic said. "Their guys probably overlook us. But the message we try to send is we can't be any different than the team we are."

It's William Jessup's opportunity to make a splash on the national stage and come away with a win. It's their chance to get on the map.

Player to Watch: John Wall, G Kentucky

Wall had to sit out the Wildcats' opening victory against Morehead State, but the nation gets the treat of finally seeing Wall in action tonight when UK takes on Miami (OH).

Wall is a freshman but is a consensus preseason All-American pick by ESPN.com's writers. Many mock drafts have Wall going in the Top 3 of the NBA Draft, too, so this very well could be our only chance to see Wall play in a opening game.

Kentucky has dreams of a national title this year and Wall is one of those main reasons. For a program that did not even make the NCAA Tournament last year, there's a lot of pressure on coach John Calipari to produce a quality season with an incredibly talented group.

Wall and forward Patrick Patterson lead that group and will be counted to lead Big Blue back to the top of the basketball world.

Northwestern's senior forward Kevin Coble will sit out this season with a foot injury, ESPN.com's Andy Katz reports.

Coble averaged 15.5 points a game last year for the Wildcats. Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said Coble is going to opt out of surgery and rest his foot for four months.

Coble will see a second foot specialist Monday, the Chicago Tribute reports. But Carmody wasn't optimistic when he talked to Katz.

"Basically the bones are out of alignment [in his foot] and he needs to get this done for stability," Carmody told Katz. "He has no choice."

The injury apparently came on a layup attempt in practice last week and Coble came down awkwardly on his ankle. Carmody said he thought Coble just twisted it and didn't think it looked serious.

In the article, Carmody says that he and Coble have talked about a redshirt year and having the senior return for a fifth year next season.

A lot of people were talking about a possible NCAA Tournament appearance this season for the Wildcats, which would be the first time in 104 years of Northwestern basketball. Those chances go significantly down without the versatile Coble.

Coble only scored 11 points in Penn State's 61-57 victory over the Wildcats in the Lions' Big Ten opener last season.

Northwestern will also be without the services of senior Jeff Ryan, who tore his ACL in the Wildcats' opening win vs. Northern Illinois.

--Hen

Report Card

Team: B
The Nittany Lions kicked off their season with a victory, but aside from Talor Battle, they looked very sluggish in the first half. Andrew Jones struggled, and as a team the Lions shot just 53 percent from the line. That said, they are still unbeaten, albeit after just one game in.

Coach Ed DeChellis: A-
DeChellis' choice to insert Adam Highberger seemed questionable at the time, but the junior walk-on hit two clutch threes and covered Penn's leading scorer despite a four-inch height disadvantage. We'll see if he can change his team's free throw mentality before Monday's game against Robert Morris.

Talor Battle, PG: A
Battle was the lone offensive threat for the Lions in the first half, scoring 17 of their 36 points, and recording two key assists on the Highberger 3s. He did almost everything for the Lions with 10 boards as well. Now the question is, where will the help come from offensively.

Chris Babb, SG: B-
Babb hit a key three in the second half and racked up eight points, but two early fouls limited him to just 23 minutes. With a young backcourt behind him and Battle, the Lions can't afford to have Babb missing those minutes in the future.

David Jackson, SF: C
Jackson had similar problems to Babb, picking up two fouls in the first six minutes and totalling just 26 total. He put up five points, but the Lions could have used his athleticism on the boards when he was on the bench instead.

Jeff Brooks, PF: B
Brooks was the only player who stepped up for Battle, knocking down key jumpshots, and scoring in double figures. But Brooks only used his 6-foot-8 frame for one rebound -- the reason the junior forward didn't earn an A.

Andrew Jones, C: D-
Jones fouled out, only scored four points and was visibly frustrated with the referees throughout the contest. As the main replacement for Jamelle Cornley, Jones struggled in his first game as the No. 1 scoring threat down low.

Adam Highberger, Bench: A-
Highberger came off the bench to shut down Penn's best player and knock down two 3s that gave the Lions the lead for good. Not bad for a former walk-on.

Sasa Borovnjak, Bench: C
With two points and one rebound in 13 minutes, Borovnnjak's performance is a difficult one to assess. One thing we did learn: the freshman will in deed get playing time.

Tim Frazier, Bench: B-
Frazier played only eight minutes -- mostly because of Highberger's performance. He had two assists and looked better on the fast break but needs work on his outside jumper.

Cammeron Woodyard, Bench: C+
Woodyard did what he could with limited playing time. His first half 3-pointer ended a streak of woeful shooting for the Lions and he added a board and an assist in 16 minutes.

Billy Oliver, Bench: C-
Oliver picked up two fouls and no points in his five minutes on the floor. More production will be needed if he wants a role increase.

Andrew Ott, Bench: B-
Just 14 minutes, but he put up five points and four rebounds. Expect an increase in his time on the floor against RMU.

-AJC