By Paul Gotham

In less than 48 hours, we will be fully immersed in conference tournaments. As the regular season of college basketball ends, here is a smattering of questions to consider.

1. Does Jim Boeheim have any voodoo is in his bag of tricks? Louisville is 11-4 against Syracuse, including a Cardinal win less than a month ago. Rick Pitino seems to have a hex on his old boss’s team.

2. Can UNC make it worthwhile for ESPN? UNC at Duke is the game of the week. Did anyone see the Heels being 16-14 overall and 5-10 in the league? On paper, tonight’s game looks like a mismatch. But this rivalry is never about what is on the paper.

3. Can Purdue take a page from ND? The Boilermakers lost Robbie Hummel. It appears the Fighting Irish have lost Luke Harangody for the foreseeable future. ND is catching some momentum. Can Purdue do the same?

4. Truth AND Consequences? Villanova is 4-4 in the last eight. West Virginia is 4-3 over their last seven, including a home loss to…Villanova. Will the real Wildcats and Mountaineers stand up?

5. Why is Texas in the top 25? Seven and seven since the middle of January? Somewhere, there is a Mountain West team crying foul.

6. When will Rick Barnes learn his lesson? Barnes did a great job bringing in Kevin Durant and D.J. Augustin. How is the time spent on those recruits looking right about now?

7. Does Gary Williams know the tonic? The Terps topped Duke earlier this week. They get Virginia today. Is Maryland suffering from a hangover?

8. U.C.L.A. at Arizona State…in case anyone forgot or overlooked it or cared. It would serve me right if a Pac 10 team made a run in the tournament.

9. 3s or rebounding? Mike Brey’s team has put the fight back in Fighting Irish. ND has taken three in a row in the Big East. How are they doing it? Is it the three ball? Is it their rebounding?

10. Will Richmond avoid the pothole? The Spiders rebounded from an overtime loss to Xavier by trimming Dayton. Richmond plays at Charlotte today. The 49ers will be hungry for the upset.

By Paul Gotham

Here come the Irish

What was once thought to be an aberration is looking more and more like reality.

The Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish knocked out a pair of Big East contenders: Pittsburgh 68-53 and Georgetown 78-64. A quick look at the box scores shows that the Irish are doing more with less. Notre Dame shot 22 of 44 from the field, including 10 of 18 behind the three point arc to win at Pittsburgh. Against Georgetown, the Irish hit 28 of 49. In comparison ND shot 28 of 68 in a one-point loss at Rutgers earlier this year.

Notre Dame is taking fewer shots but increasing the scoring margin. The formula is not real complicated. The Irish are developing a rhythm on offense. Players moving off the ball create passing and driving lanes. The result is five players prepared when a shot goes up.

Not only is the Irish scoring margin increasing, so, too, is their rebound margin. There is no coincidence that Notre Dame out-rebounded both the Hoyas and Panthers. By the way, Rutgers out-rebounded the Irish 43-30. Teammates will give approval to a shot when they have faith in the shot selection. That means guys are more willing and able to crash the boards.

Meanwhile, former Big East Player-of-the-Year, Luke Harangody is on the bench with an injury. Reports have it that the power forward might be down longer than originally expected. His teammates have picked up the slack in his absence. Here’s hoping Harangody has learned to trust his teammates. Too often over the last year and a half, Harangody has made poor decisions on the court. He is taking shots that suggest a lack of confidence in his teammates. The recent winning streak should change that.

Of Notre Dame’s 10 losses this season, six have come by a combined total of 11 points. Under Mike Brey, the Irish have made five appearances in the NCAA Tournament, with a record of 5-5.

Life after Hummel

One week ago, Purdue’s Boilermakers looked prime to for a number one seed. Seven days later, the Boilermakers are circling the wagons.

With Robbie Hummel on the pine for the rest of the year with an ACL injury, Matt Painter and his Boilermakers will need to redefine themselves…quickly.

Hummel averaged just under 16 points and nearly eight rebounds for the Big Ten team. Hummel led the Boilermakers with 43 three-pointers. He hit 36 percent from long range.

Purdue is still a Sweet Sixteen team. They play stiff defense. In their last ten games, only two teams have scored 60 or more against them. Problem is that without Hummel they only scored 44 against Michigan State.

Mack gives power to the people

Rockin' the Cintas Center

Xavier’s administration might need to reconsider the school calendar. Scheduling Spring Break during the final weeks of basketball season is questionable. With much off the student body away on vacation, head coach, Chris Mack, took matters into his hands. CBS’s Gary Parrish reported that Mack used the Musketeer message board to encourage enthusiasm at Sunday’s A10 first-place showdown with Richmond. Mack went so far as to impose a curfew on fans, so that the Musky faithful would bring plenty of energy to the Cintas center. Mack’s efforts paid off. Xavier won in double overtime, and Parrish called it the game of the weekend.

Temple wins the Big 5

With their 65-53 victory over LaSalle, the Temple Owls pitched a shutout in this season’s Philadelphia Big 5 city series.

Temple opened the series with a 75-65 triumph over Villanova. The Owls continued with victories over St. Joe’s (73-46 and 75-67) and Penn (60-45).

The Big 5 series began play in 1955 and has continued every year since. Until only recently, all the Big 5 games were played at the Palestra.

Player to watch-Willie Veasley, Butler

March is the time for heroes, and Willie Veasley has all the makings. The senior forward has one more go around and what better way to finish than taking the Bulldogs to the Final Four. Over the weekend, Butler played at Horizon League rival, Valparaiso. On the Butler bench with an injury was leading scorer, Gordon Hayward. No problem. Veasley picked up the slack with a 20-point, six-rebound performance. Veasley averages ten a game with nearly five rebounds and one steal.

Hazell reminds me of…

…Ray Allen. Seton Hall’s Jeremy Hazell might not garner many post-season awards. He probably won’t make any All-American teams. Hazell’s team might not get an invite to the Dance. But Hazell will eventually hear his name called in the NBA draft. If there is one player Hazell reminds me of, it is Ray Allen. Hazell moves without the ball as well as anyone in the country. When he gets the rock, he can square up and pull the trigger just like Allen. Another year in college could allow Hazell to improve his ability to go off the dribble.

1st Team All Casey

PG Jon Scheyer – Duke

SG Jordan Crawford – Xavier

SF Evan Turner – Ohio State

PF Damion James – Texas

C Greg Monroe – Georgetown

2nd Team All Casey

PG – Scottie Reynolds – Villanova

SG  Andy Rautins – Syracuse

SF  Wes Johnson – Syracuse

PF  Patrick Patterson – Kentucky

C Cole Aldrich – Kansas

All-freshmen

John Wall – Kentucky

Xavier Henry – Kansas

DeMarcus Cousins – Kentucky

Dane Miller – Rutgers

Mason Plumlee – Duke

Got any college hoops splinters? Share them here.

Leading up to the 2009 NIT Season Tip Off on November 16th, Pickin’ Splinters will be counting down the top 25 of the college hardwood nation.

’08 – ’09 Results: 27 – 10 (11 – 7 Big Ten) Lost to UConn in the third round of the NCAA Tournament, 72 – 60.

Coach: Matt Painter 108 -55 (5 seasons)

Key Returners:

JaJuan Johnson – 13.4ppg, 5.6rpg

Robbie Hummel – 12.5ppg, 7.0rpg

Lewis Jackson – 5.9ppg, 2.5rpg

Chris Kramer – 5.2ppg, 2.9rpg

E’Twuan Moore – 13.8ppg, 4.6rpg

Notable Non-Conference Tilts: 12/1 vs. Wake Forest, 12/12 vs. Alabama, 1/1 vs. West Virginia

Stat of Identity: Purdue held opponents to 59.8 ppg last season – Washington St. led the country at 55.4.

By Paul Gotham

Any chance that Matt Painter still walks in the shadow of a legend has been removed. After taking over from long-time coach, Gene Keady, Painter looked overwhelmed early.  The Boilermakers limped through Painter’s inaugural ride winning just nine games. Since then Purdue has made three consecutive trips to NCAA Tournament including last year’s Sweet Sixteen appearance. Over the last two seasons, the Painter-led Boilermakers have won more contests than any Purdue team. The only thing separating the Boilermakers from a trip to last year’s Final Four might have been a healthy back for Robbie Hummel.

Hummel returned. His back is healthy. The entire starting five from a year ago are ready for an historic run for the Boilermakers.

In a Big Ten Conference where points are hard to come by the Boilermakers let it fly. Purdue took 704 attempts from behind the three-point last year – 100 more than their opponents. Painter has confidence in Hummel(59-155), Grant Keaton(61-175), and E’Twaun Moore(56-166) all hit more than 50 trifectas. That number will only increase with experience.

Moore dished 111 assists in 08 – 09 campaign. Second on the team to Lewis Jackson with 118.

Purdue will continue to open up the floor. The ride through the Big Ten will be no less rocky than in years past. But these Boilermakers are ready for the tussle.

Joe Alexander Junior/ West Virginia 16.2PPG 6.1RPG – Small never looked so big. Don’t be misled by Alexander’s 6’8” frame. Yeah he’ll play with his back to the basket when the situation warrants. But he gets the most damage done when he is facing the basket. He can take the baseline better than anyone in the country. When needed he can step out and run the offense.

Gary Forbes Senior/ UMass 20.3PPG 7.9RPG – Recently named the Atlantic 10 Player of the year. Has eight double-doubles on the season including a twenty-three point performance at the Carrier Dome earlier this year when the Minutemen knocked off the Orange – had twenty-two points and seven rebounds at Chestnut Hill.

Courtney Lee Senior/ Western Kentucky 20.6PPG 4.5RPG – Finally got a chance to catch this talent. Loves to slash to the basket and can finish with authority. Has scored in double figures in all but two games this year including 21 at Gonzaga, 23 versus Tennessee, and 22 against Michigan.

Josh Shipp Junior/ UCLA 13.2PPG 3.1RPG – Okay so that shot should not have counted. It was still sick. Did you see him go off the dribble to get that shot? Don’t let this guy’s numbers fool ya. Somewhere along the line the Pac 10 became a defensive conference – padding one’s statistics just doesn’t happen in the West – has scored in double figures twenty-three times this year.

Robbie Hummel Freshman/ Purdue 11.7PPG 5.9RPG – There’s been a resurgence amongst the Boilermakers, and Robbie Hummel is leading the way. Kid can light it up from the outside. When you step out on him, he can put it to the floor and finish strong.

Starting Sunday we will break down the brackets by region. We’ll give you in-depth analysis along with interesting tidbits to watch as the NCAA tournament unfolds.