AP Photo/Al Goldis

By Paul Casey Gotham

ACC/Big Ten Challenge

With a week of feasting on season-opening tournaments behind basketball fans, it is time for conference challenges. The Big 12 and Pac 10 will weigh in with their hardwood series. The Big East and SEC have their tete a tete. But the original throw-down exists between the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big Ten. Click here for a rundown of the all-time team records in the Challenge.

Last year, the Big Ten won the Challenge for the first time. Many are predicting a repeat. The ACC has three new coaches (Boston College – Steve Donahue, Clemson-Brad Brownell and Wake Forest – Jeff Bzdelik) to one (Fran McCaffery-Iowa) in the Big Ten.

Virginia tops Minnesota

The Cavaliers nabbed a 1-0 lead for the ACC with an 87-79 victory at “The Barn” in Minnesota. The Cavs outscored the Gophers 58-40 in the second half. Joe Harris led the way with 24 and Mustapha Farrakhan added with 23. Virginia went 25-30 from the free throw line. Minnesota finished 12-20 from the stripe.

The loss marked the first non-conference home loss for Tubby Smith at Minnesota. Injuries and a suspension have depleted the Gopher crew.

Tony Bennett is already working his magic at Virginia. After three successful seasons at Washington State, Bennett came east last season. His young squad features six freshmen who log minutes for the Cavs. Bennett is showing his ability to recruit on the east coast. He even lured a son away from his father. Much to the chagrin of those in the ocean state, Billy Baron chose Virginia over Rhode Island. What’s the big deal? Virginia is an ACC school, and Rhode Island belongs to the Atlantic 10.  Not a big deal until one considers that Billy Baron is the youngest son of Rhode Island head coach, Jim Baron. Yes, the elder Baron recruited the younger. That must have been an interesting conversation.

Jim Baron

The elder Baron is familiar with testy discussions between father and son. His older son, Jimmy finished his college career with the Rams just last year.

Bennett hopes Jim Baron’s ability to rebuild programs has rubbed off on Billy. It’s been a few years since Virginia basketball was relevant. Monday night’s win was a big one for the second-year coach.

The game featured some name-dropping. Beyond the Baron connection, Farrakhan is the grandson of Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam. Ralph Sampson III scored two points and grabbed four rebounds for the Gophers. The elder Sampson must have had some mixed emotions while watching the game. Sampson was a player of the year for the Virginia Cavaliers.

Thumbnail tales: ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Iowa at Wake Forest – a pair of coaches new to their surroundings get their baptisms. Both teams are 3-3. Iowa did beat Alabama. Wake has beaten Elon, Hampton and Marist. McCaffery’s teams at Siena pressed and played upbeat. If the Hawkeyes can execute their pressure, it will be a long night for the Demon Deacons.

Georgia Tech at Northwestern – People are talking about Northwestern punching a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. This game could go a long way to securing the bid. Northwestern is 4-0. G-Tech is 4-2 with a win over UTEP. The Yellowjackets lost to Syracuse over the weekend. Can the Wildcats wear down the Jackets with their possession offense?

Ohio State and Florida State – The Seminoles are 5-1. OSU is 6-0. FSU lost to Florida over the weekend, 55-51. OSU beat the Gators on November 16th, 93-75. Seems like a lock for the Buckeyes. Fly in the ointment could be FSU’s stingy defense. The Seminoles have not allowed any team to score more than 75. Four of their opponents have scored less than 60. Can the Bucks sail on seas consisting of less than 60 points? FSU’s Chris Singleton might enjoy a coming out party.

Michigan at Clemson - Clemson enters play 5-1 with their only loss to a very good Old Dominion team. Michigan checks in at 3-2 coming off consecutive losses to Syracuse and UTEP.  The Tigers have a new coach, and the Wolverines are looking for an identity after Manny Harris. Andre Young leads the Tigers from behind the arc at a rate of 43 percent. He will be the key when the Wolverines go 1-3-1.

North Carolina at Illinois - UNC hobbles in at 4-2. Illinois brings a 6-1 mark. The Heels fell to Minnesota (not bad) and Vanderbilt (hmmm..) and struggled with College of Charleston (Again?).  A loss and the Heels might find themselves in the dictionary somewhere between overqualified and overreach. At the same time, the Illini might also have a case of those over-rated blues. Or at least, Bruce Weber’s gang seems uncomfortable carrying the responsibility.

Indiana at Boston College - IU is undefeated. In case you are not sure, that previous statement said the Indiana Hoosiers have not lost yet this year. Sure, it’s only six games, but the Hoosiers are taking strides to erase the name of of…..from memory. What was the name of that coach who did a lot of texting? The Hoosiers are off and running with victories over Wright St., Florida Gulf Coast, Mississippi Valley State, North Carolina Central, Evansville and Northwestern State.  BC comes in at 4-2 with victories of Texas A&M, St. Francis, Holy Cross and California but with losses to Wisconsin and Yale. I hate the idea of quoting Sally Fields for this game, but it might apply.

North Carolina State at Wisconsin - Wisconsin is coming off being held to 32 points in the second half of a loss to Notre Dame. The Badgers might execute a little better on offense tonight. The Wolfpack is 4-1 heading to Madison. Playing in Wisconsin is never good for opponents.

Purdue at Virginia Tech - The Boilermakers are 5-1 with a loss to Richmond in their most recent decision. The defeat should motivate JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore, but maybe they need help. Richmond’s match-up zone gave them fits. Va-Tech plays? Let’s see…oh yeah, a zone. Purdue better get some points off turnovers. Pressuring Malcolm Delaney will be first priority for Purdue.

Maryland at Penn State - Don’t be fooled by Maryland’s 5-2 ledger. Both of their losses came at the hands of respectable teams (Pittsburgh and Illinois) and in both situations correctable errors (rebounding, free throw shooting and 3 pt. defense) led to the loss.  Maryland clanked their way to a 14-30 showing from the line in a 79-70 loss to the Pitt. At the same time, Pitt grabbed 43 boards to Maryland’s29 – many while Gary Williams sat 6’10″ Jordan Williams on the pine for instruction. Illinois shot 10-19 from behind the arc in 80-76 trimming of the Terrapins. Williams will make the adjustments, and Maryland will be good for the long haul.

Michigan State at Duke – Stat of interest: Michigan State is 5-5 in The Challenge. During those years, the Spartans have advanced to four Final Fours, an Elite Eight and one Sweet Sixteen appearance. Lesson?  Izzo focuses more on the process of these early games and not the result. MSU would take Duke in East Lansing, but probably not in Cameron. Keep this in mind – Kalin Lucas sat on the bench with a torn achilles when MSU lost to Butler in the Final Four. Lucas is back as is Durrell Summers, Draymond Green, Korie Lucious and Delvon Roe. The 6’6″,  235 pound Green on the perimeter is an interesting concept.

The D in ND

Once was a time when the Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish would be characterized more as flash than substance. The Irish could roll up the points in an efficient manner. With that tact, ND could not advance beyond the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That might be changing. The Irish are 7-0, and the ND defense has held five of its opponents under 70 points. No big deal when the Irish held Georgia Southern to 61 or Liberty to 51. ND made Cal into a bunch of bronze statues allowing just FIVE points in the first half Friday’s game. Cal is adjusting to life after losing all of its starters. But holding Wisconsin to 51? That is something to note. And how they did it. The Badgers looked perplexed when ND switched defenses. It was nothing fancy. Just a basic man-to-man or two-three zone. It’s not what you do. It’s how you do it. The Irish got out in passing lanes – even in the zone – and disrupted Wisconsin’s rhythm.

Mike Brey might have an engine that can go a ways.

Worth the read

Rush the Court offers their break down of tonight’s games.

RTC’s Morning Five is always worth the read.

Seth Davis weighs in on Kemba Walker, Syracuse winning ugly, Georgia Tech, UTEP’s Randy Culpepper and Michigan’ loss to the Orange.

The Mid-Majority wants to know what to call non-Division I over Big Seven upsets.

CBS’s Gary Parrish always offers his insights.

Got any college basketball splinters? Share them here.

Courtesy of gophersports.com

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.

By Paul Gotham

’08 – ’09 Results: 22-11 (9 – 9 Big Ten) Lost first round NCAA tournament to Texas, 76-62.

Coach: Tubby Smith 42 – 25 – 2 years at Minnesota. 407 – 159 -17 seasons overall.

Key returners:

Ralph Sampson III – 6.3ppg, 4.2rpg

Colton Iverson – 5.4ppg, 3.6rpg

Damian Johnson – 9.8ppg, 4.2rpg

Al Nolen – 6.5ppg, 3.2rpg, 4.3apg

Lawrence Westbrook – 12.6ppg, 2.5rpg

Notable Non-Conference Tilts: 11/26 vs. Butler, 11/27 vs. Portland or UCLA, 12/2 at Miami, 12/12 vs. St. Joseph’s

Stat of Identity: 6.1 – Minnesota finished fourth in the country in blocks per game. UConn led with 7.8.

Understanding Minnesota Gopher basketball is a lesson in balance. If nothing else, third-year coach, Tubby Smith, has established that all players are counted on for contributions.

Last season, his second at the helm in Minneapolis, 11 different Gophers averaged 11 minutes or more per game. Of those 11, only one averaged double figure points. But eight different players contributed at least five points per game. The result was a 22-win season and a trip to the NCAA Tournament – the first appearance since 2005 for the Big Ten school.

Smith returns his top nine scorers from last year along with a recruiting class ranked in the top 25.

Westbrook hit 36% (44 – 123) from behind the arc to lead Minnesota last year. He’ll be joined in the back court by  Nolen.

Opponents will have their hands full trying to deal with Minnesota’s front court. Iverson, Johnson, and Sampson will more than likely start, but Smith will substitute in waves. Johnson led the way with 9.8 boards and 60 blocks and 58 steals last season.  Sampson, the son of the former NBA great, pulled down 6.3rpg and blocked 50 shots as a freshman.

Devron Bostick and Paul Carter will log minutes at the small forward spot. Freshmen Royce White and Rodney Williams will get their chances to prove themselves.

Devoe Joseph and Blake Hoffarber will come off the bench in the back court. Hoffarber hit 45 of 132 behind the arc last season.

Back court play will be a point of emphasis for Smith and his staff. The Gophers committed more turnovers than assists last season.

Of Minnesota’s 22 wins, they scored 75 points or less in 18.

Smith has had 16 straight 20-win seasons including nine ‘Sweet Sixteen’ appearances, four ‘Final Four’ appearances and one national title.