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10 tidbits to know this week: Gophers’ balance, Friars go green and more

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Vin Parise is a former assistant college coach and the college basketball insider for NBC Sports. Look for his Top 10 Tidbits every week.

1. Kudos to Providence’s Ed Cooley. He called his Nike rep Sunday night after watching 60 Minutes and had his team in green uniforms and green sneakers against Colgate Tuesday night to honor Newtown, Conn. Cooley plans on framing 26 uniforms to honor the victims.

2. Minnesota wasn’t picked to finish top 5 in the Big Ten. Tubby Smith’s team is 11-1 and ranked 13th nationally. Best part: Gophers average 76 ppg as a team and the leading scorer is at 13 ppg. Seven guys average between 4 and 13 points per outing. Now that is balance.

3. Texas ranks 10th nationally as a team with 69 blocks on the season. Chris Obekpa from St. John’s has 58 blocks alone.

4. Loyola (Md.) head coach Jimmy Patsos told me he bought his wife a car for her birthday in the fall -- he is really concerned right now that he won’t be able to top that for the holiday season.

5. O.D. Anosike from Siena and Jack Cooley from Notre Dame have snatched the most offensive rebounds so far this season. More difficult for Cooley however: Irish shoot 50 percent from the floor -- Saints shoot 38 percent.

6. Yes, he was a 1st-team All-Big East selection; but people just do not talk enough about Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick.

7. The 6-8 junior college transfer and New Jersey-born David Laury is eligible for Iona Thursday night at LaSalle this week. Big things are expected from Laury when MAAC play gets into full swing.

8. After a 5-5 start, South Alabama’s 65 year-old Ronnie Arrow is retiring effective immediately. Associate head coach Jeff Price has been named interim coach. This was Arrow’s second stint at South Alabama. He returned in 2007 after leading the Jaguars from 1987-94. Arrow led the program to 3 NCAA tournaments.

9. Last season Fuquan Edwin from Seton Hall led the nation in steals. This year he’s getting it done on the other end. Edwin ranks 1st in the Big East in 3 point shooting at 54 percent -- good for 14th nationally.

10. At SMU, Larry Brown has an associate head coach, two assistant Coaches, one video Coordinator, an executive assistant, a strength coach, an assistant strength coach, a director of administration, a director of player development, a basketball intern, an academic Liason, an athletic trainer and a ‘partridge in a pear tree.’

Vin Parise is the College Basketball Insider for NBC Sports. You can catch him on NBC Sports Network’s SportsTalk – Mon-Fri. 6 p.m. ET. Follow him on Twitter @VinParise.