The Morning Mix

OK folks, before we begin the first Morning Mix of the week, we have a special public service announcement: CANNONBALL!

If you have any questions you want to submit to the CBT Mailbag, you can submit them to @CBTonNBC all this week.

But we have a lot to get to on the news front. So lets hit the links.

Monday’s Top Games:
6:30 p.m. – No. 20 Notre Dame @ No. 14 Cincinnati
7:00 p.m. – No. 5 Indiana @ Penn State
8:45 p.m. – Northwestern State @ Sam Houston State
 
 
Top Stories:
Lehigh guard C.J. McCollum to miss 8-10 weeks with broken fifth metatarsal in left foot: This is unquestionably the biggest injury of the season. The No. 2 scorer in the nation will be sidelined for the entire Patriot League regular season, thanks to a foot injury he suffered during the Mountain Hawks 59-55 loss at VCU.

No. 6 Kansas clamps down late to hold off Temple, 69-62: The Jayhawks moved their home court win streak to 30 with the 69-62 victory over the Owls thanks to a staunch defensive effort during the game’s most tenuous stages.

UVA cools Heels, wins ACC opener: The Cavalier’s stuck to their brand of basketball and were able to slow down the North Carolina Tar Heels en route to a 61-52 victory in Charlottesville on Sunday.

Gonzaga’s Kelly Olynyk showed why he’s the most improved player in the country: The 7-foot Canadian is averaging a team-high 17.1-ppg and has played his best basketball against the Bulldogs’ toughest opposition. Against Santa Clara on Saturday he poured in a career-high 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, notching his first double-double of his career against D-I opponents.

Gregory Echenique proves his value in No. 16 Creighton’s win: As much as the Bluejays lean on the talents of Doug McDermott, big-man Gregory Echenique is an extremely important piece to Creighton’s puzzle.

Bizarre finish gives Marquette 49-48 win over No. 15 Georgetown: Greg Whittington had a chance to tie the game by sinking three foul shots with 1.4 seconds remaining. After sinking the first two, Marquette head coach Buzz Williams called a timeout, which promptly iced Whittington, causing him to miss the final attempt. Marquette grabbed the rebound and won the game.

Jim Boeheim laments coaching carousel but doesn’t blame coaches for making moves: We’ll say it again. Jim Boeheim gives the best press conference in the entire country. Following Syracuse’s 55-44 win at South Florida on Sunday, the colorful head coach sounded off on the coaching carousel and conference realignment.

2013 center Dakari Johnson commits to Kentucky, adds to greatest recruiting class ever? the nation’s top center Dakari Johnson (Montverde Academy/New York, N.Y.) announced live on ESPNU following a win over Jabari Parker and Simeon Career Academy that he has committed to Kentucky. Along with the Harrison twins, Marcus Lee, Derek Willis and potentially Andrew Wiggins and/or Julius Randle, this may very be the best recruiting class of all time.

Florida State’s Okaro White executes the perfect in-bounds ally-oop (VIDEO): This is how you execute an in-bounds play. Well, scratch that. This is how you should never defend an in-bounds play.
 
 
Hoops Housekeeping
- Much of Tennessee’s scoring troubles have been linked to the absence of big-man Jerron Maymon, who has been struggling with back issues all season long. But now it gets worse. Maymonn has decided to forgo the season and take a redshirt year. (College Basketball Talk)

- Eastern Washington guard Justin Crosgile has left the team for personal reasons. The New Jersey-native wants to return closer to home so he can be near his 3-year old son. (Big Sky BBall)

- Recruiting guru Evan Daniels believes Andrew Wiggins, the nation’s top recruit, will select Florida State over Kentucky. (Kentucky Sports Radio)
 
 
Observations & Insight:
- Michigan State’s Branden Dawson punched Purdue’s Travis Carrol in the midsection. Here is the video. For some odd reason Michigan State and Purdue are acting like it never happened. I don’t think it’s a huge deal, but it most certainly did happen. (The Victory Formation)

- The Kansas Jayhawks gutted out a tough win against Temple thanks in large part to the closing ability of a handful of players. (Need I Say Moore?)

- Run The Floor takes a stab at understanding why North Carolina is struggling so much. (Run The Floor)

- Colorado had a rough four-day trip in Arizona and now sit at 0-2 in Pac-12 play. (The Dagger)

- It’s never too early for some NIT bracketology (Big Apple Buckets)

- Northwestern is not very good, but this is still incredible: Minnesota’s Austin Hollins scored 17 points over a quick stretch of four minutes. That’s ridiculous. (From The Barn)
 
 
Dunk(s) of the Day:
Got to 1:15 of this highlight to see the best ally-oop of the season. Once you are done, watch the entire highlight video. It’s wildly entertaining.

 
Dunk(s) of the Day:
Breusewitz dunk? Yup. Breusewitz dunk.

 
Dunk(s) of the Day:
This is an amazing dunk. Even better, the team doing the dunking is the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas. Best name in D-II sports.

 
 
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