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10 tidbits to know: Great coaching in the state of Maryland

Pat Skerry

Towson head coach Pat Skerry gestures during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Georgetown, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012, in Washington. Georgetown won 46-40. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

AP

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. Mark Turgeon has done an excellent job with this Maryland team. 14-3 overall, 2-2 start in ACC play and now a Top 25 win under his belt this year. The Terrapins beat the Wolfpack with Alex Len as the leading scorer with 10 points. Nine guys were in the scoring column last night for Turgeon.

2. Speaking of the state of Maryland: Can we talk about the job Pat Skerry is doing at Towson? Skerry inherited a train wreck when he arrived. Last season the Tigers had one victory. Last night Towson beat Delaware, moved to 4-1 in CAA play and are 9-9 overall.

3. The bounce back win of the week has to be St. John’s. Over the weekend the Red Storm were sleep walking through a blowout home loss to Georgetown. Less than 3 days later, Steve Lavin’s team beats #20 Notre Dame at home. After Louisville and Syracuse, the rest of the league’s match-ups are difficult to predict to say the least.

4. 6'2 senior guard Greg Gantt from Florida Atlantic is now 4th in the nation in scoring at 22.4 ppg. Gantt became the Owls all-time leading scorer in their Dec. 27th win at Troy.

5. The only guard this year to dish out more total assists than Michael Carter-Williams from Syracuse is D.J. Cooper from Ohio University.

6. David Imes had 5 three pointers for Hofstra as the Pride narrowly missed starting 3-1 in conference play. Despite a well documented season of suspensions and injuries, Mo Cassara’s club is 2-2 in CAA play. The Pride take on George Mason this weekend.

7. He ranks 6th nationally in terms of percentage, but 1st in my book for efficiency. Jordan Hulls from Indiana has taken more 3 pointers than anyone else in the Top 10 for 3 pt shooting percentage by far. Hulls is 42-81 from downtown - good for 51.9% on the year.

8. Speaking of shooters, Sean Armand from Iona is simply one of the best shooters in the country. When his career is all said and done, he will be one of the best shooters the MAAC has ever seen. He is just the 2nd player in Iona history to make more than 200 career three pointers and he’s still a junior. Armand has 17 three pointers in Iona’s last 4 games.

9. Memphis is 13-3 overall and is off to a strong 3-0 start in Conference USA play. But do you know who’s coming into town this weekend to play at FedEx Forum? Tommy Amaker’s Harvard team -- the Crimson will play anyone, anytime, at any place.

10. This is an NBA nugget but I’ll leave you with a quote that every hoops junkie and coach will love. It comes from Alan Stein, who is a professional strength & conditioning coach:

“The people at the Thunder repeatedly tell me that to this day, Kevin Durant still practices like a rookie on a 10-day contract.” - @AlanStein