Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

The Morning Mix

Marquette bat

Marquette got rid of their bat problem.

Louisville got back on track.

Kansas won again.

Grambling State lost again.

That’s the hand we were dealt last night.

Let’s hit the links.

Tuesday’s Top games:
7:00 p.m. - Wisconsin @ No. 11 Ohio State
7:00 p.m. - No. 19 North Carolina State Virginia
7:00 p.m. - Stony Brook @ Albany
8:00 p.m. - Indiana State @ No. 15 Wichita State
9:00 p.m. - Kentucky @ No. 16 Ole Miss
9:00 p.m. - Nebraska @ No. 23 Minnesota
9:00 p.m. - North Carolina @ Boston College
10:00 p.m. - Nevada @ UNLV


Read of the Day:
Garry Parrish discusses Miami in his latest “Poll Attacks”. He applauded John Feinstein for ranking the ‘Canes at No. 5, blasts others who rank ‘Canes outside top-20. Sounds about right. Read it. (Eye on College Basketball)

Read of the Day:
Mike Lopresti of USA Today catches up with former-Butler star Ronald Nored, who is living the dream coaching high school hoops in Brownsburg, Indiana. Read it. (USA Today)


Top Stories:
The reign of terror ends for the Bradley Center Bat: The biggest story from the weekend was that a bat disrupted play during the Providence-Marquette game at the Bradley Center on Saturday. It really was a pretty hilarious sequence of events.Anyways, the bat was removed from the arena on Monday.

Marshall Henderson, the most entertaining villain in the country: The college hoops world hasn’t had a good “villain” character in a good long time. But Marshall Henderson of Ole Miss is becoming the guy everybody loves to hate. He’s arrogant, cocky, and colorful. But he’s also one of the game’s top players this season.

According to Rick Pitino, freshman Kevin Ware won’t be returning to the court anytime soon:Freshman guard Kevin Ware was suspended prior to the Cardinals’ Monday game against Pittsburgh. Following the win over the Panthers, Rick Pitino let it be known that Ware probably won’t be returning any time soon.

VIDEO: ECU’s Shamarr Bowden rains punches on UTEP player: ECU guard Shamarr Bowden has been suspended for one game following an incident during the Pirates’ loss o UTEP on Saturday. Bowden got tangled up with UTEP’s Konner Tucker,and during the scrum, threw punches that glanced off of Tucker’s head.

So how bad is Trevor Mbakwe’s wrist injury? The Minnesota center injured his wrist during the Gophers’ loss to Wisconsin on Saturday. Mbakwe says he won’t miss any game time, but with the Gophers amid a four-game losing streak, they cannot afford to lose their big man for any amount of time.

How concerned should Indiana be about Cody Zeller’s struggles? Indiana has looked like the best team in the Big Ten, a top five team and a national title contender all while Cody Zeller has looked somewhat pedestrian. Victor Oladipo is playing like an All-American, but is that why Zeller hasn’t played like Player of the Year?

There’s no rush for a 12th Big East team, because it doesn’t improve much: On Big East Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco told reporters that the conference is looking to add a 12th team after the recent losses of Boise State and San Diego State. But at this point, will it really matter? No potential member will improve the depleted conference.


Hoops Housekeeping:
- It was announced on Monday that North Carolina and Kentucky are going to renew their non-conference series. The two played each other last season, and after the hiatus this season, they will resume next season in Chapel Hill. (Cats Illustrated)

- Syracuse freshman Dajaun Coleman will miss the next four weeks due to knee surgery. (Syracuse.com)

- The SEC/Big East Challenge will not continue. This was the final year of the contract and the two conferences decided against renewing the event. (AL.com)

- UConn football commit Jordan Fuchs wants to play for the Huskies’ basketball team too. (Connecticut Post)

- Wisconsin big-man Frank Kaminsky remains a game-time decision against Ohio State because of an eye injury. (Bucky’s 5th Quarter)

- Bradley center Will Egolf was arrested for drug possession earlier in January. On Monday a man from South Peoria was charged with selling Vicodin to Egolf. (Peoria Journal Star)


Observations & Insight:
- We shouldn’t blame Rick Pitino for being hesitant about handing over the reigns of the offense to Russ Smith, but he just might have to. (Courier-Journal)

- A handful of coaches from NYC-metro schools helped ring the NASDAQ closing bell. (New Jersey Hoops Haven)

- Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution thinks college basketball stinks this season. Please tell me I’m not the only one who vehemently disagrees? (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

- Akron was hoping to wear a special uniform for “Social Media Night” against Ohio. They will still wear the jerseys, but the NCAA won’t allow them to put the @ZipsMBBTwitter handle on the uniforms. (Eye on College Basketball)

- Providence’s Bryce Cotton is just 27 points shy of eclipsing the 1,000-point plateau. This is a great-read on his voyage to 1,000. (Friar Basketball)

- Jeff Goodman saw five games in 31 hours. He has a lot of things he wants to get off of his chest. (Eye on College Basketball)

- Should Oklahoma State press more often? They certainly have the athletes to do so. Then why doesn’t Travis Ford employ the press more frequently? (Cowboys Ride for Free)

- In case you want more of Ole Miss’ Marshall Henderson (Which I know you do), Deadspin has the goods. (Deadspin)

- Virginia is likely to be planted firmly on the bubble come Selection Sunday. A win against North Carolina State tonight will definitely help. (Washington Post)

- What exactly does the absence of Dajuan Coleman do to the Syracuse frontcourt? (900 Irving)

- Anybody want to take a guess at how many NCAA bids the ACC gets? Could be three, could be five. A little consistency would help. (USA Today)

- A slide show of some of the better signs in attendance at Cameron Indoor Stadium for Maryland’s ACC farewell game against Duke. (The Blue Zone)

- Seriously, the staff at the Bradley Center had to call in pest control to remove a rogue bat of the rafters, and AC/DC was used in the process. (The Dagger)

- What’s the difference between this season’s Florida State team and the one that won the ACC last season? Defensive Toughness. (Rush The Court)


Video(s) of the Day:
This is from Russia, and is absolutely hilarious.



Dunk(s) of the Day:
Arizona’s Carrick Felix wants in on the NCAA Slam Dunk Contest.



Dunk(s) of the Day:
Illinois State’s Tyler Brown wants in as well. I’m leaning towards Brown after this video.



Do you like the new Morning Mix? Hate it? Have a suggestion or want something featured? Troy Machir will take all your praise, insults and inquiries via Twitter (@TroyMachir)