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The Morning Mix

marcus smart 3

Picture via The Oklahoman

Just another busy day in the college hoops neighborhood. Ohio’s game against Eastern Michigan was postponed because of an armed gunman near campus. Plus a toddler ran on the court during Baylor’s home game against Oklahoma.

64 games were played last night. I love that number.

Let’s hit the links.

Wednesday’s Top games:
7:00 p.m. - Illinois @ Michigan State
7:00 p.m. - Drexel @ George Mason (NBC Sports Network)
7:00 p.m. - Iona @ Niagara
7:00 p.m. - Loyola (Md.) @ Canisius
8:00 p.m. - Morehead State @ Belmont
9:00 p.m. - No. 8 Arizona @ Washington
9:00 p.m. - No. 9 Butler @ Saint Louis
9:00 p.m. - Arkansas @ Alabama
10:00 p.m. - Oregon State @ California
11:00 p.m. - No. 7 Gonzaga @ Loyola Marymount
11:00 p.m. - Arizona State @ Washington State


Read of the Day:
I really like the positive attitude being displayed by Michigan State redshirt sophomore Russell Byrd. The sharpshooter has struggled to live up to recruiting hype, but he refuses to quit on the people who believe in him. (MLive.com)

Read of the Day:
Nine ways to fix the officiating in college hoops. This is the funniest thing you will read all day. The Tim Higgins video is worth the click. (Troy Nunes)

Read of the Day:
Luke Winn’s Power Rankings. You know what to do with these. (Sports Illustrated)


Top Stories:
Marshall Henderson’s jail time partially the result of positive cocaine test: It had been widely reported that Henderson had spent time in jail stemming from a 2010 forgery charge. But the reason he wasn’t jailed until last spring for a charge stemming from 2010 is that he violated his probation last January.

CBT Podcast: The role of Marshall Henderson in college hoops, and Coach of the Year debate: In episode-8 of the CBT Podcast, Troy Machir and Daniel Martin provide their opinions on the colorful and often volatile Ole Miss guard. Coach of the Year candidates are also discussed.

VIDEO: Michael Snaer’s fourth game-winner in the last two years: The Florida State guard continued to show his prowess in the clutch, hitting a game-winning three-pointer for the second time in the span of a week. This is also the fourth time he’s done it in two seasons. This time Maryland was the wrong end of things.

Oklahoma survives at Baylor, moves into tie for 2nd in the Big 12: Oklahoma nearly blew a 16 point lead, but Baylor missed two chances at a game-tying three in the final seconds. This was a big win for a team that is really putting it all together for Lon Kruger, who is on the verge of having OU back in the national discussion.

No. 10 Oregon is blown out by Stanford, who is finally playing up to par: The Ducks were playing without starting point guard Dominic Artis and it showed. The Cardinals outclassed them in every regard and finished with a 24-point margin of victory.

Missouri falls on the road to LSU in Laurence Bowers’ return: Laurence Bowers return from injury was supposed to provide the boost the Tigers needed to get out of their recent slide. But even Bowers’ 10 points and six rebounds weren’t enough to get Tigers back on track. Missouri has now lost three of six.

Notre Dame holds off red-hot Villanova at home: The Wildcats came up short on the road at Notre Dame following their back-to-back home wins over top-five teams Louisville and Syracuse. This was a game the Irish had to win, considering they entered the game having lost two of three at home.

Syracuse and St. John’s will continue series until 2015: Despite Syracuse’s move to the ACC next year and St. John’s exploring options with the Catholic 7, the two original Big East members will continue to play one another for the next few seasons. Jim Boeheim is famous for refusing to schedule non-conferences road games outside the state of New York, so this should not come as a major surprise.

VIDEO: Division II players goes between-the-legs in a game: Justin Glover of Winston Salem-State attempted not one but two between-the-legs dunks during a game last week against Elizabeth City State. He connected on one of them. It’s glorious.


Hoops Housekeeping:
- A day after suffering their first SEC loss of the season, Ole Miss got another dose of bad news. Sophomore big-man Aaron Jones is out for the remainder of the season due to an ACL injury and senior guard Nick Williams is out indefinitely with a foot injury. That is not good news considering the Rebels have a showdown with Florida this weekend at “The O-Dome”. (The Dagger)

Ohio’s game vs. Eastern Michigan last night was cancelled due to gunman on campus. The university took precautionary measures after a women was robbed at gunpoint near the campus. (Hustle Belt)

- North Carolina State guard Lorenzo Brown remains questionable to play against Miami this Saturday because of an ankle injury. (Sporting News)

- Charlotte’s leading scorer, Demario Mayfield, has been suspended indefinitely due to a violation of Athletic Department policy. The 49ers are 4-2 in the Atlantic-10 but have dropped two of their last four. (Charlotte Observer)

- Iona freshman guard A.J. English will miss the remainder of the season in order to have surgery to fix an injured wrist. (Big Apple Buckets)

North Carolina sophomore P.J. Hairston, doubtful for Saturday’s home game against Virginia Tech after suffering a concussion on Tuesday night. (Fayetteville Observer)

- Wake Forest will officially retire Chris Paul’s jersey on March 2. It will be the 11th uniform to be hoisted into the Demon Deacon rafters. (Star News Online)

- Former Indiana Hoosier Devan Dumes is now facing new criminal charges after allegedly firing off multiple rounds at an Indianapolis home earlier in the month. Things have not been going well as of late for Dumes. (RTV6-Indy)


Observations & Insight:
- Butler’s Andrew Smith isn’t thought of as being one of the nation’s elite big-men. But the stats suggest other wise. (Indianapolis Star)

- Remember when Northern Illinois only scored four points in the first half against Eastern Michigan on Saturday? Well, the Huskies got 26 points from Abdel Nader, including a game-winner with 2.2sec left to beat Kent State last night. (WREX-13)

- Illinois is holding a contest for students to come up with a new mascot and symbol to replace Chief Illiniwek. Jeff Eisenberg briefs us on the best and worst submissions. Personally, I’d go with the owl. (The Dagger)

- Former-Wisconsin Badger Zach Bohannon serves as a guest blogger to explain why athletic trainers need more support. (Eye on College Basketball)

- John Gasaway tackles the polls vs. computers debate using Kansas State, Butler and Pittsburgh. (ESPN Insider)

- Tom Izzo’s teams have always had a reputation for having a deep and productive bench. This season’s team has been winning despite having a less than ideal bench composite, which is kinda surprising. (The Only Colors)

- Northern Iowa head coach Ben Jacobson believes the Missouri Valley Conference deserves three bids to the NCAA tournament this season. (Courier Press)

- A great-read on Wichita State’s Carl Hall, who has battled through heart conditions to make the most out of his short NCAA career. (Omaha World-Herald)

- Nerlens Noel vs. Anthony Davis debate continues. It’s a close call. (Run The Floor)

- Former-coach Bruce Pearl weighs in on the “down year” debate, believes the veterans make the game great. (ESPN)

- Jay Bilas and Chad Ford debate about the best player on the Indiana Hoosiers, Tyler Zeller or Victor Oladipo. (ESPN Insider)

- Matt Norlander digs up a great stat-sheet stuffing record that Ohio’s D.J. Cooper is about to set. (Eye On College Basketball)

- Some quality inside-the-numbers trends regarding the top distributors in the NEC. (Big Apple Buckets)

- Brady Heslip’s three-point attempt for Baylor at the buzzer glanced off the rim, and in reaction, Bears head coach Scott Drew did a back flop. (Run the Floor)

- An awesome time-lapse video of “The Tad Pad” at Ole Miss for the entire Rebels game against UK. (Kentucky Sports Radio)


Video(s) of the Day:
A toddler ran on to the court during the Baylor-Oklahoma game. it’s all cute until Pierre Jackson plows into him uncontrollably on his way to the basket. (The Big Lead)



Dunk(s) of the Day:
Nevada’s Deonte Burton gets up in a hurry against UNLV. Not too many people talk about Burton, but he’s an unheralded human highlight reel.



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)