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The Secondary Break: Wednesday’s Links

Harvard Basketball: The Startup (Slam Magazine)
On Wednesday night the Harvard Crimson play their final non-conference game of the season as they visit UConn, with the Huskies coming off of two losses in Texas (Houston and SMU). Those defeats may have taken some of the luster off of this matchup, one that a Harvard program looking to build on last season’s NCAA tournament victory can use. How did Harvard reach the point where an at-large bid can be considered? It all began with a vision.

Midseason Awards: NEC (Big Apple Buckets)
With conference play underway, the first days of January are usually a good time to recap what happened in non-conference play. This piece takes a look at the Northeast Conference, with its race shaping up to be the competitive one that many predicted prior to the start of the season.

London Perrantes brings “that Cali swag” to the Cavaliers as a freshman (Washington Post)
With the graduation of Jontel Evans at the conclusion of the 2012-13 season, Virginia head coach Tony Bennett had a hole to fill at the point guard position. Into that role slid freshman London Perrantes, a California native who grew up dreaming of playing in the ACC and on Saturday at Florida State played arguably his best game to date. He’ll be a key factor for the Cavaliers if they’re to reach the NCAA tournament.

URI pays heavy price for slow start (Providence Journal)
After winning games against Brown and LSU last week, Rhode Island entered Tuesday night’s Atlantic 10 opener against Saint Louis brimming with confidence. But the Rams saw their win streak come to an end, falling by the final score of 59-58, and their poor start to the game certainly had an impact on the result.

Kentucky basketball behaving more like a team, Calipari and players say (Louisville Courier-Journal)
The winter break, in some instances, has a knack for forcing college basketball teams to improve their chemistry. Why? Much of the student body is home for the holidays, leaving the players with few options when it comes to on-campus interactions. That was the case for a young Kentucky team working to reach the level many expected before the season began, and according to the player and head coach John Calipari the winter break certainly helped.

Comebacks nothing new for this season’s undefeated squad (Wisconsin State Journal)
After struggling for much of the game’s first 30 minutes on Sunday night, No. 4 Wisconsin found a way to come back and beat No. 22 Iowa in Madison. And while the Badgers, who are off to the best start in school history, haven’t been in too many situations like that one they knew what needed to be done.

UNC JV team: Hubert Davis takes charge (Raleigh News & Observer)
North Carolina is one of the few athletic departments that also field a JV basketball team, with players who don’t have the talent that the guys we see on TV every week living out their dream of wearing that jersey. And this is also a positive experience for the assistant who gets to coach the JV team, with Hubert Davis leading the way this season.

Point guards are key to winning 2014 Mid-American Conference title (Cleveland Post-Dispatch)
Guard play has always been important in the game of basketball, regardless of the level of play. And for the Mid-American Conference, the winner could be determined by which team gets the greatest amount of production from the position. Akron? Ohio? Toledo? Someone else? Whoever wins the automatic bid will likely have a capable floor general leading the way.