College Hoops Saturday Night

-As the season goes on and Kentucky basketball keeps racking up win after win under John Calipari, the legend of John Wall continues to grow. At Assembly Hall in Bloomington Saturday afternoon, Wall played like former Hoosier Isiah Thomas and had 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a 90-73 win over Indiana. The Wildcats dominated the second half and got a stellar effort out of Patrick Patterson, who scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Peter Robert Casey, the first ever media credentialed micro-blogger for the 7-1 St. John’s Red Storm and a valued contributor to CHSN, was at Madison Square Garden this past week to watch his Storm beat Georgia and watch Kentucky edge out UConn. Casey was nice enough to send in a scouting report on Wall:

“John Wall: More than a YouTube sensation, there are too few adjectives that can accurately describe the 6’4” lead guard’s supernatural athletic ability. Basically, Wall can get to and above the rim quicker than any player in the country—and he’s only a freshman.

 He’s fluidly ambidextrous, can break down defenses, block shots and has proven to be clutch in late game situations on large stages. He’s averaging 19pts, 7asts, and 3stls through his first 8 contests, and NBA GMs are already salivating over the idea of David Stern calling his name in June.

 Are there margins for improvement? Sure. His perimeter needs to development, and turnovers are a point of concern (4.8/game); mostly because explosive and flashy PG plays at a speed that hasn’t been seen since Derrick Rose ran through Conference USA.

 My favorite part of his game: According to John Calipari, “John Wall works harder than anyone in practice.””

-This LaSalle team could be the greatest one they’ve in my decade-plus following college hoops (with wins over Davidson and Rider, who won at Mississippi State), and top ranked Kansas went to Kansas City and shredded the Explorers 90-65. LaSalle certainly dreads playing A-10 foe Xavier every year, and the Jayhawks’ Xavier, Xavier Henry, went for 31 in the KU win. All Cole Aldrich did was score 19, pull down six rebounds and swat five LaSalle shots.
-If I were to ask the legendary John Wooden about the Pac 10 this year, he would probably be disappointed. UCLA, the program he built is going through an embarrassing start and the three biggest conference contenders are Cal, Arizona and Washington. The Huskies came into Anaheim playing Georgetown from the Big East coming off a cross-country trek, and the Hoyas played like the powerful team, getting all five starters in double figures in a 74-66 win in this “dog fight”. Quincy Pondexter had 23 and Isaiah Thomas had 21 but Lorenzo Romar’s club has yet to show any semblence of balance. Washington has now lost to their only two good non-conference opponents, Georgetown and Texas Tech, and must beat Texas A&M and Portland to have any kind of good resume outside a weak Pac 10 that Coach Wooden is most likely far from proud of. UCLA got trounced by Mississippi State, who got off to a 40-19 halftime lead en route to a 72-54 win. In three days, the Bulldogs crushed DePaul in Tampa and then clocked the Bruins in Anaheim. Not a bad extended weekend for Rick Stansbury’s bunch.
-Speaking of a team in great need of a resume booster, Butler had gone 0-3 in beating huge non-conference teams this year, falling to Minnesota, Clemson and Georgetown. So far, UCLA hasn’t impressed at all and Northwestern is getting there in terms of a quality win after the Wildcats ran off three straight wins over Notre Dame, Iowa State and NC State. But the Bulldogs got a very nice win at home over the Evan Tuner-less Ohio State Buckeyes, winning 74-66 at old Hinkle Fieldhouse. Gordon Hayward led all scorers with 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
-Second ranked Texas went to 8-0 as Damion James rocked the Erwin Center with 21 points and 16 rebounds in an 87-54 win over Texas State.
-Nobody plays an up-tempo, 1970′s style of NBA/ABA basketball better than VMI and Bobby Gonzalez’s Seton Hall Pirates played right along with them Saturday in Newark. Over the first seven games, Pirates reserve Guard Jamel Jackson had 49 points. Today, he rocked The Rock for 40 points on 14-17 shooting and 12-15 from three, a truly remarkable performance for Seton Hall, because they now may have found another go-to guy to pair with Jeremy Hazell, who only had 33 and 12 rebounds in a 134-107 win over VMI. Shout out to Herb Pope as well, who had 15 points and pulled down 20 boards.
-Look at 10-1 Western Carolina going to Freedom Hall and knocking off Louisville 91-83 behind 24 from Mike Williams and 23 from Jake Robinson. It’s time to give the Catamounts a little pub. I’m sure Clemson coach Oliver Purnell is all over this one, his Tigers host WCU the next time they play on the 22nd.
-It’s easy to overlook Willie Warren when you see John Wall and Xavier Henry, but his 22 and eight led Oklahoma to a 78-73 OT road win against Utah in SLC. That’s a nice non-conference road win for the Sooners.
-Saint Mary’s went to McArthur Court in Eugene and won by five over Oregon. San Diego State and Utah State have already been blown away by the Gaels.