Tennessee

Down nine after a pair of Jordan Taylor free throws with 2:37 remaining, Michigan State was in danger of picking up their second ACC loss of the young campaign is someone didn't step up and make some plays. You look to your seniors for leadership and that's exactly what Kalin Lucas and Draymond Green provided down the stretch, and a Korie Lucious three with 48 seconds remaining capped a 9-0 run that got the game into overtime.

Conference play is in full swing on the second Saturday in January, but the biggest game is of the non-conference variety as #9 Connecticut (11-2) hits the road to take on #12 Texas (12-2) in their first meeting since the 2003 NCAA Tournament. The Longhorns, then led by point guard T.J. Ford, won that Sweet 16 matchup in San Antonio on their way to the Final Four and while they don't have a point guard in the mold of Ford they've got plenty of talent. At the top of that list would be sophomore wing Jordan Hamilton, who leads the Longhorns in scoring with an average of 19.6 points per game.

"I try to make him earn everything he gets. Like I said, he's got all of those accolades, but he's gotta come in and prove it."

- UNLV guard Tre'Von Willis on BYU's Jimmer Fredette in Tuesday's Las Vegas Sun

While a number of eyes will be fixated on the in-state battle between Memphis and Tennessee (and rightfully so), that matchup sits behind the Mountain West opener between BYU (14-1) and UNLV as the game of the night. Jimmer Fredette (24.1 ppg, 4.4 apg) has lit up just about every team he's encountered throughout his storied career but he and BYU have had their fair share of issues when taking on UNLV (12-2) at Thomas & Mack.

The final day of 2010 gives college basketball fans the treat of watching one of the sport's most intense rivalries. Kentucky makes the trek up to the KFC Yum! Center to take on a Louisville squad that while ranked has been dealing with a number of injuries. The latest loss was that of forward Rakeem Buckles, who had surgery on a broken finger and will be out a few weeks while the digit heals.

In what's traditionally the "dead week" for college basketball as many schools are in the midst of finals, we've had a far more eventful beginning of the week than many anticipated. The fun started on Tuesday with Oakland winning at Tennessee and Drexel handing Louisville their first loss of the season. In the 89-82 win in Knoxville, Greg Kampe's Golden Grizzlies went on a 13-0 second half run to take the lead for good.

While billed as the marquee matchup in the SEC/Big East Invitational many expected #3 Pittsburgh to hold serve at the CONSOL Energy Center against #11 Tennessee, thanks in part to a neutral court crowd that would be in their favor. Although the word "upset" shouldn't be used to describe the fact that Bruce Pearl's team left with the 83-76 victory, the way in which Tennessee won the game was a surprise to say the least. The Vols, now 7-0 on the season, controlled the game throughout and led by as many as 20 before the Panthers attempted to mount a rally.

A pair of undefeated teams will meet in the final game of the SEC/Big East Invitational as #11 Tennessee (6-0) takes on #3 Pittsburgh (10-0) at the new CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. The Volunteers, who won the NIT Season Tip-Off by beating Villanova in the title game, are actually the top ranked team in the RPI and they've done a good job so far of not allowing the issues swirling around their head coach to affect their play. Three Volunteers are averaging double figures in scoring with freshman forward Tobias Harris (16.7 ppg) and junior guard Scotty Hopson (16.3 ppg) leading the way.

Overall Rank: #15