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#88 St. Bonaventure (2-1) @ #46 Rutgers (3-0) (Garden State Challenge)
Two teams with weak schedules so far meet, with the Scarlet Knights likely for the victory. Rutgers are an odd team, forcing very few turnovers and making very few threes. St. Bonaventure have their own areas of struggle, sending too many opponents to the line and shooting free throws pathetically.

#78 Virginia Tech (3-1) v. #73 Seton Hall (3-1) (Puerto Rico Tip-off)
The third place game in Puerto Rico could easily be a very close matchup, and will likely be a solid defensive encounter, which could be decided at the free throw line, where the Hokies have been strong.
#136 Cal St. Fullerton (2-1) @ #87 Portland St. (2-0)
A Big West-Big Sky battle featuring a couple of interesting tams. Portland St. have been dominant offensively but terrible in defense, things that are basically universal across all areas of the game. Fullerton will try to pound the ball down low and just hold off the Viking attack.

#105 Miami FL (2-0) @ #21 Connecticut (3-0)
The highly-ranked Huskies should be able to take car of business in this game, as they will benefit from very strong rebounding and excellent turnover control. If Miami have a chance it will be to bait UConn into taking a lot of threes, but that seems unlikely.

#95 San Diego (2-1) v. #94 Wisconsin (3-0) (Paradise Jam)
The second semifinal of the Paradise Jam event should be a win for a Wisconsin team that will assert dominance on the defensive glass and in forcing turnovers, but they cannot afford similar struggles as they had against Iona.

#20 Illinois St. (3-0) @ #130 Southern Methodist (2-1) (SMU Tip-off Classic)
The Redbirds will not play a single power conference team all season, and considering this is a CUSA team, this is the closest they will come the entire year. They've had a good start, but will need to maintain their strong rebounding and shooting against an all-defense team in the Mustangs.

Today's game of the day is the finale in Puerto Rico, between a team that has survived two heart-stopping games, the #10 Xavier Musketeers, and the #6 Memphis Tigers, with the winner will surely moving right up to nip at the heels of #1.

The Musketeers on offense will need to avoid turnovers, something they did in the slower paced VT game, but have struggled with them in their other games. Memphis typically force a large number, so this is an area where Xavier could easily find themselves in a lot of trouble. They make up for it with an excellent showing at the free throw line, where their percentage isn't high, but they get a huge number of chances, attempting more than 25 FTs in each game so far.

I've discussed Memphis' main problem before, but it starts and ends with three-point shooting, where they are among the worst in the country, and they attempt from behind the line a fair bit more than the Musketeers. Again, I'd expect to see Xavier try to pack the paint and dare Memphis to shoot over them. Memphis have a strong reputation for interior defense and strong rebounding, but we have yet to see much of that, which will give Xavier a decent chance.

The two players I'll focus on for this game are Derrick Brown of Xavier and Antonio Anderson of Memphis. Anderson is a quiet star of college basketball, getting relatively little press, but he's now in his 4th year as a starter, and doing a very good job so far. He's shooting 54% from the field, and needs to cut down on his three attempts, but it's his ball movement and control that are really impressive, as he has a 2.2 A/TO ratio so far this season. Derrick Brown was the top Xavier scorer in the VT game, and was the only guy on either team who managed to shoot a good percentage. Given that Memphis has some good skill and experience inside, he will have to fight really hard to keep his team alive on the glass, and prevent Memphis from getting too many easy baskets.

Rhode Island 92, Virginia Commonwealth 86 @ Kingston, RI

The battle of the Rams was a tight, offensive game, and came down to the wire, with Jimmy Baron making a big late 3 and Rhode Island nailing their last six free throws to consolidate a good home victory that could end up hurting any potential at-large bid for VCU come March.

As expected, VCU managed to hammer the inside attack against URI, shooting better than 65% from two, and over 60% overall. However, an area where I expected VCU to be solid, turnovers, were a huge problem, as they committed 26, allowing URI to stay much closer than you'd expect from the shooting percentages. VCU also struggled at the free throw line, shooting worse from the line than from the field (!). Rhode Island weren't particularly strong at the line themselves, but did get there much more often, and managed to make the difference there late in the game. URI surprisingly struggled from behind the arc, though, just 4-11, but persevered nonetheless.

Eric Maynor had an excellent shooting game, going 8-14 and picking up a team-high 22 points. However, he was the main source of the big problems his team had with turnovers, as he committed 10 himself, double his showing in the first two games combined. Still, he led his team in points, rebounds and assists, he only just fell short of having the performance VCU needed to win. For Rhode Island, Jimmy Baron also struggled somewhat, shooting just 4-11 from the field and committing three turnovers, but he managed to come up with they key shots to break VCU's back in the closing moments. The player of the game, though, was Baron's teammate Keith Cothran, who had 23 points on 10-16 shooting with five offensive boards and only a single turnover.

#101 Utah (2-1) v #125 Morgan St. (2-2)
This is close in ranking only because of Utah's non-D1 loss to Southwest Baptist, but they should dominate most facets of this game, especially at the offensive and defensive free throw line and in making shots.

#94 George Mason (2-1) v #96 East Carolina (3-0)
ECU have mostly beaten weaker teams, but will get a good test here, and will count on getting a strong defensive showing, while the Patriots will crash the boards and try to get the advantage.

#144 Cornell (2-1) @ #79 Siena (1-0)
Two NCAA tournament teams meet, with Siena a decided favourite after crushing Boise St. The Saints will likely commit few turnovers, and will really cause problems for Cornell's shooters. Cornell's only advantage looks to be in getting to the line.

#60 Louisiana Tech (2-0) @ #22 Arkansas Little Rock (2-0)
UALR started with two big road wins on the west coast, and will depend on a strong defense to force a lot of turnovers, along with heavily crashing the offensive glass to beat the Bulldogs.

#48 Buffalo (2-0) @ #116 Evansville (2-0)
Buffalo have a pair of good road wins already, and will face a reasonable challenge in Evansville. They must press their advantage offensively and defensively from three, while the Aces will force a lot of turnovers and keep the Bulls off the free throw line.

#93 Wisconsin Milwaukee (3-1) @ #42 Marquette (2-0)
The cross-town rivalry should go to the big brother, but UWM will keep the Eagles on their toes. Marquette's offensive play has been excellent, and they will likely put up a lot of points, but UWM will have an advantage from three. They must also fight to stay close on the offensive glass.

#82 Minnesota (3-0) @ #53 Colorado St. (2-0)
An interesting home encounter for a team out of a conference that's been hot so far, Colorado St. have had spectacular offense, and should dominate the line and the offensive glass. Minnesota must avoid turnovers and manage to get free throws themselves.

Today's game of the day is the Battle of the Rams, as the CAA's #61 Virginia Commonwealth face off against #65 Rhode Island from the A-10.

Rhode Island earned a lot of plaudits for losing a tight one at Duke, and are off to a 2-1 start. So far, their profile is looking pretty similar to last year's team, with a very solid offense hampered by some major defensive struggles. The Duke game was actually the best showing for URI in terms of preventing made shots, their only under 50 eFG% defensive performance so far, and they are especially vulnerable inside. Considering that Virginia Commonwealth are a pretty strong team at attacking inside, this could be a major problem for Rhode Island.

Virginia Commonwealth are 2-0, but their opponents so far have been pretty weak, and so it's hard to get too much of a real sense for VCU's ability. Still, they have been very effective at controlling turnovers, another defensive URI weakness. For URI, the main bright spot is the same as it was against Duke, 3-point shooting, as VCU struggled to defend the long range shot against South Dakota St.

VCU's player to watch is Eric Maynor, best known for "the dagger" against Duke in the NCAA Tournament, and the primary option on offense for Virginia Commonwealth. Maynor's strength lies in his strong ball movement, as he has recorded a 2.4 A/TO ratio so far this season. He's typically a solid but not spectacular shooter who became much more of a three-point shooter last season, which further upped his efficiency. For URI, three-point specialist Jimmy Baron, who has hit 14 threes to just 5 twos, is the star, and while he won't keep hitting 58% of his threes, the fact that he has had only a single turnover in three games is another key part of his game, as he wastes very few possessions.

Virginia Commonwealth could easily take this game, but they are a fairly young team making their road debut, and I suspect that it'll be close but that Rhode Island will end up as the better Rams.

Game of Last Night:
Memphis 84, Seton Hall 70 @ San Juan, PR (Puerto Rico Tip-off)

This game wasn't even as close as it seemed, as when the lead went over 20 Memphis went to their bench players, while Seton Hall didn't have a bench and closed with a 13-6 run from the starters to get the margin within 15. Seton Hall were actually about the same offensively as they were against USC, with their loss coming primarily from an inability to stop the Memphis attack.

Seton Hall weren't anywhere near as effective as they needed to be on the boards, defending the offensive glass as well as previous games, but not crashing the offensive boards enough themselves. They did at least improve their free throw shooting back to 75%, which helped a great deal. Memphis proved why you shouldn't look exclusively at field goal percentages, as they shot worse than USC did, including just 4-19 from three, but had a much better offensive performance because of their showing at the line, where they shot 65%, but made 46 appearances. Also, the ability of the Tigers to play at such a fast pace and control turnovers, just 11 on 77 possessions, means that they had an advantage in the number of possessions, which managed them to overcome their small shooting deficit. Depth also played a role in this game, as only one Hall player finished with less than 4 fouls, and two fouled out.

Highlighted Players: Robert Dozier didn't have a particularly effective game, shooting just 3-7 and getting 5 boards, but was quietly and mildly solid. He nailed all 4 free throws to continue the trend of improvement over last season. For Seton Hall, John Garcia had the game's only double double, 10-and-12, and was surely troubled by fouls. The player of the game for me was Antonio Anderson, who scored just 6 points for the Tigers but distributed the ball very well with 6 assists, and was a defensive dynamo with 4 steals.

Some other noteworthy games:
2. #31 Virginia Tech (3-0) v. #16 Xavier (3-0)
The Hokies must do a better job of defending inside and preventing offensive rebounds, while Xavier must focus on not turning the ball over.

3. #72 Temple (2-1) @ #60 Lafayette (2-0)
An interesting battle in getting to the line, as Temple send few opponents to the line but don't get there themselves, with the opposite true for Lafayette. The Leopards will also try to pound it inside, while Temple will try to force turnovers.

4. #69 Akron (2-0) @ #32 Pittsburgh (2-0)
Pitt are huge inside, shooting 66% from two and defending strongly as well, likely allowing them to crush the Zips' attack and dominate the glass. Akron must force a lot of turnovers to have any chance to keep it close.

5. #112 Iona (1-0) v. #120 Wisconsin (2-0)
Iona may be in trouble, as they don't attack inside much, allowing the Badgers' perimeter D to swallow them up. Iona must stop the outside attack of Wisconsin and try to stay close on the glass, but if Wisconsin can find better form from two than they’ve showed to date, it won’t be close.

6. #132 San Diego (1-1) v. #98 Valparaiso (2-0)
Two teams that have played well defensively meet, with Valpo trying to gain an advantage on the offensive glass. San Diego will need to improve their three-point shooting against strong perimeter defenders.

7. #131 Oakland (1-1) @ #123 Syracuse (2-0)
Syracuse have struggled with interior defense, but Oakland likely will not be able to take advantage. The Orange should dominate the defensive glass on the way to a win, but must improve their showing at the line.

8. #2 Duke (4-0) v. #50 Michigan (3-0)
Michigan are a defensive rebounding disaster, and will have to hope the zone confounds the Blue Devils on offense. Duke has been very poor defending the three so far, though this is coloured by Jimmy Baron's shooting-fest, but Michigan have not been shooting well enough to take advantage.

Today's game of the day is a top 10 matchup by my rankings, if not by the rest of the world's, #10 Memphis facing off against #8 Seton Hall in Puerto Rico.

Memphis are 3-0 team but have yet to record a really quality win. They are a very strong offensive squad, but they accomplish this not necessarily by stopping shots as much as by forcing a lot of turnovers and trying to prevent offensive rebounds, which wasn't that effective against Chattanooga. Yet again, Seton Hall will have to crash the offensive boards, as they will be turning the ball over enough they cannot afford to cede further possessions on the glass. For Seton Hall's defense the key will be keeping Memphis outside, a difficult task. Memphis have shot terribly from three, and the shorthanded nature of the Pirates roster means SetonHall may pack the paint and try some zone during the game, daring the Tigers to make perimeter shots. Also, as mentioned, keeping the number of possessions as even as possible is critical, so Seton Hall must continue to force turnovers. It would also help if the Pirates shot 70% from the line as in their first two games, rather than the 48% they shot against USC.

The player to watch for Seton Hall is centre John Garcia. His shooting has been solid all year, and he takes a decent amount, but the key for him is rebounding. He picked up 18 boards and played 39 minutes against USC, and must have a similar level of performance against the Tigers to keep his team around. One of his interior opponents will be Robert Dozier, who has had an excellent offensive start to the year. If they can get him involved in the offense to a similar extent as previous games, and if he can keep hitting his free throws at at least an 80% clip, they will give the undermanned Pirates fits inside.

It's hard to see how Seton Hall can win this one, but they have been effective so far. Still, Memphis’ faster pace seems like it would tire out the Hall enough to allow Memphis to pull away.

Game/Result of the Night: Seton Hall 63, USC 61

Last night's game of the night at my ELO ratings blog was between the Pirates and Trojans. Yesterday I mentioned that Seton Hall had to maintain their strong presence at the line, offensive rebounding and perimeter defense, and they managed two of these effectively. Their showing at the line was woeful, dropping from 70% in their first two games to under 50%. They made up for it by getting doing well on the offensive glass, staying even with the Trojans in this area, and they shut down USC from three, as they went 3-14 with Donte Smith accounting for all three made threes. USC were effective inside, but didn't establish dominance, especially in the second half, when they coughed up a double-digit lead. While it was a solid defensive showing from Tim Floyd's side, their own offense never got going, and they were modestly behind in eFG% and TO%. Furthermore, i'll quote myself "If the game is close, the difference may come down to USC getting extra possessions on the offensive glass." Seton Hall did enough to keep this from happening. I said Eugene Harvey may not be a top scorer for the Hall, and on cue he goes out and scores a team high 18. While he struggled with turnovers, picking up 5, and shot poorly from the line and from the field, this isn't unusual for him, and his 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals balanced that. Taj Gibson was probably the best player in the game, and if you watched it, the commentators mentioned several times why the Trojans should use him more, and they should have. Gibson shot 8-13 from the field with a very strong 18 boards, and picked up 3 blocks without committing a turnover.

Once again I'll remind you, while DeMar DeRozan has been more hyped, Taj Gibson will be how this team lives or dies. Gibson's game high 19 points and overall strong showing make him the player of the game.