The Pac-10 reclaimed the lead in the showdown with the Big 12, as USC downed Oklahoma, 66-55 and Oregon used a second-half comeback and overtime to topple K-State, 80-77.

That wasn’t the only OT road victory for a ranked team, as #19 Gonzaga topped St. Joe’s, 70-65. Elsewhere, Wake Forest suffered its first loss, going down on the road in Charlotte, 63-59.

More from the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Showdown Classic Showcase Tournament Extravaganza tonight. The one LRT is most interested in will be #6 Washington State at Baylor (8 PM CST, ESPNU). Baylor has some solid wins so far this year, but this is a massive test. We will soon know how legit the Bears are when we see how well they hang with Tony Bennett’s excellent Wazzu squad. Also, Iowa State heads to Corvallis to face Oregon State in the nightcap (10 PM CST, FSN).

Today is yet another travel day, and there’s still 12 hours of work and school to squeeze in before the flight to L.A. So, there may not be a Horns in the League update tonight, and the three-part trip log from shitty beautiful Newark won’t start running until tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy the hell out of that Washington State/Baylor tilt, as I’ll be stuck watching CNNAirport in DFW at the time. Faaaantastic!

Last night

T.J. Ford missed another game with his neck injury, but the Raptors still defeated the Grizzlies, 103-91.

The Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Hawks, 96-80, with Royal Ivey playing only five minutes. Royal with Cheese had a blank stat line, save for his 0-for-3 shooting performance.

Daniel Gibson scored only five points as the Cavs were absolutely destroyed by the Pistons, 109-74. D-Gib added two assists and a rebound in his 22 minutes, but picked up four personals on the night.

LaMarcus Aldridge just missed a double-double, pulling down nine rebounds to go with his 22-point night. Even that wasn’t enough though, as Indiana still knocked off the Blazers, 95-89.

The Magic blasted the Sonics out west, 110-94. Maurice Evans had 20 minutes off the bench for Orlando, scoring seven and grabbing three boards. Kevin Durant paced Seattle, dropping in 22 points while adding six rebounds and four assists.

Tonight

Chris Mihm and the Lakers host the Utah Jazz at Staples. (9:30 PM CST, TNT)

The ACC won their lopsided “challenge” with the Big 10 for the ninth straight year, grabbing eight of the eleven games. In Columbus, Ohio State didn’t make a field goal for over ten minutes in the second half, and North Carolina escaped with a road win, 66-55. Michigan State was one of few bright spots for the Big 10, thumping NC State, 81-58.

In the Big 12, Texas A&M moved to 7-0 on the year with a 76-63 win over Alabama and Kansas stayed perfect by blowing out FAU, 87-49. Mizzou was led by Stefhon Hannah’s 28 points, fell just short against the Razorbacks, 94-91. In Lubbock, Texas Tech needed a second-half comeback to overcome a thirteen-point deficit, but ultimately the Red Raiders topped TCU, 71-58.

Darren Collison is back for UCLA just in time for Sunday’s showdown against the Horns. The junior guard returned in an 83-60 shellacking of George Washington, finishing with fourteen points and five assists. He wasn’t the only injured Bruin back on the court, as Alfred Aboya was sporting garish yellow goggles to protect his shattered orbital bone. Any hopes that we’d see a depleted UCLA team on Saturday can now be trashed along with your Michael Olawakandi poster.

The Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series continues tonight, with one of the higher-profile matchups taking place in Manhattan, Kansas. The Wildcats host Oregon (8 PM CST, ESPN2), while USC hosts the Sooners in Westwood (10 PM, FSN). The Big 12 starts play tonight holding a 1-0 lead in the challenge thanks a Jayhawk victory over Arizona on Sunday night.

The Longhorns return to Austin as champions of the StubHub! Legends Classic tournament and are set for a top-ten battle with UCLA on Sunday. But first, Texas must add another win to the ledger when they host Texas Southern in a mid-week patsy game.

The Tigers come from the Southwestern Athletic Conference, a league which Texas holds a 4-0 all-time record against. Last season, the Horns pasted the Tigers 90-50, with A.J. Abrams and Kevin Durant combining for 42 points. Even Dexter Pittman had a breakout game against TSU, scoring ten points and blocking two shots in only eleven minutes on the court.

Texas Southern’s basketball program is in a bit of disarray this year, as they had not even named a head coach until eight days before pre-season practices began. Just last week, forward Jacques Jones was lost for the year due to a shoulder injury that requires surgery, leaving the Tigers with four active scholarship players. The only bright spot amidst this disaster of a season is the return of former coach Robert Moreland, who is sitting on 399 career victories at TSU. There’s not much hope for #400 tonight.

By the numbers

The Longhorns enter the game ranked 3rd in Ken Pomeroy’s RPI approximations. They are also the most efficient offense in the nation thus far, scoring a ridiculous 130.6 points per 100 possessions — and that number actually increases to 138.4 points when adjusted to reflect the talent level they’ve faced.

Texas Southern, meanwhile, is scraping the bottom of the offensive barrel. Their efficiency ranks 310th in the NCAA out of 341 teams. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the defense is even worse. Their defensive efficiency checks in at 321st in the league, although their adjusted rank is a much more palatable 251st.

The Tigers have only won one of their first five games, a 72-64 season-opening victory over the Islanders of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Their most recent lost came at the hands of Kentucky, in an embarrassing 83-35 shellacking on Saturday. Fortunately for TSU, their schedule thus far has been tough enough to keep their RPI rank a respectable 83rd.

The key players

Guards David Burrell and Sollie Norwood have combined to lead the team in scoring in each of the first five games. Norwood is tops on the team so far this year with 16.8 PPG and also provided ten points off the bench in last year’s loss to the Longhorns. Burrell is in his first season with the Tigers after transferring from UT-Pan American following the 2005-06 season.

The other two guards who have started all five games for Coach Moreland are Jonathan Frazier and Matt Miller. While neither has scored many points this year, Frazier is averaging nearly three steals a game. They both have more turnovers than assists so far this season, so they will have to be careful with the ball against this Texas defense.

The frontcourt for the Tigers is fairly unimpressive, as TSU started only two forwards prior to the aforementioned Jones injury…and even then, he was the tallest starter at 6′7″. That leaves senior Kevin Abanobi as the most reliable post player on the thin roster for TSU, and his averages are a paltry five points and six boards per game so far this season.

With the lineup card covered in red lines and scribbles, there’s a very good chance the Tigers will use a fourth guard to round out the starting five. It will likely be Burrell, although we could see Damien Henderson, who spent the last two years — one of them lost to injury — at a JuCo in Lincoln, Illinois.

What to look for

To be completely honest, this is going to be nothing more than a chance for Coach Barnes and the Horns to get some kinks worked out before Sunday. It will be interesting to see if Barnes decides to rest the key players in preparation for the UCLA game or if he leaves the core group in to get as many game minutes together as possible. I’m personally pulling for the former, as I doubt any second-half minutes in this game will be useful practice.

Texas comes into this one shooting a ridiculous 56.7% from the field, including 52% from behind the arc. While I’m not expecting this to go on forever, we’d certainly like to see the key folks still knocking them down with regularity tonight, lest they fall into a funk before this weekend’s game. Even though the Horns are really hot from three-point range, look for the increased emphasis on entry passing to continue against the overmatched Tiger frontcourt.

In their one victory this year, TSU hit eleven three-pointers, and has taken nearly half of their shots from behind the arc. With the small lineup, don’t be surprised to see the Tigers hanging out around the perimeter and settling for long-range jumpers. If they are actually hitting, they can keep the game close for perhaps the first half, but their lack of depth will make it difficult to maintain any threat.

The tiny TSU lineup also means that Texas should win the rebounding battle quite easily tonight. While it would be nice to get in some minutes against a potent frontcourt before facing Kevin Love, hopefully the good night the Horns will have on the boards can serve as a confidence boost. This also means that as long as his minutes aren’t too limited by a huge lead, I’m liking Connor Atchley for his second-consecutive double-double in this one.

This one certainly won’t be competitive, but I implore all of you to head out to the Frank Erwin Center anyhow. The game isn’t televised, so it’s the only way you can catch the action. And any coach or kid in their team jersey or t-shirt gets $4 off a GA seat in the mezzanine — which means with tonight’s expected crowd that you can sit pretty much anywhere in the lower bowl. So come on out to the FEC, and we’ll see you there.

Last night

It took overtime to do it, but the Cavaliers handed the Celtics their second loss on the year, 109-104. D-Gib played 46 minutes in the game, scoring eight points. He also added four rebounds and three assists on the night.

The Bucks lost their first game at home on the year, falling to the 76ers by a 114-99 count. Royal Ivey played 21 minutes in this one, indicating that his great performance against Cleveland last week has earned him more playing time. He finished the night with nine points, two boards, two steals, and an assist.

K-Smoove had 25 points, but the Sonics fell just short in L.A., losing 106-99 to the Lakers. Durant also had three assists, two blocks, and two boards for Seattle. Meanwhile, Chris Mihm shot only 2-of-10 from the field but finished with six points and eight rebounds.

Tonight

T.J. Ford looks to return from his neck injury as the Raps host the Grizzlies. (6 PM CST, NBA League Pass)

Royal Ivey gets a chance for revenge against his old team when the Bucks travel to Atlanta. (6 PM, NBALP)

The Cavaliers and Daniel Gibson look to claim sole possession of first place in the Central when they head to Detroit. (6:30 PM, NBALP)

LaMarcus Aldridge and the Trail Blazers play host to the Pacers in Portland. (9 PM, NBALP)

Longhorns from two different eras tangle in Seattle when Maurice Evans and the red-hot Magic face Kevin Durant and the Sonics. (9 PM, NBALP)

The Wisconsin/Duke matchup left a lot to be desired, as Duke crotch-punched the Badgers, 82-58. At Assembly Hall, Indiana grabbed the sole win for their conference, edging Georgia Tech, 83-79. After two days of play, the ACC is on top by a 5-1 count and will coast to their ninth win in the nine-year history of the “challenge.” That’s compelling television.

In Big 12 action, Iowa State lost at home to Northern Iowa, 61-48, while Colorado took care of business against Denver.

In recruiting news, Syracuse signed two Rivals Top 50 players in Mookie Jones and Kris Joseph and added some third scrub to the mix.

Old news for many, but Luke Winn was all up on Texas’ jock after the pasting of Tennessee this weekend. And with good reason. That was perhaps the single most impressive Longhorn victory since — dare I say it? — the Final Four season.

Remember the solid student crowd that drove up to Austin to support the UTSA Turtles in the season opener? I’m guessing the four girls in the video below were a part of that group, and apparently were hopped up on some speed. We love the enthusiasm for college hoops, but for some reason I think more “Blue Danube” than DMX when I watch UTSA basketball. Regardless, I’d like to have these girls put together a new intro for UT basketball. The thing we’ve got now is more worn out than Teri Hatcher. (HT goes to March to Madness on the video.)

Last night

The Orlando Magic moved to 13-3 on the year after defeating the Trailblazers 85-74 in Portland. Maurice Evans was the busiest player off the Magic bench, putting in 27 minutes of work. Mo had seven points and two rebounds on the night. For Portland, LaMarcus Aldridge battled foul trouble that limited him to just over 27 minutes on the court. Despite the short PT, The Marcus still managed to pour in 16 points and grab five rebounds.

Tonight

Daniel Gibson and the Cavs hope to stop the red-hot Celtics in Cleveland. (6 PM CST, NBA TV)

The Milwaukee Bucks and Royal Ivey host the Philadelphia 76ers. (7 PM CST)

Kevin Durant and Chris Mihm are two Longhorns on opposing sides when the Sonics and Lakers meet up in Staples. (9:30 PM CST)

A.J. Abrams was named Big 12 Player of the Week after averaging 26 points per game in Newark and being selected for the Legends Classic All-Tournament Team. LaceDarius Dunn of Baylor grabbed the Rookie of the Week honors for the conference.

After shellacking Tennessee, the Longhorns jumped to #8 in both polls this week. Kansas checks in at number four, while Texas A&M is 9th. Kansas State fell from the Coaches Poll after losing to George Mason, but hung on at #25 in the AP rankings.

No major games of note last night, although the ACC/Big 10 Challenge started with a whimper as Wake Forest topped Iowa, 56-47. Nebraska was the only Big 12 team active on Monday night, and the Huskers grabbed a 79-62 victory over Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne.

The ACC/Big 10 Challenge ramps up tonight, with Wisconsin heading to Cameron Indoor to face Duke (8 PM CST, ESPN). Northwestern will be horribly overmatched against Virginia (6 PM, ESPNU) but if you haven’t seen the ‘Hoos play this year, give them a look tonight. In the Big 12, Iowa State hosts Northern Iowa (7 PM) and Colorado makes the short road trip to Denver (8 PM).

After a quick weekend in the greater NYC area, here’s your jet-lagged, turkey-stuffed, bargain-priced NBA update…

Friday

Maurice Evans again rode the pine with his new squad as Orlando took out the Bobcats, 105-92.

The two most storied NBA franchises met once again, and the Celtics bested the Lakers, 107-94. Chris Mihm missed all four of his shots in his fourteen minutes of action, but grabbed five boards and dished out two dimes.

LaMarcus Aldridge dominated in Portland, and the Trailblazers knocked off the Kings, 87-84. L.A. had another double-double — this time with a 28/12 line — and blocked three shots in the contest.

It was a quiet night by Kevin Durant standards, as the rookie finished with twelve points and five boards in a 98-93 home loss to the Nets.

Saturday

It should’ve been another battle of UT guards, but T.J. Ford was forced to miss the Raps/Cavs tussle thanks to the stinger that took him out of Tuesday night’s game against the Mavs. Cleveland finished on top, 111-108, as Daniel Gibson scored 17 points to go with three boards, three assists, and a steal in over 43 minutes of play.

He does exist! The Magic found Maurice Evans on their roster and played him for eleven-and-a-half minutes in a 120-99 pasting of the in-state rival Heat. Mo finished with six points on 3-of-7 shooting and left the rest of his line blank.

The Bucks edged the Mavs in Milwaukee, 97-95. Royal Ivey played an even ten minutes and knocked down two free throws to go with an assist.

Sunday

T.J Ford missed another game with a lingering neck injury, but the Raptors were victorious at home, downing Chicago 93-78.

Daniel Gibson earned the rare seventh foul when he was assessed a technical after fouling out of a 111-106 Cavs win over the Pacers. D-Gib’s foul trouble limited him to only 15 minutes, in which he scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds.

The Spurs knocked off the Supersonics in Seattle, 116-101, but they had difficulty shutting down Kevin Durant. K-Smoove had 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting and added six boards and four assists on the night.

Chris Mihm hardly saw the floor as the Lakers lost 102-100 to the Nets, but finished the night with four points and four rebounds in his three minutes of action.

Tonight

Maurice Evans and the Magic head west to face the Portland Aldridges. (9 PM CST, NBA League Pass)

I survived the crush of annoying families at the airports and am back in Austin, running on fumes, so let’s get to the daily look around the NCAA…

It’s only November, but the game at Allen Fieldhouse last night sure as hell felt like a late February matchup. In reality, it wasn’t a conference game, but rather the opening round of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series. And after a Brandon Rush half-court shot nearly won the game in regulation, the Jayhawks finally downed Arizona, 76-72, in overtime. Rush looked incredibly good in his first game back after an ACL implosion, and the Jayhawks are still my team to beat come March. But between now and then, they’ll have to play a lot smarter than they did in allowing the Wildcats to nearly win a game despite turning it over 25 times.

Out west, the Trojans decimated the Salukis, 70-45 in the championship of the Anaheim Classic. (As an aside, can we stop naming tournaments “classics” when they are brand new? It’s a bit contrived, no?) The real story here wasn’t the fact that USC shot 60% while holding SIU to 33% from the field. Instead, it was that Tim Floyd kept Taj Gibson and O.J. Mayo on the bench for the first six-plus minutes of the game, with the USC SID giving out an excuse about “matchups.” Steve “the Roach” Lavin didn’t buy it on-air for ESPN last night, and I’m not buying it either. Here’s to hoping we hear more info leaked later this week…

New polls are due out today, and there’s bound to be some movement for the Horns and Aggies. Both were impressive in winning their tournaments last weekend, and quite a few teams ahead of them slipped over the past seven days. With Louisville, Tennessee, Indiana, and Oregon all losing to unranked opponents, plus Michigan State and Marquette dropping games to ranked ones, there’s going to be some seismic-level shifting in the middle of the poll.

Speaking of the Horns and Aggies, Andy Katz was spotted in New York and then again in Newark over the weekend. And as a result, we get a pair of nice articles from the Katzmeister on the two teams. Mark Turgeon is picking up where Billy Gillispie left off, Katz writes, while also wondering if Texas is actually better without Durant.

NBA updates at midday, plus more Texas basketball coverage later tonight.