We lead off with apologies to any who tried to visit the website today when it was down. Sometime in the middle of the night, the server died and was still MIA when I tried to log in and write the daily stuff at 5 A.M. I’m not sure how long the site wasn’t functioning, as I’m just now returning to find it operational once again, but I apologize to anybody who swung by during the downtime, and I also apologize for it delaying your daily reads.

Michael Beasley, O.J. Mayo, Eric Gordon, Kevin Love, Derrick Rose…we’ve all heard these names ad nauseum during the preseason, and with good reason. They are all quality players who are going to make a huge impact in their freshman seasons. But add a new name to that list — Patrick Mills of St. Mary’s College. Mills, a 19-year old true freshman point guard from Australia, had an absolutely incredible performance as the Gaels upset #11/12 Oregon, 99-87. Mills is an insanely quick guard who can attack the rim, but also has an incredible eye for finding the emerging passing lanes as the defense helps. The freshman scored 37 points in 37 minutes and turned the ball over only one time on an errant pass as the Gaels iced it away. That game between Texas and St. Mary’s on January 4th looks mighty dicey, particularly with the historically anemic crowds in the FEC that time of year.

UCLA held the lead for only 31 seconds against Michigan State last night, but they were the final 31 seconds of the game. The Bruins put together an impressive second-half comeback to knock off Michigan State, 68-63, and claim the title of CBE Classic Champions. In the consolation game, Mizzou took out Maryland, 84-70. Stefhon Hannah of Mizzou and Drew Neitzel of Michigan State were both battling flu bugs after having played each other the day before. Who knew the brand new Sprint Center was a hot zone?

In Maui, Marquette reached the tournament championship by defeating Oklahoma State in the first semifinal, while Duke won the second, 79-66 over Illinois. In the loser’s bracket, Arizona State spanked Princeton and LSU edged Division II host Chaminade. SEC power!

Tonight on the tube, Feast Week continues. And while I’m not all about gluttony, this is seriously one of my favorite times of the year. You get time off of work and more basketball on TV than it is possible to watch. We recommend Washington/Texas A&M in the Preseason NIT semis (6 PM CST, ESPN2), Marquette/Duke for the Maui championship (9 PM, ESPN), and Michigan/Butler in the Great Alaska Shootout (10:30 CST, ESPN2). The Bulldogs are for real, folks. Promise.