A couple of close calls for ranked teams last night, but no major upsets. North Carolina held off Davidson after blowing a seven-point halftime lead, while Texas A&M used a second-half comeback to beat UTEP. As discussed in the comments on yesterday’s post, A&M’s clear weakness is the free-throw shooting of DeAndre Jordan (1-for-6 last night). It’s just a matter of time until the Hack-a-Shaq strategy is put into play against this guy.

The rest of the Big 12 fell on its face last night, with Okie State losing to UNT by 9, Tech falling to the Bearkats of SHSU, and Iowa State being toppled by the Bradley Braves. That’s gotta be good for the ol’ conference RPI.

An interesting link comes our way from the folks over at Bring on the Cats. It turns out that one stat overlooked amidst KSU’s 2-0 start and Michael Beasley’s stellar debut is the fact that the Wildcats have turned over the ball 47 times in two games. That’s right, they are averaging 23.5 turnovers in a pair of games against Sacramento State and Pittsburg State. And, even more noteworthy, new coach Frank Martin doesn’t give a shit.

Another link courtesy of long-time LRT reader Caradoc, in which we learn about P.J. Tucker’s time playing for Hapoel Holon in the Israeli league. Turns out, a nutjob threw a firecracker on the court on Sunday and the security guard who acted quickly enough to retrieve it lost three fingers for his bravery. I know this usually doesn’t happen at basketball games over there, despite the turmoil going on outside of the arenas. But still, let’s get P.J. home. Maybe he can join Kenton Paulino on the Austin Toros…

(That link from Caradoc also brings us to the shameless begging portion of this update. If you see an article that you think we’d find interesting, please send it along. Contact at longhornroadtrip dot com. We’ll show you the love.)

Tonight the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament hits the semifinal stage, pitting UConn versus Gardner-Webb in the opener (6 PM CST) and #3 Memphis versus Oklahoma (8 PM CST). Both games are on ESPN2. It’ll be a great chance to catch freshmen phenoms Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose, so tune in or set the Tivos accordingly. And an interesting fact on that Gardner-Webb/UConn tilt — since the Runnin’ Bulldogs weren’t expecting to beat Kentucky, these games at MSG are being sandwiched between those they had already scheduled. Now they will be forced to play five games in eight days, including a second one against UConn next Wednesday night.

ESPNU’s got basketball all day from Puerto Rico. Check out this stellar lineup — Houston vs. VCU (8 AM CST), Marist vs. Miami FL (10:30 AM CST), Temple vs. Providence (1:30 PM CST), and the College of Charleston vs. Arkansas (4 PM CST). Something tells me I won’t be wasting a sick day to watch these games.

The early signing period starts today and runs through November 21st. Bob Gibbons of Scout confirms the J’Covan Brown whispers that have been swirling, saying he would not be surprised if the Memorial High star signs with Texas this week. Other UT targets — Tyreke Evans, Wesley Witherspoon, and Jeff Taylor, Jr. — are all expected to wait until spring to sign.

Texas A&M looked solid in their opening round game of the Preseason NIT, dispatching Oral Roberts, 67-53. Freshman stud DeAndre Jordan looked like a manchild among boys, grabbing seemingly every offensive rebound in his 23 minutes on the floor and then flushing it with authority. Chinemelu Elonu had a great game off the bench and provided the announcers a great five-minute diversion while they discussed the merits of a nickname for the guy. But to be completely honest, the kid who caught my eye was senior Beau Muhlbach. He only played 11 minutes off the bench, but seemed to have an endless motor and a passion for the game. He’s the kind of guy you like to watch because you can tell the game is fun for him. It’s a shame he didn’t see more minutes under Billy Clyde Gillispie.

Remember Mercer, the Atlantic Sun squad that took out USC on the road last week? The Hollywood storyline ended far too soon, as they lost at home to Alabama, 90-83. Keep an eye on them in conference play come 2008, though. They were picked to finish fifth in the ASC by the media, but who wouldn’t love to see them rewrite the ending and earn that auto-bid to the Big Dance?

The preseason tournaments roll on, with Washington hosting Utah in second-round Preseason NIT action on ESPN at 9:30 PM CST. In other second-round action, Texas A&M hosts UTEP — the school they plucked Gillispie from — at 8 PM CST on ESPNU. But before all that, North Carolina and Tyler Hansbrough open the season at 6 PM CST on the Worldwide Leader.

No movement for the Horns in this week’s USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, which came out prior to the win over UTSA last night. USC and Kentucky both fell out of the poll after their losses to Atlantic Sun opponents, while Kansas State and Syracuse slid into the 24th and 25th slots.

Josh Heytvelt is out 4-6 weeks after having surgery on his painful foot. I know he brought some of his problems on himself with the whole psychedelic ‘shroom issue last season, but you can’t help but feel bad for the kid. Here’s hoping for a quick recovery, both for Heytvelt and our new Spokie friends up in The Pit.

Eric Gordon, welcome to the NCAA. The star of Kelvin Sampson’s freshman class dropped 33 points in his debut, hitting 7-of-11 from three point range. Gordon also chipped in with six rebounds and four assists on the night.

Texas A&M opens their season tonight in the Preseason NIT, taking on Oral Roberts (8 PM, ESPNU). Don’t forget, Oral Roberts is the same team that jumped up and bit Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse early last year, and is the same team that will likely give Texas a challenge on December 18th.

The upset bug continued to spread over the weekend, as the Atlantic Sun conference took down two more big names. Belmont (a December bonus stop on this year’s Longhorn Road Trip) knocked off Cincinnati by an 86-75 count, while Mercer capped things off just one night later with a 96-81 victory over #18 USC.

K-State’s Michael Beasley broke Kevin Durant’s freshman Big 12 rebounding mark in his very first game, snagging 24 against Sacramento State. Beasley will battle OU frosh Blake Griffin all season for conference FOY honors.

ESPN2 has a doubleheader tonight which offers Texas fans a chance to see two of the upcoming opponents for the Horns. New Mexico State opens the night at Duke in a game tipping at 6 PM CST, while UCLA hosts Youngstown State at 10 PM CST.

If this is your first visit to LRT since last night, you’ll also notice a new look. We’re still in the process of getting everything converted, so you may find some dead links or things that look just a bit buggy. If you spot something and want to let us know, just shoot us an email at contact at longhornroadtrip dot com, or use the comment feature on any post.

The reverb from Kentucky’s mighty fall is resonating throughout the blog world, and it couldn’t be funnier. Perhaps the best comes from our friends at Rush the Court. (I wonder how often the SEC fines them?) They wonder if FireBillyGillipspie.com is up yet, while pointing out that the ‘Cats were 25.5 point favorites who trailed the entire game and finally lost by sixteen. Check out the link for all of the hilarious numbers. And, of course, everybody’s favorite mugshot of Wrong Way Billy.

UConn advanced to MSG for the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer tourney, knocking off Buffalo, 82-57. They will take on Gardner-Webb next week in New York City. In other first round action from the CvC, the Sooners took out San Francisco by a 71-55 tally. They will play Denver in a regional final tonight at 7 PM CST.

A bunch of other Big 12ers kick off play tonight, with Texas A&M hosting McNeese State at 7 PM CST, Sean Sutton and the Pokes taking on Prairie View A&M, Kansas playing ULM, K-State against Sacramento State, and the Cyclones welcoming Winston-Salem. But the highlight of the night comes when new coach Steve Alford takes his New Mexico Lobos to Colorado to face Jeff Bzdelick’s Buffs. Too bad we can’t see it on TV.

Work on a brand new look for Longhorn Road Trip has been going fast and furious this week. And while I’m not a techie guy who can explain all the crazy shit my web design folks are doing, I can safely say it’s an excellent upgrade. Of course, when changing from something designed in 1873, the quality can only increase. Look for the redesign to hit on Sunday or Monday, just in time for the new season.