1. North Carolina (12-0): Tar Heels dumped Rutgers, 97-75, last night.

2. Connecticut (11-0): Big East season gets serious quickly with tonight's game against Georgetown.

3. Pittsburgh (12-0): Big men Sam Young and DeJuan Blair average a combined 34.8 points and 18.8 rebounds.

4. Oklahoma (12-0): Blake Griffin (23.0 points, 14.1 rebounds) is making an early run at Player of the Year.

5. Duke (10-1): Off to a great start despite shooting just 33.3 percent from the arc. Averaging 83.3 points so they are finding other ways to score.

6. Wake Forest (11-0): Averaging 84.6 points and shooting 52.1 percent from the field.

7. Georgetown (9-1): Hoyas are already good on their way to being very good by March.

8. Butler (10-1): Despite losing four starters, this is still the team nobody wants to play. Already have five road wins, including last week at Xavier.

9. Baylor (10-1): Has to deal with Portland State, conqueror of Gonzaga, tonight.

10. Arizona State (10-1): Has James Harden, the most efficient guard in America, racking up an amazing 1.91 points per shot.

11. Clemson (12-0): Going to be a serious factor in the ACC. Averaging 81.8 points and shooting 50.1 percent.

12. Minnesota (12-0): Tubby Smith's team beat his alma mater, High Point last night, 82-56.

13. Syracuse (12-1): Wins over Florida, Kansas and Memphis offset that bizarre half-court heave loss to Cleveland State. Eric Devendorf is back from suspension after missing just two games.

14. West Virginia (10-2): Blew out previously unbeaten Ohio State, 76-48, in Columbus. Starting to get healthy.

15. Louisville (8-2): Rick Pitino changed the starting lineup for his underachieving team and got results against undermanned UAB, winning 82-62.

The holiday season is the time of year where we are thankful for all that we have been blessed with in life. It is also a time of giving, and at Temple, we look to instill in our student athletes a sense of being part of the overall community.

I think it is important for all teams, all college athletes, to find some type of community service that they can attach themselves to. For us it has been our great relationship with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program where we can
actually make an impact on a young person’s life.

There is only one person who is going to be more impacted than that young child from inner city Philadelphia and that person is the student athlete himself. He is going to get a sense of what it means to give back and it will make a great impression on him. He is a pretty lucky guy and he has to give some of that luck back to the community and that is what we hope to do when we do our community service work with Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

It is a great time of year to remind ourselves that there are many people a lot less fortunate than we are. We certainly bring it more into focus this time of year.

Happy Holidays!!

A win was there for the taking for La Salle Saturday afternoon at Cornell, but a huge second half surge by the Big Red dropped the Explorers to 5-5 on the season.

Coach John Giannini was shorthanded for this one as center Vernon Goodridge sat out with injured ribs. Goodridge suffered the injury in last Wednesday's win over Rider when he attempted to draw a charge on a layup, and was hit in the ribs by a knee.

Goodridge's injury was critical in Saturday's loss. Cornell 7-footer Jeff Foote went off for 25 points against the smaller Explorers. La Salle led by as many as 14 in the first half, but faltered after the break, due in large part to just 9-of-26 (34.6 percent) shooting from the floor. Cornell shot 12-for-22 (54.5 percent) in the second half and outscored the Explorers by 52-32.

It would have been a good, quality win for the Explorers, something they don't really have yet this year. They've played very well against very good teams, including Florida State, Connecticut and Southern Mississippi, but have yet to grab a win against a quality opponent.

The upcoming schedule is favorable for La Salle, as it will  host Mount St. Mary's, Manhattan and Howard in its next three games. Three wins would mean a lot of Giannini's squad, especially being as conference play starts after that when La Salle will host Temple on January 11.

After 10 games, the team is still trying to find itself, especially on the offensive end, where turnovers have plagued them all season. Giannini was again happy with his club's defensive play on Saturday. The Explorers use their longness and athleticism very well at the defensive end. They are all able to make switches in the man defense and do so very well. If they can not only win these next three games but also find a little more consistency on the offensive end, the Explorers should be entering conference play with a full head of steam.

1. North Carolina (11-0): People are already talking unbeaten season. That is a bit much, but nobody has been close yet. Beat Valparaiso in Chicago, 85-63.

2. Connecticut (10-0): Overcame an 11-point deficit with 12 minutes left at Seattle's Key Arena and beat Gonzaga, 88-83, in OT.

3. Pittsburgh (12-0): Won, 56-48, yesterday at Florida State, their first road game.

4. Oklahoma (11-0): Beat VCU, 87-70, in the Jeff Capel game. As part of his contract at VCU, his next school had to play a home-and-home with his former school, if he left. Thus, OU-VCU.

5. Duke (10-1): Played a perfect first half against Xavier at the Meadowlands and won, 82-64, a deceivingly close score. It was 18-1 and then 55-24 at the half.

6. Wake Forest (10-0): More young talent than any team in the ACC. This is the team the late Skip Prosser recruited and they are making him proud.

7. Georgetown (8-1): Played its worst game of the season in 69-58 win over game Mount St. Mary's.

8. Gonzaga (8-2): Shot 50 percent against one of the better defensive teams in America. Just ran out of players at the end due to foulouts.

9. Minnesota (10-0): Tubby Smith beat his old friend Rick Pitino and his team got a signature win, 70-64, over Louisville in the Stadium Shootout Doubleheader in Glendale, Ariz.

10. Louisville (7-2): Travel nightmare after beating Ole Miss in Cincinnati Thursday night. The Cardinals are much better than their record and will eventually show it.

11. Ohio State (8-0): Buckeyes' defense has been among the best in the country. Beat a tough Iona team, 71-53.

12. Butler (9-1): Bulldogs lost all those terrific players and are doing it again. Only loss was by three to Ohio State. Beat Florida Gulf Coast, 73-53.

13. Baylor (9-1): Came from nine points down in the second half to beat UT Arlington, 79-76. Only loss to Wake.

14. Arizona State (9-1): Potential game-winner by BYU waved off after it was initially ruled good and ASU won, 76-75, giving Cougars their first loss.

15. Clemson (12-0): Nice win at Miami, 91-72.

Freshman Samme Givens started his first game for Drexel in place of Kenny Tribbett on Thursday night against Niagara. Dragons coach Bruiser Flint said the 6-5 Givens started because Niagara plays four guards. Givens swept a season-high 12 rebounds. His eight points came at crucial times for the Dragons. Tribbett only played 3 minutes.

Senior Tramayne Hawthorne scored seven points for Drexel, but he continued his shooting woes: 3 of 10 from the field, 1 for 6 on threes. Hawthorne entered the game shooting 25 percent from the field and 19 percent on treys.

Last season, Hawthorne averaged 11.2 points as he shot 38 percent from the field and 35 percent on threes.

Reserve point guard Bobby Jordan, a senior from Roman Catholic High, is sidelined with a torn ligament in his right hand.

*

As Niagara’s basketball team filed into Drexel’s Daskalakis Athletic Center, coach Joe Mihalich held open the door to the building’s entrance until everyone was inside. He said he performs the duty before every game. “I want to make sure they all get off the bus,” he said, smiling.

The Niagara bus is rolling. The Purple Eagles, 8-2 after their 67-52 victory over Drexel, are off to their best start in Mihalich’s 11 seasons as coach. Last season they were 19-10, 12-6 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Mihalich is a two-time MAAC Coach of the Year.

Last night was Niagara’s third visit to Philly already this season. The Purple Eagles lost to Villanova by 15, then beat Monmouth and Hartford in the Philly Hoops Group. Overall, Mihalich has a 5-4 record coaching in Philly.

*
Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli arrived during the first half. His son Phil Jr., is a Niagara assistant. Phil Jr. played for the Hawks.

“Scouting the assistant coaches?” I asked Dad. He nodded and smiled.

           Watched all three of St. Joe’s games in Hawaii on television and, other than the second half against Indiana, did not like much of what I saw. Too often, the basketball looked a medicine ball. Passes were an adventure. Nothing looked remotely cohesive.

Certainly, the Texas loss was understandable, but I just did not like how the Hawks were playing. I don’t think much of Alabama and SJU was never really a factor in that game either.

The Lehigh win and Creighton loss did not inspire much confidence. This looked like a team playing without much joy.
Then, I went to Towson last week to a gym about a mile from where I grew up. And I saw a different St. Joe’s team. Ball movement, shooting, spacing, running, everything. Given that it was Towson, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.

I do know I went to Villanova last Thursday thinking much differently than I had before the Towson game. I wasn’t sure the Hawks could score 40 against the Wildcats prior to their performance against Towson. After talking to several players following the Towson game, I got the sense the group was getting it together for the oldest of reasons. They did not like losing and were willing to do what it took to win.

I remember sitting next to Dustin Dow of the ``Cincinnati Enquirer’’ during Xavier’s rout of the 27-0 Hawks in the quarterfinals of the 2004 Atlantic 10 Tournament and asking him how the same team that lost to Duquesne twice during the regular season, could play a perfect game against a team that had been perfect. He told me how the players weren’t getting along, but decided they liked losing even less than they liked each other.

I don’t have any reason to think there are any internal problems with this St. Joe’s team, but it was clear that they were very tired of the losing.

Obviously, SJU played a winning game at Villanova. Only the Wildcats toughness and a few loose plays prevented SJU from winning.

What the performance should have done is give the team some much needed confidence as they come back from final exams and then play Cornell, Siena and Drexel (all at the Palestra) and at Ball State before the A-10 begins in the second week of 2009.

Don’t know where the Hawks will finish in the A-10, but I do think they are now a factor. Not the favorites by any means, but a factor.

Ahmad Nivins has raised his game several levels. His presence alone makes SJU an intriguing team.

Good news for Temple when Tennessee beat fellow ranked opponent, Marquette, 80-68, on Tuesday in Nashville. Owls fans should become big Vols fans. If Tennessee can compile a terrific record, that will only help Temple when the NCAA Selection Committee begins to assess teams next year. Meanwhile, the Owls just need to win as many games as possible, starting with a game against Kansas Saturday in Allen Field House, my favorite on-campus venue other than the Palestra.

Last weekend we played at Fairfield, one of the best teams in the MAAC, and lost a close game. Our guys battled hard and took care of the ball, but we just couldn’t make a shot when we needed one. We had 22 offensive rebounds and only five turnovers, but if you shoot 32 percent you’re not going to beat too many people. That is something we need to work on as the season progresses.

We’ve got a pretty tough stretch ahead of us over the next two weeks. It seems like we went for months without playing and now we are looking at playing three games in a five-day stretch against some pretty good teams. It starts off on Thursday when Niagara comes to the DAC. They just won at South Florida and we know this will be a hard-fought game.

The next morning we practice and drive up to Bucknell where we play on Saturday. Bucknell has played a lot of close games and beat Old Dominion earlier in the season in Lewisburg. As soon as we finish there, we hop on a plane and head to Memphis to face Coach Cal and his Tigers. I don’t have to tell you how good they have been over the years. This will be the first time I have coached against Cal, so it will give people something to talk about. I just want to make sure our guys don’t play like we did at Georgetown and play to a level that I think we can. But we have to shoot it better.

Comcast SportsNet announced its college basketball television schedule for the season this week. A press release touts 94 games on Comcast SportsNet, with an additional 34 games on CN8, which will be known as the Comcast Network, as of January.

Here is the rundown of men's games to come, including action from postseason tournaments for the Atlantic 10 and Pac-10 and a regular diet of ACC action.

This is a pretty long list, but the good news is you can keep coming back to phillyhoopsinsider.com as often as you like to see what is upcoming:

Sunday, Dec. 21, Noon DELAWARE @ BOSTON UNIVERSITY CN8
Monday, Dec. 22, 10:30 p.m. GEORGIA TECH @ USC CSN
Tuesday, Dec. 23, 10:30 p.m. KANSAS @ ARIZONA CSN
Sunday, Dec. 27, 3 p.m. DREXEL @ RIDER CN8
Sunday, Dec. 28, 1:30 a.m. RUTGERS @ NORTH CAROLINA CSN (tape delay)
Wednesday, Dec. 31, 5 p.m. SAINT JOSEPH'S VS. DREXEL(at Palestra) CN8
Sunday, Jan. 3, 4:30 p.m. VCU @ DELAWARE CN8
Sunday, Jan. 4, 3:30 p.m. UCLA @ OREGON CSN
Sunday, Jan. 4, 7 p.m. BOSTON COLLEGE @ NORTH CAROLINA CSN (joined in progress)
Sunday, Jan. 4, 7:45 p.m. VIRGINIA TECH @ DUKE CSN
Sunday, Jan. 4, 11 p.m. ARIZONA @ STANFORD CSN (joined in progress)
Monday, Jan. 5, 8 p.m. DREXEL @ JAMES MADISON CSN (tape delay)
Thursday, Jan. 8, 11:30 p.m. OREGON ST. @ ARIZONA CSN (joined in progress)
Sunday Jan. 10, Noon HOFSTRA @ VCU CSN
Sunday Jan. 10, 2 p.m. RHODE ISLAND @ ST. JOSEPH'S CSN
Sunday Jan. 10, 3 p.m. TOWSON @ NORTHEASTERN CNP
Sunday, Jan. 11, 4 p.m. ALBANY @ VERMONT CNP
Sunday, Jan. 11, 8 p.m. NORTH CAROLINA @ WAKE FOREST CSN
Sunday, Jan. 11, 11 p.m. UCLA @ USC CSN (joined in progress)
Wednesday, Jan. 14, 7 p.m. TEMPLE @ PENN CNP
Thursday, Jan. 15, 11:30 p.m. ARIZONA @ UCLA CSN (joined in progress)
Sunday, Jan. 17, Noon WILLIAM & MARY @ DELAWARE CSN
Sunday, Jan. 17, 2 p.m. JAMES MADISON @ GEORGE MASON CNP
Sunday, Jan. 17, 2 p.m. WASHINGTON ST. @ OREGON CSN
Sunday, Jan. 17, 4 p.m. OLD DOMINION @ VCU CSN
Sunday, Jan. 18, Noon LA SALLE @ XAVIER CSN
Monday, Jan. 19, 8 p.m. UMBC @ VERMONT CNP
Tuesday, Jan. 20, 7 p.m. DELAWARE @ DREXEL CSN
Thursday, Jan. 22, 11 p.m. USC @ WASHINGTON CSN
Sunday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m. SAINT JOSEPH'S @ PENN CNP
Sunday, Jan. 24, 4 p.m. UCLA @ WASHINGTON CSN
Sunday, Jan. 25, 7 p.m. VIRGINIA TECH @ MIAMI CSN (joined in progress)
Sunday, Jan. 25, 7:45 p.m. GEORGIA TECH @ CLEMSON CSN
Tuesday, Jan. 27, 7 p.m. DELAWARE @ GEORGE MASON CNP
Thursday, Jan. 29, 10:30 p.m. CAL @ UCLA CSN
Sunday, Jan. 31, Noon VCU @ HOFSTRA CNP
Sunday, Jan. 31, 4 p.m. DREXEL @ TOWSON CSN
Sunday, Jan. 31, 7 p.m. PENN @ DARTMOUTH CNP
Sunday, Jan. 31, 11:30 p.m. CAL @ USC CSN
Sunday, Feb. 1, Noon ST. JOSEPH'S @ DAYTON CSN
Sunday, Feb. 1, 2 p.m. VIRGINIA @ DUKE CSN
Wednesday, Feb. 4, 8 p.m. DREXEL @ DELAWARE CNP
Thursday, Feb. 5, 10:30 p.m. ARIZONA ST. @ OREGON CSN
Sunday, Feb. 7, 7 p.m. OLD DOMINION @ DREXEL CNP
Sunday, Feb. 7, 10:30 p.m. WASHINGTON ST. @ CAL CSN
Sunday, Feb. 8, 2 p.m. VCU @ DELAWARE CNP
Sunday, Feb. 8, 7:30 p.m. MARYLAND @ GEORGIA TECH CSN
Thursday, Feb. 12, 10:30 p.m. USC @ ARIZONA CSN
Sunday, Feb. 14, 4 p.m. UNCW @ GEORGIA ST. CSN
Sunday, Feb. 14, 7 p.m. STANFORD @ CAL CSN (tape delay)
Sunday, Feb. 14, 4 p.m. HOFSTRA @ DELAWARE CNP
Sunday, Feb. 15, 3 p.m. TOWSON @ DREXEL CNP
Sunday, Feb. 15, 7 p.m. DUKE @ BOSTON COLLEGE CSN (joined in progress)
Sunday, Feb. 15, 7:45 p.m. NORTH CAROLINA @ MIAMI CSN
Sunday, Feb. 15, 10:30 p.m. USC @ ARIZONA ST. CSN (joined in progress)
Wednesday, Feb. 18, 7 p.m. DELAWARE @ VCU CNP
Thursday, Feb 19, 11 p.m. WASHINGTON @ UCLA CSN
Sunday, Feb. 21, 4 p.m. WASHINGTON ST. @ UCLA CSN (joined in progress)
Sunday, Feb. 21, 6 p.m. HARVARD @ PENN CNP
Sunday, Feb. 22, 9 p.m. WAKE FOREST @ DUKE CSN (joined in progress)
Sunday, Feb. 22, 11 p.m. ARIZONA @ ARIZONA ST. CSN (joined in progress)
Thursday, Feb. 26, TBD ALBANY @ UNH CNP
Sunday, Feb. 28, 4 p.m. GEORGIA STATE @ VCU CNP
Sunday, Feb. 28, 4 p.m. TEMPLE @ DAYTON CSN
Sunday, March 1, 7:30 p.m. MARYLAND @ NORTH CAROLINA ST. CSN
Sunday, March 1, 11 p.m. OREGON ST. @ OREGON CSN (joined in progress)
Thursday, March 5, 10:30 p.m. PAC-10 TEAMS TBA CSN
Sunday, March 7, Noon CAA QUARTERFINALS #1 CNP
Sunday, March 7, 2:30 p.m. CAA QUARTERFINALS #2 CNP
Sunday, March 7, 6 p.m. CAA QUARTERFINALS #3 CNP
Sunday, March 8, 8:30 p.m. CAA QUARTERFINALS #4 CNP
Sunday, March 3, 3 p.m. CAA SEMIFINALS #1 CNP
Sunday, March 8, 5:30 p.m. CAA SEMIFINALS #2 CNP
Tuesday, March 10, 8 p.m. PRINCETON @ PENN CNP
Wednesday, March 11, 10:30 p.m. PAC-10 TOURNEY RD. 1, GM. #1 CSN (joined in progress)
Wednesday, March 11, 11:30 p.m. PAC-10 TOURNEY RD. 1, GM. #2 CSN
Thursday, March 12, Noon A10 TOURNEY QTR #1 CSN
Thursday, March 12, 2:30 p.m. A10 TOURNEY QTR #2 CSN
Thursday, March 12, 10:30 p.m. PAC-10 QUARTERFINAL #3 CSN (joined in progress)
Thursday, March 12, 11:30 p.m. PAC-10 QUARTERFINAL #4 CSN
Friday, March 13, 6:30 p.m. ATLANTIC 10 SEMIFINALS CNP
Friday, March 13, 10:30 p.m. PAC-10 SEMIFINAL #1 CSN (joined in progress)
Friday, March 13, 11:30 p.m. PAC-10 SEMIFINAL #2 CSN

First, I would like to thank the fans for their tremendous showing Saturday at the Liacouras Center. Their presence helped to lift our team to a great all-around effort against a very talented Tennessee team.

This is a tough week, not just for the Temple program, but for most college basketball programs around the country as teams juggle practice for games and what is really important - final examinations.

We will start our week by reviewing film of the Tennessee game. We will look at good plays, as well as bad plays and learn from this game as we do from all of our contests. Then we will get this game out of our minds and turn our entire focus on Kansas. We can do nothing about our previous eight games. We have won them or lost them, played well or not played well. Now we need to prepare for Kansas. That is our biggest challenge.

This week, due to our examinations, we are juggling schedules and practicing at different times just about every day. We will not go long on the court, 90 minutes at the most each day. We also may miss a player or two during a practice because of study groups as preparing for final exams takes precedence. It is really a fractured week in many ways, but we are trying to get as much time as we can together. We have to adjust a practice or two where we do not have everyone on our team there. It is just one of the perils that every program goes through this time of year.

With all that said, I am confident that our players are resilient and will be prepared Saturday for our showdown against one of the elite programs in the nation.

Happy Holidays and Go Owls,