Kyrie Irving said he has spoken to Duke's Mike Krzyzewski three times since the season began.

"He didn't like the pace I was playing at in the first game," Irving said in reference to his NBA opener on Monday, a night he shot 2-of-12 from the field in a loss to Toronto.

"He said I needed to play a little bit quicker, which I agree with. He offered as much advice as he could."

Irving certainly played a quicker game Wednesday in Detroit, where he scored 14 points and added seven assists.

"We both know he needs to play faster," Cavaliers coach Byron Scott said. "[Irving] knows it. We want to be that type of team. Hearing it from me and also hearing it from a great coach like Mike, who coached him for the last year and knows him pretty well, I think kind of reinforces the way we want him to play. I don't have a problem with that."

Kentucky freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has been saddled with two early fouls in the past three games, but that hasn’t stopped coach John Calipari from putting him back on the floor.

"Normally when a guy gets two fouls, I will not play him the rest of the half," Calipari said. "The problem with this team is you need his toughness so bad, that I ended up shoving him back in there."

Calipari can’t afford to protect Kidd-Gilchrist for later in the game.

"I'm just getting better and better on the court, so he needs me out there," Kidd-Gilchrist said. "I think that's the reason he puts me back in."

Khem Birch, who has yet to decide where he will transfer after leaving Pittsburgh, said he's in no rush to turn pro.

"I'm not in a rush to get to the NBA," Birch said. "I know I have a lot of work to do."

Birch indicated that he’d like to play in an up-tempo system where he can develop his power forward skills.

"I want to play more four," Birch said. "That's one of the main reasons I went to Pittsburgh in the first place. I know I don't have the four-man skills yet, but I want to develop them."

NBA scouts want to see Syracuse center Fab Melo be more consistent before they consider him pro ready.

“[The] biggest issue with him is can he consistently look like a first round pick night in and night out for them,” one NBA scout said.

“Until and unless he can do that he will be considered as simply a player who came in with great hype but hasn’t lived up to it.”

Melo seems well aware of the criticisms against him and promises that there will be more nights like Wednesday.

“No, there will be more for sure,” he said. “I am going to work a lot and my game is going to get better.”

Moe Harkless' 32 points broke a record shared by Troy Murphy and Allen Iverson for most points scored by a freshman in his first Big East conference game.

Harkless also had 13 rebounds in St. John's 91-67 win over Providence.

He is one of only five major conference freshmen with a 30-10 game in the past five seasons, a list that also includes Jared Sullinger, Michael Beasley, Bill Walker and J.J. Hickson.

Cody Zeller plans to be ready if Big Ten opponents make his job tough near the basket.

"I can shoot a little bit on the outside," Indiana's 6-11 freshman forward said Tuesday. "We're talking about moving a little more to the perimeter."

Zeller and his teammates are still improving.

"As he gets more comfortable, he'll keep expanding his game," Hoosiers coach Tom Crean said. "I'm comfortable with him on the perimeter creating for others. His ability to create already has been seen from the post.

"Our best players can get better. Cody epitomizes that."

Kentucky freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist likened his ability to win games to that of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.

"I'm like a Tim Tebow," Kidd-Gilchrist said. "I just want to win the games, and whatever it takes, I'm going to do it."

Kidd-Gilchrist is averaging 13.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and two assists per game, and has shown a willingness to lead even more veteran teammates.

"I'm ready to lead," Kidd-Gilchrist said. "I'm a freshman, but so what? I'm just ready to lead and win. I've always been that way."

Kansas Jayhawks coach Bill Self said he’s seeking improvement in a lot of areas, including setting screens and running offense to score, as well as defending for the entire shot clock.

“If I was going to pick something I’d want to happen more than anything else ... we don’t play with a personality,” Self said. “We do not play with the personality where it shines through, and there’s energy exuding all personnel out there on the court.

“I don’t feel that yet. Certainly that’s something we’ve always done a great job in. It doesn’t have anything to do with trying hard, nothing like that. It has more to do with understanding: ‘OK, this is what we need, and if we do this, we’ll become better defenders; we’ll do this; we’ll do that.’”

Rick Pitino said Tuesday that he won't coach past the 2016-2017 season when his current contract ends at Louisville.

"When you're 59, you're realistic that you don't have a whole lot of years left," Pitino said at a news conference before the No. 4 Cardinals play Georgetown on Wednesday. "My contract's going to run out in 2017. I'm not coaching any more after that."

The former Providence and Kentucky coach has guided the Cardinals to a 12-0 record so far this season.

Connecticut is 20-9 in games where Jim Calhoun has been unavailable to coach.

Calhoun will be suspended for the Huskies' first three games of Big East play.