- Notre Dame’s Mike Brey has consistently built one of the top offenses in the country by teaching his players to avoid turnovers. His philosophy is that a tough shot is better than a wasted possession. But this season has exposed the flaw in that strategy. Even in a win over Dartmouth on Saturday, Notre Dame’s Eric Atkins was 0-for-8 from the field and Jerian Grant matched him with a similar 0-for-8 performance. Notre Dame had just seven turnovers, but when players are struggling to make jump shots, the offense has to adapt. Sometimes it is worth a risky drive into the lane, if an easy basket can get a player back in rhythm. Right now with a jump shooting team that isn’t good at making jumpers, Notre Dame seems headed for a long season.

- We already know this is going to be a long season for USC, but the string of painful offensive scores is scary to watch. USC has now scored 41 points, 40 points, and 36 points in three games this season. And don’t forget the 61 points the team scored in a double-overtime game.

- I cannot figure out how West Virginia’s Deniz Kilicli can play with that thick of a beard. Doesn’t it get sweaty and hot in there? Regardless, Kilicli had a breakout game against Miami (FL) on Saturday, adding five assists to his 18 points. With Reggie Johnson still out for Miami, Kilicli had a mismatch against Miami’s front line, and he exploited it.

- Michigan St.’s Draymond Green had an even bigger game on Saturday, scoring 34 points in a win against Gonzaga. But it was a bit of a style mismatch for the Zags. For whatever reason, Mark Few has adopted a defensive system that is focused on denying inside scoring, but which allows a shockingly high number of wide-open three point shots. That was the case last season, and it has been the case so far this year. Thus not surprisingly, Green was able to get a number of wide-open looks on the perimeter. I was more impressed when Green was aggressive inside with his turnaround post-moves than when he was knocking down jumpers from the top of the key. Dan Dakich called it the best game of Green’s career, and it was a fabulous performance, but Gonzaga’s inability to adjust defensively certainly contributed to his big day.

- Festus Ezili scored 15 in his return for Vanderbilt last week. But Ezili wasn’t the only SEC player to become eligible and dominate in his first game. Mississippi’s Ladarius White scored 16 points in his season debut on Saturday. 

- My least favorite cliché this time of year: “I know Team X is getting blown out, but when they get into their own conference, against their own level of competition, they will be better because they played this game.” I’m sorry, but I don’t know what teams learn from getting blown out. Teams learn from having success and finding things that work. Being physically mismatched doesn’t teach anyone anything.

- My least favorite excuse this time of year: “The kids had finals and they lacked focus.” Do finals explain why Tennessee lost to Austin Peay? Do finals explain why Georgetown built a 17-point lead against Howard and then gave it all back before winning by 14? Maybe, but the kids at Austin Peay and Howard have finals coming up too.

- There were only nine winless D1 teams in action heading into Saturday, and we got the rare match-up between two of them as UMBC won at Towson. As if the top of the CAA wasn’t having enough problems, Towson’s struggles will cripple the league’s RPI this year.

- A lot of words will probably be written criticizing Memphis after they lost at home to Murray St. and a lot of words will probably be written saying this win validates Murray St.’s undefeated season. But I’d warn that hyperbole is not needed in either case. Murray St. has finished in first or second in the OVC for the last four years and they have a legitimate chance to win in the NCAA tournament this year. Thus this loss doesn’t prove that Memphis is fatally flawed. But it doesn’t validate Murray St.’s undefeated record either. There are still three non-D1 teams on Murray St.’s resume at this point, and they have more work to do to prove they deserve a spot in the polls.

- I was one of the only people on the St. Joseph’s bandwagon this preseason, so of course I have to mention their home win over Creighton. Creighton’s Doug McDermott may be one of the top mid-major players in the country, but St. Joe’s Carl Jones matched him point for point in Saturday’s game. I don’t quite buy the comparisons of Jones to Allen Iverson, but for a smaller player, he has a fantastic ability to drive and score.

- Tony Wroten’s high turnover rate has him as the fourth guard in the Washington rotation right now. But in Saturday’s loss to Duke, he showed a little of why his future is so bright. Too bad for the Pac-12 that there are not any trades in college basketball. If UCLA had one of Washington’s backcourt players and if Washington had one of UCLA’s frontcourt players, at least one of these teams would have a winning record.

Xavier vs. Cincinnati 

The worst part of the Xavier vs Cincinnati brawl is that everyone could see it coming. From Sean Kilpatrick’s stupid Twitter comment that Tu Holloway wouldn’t even start for Cincinnati, to the Xavier crowd chanting “Who’s Kilpatrick” early in the game, this rivalry clearly had become personal. 

I appreciate Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin’s comments in the post-game press conference that players have to learn how to lose with honor, and about how college basketball should teach sportsmanship. But I don’t think the coaches deserve the full blame for the incident. I think the referees also need to take a serious look in the mirror and evaluate whether they could have done more to diffuse the situation. The refs were willing to give Xavier coach Chris Mack a technical for questioning a goaltending call early in the game. So I don’t see why they wouldn’t have called a double-technical on some of the players for all the trash talking that went on during the game. You can’t say there weren’t any warning signs.

Indiana over Kentucky 

There was something amazingly visceral about all those Indiana fans trying to fit on the Hoosiers' court after their last second win over top ranked Kentucky on Saturday. Perhaps the storming the floor might be an analogy for Hoosier nation. The Indiana bandwagon is now spilling over. And no one in the state of Indiana is ready to let the moment end. The fans reportedly stayed on the floor for nearly an hour after the game, and after three of the most painful seasons in program history, you cannot blame them for basking in the glory of the moment. 

Based on Cody Zeller’s early performances, and the further development of many of Indiana’s returning players, I didn’t need to see a signature win to believe that Indiana was back. But for all the nay-sayers and doubters, this win was critical. It showed that Tom Crean’s plan is working and that Indiana is not headed for another last place season.

Indiana has had a number of games the last three years where hot outside shooting has allowed them to win. But never has it come against such an athletic or dominant team as Kentucky.

Dick Vitale spent quite a bit of time talking about how Indiana needed to do more to get Cody Zeller the ball to try to foul Kentucky’s Anthony Davis out of the game. But that is much easier said than done. And by becoming a decoy, Zeller attracted Kentucky’s best defensive post player. That freed up Victor Oladipo for one of the greatest dunks of the season. And it freed up Christian Watford for two critical lay-ups late in the game. In past seasons Oladipo and Watford might have been guarded by Anthony Davis. But this season, with Zeller drawing plenty of attention, they were free to make winning plays.

Of course Kentucky truly deserves to be the top team in the nation, and a 10-point deficit was no reason to panic. Kentucky was relentless at winning one-on-one battles and getting lay-ups late in the game. And after a Christian Watford missed jumper, I was ready to question the Hoosiers' shot selection. You don’t beat the top team in the nation by taking tough shots. But on the final possessions Verdell Jones made perhaps the smartest decision of the season. Instead of taking a tough guarded shot in the lane, he spun and found Christian Watford for an open three pointer. I’ve had by complaints about Jones over the years, taking dumb shots in critical situations. But in the biggest game of his career, Jones made the perfect pass to set up the winning play.