Can UConn Challenge UNC?

#2 UConn 76, #19 Wisconsin 57
I said earlier tonight that Wisconsin's only hope of winning this game was to get the UConn bigs in foul trouble, and they didn't get it done. UConn just played great in this one. Even discounting the uncontested layups, they shot very well from the field, including 5-for-9 from behind the arc. They also did a great job of rebounding against a Wisconsin team that is usually good on the boards. Obviously the Paradise Jam didn't have quite the talent of the Maui Invite, or Coaches vs Cancer, but you still have to take note of the way that UConn just rolled through the field here. North Carolina will stay the consensus #1 until they show a chink in the armor, but UConn has got to be at the top of the list of teams waiting to grab the overall top national ranking should the Tar Heels slip up. As for Wisconsin, their spin on this has to be that they played terribly and still had the ball with a chance to tie halfway through the second half. They shot terribly and had an abnormally high number of turnovers. They have tended to struggle with teams featuring a slew of highly athletic guards that full court press, and that's what happened here. Despite the large margin of defeat, this was a very close game until the last few minutes, and nothing here changes the fact that Wisconsin should be one of the better teams in the Big Ten this year.

#23 Kansas 73, Washington 54
Kansas put on a defensive clinic in this one. Their zone absolutely suffocated Washington in all aspects of the game. They couldn't get an open shot on the perimeter, and they couldn't even get the ball into Jon Brockman at all (only seven points, despite 18 rebounds, seven on the offensive end). In fact, the only Washington player to do much of anything was freshman Isaiah Thomas (17 points). For Kansas, this game is really good proof that they're going to be right back up near the top of the Big 12. Texas seems like the solid favorite at this point, but Kansas has looked at least as good as any other Big 12 team thus far. And it's not out of the question for them to actually challenge Texas for the title. For Washington, this seems like it should be a good team. You look at the lineup, and it seems really good. Justin Dentmon, Jon Brockman, Quincy Pondexter and Darnell Grant, combined with the good freshman Isaiah Thomas - that should be a pretty good starting lineup. They're a very big team and they handle the ball fairly well, but they just struggle to create shots. The 29% shooting here wasn't just random poor shooting, it was the fact that they couldn't get an open shot. To be fair, Kansas defense did a great job. But you can bet that Washington's other opponents are going to pore over this tape to learn just what to do to shut them down. There is plenty of time to turn this around, but right now Washington does not look like one of the better teams in the Pac-10.