Recapping The Week: Monday

#6 Pittsburgh 82, Miami (OH) 53
An impressive second half surge led to a very nice win for Pittsburgh. Levance Fields led the way in this one, but all five members of the Pitt starting lineup scored in double digits. Anytime you have 10 rebounds and 13 assists more than your opponent, you're probably going to win. Pitt lost a lot to graduation, but you have to love the way that freshman Jermaine Dixon has jumped into the starting lineup. He's going to be a big time scorer. I'm curious to see how this team plays against an elite opponent, but unfortunately they have scheduled a relatively light out-of-conference schedule. Other than a match-up with Florida State on December 21st, the only good teams that Pitt will play before Big East play will be in the Legends Classic. They are matched up with Texas Tech in the semifinals (slated for November 28th), but I'd prefer to watch them play the next day against (potentially) Washington State. That could be quite a battle. If Pitt can win that one then they will have to be a serious contender in the Big East. As for Miami of Ohio, a tough out-of-conference schedule can giveth, but it can also taketh away. This one marks two straight losses against very good teams, but two straight losses nonetheless. It's impossible for a MAC team to earn an at-large bid within an insanely good overall record. Miami will have a few more shots at a good win before MAC play starts, and they absolutely need to capitalize on at least one of them. They also really need to avoid a loss to a bad team.

#12 Memphis 80, UMass 58
I didn't like how UMass performed in this game, as they were basically catering to the strengths of Memphis. Memphis has a ton of talent, but they are often out of control. They also are sometimes lazy on the defensive end, which is why John Calipari often full court presses just to keep the intensity up. The way to beat Memphis is to play slow deliberate ball. When you rush a bad shot early in the possession it's just sending a written invitation for a fast break and a dunk by Memphis. Forcing Memphis to play half court defense for 30 seconds is the way to go. But UMass tried to run up and down the floor in this one, and they got burned. All is not lost, of course, after losses to SIU and Memphis, but I'd like to see UMass beat someone good before the Atlantic Ten season starts. It's going to be a very competitive conference, and you don't want to have to count on the automatic bid. As for Memphis, I'm actually a bit surprised at how easy their out-of-conference schedule is. Perhaps easy in the wrong word, as it's better than many other teams, but we have gotten so used to seeing Memphis play insanely tough out-of-conference slates in order to balance out the weak opponents they're going to play in conference. Assuming they get past Seton Hall tonight, they'll play Xavier on Sunday. And they still have to play at Georgetown and Tennessee, but that's as far as it goes for ranked teams. Other potential tough games include home match-ups with Syracuse and Cincinnati. Not a gimme schedule, but one that can lead to questions down the road. If Memphis loses at Georgetown and Tennessee, they could potentially have zero wins over Top 25 teams. Can they possibly do better than a 3-seed without a big win? It's possible that last year's Championship Game appearance will earn them respect, but we have to see how the season progresses before we jump to any conclusions.

Saint Mary's 99, Fresno State 85
Saint Mary's always plays well at home, and this game was no exception. But this is also why I'm looking forward to the schedule they have coming up. I spoke last year about how this team was overrated because they had all of their good out-of-conference opponents at home, where they are significantly better than they are on the road. But as this all works out in the long run, Saint Mary's has an out-of-conference schedule that is very heavy on the road games this season. Starting on December 4th they have a four game stretch that could define their season, with road games at Kent State, San Diego State, Oregon and Southern Illinois. They also will have (possibly) some good neutral court opponents at the Anaheim Classic. Saint Mary's is very much in the at-large discussion, and this win can only help. As for Fresno State, I'm still going to keep an eye on them, but right now they've got to be considered a Tournament long shot.