Pullen and Clemente Power Kansas State

Kansas State 83, #21 Dayton 75
Dayton falls for the second straight game, in a slightly disappointing end to a preseason tournament that started so nicely with that win over Georgia Tech. This was a fairly even game the entire way, and in the end the difference was Kansas State's star backcourt of Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente. Those two were good together last year, but they took it to another level by absolutely torching Dayton here. The two combined for 47 points, with only 26 shots taken from the field. Some credit also has to go to the Kansas State frontline, which managed to outrebound a Dayton team that has a good frontline of its own. The Wildcats have this win to go with three wins over cupcakes, and a loss to a quality Ole Miss team. They have a couple more cupcakes before they get some serious opponents in December (Xavier, UNLV, Alabama, Washington State). Considering how valuable guard play is in college basketball, you've got to consider Kansas State a Tournament contender until they prove otherwise. As for Dayton, they need to regroup a bit, but they also need to realize that close losses to Kansas State and Villanova are nothing to be ashamed of, especially on the heels of victories over Georgia Tech and Creighton. And their hard schedule will pay off during Atlantic 10 play when they'll be seasoned and sharp right from day one, while teams that feasted on cupcakes will be slow out of the gate. Dayton continues to be the heavy favorite to win the Atlantic 10.

Miami (Fl) 85, South Carolina 70
For South Carolina, the result of this particular game is secondary to the injury to Dominique Archie. The senior leader of the team had scored 15 or more points in South Carolina's first four games (all victories), and was leading Miami all by himself, 7 points to 2, when he went out with a serious-looking knee injury. Things went quickly downhill without him in the game. It might be a couple of days before we have a better sense of Archie's injury. South Carolina is a team that does not have a lot of room to spare on their NCAA Tournament resume. They're not good enough that they lose one of their two key players (Devan Downey being the other) for an extended period of time and still earn an at-large bid. As for Miami, they move to 5-0, although this qualifies as their first victory worth crowing about. The won this game because of a huge rebounding advantage, although part of that had to do with the injury to Dominique Archie. Their backcourt was outplayed, however, and they're going to have to improve their ball handling to seriously compete in the ACC, because they'll face much better frontcourts in the ACC, and will not be able to get away with this kind of sloppy play. Miami gets their next challenge on December 2nd, when they host Minnesota as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

#11 Tennessee 57, DePaul 53
You have to give credit to Jerry Wainwright for putting together a battle plan and getting his team to execute it well. He slowed this game down to a crawl, and did a great job of keeping Tennessee's athletic players from getting to the rim, forcing them to take outside shots. In the end, the overall difference in quality and talent between the teams was large enough that Tennessee got the win, but it was a moral victory for DePaul by just keeping this one close. You have to wonder a bit if Tennessee was softened up by that joke of a schedule they'd played before this one (average margin of victory: 48 points). On the plus side, it's clear that Tennessee has a ton of depth, and will likely go with a 10 man rotation. Wayne Chism and Tyler Smith, of course, are the team leaders and stars, but I also expect more of Scotty Hopson as the year goes along. As for DePaul, obviously this team doesn't have much of a hope at any postseason play. This season is about showing improvement, and showing a way forward for Jerry Wainwright. He has struggled recruiting, and shook up his staff this past offseason to try to build a fence around Chicago's recruits. He needs to show those kids that they'll be on a winning team if they come to DePaul.