Morning News: The Shabazz Show, Texas/Vanderbilt And Drexel's Damion Lee

Cameron Ridley is startled by the bat that flew onto the court during Texas/Vanderbilt

Shabazz Napier Hits The Game Winner Over Florida Shabazz Napier has been at his best in nationally televised games so far this season. He's a showman, and that can be bad (he likes to show off with his dribble, which sometimes leads to unforced turnovers), but it means that he always shows up in big moments. So Shabazz only averaged 10.0 points per game against Yale, Loyola (Md), Boston University and Detroit, but had 27 points against Indiana and 26 in this victory over Florida (shooting a combined 9-for-14 from behind the arc in those two games). And as the seconds ticked away here, it was Napier who hit the game winner at the buzzer.

Now as a lot of Florida fans pointed out after the game, Napier probably double dribbled on that final play. But that's how it goes sometimes. When you have a one point game, there is so much little stuff (a shot rolling in or out in the first half, a block-charge call early in the second half) that could have affected the game that I always warn people against drawing any type of conclusions about "clutch". I defended Florida's ridiculously bad record in games decided by 6 points or less last season, though they just came off a 1 point win over Florida State so they don't have much of an argument this season.

So while the media is already building up the Myth of Shabazz and touting Kevin Ollie's ability to will his team to win close games, the reality is that UConn is a few bounces of the ball (and perhaps a double dribble call) from being 4-4 on the season and a major disappointment. Now if they were 4-4 on the season, I'd be telling you how unlucky they were and they were really a Top 20 team, and I do believe that. UConn is a Top 20 team, in my opinion. I have them as a 4 seed in my latest bracket projection. Just don't go thinking UConn is any more likely than Florida to win their next one-possession game. They're not.

Texas 70, Vanderbilt 64 Nobody will be showing tape of the final few minutes of this game at a clinic anytime soon. It was a comedy of errors by both teams. In the end, the gaffes evened out and Texas hung on for a 6 point win. Texas has outrebounded every team they've faced this season except for one, and they won the boards here as well. Free throw shooting continues to be a problem for the Longhorns, though, as they hit only 15-for-29 to drop their season average to 60.2%. Still, they are 7-1 with no great wins, but only a loss to BYU.

At this point, Texas is looking like a bubble team, and their season will come down to what they do when they finally play some really good opponents. Meanwhile, this Vanderbilt team is clearly improved from last season. All of their losses have come against likely RPI Top 100 opponents (Butler, Texas and Providence). They're not an at-large team yet, but they might be there next season.

Drexel's Damion Lee out for the season I saw Damion Lee get injured in person, at Madison Square Garden last week. I remarked at the time that it looked really bad, and it indeed has turned out to be a season-ending ACL injury. Drexel will rise and fall with their backcourt duo of Chris Fouch and Frantz Massenat, but Lee was a starter who provided much-needed length and rebounding. Drexel was a long shot for an at-large bid anyway, but keep this injury in mind when Drexel is fighting to win the Colonial.