Well we've officially gotten underway now with the bulk of the top 25 seeing their first action on Friday night. I'm sure no one out there is all that shocked that the night was filled with blowouts and fantastic first games from a lot of players both old an new. Here is a few of the bright spots that I noticed on Friday.
- Xavier Henry threw down 27 points, a school record for a freshman, in his Kansas Jayhawks debut. Kansas is scary good people, and if Henry Continues to play games like that Kansas will crush anyone in his path. Henry (27), Sherron Collins (21) and Cole Aldrich (11), combined for over half of Kansas' 101 points in their impressive season opener. If the Jayhawks can manage to get about a combined 15 ppg out of their bench, they may not lose a game all season.
- Eric Patterson also had a stellar debut for the Kentucky Wildcats, dropping down 24 points in the season opener. Patrick Patterson threw in a double double (20 and 12) and showed that he is going to provide the leadership that this Kentucky team is going to desperately need with all the freshman on the roster.
- Duke won tonight. That in itself is not impressive as they were playing UNC Greensboro. What is impressive is that they were able to do so with only one actual guard on the floor, Jon Scheyer, who didn't turn the ball over once in the entire game. With Nolan Smith out for the first 2 games and Mason Plumlee out with a broken wrist, Duke proved that it can win even when they are short handed.
- UConn has got to having some mixed feelings this morning. On one hand, Jerome Dyson came back from his knee injury and put in 27 for the Huskies, something they have to be thrilled about. On the other hand, UConn only won by 9 points, and couldn't out rebound William and Mary. I didn't get the chance to watch this game, but I'm wondering if this is a sign of bad things to come for the Huskies this season?
The Mastermind's Game of the Day: Rider @ #19 Mississippi State
If you refer back to my preseason post about Mississippi State, you will see that the Bulldogs decided to take the route that I outlined in their weakness section, and not come out prepared to play with a target on their backs. Take nothing away from the sharp shooting of the Rider Broncs (how many of you out there knew that mascot?) who shot 50.8% from the field and a staggering 62.5 % from beyond the 3-point line. However the Bulldogs looked sloppy all game, had twice as many turnovers as their opponents, and shot horrible from 3-point land. Mississippi State can bounce back from this loss and it could prove to be a good eye opener early in the season, but the Bulldogs are going to have to play much better than this if they want a shot at the SEC title.
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