• If Arizona's players were "frightened" by playing BYU in Salt Lake City last week as coach Sean Miller suggested, the Wildcats regained their road swagger at NC State on Sunday evening. A Derrick Williams alley-oop dunk sparked a 10-0 second-half run that propelled the Wildcats to a 72-62 victory and ensured that NC State will enter ACC play without a marquee win.
• One of the secondary storylines to emerge from UCLA's win over BYU on Saturday is that the first John Wooden Classic without the event's legendary namesake also could be the final one. Between a lack of high-quality matchups, sparse crowds and Wooden's death last June, there are increasing signs that the double-header will not return to Anaheim next season.
• Sandwiched between a huge win over in-state rival Gonzaga and this week's loaded Diamondhead Classic, Sunday's road test at Santa Clara was a classic trap game for Washington State. The Cougars fell behind by double-digits midway through the second half, but rallied to force overtime on a late Klay Thompson three-pointer and then pulled away for a hard-fought 85-79 victory.
• Neither Mike Singletary nor John Roberson were in the starting lineup for Texas Tech's 82-71 loss at UTEP on Saturday. "They've got to play better," Coach Pat Knight told reporters. "They're not going to start just because they're seniors. I gave these seniors too much credit before the season. They've got to step up."
• TCU coach Jim Christian granted the Fort Worth Star-Telegram behind-the-scenes access on the Horned Frogs' recent road trip to Nebraska, resulting in an in-depth story that takes readers places they don't typically get to go. We get anecdotes from the charter flight to Lincoln, pregame meals, film sessions and even a post-game fight in the TCU locker room.
• How does Mississippi State freshman Renardo Sidney evaluate his 12-point performance in a 31-point loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday? "It was a tough loss," Sidney told FoxSports.com's Jeff Goddman. "But I think I played well. I could have done better, but I'm getting back to what I used to be. And it'll help once Dee (Bost) gets back."
• Among the most anticipated midseason debuts this weekend was 6-foot-9 center Drew Gordon, who transferred to New Mexico after averaging 11.2 points and 5.3 boards as a starter last season at UCLA. Gordon received a huge ovation from the New Mexico fans at the Pit on Sunday and scored 11 points in 20 minutes in an 84-58 win over The Citadel.
• Before he leaves the Memphis Commercial-Appeal for good later this month, Dan Wolken offered one final state of the Memphis Tigers piece. Wolken acknowledges that the underachievement of Will Coleman and the growing pains of the freshmen are legitimate concerns but chides fans for not always recognizing how good a job Josh Pastner is doing in just his second year as a coach.
• Barring an upset of epic proportions, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski will tie Dean Smith at 879 wins with a victory over Elon on Monday night. That gave the Raleigh News & Observer the ideal peg for an insightful story on the relationship between Smith and Krzyzewski, their similarities and differences and how they made each-other better by coaching at rival schools.
Ehrinn Cummings Sienna Miller Cindy Taylor Halle Berry Catherine Bell
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