Julian Gamble and Shane Larkin celebrate Miami's win (Getty Images)At the 17:43 mark of the second half, with No. 25 Miami curb-stomping top-ranked Duke by an unfathomable 30 points, the man with the reputation as TV's most well-known Blue Devils apologist had seen enough.

"This is the poorest performance I have witnessed from a Duke team in all my years sitting courtside," ESPN analyst Dick Vitale said.

The Blue Devils salvaged a bit of pride by the end of Miami's 90-63 victory, but it was hard to argue with Vitale's assessment.

Miami held Duke without a field goal for more than eight minutes in the latter portion of the first half, unleashing a 25-1 blitz to turn what briefly had been a back-and-forth game into a 38-15 rout. Only five times in program history had Duke ever trailed by more than 23 points at halftime, yet it somehow got even worse to start the second half as Miami scored the first seven points to extend its lead to 30.

Even though the win was Miami's first against a top-ranked opponent, the ramifications of the victory for the Hurricanes were even larger than that. They're now 5-0 in the ACC, two games clear of Duke and NC State in the loss column and three or more ahead of every other team in the league.

Wednesday's loss will send Duke tumbling out of the top spot in the polls, meaning there will be a new No. 1 on Monday for the third consecutive week. The one-sided nature of the result also suggests the Blue Devils have more issues than merely the indefinite absence of forward Ryan Kelly (foot injury).

Frank Haith (Getty Images)

The comeback victory Missouri pulled off Tuesday night against South Carolina pales in comparison to the one its embattled second-year coach may be on the verge of achieving.

Frank Haith has renewed hope of keeping his job just two days after it appeared to be in major jeopardy as a result of a CBSSports.com report that the NCAA was going to charge him with unethical conduct stemming from the Nevin Shapiro scandal at Miami. The former Hurricanes coach owes his potential reprieve to what the NCAA is calling "a very severe case of improper conduct" made by members of its enforcement staff when they investigated Miami.

The NCAA announced Wednesday that enforcement staffers obtained information for the case by working with the defense attorney for Shapiro, the Miami booster who revealed numerous NCAA violations allegedly committed by the school to Yahoo! Sports in 2011.

What that means is the NCAA had the lawyer of one of the key figures it was investigating on payroll because he had the ability to access information enforcement staffers cannot. Whereas the NCAA cannot force anyone to speak with investigators who doesn't want to, Shapiro's lawyer had the power to issue subpoenas and force key witnesses to testify under oath during Shapiro's bankruptcy proceedings.

If the dominant storyline to emerge from this embarrassing gaffe will be whether it leads the NCAA to overhaul its enforcement process, one of many sidebars will be how this blunder impacts Haith. It's unclear exactly how much of the evidence against him will have to be thrown out, but it's also safe to assume that the mere fact the NCAA has to throw out any of its findings can only be good news for him.

NC State coach Mark Gottfried addresses his team (Getty Images)

On Wednesday morning, hours after NC State's shocking loss at Wake Forest the previous night, ex-Wolfpack forward Thomas de Thaey took a parting shot at his former coach.

That's what happens when you're a great recruiter, but a terrible coach!

— Thomas De Thaey (@de_thaeyGOPACK) January 23, 2013

Had de Thaey been the only one criticizing second-year coach Mark Gottfried, it probably would've been written off as the disgruntled words of a player who returned home to his native Belgium in November when his playing time evaporated. Instead freshman forward T.J. Warren retweeted de Thaey's jab, which lent increased credibility to it and raises questions about the relationship between Gottfried and his players.

Warren's immature choice comes at a time when NC State needs to stand together rather than allow adversity to tear them apart. The Wolfpack have lost two of three since their upset of top-ranked Duke less than two weeks ago, sandwiching a narrow four-point home win over Clemson between losses to Maryland and Wake Forest.

What's especially odd is Warren doesn't exactly have reason to be frustrated with Gottfried. The freshman forward has been part of NC State's rotation all season and has averaged 17.5 points in 25 minutes in each of the past two games.

Wake Forest's Aaron Rountree III celebrates with fans after win over NC State (Getty Images)

1. Whatever the record for court stormings in 10 days is, NC State has to be approaching it. Since a wheel chair-bound student famously led a flood of NC State students onto the floor after an upset win over top-ranked Duke, the Wolfpack have endured a pair of court stormings at their expense. The latest came Tuesday night when success-staved Wake Forest fans celebrated at mid-court following an 86-84 victory that will surely empty the NC State bandwagon a bit. It's hard to see the Wolfpack winning the ACC unless it defends more consistently than this.

2. In this excellent profile of Oklahoma State phenom Marcus Smart, USA Today's Eric Prisbell details the freshman guard's transformation from teenager headed down a rocky path to college basketball player lauded for his leadership and unselfishness. The story begins with Smart running from a gun-toting gang member at whom he made the mistake of throwing rocks from the top of an apartment building. That frightening anecdote alone is worth the click.

3. Why has San Diego State not played to its potential in Mountain West play so far? Steve Fisher believes the lingering back issues that have sidelined starting point guard Xavier Thames have a lot to do with it. He creates easy looks for his teammates with his ability to get in the lane and he may be the team's top perimeter defender. “So many things that are non-statistically labeled,” Fisher told U-T San Diego. “He’s our best help defender. He’s always in that gap so if you get beat, he doesn’t let you get beat, and he’s still able to get back to his man."

4. One measure of Butler's evolution from plucky mid-major to an emerging power that no longer fits that label is the way it travels to games. Instead of lengthy bus rides and commercial flights, the Bulldogs charter planes to road games the same way elite teams from power conferences do. The added expense is worthwhile from a convenience standpoint because Butler players arrive at road games less fatigued and miss less class time due to travel.

5. If Frank Haith's next six weeks are about winning enough games to persuade Missouri officials to keep him despite any NCAA penalties he may incur, then the embattled Tigers coach certainly couldn't afford a home loss to South Carolina. Missouri trailed the entire first half and still was in jeopardy of losing into the final two minutes, but 3-pointers in the final 71 seconds from Earnest Ross and Jabari Brown helped the Tigers escape with a 71-65 victory.

Kentucky's Nerlens Noel blocks shot by Alabama's Devonta Pollard (Getty Images)If Kentucky's title run last season is proof a team full of one-and-dones can come together and capture a championship, this season's struggles are a reminder that relying heavily on freshmen won't always turn out well.

Alabama dealt the Wildcats their latest reality check Tuesday night, storming back from a nine-point halftime deficit to send Kentucky to a deflating 59-55 road loss. As a result, the once far-fetched idea that Kentucky could miss the NCAA tournament a year after cutting down the nets suddenly doesn't seem so unlikely anymore.

At 12-6 overall and 3-2 in SEC play, the Wildcats would be fortunate to sneak into the NCAA tournament if the season ended today. They're a pedestrian No. 60 in the RPI – right between middling Villanova and small-conference South Dakota State – and their best win is a season-opening victory over a Maryland team no more certain to make the NCAA tournament than they are.

[Related: Forde Minutes: Butler's flair for the dramatic doesn't faze coach]

The most discouraging part for Kentucky is that the SEC won't afford them too many chances to secure resume-boosting wins in the coming weeks. Besides Florida (No. 6), Missouri (No. 27) and Ole Miss (No. 32), no SEC teams are even in the top 50 in the RPI right now.

Enough mediocre teams will make the field of 68 that Kentucky can still earn a bid with a solid final six weeks, but the Wildcats' chances of making another deep March run appear very bleak. A team that began the season No. 3 in the nation has so far fallen well short of expectations largely because every time it seems to solve a problem, a new one arises.

Steve Alford (Getty Images)

Frustrated that his team is the lone Mountain West representative in the newest AP poll even though the league ranks second in conference RPI, New Mexico coach Steve Alford lashed out at voters this week.

Alford bemoaned the lack of respect to the Albuquerque Journal, describing himself as "amazed" UNLV and San Diego State fell out of the rankings after road losses this past weekend to Colorado State and Wyoming, respectively.

"To be the third-best league in the country and only have one ranked team is bothersome, it really is," Alford said.

"Unfortunately, when we do what other leagues are doing -- beat up on each other -- we seem to be penalized more."

On the surface, Alford's frustration is understandable. The Big East, one spot behind the Mountain West in conference RPI, has four AP Top 25 teams this week: Syracuse, Louisville, Cincinnati and Notre Dame. The ACC, two spots behind the Mountain West, has three: Duke, Miami and NC State.

At the same time, however, being a top three RPI league doesn't necessarily guarantee multiple Top 25 teams, especially because the Mountain West's strength is in its depth. Six of the Mountain West's nine schools would have a great chance to make the NCAA tournament if the season ended today, yet none besides New Mexico (16-2, 3-0) boast resumes that demand inclusion in the top 20 or top 15.

(Photos by fansedge.com)

Anyone who cringed at the sight of the alternate jerseys Gonzaga debuted Saturday night at Butler probably isn't going to like this news.

Gonzaga's Kevin Pangos (USA Today Sports Images)You're going to be seeing a lot more of them the next few weeks.

Nike announced this past weekend that eight more men's and three women's teams will don similar jerseys for key road games this season. The jersey features each team's midcourt logo on the center chest and the name of the team's mascot on the back where players' last names typically would be.

Although Nike has yet to release images of any of the designs besides Gonzaga's, a poster on a Michigan State message board appears to have uncovered photos of the rest of the jerseys select men's programs will be wearing.

Nike has yet to confirm the designs are legit, but they're identical to the ones Gonzaga wore Saturday. Plus, the eight men's teams Nike announced will don the jerseys in addition to Gonzaga are each among the nine designs unearthed. Here's a look at each design along with the date each team will wear them:

Bob Huggins (Getty Images)

1. Bob Huggins scoffed at preseason Big 12 projections that had his team sixth, so the West Virginia coach obviously is not pleased with his team now that sixth appears generous. In the aftermath of his team's 79-52 loss at Purdue to fall to 8-9 overall, Huggins ripped his team's lack of effort. "I want to apologize to our fans, apologize to the people in the state of West Virginia," he told West Virginia Illustrated. This is totally unacceptable. This is not what we're supposed to represent and hopefully they have enough faith in me that I will fix it."

2. North Carolina received some welcome news on the recruiting trail Monday when it secured a commitment from point guard Joel Berry, a Florida native and Rivals.com's No. 22 player in the Class of 2014. Between current freshman Marcus Paige, Class of 2013 standout Nate Britt and Berry, the Tar Heels should have an abundance of talent and depth at the point guard position for the foreseeable future.

3. Detroit's starting lineup may be the most talented in the Horizon League, but the Titans don't look capable of winning a conference title. Wright State handed Detroit its second home loss in five days, opening a 12-point lead in the opening six minutes and leading wire to wire for a 64-62 victory. The Titans are now two games behind both Valparaiso and Wright State in the loss column, and they still have to play both on the road.

4. Rick Barnes is 14-for-14 making the NCAA tournament at Texas, but it isn't happening this year — and it's not just because of Myck Kabongo's 23-game suspension for NCAA rules violations either. The Horns lost 73-67 at Oklahoma on Monday night to fall to 0-5 in the Big 12 for the first time since the inception of the conference, Worse yet, Jonathan Holmes, the Longhorns’ leading rebounder, broke a bone in his right hand late in the first half and is out indefinitely.

5. Unable to attend classes at Harvard this school year as a result of being implicated in a cheating scandal during the offseason, seniors Kyle Casey and Brandyn Curry are staying busy. Casey, an all-conference big man, is working for a nonprofit that conducts after-school programs for children in third, fourth and fifth grade. Curry is selling life insurance. Both hope to return to Harvard next school year to earn their degrees and play their final season with the basketball program.