Breakfast Buffet: Jeff Withey becomes second Kansas player to post a triple-double
1. Monday night's light slate of games did produce a memorable individual achievement. Kansas center Jeff Withey became only the second Jayhawk to officially record a triple-double, tallying 16 points, 12 rebounds and 12 blocks in a victory over San Jose State. Blocks, assists and steals were not recorded at Kansas until the 1970s, so the only other Kansas player to post a triple-double is Cole Aldrich. Said Withey, "It's pretty special to me."
2. The good news for North Carolina is P.J. Hairston's knee strain doesn't appear to be serious since there's no ligament damage. The bad news is Hairston may not be available against top-ranked Indiana on Tuesday night. That would be a significant loss since the sweet-shooting guard had come out of a shooting slump the past 10 days and was the Tar Heels' most consistent 3-point shooter during that stretch.
3. If the Missouri Valley Conference appeared to be Creighton and everyone else before the season, then the rest of the league has taken some early steps to proving that's not the case. Not only is the league 38-16 overall and 25-3 at home, Wichita State is also on the verge of joining the Bluejays in the AP Top 25. The Shockers are unbeaten with solid wins over Iowa, DePaul and VCU.
4. When Denver announced it was leaving the Sun Belt Conference to join the WAC two years ago, it threw a pep rally to commemorate the event and its chancellor said he was "absolutely thrilled" by the move. Two years later, the WAC is on life support and Denver is quietly slinking off to another conference. The school will hold a press conference on Tuesday to announce it's joining the Summit League, a logical escape route yet perhaps a temporary one if it's successful enough to persuade the WCC to take a second look down the road.
5. College basketball statistical guru Ken Pomeroy has released his projections for the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, and believe it or not, they're not too different from mine. Both of us have the Big Ten winning 8-4. The only difference is he likes Northwestern and Wake Forest at home and I have Maryland and Nebraska winning on the road. Bottom line? It would be a significant accomplishment for the ACC to forge a 6-6 tie this year.
The best dunk of Thanksgiving weekend (non-Harrison Barnes division)? It might be this one from San Francisco's Cole Dickerson against Columbia on Saturday night. Dickerson drove by a hard-closing defender, the help defense was non-existent and the result is a one-handed flush that drew some oohs and ahhs from a sparse Saturday night crowd.
"It definitely wasn't mono. It was flu-like symptoms because I get sick every year. I was just really tired, but that's past and I'm ready to get back out there and play." -- Kentucky guard Ryan Harrow on the illness he says sidelined him for the first of two weeks he has missed. Harrow also missed all of last week when he returned home for what he deemed "a personal matter," but he is now back in Lexington. (CoachCal.com)
• Minnesota at Florida State, 7:15 p.m. ET
•NC State at Michigan, 7:30 p.m. ET
• Maryland at Northwestern, 9:15 p.m. ET
• North Carolina at Indiana, 9:30 p.m. ET
