Breakfast Buffet: In search of instant offense, Marquette reinstates Todd Mayo
1. With Marquette ninth in the Big East in points per possession, 12th in 3-point shooting percentage and coming off a discouraging 49-47 loss to Green Bay, Golden Eagles coach Buzz Williams has called in reinforcements. He reinstated sophomore guard Todd Mayo, O.J. Mayo's younger brother. Mayo had been expected to assume a larger role this season with the departure of Darius Johnson Odom and Jae Crowder, but academic issues and team rules violations kept him sidelined until now.
2. Person I'd hate to be today: NCAA investigator Abigail Grantstein's boyfriend, who was overheard on a plane in August insisting his girlfriend would make sure UCLA's Shabazz Muhammad would never become eligible even though she didn't have all the pertinent data for the case at the time. The NCAA has since fired Grantstein, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday night. If that boyfriend isn't an ex by now, he probably wishes he was.
3. The 50-plus NBA scouts who showed up to watch North Texas-Lehigh on Thursday night probably left disappointed. An ankle sprain sidelined Lehigh star C.J. McCollum and North Texas standout Tony Mitchell didn't start because of a minor team rules violation. Mitchell finished with a solid 22 points and eight rebounds, but the Mountain Hawks still cruised to a 90-75 road win without the nation's leading scorer thanks to 28 points from forward Gabe Knutson and 25 from guard Mackey McKnight.
4. The longer this season goes along, the less certain it seems that Memphis will be playing in the NCAA tournament. The Tigers had to rally from a three-point halftime deficit to slip past Lipscomb 62-56 at home on Thursday night. Why is that especially worrisome? Well, that's the same Lipscomb team that lost to Ole Miss by 46 and dropped two games to rival Belmont by a combined 63 points.
5. In addition to his usual weekend predictions and insight on various teams around the nation, SI.com's Seth Davis uses his weekly Hoops Thoughts column as a platform to push for change in the NCAA. His thesis is one that's difficult to disagree with: The university presidents who now run the NCAA have failed to implement the reforms they originally sought and now need to cede power to a more qualified group of leaders.
Oregon ought to make sure its backboards and rims are fully reinforced before Jordan Bell gets to campus next year. As you'll see in the above video, the 6-foot-8 Long Beach Poly star actually snaps a rim at the City of Palms Tournament in Fort Myers, Fla., with an in-game windmill slam in transition.
"I'm really disappointed with our effort to start the game defensively. You can't turn it over 16 times. I mean, they're not pressing us. We're just not together and that's on me. I'm the coach." -- USC coach Kevin O'Neill on his team's lackluster 61-54 home loss to UC Irvine on Thursday night. The Trojans, touted as a potential surprise team because of an influx of new talent, instead have started 4-7. (The Associated Press)
• BYU at Baylor, 9 p.m. ET
• Stanford at Northwestern, 9 p.m. ET
