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As Penn State begins the healing process in the wake of one of the most horrifying scandals in college sports history, a new set of stomach-turning child rape allegations has rocked another prominent university's athletic department.

Syracuse police told ESPN's "Outside the Lines" they are in the preliminary stages of looking into allegations that Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine molested a former ball boy for a dozen years beginning when the boy entered seventh grade in 1983.

The alleged victim, 39-year-old Bobby Davis, said the molestation took place everywhere from Fine's home to the basketball facilities at Syracuse to hotel rooms before road games or during recruiting trips. "Outside the Lines" reporter Mark Schwarz said on ESPN Thursday night that Davis told him Fine molested him "hundreds if not a thousand times" with the abuse continuing until he was 27 years old.

Davis told "Outside the Lines" he never told Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim about the abuse, but

Hummel2If anyone deserved to deliver one of college basketball's most poignant early feel-good moments, it was Purdue's Robbie Hummel.

And, now, consider it delivered.

Hummel, whose last two years at Purdue were spent rehabbing from ACL tears, canned a game-winning 3-pointer for the Boilermakers with 22 seconds remaining in a wild 91-90 victory over Iona on Thursday afternoon at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic.

The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 19.5 points in Purdue's first two games of the season — victories over Northern Illinois and High Point. But in a neutral site contest against one of this year's most explosive, dangerous teams from the mid-major ranks, Hummel's late three provided a true 'welcome back' moment.

Hummel's bucket polished off a 24-point, 9-rebound performance. He was 10-of-21 from the floor and 4-of-9 from deep.

His injuries woes began as a sophomore during the 2008-09, when he was limited down the stretch run by back issues that forced him to wear a brace after missing five

Whereas most of the fans aboard the USS Carl Vinson settled for a picture or an autograph when they approached Magic Johnson, one naval officer had a more significant request for the former Michigan State star.

He asked Johnson to help him propose to his girlfriend during the game.

A Naval Medical Center employee in the stands posted the above YouTube video showing both Johnson and the naval officer down on one knee as the girlfriend smiles with delight. Johnson then congratulates the woman with a hug and volunteers to pose for a picture with the happy couple to commemorate the night.

Selfless gestures like this one from Johnson were part of what made the inaugural Carrier Classic a successful and memorable event. Although North Carolina's convincing victory over Michigan State wasn't as compelling as expected, what more than made up for it was the combination of the unusual setting for basketball and the respect players, coaches and celebrities showed toward the military.

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Instead of becoming annoyed when a reporter's ringing cell phone interrupted his news conference Wednesday afternoon, laid-back St. John's coach Steve Lavin saw the chance to have some fun.

A smiling Lavin read the caller ID on the iPhone, picked up the call and greeted the man on the other end of the line by saying, "Davey? How are you? It's Steve Lavin, St. John's University." As a roomful of reporters chuckled in astonishment in the background, Lavin engaged in a brief conversation with the no doubt stunned "Davey" before informing him that he probably should get back to the press conference now.

"He seemed a little bit taken aback," Lavin said afterward. "But he's a real gentleman. He said, 'Thank you.'"

Lighthearted moments like this are what makes the always gregarious Lavin one of the most fun coaches to chat with in college basketball.

A ringing cell phone during a news conference often inspires a glare or a brief lecture from uptight coaches stressed by the intense pressure

Moments after Oklahoma State completed a stunning rally Wednesday night to secure a berth in the Preseason NIT semifinals, guard Cezar Guerrero entered the stands, donned an oversized orange foam cowboy hat and made a "pistols up" gesture.

The hand motion could not have been more fitting.

The only reason Oklahoma State eked out a come-from-behind 90-85 overtime victory over hard-luck Texas-San Antonio was because Guerrero shot them back into a game that at one point appeared lost. The freshman sank eight three-pointers and scored 29 points, none more memorable than his Reggie Miller-esque flurry in the final seconds of regulation.

Oklahoma State had trimmed a late 11-point deficit to six when Guerrero drove to the rim, drew contact and made a basket and a free throw with 12.2 seconds left to slice the margin in half. Then when the Cowboys' defensive pressure forced an errant Texas-San Antonio inbound pass, Guerrero pounced on the loose ball, took one dribble and buried a left-wing

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Before his players left the locker room to warm up for Wednesday night's matchup with 10th-ranked Pittsburgh, Long Beach State coach Dan Monson wanted to make sure they had the proper mindset.

"We should expect to win," Monson told them. "There is not going to be some dog pile at the end of the game."

It's a testament to senior-laden Long Beach State's confidence and maturity that players heeded Monson's advice after a monumental 86-76 road victory. Even though the 49ers became just the second non-Big East team in the nine-year history of the Petersen Events Center to beat Pittsburgh on its home floor, they left the court with virtually no celebration aside from a quick handshake or two.

[Forde: College basketball benefiting from NBA lockout]

"I was proud of the way we handled that," Monson said by phone Wednesday night. "The hardest thing at a mid-major is believing you can go in and win a game like this. Everyone says they can go in and win, but these kids sincerely expected to win

Alford

New Mexico lost only one starter from last year's team that surged late, had the look of a team that deserved to be in the NCAA tournament by March, but just didn't have the résumé.

That, of course, led to grand expectations seven months later.

Facing its first true test in the post-Dairese Gary era on Wednesday night, the Lobos showed that that one vacancy might be tougher to fill than anyone had anticipated.

It wasn't so much that the Lobos lost to New Mexico State at The Pit in the first of two meetings between the in-state rivals. It was how ugly one of the deepest, most talented squads on the West Coast looked on the offensive end.

The Aggies are far from slouches. They're a very real contender for the WAC title this season.

But New Mexico had the look of an extremely vulnerable squad Wednesday, mostly because it got minimal contributions from its two most important players.

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Senior UCLA transfer Drew Gordon — the Mountain West's preseason Player of the Year — was held

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The most surprising aspect of Coastal Carolina upsetting LSU and Elon College taking down South Carolina on Tuesday night wasn't just that a pair of programs from lightly regarded leagues defeated two SEC teams.

It was that neither the Chanticleers nor the Phoenix had to leave their own campus to do it.

Whereas power conference teams typically buy home games against mid-major and low-major opponents in return for financial guarantees worth anywhere from $40,000 to $100,000, LSU and South Carolina bucked the trend. Trent Johnson brought his LSU team to cramped, 1,039-seat Kimbel Arena and Darrin Horn signed off on South Carolina becoming the first-ever power-conference team to visit Elon's Alumni Gym.

Whether you think venturing on the road was a wise decision or not will likely depend on if you're a fan of one of college basketball's haves or have-nots.

Fans of mid-major programs who have long struggled to induce high-major teams to grant them a home-and-home series or even a 2-for-1