The Daily Gus: November 29th

In reference to the hiatus suffered by MTM over the course of the past week, much apologies due to the lack of time available. Attirbute it to much schoolwork and MTM taking its show on the road to Cancun for the Cancun Challenge. The impending week of Thanksgiving is the best week of the season for action packed non conference matchups and this year has been no different led by the Old Spice Classic and the Maui Invitational. UNC waltzed away with the Maui title, and the Old Spice has featured four ranked teams (Georgetown, Tennessee, Gonzaga and Michigan State) all facing off. Saturday most teams returned to action from a brief Thanksgiving break. In the Chicago Classic (exempt tourney) Dayton moved to 6-0 shocking Marquette as guard Rob Lowery had 21 for the Flyers. The Dayton bench outscored Marquette 48-5, en route to a frenetic pace where they captured their second win over a BCS school in as many days. Although unbeaten, not much stock should be invested into the Flyers' 6-0 start as things will get tougher quick. Dayton plays at Akron and at Creighton in the next few games. Marquette on the other hand should be able to take improvement from this loss. Maybe not as much dependence should be lowered on Dominic James (6-13 for 19 points) and Wesley Mathews (7-12 for 28). 4 of 20 from threes will not get it done in the Big East, and certainly not an optimistic look facing their first team with a winning record; Marquette now moves on to face Wisconsin and Tennessee within the next two weeks.

Shoot-Around

- Ole Miss really struggled facing MEAC member Morgan State in Oxford. Morgan had a five point halftime lead and led for much of the second before the Rebels' Chris Warren and David Huertas combined for 47 points and an Ole Miss victory. Mississippi is now 5-1.

- Evidently VMI had a little bit of beginniners luck this season when they shocked Kentucky at Rupp Arena on the season's opening night. The Keydets couldn't throw the ball into the Potomac River last night; losing 95-67 to Jacksonville. VMI shot 7-34 from three (about 24 too many shots) and had no desire to even bother to play defense. They allowed J'Ville to shoot 61% and got absolutely rolled on the road.

- Texas A&M moved to 5-1 after a surprising win over Kent State 77-71 in the South Padre Island Invitational 3rd place game. Both teams shot over 50% and A&M placed four guys in double figures as a Josh Carter three ball with less than 10 seconds remaining put the game on ice.

- Northeastern guard Matt Janning scores three points as Northeastern gets rolled at South Florida 55-37. The Huskies had 11 first half points.

- Massachusetts dropped to a pathetic 1-5 Saturday when they led by two at UW-Green Bay before losing the second half 47-28. Things are not looking good in Amherst with Travis Ford gone.

- Nebraska reamined unbeaten as they scored a win over state rival Creighton 54-52. The Cornhuskers trailed by 13 at the break, but Steve Hartley had 14 second half points to spur on the comeback. It is only Nebraska's second win in ten seasons against the Jays.

- Freshman Seth, no not Stephen, Curry scored 21 points and played 50 minutes for Liberty as the Flames scraped out a two point win at William and Mary. It was W&M's second multiple overtime game in the week, as there were a combined 83 three pointers taken in the contest.

- Florida State moved to 7-0 on Saturday beating Cal in the Vegas Invitational; the Noles havent seen a 7-0 record since Charlie Ward was quarterbacking the club in the beginning ACC years. If FSU can keep up the pace, maybe a bottom four finish in the ACC won't be the probable.

- San Diego State cruised to the Great Alaska Shootout title as they romped Hampton 76-41. Hampton can take a positive outlook from this trip. A once big time tourney they defeated an unbeaten, really good Portland State team that will be playing come March and solidified themselves as a contender within the MEAC. The next step will be winning a true road game.