Monday Look Back: Weekend goes as (we) expected

Reggie Theus has already acknowledged interest in the Arizona job.

Who knows if he can get it? But if he does, that would make my column from last week look pretty brilliant, just like my Minnesota over Louisville prediction (you didn't think I wouldn't mention it, did you?).

Anyway, on with the Monday Look Back.

Duke had Xavier completely outmatched in New Jersey. (AP)

Best game of the weekend: Last we saw A.J. price against a West Coast Conference foe he was being carried off the floor with a torn ACL in a 70-69 NCAA tournament loss to San Diego. Suffice to say, this time things went much better for the Connecticut senior, starting with the fact that Price's knee remained intact, which allowed him to play 39 minutes, score 24 points, dish 10 assists and sink a contested 3-pointer to force overtime in Saturday's eventual 88-83 victory over WCC powerhouse Gonzaga in the Battle in Seattle. Wow, what a game! And I loved this sentence from the AP story: "The raucous scene reminded Seattle what big-time basketball was like in Key Arena before the NBA's SuperSonics became awful, then moved to Oklahoma City last summer." Ahh, for the good old days of Gary Payton-to-Shawn Kemp alley-oops ... and losses to Michael Jordan's Bulls.

Worst game of the weekend: I hope you didn't join Saturday's Duke-Xavier game already in progress, because if you did all you saw was a stinker. The Blue Devils led 18-1 heading into the first media timeout, at which time Sean Miller did some math. "At the first timeout, I tried to remain positive, but I told the kids that at this pace they could score 190," Miller said. "And I really thought it was a possibility." Ultimately, it didn't go that way. But Duke still cruised to an 82-64 victory that felt like an assault to Xavier's Derrick Brown. "Give Duke credit," he said. "They came out and punched us in the mouth." (Note: That was Brown doing his impression of a Cincinnati cab driver.)

Win to brag about: The game wasn't on most radars because it featured two unranked teams. But Texas A&M and LSU entered Saturday's showdown in Houston with a combined record of 17-1, and both teams needed a victory to help legitimize their early success. The Aggies got that legitimizing win by a 72-61 margin, which -- combined with Miami's blowout loss to Clemson -- helped Mark Turgeon's team make their debut in the Top 25 (and one).

Loss to hide from: There's nothing wrong with losing to Purdue; lots of teams do it. But Davidson doesn't have a bunch of high-profile games because of its league affiliation, so it's important for the Wildcats to perform when they play ranked opponents on national television, which is why Saturday's 76-58 loss to the Boilermakers was disappointing. Again, nothing wrong with losing to Purdue; lots do it. But Davidson was down 21-0 seven minutes in, meaning Stephen Curry's first game on CBS since last March's rise to prominence was never actually a game.

Player who deserves improper benefits: Freedom Hall has hosted 73 Kentucky games in a span of more than 30 years, but never has it featured a performance quite like the one Jodie Meeks produced Saturday. The junior guard took 21 shots, made 14 and finished with a career-high 46 points in UK's 93-69 victory over Appalachian State. It was the most points any Wildcat has ever scored in the famed Louisville arena, and the most any Wildcat has scored in any game since Dan Issel got 47 in a win over Alabama way back in 1970.

Player who should lose his scholarship: I wrote in the Friday Look Ahead that Texas probably wasn't the ideal team for Michigan State to be trying to break through against, and among the reasons was because "A.J. Abrams is making 47.4 percent of his 3-pointers." Seemed fair at the time. But I might've thought differently had I known Abrams planned to make 0.0 percent of his 3-pointers against the Spartans, which contributed to Saturday's 67-63 loss. Abrams finished 3-of-10 from the field and 0-of-4 from 3-point range for a season-low eight points, and afterward he noted that if he could do something differently he "might kind of slow down a little bit." I'd go with "shoot straighter." But whatever.

Why I'm smarter than you think: I interrupt this Monday Look Back to take you back to the Friday Look Ahead, in which I wrote: "The matchup between former Kentucky coaches has all the makings of an upset. Rick Pitino's ninth-ranked Louisville Cardinals played a late game Thursday night, were pushed to the final minutes by Ole Miss and then had to fly to Glendale, Ariz., where Saturday afternoon's game against Minnesota in the Stadium Shootout will be held. Meantime, Minnesota hasn't played since Dec. 10. So the Gophers should be rested and focused, and Tubby Smith with 10 days to prepare is always a reasonable option. In other words, I'll take Minnesota ... straaaaaaaaight up!" Needless to say, Minnesota beat Louisville 70-64, and that's why the words "genius" and "Gary" start with the same letter, because they're pretty damn close to the same thing.

Why I'm dumber than I think: Also in my Minnesota over Louisville prediction were the words, "and this is coming from a guy who ranked Louisville second in the preseason Top 25 (and one) and still thinks the Cards are a viable Final Four option." Do viable Final Four options really start 7-2 with losses to Western Kentucky and Minnesota? Not usually. And either way, I've gone from ranking Louisville second in the preseason to not ranking the Cardinals at all in the latest Top 25 (and one), which might suggest that I had Rick Pitino's team pegged incorrectly (though I still won't be surprised to see the Cards in the Final Four).

Three things you should know before you go

1. Charles Abouo's game-winning bucket came just after the buzzer, meaning it wasn't a game-winner at all. Thus, Arizona State edged BYU 76-75, and I'll let ASU coach Herb Sendek tell you how close his team was to losing. "One of my favorite baseball announcers of all time was Bob Prince. I used to fall asleep with a transistor radio under my pillow, listening to the Gunner, Bob Prince. And when there was a close play, like a line drive down the left-field line, it was 'closer than the fuzz on a tic's ear.' Bingo. That's what it was today." So BYU lost to ASU by the fuzz on a tic's ear, and now just 10 Division I teams remain undefeated -- namely North Carolina, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Wake Forest, Clemson, Minnesota, Stanford and Illinois State.

2. The craziest stat from the weekend might've been that Hofstra out-rebounded UMass by a 57-26 margin, grabbed 36 offensive rebounds and ... lost? Yes, the Pride actually lost 97-81, primarily because UMass made 15 of 26 3-point attempts while Hofstra missed 15 of 22. By the way, the last time a Division I team had 36 offensive rebounds was when Navy did it against Lafayette on Feb. 23, 2005, and Navy won that game by 19 points. So again, 36 offensive rebounds is rare, and losing while doing it is practically unheard of (which is my way of saying I've never heard of it).

3. John Calipari's Memphis Tigers have a slew of problems, most of which revolve around their lack of good point guards and good shooters (as I noted after a Dec. 13 loss to Georgetown and again after Saturday's loss to Syracuse). But one other problem is this: Tyreke Evans is, according to KenPom.com, personally responsible for ending 36.4 percent of the Tigers' offensive possessions either with a made shot, missed shot, turnover or whatever. The only player in the nation who ends a higher percentage of his team's offensive possessions is Davidson's Stephen Curry, and so the problem for Memphis is that Tyreke Evans isn't Stephen Curry -- proof being that the freshman is (through nine games) shooting 39.2 percent from the field, 18.2 percent from 3-point range and averaging 3.9 turnovers per contest.

On tap: On Monday, Buzz Williams is on the road again as his Marquette Golden Eagles play at N.C. State. On Tuesday, Xavier won't have an easy time trying to get back to its winning ways when it hosts Butler. On Wednesday and Thursday no games are scheduled because of something called Christmas.

Final thought: I highlighted a trend following Davidson's win over West Virginia a couple of weeks ago, one about how Stephen Curry's shooting percentages are noticeably different depending on whether he plays against BCS-affiliated competition or non-BCS-affiliated competition.

I think it's worth noting again in light of Saturday's effort against Purdue.

Curry finished 5-of-26 from the field and 2-of-12 from 3-point range in the loss, meaning he's now combined to shoot 35.7 percent from the field and 28.1 percent from 3-point range in Davidson's four games against BCS opponents (Oklahoma, N.C. State, West Virginia and Purdue) compared to 54.5 percent from the field and 45.8 percent from 3-point range in Davidson's six games against non-BCS opponents (Guilford, James Madison, Winthrop, Florida Atlantic, Loyola and Chattanooga). In other words, Curry is much more effective and efficient (he's averaging 28.8 shots per game against BCS opponents compared to just 16.8 shots per game against non-BCS opponents) against lesser competition, and I think it has more to do with his mindset than ability.

You see, I'm sure Curry understands that it's easier to beat Florida Atlantic than Purdue, so he knows he doesn't have to be SuperSteph to make that happen. On the other hand, a win over a team like Purdue or Oklahoma almost certainly requires a huge effort from Curry, so the junior guard forces things more than usual, which means more bad shots and more misses and the lower percentages that you see.

Davidson coach Bob McKillop blames himself.

"I expect him to bring the ball up the court, guard E'Twaun Moore, rebound the ball, make shots, deliver us from evil," he told reporters following Saturday's loss. "I just put too much on him, and I've got to figure out how I can take some of that off him, because I am wearing him down."

I know how to take some of that off him: Get to Southern Conference play, ASAP.