• The beleaguered Pac-10 had avoided any disastrous losses until Wednesday night when Oregon State lost to previously winless Seattle 83-80 and USC got trounced at home by Rider 77-57. Which loss is worse? Even though Seattle had lost to Cal Poly and San Francisco by a combined 37 points, my vote goes to the Trojans, who needed a late 10-0 run just to get that close.
• Had Kemba Walker not had one of the best games of his college career on Wednesday night, UConn might have lost to Vermont. The Huskies point guard scored 42 points on 15-for-24 shooting, showcasing an improved jump shot and enabling UConn to break open a tight game for a 89-73 victory.
• A win over BYU helped Utah State earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament last season, but the Cougars avenged that loss with a 78-72 victory over the Aggies in Provo on Wednesday night. Keeping it that close suggests Utah State is again the class of the WAC, especially considering the Aggies led into the final five minutes despite 15 of 26 free throw shooting.
• The Preseason NIT semifinals are set with Tennessee's 60-56 victory over Missouri State and Villanova's 82-66 throttling of Boston University. The Vols will face dangerous Virginia Commonwealth in one semifinal, while the Wildcats will meet UCLA in a rematch of second-round NCAA tournament game from 2009 won easily by Villanova.
• Great stuff here from Fanhouse's Greg Couch, who ridicules the NCAA for fighting to prevent gambling on college sports yet doing nothing when a major power player in college athletics bets more than $170,000 on the 2007 NCAA tournament. Hypocrisy at its finest, folks.
• Turquoise jerseys with orange lettering, Oregon State? Well, at least they're for a good cause. The Beavers will debut their new gear Sunday against Texas Southern in a Nike-sponsored matchup devoted to helping Native American communities get better access to sport.
• One of the few downsides to Memphis' 2-0 start had been that prized freshman Will Barton scored a combined five points and often appeared lost on the court after missing 17 days of preseason practice due to injuries. Barton regained his shooting stroke on Wednesday night, scoring 22 points and grabbing eight rebounds off the bench in a 94-79 victory over Northwestern State.
• The mediocrity of Murray State's league demands that the Racers perform almost flawlessly out of conference to have any hope of an at-large NCAA tournament bid, so Wednesday's 77-61 loss at Mississippi may prove especially damaging. The Racers shot 30 percent from the field and got outscored in the paint, 34-17.
• If Loyola Marymount is going to live up to the preseason hype it received, the Lions can't keep losing winnable games. They scored only three points in the final 7:19 against Bradley on Wednesday night, enabling the Braves to rally from an eight-point deficit and eke out a 59-57 home win.
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