• One of the few things that could derail Duke this season are injuries, so Kyrie Irving's sprained toe is certainly cause for concern. On the other hand, even if Irving sits out a game or two, the timing of the injury could not be much better considering Duke's schedule lightens up with Bradley on Wednesday, St. Louis on Saturday and then a nine-day layoff for final exams before Elon visits Durham.
• Kenny Boynton may have spent the offseason working on his outside shooting, but the Florida guard has missed his last nine threes and is only shooting 26.5 percent from behind the arc this season. You worried Billy Donovan? "I don't worry about that because I'm not going to allow him to stop shooting," Donovan told the Gainesville Sun. "What I want him to do is to take good shots."
• Indiana's 7-1 start lacks a single inspiring victory over a marquee opponent, yet coach Tom Crean wants the Hoosiers to believe they can win entering their annual matchup with Kentucky on Saturday. Of course, past history suggests otherwise: Indiana has lost 15 of 19 against the Wildcats and hasn't won at Rupp Arena since 1988.
• Why has Syracuse freshman center Fab Melo struggled so much this season? Well, it might be because the 7-footer has been nursing an Achilles injury that has slowed his progress. "His Achilles has been sore for a couple weeks and he's having trouble getting up and down the court like we need him to," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim told the Post-Standard. "That's held him back."
• UCSB gave fans a behind-the-scenes look at coach Bob Williams during last week's matchup with Loyola Marymount, taking cameras to shootaround, the pregame meal and even into the locker room. Especially enjoyable was Williams acknowledging that "there are good luck ties and there are bad luck ties" when discussing his wardrobe for the evening.
• Marquette lost a prominent figure from its basketball past on Monday when former coach Hank Raymonds passed away after a battle with cancer. A longtime assistant of Al McGuire's during Marquette's glory years in the 1970s, Raymonds took over the program after the 1977 national title and led the Warriors to a 126-50 record in six seasons, including five NCAA Tournament appearances and a Sweet Sixteen in 1979.
• Credit Portland for staying competitive with Washington deep into the second half and providing the Huskies their toughest home game of the season so far even if the 94-72 final score suggests otherwise. Point guard Isaiah Thomas summed it up perfectly when he told the Seattle Times, "I looked up and we were up a lot, then I looked up and we were only up six and then we won by 22."
• Baylor's backcourt depth suddenly got much thinner on Monday when the school announced that freshman guard Stargell Love will miss up to two months with a stress fracture in his foot. Love averaged 16 minutes a game and made one start so far this season, though those numbers are inflated a bit by LaceDarius Dunn missing the first three regular season games as a result of a suspension.
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