ROUNDBALL DAILY

DAILY DISH: Presbyterian College upsets Cincinnati, Chris Herren book

By: Kels Dayton
  • Long Beach State and Presbyterian each received big efforts from little guys in pulling off major upsets at Big East opponents over the weekend. 5-10 guard Casper Ware led Long Beach State to a wire-to-wire win over No. 9 Pittsburgh, dropping a career-high 28 points and dishing out 6 assists. Ware’s effort was so eye-opening that he was being mentioned in tweets by LeBron James and Snoop Dogg. Presbyterian’s 6-4  junior Khalid Mutakabbir wasn’t getting Twitter shout-outs from big-time stars after his 25-point performance in the Blue Hose’ 56-64 shocker of No. 20 Cincinnati, but maybe that’s just because Mutakabbir takes up too many characters. Of the two, Presbyterian’s win was more shocking, and Long Beach followed up its gigantic win with a slight letdown, falling to an impressive San Diego State squad, 77-73, in overtime.

    Presbyterian guard Khalid Mutakabbir led the Blue Hose with 25 points in the season's most shocking result to date. (AP Photo/David Kohl)

  • Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson isn’t just President Obama’s brother-in-law. The man can coach a little bit too. His long-irrelevant Beavers are 4-0 after knocking off Texas in the Ticket City Legends Classic, and will play Vanderbilt in the Legends final on Monday night. Robinson has brought excitement and discipline to the Beavs, and junior guard Jared Cunningham has blossomed into a star. Cunningham went off for 37 in the 100-95 win over the Longhorns.
  • This might finally be the year when Kansas doesn’t exceed preseason expectations despite having a slew of inexperienced players. After watching Kentucky dispatch the Jayhawks in the second half of their Champions Classic game at Madison Square Garden, Dick Vitale called this Kansas team “the least talented” he’s seen in head coach Bill Self’s tenure. Not that Dickie V is Nostradamus. We should know more about the ‘Hawks after their trip to Maui this week.
  • Former Massachusetts high school star and Boston Celtics guard Chris Herren was recently profiled in the ESPN Films documentary “Unguarded”. Herren’s story is fascinating, because he was  a charismatic local legend who fell so far into drug addiction that he nearly committed suicide. Now coaching youth basketball and speaking about his life story, Herren may finally be living up to his potential. His book, “Basketball Junkie”, which is co-written by Bill Reynolds, should be a good read.

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