Liberty's Curry honored again

Seth Curry, Stephen's little brother, is at it again.

Seth, a freshman at Liberty, has already won a Big South Conference player of the week award.

Now he's been named the league's freshman of the week.

Curry earned the honor by averaging 20.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists as Liberty won two of three last week. He scored 22 points in the Flames' victory over George Mason, hitting a three with 17.7 seconds left to send the game into overtime. He had 15 against Gardner-Webb Saturday, with six rebounds and five assists.

Sunday, he hit six of nine threes on the way to 24 points at Clemson, as Liberty lost by five.

--Stan Olson

How will N.C. State defend Curry?

At noon Saturday, N.C. State (4-0) faces national scoring leading Stephen Curry of 22nd-ranked Davidson (5-1) at Charlotte’s Time Warner Cable Arena.

Wing Courtney Fells, the Wolfpack’s primary defensive stopper, will draw the main assignment of guarding Curry, who is averaging 29.2 points per game.

Here is how N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said he plans to deal with Curry:

1. No junk defenses. “I don’t think you change your defense. You just have to be more aware. You have to be solid. Mentally you can’t have a breakdown, because he can burn you.”

2. Keep Fells rested, even if it means using other defenders on Curry: “I think you have to try to stay fresh, because he’s constantly moving to get open. No shot is a bad shot (for Curry), and when you’re playing against a guy like that you can’t afford to relax.”

3. Stop Curry’s teammates: “We can’t pay so much attention to Curry that we ignore the other guys. (Bryant) Barr can shoot the basketball. They have guys that can score the ball. They played against a team (Loyola, Md.) that doubled Curry the entire ballgame, and still (Davidson) won by. . .30 points.” – Ken Tysiac

It's UNC and everyone else

If the point wasn't bludgeoned home with a 98-63 win over the alleged 13th-best team in the country on a neutral site, UNC's the best team in college basketball.

By a mile, actually make that 11 because the reality of the talent-depleted state of college basketball is the second-best team is Duke.

College basketball titles aren't won in December but the UNC-Duke order is crystal clear after three events this week, oddly two of them involving the Big Ten, which hasn't been relevant since UNC's last national title in 2005.

1) The severity of UNC's win

That was not Michigan State-Uppper Peninsula, that was the actual Spartans that UNC beat by 35 points on a neutral site.

To be sure, Michigan State, which lost to Maryland by 18 last week, is not in 2000 form, Tom Izzo's national title team, or even the 2005 version, which lost to UNC at the Final Four, but 35 points is 35 points.

More importantly, was where the game was played — the same site as the Final Four.

Given UNC's history of shooting problems and stage fright in domes, playing at Ford Field gives the Heels a certain comfort level come April if they return.

2) Duke's win at Purdue

Duke won another ACC-Big Ten Challenge. So what?

Well, Purdue with its muscle was supposed to be the end of the Devils' perfect record in the series, especially with the game on Purdue's home court.

What happened? Duke won by 16 with only two points from Gerald Henderson.

3) UConn's 68-64 win over Buffalo

Buffalo? Buffalo? UNC's beating Michigan State by 35, Kentucky by 19 and Notre Dame by 15 and the No. 2 team in the country can't roll Buffalo?

One close call to a bad team does not a season make but UConn has something else working against it — the Obvious Factor.

When Dick Vitale is pointing out the parallels between this season and 1999, as he was during Wednesday's UNC broadcast, Fonzi's on the water skis.

The popular notion, as espoused by Vitale, is UNC is the 1999 version Duke, the ultra-dominant team (37-1 going into the title game and 19-0 in the ACC) that loses in the title game. UConn is reprising its role as UConn.

Except two important facts overlooked from that UConn upset: UConn was 32-2 going into the title game and UConn had great guards.

The current Huskies might run up an equally impressive record, although unlikely given Thursday's struggle with Buffalo, but I promise you there's no Rip Hamilton on the current roster, or Kevin Freeman, or even Khalid El-Amin.

UConn won't be the team that ends UNC's season because if UNC gets to Detroit it's over.

The only way UNC doesn't win the national title is if it loses in the East Regional in Boston (the first two rounds are in Greensboro, it's not necessary for me to rehash UNC's dominance in the state of North Carolina is it?)

And it's going to take more than a Harold "The Show" Arceneaux to knock out the Heels. Notre Dame's Kyle McAlarney scored 39 in Maui and couldn't keep the Irish in spitting distance of the Heels.

It's going to take Arceneaux, Stephen Curry and McAlarney going off. In short, a repeat of 1997 when Roy Williams' No. 1-ranked Kansas team, an overwhelming pre-tournament favorite, lost to a hot-shooting, guard-heavy Arizona team in the Sweet 16.

Is there an Arizona out there?

Who can hit bunches of 3s and out-shoot the Heels? Hmmm, one ACC team did it on Feb. 6. Pittsburgh and Gonzaga (I know, I know) might the be only other two teams capable.

Bottom line, UNC's talented and experienced and its talent, notably Ty Lawson and Deon Thompson, improved over the summer.

While everyone else in college basketball is losing its top-end talent — pick a missing NBA star from the Classes of 2005 (what if Andrew Bynum, ranked two spots behind Hansbrough was in his fourth season at UConn?), '06 (Kevin Durant at Texas or Greg Oden at Ohio State) or '07 (Derrick Rose at Memphis, Kevin Love at UCLA) — the Tar Heels are the only program to retain their McDonald's All-Americans.

It's UNC and no one else is in its class. -- J.P. Giglio, (Raleigh) News & Observer

Lessons from ACC-Big Ten challenge?

Dick Vitale said it best Wednesday night while watching North Carolina wallop Michigan State 98-65 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Vitale said he was looking forward to the North Carolina-Michigan State and Duke-Purdue games because they were matching premier teams, but neither game lived up to its billling in the sense of being competitive.

Duke crushed Purdue 76-60 in West Lafayette, Ind., before a North Carolina team Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said might be playing on a different level from anybody else hammered the Spartans in Detroit.

So in addition to winning the ACC-Big Ten Challenge for the 10th straight season, the ACC proved it once again will be very strong at the top. This year's made-for-ESPN event was closer than most, with the ACC eking out a 6-5 advantage over the Big Ten to improve to 62-35 overall in the Challenge.

In addition to North Carolina and Duke, the winners in the event included:

- Wake Forest, which displayed the talent of its freshmen and sophomores on a big stage against Indiana.

- Clemson, which improved to 8-0 with a win at Illinois, showing that it still has enough veteran talent to be an NCAA tournament contender.

Losers included:

- Virginia Tech, whose improbable string of losses on buzzer beaters was extended by Wisconsin.

- Miami, which was comfortably ahead of Ohio State before Jack McClinton was ejected for taking a swing he undoubtedly regrets.

- N.C. State, which didn't get a chance to play in the Challenge by virtue of its last-place finish in the ACC last season.

Skeen transferring from Wake Forest

Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio confirmed Wednesday night that former North Mecklenburg High standout Jamie Skeen will be transferring.

Skeen was declared ineligible for the fall semester for violating the school's academic policy and informed the team this week he would not appeal for reinstatement to the university.

"I wish Jamie would have gone ahead and appealed his decision and came back. I wish he would have done that," Gaudio said. "I mean this with all my heart, this isn't coach-speak, that is one of the most respectful, coachable young men that I've been a part of in 28 years.
"I'm saddened to see him go but I wish him nothing but the best. I talked to his high school coach, Duane Lewis, today and said, 'Everything and anything I can do, you tell me and I'll call 100 schools and tell them the same thing.' "

Skeen, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward, will have two years of eligibility left but would have to sit out a year if he transfers to another NCAA Division I school.

In two seasons of action at Wake, Skeen averaged 6.6 points and 4.4 rebounds a game. He was named North Carolina's Mr. Basketball in 2005, the same season he led North Mecklenburg to the N.C. 4A state championship.

--- Jim Utter

Big Ten finally up to the Challenge?

After two nights, it appears at first glance that the Big Ten has a decent chance to win the ACC-Big Ten Challenge for the first time ever.

But despite the 3-3 score so far in the 10th year of the made-for-ESPN basketball event, the Big Ten has little margin for error with the final five games of the challenge to be played Wednesday night.

No. 1 North Carolina is so good that even Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Tuesday night that the Tar Heels’ outstanding veterans put them on a higher level from the rest of the teams in the nation.

Whether Tyler Hansbrough plays or not, North Carolina will be an overwhelming favorite against Michigan State in Detroit with Spartans forward Goran Suton ailing.

Wake Forest also is unlikely to lose at home to an Indiana team decimated by defections following NCAA rules violations by former coach Kelvin Sampson.

If those two games are in the ACC win column, the Big Ten would need to win the other three tonight to eke out a 6-5 overall win in the Challenge. Two of those games are on ACC home floors – Michigan at Maryland and Penn State at Georgia Tech.

The other has Florida State at Northwestern, which traditionally is one of the Big Ten’s weakest teams. If you’re the ACC, you have to like your odds going into tonight.

Duke displays rebounding might

No. 4-ranked Duke’s 49-29 rebounding advantage in a 76-60 defeat of ninth-ranked Purdue was a surprise Tuesday night.

“They really get on top of you and grab the ball; they’re tough,” said Purdue sophomore Robbie Hummel.

No doubt Kzyzewski would consider that a compliment after his undersized team has relied more on grace than power in recent years.

Tigers have played lots of tight games

- Clemson will enter ACC play with plenty of experience in close games.

The Tigers edged Illinois 76-74 Tuesday to improve to 8-0. They also own wins by one point over Charlotte and four points over Temple.

Free throw shooting, a huge problem in past seasons for Clemson, hadn’t been much of an issue for the Tigers this season until Tuesday. They shot just 6-for-13 from the foul line at Illinois.

Even though Clemson’s tradition wouldn’t seem to indicate that the school would be one of the ACC’s top performers against the Big Ten, the Tigers have won five in a row in the Challenge.

– Ken Tysiac

Hansbrough playing? Heels not saying

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina coach Roy Williams said (again) he does not know whether forward Tyler Hansbrough will play against No. 13 Michigan State in Detroit on Wednesday night. The senior has missed four games this season because of a stress reaction in his right shin, then a “tweaked” left ankle.

Other notes:

• Ford Field, site of Wednesday's ACC/Big Ten Challenge game, is also the site of this year Final Four — where both teams hope to end up in April.

“Playing there this year gives us a feel for the court, so if we go back ... we’ll be used to it,’’ point guard Ty Lawson said.

Especially because of the unique raised-floor configuration, which was also used when an NCAA Regional was played there.

"I'm afraid we are going to be playing on a raised court, and it will be unusual for me,'' Williams said. "I know when I was watching the games last year, it just looked weird and I don't know that I would enjoy it.

"As coaches, we get in a rut and think what we do is more comfortable than change is, but I'm going to have a hard time trying to figure out if that's going to be even more fun."

• Freshman Delvon Roe chose Michigan State over UNC. Asked if he thought he was pretty confident once upon a time that Roe would choose the Tar Heels, Williams said: "I thought he was a wonderful young man and a wonderful player, and I thought we had a good chance."

The forward is averaging 6.2 points and five rebounds after returning from surgeries on both knees.

• The Tar Heels have won four of their five games in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge since Williams took over as head coach.

— Robbi Pickeral

Expect Duke, UNC to own ACC - again

So when will some team other than North Carolina or Duke win the ACC regular-season championship?

It does happen occasionally. It's easy to forget that the Tar Heels and Virginia tied (at 11-5) as recently as 2007.

But the general trend always seems to point to the Big Two. Since the league began in 1953-54, North Carolina has 26 regular-season first-place finishes and Duke has 18. No other school has more than seven (that would be N.C. State Wolfpack). Over the past 12 seasons, the Blue Devils or Tar Heels have either won or tied for first 10 times.

The ACC tournament champion, of course, gets the league's automatic bid and is considered the official title-holder. North Carolina has 17 of those crowns, Duke 16 and N.C. State 10. But the regular season is won with a winter-long body of work, not by simply getting hot for a weekend.

Will anyone offer a regular ACC season better than North Carolina or possibly Duke this year?

Ain't happening.

- Stan Olson

Ford Field seeks Final Four feel

No. 13 Michigan State is trying to give Ford Field a Final Four feeling for Wednesday night's ACC/ Big Ten Challenge game against top- ranked North Carolina.

According to this story from the Detroit News, the game will be played on floor from the 2000 national championship.

The University bought the floor after MSU won the title on it in Indianapolis.

Ford Field, of course, is also the site of this year's Final Four — where UNC is a favorite to play.

— Robbi Pickeral

'Other' Curry scores 26 in upset of UVa

Seth Curry, the younger brother of Davidson standout Stephen Curry, isn't taking long to make his mark.

Seth, a freshman guard at Liberty, was just named the Big South Conference Player of the Week.
Curry averaged 23 points and four rebounds over three games, including the Flames' 86-82 upset of Virginia. He had 26 points against the Cavaliers, helping Liberty to its first win over an ACC school since 1998. And he shot 51.9 percent from the floor for the week despite often facing double teams. He was also named MVP for the Liberty Thanksgiving Classic.

Last year, we got tired of talking about how many teams missed on Stephen. It appears to have happened again.

--Stan Olson