NEWARK, N.J. -- West Virginia will be leaving New Jersey with at least one win after taking care of New Mexico State with a 75-61 victory at the Prudential Center.

Joe Alexander led all scorers with 16 points, and the Mountaineers had three other players in double figures. Alex Ruoff and Da'Sean Butler each finished with 13 points and Darris Nichols dropped in 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting.

WVU shot 48.3 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from three, while New Mexico State really struggled from beyond the arc, making just 5 of its 19 shots from deep.

The Aggies also had four scorers in double digits. Jonathan Gibson was the team's high-scorer with 14, and Iti Martin tallied 13, making five of his six attempts from the floor. Fred Peete and Hatila Passos had 11 and 10, respectively.

I'll have more about this game later, including quotes from both coaches, but now we get set for our premiere matchup of the night, as No. 7 Tennessee and No. 15 Texas lock horns (no pun intended) in our championship bout at 7 p.m. ET.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 06:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- This one looks to be over for the most part with West Virginia leading New Mexico State, 71-55, as we go under two minutes.

Joe Alexander has really stepped up in the second half for the Mountaineers, leading both teams with 16 points, while Darris Nichols and Da'Sean Butler have both added 13 apiece.

Jonathan Gibson was really the only Aggie that came to play today for NMSU coach Marvin Menzies, as the 6-foot-1 guard from West Covina, Calif., had tallied a team-high 14 points at the 3:37 mark.

While many thought that New Mexico State would be the favorite to win the WAC after last season's first-round appearance NCAA Tournament under former coach Reggie Theus (now head coach of the NBA's Sacramento Kings), we're finding out in this early part of the season that the Aggies might not be as good as advertised, especially without freshman phenom Herb Pope on the floor.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 06:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- West Virginia is getting to the rim easily on New Mexico State right now, and the Mountaineers have charged out to a 60-48 lead with six minutes remaining in the StubHub! Legends Classic consolation game.

Joe Alexander has come on strong for the Mountaineers in the last five minutes, knocking down a couple field goals to raise his tally to 12 points on the evening. The junior forward has also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, and I'm sure Bob Huggins will be pleased with that effort.

Alex Ruoff has just stolen the ball with 4:36 and took it the other way before getting fouled by Jonathan Gibson, who has just committed his fourth foul.

It looks like West Virginia will be leaving Newark, N.J., with at least one win, as the Mountaineers are holding on to a 69-52 lead now.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 06:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- Da'Sean Butler is starting to have himself a nice game for West Virginia, as the Mountaineers have extended their lead to 50-43 with 10:27 remaining in this first game at The Prudential Center.

At the 11:13-mark, the sophomore forward had tallied 11 points, four rebounds and two assists in 27 minutes, and is starting to find his rhythm from the outside and the pockets in New Mexico State's zone.

Alex Ruoff, meanwhile, is stuck on the 11 points that he had from the first half, but we'll see if the junior guard can start to light things up after knocking down three of his seven attempts from three-point range before halftime.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 05:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- West Virginia has got out to a 33-30 lead on New Mexico State in the StubHub! Legends Classic consolation game at the The Rock, where it's been a back-and-forth struggle for both teams so far.

West Virginia was looking to extend its lead heading into the break with a three on its last possession of the half but couldn't get it to go with a couple ticks left on the clock.

At the half, both teams are shooting nearly the same from the field, as West Virginia made 12 of its 30 attempts (40.0 %) and New Mexico State sunk 13 of its 31 shots (41.9%).

New Mexico State guard Jonathan Gibson is leading all scorers with 12 points, and Iti Martin has dropped in eight and grabbed two rebounds.

Alex Ruoff, in the meantime, is leading the Mountaineers with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-7 from three-point range. Darris Nichols and Joe Alexander both have five for WVU, and Alexander has also grabbed five rebounds in his 16 minutes of action so far.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 05:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- With three minutes left in the first half, New Mexico State is clinging to a one-point lead, 30-29, over West Virginia as both teams seem to be trading baskets back and forth.

The small crowd of NMSU fans that are sitting behind have been giving it to the refs for almost all 20 minutes before halftime, complaining and screaming about each foul that is called on the Aggies. The 10:4 foul ratio seems to get referenced every 30 seconds, and the last outrage nearly pierced my years. Too bad press row is on this side of the court...

In getting some live stats, New Mexico State's Jonathan Gibson is leading all scorers right now with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, while West Virginia's Alex Ruoff has eight points after sinking three of his six attempts.

Freshman Wendell McKines has done a nice job on the glass, tallying five rebounds, including two offensive ones, in his first 13 minutes.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- West Virginia and New Mexico State are battling back and forth here at The Prudential Center, and both offenses are looking good.

Whether it's been good offense or bad defense, well, that's something for the coaches to debate afterward.

Wellington Smith just hit a three for WVU, but Martin Iti has picked it up for NMSU over the last several minutes, getting a dunk and then a chance for a three-point play on the ensuing possession.

And after Iti's layup and foul, you could hear West Virginia coach Bob Huggins yell at his players standing around the key: "You want to play 2-3 zone, so you can stand some more!!!"

Huggins is certainly not happy about the Mountaineers' defensive intensity right now, but for as bad as he thinks they're playing, WVU is sure hitting its shots from the perimeter.

Alex Ruoff just hit another three to put the Morgantown school up, 25-22, just more than eight minutes remaining in this first half.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 04:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- Welcome to the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., where tonight we see the final two games of the StubHub! Legends Classic.

In our first game, Big East foe West Virginia faces WAC favorite New Mexico State, who hasn't exactly got off to a great start after getting doust by Duke, 86-61 in Durham, N.C., before heading east this week and losing big to No. 15 Texas, 102-87, last night.

The Mountaineers, meanwhile, are coming off a heartbreaking two-point loss to No. 7 Tennessee, who will play the Longhorns later tonight in the tournament's championship game.

This marks the first meeting between WVU and NMSU as the Mountaineers are 2-2 all-time against WAC opponents. With Bob Huggins leaving Kansas State for his alma mater this past off-season, West Virginia has certainly got some national pub coming into 2007-08, certainly a factor in the 29 votes that the Mountaineers received in the latest Associated Press poll.

New Mexico State has three players are double-figures coming into the tournament. Jonathan Gibson has been leading the way, but senior guard-forward combo Justin Hawkins has also had a fine senior year so far with 13.5 points and 8.5 rebounds coming into Friday's semifinal.

Freshman Wendell McKines has also been contributing in double figures, but it's unknown whether heralded freshman recruit Herb Pope will see the floor at all for the Aggies this year. As my fellow CSTV.com staffers tell me, Pope did not play last night, and after looking at the NMSU roster, he's not even listed there. So after a little research (thank you Google), I found out that Pope and New Mexico State is still waiting to get clearance from the NCAA.

The ruling has largely to do with a particular class that Pope took in high school. While the school recommended that he take the class, no other student-athlete actually took the class. And by the NCAA's standards, that means it wasn't actually a real class, according to its list of approved courses. After earning an Initial Eligibility Waiver, the NCAA revoked their decision a few days later. Whatever the reason for the delay on Pope's return, the school has hired a consulting firm to help expedite the process of getting their highly-touted big man back on the court in Las Cruces, N.M.

Anyway, here comes the tip.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 04:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- A.J. Abrams did come back into the game for Texas, so that's good news for Longhorn fans. Texas used its early lead and was able to keep New Mexico State at bay the whole second half, never letting them get closer than 10 points, as they won 102-87, and hit 100 points for the second straight game.

Continue reading "Texas Hits Century" »

Posted by Doug Kroll at 08:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- Texas can't quite squash the Aggies and put them away, even though they have 86 points with 7:29 remaining in the game, pretty impressive offensive shootout.

NMSU trails by 13 here, and good news for you Texas fans, Abrams is back on the bench by himself, not receiving attention any more on his leg at the end of the bench. As I'm typing this, he just went back over to the end of the bench where he's standing, but he's walking around putting pressure on it, which is certainly better than when he was helped off. I'd expect to see him tomorrow night here in Newark in what should be the championship game for Texas.

More of a crowd is filling in here, with the time approaching 9pm, which is when Tennessee and West Virginia are scheduled to tip-off. There's an overwhelming number of Vols fans of the four teams i'd say. But I'll wait for that judgement until after we're done here.

Texas still trying to put NMSU away, leading 87-73 with 7 minutes left.

Posted by Doug Kroll at 08:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- Well, just like that, A.J. Abrams is out of the ballgame with an apparent leg injury. Trying to guard a three, Abrams went sprawling down into the NMSU bench area and didn't get up until the Texas trainers got over there to help him back over to the bench. He's now being attended to and doesn't look to be in as much pain as he was to begin with, but with this game well in hand, Abrams won't have a shot at the Texas record for three pointers in a game, as he'll fall one short of tying it with nine.

Posted by Doug Kroll at 08:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- Texas guard A.J. Abrams is flirting with a Texas record with 11:53 left in the game. He's hit nine three-pointers and has 29 points.

What are the Texas records? The individual record for threes in a game is 10 when Al Coleman did it against Kansas State on Jan. 12, 1997. As for points, he still has a long way to go for the Texas record of 49 from back in 1956 when Raymond Downs torched Baylor and in 1949 when Slater Martin (one of the legends being honored in this tournament) scored 49 against TCU.

Either way, Abrams is unconcious from downtown, not to mention he's basically been wide open.

We just had our first Bob Huggins sighting, as he came strolling by the writers' table as he'll watch the end of this game before WVU takes the court. His counterpart, Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl, has been scouting all night.

As for the game, Texas now leads, 82-59, with 11 minutes left.

Posted by Doug Kroll at 08:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- At the half here in Newark, it's Texas 57 and New Mexico State 46. Give some credit to the Aggies for fighting back late in the first half to cut it to 11 and make a game of it. It also helped that Texas actually missed some shots, something that they didn't do a lot of in the first half.

Texas finished shotting 55.3 percent, including a blistering 11-for-19 from downtown. The 11 three-pointers in a first-half ties a record, and falls just one shy of the school record for three-pointers in a half (they hit 11 against Kansas on March 3 of last year in a first half, but hit 12 against Kansas State in a second half back in 1997.

A.J. Abrams leads the way for Texas with 20 points, after scoring 30 in his last game. Not bad. He's already hit his season's average. Abrams is 7-for-12 from the field, including a ridiculous 6-for-9 from the field.

Other noteables for the Longhorns, big man Connor Atchley has 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 3-for-3 from downtown. Damion James also is in double figures with 10 points.

Taking a look at New Mexico State, the Aggies actually shot 60.7-percent from the field, but when you take into account the fact that they took 10 fewer shots, and hit four fewer threes, that's how you get our score.

Leading the way for the Aggies, Jonathan Gibson with 15 points and Paris Carter hit three 3 pointers to finish with 11 in the half. Give credit to the Aggies, they outrebounded the Longhorns 19-10, but did finish with a horrendous 14 turnovers, something that will obviously have to change if they want to stay in this thing.

Second half just about to get underway with NMSU looking to get back into it.

Posted by Doug Kroll at 07:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- I think we have a record on our hands already, with only 6:48 remaining in the first half. Texas' A.J. Abrams hit his sixth three pointer of the half, and according to the Longhorns record book, that ties a school record for the number of three's made in a half. Abrams hit eight in their last game against Arkansas-Monticello, and should be well on his way past that!

As for the game, the Aggies have cut into the lead a little bit thanks to a few threes of their own, and trail 43-30 with just about six minutes to play.

Posted by Doug Kroll at 07:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- This thing is getting out of hand and we're only just under the 12-minute timeout. Texas has raced out to a 30-14 lead on the Aggies, largely from hitting six three-pointers in the first seven minutes and seven overall. A.J. Abrams has only missed one three-pointer, going 4-for-5 from downtown in the early going to lead all scorers with 12 points.

In fact, when Augustin just missed a three, there was a collective groan from the crowd, as they were shocked that someone actually missed.

Part of New Mexico State's problem is that they can't get the ball upcourt after a made basket by Texas. It's not because the Longhorns are pressing, either. The Aggies have thrown the ball away or to a Longhorn at least five times in those spots and have turned the ball over, on my count, seven times here in the first eight minutes. Not a good way to come out against the No. 15 team in the country.

But, it's still early.

Posted by Doug Kroll at 07:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- Texas has gotten off to a nice start, thanks in large part to a couple of horrendous turnovers by New Mexico State on in-bounds passes.

Just about five minutes into this one, Texas is out to a 14-8 lead behind five points by Connor Atchley, and of course, a three-pointer from 5-foot-11 guard A.J. Abrams.

A quick sidenote: When LSU just lost in triple overtime to Arkansas on the football field, a loud cheer came up from the skyboxes here. I have a feeling there are some happy West Virginia fans in this place, even before their team takes the court later tonight.

Posted by Doug Kroll at 07:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- So just what is the Legends Classic? Besides being a tournament sponsored by Stubhub, one player from each team here will be honored for making a significant contribution to collegiate basketball. The names are pretty impressive: Jerry West from West Virginia, Bernard King from Tennessee, Lou Henson from New Mexico State and Slater Martin from Texas.

Continue reading "Who Are The Legends?" »

Posted by Doug Kroll at 06:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEWARK, N.J. -- Welcome to Newark, New Jersey and the brand new Prudential Center, which even before being completed had already been nicknamed "The Rock."

We have a doubleheader on tap, with No. 15 Texas and New Mexico State squaring off at 7 p.m. ET, followed by No. 7 Tennessee and West Virginia.

This is all part of the Stubhub! Legends Classic, which has an interesting format to say the least, but we'll get to that later. First, a preview of the Longhorns and Aggies...

Continue reading "Welcome To The Rock" »

Posted by Doug Kroll at 06:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DURHAM, N.C. -- At no point in Jon Scheyer's basketball life has he ever not been a starter. But right now, having Scheyer come off the bench is looking like a pretty good plan for Duke. The sophomore guard, who started 32 of 33 games last season, hit four three-pointers on the way to a team-leading 22 points in the Blue Devils' 86-61 win against New Mexico State at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Continue reading "Scheyer Leads Blue Devils Off The Bench" »

Posted by Evan Markfield at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DURHAM, N.C. -- New Mexico State managed to cut Duke's lead to 17 with five and a half minutes to go but wouldn't get any closer than that. Duke's Jon Scheyer hit a three to put the Devils up 76-54 with 3:30 to go, and that should just about do it.

Posted by Evan Markfield at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DURHAM, N.C. -- When Duke fan favorite Marty Pocius had a steal and dunk a few minutes ago -- sparking a chant of "Marty! Marty!" from the crowd -- it sure looked like the Blue Devils were just going to continue pulling farther and farther away. But thanks to a Fred Peete three-pointer and a layup from Wendell McKines, the advantage is now 63-44 with 10:36 to play.

Posted by Evan Markfield at 08:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DURHAM, N.C. -- Nothing is going down for the Aggies right now, and the Blue Devils have opened the second half on a 12-4 run to push their lead to 59-30. It all started with an alley-oop from Greg Paulus to DeMarcus Nelson that quickly put life back into the crowd after halftime.

Posted by Evan Markfield at 08:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DURHAM, N.C. -- After the Aggies pulled within 10, the Blue Devils turned up the intensity a notch and scored 10 of the final 12 points of the first half to go into the locker room with a 47-26 lead.

Continue reading "Duke Up 21 At Halftime" »

Posted by Evan Markfield at 08:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DURHAM, N.C. -- Well, the Aggies aren't giving up after all following that big Duke run. They've hit a couple of shots, and the Blue Devils haven't been able to make outside shots to make New Mexico State pay for playing a zone defense (which they're doing almost exclusively). It's now 27-17 Duke at the 7:44 mark. And at the urging of the crowd, the famed Crazy Towel Guy is waving his towel. We'll see how that affects the momentum.

Posted by Evan Markfield at 07:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DURHAM, N.C. -- Remember that game that was tied 6-6? Well since then, the Blue Devils have gone on a 19-2 run -- capped by a nice reverse layup and foul by point guard Greg Paulus -- to completely take control of this game. They're destroying the Aggies on the boards and forcing turnover after turnover. The only reason the lead hasn't grown as I type this is because it's a TV timeout.

Posted by Evan Markfield at 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DURHAM, N.C. -- About a minute after that last post, NMSU started taking quick shots that weren't even close, and the Blue Devils quickly converted. A three ball from Duke freshman Taylor King prompted a quick Aggies timeout with the score 13-6.

Posted by Evan Markfield at 07:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DURHAM, N.C. -- There is some fan battling going on in the opening minutes, strange for a place where the Crazies are usually dominant. The section behind the NMSU bench started a "Let's Go Aggies" chant, which the Crazies met with a chant of "Sit! Sit! Sit!" So far the New Mexico State fans have plenty to be excited about, with the game tied at 6 at the 17:30 mark.

Posted by Evan Markfield at 07:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DURHAM, N.C. -- It's not likely that Duke will get as big of a blowout win as it did in the season opener against North Carolina Central, but for this game to end with any less of a difference than 20 points, New Mexico state will have to play the game of its young season.

Continue reading "Approaching Tip-Off At Cameron" »

Posted by Evan Markfield at 06:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)