As the old saying goes, if you can't beat them ... throw food. As Illinois was warming up for its blowout of Northwestern on Jan. 15, someone in the Wildcats' student section threw a piece of pizza (later confirmed by various media outlets to be sausage pizza) in the direction of the Illini. "It was stupid," Deron Williams told the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald. "I was about to get the rebound and it just plopped right in the middle of the floor." This incident still ranks well behind Kappa Sigma's flask-in-the-whale-tank disaster on my Proud To Be An NU Alum list.
Next two: 1/20 vs. Iowa, 1/25 at Wisconsin.

Only at Kansas can you buy a replica jersey of a freshman non-starter who averages fewer than six points a game. Still, it might not be a bad idea to be the first kid on your block to own some Alex Galindo gear. This year, you'll get mostly blank stares. But when the kid -- whom Bill Self already trusts in crunch time --blows up a few seasons down the road, you'll be considered a trendsetter with a sharp eye for talent.
Next two: 1/22 at Villanova, 1/25 at Baylor.

It's all happening for the Dukies. They go to N.C. State and win. They go retro and win. DeMarcus Nelson is solving problems with duct tape. The Blue Devils faced a dangerous Miami team, in vice city, and won, with A-Rod in the stands. (Also in attendance was a grown man wearing a white J.J. Redick jersey and holding up a blue Redick jersey at the same time. Adding insult to this man's fanaticism, the Blue Devils were wearing black.)
Next two: 1/22 at Florida State, 1/26 vs. Maryland.

Wake's 2,000-plus student cheering section -- the Screamin' Demons -- elevated its national profile by displaying impressive Illinois- or Duke-style rowdiness for the Deacs' win over North Carolina last Saturday. (Those fans were sorely missed in Tallahassee on Tuesday.) The Demons' standard-issue uniform, however -- a loud, black-and-yellow tie-dye shirt -- will not win any fashion awards. An enterprising, or perhaps traitorous, student-section member is hawking a second-hand Screamin' uni. Wear it at your own risk.
Next two: 1/22 at Cincinnati, 1/27 at Georgia Tech.

Duke, UNC and Wake Forest have separated themselves from the rest of the ACC, but in what order does one rank them? It's likely the Dukies will get top billing in the next AP poll. The Tar Heels lost to the Deacons last Saturday. Wake then went and muddled everything by losing to Florida State. This week, with very little conviction, I put Duke at No. 1, Wake at 2 and UNC at 3. Although in a neutral-court, round-robin tourney, it's likely the teams would finish in reverse order.
Next two: 1/22 vs. Miami, 1/29 at Virginia.

You can look at the scores the Eagles have put up against marginal opponents during their undefeated run -- 63-60 over Holy Cross, 82-80 over Yale, 67-66 over Villanova on Wednesday night -- and interpret it one of two ways: either BC's undefeated record is misleading, or, the Eagles are getting valuable tight-game experience. I prefer the latter. The Eagles don't win big, but they don't choke. Said Jared Dudley, who scored 36 points in BC's comeback over Villanova (the Eagles had trailed 66-60 in the final two minutes): "Who's not nervous down by six with 1:30 left? You can get over nerves. I do. It just shows the will to win."
Next two: 1/22 at St. John's, 1/26 at Providence.

Jim Boeheim made a point of saying earlier in the season that forward Hakim Warrick needed to get to the free-throw line more often, rather than be content to take mid-range jumpers. Boeheim had to be pleased by Warrick's line in the 'Cuse's overtime win over Georgetown on Tuesday: Hak had a season-high 16 attempts, making 11. Still, one can only wonder how good the Orange would be if their star were as accurate a shot as fellow All-America forward candidate Ike Diogu at Arizona State: Warrick hits just 62.2 percent from the line; Diogu makes 82.3.
Next two: 1/22 vs. West Virginia, 1/24 at Rutgers.

The two most memorable games played at Gonzaga's now-closed Kennel, according to its Web site, were wins over Pepperdine in 2000 and 2002. So it was meaningful, if not memorable, for the Zags that they won their first meeting with the Waves at the newly opened McCarthey Athletic Center on Saturday, getting 45 points from the forward duo of Adam Morrison and Ronny Turiaf.
Next two: 1/20 at San Francisco, 1/22 at San Diego.

Brandon Roy, the talented Husky guard who has played sparingly while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery, will return to the UW lineup on Sunday against Washington State. In Roy's absence, Tre Simmons has risen up the stat sheet to become the Huskies' leading scorer at 17.4 points per game -- giving the UW three guards who are liable to go off for 20 points on any given night. The only other top-25 team that can seriously claim that is Illinois ... and we all know how that's working out.
Next two: 1/23 vs. Washington State, 1/27 at Arizona.

It's good to see tiny point guard Drew Lavender starting to assert himself on offense; the Sooners had overachieved in the non-conference season but were relying heavily on their frontcourt duo of Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout. Lavender scored in double figures in just six of OU's first 13 games, but has exploded to score 20 and 23 points in recent wins over Baylor and Texas A&M. The difference? Lavender is being less cerebral, according to coach Kelvin Sampson, who told The Oklahoman after the Baylor game, "Sometimes [Drew] thinks too much. When Drew just plays hell-bent for leather and doesn't worry about mistakes, that's when he's really good."
Next two: 1/22 vs. Texas, 1/24 vs. Oklahloma State.

Perhaps hesitant to add a second hyphen to the name of its arena (Gallagher-Iba), Oklahoma State opted to honor head coach Eddie Sutton, who surpassed Henry Iba on the career wins list on Saturday, in another way: by naming the Cowboys' playing surface the Eddie Sutton Court. And for just $18.43, you can get your own t-shirt to commemorate this. I think $7.68 -- Sutton's milestone victory total -- would have been an appropriate price, but that probably doesn't meet the bottom line.
Next two: 1/22 vs. Baylor, 1/24 at Oklahoma.

"I didn't think he'd just walk up and shoot from the volleyball line." That's what UCLA freshman Arron Afflalo told the Arizona Daily Star after Arizona's Salim Stoudamire sunk the game-winning 3-pointer over a sagged-back Afflalo in Saturday's win over UCLA. Stoudamire's 25-foot dagger was a thing of beauty; ice running through his veins, he dribbled up the floor, pulled up uncontested and scorched the net with 2.5 seconds left on the clock.
Next two: 1/20 at Oregon, 1/22 at Oregon State.

Reserve guard Sydmill Harris, who hails from the Netherlands and is described as the Longhorns' court jester, is blogging on Texas' Web site. His entry from Dec. 28 gives a window into what it's like to be an international NCAA athlete during the holidays -- he was stuck in his UT dorm while everyone else on the team was home for Christmas. At least he had episodes of Quantum Leap to cheer him up.
Next two: 1/22 at Oklahoma, 1/25 vs. Texas Tech.

From the Lexington Herald-Leader comes a nominee for tongue-in-cheek comment of the season. The Wildcats' Ravi Moss, describing how UK allowed Joe Crawford back into its family after his aborted transfer attempt: "We sang Kumbaya." Crawford did not make the trip to Ole Miss on Wednesday night, which was probably a good thing. He couldn't be fingered as the distraction that cause the 'Cats to score just 16 first-half points against the Rebels.
Next two: 1/22 vs. LSU, 1/25 at Tennessee.

What is it about the Cardinals that makes them go for the jugular against outmatched opponents? Louisville's blowouts tend to get a little ugly, resulting in scores like 104-40 (vs. Morehead State), 107-62 (at Southern Miss), or 92-41, as was the final on Wednesday night against East Carolina. The culprit is likely Rick Pitino. Exhibit 1: With Louisville leading ECU by the slight margin of 57-17 at the 16:43 mark in the second half, Pitino was so irked by Ellis Myles' second foul that the coach smashed a tin of breath mints onto the scorer's table, sending them scattering all over the hardwood.
Next two: 1/22 vs. Tennessee, 1/26 vs. Marquette.

Television producers working on Wisconsin games, desperate to infuse any sex appeal into un-sexy Big Ten basketball, have taken to showing (and showing, and showing) cutaways to senior forward Mike Wilkinson's fiancé, Alexis Schrubbe, who plays in the euphonium section of the UW band and has sung the pre-game national anthem on more than one occasion. ESPN's Steve Lavin commented that Wilkinson "might have outpunted his coverage" or "overachieved a little bit" in the girlfriend department. This appears to be the wholesome, Dairyland alternative to the Matt Walsh-Lauren Anderson romance at Florida. Anderson was a Playmate, and sorry, I can't link to that. Google away.
Next two: 1/22 at Michigan, 1/25 vs. Illinois.