1. The New York Times' masterful Pat Borzi on the unique personal and professional habits of Marquette's Brent "Buzz" Williams. LINK.

2. The Philadelphia Daily News' superstar Dick Jerardi's hoop thoughts on Mike Krzyzewski's smirk, the Atlantic 10 television's contract, mid-major scheduling, Corey Fisher's skills, Temple's NCAA Tournament resume, Mike Slive's support for Davidson, and more. LINK.

3. Sports Illustrated's Luke Winn on the topsy-turvy top in college basketball. The key graf on Pittsburgh's Achilles' Heel: "Despite the fact that Providence coach Keno Davis had said before the game, 'I don't see any way to be able to stop [Blair],' his team knew exactly how to do it -- by getting him into foul trouble, the same way Louisville did when it beat the then-No. 1 Panthers on Jan. 17, and the same way Villanova did when it beat the Panthers on Jan. 28." LINK.

4. The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Elton Alexander on the Mid-American Conference. "The MAC as a league is ranked No. 22 in the country, a 10-position drop from last season. The good news is conference drops like this are common and rebounds are usually quick. Two examples; The Atlantic 10 dropped from a No. 7 league in 2004 to No. 13 in 2005 then back up to No. 10 in 2006. The Western Athletic Conference was No. 9 in 2007 and dropped to No. 17 in 2008 and is now back up to No. 11." LINK.

5. The Los Angeles Times’ Chris Foster on USC’s team meeting. “[Daniel] Hackett, [Dwight] Lewis, Taj Gibson and Keith Wilkinson were the main speakers.” LINK.

Quotes of the day:

1. "I think if Coach Calhoun had the opportunity right now, he would welcome a do over and not have that embarrassing display." -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell. LINK.

2. "Everyone says [Arizona's Chase Budinger] doesn't love the game." -- An unnamed NBA scout. LINK.

3."I can't ever get caught up in trying to be loved as much as Bob Huggins by our fan base." -- Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin. LINK.

4. "I told him to do this one thing for me -- don't name the court after me until after I'm dead and buried; that way I won't have to endure it." -- Living legend Pete Carril. LINK.

5.` "Our kids are smart kids. They watch the TV and read the papers, and they know we have to win games." -- Penn State coach Ed DeChellis. LINK.

Top performers of the day (before):

1. G - Travis Holmes, Virginia Military Institute. 22 points (on six for nine shooting), 10 rebounds, and seven assists in the Keydets’s road win at the Liberty Flames.

2. G - Kris Richard, Tulane. 23 points (on eight for 12 shooting), four rebounds, and four assists in the Green Wave’s road win at the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles.

3. G - Marcus Thornton, LSU. 32 points (on eight for 15 shooting, including 10 of 11 free throws and six of 11 from behind the arc), five rebounds, and five assists in the Tigers’ defeat of the Florida Gators.

4. F - Adam Koch, Northern Iowa. 25 points (on seven for 12 shooting, including the game-winning tip-in) and seven rebounds in the Panthers’ road win over the Illinois State Redbirds.

5. F - Carl Montgomery, Chicago State. 15 points (on five for eight shooting, including a perfect five for five from the charity stripe), 10 rebounds, and three blocks in the Cougars’ loss to the Utah Valley Wolverines.

Injury of the day

The Albany Times-Union’s Pete Iorizzo: LINK.

Siena men's basketball coach Fran McCaffery needed crutches to get around Tuesday, the result of an unfortunate sequence involving a 2-year-old and a pair of scissors.

When his son, Jack, was running with the scissors, McCaffery requested he put them down. Jack listened but in the process inadvertently threw the scissors at his father's foot. McCaffery, who didn't require stitches, hopes to be walking without aid today. He quipped, "I could play today if I had to."

Even better news for Siena, McCaffery's injury is the only one of note heading into the final two games of the season this weekend.