What we got on Friday night in MSG was a tale of two oddly similar yet completely different teams. Arizona has the hype, and the high ranking. They came in at 4-0 but still playing a little bit over their heads, a good team that appeared to be playing better than they actually were. On the other side was Mississippi State with enough talent that most experts see them as one of the most dangerous unranked teams in the country. Despite that, they started the year somewhat unassumingly. So if you told us pregame that the Bulldogs would finish with a flurry and take over the game late to win by 10, grabbing the 2K Sports Classic, we wouldn’t have been surprised. Jesse Perry had a double-double for ‘Zona (11 points, 10 rebounds) even as the Wildcats were skinned inside. The real difference maker was Mississippi State’s tournament MVP Arnett Moultrie, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds in just 25 foul-filled minutes. The rebounding machine did this all on his 21st birthday, which apparently wasn’t celebrated with a drink, but rather cookies from coach Rick Stansbury‘s wife. Cookies and an MVP trophy. We think he’ll take it … With Moultrie, Dee Bost and Renardo Sidney, this squad will eventually be a trendy pick in the NCAAs … St. John’s just loves the drama huh? In the semifinal game at MSG, the Red Storm fell behind big for the fifth straight game and this time they couldn’t come all the way out of it, losing to No. 18 Texas A&M 58-57. St. John’s guard Nurideen Lindsey – the man with one of the nation’s best names – missed two free throws that could’ve won it with 2.3 seconds left; The Red Storm as a team shot 22-38 from the line. Because of that, Elston Turner‘s bucket with six seconds left for the Aggies proved to be the difference. Many would say St. John’s didn’t deserve to win in the first place. Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said afterwards that “justice was served.” St. John’s took 38 free throws; the Aggies, three. The game was played at MSG. We’ll let you connect the dots … Other scores: Ohio State beat Jackson State by 44, Duke used a 25-4 run to beat Davidson by 13, Xavier barely held on against Miami of Ohio (66-60) as Tu Holloway shot like garbage (3-12, nine points), Alabama won by 10 over Wichita State, and Marquette destroyed Winthrop 95-73 … Some Saturday entertainment for you: Tracy McGrady‘s top 10 layups of his career. Too dope … Okay, so now Kevin Durant IS talking with BBC Bayreuth about suiting up for them. We jumped on the story a few days ago, then KD came out and stated the PC “I’m not actively looking into it” statement. Now, he’s reversed course and his agent says the talks are “ongoing.” We love lockout overseas insight; The best thing we got from Durant came from Yahoo! Sports, who quoted KD saying: “I’m right on the fence with playing overseas and I’m about to jump over.” Be prepared for daily updates on Durant’s “status” for the next two weeks, a status that will seemingly change every day, and then in 14 days we’ll all sit down and realize nothing happened … Jim Boeheim is NOT Joe Paterno. Technically and figuratively, he definitely isn’t. But still, Boeheim felt the need to remind us of something we can see with our own eyes if for no other reason than to simply say: You won’t do me like you did Joe Pa. After the Penn State scandal, and now with a Syracuse coach in real trouble over some more disturbing allegations, Boeheim spoke up yesterday, fervently defending his friend – Bernie Fine – and saying he has no reason not to believe he’s innocent. Whether these words come back to haunt him is another story, but for now Boeheim is doing whatever he can to distance himself from what could look dangerously similar to what happened down the road in Pennsylvania … If you could come up with the most lopsided charity game of the summer, you’d have a hard time topping the one that’s shaping up to be Old Atlanta vs. New Atlanta. This afternoon at 3 p.m. at Atlanta Metropolitan College, Lou Williams is hosting a game where the new school and old school of the ATL will throwdown. The problem? Check out the rosters. On one side, we will have Williams, Dwight Howard, Josh Smith, Joe Johnson and Allen Iverson. On the other, it’ll be Derrick Favors, Jeff Teague, J.J. Hickson… and a bunch of other dudes. Who picked these sides? … And speaking of crazy summer games, Ryan Hollins recently played in one where he not only scored 60 points, but had 20 dunks. The other squad must’ve been coached by Mike D’Antoni … RIP Walt Hazzard … We’re out like Oklahoma State’s BCS title shot.
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