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University of Washington takes on the Twittering press

Written by Michael Rogner on .

Todd Dybas, a reporter for the Tacoma News Tribune and a contributor to SI.com, was repremanded by the University of Washington on Sunday during the Huskies 85-63 win over Loyola (MD). Did he leave the area to which the press is restricted? Did he eat too much free food? Was he openly cheering for the visiting team? Talking too loud on his phone? Nope, he tweeted too much.

It turns out that the university has a policy which only allows credentialed media to send 20 tweets during a basketball game. And the university "reserves all actions against Credential Holder, including but not limited to the revocation of the credential. UW and its designated personnel shall be the final authority on whether a Credential Holder or Credential Entity is following the Live Coverage Policy."

In other words, they monitor your tweets. And count them on a clicker.

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Why you may want to read up on Youngstown State

Written by Chris Burrows on .

Kamren Belin drives

When Youngstown State released their non-conference schedule over the summer, it seemed to profess over-confidence. Even though those in the know in the Horizon League knew the Penguins likely had the best team in their program's history on their hands, it looked like their schedule wasn't going to do them any favors: Only four of their first 16 games against Division-I opponents were at home, including six of their first eight games of the season on the road, and endless quality opponents.

But less than a week into the season the Penguins are proving the skeptics and the believers wrong: This schedule might not be challenging enough.

On Saturday YSU easily handled George Washington -- even though starting two-guard and All-Horizon first-teamer Kendrick Perry reportedly wasn't at 100 percent -- en route to an 80-73 win against the A-10 team, and last night -- just two days later -- the Penguins rolled past Georgia, 68-56, after leading the whole way. That's the first time that the Penguins have ever beaten a team from a BCS conference, and only their fifth win in 27 tries over an A-10 team in the last 10 years, and both were in impressive fashion: Dominant, on the road, textbook wins.

Understand, Youngstown State has never made the NCAA Tournament. In fact, they've finished among the bottom two teams in the Horizon League for seven of the past ten seasons, and their 16-15 finish last season was their first winning season since 2000-2001. But this is a team on the verge of making a lot of history, and you should get to know them. Start here.

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Can't miss games: Week 2

Written by Michael Rogner on .

Every Monday Run the Floor will list the games not to be missed. Plan your schedule. Set your DVR. Get your hoops on. This isn't just a list of the biggest games of the week - but rather, the ones which should have high entertainment value.

Davidson at New Mexico, MONDAY (technically Tuesday on the east coast), 2 AM EST, ESPN. Unless you're a serious night owl or live on the west coast, then either catch a nap or set this one to record. Davidson is full of skill, and stars De'Mon Brooks and Jake Cohen will be worth the price of admission. New Mexico, from the stacked Mountain West, is entering the post Drew Gordon era, but Steve Alford has plenty of talent to work with.

Michigan State vs Kansas, TUESDAY, 7 PM, ESPN. Get home from work, turn on ESPN, watch until sleepy time. First up, Sparty, who already has a loss on the season (to UConn), vs Kansas. The combined star power these two lost is impressive - Draymond Green, Brandon Wood, Thomas Robinson, Tyshawn Taylor - but not nearly as impressive as the fact that both are still absolutely loaded.

Duke vs Kentucky, TUESDAY, 9 PM, ESPN. Immediately following Michigan State vs Kansas, these two powerhouses tip off. Kentucky had a close call vs another ACC team (Maryland) to kick their season off. The Blue Devils have a great mix of youth and experience, while Kentucky is almost all youth. Should be fun.

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(Video:) 5-9 Ahmad Starks scores over 7-5 Sim Bhullar

Written by Michael Rogner on .

5-9 Ahmad Starks of Oregon State has developed a reputation as a 3-point specialist. But now and again he reminds people that there other reasons a 5-9 guy earns a scholarship to a high major university.

Here's the junior scoring over the 7-5 freshman Sim Bhullar at New Mexico State.

 

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Inside the boxscore: Florida vs Alabama State

Written by Michael Rogner on .

1. Alabama State was held to 12-56 shooting, including 8-36 (22.2%) on twos and 4-20 (20%) on threes. For the game they scored 35 points. The last time the Gators held anyone below 40 was against Presbyterian in 2009.

2. Senior Kenny Boynton is the only junior or senior player left in college who was a consensus top-10 recruit. So it's fair to expect a big season. After the Gators first game was canceled due to inclement weather, Boynton got his season off to a good start with 22 points, including 4-4 from beyond the arc. He also added 6 boards, 5 assists, and did not commit a turnover.

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Air Force wins the All-Military Classic

Written by Michael Rogner on .

The military and hoops have been all over the news. But none of the news involved the All Military Classic. Rather, it was the carrier games that got all the attention. So while one of the carrier games was canceled before it began, one was canceled at half due to degrading court conditions, and one was delayed by weather for two days and ultimately played in blinding sun and winds gusty enough to turn free throws into airballs - the All Military Classic proceeded without a hitch. And in the AMC there were no faux camo uniforms. There were no made-for-tv interactions between soldiers and players.  In fact, it wasn't even on t.v., and many of the players are soldiers.

You'd think, with this being played on the of Veteran's Day, and on the actual day itself, that there would be a market for this thing. And you'd be wrong. We prefer our Patriotic hoops played by the games' elite in fake uniforms. At least when the games aren't canceled.

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Video: Rakeem Christmas with a holiday dunk

Written by Michael Rogner on .

The Carrier Classis with Syracuse vs San Diego State hasn't been much to watch - windy, bright sun, and lot of turnovers. But C.J. Fair served up an alley oop to Rakeem Christmas, which drove a sweaty Dick Enberg to his feet.

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Hey NCAA: Suck My Kiss

Written by Michael Rogner on .

There's not a band that represents the gist of LA better than the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And there's not a team that does it better than UCLA basketball. So it was a natural fit for Flea, the bassist for the band, to be invited to perform the national anthem prior to UCLA's opening game with Indiana State. So Flea took the court and proceeded to play the anthem on his bass. It wasn't exactly Hendrix at Woodstock, but it was still pretty solid.

But more importantly, Flea used his wardrobe to inflame the passions of UCLA fans. He wore a UCLA blue t-shirt (that's an official color, you know) with the words "FREE SHABAZZ MUHAMMAD" scrawled across the front.

The nation's No. 1 recruit - whom Bruins fans see guiding them back to the Final Four - was declared ineligible just hours before the game. There's no word yet on how long he'll have to sit out. It might be 10 games. It might be the whole season.

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The emergence of Alex Len

Written by Michael Rogner on .

To the victors go the spoils. And so most of the press surrounding Kentucky's 72-69 win over Maryland at the swaggy Barclay's Center has been about Wildcats walk-on Jarrod Polson and his unlikely night. And who doesn't love a good walk-on story? But starting point guard Ryan Harrow is going to kick the flu, Kentucky's freshmen are going to get better every day, and Polson will fade into semi-obscurity as a backup on the nation's most watched college team.

But on the other side of the court, a player emerged who is capable of leading Maryland back into the national spotlight. Sophomore center Alex Len hit it big, and he did it on the national stage in about as good a basketball atmosphere as can be found in November.

Last season Len had to sit for the first ten games as the NCAA did whatever it is that the NCAA does. And despite a strong start, Len was playing from behind all season. The Ukrainian couldn't understand what he was being told to do. He was skinny. He wasn't in game shape. And so he just went on the court and did the best he could. His career began with four straight double-digit scoring efforts, but then only featured two more over the final 18 games. He averaged 6 points and 5.4 boards a game.

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Scorer's table: Xavier's Dee Davis gets this party started

Written by Michael Rogner on .

1. Xavier sophomore point guard Dee Davis didn't show much as a freshman, though he did get more playing time down the stretch. Still, he only had more than one assist in four games all season, and that was compounded by turnover issues. But in Xavier's opener - a 117-75 thrashing of Fairleigh Dickinson - Davis had a double-double with 22 points and 15 assists. The 15 assists is more than half his total from all of last year.

2. In Baylor's 99-77 win over Lehigh, Bears junior Corey Jefferson with 26 points and 13 rebounds. This was his 2nd career double-double, with the previous one coming on opening night last year. Five of his boards were on the offensive end, and four of them led to immediate points for Baylor.

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