All in all, this team is a relative paper lion right now. Let’s see them in March with Boatright in and somebody stepping up as a leader. This team looked like a team desperately in need of Kemba Walker who was watching the game from the stands.

DAYTON — As the game tightened Wednesday and Saint Joseph’s stormed from behind for a double-digit win, the University of Dayton men’s basketball team continued to clank 3-pointers. Long-range attempts have been a problem in UD’s six losses this season, but they’re also part of the team’s make-up, said coach Archie Miller.“We have guys that — I wouldn’t say are specialists — but we have guys who first think behind the line,” Miller said. “That’s just who we are. If we have success behind the line, we’ll be difficult (to defend). If we’re not having success, we need to be balanced.” Entering tonight’s game against last-place Rhode Island, UD ranks No. 59 nationally in 3-pointers made per game (7.6), but off-target shooting has doomed the Flyers in losses. In 14 wins, they have made 38.3 percent from long range. In six defeats, they have shot much worse — 28.5 percent — including 7-of-27 against Saint Joseph’s on Wednesday.

Comment from fan: Without a legit power forward how can Dayton survive against teams with two athletic big men? The only answer is to play Matt and Alex as twin towers with 3 roving perimeter players.We’re bound to get some mismatches with those two floating between high and low post and to our favor both can hit a 17 foot jump shot.

Here are my thoughts… Dee Boss is a flat out gunner. He is shooting like 36% from the field but he just keeps attacking. He is the key to their team. In the game I saw, vs Vandi, he was cold and out of whack and they were down 11. In the paint, they have some real interesting pieces. Sidney and Moultrie form a powerful inside presence. Sidney is the humongous kid that punched his teammate last year. He was easily baited into foul trouble.. and as the announcer said.. doesnt have a real passion for basketball. BUT.. when he is in, he is really a presence – even passing. Moultrie is a 10 pt 10 reb guy every night and at 6’11 hes is big. In this game, with Boss struggling they couldnt score enough. But in the second half, they caught fire and won. Key for them was to keep attacking. They didnt just launch 3′s, they attacked off the dribble and with sound movement. If Sidney gets in foul trouble and Boss is hounded like this “Mississippi State’s Dee Bost scored 15 points, but was 4 of 15 from the field. The shorter Bost was hounded by 6-foot-9 Terrance Henry on the perimeter for much of the game, forcing the Bulldogs’ point guard into some tough shots.” then this is an upset in the making. If they are clicking on all cylinders, this team could win a few.

“The funny thing is that defense isn’t even the team’s strength — Long Beach State’s 19th-ranked offense usually does the trick. The 49ers are excellent from 2-point range (52.4 percent, 38th overall) but even better at getting to the line (46.6 percent FTA/FGA ratio, 14th in the country). It would be simplistic to claim that the 49ers’ brutal nonconference schedule toughened them up for conference play, but Dan Monson’s guys are undoubtedly clicking.”

Instead, on Saturday, we saw the team that led us to doubt that status in the first place. Vandy yielded a 12-point second-half lead, allowed Mississippi State to score 1.14 points per possession and got vastly outrebounded on both ends of the floor. In the end, even with very good chances to win the game — particularly the final shot in regulation, which ended up being an uncontested four-foot shot for Festus Ezeli (which he missed) — Vanderbilt just couldn’t make the key defensive plays.

Teams that I think are under the radar but will be a handful in March:

Alabama: This team has solid inside and outside presence. They have that toughness moxie that I love and they have a coach who I think is underappreciated right now in Anthony Grant.

Texas: I saw this team play Kansas (1/21) and they are getting better by the day. Their guards are becoming aggressive and attacking and their bigs look athletic and at times angry.

Cincinnati: This team.. I want to hate them as they are the usual crop of thugs that Cincinnati seems to staff their roster with.. but this team is different. I get the irony, given the fight, but this team has that raw aggression and street attitude of other Cinci teams, but with more discipline and control. Kilpatrick makes far better decisions than previous lead guards.  I think Cronin has some receptivity to coaching aligned with an attitude that we can NOT lose and this makes this Cinci team very dangerous.

Temple: This is a really good team and they get their two best bigs back in early February. If they can stay heathy and fold them in then this team could easily make a deep run in the tournament.

Other notes: I just don’t see the Iona thing. Machiado gets mentioned a lot but I watched that team and I was unimpressed or at least.. UNDERimprssed. I may add New Mexico to that list. They returned everyone, win games, have Alford, but somehow leave me unimpressed when I see them.  

I am impressed with the guards of Murray State. Real deal. Not sure I will bet on them, but they play as a team and they have TWO shooters who can light it up. Creighton and Wichita State are the real deal. Very good teams.

I just can not get my head/hands around how to rate Illinois, Memphis, Notre Dame, or St Marys. For some reason, I have an inability to formulate an opinion on them worth betting on. I might add Georgetown to that. They are so hot and cold, up and down, high scoring and low scoring. They are so young, though, I need them to find their identity.. quickly.

I worry that Purdue, Wisconsin and West Virginia are typical of their teams, but with just a TAD less talent than years past.

I have to overcome my bias with Vanderbilt and Minnesota. I hate them and their coaches but they may be getting better at the right time.

I think teams that could surprise moving forward are Setan Hall, NC State, Virginia, Dayton.

Teams I love but spreads may temper my enthusiasm.. Kansas State, UNLV, Florida and Indiana. 

I think I like the “states” in most March matchups including Michigan State, Miss State, and Florida State.

Teams I kinda like but I need more input on include Marquette, Virginia, San Diego St. and Michigan.

Some teams I think I dont like but I am not set include Louisville, Xavier, and any PAC 12 team.

Vandy was missing its toughest, and most irreplaceable, player early in the season, as big man Festus Ezeli had two issues: a six-game suspension for receiving extra benefits and an injury.

The Dores were humbled in a home loss to Horizon League contender Cleveland State. Respectable overtime losses to Xavier and Louisville followed, as did less respectable losses (Indiana State).

They have been finding their form since, winning eight in a row. The most impressive of those wins was a 74-57 triumph against Marquette in Milwaukee; the Eagles were supposed to be the tougher team, but Vandy got in their grill and delivered a knockout.

The Commodores enter a three-game homestand as the second-hottest team in the SEC outside of Kentucky, with games against Mississippi State on Saturday, Tennessee on Tuesday and then on Jan. 28 against Sun Belt leader Middle Tennessee.

The Dores are tied with Kentucky at 4-0 for first in the SEC. Before the season, the Commodores expected to be the Wildcats’ strongest competition in the league race.

“We’ve finally gotten consistent practice time,” Stallings said. “If you can’t practice, you can’t get better. Since Christmas, we’ve had the core group of guys practicing.”

Ezeli was out. Lance Goulbourne and Steve Tchiengang were limited while recovering from concussions. John Jenkins had a sprained ankle. Those may sound like excuses, but a team that had been fragile in the past couldn’t afford that many disruptions.

Ezeli has played in eight of the 18 games. The Commodores lost only one — Indiana State.

“He’s huge for us defensively,” said Stallings. “If you look at how we are now versus early in the season, it’s drastically different. We’ve gotten better on the defensive end and a lot better on the boards. We’re nowhere near where we can get to offensively. Defensively and rebounding has taken a big turn for us.”

Ezeli and Tchiengang have the ability to play physical, which helped the Dores dominate the inside against Alabama in a win on the road Thursday.

Jeffery Taylor can be a lockdown wing defender. He can also make timely shots. Jenkins has always been the team’s best shooter. Brad Tinsley has had his moments but is streaky. The overall bench production needs to improve. But there is enough in play, and there’s certainly enough experience, for this team to establish itself as the second-best team in the SEC.

Having Ezeli healthy has changed this team. He’s not a shot-blocker, but he’s a presence in the paint, one Vandy could not do without. When he’s in the lineup, the Commodores’ toughness quotient increases.

“People are quick to call us soft or whatever,” Stallings said. “I would venture to say if you asked teams we’ve played, we’re not soft.”

There are still plenty of games to play in the SEC, but the evidence is mounting that the Dores are remedying the issues that plagued them early in the season

Not long ago, Kilpatrick was the epicenter of trouble. It was his comments on a Cincinnati radio show that reportedly lit the fuse to what would become the ugly brawl between Xavier and the Bearcats. Kilpatrick said he didn’t believe Tu Holloway would even start for Cincinnati, a nasty enough dissing to get Holloway’s tongue wagging during the game and ultimately, mayhem to ensue.

Now he’s the epicenter of the Bearcats’ turnaround. Cincinnati has won 10 of 11 since that ugly fight, losing only to St. John’s on a buzzer-beater. In those 10 games, Kilpatrick is averaging 17.7 points and kept the Bearcats afloat while Yancy Gates served his suspension.

It was Kilpatrick who hit the game-winning 3 against Connecticut, Kilpatrick who sunk a career-high 27 to beat Georgetown, and Kilpatrick whose 40 percent shooting from the arc will be absolutely critical against top-ranked Syracuse on Monday.

The good news for the Tigers: Conference USA is once again Conference USA, a hodgepodge of average teams.

The bad news for the Tigers: Memphis isn’t Memphis. This team has been something of an enigma all season, loaded with talent but equally bogged down with foolish play and lack of focus.

Now just when things looked better, Adonis Thomas is lost for the season. It’s not a small blow for a team that hasn’t really shown an ability to handle adversity.

Memphis remains the best team in C-USA, but with challengers in the form of UCF and Marshall, this isn’t going to be easy for Josh Pastner.