Arizona Stays Undefeated; Syracuse Basketball Coach Involved In Police Investigation

Besides having an insanely fine wife, Steve Lavin is doing a phenomenal job at St. John’s. Coming into their matchup with Arizona last night, they were 3-0, full of life and full of potential. In a few of their wins so far, they’ve already stormed back from big deficits, letting their defense and athleticism do the talking, and with fifteen minutes left (down seven), it looked like it might happen again. They raced back, overwhelmed ‘Zona in pretty much every way possible and retook the lead. The ‘Cats didn’t have any standout performances, but they got solid games from a number of players, including Solomon Hill (15 points, six rebounds) and when they found their stroke at the end, they just had too much, winning 81-72. Nurideen Lindsey had 18 for St. John’s … Mississippi State has a ton of talent, but like their star big man, Renardo Sidney, you never know what you’ll get from night to night. Sidney didn’t show up last night in their 69-60 upset of No. 18 Texas A&M – he didn’t even make a shot – but Dee Bost kept up his great start (20 points, four steals) and the Bulldogs showed their teeth … Andre Drummond (11 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks) finally stepped it up in UConn’s 20-point win over Maine while the rest of the top 25 teams all won as well: Florida, Alabama, Michigan and Missouri … Since he retired, Shaq hasn’t stopped the dissing. Kobe‘s taken heat. So has LeBron and Pat Riley. Even Chris Bosh got thrown under the bus for perhaps the 100th time in the past year. Shaq seems to have unlimited ammo. He’s like ‘Pac fresh outta the pen, calling out the whole East Coast. People love O’Neal, but still, someone has to set him straight. Turns out it was the owner of the New York City nightclub Mars 2112 that had to give the Diesel a little taste of rejection. Shaq rolled up to the club this weekend rocking a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, tennis shoes and a beanie (you can check out the look here), and they wouldn’t let him in because of his attire. O’Neal apparently calmly asked, “Are you serious?” then walked down the street to another club that would gladly welcome him. We’re not into bending the rules for celebrities, but if we owned a club and Shaq wanted in, best believe we are opening the doors. As long as he isn’t wearing what he wore on Halloween, we’re good. These club owners better watch their backs though. Expect Shaq’s next book to call Mars 2112 a boring establishment that is dead for nine months out of the year, has nasty females and smells like s— … Keep reading to hear about Aaron Brooks going to China and a new college sports scandal …

We were going to run a post yesterday giving y’all an update on what all the players are currently thinking as far as playing overseas, but found it to be completely pointless. Unless your name is Dwight Howard, who is denying everything revolving around Europe offers, you are currently “looking into” playing overseas. It’s been this way all summer and isn’t stopping anytime soon. For every player who actually does sign with someone, there are at least two dozen others “looking into it.” It’s basically become a company line at this point, and you can’t fault anyone for looking at the jump. Like Wesley Matthews. His agent said everything and nothing yesterday, summing it all up by saying Matthews wants to play somewhere if the lockout drags on. They’re already reaching out to teams … At least one player actually went through with the jump yesterday: Aaron Brooks. Brooks inked a deal to play in the Chinese Basketball Association with the Guangdong Southern Tigers. He’ll be joining a lineup that includes Yi Jianlian as well as former NBA players Lester Hudson and Fred Jones. As we’ve said numerous times this summer, Brooks desperately needs a bounce-back season whenever the NBA does start. If that means going to China to regain his confidence and get his shot back, then we dig it. Plus, as HOOPSWORLD writes, since the lil’ man played with Yao Ming, he’s unbelievably popular in China. He has endorsement opportunities there and has a chance to build an image outside of what he has here in the States … Check out Stephon Marbury in his new digs. Doesn’t he look extra skinny? … The Goodman League is holding a holiday classic – the “Roundball Classic” – on Saturday, November 26. The game will feature Caron Butler, Andray Blatche, Sam Young, DeMarcus Cousins, Donte Greene, Gary Neal, Dante Cunningham, “Pops” Mensah-Bonsu, Anthony Randolph, Wesley Johnson, DeAndre Jordan, Wayne Ellington, Jonny Flynn and Scottie Reynolds, and will take place at the Northern Virginia Sportsplex … And what is going on in college sports right now? After all of the problems at Penn State, there could be a new scandal developing. Syracuse associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine is being investigated after 39-year-old Bobby Davis alleges that the coach sexually molested him for a period of around 15-16 years, doing it on his own time, at the 1987 Final Four and around the ‘Cuse facilities (a second victim has come forward as well… actually Davis’ step-brother). This supposedly went on until Davis was 27, and Jim Boeheim maybe didn’t know exactly what was going on, but he did know the kid was always on trips, staying in Fine’s room, and that the kid was always around the coach. Yet no one said anything. This was first reported eight years ago, but it was ruled there just wasn’t enough evidence at the time. Does this not feel like deja vu? Does this mean Boeheim could be gone soon? … We’re out like Brooks.