Iman Shumpert netted 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting from three-point range for Georgia Tech (2-1), which suffered a 63-59 setback to 18th-ranked Dayton in the tournament's opening round on Thursday. D'Andre Bell and Mfon Udofia each ended with eight points.

Kevin Foster went for a team-high 15 points and nine boards off the bench, while Andre Cornelius added 11 points for George Mason (2-2), which lost by a 69-68 score to Villanova on Thursday.

The New York Times reported on Friday that the organization decided late Thursday not to offer the journeyman guard a contract.

It is a surprising turn of events for the former star. After being waived by the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, Iverson apparently was set to land with the struggling Knicks, who expressed a high level of interest in signing the future Hall of Fame guard for the remainder of the season.

Lorenzo Romar's Huskies opened up the season by hosting the Athletes In Action Classic this past week and swept the event with wins over Wright State (74-69), Belmont (96-78) and most recently, Portland State (111-55).

George Nessman's Spartans are also undefeated on the young season, although they have played just one game. On Monday, SJSU opened the season with a resounding 89-63 rout of William Jessup.

Gary Williams' Terrapins have certainly looked impressive in their first two outings, posting lopsided wins over both Charleston Southern (89-51) and most recently, Fairfield (71-42). Maryland won 21 games a year ago and with a solid nucleus returning to College Park, another strong campaign is on the horizon.

New Hampshire opened up the 2009-10 season with an easy victory over Suffolk (91-45). The Wildcats would like to get off to a fast start this season after finishing a mere 14-16 a year ago. Head coach Bill Herion is in his fifth season at the helm and the hope is that New Hampshire will improve on last year's fourth-place finish in the America East Conference.

No team nationally has been more dominant than Syracuse thus far, as it has won its first three games by an average margin in excess of 31 points. Last night, the team completely dismantled 13th-ranked California in a 95-73 final in front of the New York crowd, and there will obviously be plenty of fans wearing orange tonight. A member of the Big East Conference, Syracuse appears to be underrated and may be in position to contend for the league title in 2009-10, something that many fans didn't see as a possibility.

As for North Carolina, it lost four players to the NBA from last season's team that won the national title. Fortunately, head coach Roy Williams has done a tremendous job of recruiting, thus explaining the high national ranking. The Heels moved to 4-0 last night with

Toledo is still searching for its first win of the season, having dropped a pair to Eastern Illinois (72-69) at home, and to Cincinnati (92-68) on the road just two days ago. The Rockets are coached by Gene Cross, who with several young players and not a senior among them, will need to do a masterful job in making his team relevant in the Mid-American Conference this season.

At the other end of the spectrum is Michigan State, a team that is not only primed for a run at the top of the Big Ten Conference yet again, but should also be a serious player in the chase for the national title. Tom Izzo is the second-winningest coach in MSU history, and he already has a national championship to his credit (2000). The Spartans took care of Florida Gulf Coast (97-58) in their seas

South Dakota State is 2-0 for the first time since 2003-04 when the team ran out to a 17-0 start on its way to a school-record 27 wins. The Jackrabbits, who play their basketball out of the Summit League, took out Wyoming on the road in the opener last Friday, 77-61, and followed that with a 89-56 home thrashing of Mayville State on Monday.

Purdue is one of the favorites to win the Big Ten Conference this season, and coach Matt Painter's club had little trouble disposing of Cal State Northridge in its season opener, wiping the Matadors off the map in an 89-64 final at home last Friday. The Boilermakers are making their first appearance in th

The Jackets were pitted against one of the better teams in this tourney on Thursday and they let a late lead slip away in a 63-59 setback to 18th-ranked Dayton. It was obviously a disappointing finish for Tech, which opened the season with a 100-59 blasting of Florida A&M.

As for the Patriots, they too let one slip away on Thursday, falling just short in an upset bid of fifth-ranked Villanova, 69-68. It was a valiant effort, but one that could have been a whole lot different. GM is now 2-1 after opening the campaign with victories at home against Liberty (76-72) and Dartmouth (60-44).

This is Dayton's second game already against a Top 25 foe, as the Flyers edged 21st-ranked Georgia Tech, 63-59, in first-round action of the tourney on Thursday. It was a hard fought victory by the Flyers, who defeated a tough Creighton (90-80) club prior to heading to San Juan.

As for the Wildcats, they too were locked in a battle in their first round game, using a late rally to pull past George Mason, 69-68, on Thursday. Villanova opened the season with convincing wins over Fairleigh Dickinson (84-61) and Penn (103-65), but it nearly got caught off guard by a solid Georgia Mason squad.

Bruce Pearl recorded his 100th victory at Tennessee with Tuesday's 124-49 pasting of UNC-Asheville. It has looked very easy for the Vols in the early stages of the season thus far, as the team opened the year with a rout of Austin Peay (83-54).

Mack McCarthy's Pirates haven't exactly gotten off to a fast start, as the team has dropped two of its first three games. ECU opened with a 77-60 victory over UVa-Wise, but has dropped back-to-back games since, with setbacks to Wake Forest (89-58) and most recently, Campbell (74-68).

The Spartans have made the move to the Greensboro Coliseum this season, as the venue is celebrating its 50th year. UNCG, which is closing out a three-game jaunt through the ACC, is hoping for some better luck on its new home floor. The Spartans opened the season with a 96-62 blasting at the hands of nationally-ranked Duke and followed that up with a 59-46 setback at Virginia Tech on Tuesday.

As for the Tigers, they usually get off to fast starts under Oliver Purnell and this year is no different, as they haven't really been tested in lopsided wins over Presbyterian (84-41) and Liberty (79-39).

California opened the season with back-to-back victories over Murray State and Detroit, enabling the team to earn a spot in Thursday's clash with unranked Syracuse. Unfortunately for the Golden Bears, they were completely dominated by the Orange, and the final score of 95-73 indicates that. Clearly, Mike Montgomery's squad has plenty to prove tonight, as there are undoubtedly some fans and analysts who will consider the Bears overrated.

Like Cal, Ohio State opened the season with two straight wins over rather weak opposition, but the Buckeyes were much more dominant in their outings. Then, last night, the team nearly knocked off sixth-ranked North Carolina. While that game ended in a 77-73 setback, it appeare

Houston Baptist, a member of the newly-formed Great West Conference, has had a rough go of it here in the early going, dropping all three of its games thus far -- each by double digits. All three took place as part of the Rice Basketball Challenge and came against South Alabama (76-64), Sacramento State (70-60) and the host team, Rice (60-46). The Huskies are coached by Ron Cottrell, who has led the team to an average of 21 wins per season in his 18 years at the helm, although most came as a NAIA program.

Michigan enters the 2009-10 season as one of the teams expected to challenge for the Big Ten Conference title, and the Wolverines got off to an impressive start by blasting Northern Michigan last Saturday, 97-50. Head coach John Beilein has a wealth of talent at his disposal, starting with junior guard Manny Harris and DeS

The Warriors dealt Jackson to Charlotte on Monday along with point guard Acie Law for injured guard Raja Bell and forward Vladimir Radmanovic.

On the floor, Golden State finished a five-game road swing at 1-4 after dropping a 109-95 decision to Boston on Wednesday. Rajon Rondo finished with 18 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds in that one to lead a balanced Celtics attack.

The Nuggets finished a short, two-game homestand in perfect fashion on Tuesday when Carmelo Anthony continued his strong start to the season, making 12-of-15 shots, on the way to a 32-point night as Denver ran past Toronto, 130-112, at the Pepsi Center.

J.R. Smith finished with 29 points, going 5-of-9 from beyond the arc, as the Nuggets followed up a 105-79 rout of the Lakers Friday by moving to 4-0 at home.

The Bobcats fell to 0-6 as the visitor this season when they faltered down the stretch in Philadelphia on Wednesday, dropping an 86-84 decision to the 76ers. The Sixers' Lou Williams scored 19 points and made the game-winning layup with 3.1 seconds left in that one.

In just his second game with the Bobcats since being acquired from Golden State, Stephen Jackson had 26 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Gerald Wallace added 11 points and 12 rebounds for Charlotte, which has dropped six consecutive games and is 0-2 on a three-game road trip.

The Mavericks posted their fourth consecutive victory with Wednesday's 99-94 overtime triumph versus San Antonio, as Dirk Nowitzki scored 11 of his season- high 41 points in overtime to lead the way. He also grabbed 12 boards for the Mavericks, who received 17 points and 11 boards from Drew Gooden.

"He's playing great basketball and think he's one of the top guys right now in the league and he's really playing at I high level. We need that because of all the injuries we have right now and he's doing everything he can to carry this team," Gooden said of Nowitzki.

Orlando defeated Boston in seven games in the second round of the playoffs last year, and has won three straight overall to push its mark to 9-3. The Magic went 3-1 on a four-game homestand and recorded a 108-94 triumph versus Oklahoma City on Wednesday from Amway Arena. Vince Carter led the victors with 18 points, while Rashard Lewis narrowly missed a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for Orlando, which is favored again to make a deep run in the postseason.

Mickael Pietrus scored 14 points, while Ryan Anderson registered 12 points and Dwight Howard added 11 and 10 boards in a wining effort.

Washington put the brakes on a six-game losing streak with a 108-91 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday from the Verizon Center. Antawn Jamison made his season debut for Washington and led the charge with 31 points and 10 rebounds. Jamison was sidelined because of a partially dislocated shoulder suffered in an exhibition game in October.

"It's another added weapon for them to really key on," said Jamison. "I've been sitting down like it seems forever. I've had a lot of injuries. I knew it was going to be different from what we've been doing the last couple of weeks." Caron Butler added 19 points and Gilbert Arenas finished with 18, eight assists and six rebounds in the victory. The Wizards are 1-4 as the guest this season and will also visit San Antonio on the quick road sw

Atlanta improved to 3-0 on the residency and recorded its sixth consecutive triumph with Wednesday's 105-90 decision over the Miami Heat. Joe Johnson netted a game-best 30 points and helped limit Heat All-Star Dwyane Wade to 15 points. Josh Smith ended with 16 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists for Southeast Division-leading Atlanta, which improved to 6-0 at home this season.

"We've been pretty good here at Philips," Johnson said. "We want to keep working. Just try to keep our heads on right, don't get overconfident, just keep playing hard." Al Horford added 16 points and 12 boards in a winning effort.

Memphis has won back-to-back games since a seven-game losing streak and recently recorded a 106-91 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday from FedEx Forum. Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph each scored 21 points, while Marc Gasol tallied 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Grizzlies, who won both tests on a brief two-game homestand.

"Guys are on the same page. We hold guys accountable," Randolph said of the recent success. "Myself and everybody else, it starts on defense." O.J. Mayo scored 16 points for Memphis, which never trailed in the game and shot 54.3 percent from the field. The Grizzlies have yet to win on the road this season, however, as they own an 0-6 mark as the visitor.

The Raptors went 1-3 on a four-game road trip and are coming off Wednesday's 104-91 setback to the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena. Chris Bosh posted 32 points and 17 rebounds, while Marco Belinelli added 19 points for the Raptors, who got 10 points and 11 boards from Andrea Bargnani just one night after a 130-112 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

"I think we made it possible to win the game," said Belinelli. "We made a couple of mistakes especially in the last quarter. We can't make these mistakes against a team like Utah or Denver. Now the game is over so we have to think about the next games at home. We have three games at home, and of course we have to win those games." Toronto will also host Orlando and Indiana up north and is 3-1 as the host this season.

The division-leading Cavs had their five-game winning streak come to an end against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, as Wizards forward Antawn Jamison thrived in his season debut with 31 points and 10 rebounds in a 108-91 victory. LeBron James recorded 34 points and nine assists, but also committed six of Cleveland's 16 turnovers.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas netted 10 points and pulled down nine rebounds, while Shaquille O'Neal sat out his third straight game due to a strained shoulder. Jamario Moon and Darnell Jackson each had 10 points for the Cavs, who wasted a 17-point second-half lead. O'Neal is expected to miss Friday's game and James is listed as probable after tweaking his wrist on a dunk.

The 7-foot Bogut, who leads the Bucks in rebounding at 9.2 per game to go with 16.1 points, left the contest late in the fourth quarter. He was examined by Bucks orthopedic physician Dr. Michael Gordon and underwent an MRI, which revealed the injury.

Utah had lost 20 in a row during the regular season in San Antonio.

"It meant a lot to all of us," said Williams. "We haven't won here in I don't know how many years. It was a great win for all of us." Williams' dish to Boozer allowed the big man to score in close for an 86-83 lead with just over one minute remaining.