The Bruins were the first highly ranked team to be knocked off this season, dropping a 55-52 decision to Michigan in the semifinals of this event on Thursday. It was a shocking result for UCLA, which defeated Prairie View A&M (82-58) and Miami-Ohio (64-59) in its regional matchups. Following this game, the Bruins will return back to the West Coast to host Florida International on November 29th.

As for SIU, it was handled much easier in its semifinal round contest, falling to 10th-ranked Duke, 83-58 last night. The Salukis had earned their spot at MSG by defeating California-PA (66-52) and Massachusetts (80-73) in the regional's, but were no match for the highly-touted Blue Devils. Upon conclusion of this game, SIU will stay on the road to fa

The Hurricanes played one tuneup game prior to this tournament, opening their 2008-09 campaign with an expected 96-60 blowout of Division II Florida Southern on Saturday. It was the 16th straight season-opening win for Miami, which returns four starters from a team that went 23-7 a year ago. The Hurricanes have had success in the Paradise Jam before, winning the title in 2001.

As for USM, it has participated in two games prior to this event, winning them both at home. The team got its season underway with a 75-51 triumph over Loyola-New Orleans on Saturday before defeating Alabama State, 74-61, on Tuesday. It marks just the second 2-0 start for the

Bob Williams' Gauchos are an even 1-1 on the young season, topping Cal State Los Angeles in the season-opener (64-55), before falling in a heartbreaker to Utah State on Monday, 61-59.

Roy Williams' Tar Heels have won both their games thus far, knocking off Penn in the season-opener (86-71), followed by a impressive rout of Kentucky on Tuesday (77-58). UNC has had to face some adversity in the early stages of the season thus far. The team has yet to have All-American Tyler Hansbrough on the court due to a leg injury and will now be without freshman forward Tyler Zeller, who broke his wrist in the win over Kentucky.

Davidson, which became the darling of the NCAA Tournament last season, began 2008-09 with a couple of softballs on the schedule in Guilford and James Madison, beating both of those squads by a combined 59 points. On Tuesday, the competition took a leap in the opposite direction with 12th-ranked Oklahoma entertaining the Wildcats in Norman as part of the NIT Season Tip-Off. The tangle with the Sooners tightened up near the end, but not so much that the visitors could stay undefeated following an 82-78 decision.

As for the Eagles, one of the dominant programs hailing from the Big South Conference, they easily dismissed North Greenville in the opener last Friday with a 67-42 decision, but then came an 86-63 loss to South Carolina on the road and a disappointing 72-58 def

Tennessee figures to push for another SEC title after dominating the competition in 2007-08. The Vols are off to a 2-0 start in this new campaign, as they knocked off Chattanooga and Tennessee-Martin in succession. The 91-64 romp over the Skyhawks occurred on Tuesday, and the non-league schedule will certainly increase in difficulty with scheduled games against the likes of Marquette, Kansas and Gonzaga.

As for Middle Tennessee, it has beaten a pair of lackluster non-conference opponents to open the campaign. A 94-53 decision over Trevecca was followed by Sunday's 80-63 win over Houston Baptist, but tonight's game marks a major leap in competition level for the Blue Raiders, who are members of the Sun Belt Conference. They will take

The Huskies have had little trouble in their first two games of the season, winning them both by double figures. UConn kicked off its 2008-09 campaign with an 82-63 triumph over Western Carolina before handling instate foe, Hartford, 99-56 on Monday. The victory over Hartford was the program's 63rd straight over an opponent from the Nutmeg State.

As for La Salle, it also began its season with two straight home games, although it went just 1-1 during that stand. After opening the campaign with a close with over Morgan State (64-61), the Explorers came up just short in a 65-61 decision against Florida State on Tuesday.

The Gaels have played just one game up to this point, capturing a 59-46 victory over Hampton a week ago. With the win, Iona improved to 47-16 all-time in season openers, although it has gone just 12-12 over its last 24 lid lifters. Getting off to a good start is imperative for the Gaels, who return three starters from a squad that finished just 12-20 a season ago.

As for Wisconsin, it is 2-0 on the young season following an 88-58 trouncing of SIU-Edwardsville on Tuesday. It was a nice follow up for the Badgers, who struggled a bit in a season opening win over Long Beach State (68-61) on Sunday. Winning is nothing new for this program, as Wisconsin has captured

The Blue Devils earned their spot in the finals of this event by capturing an 83-58 triumph over Southern Illinois in the semifinals at MSG last night. It was yet another convincing victory in this tournament for Duke, which won its regional with dominating victories over Presbyterian (80-49) and Georgia Southern (97-54). Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils also came out on top in their only non-tournament game of the year, notching an 82-79 victory over Rhode Island on Sunday.

As for Michigan, it pulled off the biggest upset of the season in order to advance to tonight's championship bout, knocking off fourth-ranked UCLA, 55-52 on Thursday. It was the program's first win over a top five-ranked team since 1997, when the

This will be Notre Dame's first trip to Los Angeles since 2004. The Irish looked the part of a top-10 team in their season-opener, crushing USC-Upstate, 94-58. Following this game, Notre Dame will head to the South Pacific to take part in the Maui Invitational next week.

The Lions have started the season off with three straight losses, falling to Wisconsin-Milwaukee (75-51), Iowa State (67-55) and UC Davis (64-55) as part of the World Vision Classic. The team's overall losing streak has now reached 11 games, with LMU's last victory coming on February 4, 2008 against San Francisco.

Memphis, which was the national runner-up a season ago, has opened this new campaign with three consecutive double-digit victories. Yesterday, the Tigers held off Chattanooga by an 83-71 final to move to the winner's bracket of this event. Memphis is scheduled to take on Georgetown and Syracuse over the next month, two other teams from the Big East, which is arguably the nation's premier conference.

The Pirates are not considered one of the top teams in that league, but after the team rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat nationally-ranked USC last night by a 63-61 final, opinions may change. Seton Hall, like Memphis, owns a 3-0 record, as it crushed a pair of non-conference foes at home before traveling to Puerto Rico for this event.

The Zips have reason to be confident, as they have opened the season with back-to-back victories. After a 10-point decision over Canisius on Saturday, Akron knocked off Winthrop on Tuesday by a 72-58 final. Members of the Mid- American Conference, the Zips have scheduled many challenging non-league games, and the Panthers will clearly be the toughest opponent the club will face all season.

Speaking of Pittsburgh, it has opened the season with back-to-back home wins as expected. The Panthers dismantled Fairleigh Dickinson in the opener and were even more impressive in Monday's 82-53 romp over a solid Miami-Ohio squad. A member of the Big East, arguably the nation's toughest conference, Pitt has won 30 in a row against non-league foes at the Petersen Events Center.

USC led Seton Hall by 15 points at intermission last night and appeared headed for a quality victory over a Big East Conference opponent. Instead, the Trojans shot the ball poorly over the final 20 minutes and were dealt a disappointing 63-61 defeat. Expected to challenge for the Pac-10 title, USC will attempt to bounce back strong this evening against a Chattanooga team that has opened this new season with three consecutive defeats.

The Mocs, who are members of the Southern Conference, haven't exactly eased their way into the season, as they took on nationally-ranked Tennessee in Knoxville to open the campaign before battling Missouri of the Big 12 in Columbia. Both of those games resulted in blowout losses, and the club was beaten by 13th-ranked Memphis last night by an 83-71 final.

DeShawn Sims scored 18 for the Wolverines (3-0), who will take on Duke in the final Friday night.

The Blue Devils beat Southern Illinois in the other semifinal.

Dan Werner added nine points for the Gators (3-0), who won despite making just 1-of-16 three-point attempts. Alex Tyus picked up eight points and six boards for Florida.

Davis Baker led all scorers with 23 points to go with eight rebounds for the Thunderbirds (1-1). Eules Thompson contributed six points in the loss.

19 Southern California, 63-61, in opening round action of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic.

Eugene Harvey added 18 points and five assists for the Pirates (3-0), who advance to play Memphis on Friday. John Garcia chipped in 11 points and 18 rebounds in the win.

Brian Zoubek did provide some frontcourt help with 10 points and six rebounds for the Blue Devils (4-0), who will meet either UCLA or Michigan in Friday's final at Madison Square Garden.

Carlton Fay donated 17 points and Kevin Dillard added 10 points for Southern Illinois (2-1), which will get another crack in the Big Apple during the consolation game on Friday.

Robert Dozier added 18 points, eight rebounds and four helpers for the Tigers (3-0), who advance to play the winner of the Southern California-Seton Hall matchup on Friday. Shawn Taggart gave 16 points and 11 boards in the win.

Stephen McDowell poured in a game-high 27 points for the Mocs (0-3), who will play the loser of the Southern California-Seton Hall matchup on Friday. Nicchaeus Doaks ended with 15 points and a game-best 16 boards.

USC opened its season on Saturday with a 78-55 decision over UC Irvine and followed that effort with a 73-60 decision over New Mexico State on Tuesday. The Trojans will face several tests before the start of Pac-10 play, and may go head-to-head with Memphis tomorrow if things go well. A December 4th clash with Oklahoma will be one to watch as well, and a couple of key victories over strong non-conference competition will be tremendously valuable when selection time comes in mid-March.

Like USC, Seton Hall has won its first two games of the season, both at home. The Pirates dominated both contests, as they followed a 27-point romp over St. Francis-NY with a 71-50 decision over Columbia. With the exception of this tournament, the non-conference schedule is extremely soft for Seton Hall, which hopes to build a solid recor

Billy Donovan's Gators have looked impressive in the first two games, posting lopsided wins over both Toledo (80-58) and most recently, Bradley (81-58). With the victories, Florida moved to 52-6 all-time under Donovan in the month of November, including a stellar 28-2 record over the last five years.

The Thunderbirds would like to hand the Gators their third loss over that time period, but will be fighting an uphill battle this evening on the road. Southern Utah, out of the Summit League, won its season-opener last weekend, besting Division II's Mesa State, 85-73.

Ben Howland's Bruins were the host team for one of the Regionals in this event and as expected, advanced to New York City with wins over both Prairie View (82-58) and Miami-Ohio (64-59). UCLA has been a picture of consistency over the last few years, winning 30 or more games in each of the last three seasons and with a loaded lineup again, the team will try to make it four years in a row.

The Wolverines struggled last year in John Beilein's first season, but early indications are that Michigan will be much improved this year. The Wolverines also benefited from being the host team in the first two rounds of this tournament and took care of their bus

Chattanooga, which competes in the Southern Conference, has certainly challenged itself with a very difficult schedule to open this new season. The Mocs dropped a 114-75 decision at Tennessee on Saturday, and they followed that effort with a 103-75 setback at Missouri on Monday. Clearly, things won't get any easier today.

Memphis is fresh off Monday's 80-58 decision over UMass, and John Calipari is now the winningest coach in program history with 221 victories. The Tigers are 2-0 on the young season, as they also beat Fairfield on Saturday in convincing fashion. Last season, the Tigers reached the national title games, and while it can be argued that the three best players from that team are gone, there is still plenty of talent in place.

Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils recorded routs in the first two rounds of this event, posting lopsided wins over both Presbyterian (80-49) and Georgia Southern (97-54) in Durham. However, things got a lot tougher on Sunday, as Duke welcomed a quality Rhode Island program to Cameron Indoor Stadium and escaped that matchup with an 82-79 decision.

Chris Lowery's Salukis also had the luxury being the host team in one of the four regions in this event. SIU was able to get past a scrappy California (Pa) squad in opening round action (66-52) and followed that with a nice win over Massachusetts (80-73).

Stepheson, who transferred this fall from North Carolina, will not be eligible for competition for the Trojans this season.

Stepheson played the last two seasons at UNC, where he appeared in 75 games. Last season, he averaged 4.3 points and 4.5 rebounds while leading the Tar Heels in rebounds six times.

Teague posted a career-high 31 points, Johnson netted 25, and McFarland contributed 19 for the Demon Deacons (2-0), who opened their season with a blowout win over NC Central and finish off a three-game homestand against Winston-Salem State on Monday.

Johnson and McFarland also grabbed nine and eight rebounds, respectively, in the win.

Kalin Lucas added 17 points and doled out three assists for the Spartans (2-0), who began their season on Sunday with a 100-62 romp over Idaho. Chris Allen chipped in seven points and three boards in the win.

Ben Botts poured in 22 points for the Mastodons (0-2), who were handled easily, 71-43, by Xavier in last Friday's season opener. David Carson gave 17 points in defeat.