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The Secondary Break: Friday’s Links

Drexel Arizona Basketball

Arizona’s Aaron Gordon, left, shoots against Drexel’s Mohamed Bah, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-off tournament Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013, in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

Jason DeCrow

Death threats and denial for woman who showed college athletes struggle to read (CNN)
Mary Willingham made news earlier this week due to her discussion regarding the academic struggles of student-athletes at the Division I level, and due to her experience at North Carolina that school was prominently featured in the report. Of course there’s been some blowback, with the school issuing a denial and some fans even sending Willingham death threats.

Defense first for Aaron Gordon (ESPN)
No. 1 Arizona held on to win at UCLA on Thursday night, with freshman forward Aaron Gordon being one of the key reasons why. He may have scored just ten points, but Gordon was one of the players entrusted with the task of guarding UCLA’s Kyle Anderson and he proved to be up to the task. And that shouldn’t come as a surprise when considering how well Gordon has performed defensively this season.

San Diego State storms into the top ten (Sports Illustrated)
The biggest movers in Luke Winn’s latest power rankings? San Diego State, thanks to their win over Kansas and Boise State. Included in the most recent installment are notes on Arizona’s version of the pack-line defense and the recent turnover-free run by Wichita State’s Fred VanVleet.

UCLA’s Kyle Anderson finding success and happiness as one of college basketball’s most unique players (Newark Star-Ledger)
UCLA sophomore guard/forward Kyle Anderson isn’t your standard 6-foot-9 player, as his skill set has allowed head coach Steve Alford the luxury of using him at point guard. And although he struggled in UCLA’s loss to No. 1 Arizona on Thursday night, Anderson’s still one of college basketball’s top players to this point in the season.

Temple falls to 0-3, loses another player (CSN Philly)
If the Temple Owls didn’t have bad luck they’d have none, and in their home loss to South Florida the Owls lost yet another player. Will Cummings left the game in the first half with concussion symptoms and did not return, leaving the Owls with just seven players. Next up on the schedule for Fran Dunphy’s team: No. 24 Memphis.

Purdue keeps searching for the right mix (Indianapolis Star)
Given the overall youth of Matt Painter’s roster it comes as no surprise that Purdue is still looking to solidify its rotation. Prior to their three-point loss at Minnesota on Sunday the Boilermakers had gone with a different starting lineup for seven straight games in hopes of finding the right mix.

With big win and new home, SMU now focusing on NCAA tournament berth (Dallas Morning News)
SMU’s win over UConn on Saturday represented a watershed moment for the program, with the game also being the first played at the newly renovated Moody Coliseum. Armed with some talented players and a nice arena, the belief in Dallas is that the Mustange have the pieces to make a run at an NCAA tournament berth.

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