Seth Davis's Three-Pointer

1 Don't give up on Notre Dame. Yes, the Fighting Irish have lost five straight to fall to 3--6 in the Big East (12--8 overall), but all were against teams in the RPI's top 25. The Irish can still get the quality wins they need to reach the NCAA tournament.

2 Derrick Brown deserves All-America consideration. At week's end the 6'8" junior forward was No. 9 Xavier's top scorer (14.0 points) and second-leading rebounder (5.9) while making 47.4% of his threes, up from 34.4% last year.

3 The Gaels could be in trouble. Playing without sophomore point guard Patrick Mills (above), who broke his right hand during last Thursday's loss at Gonzaga, St. Mary's was routed at Portland 84--66 last Saturday. Mills is expected to return late this month, but that could be too late for the Gaels to mount their case for an at-large bid.

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DINO VOURNAS/AP (MILLS)