American, JaVale McGee, Bobby Frasor

1. The few days before Christmas is typically something of a dead time for college hoops. It wasn't this year, with a great slate of games on Saturday (including Memphis' dismantling of Georgetown and Michigan State's dominance of Texas). For me, however, it was, as I spent the weekend in Boston, watching the Celtics defeat the Bulls and engaging in all manner of debauchery with friends old and new.

That was unfortunate for me, as it meant I was away from home when my alma mater, American, beat Maryland for the first time in 81 years. Now, Maryland -- coming off a home loss to Ohio University -- is hardly the ACC power they usually are, but the 67-59 victory is still a huge win for the Patriot League program, perhaps the biggest in school history. (The other contender is a 62-61 victory over fifth-ranked Georgetown in 1982; American will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of that win when they play the Hoyas on Saturday).

Despite the fact that Maryland was clearly vulnerable heading into this game, the deck appeared stacked against AU. To begin with, let's look at the starting backcourts. American's Derrick Mercer and Garrison Carr are listed at a very generous 5'9" and 5'11", respectively (I think Mercer is shorter than me, and I'm a quarter-inch or so shy of 5'9"). Maryland's sophomore tandem of Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes stand 6'6" and 6'4", respective. That duo did their damage offensively -- Vasquez had 28 points and Hayes had 16 (that's 44 of the team's 59) -- but they couldn't keep Mercer from scoring a team-high 18.

Secondly, the Terps frontcourt isn't that much taller than the Eagles', but it's a lot stronger, deeper, and more talented. Yet James Gist, Braxton Dupree, Landon Milbourne, Bambale Osby, Dave Neal, and Dino Gregory combined for just 14 points on 4-for-24 shooting. Meanwhile, they gave up 17 points to Bryce Simon, 12 to Brian Gilmore, and the Terps were outrebounded 40-33.

As I said, I was out of town, so I didn't see the game, but the box score tells some of the story. Typically, when a team like American beats a team like Maryland, particularly on the road, they hold a big advantage in something like three-point shooting or turnovers. That wasn't the case Saturday. The Eagles shot the deep ball well (42.1 percent) and only turned it over 12 times, but Maryland had comparable totals (41.7 percent and 13 turnovers). The Terrapins even hit 10 triples to the Eagles' eight.

No, American beat Maryland simply by playing better all-around basketball. They outworked their bigger opponents, outrebounding them and getting to the line.

I've got a friend on the AU coaching staff, and I hope to talk to him a bit more to find out what goes into an upset like this. If and when I hear from him, I'll talk about what he said, with his permission. Until then, all hail the migh-ty AU Eagles...

2. North Carolina rolled Nevada tonight, but it was the same old song for the Tar Heels. I've written about them extensively already this season and will have the opportunity to continue to do so, so I'm going to ignore them for now. But a seven-foot sophomore from the Wolfpack named JaVale McGee caught my eye, so I'd like to devote a few words to him.

The negative first, so no one thinks I am getting carried away. He doesn't have much of a back-to-the-basket game, so he's limited in what he can do offensively. However, he also doesn't have that gangly awkwardness that 19- and 20-year-olds at his height so often have, so it's reasonable to suggest he might develop one in time.

His stats -- 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots -- tell a pretty good story, but there were a few things that don't show up in the box score that are worth noting.

For one, his lone assist came on a play where he caught the ball about 18 feet from the basket on the left wing. He beat UNC's Tyler Hansbrough into the lane, jumped, then dropped a nice little pass to a teammate for an easy bucket. How often have you seen a seven-footer do that?

Secondly, he's a very quick leaper. Thanks to NBA League Pass, I've discovered just how valuable this skill is. As alluded to, I'm a big Celtics fan, and in watching the first 26 games of this NBA season, I've seen Boston center Kendrick Perkins lose countless easy baskets because he can't get off the floor when he catches the ball. He has to gather himself (bringing the ball down), bend his knees (making himself several inches shorter), and then go up. This often turns a dunk into a blocked layup or a trip to the free throw line, where Perkins is barely a favorite to make one of two.

McGee didn't get a lot of post catches against Carolina so it's not a perfect comparison, but you could tell just how athletic he is from the way he sprung off the floor to contest shots and grab rebounds (it's no coincidence that Perkins' rebounding numbers are fairly underwhelming for a guy who goes 6'10", 280).

The best specific example of McGee's athleticism that I can give was a follow-up dunk McGee had in the first half. I can't really describe it here, but what I can say is that given the position in which the big guy caught the ball, I was very surprised that he was able to jam it home, nevermind as easily as he did. I was fully expecting him to land before stuffing it.

Finally, while he was 0-for-3 from three-point land, he looked very comfortable from that range, and his misses were close -- the second one went in and out. He's hit three from deep on the season, and the fact that he can take such a shot within the flow of the Nevada offense without drawing ire from his teammates and coaches shows that he's very capable of making that shot.

Keep this kid's name in the back of your mind. He's not NBA ready, of course, but he's a prospect to watch over the next few years.

3. It wasn't all good news for Carolina, however, as Bobby Frasor tore his ACL and is out for the season. You've gotta feel bad for the kid, suffering an injury like that making a hustle play on defense deep in the second half of a blowout.

Carolina won't miss Frasor as much as Syracuse will miss Eric Devendorf or North Carolina State will miss Farnold Degand (two other players who have gone down with season-ending knee injuries in the last week or so). But don't look at Frasor's three-points-per-game average and think this is no big deal.

The Heels still have one of the best lead guards in the country in sophomore Tywon Lawson. But Lawson has been able to average just 23 minutes per game this season, in part because of how well Frasor ran the team from off the bench.

Carolina's third-string point guard is Quentin Thomas. whose three-plus years in powder blue have been something of a disappointment. He's averaging 1.8 turnovers in 10 minutes per game this year, and on Saturday, he gave up the rock five times in 13 minutes against UC-Santa Barbara.

Carolina coach Roy Williams will no doubt start out by giving Frasor's minutes to Thomas, but if the senior continues to struggle, you can expect Lawson to see more floor time. This may become a problem in March, as Lawson -- as well-conditioned as he is -- takes a lot of contact and expends a lot of energy running Williams' high-octane offense. Tar Heel fans will have to hope that Thomas is up to the task, for fear that Lawson may wear down during the season's stretch run.