In case you missed it, the Atlantic Sun put another notch in its belt last night after Belmont edged Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Belmont coach Rick Byrd, whose team has been to two straight NCAA tournaments, admitted that early-season wins over Cincinnati and Alabama rival any that the program has had.

"I don't think we've had a better start," Byrd said. "You can argue that we've never had two wins in an entire season of that caliber."

Byrd said that his current group, which lacks a dominant big man, may be more suited to knock off the BCS schools.

"Our big guys have been instrumental in us winning our conference tournament, but it didn't carry over to the NCAA tournament. Our big guys weren't able to score. It's different going up against post players from UCLA and Georgetown."

The Bruins are now 4-2 on the season with losses to Bowling Green and Austin Peay (who Byrd raved about). Belmont was without Shane Dansby in the loss to Bowling Green because Byrd sat him out for three games due to a summer employment issue.

NO RUSH-ING BACK

Bill Self isn't going to deviate from the plan.

That means Kansas wing Brandon Rush, who made his season debut last week, won't play much more than the 15 minutes he logged in the rout over Washburn.

"He's looked better since he played last week," Self said. "But his timing's still not great. I talked to the doctor last night and we're going to continue to bring him along slowly."

While Self was excited about Rush's performance - he had seven points in his first action since tearing his ACL in a June pickup game - he also said that the 6-foot-6 junior wasn't close to the form he closed out his sophomore campaign.

"He was aggressive and he attacked the rim, but he's still not that instinctive," Self said. "He's not the guy that makes a play when nothing's there in traffic yet, but that'll come."

Self said that this year's group - which will be without guard Sherron Collins (foot) for the next 3-4 weeks - hasn't had the peaks and valleys of last year's team. It's been more consistent.

"This team hasn't reached its ceiling - not even close," he said. "A large part of that is because we've played without Sherron and Brandon."

Self said that Rush will continue to come in off the bench and won't be back to getting 30-plus minutes for another three weeks or so.

"We're still talking about a month before he's able to be turned loose," he said.

FULLERTON COACH: `BEST SHOOTER IN MY 38 YEARS'

Just imagine if Washington State still had Josh Akognon.

Akognon, the Cougars' leading scorer two years ago, is averaging 25.3 points through three games (all wins) for Cal State Fullerton. The 6-foot guard is also shooting 47 percent from long distance.

"He's an unbelievable shooter," Titans coach Bob Burton said. "In my 38 years coaching, he's the best shooter I've ever been around. He put up 27 against UCLA in the second half."
Burton said that senior forward Scot Cutley, who suffered an ankle injury that has kept him out so far, will be re-examined by doctors this week and is hopeful he'll be cleared to practice. Cutley, who led the league in rebounding (9.5) and was fifth in scoring (15.6) last season, is arguably the best player in the Big West.

"Originally, we thought it would be eight weeks minimum," Burton said. "It still may be, but right now the feeling is that he'll get the green light."  

RANDOM NOTES: Teams like Belmont and Gardner-Webb had already played six games before Arizona State stepped on the floor for its first game last night in Maui. ... Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel is the lucky winner of the Willie Warren sweepstakes. I hope Capel has a good team psychiatrist because he's going to need one. ... Michael Jordan was in Maui watching his son, Illinois freshman walk-on Jeffrey Jordan, who played 11 minutes and scored one point in the rout against Arizona State.