We deemed Texas as the deepest team in the nation entering the season, but the Longhorns may have already suffered a critical loss with a potential season-ending knee injury to starting guard Varez Ward suffered in pre-game warmups last night.

The Texas staff had been raving about Ward's play the entire offseason, and the Alabama native started the first three games of the season and averaged 6.7 points and 2.3 assists - primarily due to his effort and defensive intensity.

Ward landed awkwardly in the layup line prior to the team's victory over Pittsburgh and had to be carried off the court on a stretcher. The extent of the injury to his right knee is still unknown.

Texas still has plenty of options in the backcourt with point guards J'Covan Brown and Dogus Balbay, wings Avery Bradley and Justin Mason, and Rick Barnes will also have Jai Lucas eligible after the first semester.

However, losing Ward would certainly hurt.

STUD OF THE NIGHT: It's hard to discount a triple-double, so we're giving the nod to Ohio State's Evan Turner, who recorded his second triple-double of the season with 16 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a 20-point rout over Lipscomb.

DUD OF THE NIGHT: I'm going with Western Kentucky after the Hilltoppers lost to Indiana State. It snapped a 15-game home winning streak for Ken McDonald's club, which had also won 29 of its last 30 at Diddle Arena.

MID-MAJOR STUD: Morgan State's Reggie Holmes scored 34 points in a win against Arkansas. Holmes was 8-for-16 from the field, 5-for-10 from long range, 13-for-15 from the foul line and also grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists in the 97-94 victory.

STAT OF THE NIGHT: Mississippi State senior big man Jarvis Varnado blocked four shots in a win against Bethune-Cookman and broke Shaquille O'Neal's SEC mark (412) for career blocks with 413..

ON TAP: The game of the night is the Maui Championship contest between Gonzaga and Cincinnati.

Here are the other games to watch tonight:

1. Gonzaga vs. Cincinnati: The Maui title game is a matchup of two teams that had questions entering the year..

2. LSU vs. UConn: Can Tasmin Mitchell and the Tigers pull the upset over Jim Calhoun's club in the NIT semifinals in New York City?

3. Vanderbilt vs. Arizona: The loser of this Maui Invitational consolation game goes back to the mainland 1-2 in the event, which doesn't bode well for either club.

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