FanHouse Derrick Brown

In the weakest NBA draft in years, sitting out might have been the best thing to do. All the fireworks were done before it even began. The Cavs traded for Shaq. The Magic added Vince Carter. The Wizards snagged Mike Miller instead of the No. 5 pick. Several teams showed little interest in getting involved.

Keep reading after the jump for the Eastern Conference rundown.

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* President Obama endorses the candidacy of Tyreke Evans for the Kings at No. 4. (Seriously.)

* Joey Whelan of DraftExpress talks with French guard prospect Nando de Colo, who has the opportunity to go in the late first round with some good work-outs.

* ESPN's Chad Ford visits Jonny Flynn, who is getting some lottery heat.

* Meanwhile, the Bulls conducted a "secret" work-out involving Flynn and Patrick Mills. Not a very good secret, though!

The crowd was standing all game, making a lot of noise for their Musketeers, and when Bruce Pearl picked up a technical foul with just under four minutes to play it looked like Tennessee was coming apart. The players had more composure than their coach, though. They forced four turnovers in those final four minutes and closed with a 13-2 run for an 82-75 win.

Tyler Smith was the standout for the Vols during that run. He scored six of his 12 points, blocked a shot and had a key steal to help the Vols to their biggest win of the season. They wouldn't have been in position to pull it off if not for the great first half turned in by J.P. Prince. With Chris Lofton and the normally deadly Vol three-point shooters shut down, Prince, playing just his third game in orange, kept driving through the perimeter focused Musketeer defense. He had 16 points in the first 20 minutes and his play off the bench will make Tennessee a dangerous team as the season progresses.

The loss is a tough one for Xavier to swallow.

It's not every day that a team from the Big East plays a team from the Atlantic 10 and finds themselves in the position of underdog. That's just where struggling Cincinnati found itself last night during the intercity shootout with Xavier, though. They almost pulled off the upset, too, by playing a game in the tradition of their former coach Bob Huggins. The Bearcats played rough, physical defense and threw the Musketeers off their game. Xavier's Drew Lavender caught a forearm to the face and Josh Duncan landed wrong after taking a shove to the back and left with an injured knee. A 10-man pileup led to technicals on both sides and all the activity helped Xavier to a miserable 38.6% shooting night. But Cincinnati was even worse, 33.8%, and Derrick Brown scored 11 points over the final seven minutes to escape with a 64-59 win.

Xavier can expect to get such treatment in the future. They're a big dog now and will be hunted by every team they play for the rest of the season. It's been a few years since UMass was such a dog but it might not be much longer.

They opened up a 15-point lead against Boston College in the Commonwealth Classic and then held on for an 83-80 win thanks to Gary Forbes. The swingman scored 10 points in the final five minutes to put the finishing touches on the Minutemen's first win in nine tries against the Eagles. Forbes, Ricky Harris and Chris Lowe combined for 64 points as BC unwisely tried to run the floor all night.

Xavier and UMass are just the tip of the iceberg. Rhode Island is 10-1, Dayton is 7-1, Charlotte is 6-2 and Duquesne is 6-3. The conference slate is going to be chockablock with good games and the NCAA Tournament should be well stocked with the cream of the A-10 crop.

I've already voiced my displeasure with the inclusion of teams like Xavier among the mid-major morass. They have the tradition, the size and the talent to hang with any of the big boys but the Atlantic 10 is still a bit of a redheaded stepchild. The only way they can defy their label is by winning games, something they've done seven out of eight times this season after beating Creighton 79-66 last night. The deep Musketeers got a typically well-balanced scoring night, led by 28 from Drew Lavender. The 5-7 sparkplug usually finds one of his five teammates who score in double figures but took matters into his own hands from the opening tip. He scored 17 in the first half, hit four threes and still found the time to dish out 10 assists.

XU remains under the radar but is a team that can't be slept on. C.J. Anderson, Josh Duncan and Derrick Brown can beat you inside while Lavender, Stanley Burrell and B.J. Raymond control the perimeter. Few teams, regardless of conference, can match that kind of balanced scoring. We'll see who among Tennessee, Kansas State, Auburn, Virginia and Arizona State can, but first the Musketeers will face Cincinnati in a battle for city bragging rights next week.

Elsewhere on the hardwood: