After perusing all of the scores from this weekend, I count 36 that were particularly meaningful, and I’m probably underselling others. While the opening weekend of the college basketball was exciting because it was new, we definitely learned a lot more over the last three days simply because there were games that could go either way. We saw the Big East get its first loss — four of them, in fact. We saw Big Ten teams place seventh and eighth in eight-team tournaments. And at Madison Square Garden on Friday, we saw Syracuse complete the most impressive two-game stretch of the season.

Most of the interesting games were on Friday, so, it’s Friday’s games that account for most of my words on this Monday. I’ll be looking at Saturday and Sunday in subsequent posts.

Friday

Syracuse’s 87-71 win over North Carolina headlined the night’s action and rightfully so. Syracuse is a team that lost Jonny Flynn and two other key players from last year’s Sweet 16 team, and prior to last season, Syracuse had narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament twice in a row, so the Orange no longer give off the scent of a program that can simply reload.

Enter Wesley Johnson. Well acknowledging that his length and diverse skillset would be a huge asset for a team lacking both, I was very cautious about those who saw Johnson as an immediate star and potential Big East Player of the Year in his first season at Syracuse after transferring from Iowa State. Johnson had 25 points and eight rebounds on Friday, and that doesn’t convey the length he adds to Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone.

When you look at Syracuse’s figures above, notice that this one game is a replica of the Orange’s season thus far. Syracuse’s offense has been exceptional at hitting shots, especially 2-pointers — the Orange hit an incredible 59.6 against that imposing UNC frontcourt. The rest of the offensive for Syracuse, however, has been nothing special. Syracuse continues to turn the ball over too much, has not been great on the offensive glass and has not gotten to the line. It’s important to remember, though, that shooting is the overriding factor in an offense’s success and that the type of 2-pointers Syracuse has been making are not as beholden to fate as the 3-point shot.

It’s too early to say for sure, but it appears that Syracuse’s defense is its best in maybe five or six years. Syracuse has long been terrific at suppressing opponents’ shooting percentages and keeping them off the line with that 2-3 zone, and that has continued. The difference this year is that the Orange is forcing turnovers. The length and quickness of the Orange is getting in passing lanes to create turnovers. Those are leading to a lot of the easy buckets that have bolstered the 2-point percentage. If Syracuse can continue to force turnovers, the defense could be elite.

Elsewhere on Friday, DePaul defeated preseason MVC favorite Northern Iowa in the Paradise Jam opener, 60-52. Mac Koswhal had 12 points and 19 rebounds for the Blue Demons. Entering Friday, most — including myself — thought this was to be the first loss of the season for the Big East after a 34-0 start, and DePaul was to be the worst team in the league. The former would have to wait a few more hours, and the latter — we shall see. This win combined with DePaul’s four-point loss to nationally-ranked Tennessee on Sunday gives hope that things are getting better in Chicago.

In Puerto Rico, Villanova rarely seemed threatened by a good Dayton team in the semifinals of that tournament. Without anyone fouling out, the Cats had enough in the frontcourt to limit Chris Wright to just four rebounds. Villanova had eight more rebounds, made 10 more free throws and forced four more turnovers in a performance only incomplete because of poor shooting — 41.5 percent.

Seton Hall went to Cornell and won, 79-69, and Rutgers and St. John’s narrowly held off Drexel and Brown, respectively. So, it took until about 10 p.m. ET on the second Friday of the season, but Alabama defeated Providence, 84-75, to hand the Big East its first loss. Providence couldn’t keep the Tide off the foul line (27-for-35), couldn’t force turnovers (just eight) and couldn’t keep Alabama off the offensive glass (20 offensive rebounds). That’s not a good combination for playing good defense, even on a night when the opposite shot just 31.1 eFG in the first half. USF later lossed to South Carolina, 69-66, for another Big East defeat.

Among the other interesting results on Friday, Boston University defeated Indiana, 71-67, in Puerto Rico. Indiana couldn’t keep the Terriers off the foul line, where BU outscored IU, 29-14. Indiana would also lose to George Mason on Sunday, 69-66, to finish dead last in the Puerto Rico Tip-off. Another Big Ten team, Penn State fell to Tulane on Friday, 63-60. Talor Battle shot just 3-for-13, and PSU isn’t really good enough to beat anyone when Battle isn’t on. Ohio State did save some Big Ten face against Cal with a 76-70 win in the Coaches vs. Cancer consolation. Evan Turner had 26, 14 and six after his turnover-filled performance against UNC on Monday, but, as we were reminded of incessently, Cal is without two of its top players, Theo Robertson and Harper Kamp.

After the Big East and Big Ten, the SEC was the other conference that featured prominently on Friday. I’ve already mentioned that the league handed the Big East its first two losses. Mikhail Torrance had 26 points for Alabama, and JaMychal Green had 15 and 12. South Carolina made just 2-of-17 3-pointers but was able to force seven more turnovers by USF than the Gamecocks committed in a three-point win.

In Puerto Rico, Chris Warren and Terrico White combined for 52 Mississippi points in an 86-74 win over Kansas State that got the Rebels into the final against Villanova.

Of the Four Factors, the No. 1 for determining who wins a game is eFG, and it was again here. Ole Miss made 42 percent of its 3-pointers and 65 percent of its 2-pointers, and it’s just going to be very hard to beat a team when that happens. The best way to make up for that is at the free-throw line, but even there Andy Kennedy’s team held the advantage by eight makes. The shooting won’t continue at this clip — as we’ll see in the post on Sunday’s games — but Mississippi is top-20 good right now.

Vanderbilt scored a big win for itself and the league with a 72-70 defeat of St. Mary’s in Moraga, Calif. Vandy’s slightly better shooting — 50.9 to 46.7 eFG — made up for SMC’s seven more offensive rebounds, led by Omar Samhan’s five.

On the dimmer side, Arkansas needed overtime to get past Appalachian State, 81-72, and Auburn fell to Central Florida, 84-74, in Daytona. Jeff Lebo’s team is just lacking the depth of contributors it needs to win consistently. The Tigers lost again on Sunday by two points to N.C. State.

The last two games I wanted to mention from Friday involved Atlantic 10 teams. La Salle defeated Davidson in Charleston, S.C., 84-70, and St. Joseph’s knocked off Boston College, 84-80, in the Virgin Islands. In the latter game, BC wing Rakim Sanders played just four minutes before leaving with an injured ankle. He’s expected to miss 2-to-4 weeks. Despite having fewer turnovers and beating St. Joe’s on the glass, Al Skinner’s team couldn’t overcome St. Joe’s 10 3-pointers, especially while BC was making fewer than 40 percent of its 2-pointers. Joe Trapani — 4-for-12 on twos — and Reggie Jackson — 4-for-13 — were the major culprits.