Other than Troy Bell, who has taken over as Boston College's leading scorer (some might argue that's a necessary role for the Eagles), only one other freshman (Todd Billett) is averaging double-figures in points. But specialty skills are in abundance.

Need a shot-blocker? Try Seton Hall's Samuel Dalembert. The Pirates' staff is bringing him around slowly (19.7 minutes per game), but there's no doubting his impact on the defensive end. Dalembert has notched 53 blocks in just 14 games, tying him for fourth with Anthony Avent (1989-90) on the Hall's list of blocked shots by season. He needs just 89 to crack the career top 10 blocks list.

How about a floor general who thinks pass first, shoot second? Pittsburgh's Brandin Knight is already putting up better assist numbers than his brother Brevin Knight did in his freshman season at Stanford (6.1 vs. 5.4), and is just as big a pest as big brother on defense (a Big East-leading 2.9 steals per game, a shade above Brevin's freshman total of 2.8).

DeShaun Williams gives Syracuse another sharpshooter off the bench, a missing ingredient for the Orangemen lately. Williams' 48.7 percent 3-point shooting is good enough for fourth in the league, but it isn't even the best on his team (Preston Shumpert rips the nets at a 52.7 percent clip, 14th-best in the nation).

One group of esteemed freshmen still looking for roles is UConn's talented trio of Doug Wrenn, Tony Robertson and Marcus Cox.

After a slow start, Wrenn's numbers should pick up now that he's starting at small forward (he still needs to cut down on his fouls). Robertson is scoring 7.5 points per game, but could look for his shot more, especially when the UConn offense is struggling. Cox has been caught in a numbers crunch -- as a backup to Khalid El-Amin, you aren't going to see much game time.

But for Connecticut to make another push to the Final Four, those players must develop their roles. Maybe they should look around the league a little.

Statistics through Thursday, Jan. 27.

Player	School	Comment
Uka Agbai	Boston College	5.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg
Troy Bell	Boston College	Second in Big East with 18.8 ppg
Todd Billett	Rutgers	11.7 ppg, team-leading 4.4 apg
Matt Carroll	Notre Dame	9.6 ppg, 24.8 mpg
Samuel Dalembert	Seton Hall	Sixth in nation with 3.8 bpg
Brandin Knight	Pittsburgh	Third in Big East with 6.0 apg
Tim Lyles	West Virginia	8.3 ppg, 4.2 apg, 10 starts
Greg Morton	Seton Hall	5.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 52.9% FG
DeShaun Williams	Syracuse	Fourth in Big East at 48.7% 3s
Donatas Zavackas	Pittsburgh	9.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 53.6% FG