Here’s who’s holding court

FORT WORTH, Texas – It’s hard to believe the college basketball season is already five weeks old, but that doesn’t mean there has been a shortage of impressive story lines, star performers or teams on the rise. Here’s a look at some of the hot topics of this young season:

Top tier players:

1. F Blake Griffin, Soph., Oklahoma: The Sooners’ star is averaging 23.1 points and 15.1 rebounds per game. Fans of the Oklahoma City Thunder are hoping he’ll be staying nearby after the next NBA Draft.

2. G Stephen Curry, Jr., Davidson: Curry, the nation’s leading scorer at 31.9 points per game, scored 44 points in a loss to Oklahoma. Saturday, he had 41 in a 100-95 win over Chattanooga, his third 40-point game this season.

3. F DeJuan Blair, Soph., Pitt: He is scoring 14.6 points per game, is first in the Big East with 12.8 rebounds per game and fourth in the conference in field-goal percentage (.643).

4. C Hasheem Thabeet, Jr., UConn: The native of Tanzania is averaging 14.9 points and 12.1 rebounds per game. In a 68-64 victory over Buffalo, he had a career-high 18 rebounds.

5. F Josh Heytvelt, Sr., Gonzaga: He leads the Bulldogs (7-1) in scoring (15.0 points per game) and rebounds (6.1), and is shooting better than 47 percent from 3-point range.

Best teams

1. North Carolina (9-0): The No. 1 Tar Heels have thumped Kentucky, Notre Dame and Michigan State. In a 100-84 win at home over Oral Roberts, Tyler Hansbrough finished with 26 points, nine rebounds, a blocked shot and two steals.

2. Pitt (10-0): The No. 3 Panthers have outscored opponents by nearly 23 points per game. More impressive is that in its 10 games, seven opponents have been held to 60 points or fewer.

3. UConn (9-0): The second-ranked Huskies have five players averaging double digits in scoring and have the top offense in the Big East at 83 points per game.

4. Oklahoma (10-0): In winning the NIT Season Tip-Off, the No. 4 Sooners came away battle-tested with tough victories over Davidson, UAB and Purdue.

5. Texas (9-1): The fifth-ranked Longhorns (9-1) have huge wins over UCLA and Villanova. A.J. Abrams, who is averaging 20.9 points per game, finished with 27 points against Texas Southern on Tuesday and moved into seventh all-time (1,598 points) among UT career scoring leaders.

Biggest surprises

1. Merry Christmas: Led by guard Dionte Christmas, who had 35 points, Temple (5-3) knocked off No. 8 Tennessee 88-72. It was the first time Temple defeated a top-10 team since knocking off then-No. 6 George Washington in the 2006 Atlantic 10 tournament.

2. Commanding performance: So far, the Big 12 has gone 6-3 in the Big 12/Pac 10 Hardwood Series, no win more stunning than Missouri’s 93-66 victory over Cal, which at the time had just one loss.

3. Xavier’s start: Xavier, which has two Elite Eight appearances the past five seasons, could be in good shape for a third. The Musketeers (9-0) are led by the dynamic trio of Derrick Brown (14.0 points per game), B.J. Raymond (12.2) and C.J. Anderson (11.8). They have wins over Virginia Tech, Memphis and Auburn.

4. Fast forward: LSU, under first-year coach Trent Johnson, sits atop the SEC West at 7-0 and leads the nation in rebounding (46.3 per game). The Tigers also have the top scoring defense (55.6) and 3-point field-goal percentage (.424) in the Southeastern Conference.

5. Lawal’s big jump: Georgia Tech sophomore forward/center Gani Lawal is off to a strong start. He is averaging a double-double (18.6 points, 10.3 rebounds per game) and is in the top four in the ACC in scoring, rebounding and field-goal percentage. Through the first seven games last year, he had 47 points, 22 rebounds, four blocks and two steals. This year: 130 points, 72 rebounds, nine blocks and seven steals.

Biggest trends

Five to watch – teams, story lines and streaks – in the coming months:

1. Minnesota: The Golden Gophers (9-0) haven’t been tested, but today’s game with Louisville will show how serious of a contender they could be in the Big Ten.

2. Big East dominance: With six teams in the top 15, there’s no doubt the Big East is the nation’s best conference, but watch to see which team will emerge and how certain squads will exploit weaknesses as conference play kicks off.

3. Contenders for Carolina? North Carolina is steamrolling opponents, but will that continue in ACC play? Wake Forest and Duke are the obvious choices to take a shot at the Tar Heels, but pay attention to Clemson, which won the Charleston Classic and is 11-0.

4. Impact freshmen: Three freshmen to keep an eye on are Oklahoma’s Willie Warren, a North Crowley graduate; Memphis’ Tyreke Evans; and Samardo Samuels at Louisville.

5. Still streaking: Ohio State is 6-0 and has won 11 straight games, dating to last season’s run to the NIT title. In a 54-51 win over Butler, Buckeyes sophomore guard Evan Turner had 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and four steals.