Tuesday Morning Shootaround

Dominic James hit three threes in the final four minutes, including a tie-breaking triple with 0.4 seconds left on the clock, as Marquette beat NC State in Raleigh 68-65. James finished the game with 18 points, 6 assists, and 4 boards while Jerel McNeal added 20. Wesley Matthews came into this game averaging 21.9 ppg but was held to just five points on 2-4 shooting. In Marquette's two best wins of the season (Wisconsin and NC State), Matthews has scored a combined 14 points. They are the only two games he has scored in single digits. Coincidentally, in the Golden Eagles two losses, Matthews has posted his two highest scoring games on the season (30 vs. Tennessee, 28 vs. Dayton). Brandon Costner led the Wolfpack with 24 points (on 9-10 shooting), 8 boards, and 4 assists.

There were a lot of other games last night, but not many surprising outcomes:

• Oklahoma 70, Rice 58: Willie Warren had 31 points and Blake Griffin had another double-double (27, 11, 3 assists, 4 blocks) as Oklahoma overcame an ugly performance to pull away late. The Sooners were 5-20 from three (Warren was 4-9 himself), shot 17-34 from the line, and had 17 turnovers (led by Blake Griffin's six). Tony Crocker, fresh off of a 26 point game against VCU, finished o-7 from the floor and 0-5 from deep.
• Wake Forest 95, East Carolina 54: Al-Farouq Aminu had 21, 12, and 5 dimes as the Demon Deacons outscored ECU 54-17 in the second half.
• Notre Dame 81, Savannah State 49: Luke Harangody had 23 and 13 to lead the Irish. Kyle McAlarney has really struggled since Harangody came back. In the four games, he is averaging just 11 ppg and shooting 10-27 from deep.
• Ohio State 83, UNC-Asheville 59: We have a BJ Mullens sighting!! The freshman, playing the most minutes in his young career, finished with 19 points, 8 boards, and 3 blocks for the Buckeyes.
• Syracuse 82, Coppin State 71: Andy Rautins had 29 points on 9-16 shooting from beyond the arc, but once again Syracuse seemed to play down to the level of their opponents. They were never able to put the game away, and Coppin State even cut the lead to 61-57 with 8:35 left.
  
• Purdue 70, IPFW 55: JaJuan Johnson finished with 21, 9 boards, and 3 blocks as Purdue overcame a poor shooting night from Robbie Hummel (6 points, 3-10 from the floor).
• Villanova 78, Navy 68: Dante Cunningham had 24 and 10 and Scottie Reynolds added 23 for the Wildcats, who were playing for the first time in eight days. Navy cut the lead to three late, but Villanova hit their free throws down the stretch to ice it.
• Baylor 74, Hartford 59: Curtis Jerrells finished with 17 points, 11 boards, and 10 assists, notching the fourth triple-double in Baylor history (Brian Skinner did it twice, David Wesley once). Interestingly enough, it is just the ninth triple-double in conference history.
• Memphis 87, Drexel 49: Tyreke Evans led the Tigers with 20 and 4 assists, while Robert Dozier added 14 and Shawn Taggart had 13, 7 boards, and 7 blocks. Most importantly, Memphis broke out of their shooting slump, going 10-22 from deep.
• Oral Roberts 86, South Florida 63: Can you please explain to me how a team from the Big East can lose by 23 to a team from the Summit Conference?
• Florida 88, Georgia Southern 81
• Kentucky 102, Tennessee State 58: Patrick Patterson had 33 and 11 and Jodie Meeks had 32 in the rout. Meeks now has 78 points and 17 three's in his last two games.
• Michigan 79, Florida Gulf Coast 59: DeShawn Sims went for 20 and 20.
• Texas A&M Corpus Christi 80, Georgia 79 OT: The Bulldogs won with a three at the buzzer in overtime against Wofford on Saturday, but lost the exact same way last night.
• LSU 62, McNeese State 59
• Utah State 66, Utah 64: The Aggies are now 9-1 on the season.
• USC 76, Georgia Tech 57