Monday Morning Shootaround

Jeff Teague scored 27 points as Wake Forest took control during the second half in their 93-76 win over Boston College. Wake shot 65.5% from the floor in the second half as they outscored the Eagles 47-29. Al-Farouq Aminu led the charge as he scored 21 of his 26 points after the break. The Demon Deacons are now 5-3 in the ACC, tied with four other teams a game and a half behind both Duke and UNC.

One of the teams tied for third in the league is BC, who is now firmly on the bubble. The Eagles next four games are going to make or break their season. They get Duke, Florida State, and Clemson at home, with a trip to Miami sandwiched in between. If they can win two of those games, they should finish at least 9-7 in the ACC. With a win over UNC already, that might be enough to get the Eagles in.

The rest of Sunday's college action:

• Illinois 66, Purdue 48: Once again playing without Robbie Hummel (who has a hairline fracture in his back), the Boilermakers struggled to get anything going against the stingy Illini defense. Purdue shot a season worst 32.2% from the floor and 2-15 from deep. Mike Davis led the Illini with 14 points and 16 boards. This game was close throughout, but the Illini put a 23-6 surge on Purdue midway into the second half to put the game away.
• Louisville 60, St. John's 47: It took the Cardinals a while to wake up in this one. Terrence Williams was held to just three points (although he added seven boards and seven dimes) because of a wrist injury. Samardo Samuels, who was really playing well early on, had two teeth knocked out and had to go to the hospital to get them fixed. But one thing that wasn't effected by injury was the Cardinals defense. They held the Johnnies to 31% shooting from the field, and Jerry Smith added 19 of his 21 points in the second half as Louisville grinded out the win.
• Washington 75, Stanford 68: Quincy Pondexter scored 20 points for the second consecutive game as U-Dub overcame a 10 point first half deficit and bounced back from a loss at Cal to remain just 1/2 game behind UCLA.
  
• Seton Hall 65, Rutgers 60: The Pirates have won four in a row in the Big East and are sitting ahead of Georgetown and Notre Dame in the league standings.
• LSU 76, Alabama 62: Marcus Thornton scored 20 of his 22 in the first half as the Tigers improved to 7-1 in the SEC. LSU has a nice record, but they lost by 30 at Utah, lost by 10 at home to Xavier, and play in the SEC West, which is the worse division in the SEC.
• Charlotte 79, Dayton 66: Bad loss for the Flyers as Charlotte is at the bottom end of the A-10 standings. Dayton should still be alright for an at-large bid as they as they continue to win. Their 133 strength of schedule means that they aren't going to have to much room to work with.
• Virginia Tech 91, NC State 87 OT: AD Vassallo scored 24 points as the Hokies were able to overcome an 18 point deficit with just over 13 minutes left in the game. Vassallo hit a jumper with 17 seconds left to send it to OT, where he made four clutch free throws down the stretch to ice it. Ben McCauley had 25 and 15 for the Wolfpack.
  
• Creighton 77, Northern Iowa 71: NIU picks up their second loss in MVC play. Justin Carter led the Bluejays with 17.
  
• Wisconsin 54, Penn State 44: The Nittany Lions lost their second straight game, and now look to be in danger of falling out of the at-large picture. Marcus Landry has 13 for the Badgers, who are trying to claw their way back into the NCAA picture. The Big Ten is crowded in the middle of the pack as their are eight teams within two games of second place. Any of those teams have strong enough resumes that they can get hot and make a run at an at-large bid.
• Maryland 57, Georgia Tech 56