Sunday's Shootaround

Saturday was a wild day in college hoops, as six ranked teams lost, four of those losses coming to unranked opponents. Three of the eleven remaining undefeateds lost. Two games featured top 15 match-ups. And those are far from the only games you need to know about.

Texas 103, UNC 90: The Longhorns squashed any and all talk of being overrated and untested as they, as Dana O'Neil puts it, out-Heeled North Carolina. In a game with as fast a pace as you will see, Texas outran UNC and beat up the Heels' touted front line in the paint. Some of the stats were impressive: Texas outscoted UNC in the paint 52-42, beat them in second chance points 27-11, outrebounded them 60-41, and beat them on the offensive glass 29-12.

Dexter Pittman and Texas simply overpowered UNC.
(photo credit: AP)

Perhaps the most impressive, and most telling, stat line belonged to Dexter Pittman. Sexy Dexy had 23 points, grabbed 15 rebounds (12 of which were on the offensive end), and went 9-16 from the floor. But the stat that means the most is the number of minutes Pittman played: 26. Pittman came into the game averaging just 18.9 mpg, and given how fast this game was, I don't think Rick Barnes could have asked for more.

This game was back-and-forth for the first 18 minutes, but Texas was able to build up a seven point lead with under a minute left in the first half. J'Covan Brown hit a jumper with 27 seconds left, Damion James was able to tip own a missed shot off of a Dexter Strickland turnovers, and on the ensuing inbounds pass Avery Bradley stole the ball and scored a layup. Texas all of a sudden had a 13 point lead, and UNC never got closer than four the rest of the way.

Damion James had 25 points and 15 boards while Brown and Bradley added 21 and 20 points, respectively. Ed Davis had 21 points, 9 boards, and 4 blocks and Tyler Zeller added 16, but Deon Thompson really struggled to assert himself offensively, and the Heels did not get much out of their back court.

Duke 76, Gonzaga 41: This game started out ugly, with the two teams combined to miss 20 of the first 25 shots on the night. With Gonzaga holding a 10-8 lead midway through the first half, the Blue Devils finally woke up, going on a 23-7 run to close out the half. In the second half, Nolan Smith banged back to back threes and Jon Scheyer hit one of his own as the Blue Devils opened up a 40-18 lead, and the rout was on. Smith finished with 24 points and Scheyer added 20 points, 8 assists, and 5 boards.

USC 77, Tennessee 55: Most surprising score of the night? Tennessee just wasn't ready to play tonight. Its as simple as that. The Trojans came out, jumped on the Vols with an early 8-2 run, and Tennessee was never really able to respond. The Vols allowed a ton of easy baskets against their press, were dominated on the inside (43-21 Trojan advantage on the boards), and couldn't hit an outside shot (2-22 from three for a team that was hitting 43.4%). Alex Stephenson had 19 points and 15 points, Nikola Vucevic had 15 and 10, and Mike Gerrity, who was playing his first game for the Trojans, had 12 points and 10 assists.

Mike Gerrity's 12 points and 10 assists was the difference for the Trojans.
(photo credit: LA Times)

Old Dominion 61, Georgetown 57: For the second time in three years, Old Dominion beat Georgetown in McDonough Arena, their 2,400 seat on-campus venue (every other Hoya home game is played in the Verizon Center). The Monarchs are the only team to beat Georgetown there since 1982. The Hoyas, like the Vols, came out of the gates sluggish. They got down by double digits early, had as many turnover as points (nine) 13 minutes into the game, and found themselves down 47-29 early in the second half. By the time they woke up, it was too late. The Hoyas used a 28-12 run to cut the lead to 59-57 on two Monroe free throws with under a minute left, but a tip-in at the other end all but sealed the game. Monroe had 15 points and 7 boards, but was slowed by ODU's Gerald Lee, the Monarch's leading scorer who finished with just six points before fouling out.

Richmond 56, Florida 53: Florida used a hot start to open up a 32-19 lead with 2:10 left in the first half, but the Spiders would respond by going on a 27-5 run over the next 11 minutes of game time, eventually taking a 46-37 lead with 11 minutes left in the game. The Gators would rally to take a 49-48 lead on a Chandler Parsons free throw, but David Gonzalvez, who finished with 16 points, hit a three with 1:36 left to break a 49-49 tie, and Kevin Anderson, who had 14 points, hit four straight free throws down the stretch for the win.

Wichita State 85, Texas Tech 83: The Shockers used stingy defense and hot shooting late in the first half to open up a 35-21 halftime lead, but the Red Raiders would respond. Texas Tech methodically came back, eventually taking a 61-57 lead with under even minutes to play. That's when Wichita State would make their decisive run - twice on one possession, the Shockers grabbed an offensive rebound off of a missed free throw, hitting a three off the second one to cap a four point possession. The next time down, they hit another three and 22 seconds later knocked down two free throws for a 66-61 lead. They would hold that lead for the rest of the game, hitting late free throws as Tech made a furious rally late. Clevin Hannah led the Shockers, who are now 10-1 and the second biggest MVC surprise to Missouri State, with 24 points, matching Tech's John Roberson for the game-high.

West Virginia 80, Cleveland State 78: Every Big East coach should get their hands on this game tape, as the Vikings exposed the Mountaineers weakness - zone's. WVU jumped out to a 55-38 lead early in the second half, but struggled down the stretch as Cleveland State forced 11 second half turnovers using a 2-3 zone and a zone pressure. Cleveland State tied this game at 78 with 13 seconds remaining, setting up this exciting finish:



Kevin Jones had 23 to lead WVU, while Da'Sean Butler added 18 points and 9 boards. Norris Cole led CSU with 29.

Butler 69, Xavier 68: As we already discussed, this game had a crazy, controversial finish. Gordon Hayward played great this afternoon, finishing with 22 points, 14 boards, and countless big plays. Matt Howard, the Horizon's reigning player of the year, struggled once again. It has to be a confidence issue at this point, because Howard is a good basketball player, but there may not be another good player in the country playing as badly as Howard is right now. He's shooting just 41% from the floor, averaging an absurd 4.1 fouls per game, and looks unsure of himself when he has the ball in the post. One play in paticular stands out in my mind. During the second half, Howard rolled of a screen and Mack found him with a nice pass. Howard had an open lane to the rim from about 12 feet out, but instead of attacking the basket he tried to throw a cross court pass to Hayward in the corner. The pass was picked off.

UMass 73, Memphis 72: Another crazy finish:



Terrell Vinson, who hit the game winner, finished with 21 points and 9 boards as the Minutemen won the battle of the "Schools spurned by Cal".

New Mexico 66, Creighton 61: The Lobos were ice cold all night, finishing just 20-67 from the floor. After falling behind by 16 points and heading into the locker rooms with a 40-28 deficit, they came out much more intense defensively in the second half. A 17-4 run gave the Lobos their first lead of the night, and after trading baskets for a few minutes, two Darington Hobson baskets game the Lobos a 61-57 lead they would not relinquish. Hobson finished with 22 points and 16 boards for the still-undefeated Lobos.

Other notable scores:

• Kansas 75, Michigan 64: The Jayhawks jumped out to a 20 point lead during the first half as Michigan went man-to-man. When the Wolverines finally switched back to their zone, they were able to make a run, cutting the lead to 11. But they would get no closer. Marcus Morris had 23 points and 10 boards to lead the Jayhawks, and Michigan, as has been the case all season long, couldn't hit a shot from three, making just 5-28.
  
• Kentucky 90, Austin Peay 69: The Wildcats looked lazy, sloppy, and overconfident for the first 32 minutes of the game, before Patrick Patterson scored nine points during an 11-0 run that opened up a 20 point lead late in the game. Patterson finished with 21.
• Purdue 69, Ball State 49: Robbie Hummel scored 19 points and grabbed 9 boards as the Boilermakers used a stingy defense to open up a 38-15 halftime lead.
• Syracuse 85, St. Bonaventure 72: Syracuse looked beatable for the first time since Le Moyne on Saturday. The Bonnies hung with the Orange for the first half, but back-to-back Brandon Triche threes opened up a 12 point lead, and a few minutes later Andy Rautins hit back-to-back triples in a 15 second span as the Cuse built a cushion big enough to absorb every Bonnie push. Rick Jackson had 18 and 10 boards to lead the Orange.
• Villanova 96, Fordham 58: Reggie Redding scored 15 points and grabbed 9 boards as Villanova used a 28-2 second half run to blow this thing open.
• Michigan State 80, IPFW 58: After jumping out to an early 17 point lead, the Spartans allowed the Mastadons to shoot their way back into the game, cutting the lead to 42-37 at the break. But MSU allowed just 28.6% shooting in the second half, and held on to win.
• Ohio State 60, Delaware State 44: Del State took the air out of the ball, but did not have enough scoring punch to knock off the Buckeyes. William Buford had 18 to lead the way.
• Washington 89, Portland 54: So much for Portland having a shot at the tournament. The Pilots committed 22 turnovers and found themselves down 30 at the half. Isaiah Thomas and Quincy Pondexter led the Huskies with 16 and 17, respectively.
• Kansas State 87, Alabama 74: Kansas State jumped out to a 20 point lead in the first half, and held off the few rallies Alabama could muster. Jacob Pullen had a season-high 30 points in the win as Frank Martin beat former high school teammate Anthony Grant.
  
• Georgia 70, Illinois 67: The Bulldogs absolutely overpowered a smaller Illini team inside, Trey Thompkins scored 21 points, including four straight free throws in the final minute to win the game.
  
• Oklahoma 80, Northern Colorado 79: Cade Davis scored 25 points and Tony Crocker added 24 and 10 boards as the Sooners barely hung on against a game Northern Colorado team. The Bears hit a flurry of threes in the final two minutes to overcome a 10 point deficit, and after Tommy Mason-Griffin missed two free throws, had a chance to win the game before turning the ball over.
• Wofford 68, South Carolina 61: South Carolina beat Richmond, Richmond beat Florida, then South Carolina loses to Wofford. Go figure. Noah Dahlman had 19 points and 11 boards in the win.
• Temple 71, Seton Hall 65: The Owls got 24 points from Ryan Brooks and 21 from Juan Fernandez as they ended Seton Hall's unbeaten streak. The two teams traded the lead nie times in the last nine minutes, but it was a basket from Brooks with under two minutes left that gave the Owls the lead for good. The Pirates ended up just 4-20 from three.
  
• Northwestern 70, Stanford 62: John Shurna scored 22 points and the Wildcats forced 18 turnovers to beat the Cardinal despite 24 points, 9 boards, and 5 assists from Landry Fields.
• Notre Dame 84, UCLA 73: The Irish shot 60% in the second half as they used an 11-3 run to open up a double digit lead to pull away from the Bruins. Luke Harangody led four players in double figures with 23 points.
• Mississippi State 70, Houston 64: Barry Stewart broke a 64-all tie with a jumper with just 40 seconds left, and the Bulldogs would hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Jarvis Varnado had 13 points, 17 boards, and 5 blocks.
• VCU 78, Tulane 77: Larry Sanders scored 16 points to lead the Ras as they held on as the Green Wave rallied to come back from a 17 point deficit.
• UTEP 101, Alcorn State 41: Derrick Caracter scored 21 points and grabbed 10 boards as he started for the Miners.
• Louisville 102, Western Kentucky 75: The Cardinals seem to have righted the ship, as they got 17 points from both Edgar Sosa and Jerry Smith to avenge a loss to the Hilltoppers last season.
• Vanderbilt 84, Tennessee State 71: Vanderbilt committed 21 turnovers, but shot 19-24 in the second half to overpower Tennessee State.
• Arizona State 55, San Diego State 52: Rihard Kuksiks and Jamelle McMillan both scored 12 points as the Sun Devils hung on to beat the Aztecs despite blowing an 18 point lead.
  
• Illinois State 73, Utah 63: Big win for the Redbirds and for the MVC, as Utah has already beaten Michigan, Illinois, and Utah State. Osiris Eldridge had 17 in the win.
• Washington State 93, Portland State 69
• Missouri State 73, St. Louis 63
• Southern Illinois 70, San Diego 68
• Missouri 88, Arkansas-Pine Bliff 70
• Dayton 71, Presbyterian 52
• Tulsa 86, Chicago State 49
• Indiana 81, North Carolina Central 58
• Texas A&M 71, Citadel 50
• Oregon State 76, Mississippi Valley State 62
• Nevada 74, Wagner 61
• BYU 91, Eastern Washington 34
• Oregon 72, Oakland 60
  
• Virginia Tech 73, Charleston Southern 50
• IUPUI 73, Duquesne 64
  
• UAB 72, South Alabama 54
• South Florida 69, San Francisco 49
  
• Miami 87, Florida Atlantic 69
• Arkansas 72, Stephen F. Austin 69
• Pitt 66, Mt. St. Mary's 48
  
• Cincinnati 80, Lipscomb 52
  
• Marquette 78, North Florida 51
• La Salle 83, Bucknell 70
  
• LSU 65, Rice 61
• Northern Iowa 64, North Dakota 41
  
• UNLV 88, USC Upstate 58
  
• Clemson 94, Charleston 55
• Ole Miss 108, Centenary 64
  

Saturday's Best:

• Benzor Simmons had 35 points and 10 boards, but Tennessee-Martin lost to Evansville.
• Houston lost to Mississippi State, but Aubrey Coleman did his best to keep the Cougars in the game, going for 28 points and 12 boards.
• Jacob Pullen had 30 points and hit six threes as Kansas State stayed hot with a big win at Alabama.
• Michael Washington's 25 points and 11 rebounds helped the Razorbacks knock off Stephen F. Austin.
• Malcolm Lee seems to finally be coming into his own. He scored 20 for the second straight game, going for 29 points and 4 assists on 11-17 shooting in a loss to Notre Dame.
• Hamady N'Diaye of Rutgers nearly posted a triple double as he went for 11 points, 13 boards, and 9 blocks.
• Washington State's Reggie Moore had double-digit assists for the second straight game, going for 12 assists with no turnovers in a win over Portland State.