Thursday's Shootaround: Derrick Caracter makes an impact, but UTEP blows a lead late

Ole Miss 91, UTEP 81 OT: Ole Miss is building quite the reputation as the comeback kids. For the third consecutive game, the Rebels rallied to make an improbably comeback, this time from down 12 with five minutes left to force overtime. Two three pointers by Terrico White sparked a 14-0 run that was capped by two Chris Warren free throws to give the Miners a 71-70 lead with 48 seconds left, and White added another free throw before Arnett Moultrie hit a short jumper to force OT.

Chris Warren scored a career-high 32 points as Ole Miss came back on UTEP.
(photo credit: AP)

In the OT, Zach Graham started the scoring with a three, and Ole Miss was able to hit their free throws down the stretch to hold on to the win. Chris Warren, who had 17 points in the first 15 minutes, but was held scoreless after that until the Ole Mis comeback, scored 11 of his career high 32 in overtime. White finished with 19 points for the Rebels. Randy Culpepper had 19 points to lead the Miners, but was just 2-12 from three. The story of the game for UTEP, however, was Derrick Caracter, who posted 15 points and 15 boards in just his second game since March 28th, 2008. And he did it against a top 25 team.

Oklahoma State 71, Stanford 70: The Cowboys used some hot second half shooting to open up a lead as big as 15 points at one point, but Stanford was able to make a come back thanks to some timely buckets from Jeremy Green (19 points) and Landry Fields (22 points, 12 boards, 4 assists). James Anderson scored 28 points, and Obi Muonelo scored 20, to lead the Pokes to a nice road win.

UAB 64, Cincinnati 47: Cincinnati was out played out hustled, and as a result was out rebounded 47-34 as the Blazers soundly beat the Bearcats. They were up by as much as 25 before a late run. The domination was all the more impressive when you consider the Cinci is one of the best rebounding teams in the country, and the Blazers start four guards. The Bearcats, who were 3-22 from three and only got Yancy Gates 8 shots, settled for too many jumpers and contested threes for a team without the benefit of one player that could, right now, be considered a consistent and reliable three point shooter. Elijan Millsap had 22 and 15 to lead UAB.

South Carolina 76, Richmond 58: Richmond was in this game for 32 two minutes, as a Dan Geriot bucket with 8:12 left in the game tied it at 52. But the Gamecocks would respond with a 24-6 run to close the game as their pressure finally started working. Devan Downey finished with 18 points to lead USC.

Other notables games:

• Georgia Tech 65, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 53: Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors combined for 30 points and 26 rebounds as the Yellow Jackets overcame a sluggish performance in their final tune-up before starting ACC play on the 20th.
• Ohio State 78, Presbyterian 48: Ohio State used a 14-0 run at the start of the game and jumped out to a 53-21 halftime lead, but was outscored in the second half.
• Clemson 80, East Carolina 63: Trevor Booker had 13 points, 12 boards, and 9 assists for the Tigers who jumped out to a early lead before throwing it in cruise control in the second half.
• New Mexico 96, Northern Arizona 57: The Lobos jumped out to a 14-0 lead, then shot 22-31 from the field in the second half as they hit 16 threes on the game. Roman martinez had 17 to lead the way.
• Miami 69, Stetson 49: Dwayne Collins had 20 points and 15 boards as the Hurricanes never trailed, using a 12-2 run midway through the second half to seal this one.
• South Florida 69, Central Florida 65: Dominique Jones scored 27 points and added 6 boards and 5 steals as the Bulls won for the 10th time in 11 games against UCF.
• Louisvile 94, Oral Roberts 57: The Cardinals used a stifling press in the first half to jump to a big lead and rebound from back to back home losses. Edgar Sosa had 18 to lead the Ville.
• Mississippi State 80, Wright State 69: The Bulldogs shot 63% from the floor and hit 12 threes while Jarvis Varnado added 17 points, 8 boards, and 6 blocks.
• Wake Forest 80, UNC-Wilmington 69: LD Williams had a career-high 23 points, Ishmael Smith had 19, and Al-Farouq Aminu added 17 and 13 boards as Wake survived a gutty performance from the Seahawks.
• Arkansas 76, Alabama State 51: Michael Washington had 22 and 8 boards as the Razorbacks got back to .500 with the win.
• Alabama 60, Samford 45: Mikhail Torrance scored 15 points and handed out 7 assists as the Tide rebounded from a loss to Purdue in which they blew a 16 point second half lead.
• Illinois-Chicago 63, Oregon State 61: Robo Kreps scored on a layup with 5.6 seconds left as UIC knocked off the Beavers.
• American 62, DePaul 57: Dan Hendra his a three with 2:28 left to give American a 58-57 lead and finished with 17 points as AU landed the upset.
• Northwestern 84, North Florida 54: Michael Thompson led six scorers in double figures as the Wildcas won their seventh straight game.
• Wisconsin 90, Cal-Poly 42: Trevon Hughes scored 20, including his 1,000 point, as the Badgers cruised to a big win.
• Oregon 79, Mississippi Valley State 51: Garrett Sim hd 19 points, 8 boards, and 6 assists as the Ducks beat the Delta Devils.
  

Wednesday's best:

• Hassan Whiteside had a triple double, going for 17 points, 14 boards, and 11 blocks, as Marshall beat non-DI Brescia.
• DeAndre Mays scored 27 points and added 6 boards as Youngstown State beat St. Francis PA 74-65.
• BJ Monteiro scored 27 points and Bill Clark added 17 points, 14 boards, 5 assists, 3 blocks, and 3 steals as the Dukes beat Canisius in double OT.
• Vlad Moldoveanu scored 26 points and added 8 boards and 4 assists in American's win over DePaul.