Thursday's Shootaround: Just another Wacky Wednesday

Wake Forest 82, UNC 69; NC State 88, Duke 74:

• You know about Al-Farouq Aminu for Wake, and by now you should know who Ishmael Smith. But do you know CJ Harris or Ari Stewart? Both freshman, Harris and Stewart were the biggest reason that Wake was able to pull away from the Tar Heels last night. Wake was up just six midway through the second half when Stewart caught fire. He would hit three straight threes in the span of 1:26 as the Deacs blew open a close one, taking a 13 point lead on Stewart's 9-2 run. After UNC had chipped away a little bit, Harris turned a nine point cushion into a fifteen point lead with back-to-back threes, forcing a Roy Williams timeout and essentially ending all hopes of a comeback.
  
  Harris and Stewart weren't the only ones that played well. Ishmael Smith had 20 points, 6 boards, and 7 assists, while Aminu had 13 points and 11 boards as he ferociously attacked the offensive glass during the second half. Life was made easier for Wake as UNC was playing without Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller, but credit must be given when credit it due.


• Tracy Smith led five Wolfpack players in double figures with 23 points on 10-12 shooting as NC State picked up a huge win at home. The Wolfpack was up by as much as ten in the first half. But after the lead was cut to three at the half, many thought this was just going to be NC State blowing another lead at home. But NC State came out and scored on five of their first six possessionsin the second half, eventually pushing the lead as big as 17. Dennis Horner added 20 for NC State, while Duke got 61 combined points from Nolan Smith, Jon Scheyer, and Kyle Singler, but it was on 18-46 shooting from the floor.
  

February 2nd, 2003. That's the last time that both Duke and UNC lost on the same night. Crazier still? They lost to NC State and Wake Forest, the red-headed step children when it comes to college hoops on Tobacco Road.

We're not done yet.

Of the six worst losses that Roy Williams has had in his tenure with the Heels, three have come this season: Clemson by 19, Syracuse by 16, and now Wake by 13. UNC doesn't have a true road win on the season, as they are 0-3. Duke is 0-3 in true road game as well, making Duke and UNC the only two teams in the ACC that can say that.

Georgetown 74, Pitt 66: The Peterson Events Center is not an easy place to get a win. Don't believe me? Just ask each of their 30 opponents that lost since Louisville last won there on February 23rd, 2008. The biggest reason for the Hoya's win? Chris Wright. Over his last seven games, Wright has averaged 17.6 ppg, and last night was no different. Pitt could not keep Wright out of the paint, as he knifed through the lane for layup after layup. His three with six minutes left to put GTown up 59-56 was the eventual game-winner, so to speak, as Pitt was never able to regain the lead. Ashton Gibbs finished with just 8 points on 3-16 shooting.

UTEP 70, Memphis 67: In a homecoming for Arnett Moultrie, Jeremy Williams, and Randy Culpepper, the Miners ended the Tiger's 64 game Conference USA winning streak with a 70-67 victory in Fed-Ex Arena. Williams had 18 points and 12 boards, while Culpepper added 13 points, in the exciting win. A back-and-forth game, Memphis had trimmed to lead to 65-64, but Culpepper seemingly iced the game as he ripped Elliot Williams at half court and went in for a layup to make it 70-64. But after a Roburt Sallie three and a Jeremy Williams turnover, Memphis had a chance to tie, but Willie Kemp turned to ball over, and Christian Polk iced it for UTEP.

Kansas 81, Baylor 75: LaceDarius Dunn did everything he could to keep the Bears close in this one. Down 65-55 with seven minutes left, Baylor went on a 10-0 run to tie the game. But Sherron Collins was too much down the stretch, as he hit a number of big shots lifting the Jayhawks to the win to avoid snapping a now-53 game home court winning streak. Dunn had 27 points, but Collins finished with 28.

Other notable scores:

• Savannah State 46, North Carolina Central 44 OT: Savannah State scored five points in the first half. And won. After committing 14 turnovers and shooting 1-16 from the field to start the game, the Tigers turned it on, scoring 31 second half points to force overtime at 36-36 all.
• Temple 77, Xavier 72: Ryan Brooks had 22 points and 7 boards, Lavoy Allen added 16 points, and Juan Fernandez chipped in with 15 and 7 assists as the Owls stayed unbeated in the A-10, handing X their first league loss.
• Wisconsin 54, Michigan 48: Trevon Hughes scored 20 points to lead the Badgers to a win despite trailing by 11 points early in the game and hitting just 4-24 from three.
  
• Villanova 94, Rutgers 58: Dane Miller had 26 points, 6 boards, and 8 assists for the Scarlett Knights. Other than that, they got smoked.
  
• West Virginia 68, Marshall 60: Da'Sean Butler was held to just four first half points as he battled foul trouble, but in the second half he had 12 as the Mountaineers avoided losing to the Thundering Herd.
  
• Michigan State 70, Iowa 63: Raymar Morgan had 16 points, but the Spartans got lazy up 19 in the second half and almost blew the lead, allowing the Hawkeyes to cut it to just three points.
  
• DePaul 51, Marquette 50: I think its time to write off Marquette. Twice, in the final minute, did the Golden Eagles miss the front end of a one-and-one, and DePaul was able to score five points in the last 9.7 seconds to win. Here's the game-winning jumper.
• UConn 75, St. John's 59: Jerome Dyson scored 21 points, Stanley Robinson added 18 points and 9 boards, and Kemba Walker went for 17 points and 6 assists as the Huskies won their first game without Jim Calhoun.
• Ole Miss 66, South Carolina 57: Devan Downey had 25 points, but no one else on the Gamecocks did much of anything as Ole Miss ended a two game SEC losing streak.
• BYU 81, Wyoming 66: Tyler Haws scored a career high 24 points as BYU won their 14th straight.
• UAB 57, SMU 56: The Blazers hung on to win again, needing a jumper from Aaron Jackson with six seconds left for the win.
• Rhode Island 75, Duquesne 67: Keith Cothran led five players in double figures with 23 points in a win over the Dukes.
• Charlotte 71, Richmond 59: Charlotte used a 15-3 run in the second half as they improved to 3-1 in the A-10 with an impressive win over Richmond on the road.
• Dayton 66, George Washington 51: Chris Wright, who finished with 14 points and 12 boards, sparked a second half surge to give the Flyers the win.
  
• Oklahoma State 90, Colorado 78: James Anderson scored 26 points, Marshall Moses added 20 points and 18 boards, and the Cowboys snapped a two game Big XII losing streak.
• New Mexico 73, Air Force 50: The Lobos got 25 points from Phil McDonald in the win.
• UNLV 80, Colorado State 72: Tre'Von Willis scored 21 points and Chace Stanback added 19 as the Rebels beat the Rams on the road.

Wednesday's Best

• LSU's Tasmin Mitchell went for 38 points and 10 boards, but the Tigers still lost to Auburn.
  
• Dane Miller, a freshman at Rutgers, had 26 points, 8 boards, and 6 assists in a loss to Nova.
• Nevada's Luke Babbitt scored 29 points and added 10 boards in a win over Boise State.
• Andrew Nicholson had 26 points and 7 boards in a win over UMass.
• Jordan Bitzer scored 28 points for Central Michigan in a win over Eastern Michigan.
• Lehigh's CJ McCollum had 28 points and 7 boards as Lehigh knocked off Colgate.