Friday Morning Shootaround

We have a couple day's worth of games to get you caught up on. From New Year's Eve:

• UNLV 56, Louisville 55: Oscar Bellfield hit a floater off the glass over Samardo Samuels with 14 seconds left to give UNLV the lead, and Terrence Williams missed the same shot at the other end as the Runnin' Rebels were able to upset Louisville on the road playing without their star PG Wink Adams. Louisville came out very sluggish, getting down by as much as 15 points in the first half, before coming back on the strength of their defense. The problem was they could never get into a rhythm offensively, shooting just 29.6% from the floor for the game. Rene Rougeau led UNLV with 17 points and 7 boards while Tre'Von Willis added 16. The Cardinals were led by 11 from Preston Knowles.
• Utah 66, Gonzaga 65: The Utes jumped out to a 9-0 lead and led by as much as 11 in the second half before the 'Zags made a come back. A 10-0 run capped by a Jeremy Pargo jumper in the lane cut it to 54-53, but Gonzaga was never able to take the lead. With 8 second left, Steven Gray hit two free throws before Matt Bouldin stole an inbounds pass. But he missed a jumper, and Austin Daye could not finish the put back as Utah pulled out the win. Daye and Josh Heytvelt combined to for just 18 points on 8-29 shooting. Pargo and Gray each had 14 points for Gonzaga. Utah was led by 15 and 8 boards from Luke Nevill and 14 and 7 dimes from Luka Drca.
• UNC 84, Nevada 61: Nevada hung around for a while, but Tyler Hansbrough sparked ao 10-1 run midway through the first half, and UNC never looked back. Hansbrough finished with 22 points and Wayne Ellington added 15. Luke Babbitt led the Wolfpack with 22.
• Pitt 78, Rutgers 72: Rutgers was able to get just about anything they wanted against Pitt's man-to-man defense in the first half, taking a 43-39 lead on 61.5% shooting. Jamie Dixon switch to zone in the second half, which caused all sorts of problems for the Scarlet Knights, who only shot 27% in the second half. Freshman Mike Rosario led Rutgers with 22 while Anthony Farmer added 20. Sam Young paced the Panthers with 18 and Brad Wanamaker added 15 off the bench in the win.
• Duke 92, Loyola MD 51: Duke got 20 points out of Kyle Singler in an easy win, but it was a costly win as Nolan Smith injured his knee. It looks to be just a bone bruise, and Smith should be ready to go on Sunday against Virginia Tech in Duke's ACC opener.
• Notre Dame 92, DePaul 82: Luke Harangody led the Irish, who saw all five starters reach double figures, with 26 and 16 boards. Notre Dame shot 52.2% from the field, but is going to need to tighten up their defense. They allowed DePaul to shoot 52.3% from the floor and let Dar Tucker (24 points) and Mac Kowshal (26 and 11) get going.
• Michigan State 70, Minnesota 58: The Spartans got 24 points from PG Kalin Lucas as they pulled away late in the second half to beat the Golden Gophers in both team's Big Ten opener. Minnesota just could not handle MSU inside, where the Spartans had a 49-27 rebounding advantage. It didn't help that Damian Johnson and Ralph Sampson III were both in foul trouble in the second half. Raymar Morgan (10 and 10) and Goran Suton (11 and 12) both had double-doubles for the Spartans. Minnesota was led by 14 and 7 dimes from Al Nolen.
• Baylor 113, Jackson State 78: The Bears used hot-shooting (70% in the first half, 64.4% on the game) as they rolled over an over-matched Jackson State squad. Kevin Rogers led Baylor with 21 while Henry Dugat added 20.
• Xavier 78, Robert Morris 57: X jumped on Robert Morris early and never looked back. Jason Love and Brad Redford led the Musketeers with 15 points, a career high for each player. Coming off of back-to-back losses, Xavier gave freshman PG Terrel Holloway his first career start as coach Sean Miller looked to shake things up. Xavier had looked bad in their previous two games, losses to Duke and at home against Butler.
• Ohio State 68, Iowa 65: Jon Diebler scored 27 points on 8-12 shooting (7-10 from deep) and Ohio State was able to hold off a hot Iowa team (they were 14-28 from behind the arc). The Buckeyes were up by as much as 15 in the first half before allowing the Hawkeyes to come back. Iowa had a chance to tie it late, but Matt Gatens missed a three-pointer, and Diebler corralled the rebound and OSU was able to run out the clock.
• Wisconsin 73, Michigan 61: The Badgers hit 9 of their first 10 shots, as they opened up an early 24-12 lead, and Michigan was never able to get closer than five the rest of the way. The Badgers shot 59% for the game and pushed the lead to as big as 18 in the second half. Marcus Landry and Trevon Hughes each had 16 in the win. Zak Novak led the Wolverines with 20.
• Penn State 61, Northwestern 57: Talor Battle had 26 and 12 boards for the Nittany Lions.
• Boston College 89, Sacred Heart 76: Tyrese Rice led BC with 18 points, 7 boards, 8 assists, and 3 steals.
• NC State 88, Towson 68: Freshman Tracy Smith had 31 in the win for the Wolfpack.
• Memphis 80, Northeastern 48: Tyreke Evans had 27 points, but more importantly he shot 4-5 from deep and 9-13 overall, great numbers for a guy who has been struggling with his jump shot. He also added 7 steals.
• Miami FL 94, North Florida 41: Jack McClinton didn't start, but still finished with a team high 17 points.
• LSU 81, Louisiana-Lafayette 79: LSU was up by as much as 14 in the second half, but had to survive a late-run by the Ragin' Cajuns. Tasmin Mitchell had 25 in the win and Bo Spencer added 20.
• Illinois State 80, Evansville 50: Illinois State remained undefeated as they ran the Purple Aces off the court. The Redbirds, who got 22 out of Osiris Eldridge, turned 21 Evansville turnovers into 27 points. ISU is now 13-0 after beating Evansville.
• Texas A&M 72, Rice 60: The Aggies overcame a five point halftime deficit to knock off the Owls. A&M got 18 and 10 boards from Brian Davis.
• Providence 75, St. John's 54: The Friars overcame an 11-0 deficit early in the Big East opener for both teams. Randall Hanke had 17 and Sharaud Curry added 16 and 8 dimes in the win.
• Utah State 90, Wyoming 85 OT: Wyoming's Brandon Ewing hit a three at the buzzer to send the game into OT, but the Aggies were too much in the extra frame. Jared Quayle had 24 points (including four free throws in the final 35 seconds) and 10 boards to pace Utah State, while Tyson Johnson had 24 for the Cowboys.

Just a few games to be aware of from New Year's Day:

• Marquette 79, Villanova 72: Jerel McNeal scored 24 points, including five straight points that pushed Marquette's lead to 66-58 with under four minutes left. The Golden Eagles got 75 of their 79 points from the Big Four of McNeal, Wesley Matthews (19), Dominic James (17), and Lazar Hayward (15). It was an important win for Marquette. Getting wins in the Big East is not going to be easy this season, so protecting your homecourt becomes so important. Corey Fisher led Villanova with 21 points off the bench, but the Wildcats struggled a bit shooting from deep (6-20) while allowing Marquette to shoot 46% from the floor, a season-worst defensive performance for 'Nova who came into the game giving up just 57.6 ppg and allowing opponent's to shoot 37.9%.
  
• Texas Tech 69, Stephen F. Austin 55
• Western Kentucky 99, Troy 76
• Siena 87, Fairfield 81