Thursday's Shootaround: Purdue picks up a big win

Purdue 60, Ohio State 57: Purdue absolutely dominated the first half. JaJuan Johnson scored 14 of his 24 points as the
Boilermakers held the Buckeyes to just 23 points and one assist as a ream. It was a fantastic defensive gameplan, as Purdue wasn't helping off of OSU's wings in the first half, instead sloughing off of the bigs and forcing Turner into tough shots.

Unlike the first meeting between these two teams, Purdue was able to hang on in the second half, although it was by the skin of their teeth. Midway through the second half, William Buford would get hot and score seven unanswered points, cutting the Purdue lead to 48-46. But over the ensuing five minutes, the Ohio State offense would go stagnant. They would fire up quick, perimeter jumpers on their next seven possessions, making just one and getting no offensive rebounds as Purdue was able to push the lead back to eight.

The Buckeyes would make one last push. Chris Kramer left the door open with a missed front-end, and after a Turner bucket and an E'Twaun Moore miss, the Buckeyes came the other way, but Kramer made the play of the game, blocking a layup attempt from Buford. Diebler got the loose ball, but missed a decent look at a game-tying three at the buzzer.

Since Matt Painter benched Keaton Grant and Kramer following their three game losing skid, Purdue has won eight straight games, which includes wins against each of the other four teams competing for the Big Ten title. JaJuan Johnson, in particular, has been playing like a man possessed, averaging 19.7 ppg. Purdue moves to within a half game of the Spartans in first place in the Big Ten. They get Illinois next, while Ohio State has to play Michigan State.

Missouri 82, Texas 77: The Tigers sent Texas to their sixth loss in nine games last night It was a nice win for Mizzou, who keep pace with Texas A&M and Baylor in third place in the Big XII. Texas, on the other hand, cannot end this skid. Their biggest problem right now seems to be that they don't understand their roles individually, and thus don't play as a team on either end of the floor. In the last two Longhorn losses, they have a combined 17 assists. That's not very good.

Mizzou, on the other hand, keeps rolling along. I'm not sure just how good this team is yet. Their pressure can wreak havoc on some teams, but if you have size inside and an experienced back court, it is not difficult to pick Mizzou apart.

Duke 81, Miami 74: The Blue Devils were horrendous at the start of this game, as they were ice cold in the first 20 minutes and found themselves down 12 points at the break. But in the second half, Duke just took over. Their defense started forcing turnovers, which led to easier shots offensively. The Blue Devils started the half with a 24-5 run, and all told got 49 of their 56 second half points from the trio of Scheyer, Smith, and Singler.

Bubble Watch

• Louisville 91, Notre Dame 89 2OT: Playing without Luke Harangody and with immense foul trouble (four players fouled out for ND, and they got critical minutes from guys that never play), the Irish got a gutty effort on the road. But in the end, they had no answer for Samardo Samuels inside, as the big fella went for 36 points and was unstoppable once he caught the ball on the block. Huge win for Louisville tournament chances (in the sense that a loss would have been disastrous), while it seems like ND may be relegated to the NIT again.
• Florida State 69, Virginia 50: The Seminoles used an 11-2 run to start the second half and push a nine point lead to 18 as they knocked off the Hoos. UVa's chances to make the dance are all but finished, while FSU has put themselves in a good spot so long as they don't lose out.
• Duquesne 83, Charlotte 77: The 49ers are in dire straits all of a sudden. Leading the A-10 just a week ago, Charlotte has now dropped two in a row, which is not a good thing for a team that many believed had the weakest resume of the contenders in the A-10. Charlotte will have chances - Xavier, at URI, Richmond - but may need at least two if not all three, to get an at-large.
• St. Louis 62, URI 57: For the fourth straight game, St. Louis won despite being down by double digits. The Billikens may actually be playing themselves onto the bubble, while this loss puts URI in a bad spot. They've lost three in a row, only have one game left that could help them (Charlotte at home), and are without much girth in their non-conference resume. The Rams are going to need a run through the A-10 tourney to make it.
• Oklahoma State 69, Iowa State 64: The Cowboys nearly blew a 20 point lead, but the got 25 of Obi Muonelo's 31 points in the second half to pick up a conference road win and remain on the right side of the bubble. The Pokes have an incredibly difficult stretch coming up, as they get Baylor, Texas, Kansas, and A&M in their next four games. How they perform during that stretch will determine what tournament they go to.
• Utah 66, UNLV 61: The Runnin' Rebels lost their third straight game, dropping a roadie to Utah. Trevon Hughes scored 32 points, but missed on two chances to tie the game late. Is the MWC a two-bid league? Can SDSU sneak up and steal UNLV's spot? Those two need to start winning if they want a shot at an at-large.
  
• UAB 59, Southern Miss 54: The Blazers pulled away late from SMU to keep their slim at-large hopes alive.
  
• Penn State 81, Northwestern 70: When you are on the bubble, there are certain things you don't want to do. For example, you don't want to lose to your conference cellar dweller at home, especially when it then becomes said cellar dweller's first league win. Northwestern needs to win the Big Ten tournament.

Other notable scores

• Kansas state 91, Nebraska 87: The Wildcats played a sloppy game, but managed to hang on thanks to 21 points from Dominique Sutton. Nebraska hit three threes in the span of 25 seconds in the final minute to erase a late nine point lead.
• Maryland 67, NC State 58: Greivis Vasquez scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half and freshman Jordan Williams added 19 points and 11 boards as the Terps knocked off the Wolfpack despite being down by 10 at the half.
  
• West Virginia 88, Providence 74: WVU scored 23 straight points in the first half to open a 25-4 lead, then cruised the rest of the way. Devin Ebanks had 21 points in the win.
• Butler 73, UIC 55: The Bulldogs got a career-high 16 points from Ronald Nored en route to a 18 point win.
  
• BYU 92, Colorado State 70: The Cougars are a tough team to beat when Jimmer Fredette gets hot. He had 36 points and 6 assists last night.
• New Mexico 83, Wyoming 61: The Lobos jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. The versatile Darington Hobson had 20 points, 10 boards, and 6 assists.
• Tennessee 69, Georgia 60: The Vols overcame a sluggish start and a 29-24 halftime deficit as they made a run in the second half to pull away from Georgia.
• Temple 73, St. Bonaventure 55: Ryan Brooks scored all of his 13 points in the second half as the Owls used a late surge to put away the Bonnies.
• Richmond 84, Fordham 56: Kevin Anderson scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half as Richmond got up big early.
• Xavier 88, St. Joe's 52: Jason Love had 15 and 12 as X smacked St. Joe's.
• Arkansas 92, South Carolina 79: Marshon Powell had 26 points and Courtney Fortson added 19 points, 9 boards, and 8 assists as the Razorbacks used a big second half run to put away the Gamecocks.
  

Wednesday's Best

• Jimmer Fredette had 36 points and 6 assists as BYU knocked off Colorado State.
  
• Samardo Samuels went for 36 points and 6 boards in a 2OT win over Notre Dame.
• Marqus Blakely had 16 points and 18 boards for UVM in a win over Hartford.
• Maine's Gerald McClemore went for 30 in a win over New Hampshire.
• DJ Cooper has 23 points, 10 boards,and 6 assists, but Ohio still lost to Kent State.
• Western Michigan's David Kool had 33 points, making just one three, in a win over Northern Illinois.
• Luke Babbitt of Nevada had 27 points and 12 boards as he outdueled Fresno's Paul George, who finished with 29 points and 9 boards, in a win for the Wolfpack.