CBE Classic
No. 1 Duke 82, No. 4 Kansas State 68: I'm not going to spend too may words on Duke today because you can find plenty of them elsewhere around the blogosphere. I will say this, however. There isn't an adjective I can think of that doesn't include a four letter word that would adequately describe just how impressive and dominant the Blue Devils looked last night. (Motherflippin' impressive? Inexplicably impressive? I got nothing.) Now think about this -- neither Nolan Smith nor Kyle Singler have hit their stride yet. The Blue Devils were carried in this tournament by a terrific performance from Kyrie Irving that followed a dominant performance from Mason Plumlee. That's scary.
No. 18 Gonzaga 66, Marquette 63: When Steven Gray and Elias Harris are playing well, Gonzaga is a dangerous team. When they aren't, the Zags may not be the best team in the WCC. Its as simple as that. For Marquette fans, I wouldn't read too much into the results from this trip to KC (also the trend of losing close games must be getting frustrating). The Golden Eagles were flummoxed by the 2-3 zone Gonzaga threw on, and it was a major reason they ended up just 6-21 from three.
Maui Invitational
UConn 70, No. 2 Michigan State 67: So ... yeah ... maybe we all underestimated this UConn Husky team in the preseason. For the third consecutive game, the diminutive point guard threw the Huskies on his back. This time, however, it wasn't against a mid-major; it was against the No. 2 team in the country. Kemba outplayed Michigan State's Kalin Lucas by a wide margin (30 points to 10 points), UConn dominated the offensive back boards, and the Spartans simply could not make a big play come crunch time. They missed free throws, they allowed UConn to get to loose balls, they gave up offensive rebounds off of missed free throws, and they turned the ball over.
Alex Oriakhi played like a man in the paint, finishing with 15 points and 17 boards (9 offensive). Roscoe Smith was active on the glass and hit a couple of big jumpers. Shabazz Napier played terrific on-the-ball defense. Most importantly, UConn didn't show an ounce of quit. This team still has a ceiling in my opinion -- they should get moved into the top 15 or 20, depending on tonight's outcome, but let's not go overboard with a win over a Michigan State team operating at about 70% -- but regardless of the outcome of the season, one thing that is certain is that this is a team that UConn fans can get behind, which is a stark contrast from last season.
No. 9 Kentucky 74, No. 11 Washington 67: There are two questions that Husky fans will be asking themselves this morning. 1) What if Isaiah Thomas hadn't missed two wide open three pointers and four free throws in the last few minutes of last night's game? 2) How good would we be if Terrence Jones didn't back out on us? (This is where I say shame on you, Washington fans, for booing an 18 year old kid that was confused about where he wanted to go to college. I'm assuming that each one of you that booed never had the biggest decision of your life followed so closely or mean so much to so many people. /Steps down from pedestal.) Jones had 16 points, 17 boards (including two tough offensive rebounds at the end of the game to seal it), and 4 blocks, Brandon Knight went for 24 points (including 10 in the last eight minutes), and Josh Harrellson looked like he can be a capable center, going for 9 points and 14 boards (7 offensive). For U-Dub, I would be a bit concerned. After looking so good against Virginia, the Huskie's offense looked horrendous last night. They were completely unable to run their sets, they struggled to make good decisions in transition, and seemingly every possession devolved into a one-on-one. Isaiah Thomas won't always struggle that way, but more important might be the emergence of someone to facilitate the offense.
Wichita State 79, Chaminade 58
Virginia 74, Oklahoma 56
Cancun Challenge
Missouri 72, Wyoming 62: Michael Dixon had 17 points and 6 assists, but the Tigers once against struggled. They turned the ball over 20 times and they shot just 38% from the field. It was the third straight unimpressive performance by the Tigers to start the season.
La Salle 84, Providence 73
Other Notable Games
No. 23 Butler 70, Siena 57: Ryan Rossiter was the best player on the floor, finishing with 26 points and 15 rebounds. But no one else on the Saints could get it going, as Matt Howard went for 17 points and 12 boards and the Bulldog bench came through to the tune of 38 points in the win. Of note: Ronald Nored had an ugly collision early in the game and left looking dazed and bloodied. Haven't yet seen an update on his condition.
No. 3 Ohio State 64, Morehead State 45: It was a sloppy performance for the Buckeyes, who were without William Buford. The Eagles hung around for about 35 minutes despite Kenneth Faried spending much of the game battling foul trouble. DeShaun Thomas continues to be a big-time scoring threat, scoring 12 of his 16 points in the second half.
No. 5 Pitt 74, Robert Morris 53: Like Ohio State, Pitt needed a late surge to put away a scrappy Colonials team. Ashton Gibbs had 20 points, and a big dunk by Gilbert Brown ignited a 14-2 run that put it away.
No. 14 Florida 79, Florida Atlantic 66: Florida looked thoroughly mediocre once again, as they struggled to a win that was closer than the final score indicated. Kenny Boynton had 21 and Alex Tyus went for 19.
No. 25 UNC 80, UNC-Asheville 69: UNC looked like they had figured out their issues, opening up a 22 point second half lead. But Asheville made a run, cutting the lead to six with five minutes left.
Central Arkansas 100, Champion Baptist 29: Central Arkansas is not a very good basketball team. They are in their first year as an official D-I. Who is on this Champion Baptist team?
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Wednesday's Shootaround: Duke rolls, UConn pulls an upset |
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