NEWS AND NOTES:
-The showcase game of the day saw Purdue give a very solid performance from tip to buzzer in the Indy Classic, and knock off top ranked Arizona 92-84. The year isn’t even half way over yet, but as of now Purdue may be putting together one of the strongest resumes I’ve seen in the last 20 years. They have wins over Gonzaga, Tennessee, Marquette, Alabama, and now Arizona. All of those wins came away from home. As for Arizona, they are still a #1 seed caliber team and will turn around and face a really good Alabama team later this week.
-Indiana had a lead against Kansas for over 35 minutes, and they led by as much as 13 in the second half, but just couldn’t hold on. Kansas had to really sweat, but they survived 75-71 after making some big plays in the final couple minutes. It was the by far the best the Hoosiers had looked this year despite them not winning the game.
-Houston was on cruise control against Texas A&M, but then went to sleep as TAMU came all the way back from over 15 down in the second half. Houston held on 70-66 to remain unbeaten, but it came down to the final minute of play.
-After taking the first five weeks of the season off, Michigan State is finally looking like the top ten team we thought they were. In fact yesterday they looked like a Final Four team as they absolutely blew unbeaten and 6th ranked Baylor off the court 88-64. The halftime score was 45-17. The Spartans still have a long way to go to make up for all the ground they’ve lost. They had lost three out of four prior to this, including a really bad looking loss to Nebraska, so maybe this is the game that finally turns their season around.
-Creighton and Alabama was a close and exciting game to watch as you would expect. The Bluejays got it done 85-82 at home, and bounced back from their somewhat embarrassing blowout loss to UNLV earlier in the week. As for Alabama, they fall to 6-4, but they’ve played a rough schedule and most of those losses were competitive games against really good teams, so I’m still a believer in the Tide. They’ll face Arizona later this week.
-Kentucky kept North Carolina at arms length for most of the game in the CBS Sports Classic, but UNC still made some runs and even took the lead late in the second half. The Wildcats made the plays they had to and held on to win 87-83 for what is their biggest win of the year so far.
-Clemson suffered their first loss on the road to Memphis 79-77. Memphis came from behind after trailing 39-32 at halftime and had some big defensive stops in key moments late in the game. While this would have been another big win for Clemson’s resume, the loss is hardly a setback. Memphis is the kind of team that should easily make the NCAA Tournament and be voted in on the first ballot.
-Virginia decided to start the holidays early and just didn’t show up for their game against Northeastern. They were behind for most of the game and barely got the win 56-54. The Hoos just barely avoided a huge landmine of a loss.
-Miami FL also didn’t look all that sharp of a lot of their game against La Salle, and haven’t really looked all that sharp for much of the year. They did hold on to win 84-77 and are a respectable 8-2 on the year, but for a team that was in the Final Four and that returned the bulk of their roster they just haven’t looked as strong as we were expecting this year. At least not so far.
-Indiana State is now 10-1 on the year after knocking off Ball State 83-72 in the Indy Classic. Indiana State should be getting way more attention than what they are. Their record is strong, but they’ve beaten som pretty strong teams along the way and are starting to look like they belong inside the bubble and should be talked about as a legit top 40 caliber team.
-Ohio State is now 9-2 after knocking off UCLA 67-60 in the other CBS Sports Classic game. I keep waiting for the Bruins to snap out of it and start stringing together wins, but it hasn’t happened yet. They are now just 5-4 on the year with no real wins of note.
-Utah State held off San Francisco 54-53 in an absolute rock fight in Salt Lake to improve to 11-1 and remain solidly on track to land inside the bubble. Utah State is another team that the nation needs to be paying more attention to. I know yesterday wasn’t pretty, but they did get the win and they’ve had a great overall season up to this point.
-Arkansas is another team that’s been very hot and cold throughout the year. They got a huge scare yesterday from Lipscomb, but held on to win 69-66. It wouldn’t have been Arkansas’s first home buy game loss this year had they not held on to win.
-Saint Mary’s, after taking the first four or five weeks of the season off, has finally started to string together wins and play like the top 15 team we thought they were going to be coming into the year. They still have a long way to go to get all the way back to being in the top 15, but they had a hard fought double overtime win against a UNLV team that just win a big game against Creighton, they’v now won three in a row to get their record out to 6-5, and they’ve beaten Cleveland State, Colorado State, and UNLV in that stretch.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-OREGON VS SYRACUSE (Sioux Falls SD). Syracuse has won four of their last five with the only loss coming to Virginia and they have a decent win over LSU in that stretch. Oregon’s record is 7-2, but neither team has much in the way of quality or notable wins yet, so both could really use this one.
-USC AT AUBURN. USC has been a little disappointing so far this season, but one way to turn things around in a hurry is to go on the road and win a game like this. Having said that, that’s far easier said than done.
-NEBRASKA AT KANSAS STATE. Nebraska is 8-2, but has really just made a living off of home buy games and needs a win like this before the committee really starts to pay attention to them. K State, despite losing a key player a couple weeks back, has continued to win and has knocked off Villanova and LSU in their last two games. They should be able to get this one at home as well.
-SETON HALL AT MISSOURI. Mizzou has been playing reasonably well since their loss to Jackson State a few weeks back and should be able to hold serve today and get to 8-3 on the year.
-WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE U. This is the first true road game for Washington, but it’s only technically a road game. Seattle U is doing the event management, but the game is in Climate Pledge Arena, and it will be at best a neutral crowd, and most likely a pro-Washington crowd. The Huskies are really having a good year and are coming off their huge win against Gonzaga from a week ago. They should be able to pick this one up at home…I mean on the road!!
-NEVADA AT HAWAII. This is a big road test for a Nevada team that’s off to an outstanding 8-1 start and has some decent wins already. Hawaii is 7-1 on the year, but most of their wins have come at home and they haven’t been tested that strongly yet, so it’ll be interesting to see what they can do tonight.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:
-Colgate @ Illinois. Colgate will likely blow through the Patriot League and they could give Illinois a decent game today, but it’s still a mismatch
-Cal State Fullerton @ Boise State – a win for Boise State gets them to 8-3 on the year
-North Texas @ Mississippi State – This should be the kind of game Mississippi State should blow through, but they’ve struggled (and even lost) some of their home buy games and better not overlook North Texas
-Louisana @ McNeese – McNeese just keeps on winning and will likely be favored through the rest of the season. A win today gets them to 10-2
-CSU Pueblo (nonD1) @ Colorado State
-Florida A&M @ Iowa State