NEWS AND NOTES:
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-Arkansas dominated the first half against Louisville and was up by 18 at the break. Louisville came back and got as close as 5 and definitely made it interesting down the stretch, but the Razorbacks held on for an 89-80 win, which is their first real big win of the season.
-Alabama also jumped out to an early lead against Clemson, and Clemson also battled back, but also could not battle all the way back. They actually tied the game late in the second half, but Bama made the plays they needed to down the stretch to pull out a solid 90-84 win.
-Vanderbilt ran away from SMU 88-69 to stay unbeaten and hand SMU their first loss of the year. No one was all that excited about Vandy coming into the year, but they’re unbeaten, they’ve managed to rack up some really nice wins, they’re ranked 17th, and are certainly deserving of that ranking.
-Indiana, who had looked good against Marquette and who we thought would be really good this year, did not look good last night at Minnesota. The Hoosiers suffered a 73-64 defeat on the road and the perception of them has now completely changed. There is still a long way to go in the season, though.
-High Point may win a lot of games this year, but after last night’s 86-84 loss at home to Southern Illinois I’m now thinking that if they want to make the NCAA Tournament one of those wins better be that last Big South Tournament game. It was Southern Illinois’s first road win of the season and the game winning layup came as time expired after a High Point turnover.
-Richmond got a really nice 84-76 win at Belmont, which is a win that I think they’ll end up getting a lot of credit for. Belmont is not a top 25 team by any means, but they are good and are not easy to beat on the road. It was the first loss of the season for the Bruins, who are still poised to have a good year. As for Richmond, I think it’s a sign that they can compete against a lot of the teams they’ll face in the Atlantic Ten. It’s a lot harder to go to Belmont and win than it is to go to about half the places in the A10 to win.
-UNC Wilmington survived a scare from Marshall and held on to win 70-69 and improve to 8-1 on the season. Marshall had a chance to win on their final possession, but couldn’t get a shot to go down as time expired.
-Virginia went into Texas and absolutely blew the Longhorns off of their own floor. It was stunning to see a Texas team that I thought to be at least someone formidable get atom-bombed like that on their own home court. The Hoos simply looked incredible. The final score was 88-69, but the game wasn’t really even that close.
-I think I am done with San Francisco. At least for now. This was a team that I thought would land inside the bubble. They’re now just 5-4 on the season with no good wins, and lost at home to North Alabama last night 65-63.
-UCLA won their Big Ten opener against a pretty solid Washington team 82-80. It’s a nice conference road win for the Bruins. I still think Washington is good enough to build up their profile by March. Last night was a missed opportunity, but they have an abundance of opportunities remaining. One of the nice things about playing in the Big Ten.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-The Cidatel @ Davidson – Davidson can get to 7-1 on the year
-Utah State @ South Florida – South Florida is just 4-4, but they’ve played a tough schedule and have looked good against it. Utah State is still unbeaten, but this is their first true road game of the year and it’s likely their toughest game so far.
-UC Riverside @ UC Irvine (Big West) – The River Vine Cup!!!!!! Big West play kicks off with one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports!!!
-UC Davis @ Hawaii (Big West) – these are likely two of the better teams in the conference
