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NEWS AND NOTES:
-Purdue got an absolute battle from Iowa. The Hawkeyes actually had a lead for most of the game, but Purdue finally got control in the final couple of minutes and escaped 79-72. Iowa is a team I’ve been beating up on pretty hard for their lack of a profile, but I gotta admit that they did look really good last night despite the loss.
-Vanderbilt suffered their first loss of the season and they did not mess around doing it. Texas pretty much lead from tip to buzzer and by as much as 20 late in the game. Texas, who had been very meh up until about a week ago, has now had two huge back to back wins.
-Stanford got a big 95-90 win at home against North Carolina. They had to come from behind to get it, but managed to get it done. Stanford’s profile keeps improving, and they’ve had a really nice stretch where they’ve beaten Louisville, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina in three of their last four games. They face Duke this weekend (who won at Cal without too much trouble last night) and then go on the road to play a very tough Miami FL team after that.
-The SEC may not be as strong overall as it was a year ago, but they appear to be leading the nation in buzzer beaters. Ole Miss went on the road against a very good Georgia team and hit a shot right as time was expiring to pick up a 97-95 win. This is a game that Georgia should have won and it is a bit of a setback, but they are still in good shape overall.
-Kentucky came from 18 down to win on the road against LSU and went the length of the court with just over 1 second to play to hit a shot at the buzzer in order to do it. It was a win that Kentucky really needed. It was on the road against a solid team and they just don’t have a whole lot of wins like that, but they escaped last night 75-74.
-SMU also won on a buzzer beater as they hit a shot from just beyond mid court to knock off Virginia Tech 77-76, but this wasn’t an SEC game so I don’t know if it counts.
-San Diego State got an impressive road win at Wyoming 74-57 to stay unbeaten in MWC play. Wyoming is not the easiest place to go and win, but San Diego State did it rather convincingly and is starting to look like the team we thought they’d be in the preseason.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-IDAHO AT IDAHO STATE. It is the battle for the King Spud Trophy!!! Neither team is a likely conference frontrunner and neither team will be anywhere close to the bubble, BUT THERE IS ONLY ONE KING SPUD TROPHY!!!!!
-Gonzaga @ Washington State (West Coast) – Gonzaga has blown through their season so far and that should continue tonight
-New Mexico State @ Liberty (Conference USA) – Liberty should be to hold serve at home and stay perfect in CUSA play
-Youngstown State @ Wright State (Horizon League) – Wright State can stay in first place outright if they can hold serve at home.
-Hofstra @ Stony Brook – Hofstra is looking to remain unbeaten in CAA play and improve to a very solid 14-4 on the year. Don’t forget that two of those fourteen wins were at Syracuse and at Pitt
-SIUE @ UT Martin – the OVC is logjammed, but UT Martin clearly looks to be the best team and should be able to hold serve a home tonight
-Hawaii @ Cal Poly (Big West) – seemingly every road game is a test in the Big West. Hawaii won a big game last weekend. We’ll see if they can go on the road and get the win to stay atop the standings.
-Northern Colorado @ Portland State (Big Sky) – Northern Colorado looked to be the best team in the Big Sky when conference play began, and Portland State is the best team in the Big Sky since conference play began. This one should be interesting tonight.
