You smell that? That’s team-oriented face paint and dirty student section-themed t-shirts in the air. I love this time of year.
–UPSET–Boston College 76, No. 21 Miami (FL) 66. I really, really hesitate to call this an upset, but I suppose those are the rules. A 14-point halftime lead for the Eagles was enough to get them their twelfth win of the year.
–No. 11 Michigan State 66, Ohio State 60. Was nice to see OSU stick in this game—I thought MSU might come out pissed as hell and run the Bucks out of the gym—despite the loss. Raymar Morgan was a no-show (only six points) and Jamar Butler (21) led the Buckeyes as usual. Solid night from Neitzel: 13, 5 and 5.
–No. 17 Wisconsin 80, Penn State 55. Don’t look so surprised coach, your team is pretty damn good. Penn State was almost in the at-large picture (above; how could you miss it?) but now they seem to be playing down to size. Then again, Wisconsin is. This. Good. Flowers had 23 for the Badgers in the win. Random: I see Michael Flowers as an early favorite for “player who will hit a memorable shot in March”.
–No. 24 Clemson 70, North Carolina State 54. Clemson gets an easy ACC win at home and distances themselves from the also-rans of the conference. Ten Tigers saw significant minutes on Tuesday night. Look: they’re learning!
Notable:
TCU 74, New Mexico 72. Wow and ouch. Buzzer-beat trey from TCU downs NMU and this will hurt New Mexico’s fragile RPI. A bump on the road to The Tournament or a sign of things to come for the Lobos?
Creighton 68, Northern Iowa 59. An at-large profile that will need plenty of wins continues to build for the Blue Jays.
Baylor 79, Oklahoma State 71. Baylor’s learning to beat the teams they should beat. Whoa there, I’m starting to sound like Andy Katz.
UNLV 70, BYU 41. The Cougars are falling, falling very fast. UNLV is rising nicely, however.
Colorado 55, Nebraska 51. ‘Huskers losing ground quickly in the Big XII.
Maryland 71, Wake Forest 64. Winning on the road in conference isn’t easy, most understand that, but Maryland isn’t a quality team this year and Wake really could’ve used this win on the resume.
