Thoughts and prayers are with everyone that is affiliated with Northern Illinois University.
–UPSET–Arizona State 72, No. 7 Stanford 68 (OT). A great win for ASU, who was on the verge of being bumped out of the at-large picture. Perhaps this is the most clear-cut sign that the Pac-10 has the most talent of any conference this season. You have Arizona State—a team that had recently dropped five straight games in conference—absolutely losing their edge against the Cardinal, only to storm back and take this game (with authority!). The game was in Stanford’s hands with less than eight minute sto go, but this was a definite “lose your focus” moment for the Cardinal. The Sun Ds have a meeting with Cal on Saturday that would probably put the winner in the driver’s seat for the conference’s sixth bid.
–No. 9 Butler 89, Youngstown State 73. Just get me to Bracket Busters already.
–No. 21 Washington State 70, Oregon State 57. The Beavers have not won a single game in conference this year. They really could be the worst team in any of the Big 6. A game like this is good for Washington State though. You’ve got a guy in Taylor Rochestie, who averages 10/game, scoring 24 to lead the Cougs and develop that much more confidence that will only help this team come March.
Notable:
Fordham 76, Massachussetts 72. UMass was in the Top 25 in RPI before last night’s game. Today they are 38th. One more loss to a sub-.500 team and the M’Men can kiss The Tournament goodbye.
Arizona 83, California 73. Cal is a win-three-then-lose-two type of team. That means they should be on pace to defeat Arizona State on Saturday.
Oregon 72, Washington 58. Ducks probably would’ve been knocked off my bubble list for good if they lost this game last night. They don’t, so they’re still alive. Still, I’m not that confident in their ability to win in March.
