Who says the college game can’t be exciting this early?
—UPSET— Michigan 55, No. 4 UCLA 52. It was the ugly kind of game that the Bruins usually win, but Michigan was able to get some 3s to fall (after going 1 for 12 in the first half) and a critical backdoor play gave Michigan a four-point lead with less than 15 seconds to go. Interesting: UCLA’s bench accounted for 37 of its 52 points. Wonder if the makeup of this team won’t look quite different in March from what we saw tonight.
—UPSET— Seton Hall 63, No. 19 Southern California 61. Yes, that would be both L.A. schools falling last night. Daniel Hackett couldn’t sink a 3 at the buzzer, and Seton Hall chipped away at a Trojan team that didn’t have the killer instinct. Color me shocked on both of these results; I told my brother UCLA would handle Michigan with ease.
No. 10 Duke 83, Southern Illinois 58. This game was a lot closer than the final score indicates. Duke pulled away by chucking up 3s and sinking them. Nolan Smith had a pretty ridiculous dunk in this game — then celebrated like a jackass after he threw it down. (I’ll probably put the video up later this morning.) An odd scenario: Duke and Michigan already scheduled each other for a Dec. 6 matchup, but will play tonight as well in the Coaches vs. Cancer final. I wonder how many times two non-conference opponents have played each other in the same season, not counting a meeting in The Tournament.
No. 13 Memphis 83, Chattanooga 71. If you’re the Tigers you’ll take a 12-point win in Puerto Rico after having to play a midnight game less than 48 hours prior in the States.
No. 18 Florida 64, Southern Utah 50. Calethas with 18, 7 and four rebounds. Maybe he can be a leader for this team. Gators get a tougher test at Syracuse Monday night.
Notable:
Xavier 75, Missouri 71. Perhaps the best game of the day. Xavier seems to still have some late-game moxie. Missouri’s still growing.
Florida State 79, Stetson 77. A close call for the ‘Noles at home, who have been one of the most inconsisent teams the past three years. Will this season be more of the same?
Texas Tech 167, East Central 116. Where is East Central, you ask? Ada, Okla. And it’s not a D-I school (D-II). Tech scored 90 in the second 20 minutes of play to get to this ridiculous total. Seriously, 167 points will not be topped this season. It’s almost possible, right? No, really, think about this: You score 116 points … and lose by 51.
Illinois 69, Vanderbilt 63. Good win for Bruce Weber and his looking-for-an-identity Illini. Demetry McCamey, who could be in the running for POY in the Big 10, led Illinois with 23. It could be a dramatic turn of events for the Commodores, who were clipped in the first round last season by Siena.
