The first earned floor-storm of the season went down in Madison last night.
—UPSET—Wisconsin 73, No. 6 Duke 69. Favorite part of the game? Bobby Knight referencing “Gone with the Wind” after Wisconsin won. I have no idea why he did this. Trevon Hughes, who had a career-best 26, upstaged a terrific performance from Kyle Singer (28). A terrific atmosphere in Kohl. This will be remembered as the game that gave the Big Ten its first Challenge win, but Ohio State was the team that officially clinched it. Not going to make too much of the Wisky win or the Duke loss. The Badgers are probably one of best-equipped teams to go up against the Blue Devils. They’re physical, just as aggressive inside, have better guards and play as well at home under pressure as just about anyone.
—UPSET—Illinois 76, No. 18 Clemson 74. Like most of you, I bailed on this game. Didn’t even realize the Illini had come back to win until about 30 minutes after it happened. It was the biggest comeback in Illinois history. The team shot 60 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the 3 line in the second half. How do the Tigers lose this? Bad, bad sign.
—UPSET—Portland State 86, No. 25 Portland 82. The Pilots crack the polls for the first time in a half-century. It might take that long to get back. Impressive win for the Vikings, who are under .500 and undergoing a lot of change this year. Did Portland get too full of itself after reaching the finals of the 76 Classic?
No. 15 Ohio State 77, No. 21 Florida State 64. Buckeyes made the Seminoles look like a shell of the team they’re capable of being. Evan Turner had 25 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. Diebler was a force for the Bucks. Is Florida State going to yo-yo like this all season?
No. 1 Kansas 98, Alcorn State 31. The Braves started out with a 4-0 lead. It was 59-12 with 16:29 to go in the game. It was the lowest points allowed in a game by Kansas since ‘51. The Jayhawks scored 36 straight at one point. An epic, epic beatdown. May not have a better one this season anywhere.
No. 3 Villanova 77, Drexel 58. I’ve always had a thing against Drexel and I don’t know why.
No. 11 Tennessee 78, East Tennessee State 66. The Bucs can run, so the Vols actually tried to keep the game in fourth gear for a large portion of the night.
No. 14 Connecticut 92, Boston University 64. Jerome Dyson went down in this game. Injury looked bad at first, but he’s OK.
No. 17 Gonzaga 74, Washington State 69. No way a Tony Bennett-coached team would have blown a 15-point lead. No way a softer Gonzaga team (ahem, last year’s group) would have come back from 15 points down. If you weren’t following along in real time, the score might suggest Wazzu had a game effort against a superior squad. Unh-uh: The Cougars were owning the Bulldogs in their own house for most of this game.
No. 19 Texas A&M 84, Prarie View A&M 59. The wimpiest name in college hoops right here, folks.
No. 20 Louisville 80, Stetson 48. “No disrespect against Stetson, but it’s hard to get up for them,” Edgar Sosa said afterward. I believe that is disrespect. And it’s honesty. I like it.
No. 23 Butler 59, Ball State 38. Jason Whitlock’s alma mater had 15 points in 25 minutes. Butler will have to really beat up on a bunch of small guys beyond a shadow of a doubt after its reputation took a hit last week.
No. 24 UNLV 74, Arizona 72 (2OT). This was the game of the night even though the shooting was lackluster. Vegas improves to 6-0 thanks to some clutch play by Tre’Von Willis. Arizona learns a few more lessons. It is 3-3.
Notable:
Northern Iowa 63, Iowa State 60. Don’t know how good the Cyclones are this year, but it was a good road win for UNI, regardless. Only 15 free throw attempts in this one.
New Mexico 86, California 78 . The Lobos will be getting some consideration in the polls after improving to 7-0. The Golden Bears had good shot selection, but some of the balls weren’t going into the hoop in the final four minutes. This puppy had 17 lead changes.
Utah State 71, Brigham Young 61. Cougars lose for the first time to Stew Morrill’s always-ready club.
Georgia Tech 74, Siena 61. This give me a chance to thank Matt for helping me get the comments fixed on the site. Really appreciate it, man. You deserved better karma than for your alma to fall to 4-3 and all but kill its at-large chances with another loss to a legitimate team.
Boston College 62, Michigan 58. Wolverines really struggled against the B.C. zone. A definitive win on the road for the Eagles, who will probably need this W down the road. And they weren’t playing with Rakim Sanders, either.
Vanderbilt 89, Missouri 83 . Thought Missouri could get the job done on the road in this spot. A.J. Ogilvy went for a game-high 25 to pace the Commies.
Virginia Commonwealth 82, Rhode Island 80. Rams give the Rams the Rams’ first loss of the season.
Pittsburgh 67, Duquesne 58 (2OT). Would’ve been a really bad loss for Pitt. The two schools gave Mellon Arena a heck of a sendoff.
Miami (FL) 63, Minnesota 58. Sneaky game here. Wanted to see how Minnesota would do on the road, and it came up short. Do the Hurricanes deserve a ranking? It’s the fourth time in team history it’s started out 8-0.
Tulsa 86, Oklahoma State 65. I hope you made it this far, because you’re rewarded with a very worthwhile win to read about. The Cowboys lost their first of the season because they were absolutely owned, 42-24, in the rebounding department. The Golden Hurricanes sent back nine shots, too.
