So close, ladies. (Image via Gary Parrish Twitter account, which I can't link in captions.)
—UPSET— South Florida 72, No. 7 Georgetown 64. The win over Pittsburgh wasn’t enough for the Bulls. What has gotten into USF? They’d never won back-to-back Big East games before last Monday, and now they’ve reeled off four straight. I’ve got an entire post dedicated to Dominique James coming up later this morning, but without the help of Gus Gilchrist, who is out due to injury, the team’s four-game winning streak is all the more impressive. Georgetown has sandwiched the Duke win around two soggy pieces of bread in the form of the road loss to Syracuse and this letdown last night. Greg Monroe fouling out is always going to kill this team. The Hoyas fell apart last season. Too early to start thinking it’s a repeat performance, but I think you’d be foolish to think G’town was ever truly as good as its top-10 ranking.
No. 6 West Virginia 70, No. 22 Pittsburgh 51. Yeah, yeah, backyard brawl and all that. I don’t want to focus too much on the sophomoric nature of the WVU fanbase, because I’d rather direct my energy on Denis Kilicli, who was 4 for 4 with nine points — as much as you’d expect out of a freshman in his first game. Kilicli might be enough to sway me on WVU. Have to see a bit more. And Pittsburgh. Oh, Pittsburgh. It has ripped the seams on its trampoline (if that metaphor makes any sense; I admit I’m rather tired here).
No. 1 Kansas 72, Colorado 66 (OT). A sloppy Kansas team seemed to fall asleep in Boulder after cruising for the better part of the first half. If it weren’t for Cole Aldrich’s 16 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks, who knows what happens. This was the second straight OT game for KU, too. Were it not for a terrible shot at the end of regulation for the Buffs, the game might’ve never gone to free time. Then, in overtime, the Jayhawks realized a loss to the Big 12′s worst team would be utterly embarrassing. “It had nothing to do with the K-State game,” Bill Self said. Eh, I’m not so sure about that.
No. 13 Ohio State 75, Penn State 62. Oh, Evan Turner, just another 27-10-6 showcase. He’s become one of my 20 favorite college players of all-time, I think. From the humble personality to the smooth game to the consistently unselfish play, Turner seems like a coach’s dream.
Vanderbilt almost blew the game against the Bulldogs last night. (AP)
No. 18 Vanderbilt 75, Mississippi State 72. Jarvis Varnado’s nine blocks weren’t enough, even though Vandy almost totally blew this one after having a big lead. It’s frustrating to see his talent go to waste, to a certain extent. He’ll be gone to the NBA this summer, and his college career is going to be largely forgotten. The Bulldogs are 4-3 in the SEC. Hovering above .500 in that conference isn’t the best idea, so they better get to winning.
No. 19 Temple 76, Duquesne 60. Owls with an offensive explosion!
No. 20 Baylor 84, Iowa State 63. This is what I like to see. Baylor waxing teams it’s clearly better than. This wasn’t such a sure thing … in, well, ever for the Bears program.
No. 24 Northern Iowa 59, Wichita State 56. Read my account at The Dagger right now.
Notable:
Memphis 85, UAB 75. One of the most frenzied games you’ll see all season. Did you see it? Thirty-one lead changes and 10 ties! UAB, for once, folded in the final minutes. It seems to all have come down to William Witherspoon and Elliot Williams for the Tigers. ‘Spoon had 29, and did it in a big way. He was 8 for 12 from the field and hit 12 of 14 from the foul line. Williams added another 25 and sent out seven assists. The rest of Memphis’ team combined for 41 points, but nobody else got into double figures.
Tulsa 73, Marshall 69. Marshall’s season has gone from promising to pathetic. Freshman stud Hassan Whiteside fouled out on an over-the-back call with a minute to go in a tight game. He had 10 points … just one rebound. Tulsa’s now 18-4 and 7-1 in Conference USA. It’s looking like a fun little race we’ve got there.
Texas A&M 77, Missouri 74. Second-tier Big 12 game with some ramifications. But let’s leave all the talking about this one to Ray Turner. Friggin’ nasty.
Old Dominion 61, William & Mary 42. No team’s resume will have more peaks and valleys than the Tribe’s. ODU wins it, and it had to have it to keep at-large hopes alive. Monarchs will again be making an appearance in Dancing on the Bubble Friday.
Vermont 64, Maine 51. Hey, this is a big result in the America East!
