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Late Night Snacks: Two top 15 teams lose at home

Stanford v Connecticut

of the Connecticut Huskies of the Stanford Cardinal during the game at XL Center on December 18, 2013 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Jared Wickerham

GAME OF THE NIGHT: Texas 86, No. 14 North Carolina 83

The Tar Heels remain the toughest team in college basketball to figure out. After knocking off Kentucky to pick up their third win over a preseason top three team, the Heels were once again atrocious from the charity stripe, losing to Rick Barnes and the Longhorns. North Carolina now has arguably the three best wins in the country and three losses to unranked teams. Go ahead. Try and explain that to me. You can’t.

As far as Texas is concerned, good for them. Rick Barnes took more heat than any coach in the country over the course of the the offseason. The consensus among the media was that he was essentially already fired. I heard more talk about who would get the Texas job than I did what Barnes could do to win games with this team. But here he is, sitting at 9-1 on the season with a road win over a top 15 opponent.

THE OTHER GAME OF THE NIGHT: Stanford 53, No. 10 UConn 51

UConn’s reliance on Shabazz Napier came back to bite them. The Huskies struggled from the floor and went ice cold from three in the second half as they lost to a Stanford team that desperately needed a win. The Cardinal are now sitting at 9-2 on the season with a chance to truly solidify their non-conference resume against Michigan on Saturday.

IMPORTANT OUTCOMES

1) Kenny Chery missed a layup that could have won the game in regulation, but No. 12 Baylor’s starting point guard made up for it in the extra frame by scoring 12 of his 20 points in overtime as the Bears outlasted Northwestern State 91-84. The Bears struggled, playing their first game in 10 days after taking some time off for finals. Isaiah Austin was benched for the first half and played just nine minutes on the night.

2) T.J. Warren popped off for 21 points and 11 boards as N.C. State went into Knoxville and put a whipping on Tennessee. The final score was 65-58, but the Vols were down by 17 at the break. Jordan McRae had 21 points, but shot 6-for-22 from the floor. Both Jarnell Stokes and Jeronne Maymon finishied with double-doubles but it wasn’t enough. Tennessee just does not look like a very good basketball team right now. No point guard and no role players is not usually a successful combination.

3) LSU’s best player, Jordan Mickey, struggled with fouls, but the Tigers put four players in double-figures as they went into Texas Tech and knocked off the Red Raiders in Lubbock, 71-69.

STARRED

1) Aaric Murray scored a Division I-high 48 points to lead Texas Southern to a win at Temple.

2) The two most important players on No. 3 Ohio State’s roster, LaQuinton Ross and Amir Williams, combined for 30 points and 17 boards in a win over Delaware.

3) Halil Kanicevic had 27 points, 14 boards, four assists and two blocks while shooting 12-for-13 from the floor as St. Joe’s beat Drexel, 75-55.

STRUGGLED

1) Jake Odum finished with seven turnovers and just nine points as Indiana State lost 83-66 at St. Louis.

2) At one point, Southern Utah trained No. 24 San Diego State 35-4. Ouch.

3) Ohio’s defense was a bit leaky on Wednesday. No. 22 UMass shot 61.5% from the floor and 9-for-14 from three.

NOTABLES


  • Marshall Henderson scored 26 points and hit three of his six threes in succession to lead Ole Miss to a 75-62 win over UL-Monroe.
  • Jelan Kendrick at 18 points off the bench for UNLV in a 81-62 win over Radford.
  • San Jose State outlasted UC-Davis in triple-overtime, 89-85.