Monday night went off the rails quickly.
Nebraska jumped all over Indiana in Assembly Hall. Syracuse beat Duke on a night when the Blue Devils were down half of their star freshmen. And three other games gave us fireworks.
Here is what you need to know:
1. DUKE MIGHT HAVE LOST TRE JONES WHILE LOSING TO SYRACUSE
Syracuse landed themselves a mammoth win on Monday night, going into Durham and knocking off No. 1 Duke, 95-91, in overtime. Tyus Battle finished with a season-high 32 points in the win, as the Orange added the kind of victory to their resume that will make people forget very quickly that they lost to UConn, Oregon, Buffalo and Old Dominion.
But that’s burying the lede.
Because that win came with Cam Reddish sitting out due to an illness and Tre Jones missing all but the first six minutes of the game with a shoulder injury that was termed an “AC joint separation.” The former should be back for Saturday’s visit from Virginia, but the latter could be out for a long time. Separated shoulders can be an injury that takes a month to recover from, if not more, and losing Jones for that amount of time could derail Duke’s chances of winning the ACC.
2. PITT MIGHT ACTUALLY BE GOOD
Everyone is going to spend this week talking about the coaching job that Kermit Davis has done at Ole Miss, but make sure that you direct some of that energy Jeff Capel’s way. Remember, this team did not win a game in the ACC last season. They have two players currently starting that are supposed to be freshman in high school right now. No one on their roster was a top 75 prospect in their recruiting class.
And here we are, two weeks into ACC play, and the Panthers are sitting with a 12-5 record and a 2-2 mark in the ACC after beating both Louisville and, on Monday night, No. 14 Florida State at home. Keep an eye on this Panther team, they are going to be dangerous.
3. KERWIN ROACH MESSED UP TEXAS’ SHOT AT A GAME-WINNER
Texas had a chance to beat No. 7 Kansas in Phog Allen Fieldhouse on Monday night. They were trailing the Jayhawks 80-78 with 8.6 seconds left on the clock, and Shaka Smart drew up a ball-screen to try and get Jase Febres a three at the buzzer. It would have worked if Kerwin Roach hadn’t gotten in the way.
On the final play, UT was trying to run ball screen action. Kerwin Roach looks to be in the wrong spot, which screwed up the play. His man (Vick) is who contested. If he's not in way, Febres is wide open on the pick and pop b/c Ochai drops. Roach should have been in right corner. pic.twitter.com/IN91mxJrun
— CJ Moore (@CJMooreHoops) January 15, 2019
“I was supposed to be in the corner,” Roach told reporters after the game. “I messed up the play.”