Michigan 61, Michigan State 57: See here.
Zak Novak scored 19 points to lead the Wolverines, who jumped out to a 14 point lead on the Spartans. Behind 27 points from Kalin Lucas, Michigan State was able to cut the lead to 57-55 with under a minute left, but Stu Douglass hit his second huge jumper in as many minutes, burying a three with 20 seconds left that ended Sparty’s comeback bid. Its the first time since 1997 that Michigan has won at the Breslin Center. (Keep that stat in mind.)
Indiana 52, No. 21 Illinois 49: See here.
Basketball doesn’t get much uglier than the second half of this one, which saw a total of 39 points scored. Jordan Hulls scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half (Indiana had 22 total), but it was center Tom Pritchard’s tip-in with 45 seconds left that put the Hoosiers ahead for good at 50-49. Illinois had a chance to take the lead, but Mike Tisdale turned the ball over. After two free throws, the Illini missed two threes that would have forced an overtime.
No. 22 Vanderbilt 81, Mississippi State 74: Jeff Taylor and John Jenkins combined for 46 points as Vandy ended a 17 year losing streak at Humphrey Coliseum. Jenkins had seven points in a critical 10-0 run late in the second half that erased a seven point deficit. Taylor made the deciding play, however, jumping a passing lane with 20 seconds left in MSU’s back court and dunking on two Bulldogs to put the ‘Dores up five.
No. 24 St. Mary’s 73, Gonzaga 71: See here.
The third losing streak snapped — St. Mary’s hadn’t won at Gonzaga since 1995.
No. 3 Duke 84, Boston College 68: Nolan Smith had 28 points and eight assists, Seth Curry went for 20 in his return to the starting lineup, and Kyle Singler and Ryan Kelly both had 14 as Duke pulled away from the Eagles early in the second half. Reggie Jackson had just seven points. Kelly also had his consecutive make streak snapped at 18 when he missed a put back in the second half.
Arizona 85, UCLA 74: The matchup between Reeves Nelson and Derrick Williams didn’t disappoint — Nelson had 24 points while Williams finished with 22 and a number of thunderous dunks — but the game itself did. Arizona pulled away late in the second half and UCLA was never able to string together enough stops to make a serious threat. The Wildcats are not necessarily more talented that the Bruins, but Sean Miller has his group playing harder than UCLA. We’ve known this for a long time now, but UCLA doesn’t defend well at all. Nor do they have a point guard. Those are both big problems.
VCU 82, Hofstra 67: The Commodores moved into sole possession of first place in the CAA as they ran the Pride out of the gym early on and cruised to the win. Jamie Skeen led four players in double figures with 18 points.
No. 25 Utah State 84, San Jose State 65: Brian Green led the Aggies with 25 points off the bench. I don’t think USU is going to lose a conference game.
Maryland 66, Virginia 42: As impressive as Maryland’s defense was tonight, holding the ‘Hoos to 33.3% shooting, it was 22 points from Adrian Bowie that needs to be noted. He’s now hit double figures in eight of his last nine games.
Morehead State 72, Tennessee State 65: Kenny Faried — 23 points, 23 boards.
Kent State 66, Ball State 53: Ball State’s first loss in the MAC.
Other Notable Games:
- Wofford 74, Appalachian State 65
- Florida Atlantic 62, Middle Tennessee State 51
- Coastal Carolina 82, High Point 58
- Oakland 88, Oral Roberts 85
- South Florida 71, DePaul 60
- USC 63, Arizona State 61
- New Mexico State 96, Boise State 87 OT
- Oregon 67, Stanford 59
- Cal 85, Oregon State 57
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @ballinisahabit.
