Coaches vs. Cancer Classic:
No. 16 Arizona 81, St. John’s 72: See here.
Mississippi State 69, No. 18 Texas A&M: See here.
Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tournament
Purdue 91, Iona 90: In one of the most entertaining games I’ve watched in a long time, Purdue got 24 points and nine boards out of Robbie Hummel, which included a three-pointer from the top of the key with 20 seconds left to give the Boilermakers the lead. Purdue had gotten behind by two when Momo Jones hit a pull-up jumper in transition. Lewis Jackson, Ryne Smith and Kelsey Barlow combined for 46 points. Jones had 17 points, five boards and five assists while Scott Machado added 14 points and 11 assists. Mike Glover and Taaj Ridley combined for 29 points and 24 boards.
There are two ways to look at this final score -- Purdue is not that good and Iona is much better than we thought. Frankly, I think both are true. The Gaels have a lot of talent on their roster. They have two dynamic guards, a couple of big men that can compete with high-major competition and a sharp-shooter in Jermel Jenkins. Purdue showed themselves to have some competent scorers as well, but what neither team showed a glimmer of yesterday was defense. Neither program will go far this season unless they can start getting some stops.
No. 15 Alabama 62, Maryland 42: Alabama looked terrific against Maryland, as the Terps had no chance against the Crimson Tide’s talented front line and couldn’t find any rhythm offensively. Tony Mitchell played like a superstar. We know about his athleticism and his ability to get on the glass, but Mitchell’s jumper looks much improved. He finished with 17 points and 11 boards, confidently knocking down three three-pointers.
Temple 69, Western Michigan 55: The Owls jumped out to a 69-55 lead over Western Michigan and threw it into cruise control. Ramone Moore led the way with 15 points, five boards and four assists, but it was the 12 points, 15 boards and three blocks that Michael Eric provided that was the most important. Can Eric consistently provide that kind of interior presence? If he can, the Owls are going to be a dangerous team this season.
Wichita State 67, Colorado 58: The Shockers got 17 points from both Toure’ Murry and Ben Smith and 14 points and 11 boards from Garrett Stutz as they took the lead with eight minutes left in the half and never gave it back up. Colorado was never closer than four points during the second half.
Charleston Classic:
Northwestern 88, LSU 82: Down by as many as 15 points in the first half, Northwestern put on an offensive display in the second half, scoring 56 points and turning a 41-32 deficit at the break into a 76-67 lead. LSU got the lead back down to one at 83-82, but David Sobolewski drilled a three with about 30 seconds left to clinch the win. John Shurna led the way for the Wildcats, scoring 21 of his 37 points in the second half.
Tulsa 65, Western Kentucky 49: Tulsa used a 23-5 run late in the first half to gain control of the game, and pushed their lead as big as 23 points in the second half. Kodi Maduka looked like a potential star for Doug Wojcik’s team, going for 16 points, seven boards and seven blocks.
St. Joseph’s 66, Georgia Tech 53: St. Joe’s was supposed to be improved this season, but they are still a team that looks to be destined for the bottom half of the A-10. And the Hawks smacked around Georgia Tech on Thursday afternoon, using a 23-9 midway through the second half to take control. Carl Jones had 21 points and Langston Galloway added 15 points.
Seton Hall 69, VCU 54: Herb Pope had 20 points and 13 boards while Jordan Theodore added 20 as well as the Pirates held VCU to 19% shooting and just six field goals in the first half. VCU got 11 points from Brad Burgess, but its become clear that this team has a long way to go if they hope to duplicate even the regular season success they had last season.
Minnesota 67, Fairfield 57: Fairfield forced Minnesota into 23 turnovers and kept the Gophers in check offensively for much of the game, but the Stags simply had no answer for Trevor Mbakwe inside. The big man finished with 20 points and 10 boards, going 16-18 from the foul line, as the Gophers have now knocked off a couple of talent low-major programs. Derek Needham had just seven points on 2-9 shooting and six turnovers.
San Diego State 56, USC 54: Wild finish this one. Maurice Jones banked in a game-tying three for USC with six seconds left on the clock, but Xavier Thames answered with a bucket with 1.8 seconds left to give the Aztecs the win.
The rest of the top 25:
- No. 4 UConn 80, Maine 60: It took a while for UConn to take up, as the Huskies led by just five at the break, but they did eventually, putting a devastating run on the Black Bears to open the second half. Alex Oriakhi, Andre Drummond and Tyler Olander combined to go for 38 points and 32 rebounds.
- No. 8 Florida 91, North Florida 55: Kenny Boynton had 20 points and Erving Walker added 17 points and five assists as the Gators rolled.
- No. 17 Michigan 59, Western Illinois 55: Tim Hardaway had 16 points and Trey Burke added 14, but the Wolverines were never able to pull away from WIU.
- No. 25 Missouri 83, Niagara 52: Marcus Denmon led five players in double figures with 22 points, while Kim English chipped in with 14 points and seven boards, as the Tigers hit 12 three pointers to roll to the win.
Other notable scores:
- West Virginia 97, Alcorn State 62
- Penn 78, Rider 72 OT
- Rutgers 91, Sacred Heart 75
- Iowa 88, Northern Illinois 55
- Illinois 79, Lipscomb 64
- UNLV 95, Canisius 70
- Oregon 73, Eastern Washington 65
- Nevada 78, Pacific 54
- Washington State 79, Sacramento State 68
Top Performers:
John Shurna, Northwestern: Shurna had 37 points and seven boards as the Wildcats earned a come from behind win over LSU in the Charleston Classic.
Kevin Jones, West Virginia: Jones finished with 29 points and 13 boards, 10 of which came on the offensive end of the floor.
Shamir Davis, Northwestern State: Davis scored 27 points to lead Northwestern State to a seven point win over Alabama State.
Tamir Jackson, Rice: Jackson went for 29 points and four assists as the Owls knocked off Southern.
Will Cherry, Montana: Cherry finished with 24 points, 11 boards and four assists as the Grizzlies knocked off Idaho 57-52.
Brock Motum, Washington State: Has there been a more surprising player this season than Brock Motum? He finished with 23 points and eight boards in a comeback win over Sacramento State. He is averaging 20.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg.
Michael Cartwright, Penn: Cartwright had 27 points as the Quakers outgunned Rider, winning 78-72 in overtime.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @ballinisahabit.