Legends Classic
No. 22 Vanderbilt 64, Oregon State 62: See here.
NC State 77, Texas 74: See here.
Maui Invitational
No. 15 Michigan 73, No. 8 Memphis 61: Everyone has always said that once John Beilein gets “his guys” into this Michigan program, that the Wolverines would be tough to beat. Well, guess what. He’s got his guys in, and that prophecy has proven to be correct. The Wolverines got 21 points from Tim Hardaway Jr. and 14 points and four assists from freshman point guard Trey Burke as they knocked off the talented-but-undisciplined Tigers.
There are a couple of things to take out of this game. For starters, it appears that not only will Burke be the answer at the point for Michigan this season, he’ll be a very good player before his days in Ann Arbor are over. That, above anything, was the biggest concern for the Wolverines coming into the season. Perhaps the most impressive part of this win is that Michigan did it while hitting just 6-20 from long range. They competed on the glass, outrebounding Memphis by a wide margin, and executed offensively. This will be a fun team to watch.
As for the Tigers, the issues they had last season reared their ugly head again. A big much and more athletic team than Michigan, the Tigers were pounded on the glass, struggled to deal with Michigan’s unique offensive and defensive sets and generally made bad decision after bad decision offensively. There is a lot of talent on this roster, but the question still remains whether or not Josh Pastner will ever be able to gain control of this group.
No. 5 Duke 77, Tennessee 67: The Blue Devils got 18 points out of Austin Rivers and 17 apiece from Seth Curry and Ryan Kelly to beat the Vols, but the Blue Devils weren’t the story of this game. The effort out of Tennessee was. The final difference was 10, but that doesn’t indicate how closely this game was contested well into the second half. Tennessee has some talent on their roster, but there is a scrap in this group that we didn’t see out of this team under Bruce Pearl. Take this as a shot at Bruce Pearl if you will, but it looks like this team is finally getting coached.
UCLA 92, Chaminade 60: The Bruins were up jut two at the half, but they turned it on down the stretch. Zeke Jones and Jerime Anderson combined for 37 points and UCLA’s front line just proved to be too big for the Silver Swords. Of note: Reeves Nelson was only suspended for the first half of this game despite missing the team’s flight to the islands.
No. 15 Kansas 67, Georgetown 63: The Jayhawks got 20 points and 12 boards from Thomas Robinson, but they were never quite able to put away the Hoyas. Every time that Kansas seemed poised to break this game open, Georgetown was able to counter with a run to keep things close. Jason Clark and Hollis Thompson combined for 29 points while Otto Porter added 12 off the bench, but Markel Starks finished with just six points and no assists. The Hoyas had just six assists as a team, a worrisome number for a group that relies on their ability to move the ball offensively.
CBE Classic
No. 18 Cal 70, Georgia 46: The Bears got 16 points from Harper Kamp and 14 points from Jorge Gutierrez as they rolled through yet another overmatched opponent. Cal is looking more and more like the favorite to win the Pac-12 this season. They are balanced, they are smart and they played within the offense that Mike Montgomery wants to run.
No. 25 Missouri 87, Notre Dame 58: It looks like the Tigers are still going to be able to put up points even without Mike Anderson running this program. Mizzou took a 52-37 lead into halftime and pulled away in the second half. Marcus Denmon had 26 points on just 9-11 shooting while Phil Pressey, Ricardo Ratliffe and Kim English all reached double figures.
The rest of the top 25
No. 3 Ohio State 85, North Florida 50: Jared Sullinger had 27 points and 13 boards as the Buckeyes throttled the overmatched Ospreys.
No. 9 Florida 78, Wright State 65: Brad Beal and Kenny Boynton went for 22 points each and Mike Rosario added 11 off the bench as the Gators knocked off a feisty Raiders team. Wright State was able to cut a big lead all the way down to nine with five minutes to go in the game.
No. 17 Marquette 59, Norfolk State 57: After drilling Norfolk State by 30 last week, Marquette had much more trouble this time around, squandering a 14 point second half lead. Darius Johnson-Odom had 20 to lead the way for the Golden Eagles, but it was a dunk from Jae Crowder with 1:09 on the clock that was the eventual difference.
Other notable scores:
– Virginia 60, Drake 52
– George Washington 86, Detroit 73
– Ole Miss 80, TCU 69
– Indiana 73, Gardner-Webb 49
– UMass 82, Boston College 46
– Butler 57, Savannah State 42
– Cincinnati 71, Northwestern State 43
– Minnesota 85, Mt. St. Mary’s 56
– George Mason 74, Brown 48
– Mississippi State 78, Louisiana-Monroe 63
– Davidson 68, Presbyterian 54
Top Performers
Jared Sullinger, Ohio State: The big fella had 27 points and 13 boards in the win.
Marcus Denmon, Missouri: Denmon showed why he made some all-american teams as he shot his way to 26 points on just 11 field goals.
Dominique Morrison, Oral Roberts: Morrison finished with his best game of the young season, a 30 point outburst, in a six point win over SMU.
Jason Guerrier, Albany: The big man had 28 points and 10 boards on 9-10 shooting off the bench in an 85-49 win over Monmouth.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @ballinisahabit.
