Coastal Carolina 60, Clemson 59: The Tigers suffered their second bad loss of the season, losing to the Chanticleers when Chris Gradnigo tipped in his own miss at the buzzer:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XF-gLE2jrQ%5D
Maui Invitational
No. 8 Memphis 99, Tennessee 97 2OT: See here.
No. 6 Duke 82, No. 15 Michigan 75: Duke is a much more disciplined team on both ends of the floor than Memphis, and as such they had a much easier time dealing with the unique schemes that come with playing a John Beilein team. Austin Rivers led four scorers in double figures with 20 points and the Blue Devils knocked down 11-21 from beyond the arc as they cruised to a win that probably wasn’t as close as the final score indicates. Tim Hardaway Jr. led the way for Duke with 19 points.
As of right now, Duke looks to be by far the best team in Maui, but that doesn’t mean that this team is ready for a trip to the Final Four. There are still plenty of issues to address. For starters, their front court is and forever will be a question mark when the Plumlees are around. Duke was outrebounded by a smaller Michigan team, gave up 11 offensive rebounds and didn’t put a single player into the scorebook with more than five boards. But more importantly, this group is going to run into trouble when Austin Rivers is struggling simply because there is no one else on the roster that is able to create their own shot. Rivers has 38 points in the two games in Maui, but he’s needed 29 shots to get there. He’s still dealing with freshmen decision making issues and is no where near where he needs to be in terms of shot selection.
For Michigan, this game only further proved that Trey Burke is ready to handle the point guard duties for the Wolverines. He had 17 points and nine assists. He’s poised for a freshman and makes veteran decisions with the ball. More importantly, he seems to have a pretty good grasp of what Beilein is asking him to do.
No. 14 Kansas 72, UCLA 56: Kansas got a big game from Elijah Johnson, who scored 23 points, while Thomas Robinson added 15 points and 10 boards. Johnson’s performance is important because he and Tyshawn Taylor are going to be vital to this team’s success. If they aren’t scoring on the perimeter, than defenses are going to be able to sag down on Robinson. The question mark with Johnson has been his perimeter shooting and his ability to lead. He looked very good in both areas on Tuesday night.
For UCLA, this win is a mixed bag. On the one hand, they were able to fight back from a 20 point second half deficit to make this thing interesting down the stretch. This team showed some intensity and desire, and that is always a good thing. On the other hand, the Bruins made their come back by hitting five straight threes. That’s not going to happen to often for this team. Fool’s gold, if you will. How far has this Bruin program fallen that a 16 point loss to a rebuilding Kansas team is being considered a moral victory?
Georgetown 88, Chaminade 61: A career-high 28 points from Jason Clark spurred the Hoyas on to the win.
CBE Classic
No. 21 Missouri 92, No. 18 Cal 53: Heading into Thanksgiving, there may not be a more impressive team in the country than Missouri. The Tigers not only routed Notre Dame last night, they followed that up by obliterating the Pac-12 favorite and the No. 18 team in the country by 39. Kim English led six players in double figures with 19 points. I’m going to go back and watch the tape to see exactly what happened, but I think its safe to say that this group likes playing under Frank Haith.
Georgia 61, Notre Dame 57: The Irish clearly have plenty that they are going to need to work on after a disastrous couple of days in Kansas City. Tim Abromaitis struggled with the defensive attention he received during the game, scoring just six points on 1-12 shooting as the Bulldogs pulled away late. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with just 16 points.
Illinois 70, Richmond 61: Richmond is in a bit of a rebuilding mode right now, but the Illini still put quite a hurting on the Spiders in their first game at the Cancun Challenge. Meyers Leonard continued his solid start to the season by posting 22 points, 12 boards and five blocks — he now has 18 blocks in four games. The Illini built a lead that grew to as big as 18 at the half.
Cleveland State 57, Kent State 53: The Vikings got 13 points out of Jeremy Montgomery and 11 points from D’Aundray Brown as they won the battle of the most impressive mid-major program early in the season. CSU was up double figures early and never allowed the Golden Flashes to get within a single possession.
East Tennessee State 70, Charlotte 69: With 8.6 seconds left in the game, DeMario Mayfield went to the line for Charlotte up by two. He missed them both and Jarvis Jones hit a game-winning three at the buzzer, his first bucket of the game. If anyone finds video of it, let me know. (ContactBIAH@gmail.com)
UT-Arlington 97, North Texas 64: If it wasn’t for a 32-0 run that UTA put on North Texas in the first half, the Mean Green would have been right in this game. Yes, 32-0.
The rest of the top 25
No. 1 North Carolina 102, Tennessee State 69: Tennessee State kept it close for a while, trailing only 55-45 at the half, but the Tar Heels were simply too much. Reggie Bullock had a career-high 23 points, Kendall Marshall handed out 15 assists and John Henson went for 16 points, 10 boards, six assists and four blocks.
No. 7 Louisville 54, Arkansas State 27: This was ugly. While it is a bit concerning that Louisville only managed 54 points against a Sun Belt team that turned the ball over 21 times, they held an opponent to 27 points. That’s insane.
No. 10 Baylor 70, South Carolina State 50: Anthony Jones hit back-to-back threes to open the second half as Baylor went on a 14-0 run to grab control of what was a five point game at the half. Jones finished with 21 points.
No. 11 Wisconsin 71, UMKC 33: While the game wasn’t close, the good news for the Badgers is that Jared Berggren found his rhythm. The big man finished with 21 points and went 4-4 from beyond the arc. Wisconsin is now outscoring their opponents 299-136 through four games.
No. 16 Pitt 73, La Salle 69: The Panther’s are looking further and further from a Big East contender. After struggling against Rider at home and losing to Long Beach State at home, Pitt nearly dropped another one to La Salle. The Explorers never let Pitt pull away, forcing 21 turnovers — a number of which came as they pressed the Panthers late in the game.
Other notable scores:
– George Washington 54, Austin Peay 52
– Illinois State 76, Rutgers 70
– West Virginia 83, Morehead State 48
– Marshall 69, UNC-Wilmington 64
– Florida Atlantic 62, Hofstra 60
– Miami 60, Florida Gulf Coast 50
– Providence 59, Southern 53
– South Carolina 61, Mississippi Valley State 57
– Seton Hall 73, Yale 62
– George Mason 66, Albany 46
– Arkansas 67, Utah Valley 59
– Iowa State 90, Northern Colorado 82
– Tulsa 57, Jackson State 51
– Kansas State 92, UMES 50
– Northern Iowa 59, Western Carolina 39
– Oakland 76, Houston 74
– Texas A&M-CC 58, Utah State 55 OT
– St. John’s 63, St. Francis 48
– Long Beach State 72, Boise State 62
– Nevada 80, Longwood 78
– UNLV 75, Cal Poly 52
Top Performers
Jeronne Maymon, Tennessee: The kid is going to get plenty of attention today, but he finished the game with 32 points and 20 boards.
Jim Mower, Lafayette: Mower scored 37 points in a win over Fairleigh Dickinson. He was 12-16 from the floor and 10-13 from beyond the arc.
Velton Jones, Robert Morris: Jones scored 38 points and added four boards as RMU knocked off JMu.
Cameron Moore, UAB: Moore had 22 points, 17 boards and four blocks to lead the Blazers to a 12 point win over Troy.
Kyle Vinales, CCSU: Vinales continued his hot start, going for 29 points in a win over UMBC. Vinales last three games: 39 points, three points, 29 points.
Orlando Johnson, UCSB: Johnson had 26 points and 12 boards in a win over Portland.
Meyers Leonard, Illinois: Leonard had by far the best game of his young career, torching Richmond for 22 points, 12 boards and five blocks in the win.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @ballinisahabit.
