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Tuesday’s Shootaround: Baylor wins, Virginia survives

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Mike Miller

No. 5 Baylor 61, Texas A&M 52: Given the way that the Aggies started this game -- by digging themselves a 28-11 hole late in the first half -- the way the game ended up wasn’t terrible. A nine point loss of the road to a top five team in the country is hardly a loss to be embarrassed by.

The issues that A&M has have nothing to do with the effort they give or the defense they play or the size they have on the interior. The Aggies are going to be nothing more than mediocre until they find a way to be able to consistently score points. Against Baylor, A&M shot a whopping 28.6% from the floor. They were 7-25 from three. They had all of nine assists to go along with their 13 turnovers. Khris Middleton, who is supposed to be Billy Kennedy’s best offensive weapon, was 4-17 from the floor.

Baylor wasn’t great by any stretch of the imagination. Pierre Jackson had seven turnovers, Brady Heslip went scoreless and the Bears finished with more turnovers than assists, but when you hold a team to 28.6% shooting, you can play just about as poorly as you want and still win.

No. 23 UVA 57, LSU 52: It sounds weird saying this, but this is actually a solid win for the Cavs, their 11th in a row. LSU is probably not going to make the NCAA Tournament, but what they lack in talent they make up for in grit. Just ask Marquette, who lost a dogfight to the Tigers despite being up 13-0 in the first half. LSU had won seven in a row. Virginia got 17 points from Sammy Zeglinski and 12 points and nine boards out of Mike Scott as they used a late surge to take a lead and held LSU on a number of possessions down the stretch.

Robert Morris 70, Ohio 67: Bobby Mo put together one of the weirdest wins of the young season. Ohio had been on fire coming into this game, gaining some national recognition as one of the most impressive mid-majors early in the season. But what makes this win all the more impressive is the fact that they turned the ball over 31 times! And still won! Robert Morris shot the ball 53.2% from the field and held DJ Cooper and Walter Offutt to a combined 6-32 from the floor.

Rhode Island 78, Boston College 72 2OT: Jamal Wilson, who was averaging 16.4 ppg at the time, was kicked off the URI team two days ago. Rhody was 1-12 at the time. Since then, the Rams have won two in a row. Billy Baron had 25 to lead the way in this one.

Georgia State 58, Drexel 44: The Panthers have now won 10 straight games and are sitting at 2-0 in first place in the CAA.

Wofford 56, Wake Forest 52: Wake Forest was playing without CJ Harris, but that’s still no excuse for a team from the ACC to lose to a team from the SoCon, particularly when the SoCon is coming off of a season where they lost four starters and already have dropped games to High Point and UMKC. Travis McKie had 25 points and six boards for Wake in the loss.

Campbell 70, Coastal Carolina 65 OT: Campbell moved to 3-0 in the Big South, knocking off previously unbeaten (in the league) CCU. The Chanticleers didn’t make a field goal in overtime.

Other notable games:

- George Mason 70, William & Mary 56
- VCU 80, Hofstra 63
- Tennessee 76, Chattanooga 63
- Belmont 83, North Florida 53
- Vanderbilt 69, Miami OH 62
- Miami 99, UNC Greensboro 89
- LBSU 74, UC Irvine 60

Top performers:

Kenny Gabriel, Auburn: Gabriel had easily the most impressive performance of the night, going for 24 points, 13 boards, 10 blocks, four steals and three assists while shooting 11-13 from the floor in a 67-41 win over Bethune-Cookman.

Stan Okoye, VMI: Okoye probably had the second best game of the night, as he went for 25 points, seven boards, seven assists, four steals and three blocks in a 76-72 win over Gardner-Webb.

Keith Rendleman, UNC Wilmington: Rendleman had 24 points and 18 boards in an 80-75 win over Delaware.

Shay Shine, High Point: Its our first Shay Shine sighting of the season! The high-flying guard has 22 points in a win over Charleston Southern.

Chris Stephenson, UNC Asheville: Stephenson scored 33 points and grabbed 10 boards in a 66-56 win over Radford.

Kenny Kadji, Miami: Trevis Simpson had 36 points for UNC Greensboro, but Kadji and the Canes were too much. The big man finished with 30 points and 12 boards in a 99-89 win.

Trae Golden, Tennessee: Golden had 29 points in a 76-63 win over Chattanooga just three days after have facial surgery.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @ballinisahabit.