Games of the Day
1. Arkansas State 73, Central Arkansas 72: Cameron Golden hit a three with 4.8 seconds left to cap off an 8-0 run over the last two minutes as the Red Wolves knocked off Corliss Williamson’s club. UCA called a timeout to diagram a play, but they turned the ball over when LaQuentin Miles stepped out of bounds with 2.2 seconds left. After Raeford Worsham missed both ends of a 1-and-1, a prayer from Miles was almost answered when a heave hit the front of the rim.
2. Kansas State 66, Delaware 63: Cramping in the legs of Jamelle Hagins and Jarvis Threatt allowed the Wildcats to go on a quick, 15-8 surge to take a 54-43 lead with eight minutes left in the game. But Delaware’s Devon Saddler brought the Blue Hens back. Saddler, who played the final eight minutes without two-thirds of the team’s big three, scored 32 points and hit a number of tough jump shots to give the Blue Hens a fighting chance in the final minutes.
With 1.0 seconds left, Saddler was fouled on a three-pointer down 66-62, but he missed the first of three free throws.
3. No. 4 Michigan 67, Pitt 62: Trey Burke, Nik Stauskas, Glenn Robinson III and Tim Hardway Jr combined for 61 of Michigan’s 67 points, but it wasn’t until the second half, when John Beilein used those four to go small and throw a 1-3-1 zone at the Panthers that the Wolverines finally made a run to take the lead. Pitt looked very good, but a lack of penetrators on the wing made it tough for Jame Dixon’s team to attack the zone.
Important Outcomes
1. Wichita State 75, Iowa 63: I know this is going to sound weird, but this is somewhat of a statement win for Wichita State. Granted, Iowa is still a middle of the pack Big Ten team, but they are improved enough that they should compete for an NCAA tournament spot this season. Wichita State graduated quite a bit of talent from last year’s team, but have now improved to 6-0 on the season, which includes a win at VCU. Cleanthony Early, a 6-foot-8 JuCo transfer, had 25 points and nine boards while Malcolm Armstead finished with 14 points, five assists and five boards.
2. No. 8 Kentucky 81, Morehead State 70: We’ve all seen the video of Sean Woods losing his temper on a player on the sideline, so I’m not going to get into that here. Instead, I’ll talk about the fact that Kentucky struggled against the pressure that the Eagles were able to provide without Ryan Harrow on the floor. Archie Goodwin finished with 28 points and four assists, yes, but without Harrow in the mix, Kentucky has even more work left to do.
3. SMU 83, Rider 70: Don’t look now, but SMU is 5-0. Granted, only four of those wins came against D-I schools, only one of those four came against a team from a BCS conference, and that team happened to be TCU. But keep in mind, this team went 13-19 last year and own just three Conference USA games. Beating bad teams is an improvement from last year.
Starred
1. James Southerland, Syracuse: Southerland had arguably his best game at Syracuse on Wednesday night, finishing with 22 points, grabbing five steals and hitting 4-6 from beyond the arc in a 73-53 win over Princeton. His role on this team is to be problematic in their zone and to knock down open threes. I think it’s safe to say he did just that.
It’s also worth noting that, as a team, Syracuse had 19 steals in the game. The length they have in that zone is not fun to go up against.
2. George Beamon, Manhattan: Beamon was the biggest reason that Manhattan entered this season as the favorite to win the MAAC, but he began the season on the bench as he battled an ankle injury. He made his debut in grand fashion on Wednesday, scoring 29 points on 10-15 shooting to lead the Jaspers to a 67-56 win over a Hofstra team that had just beaten Marshall and South Dakota State.
3. Michael Lyons, Air Force: I love big-time scorers that fall below the national radar, and Lyons plays that role to perfection. He had 29 points on 11-15 shooting on Wednesday night as the Falcons knocked off Montana State 86-72.
Struggled
1. DePaul: The Blue Demons lost to Western Kentucky. Six days after losing to Gardner-Webb.
2. Anyone on Butler not named Rotnei: Those named Rotnei were 10-19 from the floor and 6-13 from three for 27 points. Those not named Rotnei were 12-42 from the floor and 1-15 from three for 34 points in a 78-61 loss to Illinois in the Maui Invitational title game.
3. Chris Udofia, Denver: Udofia came into Wednesday’s game with Colorado State averaging 17.7 points. He finished with two points on 1-6 shooting. Denver lost, 60-53.
4. Robert Covington, Tennessee State: Covington entered the season with some NBA folks curious about his potential. Through six games, TSU is 1-5, and he’s averaging 12.7 points while shooting 33.3% from the floor and 24.0% from three. An 81-70 loss to Monmouth was rock bottom, as Covington was 3-14 from the floor, 0-3 from three and had just 12 points.
Three Facts
1. Vander Blue: Blue took an ugly fall late in Marquette’s 72-64 win over USC out in Maui, but it looks as if it’s nothing too serious. “One doctor here said he didn’t tear his ACL, just sprained it,” Buzz Williams said.
2. Ian Miller: Miller suffered a bone bruise in his right foot and was in a walking boot, but he’s expected back by Tuesday. The Seminoles struggled to beat North Florida without him.
3. Mike Brey: Brey is a George Washington alum, a former player and now the head coach at Notre Dame. This is how he showed up to his postgame press conference:
(Photo credit: @cbrinks5)
Notable Results
Texas 69, Mississippi State 55
SDSU 79, Arkansas Pine-Bluff 43
Elon 65, South Carolina 53
