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Late Night Snacks: Marcus Smart and Frank Kaminsky have career nights

Smart-Kaminsky

GAME OF THE DAY: Arizona State, led by its start point guard, Jahii Carson overcame a four-point halftime deficit to pick up an 86-80 road win against UNLV. Carson dropped a career-high 40, while the Rebels had all five starters score in double figures. This was a fun game to watch, mainly because of Carson, but also because it was a close one throughout. In the loss Roscoe Smith scored 18 points and grabbed 21 rebounds.

IMPORTANT OUTCOMES:

No. 7 Oklahoma State 101, No. 11 Memphis 80: Let’s start with Oklahoma State. Marcus Smart reaffirmed his among the top college basketball players in the nation, but had an awesome supporting cast on Tuesday night.

No. 6 Duke 83, East Carolina 74: Not the Duke-Carolina game were are used to, but ECU kept it close, cutting it to 64-63 with under seven minutes to play. Duke got a scare, but behind 51 combined points from Rodney Hood and Jabari Parker, the Blue Devils advance to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden.

Butler 85, Vanderbilt 77 OT: The Bulldogs picked up a win over an SEC program on Tuesday night, surviving Vanderbilt in overtime. Eric McClellan (29 points) had a chance to win it in regulation, but a travel turned the ball over for the Commodores with second remaining. Khyle Marshall (26 points) and Kellen Dunham (16 points) led the way for Butler.

STARRED:

Marcus Smart: Smart dominated the Memphis Tigers, leading the way for Oklahoma State’s 101-80 beatdown of the No. 11 team in the nation. Smart, a 29 percent shooter from three last season, connected on 5-of-10 from deep, 11-of-20 from the field, for a career-high 39 points.

Frank Kaminsky: On any other night Kaminsky would have this night to himself. But the junior forward scored a Wisconsin record 43 points of 16-of-18 (6-for-6, 3-point) shooting in the Badgers’ 103-85 win over North Dakota. It was the first time since 1995 that Wisconsin hit 100.

Jahii Carson: Carson also went for a career-high on Tuesday night, with 40 points on the road against the UNLV Rebels. The Sun Devils trailed by four at half, to score 52 second half points. Despite going for 40, Carson still dished out seven dimes.

STRUGGLED:

Memphis and its back court: Some argued the Tigers had the nation’s best back court with the foursome of Michael Dixon, Joe Jackson, Geron Johnson and Chris Crawford. They combined for 8-of-34 shooting, 21 points and 10 turnovers. Damien Wilson led all Memphis guards with eight points in 20 minutes.

Ryan Harrow: Bad night for Harrow to have an off night. The transfer point guard played 32 minutes, ending with four points off 2-of-11 shooting in a loss to Alabama. Georgia State will not be going to Madison Square Garden.

Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights shot 39 percent (27 percent from three) and coughed the ball up 14 times. The result? A 70-59 loss to Drexel. The Dragons will to go MSG for the NIT semifinals. “We were out-coached and we were outplayed.” That’s all Rutgers head coach Eddie Jordan said after the game to reporters, according to Brendan Prunty of the Star-Ledger.

NOTABLES:


  • Rodney Hood played all 40 minutes and went for 30, but did East Carolina show some flaws for the Blue Devils?
  • Staying with the Blue Devils, potential Duke-Arizona matchup at MSG is one step closer
  • Julius Randle goes for another double-double, while James Young erupts for 26
  • St. John’s erase a narrow first half deficit to defeat Bucknell 67-63
  • The mid-major game of the day didn’t disappoint as Canisius topped Elon 86-85
  • Montrezl Harrell went for 20 and nine off 9-of-12 shooting in Louisville’s win over Hartford
  • Nick Johnson stuffed the stats with 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in Arizona’s win over Rhode Island
  • Joel Embiid had his best game with Kansas so far, in front of his father from Cameroon, with 16 points and 13 boards
  • Drexel downed Rutgers. Dragons going to NYC for preseason NIT
  • Virginia Cavaliers winners of three straight since losing to VCU during the Tip-Off Marathon
  • Penn State knocked off La Salle, 79-72, behind a balanced scoring attack that saw all five starters score at least 13 points.

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