GAME OF THE NIGHT: No. 3 Villanova 79, No. 15 Purdue 76
The defending champions faced the first real road test of any top 25 team this season and came out with an important win. Senior Josh Hart was outstanding for the Wildcats as this was a fun game with a great atmosphere.
NBCSports.com’s Rob Dauster has more on this one here.
IMPORTANT OUTCOMES
Northeastern 64, UConn 61: Uh oh. UConn wasn’t supposed to start 0-2 with home losses to Wagner and Northeastern. Especially after being ranking in the preseason top 25. Guard T.J. Williams led the (winning) Huskies with 20 points. UConn struggled to 5-for-21 three-point shooting as Terry Larrier had 17 points. Kevin Ollie’s team needs to turn things around quickly.
New Hampshire 57, Temple 52: Rough night for The American as this is a tough early loss for Temple. New Hampshire is one of the better teams in the America East, but this is a bad loss for postseason purposes. Sophomore forward David Watkins had 15 points to lead New Hampshire. Obi Enechionyia led the Owls with 20 in the loss.
Furman 84, UAB 74: The Blazers are trying to do everything they can to get back in the NCAA tournament and non-conference losses like this one aren’t a good look. Guard Daniel Fowler had 23 points to lead Furman as UAB shot 39 percent from the field.
STARRED
Tim Williams, New Mexico: Monster outing from the forward as he scored 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while going 10-for-11 from the field and 11-for-12 from the free-throw line. The Lobos cruised past Houston Baptist at home as it was Williams’ second double-double in as many outings.
Dallas Moore, North Florida: So the Ospreys were playing a non-Division I opponent in Edward Waters on Monday but the senior point guard still went bananas. Moore had 37 points, five assists and five rebounds -- with no turnovers -- in only 24 minutes.
Sebastian Saez, Ole Miss: Solid early home win for Ole Miss over UMass as the senior forward finished with 22 points and 19 rebounds. Saiz was 14-for-18 from the free-throw line. After only playing 17 minutes and fouling out in a win over UT Martin, this was a breakout game for Saez this season.
Phil Forte and Jawun Evans, Oklahoma State: The backcourt duo combined for 54 points on 16-for-25 shooting and 11 assists and nine rebounds. Forte poured in 31 points and went 4-for-10 from three-point range.
K.J. Lawson, Memphis: The sophomore had a monster outing in a win over UTRGV as he finished with 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists and zero turnovers. Lawson was 8-for-10 from the field and 3-for-3 from the three-point line in a very efficient outing. Brother Dedric Lawson finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds.
Reggie Agbeko, Saint Louis: Finishing with 18 points and 14 rebounds on 5-for-5 shooting, the senior forward was 8-for-11 from the free-throw line in a win over Southern Utah.
TOP 25
- No. 11 Xavier was a big winner at home over Buffalo as the Musketeers had 18 points from guard J.P. Macura.
- A balanced effort led No. 12 Louisville to an easy win over William & Mary. Freshman V.J. King finished with 17 points while Deng Adel added 16 points.
- Nathan Adrian had a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds to help pace No. 19 West Virginia to a blowout over Mississippi Valley State.
- Monte Morris had 18 points and Deonte Burton had 10 points and 13 rebounds as No. 20 Iowa State had a win over Mount St. Mary’s.
- No. 21 Rhode Island was a big winner over Marist as E.C. Matthews looked like his old self. Matthews went 8-for-10 from the field and finished with 22 points and five rebounds.
- Tevin Mack led No. 23 Texas to a home win over Louisiana Monroe as the Longhorns moved to 2-0.
- No. 24 Cincinnati survived a slow and ugly first half with a home win over Albany. Jacob Evans finished with 19 points while big man Kyle Washington added 13 points.
NOTABLES
- Jae’Sean Tate’s double-double helped give Ohio State the win over North Carolina Central. Tate finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
- St. John’s cruised to a win over Binghamton as guard Marcus Lovett had 23 points and Shamorie Ponds had 21 points. The duo combined to go 9-for-17 from three-point range as Ponds added 10 rebounds.
- Northwestern forward Vic Law finished with 26 points as the Wildcats won against Eastern Washington.
- Marquette had 14 points from Jajuan Johnson and Katin Reinhardt as they beat Howard.
- Texas A&M had 17 points from sophomore big man Tyler Davis in a home win over American.
- Arkansas had 19 points from guard Dusty Hannahs as the Razorbacks crushed Southern Illinois at home.
- Auburn won over Georgia State as freshman Jared Harper and Danjel Purifoy both had 19 points.
- Michael Young and Cameron Johnson both finished with 18 points as Pitt ran past Gardner-Webb.
- Derrick White had 15 points to lead Colorado to a home win over Seattle.
- Providence picked up 22 points from Emmitt Holt as they ran past Vermont.
- Georgia relied on Yante Maten (19 points) and J.J. Frazier (18 points) to lead them to a win over UNC Asheville.
- Minnesota has six players finish in double-figures in a win over UT-Arlington as Reggie Lynch led with 14 points.
- TCU easily ran by Alabama State for a home win as Desmond Bane paced the Horned Frogs with 19 points.
- Georgia Tech was an easy winner over Southern as Tadric Jackson led the way with 20 points.
- Matt Williams led five UCF double-figure scorers with 20 points as they beat Nicholls State.
- East Carolina picked up a win over North Carolina A&T as guards Caleb White and B.J. Tyson both finished with 13 points.
- Tulane picked up a win over Southeastern Louisiana as sophomore guard Kain Harris had 19 points.
- Saint Joseph’s earned a win over Columbia as Lamarr Kimball paced the Hawks with 19 points.
- Old Dominion picked up a nice road win over Richmond as Ahmad Caver led the Monarchs with 13 points.
- All-American candidate Alec Peters had 20 points and eight rebounds as Valparaiso knocked off Coppin State. The Crusaders were led by Shane Hammink with 23 points.