The Gavitt Tip-Off Games don’t get the kind of buzz that other early season events do, but it has been well put together and given us some nice matchups. Three of those games were on tap Wednesday night, with the Big East taking two out of three, and one in particular is noteworthy as it was a battle of two teams that we’re all trying to make sense of this season.
Butler headed east to visit Maryland in a game featuring a pair of 2-0 teams beforehand, and both of who came into the season with an unclear picture of what to expect as both had significant personnel losses. Both teams also had solid assets in their favor and neither lacks talent, so this game figured to be a good early indicator for someone.
In the end, chalk it up as a better early indicator for Maryland, and not just because they won 79-65. This game says more about them in a positive sense than it does about Butler in a negative sense. Give the Terrapins all the credit for this one.
Early on, the Bulldogs used a run to grab the lead, but Maryland didn’t take long to strike back and go on an even bigger run. Butler was able to close in a little late in the half, but the Terrapins kept reasserting themselves. Every time Butler looked like they might be ready to make a rally, the Terrapins had answers; Butler could do enough to stay within striking distance, but the Terrapins responded every time.
Anthony Cowan responded the most with 25 points and 10 rebounds for Maryland, who out-rebounded Butler 40-27 and shot a scorching 57 percent from the field. In fact, when you add that they held Butler to 34 percent shooting, you wonder how Butler was even close to being in the game in the second half. The answer: 20 Maryland turnovers. In fact, Cowan was the only Terrapin to have more assists than turnovers on the night, as he handed out five assists while turning it over just once. That number is almost as many as they had in their first two games of the season, so it looks like more of an outlier than part of a trend, but it is something you can be sure Mark Turgeon and his staff don’t want to repeat.
After Michigan State, the Big Ten is a bit of an open race. Minnesota has impressed thus far and is among the teams thought to be contenders to push the Spartans. Maryland is hoping that Wednesday night is indicative of being ready and able to join them in that regard.
Side Dishes
In off-court stories, the big one remains the saga of the three UCLA players arrested for shoplifting while the team was in China for their season opener. That came into focus in part because they just arrived back in the U.S., but even more so as UCLA had a tough time with Central Arkansas on Wednesday night, needing overtime to knock off the Bears 106-101 in Westwood. According to reports, how long LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley will be held out appears to be a fluid matter. ESPN.com reported that athletic department officials may be debating whether or not to suspend them for half of the season or the entire season. While suspended, the players are not allowed to be part of any team activity.
Back on the court, Creighton was thought to be primed to take a step back given some big personnel losses, but they certainly didn’t do that on Wednesday night. The Bluejays went to Illinois and knocked off Northwestern 92-88 behind 24 points and 11 rebounds from Khyri Thomas, and this puts them at 3-0 with a solid road win as they have been lighting up the scoreboard thus far.
North Carolina was surely happy to have Joel Berry II back on the court for the first time this season. While their leader’s numbers were not great – he had eight points on 1-11 shooting – his intangibles certainly helped, and Luke Maye continued his fine start to the season in the Tar Heels’ 93-81 win over Patriot League favorite Bucknell. However, the Tar Heels also found out that they will be without Cameron Johnson for an unknown period of time, as he suffered a torn meniscus in practice on Monday and had surgery at UNC Medical Center.
Arkansas parted ways with Jeff Long on Wednesday, effective immediately. The change at the top may not be the best news for head football coach Brett Bielema, who started off his tenure in Fayetteville with success but has struggled the past few years. What effect it could have on Mike Anderson as the men’s basketball coach is unknown. They have managed to reach the NCAA Tournament two of the last three years, so he should be fine right now, but at times he has been thought to be on a hot seat as they didn’t reach the NCAA Tournament until his fourth season and have missed postseason play entirely in half of his six years at the helm.
Tonight’s Menu
Early season tournaments are about to start in earnest, as a few of them start today and will be the highlight of the matchups on tap.
- In the Charleston Classic, Auburn takes on Indiana State to get it going (11:30 a.m.), then Old Dominion takes on Temple for the afternoon session. The night session starts with a matchup of Clemson and Ohio (5 p.m.) before finishing up with Dayton taking on Hofstra.
- The Puerto Rico Tip-Off, which has moved to Myrtle Beach in light of damage done by a natural disaster, starts with Illinois State taking on South Carolina (11:30 a.m.) before Boise State takes on UTEP. In the night session, Iowa State takes on Appalachian State (5:30 p.m.) and Tulsa takes on Western Michigan right after that to close the date.
- Semifinal action is on tap in the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden, beginning with Virginia Tech taking on Saint Louis (7 p.m.) and ending with Providence taking on Washington.
- In the Gavitt Tip-Off Games, St. John’s hosts Nebraska (6:30 p.m.) and Xavier visits Wisconsin (8:30 p.m.)
- One game that won’t get the attention it should is an in-state battle that is not on national television with Belmont visiting Middle Tennessee (7:30 p.m.)
- Missouri will put their 2-0 record on the line in Salt Lake City against another 2-0 team, Utah, at 8 p.m.
- The last game of the night has CSU Bakersfield visiting Arizona (10 p.m.)
