How does one put this politely? When it comes to exciting nights this college basketball season…one will find better just about every single day of this season than last night.
A schedule of 11 games was exceeded in lightness by only how little there was noteworthy about the games. With final exams happening across the land, there were no rivalries, no tournaments, no challenges…it was about as exciting as one of those college football Saturdays in September when the top teams all tee off on their favorite non-Division I cupcakes, where the only drama is whether the home team will win by 30, 40 or 50.
It was extremely fortuitous for the hardcore college hoops fan, then, that at least the evening had a pair of highly regarded teams get major scares on their home courts. And though both survived, it’s safe to say they were extended far more than about anyone expected going into games that were regarded as nothing more than guarantee game fodder.
It may not have been good news for Minnesota, but the Drake Bulldogs provided us something of note by nearly scaring the pants off Goldy Gopher before finally falling 68-67 at ancient Williams Arena.
Drake led Minnesota early on. It led by four points at halftime, and it led well into the second half. The Bulldogs were up nine early in the second half before the Gophers started their rally, finally took their first lead with just over nine minutes left, and then had just enough points to hold on when Drake scored a layup, came up with a steal and hit a three-pointer all in the final five seconds.
Minnesota received more brilliance from Jordan Murphy, who finished with 24 points and 18 rebounds, his 12th double-double in 12 games. The Gophers needed all of it. All five starters played at least 32 minutes, putting in a long night of work trying to catch the Bulldogs, who played loose and hit 12 three-pointers.
Forget about the program’s relative anonymity; Drake is still a Missouri Valley Conference school and much like a Penn State or Nebraska-type program in the MVC. The Bulldogs typically rank near the bottom of the league but are experienced, have some energy under first-year coach Niko Medved, and are good enough to be dangerous, as evidenced earlier this season by a win over Wake Forest.
Minnesota is clearly a team trying to find some on-court chemistry, and undoubtedly will benefit from a 10-day break coming up. it would seem playing through its star inside even more would be a better strategy than a poor-shooting team continuing to fire away from outside and mid-range, especially given Murphy made 11 of 14 shots in this one (the rest of the team combined to go 16-for-45). The Golden Gophers’ relative lack of depth also is a factor, and it’s possible there is something to this team not being a surprise any more this year. Early on, it’s a somewhat disappointing team, but that maybe shouldn’t be totally unexpected.
Minnesota can take a slight bit of heart in that it wasn’t the only name program to have issues on Monday. Oregon became the latest to accommodate Texas Southern’s barnstorming tour of the country in non-conference play, and the Ducks had to hold on late to fend off the Tigers 74-68 at home in Eugene.
Oregon fought off a sluggish first half to take a 15-point lead early in the second half, but TSU simply would not go away. Tiny (5-foot-7) guard Demontrae Jefferson scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, including seemingly one answer after another down the stretch. Massachusetts transfer Donte Clark also added 17 points, the Tigers were within one possession still inside the final minute, and the Quack Attack needed 52% shooting in the second half and six players scoring in double figures (led by Payton Pritchard with 16) to hold on.
Oregon is still a hard team to peg, looking like it could be destined for the NCAA Tournament bubble or slightly above it. Meanwhile, don’t be misled by Texas Southern’s 0-9 record-the Tigers are one of five winless teams left still in the always-traveling portion of the season for Southwestern Athletic Conference teams, and TSU still is the favorite to win the league.
Side Dishes:
- Vermont spanked Siena 81-57 in a clash of one-time foes in the America East, back when it was known as the ECAC North Athletic Conference (it’s been a while now; we’re talking back in the 80s, and it was usually Siena issuing the beatings then). Living legend former Catamounts coach Tom Brennan was honored before the game, as the court at Patrick Gymnasium was named after the extremely popular former UVM head man who led the program to its first three NCAA Tournament appearances and first-ever NCAAs win in 2005 over Syracuse.
- Florida International won at South Florida 65-53, a sign of just how far the Bulls have to go in this rebuilding year. It’s still early to be citing power ratings, but FIU came into this game No. 299 in the RPI; USF was 303. A call to Brian Beard Jr., who scored a career-best 28 for the Panthers, who have shown some life of late that maybe they can be a spoiler in Conference USA. The Bulls have now lost four straight to Eastern Michigan, Elon, Appalachian State and Florida International, with three of the four by double digits.
- Northwestern defeated Chicago State, a game notable for the sole reason that the Wildcats won by the outrageous score of 96-31. The final score represented a fairly fierce improvement in the second half by the Cougars, who trailed at halftime 55-8. Yes. The funny thing is, Chicago State very nearly knocked off Northwestern in their matchup last year, with the Cats trailing deep in the second half before winning by four.
- Grand Canyon held off North Carolina Central 64-59. The Lopes are showing a few chinks in the armor-it’s an athletic but not overly fluid team offensively right now (Joshua Braun scored 20 against the Eagles here; no one else more than nine)-while NCCU is quite a bit better than its 4-8 record, and should be a contender in the MEAC again.
Tonight’s Menu:
- The night starts with one of the seven undefeateds hitting the road with Mississippi State at Cincinnati (7 p.m. Eastern, ESPN2), a somewhat benign game before the season taking on more importance now. The Bulldogs have molded more and more into a Ben Howland-caliber defense (37.9% def FG%)…but also have not played away from Starkville yet this year.
- After a year hiatus, the Jersey series between St. Peter’s and Seton Hall returns (7 p.m., FS1). Nick Griffin has picked up a big scoring load for the Peacocks, who have become a three-point centric offense that will take its best shot against the powerful Pirates.
- Michigan is at Texas in a true ‘power’ matchup, two of the richest athletic departments in the country (9 p.m., ESPN2). The Longhorns still can’t shoot from outside (28.7% from three-point range), but when you make 57.0% from inside the arc maybe that doesn’t matter. Very curious to see how Texas does as the schedule gets tougher. As for the Wolverines, this is almost a free shot, but also a win that would come in really handy.
- Experienced Albany puts its 10-1 record on the line and has a real chance to make a little national splash, or at least ripple, if it can win a not-undoable game at Memphis (9 p.m., ESPNU). This one is worth your viewing; the Great Danes are a more-than solid team fun to watch anytime it gets a shot against bigger competition.
- Southeastern Louisiana has won four in a row, and the Lions won’t back down even as they face a tall task at Central Florida.
- A good Georgia Southern team is on the road at George Mason. Whether your flavor is Tookie Brown and Ike Smith or Otis Livingston II and Jaire Grayer, there’s plenty of guard play to choose from here.
- An attractive matchup somewhat lacking in luster as both teams go through early struggles has Monmouth at Princeton. Another Ivy League/MAAC matchup has Yale at Iona.
- The battle for Long Island features Hofstra at Stony Brook.
- Ancient rivals dating back nearly 100 years, Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana Tech meet for the 163rd time, this one at Tech in Ruston. The Bulldogs are five points from being undefeated, with narrow losses to Alabama and Stephen F. Austin.
- San Diego takes one of the top-rated defenses in the nation on the road when it faces Colorado, which is a rather non-descript 7-2 so far (8 p.m., Pac-12 Network). Later, Jacksonville State is an excellent candidate to be the latest non-name brand program to win at a Pac-12 school when it is at Oregon State (10 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
Have a super Tuesday.
