What a night Thursday was for college basketball. Or maybe it was just more of the same for this season.
For those who couldn’t resist all the curling and skiing at the Winter Olympics and watched hoops, it was yet another evening of highly ranked teams going down and streaks getting busted, something that has become the norm this year. The TV window of games that started at 7 p.m. Eastern time alone was enough to wear out the remote control as they came to an end.
There was a genuine stunner, courtesy of a Wisconsin team in the midst of its most dismal season in 20 years. On a night when recent great Frank Kaminsky’s number was retired, the Badgers summoned up the effort of their season, knocking off Purdue 57-53.
It was hardly a beauty by either team, but the young Badgers were the far tougher team down the stretch, coming up with the clutch baskets and free throws. It was amazing considering the Badgers were absolutely pummeled by Purdue just a month earlier, falling behind 23-4 in the first 10 minutes and losing by 28. It’s a bright spot in a tough season for Bucky Badger’s crew.
While wonderful for Wisconsin, the game also may start ringing alarms for Purdue. Just over a week ago, the Boilermakers were considered a shoo-in as one of the top three teams in the country. Suddenly, they are on the skids, having lost three straight.
At the exact same time as the No. 6-ranked team was going down, so was No. 5, albeit in much more understandable fashion. Houston has been an underappreciated team this season (we’ve had them on our ballot the past several weeks now for the Rockin’ 25 poll which we vote on with several other independent college hoops followers), but the Cougars are really good. They also appear to be almost certainly on their way to the NCAA Tournament after a 67-62 win over Cincinnati.
In another game that was close down the stretch, Houston outplayed the ranked team, and this time at its home-away-from-home (Texas Southern’s Health & Physical Education Arena) finished what it couldn’t a couple weeks earlier. The Cougars jumped all over Cincy in their first meeting, but the Bearcats roared back in that one. Thursday night’s game was a dogfight through and through, and UH’s frontline outplayed Cincinnati’s. It’s that depth up front coupled with the instant offense of Rob Gray and Corey Davis that makes the Cougars a team to watch in March.
While both of those games were going to the wire, so were Wichita State and Temple, a remarkable development if one saw the first half. The Owls came out smoking hot and hung an unthinkable 56 points on the Shockers in just 20 minutes. WSU recovered, though, and pulled out a 93-86 win at home to avenge a loss to Temple just two weeks earlier.
The Shockers got huge games from frontline performers Darral Willis (24 points) and Shaq Morris (23, plus 13 rebounds). With it, they withstood the Owls’ 16 three-pointers, including 11 in the first half.
We also can’t go without noting the TV window at that time included one more thriller in the American Athletic Conference. And once again it featured more frustration for Connecticut, which led Tulsa by 12 in the first half, fell behind by seven in the second half but then had a chance to tie or win it at the end. A final shot attempt by Jalen Adams was off target, though, and the Golden Hurricane won their fourth straight game.
Side Dishes:
- Cincinnati and Purdue weren’t the only two top-10 teams to lose on Thursday. No. 8 Ohio State was pummeled by Penn State, never close in a 79-56 loss. Tony Carr scored 30 and the Nittany Lions have now beaten the Buckeyes twice this year. Now the question is if PSU can put anything else on that resume. They have chances coming up, including their next game against struggling Purdue.
- Arizona got back on track and completed a sweep of rival Arizona State by winning 77-70 in Tempe. Freshman Deandre Ayton was magnificent once again: 25 points, 16 rebounds and even four assists.
- Uh-oh. Saint Mary’s losing to Gonzaga last week was largely explained away as two top-15 teams going at it and one playing a heck of a game. There will be considerably less charity for the Gaels’ 70-63 loss to San Francisco last night, a game where the Dons hung around and were the better team down the stretch. Jock Landale again was kept relatively in check (19 points but just four rebounds) and didn’t receive a lot of help (Evan Fitzner’s 17 bonus points aside). Suddenly, SMC’s overall season profile is again going to come into question when it comes to NCAA Tournament consideration, and it’s not going to be pretty. (And how about the Dons-just 15-13 this year, but wins now over Nevada and St. Mary’s, and the latter coming after losing to the Gaels by 36 points just a few weeks earlier.)
- New Mexico State has had an outstanding season, but the Aggies’ 11-game winning streak was snapped in an 86-79 loss at Utah Valley. This one will be painted by Johnny-come-lately’s as a bad loss; it shouldn’t be. The Wolverines are a more-than solid team, and there’s no shame in any team losing to them on the road.
- More streaks ending on Thursday: Montana and Florida Gulf Coast both had runs of 13 straight wins entering the night. Both are done with their first conference losses, the Grizzlies to Eastern Washington 74-65 in the Big Sky and FGCU falling at home to Kennesaw State’s Owls 97-93 in the Atlantic Sun.
- A streak that kept going: Vermont won its 15th straight, taking care of New Hampshire 71-58 in the America East to move to 12-0 in league play. The Catamounts have the second-longest win streak in NCAA Division I now.
- A buzzer-beater in the CAA, where Grant Riller’s three with 2.2 seconds left in overtime gave College of Charleston a hard-earned 81-78 win at James Madison. The Cougars had a fight for this one against the 8-19 Dukes but won their ninth consecutive.
- Also from yesterday on Hoopville, our column guaranteed to be unpopular on Twitter about the need for philosophical discussions about NCAA Tournament metrics.
Tonight’s Menu:
- Rhode Island enters the night with the nation’s longest winning streak at 16. It could easily end tonight, with the Rams on the road at St. Bonaventure, which has overcome an early Atlantic 10 season hiccup and is back playing very well. Olean will be rocking for this one. (7 p.m. Eastern, ESPN2)
- Another game in Western New York: Bowling Green is at Buffalo (7 p.m., ESPNU). The Falcons have been a nice surprise in the MAC and are the latest team to pull into second, trying to catch the Bulls’ draft in the East Division.
- The night in the Ivy League is headed by Princeton at Cornell, matching two of the five teams separated by one game behind co-leaders Pennsylvania and Harvard.
- Expect another high-scoring game when Niagara is at Iona. The Gaels won the first matchup 98-93 and will be all too glad to push that high again.
- Some rare Friday night Sun Belt action and it’s a good one with Georgia State at Georgia Southern (9 p.m., ESPN2). These are two forgotten teams behind Louisiana-Lafayette in the league, but both are excellent defensively. And the Eagles’ Tookie Brown vs. Georgia State’s D’Marcus Simonds is worth the price of admission.
- Finally, there’s a big showdown in the Horizon League as Northern Kentucky is at Wright State (9 p.m., ESPNU). The Norse have moved a game ahead of the Raiders in the league, but WSU won the first matchup and would sew up the head-to-head tiebreaker with the win at home.
Enjoy your Friday and have a great weekend.
