Korie Lucious (34) attempts to defend Kemba Walker. Once again, little luck in doing so. (AP/Eugene Tanner)
—UPSET—Connecticut 70, No. 2 Michigan State 67. I will budge, but I won’t recant on UConn. Kemba Walker had another huge performance, and it’s because of him his team wins the game. You’ve probably heard the number: 103 points in the last three games. He’s also the first UConn player to score 30 in three straight games since Ben Gordon six years ago. That’s terrific data, and no doubt he’s been the player of the year so far. So good stuff from him, and Alex Oriakhi, who had 15 points and 17 rebounds, nine coming offensively. In fact, Michigan State was in trouble, not just because of turnovers at the guard position, but it allowed UConn to grab a lot of boards on a lot of possessions.
No. 1 Duke 82, No. 4 Kansas State 68. Mike Krzyzewski has won 800 games as head coach at Duke. He’s at 873 all-time. Platitudes can be put on hold, because it’s time to discuss how Duke won: effective foul shooting, killing off K-State’s transition offense, Kyrie Irving killing it all over the 94-foot floor, and successfully nixing out the other team’s star in Pullen. It may not have been Pullen’s night, but you have to credit Duke with a lot of that. Some said on Twitter last night that Pullen hadn’t played this badly since prior to high school ball. I think Duke’s going to win a lot of games against good teams like this. Sure, it’s going to lose a handful, but I’m not expecting a lot of drama with this team, which is sort of unfortunate. Devils shoot that 3 so, so well. For Kansas State, some motivation and some shoulder-shrugging at Pullen’s star-crossed night.
No. 8 Kentucky 74, No. 13 Washington 67. Isaiah Thomas and
Matthew Bryan-Amaning’s trash talking comes back to haunt the Huskies. There wasn’t too much to learn from this game, aside from further proof of Terrence Jones’ ability to be one of the best players in the SEC. I really love his game, and Brandon Knight as well. Sleek. Thomas didn’t come up big, and when Venoy Overton fouled out for UW, the Huskies were dead in the water. But Lorenzo Romar has a good, good team; I think it was a lot of emotion last night. Almost a false litmus test, to be honest.
No. 3 Ohio State 64, Morehead State 45. Kenneth Faried was largely ineffective, a shame, as Jared Sullinger sat the pine with foul issues. After some early issues against the Eagles’ zone, Ohio State soon enough conquered a commanding lead and coasted. And Thad Matta refused to play his bench. Okey.
No. 5 Pittsburgh 74, Robert Morris 53. Panthers easily beat up in intra-city little brother. Mike Rice never kept it close when he was coaching the Colonials, either.
No. 6 Kansas 82, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 41. The Islanders get doubled-up by the Jayhawks, who of course played everyone that was eligible.
No. 10 Purdue 87, Austin Peay 65. Austin Peay shoots 51 percent from the field, 10 percent from 3 and turns the ball over one in four trips down the floor.
Texas coach Rick Barnes got win No. 500 last night. (AP/Patrick Semansky)
No. 11 Missouri 72, Wyoming 62. It’s been seven years since Mizzou had a number next to its name to start the regular season, but despite its 3-0 record, the Tigers aren’t handling expectations well yet. And who’s even noticed them playing, really? The team shot 26 for 67 from the floor last night, and there was a rubber band around this game; Wyoming hung close.
No. 14 Memphis 102, Tennessee-Martin 80. Not a lot of defense from the Tigers, who seemed to score at will against a team that will be a non-factor in the Ohio Valley.
No. 16 Florida 79, Florida Atlantic 66. Kenny Boynton goes for 21, Alex Tyus for 19, and when Florida can get 40 from those two, I think many opponents will have trouble over the course of 40 minutes. Gators play at Florida State this weekend. That’s a very nice matchup.
No. 19 Illinois 73, Yale 47. Illinois ain’t no Boston College.
No. 20 Texas 84, Sam Houston State 50. Rick Barnes wins the 500th game of his career.
No. 22 Gonzaga 66, Marquette 63. A good sign that Gonzaga could hold of Marquette late, but I don’t know. I’ve got my doubts about the Zags. If you happen to like Mark Few’s team, take solace in the fact I openly questioned how good Butler was last January. I’ll refrain from creating such a post on the Bulldogs until enough evidence mounts. But when I watch, I’m constantly wanting more out of Robert Sacre and Elias Harris, even though Harris probably needs another two weeks to be at full strength. And the book is out on Steven Gray: He can’t handle pressure beyond eight feet from the rim.
No. 23 Brigham Young 86, Mississippi Valley State 36. Absolutely nothing can be gleamed from this.
No. 25 North Carolina 80, UNC-Asheville 69. Carolina blew a big lead late. This was a warning sign last season, before the fall came. Roy’s thoughts.
Notable:
Butler 70, Siena 57. This is going to be a good year for Siena senior Ryan Rossiter (26 points, 15 rebounds!), but he’s not going to get the help around him to make Siena the team it’s been the past four years. As for Butler, it got a strong performance out of its bench, according to those who were there. And Ronald Nored went down early with a cut/shot to his head. Status should be updated later today, but he didn’t return to the game after he left in the first half.
UTEP 73, New Mexico State 56. Suspicions confirmed on New Mexico State. UTEP would love if Christian Polk (25 points) could help take some of the pressure off little ol’ Randy Culpepper.
Virginia 74, Oklahoma 56.If Virginia’s one of the worst in a tepid ACC, then how bad is Oklahoma going to be? To think, John Calipari actually gave the Sooners lip service two days ago. Ha.
Boston 66, Nevada 57. I thought Nevada was going to be viable, maybe just short of a bubble team, but tough nonetheless. It’s now 1-4.
More is better, but how much more and how to dole it out appears to be the last detail before