Game of the Night
Kentucky 90, Missouri 83 (OT): In the bubblicious SEC, this was a big one. The Wildcats won a single OT game on the same day Alabama lost a 3 OT game, putting both teams in a tie for second place in the league race, two game behind No. 5 Florida. Whether that will mean anything at all remains to be seen.
Meaningful Results
LSU 97, Alabama 94 (3 OT): See above. Trevor Releford’s 36 points were wasted in this one, and another bad loss was hung on the thin Alabama resume.
Tennessee 93, Texas A&M 85 (4 OT): Meaningful result? OK, maybe that’s stretching the definition. But hang with me here, because there were lots of overtimes in SEC games today, and this was one of them. Elston Turner scored 38 points, which would prove that his 40 point game at Kentucky was no fluke if it hadn’t taken him nearly twice as long to reach it this time around.
Georgia 62, South Carolina 54 (OT): Actually a rather meaningless result here, but again, lots of overtimes. All in the same conference. Surely you’ll cut me some slack as we indulge in a little mutual schadenfreude about all this extra playing time in one of the worst BCS-level conferences going.
Wichita State 94, Detroit 79: Two of this season’s best mid-majors went toe-to-toe and the Shockers came out on top. The Shockers will be rolling into Arch Madness with a full head of steam at this rate, unlike a certain rival...
St. Mary’s 74, Creighton 66: Bracket Busters gave us a couple of important matchups in its final season of existence, and this was one. The Bluejays had a chance to pull out of a swoon and failed, and the Gaels needed a little resume padding as they vie for the postseason. They succeeded.
Starred
Overtime: If Overtime were a stock, and you had bought it cheap in November, you’d be a rich man right now. Someone like Kenpom will probably sit down and calculate just how many extra periods were played this season. I’m content just saying it was a lot, and we had more than our fair share today.
Chavaughn Lewis, Marist: The Red Foxes scored 112 points against speedy VMI, and Lewis was the primary culprit. His line of 30 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals and 1 block is the best all-around mark of the day.
Struggled
Olaf Schaftenaar, Oregon State: The Oregon State freshman scored five points for the Beavers, but that’s not why he’s on this list. Schaftenaar dunked in pregame warmups, which is a no-no. That put Allen Crabbe on the line to shoot free throws, one of which he made, so the Beavs started the game down 1-0. Guess how much OSU lost by? Exactly one point. And this all happened on senior night, when the Beavs were wearing special torquoise uniforms to honor senior Joe Burton’s Native American heritage.
Garlon Green, TCU: Green had a romp in the Horned Frogs’ home upset of the Jayhawks, scoring 20 points in 36 minutes of play to trigger the upset of the century. Small wonder he was public enemy number one for Jeff Withey and friends in the return engagement at Allen Fieldhouse. Green notched three points, one turnover and four fouls in this one, but he’ll always have February 6.
