GAME OF THE NIGHT: Temple 83, Tulsa 79 (OT)
It looked like Tulsa was going to pick up a solid road victory in the American until the Owls made a late rally and forced overtime. Temple trailed by 12 with a little under 12 minutes left and needed a game-tying 3-pointer from Devin Coleman with four seconds left, but they moved to 7-3 in league play. Quenton DeCosey paced Temple with 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
IMPORTANT OUTCOMES
Vanderbilt 77, No. 8 Texas A&M 60: We finally saw the Vanderbilt team we expected in an impressive home win over Texas A&M. CBT’s Rob Dauster has more on what to make of the Commodores as we hit the stretch run.
No. 16 Oregon 76, Colorado 56: The Pac-12’s top team picked up a convincing win at home behind a balanced effort. Elgin Cook paced the Ducks with 18 points while Tyler Dorsey added 13 points.
USC 80, UCLA 61: The Trojans swept the season series with their rivals in dominating fashion as they won both games by double digits. Julian Jacobs led USC with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists.
BYU 70, Saint Mary’s 59: In a key WCC game, the Cougars earned a solid home win as Kyle Collinsworth had 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. This win gives BYU another solid win for its postseason credentials while Saint Mary’s lost a key opportunity to pick up a good road win against a near-top 50 team.
Wisconsin 79, Ohio State 68: Very quietly, Wisconsin has won five consecutive games, including wins over Michigan State and Indiana. The Badgers took down the Buckeyes in Madison on Thursday as Nigel Hayes went for 21 points and seven rebounds. Next up for Wisconsin is a winnable game at home against Nebraska before a crucial two-game stretch where the Badgers go on the road to face Maryland and Michigan State. And if you haven’t seen the Nigel Hayes mic drop, I suggest you do so.
BUBBLE BANTER: Vandy’s key win
STARRED
Earl Potts, Jr., Fairleigh Dickinson: The sophomore wing went for 22 points and 11 rebounds in an overtime win over Wagner and also made the game-winning 3-pointer with a little over a second left.
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A 1st place gm that lived up to the billing. Earl Potts Jr. hits game-winner in OT, @FDUKnights beat Wagner. #NECMBB https://t.co/WwCkoW5c47
— Northeast Conference (@NECsports) February 5, 2016
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Max Landis, IPFW: Landis put on one of the best perimeter shooting performances of this season as he erupted for 44 points and went 11-for-15 from 3-point range in a win over South Dakota.
Daiquan Walker, UCF: In a win over Tulane, the senior guard poured in 33 points as he shot 11-for-16 from the field and 6-for-8 from 3-point range. How unlikely was Walker’s outburst? Over his last six games, Walker scored a total of 29 points entering Thursday’s win.
JaVonte Hawkins, Eastern Kentucky: The Colonels earned a good road win at Tennessee State as Hawkins scored 36 points while shooting 11-for-15 from the field.
Alex Hamilton, Louisiana Tech: The senior scored 31 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out five assists in a road win for Louisiana Tech over Rice.
J.T. Yoho, Wright State: It was a battle in the Horizon League between the Raiders and Milwaukee, but Wright State won by a point as Yoho had a big night. The senior went for 29 points, collected eight rebounds and added four assists.
Adam McDermott, North Dakota: The cousin of Dougie McBuckets definitely shot like his more famous relative in a win over Idaho State. McDermott went for 28 points and shot 8-for-14 from 3-point range.
STRUGGLED
Jalen Jones, Texas A&M: It was an off-night for the high-scoring senior as Jones scored four points and went 1-for-13 from the field in a loss to Vanderbilt.
OTHER NOTABLE RESULTS
- Cincinnati cruised to a win over South Florida as Gary Clark had 16 points and 13 rebounds, including nine offensive rebounds.
- Northwestern rolled past Minnesota as Tre Demps finished with 23 points and eight assists.
- UConn earned a big road win over Memphis as Daniel Hamilton had 16 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
- Kyle Wiltjer scored 23 points and Domantas Sabonis had 21 points and 11 rebounds as Gonzaga was a road winner at Loyola Marymount.
- UTEP scored 65 points in the second half to race past Marshall for a wild 112-108 win. Dominic Artis paced the Miners with 33 points and nine rebounds.
- In a showdown for first place in the WAC, New Mexico State beat Grand Canyon as Pascal Siakam had 17 points and 16 rebounds.
- Hawaii was a winner in the Big West over UC Santa Barbara as Stefan Jankovic had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
- UAB knocked off Florida International as five players finished in double figures. Nick Norton paced the Blazers with 15 points.
- Trying to keep pace with UAB in Conference USA is Middle Tennessee. The Blue Raiders beat Florida Atlantic to stay a game back in the standings as Reggie Upshaw had 19 points and eight rebounds.
- East Tennessee State moved to 7-3 in the Southern Conference with a win over VMI as Ge’Lawn Guyn had 20 points and eight rebounds.
- Chattanooga picked up their 20th win of the season in a win over Wofford. Tre’ McLean had 21 points while Justin Tuoyo added 20 points.
- Also joining the 20-win club is Arkansas-Little Rock as they cruised past Troy in the Sun Belt. Marcus Johnson Jr. led with 18 points.
- In a battle of top teams in the CAA, UNC Wilmington topped Hofstra as Denzel Ingram (18 points) made the game-winning 3-pointer with four seconds left. C.J. Bryce led the Seahawks with 24 points.
- Georgia State held off Texas State as Marcus Crider finished with 24 points.
- Oakland took down Youngstown State as Kay Felder had 17 points and 14 assists.
- Louisiana-Lafayette beat Appalachian State as Shawn Long had 19 points and 10 rebounds.
- William & Mary defeated Northeastern as Omar Prewitt had 28 points.
- Belmont topped Morehead State as Craig Bradshaw finished with 16 points.
