No. 10 BYU 104, Utah 79: I already wrote about Jimmer Fredette’s incredible performance, so I’m not going to delve further into that. Simply put, he was incredible. Again. And he did this:
That gave him 32 points. In the first half! He finished with 47.
But there were a couple things about the game that concerned me.
I know that the Cougars were missing Chris Collinsworth, but it is still a bit worrisome how little production BYU got from their bench on Tuesday night. Despite the game being a 25 point blowout, four of BYU’s starters played 35 minutes. The only starter that didn’t was Brandon Davies, who spent the majority of the game in foul trouble.
While its a nice sign to see four other guys reach double figures when you have a player go for 47, its not not necessarily a good sign to see your bench provide just two points on 1-5 shooting, especially when the game is decided by 25 points.
That said, for the second time in three games, the guy that really was responsible for the run that put the game out of reach was Jackson Emery, who had 16 points in a 25-6 run that turned a seven point lead into a 26 point lead. He did the same thing to UNLV.
No. 24 Michigan State 64, No. 21 Wisconsin 61 OT: See here.
One other thought on this game: where was Jon Leuer? He disappeared in the second half and in overtime and had a critical turnover during Michigan State’s comeback. Jordan Taylor and Keaton Nankivil were the guys involved in all of Wisconsin’s key possessions late. And this is supposed to be Wisconsin’s all-american?
Penn State 57, No. 16 Illinois: For the second straight game, the Nittany Lions knocked off a ranked opponents at home. Talor Battle had 26 points and three assists, but it was a put-back dunk by Andrew Jones with 1.0 seconds left off of a Battle miss that was the deciding bucket. Battle also outplayed Demetri McCamey by a wide margin, as the Illinois senior had just 10 points, five assists, and five turnovers.
No. 15 Kentucky 78, Auburn 54: See here.
Florida 81, Tennessee 75 OT: The Gators picked up a nice win on the road against a reeling Tennessee team. The Gators, who held a two-possession lead for much of the second half, were unable to put Tennessee away in overtime and needed a block from Alex Tyus, who had 18 points on the night, on a Brain Williams shot with five seconds left to prevent a loss in regulation. In overtime, Kenny Boynton hit two huge threes and two clutch free throws. Erving Walker was terrific for much of the second half, finishing with 15 points and four assists, while Chandler Parsons added 16 points and six boards.
No. 9 UConn 67, Rutgers 53: Kemba Walker had just 18 points against the Scarlett Knights, but once again the UConn supporting cast stepped up. Alex Oriakhi showed off a nice array of post moves and dominated the paint for the second straight game, finishing with 17 points, 12 boards, and four blocks. Shabazz Napier only scored four points, but he had seven assists and three steals playing more minutes as UConn’s primary ball handler. Roscoe Smith, Donnell Beverly, and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel also had strong games.
Boston College 75, NC State 66: Reggie Jackson was terrific, scoring 29 points to go along with five boards and six assists, but it was back-to-back threes by Biko Paris and Corey Raji that that turned a 60-57 deficit into a 63-60 lead. Boston College would go on to outscore the wolfpack, who got 18 points from Tracy Smith, 18-6 over the final four minutes.
No. 14 Texas 83, Texas Tech 52: The Longhorns got 20 points from Tristan Thompson, 16 points from Jordan Hamilton, and 15 points from Cory Joseph as they throttled the Red Raiders in Lubbock.
Baylor 74, Oklahoma 61: Perry Jones has seemed to right the ship after struggling against Florida State and Texas Southern. In his last three games, he is averaging 20.7 ppg and 6.7 rpg after going for 25 points and seven boards Tuesday. The Bears, however, struggled to put away Oklahoma.
Northern Illinois 71, Eastern Michigan 69: Xavier Silas scored 31 points, hitting 11-14 from the field and 6-6 from three, as he continues to keep in his name in the scoring race with Walker and Fredette.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @ballinisahabit.
