NCAA Men’s hoops served up a feast on Saturday including two match-ups pitting top ten teams.
On the surface these contests could appear as nothing more than games in December, but don’t be mistaken these battles will serve as a gauge of things to come.
For now though the weekend’s events shook up the rankings.
Then #6 Duke proved to be less than gracious in their home away from home as they topped #7 Xavier, 82-69. The Blue Devils took 14 fts to the Musketeers’ 16, but Duke won this battle 11-8.
On the other hand Duke also took six more shots from the field than Xavier and finished three more from behind the arc. Those nine points combined with the three from the charity stripe combined for 67% of the numeric difference.
Jon Scheyer took his first steps into manhood. Not only did the junior go nine for eleven from the field and five for seven from behind the arc, but the shooting guard grabbed four boards, dished out two assists, and made two of Duke’s nine steals.
Duke has a record of 21-1 at the Meadowlands, the site of Saturday’s game. The Blue Devils moved to #5 while Xavier dropped to 12.
51 days until Duke / UNC – but who’s countin’.
Xavier turned the ball over 16 times – many in the first half when Duke sprinted to a 20+ point lead.
The Musketeers will go back to Cincy, lick their wounds, and take out their frustrations when they play Butler on Tuesday. The Musketeers will prove Saturday’s feeble performance as an exception rather than the rule.
Speaking of proving themselves, Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans demonstrated they have learned from their helpless showing against UNC in November.
#22 MSU went to the Lone Star State and shot 50% from the field while holding the #5Texas Longhorns to 39% in a 67-63 Spartan victory.
The Longhorns could not make use of a 37-29 advantage on the boards.
The Spartans jumped to #11; Texas dropped to 9.
#18 Purdue also rebounded from an early season beating as they tripped #20 Davidson, 76-58.
The Boilermakers sprinted to a 21-0 lead after seven minutes and held the nation’s leading scorer, Stephen Curry, to just 13 pts. on 5 for 26 shooting.
Purdue lost to Duke 76-60 during the ACC / Big Ten Challenge.
Davidson (8-2) dropped from the top 25; Purdue (9-2) moved to #10.
Minnesota improved to 10 and 0 by beating #9 Louisville, 70-64. Wonder if Billy Gillespie is taking notice of how Tubby Smith seems to be rediscovering his mo now that he left Lexington. Mentor, Rick Pitino, has gotta be wishing his apprentice, Smith, just wouldn’t do it against his Cardinals.
Louisville dropped to 19 with their second loss on the campaign.
Smith was Pitino’s assistant at UK before the head coach moved on to the NBA, and the apprentice took the head job.
The game of the day took place in Seattle. Gonzaga and UConn needed overtime to find a winner.
The Zags zone frustrated the Huskies for much of the affair.
Gonzaga point guard, Jeremy Pargo simultaneously proved he could be the most valuable player for both teams. The senior guard looked fabulous at times dropping 16 and dishing out 4 assists. Unfortunately, Pargo had 5 turnovers, and the miscues came at the most inopportune times – late in the game when he needed to show the value of possessing the ball.
UConn won 88-83.
Tennessee showed they don’t learn easily.
One week after allowing eight trifectas to Temple in an 88-72 loss, the Volunteers held on for dear life in a 79-77 triumph over Belmont. The Bruins shot 9 for 22 from behind the arc.
#25 Clemson put an exclamation point on the weekend by opening ACC Conference play with 91-72 win at Miami.
The Hurricanes turned the ball over 22 times and KC Rivers led the Tigers with 28.
Looking forward to some more shaking.
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