Hoping all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.
While Thanksgiving has long been a day for football, the day also has slowly seen college basketball joining the pigskin more regularly in the last decade, and Turkey Day this year brought a good number of savory matchups. Even more than that, it was a day for resurgence for a number of schools who sent a message to not count them out, some showing that their seasons are not over after the loss of a key player, others displaying that they are not ready to fade from the national spotlight just yet, after many had assumed they have done just that.
Earlier this week, most seemed to want to declare Missouri’s year a lost cause, if not ready to out-and-out crash in flames. That was after the announcement that prized freshman Michael Porter will have back surgery and likely miss the rest of the season, which also came after a pair of underwhelming performances in its previous two games.
Even without Porter, though, we felt good about the Tigers’ talent and ability to come together as a quality team when watching their convincing season-opening win over Iowa State. Mizzou provided some indication that it is not done yet on Thursday, blowing out Long Beach State 95-58 in the quarterfinals of the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando. A full 48 of the Tigers’ 95 points came from the bench and five scored in double figures.
Porter only played two minutes in one game for Missouri. By comparison, Rhode Island’s loss of E.C. Matthews for 4-6 weeks after a wrist injury in a tough loss at Nevada was far more impactful, for the senior guard has proven in the past the hard way through injury just how valuable he is. Matthews tore his ACL two years ago, and a promising season for the Rams went south after, so it was easy to think his injury again was a kiss goodnight to any hope his team had for national prominence this year.
URI showed its growth as a program on Thursday, though, with a big-time 75-74 win over Seton Hall in the semis of the NIT Season Tip-Off. The Pirates dominated inside, as expected, but the Rams’ Jared Terrell was the best player on the court with 32 points, including the game-winner off the glass with five seconds left. What a win for Rhode Island, one that should give it confidence the rest of the season, even if it should fall in the tourney final Friday night against Virginia, which walloped Vanderbilt 68-42 in the second semi.
Connecticut has had its share of injuries in recent years, but it has been more than injuries that have seen the Huskies fall out of the national conscious and into mid-pack status in the American Athletic Conference. UConn has simply been underwhelming since winning the national championship in 2014, and the goodwill earned by that surprising title has been exhausted; this is a program back in prove-it mode.
The Huskies did just that Thursday, defeating Oregon 71-63 in a quarterfinal game as part of the Phil Knight Invitational. Terry Larrier, Jalen Adams and Alterrique Gilbert combined for 52 points and UConn held the Ducks to 33.3% shooting, winning what was essentially a road game in Portland. Given the location, there may have been no more impressive showing by a team Thursday.
Northern Iowa was a top-15 team as recently as 2015 and just missed out on the Sweet 16 in 2016. When many proclaimed the Missouri Valley Conference to be in trouble after the departure of Wichita State this summer, it was a clear slight of a UNI program that has more than its share of accomplishments the last 12 years.
After an uncharacteristically disappointing 2016-17 season, the Panthers are back-again-with two consecutive impressive wins in the Battle 4 Atlantis, the latest a 64-60 victory over North Carolina State in the semifinals on Thursday. UNI won the battle of tempo with a team that had defeated Arizona the day before, and it got a tremendous game from Tywhon Pickford, a 6-foot-4 guard who is quickly becoming one of the most productive freshmen anywhere in the country. Pickford finished with 18 points and 18 rebounds-his fourth double-digit rebounding game this season-and Northern Iowa now is an improbable finalist at Atlantis, where it will meet Villanova. This tourney has already been a success for UNI and the MVC, which has had an outstanding start and ranked sixth in the conference RPI entering Thursday.
Side Dishes:
- The other side of the Thanksgiving story is the day was troubling (some might say a complete flop) for a pair of ranked teams. Arizona and Purdue were once considered a strong possibility to meet in the Battle 4 Atlantis final (only Villanova was seen as a real threat to disrupt that). Now they are playing for seventh place. Both lost their second straight games, with the Wildcats falling to SMU 66-60 and Western Kentucky topping Purdue 77-73. The Boilermakers in particular should be concerned after trailing almost the whole way against an undermanned Hilltoppers squad. Also, others have said it this week and it’s getting harder and harder to avoid: the Big Ten collectively has had a lousy start to the season.
- One might be able to say the same about the Pac-12, except there’s one major bright spot: Arizona State. The Sun Devils came through again, scoring 90 for the fifth straight game and outlasting Kansas State 92-90 in the Las Vegas Invitational semifinals. Kodi Justice scored 28 points and is the fifth ASU player to score at least 24 in a game already this season. The Sun Devils are now 5-0 and await Xavier in the final after the Musketeers handled George Washington 83-64.
- We’ve not been nearly as excited by the Nike PK80 event as many others. The whole thing reeks of conceit to us, Nike essentially celebrating itself, throwing a party in its own honor and with little intention of hiding it. And a bunch of colleges who have sold themselves out to the shoe and apparel company all too glad to go along, not exactly advisable considering just a couple weeks ago many were bemoaning the influence of shoe companies in college basketball; now, we’re celebrating it. All that said, the first day of games Thursday had its share of intrigue. The top game coming in looked like Arkansas against Oklahoma, and the two delivered with the Razorbacks winning 92-83 in an up-and-down game reminiscent of the days of former coaches Billy Tubbs and Nolan Richardson. In the Motion Bracket, Portland State actually led Duke by four at halftime before the Blue Devils rallied for a 99-81 win, and Texas earned a quality win, shutting down Butler 61-48.
- Besides Missouri, winners in the AdvoCare Invitational were St. John’s (rallying from a sizable second half deficit to win 82-77 over Oregon State), Central Florida (68-59 against Nebraska) and West Virginia, which got more of a challenge than most expected before putting away Marist 84-78.
- Saint Mary’s is finally in an exempted tournament, and the Gaels opened the Wooden Legacy with an 89-71 victory over Harvard, dominating in almost every area including free-throw shooting, where they shot an impressive 30 of 32. Also moving on was Washington State, which came back from 20 down to defeat Saint Joseph’s 75-71, the Cougars’ second time already this season winning after trailing by 20 or more. Georgia also skimmed by Cal State Fullerton 64-57 after trailing by six at the half, and San Diego State blew out Sacramento State 89-52.
- The Great Alaska Shootout continued with consolation games. College of Charleston won a 59-49 grinder over Sam Houston State, and host Alaska-Anchorage struck again, defeating Santa Clara 78-73 in overtime. We will sorely miss the Seawolves getting their regular opportunities to knock off Division I competition seemingly every year.
Today’s Menu:
- It starts early with the AdvoCare Invitational semis, beginning with Missouri against St. John’s (11 a.m., ESPNews). This is another event with ridiculous split up semifinals for TV, as later Central Florida takes on West Virginia in a dandy (5 p.m., ESPN2).
- Who would’ve thought it would be Villanova against Northern Iowa for the Battle 4 Atlantis, but that’s exactly the case as a pair of defense-minded teams meet (Noon, ESPN2). There are good matchups all day here in the Bahamas, with N.C. State against Tennessee for third place (2:30 p.m., ESPN), SMU vs. Western Kentucky for fifth place and Purdue against Arizona-in theory a Sweet 16 matchup in the March-for seventh and the right to avoid an 0-3 tournament performance.
- The Wooden Legacy semis also start early, with Saint Mary’s against Washington State (1:30 p.m., ESPNews, or 10:30 a.m. in California). These semifinals are also split; the second has Georgia vs. San Diego State at 7 p.m. (ESPN2). Maybe ESPN needs to stop scheduling so many events at the same time…
- The PK80 tourneys’ semifinals are set. North Carolina takes on Arkansas in a rematch of a very close NCAA tourney second round game in March (3:30 p.m., ESPN). Duke faces a Texas team playing with house money (5:30 p.m., ESPN). Florida against Gonzaga is a terrific matchup (11:30 p.m., ESPN2), and Connecticut goes against Michigan State (Midnight, ESPN).
- An excellent Las Vegas Invitational final-arguably one of the most captivating of all games of the day-has Xavier against Arizona State (5:30 p.m., FS1). Another is the NIT Season Tip-Off final, which has Virginia and Rhode Island (6:30 p.m., ESPNU).
- The Great Alaska Shootout is into the semifinals, with Cal Poly against Central Michigan and Idaho taking on Cal State Bakersfield.
- The Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla., has TCU against New Mexico (7 p.m., CBSSN) and Maryland facing St. Bonaventure (9:30 p.m., CBSSN).
- The Barclays Center Classic semifinals have two teams that should be heavy favorites with Minnesota against Massachusetts and Alabama meeting BYU.
- A pair of undefeated MVC teams play intriguing games in the Savannah Invitational, with Loyola (Ill.) against UNC Wilmington and Valparaiso matched with Kent State.
- Outside of tournament play, there is Seattle at Washington in an in-state game. Another state contest has UNC Greensboro looking to hand Wake Forest another loss.
- Late late at night, unbeaten Nevada faces a tough road test when it takes on Hawaii.
Have a terrific Friday.
