The Jimmy V Classic gets matchups worth watching, but it’s also about something much bigger. Cancer continues to touch many lives in some way, shape or form, and fighting it is a worthy battle. From a basketball standpoint this time around, the second game may have illustrated what to expect from its participants as well as any of late.
Florida’s 66-56 win over West Virginia won’t be memorable from an offensive standpoint, as neither team shot better than 33.3 percent from the field and they were a combined 13-44 from long range. But at times, Florida seemed to figure out how to break West Virginia’s pressure, especially when the Mountaineers ran a halfcourt trap, and get easy baskets. Talented freshman Andrew Nembhard showed well in that department. They did that just enough to break away from West Virginia, aided by their defense and something else.
That something else is the reality that while most felt West Virginia will be pretty good this year, it’s clear this team is figuring some things out – and that is to be expected to some degree given that they graduated their starting guards from last season. Jevon Carter was the heart and soul and then some of the Mountaineers, and Daxter Miles was more than just a faithful sidekick. There is plenty of talent and toughness back, led by the likes of Esa Ahmad and Sagaba Konate, but their guards are trying to grow into what they need to be.
At times on Tuesday night, this was obvious. The Mountaineers had some really bad possessions where the offense stagnated and there was too much dribbling. They turned the ball over 21 times and shot below 30 percent. Ahmad and Konate had a night to forget as they were a combined 5-19 from the field for 11 points, though Ahmad had nine rebounds as he didn’t stop competing. Konate was limited to 18 minutes by foul trouble.
Both teams could have used this win, but in the end, the Gators got it to move to 5-3, which is also West Virginia’s record. And if KeVaughn Allen has more nights shooting the ball like he did here – 3-7 from long range en route to 19 points – the Gators can have a lot to look forward to.
Side Dishes
In the opener at Madison Square Garden, Oklahoma held off Notre Dame 85-80 behind 25 points on 10-19 shooting and 10 rebounds from Christian James. Notre Dame stayed in the game partly from turning the ball over just four times on the night.
Early Big Ten play continued on Tuesday night, and this time around it was the road teams’ turn to rule as Michigan held off Northwestern 62-60 and Indiana beat Penn State by an almost identical score of 64-62. The Wolverines and the Hoosiers are off to 2-0 starts.
Depending on your perspective, Miami‘s 15-day break for final exams has either come at exactly the right or wrong time. The sliding Hurricanes dropped their fourth straight game on Tuesday night and in convincing fashion as Penn took care of them 89-75. Miami did cut a 19-point lead down to four, but ran out of gas in the final three-plus minutes. Miami was down to seven scholarship players, with notable absences being Deng Gak (left knee) and the continuing withholding of Dewan Hernandez due to eligibility concerns.
Kansas blew out Wofford 72-47, but the Jayhawks have a bigger (in more ways than one) concern as Udoka Azubuike left the game with a sprained ankle. The talk is that he may be out the remainder of non-conference play, though that might be precautionary as much as anything else. However, with the Jayhawks already being down Silvio De Sousa as his eligibility is reviewed, there may be some depth concerns up front in the immediate.
In a long-time rivalry game, Boston College looked like they could hang on and get a nice win over Providence at Conte Forum. But Friar freshman A.J. Reeves, who played his high school ball right around the corner from Conte, sent the game to overtime with a three-pointer, and Providence made the better plays in the latter part of the extra session to come away with a 100-95 win and go to 7-2. Another rivalry game on the night came down to the end and was won by Belmont 76-74 over Lipscomb. One last rivalry game of note was a surprise in that it was a blowout. New Mexico State already won at New Mexico earlier in the season, then hammered the Lobos 100-65 in Las Cruces on Tuesday night.
The worst loss of the night isn’t about the bottom line result. On paper, a loss to Sun Belt favorite Georgia State is not the worst thing that could happen to Alabama. Blowing a 22-point lead and surrendering 52 points in the second half to lose 83-80 changes how this should be viewed – a bad loss. It would be one thing if the Panthers were within striking distance all night or even led some or most of the night, but that was not the case.
Tonight’s Menu
A pretty good and busy night of action is on tap.
- Two more early Big Ten games are on tap as Ohio State visits Illinois (7 p.m.) and Minnesota hosts Nebraska (9 p.m.)
- Xavier gets an early challenge as Ohio University comes to town (6:30 p.m.)
- Old CAA rivals meet as Old Dominion hosts William & Mary (7 p.m.)
- A nice matchup of academic schools is on tap as Lehigh travels to Yale (7 p.m.)
- Shaka Smart gets a visit from his old school as VCU travels to Austin to take on Texas (8 p.m.)
- In another Big Five game, Villanova tries to keep their recent dominance going as they host Temple (8:30 p.m.)
- Frank Martin brings his South Carolina team on the road to a tough place to win as they take on Wyoming (9 p.m.)
- In-state rivals match up in Utah as BYU hosts Utah State (9 p.m.)
- San Diego State hosts cross-town rival San Diego (10:30 p.m.)
- In a sleeper matchup you might want to check out, SMU hosts TCU (10 p.m.)
- A nice battle in the northwest is on tap as Washington visits Gonzaga (11 p.m.)
