Whether it’s always recognized or not, we would assert that at its finest, college basketball is a sport of contrast. Big vs. small, fast vs. slow, zone vs. man, youth vs. experience. From the NCAA Tournament to many of the most famous games in the sport’s history (see: N.C. State/Houston 1983, Georgetown/Princeton 1989), it’s a big part of what makes the sport special, unique.
In that vein, it was certainly notable that, while Duke and Texas Tech both may have been top-15 teams going into their game at Madison Square Garden Thursday night, the two unmistakably take different paths to get there.
Duke is one of the biggest brand names in the sport, or maybe any sport. Texas Tech is one of many elbowing for space just in its state behind king of the mountain Texas. The Blue Devils’ roster is loaded with high-profile recruits, while the Red Raiders’-though certainly not lacking in talent-is not. Duke is the ultimate TV darling, with the foremost sports network in the world all but a 24/7 infomercial for its program. Tech gets decent exposure in the Big 12, but hardly blueblood treatment.
While many expected Duke to obliterate Texas Tech’s undefeated record coming into Thursday, though, the Red Raiders proved yet again that there is more than one way to become elite. Tech led much of the way, including by eight in the second half, before the Blue Devils finally edged ahead for good in the final five minutes and finished the game on a 16-3 run in a 69-58 victory.
In the end, the Blue Devils pulled it out by at last hitting a couple three-pointers after throwing up bricks much of the game, as well as goading Tech into an unsightly 24 turnovers. Zion Williamson scored 17 points and added 13 rebounds before fouling out (controversially, of course-what other way would there be for ESPN’s designated favorite future NBA star this year?) but Duke had just enough to get through a real test.
It shouldn’t be lost that Duke deserves credit for overcoming the adversity of trailing a long time to beat a really good team. Texas Tech coach Chris Beard plays a defense that packs it in, and the Red Raiders continually cut off the Blue Devils at the hoop and let Duke fire away from long range all it wanted. It was a strategy that worked superbly and would’ve won the game if not for Duke’s defense also causing its own havoc.
For those who were expecting a blowout, though, they saw once again that this Duke team can be mortal when it gets challenged, and isn’t just beating up on lesser competition in the comforts of home. The Blue Devils committed 19 turnovers, shot just 3-for-20 from three-point range, and looked lost when their beloved drives to the basket were impeded.
(The best part of the entire game might have been Texas Tech drawing eight charges, and the uproar against it by some who apparently despise defense and perhaps think basketball should be played five-on-none. While there are bad charge calls, in this case it was generally beautiful, repeatedly seeing a team stone head-down, out-of-control attacks that don’t deserve to be rewarded. And you’re not going to find many shedding a tear for Duke being on the negative end of officials’ calls for a change, either.)
Duke is still one of the best teams in the country, but it should be clear now that it is just that, and not in a different stratosphere as some have surmised. Texas Tech is pretty darn good too. And that both can do it in different ways is a positive for college basketball as a whole.
Side Dishes:
- The second-best game of the night saw tough Houston host up-and-coming Utah State in a fascinating matchup, one that deserved to be on TV though it understandably wouldn’t have looked that way before the season. The attacking Aggies built a 10-point lead at halftime, but the Cougars fired back and earned a 60-50 win, holding Utah State 34 points below its season average coming in. Houston rallied from a sizeable halftime deficit just as it did against LSU last week, staying undefeated despite shooting just 31.7%, getting five three-pointers for 15 points from Armoni Brooks and also holding USU star Sam Merrill to six points. That’s toughness.
- Purdue pulled away from Ohio for a 95-67 win with Carsen Edwards heating back up for 30. Also in Indiana, Notre Dame rolled past Jacksonville 100-74, and in the latest three-pointer-is-way-way-too-easy exhibit, the Fighting Irish made 18 of 32 from long range, including three players with four triples each.
- Yale dumped Monmouth 66-58. The Bulldogs are 6-3 despite playing just two at home in their first nine games. The Hawks, meanwhile, dropped to 0-12.
- North Texas topped Arkansas-Pine Bluff 77-64 to improve to 12-1 for the first time since 1952-53. Michael Miller scored a career-high 35 points, and the Mean Green now has six players averaging in double figures this season. Watch for UNT in Conference USA.
- Holy Cross slipped past Canisius 65-63 at home, continuing its own pleasantly surprising start as well as, in reverse, the Metro Atlantic’s depressing first 1 1/2 months. Jehyve Floyd totaled 15 points, seven rebounds and five blocks and scored a putback with 22 seconds left for the go-ahead points. One of the country’s most electric shotblockers, Floyd then swatted away Malik Johnson’s tying layup attempt at the buzzer.
- The Mountain West and Atlantic 10 conferences announced that they have added yet another to the long, tired list of challenge events between conferences with their own event starting next season. The Mountain West ditched out of its challenge with the Missouri Valley, apparently thinking it was too good for it after the last three editions…ended in 5-5 ties, including this year, when frankly neither league has distinguished itself much. What public demand there is for these two leagues to play, we have no idea…it would make more sense for members of both leagues to save a few bucks and play more regional opposition, but guess the opportunity to stay with a scheduling fad at any cost was too important.
- Former Alaska-Anchorage and Weber State coach Ron Abegglen, author of some of college hoops’ greatest upsets in the 80 and 90s, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 81. Abegglen led UAA from 1986-91 and holds the highest winning percentage in school history, famously leading the NCAA Division II Seawolves to an upset of second-ranked Michigan in 1988 and always having his team as a threat to win a couple games in the Great Alaska Shootout. He then moved on to Weber State, where from 1991-99 he won 152 games and led the Wildcats to NCAA Tournament upsets of Michigan State in 1995 and North Carolina in 1999, both times as No. 14 seeds. The former ended Jud Heathcote’s long career with the Spartans; the latter saw Harold (The Show) Arceneaux put up one of the great individual performances in tourney history. In 40 years of coaching at the high school, junior college and collegiate levels, Abegglen never had a losing season.
Today’s Menu: There is no Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl to look forward to. But there is daytime basketball.
- It starts early, 11 a.m. Eastern time. Dartmouth has a knack for mid-week daytime starts this year, and its game at Bryant will be their fourth (granted, two were in Northern Ireland as part of the Belfast Classic, daytime here but evening there).
- A very competitive game early, albeit one with a pair of teams hampered by injury a lot early on this year, has St. Bonaventure at Northeastern.
- Kent State and Oregon State wrap up a three-year, 2-for-1 series. The teams split their first two matchups, with the Golden Flashes winning last year at home.
- Georgia Southern is at Radford, as the Highlanders’ really tough schedule continues with one finally at home, just their second at the Dedmon Center against a D-I team this year.
- One of the best games of the night is UC Irvine at Butler (6:30 p.m., FS1). Two balanced teams, one to almost incredible levels (UCI has six averaging between 8.0 and 10.7 points, and a total of nine averaging at least 5.2 ppg). The Bulldogs have more firepower; the Anteaters are outstanding defensively but struggle to score themselves.
- Oakland seems to always give Michigan State a hard time, and the Golden Grizzlies get another shot this year (7 p.m., Big Ten Network)
- A high-profile game between two teams with obnoxiously bright uniforms: Oregon at Baylor (7 p.m., ESPN2).
- An in-state South Carolina coast clash has Coastal Carolina at College Charleston. The Cougars have quietly won seven straight.
- Illinois State, like much of the MVC, has been a disappointment, but the Redbirds get a chance at redemption with a trip to Central Florida.
- The old Sun Bowl Invitational-in its 57th year-is one of the few four-team, two-day tournaments still standing. There should be a whole lot more of them. A solid first semifinals has East Tennessee State against fire-away Wyoming, and then host Texas-El Paso faces Norfolk State.
- The two biggest games of the evening feature two undefeated teams and match three currently ranked teams and another that has been and could be again soon. Undefeated Furman is at LSU (8 p.m., SEC Network), where the Paladins will no doubt be challenged by the Tigers’ size, but LSU will also get tested by Matt Rafferty’s crafty inside play and Furman’s shooting and poise.
- Starting soon after that, Buffalo is at Marquette (8:30 p.m., FS1). By now the Bulls’ story should be no secret, and it should surprise no one if they win this. Buffalo can match the Golden Eagles’ backcourt, and actually is better up front too.
- Very nice matchup in Nashville, with Vermont taking on Lipscomb, matching frontrunners in the America East and Atlantic Sun.
- Kermit Davis takes Mississippi to face his former team Middle Tennessee State, with this one taking place in Nashville.
- Major conference collusion scheduling: Oklahoma is at Northwestern (9 p.m., Big Ten Network), and Penn State goes to Alabama (9 p.m., SEC Network). For real. Nice competitive matchups, but there’s no reason these teams are going halfway across the country to play when there are dozens of schools closer in their regions.
- Providence is at Texas (9 p.m., ESPN2) featuring two schools formerly coached by Rick Barnes. The Friars really could use a flashy road win like this. PC is the better offensive team, but the Horns are better on D.
- Finally, fresh off its win over USC earlier this week, Santa Clara-which has been playing better and has won five of six-is home again when it welcomes Idaho.
Have a wonderful Friday and a great pre-Christmas weekend.
Twitter: @HoopvilleAdam
