On a light night of college basketball, and one where every game was decided by single digits, the only game considered a late tip was the thriller of the night. The end result was a big one, too, and in a game with two big stars.
Only six Division I games were on tap Friday night. Purdue came into Wisconsin with the only game that started at 9 p.m., and it was a dandy with over 20 ties and, of course, one of them at the end of regulation. That tie, it should be noted, took some heroics, as Carsen Edwards hit a big three-pointer with 45 seconds left to put the Boilermakers up by four. D’Mitrik Trice then hit two big three-pointers and Edwards took a questionable shot from well beyond NBA range with plenty of time left to get a better look.
Edwards and Purdue were not to be denied their first road win of the year, and a much-needed quality win. Edwards finished with 36 points, and Purdue held the Badgers without a field goal over the final 2:06 in an 84-80 win in which they made the Badgers do some fundamentally unsound things. Purdue had 17 offensive rebounds and forced 17 Wisconsin turnovers, convincingly winning the possession battle to overcome allowing Wisconsin to shoot 56 percent from the field and a putrid 17-30 showing at the free throw line that could have easily doomed them.
The other big star in the game didn’t disappoint as Ethan Happ had 31 points on 14-17 shooting and 13 rebounds for Wisconsin. Happ added six assists, one of which came on one of Trice’s big three-pointers that sent it to overtime.
Purdue’s best win in non-conference is either their win over Davidson in the Charleston Classic or their last one at home against Belmont, so Big Ten play is where they need to get wins like this and prior ones over Maryland and Iowa. They had their chances against Virginia Tech in Charleston, at Florida State and Texas and in the Crossroads Classic against Notre Dame, but thus far they have Big Ten wins over Maryland and Iowa that now get boosted by this one.
Side Dishes
One other Big Ten game was on the slate, and in that one, Maryland used a big second half to knock off Indiana 78-75 in College Park as Bruno Fernando remained hot with 25 points and 13 rebounds and the Terrapins grabbed 18 offensive rebounds in out-rebounding the Hoosiers 42-25.
Rider was certainly challenged in non-conference play, and their 5-6 mark showed that. But it appears to be paying some early dividends, as the Broncs are now 3-0 in MAAC play after going to Cansisius and rallying with a big second half for an 82-73 win. Rider outscored Canisius 52-32 in the latter frame, with Frederick Scott scoring all 22 of his points after intermission. In other MAAC games, Niagara edged visiting Iona 95-90 and Siena went to Marist and ended an 11-game MAAC road losing streak by beating the Red Foxes 71-66.
The only other game on tap was in the Horizon League, with Northern Kentucky edging Wright State 68-64 to move to 4-1 in league play.
A storm in the Midwest led to Missouri being unable to fly to South Carolina for their game against the Gamecocks on Saturday, so the game has been tentatively moved to Sunday in the event the Tigers can get out of Columbia for it. The teams were in contact with the SEC office about the matter as the day went on. A number of flights, including the Missouri basketball team’s, were canceled after a flight coming in went off the runway and got stuck.
Some sad news in college basketball came out on Friday, as former Michigan State head coach Gus Ganakas died at age 92. Ganakas was the head coach from 1969 to 1976, and after giving way to Jud Heathcote, he was an assistant athletic director at the school until 1998 before becoming an aide to current head coach Tom Izzo for two years before retiring. We at Hoopville send our thoughts, prayers and condolences to the family and friends of Gus Ganakas.
Tonight’s Menu
As usual, a full day of conference action is in front of us, with a few key matchups just from the teams involved and others being important from a momentum standpoint.
- ACC play features four games right off the bat to get things going: Virginia at Clemson, Louisville at North Carolina, Pittsburgh at NC State and Boston College at Notre Dame all tip at noon. A bit later is a big one as Florida State hosts Duke (2 p.m.)
- American Athletic Conference games of note come in the evening with Wichita State traveling to Houston and Cincinnati hosting UConn, both with 8 p.m. tips.
- An early Atlantic 10 game on tap is Davidson hosting VCU (2 p.m.)
- The Big 12 slate starts with Iowa State hosting Kansas State and Oklahoma State traveling to a West Virginia team still searching for their first Big 12 win (noon), then continues with TCU visiting Oklahoma and Texas Tech going to Texas (2 p.m.) before concluding with Baylor hosting Kansas (4 p.m.)
- Big East action starts with Providence really needing a win after two home losses, and it won’t be easy as they travel to Georgetown (noon). Next up is a matchup of one-conference-loss teams as Marquette hosts Seton Hall (2 p.m.), while DePaul goes to St. John’s (6 p.m.) later on.
- A good one in the Big Sky is Montana traveling to Northern Colorado (4 p.m.)
- In the Big Ten, Ohio State travels to Iowa (2:30 p.m.)
- The best Conference USA matchup of the day might be Florida International hosting Old Dominion (7 p.m.)
- Included in a full slate of Missouri Valley action is Loyola-Chicago hosting Illinois State (2 p.m.), while later on Southern Illinois hosts undefeated Valparaiso (4 p.m.)
- There’s a good one in the Mountain West with Fresno State hosting Nevada (8 p.m.)
- In Pac-12 action, Arizona State travels to Stanford (6 p.m.) and Washington heads to Colorado (10 p.m.)
- SEC action includes a rivalry game as Ole Miss goes to Mississippi State (1 p.m.), then Texas A&M travels to Alabama (3:30 p.m.), Georgia visits Auburn (4 p.m.), LSU goes to Arkansas and Florida hosts Tennessee (6 p.m.) before Kentucky hosts Vanderbilt to close out the slate (8:30 p.m.)
- In the Summit League, a pair of 3-1 teams meet as South Dakota State hosts Oral Roberts (5:15 p.m.)
- A good Sun Belt matchup to watch is Georgia Southern hosting Louisiana (5 p.m.)
- In the WAC, New Mexico State has ruled the roost of late, but one team that has broken through against them and is 3-0 in WAC play is CSU Bakersfield, who pays a visit to Las Cruces with a 6 p.m. tip.
- An early West Coast Conference showdown is on tap as San Francisco hosts Gonzaga (10 p.m.), while at the same time Loyola Marymount hosts Saint Mary’s, and a bit earlier, BYU hosts Santa Clara (9 p.m.)
