While conference championship games on the gridiron grabbed most of the attention on Saturday, the hardwood saw quite a few games to keep an eye on as well. It was the first Saturday of the season with a significant college hoops slate, hence we return with notes on many of the day’s games.
Many teams will be off for final exams this week or next, so the slate is about the lighten up considerably. That means we’ve gotten a semi-lasting impression of many teams in the last couple of days, including Saturday.
Without that, here are notes from many of Saturday’s games.
Kansas 72, Colorado 58: A convincing win for the Jayhawks over a solid Buffs team – Colorado’s first loss of the season, by the way – that shows just how good this Jayhawk team can be, with Ochai Agbaji putting up a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Maryland 59, Illinois 58: This was a classic “we had ’em all the way” win, where the Terrapins had to rally from being down by 14 at halftime to avoid what would have been the quality win the Illini have been desperately seeking. Anthony Cowan Jr. had 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists and was Mr. Clutch in the final minute.
Ohio State 106, Penn State 74: The Nittany Lions are pretty good, so this makes two impressive wins for the Buckeyes this week, although most of the fan base probably cared a little more about the result on the gridiron later in the day.
Wisconsin 84, Indiana 64: The Hoosiers had a nice win over Florida State earlier in the week, withstanding a Seminole rally to hang on. They couldn’t duplicate that effort and result in Madison by a long shot.
Baylor 63, Arizona 58: At the time of this game, most Baylor fans probably cared more about a game happening on the gridiron, but this was an impressive win behind a double-double from Freddie Gillespie (17 points, 13 rebounds) and a solid defense that held down Nico Mannion as he was just 3-14 from the field. They also had to hold off a late rally in what was a defensive struggle, as neither team shot 31 percent from the field.
Xavier 73, Cincinnati 66: A big game from Naji Marshall (31 points) lifts the home team in this great rivalry.
Butler 76, Florida 62: The Bulldogs go to 9-0 now with another quality win. At this point, they might have as good an NCAA Tournament resume as anyone with the wins they have.
Marquette 73, Kansas State 65: The Golden Eagles built up a nice lead early on, when the Wildcats just couldn’t finish at the basket, and made it stand up. The Wildcats had their chances in this one and would probably love to have it back.
Arizona State 77, Louisiana 65: Romello White posts another double-double (19 points, 14 rebounds) to lead the Sun Devils. He had himself a pretty good week.
Syracuse 97, Georgia Tech 63: The struggling Orange badly needed a get-well game, and this was it, though they still gave the ball away 17 times. They shot nearly 51 percent from the field, getting 33 points on 10-15 shooting from Elijah Hughes and 26 from Buddy Boeheim, who was 6-13 from long range.
Georgetown 91, SMU 74: Give Georgetown credit, as they responded to some pretty bad adversity to start the week with two solid wins later on, including handing the Mustangs their first loss of the season in Dallas.
St. John’s 70, West Virginia 68: It’s the first loss of the season for West Virginia, who looks more and more like a Bob Huggins kind of team. For St. John’s, it’s easily their best win thus far in Mike Anderson’s first season, as they have largely beat up on lesser teams to this point.
Utah State 77, Fresno State 70 (OT): The Bulldogs may be 2-6, but they are never an easy out and that should remain the case. They gave the Aggies all they could handle before succumbing, but Sam Merrill (24 points) and Co. are 2-0 in early Mountain West play and 9-1 overall.
VCU 69, Old Dominion 57: A big second half lifts the Rams in this big rivalry game, while the Monarchs continue to have a rough go of it as they fall to 3-7.
BYU 83, UNLV 50: This game is perhaps most significant for being Yoeli Childs’ first game of the season, and in putting up 14 points and 13 rebounds, it’s fair to say he looked pretty good.
Missouri 64, Temple 54: A nice road win for the Tigers to get above .500.
Boston College 73, Notre Dame 72: Who would have thought the Eagles would bust two losing streaks on the road? They had lost four in a row, and they came into this one having lost 13 straight against Notre Dame, and those numbers almost went up by one as they had to hold off the Fighting Irish after leading by ten at halftime.
Davidson 70, Northeastern 63: This was a much-needed game for Jon Axel Gudmundsson, as he had been struggling before putting up 28 points on 9-12 shooting, including 6-8 from long range, to lead the Wildcats as they shot just under 52 percent from the field.
UNC Greensboro 60, Radford 58: A nice road win for the Spartans as they hold off Carlik Jones (29 points) and the Highlanders on the road behind 27 points from Isaiah Miller.
George Washington 66, Delaware 56: It’s been a nice start for the Blue Hens, but this is their first loss of the season.
UC Santa Barbara 72, UT Arlington 68: The Mavericks were without two starters, but this was still in Texas, so it’s a nice win for the Gauchos as they held off the Mavericks behind 23 points from Amadou Sow.
Evansville 101, Miami (Ohio) 87: The Purple Aces have built on their win at Kentucky, going to 7-3 behind 37 points and 10 rebounds from DeAndre Williams.
