Early Saturday Hoops: No. 5 Syracuse Falls, No. 10 UConn Wins, Gonzaga Wins OT Thriller

Read more at our UCLA blog, Bruins Nation, and our Arizona blog, Arizona Desert Swarm.

January 2, 2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Kyle Fogg poured in a career-high 25 points to help propel the Arizona Wildcats to a 77-63 win over the UCLA Bruins in Pac-10 play at Pauley Pavilion.

Our Gonzaga blog, The Slipper Still Fits, is recovering from the Bulldogs’ wild win over Illinois.

Zach has a few pluses and minuses on his mind after such a rollercoaster game, head on over to check them out.

Read more at our Bulldog blog, The Slipper Still Fits, and our Illini blog, Hail To The Orange.

January 2, 2010 - Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Elias Harris hit a jumper with 12 seconds remaining in overtime, lifting the Gonzaga Bulldogs to a thrilling 85-83 win over the Illinois Fighting Illini in a non-league tilt at the United Center.

Sean Keeley over at SB Nation’s Syracuse blog, Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, writes in his postgame recap that even though the Orange came in unbeaten and highly regarded, it was more of the same in their loss to Pitt Saturday afternoon.

Sean lays a lot of the blame for the loss on the officials, who decided to not let the teams play. The fact the Orange didn’t shoot the three ball well and got lax on defense didn’t help either.

It’s January 2nd, which means there is a full college basketball schedule floating out there among the last remaining bowl games. Since the first weekend in January is the traditional transition period between league and non-conference play, there are plenty of intriguing matchups on the schedule.

Fifth-ranked Syracuse and 10th-ranked Connecticut both play their first Big East home games of the season.