College hoops roundup: Florida is really good and Creighton wins without McDermott

Top 25 Scores

No. 10 Florida 74, No. 22 Wisconsin 56

I’m pretty sure that we had Florida ranked higher than any other outlet to begin the season, and I feel pretty good about that. Erik Murphy went 10-for-10 from the field and gave easily the most complete (and best) performance of his college career, finishing with 24 points and eight rebounds. His versatility began to rear its head when he started getting more minutes down the stretch last season, but he never looked anything like the player he was on Wednesday. Wisconsin will be fine because they’re Wisconsin.

No. 15 Creighton 77, UAB 60

This might be the early favorite for “misleading final score of the year,” as Creighton trailed by as many as 10 and found itself in a tie game with nine and-a-half minutes to go. Still, this was a terrific experience for the Bluejays, as Doug McDermott was out with foul trouble for most of the first half and double and triple teamed whenever he was on the floor. This meant someone else had to step up, and that someone was Josh Jones. Jones hit four treys and had a personal 10-0 run during Creighton’s decisive 17-0 run to put the game away. Gregory Echenique’s 13 points and 16 rebounds also helped. McDermott, by the way, finished with just five points. Over 35 games last season, he never scored less than 12.

Other Scores Of Note

Georgetown 68, Liberty 59

The Hoyas got the job done despite playing without their best player, Otto Porter, who took a hit to the head during Georgetown’s win over Duquesne earlier this week. Greg Whittington picked up the slack, scoring 18 points, grabbing nine rebounds and handing out four assists. Freshman D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera also had another strong night off the bench with 11 points in just 19 minutes.

Santa Clara 74, Saint Louis 62

SLU got a lot of love during the preseason, but they’re obviously a completely different team than anyone thought they’d be without head coach Rick Majerus and star guard Kwamain Mitchell. Still, this was a surprisingly dominant performance by a Santa Clara team that went 0-16 in the West Coast Conference last season. Much of the reason for their struggles in 2011-12 was the suspension of Kevin Foster, who scored 30 points on Wednesday and moved to the top of the school’s all-time leading scoring list. Foster also had seven steals and five assists.

Northern Iowa 84, Toledo 81 (OT)

The Panthers survived a scare from the visiting Rockets thanks in large part to Deon Mitchell’s 27 points. Toledo, which is ineligible for postseason play (and has played like it) because of low APR scores this season, fell to 0-3.

Fresno State 39, UC Riverside 30

Included solely for awfulness. The score was 13-11 at halftime. Who was winning? I don’t know, and neither team is worthy of me wasting the five seconds it would take to find out.

Player of the Night: Kevin Foster, Santa Clara

As mentioned, he dropped 30 points and became the school’s all-time leading scorer. People have had worse Wednesdays. Like me. I made lasagna and it was f---ing terrible.

All-November 14 Team

Erik Murphy, Florida - Dropped 24 points and eight rebounds as Florida dominated Wisconsin. Is quickly going from a guy known only for his hilarious arrest tapes to a likely first round draft pick.

Deon Mitchell, Northern Iowa - Saved the Panthers from a pre-Atlantis loss by connecting on 9-of-12 shots and scoring 27 points.

Jaye Crockett, Texas Tech - Went for 22 and 10 in Texas Tech’s romp over Nebraska-Omaha

Jerome Jones, SIU Edwardsville - Hit 5-of-7 three-point attempts and scored 27 points in a 62-50 win over Western Illinois.

Malcolm Smith, Lipscomb - Scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to propel Lipscomb past Gardner-Webb, 66-62.

Pre-noon televised college basketball returns on Thursday as action starts in the Charleston Classic and Puerto Rico Tip-Off, both of which boast very solid fields. With the Maui Invitational beginning on Monday and the Battle 4 Atlantis kicking off on Thanksgiving, there are definitely worse times to be a diehard college basketball fan.