College hoops roundup: the best night of the 2012-13 season so far

Wednesday night was, without question, the best evening of the 2012-13 college basketball season to date.

Several players breached the 30-point mark, a pair of dunk of the year candidates were conceived, the Mountain West got crazy on its opening night, and a team was handed its first loss via a buzzer-beater. If you missed any of it...well, this really isn’t going to replace that experience, but it’s going to come about as close as possible.

Let’s get to it.

Top 25 Scores

No. 2 Michigan 62, Nebraska 47

The Wolverines led just 25-20 at halftime and failed to hit the 80-point mark for the first time since Dec. 11. Still, head coach John Beilein was thrilled after the game because of the way his team was able to dig down and win convincingly thanks mostly due to rebounding and defense. Michigan, which now faces back-to-back road games at Ohio State and Minnesota, is 16-0 for the first time since the 1985-86 season.

No. 3 Louisville 73, Seton Hall 58

Louisville ended the game on a 31-16 run to notch a convincing Big East road win despite playing without injured forward Chane Behanan. Gorgui Dieng’s 16-point, 14-rebound effort helped offset leading scorer Russ Smith’s 2-for-11 shooting performance. Despite the 15-point win and the fact that Louisville held Seton Hall to a uncharacteristically dismal 4-for-16 from beyond the arc, Rick Pitino was irate with his team’s defense after the game.

“They’re going to learn to play that type of defense they played in the second half, all the time, or I’m going to kill every one of them,” Pitino said on his postgame radio show. “I’m really upset. I’m not happy with the way we’re playing defense. The second half is exactly what I expected. But I can’t have a heart attack because they’re not going to guard. I told them that we were either going to play better defensively or I was going to have a breakdown. I told the guys, ‘you’re either going to play championship defense, or you’re going to be a Sweet Sixteen team and we can go home and plan for another year.’ I think they got the message loud and clear.”

No. 6 Kansas 97, Iowa State 89 (OT)

We talked about Jeff Withey’s credentials earlier, but it was Ben McLemore who saved the day and made his biggest move yet in the player of the year race on Wednesday night. The freshman guard scored a career-high 33 points, was 10-of-12 from the field, and banked in a three-pointer with one second left in regulation to send the game into overtime. The win preserved Kansas’ 31-game home winning streak, as well as their streak of 22 consecutive wins in Big 12 openers.

McLemore said after the game that he legitimately called bank after the shot left his hands. I don’t believe him, but I still think he’s cool.

No. 7 Syracuse 72, Providence 66

Following his team’s somewhat sluggish victory, Jim Boeheim expressed his sadness over the fact that this would be the last time he would be taking a squad to Providence. While Boeheim feels bad that the Syracuse program has to make this dramatic shift to a new conference, it would seem his greatest sympathy lies with his own stomach.

“Every one of these games is a little bit of sadness for me,” Boeheim said. “I know where all the good restaurants are now. Now I got to go down to Clemson, South Carolina. I’m sure there’s a couple Denny’s down there. They’ll like me a lot now in Clemson. I like to make friends before I get down there.

“We’ll miss Siena. Capriccio’s. You don’t get places like that. When you go on these trips, you’ve got to have at least one moment of enjoyment. It’s nice to be able to find a place like that and go have something good for an hour because these games tend to wear on you a little bit after 37 years. I’ll miss the league and I’ll miss coming to places like this.”

No. 8 Minnesota 84, No. 12 Illinois 67

No one made a bigger statement on Wednesday night than the Golden Gophers, who thumped a very good Illinois team in front of a crowd at Assembly Hall that was as amped up as any I’ve heard this season. Tubby Smith’s Minnesota teams have always been fun(?) to watch because of their discipline, but now he finally has the right combination of skill to make a deep run in March. We’ll learn even more about this team when they travel to Indiana on Saturday and then host Michigan a week from today.

Also, the Tubstache is just tremendous.

This should have been grown years ago.

No. 11 Florida 77, Georgia 44

The Gators had absolutely no trouble with a Georgia team that hadn’t lost since Dec. 15. The best news of the night for Florida was that Erik Murphy, who missed the team’s win over Yale because of a rib injury, played and scored 11 points. Mike Rosario led all scorers with 19, but didn’t record a rebound, assist, block or turnover in 28 minutes. That was very Florida of him. I don’t even know what that means, I’m just typin’ stuff.

No. 14 Butler 72, Saint Joseph’s 66

Brad Stevens and company made a nice little statement to the rest of the A-10 by going on the road and knocking off the preseason league favorites in their debut. The Bulldogs scored the first nine points of the second half to erase a 40-35 halftime deficit, and held St. Joe’s scoreless for the final 2:56 of the game. Outside assassin Rotnei Clarke led the way with 28 points, his best output yet in a Butler uniform.

No. 16 San Diego State 65, Fresno State 62

We could talk for a little while about how the Aztecs let Fresno hang around for way too long in this one, but instead we’re just going to watch this.

Upon first viewing, it’s hard to even comprehend what really takes place here. It takes watching it a few times on a loop to truly respect the fact that Jamaal Franklin, 1) does this while running down the court at maximum speed; 2) throws (shoots?) the ball from the back paw of the Bulldog; and 3) actually looks off the defender to his right before letting the ball go.

Dunk of the year. I’m not listening to anyone who wants to debate that statement.

No. 20 NC State 83, Georgia Tech 70

NC State struggled a bit and Lorenzo Brown was tremendous with 21 points and 10 assists, but whatever, go back and watch the Franklin dunk again.

No. 23 Wichita State 82, Southern Illinois 76

I remember reading over the summer about Wichita State fans using the signing of Cleanthony Early as justification for why they would challenge Creighton for the Missouri Valley title this season. Dismissing that talk has proven to be a mistake. Early, a JuCo transfer who was the 2012 NABC Player of the Year, has been nothing short of spectacular on both ends of the floor for Gregg Marshall, a distinction which came to a head on Wednesday when he dropped 39 on Southern Illinois. Early’s outburst was the fifth-highest in college basketball this season.

“I was shocked when (Kansas 22 broadcaster) Bruce (Haertl) told me, and it just goes to show you how easy he does it,” said Marshall. “He makes it seem easy. Very, very talented.”

Also, Kirstie Alley was in the crowd. I swear.

No. 25 New Mexico 65, No. 24 UNLV 60

If Wednesday was any indication, the Mountain West is going to provide us with multiple can’t miss games every week. The opening showdown between these two ranked rivals lived up to the hype, as New Mexico held off Vegas despite some shaky free-throw shooting in the game’s final minute.

With Drew Gordon graduating and the Rebels possessing a wealth of talent in the post, everyone would have guessed heading into the season that this would have been a game dominated by UNLV in the paint. Instead, it was Lobo center Alex Kirk who went off for 23 points and nine boards, while the Rebel tandem of Anthony Bennett and Khem Birch combined for 24 and 10. A still ailing Mike Moser came off the bench and scored just three points in 14 minutes.

Other Scores of Note

Boise State 63, Wyoming 61

This wins the early award for “Best Game That Diehards Had to Watch Via Stream,” as Jeff Eloriagga buried two huge threes in the game’s final minute, including one at the buzzer, to knock Wyoming from the ranks of the unbeatens.

The Broncos won the game despite a quartet of players, including leading scorer Derrick Marks, being suspended for a violation of team rules. Wyoming was also without its leading scorer, Luke Martinez, who is out indefinitely after injuring his right hand in a bar fight.

This is the second time this season that Boise State has gone on the road and knocked off a previously unbeaten team on their home floor. The Broncos handed Creighton its first and only loss (83-70) back on Nov. 28.

Mountain West basketball. Crazy hot right now. Crazy hot.

Boston College 86, Virginia Tech 75

Despite Erick Green’s continued brilliance, the Hokies have now lost four in a row by double digits. That 7-0 start feels like it was about two decades ago.

Towson 99, William & Mary 86 (2OT)

Less than a year ago, Towson was known only for riding a 41-game losing streak. Today, they have eight wins and are one of just two 3-0 teams in the CAA. Kudos to Pat Skerry and company on a remarkable turnaround.

VCU 74, Dayton 62

Forget the rankings, VCU is one of the 25 best teams in the country. The Rams have won 10 straight and prevailed in their A-10 debut largely due to the 30 points they scored off of 26 forced Dayton turnovers. Shaka Smart’s team trailed for a grand total of zero seconds in this one.

Villanova 61, South Florida 53

It’s strange to refer to a South Florida basketball team as a “disappointment,” but this Bull squad certainly fits the mold. USF fell to 9-5 overall and 0-2 in the Big East with an effort that did not satisfy head coach Stan Heath.

“The energy of the team for 40 minutes was not there, and I’m not used to that with our basketball team,” Heath said. “It hasn’t been that way in a long time, and it’s something that I really don’t accept. I won’t tolerate it, so it’s something that we’ll have to talk about and fix right away.”

Eastern Kentucky 77, Murray State 65

So much for the Ohio Valley being a two-horse race between Murray State and Belmont. EKU (13-3, 3-0) waltzed into the CFSB Center, scored the game’s first seven points, then went on a 24-0 run to take a 31-11 lead and never looked back. The Colonels have outscored their first three OVC opponents by a total of 40 points in the first half.

Florida State 65, Maryland 62

Crazy stat of the day: Florida State is 2-0 in ACC play for just the second time ever. Okaro White’s 20 points helped the ‘Noles erase a nine-point halftime hole and notch a huge win in College Park.

Ole Miss 92, Tennessee 74

The Rebels staked their claim as the fourth best team in the SEC by rolling into Knoxville and hammering the Volunteers. Marshall Henderson led the charge with a career-high 32 points.

Wake Forest 55, Virginia 52

Virginia entered ACC play needing to beat the teams it was supposed to beat in order to build a resume worthy of inclusion in the NCAA Tournament. Wake Forest is a team the Cavaliers should beat.

West Virginia 57, Texas 53 (OT)

Neither team appeared capable of making an outside shot for the bulk of 40 minutes, but exchanged tough three-pointers in the final 16 seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime. Texas, which blew a double-digit lead with five minutes to play, could muster just three points in the extra period. It’s looking like the Horns will need Myck Kabongo to lead them to a Big 12 tournament title if they want to go dancing.

Washington 62, California 47

Hey look, the Pac-12 makes no sense again. Also, I do a double-take every time I read or hear Washington referred to as the “defending conference champions.” It’s just so rare that the regular season champion from a BCS league doesn’t make the NCAA Tournament. Kind of feels like they don’t deserve the title, accurate though it may be. Solid win though.