It was a relatively quiet evening in the middle of a week loaded with high-profile matchups, but we still loved it just the same. It was sort of to this week what Funny People is to Judd Apatow. Except I never saw Funny People. I did watch college basketball Thursday night.
Hollis Thompson’s Heroics Lift Georgetown To Upset Of No. 12 Alabama
Georgetown’s last second upset of No. 12 Alabama got the Big East/SEC Challenge started in style, and Anthony Davis and Terrence Jones put on a show in Lexington.
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What are we talking about?
SCORES
Top 25
No. 1 Kentucky 81, St. John’s 59
Georgetown 57, No. 12 Alabama 55
Other Big East/SEC Challenge
Ole Miss 70, DePaul 68
Providence 76, South Carolina 67
GAME/UPSET OF THE NIGHT: Georgetown 57, Alabama 55
Hollis Thompson's three-pointer from right in front of the Georgetown bench with 1.8 seconds to play capped both the most notable game and upset of Thursday. The win marked the second time in three contests that the surprising Hoyas, who upset Memphis in Maui, have defeated a top 12 opponent.
Georgetown led this game by nine with three minutes left and really should have won going away. There’s a lot to like about the way the Hoyas are playing right now and good reason to believe they’ll finish much better in the Big East than their predicted preseason place of 10th.
For starters, Thompson and Jason Clark - who scored a game-high 22 points on Thursday - have been tremendous on the perimeter and are the biggest reason the Hoyas came into Tuscaloosa averaging a very un-Georgetown 82 points per game. Additionally, Henry Sims is playing easily the best basketball of his life and all of the sudden looks like one of the 5-10 best centers in the country. On top of the individual performances, the team is utilizing its length and athleticism with a lethal 2-3 zone that each opponent they've faced has struggled with.
For ‘Bama, the loss isn’t especially deflating, but it is a bit disappointing because of the lack of strength of their non-conference schedule. This was probably the Tide’s best shot at an out-of-conference victory that committee members would take special note of come March. Now, they’re almost expected to be 13-1 when they begin SEC play on Jan. 7.
PLAYER OF THE NIGHT: Anthony Davis, Kentucky
The likely No. 1 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft had four blocks against St. John’s...before the first media timeout. Davis finished the evening with 15 points, 15 boards and eight swats. He isn’t Kentucky’s most important player right now, but ask me again in three months (seriously, if no one does I’m going to be furious).
HONOR ROLL:
Nate Wolters, South Dakota State - The head Jackrabbit tied a season-high with 32 points as SDSU beat IUPUI in overtime in the Summit League opener for both teams. Wolters also had eight rebounds and eight assists.
Terrence Jones, Kentucky - Finished with the impressive stat line of 26 points, nine boards, four steals and four blocks in the blowout win over St. John's.
Travis Bader, Oakland - Dropped 28 as the two-time defending Summit League champs opened league play with a 101-83 win over newcomer South Dakota.
Ken Horton, Central Connecticut State - Scored 32 points and grabbed nine rebounds in an 81-53 win over Bryant.
Marcus James, Sam Houston State - Scored 18 points and pulled down a career high 17 rebounds to lead Sam Houston State to a 66-54 victory over Paul Quinn. I'm going to assume that's an entire team and not just a random dude. If I'm mistaken then disregard this honor for James.
IMAGE OF THE NIGHT:
Thanks for reading and responding, Terrence.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT:
No one has the Hollis Thompson shot but ESPN and they don’t let you embed their videos, so you’ll have to click here and check it out on YouTube for yourself.
TEN TO END:
1. The finish of the day happened in Fairborn, OH where D’Aundray Brown’s tip-in at the buzzer lifted Cleveland State to a 45-43 win over Horizon League rival Wright State. The basket improved the Vikings to 7-1.
2. Oklahoma was dealt a major blow on Thursday when it was announced that sophomore guard Calvin newell was leaving the team for “family reasons.“ Newell was averaging 13 points and had earned a spot in the Lon Krugers’ starting lineup.
3. Kansas State and Frank Martin have quietly opened the season 4-0. The Wildcats stayed perfect with a 13-point win over George Washington on Thursday.
4. No team in the country is more perfect than Murray State, which ran its record to 8-0 by defeating in-state foe Western Kentucky, 70-59. The Hilltoppers are just 2-6, unfamiliar territory for one of the nation’s most consistently successful mid-major programs.
5. Belmont began its “2011-2012 Atlantic Sun Domination Tour” in predictable fashion, demolishing Kennesaw State 98-52.
6. As long as it takes care of business against Seattle on Sunday, Harvard should receive some love in the national rankings on Monday. The Crimson went into the “House of Pain and Freezing Rain” and knocked off Vermont, 55-48. The Catamounts became the fourth straight team that Tommy Amaker’s club has held below 50 points.
7. Ohio State announced that talented freshman LaQuinton Ross has been declared eligible to play during the second semester this season. The rich get richer.
8. Check out this gallery of the best college basketball pictures from the month of November.
9. Morehead State continues to struggle mightily in a post-Kenneth Faried world. The Eagles fell to 0-5 on the road after an 83-63 walloping from Kent State.
10. DePaul did what DePaul does in its crushing two-point loss to Ole Miss. The Blue Demons missed four free-throws and a bunny put-back in the final minute of the game, and then gave up a mildly contested Rebel lay-up to complete the loss. Oliver Purnell has done a tremendous job so far, but it’s hard to instill a killer instinct in your players when a culture of winning has been absent for so long.
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