A slow Christmas week of hoops will be rescued on Thursday night when 17 top 25 teams take the floor. The action will be highlighted by No. 9 Missouri vs. No. 25 Illinois, Memphis at No. 16 Georgetown, Florida State at No. 11 Florida and Northwestern at No. 23 Creighton.
Mike Scott’s Big Night Helps No. 24 Virginia Avoid Upset Loss To Seattle
No. 5 North Carolina and No. 22 Murray State rolled on Wednesday night, but No. 24 Virginia had a tougher-than-expected time with lowly Seattle.
For now, though, let’s take a quick look back at the Wednesday that was in college basketball.
TOP 25 SCORES
No. 5 North Carolina 82, Texas 63
No. 22 Murray State 78, Tennessee-Martin 54
No. 24 Virginia 83, Seattle 77
GAME OF THE DAY: Virginia 83, Seattle 77
It took a career night from star Mike Scott for the 24th-ranked Cavaliers to avoid a monumental upset.
Scott scored a career-high 33 points to go with 14 rebounds as Virginia improved to 10-1 with a much closer-than-expected win over hapless Seattle (2-8). The RedHawks stunned a far less-regarded Cavalier team a season ago.
UPSET OF THE DAY: UT-Arlington 74, Kent State 73
LaMarcus Reed scored 22 points and hit the game-winning 3-pointer with less than three seconds remaining to lift UT Arlington to a 74-73 upset victory against Kent State in the Athletes in Action Classic.
“I had just enough space to get the shot off,” Reed said. “We didn’t want to go to overtime so we wanted to get a 3 to win the game. All I was thinking of was making a play.”
The loss halted the Golden Flashes’ six-game winning streak.
PLAYER OF THE DAY: Mike Scott, Virginia
We done already talked about why.
HONOR ROLL:
Harrison Barnes, North Carolina - Snapped out of a mini shooting slump by scoring 26 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in an 82-63 win over Texas.
Kevin Olekaibe, Fresno State - Scored 30 points and hit a three-pointer with 29.9 seconds remaining to lift the Bulldogs to a 68-65 win over Arizona State.
Wendell Mckines, New Mexico State - Went for 23 points and 17 rebounds in New Mexico State’s 82-62 win over McNeese State.
Adam Smith, UNC-Wilmington - The freshman hit seven threes and scored 32 points in an 87-78 loss to Wake Forest.
Aaron Broussard, Seattle - Sadly (for him, I guess), his 29-point, eight-rebound performance was overshadowed by Scott’s.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT:
Watch as the 34 people in attendance go nuts after UT-Arlington’s LaMarcus Reed buries the game-winner with less than three seconds left to upset Kent State.
IMAGE OF THE NIGHT:
FIVE TO END:
1. Indiana State moved to 9-2 with a 50-35 win over Louisiana-Monroe. It’s the best start for the Sycamores in 30 years. Also, I own a pair of Indiana State shorts and I wear them fairly frequently. Now you know.
2. Saint Joseph’s 81-72 victory over Coppin State moved head coach Phil Martelli into a tie on the school’s all-time wins list. Unfortunately, it’s Martelli’s refusal to allow transfer Todd O’Brien to play at UAB that’s continuing to make headlines.
3. Cincinnati defeated Arkansas Pine-Bluff 101-53, and eclipsed the 100-point mark in back-to-back games for the first time since the 1976-77 season.
4. Memphis transfer and former McDonald’s All-American Jelan Kendrick finally took the floor for Ole Miss Wednesday night. He scored eight points and dished out three assists as the Rebels fell to Middle Tennessee, 68-56. MTSU is now 11-2 and has beaten a team from the SEC and the Pac-12 (UCLA).
5. Seton Hall may be the quietest 10-1 team in the country after reaching that mark last night via a 69-64 win over Dayton. Patrik Auda scored 18 points to lead the way for the Pirates, who shot 54% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc.
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