Late night snacks: Crashing after the marathon

It took 24 hours and countless games, but the unofficial beginning to the college basketball season came and went with an overwhelming bang. Let’s recap, shall we?

Games of the Night

1.) Duke 75, Kentucky 68 – The classic matchup didn’t disappoint. Seth Curry dominated. Alex Poythress was a monster. John Calipari and Mike Krzyzewski threw post-game barbs at each other. The vitriol may not be there, but the on-court product and the tension was high and it was awesome.

2.) Michigan State 67, Kansas 64 – Keith Appling had a coming out party and Sparty rebounded after a season-opening loss to UConn. Tom Izzo will always have the edge when it comes to big games.

3.) UMass 67, Harvard 64 – One of the first true “dagger” games of the day. A last-second basket proved to be the difference for the late-morning game. More on that later.

4.) New Mexico 86, Davidson 81 – It seemed like this outcome was impossible. The Lobos trailed for a majority of the game, Davidson was bonkers from three and New Mexico had a start that could only be eclipsed in its awfulness by the loser of the game before theirs, West Virginia. Then Tony Snell caught fire with 25 points, the big men started to show up and the Lobos escaped with a win at home.

Starred

Ryan Broekhoff, Valparaiso – Teams like Valparaiso don’t get a ton of, if any, national attention. So when they do, they need to take advantage. Broekhoff did with 20 points on 4-of-8 three’s in a 69-46 win over Northern Illinois. From personal experience, it was nice to hear Broekhoff’s string music on my television as I went in-and-out of sleep this morning.

Seth Curry, Duke – He came to Duke to play on this stage four years ago when he transferred from Liberty. The fifth-year senior dropped in 23 points, including 3-of-5 from three-point range and 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the win over Kentucky. Some have wondered when the youngest of the sharpshooting trio (dad Dell, older brother Steph, and him) would truly arrive. He’s showing his elite-level game now.

Malcolm Armstead, Wichita State – Hit game-winning step-back jumper in the closing seconds to lift the Shockers to a 53-51 victory at VCU. Scored 11 points total.

Sampson Carter, UMass – Carter made his only bucket of the game count, a three from the corner in the final seconds to deliver the death-blow for the victory over Harvard in the mid-morning matchup. Carter actually had more fouls (four) than points (three).

Struggled

Butler - How far has Brad Stevens‘ program fallen? The dismissal of Chrishawn Hopkins hurt, but going into a game against what everyone thought was an undermanned Xavier team, albeit on the road, the Bulldogs laid a colossal egg, losing 62-47. Only one player, reserve Kellen Dunham, finished in double-figures with 11 and prized transfer Rotnei Clarke had seven points on 3-of-11 shooting, including just 1-for-7 from three-point range. In a game that could’ve put them back on the map, they flopped. Hard.

Virginia – It’s been a tough early season for the Cavaliers already. This time it’s in the form of a 59-53 loss to Delaware at home in the NIT Tip-Off semifinals. The Blue Hens stole the Wahoos the chance at going to Madison Square Garden. Man, Tony Bennett, you got some work to do.

Ray McCallum, Jr., Detroit – The day was somewhat uncharacteristic for the consistent son of the Titans’ head coach. Yes, 23 points is the norm for the junior. But it took him 23 shots (eight makes) and he was 4-for-12 from three in a 77-74 loss at St. Johns. He’ll no doubt get his all season. But considering the stage, volume shooting wasn’t what McCallum needed.

Josh Smith, UCLA – He air-balled a lay-up. He got dominated by far-inferior talent in the post. He finished with five points, five rebounds and four steals in a win over UC-Irvine. Off the court, he seems like a great person. On the court? He seems like another Renardo Sidney.

Stuffing the stat sheet

Jamaal Franklin, San Diego State – The Aztecs made extremely easy work of San Diego Christian, 97-51. Franklin lived up to the preseason conference player of the year hype, pouring in 28 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and dishing out four assists. Kid’s on his way.

Fanbases that can take a breath

Kansas State – This is more of a reason for the Wildcats to laugh than to be relieved. They avoided, um, narrowly, being the next victim of the Alabama-Huntsville Pain Train, taking down the Division II squad 87-26. The Chargers beat North Texas last night.

Pittsburgh – The Panthers put in one of the more underrated performances of the night, mainly because it went toe-to-toe with the Kentucky-Duke game. Pitt took down C.J. McCollum and Lehigh impressively, 78-53 at home, scoring 43 in the second half. Travon Woodall scored 23 points and dished out eight assists, while the Mountain Hawks’ McCollum was “held” to 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

Fanbases that can take a seat

West Virginia - It’s your first game of the 2012-13 season. It’s your first game as a member of the Big 12 Conference. It’s the first game of the ESPN 24 Hours of College Basketball, aka Marathon Madness. So what do you do!?…You shoot 27.3-percent, 11.5-percent (3-for-26) from three and tank the game 84-50. Mountaineers fans, blame Denniz Kilicli’s shaving of his beard. Or the loss of players like Truck Bryant and Kevin Jones. But man, your team needs a better effort to contend in the Big 12 this season, much less in non-conference.

UCLA – Oh what am I saying? We all were waiting for this. This program has a ton of individual talent, with or without Shabazz Muhammad, but we all wondered, ‘how would it all coalesce?’ Well, the Bruins avoided a near disaster against UC-Irvine in the form of a 80-79 overtime win which had a crazy ending to the extra period. It’s a long season, but those that were waiting to hate on UCLA now have their first — maybe second, if you count Muhammad’s indefinite suspension — bullet in the chamber. Let’s see how Howland manages all those stars in their first taste of adversity.

Now everyone, go get some sleep.

David Harten is the editor of The Backboard Chronicles. You can follow him on Twitter at @David_Harten.