Late Night Snacks: Trophies in paradise

Games of the Day

1. Oklahoma State 76, No. 6 NC State 56 - Marcus Smart announced his presence with authority, leading his unranked Cowboys over a team with Final Four aspirations. Oklahoma State put the clamps on the Wolfpack defensively, and that made all the difference.

2. UConn 89, Quinnipiac 83 (2 OT)  - Quinnipiac leader Tom Moore, who was once a UConn assistant, may have wanted to prove something to newbie head coach Kevin Ollie. This battle for the soul of Connecticut happened, amusingly enough, in the Virgin Islands. The Bobcats forced two overtime periods despite the early exit of star forward Ike Azotam with five fouls. Shabazz Napier played 47 minutes and scored 29 points in the win.

3. Colorado 81, Murray State 74  - We’ve talked plenty about Isaiah Canaan here, but Murray hung with the big boys in large part because of Ed Daniels’ 20 and 10 up front. Canaan did score 21, but the Buffs got a balanced attack, with four starters in double figures, led by Askia Booker’s 23.

Important Outcomes

1. No 16 Baylor 97, St. John’s 78 – It’ s never easy to bounce back from an early loss. In this case, it was Baylor that got back on track, thanks to an eight-pack of Brady Heslip three-pointers. St. John’s faltered again, falling to 2-2.

2. Western Michigan 58, South Florida 53 – The Broncs came into the South Florida Invitational, ran off three straight wins, and bumped off the host school to win the title for good measure. It was WMU head coach Steve Hawkins’ milestone 300th career victory.

3. No. 4 Ohio State 77, Washington 66 – DeShaun Thomas got his score on, pouring in 31 to help the Buckeyes stay unbeaten as they took home the championship trophy from the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic.

Starred

1. G Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State) - 20 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, 4 blocks. Smart had heard the hype about No. 6 NC State, and took it in his own hands to upstage the Wolfpack. Not bad for a freshman, eh?

2. F Elias Harris (Gonzaga) – Harris hauled down 18 boards to help the Bulldogs stay ahead of South Dakota. He also had 16 points.

3. G Kwame Vaughn (Cal State Fullerton) - Vaughn scored 29 points in a terribly efficient way as the Titans held of Green Bay of the Horizon League. Vaughn was 8-10 from the floor, 2-3 from deep and a perfect 11-11 from the free throw line.

Struggled

1. F C.J. Leslie (NC State) - Everybody’s All-American scored just two points on 1-5 shooting and played just 17 minutes before fouling out against Oklahoma State.

2. The Miami Redhawks – Twelve players saw action against Louisville. Every one of them went home with a single digit in the scoring column. New coach John Cooper, in his first year following the inimitable Charlie Coles, has his work cut out for him.

3. G Galal Cancer (Cornell) - First of all, that’s a rough name. Then you have to go and have a game like Cancer had against Wisconsin. He missed every shot he took, turned the ball over five times and finished with a whopping two points, earned at the stripe.

Three Facts 

1. Jim Baron rides again - The former Rhode Island head coach is making the most of things since he shuffled off to Buffalo. He has the Canisius Golden Griffins at 2-0 to start the season, having beaten a couple of decent teams in St. Bonaventure and Boston U. If he wins three more, he’ll equal the Griffs’ win total from last season.

2. Jordan Bachynski is the Eraser - The 7’2″ Canadian is rejecting shots at an epic rate, tallying 15 blocks in two games. Granted, those games were against height-challenged programs Central Arkansas and Florida A&M, but the Sun Devils will definitely benefit from Bachynski’s presence in the middle.

3. There’s no speed limit in Montana - The fastest program in America is currently the Montana State Bobcats. The boys from Bozeman jam a thrilling 84.3 possessions into each 40 minutes of action. That may be, in part, because their first game of the season was a loss to the Seattle Redhawks, who come in second at 84.2 possessions per 40.