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Late Night Snacks: Tryptophan galore

Chris Mack

Xavier head coach Chris Mack on the sidelines against Pacific during the second half of their NCAA college basketball game in the first round of the DirecTV Classic in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

AP

Given the holiday and the fact that there were just 14 games on Thursday, Late Night Snacks is getting a one night overhaul.

Today’s game recaps:

Leftover Turkey: Xavier

If you can figure out Xavier, please, do share. The Musketeers scored 117 points in their first outing and whipped up on Butler in during Marathon Madness. After Butler went out and knocked off Marquette before running over No. 9 North Carolina, we had to seriously reconsider whether or not Xavier is better than anyone had considered.

And then Chris Mack’s team went out and lost to Pacific, 70-67, in the first round of the DirecTV Classic. Because that makes complete sense.

Midnight Piece of Pumpkin Pie: Mike Dixon

Missouri needs him, and their win over Stanford in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis proves it. The Tigers won 78-70 thanks to 18 points and nine assists from Phil Pressey, but one can only wonder how many assists Pressey would have finished with if the open looks he got for Earnest Ross and Negus Webster-Chan had gone down. Those two combined to go 4-26 from the floor and 1-10 from three. Ross was 3-19 from the field.

Your Second Midnight Piece of Pumpkin Pie: Matthew Dellavedova

He finished with 32 points as St. Mary’s beat Drexel 76-64 in the first round of the DirecTV Classic, and he did it in a variety of ways: drives, threes, post-ups (seriously). The Dragons were missing some pieces, but that is still a Bruiser Flint-coached team, which means they are tough and defensive-minded.

And Dellavedova still got 32.

The Empty Carton of Ice Cream that forced your Pumpkin Pie to be eaten alone: Drexel

Drexel’s season looks to be headed on the same frustrating path that last year’s was. The Dragons were without Chris Fouch at the start of the season, as they lost four of their first six games, which meant that after winning 25 of their last 26 games, they were still deemed to be worthy of the NIT.

Drexel lost Fouch for the season this week to a fractured ankle. They have been without Damion Lee because of a concussion. And they are now 1-3 on the season after losing to St. Mary’s. The silver lining? Xavier lost, too, so at least they get another chance to be a quality opponent.

Booze. Lots of Booze: Kelly Olynyk

The scary part about Gonzaga’s rout of West Virginia is that they weren’t even at full strength. Kelly Olynyk, the 6-foot-11 long-haired Canadian, missed the first three games due to a suspension, but came back against Clemson and jumped straight into the starting lineup. And it worked, as Olynyk had 13 points in a 57-49 Gonzaga win over Clemson.

The Tigers did a good job of mucking things up with the Zags, taking a lead into the half, but in the end Mark Few’s team was just too talented.

Brussel Sprouts: Rice

Rice shot 11-48 from the floor, which is a cool 22.9%, in a 54-36 loss to Georgia Tech. As a team, they managed just two field goals from inside the arc, as they were 9-30 from downtown. And outside of Austin Ramljak, who was 6-12 from three, the Owls shot 5-36 from the floor. You may not know too much about basketball, but that’s really, really bad.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.