Late Night Snacks: Christian Laettner rematch edition

Game of Tomorrow

Duke vs. Louisville - Starting off the snack a little differently tonight. Saturday night’s Battle 4 Atlantis championship game will be between No. 5 Duke and No. 2 Louisville. If a top-5 game isn’t enough to make you feel better about all the food you ate, or the self-shame you imposed on yourself during Black Friday, then add this to the mix. This will be the first time Mike Krzyzewski and Rick Pitino will coach against each other since the 1992 East regional final when Christian Laettner made himself the most hated man in the state of Kentucky for eternity.

Game of the Night

1. N.C. State survives UNC-Asheville – The Wolfpack trailed the majority of the game, until Richard Howell, who had 23 points gave N.C. State the lead for good with just over three minutes to go. N.C. State is coming off a big loss to Oklahoma State and now have to regroup to play Michigan next week as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

2. Duke 67, VCU 58 - Although Duke didn’t surrender the lead at all in the second half and VCU did everything they could to not take advantage of opportunities  this game was very exciting. The energy the Rams bring every night is worth watching. Despite trailing by a  consistent six-eight points throughout the second half, VCU had a chance to string a run together at any moment, just couldn’t put it all together for one sequence

3. Fairleigh Dickinson 63, Delaware State 62 - Kinu Rotchford hit a layup with one second left to give Fairleigh Dickinson its first win of the season over Delaware State as part of the South Padre Island Invitational. Rotchford had 19 points an 14 rebounds.

Important Outcomes

1. Minnesota over Memphis - The Gophers got an early-season win over a ranked opponent. Solid way to regroup after a tough 89-71 loss to Duke the previous day.

2. Pacific beats St. Mary’s - Pacific took down the Gaels 76-66 and showed how to frustrate Matthew Dellavedova. The Tigers threw hedges and double-teams at him in pick-and-roll situations and kept him working for all of the 16 points he got, which is half of what he had the previous day against Drexel. Interesting to see how St. Mary’s handles the first loss and how Dellavedova will respond against Cal Poly Dec. 1

3. Oregon upsets UNLV - Oregon came out with a hard-fought victory, hanging on to a narrow lead late in the game.Oregon’s Damyean Dotson had 19 points and sank two free throws to ice the win. The Ducks survived a good performance from UNLV freshman Anthony Bennett with 22 points and 10 rebounds and four 3-pointers from fellow freshman, Katin Reinhardt.

Starred

1. Andre Hollins, Minnesota - Hollins made Memphis’ trip to the Bahamas go from bad to worse. After throwing the ball away 22 times against VCU on Thursday, Hollins dropped 41 points on the No. 19 Tigers. And he didn’t need 108 shots to get that point total. Hollins was an amazing, 12-of-16 from the field, including hitting all five 3-pointers. He also connected on 12-of-13 free throws.

2. Tim Hardaway Jr., Michigan - Hardaway was named most outstanding player at the NIT Season Tip-Off, leading Michigan to a 71-57 win over Kansas State. Hardaway showed great confidence and growth in his game, not forcing anything offensively and being active in other areas such as rebounding.

3a. Sean Kilpatrick, Cincinnati - Kilpatrick had half of his 32 points come from the line, which he was perfect from. The Cincy junior put the Bearcats in the Global Sports Classic final after a 78-70 win over Iowa State.

3b. Doug McDermott, Creighton - McDermott is one of several mid-major stars this year. If he wants national player of the year consideration he needed a big performance against a good team, which he got Friday night in 84-74 win over Wisconsin. The Creighton start dropped 30 points and eight rebounds on the Badgers.

3c. Quinn Cook and Mason Plumlee, Duke - Plumlee had 17 points and 10 rebounds in a win over VCU to advance to the Battle 4 Atlantis final. Quinn Cook controlled the ball with only three turnovers to nine assists against the “havoc” Rams pressure defense.

Struggled

1. Memphis - Forgettable Thanksgiving week for the Tigers, following a pair of losses at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Over 20 turnovers in a loss to VCU, followed by Andre Hollins dropping 41 on them the following day.

2. VCU free throws - The Rams had a chance to climb into a tie with Duke during the second half, trailing 56-50. VCU went to the line and missed six straight, after converting on the first 10-of-11 shots they took from the charity stripe. The free throw woes and missed opportunities kept Shaka Smart’s club from a potential key early-season victory.

3. Vanderbilt - West Virginia took its frustration out on Marist Thursday, beating the Red Foxes 87-44. Marist returned the favor to Vanderbilt, taking down the SEC-opponent 50-33. Marist only shot 37 percent and that was still 14 percent better than Vanderbilt. Commodores are 1-3.

Terrence is also the lead writer at NEHoopNews.com and can be followed on Twitter: @terrence_payne