Late Night Snacks: Another buzzer-beater for South Dakota State?

Games of the Night

Duke 73, Ohio State 68: The Blue Devils were down by double digits in the first half, but a couple of fast break dunks in the early part of the second half sparked the Blue Devils. Duke eventually won, on the strength of 21 points and 17 boards from current Player of the Year favorite Mason Plumlee, while Rasheen Sulaimon caught fire in the second half, scoring all 17 of his points.

The bad news for Ohio State? This game showcased their lack of scoring balance. That will be trouble come Big Ten play.

South Dakota State 71, North Dakota 70: For the second time this season, the Jackrabbits won a game at the buzzer. And for the second time this season, it was Chad White, and not Nate Wolters, hitting said game-winner:

Oklahoma 63, Oral Roberts 62: Oklahoma was a sleeper pick in the Big 12 heading into the season, and while struggling to hold off a Southland Conference opponent would usually be a bad sign, we’ll make an exception for ORU, who is consistently one of the most dangerous mid-major programs in the country. The Golden Eagles were up 54-44 with nine minutes left, but the Sooners used a 14-2 run to take the lead with two minutes left. Warren Niles, who had 21 points, had a good look at a ten foot pull-up on the baseline for the win, but it bounced off the back of the rim.

Important Outcomes

Miami 67, Michigan State 59: The Hurricanes steam-rolled the Spartans, impressively inserting their names into the conversation in an ACC that’s suddenly wide-open behind Duke. The question to ask is whether this is a sign of things to come for the Canes, or if it will end up being the highlight of their season.

Virginia 60, Wisconsin 54: Tony Bennett took his Cavalier club into the Kohl Center and knocked off Bo Ryan thanks to 22 points, five assists and five boards from Joe Harris. As impressive as this win was for UVA, I think it says more about a Wisconsin team that looks like it is going to struggle this year. They simply don’t have the playmakers offensively.

Here’s a stat for you: this is Wisconsin’s first November home loss since 1997, when they fell against in-state rival Marquette. Bo Ryan was 33-0 previously.

UCLA 82, Cal St-Northridge 56: With all the drama surrounding UCLA over the past couple of seasons, no one would have been surprised to see the Bruins fold. Instead, UCLA came out in a 2-3 zone and stifled Northridge. While the Matadors were 6-1 coming in, this is still a game that the Bruins should have no problem winning, although the same could have been said about Cal Poly. Regardless, a win is a win at this point, and the Bruins did it in convincing fashion. Of note: Larry Drew II now has 57 assists and nine turnovers on the season.

Starred

Derrick Marks, Boise State: The little fella had 35 points on 13-19 shooting to lead the Bronco’s to an 83-70 win over No. 11 Creighton.

Brandon Davies, BYU: Davies had 21 points, 10 boards, six assists, four steals and two blocks in a win over tough-but-shorthanded Montana.

Deonte Burton, Nevada: Burton had 26 points and seven assists for the Wolf Pack, who beat UC Davis. Oh, he also had the game-winner:

Struggled

Houston: The Cougars will be in the Big East next season. They lost to Prairie View A&M tonight.

Delaware players not named Jamelle Hagins: Hagins had 18 points, 23 boards and five blocks, but the Blue Hens still managed to lose to Lafayette. Hagins was 5-7 from the floor, the rest of the team was 16-51. Lafayette was 1-6 coming in. To be fair, Delaware was without Jarvis Threatt, but this was a team picked to finish second in the CAA.

Tony Mitchell, North Texas: The future lottery pick had 12 points on 3-13 shooting coming off the bench as the Mean Green dropped to 3-4 on the season with a loss to UT-Arlington.