Late Night Snacks: Gators beat Gators in our Game of the Night

Yeah, you read that right.

Game of the Night

No. 8 Arizona 65, No. 5 Florida 64 - Mark Lyons hit a crazy floater, and Florida kept a timeout in the pocket while going for the last-second shot in an epic comeback at the McKale Center. Arizona was down 64-58 at home when Scotty Welbekin hit a three-pointer with 2:44 left in the second half. The Gators would not score again, tossing up a barrage of missed treys and turning the ball over three times as the game slipped away. Solomon Hill dropped 18 for the victorious home team.

Meaningful Outcomes

No. 3 Michigan 81, West Virginia 66 – The John Beilein Invitational Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival was won by the school currently coached by John Beilein, at the expense of the school formerly coached by John Beilein. Following a big week seven days ago, Kevin Noreen reverted back to his bench-warmer ways, while Michigan’s Trey Burke played like Superman yet again, posting 27 points, five boards, eight assists and three steals. The Wolverines moved to 11-0 and should be the nation’s No. 2 team behind Duke come Monday.

No. 4 Syracuse 85, Canisius 61 – The Orange also look to move up by staying undefeated at 9-0. Jim Baron’s Golden Griffins actually led the game twice in the first half, but ‘Cuse turned on the gas in the second behind James Southerland’s 21-point explosion. Michael Carter-Williams continued his positively ridiculous passing exhibition, posting 14 assists in the win.

No. 9 Kansas 89, Belmont 60 – We know Belmont is a strong, well-coached team, but they weren’t likely to win in Allen. Still a worthy result, as Kansas saw more of the spot-shooting of Andrew White III, who put up 15 (3-5 from deep) in the big win. Jeff Withey, Ben McLemore and Elijah Johnson cracked double figures as well.

No. 14 Gonzaga 68, Kansas State 52 – Kelly Olynyk led the Zags with 20 in their bounce-back win after losing to Illinois at home last week. The big man fouled out with five minutes left in the game, but it made no difference. Only Angel Rodriguez came to play for the Wildcats, scoring 14 points in the Battle in Seattle loss.

Starred

Trey Burke – 27 points sounds like something a gunner would do, but Burke kept his teammates involved by dishing eight assists as well. He didn’t slack on defense, either, knocking away three steals from the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Alex Barlow – Barlow and Rotnei Clarke combined for 25 points on the night. Of course, Barlow was only responsible for six of those, but his gritty two at the end, when more talented teammates were blanketed by the Hoosiers, were the stuff that legends are made of.

Five Eagles – Georgia Southern waltzed into Blacksburg, VA and dealt a stinging loss to Virginia Tech. The Eagles of the SoCon got just two points from their bench, and every starter was in double figures, led by C.J. Reed’s 22.

Struggled

Kenny Boynton – Boynton was 1-7 from behind the arc at the McKale Center, but he refused to stop gunning. It was Boynton who missed consecutive three-pointers in the waning minutes of the game when the Gators needed high-percentage shots, and it was Boynton who missed his only free throw of the night during that same stretch. In late-game minutes, situational awareness >>>>> cojones.

D.J. Cooper – Ohio’s star player had a bad night against Winthrop, hitting just three of his twelve shots from the floor, and one of three from the stripe. His eight-point performance came at a lousy time, as the Eagles nipped the Bobcats by one point, 50-49.

Southern Methodist – The Mustangs got straight clowned by Rhode Island, who came into the game 2-7. 22 turnovers, with a full 15 coming from the starting guards, handed the Rams an easy 72-50 win over an SMU team that started the season riding high.

Tweet of the Night

On December 21st, Notre Dame football and Duke basketball will both be ranked #1. IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED, MAYANS? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!

— Mark Titus (@clubtrillion) December 15, 2012