Late Night Snacks: Richmond knocks off No. 19 VCU and UCLA makes a statement

Game of the Night 

Richmond 86, No. 19 VCU 74 (OT) 

With the Rams leading by seven and less than a minute remaining in regulation it looked as if Shaka Smart’s team was going to leave the Robins Center as the Atlantic 10′s lone undefeated (in conference play) team. But Chris Mooney’s team had other ideas, and a Darien Brothers three-pointer in the final seconds sent the game to overtime. From there it was all Richmond as they outscored VCU 17-5 in the extra session. Three Richmond starters reached double figures and Kendall Anthony scored 26 off the bench, and Juvonte Reddic led the way for VCU with 20 points and ten rebounds.

Important Outcomes 

1. UCLA 84, No. 6 Arizona 73 

The Bruins went into McKale Center and made a statement, controlling play for much of the 40 minutes. UCLA is now 8-0 when Shabazz Muhammad (23 points) scores 20 points or more, and Larry Drew II outplayed Arizona’s Mark Lyons. Drew II may have scored just seven points to Lyons’ 16 but his nine assists with just one turnover helped keep the Bruins in control of the game.

2. No. 2 Michigan 68, Purdue 53

Purdue shot 7-of-13 from three in the first half, taking a 33-32 lead into the locker room. But the Boilermakers shot 0-of-9 from three in the second half and Michigan took full advantage at Crisler Arena. With Duke’s loss at No. 25 Miami on Wednesday John Beilein’s program may be a win at Illinois away from taking over the top spot in the national polls.

3. No. 10 Gonzaga 83, BYU 63 

Mark Few’s team showed maturity in their first game since losing at the buzzer at Butler on Saturday, using a first half run to put the Cougars away in Spokane. Kelly Olynyk shot 9-of-9 from the field and 8-of-8 from the foul line in scoring 26 points to go along with nine rebounds and five assists. Elias Harris added 25 points and ten rebounds for the Bulldogs, who remain alone atop the WCC standings.

Kelly Olynyk: 9-9 FG, 8-8 FT. 17 is most attempts player has had, been perfect this year. Previous high Tue. Alex Oriakhi: 4-4 FG, 10-10 FT.—
Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) January 25, 2013

Starred

1. G Travis Bader (Oakland) 

Bader shot 11-of-18 from beyond the arc in scoring 47 points in Oakland’s 89-71 win over IUPUI. Bader’s point total is the most scored by a Division I player this season.

2. F Joel Wright (Texas State) 

Wright scored 37 points (12-of-20 FG) while also tallying six rebounds, five assists and five steals in the Bobcats’ 78-73 win at Idaho.

3. G Erick Green (Virginia Tech) 

Green’s teammates struggled mightily in the Hokies’ 74-58 home loss to Virginia, but how bad would things have been if he didn’t manage to score 35 points and grab nine rebounds?

Struggled

1. G Mark Lyons 

Lyons had the night that many of the folks hesitant to make Arizona a national contender feared. He finished with 16 points but shot 6-of-17 from the field while also racking up five turnovers without an assist.

2. Murray State and Tennessee Tech three-point shooting

The Racers managed to beat Tennessee Tech 47-39 in a game both teams will want to forget offensively. The two teams combined to shoot 4-of-35 from distance with the victorious Racers shooting 1-of-18.

3. F Jarnell Stokes and G Skylar McBee (Tennessee) 

Even with Marshall Henderson going off in the second half of No. 23 Ole Miss’ 62-56 win over the Volunteers, Cuonzo Martin’s team still had a chance to win the game. But when Stokes and McBee combine to go just 2-of-5 from the field (Stokes took three shots) it’s tough for Tennessee to win games against solid competition.

“Night of the Buzzer Beater”

While two more ranked teams fell on Thursday night there were multiple buzzer beaters as well. In Tallahassee Florida State’s Michael Snaer banked in a three-pointer as time expired to give the Seminoles a 60-57 win over Clemson. Not sure if Snaer called “bank” on the release but that doesn’t matter.

Northern Arizona also won a game as time expired as Stallon Saldivar found Mike Dunn on the left baseline, with Dunn hitting the shot to give the Lumberjacks a 67-65 win over Northern Colorado (video courtesy of NAU Athletics, h/t to Jonathan Reed of @bigskybball). The game-winning sequence can be seen at the 1:02 mark of the video below.

Other buzzer beaters include Cole Dickerson’s three in the final seconds of San Francisco’s 75-72 win at Portland, Darien Brothers’ heroics in Richmond and a contested three from Jio Fontan that sent USC’s game at Arizona State to overtime. The Sun Devils would go on to win that game 98-93.

Raphielle also writes for the NBE Basketball Report and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.