Late Night Snacks: No. 1 Indiana impresses, No. 4 Duke survives

Game of the Day: UIC 88, Youngstown State 83 (3OT)

One day after Louisville and Notre Dame went five overtimes the Flames and Penguins went three extra periods in Youngstown. Gary Talton led the way for UIC with 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and five Flames reached double figures in the win. Kendrick Perry scored 29 points to lead Youngstown State, and his three pointer late in the first overtime session tied the score at 63. UIC’s Hayden Humes hit a three-pointer to send the game into the third overtime, with Talton and Daniel Barnes making the plays needed to seal the victory.

Important Outcomes

1. No. 1 Indiana 81, No. 10 Ohio State 68 

The Hoosiers, fresh off of a loss at Illinois on Thursday night, went to Columbus and took control of things almost from the start. The Buckeyes would make a few runs but their lack of offensive weapons proved to be Ohio State’s downfall against Indiana. Victor Oladipo scored a career-high 26 points with Cody Zeller (24 points) and Christian Watford (20) also reaching the 20-point mark. The key for Ohio State in the weeks leading up to the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments: they need guys to step up offensively alongside Deshaun Thomas and Aaron Craft.

2. No. 4 Duke 62, Boston College 

With Indiana losing this week who will the voters pick to lead the way this week? One option is Duke, and that nearly wasn’t the case as they needed a Mason Plumlee free throw to escape Chestnut Hill win a one-point victory. Plumlee finished with 19 points and ten rebounds and Seth Curry added 18 to lead the Blue Devils, who didn’t arrive in Boston until Sunday morning due to Winter Storm Nemo. Olivier Hanlan (20 points) and Ryan Anderson (17) led the way for the Eagles, who have now lost to both Duke and Miami by one-point margins at home.

3. No. 9 Syracuse 77, St. John’s 58

A routine victory for the Orange, but the big news was the return of senior forward James Southerland. Syracuse’s best perimeter shooter, Southerland’s return gives the Orange a potent offensive weapon that gives point guard Michael Carter-Williams more room in which to operate. Southerland scored 13 in his return and four Syracuse players reached double figures. St. John’s, playing without head coach Steve Lavin due to the passing of his father, was led offensively by JaKarr Sampson (21 points).

Starred

1. G Colt Ryan (Evansville) 

Ryan finished with 33 points (14-of-15 FT), seven steals, four rebounds and four assists in the Purple Aces’ 84-78 overtime win over Drake. In the victory Ryan became the third player in Evansville history to score reach the 2,000-point mark in his career.

2. G Allen Crabbe (California) 

Crabbe was red-hot for the Golden Bears in their 77-69 win at No. 7 Arizona, shooting 12-of-15 from the field and scoring 31 points. Crabbe also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out five assists.

3. G Spencer Dinwiddie (Colorado)

Dinwiddie was the biggest reason why the Buffaloes escaped Corvallis with a 72-68 win over Oregon State, scoring 24 points without missing a shot from the field (6-of-6 FG with four three-pointers) or the foul line (8-of-8). Dinwiddie also tallied four assists and three rebounds.

Struggled

1. G Askia Booker (Colorado) 

On the flip side of Dinwiddie’s night was that of Booker, who shot 2-of-14 from the field (0-of-5 3PT) and finished with nine points. To Booker’s credit however, he did grab six rebounds and hand out three assists.

2. James Madison in the first half

The Dukes had a rough go of it in the first half of their 60-48 loss at Drexel, shooting 5-of-18 from the field and 1-of-7 from the foul line on their way to scoring 12 points.

3. G Marvin Jordan and G Ameen Tanksley (Niagara)

With leading scorer Antoine Mason out due to an ankle injury the Purple Eagles really needed these two to step up against rival Canisius. Jordan and Tanksley combined to shoot 2-of-19 (with Jordan going scoreless on 0-of-7 shooting) in the 77-70 loss to the Golden Griffins.

Three Happenings

1. With Seth Curry scoring 18 points in the Blue Devils’ win over Boston College, he and older brother Stephen are now the highest-scoring siblings in NCAA history. The Curry, who have scored 4,493 points, passed the Hansbrough (Tyler and Ben) brothers atop the list.

2. James Southerland wasn’t the only key player to return to the court on Sunday. N.C. State point guard Lorenzo Brown came off the bench to score 15 points, and his pass led to a Scott Wood three-pointer with one second remaining to give the Wolfpack a 58-57 win at Clemson.

3. Minnesota played without senior forward Rodney Williams on Sunday, who injured his shoulder in a collision in practice on Saturday. Illinois would hit 11 three-pointers and limit Minnesota to 38% shooting in the 57-53 victory.

Top 25 Scores

No. 1 Indiana 81, No. 10 Ohio State 68

No. 4 Duke 62, Boston College 61

California 77, No. 7 Arizona 69

No. 9 Syracuse 77, St. John’s 68

Illinois 57, No. 18 Minnesota 53

Other Notable Scores 

Virginia 80, Maryland 69 

Columbia 78, Harvard 63

Marist 69, Loyola (MD) 64

Hartford 60, Stony Brook 55

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