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Late Night Snacks: Syracuse holds off Terps, Kansas wins Big 12 again

San Diego St v Kansas

during the game at Allen Fieldhouse on January 5, 2014 in Lawrence, Kansas.

Jamie Squire

GAME OF THE DAY: Syracuse 57, Maryland 55

The No. 4 Orange picked up a very close two-point road win on Monday night in ACC play as they held their breath as Seth Allen’s three-pointer to win at the buzzer rimmed out. Tyler Ennis (20 points) and C.J. Fair (17 points) led the scoring punch for Syracuse, who bounced back from back-to-back ACC losses last week.

I have more on Syracuse here while Rob Dauster has more on Maryland as well.

IMPORTANT OUTCOMES

1) Kansas 83, Oklahoma 75

The Jayhawks earned their 10th consecutive regular season Big 12 crown on Monday as Joel Embiid had 12 points and 13 rebounds. All five Kansas starters finished with at least 11 points as the Jayhawks ran past Oklahoma in a tight second half.

Rob Dauster has more on the Jayhawks while I share some thoughts on Oklahoma.

2) Oklahoma State 76, TCU 54

The Cowboys continue to crawl back to their winning ways with a solid road win over TCU. Marcus Smart shot the ball pretty well from the perimeter in this one, as he hit for five three-pointers in the Big 12 win for Oklahoma State. Phil Forte led the Cowboys with 23 points.

3) Southern 87, Alabama State 64

The Jaguars opened up a three-game lead in the SWAC with a win over second-place Alabama State on Monday night. Southern will be the clear favorite to represent the SWAC in the NCAA Tournament and they gave No. 1 seed Gonzaga a scare as a 16-seed last season.

STARRED

1) Marcus Smart and Phil Forte were both dialed in from the perimeter on Monday night as the backcourt duo from Oklahoma State each had five three-pointers.

2) Joel Embiid certainly looked healthy during flashes of Kansas’ win over Oklahoma. Embiid had 12 points and 13 rebounds and had a few jaw-dropping plays, including an easy dunk to open the game and some scary open-court moves.

3) Syracuse’s C.J. Fair and Trevor Cooney each knocked in clutch shots with their team needing a bucket in the Orange’s road win over Maryland. Although Cooney struggled to find his shot with any consistency, his spinning free-throw line jumper was clutch.

STRUGGLED

1) Oklahoma’s leaky defense couldn’t get any stops at the end of its game against Kansas. Each time the Sooners got a bucket, they’d allow more points to Kansas down the stretch.

2) Samford fell 81-71 to The Citadel on Monday and helped snap the program’s 17-game losing streak.

3) Jake Layman and Evan Smotrycz combined for nine points on 2-for-10 shooting and 2-for-8 from beyond the arc. Smotrycz only played 19 minutes and fouled out due to foul trouble.

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