GAME OF THE NIGHT: LSU 74, No. 16 West Virginia 73
The Tigers committed 24 turnovers and Jordan Mickey accounted for just four points and six rebounds, but they still found a way to come back from a 14-point second half deficit to win in Morgantown. Josh Gray’s layup with 7.4 seconds remaining was the biggest play in a final minute that featured multiple mind-boggling decisions made by both teams.
IMPORTANT OUTCOMES
1. No. 20 Iowa State 95, No. 18 Arkansas 77: The Arkansas press did nothing to slow down Iowa State on Thursday night, as the Cyclones jumped out to an early first half lead and never looked back. The lead ballooned to as much as 23 in the second half. Bryce Dejean-Jones led the way with 27 points, but it was the 26 points and eight assists from Georges Niang that was the most impressive. He can simply do it all.
2. Georgia State 72, Green Bay 48
The Panthers got off to a good start offensively, and the same cannot be said for the Phoenix. End result: a 72-48 triumph for Ron Hunter’s team. R.J. Hunter scored 26 to lead the way for Georgia State, with Ryan Harrow adding 17 and eight assists. Keifer Sykes scored 16 points but he needed 15 shots to do so, and he was also Green Bay’s lone double-digit scorer.
3. TCU 66, Ole Miss 54: Don’t look now, but TCU is 8-0 after going into Oxford and knocking off Ole Miss. Karviar Shepard led the way with 14 points and nine boards while Amric Fields added 10 points and three assists off the bench. TCU is 8-0 for the first time since 1997-98, with that team winning its first nine games and ultimately going to the NCAA tournament.
STARRED:
1. Garret Kerr: Shout out to Kent, who had 27 points and 10 boards in a win over Drexel. He plays for the University of the Sciences, a D-II program in Philly.
2. R.J. Hunter: The Georgia State guard finished with 26 points as the Panthers knocked off Green Bay.
3. Kevin Larsen: Larsen has struggled a bit this season, but he had 14 points, six boards and three assists in a win over UMBC.
4. Royce O’Neale: O’Neale led the way with 22 points as Baylor picked up a win in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge by knocking off Vanderbilt.
STRUGGLED:
1. Drexel: I mean, they lost to a Division II team. That happened one other time this season, and that was when Rice lost at Alaska-Anchorage in the Great Alaska Shootout.
2. Jordan Mickey: LSU won at West Virginia, but Mickey spent most of the night in foul trouble and didn’t score until there were four minutes left in the game.
NOTABLES
- No. 13 San Diego State shot 13-for-27 from the foul line, but they limited San Diego to 36.5% shooting in a 57-48 win over their city rivals.
- A Division II team knocked off a Division I opponent for the second time this season, as Philadelphia University of the Sciences beat Drexel 54-52.
- Baylor held off Vanderbilt, 66-63 in Nashville with Royce O’Neale scoring 22 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the field. Taurean Waller-Prince added 19 for the Bears, who are now 7-1 on the season.
- More than 3,000 fans showed up at UAB’s Bartow Arena dressed in black in support of the football team, which found out earlier this week that their program was being shut down. Jerod Haase’s basketball team was able to use that emotion as fuel, ending their three-game losing streak with a 58-48 win over Morehead State.
- Austin Ruder scored 23 points and Marcus Marshall added 18 as Missouri State beat UALR, 73-68. Marshall’s scored 18 in each of the last two games after sitting out two games at the Great Alaska Shootout due to a knee issue.
- Alan Williams (16 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks) became the all-time leading rebounder in UCSB history in the Gauchos’ 86-47 demolition of Seattle.