2019-2020 Scoreboard sponsored by Nash Rambler

[Commissioner]

Sunday, December 22

Titan Non-Conference Opponents:
North Carolina State 83, The Citadel 63. Markell Johnson had a triple-double (11/10/10) for NC State (9-3).

Yale 54, Clemson 45. The Eli (10-3) held Clemson (6-6) to 31% shooting, including 4 of 20 from three, to win their 7th straight.


Other Games
South Carolina 70, #9 Virginia 59. The Gamecocks became only the third team to score 50 or more points against Virginia this year, only the second to top 60. Both they and Purdue (69 points) won easily. In both games the underdog forced turnovers (Purdue forced 16; South Carolina 22) and shot well (55% for SC, 45%, and 52% from three, for Purdue). So that's how you do it. I'm a genius!

#22 Washington 85, Ball State 64.

UAB 77, Duquesne 68. Duquesne drops its first after starting the season with 10 straight wins. Auburn, San Diego State, and Liberty are your remaining unbeaten teams.

Davidson 59, Loyola 56.
Xavier 67, TCU 59.
Radford 73, Richmond 58. 4-7 Radford ambushed 10-2 Richmond in the D.C. HoopFest.
Austin Peay 80, Alabama State 69. Terry Taylor, the nation's #4 scorer, and Jordyn Adams each scored 30 for Peay (6-6), which only dressed 8 players for the game.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: New Mexico State 58, Mississippi State 52.

[Commissioner]

Monday, December 23

#18 Dayton 81, Grambling 53.
#21 Washington 72, Hawaii 61. Mele Kalikimaka.

Houston 70, Georgia Tech 59. Houston is 9-3.
Siena 73, Canisius 72. MAAC opener.

[Commissioner]

Not much on Christmas Day, Wednesday, December 25:

Houston 75, #21 Washington 71. Houston is 10-3, Washington 10-2.
Ball State 61, Portland 46.
Georgia Tech 70, Hawaii 53
Boise State 72, UTEP 67.

[Commissioner]

Saturday, December 28

Horizon
Home teams went 4 of 5 on opening day in Horizon conference play.

Oakland 78, Detroit 69. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.

UIC 71, Cleveland State 66. Braelin Bridges had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Flames (6-8, 1-0). Tory Patton had 22 for CSU (4-10, 0-1).

Wright State 90, Green Bay 84. Loudon Love is back for conference play, and started with a 22 point, 16 rebound performance in Wright State's win. Billy Wampler and Cole Gentry also hit 20 and 21 points, respectively. Green Bay was up 5 with just under 5 minutes to play after a Kameron Hankerson bucket, but after a Love layup, Wampler knocked down consecutive threes to put the Raiders in front, Gentry hit a third straight three, and Love closed out a 13-0 run with a big dunk. Gentry and Jaylon Hall hit free throws in the final 30 seconds to preserve the win for Wright State (11-3, 1-0). Freshman Amari Davis led Green Bay (5-9, 0-1 ) with 18.

Northern Kentucky 74, Milwaukee 64. Tyler Sharpe had 31 points and one-time Titan commit Adrian Nelson had the best game of his career with 9 points and 12 rebounds as injury-depleted NKU (9-4, 1-0) held off the Panthers (5-8, 0-1). Te'Jon Lucas had 24 for Milwaukee.

Youngstown State 83, IUPUI 73. YSU scored the first road victory in conference play this year. After IUPUI came back from 10 down to lead 67-64, the Penguins went on a 14-1 run the left them up 10 with just over a minute to play. Darius Quisenberry led the Penguins (8-6, 1-0) with 23, and Naz Bohannon added 18 points and 11 rebounds. Elijah Goss had 13 points and 18 rebounds for IUPUI (4-10, 0-1).

Other Titan Opponents
UNLV 64, Eastern Michigan 49. EMU (9-3) scored the game's first 8 points, but after than it was all Rebels. It's been a sub-par season at UNLV, which is 6-8.

Bradley 78, Toledo 66. The Rockets (8-5) have lost three in a row since beating the Titans. Bradley (9-4) is 8-0 at home.

Wyoming 82, Nebraska Wesleyan 68. Wyoming (5-9) won the first half 41-34, and second half 41-34.

Northeastern 61, Towson 45. Northeastern (7-6) held Towson to 17 points in the first half.

UC-Irvine 69, Pacific 56.

Some Other Games to take you mind off the Titans
Purdue 97, Central Michigan 62. The Chips (7-6) have lost 4 straight, all on the road.

#19 Kentucky 78, Louisville 70 (OT). Kentucky needed this rivalry win to re-establish themselves as a contender this year.
#4 Duke 75, Brown 50. Bunch of Eggheads.
#9 Memphis 97, New Orleans 55.
#12 Butler 67, Louisiana-Monroe 36. Monroe score is not a misprint.
#15 San Diego State 73, Cal-Poly 57.
#17 Florida State 88, North Alabama 71.

Wisconsin 68, Tennessee 48.
Portland State 69, Northern Colorado 65. Lamar Hamrick sparked Portland State with 16 points in 16 minutes off the bench.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Cal-State Fullerton 77, UCLA 74. Sure, it's a sub-par season in Westwood, but who really thought UCLA (7-6) would lose at home to 4-9 Cal-State Fullerton?

[Commissioner]

Sunday, December 29:

Titan Opponents:
Notre Dame 82, Alabama A&M 56. 16 points, 18 rebounds for John Mooney. 9-4 for the Irish.

NC State 72, Appalachian State 60.

Campbell 63, Ohio 55. Don't laugh--Campbell is 9-3.

SIU-Edwardsville 96, Lindenwood 48. SIUE (3-10) schedules down for a win.

Other Games
#11 Michigan 86, UMass-Lowell 60. 25 points for Teske.
#14 MIchigan State 95, Western Michigan 62.

#22 West Virginia 67, #2 Ohio State 59. A very bad weekend all-around for Buckeye fans. Today it is, appropriately, gray and raining across the state.

#5 Kansas 72, Stanford 56. Stanford's gaudy 11-1 record entering the game didn't awe the Jayhawks (10-2)
#6 Oregon 98, Alabama State 59.
#8 Auburn 86, Lipscomb 59. Auburn goes to 12-0. San Diego State is the only other team still unbeaten.
#13 Maryland 84, Bryant 70.
#16 Virginia 65, Navy 56.
#20 Penn State 90, Cornell 59.
#23 Texas Tech 73, Bakersfield 58.
#25 Iowa 93, Kennesaw State 51.

LSU 74, Liberty 57. Liberty (14-1) falls from the unbeaten ranks. LSU (8-4) was the last major obstacle between the Flames and an unbeaten regular season--Jacksonville (7-7, NET 198) is the toughest team left on their schedule.

Arkansas 71, Indiana 64. Indiana falls to 11-2, Arkansas rises to 11-1.

New Mexico State 104, Northern New Mexico 30. Ridiculous score of the day.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Hartford 67, Northwestern 66. See also Harvard 71, California 63.

[Commissioner]

Monday, December 30

Horizon
#1 Gonzaga 93, Detroit 72. The Titans led in this one 2-1, and were even at 6-6. Then Gonzaga went on a 19-2 run and, for all intents and purposes, the game was over by the second TV timeout. To their credit, the Titans didn't quit, but they simply had no answer at all for Gonzaga's offense. Still, we kept Gonzaga under 100--in fact, their 93 points was only their 8th highest output this year. And while one feels like Gonzaga could have won by a lot more, in fact the 21 point margin of defeat was well within the spread and closer than most mid-majors have played the Zags this year. Usually, I hate such tiny silver linings, but given my expectations going in, I'll take these. Nice to see Antoine come to life--gives me some hope when we get back to conference play this weekend. Justin Miller had a very nice game and got his 1000th career point. And Chris Brandon had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, plus 4 blocks. Brandon now has 40 rebounds and 8 blocks in our last three games, and may finally be showing the consistency we've been waiting for. Again, given my expectations going in, this is one of the better nights to have been a Titan fan this year.

Youngstown State 70, UIC 64. YSU is a big winner on the Horizon's first "weekend," picking up a pair of road wins. Although this one stayed pretty close, the Penguins held the lead for the final 30 minutes and change. Darius Quisenberry had 20 points and Naz Bohannon had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the victors (9-6, 2-0). UIC is 6-9, 1-1.

Green Bay 73, Northern Kentucky 59. Green Bay may be the other big winner on the weekend, as they gain a split on the road against the league favorites. This game was especially impressive, coming just 48 hours after getting thrashed at Wright State. The Phoenix (6-9, 1-1) scored the game's first 10 points and were never really in trouble. PJ Pipes scored 20 and Manny Patterson had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Green Bay held Tyler Sharpe, who had scored 94 points in his last 3 games, to just 6 today. A positive for the Norse is that Jalen Tate returned to action for the first time since November 12, and had 11 points and 3 assists. If the Norse (9-5, 1-1) can get everyone healthy, they'll still be a favorite in this league.

Wright State 82, Milwaukee 70. Wright State solidified its front-runner status by winning twice at home on this opening weekend. Five Raiders scored in double figures, led by Billy Wampler with 17.

Cleveland State 82, IUPUI 80. Pretty much everybody predicted CSU for the Horizon cellar, but they played better than expected in the non-conference season and now have a road win in conference play. The Vikings (5-10, 1-1) led from the buzzer until about the 5 minute mark of the second half, when IUPUI (4-11, 0-2) finally caught up. From there the two squads exchanged leads in some exciting basketball, finally ending when Trey Gomillion got a put-back layup just ahead of the final buzzer. IUPUI loses twice at home this weekend, giving the Jags an early edge in the race for the cellar.

Other Titan Opponents
Eastern Michigan 88, Concordia 53. EMU finishes its non-conference slate at 10-3. Four of the wins were over NAIA teams, but they did beat Valpo and Northeastern.

Mississippi State 96, Kent State 68. Kent State is 9-3, but other than their 1 point win at Wright State they've been clobbered when facing anybody decent.

Northeastern 88, James Madison 72. Jordan Roland had 33 for the Huskies (8-6).

Other Games
#6 Baylor 83, Jacksonville 57.
#9 Memphis , Tulane .
#10 Villanova 68, Xavier 62.
#20 Dayton 77, North Florida 59. Obi Toppin had 31 points for Dayton (11-2). We used to play Dayton every year.

Loyola 66, Valparaiso 63.
Seton Hall 74, DePaul 66. DePaul (13-2) kept taking the lead, and the Hall (9-4) kept coming back, finally scoring the game's last 9 points to win in Chicago.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Stetson 63, South Carolina 56. What do we make of South Carolina (8-5), which won its last game at UVa a week ago? Stetson, just 6-9, never trailed in the second half.

Harvard 84, San Francisco 81 (OT). A good game between two good mid-majors. Harvard is 9-4, USF 11-3. Both teams could be in tournaments starting with "N" in March.

[Commissioner]

December 31, 2019

Titan Opponents:
Miami 73, Clemson 68 (OT).

Some Other Games
#2 Duke 88, Boston College 49.
#11 Butler 60, St. John's 58. Butler (13-1) blew a 23-point second half lead, fell behind by five, and rallied to win in the final minute.
#18 Florida State 70, Georgia Tech 58.

Providence 76, Georgetown 60. Providence (8-6), the only Big East team not receiving votes in this week's AP poll, won its conference opener.
Temple 62, Central Florida 58.
Bradley 80, Drake 72.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Florida A&M 70, Iowa State 68. The Rattlers, who arrived in Ames, Iowa with a 1-9 record, quickly fell behind by 13. But Rod Melton scored 15 points in the second half and A&M shot 56% for the game to upset the Cyclones (7-5). Iowa State played without Tyrese Haliburton, their leading scorer (17.3 ppg) and the Big 12 leader in assists (7.7 apg).

[Commissioner]

January 1, 2020

Titan Opponents
Boise State 65, Wyoming 54. Wyoming is 5-10 and already 0-3 in the Mountain West.

A Few Other New Year's Day Games
#13 San Diego State 61, Fresno State 52. San Diego State (14-0) and Auburn were the only D1 teams to make it to January 1 with unblemished records.
#24 Wichita State 75, East Carolina 69. The Shockers are 12-1 with a loss to West Virginia on a neutral floor.

Furman 89, VMI 73. Jordan Lyons had 40 points for the Paladins (12-3).
Cincinnati 67, UConn 51.

[Commissioner]

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Titan Opponents
#1 Gonzaga 85, Portland 72. Portland led at the half by 7 and extended its lead to 47-39 early in the second half. The Zags finally woke up and went on a 16-0 run, and though Portland stayed within reach for a few more minutes, the jig was up. All five Gonzaga starters scored in double figures, led by Killian Tillie with 22.

SIU-Edwardsville 79, Belmont 69. Whoa. SIUE (4-10) handles conference favorite Belmont (9-5) in their OVC opener. In Nashville, no less.

Northeastern 77, Elon 68. Tyson Walker had 32 for Northeastern (9-6).

South Alabama 60, Louisiana 57. Our 19 point loss to Louisiana (5-9) gets more embarrassing as the season wears on.

Other Games
#14 Michigan State 76, Illinois 56. State (11-3) has won 6 in a row and is 3-0 in the Big 10.

Colorado 74, #4 Oregon 65.
#20 Dayton 84, La Salle 58.

Purdue 83, Minnesota 78 (2 OT).
Duquesne 73, St. Louis 59. The Dukes (11-2) hammer the Billikens (11-3) in the A10 opener for both.
Presbyterian 79, UNC-Asheville 77. Cory Hightower had 18 points and 8 rebounds for the Blue Hose (4-10).
Houston Baptist 111, Central Arkansas 107 (OT). Houston Baptist's win leaves Lindsay Hunter's Mississippi Valley State team as the only winless team in D1.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Brown 85, Rhode Island 75. Brown (6-6) doesn't win this in-state rivalry often.

[Commissioner]

January 3, 2020

Horizon
Detroit 66, Northern Kentucky 58. The Titans (3-12, 1-1) looked pretty awful against NKU's pressure in the last 4 minutes, but fortunately they had looked pretty good before that and built a big enough cushion to hold on. Before those final three minutes, the Titans had done much well, and in particular it was nice to see them realize that they can do more offense than watch Antoine Davis. Davis as a decoy helped to open the floor, and once the Titans figured out how to get it to MIller at the top of the key they made mincemeat of the NKU zone. Nice games for MIller, Moore, and Brandon. NKU (9-6, 1-2) is really struggling without Dantez Walton.

Wright State 96, Oakland 69. The Raiders (13-3, 3-0) are next up for Detroit. It was a dominant performance tonight, with the Raiders shooting 57% overall, 47% from three, outrebounding the Grizzlies by 12 and forcing 18 turnovers. Right now, they clearly look like the class of the league.

Green Bay 85, UIC 71. Freshman Amari Davis had 21 as Green Bay (7-9, 2-1) ground down UIC (6-10, 1-2) in the second half.

Milwaukee 78, IUPUI 74. The Panthers (6-9, 1-2) ended a 7 game losing streak. Elijah Goss had 19 points, 16 rebounds, and 6 blocks for IUPUI (4-12, 0-3).

Other Titan Opponents
Ball State 61, Toledo 57. Toledo (8-6) has dropped 4 straight.

Kent State 79, Bowling Green 61. Nice road win for Kent State (11-3).

Some Other Games I Noted
Wisconsin 61, #5 Ohio State 57. Wisconsin (9-5) didn't miss a shot in the final two and a half minutes to get a win in Columbus.

Seton Hall 78, Georgetown 62.
Houston 78, Central Florida 63. Houston (11-3) wins its AAC opener.
Tulsa 70, Temple 44. Temple (9-4) doesn't often lose by this kind of margin.

[Commissioner]

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Horizon
Cleveland State 82, Youngstown State 74. Raise your hand if you predicted Cleveland (6-10) to win 2 Horizon League games this year--let alone start conference play at 2-1. Tory Patton led the Vikings today with 25 points. YSU (9-7, 2-1) missed a golden chance for a 3-0 start. Naz Bohannon had a nice game for the 'Guins with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Other Titan Opponents
#1 Gonzaga 75, Pepperdine 70. Visiting Pepperdine (7-9) was tied at the half, and the Zags never trailed but could never shake the Wave in the second period. It was a one possession game in the final minute, and Gonzaga didn't clinch the win until Admon Gildner made a pair of free throws with 5 seconds left. Overall, Gonzaga (16-1) played three very mediocre games this week after their elevation to #1. But polls use this logic that they must remain at #1 until they lose, even though Duke has the same record, has better wins, and is playing better ball.

Clemson 81, North Carolina State 70. Clemson is 1-3 in the ACC, 7-7 overall. NC State is 1-2, 10-4.

Akron 69, Eastern Michigan 45. My fave, Tyler Cheese, had 17 as Akron (11-3) thumped EMU (10-4) in the conference opener for both. Akron had a couple down years after Keith Dambrot left for Duquesne, but John Groce seems to have them back on track.

Western Michigan 77, Ohio U. 65. Both teams are 8-6 overall, but the Broncs are 1-0 in conference, and the Bobcats 0-1.

Notre Dame 88, Syracuse 87. John Mooney had 28 points and 14 rebounds and the Irish made 15 of 31 threes to nip Syracuse. Interestingly, the Orange (8-6) also made 15 of 31 threes. But what really caught my eye was 26 assists for Notre Dame (10-4). That's about two weeks worth for the Titans. Buddy Boeheim, who may be related to the coach, had 23 for the Cuse.

Harvard 77, UC-Irvine 73. I don't think Irvine fans expected the Anteaters to repeat last year's 31-6 mark, but I don't think they were expecting to be just 8-8 at the midway point of the season, either. Harvard is 11-4 and has won 6 straight.

Colorado State 72, Wyoming 61. Hunter Maldonado had 25 for the Cowboys 5-11). Colorado State (10-7) freshman David Roddy had 19 points and 13 rebounds.

William & Mary 66, Northeastern 64. Nathan Knight (23 points, 11 rebounds) hit the game winner for Bill and Mar (11-5, 3-0 in CAA) with 1 second left. Northeastern drops to 9-7, 3-1.

Louisiana 79, Troy 62. Paris Bass should've played for Troy.

Tennessee State 79, SIU-Edwardsville 74. SIUE (4-11) clobbered Belmont earlier in the week, but couldn't take out another OVC favorite, Tennessee State (10-5).

Other Games You've Been Waiting For
Central Michigan 93, Miami (Oh) 82. CMU (8-6) wins its MAC opener.

#2 Duke 95, Miami 62.
#3 Kansas 60, #16 West Virginia 53. Two of best, most physical bigs in the country squared off. Kansas's Udoka Azubuike finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 blocks, while West Virginia's Oscar Tshwiebe put up 17 points, 17 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Kansas (11-2) came back from 10 down to win.

#4 Oregon 69, Utah 64.
#6 Baylor 59, Texas 44. Ten wins in a row for Baylor (11-1).
#14 Florida State 78, #7 Louisville 65. FSU (13-2) overcame a 32 point, 10 rebound performance by Louisville's Jordan Nwora to win in Lousiville.

#8 Auburn 80, Mississippi State 68. Still unbeaten.
Georgia 65, #9 Memphis 62. Nice win for Georgia (10-3) on the road.
Marquette 71, #10 Villanova 60. Markus Howard, the nation's leading scorer, had 29 for Marquette (11-3).

#11 Butler 71, Creighton 57. Butler is 14-1.
#13 San Diego State 77, Utah State 68. A big road win keeps Aztecs stayed unbeaten. My guess is that the Aztecs lose at some point in the regular season, but this was definitely their toughest obstacle left.
#15 Maryland 75, Indiana 59.
#17 Kentucky 71, Missouri 59.
#19 Virginia 65, Virginia Tech 39. Virginia's defense never ceases to amaze. This is the 9th time this year that the Cavaliers (11-2) have held their opponents below 50 points, the 4th time below 40.

#21 Penn State 89, #23 Iowa 86. Myles Dread--that's a good name--held off Iowa by making 6 free throws in the final 28 seconds. That overcame a 34 point, 12 rebound performance by Iowa's Luke Garza.

#22 Texas Tech 85, Oklahoma State 50
#24 Wichita State 74, Mississippi 54.
#25 Arizona 75, Arizona State 47.

Providence 66, DePaul 65. Providence--at 9-6, the only Big East team not getting votes in the last AP poll--is out to a 2-0 start in conference. DePaul starts conference play 0-2. Providence's Nate Watson missed the first, but got Providence the win by making the second of two free throws with 1 tick left on the clock. Paul Reed had 24 points and 15 rebounds for DePaul.

Georgia Tech 96, North Carolina 83. The Tar Heels woes continue.
Valparaiso 81, Evansville 79. We'll always have Lexington.
Princeton 78, Penn 64. Used to be this game was for the Ivy League championship every year.
Tulane 76, Cincinnati 71. Nice win for Ron Hunter, Ray McCallum, and the Green Wave (9-5). NKU transfer Chris Vogt had 21 for UC (8-6).

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Furman 65, East Tennessee State 56. Furman (13-3, 3-0) beat ETSU (13-3, 2-1) in an early showdown between two of the top Southern Conference teams, both of which have been quite good in recent years.

Santa Clara 80, San Diego 63. Santa Clara is 14-2.
Arkansas Pine Bluff 80, Mississippi Valley State 76. Playing at home against Pine Bluff, which entered the game at 1-11, MVSU had what may have been its best chance for a win this year. Instead, Lindsay Hunter's team drops to 0-13. But this was the first game this season they did not lose by double digits.

[Commissioner]

Sunday, January 5

Horizon
Wright State 70, Detroit 69. Arrgh! It's a shame to see the Titans generally play well but fail to capitalize on opportunities. What can one say about our inability to even get the ball in bounds, or to have any play to close out the game? You don't get lots of opportunities, and you have to cash in when you get them. Now the Titans have 4 straight on the road.

Northern Kentucky 75, Oakland 64. Trailing by a bucket in a game neither team had led by more than 5, NKU finally took charge with an 11-0 run that started with 8 minutes left. Oakland (6-10, 1-2) cut the ensuing 9 point deficit back to 4, but NKU responded with a little 6-0 spurt to put the game out of reach. Bryson Langdon led the Norse (10-6, 2-2) with 21 points.

IUPUI 93, Green Bay 78. Green Bay (7-10, 2-2) was feeling pretty good after beating NKU in Covington and then taking out UIC. But IUPUI--perhaps the league's weirdest team--brought them back to earth. Jaylon Minnett had 31 and Marcus Burk 27 to lead the Jaguars (5-12, 1-3).

Milwaukee 64, UIC 62. UIC's season of horrors continues as Te Jon Lucas drove the length of the floor to score the winning basket for Milwaukee (7-9, 2-2) as time ran out. Lucas and Darius Roy each had 19 for the Panthers. Tarkus Ferguson led UIC (6-11, 1-3), also with 19.

Other Games
#14 Michigan State 87, #12 Michigan 69. Cassius Winston had 32 points and 9 assists, Xaiver Tillman 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Michigan State (12-3) led start to finish to get to 4-0 in the Big 10. Michigan falls to 10-4, 1-2.

#20 Dayton 80, St. Joseph's 67.

Xavier 75, St. John's 67.
Duquesne 71, Davidson 64. Duquesne (12-2) opens the A-10 season with a couple wins this weekend.
VCU 72, George Mason 59. Marcus Santos-Silva had 26 points and 12 rebounds as VCU (12-3) beat Mason (11-3) in the A10

[Commissioner]

Monday, January 6

Titan Opponents:
Louisiana 81, Appalachian State 73.

Another Game
#17 West Virginia 55, Oklahoma State 41.

[Commissioner]

Tuesday, January 7

Titan Opponents:
Ohio 74, Eastern Michigan 68. Eastern (10-5) cut a 12 point deficit to three in the final minute, but Jason Preston sank free throws and Ohio (9-6) held on.

Kent State 84, Toledo 77. The Rockets (8-7) have lost 5 straight. Detroiter Danny Pippin led Kent State (12-3) with 16.

Ain't No Horizon Here Games
Akron 84, Western Michigan 69.
Central Michigan 68, Northern Illinois 67. Kevin McKay hit the game winner as time ran out.

#4 Baylor 57, #22 Texas Tech 52.
#12 Maryland 67, #11 Ohio State 55.
#13 Louisville 74, Miami 58.
#14 Kentucky 78, Georgia 69.
#15 Villanova 64, Creighton 59.
Boston College 60, #18 Virginia 53.
Rutgers 72, #20 Penn State 61. Rutgers (12-3) is now 3-1 in the B10. Who'd have thought they'd be two games up on Michigan and Ohio State after 2 weekends of play?

Providence 81, Marquette 80 (OT). Providence is another team surprising folks in conference play. The Friars (10-6) are 3-0 in the Big East after nipping Marquette (11-4, 1-2) in OT. The Friars' AJ Reeves sent it to OT with a three pointer with 4 seconds left in regulation. Marquette's Brendan Bailey had a chance to tie it with 4 seconds left in OT after being fouled on a three point attempt, but made just 2 of 3 free throws. The nation's leading scorer, Markus Howard 39 in a losing cause.

[Commissioner]

Tuesday, January 7

Titan Opponents:
Ohio 74, Eastern Michigan 68. Eastern (10-5) cut a 12 point deficit to three in the final minute, but Jason Preston sank free throws and Ohio (9-6) held on.

Kent State 84, Toledo 77. The Rockets (8-7) have lost 5 straight. Detroiter Danny Pippin led Kent State (12-3) with 16.

Ain't No Horizon Here Games
Akron 84, Western Michigan 69.
Central Michigan 68, Northern Illinois 67. Kevin McKay hit the game winner as time ran out.

#4 Baylor 57, #22 Texas Tech 52.
#12 Maryland 67, #11 Ohio State 55.
#13 Louisville 74, Miami 58.
#14 Kentucky 78, Georgia 69.
#15 Villanova 64, Creighton 59.
Boston College 60, #18 Virginia 53.
Rutgers 72, #20 Penn State 61. Rutgers (12-3) is now 3-1 in the B10. Who'd have thought they'd be two games up on Michigan and Ohio State after 2 weekends of play?

Providence 81, Marquette 80 (OT). Providence is another team surprising folks in conference play. The Friars (10-6) are 3-0 in the Big East after nipping Marquette (11-4, 1-2) in OT. The Friars' AJ Reeves sent it to OT with a three pointer with 4 seconds left in regulation. Marquette's Brendan Bailey had a chance to tie it with 4 seconds left in OT after being fouled on a three point attempt, but made just 2 of 3 free throws. The nation's leading scorer, Markus Howard 39 in a losing cause.

[Commissioner]

Thursday, January 9

Horizon
Cleveland State 64, Detroit 59. You want to know what the worst thing is about sophomores? It means you have the same team for the next two years.

Youngstown State 62, Oakland 61. Youngstown didn't score for the first 8 minutes of the game, digging themselves a 0-13 hole. But they came back with a 16-4 run in the next 3:45, and from there this game was a barnburner, with 9 lead changes in the second half. Xavier Hill-Mais put OU up by 1 with seven seconds left, but Darius Quisenberry scored with a second left on the clock to give YSU the win. Michael Akuchie led the Penguins (10-7, 3-1) with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Hill-Mais had 15 for Oakland (6-11, 1-3).

Cleveland State and Youngstown State are tied for second in the Horizon at 3-1. I can no longer make sense of the world.

Other Titan Opponents
#1 Gonzaga 94, San Diego 50. Gonzaga (17-1) led by 37 at the half.

Georgia State 90, Louisiana 52. Corey Allen had 24 points as Georgia State (11-8) routed Louisiana (7-10).

Hofstra 74, Northeastern 72. Anyone else remember Butch Van Breda Kolff? The former Piston coach took Hofstra to a 136-43 from 1956-62. A second stint at Hofstra, at the end of his career, was less successful--he was 79-91 from 1989-1994. Hofstra's best coach ever was probably Jay Wright, who followed Van Breda Kolff from 1995-2001, before heading off to Villanova, where he remains today. Hofstra is 13-5 this year, 4-1 in the CAA. Jordan Roland had 28 for Northeastern (9-8, 3-2).

Morehead State 83, SIU-Edwardsville 77. Cameron Williams had 25 for SIUE (4-12).

Other Games Involving Teams That Win Once in a While
#19 Michigan 84, Purdue 78 (2OT). Michigan (11-4. 2-2) won an exciting, double overtime game in Ann Arbor. Michigander Trevion Williams had 36 points and 20 rebounds for Purdue (9-7, 2-3), but missed a shot at the buzzer that would have won it in regulation.
#8 Michigan State , Minnesota .

#9 Oregon 74, #20 Arizona 73 (OT). Will Richardson scored 7 of Oregon's 8 points in overtime, including a go-ahead bucket with 15 seconds remaining, then blocked a shot on Arizona's final possession.

#23 Wichita State 76, #21 Memphis 67. An early season showdown in the AAC goes to the Shockers (14-1), despite 22 points and 12 rebounds for Precious Akchiuwa of Memphis (12-3).

Mid Major Win of the Day. St. Mary's 87, BYU 84 (OT). BYU (12-5) has a win at Houston, and wins over UCLA and Utah State, but they're gonna need to have wins over St. Mary's (15-3) and/or Gonzaga come selection Sunday. It's a big win for St. Mary's, which also can't afford to lose many unless and until it beats Gonzaga.

[Commissioner]

Friday, January 10, 2013

Horizon
Wright State 84, IUPUI 70. This one wasn't in doubt after the opening minutes, with Wright State (15-3, 5-0) building a 26 point lead in the first half. Billy Wampler had 26 points and Loudon Love 20 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 blocks. I can see this team going unbeaten the rest of the way, and if they hadn't lost to Kent State by 1 and La Salle by 2, they could be headed for a very high NCAA seed. Of course, they only beat the Titans by one. But that's the thing, isn't it? Close doesn't count.

Northern Kentucky 68, UIC 52. UIC (6-12, 1-4) just can't get it together in what was supposed to be their year. You have to think this season is the end of the line for Coach McClain. Meanwhile, former Titan commit Adrian Nelson had 13 points, 15 rebounds, and 2 blocks for the Raiders. With Dantez Walton out, Nelson has gotten greatly increased minutes and in the last 5 games is averaging 7.2 points and 7.8 rebounds, while shooting 15-19 from the floor (Ironically, his one bad game in the stretch was against our Titans). I was really excited when the Titans signed Nelson, and bummed that we lost him with the coaching change. Nothing one can do about that, of course (he split before Coach Davis was even hired), but I'm not surprised to see him coming into his own. He's a good player. NKU is 11-6 overall, 3-2 in conference.

Other Games
#6 Butler 70, Providence 58. Butler (15-1) is ranked #6, it's highest ranking ever.
Iowa 67, #12 Maryland 49.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Princeton 63, Penn 58. A little scheduling oddity had these playing back to back games against one another. The Tigers (6-8) won both. And a further oddity, no other Ivy school has played a conference game yet.

[Commissioner]

Saturday, January 11

Horizon
Youngstown State 69, Detroit 67. Close doesn't count. On the individual level, a career high in points for Marquis Moore.

Oakland 68, Cleveland State 55. OU (7-11, 2-3) won thanks to 37 trips to the foul line, making 26.

Milwaukee 87, Green Bay 80. Te'Jon Lucas had 31 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for the Panthers (8-9. 3-2), out-dueling Green Bay's super freshman Amari Davis, who scored 26 with 6 rebounds.

Other Titan Opponents
Toledo 67, Western Michigan 59. Toledo (9-7) wins for the first time since facing the Titans.

Kent State 79, Central Michigan 73. Kent is 13-3, CMU 9-7.

Northern Illinois 71, Eastern Michigan 68. After going 10-3 against a very soft non-con schedule, EMU is 0-3 in the MAC.

Bowling Green 83, Ohio 74. Bowling Green rallied from a 10 point halftime deficit on the road. Detroiter Justin Turner led the Falcons (11-5) with 29 points.

#1 Gonzaga 87, Loyola Marymount 62. I don't see the Bulldogs (17-1) losing again.

#13 Louisville 67, Notre Dame 64. Notre Dame (10-6) came back from 16 down to lead by 5 with about 5 minutes to go, but Louisville (13-3) rallied for the win.

Clemson 79, North Carolina 76 (OT). UNC is 8-8, 1-4 in the ACC, and looks unlikely to make the NIT, let alone the NCAA. They last missed the NCAA tournament in 2010.

Virginia Tech 72, North Carolina State 58. NC State falls to 11-5. I don't see them in the NCAAs.

UNLV 78, Wyoming 69 (OT). UNLV is just 9-9 overall, but 4-1 in the Mountain West. Wyoming is 0-6 in conference.

UC-Irvine 74, Hawaii 60. Irvine (9-8) wins its Big West opener.

Georgia Southern 71, Louisiana 51. The Ragin' Cajuns fall to 7-11.

Eastern Kentucky 78, SIU-Edwardsville 72. Edwardsville is 4-13.

Other Games
#2 Duke 90, Wake Forest 59. I hate Duke, but I'd rank them ahead of Gonzaga if I had a vote.
#4 Baylor 67, #3 Kansas 55. The Bears took control with a 22-4 run to end the first half. If I had a vote, I'd also rank Baylor, 14-1 with wins over Butler, Arizona, Texas Tech, Texas, Villanova, and now Kansas, and only a 3 point loss to Washington on a neutral court, ahead of Gonzaga.

#5 Auburn 82, Georgia 60.
#7 San Diego State 83, Boise State 65. Auburn and San Diego State are the last two unbeaten teams.

#9 Oregon 78, Arizona State 69.
Indiana 66, #11 Ohio State 54. OSU (11-5) looked great in a 25 point win over Villanova, a 35 point win at UNC, a 32 point win over Penn State, and a solid win over Kentucky. But since then they've lost 4 in a row.Indiana is 13-3.

#14 Kentucky 76, Alabama 67.
#15 Dayton 88, Massachusetts 60.
#16 Villanova 80, Georgetown 66. Sadiq Bey had 33 for the Cats (12-3).
#17 West Virginia 66, #22 Texas Tech 54.
Syracuse 63, #18 Virginia 55 (OT). Virginia (11-4) gives up 60 points in back-to-back regular season games for the first time since January, 2018, and loses two in a row for the first time since February, 2017. Syracuse (9-7) scored just 19 points in the second half, but 20 in the overtime.

Wisconsin 58, #20 Penn State 49.

St. John's 74, DePaul 67.
Creighton 77, Xavier 65.
Loyola 78, Evansville 44.

Mid-Major Win of the Dau: NJIT 78, North Florida 65. A kid with the unlikely name of San Antonio Brinsma, who had reached 20 points (22 to be exact) just once in 71 prior college games, and who averages just 8 points a game, poured in 37 points for NJIT (4-12).

[Commissioner]

Sunday, January 12

Horizon
Mid-Major Win of the Day: UIC 76, Wright State 72. UIC (7-12, 2-4), a big disappointment this year, didn't disappoint the home town fans today. Leading by 12 with under 4 minutes to play, the Flames tried to do their usual el foldo routine, giving up 10 straight points to cut the margin to two with a little over a minute left. But the Raider rally stalled and UIC sank 4 free throws in the final 23 seconds to hold on. Wright State (15-4, 5-1) leads YSU by half a game in the battle for first. The two face off next Saturay.

Northern Kentucky 96, IUPUI 71. Tyler Sharpe had 33 for Northern Kentucky (12-6, 4-2). Over his last 9 games he has scored, in order, 30, 33, 31, 6, 5, 5, 7, and 33 points. Seems like feast or famine for Tyler. Marcus Burke had 25 for IUPUI (5-14, 1-5) which is in last place in the conference, a half game behind the Titans.

Some More Games
Purdue 71, #8 Michigan State 42. Whoa, check out this score! MSU (13-4) seemed to be hitting its stride and had re-entered the top 10. They'd won 8 in a row, by an average of 23 points, including an 18 point takedown of UM, since losing to Duke. And then this. Purdue's been weird, too. Remember that the Boilermakers dismantled Virginia by 29 points in early December, but overall they're just 10-7 and lost to Illinois last week by 26.

Minnesota 75, #19 Michigan 67. Michigan seems to have peaked way too early. Since thrashing Gonzaga at the end of November--taking them to a #4 ranking and a 7-0 record--they are 4-5.

#21 Memphis 68, South Florida 64.
#23 Wichita State 89, Yukon 86 (OT). Connecticut (10-6), which never led in regulation, scored 9 unanswered points in the final 1:01 of regulation to force overtime. But it was vain. Wichita State goes to 15-1.

#25 Colorado 91, Utah 52.

[Commissioner]

Monday, January 13
Mondays in the new year are generally reserved for the nation's two weakest conferences, the SWAC and MEAC, with an occasional smattering of other games. 23 Division I teams took the floor last night (the odd number is because Cornell smacked around non-D1 Elmira), entering play with a combined W-L record of 118-260.

Mid Major Win of the Day:
Mississippi Valley State 72, Alabama A&M 66. The last winless D-1 team, Mississippi Valley State, finally got on the board against 5-10 Alabama A&M. Caleb Hunter, son of Coach Lindsey Hunter, led the Devils with 19 points. Central Connecticut State, which is 1-16 overall, remains winless against D1 teams.