Pontiac Scoreboard

[Commissioner]

Unfortunately, it is season ending surgery to repair a torn ACL for Dikembe Dixson.

That is a shame.

And double bummer--to get a medical redshirt, you must play in no more than 30% of a team's games. UIC had completed 29 percent of the season before last night's game. By playing in the first few minutes last night before injuring the ACL, Dixson crossed the 30% threshold--he's now played in 32% of UIC's games. So he's not eligible for a medical redshirt year.

[Commissioner]

Games for Thursday, December 15:

Non-Conference Opponents:
Ole Miss 78, Ole Murray State 73. Not as close as the score makes it seem. Or maybe it was. Murray State fell behind early, was down 12 at halftime and by 20 early in the second half. They were still down 14 with 2 minutes to play, but a late rally closed the gap to 4 with 18 seconds left, but the Racers ran out of time. Terrell Miller had 27 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Murray State (5-6). Sebastian Saez had 15 points and 15 rebounds for Mississippi (7-3).

Other Games:
George Washington 74, Central Florida 59.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Or, here, the mid-major loss of the day. Blue Mountain College, an NAIA school, whupped D-I Jackson State 57-49.

[Commissioner]

Saturday, Dec. 17. With finals over most places, the schedule picks back up, including some top-notch match-ups of highly ranked teams.

Horizon:

Detroit 85, Western Kentucky 79. Whew. Finally. Missing the front end of three straight one and ones with the game on the line was inexcusable, but otherwise it was a pretty good game. Certainly it was an interesting game to watch. I really liked seeing Terry Duerod back on the court in the second half, though he looked a lot like Josh McFolley. I also liked the 15-10 assist/turnover ratio. Perhaps unnoticed in McFolley's barrage of threes was that Josh also had 8 assists. It was good to see Jenkins hit some threes, and Allen had a good game and was on the floor the entire 40 minutes. Hogan was super, and coming off the bench, while apparently the result of a minor team rules infraction today, seemed to work pretty well as a strategy for keeping the big guy out of foul trouble. The Titans got 45 of their 90 points off the bench.

Ohio U. 71, Cleveland State 53. Ohio's win clinched a winning record for the MAC vs. the Horizon this year. The MAC has won 11 to the Horizon's 9, with only tomorrow's Wright State at Kent State game left. OU (7-2) committed 23 turnovers but outshot the Vikings (3-7) 48% to 32%, including 10 of 24 from three to the Vikings 3 of 21.

Western Illinois 75, Milwaukee 59. Milwaukee has had a bit more success so far than the Titans, but this 16 point home loss to a 3-7 Summit team (with both wins before today against non-DI opponents) is a reminder of how bad the Panthers (4-8) are. Western led by 19 at the half and coasted from there. Cody Wichmann led Milwaukee with 19 points.

Loyola 81, UIC 75 (OT). Loyola's Dante Ingram nailed a three at the buzzer to force overtime, then had 5 points, 3 rebounds and a block in the overtime as Loyola advanced to 10-2. Ingram finished with 20 point and 9 rebounds. UIC (5-6), playing its first game without Dikembe Dixson, out for the season with an ACL tear, got 19 points from Godwin Boahen.

Valparaiso 89, Indiana State 71. Alec Peters had 29 points and 15 rebounds as Valpo (9-2) won at home. Freshman center Jaume Sorolla moved into the starting lineup and had 8 points and 12 rebounds. The big Spaniard has supplanted the more highly touted redshirt freshman Derrick Smits as the successor to Vashil Fernandez.

Belmont at Green Bay was postponed due to weather.

Non-Conference Opponents:
#23 Florida State 83, Manhattan 67. This game resembled the Titan/FSU game. The Jaspers stayed with the Seminoles through about 5 minutes of the second half, trailing by 3. Then came the 11-0 Seminole run, which soon enough became a 28-12 run and so on. FSU got most its points in the paint, attempting just 6 three pointers all game. Dwayne Bacon led the Seminoles (11-1) with 16 points; Zavier Turner had 18 for the Jaspers (3-8).

Illinois 75, BYU 73. Illinois (9-3) took the lead for good with 17:29 to play in the first half, extending it to 16 points in the first half, then holding on for dear life as BYU (7-4) close to within a point in the final minute. Malcolm Hill had a tough game, shooting just 3 of 12 for 10 points, but he hit the game winning free throws with 16 seconds left to play. Eric Mike led BYU with 25.

Vermont 82, Eastern Michigan 74. James Thompson grabbed 21 rebounds (to go with 13 points), but Eastern still lost in Vermont (8-4). The Eagles (6-4) came back from 12 down to tie it with just under 5 minutes to go, but couldn't get over the hump.

Toledo 78, Southeastern Louisiana 56. Jonathan Williams had 24 for the Rockets (5-6). Southeastern is 6-5.

East Tennessee State 78, Morehead State 68. TJ Cromer had 23 for ETSU (9-2).

South Dakota State 88, Murray State 84 (OT). Mike Daum had 39 points, including 10 in overtime, as South Dakota State (6-7) beat visiting Murray State (5-7). Daum, the nation's leader in free throw shooting entering the game, his 16 of 16 from the foul line. For good measure, he had 11 rebounds. Jonathan Stark led Murray State with 32, including a three pointer that sent the game to overtime.

Other Games:
Michigan 98, Maryland-Eastern Shore 49. Michigan (9-3), led by Derrick Walton's 21 points, was twice as good as UMES (1-10).

#2 UCLA 86, Ohio State 73. Ohio State (8-3) turned it over 18 times and was outrebounded 41-31. UCLA (12-0) if off to its best start in a decade.
#3 Kansas 89, Davidson 71. Plucky Davidson (5-4) was tied at 58-58 midway through the second half, then Kansas (10-1) hit the gas pedal and was gone.
#4 Baylor 82, Jackson State 57.

#6 Kentucky 103, #7 North Carolina 100. Now that's a game!If UCLA's win over OSU was sloppy, this was a game worthy of a well-played Final 4. Malik Monk made 8 of 12 three point attempts, scored 47 points, and hit the go-ahead basket with 17 seconds left forKentucky (10-1). Monk's 47 was a Kentucky freshman record. Justin Jackson had 34 for UNC (10-2).

#18 Butler 83, #9 Indiana 78. In Indianapolis, Butler closed the first half on a 16-4 run for a14 point halftime lead, then held Indiana at bay for the rest of the afternoon. The Hoosiers (8-2) made their closest run late, closing to within 2 in the final minute, but Tyler Wideman dunked it off a pass from Tyler Lewis and a few seconds later Lewis hit a pair of foul shots to clinch the win. The win gave Butler (10-1) back-to-back wins over ranked teams. Kelon Martin led the Dogs with 28 points.

#10 Creighton 66, Oral Roberts 65. Creighton (11-0) held Oral Roberts (2-10) scoreless for the final 6:07 and squeaked out a win in Omaha. Oral Roberts came from 13 down in the second half to lead 65-60, which they held until just under the 5 minute mark. After Creighton regained the lead, neither team scored for the game's final 3:18. ORU missed it's final 8 shots from the field, plus two free throw attempts, and then turned it over on its last two possessions.

#11 Louisville 87, Eastern Kentucky 56.
#12 West Virginia 112, UMKC 67. When West Virginia wins, they win: Mt. St. Mary's by 28; Mississippi Valley State by 41; New Hampshire by 59; Illinois by 32; Manhattan by 47; Western Carolina by 53; VMI by 35; and now UMKC by 45. Oh, and Virginia by 9. This was Bob Huggins 800th career win.

#13 Virginia 79, Robert Morris 39. Virginia (9-1) holds an opponent below 40 points for the 4th time this year.
#17 Xavier 69, Wake Forest 65. These teams were within 5 points of one another for the final 35 minutes of play. Trevion Bluiett made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 20 seconds to clinch the win for Xavier (9-2). Bluiett finished with 20 points, as did Bryant Crawford for Wake (8-3).

#15 Purdue 86, #21 Notre Dame 81. Purdue (9-2) battled back from a 14 point halftime deficit to win in West Lafayette. Caleb Swanigan had 26 points and 10 rebounds. Notre Dame lost its second straight to a ranked team after an 9-0 start.

#22 Oregon 83, UNLV 63. Oregon (10-2) opened the second half with an 19-3 run, and went on to rout the Runnin' Rebels (6-5).
#16 South Carolina 77, South Florida 66. South Carolina (9-1) trailed by 6 at halftime.
#19 Arizona 67, Texas A&M 63. The Cats were blowing out A&M until an 18-0 run brought the Aggies (7-3) to within 2 with 22 seconds to play. Rawle Alkins finally hit a couple free throws to assure the win for Arizona (10-2).
#24 USC 82, Troy 77. Troy (6-4) led most of the game, building the lead to 10 early in the second half. But the Trojans faded as the Trojans rallied, and in the end the Trojans (9-0) scored the game's final 6 points to get the win. It's too bad neither team has a player named Paris or Hector.
#25 Cincinnati 119, Farleigh Dickinson 68. UC (9-2) scored 65 in the first half.

Northwestern 67, Dayton 64. This was two totally different games. Northwestern (9-2) won the first half 40-17. The Wildcats were up 11-0 less than 4 minutes into the game, shot over 50%, and held Dayton to 4 of 28 shooting in the half. Visiting Dayton won the second half 47-27, shooting over 50% and holding Northwestern to 27%. But the Flyers (7-3) ran out of time one possession short of tying it up. Northwestern's two losses are to Butler and Notre Dame, by a total of 6 points.

Georgetown 78, Syracuse 71.
Memphis 99, Oklahoma 94 (OT). The kind of game that may matter a lot when bids go out in March. Memphis is 8-3, Oklahoma 6-4.
Texas Tech 79, Richmond 72. Tech is 10-1 under first year coach Chris Beard.
Virginia Tech 113, Citadel 71. The Citadel (7-5) is the nation's highest scoring team, but the 5th worst in points allowed. This game started out pretty well and The Citadel led 44-40 at the half, but the second half was all Tech. Buzz Williams has the Hokies off to a 9-1 start.
Temple 68, NJIT 63. NJIT lost, but Damon Lynn had another 7 three point baskets in his pursuit of Travis Bader's all-time record.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Eastern Illinois 67, Missouri 64.

[Motor City Sam]

Georgetown 78, Syracuse 71.
Memphis 99, Oklahoma 94 (OT). The kind of game that may matter a lot when bids go out in March. Memphis is 8-3, Oklahoma 6-4.
Texas Tech 79, Richmond 72. Tech is 10-1 under first year coach Chris Beard.
Virginia Tech 113, Citadel 71. The Citadel (7-5) is the nation's highest scoring team, but the 5th worst in points allowed. This game started out pretty well and The Citadel led 44-40 at the half, but the second half was all Tech. Buzz Williams has the Hokies off to a 9-1 start.
Temple 68, NJIT 63. NJIT lost, but Damon Lynn had another 7 three point baskets in his pursuit of Travis Bader's all-time record.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Eastern Illinois 67, Missouri 64.

The Georgetown/Syracuse game featured a special presentation honoring the late, great Pearl Washington. Great gesture.

Memphis got their first significant road win of the Tubby Smith era, but lost their starting center to a dislocated ankle. They were already dealing with depth issues.

Texas Tech has played a horrible schedule, but at least they are beating those teams (with the exception of a loss to an average Auburn team).

Buzz Williams got out of town just ahead of the posse at Marquette, but is doing good things at V Tech. I don't think he will be there long.

I'm rooting for Damon Lynn.

[Commissioner]

Sunday, Dec. 18:

Horizon:
Northern Kentucky 70, Eastern Washington 48. The Norse continued to play good ball, winning their fifth in a row. There's not a lot to impress with in NKU's 8-3 record, but Eastern Washington appears to be a decent team--they're the Big Sky favorites, 6-3 overall with a win against a pretty good San Francisco team, with their other losses at Texas and Northwestern. The Norse made hash of them behind Cole Murray, who hit 5 three pointers (giving him 13 in his last two games), and their freshman star Carson Williams, who had 17 points and 9 rebounds.

Wright State 68, Kent State 63. This was a nice road win for a Horizon team against a perennial MAC power. Wright State (8-4) never trailed, built their lead to 17 with under 9 minutes to play, and then held off a rally that got the Golden Flash (7-4) to within two (and with the ball) in the final minute. Mark Alstork led the win with 25 points.

NonConference Opponents:
Fort Wayne 93, Stetson 74. The Titans' next opponent, Fort Wayne nee IPFW, took charge with a 21-6 run midway through the first half, and Stetson never rallied. Bryce Scott led the Mastadons (9-3) with 27 points. The Mastadons recorded 24 assists on 37 field goals.

Boston U. 73, New Hampshore 69. Three Wildcats--Tanner Leissner (25 points and 10 rebounds), Jaleen Smith (15/11), and Iba Camara (12/11)--had double-doubles, but New Hampshire (7-4) still fell in the final minute to host BU (5-6).

San Jose State , Bowling Green . Host San Jose had a 20-0 run late in the first half to lead by 15 at the break. San Jose extended the lead to 18 early the second half, before the Falcons began a slow, steady rally that finally gave them the lead, 64-63, with 5:38 to play. BGSU extended the lead to 3, but a 7-0 San Jose run put the Spartans back on top. BGSU retook the lead with 8 seconds to play. With just under two seconds left, San Jose's Jalen James missed a layup, but Brandon Clarke tipped in the rebound for the win. Clarke, the game's hero for SJ State (6-4) had 24 points and 14 rebounds. Wes Alcigiare and Zack Denny each scored 16 for Bowling Green (4-7).

Other Games of Mild Interest:
Northeastern 81, Michigan State 73. Although Northeastern has also beaten Connecticut this year, this is not as good a team as the Northeastern squads we've beaten the last two years, as indicated by their 6-5 record and losses to Boston U., Long Island, Cornell, and Stony Brook. Of course, neither UConn nor MSU are their usual selves. Still, it's impressive for Northeastern. After trailing 1-0, the Huskies led or were tied until the 14 minute mark of the second half. State stretched its lead to as many as six, but Northeastern never quit, regained the lead at the 7 minute mark, and held it the rest of the game, running it up to as many as 12 points. Our old UD Jesuit friend, MSU freshman Cassius Winston, had 21 points and 10 assists to lead State, which was still without freshman sensation Miles Bridges. Alex Murphy, a grad transfer from Florida, led Northeastern with 18.

Washington 92, Western Michigan 86. Western (3-7), behind 28 points from Tucker Haymond, battled Washington start to finish--they led much of the second half, and never trailed by more than 6-- but it's damn tough to win on the road in college hoops. Markelle Fultz had 27 points and 10 assists for Washington.

#4 Baylor 107, John Brown 53.
#8 Gonzaga 86, Tennessee 76. Gonzaga (11-0) and Baylor (11-0) remain two of seven undefeated teams left in D-I.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Northeastern over MSU, of course. Honorable mention to Gardner Webb 70, Nebraska 62.

[Commissioner]

For Monday, December 19:

Horizon:
Green Bay 94, SIU-Edwardsville 92 (OT). Green Bay (5-6) struggled, at home, to beat SIU-E (4-8), a very mediocre OVC team. In the end, Karem Kanter, who has suddenly emerged as Green Bay's new low post stud, hit a short hook with 4 seconds left in the OT to pull out the win. Kanter finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds, and freshman point guard Trevor Anderson added 22.

Belmont 62, Milwaukee 56. Milwaukee (4-9) played pretty well, leading for much of the first half and never letting Belmont pull away, but in the end they just don't have the horses, even playing at home against a sub-par (5-4) Bruin team. Evan Bradds, who has led the nation in field goal percentage two years running and this year is averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds and, tonight had 18 and 10 for Belmont. Jeremy Johnson and Jeremiah Bell each scored 10 for Milwaukee, which shot just 2 free throws all night.

Cleveland State 79, Lake Erie 62. Rob Edwards had 25 as the Vikings (4-7) padded the win total.

Non-Conference Opponents:

#21 Florida State 76, Samford 68. FSU scored 5 straight points in the final 50 seconds of the first half to take the lead, then continued the run with first 6 points of the second half. They eventually bumped the lead to 17 with about 6 minutes to play, before a too litte, too late Samford run closed the final margin to 8. FSU has won 8 straight and finished the non-conference season 12-1, equalling its best start ever. Terrence Mann had a career high 19 points for the Seminoles. Samford is 7-4.

Syracuse 105, Eastern Michigan 57. Yeah, it's Syracuse on the road, but EMU really has too much talent to lose like this. EMU's star center James Thompson puts up a lot of big numbers, but seems to disappear against top competition, and he certainly did tonight, going 0-5 from the floor and finishing with more turnovers than points (5 to 4). EMU's other high-major talent recruit, guard Raven Lee, was no better, shooting 1-6 for two points and one assist, against 5 turnovers. Eastern's top scorer this year, Willie Mangum, did score 10, but needed 20 shots to get there. Not pretty for the Eagles (6-5). Syracuse (7-4) had 8 players in double figures, led by freshman Tyus Battle with 18.

Other Games:
#5 Duke 65, Tennessee State 55. Luke Kennard had 24 as Duke (11-1) slogged past Tennessee State (8-3).
#15 Purdue 82, Western Illinois 50. The Leathernecks (3-8) were no match for the Boilermakers (10-2). Two pretty good nicknames.
#16 Indiana 103, Delaware State 56.
#23 USC 79, Cornell 67. Cornell (2-7) led for much of the first half, but USC (11-0) finally ground out the win.
#25 Notre Dame 77, Colgate 62. Notre Dame (10-2) snapped a two-game losing streak.

SMU 72, Stanford 49. SMU (9-3) scored the game's first 14 points and led 48-19 at halftime.
Oral Roberts 63, Little Rock 48. Oral Roberts, which entered the game at 2-10, spanked Little Rock (formerly known, I believe, as Little Rock-Mercy), which had entered the game at 9-2.
UMBC 120, Citadel 111. Gotta love the Citadel (7-6). They're scoring an average of 103 points per game, but giving up 102. Sort of a poor man's Loyola Marymount, circa 1990.

Mid-major win of the day: McNeese State 70, Tulane 63.

[udballer]

Other Games:
#5 Duke 65, Tennessee State 55. Luke Kennard had 24 as Duke (11-1) slogged past Tennessee State (8-3).

This was the first game I've watched in a while where I felt one team got absolutely whistle-f%$%ed. Tennessee State looked very good and outplayed Duke the entire game in Cameron except for about a 2-minute stretch of the second half. Refs kept Duke from going down 8-10 at the half... then got Duke back into it after a quick lead by TSU to start the second half. First time I've seen more than one foul called against a team in a game where there was absolutely no contact whatsoever. The announcers had a tough time defending the refs in a couple of spots.

[udballer]

P.S. I went to Detroit Mercy, not Tennessee State... so it was tough to understand my outrage watching that game. LOL

[titanmac]

northeastern beats up michigan state then drops oakland at the buzzer tonight.

[dennycrane]

Surprised Oakland would schedule two games in two nights with a vulnerable MSU on tap tomorrow. They nearly beat them last year; this State team is weaker at this point than last year's club and Kampe would know that. It's not like Northeastern is a trophy opponent to have on the schedule.

[Commissioner]

Tuesday, Dec. 20:

Horizon:
Northeastern 61, Oakland 59. Northeastern (7-5) had a successful swing through Michigan, adding a win over the Grizzlyneers to their Sunday win over MSU. Northeastern led by 9 at halftime and controlled most of the second half. A late rally brought OU to within reach until, with 10 seconds left, Mellonhead Walker was fouled on a three point attempt. Walker made all three free throws to tie the game for the first time since early in the first half. But TJ Williams answered with a fade-away jumper with two seconds left for the Huskie win. Williams finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Jalen Hayes had 18 for Oakland (9-2), their only player in double figures.

Ohio State 77, Youngstown State 40. Around the time the score hit 27-5, YSU players began to appreciate the joys of non-conference games against Geneva College.

UIC 75, Northern Arizona 65. UIC (6-6) allowed the Horizon to avoid a sweep tonight, beating the Lumberjacks (3-10) in Chicago. Tai Odiase had a career high 24 points and added 11 rebounds for the Flames.

Non-Conference Opponents:
Toledo 74, Loyola 70. Jonathan Williams had his 5th straight game with at least 20 points as Toledo (6-6) held off a late Loyola (10-3) rally in Savage Arena.

Manhattan 61, St. Francis (NY) 54. Zavier Turner hit 7 of 9 from three to finish with 26 points for Manhattan (4-8).

Other Action:
#9 Creighton 96, Arizona State 85. Marcus Foster had 29 points for Creighton (12-0).
#11 West Virginia 84, Radford 57. A relatively close game for WVU (10-1).
#17 Xavier 85, Eastern Washington 56.
#18 Arizona 77, New Mexico 46.
#19 St. Mary's 67, Texas A&M-CC 46. Jock Landale, a name straight out of Chip Hilton, had 15 points and 13 rebounds as St. Mary's (9-1) won.

Maryland 88, Charlotte 72. The Terps are 12-1.

[Commissioner]

Wednesday, December 21:

Horizon:
Michigan State 77, Oakland 65. MSU (8-5) grabbed the lead about 8 minutes into the game and never relinquished it, but the weren't able to put OU (9-3) away until the final minutes, opening a 13 point lead with a bit over 4 minutes left. Even then the Grizzlies cut the gap to 6 with 40 seconds to play, but MSU hit free throws down the stretch to ice it. Miles Bridges missed his 5th straight game for MSU, but fellow freshman Nick Ward responded tonight with 25 points while freshman Cassius Winston of UDJ led the Spartans with 8 assists. Stevie Clark led OU with 13.

Northern Kentucky 97, Brescia 73. Northern Kentucky won its 6th straight, tuning up for Friday's game at West Virginia by smashing little Brescia College. Freshman Carson Williams had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Norse (9-3).

Non-Conference Opponents:
Illinois 75, Missouri 66. The Illini (10-3) won their 6th in a row and are starting to look like a pretty good team. Malcolm Hill scored 21.

Western Kentucky 67, Ohio U. 66. For the final 11:15 these teams were never more than 2 points apart. Demaris Paris missed on the first of two free throws with the game tied and two seconds left, but hit the second to give the Hilltoppers (5-7) the win. The Hilltoppers were home after playing 7 straight (and losing 6) on the road. Western got 15 points from both Justin Johnson and Pancake Thomas. This OU (7-3) got 27 from Kenny Kaminsky.

New Hampshire 89, Daniel Webster 26. Not a typo on that Webster score.

Other Games:
Central Michigan 106, Montana State 103. CMU (9-3) got a hard-fought road win behind 44 points from Marcus Keene, the nation's leading scorer. Keene also had 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Sophomore Tyler Hall, who entered the game averaging 23.5 points, had 29 for Montana State (5-8). Central had a 10 point lead with just 37 seconds to play but hung on only when Hall's 3 pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.

#2 UCLA 82, Western Michigan 68. UCLA ended the first half on a 17-6 run for a 12 point margin at the break, but Western responded by scoring the first 8 points of the second half. UCLA ran the lead back up to 16, but Western fought back again, cutting it to 8, and then hung around for a long time, never threatening to take the lead but staying close enough to keep UCLA (13-0) a bit on edge. A 9-0 Bruin run in the game's final minutes finally put Western (3-8) out for good. Bryce Alford and Thomas Wilder led their respective teams with 22 points.

#1 Villanova 90, American 48. Josh Hart had 20 in an easy win for the top-ranked Wildcats (12-0).
#4 Baylor 89, Texas Southern 63.
#5 Duke 72, Elon 61. Elon (7-5) led at the half in a game played on a neutral court in Greensboro. Luke Kennard had 21 for Duke (12-1).
#10 Louisville 73, #6 Kentucky 70. Kentucky was unable to follow up its win over North Carolina with another big victory. The Louisville victory was only the 2nd for Rick Pitino in 10 games against John Calipari since the latter arrived at Kentucky. Louisville is 11-1; Kentucky is 10-2.

#7 Gonzaga 102, South Dakota 65.
#8 North Carolina 85, Northern Iowa 42.
#12 Virginia 56, California 52. Virginia had a letdown on defense, allowing all of 52 points, 6 points above their season average.
#13 Butler 81, Vermont 69.
#15 Purdue 91, Norfolk State 45. 32 points and 20 rebounds for Caleb Swanigan. Sort of a typical Spencer Haywood stat line.
Clemson 62, #22 South Carolina 60. Biggest lead of the game for either team was 4 points. PJ Dozier led South Carolina (9-2) with 26 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals, but missed a three for the win with 4 seconds left. Jaron Blossingame had 15 points and 10 boards for Clemson (9-2).

Memphis 95, Incarnate Word 71. I included this game so I could finally mention one of my favorite-named players this year, Incarnate Word's Simi Socks. Socks scored 13 but the Cardinals (5-6) were socked by Memphis (9-3). Get your Simi Socks on!

Dayton 68, Vanderbilt 63. Old friend Bryce Drew is 6-6 at Vandy. Old rival Dayton is 8-3.
St. John's 93, Syracuse 60. What got into the Johnnies (6-7) tonight?
Texas 96, UAB 60. Shaka's Longhorns are just 6-5 for the year.
TCU 74, Bradley 42. You can bet an embarrassment like this wouldn't have happened when Fordy Anderson was coaching Bradley. The Braves are 5-8; the Toads are 11-1.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Fairfield 89, Boston College 83. Really, beating Boston College is getting too easy. They've also lost to Nichols State and Hartford. Honorable mention to Maryland-Eastern Shore (2-11), which beat UTEP in El Paso, 71-66. But UTEP is uncharacteristically awful this year. The Miners are 2-8 and lost to Northern Arizona in their last game.

[Commissioner]

Games for Thursday, Dec. 22:

Horizon:
Fort Wayne 93, Detroit 86. I hate looking for "good things" in a loss, but I'll offer a few thoughts on the Titans tonight.
1) Cory Allen, the nation's leading scorer in 2018-19;
2) 33 points. The Titan stat guys need to look up when was the last time a Titan freshman scored more. Ray's best was 31. Who else could it be? I don't think Willie Green ever got close to 30 as a freshman. RogoBob says it's neither John Long nor Rashad Phillips. I've verified Terry Duerod never hit 33 as a freshman, nor Jerry Davis, who I thought of. I'm thinking this is the highest scoring game ever for a Titan freshman.
3) 9 threes for Corey--most since Des Ferguson hit 10 against Milwaukee in 2000.
3) McFolley had a 9 assist night; he does so many things well, but he makes too many bad decisions. We need him to play smarter, and when he does he and Allen will the bomb as a backcourt;
4) it was good to see the Titans come back from a big deficit, even if they couldn't get over the hump;
5) much better defense in the second half;
6) Ft. Wayne shot 54%, but realize they're a 50% shooting team on the season. They shot 60% in the first half, just 46% in the second;
7) Coaches have got to work with Hogan to avoid the fouls on offense. I don't know the breakdown on his fouls for the year, but he seems to get at least one off-ball foul on offense every game, and he can't afford that. It's a shame--he was awesome on offense tonight.
8) Put out an Amber Alert on Jenkins' three point shot; it's also affecting his ability to drive as defenders are laying off him;
9) Any word on AFS? We need him bad. No depth up front.
10) Ft. Wayne is a good team--they're the Summit favorite and would be a favorite-with Valpo--if they were in our league. Indeed, after Valpo's performance tonight against Santa Clara, perhaps Ft. Wayne would be a clear favorite in the Horizon. We can win some games in conference play.

Santa Clara 87,Valparaiso 80. Short of running the table in the Horizon, Valparaiso probably lost any chance of an NCAA at-large bid, and if it wins the Horizon tournament, screwed up its NCAA seeding royally by losing at home to Santa Clara in double overtime. The Broncos, who entered the game with losses to Cal-Irvine, Cal-Davis, Tennessee State, and San Jose State, never trailed in the first half and led for much of the second, but after falling behind held Valpo to just 2 points in the final 5:20 of regulation. After a 4-4 first OT, Santa Clara led all of the second OT and iced it by knocking down 7 of 8 free throws in the final 30 seconds. Jared Brownridge had 30 points for the Broncos (6-7). Alec Peters had 35 points and 13 rebounds for Valpo (9-3).

Belmont 88, Cleveland State 61. Belmont (6-4) beat a Horizon team for the second time this week. The Bruins held CSU (4-8) scoreless for 8 and a half minutes in the second half, breaking the Vikings back with a 21-0 run. Evan Bradds scored 19 points on what was, for him, uncharacteristically poor shooting (7 of 12). Rob Edwards and Anthony Wright each had 14 for CSU.

Wright State 77, Murray State 62. Wright State (9-4) overcame a six point deficit with a 9-0 run to start the second half, and went on to defeat the Racers in Murray. Mark Alstork had 27 points and Steve Davis 20. Terrell Miller had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Racers (5-8), who beat Horizon members Green Bay and Detroit in non-conference.

Green Bay 108, St. Mary's (Mn.) 59. The Phoenix squared their record at 6-6 with an easy win over outmanned St. Mary's of Minnesota. All 10 Green Bay players to see action scored at least 6 points, led by Jamar Hurdle with 21 and Karem Kanter with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Tevon Findley had 9 steals in the game, a Green Bay record.

UIC 91, Roosevelt 53. The Flames finish the non-conference season at 7-6. Godwin Boahen had a triple double with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists. Clint Robinson also had a double-double for UIC.

Non-Conference Opponents:
Eastern Michigan 101, Marygrove 48. Nothing like a game with Marygrove to forget about Monday's 48 point blowout at Syracuse. Raven Lee had 25 and Willie Mangum 24. EMU's big center, James Thompson, sat the game out with a minor injury. Eastern's 7-5 record includes 4 wins over NAIA competition.

Bowling Green 74, Alabama A&M 61. Alabama A&M (0-10) is one of two winless teams in D-I (the other is fellow SWAC member Mississippi Valley State). Bowling Green is 5-7.

Tennessee 72, East Tennessee State 68. ETSU (9-3) had its shot, getting to host a so-so Tennessee squad in Johnson City. In a see-saw battle with multiple lead changes, the Volunteers (7-5) finally took the lead for good on a couple of Detrick Mostella free throws with 1:11 to play. Mostella led all scorers with 25 points.

Manhattan 81, Eastern Kentucky 54. After trailing at the break, Manhattan dominated the second half. Calvin Crawford led the Jaspers (5-8) with 19.

Other Games:
Michigan 68, Furman 62. Michigan (10-3) never did shake Furman (7-6), which last beat a Big 10 team in 1975, but they did win.

#3 Kansas 71, UNLV 53. Detroit native Kris Clyburn, whom the Titans offered, had a minimalist double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) in UNLV's losing effort.
#16 Indiana 97, Austin Peay 62.
#19 St. Mary's 74, South Carolina State 47. Jock Landale had 20 points and 11 boards for the Gaels (10-1).
#23 USC 83, Missouri State 75.
#24 Cincinnati 93, Marshall 91 (OT). Cincinnati hadn't given up 10 threes in a game all year. Marshall made 14 in the first half and entered the locker room with a 12 point edge. But all good things must come to an end, and they for Marshall, which made just 3 more. Cincy slowly fought back, and Jacob Evans sent it to OT with a three pointer with 10 seconds left. In the OT, Troy Caupain rebounded his missed shot and made a short jumper with at the buzzer to let the Bearcats escape with the W. Stevie Browning had 28 points for Marshall (7-5), including 6 of 8 from three. Gary Clark had 26 points and 10 rebounds and Evans added 25 for UC (10-2).

Canisius 106, St. Bonaventure 101 (OT). A good win for Canisius (8-5) in a game between Titan rivals of the 1970s. Matt Mobley had 33 for the Bonnies (8-4).
Wake Forest 110, LSU 76. A surprisingly easy win for the Deacons (9-3).

NJIT 92, Dean 50. Damon Lynn played just 19 minutes in the rout, but hit another 5 three pointers. Lynn leads the nation with 4.6 per game. Depending on how far NJIT advances in the post-season, he needs to average as many as 5.1 per game for the rest of the season. That number would drop with each post-season win that extends NJIT's season.

Mid Major win of the day: A bunch of mid-majors looked poised to pull off upsets, only to fade late. But there were still a couple good wins. We'll go with
San Francisco 89, Utah 86. USF is 9-2. A return to glory for the Dons? No. But it is a good start. Utah is 7-3.

[Motor City Sam]

#24 Cincinnati 93, Marshall 91 (OT). Cincinnati hadn't given up 10 threes in a game all year. Marshall made 14 in the first half and entered the locker room with a 12 point edge. But all good things must come to an end, and they for Marshall, which made just 3 more. Cincy slowly fought back, and Jacob Evans sent it to OT with a three pointer with 10 seconds left. In the OT, Troy Caupain rebounded his missed shot and made a short jumper with at the buzzer to let the Bearcats escape with the W. Stevie Browning had 28 points for Marshall (7-5), including 6 of 8 from three. Gary Clark had 26 points and 10 rebounds and Gary Clark added 25 for UC (10-2).

Did they clone Clark, or were you testing us to see who was reading your report?

[Commissioner]

#24 Cincinnati 93, Marshall 91 (OT). Cincinnati hadn't given up 10 threes in a game all year. Marshall made 14 in the first half and entered the locker room with a 12 point edge. But all good things must come to an end, and they for Marshall, which made just 3 more. Cincy slowly fought back, and Jacob Evans sent it to OT with a three pointer with 10 seconds left. In the OT, Troy Caupain rebounded his missed shot and made a short jumper with at the buzzer to let the Bearcats escape with the W. Stevie Browning had 28 points for Marshall (7-5), including 6 of 8 from three. Gary Clark had 26 points and 10 rebounds and Gary Clark added 25 for UC (10-2).

Did they clone Clark, or were you testing us to see who was reading your report?

Yes. And you win, Sam.

Actually, the afore-mentioned Jacob Evans added 25. Now corrected.

[HSScout1]

Oakland beats Georgia by seven. Texas transfer Martez Walker drops 30.

[Commissioner]

Games for Friday, December 23:

Except for Valpo, which is scheduled to beat up Chicago State next week, all Horizon teams have completed their non-conference play with tonight's games. The Horizon ranks 18th in conference RPI.

Horizon:
Oakland 86, Georgia 79. Well, Georgia (8-4) learned a lesson about scheduling road games at mid-majors, and you can bet that won't happen again. Meanwhile, swallow your pride and tip your hat to the Grizz, who get a nice victory over a solid SEC team. Martez Walker was the star, with a career high 30 points. Twenty-five of those came in the second half as the Grizzlies rallied from a 7 point halftime deficit. OU (10-3) opened the half with an 18-4 run and never relinquished the lead. Georgia's two Michigan boys didn't do much: Junior Yante Maten, averaging 21 points and 8.5 rebounds entering the McRena, was held to 6 and 5 before fouling out, while sophomore forward Michael Edwards had 4 points and 6 rebounds off the bench. The game snapped a streak of 37 straight games in double figures for Maten.

#11 West Virginia 92, Northern Kentucky 61. Northern Kentucky went to Morgantown sporting a 4-1 true road record, one of the best in the nation. And except for Temple, which handed WVU its only loss, and Virginia, whom WVU beat by 11, Northern Kentucky did about as well as anyone against the Mountaineers. Save Temple and UVa, West Virginia has won its other 10 games by 27 to 59 points, including a 32 point thrashing of Illinois. So what's 31 points? Indeed the Norsemen were within 2 with two minutes left in the first half, but the Mountaineers closed the half with a little 5-0 run, a preview of bad things to come for the Norse. WVU opened the second half with a 12-2 run, and that was all she wrote. West Virginia presses almost non-stop, and it gradually wears down the opposition, especially less talented teams like the Norse (West Virginia closed out the game on a 25-9 run). Northern Kentucky turned it over 25 times, but that's not so bad--UMKC turned it over 27 times against WVU; Radford, 29; Western Carolina, 34; New Hampshire, 34; Manhattan, 40. Even Illinois turned it over 24 times against WVU's press. Freshman Carson Williams had 12 to lead the norse. WVU can be a scary team. It will be interesting to see how they do in March.

Non-Conference Opponents
Michigan -Dearborn 64, Adrian 62. D-III Adrian drops to 4-5 with a loss to NAIA UM-Dearborn. Contrary to what many think, NAIA is usually better quality than D-IIII, and NAIA schools do offer scholarships.

Other Games:
#14 Wisconsin 90, Florida A&M 37. Great way to prepare for Christmas--leave sunny Florida for wintry Wisconsin, hunt Badgers without proper equipment.

#23 USC 94, Wyoming 92 (OT). With the Bacari Alexander era off to a horrendous start, a number of forum members have reminded us of P.J. Fleck, Western Michigan's football coach, who team was 1-11 in his first season, and now three seasons later has coached the Broncos to their best season ever. That has struck me as an ridiculously thin reed on which to base hopes. But, if that's the way you want to go, I'd suggest a far better and more relevant example would be someone like Andy Enfield at USC. Enfield, recall, was hired in 2011 as head coach at Florida Gulf Coast despite no prior coaching experience. His first team went 15-17 in the weak Atlantic Sun Conference. The next year his club finished second, with a 21-10 regular season record, including 5 losses to teams with RPIs above 200. But they upset regular season champ Mercer to get to the NCAA, then beat Georgetown as a #15 seed, and reached the Sweet 16 by beating San Diego State, before losing to Florida. So based on that, USC hired him, a hiring that raised a lot of eyebrows. Anyway, USC initially struggled under Enfield, going 11-21 and 12-20 (2-16 and 3-15 in conference play) his first two seasons,, and there was a lot of second guessing. But last year USC turned it around, going 21-13 and reaching the NCAA tournament, and this year they are one of 6 unbeaten teams remaining (13-0), and nationally ranked. Still strikes me as a damn thin basis for optimism, but if you're looking in that direction for hope, it strikes me as more relevant than PJ Fleck. Oh, despite the loss, Wyoming is off to a 10-3 start under first year head coach Allen Edwards. The Cowboys also lost their top scorer, rebounder, and assist man from last year's 14-18 team.

Seton Hall 72, Rutgers 61. In the battle for New Jersey bragging rights, Rutgers (11-2) led by 9 at halftime, but the Hall (10-2) dominated after the break.
Boston College 79, Providence 67. After losses to Hartford, Nichols State, and Fairfield, this was a big win for BC (7-6). Providence is 10-3 entering Big East play.
Harvard 57, Houston 56. Five of Harvard's top 6 in minutes played this year are freshmen. Now that's young. The Crimson are 5-4 after beating Houston (9-3) on the road. Harvard got the win by holding the Cougars scoreless for the final 2:30.

Mid Major Win of the Day: You know already.

[Commissioner]

Back into action on December 27 (well, not the Titans or anyone in the Horizon, but a few teams were):

Non-Conference Opponents:
Maryland 84, Illinois 59. May be about time for the Terps (13-1) to get ranked. They non-Con schedule wasn't great, but they did beat Georgetown, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State (each by 1 point). Tonight Melo Trimble had 20 and the Terps shot 56% from the floor. Malcolm Hill had 21 for Illinois (10-4), which had a 6 game winning streak snapped.

Other Games:
Michigan State 75, Minnesota 74. So we entered the night wondering if MSU was going to struggle through the entire Big 10 season; and if Minnesota's 12-1 non-conference mark meant the Gophers were for real. We still wonder about each. Still without Miles Bridges, MSU trailed by 13 at the half and never led by more than 3 in regulation. Shooting like they'd been possessed by a bunch of Titans, Sparty was 8-20 at the foul line until Alvin Ellis hit a pair with 10 seconds left in the OT to MSU (9-5) ahead by the final score. Nick Ward had 22 points and 10 rebounds for MSU. UDJ grad Cassius Winston fouled out with just 2 points, though he did notch 6 assists.

#14 Wisconsin 72, Rutgers 52. After an 11-1 start against a very soft schedule, back-to-back losses to Seton Hall and Wisconsin quickly expose Rutgers as a pretender.

Northwestern 87, Penn State 77. The Cats and Lions tipped off the Big 10 season in Happy Valley. Northwestern (12-2) is still searching for its first NCAA bid ever. Road wins always help.
SMU 58, Memphis 54. I wouldn't be surprised if both of these AAC teams are on the fence on selection Sunday, and this early conference game will matter a lot. SMU is 11-3; Memphis 9-4.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Kent State 63, Texas 58. Texas falls to just 6-6, but this is still huge win down in Austin for Kent State. Kent's leading scorer, Jimmy Hall, drew his 4th foul and went to the bench with just under 15 minutes remaining and Kent down six. Instead of folding, however, Kent (8-5) went on a 15-2 run to take the lead they never relinquished. Sophomore Jaylin Walker, out of Detroit, led the upset with 24 points.

[Commissioner]

For Wednesday, December 28:

Horizon:
Valparaiso 80, Chicago State 61. Valpo (10-3) wraps up the Horizon's non-conference season, with Shane Hammink scoring 22 and Alec Peters adding 15 points and 14 rebounds. The Horizon went 67-60 overall in the non-conference season, but just 51-60 against D-I opponents. The Conference RPI is ranked #18, but should move up a little in conference play.

Non-Conference Opponents:
#20 Florida State 88, Wake Forest 72. Trailing by 5 at home with under 9 minutes to play, FSU (13-1) rose to the occasion with a 17-0 run.

Western Kentucky 97, Austin Peay 92. Pontiac's Que Johnson had 25 points in WKU's win. The Hilltoppers are 6-7.

Other Games:
#1 Villanova 68, DePaul 65. Wow, maybe DePaul is not so decrepit. The Blue Demons (7-7) didn't let Villanova (13-0) rest until Billy Garrett missed a trey--and he had a good, open look, too--at the buzzer.
#21 Oregon 89, #2 UCLA 87. Dylan Brooks hit a three pointer with 1 second left as Oregon beat UCLA in Eugene. Oregon led from early in the first half until a 15-0 run gave UCLA a 7 point lead with eight minutes left to play. UCLA got the lead up to 8, but couldn't finish the Ducks (12-2), who outscored the Bruins 6-0 in the final minute. UCLA's defeat leaves 5 unbeaten teams.

#12 Virginia 61, #6 Louisville 53. Virginia (11-2) bopped the Cardinals (11-2) in Louisville. UVa opened up a 21 point lead and held off a too little/too late rally.
#9 North Carolina 102, Monmouth 74. Monmouth is 10-3, but last year's magic seems gone.
#10 Creighton 89, Seton Hall 75. Creighton (13-0) is one of the unbeatens.
#15 Purdue 89, Iowa 67.
Nebraska 87, #16 Indiana 83. Indiana (10-3) is sure an up and down team, losing at home today to Nebraska (7-6).
#17 Xavier 82, Providence 56.
#22 Southern Cal 70, Oregon State 63. USC (14-0) is another unbeaten.
#23 Cincinnati 56, Temple 50. The Bearkats shot 32% to Temple's 27%, and that was good enough.
#24 Notre Dame 63, St. Peter's 55. This game wasn't as close as the final score suggest. The final was the only time St. Peter's was within single digits in the final 31 minutes of the game.

Marquette 76, Georgetown 66.
NJIT 64, Stony Brook 61. Damon Lynn scored 25 points, but made just two 3 pointers for NJIT (7-8).

[Commissioner]

Thursday, December 29:

Horizon:
Northern Kentucky 81, Detroit 70. Well, the first half was good. And we won't have to face Cole Murray again in Calihan Hall. Except maybe in the conference tournament. Jaleel Hogan's 22 points was a career high. I don't know where his 8 blocks stands in the single game Titan record book, but it's gotta be up there.

Oakland 82, Wright State 61. It's early, but it seems increasingly clear that Valpo and Oakland are the class of the league. Maybe NKU can make a run. Sherron Dorsey-Walker had 25 points, Jalen Hayes a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, and OU (11-3) snuffed out Wright State's long distance game, holding the Raider to 4 of 26 from behind the arc. WSU (9-5) entered the game shooting over 40% from downtown.

Green Bay 76, Cleveland State 75 (OT). The Vikings jumped out to a 16-3 lead, but couldn't hold it. Trevor Anderson made one of two free throws with 5 seconds left in the OT, and that was enough for Green Bay (7-6). Meanwhile, 6-10 junior Karem Kanter has suddenly exploded for Green Bay. Six games ago, Kanter had never scored more than 12 points, had reached double figures in points just 4 times in his career, had never reached double figures in rebounds, and was a career 47% shooter. He now has back-to-back double-doubles, has reached double figures in points every time, and is averaging 17.5 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 59% for the six games.

Youngstown State 88, Milwaukee 87 (2OT). A lot of overtime in northeast Ohio. Cameron Morse had 33 points and forced the game into overtime by knocking down a three pointer with 2 seconds left in regulation as YSU (7-7) escaped with a win at Beeghly. Brock Stull had 26 points and 10 boards for Milwaukee (4-10)

Non-Conference Opponents:
Eastern Michigan 98, Long Beach State 72. Long Beach State (5-11) routinely plays killer schedules early. This year, they lost on the road to Wichita State, Louisville, North Carolina, UCLA, Kansas, Texas, and Washington, but had gone 5-3 against lesser competition, including tough games at Florida Gulf Coast and New Mexico State, and against Oregon State at home. So they're tough to get a bead on. But Eastern trounced them today in Ypsilanti, blowing it open with an 18-2 run to end the first half. Eastern made 33 of 39 free throws. Raven Lee led the Eagles with 20 points.

East Tennessee 92, Savannah State 71. TJ Cromer had 30 points for ETSU (10-3).

Western Illinois 93, Fort Wayne 91. Whoa! The Leathernecks put a damper on whatever at-large hopes Ft. Wayne had by nipping the Mastodons in Fort Wayne. Western Illinois (4-8) had previously lost to Chicago State, American, Miami, and Southeast Missouri State, among others (how bad is that? Chicago State has the best RPI of those 4).

Murray State 99, Brescia 83. A final pre-conference tune-up for Murray State (6-8) before OVC conference play.

Adrian 67, Baldwin Wallace 65. Adrian won on a layup with 1 second left to square its record at 5-5.

Other Games:
Western Michigan 80, Alabama A&M 50. Western (4-8) blew out one of the two remaining winless teams in all of D-I.

#7 Gonzaga 92, Pepperdine 62.
#8 Kentucky 99, Mississippi 76. 34 points for Malik Monk.
St. John's 76, #13 Butler 73. Freshman guard Shamorie Ponds scored 26 points, including four free throws in the final 9 seconds as St. John's upsets Butler in the Big East opener for both schools.
#25 Florida 81, Arkansas 72.

Drake 102, Loyola 98. Drake (3-10) upset Loyola (10-4) in the MVC opener for both teams.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Lipscomb 81, Missouri 76. With losses to North Carolina Central and Eastern Illinois, Missouri (5-7) has been a favorite mid-major target this year. Nathan Moran made 4 free throws in the final 5 seconds to ice the win for Lipscomb (7-9). Moran finished with 22 points.