Wow, was last night a great one for close games, such as:
Kansas 71 - Cornell 66 = And it was even closer than that, as Big Red held a 64-63 lead with 50 seconds left. Had Collins not carried the Jayhawks by himself all evening, this would have been the biggest upset since Chaminade beat Ralph Sampson's UVA team.
Michigan State 54 - Wisconsin 47 = Both teams shot well under 40% from the field, and I'd like to know how much was due to D and how much to crappy selection and execution.
U. Conn. 71 - Seton Hall 63 = Another tough loss for the Pirates. Again, considering this was in Storrs, that 8-point margin is no shame . . . but it's still an L on the books.
Marquette 62 - Georgetown 59 = Have you guys been paying attention? The Golden Eagles may be the best 10-5 team in the nation. Not only have they beaten Xavier and Michigan also, but of their losses it was by 1 to Florida State, 4 to N.C. State, 1 to West Virginia, and 2 to Villanova. Not too shabby.
Aside from these, games without as much national implication included:
BYU 77 - UNLV 73 = In a battle of Good vs. Evil, one prevailed. I'll let you choose which is which.
UCLA 76 - California 75 (OT) = Hey, the Pac-10 can play some real competitive ball . . . against each other, anyway.
Stanford 54 - USC 53 = See what I mean?
Bradley 91 - Indiana State 85 (OT) = Everybody loves a bonus session.
William & Mary 74 - Delaware 73 (OT) = Like this.
Grambling State 64 - Alabama A&M 62 (OT) = Or this.
Ohio 63 - IUPUI 62 = Close, but no seegar.
Jackson State 63 = Alabama State 62 = " " " .
ODU 74 - James Madison 72 = Not as close, but still.
Drexel 75 - VCU 72 = A blowout, relatively.
Wichita State 65 - Missouri State 62 = And another one.
As for action this evening, well, it's mostly a bunch of crap..Already today Coastal Carolina has edges N.C. Ashville 58-57 in the Manteo-to-Murphy (or is it Duck to Ducktown?) challenge, which is of interest only as it continues the "squeaker" trend. The other games which I find of note include:
Western Kentucky vs. South Alabama = A decent chance to be a decent game.
Michigan vs. Penn State = A conference game, at least.
Xavier vs. LaSalle = The X-men should continue their Yo-Yo season with a W.
St. Francis (PA) vs. St. Francis (NY) = This one's for all who believe basketball is Assisi game.
Enjoy.