Another entertaining day of College Basketball is in the record books, with the Charleston Classic and Myrtle Beach Invitational providing some day basketball, the Gavitt Games wrapping up with the Big East getting two big wins to win the challenge 6-2, and some fun results from the West Coast. Let’s get into the roundup of another interesting day of College Basketball.
Xavier lives up to expectations
While there is still plenty of time for Travis Steele’s Musketeers to let us down, for one night the Musketeers lived up to the hype and got a win in a signature matchup. With Zach Freemantle out, the Musketeers fed Jack Nunge for the tone of 14 points and 14 rebounds, which set the Musketeers up elsewhere. Xavier made shots in the first half and took control for this game. Ohio State made a furious comeback, but when Xavier needed their senior leader to step up, Paul Scruggs delivered with the dunk of the year to put the game on ice. At least for now, it is good to see Xavier overachieving by getting this big win, while there was an incredible atmosphere at the Cintas Center.
Marquette backs up a big win
Following a big win against Illinois, this was a classic letdown spot for Marquette going against a bubblicious Ole Miss team. Turns out, this was not a letdown as the Golden Eagles soared to a come-from-behind victory to move onto the Charleston Classic semifinals. Darryl Morsell continues to look like one of the best transfer pickups of the offseason, while Justin Lewis scored a career-high 21 points. Maybe Marquette can be a Tournament team after all.
San Francisco picks up a necessary win
With Nevada seemingly snowballing out of control early this season, it was important for San Francisco to pick up a win against the Wolf Pack. The Dons were down 10 at the half, 16 at one point in the game but were able to rally and get a big win to keep their tournament hopes on track. Gabe Stefanini had a crucial 28 points, while Jamaree Bouyea heated up in the second half for 22 points. Next up for the Dons will be when they head to the Las Vegas Invitational.
Great effort by Arizona State comes up short
A week ago, Arizona State lost a heartbreaker against UC Riverside and once again they end up on the wrong end of a game-winning three-point attempt against San Diego State. The Sun Devils were without Marcus Bagley, who is their best player, so the resiliency of this team to be in this game is a credit to them but it will feel like a missed opportunity. All of that the same, I do think that the Sun Devils could use this as a launching point towards an at-large push.
Wayne Tinkle extension not looking great thus far
Samford is a good mid-major basketball team and could be one of the top teams in the SoCon but there’s no reason for Oregon State to lose this game. While Oregon State’s run was a fun time and the Beavers were able to make program history, that looks to be quote flukish at this point. Should Jules Bernard have made a free throw, we probably are looking at Tinkle being on the hot seat entering this season, and given how this season has started, would have led to him getting fired. Instead, he’s under contract for another five seasons after this season.
DePaul-Rutgers goes off the rails
A matchup of DePaul and Rutgers was not a game that was thought to be sloppy and not well played and it lived up to that hype. Then the teams combined to score on 9 straight shots, neither team could miss a shot and DePaul hung on to a 73-70 victory. As for the implications, Rutgers is not good and will be missing the NCAA Tournament, while DePaul is also not good but improving. Here’s to a rematch in the CBI title game.