After a hectic day of College Basketball, this was a major letdown day of College Basketball, as there were only a few notable results from Thursday’s night of College Basketball. Even so, there’s still some action to break down and thus it is time for the daily roundup.
Late call gives Saint Mary’s a 60-58 win at Utah State
The biggest game of the night lived up to the billing, as Saint Mary’s and Utah State went right down to the wire. Ultimately it was a loose ball foul on a rebound that gave Alex Ducas free throws for the win. Let me start out by saying that this was a great early-season matchup between two potential NCAA Tournament teams. We need games like this, we need buildings in a full capacity like this Utah State venue was, and it was a great game with a bad ending. The officials made a direct impact on the result and that is a shame, Justin Bean was fouled going up for a shot, although that wasn’t called and I don’t mind that as the contact wasn’t extreme. That said, for the officials to follow that up with calling a foul on Bean for jumping for a loose ball that had minimal contact was a shame. This game deserved overtime and for the game to end the way it did is shameful. Good for Saint Mary’s getting a quadrant one win, while this loss won’t hurt Utah State either, albeit they could have dramatically improved upon their Tournament chances with a win.
Oregon State moves to 1-7
California has been a disastrous program in the Pac-12 but nothing can tough the disaster that is this Oregon State Basketball team this year. The Beavers have been a trainwreck offensively and while their schedule has been relatively difficult, there’s no excuse for this team starting 1-7. This team will get better and win games, but at this point, they are likely locked in to being the last-place team in the Pac-12.
Missouri gets blown out by Liberty
Missouri came into a game at Liberty as 5.5 point underdogs, which should be troublesome for the program in itself. For them to lose by 21, should be even worse for this program. Yes, Liberty is one of the top mid-major programs in the sport, but there’s no excuse for Missouri to ever get run out of the gym in this way. At this point, it seems like a matter of when, not if Cuonzo Martin becomes relieved of his duties as head coach.
Milwaukee drops to 1-6 on the season
While Patrick Baldwin Jr has missed time, including against Youngstown State, the Panthers are now 1-6 this season. Sure some of the losses are excusable, you aren’t supposed to beat Florida but this team has been bad to start this season. With Conference play underway they had a real chance to build some positive momentum playing against Youngstown State, but they lost. Sure, they’ll be better when Baldwin Jr returns, but that’s not saying a lot given the current state of this basketball team.