Thanksgiving is only a few days away, which means it’s officially Feast Week and fans got to enjoy a litany of great games on Tuesday as a result. Some of the biggest matchups involved teams like Iowa, Michigan, and USC.
Let’s take a look at what happened.
Game of the Night:
–USC Trojans 70, Seton Hall Musketeers 81
For the second day in a row, USC scored a tight win in Maui. The first came against Boise State on Monday and this one came against the Musketeers. It was a back-and-forth affair, with Seton Hall winning the first hunk of the game, but USC coming
back after that. Ezra Ausar proved to be the difference, finishing with 25 points and eight rebounds. Chad Baker-Mazara also had 18 points in the win. USC’s offense finished with 1.2 points per possession in the effort.
The Trojans improved to 6-0 overall with the win. It’s the team’s fourth straight win over a top 125 opponent, including three away from home. Fans will hope USC can carry that momentum into Wednesday when the team faces off against Arizona State. KenPom favors the Trojans, but it’s expected to be a competitive game in an unusual environment, so there’s no telling how things will shake out.
The Rest:
– No. 25 Indiana Hoosiers 86, Kansas State Wildcats 69
The Hoosiers scored the team’s best win of the season to date, taking care of a solid Kansas State squad at home by 17 points. Reed Bailey led the way for Indiana, finishing with 21 points and four rebounds. Tayton Conerway also finished with 19 points, though he had seven turnovers on the night.
The win pushed Indiana to 6-0 on the season and there’s little debating this one should help the Hoosiers continue to build some respect nationally. The team will return to action on Saturday at home against Bethune Cookman.
–Iowa Hawkeyes 74, Mississippi Rebels 69
The Hawkeyes have looked good so far this season, but the team has played a relatively forgiving slate. That made Tuesday’s game particularly intriguing, as Iowa faced off against an Ole Miss squad in the top 40 on KenPom. The game ended up being pretty competitive and come down to the final minutes, though Iowa was certainly in the better position for most of the second half. Bennett Stirtz led the way with 29 points and three rebounds. Cooper Koch also had a productive showing with 14 points.
The win pushed Iowa to 6-0 overall and the team will return to action on Wednesday against Grand Canyon in Palm Springs. Another win would continue boosting Iowa’s resume.
–No. 12 Gonzaga Bulldogs 100, Maryland Terrapins 61
Most figured this would be an uphill battle for the Terps, but it’s hard to say many expected this level of beat down, as Maryland got run off the floor by Gonzaga on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs raced to 1.43 points per possession, while the Terps limped to 0.87 points per possession. Pharrel Payne probably had the best night of anyone on Maryland’s roster and still finished with just 14 points and a 90 offensive rating.
Maryland fell to 5-2 with the loss. The team will now prepare for another tough opponent in Alabama on Wednesday in Vegas. Fans will hope Tuesday’s result had more to do with Gonzaga than Maryland. Otherwise, the Terps could be in for another rough night.
–No. 7 Michigan Wolverines 102, No. 21 Auburn Tigers 72
The Wolverines opened up play in Vegas on Monday with a monster victory over San Diego State and that carried over to Tuesday, as Michigan blasted Auburn in a game that was somehow not as competitive as the final score. The team was excellent on both ends of the floor, with Yaxel Lendeborg leading the way. The forward finished with 17 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Six Wolverines scored double-digits.
Michigan improved to 6-0 with the win and will advance into Wednesday’s championship round in Vegas against a supremely talented Gonzaga squad. KenPom favors the Bulldogs, but only by one point. If Michigan fans get their wish, it could be a preview of things to come in March, or even April. It feels like the Wolverines can’t possibly keep up their absurd level of play, so we’ll see if they can do it for at least one more night.
–No. 11 Michigan State Spartans 89, East Carolina Pirates 56
The Spartans opened up play in Fort Myers on Tuesday and scored a nice win over East Carolina to open things up. The bench got heavy rotation in the blowout and Jaxon Kohler led the way, finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds. Divine Ugochukwu also had 16 points off the bench. Michigan State improved to 6-0 with the win and will now prepare for a massive game against North Carolina on Thanksgiving.
– Nebraska Cornhuskers 80, Winthrop Eagles 73
This one was a bit closer than Husker fans would have liked, but Nebraska still found a way to get the job done, scoring an 80-73 win at home. Rienk Mast led the way with 31 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Braen Frager also had 11 points. Nebraska improved to 7-0 with the win. The team will now prepare for USC Upstate at home on Saturday.
– Ohio State Buckeyes 113, Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers 60
There isn’t much to write about here, as Ohio State cruised to an easy win against an overmatched opponent at home. The Buckeyes’ offense was on fire, finishing with 113 points. John Mobley led the way with 26 points and four rebounds. Ohio State improved to 6-0 with the win. The team will now prepare for Pittsburgh on the road on Black Friday. KenPom favors the Bucks.
–San Diego State Aztecs 97, Oregon Ducks 80
The Ducks opened up play in Vegas with a tough loss to Auburn on Monday night. Unfortunately, things didn’t improve on Tuesday, as Oregon fell to San Diego State. Nobody on Oregon’s team did much offensively, other than Jackson Shelstad and Kwame Evans, who combined for 37 points.
Oregon fell to 4-2 overall with the loss. And while losing a game away from home by itself wouldn’t be too rough, the specifics of this one have Duck fans worried. San Diego State looks solid this season, but certainly isn’t an elite opponent and was just coming off a throttling to Michigan. If Oregon is going to be as good as fans are hoping, it would have been able to compete with the Aztecs. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. We’ll have to wait and see if Oregon can turn things around on Thanksgiving against Creighton.
–Penn State Nittany Lions 96, Boston University Terriers 87
Penn State took care of business in this one, scoring a nine-point win over a weak Boston University squad. Josh Reed had a nice game, finishing with 17 points and eight rebounds. Melih Tunca also had 16 points. The win pushed Penn State to 6-1 overall. The team will now prepare for Sacred Heart at home on Saturday.
–Notre Dame Fighting Irish 68, Rutgers Scarlet Knights 63
Rutgers played much better in this one than the team did against Tennessee on Monday. However, it still wasn’t enough to secure the win, as Rutgers fell by five to the Irish. Jamichael Davis had the best showing for the Scarlet Knights, finishing with 21 points, three rebounds, and three assists.
The loss dropped Rutgers to 4-3 overall. The team will now prepare for UNLV on Thanksgiving to wrap up play in Vegas. KenPom has the Scarlet Knights as underdogs in that matchup.
–California Golden Bears 80, No. 18 UCLA Bruins 72
It’s been an underwhelming start to the season for the Bruins. The team played close games with multiple lower-tier opponents and fell to Arizona in Inglewood in a tight game. Fans were hoping UCLA could turn things around against rival California on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be the case, as the Golden Bears scored an 80-72 win. UCLA’s defense underwhelmed in the effort and both Skyy Clark and Donovan Dent had rough games, combining for just 10 points in 57 minutes of game time.
UCLA fell to 5-2 overall with the loss and it’s one that will sting for awhile. Most notably, the Bruins remain winless against teams rated 200th or better on KenPom. Fans will hope that streak ends on December 3rd, when the team goes on the road to face Washington.
