Tuesday night was the first truly loaded slate of high-major basketball … but it also provided plenty of gems in the mid-major world. Here’s what you may have missed if you were watching Louisville/Kentucky
or Texas Tech/Illinois.
Yale is pounding teams
The two-time reigning Ivy League NCAA Tournament representative has gotten off to a scorching hot start. The Bulldogs’ first two games of the regular season were both true road games against teams favored to win their respective mid-major conferences, and Yale has won by an average of 33 points. The Elis followed up a 29-point win at Navy on Friday with a 37-point romping of Quinnipiac in Hamden. Yale shot 70% from the field in the first half and finished the game with 1.37 points per possession. The Bulldogs have risen up to 65th in KenPom.
Davidson takes the Hornets’ Nest
College football has a ton of “trophy game” rivalries, where the winner gets a trophy and bragging rights. Those are less common in college basketball. But Davidson and Charlotte compete for the Hornets’ Nest Trophy every year, and this one came down to the wire. While the Wildcats led by 18 in the second half, the 49ers stormed back to make it a one-possession game in the final minute. Hunter Adam did his best Ali Farokhmanesh, with the ultimate “No, No, No, YES,” three-pointer to seal the victory for Davidson, which moves to 3-0.
UC Santa Barbara wins a shootout
A talented UC Santa Barbara team improved to 3-0 with a win over Sacramento State’s holy trinity of general manager Shaquille O’Neal, head coach Mike Bibby, and point guard Mikey Williams. While Williams dropped 30 points, putting on the best performance of his collegiate career, the Gauchos had three players score 17 points. Utah transfer Miro Little dished out eight assists to go along with the 17 points, leading UCSB to a 92-87 win.
Another bad night for UNLV
Just a week after losing at home to UT Martin, UNLV lost another buy game. Reigning Big Sky champion Montana marched into the Thomas & Mack Center and led for the entire second half to defeat the Rebels 102-93. Money Williams led the way with 30 points and eight assists. It’s worth noting that Josh Pastner’s squad is still missing Myles Che and Emmanuel Stephen, but it has not been a strong start to his tenure.
Game-winners in the northeast
After trailing by double digits in the first half, Mike Magpayo’s Fordham Rams stormed back to play a back-and-forth second half with Wagner at Rose Hill. Tied at 61 in the final seconds, Iona transfer Dejour Reaves sank a mid-range jumper to win the game. Fordham already fell to NJIT last week, and the Highlanders won on a late bucket of their own on Tuesday. Ari Fulton hit a similar shot to Reaves, from the left elbow, to lift NJIT over Loyola Maryland 66-64 in Baltimore.
Central Connecticut!!!
Those weren’t the only game-winners in the northeast, though. After losing all five starters from last season’s NEC Regular Season champions, Central Connecticut went into Chestnut Hill and gave itself a chance to defeat Boston College in the final seconds. Darin Smith Jr. drove to the basket and scored to put the Blue Devils ahead, and Donald Hand’s jumper didn’t fall. It marks CCSU’s first-ever win over the Eagles, and a monumental moment for Pat Sellers’ program.
Upset in Birmingham
The reigning SWAC Tournament Champion Alabama State Hornets went into Bartow Arena and took down in-state rival UAB for the first time in program history. Queens transfer Asjon Anderson scored 20 points and dished out seven assists, while Micah Simpson scored 18 of his own. The Hornets led by double digits in the first half, but trailed by eight with 12 minutes left before coming back to win 77-74.
IU Indy played basketball
Mid-Major Madness’ favorite story of the season, IU Indy, won its first game of the year on Tuesday afternoon. The Jaguars took down NAIA opponent IU Columbus 121-77, forcing a ridiculous 36 turnovers and attempting 92 field goal attempts to IU Columbus’s 56. The game was a whopping 100 possessions!!.
