Hoops Recap: Big Games, Big Names

Baylor downed No. 6 Texas Saturday night— Baylor Photography Credit

There were some fantastic games on display last night in college basketball. With No. 1 Kentucky falling earlier in the week on the road against unranked South Carolina, we saw that the top ranking can be a disastrous place to be. Just ask Texas, who were undefeated and ranked No. 1 last week heading into Manhattan, Kansas to face Kansas State.

They dropped a close game against the Wildcats and then proceeded to mystify the nation when they lost on the road against a struggling UConn team the very next game. The Longhorns bounced back to dominate Texas Tech, but last night continued their streak of poor play when they were downed by Baylor at home.

No. 24 Baylor-No. 6 Texas

Avery Bradley is in disbelief. AP Photo credit.

The game was a back and forth affair early in the first half until the eight minute mark when the Bears started pulling away. At half, they were up nine on the Longhorns, 38-29. They proceeded to extend the lead to 14 points before the Longhorns stormed back to tie it at 57-57 with 4:51 remaining.

The game remained close through overtime, but Texas had relinquished an early lead to Baylor and couldn’t close the gap. Two missed threes in the final seconds doomed the Longhorns as Baylor defeated Texas in the regular season for the first time in 12 years, 80-77.

LEADERS:

• Tweety Carter led all scorers with 27 points, shooting 50% from the field along with six rebounds, two assists, and a steal for the Bears.

• Damion James came up with a monster performance before fouling out with a minute to go in overtime. He scored 20 points off of 6-of-17 shooting and collected a monstrous 19 rebounds, two assists, and four steals for the Longhorns.

No. 2 Kansas-No. 11 Kansas State

Make no mistake, this was a battle. AP Photo credit.

Speaking of Kansas State, they gave the soon-to-be No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks everything they could handle in Manhattan before succumbing in OT. Before the game even started, KSU showed just how much basketball means to them when an estimated 8,000-plus fans showed up for College Gameday in the morning, a record attendance for any school.

By the time the night game rolled around, Fred Bramlage Coliseum was rocking. The game was tightly contested throughout the first half and the largest lead Kansas could muster in the second was eight points with 17:42 remaining. However, the Wildcats stormed back, forcing Kansas head coach Bill Self to call two timeouts—with a TV timeout sandwiched in the middle—in less than two minutes of game time.

The score remained close throughout the rest of the game but Kansas State was worn thin by foul troubles. That was when Sherron Collins—who had been cramping up and could barely walk off the floor just minutes before—drove to the basket and put the Jayhawks up by three with nine seconds left in OT, helping Kansas secure the 81-79 victory.

LEADERS:

• The Jayhawks had five players in double figures, shooting 50% from the field and behind the arc as a team. Senior center Cole Aldrich led his team with 18 points, 11 boards, and three blocks.

• The Wildcats didn’t slouch in scoring either, with four players in double figures and one just a point shy of making it five. Jacob Pullen—famous for his beard—scored a manly 22 points to go along with his single board, five assists, two steals, and one turnover.

No. 1 Kentucky-No. 21 Vanderbilt

DeMarcus Cousins isn't your average freshman. AP Photo credit.

Kentucky, having lost their first game of the season just a day after claiming their first No. 1 ranking since 2003, were at home and needed to show the country this young team wasn’t going to fold down the stretch. They did just that as they dominated from start to finish against Vanderbilt in their 85-72 victory. Vanderbilt entered the game without a single loss in SEC conference play and were king of the hill, until they ran into a focused Wildcats team that never looked back from a 10 point lead with 12:44 remaining in the first half.

Kentucky, known for giving up big leads to let team back into games throughout the season, never surrendered their double digit lead for the rest of the game. Even the presence of NBA superstar LeBron James—a friend of Kentucky coach John Calipari—couldn’t break up the focus of the Wildcats as they cruised to their 20th victory of the season.

LEADERS:

• Five Vanderbilt players scored double figures, while Jermaine Beal led his team with 19 points and shot 50% from the behind the arc.

• DeMarcus Cousins, who continues to defy his youth, was dominant down low, scoring 21 points and collecting 10 boards—his 12th double-double—along with an assist, two steals, and a block. As a team, Kentucky shot over 52.2% from behind the arc.

No. 4 Syracuse-DePaul

I can't believe it either. AP Photo credit.

Syracuse looked like it would be yet another victim of the slaughterhouse known as the Big East when they were down 15-33 with 8:53 remaining in the first half. From there, the Orange made a number of runs but could only cut the lead down to four by the end of the half. DePaul remained steady in the face of the relentless Orange defense and didn’t relinquish their lead until 3:37 remained in regulation.

Unfortunately for the Blue Demons, it would be the last time they were ahead in the game as Syracuse managed to tempt fate and escape with a 59-57 victory. DePaul entered the game 8-12, and 1-7 in the conference, but Will Walker’s three in the final seconds nearly gave them one of the biggest wins in school history.

LEADERS:

• Leading the Blue Demons was Will Walker, the only player on his team in double digits, with 21 points off 7-of-16 shooting from the field, in addition to a rebound, four assists, and two steals.

• Wesley Johnson, the heralded Iowa State transfer, led the ‘Cuse with 16 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, a steal, and a block.

San Fransisco-No. 13 Gonzaga

There were no easy buckets in this game. AP Photo credit.

Unlike Syracuse, Gonzaga wasn’t as lucky as they fell in an enormous upset against San Francisco, snapping a 28-game regular-season winning streak in the WCC. The game was close but the Gonzaga Bulldogs had a nice seven-point lead by half. With 17:06 remaining in regulation, the Bulldogs had stretched it to a 10-point lead.

However, that seemed to spark the Dons as they cut the lead to a single point within two minutes and battled back and forth for the rest of regulation. Despite missing three of their six free throws in OT, the Dons managed to hold onto their lead and pull out the 81-77 victory.

LEADERS:

• Leading all players was San Francisco forward Dior Lowhorn with 22 points on 8-for-18 from the field and 5-of-7 from three-point land. He added nine boards, a steal, and a block to round out his stat sheet.

• Elias Harris led the Bulldogs with 21 points off of 5-of-8 shooting from the field and 2-for-2 from behind the arc to go with eight rebounds, two assists, and a steal.

They were jumping for joy in San Fran, BABY! AP Photo credit.