Men’s college basketball, women’s college basketball – there’s no shortage of college ball, every night.
Don’t worry, we’re here to help you figure out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in college basketball.
Air Carr
Michigan State’s Tom Izzo might not have hugs or kisses for his Michigan State team, but you have to imagine that even he had something nice to say about the job Coen Carr did on Thursday against San Jose State. The No. 17 Spartans weren’t quite as dominant as they probably should have been against an unranked opponent, but then again, check this out.
Carr was flying. And look at these alternate angles! What a slam.Â
That wasn’t it for him, either; that one just happened to occur early on in the game. Carr had another major dunk in him, too. Alley oop time, baby, to put Michigan State up 24-9.
And then there was a reverse dunk on another alley oop later on. Maybe not as outright wowing as that initial dunk, no, but all three of these emphatic slams in one game is a pretty good day at the office.
Carr ended up with just 8 points on the night — yes, three of his four made buckets were all show-stopping dunks — but the junior forward did add 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks and a steal to that, so all told, a solid effort. The Spartans also had four players reach double-digits in scoring, with three of those notching at least 15 points, so they didn’t end up needing more than what they got out of Carr. And even if Izzo wanted more, hey, at least we got to see a show.
UCLA handled North Carolina
It wasn’t a top-10 matchup, since North Carolina came into the game ranked at No. 11, but with UCLA at No. 3 it was pretty close. You wouldn’t have known it from the Bruins’ performance, though, as they took out the Tar Heels 78-60, outscoring them in every quarter besides the first en route to a convincing W.
While the outcome was in more question early, UCLA stepped on the gas in the third quarter and didn’t step back off: they made seven shots in a row to start putting some distance between themselves and North Carolina, and held on from there.
Once UCLA got the lead back in the third, they clamped down defensively: UNC got within two when they scored their 46th point of the evening with 4:30 to go in the third quarter, but wouldn’t score again until 12 seconds into the fourth quarter, by which time UCLA was up by 10.
For the game, UNC was held to 34.8% shooting, and were dominated on the boards, too, with UCLA winning the rebound battle 46 to 30. When you make fewer shots and can’t convert your opponent’s misses into turnovers, well, you don’t beat a No. 3 team.
Purdue wins top-10 matchup
Purdue might have slipped from No. 1 to No. 2 in the top 25 after defeating Oakland by a mere 10 points, but they had a chance to prove that was a fluke on Thursday against No. 8 Alabama. And Purdue was up to the task: while the margin of victory wasn’t massive here, either, that’s not what’s most important against a top-10 team. Winning at all is the goal here, and Purdue came out ahead 87-80. And they did so on the road, too.
Fletcher Loyer didn’t bring much to the Boilermakers’ attack, which you think would be a problem: 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 31 minutes isn’t nearly enough against a top-10 opponent. Senior guard Braden Smith was there to pick Loyer and Purdue up, though, as he scored a game-high 29 with 7 rebounds and 4 assists, while junior forward Trey Kauffman-Renn and South Dakota State transfer Oscar Cluff pulled down 15 and 11 rebounds, respectively. With Purdue winning the battle under the basket, and Smith going off, the Boilermakers were able to pull off the dub despite a quiet game from both Loyer and their bench.
What a block!Â
Pittsburgh’s freshman forward Roman Siulepa drove to the basket against West Virginia, and despite the long run it looked like he was going to maneuver and muscle his way through and score through sheer force of will. The problem is that a strong sheer force of will crept up behind him, and it slapped that ball out of the way at the last second.
North Texas transfer Brenen Lorient could be seen earlier in the play, as one of the defenders that Siulepa slipped past on his way to scoring. Until Lorient caught back up and decided an emphatic block from behind was the answer, anyway. You can hear that one even with the sound off.
West Virginia would end up downing Pitt, 71-49. Lorient had a pretty quiet game overall, but did pick up 3 blocks to go with his 6 points and 2 steals, so he certainly made his presence felt even without a bunch of scores or boards.
Whittaker scored 29, but it wasn’t enough
Thursday’s leading scorers were Purdue’s Braden Smith and Gonzaga’s Lauren Whittaker, who both put up 29 points. While Smith’s Boilermakers won their matchup, the Bulldogs weren’t as lucky, despite Whittaker’s exceptional performance. She added 7 rebounds and a block to all of those points, which came in just 23 minutes of play. Gonzaga was outscored 23-13 in the fourth quarter by Colorado State, though, and those unplayed minutes for Whittaker loomed large given the way she was shooting: the freshman forward went 12-for-18 overall and 4-for-7 on threes.
The end result was the Rams winning 70-66, though it can’t all be put on Whittaker not playing more minutes. Three of Gonzaga’s starters combined for all of 13 points, and the bench added just 11 — compare that to Colorado State, where four of the five starters put up at least a dozen points. Whittaker’s 29 represented 44% of her team’s total points, which can work if a player drops 35 or 40, but it’s a tougher assignment at 29, especially when your opponent puts forth a team-wide effort scoring.
Still! What a game from Whittaker — Gonzaga might put a few more minutes on the freshman’s plate the next time she’s locked on.
Fairfield pulls through
Fairfield would end up moving to 3-0 in an 80-72 win over South Florida, but heading into the fourth quarter, the Stags were up by just one point over the Bulls in what had been a back-and-forth contest. Fairfield won the first quarter handily, 25-16, but then South Florida chipped away over the next two quarters, 21-17 and 24-18, to go ahead 61-60.Â
The Stags would bring the defense in the fourth quarter, though, limiting the Bulls to just 11 points. With 8:42 left in the fourth, South Florida was actually up 63-60 and were 63% to win by win probability, but that’s when Fairfield turned it on: Lauren Beach made a layup, assisted by Kaity L’Amoreaux, to put Fairfield ahead, and then L’Amoreaux stole the ball, got the offensive rebound on a missed shot and sank a three to widen the gap to 68-63. She just kept popping up that quarter, and would finish with a game-high 28 points while adding 8 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal and block each.
While the junior guard shot just 7-20 on the night, including 4-for-14 on 3-point attempts, she made up for it by going a perfect 10-for-10 at the line, including four in the fourth quarter alone.
A big win for Fairfield on a night when Meghan Anderson – who scored her 1,000th point earlier this season just 67 games into her career – was quiet, with just 5 points on 1-for-9 shooting.
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