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.
TCU has double triple-doubles, including Miles’ third-straight
TCU’s Olivia Miles had another triple-double, her third consecutive one, thanks to a season-high 25 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. The senior guard is the active career leader in triple-doubles with nine, is only the third women’s player with three triple-doubles in a row and is one more triple-double away from becoming just the fifth-ever Division I player to log at least 10 of them in a career, along with BYU’s Kyle Collinsworth (12), Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (17) and Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu (26). Oh, and Miles added 3 steals and a block to the triple-double figures, just because.
She wasn’t the only Horned Frog to manage a triple-double against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, however. Combo guard-forward and senior Marta Suarez dropped her own, with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, as well as a steal and a block each. That was Suarez’s first career triple-double, and also just the second-ever time in NCAA history that teammates have had one in the same game.
You probably could have guessed as much considering that these two alone combined for 45 points, but TCU defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a rout, 109-54, and were dominant from the start: the score was 27-5 after the first quarter, so even with a much-improved second the Golden Lions still entered halftime down by 30 points. Assists don’t happen in a vacuum, and between just Miles and Suarez TCU had 21 of them, and another 8 besides — all of that helps explain why every starter reached double-digits in scoring, despite the non-Miles/Suarez ones seeing their minutes limited due to the blowout.
Hey, want to see Miles and Suarez tag-team an assist?
If you said no, then you have missed out. If basketball used hockey rules, then both of them would have picked up a dime there. What a play.
Louisville struggles without star freshman
Louisville went into Tennessee and were immediately rattled. With freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr. missing the game with a lower back injury, the Volunteers’ heavy pressure messed with Louisville’s auxiliary ball handlers, and as a team committed 16 turnovers and shot just 7-for-34 from 3-point range. The Cardinals desperately missed the 16.6 points per game and 5.1 assists that Brown averages, and that lack of offense led to an ugly 83-62 upset loss on the road.
On the other side, Rocky Top was truly rocking. This was quintessential Tennessee basketball, creating turnovers and playing at a breakneck pace. The Volunteers’ star freshman was available and productive as forward Nate Ament scored 13 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, while senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie led all scorers with 23 points and a game-high 5 assists.
Tanuvasa picks up record 9 steals
Utah Valley sophomore guard Naia Tanuvasa did a little bit of everything against La Sierra on Tuesday. The Brigham Young transfer scored 12 points with 7 assists, 2 blocks, 2 rebounds and a Division I-high 9 steals. Those nine thefts are also a new school record for Utah Valley.
It wasn’t a great shooting day — just 5-for-13 overall — but hey. Nine steals! As is, it came out of nowhere, as Tanuvasa’s previous high for the season on scoring was all of 4 points, and she had been averaging 12.3 minutes per game. Utah Valley had her start and kept her in for a team-high 31 minutes on Tuesday, though, and she ended up with a game to remember.
Those 9 steals also helped Utah Valley to 37 steals overall, and 50 forced turnovers. (A note: Utah Valley reported that they had 39 steals, a program record, but the boxscore says 37.) Just the points that the Wolverines scored off of turnovers — 53 — would have been enough to defeat the Golden Eagles. As is, Utah Valley won, 97-48.
Watts leads Texas Tech past Northern Colorado
Junior forward LeJuan Watts scored 36 points to lead Division I on Tuesday, and it also led No. 19 Texas Tech past Northern Colorado, 101-90. It was Northern Colorado’s first game of the season against a Quad 1 team, and while they didn’t win, they certainly held their own.
In addition to the 36 points, Watts also picked up 6 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal. Junior forward JT Toppin added 23 points, with 3 rebounds and a Division I-leading 5 blocks. The Red Raiders needed all of that offense and defense, given they won by a solid but not dominating 11 points: the Bears had plenty of offense of their own to contend with, with the bulk of it coming through senior forward Brock Wisne, who scored 29 points, the sixth-most of anyone on the men’s side on Tuesday, while adding 5 rebounds and assists each. Those 29 points represent a career-best for Wisne — he’s averaging 15.8 per game this season as well as pulling down 6.2 rebounds per, both of which would be career-highs.
Double the Betts for UCLA
Tuesday’s UCLA game against Cal Poly marked the collegiate debut of Sienna Betts, and if that name sounds familiar, it’s likely because she’s the younger sister of current Bruins’ star, senior center Lauren Betts. Sienna Betts is a forward, and in 10 minutes off of the bench — coach Cori Close wanted to limit her minutes to ease her in after a leg injury — scored 5 points and picked up 2 assists. Lauren Betts played for just 17 minutes but logged a double-double courtesy 20 points and 10 rebounds — her lack of minutes had more to do with the fact that No. 4 UCLA was rolling: the Bruins defeated the Mustangs, 115-28. Maybe “steamrolling” would have been a more appropriate description.
Every UCLA starter scored at least 14 points, with senior guard Kiki Rice leading everyone with 23, and all of this happening despite none of the five playing more than Rice’s 28 minutes. Last year’s win against Cal Poly came in a 69-37 effort that seemed dominant as is, but somehow UCLA turned things on that much more this time around. Just a few more stats to tide you over: UCLA had 19 steals to Cal Poly’s zero; the Mustangs were outrebounded, 46-15; Cal Poly turned the ball over 31 times, which led to 59 points on turnovers for UCLA, as well as helped them to a 28-0 advantage on fast break points and 56-12 showing on points scored in the paint; UCLA’s largest lead was 87, which was also how many points they won the game by.
Do you think the Bruins are ready for conference play yet?
UConn opens up Big East play with W
No. 5 UConn might be the class of the Big East, but Butler is a real good basketball team — they came into Tuesday’s conference matchup ranked 47th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool, or NET. They put up a good fight, too, with two starters reaching double-digits in scoring — junior center Drayton Jones and freshman guard Azavier Robinson, with 13 and 10, respectively — while senior forward Michael Ajayi grabbed 8 boards and sophomore guard Evan Haywood added 10 points off the bench.
It wasn’t enough against the Huskies even with an off night from senior forward Alex Karaban, who scored just 4 points. Junior guard Solo Ball scored a game-high 26 with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a block, senior center Tarris Reed Jr. scored 16 on 8-for-12 shooting in 21 minutes while adding 5 rebounds and 3 blocks while freshman guard and top recruit Braylon Mullins scored a dozen on 5-for-9 shooting with 3 rebounds, 2 dimes, 2 blocks and a steal. While junior guard Silar Demary didn’t do much scoring — he had just 2 points and was a cold 1-for-8 from the field — he facilitated plenty, dropping a Division I-high 11 dimes.
Also, check out this dunk from Jayden Ross.
A put back with some authority on it for the junior forward — he scored 13 points in 25 minutes off the bench while snagging 8 rebounds, but that play was the highlight on a night where he slammed it again and again.
Kansas had to play without Peterson, again
It’s been a tough year for freshman guard Darryn Peterson, as he missed yet another game to injury on Tuesday, this time with a quad injury suffered in the Jayhawks’ Dec. 13 game against NC State. Coach Bill Self said that Peterson “is not able to compete at full strength,” which also means the Jayhawks cannot.
As they have done all season long, though, Kansas found a way to win without their star freshman. The No. 17 team in the nation defeated Towson, 73-49, with four of the starters scoring at least 11 points and as many as 18, sharing the load without Peterson around. Sophomore forward Flory Bidunga stood out, as he was responsible for the above 18, and also had 10 rebounds to secure a double-double.
As a team, the Jayhawks had 9 blocks, and while they were outrebounded they shot 47% from the field compared to Towson’s 28% — a non-significant part of Towson’s high rebound total came from just how many shots they missed and then grabbed the offensive board for. Credit Kansas’ defense for making things difficult.
The W brings Kansas to 9-3, which makes them the only program with a start at least that good for 20 consecutive seasons. And hey, even with Peterson missing a bunch of those games to this point, they are still sitting there at No. 17 in the poll and 13th in NET.
Boozer logs a double-double
While Kansas had to play without Peterson, Duke’s bigtime freshman was on the floor and thriving. Forward Cameron Boozer was dominant against Lipscomb, with game highs in points with 26 and rebounds with 13, and he managed to shoot 10-for-17 despite missing all three 3-point attempts — going a perfect 6-for-6 from the line helped balance that out. It was the sixth double-double of the season for Boozer in 11 games, and he’s once again leading all of Division I men’s basketball in scoring, at 23.3 points per game. Pretty good for a freshman even without pointing out that he’s also pulling down an average of 10.2 rebounds per game.
Duke would win in no small part thanks to Boozer’s effort, 97-73, despite Lipscomb’s starters having a surprisingly good day considering the gulf between these two teams — they scored 59 points as a unit, but didn’t get many more from the bench. The dub was the 100th of coach Jon Scheyer’s career, making him the fastest ACC coach to triple-digits in conference history.
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